Ch-46
—
More than anything, just look at the monsters currently standing behind me.
Aren’t they beings at the pinnacle of this world’s power—creatures so mighty your chest tightens just by facing them?
Especially the White King and that Giant of Ruin—those two are the real deal.
*‘I even have the Giant of Ruin. It’s more than possible.’*
The Giant of Ruin was the guardian assigned to Wilhelm’s final star.
Which is why I know him well.
He was also the star guardian I had the worst relationship with.
Unlike Drumut, he was not gentle in the slightest. If I even pretended to know something in front of him, he’d smash my head without hesitation.
But his strength was the greatest among the star guardians.
If I could use him, there was no better card to play.
*‘I’ve drawn two trump cards—the strongest ones.’*
A shift in thinking.
The more I thought about it, the more obvious it became.
I had no reason *not* to use them.
Not using them now would be stupidity.
After all, I’m the only one who knows what’s inside that thing.
“What is he doing?”
“He hesitated and stepped back?”
“As expected, breaking a Unique-grade Mystery must be impossible.”
The star guardians each threw in a line.
Just as they said, I was stepping back one step at a time.
If I loitered too close to the Mystery, those nightmares would kill me on the spot.
Only after creating a safe distance did I slowly raise my right hand.
*‘I don’t actually need to raise my hand, but a little misdirection should help.’*
To destroy a Mystery, all one needs to do is hold it in their sight.
But by adding a gesture, I intended to imprint a strong impression onto these monsters.
And, should they one day turn into enemies, this gesture might buy me even 0.1 seconds.
I slowly gazed at the Veil of Mystery.
*‘Disappear.’*
*
*
*‘What is he doing?’*
Drumut was growing increasingly anxious.
Randolph had been standing in front of the Mystery for quite some time.
“What a waste of time.”
“It would be better to turn back even now.”
“To think a mere corpse crow could destroy a Unique-grade Mystery was absurd from the start.”
The star guardians shook their heads.
We should end this waste of time already, they insisted.
At the same time, their gazes turned toward Drumut.
It was Drumut who had recommended and brought the corpse crow here.
He was the youngest and weakest myth-species snake among the gathered star guardians.
“You need to train your eye better, descendant of Jörmungandr.”
“You had spirit, but…”
The star guardians clicked their tongues and cast him looks that said *we knew this would happen*.
The very idea of letting a curse-type corpse crow approach a sacred star should have been unthinkable.
Drumut’s confidence amounted to nothing more than useless bravado.
“Now he’s even stepping back?”
“Tsk, tsk. Looks like he intends to give up.”
It was now certain.
That corpse crow could not destroy a Unique-grade Mystery.
Sure, destroying *any* Mystery was shocking in itself, but if it couldn’t destroy all Mysteries, there was no need to expect or fear anything.
*‘As expected, it’s too much for him.’*
The White King shrugged as he watched Randolph retreat.
After all, the Unique grade was absolute. The grade “Unique” meant the origin and standard of all things.
Destroying it was synonymous with twisting the rules of the world.
No matter how many Mythical Coffins one had broken through, the Tower would never grant one the power to break the rules themselves.
*‘Was it just pointless hope?’*
For the briefest moment, the White King had clearly felt it—
His Mystery feared the corpse crow.
His own Mystery was also Unique grade, made from countless Mysteries layered into himself. There were virtually no beings who could surpass him through Mystery alone.
It was the measure of his existence and the authority he wielded.
Was it merely an illusion?
Were the corpse crow’s words nothing more than empty bluff?
That was when—
“Hmm?”
Within everyone’s tension, expectation, and disappointment, the corpse crow raised a single hand.
And then—
**Crack—!**
The Unique-grade Mystery began to split apart.
“······!!!”
“A crack… the Mystery is cracking!”
As the fissures spread, the Veil shattered all at once.
Instantly.
Everyone watching was struck speechless with shock.
