Phase 3

Phase 3.

Ant King Fermon.

That creature was a masterpiece.

Among everything the Black King had made and created, he was by far the finest intellectual life-form. Countless blessings had been lavished upon him over long years, yet never had there existed an individual whose hunger burned as fiercely as Fermon's.

He has only two instincts left.

The Black King smiled.

The instincts Fermon had preserved for the sake of evolution numbered only two.

To survive.

And to grow stronger!

Everything else, he had discarded. Perhaps that was why, no matter what he was taught, he reached the realm of mastery in an instant. From awakening Sword Qi to unleashing Sword Gang took him less than a few months. Of course, he had received a transplant of Despair's cells along the way.

Each of the Four Calamities has a distinct nature.

The four most powerful beasts Ruin had ever birthed. Every one of the Four Calamities possessed a completely different character.

Baal, for instance, was a concentrated mass of curses. That hard, colossal body was nothing more than a reservoir for an enormous quantity of curse. Distortion of phenomena through that concentrated curse was Baal's true purpose — exactly as was happening now inside the Tower of the Martial God. Everything "summoned" there was the work of Baal's curse.

Baal summons. Despair replicates.

For all their individuality, the Four Calamities shared a single common trait: they multiplied. Baal summoned overwhelming beings through curse; Despair transplanted its own cells and copied itself. That was the decisive reason four Calamities alone had been able to annihilate the brilliant civilization of the old empire.

Fermon survived even after receiving Despair's cells.

To this day he remained the sole successful specimen. The Black King had bestowed the grace of Hidden Traits and strengthened the creature for one purpose only — so that Despair's cells could take root. Thus would the Legion of Despair be completed, and this world destroyed.

And then… only then…

…I will reach the Heavenly Realm.

The ideal of the arrogant and the proud. He would set foot in that world that pursued nothing but perfection.

So the Black King sincerely hoped Fermon would climb to the summit of the Tower of the Martial God.

I've always wondered about the hierarchy among the Four Calamities.

There had to be a ranking even among them. And this battle was the first round between Baal and Despair, fought through their proxies. It would be enough to gauge which of them held the upper hand.

Of course, the Black King never once considered that Despair — that Fermon — might lose. The greatest had met the greatest and become the strongest. Fermon was still a monster in constant growth. The intensity of his will to grow stronger was, truly…

Fermon is greed itself.

…truly greedy beyond measure.

"Ptooey!"

Fermon spat out a mouthful of flesh. He had succeeded in tearing into the Blade Dragon God's shoulder, yet he could not chew and swallow it. Only then did he grasp the truth of his opponent.

"What are you? A fake?"

Outwardly it was unmistakably genuine — and yet it was not. It was a doll fashioned from curse, borrowing the rank of the Blade Dragon God. How it had borrowed a rank so utterly opposite he could not tell, but one thing was certain: that curse was a kind he could not absorb.

"For a mere doll… how did you manage this?"

Fermon lowered his head and looked down at his own body. Both arms had been severed. He had cut every bone of the Blade Dragon God to pieces and left them scattered across the floor. It should have been incapable of regenerating bone any longer — yet the moment he thought he had completely subdued it, the counterattack came. And it had come beyond the reach of his perception.

"Like this? Is this how it's done?"

A soft rustle. The severed arms regenerated. With the restored arms he took up a sword again and swept it through the air. At a glance the swings looked careless, yet within them lay the principle of the technique Hana had just employed. In an instant Fermon's aura shifted and seized dominion over the space itself.

Still he frowned, as if something about it displeased him.

"…Still difficult. A sword that twists space and moves by pure intent… Hm?!"

A sharp slash!

Fermon jerked his head back. One antenna was sheared clean off. A span of time no longer than a blink. Had he been even a fraction slower, his neck would have gone with it. His knees went weak. There was no killing intent at all. Nothing visible, nothing felt. He had dodged on pure instinct alone.

"A doll… and yet you are strong."

Fermon nodded, forced to concede it. Blade Dragon God. That thing was a doll, yet it was strong. Its true body would surely be stronger still. Yes — the world was full of powerful ones. And that made him glad. There was still so much left for him to surpass. The certainty that he could grow stronger still!

You, too — I will surpass you!

Perhaps because invincibility had been lifted. Ant King Fermon's challenge had carved a massive chunk from the Blade Dragon God's health. He had failed, of course. Yet hope remained — for challenges began to pour in like a breaking tide, as if they had been waiting for this exact moment.

