The Awards Ceremony

Randolph's classes had clearly been two.

The Star's Successor, and the Supreme Sword Saint.

Yet those two classes had vanished, and out of nowhere the name Another Ruin had appeared.

Another Ruin… is this the influence of the other Randolph?

Had the classes transformed, or evolved?

Even if the original classes had undergone transformation and evolution, it seemed unlikely they would complete themselves as "Another Ruin."

If there was a reason, it was surely the influence of the other Randolph.

The other Randolph, sealed within the Gate of Truth, had become connected to the Heavenly Realm.

He had nearly become the ego of Ruin itself, so a related class must have been added.

…Still, the irony is thick.

Honestly, it was an absurd situation.

He had stopped himself from becoming Ruin, only to become Another Ruin instead.

But it seemed not everything was finished yet.

The messages rose once more.

At last, the molting was fully complete!

Star Lord, Primitive Heavenly Demon?

He had surpassed the level of Star's Successor and become a lord who ruled the stars themselves.

I, Park Hyunmyung.

To Randolph had been given the class called Primitive Heavenly Demon—the original form of the Heavenly Demon.

Something I had never even imagined.

Yet the moment I saw it, a certain understanding settled in.

The natures have been separated.

Light and darkness.

Park Hyunmyung had been separated into the nature of light; Randolph into the nature of darkness.

The chaotic energies each of us had carried had finally returned to their proper places.

Randolph and I shared experience, but this extreme of nature we could not share.

Had we not already suffered the phenomena that confusion and chaos brought?

Chaos creates gaps. Those gaps have been closed.

The first advantage gained by the division.

Events like those that occurred in the Tower of the War God this time would never happen again.

A nature made pure and absolute left no room for anything else to intervene.

Even a Chief God would be no exception.

Chief Gods such as the Gods of Calamity and Disaster would no longer be able to influence my body.

The other Randolph was, after all, an ego born of chaos.

Likewise, neither another Randolph nor another Park Hyunmyung would ever appear again.

Egos derived from chaos always brought ruin.

It blocks every intervention from Chief Gods or the Heavenly Realm.

For that reason, the separation of natures had been something that had to be done.

Until now I had simply left it alone because I did not know how.

Without the enlightenment of Creation of Heaven and Earth, and without Wilhelm's help, I would still have remained in a state of chaos.

A time bomb that could explode at any moment.

…I can see the extreme. I can reach it.

And that was not the only advantage.

The path toward the extreme had become far simpler.

If one compared it to a staircase, until now everything had been scattered and chaotic.

The stairs leading to the extreme had been especially distant; I could not even take a step.

But at last the staircase had been arranged into a single straight line.

All I had to do was step forward.

Simply trust myself and advance, slowly.

"If you are tired, will you rest a little longer?"

"…No. I am fine."

Raiga's question pulled me back to reality.

Right now I was "Hyun of Adrium."

"Why am I here?"

"You don't remember? You collapsed at the entrance of the tower."

At the entrance of the tower?

I tilted my head inwardly. Had I been flung back to the entrance after conquering the summit?

Then what had become of Isabella, Serengeti, and the others?

"The awards ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow. Recover your body a little more until then."

Raiga slowly turned his back.

I spoke toward that retreating figure.

"You don't need me to tell you the remaining half of the Sutra of Life and Death?"

"…"

He stopped cold.

The final trial of the tournament.

It had been about reading and mastering the Sutra of Life and Death, yet in the end the book had been only half complete.

But I knew the lost portion of the Sutra of Life and Death.

That meant I was the only one who could fulfill the long-cherished wish of the Palga.

"…It is fine."

Yet Raiga left the room.

To say he had no interest would be a lie, yet he had set that interest aside regardless.

Why?

Death must finally be settling over him.

Raiga's condition was the worst it could be.

It would not have been strange if he died at any moment.

His state had already been poor, and the duel with Wilhelm must have worsened it further.

A pitiful back for a man once called the strongest of the Empire and the strongest of mankind.

Yet he was by no means weak.

Wilhelm was simply too strong.

Raiga was strong.

Strong enough that he would not fall behind even against Primal beings or the Lords of the Abyss.

His opponent had simply been the wrong one.

Wilhelm had been stronger still, and the other Randolph the same.

Consecutive defeats and a confirmed death…

Perhaps the string of losses and the terror of death had crushed Raiga's spirit.

I clicked my tongue softly.

There was nothing I could do for him, in any case.

Raiga's death was, quite literally, certain.

I had glimpsed a possibility with the Sunken Emperor, yet finding him would be harder than finding a needle on a beach.

If the man himself lacked even the will to live, the chances grew thinner still.

And so I could only feel regret.

Raiga had clearly been serving as a restraining force within Pangenia.

He kept the Death God Religion in check and contributed, in his own way, to the peace of mankind.

Above all—

…Heart Sword.

Though he had not perfected it, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he had reached the realm of the Heart Sword by his own power.

A completely different grain from Wilhelm's.

Wilhelm had also attained the realm of the Heart Sword, yet his was focused on turning an opponent's power against them.

It leaned toward defense.

In contrast, Raiga's Heart Sword was a sword in the truest sense of the name.

It was pure, unrelenting offense.

The direction of the will that wielded the Heart Sword was completely opposite.

That is something I would like to learn.

Because it was a sword of an entirely different grain from Wilhelm's, my desire for it only grew.

If I could master it and make it my own, I felt I could give birth to a perfect Heart Sword.

That was why the regret cut deeper.

