Beast God
That speed was faster than anything I had ever experienced.
Even as Wilhelm, I hadn't been able to catch him when he fled.
And now he seemed even faster than back then.
In the blink of an eye, the White King overtook Albino and Raiga—
GWOOOOOOOOH!
…and arrived right in front of me.
Mana gathered into a sphere on his forepaw.
Sword Hwan.
A bead of light infused with the principle of Sword Hwan—the art of devouring and erasing everything around it.
If it detonated right before your eyes, it held power enough to kill even a god.
The White Tiger Divine Fist, every scrap of his mana poured into a single punch.
The eyes of the White King that met mine seemed to say only one thing.
Die.
……There really was no one more insane than this bastard.
The White King had thrown everything into this one attack.
A total assault with no thought for what came after.
Mutual destruction. He meant for us to die together.
"N-no……!"
-……!
I thought I heard someone scream.
But the scream was erased almost at once.
KRAAAAAAAAAAANG!
Because the White King's mana detonated right in front of my nose.
The instant the roar exploded—
"……!"
Raiga's eyes shook violently.
GWOOOOOOO—
Mana burst once, and a massive black hole formed with the White King at its center.
It swallowed a radius of several meters and annihilated everything it touched.
If it was like this on the outside, what was happening inside needed no imagination.
"Y-Your Grace, Druid of the Golden Rule!"
Albino went pale.
His face drained of color, he stretched a hand toward the black sphere.
Then—
Sizzle! Sssssizzle!
With a sound of burning, the hand that touched it vanished.
Albino yanked his hand back at once, and the missing hand reappeared.
That wasn't all.
CRACK!
A single enormous eyeball rose above the black sphere.
Something that resembled the eye of Destruction King Mork.
At the same time, Raiga's expression hardened even further.
"Soul Eater……."
"Soul Eater?"
"A monster of the Abyss that feeds on souls. Destruction King Mork must have been an individual that evolved from that species."
Raiga answered Albino's question.
But Soul Eaters were a species that lived in the deepest reaches of the Abyss.
Few in number, extremely difficult to face, and even the monsters of the Abyss avoided them—Beholder-type creatures.
It seemed Destruction King Mork was the result of continuously evolving one of them.
The problem was that Destruction King Mork and the White King had fused.
Because of that, the black sphere itself had become the White King.
Raiga thought he understood the White King's intent.
He means to devour him. The same way.
Believing that the Druid of the Golden Rule had consumed the Fifth Lord, the White King intended to devour the Druid of the Golden Rule in turn.
Shing.
Raiga raised his sword.
The creature would not stop until it had eaten every last scrap of the Druid of the Golden Rule.
But the black sphere had taken an indestructible form.
The moment you touched it, it would snatch your soul away.
Albino had only avoided being swept up because his soul was large enough.
-Give it up.
Just as Raiga was about to swing his blade, the Forgotten God spoke.
-Physical force cannot touch that. Only a soul greater than the White Tiger Emperor's can affect it.
And no one here possessed a vessel of the soul larger than the White King's.
From the start, anyone who had strongly inherited the blood of the White Tiger Emperor could not be matched in the sheer size of their soul by anyone in the world.
The White Tiger Emperor, who had evolved and created countless species.
Nothing granted power as vast as the desire for evolution itself.
But if there was an exception, it was precisely the Druid of the Golden Rule.
One who triumphed over Truth. A being outside perfect rules.
Could the White King truly digest the Druid of the Golden Rule intact?
If he failed, he would be the one consumed instead.
What will be born inside that Sphere of Evolution… how truly fascinating.
And by that Sphere of Evolution, something would evolve.
Whether the White King won or the Druid of the Golden Rule won, the one who emerged victorious would certainly have become something else.
Then it happened.
Shwoom—!
A single streak of light pierced through the Sphere of Evolution and appeared.
And as if that were only the beginning—
Shushushushushung!
Countless beams of light punched through the sphere.
So it's over.
Faster than expected, but it meant a decision had been reached.
What had been created inside the Sphere of Evolution?
But after watching for a long while, the Forgotten God could only tilt her head.
RIIIIIP!
The one who tore the sphere apart and emerged.
But it was not what the Forgotten God had expected.
Two figures appeared.
The Druid of the Golden Rule stepped out carrying the White King, whose transformation had come undone, slung over his shoulder.
He had neither invaded the soul nor consumed it.
And yet something had changed.
Something.
That helmet……?
First of all, the Druid of the Golden Rule was wearing a helmet she had never seen before.
A golden helmet engraved with an eagle.
Moreover, the Druid of the Golden Rule's appearance had changed to resemble the Nameless Eagle.
As if he had become a human-form Nameless Eagle.
In that instant—
"Uwah……?"
-……!
The Forgotten God flinched.
……Because she had reacted.
The Primordial Human.
Her child.
Was looking directly at the Druid of the Golden Rule.
-…….
The Forgotten God could not help but be shaken.
This was something that absolutely should not be possible.
After all—
How could a soulless doll, which should have neither emotion nor reaction, open its mouth and move of its own will?
