Ch-351. **My Name Is**
—
A Forgotten God.
An existence so ancient that it had forgotten everything—lost everything.
All that remained to him were shallow fragments of memory.
Even those were memories from the distant past.
Only scattered glimpses of the era that had been the most brilliant and prosperous sustained him at all.
‘It was always a question.’
He wondered.
Why was he clinging to memories that were not even his own?
Why was he barely enduring, grasping only memories related to the two goddesses and Greed—
Even now, standing on the verge of annihilation?
Because of that unanswered question, he had never been able to find rest.
Other Forgotten Gods had all faded away as time passed.
‘Who… am I?’
Because he wanted to know—madly so.
Yet no matter how desperately he struggled, he could not find the answer.
All memories connected to himself had completely evaporated.
No matter how hard he tried to recall them, only emptiness remained.
He did not know why he had been forgotten, nor why he existed here.
It felt like being trapped in an endless loop.
To vanish like this felt unbearably miserable.
And so, when the End appeared—
‘Oh! The End has come to declare my end!’
He rejoiced.
The End is the one who proclaims endings.
Because it determines the end of all things.
He believed without doubt that it would also bring an end to the cycle of suffering.
But the shape of the soul possessed by the End resembled someone from his memories.
‘…Greed. Why are you here?’
The Demon of Greed.
One who should have already met death had appeared as the End.
He possessed darkness beyond imagination, yet within it was a brilliance so radiant it could not be compared to anything else.
‘Ah… Leah, Pina. You are still…’
The Forgotten God smiled without realizing it.
They were still together.
Even now, when everything had changed, they were still tenderly embracing Greed.
Yet until the world was on the brink of sinking into the Abyss, no gods other than Leah and Pina had aided Greed.
Because he was a demon.
Because of prejudice—that his birth and essence must be evil.
Only the two goddesses had devoted themselves to him.
If… that had not been the case—
Perhaps the Demon of Greed might have saved the world from Destruction.
‘Still beautiful.’
He was different from himself.
Unlike the Forgotten God—forgotten and made grotesque—those beings were bound together by unshakable faith.
That sight was so beautiful that—
…the Forgotten God’s chest tightened.
It ached and throbbed.
Why was that?
Though his lips curved into a smile, he was overwhelmed by sorrow he could not explain.
But one thing was clear.
That bond which transcended eras,
That intense belief—
‘Greed… have you completed the End that even Destruction failed to achieve?’
He must have finally completed the End.
After all, if it were Greed, it would have been possible.
Because Greed never knew how to give up.
A being so tenacious that even gods clicked their tongues.
The only existence to have fought and defeated every god of the Temple of the Hundred Gods.
Though he had lost to Destruction—
The Forgotten God knew.
If there had been more time,
If the world had truly become unified,
If the gods had not rejected Greed—
Then the one who would have defeated Destruction would have been Greed.
Destruction must have known it too.
And so Destruction…
Destruction… what did it do again?
‘My memory…’
That was where his memories cut off.
Yet those severed memories began to reconnect, to stitch themselves back together.
The cause was one thing—
…the Demon of Greed.
Having washed away the darkness, he had become a completely different person.
His appearance was clearly different from that of the Demon of Greed, and yet—
‘The same. Your soul is.’
The shape of the soul stood out even more clearly.
Truly… beautiful.
The soul of the Demon of Greed is shaped like a star.
A beautiful, golden, shimmering star.
Of all the beings he had ever seen, none possessed a soul-star so distinct.
Moreover, the power he wielded was the authority of the *Star Creator*.
The power of creation.
How could creation and the End coexist?
Even with a goddess’s protection, such a thing should have been impossible.
‘There is another… another soul. One unimaginably radiant.’
Only then did the Forgotten God realize—
That there was yet another soul accompanying them.
That soul was so vast that even the Forgotten God could not perceive it in full.
It was likely because of that soul that Greed possessed the power of creation as well.
Who could it be?
The Forgotten God soon met the gaze of that sacred soul—
And—
‘My memories… have returned.’
…the memories that had been forgotten and lost finally began to resurface.
The Forgotten God looked at Greed with trembling eyes.
And slowly opened his mouth.
“My… name is…”
*
*
“You’re really strong!”
The Demon of Greed trembled, his body battered and torn.
It was beyond imagination.
He had thought he had grown incomparably stronger than before, yet he was no match for Destruction.
“How did you get so strong? Teach me!”
“……”
“Ah—no. I’ll figure it out myself. I’ll come back tomorrow!”
Having accepted defeat, the Demon of Greed waved and disappeared.
“……”
Destruction remained seated upon the throne, not moving an inch.
He merely gazed at the spot where the Demon of Greed had vanished.
There had been no need to rise from the throne to deal with Greed.
Of course, the fact that Greed had defeated the Knights of Destruction and reached this place at all was impressive.
“……”
Destruction wore a bored gaze, then closed his eyes again.
His mission was solely to destroy the world.
To sink this world into the Abyss—that was his duty.
And demons were contributing to that destruction.
They were accelerating it; there was no need to kill the demons of original sin.
