Chapter 121

Chapter 121
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Beyond Imagination

“I simply can’t grasp it—something completely defying logic is occurring over there right at this moment.”

My throat felt bone-dry.

Something beyond imagination.

It was possible that a horror, far worse than any cataclysm humanity had ever encountered, was waiting in the shadows of that place…

Gracia’s brow furrowed.

Vast numbers of dimensional tears had fractured across the entirety of the Abyss, and a staggering multitude of individuals began to materialize.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

“Where have we been taken?”

There were tens of thousands within sight alone.

Taking the entire Abyss into account, the number likely reached into the hundreds of thousands.

And every single one of them was from Earth.

Why had such a massive influx of humans suddenly been dropped into this void?

“Wait. Isn’t that the hero Gracia?”

“Huh? It is! It’s Gracia!”

“I don’t care what’s happening, we’re saved now!”

Recognizing his face, they rushed toward him in a frantic wave.

Word had already traveled far and wide that Gracia—once presumed dead—was still among the living.

However, Gracia was gripped by confusion.

‘Why aren’t they losing their minds?’

The majority appeared to be East Asian.

Judging by their clothing and the symbols on their gear, they were clearly Korean.

Yet, none of them seemed impacted by the environment of the Abyss.

The heavy, soul-crushing curse that had nearly shattered his own sanity had no effect on these newcomers.

“Gracia! I knew the rumors were true!”

“What kind of place is this?”

“W-we can leave, right? You’ll get us out?”

The crowd pressed in, surrounding Gracia like a human wall.

-Kaak?

-Kaaaak!

Simultaneously, the Curse’s Servants picked up the scent of fresh life and came charging in.

“Huh?!”

“M-monsters!”

Panic erupted.

These people were civilians, unaccustomed to facing such beasts.

It became clear there was no time for explanations or answering their desperate pleas.

“Thousand Swords.”

Gracia summoned a thousand blades into the air.

His physical reserves were dangerously low, but his heart was still beating.

He possessed just enough strength to perform his duty.

-Kaaaaak!

-Kieek!

He began a systematic slaughter, carving through the oncoming Curse’s Servants in massive sweeps.

“Just as I expected from Gracia!”

“That’s why he’s a legend!”

“Thank you! Oh, thank you!”

The crowd began to chant his name with growing intensity.

To them, Gracia was a beacon of hope, a genuine savior.

But the celebration was short-lived.

Splat!

The massive dark cocoon tore open.

Gooooooo!

…Because Baal exploded out from the center.

It had reached a state of evolution even more terrifying than its previous form.

Flutter! Flutter!

Its frame and wings had expanded to an unthinkable scale.

With every stroke of those wings, a violent gale tore across the landscape of the Abyss.

“How can a monster be that massive?!”

“This is insane! It’s larger than the 63 Building!”

“Stay calm! Gracia is with us!”

‘Does my presence even matter?’

‘Do they honestly think I can go toe-to-toe with that thing again?’

Gracia bit his lip until it bled.

The golden goat he had used as a resource was likely gone.

There was simply no path to victory against a creature of that magnitude.

Gracia took a deep, shaky breath.

He exhaled slowly, hardening his resolve.

He had tasted defeat once, but now he would maintain his dignity as a hero.

Even if his life ended here, it would be with honor.

He refused to let his final moments be pathetic.

Gooooooo!

Yet, something was strange about Baal’s behavior.

He had anticipated the beast would immediately turn its wrath on the thousands of humans.

Instead, the monster was staring back into the hollow of the cocoon with visible apprehension.

‘What could possibly be left inside?’

Lord Darkan and a massive battalion had charged into that cocoon.

Was it possible they had forced Baal out?

Combined with Guardian Knight Pamela, perhaps they stood a chance.

But moments later, Gracia realized he was mistaken.

Whatever had ejected Baal from the cocoon.

Whatever was hunting Baal, causing it to flee in terror.

The entity that now stepped out of the darkness, stalking the beast.

“…”

Gracia found himself utterly speechless.

…He had prided himself on his composure, thinking nothing could shock him after witnessing so much recently.

The Ancient Dragon Ryle, the bizarre Death Gods, the Star Awakener, and Baal himself.

He had met entities most people wouldn’t see in a thousand lifetimes, one after the other.

Yet the being appearing now was fundamentally different from all of them.

“…”

“…?”

