Ch-329. **I’ll show you what “out of bounds” truly means.**
—
*This is impossible.*
No matter how many times I rubbed my eyes and looked again—
No matter how many times I reviewed it—
It was something I simply could not comprehend.
Quantifying and summing up the *attribute of evil*.
The condition the Forgotten God had set was, from the start, an ordeal that could never be cleared.
Just as the druid Albino had said, possessing only purely good power was an impossibility.
Moreover, power and force exist by nature for destruction, and the stronger they are, the more inevitably they carry the *attribute of evil*.
Even a righteous, devout holy priest was no exception.
Everyone possesses an evil inclination.
It may be close to zero—but it can never be zero.
This had nothing to do with the value of honor.
*Simply being honorable does not mean one lacks evil inclination.*
For example, having high honor could erase evil deeds.
Even indulgences could reduce karmic sins.
But inclination and attributes are separate things—and they cannot be erased.
Having 100 points of good inclination does not cancel out 100 points of evil inclination.
It merely means one has 100 good inclination *and* 100 evil inclination.
You can raise both to balance them—but that’s all.
Furthermore, a high honor value means, in turn, that one is strong.
Class, skills, equipment, mysteries or talents, traits, or possessed tools—any of these could increase one’s *evil inclination*.
After all, the martial power gained from those was precisely how one accumulated honor in the first place.
Thus, all beings contain both good and evil.
That is what it means to be different from honor.
Honor and karmic sin can offset one another—but good and evil inclinations do not.
They must be calculated separately.
Even a *god* could not escape this framework.
*…The total should have far exceeded 500.*
Naturally, all beings possess an *evil inclination*.
A framework even gods cannot escape.
An absolute rule.
And the beings standing before the Forgotten God possessed remarkably high evil inclination.
The total was **925**.
On average, each held over **70** points of evil inclination.
That was higher even than the average of the *Demonic Race*, known as the *Lords of Evil*.
Of course, that also meant just how strong they were.
…But there was *one*.
One being that even by the Forgotten God’s standards made no sense.
*Evil inclination… it’s not zero, but negative?*
It could be close to zero—but it could never be zero.
Unless the being had just been born into the world.
And being *negative* was even more impossible.
Yet—
Right now, before the Forgotten God’s eyes—
There was someone whose *evil inclination* registered as negative.
And the value itself was utterly incomprehensible.
【-2,000】
…Just what in the world is this thing?
An evil inclination approaching two thousand—recorded as *negative*.
Even if it were simply two thousand, it would already be absurd.
But how could it be negative?
*Erased?*
As if it had been forcibly wiped away.
But inclination could never be erased.
Even if one discarded everything they possessed, the value would only drop to zero.
So what was that number?
What exactly was the figure the Forgotten God was seeing now?
There was no way divine authority was malfunctioning.
Especially not within the World Tree.
—N-no…!
This was no mistake.
Not a dream, nor an illusion—but reality.
The Forgotten God screamed as it realized its defeat.
It had lost under conditions where losing was impossible.
And it hadn’t just lost—it had been utterly crushed.
—What are you? How can you exist *outside* of “Truth”?
There existed a *Truth* that had persisted since the beginning of time.
All beings belonged to Truth, and none could reject or defy it.
But there was one exception.
Something that existed outside of Truth.
Something that even Truth itself could not define.
Commonly called *out of bounds*.
Yet things that were out of bounds were not meant to exist, and were inevitably devoured by Truth sooner or later.
And yet…
This being was undeniably *out of bounds*—
And still lived freely outside it.
Even though Truth, which tolerated no exceptions, should never have allowed such a thing.
Since the beginning, there had been only one exception.
—That one… another one like him has appeared…!
With something like envy.
Or perhaps resentment.
It spat out the words roughly.
Yet even *that one* concealed himself, moving only in secrecy.
Never revealing himself—existing solely as a hidden manipulator behind the world.
But this one?
How could it step so brazenly into the *Primordial World* itself?!
But the Forgotten God’s thoughts stopped there.
Because defeat here was not merely defeat.
—I-I cannot end like this… I must return, once more, to that radiant time…!
The form of the dark clouds began to collapse chaotically.
They shrank endlessly, losing their presence.
The screams gradually faded.
And then—
《With a total of ‘-1,075,’ the ‘Golden Scale Order’ has defeated the ‘Forgotten God.’》
《Miraculous Feat (3) – ‘Victory Against a Forgotten God’ achieved!》
《Miraculous Feat (4) – ‘An Overwhelming Victory That Cannot Be Refuted’ achieved!》
《Miraculous Feat (5) – ‘Acquisition of a Forgotten God’s Symbol’ achieved!》
《Across all knight orders, a total of 6 Miraculous Feats have now been completed.》
《Completed Miraculous Feats cannot be duplicated by other knight orders.》
《You obtain 3 additional ‘Souls of Forgotten Knights.’》
《You have obtained a ‘Forgotten God’s Symbol.’》
……
……
*
*
Three Miraculous Feats completed at once.
That brought our total to five.
It seemed another order had completed a single feat as well—but even so, our pace was incomparable.
**CRACK!**
At that moment, lightning struck before me.
Afterward, a small accessory shaped like a charred storm cloud appeared.
*So this must be a god’s symbol.*
I reached out and took it.
