The King of Mysteries
Mystery.
In the game, when raising a character, it was an “effect” acquired upon reaching certain qualifications.
Similar terms included special effects, auras, and the like. Occasionally it was expressed as “majesty,” and just as the name implied, it served as proof of a character’s dignity and authority.
But the importance of a human’s Mystery and a monster’s Mystery differed greatly.
A human’s Mystery focused more on “appearance” than additional abilities. It concentrated on expressing that person more splendidly and brilliantly.
A monster’s Mystery, however, was no different from the “caliber” it had cultivated over its entire lifetime. The Mystery itself was linked to crucial abilities, or connected directly to life force and combat power. In extreme cases, there were monsters that poured their entire existence into their Mystery.
Monsters that changed dramatically when their Mystery was switched on or off. The race that used Mystery most dramatically, for example, was the fairies.
And—
“Ah, aah…… No……!”
Ant King Fermon’s Mystery. Because it was the very meaning of Fermon’s existence itself, Fermon trembled from head to toe in terror.
“I-I cannot go back. I… I am a king……!”
The king of ants. Was it a Mystery tied to that name? Yet if it were merely the destruction of a king’s Mystery, one could simply reclaim it. Fermon was not trembling this violently over the loss of a mere qualification.
A far more fundamental problem. The root of Fermon—something that must never be lost—had been destroyed.
Gurgle!
At the same time, Fermon’s entire body began to swell like a balloon on the verge of bursting.
“Just how did you… the ‘Grace’……!”
The Grace clad in Mystery. Hidden Trait: Mutation!
The Black King’s greatest ability, “Bestowing Grace,” was precisely the act of injecting Mystery. His primary power was to embed a Hidden Trait into a Mystery and bestow it upon a target. Naturally, a Mystery containing a Hidden Trait was designated Unique-grade and could never be destroyed. Nothing in this world could destroy Unique-grade.
……However.
Fermon’s eyes turned toward Eternal Randolph.
Randolph. The final boss of the Tower of the Martial God, the one who had seized five stars. At first Fermon had thought he had finally appeared as Phase 3. But he was wrong. Having grasped the opponent’s true nature, Fermon finally understood the phenomenon.
“You… you are not human. You are…… Mystery……!”
Something that surpassed Unique-grade. An out-of-spec Mystery bearing the name Eternal Randolph. A Mystery that had taken physical form and manifested—just like the fairies, who poured their entire rank into their Mystery.
But Randolph was no fairy. Therefore, this was not everything.
That is merely a part of Randolph……
Tremble, tremble!
His whole body shook. He was afraid. He was terrified. For the first time since his birth, Fermon felt true fear—a fear of an entirely different nature from when he had faced Despair with intelligence. Even then he had been powerless, yet his will to surpass it had burned fiercely. The Fermon of now could do nothing. Even kindling a will toward the future was impossible.
Absolute, irresistible terror.
A Mystery that destroys Mysteries! I have never heard of such a Mystery existing!
Mystery was a qualification. No one could forcibly destroy the qualifications another had cultivated over a lifetime. If that was possible, then it was clearly—
The Sovereign of Mysteries……
What stood before Fermon’s eyes was the ruler who existed above every Mystery. The Mystery of the Sovereign who reigned over Mysteries. Only the Sovereign could destroy all qualifications.
…He had believed the Black King, who bestowed qualifications, was that Sovereign. But no. It had never been so.
And yet even that Sovereign’s Mystery—even the destruction of a Unique-grade Mystery—was merely a part of Randolph.
Four Calamities Baal, Blade Dragon God, and Mystery Destroyer! Then what would appear after this?
This creature—Randolph—was the natural enemy of the Black King. The Black King’s power, which Fermon had thought of as the heavens themselves, was utterly helpless before Randolph’s Mystery Destruction. Even so, the Black King remained unaware of this fact. To prepare, the knowledge had to be conveyed—yet it could not be conveyed.
I am degenerating.
He could no longer speak. He had forgotten language itself. His eyesight faded, and gradually only instinct remained. He was returning to the insignificant ant he had once been.
I don’t want this.
I don’t want this. I don’t want this……!
Ant King Fermon has been defeated.
Remaining HP of Eternal Randolph: 100%
Curse of Domination stacks.
Curse of Domination activates.
Ant King Fermon is now dominated by Eternal Randolph.
Ant King Fermon is now dominated by Eternal Randolph.
“…….”
Reading the text that floated up in the tense situation, Raktusha’s face twisted. Defeat was defeat, but to be dominated after a single loss? He could not comprehend it. Had the creature gone beyond mere curse domination and actually knelt of its own accord?
“What an idiot…….”
In the end he spat the bitter words. Ant King Fermon. Born only a short while ago, his intelligence itself was low. No matter how monstrous his talent, he was the type whose body suffered because his head was stupid. One thing was certain: the creature’s unilateral actions had raised the difficulty.
I’ll have to wipe them all out.
Raktusha lifted the Black Heaven Sword. The wounds he had taken from the Blade Dragon God had not fully healed, but showing weakness here would only make him prey. The main forces in particular were the problem—Great Earth Dragon, Palace Ghost, Medusa…… and Aria. The first targets they would set would surely be himself, the Black King’s closest aide, and the Dark Elf Lord.
“Is Five Forces Leader Randolph human?”
At that moment, contrary to Raktusha’s expectations, the face of the main force Palace Ghost was turned toward the humans.
Hudson and the others. No one answered. Yet as if it did not matter, Palace Ghost continued speaking.
“The Tower of Mysteries that exists only in Cramdel. The Mythical Trial that Five Forces Leader Randolph was the first to clear. That same trial has been recreated here in the Tower of the Martial God.”
