Chapter 452. **Creation**
—
Clang! Clang!
The sound of hammering rang loudly.
In the vast forge, only a single man was striking his hammer.
“……”
Watching him, Baek remained silent.
Not only Baek—every dwarf stood with their mouths shut, staring at the man, Phantom.
At some point, Phantom had entered complete immersion.
He was utterly submerged in his own world.
Of course, for a blacksmith, achieving unity between self and craft was not unusual.
But the immersion Phantom was displaying now went beyond that.
Clang—!
Each time the hammer rang out, it felt as though the blacksmith’s soul itself was trembling.
Phantom’s hammering was striking at the dwarves’ very heartstrings.
It felt as though the steel souls they possessed were being tempered together with his.
‘A perfect wavelength.’
Reaching this level had taken only a mere two weeks.
But Baek knew that time itself was not what mattered.
Even what people call miracles only come to those who are prepared.
Phantom had already been prepared long before he arrived at these tunnels.
Not the preparation of a mere blacksmith striking iron.
The technique Phantom was displaying now existed on an entirely different plane.
‘He’s creating new life—.’
That was creation itself.
Phantom had stepped into the domain of creation.
It was proof that his realm had advanced another step.
Moreover, the swords Phantom was tempering were the demon sword and Winter.
Blades that had already surpassed completion and reached the heavens.
Just looking at them was dizzying—yet he continued to strike them without pause.
Hwoooong!
“……!”
At the same time, golden waves surged over Phantom’s entire body.
At a glance, Baek recognized that golden tide as something born of the Golden Scale.
‘This isn’t the light of an ordinary Golden Scale. That is—!’
……The World Tree.
It would not be strange to believe it was the very melody of the Golden Scale emitted by the World Tree itself.
The role of the World Tree was not merely to maintain the balance of the world.
It also created new life and sustained the source of life.
And beyond that—it performed the most important task of all.
The circulation of souls.
“So he was the master of the World Tree……”
Overcome with reverence at the sacred sight, Baek knelt and raised both hands.
The elders, and the other blacksmiths as well.
For dwarves were a race closely tied to the World Tree.
Claaang!
The soul resounded. His heart throbbed so violently it nearly ached.
And then the sword melted.
From within it, the soul—the *rune*—revealed itself.
Kuuurrrr—!
Biiiiiiii—!
That was the moment.
The tunnels shook, and an alarm blared.
—A Guardian Knight!
—Guardian Knight Andro!
Baek’s mind snapped to attention.
He had kept track of every single one of the most dangerous guardian knights.
And now, he had heard the name of one of them.
Baek turned his gaze toward Phantom.
Clang!
Yet even then, Phantom did not break his immersion.
An immersion beyond imagination—hammering without the slightest wavering even in this situation. As if death itself held no fear for him.
No—this wasn’t it.
He was completely cut off from the outside world.
He likely didn’t even know he was under attack.
‘I can’t let this completion be interrupted.’
This was something beyond art.
Baek believed he must not break Phantom’s concentration.
If not now, who knew when such a miracle would ever come again?
It was a rare encounter—an awakening.
And so—
Baek was going mad with curiosity over just what Phantom was creating.
“…All Blacksmiths, follow me.”
Thus, Baek moved as quietly as possible.
Along with the Blacksmiths capable of controlling Gigants.
Guardian Knight Andro was a top-tier existence even among guardian knights.
Every one of them would have to risk their lives.
*
*
After agonizing over the boundary between soul and rune, I finally arrived at an answer.
Why runes could never be completed.
Why they were incomplete.
‘The answer lies in the Golden Scale.’
Going further, I began to contemplate the *Golden Scale* itself.
The Golden Scale was the very foundation that made up the world.
It turned imagination into reality, birthed life, and brought about the phenomenon of evolution.
Yet I had never truly pondered the Golden Scale itself.
It existed, so I used it.
It was given, so I wielded it.
‘And yet, the beginning of everything was the Golden Scale.’
The creation of the game Pangaenia.
The players’ ability to *transform*.
All of it was thanks to the Golden Scale.
The Golden Scale flows from the World Tree, yet no one truly knows how to use it properly.
The Golden Scale’s most important role lies in creation.
In bringing into existence that which did not exist.
But who in this world could possibly play the role of a creator?
Only the master of the World Tree—only the master of the Golden Scale—could do so.
《You are using the “Complete Golden Scale.”》
《You grasp the “Complete Golden Scale” and shape it.》
《The “Demon Sword Satan” is being created in a new form.》
《The “Rune” of the “Demon Sword Satan” is being shaped by the “Complete Golden Scale.”》
Once before, I had invested the Complete Golden Scale in an attempt to turn the Blade Queen Hana into a Dragon God.
But now, I was shaping the Golden Scale directly.
Into the form I desired.
Into the form the Demon Sword Satan desired.
Ordinary runes could not accomplish this—but this one, possessing a fixed and absolute self, could surely be completed.
