**Chapter 404. Bow Down.**
—
A solid wall.
A wall that had never once trembled since the day it was erected.
Even the Blood-Marrow King, said to be a cosmic existence, and the Archdemon Primordial Heavenly Demon—sealed directly by the Heavens—had been brought to despair before this wall.
Mere overwhelming power was not enough to bring it down.
This was not a matter of strength.
This wall was something else entirely.
“So it depends on just how much more *perfect* it becomes… is that it?”
Just moments ago, I had completed the survival of *Jack the Ripper* in a more perfect form.
It wasn’t simply a matter of shortening the time—I had enriched the *story* itself.
Things I had missed.
Parts I had been unable to resolve because I was blinded by survival alone.
Thinking back on it, I had regrets.
I had completed more than a thousand survivals, yet there existed *four survivals* that left lingering regrets behind.
Difficulties that could boldly be called incomprehensible.
Stories so difficult that I had been forced to compromise.
Jack the Ripper’s story was one of them.
…The same was true for Wilhelm’s survival.
There were things I had missed.
Things I knew, yet had no choice but to let go.
“This wall… is my regret.”
I ran my hand along the wall of the Heavens.
I now understood what needed to be done, and how.
I had resolved one regret—if I completed the remaining three, this wall would collapse.
But… not yet.
I began shaking both hands vigorously.
“I need to loosen up a bit.”
I stretched my neck and rolled my shoulders back.
Though the three greatest regrets remained, it wasn’t as if the other survivals were without their own shortcomings.
I would redo every single survival.
More perfectly.
…What joy this was.
To be given another chance.
It was a blessing.
And that was why, right now, I was genuinely enjoying myself.
*
*
The Sal-gwi who had killed Sal-gwi.
As he watched his assassination target from the darkness, he suddenly sensed something strange.
“What is this…?”
A scene appeared before his eyes.
As if passing by—there was a man playing a game.
The character being played bore the nickname *Jack the Ripper*.
Park Hyunmyung was playing Jack the Ripper with everything he had.
Until it worked—cutting down even his sleeping hours.
To him, it was nothing more than a game, yet the passion and love he poured into it were unmistakable.
But it was meaningless.
Jack the Ripper’s survival story had already ended.
No matter how many times it was replayed, the past would not change.
And yet…
“What… is this?”
…Why was his vision blurring?
He had never cried once in his life.
He had hardly ever felt emotional change, and he could confidently say he had never devoted himself to anyone.
But he had *regrets*.
Any human would.
The desire to look back on one’s life and fix those regrets exists in everyone.
He was no different.
And yet he had given up.
Because regrets are regrets.
Because they cannot be fixed.
“Who do you think you are…?”
To drag those regrets back up again.
Once, long ago, he seemed to have someone he loved.
But he couldn’t save them.
He had no choice but to abandon them for his own *survival*.
There was no other way to live.
Even he believed that.
Even if he went back now, the result would be the same.
And yet…
“You saved them…? There was a way…?”
He had found it.
Park Hyunmyung had.
He had rescued a story he had given up on—a method he believed did not exist.
He had clearly seen it as zero.
But it wasn’t zero.
Jack the Ripper’s body trembled faintly.
In that instant, a violent upheaval struck his world.
The one thing he alone had given up on.
There was a man who had broken through the fallacy of zero.
If that man could do it, then so could he.
At the same time… Jack the Ripper’s gaze changed.
A star rose in his eyes.
Transcendence.
At this very moment, he had undeniably transcended.
He had not gained a star, nor had he received the call of a Star-bearer.
“1.3%.”
The probability of killing the Black King.
A path that had not existed before was beginning to reveal itself.
*
*
The Black King furrowed his brow.
Having obtained the White King and the power of *Despair*, he had finally become complete.
And yet—
“Annoying.”
There was something subtly irritating.
From the boundary between perception and non-perception, he could feel a gaze upon him.
When he grasped at it, it vanished; when it vanished, it reappeared, scraping at his nerves.
One thing was certain.
“He’s targeting me.”
An assassination attempt—against the Black King himself.
The way the presence concealed itself and revealed itself was impressively skilled.
Far beyond what Dark Elves could ever hope to imitate.
An assassin who had likely killed hundreds, thousands, perhaps more.
And because of that, there was no way he wouldn’t know the gap in power between them.
Above all—
Assassination is meaningless once discovered.
And yet, even after being discovered, the man continued to target him.
“He revealed himself deliberately. His presence. His existence. So that I would notice.”
There was only one answer.
Despite knowing the overwhelming difference in strength, the assassin had openly revealed himself.
…It was absurd.
From the moment he showed himself, it was no longer an assassination.
There had to be another intent mixed in.
“…Are you luring me?”
The Black King let out a soft chuckle.
An interesting fellow.
Knowing that neither ambush nor frontal assault would work, he was leading him somewhere.
To the optimal place to kill the Black King.
It was like openly casting a fishing rod and begging him to bite the hook.
He had never encountered an assassin like this before.
But still—
“In the end, it’ll backfire.”
No matter where in the labyrinth he was led, it would all be within the Black King’s grasp.