Only Five Forces Leader Randolph had seen the Mythical Trial through to the end. The White King had undergone the same trial, yet had not reached its conclusion. And yet the identical trial was now unfolding inside the Tower of the Martial God.
“……The Tower of the Martial God is currently ‘reproducing’ Champion Randolph’s experiences. And Champion Randolph is human.”
Of course other beings had experienced the Mythical Trial as well, so it could simply be a similar ordeal. But the main forces of Cramdel were certain. When something had been recreated this perfectly, only one conclusion remained.
“I am asking whether Champion Randolph and Five Forces Leader Randolph are the same being.”
A deeply pressed voice. Yet the emotion filling it was pure, shuddering betrayal. Cramdel rejected humans. Humans could never enter Cramdel. Becoming a main force was even more impossible. If it was confirmed that Five Forces Leader Randolph—whom they had regarded as a comrade—had in fact been a human deceiving them all along, they would never be able to accept it.
And as if to support that conclusion, Palace Ghost shifted his gaze to those standing behind Hudson.
“Especially you two. You were half-dragonkin, were you not?”
Isaac and Isabella. The two of them had worn the Michela Set, disguised themselves as half-dragonkin, and entered Cramdel. But right now neither of them was wearing the Michela Set. They faced him in their human forms.
Ssssss!
Medusa nodded. As the eyes that surveyed all of Cramdel, Medusa had confirmed Isaac and Isabella as well. That appearance and that distinctive aura belonged to the ones who had disguised themselves as half-dragonkin and entered Cramdel. Medusa, who saw and remembered everything, could not be mistaken.
Humans who had transformed into half-dragonkin. Humans who had deceived them all and infiltrated Cramdel. And Five Forces Leader Randolph, who had been with those humans.
The puzzle pieces were falling into place.
“How dare you…….”
At first it had been only suspicion. But after seeing Isaac and Isabella, he was certain. Five Forces Leader Randolph was human. A being who wore a human form and stood alongside humans. There was no room left for excuses.
Grrrrr.
Palace Ghost bared his fangs. The reason no longer mattered. They had been deceived, and they had been fooled. All that remained was merciless retribution. He would tear every one of those humans apart and kill Randolph as well.
“Stop.”
Just as Palace Ghost was about to attack, Aria stepped in front of him.
“Out of the way, Aria. Or do you intend to protect the comrades of the one who betrayed us all?”
“……I am currently acting in the White King’s stead. Watch your tongue.”
“An acting proxy is only an acting proxy. You are not the White King. Move aside, before I tear you apart with the rest.”
Palace Ghost’s rage had already surpassed its limit.
Gooooooo.
Palace Ghost’s form began to change. In an instant he transformed into a vicious existence with a tiger-like face, hooked claws, and wings sprouting from his forelegs. He grew larger still, and the density of his mana was incomparable to before. Truly a Beast King.
Yet Aria could not step aside.
Randolph……
From the moment she entered the Tower of the Martial God, Aria had been unable to collect herself.
The one I saw on the Mount of Training…… is Five Forces Leader Randolph.
The swordsman who had saved her, who had surpassed her—his figure had stood as a statue at the tower’s entrance.
At first she thought she had seen wrong. The statue of Champion Randolph. The figure that blazed with presence so brightly it hurt the eyes had looked somehow familiar.
“Randolph……?”
Aria read the name inscribed beneath the statue. Randolph. The same name as Five Forces Leader Randolph. Yet she told herself it could not be. The swordsman she had met on the Mount of Training had clearly not been one of the Five Forces.
……There is someone I hold in my heart.
Forget him.
He is a powerhouse who surpasses even Raktusha. ……He saved me from Raktusha, and he might even be able to control one of the Four Calamities.
When the White King first introduced the Five Forces Leader, Aria had drawn a clear line while recalling the man from the Mount of Training. She had said she held him in her heart. The impression of that swordsman who had manifested Sword Gang and split a stele in half was burned deep into her mind.
Yet the higher she climbed the tower, the more questions arose. And when she finally reached the twenty-fifth floor—
Why is Spear Master Valte over there?
Seeing Spear Master Valte hiding behind Hudson and the humans, she had nearly despaired. The quiet figure gripping a spear as if concealed behind everyone else. Was that not the same spear master she had relentlessly driven back in the Chaos Domain of the Mount of Training? The one she had told to give up because he had no talent—yet who had never given up until the end.
Why was he with Hudson’s group? There could be only one reason. That swordsman had saved Spear Master Valte and made him a companion.
Hudson was the human who managed Labyrinth City, the city of the Five Forces Leader. Therefore, if the swordsman she had met on the Mount of Training was Five Forces Leader Randolph……
Just…… why……
Why had Randolph entered Cramdel and deceived them all? Herself, the main forces, even the White King. While deceiving everyone…… why had he played the role of the Corpse Crow?
Even at the introduction the White King arranged, he had shown not the slightest reaction. Later, when he claimed the Northern Sky Ice Sword and traveled with her to the desert city of Paysalmer, he had given no hint at all. He had treated her as if they were truly meeting for the first time.
Had he intended to use them from the very beginning?
“……I will go confirm it myself. Until then, it would be wise to remember our purpose, Palace Ghost.”
That was why. She could no longer endure it. She had to confirm. Eternal Randolph. Seeing his form would make everything certain.
At Aria’s declaration, Palace Ghost and all the other main forces were thrown into confusion.
“Aria. If it really is him, you shouldn’t challenge——”
Great Earth Dragon hurriedly tried to stop her. The terrifying aspect of the Five Forces Leader lay in Mystery Destruction. If she challenged him and her own Mystery was destroyed, the situation would spiral beyond control.
Yet Aria shook her head. And then—
Aria challenges Eternal Randolph!