Ch-363
—
……It was strange.
The Tower of Ruin that had risen up had suddenly disappeared.
Was it some kind of illusion?
Or a mistake on the part of the heavens?
Or perhaps……
“Let all lords listen.”
The Demon King’s Castle.
Seated upon his throne, the Demon King gazed down at the lords lined up before him.
Although the First Lord, the Dead King Ahram, and the Second Lord, Issera, had been defeated and killed, there were still five lords remaining who followed him.
Beings who had been granted power and authority beyond any comparison to the past.
As the Demon King grew stronger, so did they.
But that was not the only reason.
The soul of Wilhelm, and the stars of Pina—sacrificed to protect Greed.
The Demon King possessed all of it.
And yet, it was still not enough.
His throat was dry.
His hunger unquenched.
Thus, the Demon King spoke to the lords bowing their heads before him.
“Find it. Ruin.”
Ruin, which must be somewhere in this world right now.
The fact that the tower had risen was proof that it existed here.
Ruin, which should have been in the heavens, had in truth remained on the earth.
It could be a punishment for failure.
Or perhaps another form of Ruin entirely.
Either way—
It did not matter.
“We obey your command, O Great One.”
The lords answered as one.
The Demon King’s orders were absolute.
Refusal was impossible.
But the Demon King was not finished speaking.
With eyes as deep as an abyss, he looked at two of them and said,
“Third Lord Mammon, and Seventh Lord Basara. You will remain.”
*
*
Mammon and Basara.
The two remained behind, their bodies stiff.
They had no idea why only they had been told to stay.
“Mammon.”
Mammon swallowed hard.
He instinctively sensed that the Demon King was in a foul mood.
If the Demon King so wished, someone like him could be reduced to dust in the blink of an eye.
And so Mammon replied with utmost caution.
“Yes.”
“Have you found the ‘Golden Spirit’?”
“Th-that is…… we have mobilized all the primordial spirits and are searching the Spirit Tower, but……”
“It seems the Spirit Tower is not being cooperative.”
“I apologize. However, if you grant us a little more time, I am confident I can bring you good news. We have definitely discovered traces that the ‘Golden Spirit’ appeared in the Spirit Tower……”
The Spirit Tower.
A place where countless spirits and the elemental Spirit Kings resided.
Mammon had found traces there—signs that the ‘Golden Spirit’ had appeared.
And not long ago, at that.
He had discovered evidence that when someone ascended the Spirit Tower, the Golden Spirit itself had opened the door.
However, the spirits of the Spirit Tower were uncooperative.
Especially the Spirit Kings.
“Destroy it.”
“Y-you mean…… the Spirit Tower?”
Mammon’s eyes went wide.
Mammon himself was originally a spirit.
Though he commanded primordial spirits, the Spirit Tower and Mammon were inseparably linked.
And now he was being told to destroy it.
The Demon King spoke in an unchanged tone.
“Destroy it. And force them into submission. I believe I have granted you the authority to do so.”
“B-but if we destroy the Spirit Tower, we will no longer be able to process the ‘Heavenly contaminants.’”
The Spirit Tower played a crucial role in maintaining the world.
It dealt with the contaminants that fell from the heavens.
If the Spirit Tower vanished, the contaminants would overflow.
And surely, it would affect the Demon Realm as well.
“The Heavenly contaminants no longer affect me.”
“Ah……!”
Mammon’s body trembled.
The Demon King was the Demon Realm itself.
In other words—
He had surpassed his realm and obtained power beyond it.
It meant he possessed might that even the heavens could not easily challenge.
No—more precisely……
It meant he had broken free from the influence of ‘Truth’ itself.
“C-congratulations, Your Majesty!”
Mammon offered his congratulations, but—
‘Already……!’
Watching the Demon King grow stronger by the day made him shudder.
There was no end.
Every day, he shattered walls and surpassed his limits again and again.
The Demon King now existed solely to grow stronger.
At that point, he could no longer be considered a living being.
Had the power of ‘Ruin,’ which had lain dormant due to Wilhelm’s body and the stars of the goddess Pina, finally awakened?
What was certain was—
……There was no being in Pangaenia capable of opposing the Demon King.
And yet, despite that, the Demon King still craved more power.
That was what made him terrifying.
Endlessly frightening.
Because no one knew how far he intended to go.
Mammon snapped back to his senses.
“I will handle it swiftly. And I will ensure results that will satisfy you in the invasion as well.”
“You had better.”
In the previous invasion, the Demon King had been deeply disappointed.