He had actually destroyed the Mystery.
A **Unique-grade** Mystery, at that!
They hadn’t expected it in the slightest, so the astonishment was overwhelming.
But once the Mystery vanished and its interior was revealed, their shock only deepened.
“What is that?”
“Servants of the Abyss?”
“No. They’re the Servants of Destruction.”
“They were contaminating the star!”
The star guardians immediately recognized the beings inside the shattered Mystery.
Destruction—the power that turned Pangaenia into hell.
The servants who followed that Destruction had been lurking within the Mystery.
And then—
“That warp… it’s the ‘Dimensional Rift’ Destruction used when invading the continent.”
“It’s just like in the ‘Apocalypse’.”
“······ We have to wipe everything out.”
Before them appeared a colossal warp.
They recognized at a glance that it was a Dimensional Rift.
Exactly like in the Apocalypse.
<‘The First Wall’ has been destroyed.>
<‘Dimensional Rift’ has been created.>
<The surrounding field transforms into ‘Swamp of the Dead.’>
The surrounding field rapidly expanded.
The underground of Cramdel was instantly connected to the Swamp of the Dead.
Those nearby had no choice but to be swept inside.
—*You, uninvited one.*
The King of the Dimensional Rift pointed at me and spoke.
Black armor and helmet.
A giant riding a massive horse clad in black plated metal.
Yet something about that figure felt familiar to me.
*‘First King of Hell, Gatekeeper of the Demon Realm—Ahram.’*
Insane.
The Demon Realm consisted of eight Hells.
And the Gatekeeper of the first Hell, the “Swamp of the Dead,” was none other than Ahram, King of the Dead.
The Demon Realm’s eight Hells were each so horrific that “Hell” was almost an understatement.
In the Swamp of the Dead alone, half the soldiers of the Great Expedition had died.
*‘I definitely killed him.’*
But Ahram stood there.
The one I had killed was alive.
Even his subordinates continued to exist openly.
—K… n… i… g… h… t… K… i… n… g…!
Ahram’s gaze was fixed solely on me.
Neither the star guardians nor even the White King existed in his sight.
He recognized me.
Recognized me as Wilhelm, the Knight King.
Recognized the one who killed him.
*‘He’s grown stronger thanks to the star.’*
He seemed even stronger than before.
Ahram raised a star—tainted pitch-black.
HUUUAAAAAAAR!!
At that moment, the dead convulsed and fused into a massive sphere of souls.
Countless corpses and spirits merged into grotesque hybrids.
And within that writhing amalgamation, I recognized a familiar face.
*‘…Why is Andasar’s face there again?’*
So that’s where she went.
Andasar’s face had become the core of a flesh-blended hybrid.
Her hair was white and her expression demonic, but it was unmistakably her.
It was a complete circus of madness.
*
*
At that same moment.
All around the world, people raised their heads and stared at the sky.
“What… is that?”
“Another world?”
“H-How is that… up in the sky…”
The continent of Pangaenia was reflected in the heavens.
As though it were about to collide with Earth at any moment.
“Is that… the other dimension?”
“Ah—! I saw something like this in the ‘Otherworld Community’!”
“Then the real invasion is starting?”
Panic and terror filled the world.
Twice already, monsters from other dimensions had invaded.
The buildings they destroyed and the humans they killed numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
If not for the Dimension Warriors, the casualties would have been exponentially greater.
The “Otherworld Community” had warned them in advance of what was to come.
Everything so far had been no more than scouts.
*‘Once a Dimensional Rift opens, the true Great Invasion begins.’*
······ The Master.
Smiling faintly, he observed the unfolding situation from the rooftop of a building.
With nearly thirty warriors beside him.
