The Demon Who Changed Ruin

The End was the only being capable of destroying a god's symbol.

As expected, it possessed the power to extinguish immortality itself.

Most of the Forgotten Gods in this place had lost their names ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and degenerated so thoroughly that they could not even wield a thousandth of the power they had held in their prime. At best, they could set a few rules and fight within those narrow confines. There was no chance they could handle the sudden appearance of The End.

And there was more.

"A mere doll dares to seize a god by the ankle?"

"Let go! I said let go!"

There was another reason they could not fight properly.

Lilith.

She was the original doll — one of the vessels that must never be allowed to fall into Ruin's hands. The moment she reclaimed her soul and became a vassal of Ruin, she gained the power to stand against the gods themselves.

Ssssshhhhh—!

Countless shadows poured out from Lilith and seized the ankles of the Forgotten Gods, locking them in place so they could not flee.

God's Prison.

The absolute authority Lilith had awakened!

Only now did it make sense — the command to survive.

"You mean to see this through to the end?"

"Even if you truly are The End, this is still our world."

"You dare pull a stunt like this against me?"

Realizing escape was impossible, the Forgotten Gods began to gather. They clustered around those who had not been forgotten for long — the ones who could still exert a measure of divine authority. More than twenty of them. Alone, they would have been crushed one by one without hope of victory. United, it was a different story.

"Ancient!"

"Have you finally gone senile? Why are you just kneeling there doing nothing?"

But one alone refused to join their ranks.

The one called Ancient — the oldest of the Forgotten Gods — offered no resistance and voiced no opinion. He simply knelt, gazing quietly at Despair.

Perhaps he had lived too long after being forgotten. Perhaps the pain of an unremembered eternity had hollowed him out. He simply wanted to accept the end that had finally come for him.

"My End…"

When the battle ended, I stood quietly and looked at the Forgotten God kneeling before me. He was the only god in this World Tree dungeon who had done absolutely nothing against me.

"Do you have any last words?"

I asked because he seemed to have something he wanted to say.

The Forgotten God in the form of an old man spoke.

"End me. I wish for rest now."

He calmly drew out his own symbol and offered it to me. Then—

"Demon of Greed. The oldest of demons… and the one who changed Ruin."

Greed and Ruin.

"…"

For a moment, I lost my words.

What did he just say?

Demon of Greed. The one who changed Ruin?

…Perhaps he was mistaken. Looking at him, it would have been easy enough to make a mistake. The Forgotten God's eyes, set in an old man's face, were a dead gray. Pus seeped from both sockets. His skin was cracked like dry firewood, and his white hair was so brittle there was nothing left of its former fullness. Even his symbol looked like a neglected antique — worn and riddled with cracks.

He was unmistakably different from every other Forgotten God I had seen here.

The oldest existence.

That was probably because he had lived forgotten in the World Tree dungeon longer than any other. The way the other Forgotten Gods called him "Ancient" made that clear enough.

So it had to be a mistake. Me, the Demon of Greed?

My current form is Randolph.

The idea that one of the Seven Great Demons was Randolph made no sense. If that were true, Sancha — the Demon of Jealousy — would have recognized me when we met in the Tower of the War God. The Demon of Jealousy was one of the Seven Great Demons as well. But Sancha had shown no reaction whatsoever upon seeing Randolph.

"I am not Greed."

I might be greedy, but that did not make me the Demon of Greed.

The Forgotten God offered an awkward smile.

"You seem to think I have misseen."

"I won't deny it."

"It is true I am a god who cannot see. But that is because I am not bound by visible form."

"So you see what cannot be seen? What, exactly?"

"I see the shape of the soul."

The shape of the soul. I had encountered beings who seized and shook souls before, but never one who could look upon the form of a soul itself and read it. Which meant the shape of my soul resembled the Demon of Greed.

I still could not make sense of any of it. Not everything I had done could be called honorable — but I could swear I had never once acted in a demonic fashion.

"…If all you see is form, couldn't you simply have mistaken a resemblance?"

"There is no room for mistake. The Demon of Greed possessed a form more beautiful than any existence I have ever met."

The Forgotten God was certain. I denied it.

A demon, beautiful?

But this old man was an evil god himself. Coming from an evil god, the word "beautiful" did not sound like praise. In the end, he was nothing more than a wicked being that gnawed at the World Tree. I could not allow myself to be seduced by an evil god's sweet words.

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

"I have been forgotten so long that I remember nothing else — and yet the Demon of Greed alone remains clear in my mind."

"I am not a dem—"

"Ah, you are no demon. This is a tale of a previous life. Demons cannot reincarnate by nature… but the goddesses must have protected you. The two goddesses who loved you."

"…"

"It is still as vivid as yesterday. Rhea, Fina… and I… I… who was I? I, I, I-I-I-I, I-I-I…!"

That was when it happened.

The moment the aged Forgotten God spoke the names of the two goddesses, he began to seize. Both eyeballs spun wildly. His form flickered between blur and clarity again and again.

So this is the end of a Forgotten God…

It seemed to be the phenomenon that appeared just before a Forgotten God was extinguished. A god whose name had been forgotten met this kind of conclusion in the end.

But… for a god's final moments, was it not far too wretched? To vanish forever in a place no one knew, remembered by no one, unable even to remember himself.

About five more minutes passed.

"…I have shown you an unsightly display. Forgive me."

"It's fine. It was rather impressive."

"…If you will promise me rest, I will tell you everything I remember. About the Demon of Greed, and about Ruin."

