The Birth of Black Moon Lilith

They had wanted to be reborn.

They wanted to reclaim their names, erase their past as evil gods, and begin anew with a sacred start. That they had nested within the World Tree of Honor was, in a way, a foregone conclusion.

This is the decisive reason the World Tree of Honor withered.

It was also the reason I had been able to open the dungeon. What the World Tree of Honor truly wanted from me finally became clear.

It wanted me to cleanse the forgotten evil gods.

The fundamental beings who had polluted the World Tree of Honor by invoking false honor. They had been screaming for me to erase them. Only when those bastards disappeared would the truly “honorable souls” no longer wander lost.

“I have lost. So now, stop…!”

The Forgotten God declared defeat. It must have realized that in a clash of darkness against darkness, it stood no chance. But it was too late. Had it done so from the beginning, things would never have reached this end. Had it accepted when I myself acknowledged defeat… The Forgotten God’s choice had come far too late.

Even because of the win-loss conditions, there’s no other way.

The conditions for victory and defeat had already become “annihilation of existence.” It was the Forgotten God’s own fault for arbitrarily rewriting the rules.

I stretched out my hand and seized the Forgotten God’s heart.

“No…!”

As if it knew exactly what I intended, the Forgotten God screamed. I paid it no mind.

Crunch!

“Aaaaaaah!”

I crushed the thing in my grip without the slightest hesitation.

It vanished. The Forgotten God. Its soul rose above Lilith and dissolved into nothing.

—I… I could have become… a goddess…!

The voice of one who could not abandon its regrets to the very end. But regret was only regret. In the next moment, the Forgotten God was annihilated.

Thud!

At the same time, Lilith’s form collapsed.

In that instant—

……

……

Ruin Shop.

Randolph’s power was darkness pushed to its absolute extreme. It was a “still deeper darkness” that even a Forgotten God who freely flung curses would find horrifying—and that was precisely why I had been restraining Randolph’s transformation as much as possible.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

This is still a power I cannot fully control.

It was simply too overwhelming for me to master on my own. After devouring the “other Randolph” in the Tower of the War God, Randolph’s darkness had grown even denser. That other Randolph had already displayed overwhelming might against the Abyssal Kings and Primal beings on God’s Island. Having consumed even that and grown stronger still, there was no need to elaborate on just how deep and black this darkness had become.

As proof—

Gurgle… Gurgle…

…The World Tree itself is being affected.

It was being stained. Uncontrollable darkness pulsed and spilled outward, dyeing the entire World Tree pitch black. The problem was that mere staining was not the end of it.

Suddenly the words the Forgotten God had spoken just before annihilation surfaced in my mind.

Another Ruin… Apocalypse, was it?

The true meaning of Another Ruin was the end of all things. Looking at it now, no word could have been more fitting. Everything within the World Tree lay inside the sphere of influence of the Apocalypse.

Aaaaaaaaaaah—!

Screams rang out from somewhere. Everything the darkness touched let out sounds like shrieks of pure agony. The ground crumbled into dust, shattering into countless fragments before vanishing. The entire Colosseum of the 3rd Floor scattered like powder, as if it had never existed at all. Yet the greed of the darkness did not stop. It continued expanding its domain, devouring everything in its path.

…At this rate, the World Tree itself might wither and die.

……This is absurd.

Witnessing the phenomenon caused by Randolph’s darkness firsthand left me speechless. If simply standing still produced this much devastation, I could not even imagine what would happen if I carried this form all the way to the roots. This was no longer mere foreboding. As the name suggested, Randolph’s darkness brought about the Apocalypse by its very existence. There was no way to regulate it. The light affinity I had scraped together as Park Hyunmyung still could not compare to Randolph’s darkness. Only when the balance was restored would I be able to wield it properly.

If the effect of Holy is added… I might be able to control it, even if only a little.

But I could not release the transformation yet. There was still work left to do. To cleanse this place, I had no choice but to maximize Randolph’s darkness. If I could regulate it even slightly, I would be able to paint the picture I desired.

And so, after destroying the Forgotten God’s symbol, I stared at the endless stream of messages rising before my eyes.

The score is more than enough.

Messages declaring victory over the 3rd Floor Trial and the acquisition of a total of 121 Souls of the Forgotten Knights. Converting every soul into Dignity yielded a full 605 points—far surpassing the 500 I had originally aimed for. I immediately bestowed every soul upon the knights.