After roughly half a day, the Blade Dragon God's remaining health stood at a mere fifteen percent. But that was as far as it went. Challenges continued without end, yet—

The health would not drop any further. Even Raiga, the Empire's strongest, and Sancha, the former Champion, failed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to shave off a single percent. Other monsters had managed to cut it down; there was no reason those two should fail — so some other cause had to be at work.

But the real problem was something else entirely. As time passed in that state—

The health was restoring itself. Before long, the greater part of the damage had been repaired.

"N-no…!"

"At this rate it'll hit a hundred percent!"

"I-it's over…"

Despair settled over the crowd. No matter how hard they tried, no matter how many they gathered, the clear had proven impossible.

"Why won't it drop any further past fifteen percent?"

"Does it have some other invincibility skill or what?"

"Somebody challenge it again!"

They could not understand it. Acceptance was impossible. They had to climb higher and purify the curse. Only by reaching Randolph — only by freeing Randolph — could this catastrophe be brought under control. Yet they had already been stopped at Phase 2. A few more days like this and the tower would destroy all of Pangenia and Earth alike.

It was in that moment of collective despair that it happened.

"Wh-what?"

"Why is the health dropping again?"

"Nobody's challenging it right now, are they?"

Suddenly the Blade Dragon God's health began to fall. Yet no one could identify the cause — because no one was challenging the Blade Dragon God any longer. And the health dwindled faster with every passing moment.

At last it returned to fifteen ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠percent.

"It's going to recover again, isn't it?"

"It won't drop any further from here anyway."

Even as they said it, every eye remained fixed on the Blade Dragon God's remaining health. Yet for a long while it stayed locked at fifteen percent.

"Figures."

"I knew it."

They shook their heads and sighed — and then—

"······!"

"······!"

Every pair of eyes went wide. From fifteen percent the remaining health had dropped to zero in a single stroke, and the subjugation was complete. What on earth had just happened? Who had challenged it, who had finished it — no information was given at all. But one way or another, the Blade Dragon God had been subjugated.

And if it had been subjugated—

"Next is…"

"What appears now?"

…what would emerge for Phase 3?

Those climbing the tower and those who were not all fixed their attention on the entity that would appear next.

A heavy crash!

They fell. Ten thousand giant skeletons. But the collapse of the skeleton soldiers meant nothing. What mattered far more was this—

A piercing screech — and the Dreadful Omen was burning. It burned little ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by little, then crumbled entirely into ash. Watching it, the God of Omen and the God of Ash cried out.

—Cheat! Kkak!

—Cheat! Kkak!

…I think so too.

A cheat. I never imagined something like this would even be possible. No — I had expected it to a degree, but not that it would be this outrageous.

So the Paradox of Fate doesn't only work on me.

The Paradox of Fate. The closer you draw, the fainter your presence becomes. It seemed that principle did not apply to me alone. Randolph, too, was under the influence of the Paradox of Fate. The proof was right there — the Dreadful Omen burning down to ash. And I was standing beside it now.

My body could not move, yet I had pierced the transparent wall the gods had raised and killed the Dreadful Omen. The reason was simple.

—You pierced the wall with the Spear of Longinus!

—I never even thought of using it that way!

In the instant before every limb locked rigid, I had hurled the Spear of Longinus straight at the Dreadful Omen. Nothing else came to mind. A force that could forcibly punch through dimensions ought to be able to break an "invisible wall" — and that guess, fortunately, proved correct.

Clash of Existence.

The moment the Spear of Longinus broke through the wall, I summoned the Crow of Calamity and closed in on the Dreadful Omen. We burned together, and the Clash of Existence began. But the Dreadful Omen was an illusion Randolph had created. In a pure contest of existence, victory could only be mine.

A soft rustle. The Dreadful Omen, now ash, settled into me. My right arm was completely overrun, black as dark matter.

…So this is how it works.

This was the existence of the Dreadful Omen — a fragment of Randolph. Climb the tower, keep fighting Clashes of Existence, and become one. That, it seemed, was the true trial set before me.

Who cleared ten thousand skeleton soldiers faster. That sort of thing no longer mattered. Eliminate the opponent and first place is mine by default.

I shrugged and spoke to the two gods.

"What's next?"