"You want me to destroy your symbol myself?"

"Yes. That is all I ask."

Fair enough. It was a proposal with nothing to lose. What he wanted was something I intended to do anyway. And anything concerning Ruin was of particular interest to me.

The problem was time. If I remained transformed as Randolph for too long, the World Tree itself might erode and die.

"Keep it short. Just the essentials."

"Do not worry. It will not be long."

The Forgotten God nodded. Then, slowly, he began to speak.

"The Demon of Greed… was not right in the head."

…Along with a rather harsh choice of words.

The golden age of civilization.

The era when the power of the gods was at its absolute peak. An age when every demon bowed their heads and dared not look up at the sky.

In that era, there was a demon who did not fear the gods.

He never hesitated to look up at the heavens, and every time the gods came looking for him, he fought them — and still:

"You're pretty strong! How do you use that technique?"

"…"

"Come on, teach me!"

"…You're just a madman. Get out of my domain."

"Hey, don't play hard to get — just show me already!"

The gods clicked their tongues at his behavior. Win or lose, all he ever wanted was the fight itself. He never even killed anyone.

The Demon of Non-Killing.

That was why Greed was a heretic among the demon realm. Even the other demons could not understand his conduct. A proper demon was supposed to expand its dominion and toy with mortals. It was supposed to feed on the dark emotions of living beings and grow stronger.

"We ought to decide what to do about Greed soon."

"Demons must be destroyed."

"But Greed is a demon only by birth. He has committed no evil acts."

"A mere demon who feels no fear looking up at the sky. That alone is a challenge to divine authority. For that reason alone, he deserves death."

The Hall of a Hundred Gods. In the place where a hundred of the highest-ranking gods resided, meetings were held day after day. Today's subject: the disposition of Greed. But it was a topic that never quite reached a verdict.

There were gods who despised him for being a demon and condemned his ways. And then there were others.

"Isn't he adorable? A demon who doesn't act like a demon."

"Right? Yesterday he was watering a wilting flower."

"Oh, I saw that too. He even gave it a pep talk — drink up and hang in there."

"Tough it out, you bastard! That's how you get stronger!"

"Pffft! He's seriously cute."

There were quite a few gods who were fond of him. Mostly goddesses, of course.

"How did the discipline of the Hall of a Hundred Gods come to this…"

"Haaaaah!"

Today, once again, the subject was left unresolved. No conclusion could be reached. The biggest problem was the two twin goddesses who held the greatest authority among the goddesses. Thanks to those twin goddesses who unconditionally took Greed's side, he effectively enjoyed a kind of indulgence.

But for now, it was fine. The world was in its golden age, and the power of the gods was stronger than it had ever been. One demon like him made no difference at all. He was greedy only for his own strength and caused no other harm. Even if he did cause trouble, they could suppress him easily enough.

…Until Ruin appeared, that was what everyone believed.

But after Ruin's emergence, everything changed. The golden-age world. The Hall of a Hundred Gods itself.

Fwoooosh—!

…Everything burned away and was gone.

"O Heavenly Realm! Why do you seek to burn our world?"

"What is the reason you inflict the punishment of Ruin upon us?"

"We will not simply sit and take this!"

Mortals and immortals united as one. If the power of the strongest age gathered together, they believed they could defeat even Ruin.

But it did not take long to grasp reality. Ruin was far too ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strong. Towers of Ruin rose across the world, and countless lands and gods lost their power in an instant, falling under Ruin's dominion.

But the greatest problem was the illusion — the illusion that they were united. Perhaps because each of them was so great in their own right, they pretended to be one on the surface while harboring entirely different thoughts behind closed doors.

In the end, the empire collapsed under the Four Calamities and civil war, and humanity lost its greatest foothold. The druids, divided by mutual hostility, were eliminated one by one. The World Tree withered. The sky sank into darkness.

Demons no longer feared looking up at the heavens, and the power of the evil gods swelled day by day until even the gods could no longer control them. No — even sacred gods falling and becoming evil gods became a common occurrence.

"It's over."

"In the end…"

"If we had known it would come to this…"

The gods regretted it. The days they had spent drunk on their own power, doing nothing. If they had purged all evil earlier, it would not have ended so hollowly.

An age when demons no longer feared the gods. The demons' power had grown so vast that they could no longer be touched. Instead, they hunted gods and corrupted them.

The evil gods? The evil gods were practically gentlemen by comparison. They, too, did not wish for the world's destruction. They wanted to seize control of the world — they did not welcome Ruin itself.

But the demons were different. As if they had been waiting for this moment, they were obsessed solely with filling their own bellies. The world's failure to unite was due in no small part to the demons' influence. Ruin turned a blind eye to those demons, and thanks to that, the demons grew stronger by the day.

"So the demons have finally shown their true nature."

"Those bastards who couldn't even look at the sky when the Hall of a Hundred Gods still stood…"

"…But where did Greed go?"

"He's a demon too. Now that he has power, he must have shown his true colors."

"True enough. He would have seized the greatest power of all. Would he still lust only after his own strength the way he used to?"

The remaining gods were pessimistic. One day, Greed had simply vanished. But after Ruin's appearance, the ones who had gained the most were the demons. Given great power, they ran wild without restraint.

And would Greed be any different? If anything, Greed would be worse. The closer the world hurtled toward ruin, the stronger humanity's greed became. They slaughtered one another indiscriminately, desperate to seize what little remained.