Fwaaaaaah—!

Light spread through the darkness. Born from the Holy effect bestowed upon every member of the Knights of the Golden Rule.

Sacred Bond!

Just as expected. No—the effect of Holy far exceeded imagination. All blessing and prayer effects doubled. In other words—

The Goddess’s Blessing has been further strengthened.

I could feel the light affinity growing stronger. It had swelled to a degree incomparable to before, yet it was still laughably far from achieving true balance. But the importance of the Holy effect did not end there. In particular, Sacred Bond stood as the absolute opposite of darkness. Ordinary evil gods would not even dare to approach. The power of the Apocalypse was not completely deflected, yet the Captain received a doubled effect, further reinforcing the light affinity I possessed—and that was far more important.

I can at least turn the direction of the darkness now.

It was only the tip of the iceberg… but it had become possible. To turn the direction of Randolph’s darkness. Of the Apocalypse. Barely, I managed to spare the Knights of the Golden Rule and the White King’s Knights from harm.

Moreover—

Effects based on Dignity points continued further. Part of me wanted to remain with the knights and achieve more Mysterious Achievements…

I can’t stay with them in Randolph’s form.

Most of them still did not know I was Randolph. Moreover, they would never be able to endure the power of the Apocalypse right beside them. If I intended to massacre the Forgotten Gods, from here on I had to move alone.

However—

Ruin Shop.

There was something I needed to check before moving. The moment I acquired a Ruin Point, something called the “Ruin Shop” had appeared.

The list of the Ruin Shop had no end. Yet every single entry was ominous.

…Nothing but methods for destroying the world.

At the core of all of them lay the gods. Setting Lands of Ruin and annihilating the gods who dwelled there was the main thrust. Continuously expanding that land until every civilization and every god was destroyed. It aligned perfectly with the ancient tales of when Ruin first appeared. When Ruin emerged, brilliant civilizations declined, and the gods lost their power and faded into oblivion. In the end, most of them were cast into the Abyss. Without the Goddess’s sacrifice, Pangenia itself would never have survived.

Knight of Ruin.

I fixed my eyes on one entry among them. Knight of Ruin. It was the only one I could use right now. A suitable vessel happened to be lying right in front of me.

Lilith gained a soul, and the rank of that soul itself ascended. Afterward, I climbed the floors together with Lilith. Upon reaching the 4th Floor, the Forgotten God refused the challenge—yet in the 5th Floor’s Hidden Room, I was able to summon every Forgotten God, including the one that had fled from the duel.

The Forgotten Gods thought to themselves.

Something had appeared. An existence darker and more terrifying than anything they could have imagined. And the Forgotten God of the 4th Floor knew that it had emerged from the 3rd Floor. It also naturally learned that the Forgotten God of the 3rd Floor had been annihilated.

—It annihilated that god of curses?

It was unbelievable. The Forgotten God dwelling on the 3rd Floor—an evil god who wielded the power of origin and curses—was counted among the strongest even here. Yet it had been annihilated. Even Ruin itself could not annihilate a god.

Thus the Forgotten God of the 4th Floor immediately refused the offer of a duel.

—Wh-what is this? How did you summon me?

But reality was cruel. The Forgotten God of the 4th Floor looked around. The 5th Floor, the Hidden Room. This was a place where the Forgotten God did not set the rules—the challenger who entered did. And who could have imagined that those rules would be used to summon every single Forgotten God nested within the World Tree’s dungeon?

—You dare summon me?

—Has it gone mad?

—Whoever it is, it can’t possibly face all of us.

—This is ridiculous.

Most of them still did not know that the Forgotten God of the 3rd Floor had been annihilated. The Forgotten God of the 4th Floor, being on the floor immediately above, had simply sensed it naturally. They never interfered with one another. The farther the floors, the less they knew of what transpired elsewhere.

Should I tell them even now?

The Forgotten God of the 4th Floor hesitated—whether to inform them that the evil god of the 3rd Floor had been annihilated. But soon it shook its head. Telling them would only add to the chaos.

No. This is actually perfect. It can’t possibly face every god gathered here.

Thinking that way, its heart grew lighter. The game had not yet begun, so escape was still possible if it wished—but with this many Forgotten Gods assembled, there was nothing left ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to fear.