That Raiga was accepting his own death.

First… I should examine myself.

I shook my head once.

Right now was the time to focus on my own changes rather than Raiga's.

Star Lord, and Primitive Heavenly Demon.

I had not even properly checked what options had been attached to the Gauntlets of Calamity and Disaster.

I drew a deep breath and opened the status window once more.

And when I confirmed everything—

"…Ha."

I could only laugh again at the sheer absurdity of it.

Raiga was certain.

That he was dying day by day.

That less than a month of life remained to him.

He had glimpsed the extreme of martial arts and trembled with the desire to reach it himself.

In the end, all of it was empty.

He would die anyway.

Especially the sword Wilhelm had shown at the very end.

I cannot reach it. With my talent, I cannot reach it.

That single swing of the sword had hurled him into a pit of despair.

The moment he realized he would never reach it, a deep despair washed over him.

Because he had not even understood it.

The Wilhelm who climbed the tower had been comprehensible, yet that final sword he swung was something Raiga could not grasp at all.

In other words—

…the gulf between Raiga and Wilhelm was so vast it belonged to another dimension.

Wilhelm's rank, his mastery of the sword, overwhelmingly surpassed him.

And so he no longer sought the remaining half of the Sutra of Life and Death.

What use would it be even if he learned it?

He was a man soon to die.

"The champion of the tournament is Hyun of Adrium."

Clap, clap, clap!

Raiga welcomed Hyun of Adrium with applause.

Yet the cheers were sparse.

"You faithless lot! Why are you not cheering?!"

Only one exception—

Aron, the son of the Goddess Sect cardinal.

It could not be helped.

It was only natural that no one would celebrate the victory of a man without any proper background.

Moreover, this was the Empire, and if the champion had come from the Goddess Sect's stronghold, public opinion could only turn colder still.

The awards ceremony ended quickly.

As promised, the champion was awarded the Path of Light and the Holy Path.

…the equipment Wilhelm had used in life.

Raiga had also intended to accept Hyun of Adrium as his disciple.

Yet far from the excitement he once felt, his heart had gone completely cold.

Even though this was the matter of deciding the successor of the Palga.

Even so, he will never reach it.

No matter how overflowing his talent, he would never surpass Wilhelm.

"…Has he gone mad?"

"He crossed the line."

"I suspected, but this…!"

In the heart of the Empire, the imperial palace, the executives of the Death God Religion gathered.

Those who had been searching high and low for the Golden Spirit King had assembled for no other reason than the awards ceremony.

Because Raiga had truly designated a man from the Goddess Sect's holy city as champion.

He had crossed the line.

Not merely crossed it—he had shattered the line itself.

"Do you intend to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sit still and do nothing, Golden Mask?"

"…"

At the center of them, the Golden Mask remained silent.

He had received the Heart of Greed from Raiga as the condition for holding the tournament, yet even he found this result unexpected.

That Raiga would truly choose someone who was not of the Empire—someone born and raised in the Goddess Sect's stronghold, no less.

Then a man wearing a lion mask spoke.

"I investigated Hyun of Adrium. Yet he seems like a man who sprang from empty air."

His identity could not be confirmed.

If even the man's information network could not uncover it, then it was truly so.

"A man without even a proper identity?"

"Could he be a slave?"

In most such cases there was only one possibility.

That he was a slave without status.

Naturally, they could only burn with rage.

"…Did he feel some kind of kinship?"

"This is insane. A slave."

"The Palga again…!"

When the previous master of the Palga had brought Raiga in and branded him successor, a bloody wind had blown once already.

The previous master of the Palga had purged every vassal who distrusted Raiga.

Even the knights who had followed him.

And so the Death God Religion had said little.

They had thought there was no need to voice an opinion when the Palga was cutting off its own hands and feet of its own accord.

After the previous master of the Palga died, they had driven Raiga into death traps.

They had endlessly assigned him tasks such as exploring the Abyss.

Only later was it revealed that Raiga had truly been a lion cub, but by the time they realized it, it was already too late.

"Not this time."

"We must cut the sprout!"

The executives' outcry rose higher.

It was enough that a slave had once breathed the same air of the imperial palace.

They had stood by during Raiga's time, but they could not endure the same thing twice.

"…Leave him be for now."

Yet amid that outcry, the Golden Mask stated his own opinion.

The surroundings grew even more turbulent.

"What deal did you make with Raiga?"

"Golden Mask. Have you grown fond of Raiga ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the meantime?"

He had made a deal.

But that was not the only reason.

The Golden Mask opened his mouth.

"Before long, Raiga will die."

"…Could it not be an act?"

"No. It is certain. Raiga will die. Soon."

At the Golden Mask's certainty, the room fell quiet for a moment.

Raiga's death.

A vacuum would open in the power of the Palga.

The Golden Mask continued.

"At most, one month. Even if power is inherited within that time, there will be limits. Dealing with Hyun of Adrium after that will not be too late. There is no need to touch Raiga and give the Palga's forces a pretext to rise, is there?"

The forces of the Palga.

The Palga was not a group that existed solely of the knight order and Raiga.

Behind them stood the true houses of the Palga, their true power.

They rarely showed themselves to the world, yet monsters who clearly existed were there.

Even the great Raiga had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠never been fully acknowledged by them.

The thought that Hyun of Adrium would be acknowledged did not arise at all.

Having ordered his thoughts, the Golden Mask emphasized once more.

"If left alone, they will destroy themselves. Both Raiga and Hyun of Adrium. So leave them be."