In the end—
the White King failed to achieve his will.
His plan to devour my soul had come to nothing.
Just as he had borrowed the power of Destruction King Mork, I too had been able to borrow the power of the Nameless Eagle.
The moment the Nameless Eagle transformed into a helmet, the White King's power could no longer invade me.
On the contrary, he had been destined to be consumed and erased by me—
but I had no interest in the White King's soul.
This whole affair had started from a misunderstanding to begin with.
He had thrown his own body into the fray thinking that I, the Fifth Lord, was dead.
Even so, that didn't mean I wanted nothing from him.
There was only one thing I wanted.
The power of evolution.
The authority he possessed.
Soon after, I was able to read the "roots" engraved upon the White King's soul.
Like strands of DNA, abilities that had stood out across long ages.
I learned the authority of the White Tiger Clan, the records of the White Tiger Emperor, and even their names.
Then—
Life information regarding the Primordial Beasts has been acquired.
Beast Lord
⟱
Beast God ★
The match was decided.
I laid the unconscious White King on the ground and stopped Albino as he approached.
"It's fine. Leave him."
"B-but……!"
The druid Albino was furious to the core.
Unexpected speed or not, he had lost the White King right before his eyes.
And if the creature opened its eyes again like this, it would simply repeat the same act.
"He won't attack again."
……It wasn't that I didn't understand Albino's feelings, but I had clashed souls with the White King once.
The White King himself would have felt something.
At the very least, he would not repeat the same mistake.
I had also learned that he held a surprisingly favorable view of the Fifth Lord.
When I kept saying it was fine, Albino looked at me with unexpected eyes.
As if he had never imagined I would forgive him.
"You lot, stop standing around and take him. Isn't he your captain?"
"…Thank you."
Only then did Tyrant Grizzly approach awkwardly and carry the White King away.
In the eyes of the beasts looking at me, fear, awe, and gratitude were all mixed together.
As if they were facing a true god.
Their entire attitude toward me had changed.
I added one more word.
"Fight with honor."
"……We will. I'll convey that."
Meaning he would pass it on when the White King woke.
Everyone present knew the White King's sudden action had not been honorable.
The other beasts nodded as well.
Before long—
The finals will begin in 5 minutes.
I calmly stared at the floating text.
The White King had been disqualified, and Andrew, it seemed, had ultimately lost against the Forgotten God.
When I turned my head, Andrew was already beside me, his body trembling finely.
"B-be careful. That woman…… is beyond all standards. She is a being that terrifying."
The Heart of Darkness had been shattered beyond recognition.
But more than that, Andrew was afraid.
Andrew, who as an apostle of the Goddess had never feared anything.
Pat.
I gave his back a single firm pat, then stepped out toward the arena.
-…….
The Forgotten God, who had been chattering until now, for some reason said nothing at all.
I shrugged.
"Let's finish this as quickly as possible."
The Forgotten God had no more cards left to play.
The Primordial Human—the emotionless doll of a woman.
Of course, I was in the same position when it came to having no cards either.
I adjusted the helmet once and entered the arena.
Right now I was synchronized with the Nameless Eagle.
Once the Hidden Trait evolved into Beast God, I could fully unite with the Nameless Eagle and transform into its very form.
Soon after—
The match begins.
Druid of the Golden Rule (Nameless Eagle)
VS
Forgotten God (Primordial Woman, Lilith)
……Lilith, was it.
A woman who drew forth dark energy without limit.
Ominous at a glance.
The degree of that ominousness was beyond imagination—enough that I didn't even want to approach her.
And yet—
-Lilith, what do you think you're doing……? Obey my command!
The Forgotten God let out a flustered voice.
Hm?
But I was just as taken aback.
"Aung…?"
Lilith approached with no hostility at all, took hold of my hand—
"Auwuu!"
……and smiled brightly.
The Forgotten God's face twisted hard.
An expression of irritation mixed with pure disgust.
It was the first time the Forgotten God had ever shown emotion to this degree.
A mere doll dares ignore my words?
Lilith.
The First Woman, the being called the origin of all evil.
But Lilith had no soul.
Naturally she had no emotions, and could not express them.
Opening her mouth to speak was likewise an impossibility.
Across eons of time the Forgotten God had raised her, yet never once had she seen Lilith approach anyone of her own accord.
A puppet doll.
Nothing more, nothing less—
"Auwuu—!"
It was just like a small child imitating a wolf's howl.
Holding a hand, nuzzling a face against it, making strange beast-like sounds.
That behavior was—
Courtship.
……A display of courtship.
An expression of affection and love.
But it was an impossible thing.
Lilith, who had no soul, likewise could not love.
And yet right now, Lilith was moving on her own and making advances.
Without even listening to the Forgotten God's commands.
……How?
It was thoroughly unpleasant, but more than that, it raised questions.
Had a soul formed within Lilith?
Impossible.
The Forgotten God shook her head.
Lilith's soul did not exist.
From the beginning, there had been nothing that could be called a soul.
An empty vessel had simply been filled by evil, nothing more.
So the behavior Lilith was showing had to be of an entirely different nature.
In other words—