Then—
《You currently possess an ‘Inactive Symbol.’》
《If you imbue 5 ‘Sanctification’ into the ‘Inactive Symbol,’ you can resurrect the ‘Forgotten God.’》
《Upon resurrecting the ‘Forgotten God,’ your ‘Divine Alignment’ increases by 200, and the symbol becomes active.》
《If an activated symbol is planted into the ground, a ‘World Tree’ will grow.》
《If an activated symbol is placed at the related ‘Forgotten God’s Site,’ the ‘Forgotten God’ will reclaim its name, and life associated with the ‘Name-Restored God’ will begin to be born across the world.》
《If you restore a ‘Forgotten God’s’ name by placing the activated symbol at its site, the ‘Name-Restored God’ will develop immense favor toward you. You may commune closely with the god and obtain the position of Pope.》
《Alternatively, you may imbue Sanctifications into an already activated symbol to immediately obtain the position of Pope, allowing direct communion with the god.》
《However, if your favor with that god is low, you may receive a ‘God’s Curse.’ Exercise extreme caution.》
An overwhelming amount of information about the symbol poured in.
And its implications were shocking.
*…Planting an activated symbol turns it into a World Tree?*
Then that meant all World Trees were, ultimately, gods.
The gods themselves were symbols—and through symbols bearing divinity, they became World Trees.
Which meant the World Tree of Honor had once been a god as well.
*So a ‘Forgotten God’ is simply a god who lost its name.*
The storm-cloud-shaped accessory.
This thing, too, must have been a god who lost its name.
Activate it and plant it, and it becomes a World Tree.
Place it at its site, and it regains its name.
*…I don’t feel any desire to give it its name back.*
This thing was vile.
Base. A freak who believed himself benevolent.
I had not the slightest intention of restoring its name.
It would be better to plant it and turn it into a *perfect Golden Scale shuttle*.
Or perhaps it could be used in some other way.
*The uses of a god’s symbol can’t possibly end here.*
It was also said to be used to open *sealed zones* within the dungeon.
There were surely countless other applications I had yet to learn.
I put the god’s symbol into my pouch.
*What remains is…*
One thing.
The *Souls of Forgotten Knights*.
Five of them, no less.
They had to be used to strengthen the knight order.
But each soul had a name, and I was curious how exactly the strengthening worked.
I slowly raised my head.
Small lights were circling around me.
Those must be the Souls of Forgotten Knights.
Soon, the souls began murmuring.
「It’s suffocating.」
「I want to disappear.」
「…Who am I?」
「Where is this place?」
「……」
Each muttered something different.
All of them seemed to be missing something—like a screw had come loose.
One of them—*Banyan*—was the only one who said nothing.
No—more precisely, it was silent in words alone.
“W-why is that light circling around me?” Serengeti asked.
It was spinning wildly around her.
Silent—but unmistakably expressive through its actions.
Yet it was strange.
“That soul belongs to someone named Banyan.”
“Pardon? *Banyan*…?”
“Does the name sound familiar?”
“…It’s the name of a man who served as a member of the *Knights of the Round Table*. It could just be a namesake, but…”
I deliberately feigned ignorance, and Serengeti played along.
I couldn’t reveal here that I was Randolph—or Wilhelm.
“Then I’ll grant that soul to you.”
“…Y-yes.”
Serengeti nodded tensely.
I grasped Banyan’s soul and pushed it straight into Serengeti.
Instantly—
《The knight order is strengthened using ‘Soul of a Forgotten Knight (Banyan).’》
《The knight order’s ‘Dignity’ increases by 5.》
《The higher the ‘Dignity,’ the more additional effects are granted to the knight order.》
《Dignity 10: All members’ stats +1》
《Dignity 20: All members’ stats +2》
《Dignity 50: All members’ proficiency efficiency +50%》
《Dignity 100: All members’ experience gain +50%》
《Dignity 200: All members’ stats +5》
《Dignity 300: All members’ total penetration +10%》
《Dignity 400: All members’ level cap +1》
《Dignity 500: All members gain Divinity》
……
《Dignity effects persist outside the dungeon.》
《For the ‘Most Resplendent Knight Order,’ Dignity effects are doubled.》
《‘Banyan’s Soul’ is bestowed upon ‘Serengeti’ and regains its name.》
《‘Serengeti’ may use a ‘Fragment of the Golden Scale’ to inherit part of Banyan’s memories and techniques.》
**Shiver!**
Serengeti’s body trembled finely.
She shook her head—
“…Ah…”
Tears streamed down.
Then she looked at me and said,
“It’s not just Banyan. Excluding Wilhelm, *all* the other members of the Knights of the Round Table are here.”
Damn it.
Against all odds, the impossible was real.
Just as she said—just as I had suspected—they were all here.
“…Why are they here?”
I couldn’t understand it.
Why the Knights of the Round Table were here.
Serengeti took a deep breath and answered.
“Forgotten Gods summon the souls of the forgotten. The many Forgotten Gods here forcibly gathered the Souls of Forgotten Knights.”
“Then does that mean the Knights of the Round Table were collectively forgotten?”
“…I think they *chose* to be forgotten.”
“Why?”
“So that their true identities… wouldn’t harm Wilhelm…”
I frowned.
What?
Seeing my expression, Serengeti squeezed her eyes shut and continued.
“The Knights of the Round Table—excluding Wilhelm and me—are all…”
She trailed off.
But I already knew what she meant.
I murmured quietly.
The Knights of the Round Table.
Their true nature was—
“…Those who violated the *taboo*.”
Because every one of them was a being that should never have existed.