The power of *Despair* lay in its contagion.
The Ancient Phoenix, even the elves, had been infected by Despair and now followed him like puppets.
Everything it touched was forcibly implanted with cells of despair.
The phoenix’s flames scattered like black ash, and the elves were dyed pitch-black, just like the Black Beasts.
Thus, whatever place or monster the labyrinth offered would only serve to strengthen the Black King.
The Black King shrugged.
And he decided to play along with the man’s intent.
He was quite curious where the assassin planned to lure him.
Kirik!
Guhk! Guaaah!
Before long, the Black King and his legion came face to face with *dolls*.
A true legion of dolls.
Humanoid in shape, yet not living beings.
Strangely twisted postures.
And yet, the sense of ominousness they radiated surpassed imagination.
“Oh?”
He knew at a glance.
These dolls were the natural enemy of both himself and *Despair*.
And especially the one at the center—
“Filthy dust has come crawling in?”
A woman.
A demon… no, something far more refined than a demon.
How should one describe it?
Difficult to define in words, but it was undeniably a being tied to the *origin of species*.
The moment he saw her, the Black King’s body trembled.
The answer the Black Lion Clan and White Tiger Clan had searched for all their lives—the root of all *evolution*—was right there.
“That” was a pure origin.
Thus, nothing could encroach upon it.
The dolls were not living beings either, and therefore could not be infected.
Neither Despair’s power nor the Black King’s abilities could affect them.
But if only he could obtain *that*—
His legion would become truly invincible.
He wanted it.
Desperately—he wanted it!
“This labyrinth is my paradise.”
The Black King couldn’t suppress his smile.
This labyrinth contained everything he needed.
*
*
“What… are you?”
The Golden Mask spoke in a shaken voice.
Before his eyes stood a radiant being, clad in the brilliant Golden Scale.
The legendary druid Albino.
“To think a being like you… still remains in Pangaenia!”
Albino was strong.
Overwhelmingly so—on a completely different level.
Compared to him, the Giant of Ruin and the Blade Dragon God were child’s play.
Like… those *brilliant beings* that existed long ago, before the advent of Ruin.
But with Ruin’s appearance, all of them had met their end.
Ruin had eliminated everything that could threaten it.
Even the few who remained had sunk into the Abyss and lost their brilliance.
Thus, for a being like Albino to still remain in Pangaenia defied common sense.
It surpassed limits.
The Golden Mask continued in a trembling voice.
“You… you are a monster that existed before Ruin appeared. I’ve heard of you. The legendary druid Albino…! But I was told you were killed by Ruin!”
“As time passes, stories become distorted. I was merely waiting for the right moment.”
Albino released his full power.
Even the executives of the Reaper Cult, who had absorbed the power of Outer Gods, were no match for him.
But that was only natural.
Not merely because he was the *Legendary Druid*.
“Ruin’s curse suppresses this world. My goal is to free the world from that curse.”
The curse of Ruin.
Creating the Abyss and turning Dragon Gods into Mad Dragons were only small parts of it.
The greatest curse was the *suppression of the world* itself.
Before and after Ruin’s appearance, the overall martial level of the continent had plummeted.
Each race gained a fixed ceiling—a limit.
To break through it, one had to abandon their species and become a monster, or climb the Tower of Rifts or pursue the stars, step by step.
The most crucial of all was the *Tower of Rifts*.
Only by conquering it and making a *World Tree* bloom there could the curse of suppression be lifted.
And the only one capable of that was *Park Hyunmyung*.
“Outer Gods only accelerate the intervention of the Heavens and the advent of Ruin. Therefore… I cannot allow the instigator—*you*—to live.”
Fwoooosh!
The Golden Scale surrounding Albino’s body shone even more brilliantly.
A druid who had existed before the advent of Ruin, and who had already been revered as a legend even before that.
Though he had fled when facing Ruin…
Now that he had found the Golden-Scale Druid *Park Hyunmyung*, he would hide no longer.
“……”
The Golden Mask’s eyes trembled violently.
All the executives were dead.
By the hands of Albino and his companions.
Excluding the Golden Fox, whose fate was unknown.
In total, nine executives had effectively been slain.
That druid was stronger than anything he had ever encountered.
To say he stood at the absolute pinnacle of Pangaenia would not be an exaggeration.
And then—
Grin!
As if nothing had happened, a smile spread across the Golden Mask’s lips.
All the executives were dead.
Which meant—
…He had finally absorbed *all* the Lineages.
—Kirkekekekekekek!
The Lineage of the Golden Mask, having completed the absorption of all others, began to swell rapidly.
The bloated mass soon rounded out—
Srrrch!
Its center split open, revealing an eye.
That form was—
…an *Eye*.
The Lineage transformed into a colossal eye.
The opened eye slowly surveyed its surroundings.
Albino. And the Golden Mask.
The world.
“Ah…”
Seeing it, the Golden Mask shuddered.
Then, dropping to one knee—
“Bow down.”
He spoke.
The trembling would not stop.
The beginning and the end of all things stood before him now.
The long-awaited completion had finally arrived.
“His Majesty the Emperor has finally opened His eyes!”
The Emperor had awakened.