Demons appeared to oppose one another, yet were subtly cooperative.
They were also cowardly and perceptive.
If Greed were killed, all the other demons would hide.
So sparing him was more beneficial.
The problem arose the next day.
“……”
“I’m back! Let’s fight!”
…He actually came back.
Left with no choice, Destruction severed both of Greed’s arms with overwhelming power.
But the Demon of Greed did not give up.
“Again!”
The next day as well.
“Again…!”
And the day after that.
Even after realizing the insurmountable gap in power, Greed continued to challenge him.
Only after several days did Destruction understand—
That Greed’s strangely rapid recovery was because the two goddesses were behind him.
Goddesses were healing a demon.
Beings like water and oil—utterly incompatible—were working together.
In a world where humans went without saying and even gods betrayed one another—
“……”
Still, Destruction felt only boredom.
In that tedious existence, Greed’s challenges were merely a slight diversion.
If he summoned his four strongest knights, Greed would never have reached this place—
But they were busy annihilating empires.
“……”
And then—
“Uwaa! You finally stood up!”
…An anomaly occurred.
Destruction stood up from the throne for the first time.
Exactly after the fifty-second challenge.
The Demon of Greed was growing stronger with every fight.
At an astonishing rate.
Still inferior to Destruction, yet enough to force him to rise from the throne.
“Gah! That hurts! It hurts! S-stop!”
Destruction tore Greed apart into pieces.
Leaving him barely alive.
So damaged that even the goddesses could not easily heal him.
To the point that he would suffer for years.
He would only reappear after the world had been destroyed.
And yet—
“Destruction! I’m back!”
Greed returned after only seven days.
How?
The reason was simple.
During that time, he had attained enlightenment and shed his former self.
Not just once, but repeatedly—reaching the pinnacle.
He surpassed the Four Calamities, the strongest of Destruction’s knights.
Yet he still did not reach Destruction itself.
Destruction was the strongest punishment.
Naturally, one could not surpass it.
But—
“Oh? Now you’re actually going to fight properly?”
“……You.”
“What? You can talk?”
“An interesting one.”
It was the first time.
In all the worlds he had destroyed,
That Destruction had felt such interest in someone.
Now he understood why the goddesses aided and loved him.
A being who purely coveted strength.
That aspect mirrored Destruction itself.
But Destruction had never encountered a true rival.
Even the highest gods were no match for him.
Thus he had been bored—utterly weary.
Yet the Demon of Greed grew stronger with every battle.
There was no limit to his growth.
And so Destruction continued fighting him.
After 223 battles, Destruction took up his weapon.
At 569 battles, he used his authority.
At 1,201 battles, Greed could exchange ten blows.
By 2,650 battles, Greed transcended demonic limits.
At 5,110 battles, he grasped the truths of the universe.
And at the moment the count surpassed 11,247—
“I… I touched it…!”
For the first time, Greed touched Destruction.
It was not a major wound.
Merely a superficial cut that would heal instantly.
…but that was when it happened.
Watching Greed’s evolution, Destruction’s thoughts changed.
Perhaps… it would be better not to end this world completely.
To sink into the Abyss is to lose all possibility.
No gestation, no reincarnation—every cycle comes to an end.
Destruction, the punishment that sinks entire continents into the Abyss, condemning them to eternal suffering.
Naturally, the Demon of Greed would no longer be able to grow stronger.
And so—
Destruction commanded the one standing behind him.
“Observe everything about Greed. Remember it.”
The one who had watched all of this from the beginning.
The being who managed Destruction’s *Eye* and observed all of the world.
“For Greed is the key that will create the End.”
Destruction looked up at the sky.
Far away, beyond sight and reach—the heavens.
Even such overwhelming Destruction was ultimately just a tool of the heavens.
But if the End could be created, perhaps things would change.
Slowly, Destruction turned his head,
Looked at the one standing behind him, and said,
“Hypnos, Lord of Dreams.”
*
*
The Forgotten God regained his name.
“My name is Hypnos.”
His form grew more robust.
Though his eyes were still gray, no pus flowed from them anymore.
“Once the Lord of Dreams, a god who was defeated by Destruction and became a traitor…”
And a god who loved the two goddesses.
Ah.
He remembered everything now.
His name, his past, and why he was here.
Hypnos trembled.
Then he looked at him.
Greed.
No—he could no longer call him that.
Hypnos knelt on one knee and spoke.
“I will follow you, O End.”
*
*
《The ‘Order of the Golden Scale’ has reached the roots of the World Tree.》
《All Incomprehensible Feats have been completed.》
《Additional Incomprehensible Feats have been generated and completed.》
《The ‘World Tree of Honor’ has been fully restored.》
《The amount of ‘Perfect Golden Scale’ acquired is doubled.》
《The output of ‘Golden Scale’ emitted by the ‘World Tree of Honor’ is amplified.》
《The ‘World Tree Community’ has appeared.》
《‘Main Quest 6 – Clear the Party Dungeon’ has been completed!》
《Calculating score.》
《Calculating score.》
《Calculating score.》
……
……
Heaven !!!!!