《The “Demon Sword Satan” is newly created.》
《This is a miracle that transcends the very standards of evolution.》
《Achievement unlocked: “Creator of a Dead World.”》
《All “evolutionary lineages” of the “Demon Sword Satan” are unified.》
《The rank of the “Demon Sword Satan” has been readjusted to “Eternal.”》
《Having lived eternally and continuing to live on, Satan attains immortality, reaching divinity.》
《“Satan” can evolve autonomously, accumulating rank to reach higher hierarchies.》
*
*
Guardian Knight Andro frowned.
‘Worms.’
To him, dwarves were no different from worms.
They burrowed tunnels all across the world, hiding away and making the land fester.
At least worms enriched the soil—those things were worse than worms.
And they dug incredibly deep.
There were likely tens of thousands of dwarves writhing down there.
Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine.
“Be buried—every last one of you.”
Kuaaaaaang!
From his wings, Andro unleashed an endless torrent of magic particles.
A tunnel complex of this scale ranked among the largest.
Burying and annihilating them all would earn him considerable merit.
“Stop, Andro!”
After one entrance was completely destroyed, warriors—including Baek—emerged from another.
Roughly fifty of them.
All wielding Gigants.
Weapons forged through runes.
‘A weapon that consumes its user’s life is no weapon at all.’
But Andro rejected that notion.
Those were not weapons.
The Gigants dwarves used granted them explosive strength in exchange for devouring their magic—and their very life force.
Because dwarves themselves could not evolve by consuming runes.
Instead, they shaped other runes into weapons, letting those weapons perform predation in their stead.
However—
In this world, runes carried meaning far beyond mere nourishment.
Even when consuming runes, Andro always performed a solemn ritual beforehand.
Yet these creatures dared to wield them as mere weapons.
‘Runes are meant to be revered.’
Guardian Knight Andro belonged to the *Rune Reverence Faction*, who believed that “runes are perfect and complete in themselves.” Mutating runes into weapons was something only heretics would do.
Shrrk!
Andro tore his own wings free.
The wings transformed into a massive greatsword, spewing black energy wildly.
“I was the one who severed the right arm of the god you worship.”
With this blade, I cut down your god.
Andro was one of those who had participated in the abduction of the *Dwarven God*.
His level of power was something mere dwarves could never hope to match.
“I can still hear the screams from back then. Begging me to spare him.”
“Shut up! If you intend to insult our god, we’ll butcher you!”
“Your god is now imprisoned, his limbs severed, his mind gone. No matter how you struggle, he won’t even recognize you.”
Boom!
Baek’s halberd tore through the air.
Lightning roared, bolts surging through the space where Andro stood.
But it didn’t reach him.
Instead, a hole nearly fifty meters wide was torn through the clouds.
Andro sneered.
“He regenerates, and we devour him. He regenerates again, and we devour him again. Your god made us stronger—so strong it could be called a new form of evolution. The taste was exquisite.”
“……!”
“That’s why I had some expectations for this so-called ‘God of Pangaenia’ you summoned—but he didn’t measure up to your god.”
“…What did you do to Dietrich and Apsel?”
“Oh, is that what they’re called? Who knows. By now, they’re probably meeting our king. Or perhaps they’re already being eaten.”
“……!!!”
Baek’s pupils shook.
No—every Blacksmith wore the same look of disbelief.
Dietrich and Apsel had been kidnapped?
And might already be consumed?
“Do you want to save them? Take them back?”
Hwoong!
Swinging his blade, Andro continued.
“Then defeat me. Struggle desperately.”
He had laid out the stage, allowing the worms to thrash about.
*
*
As one of the three guardian knights who had abducted a god, Andro’s power was catastrophic.
With the forces gathered here, they couldn’t hope to face him.
And Apsel wasn’t even present.
‘Even with Apsel, it would have been difficult.’
Baek clenched his teeth.
They were buying time, but instinctively he knew victory was impossible.
Against a mere upper knight, he was confident—even if several attacked at once.
But that thing was a monster on an entirely different scale.
A knight who stood as the king’s closest aide—and one of the rulers of this world.
“Is that all? This is getting boring.”
Andro clicked his tongue.
Even watching the worms struggle had begun to lose its appeal.
Just as he decided it was time to kill them in earnest—
Kuaaaaaaaang!
Pure magic particles, incomparable to before, gathered around his wings.
Baek and the warriors could only watch.
The moment that power struck the ground, the tunnels would be finished.
And then—
“What, is that you, Andro? That bed-wetting Andro?”
Someone burst out from the tunnel entrance.
A human.
The moment he appeared, he stood right before Andro.
Black hair and striking black eyes.
A mischievous-looking face that appeared to belong to a man in his early twenties.
He leapt forward and, without fear, clapped his hands right in front of Andro’s face.
“You’ve grown a lot, bastard!”
“……Who are you? How did you get close?”
Andro unleashed pure, dense magic in all directions.
Under normal circumstances, merely approaching would cause one’s body to explode.
There were no exceptions.
No matter how powerful a warrior, none could approach Andro in his current state.
And yet—
The man, standing right beside him, tapped Andro on the shoulder.
“It’s me, idiot. Satan.”
“……?”