《Pangaenia Collapse Rate has reached 10%.》
《‘Main Quest ???: Eliminate the King of the Dimensional Rift’ has begun.》
《If the King of the Dimensional Rift is not eliminated within 30 days, all Dimensional Rifts will open and ‘Destruction’ will appear.》
《Thereafter, the complete erosion of Pangaenia and Earth will proceed.》
《Rewards: Distributed according to contribution ranking》
《Upon failure: ‘Destruction’ will appear on Earth》
The first Dimensional Rift had opened, and a massive invasion had begun.
But they had anticipated this.
*‘We’ve been waiting for this day.’*
The Master and countless rankers had long awaited this moment.
After today, the world would change completely.
It would become a world ruled by players.
The Master had prepared for this day for three years.
Building his power quietly, step by step.
*‘I will eliminate the King of the Dimensional Rift and surpass Gracia.’*
Gracia.
The undisputed strongest human.
But the Master planned to use this opportunity to surpass him.
No matter how strong Gracia was, he could not have built as large a faction as the Master.
And the strategy for Dimensional Rifts was fundamentally a battle of power blocs.
Even if Gracia was the strongest human alive, he could not possibly respond to simultaneous crises erupting across the entire world.
The Master had spent three years building his power and preparing his foundation.
This was a battle he could not afford to lose.
However—
“…Why hasn’t anything appeared yet?”
The Master’s expression twisted.
The Dimensional Rifts had clearly opened.
All over the world, simultaneously.
But no matter how long they waited, nothing emerged.
And that wasn’t the only strange thing.
《The strategy against ‘King of the Dimensional Rift’ is in progress.》
《Progress: 1.3%》
《Progress: 2.5%》
《Progress: 7.8%》
“…What is this?”
**Treasure of the Constellations**
The Dimensional Rifts had opened, the quest had begun, and they had been preparing to commence the assault.
But all they could see in the sky were the faintly reflected continent of Pangaenia and the scattered black Dimensional Rifts.
The Rifts had opened, yet nothing—literally nothing—was coming out.
Yet the progress bar kept rising on its own.
“······ Are other regions the same?”
“Yes, Master. All reports say the Rifts are open but no invading monsters are appearing.”
The gathered warriors were contacting allies around the world.
The conclusion: *there is no invasion.*
“Then who is progressing the quest?”
The Master frowned deeply.
If no invasion was happening, the progress bar should not move.
Which meant no one was attacking the Rift boss.
And yet—
《Progress: 11.3%》
······ The progress was rising steeply.
When one becomes a player, the first things they learn are the status window and the Collapse Rate.
Once Collapse Rate reaches 10%, the first Rift forms on Earth.
That fact is drilled into every player’s mind.
It is that important, and that dangerous.
Naturally, it shouldn’t be easy.
Which is why they had prepared for years.
*‘Five Rifts visible to the naked eye.’*
Five—just in sight.
Worldwide, the number of opened Dimensional Rifts was in the tens of thousands.
If monsters were invading through all of them, there should be hundreds of thousands of monsters.
Destruction should be unfolding everywhere, screams echoing, the world exploding into chaos.
Players should’ve been descending using the shattered pieces of the Golden Scale, showing off their might, and ultimately seizing the kill on the Rift King for themselves.
“What about Gracia?”
“He’s still in Korea.”
Gracia was still in Korea.
Why?
What food was there in that tiny country that he would stay that long?
If signs of Rift formation had appeared, he should have returned to the U.S.
*‘He could reach the U.S. in half a day.’*
Sword Saint Gracia. He could wield thousands of swords simultaneously.
And each blade was a treasure. Swords that could fly and fold space were nothing to him.
Yet despite the Rifts opening, he remained in Korea.
There would only be a few Rifts opening in such a small place.
*‘Does he have another objective?’*
The moment the progress bar rose sharply, the first suspect had been Gracia.
He might be monopolizing the Rift monsters alone.
But if he was still in Korea, then the Rift conquest was not his main objective.
It meant something else—something more important—was keeping him there.
What could that be?
—
Bugging the reality – Rudolph
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