The First Lord Ahram, who had been entrusted with the initial invasion, had failed to carry out a proper assault and vanished somewhere, while Issera had ultimately suffered a hollow defeat.
“I shall…… take my leave now, Your Majesty.”
Mammon bowed his head and stepped away.
He had to repay the Demon King’s favor and expectations.
Every second counted.
As he did, Mammon cast a sideways glance at the Seventh Lord, Basara.
‘I’ll surpass you too—and all the other lords.’
He had no intention of remaining satisfied as the Third Lord.
Using this opportunity, he intended to aim for the Seventh Lord’s seat—no, even the Eighth Lord’s.
Especially the Seventh Lord Basara, who was an eyesore among the lords.
Her reverence for the Demon King was the weakest of all.
He could not allow someone like her to enjoy the Demon King’s favor.
“Seventh Lord Basara.”
“…Yes, you called?”
After Mammon left,
Only the Seventh Lord Basara remained.
She kept her head lowered, still tense.
The power before her was suffocating—far beyond anything she had known before.
Whoosh!
The Demon King openly released his magic, pressing down on Basara.
It was a clearly different attitude from how he had treated Mammon.
Then the Demon King spoke.
“Did you enjoy your time on Earth?”
“……”
……He noticed.
She had tried her best not to reveal it, yet he had already seen through her.
But how?
Perhaps…… he had known from the very beginning.
Still, he likely did not know everything.
She had not been careless enough for that.
It might have been a probe.
But the Demon King’s next words far exceeded her expectations.
“With your abilities, you must have already discovered the source of ‘Wilhelm’—‘Greed.’”
“……!”
*
*
The Knights of the Round Table have been revived!
This news spread across all of Pangaenia in an instant.
With the Pope acknowledging it and even making a formal announcement, an uproar was inevitable.
—What the hell happened?
—Weren’t they all dead after the Grand Expedition?
—I clearly saw them die with smiles on their faces.
—So don’t tell me they were all pretending to be dead?
—Why? For what reason?
—Maybe they were waiting for the Tower of Ruin to appear?
—Then who’s the new leader?
—Does anyone know?
—This is insane. If they can conquer the Tower of Ruin that even the Constellations gave up on…
—I asked on the World Tree Community, and they say they don’t know who the Master of the Round Table is either.
—Isn’t it Phantom?
—What are you talking about? Phantom is Wilhelm. Wilhelm appeared in the Tower of the War God.
—He even posted the strategy guide.
—If it were Wilhelm, he would’ve just said so.
—Besides, they called him the ‘new Master of the Round Table,’ so it can’t be Wilhelm. Who is it, seriously?
—One thing’s for sure—the Seven Heroes Association that spread all those rumors is screwed.
—LOL, they were still alive?
—What are they even doing these days?
—Public opinion is so bad they’re probably keeping their heads down as much as possible.
—Man, this is unbelievable. I never dreamed the Round Table was still alive.
—So where did Ruin go?
—Did the Round Table hunt Ruin too?
—This is seriously insane…
The revival of the Round Table was shocking.
It was etched into everyone’s mind so clearly that it couldn’t have been more definitive.
It became the hottest issue, splashed across headlines throughout Pangaenia and Earth alike.
At this point, a natural question arose.
—So which faction does the Knights of the Round Table belong to now? The Valan Kingdom?
—Aren’t they part of the Church of the Goddess?
—New leader, so probably unaffiliated.
—If they’re unaffiliated, they’ll be getting nonstop offers…
—Every major and minor kingdom is probably watching.
—Who’s going to recruit them?
Curiosity about the Round Table’s affiliation.
But then, another piece of news began to surface.
—Did you hear? The Church of the Goddess is electing a new Pope.
—What? Did the current Pope die or something?
—No, apparently he stepped down voluntarily. They’re choosing a new Pope to coincide with the Goddess Festival.
—Who’s becoming Pope? Don’t tell me it’s the Master of the Round Table?
—That part’s still unknown, but it looks like our city’s been invited to Holy Adrium for the Goddess Festival.
—Oh, same here.
—Wait. Did you see the attendee list? All three major merchant guilds are coming.
—The Iron Kingdom too, and even the Empire.
—The Round Table is on the list as well.
—At this point, people aren’t coming to see the new Pope—they’re coming to see the Knights of the Round Table.
—I can’t miss this. I’m going.
—Holy crap… isn’t this basically a gathering of all humanity?
—Seriously…
—Wow, the scale of participation is unprecedented…