The crowd shared his stunned silence.

Their reaction was distinct from the terror they felt when Baal emerged.

This new presence simply robbed them of the ability to speak.

Finally, looking at what had broken free from the cocoon, Gracia’s face twisted in a grimace as he whispered.

“…………What on earth is that?”

—

Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: The Dreadful Omen

The Demon King, reclining in his crimson bath, suddenly knit his brows.

‘This is peculiar.’

Beyond peculiar, actually.

Something so anomalous it defied explanation.

Unless the laws of reality had inverted, there was no reason for him to feel this sense of unease.

‘One of the four seals has unraveled on its own.’

The four seals—the cosmic restraints that were not meant to be unshackled yet.

One had simply released.

This wasn’t according to the timeline.

It wasn’t part of the ‘plan.’

Who could have undone it, and what was their motive?

‘…If someone intentionally broke it, it implies they grasp the true purpose behind the seals of the Four Evils.’

Tap, tap.

The Demon King rubbed his chin thoughtfully before standing up.

Instantly, the ‘Demonic Seeds’ that populated the chamber dropped to their knees in reverence.

As he had ascended in power, these Demonic Seeds had also evolved into something far more potent.

The window for the second ‘Invasion’ was drawing near, and his legions were prepared.

But the shattered seal of the Four Evils was a far more pressing concern than the strength of his army.

Those locks were supposed to fail only after the world’s corruption had deepened significantly.

‘But even if a meddler broke it by design, the die is cast. Baal has fused with the Abyss—it is now a creature of limitless evolution. Nothing exists that can halt its progress.’

He dismissed the thought with a shake of his head.

Whether it was fate or interference, the Four Evils could no longer be contained.

Baal would now begin to tear both realms apart by sheer instinct.

It would consume everything in its path until its hunger abated.

By then, dozens of human metropolises would be erased.

However… what if the impossible happened? What if the Four Evils were subdued? And the ‘hidden essence’ within was thrust into the world prematurely?

‘……That would be a minor inconvenience.’

He scoffed. It was a remote possibility.

《Initiating ‘The Most Radiant Light.’》

The throne of the supreme light.

The ‘Most Radiant’ enhancement—attained by sacrificing items of astronomical worth from the premium auction house—was a power even I hadn’t tested until now.

This throne had allowed me to call upon Ryle and conquer the Abyss Labyrinth, so I wondered: just how far could this ‘Most Radiant’ state go in summoning a champion?

‘The other Hexagon heroes lack the sheer power to bring Baal down.’

Who was the right choice?

Ryle, if bonded with the Supreme Dragon, might have a chance, but I couldn’t afford to play the odds.

I needed an entity that eclipsed the Hexagon heroes entirely. Or, I needed to become that ultimate light myself.

‘Can I finally bring forth Wilhelm?’

Maybe this was the moment for the Knight King Wilhelm to appear.

I hadn’t even scratched the surface of the Golden Rule, let even its ‘perfected’ version.

《The user will be reconstructed into the ‘Most Radiant’ form that reflects their ultimate potential.》

But ‘The Most Radiant Light’ wasn’t a summon at all.

It was a transformation into my own peak state.

Was this the moment Randolph’s true ceiling would be revealed?

《‘The King of Corpse Crows’ transitions into its most radiant state.》

《‘The Dreadful Omen, Randolph’》

……?

It was still Randolph, but the essence had shifted.

Contrary to my theories, I began to morph into something entirely new.

I was moving beyond the King of Corpse Crows, reaching the absolute apex of that lineage.

The Dreadful Omen.

A manifestation far more terrifying than a mere sign of doom—it was the doom itself!

I was no longer just a leader of crows; I was becoming a cosmic ‘phenomenon.’

‘…So this is the form that truly suits my current standing.’

It felt perfectly calibrated for the moment.

Perhaps it was the resonance of the Baal equipment, or perhaps the system judged the King of Corpse Crows as more formidable than my human self.

Regardless.

《‘The Dreadful Omen’ gains strength by consuming the surrounding corruption and spite.》

It was magnificent.

Truly unparalleled.

There was no environment more saturated with malice than this.

And no curse was as dense or powerful as the one radiating from ‘Baal.’

But the concept of ‘growing stronger’ manifested in a way I hadn’t foreseen.

My physical form began to expand exponentially.

Before long, my stature was a direct match for the colossal ‘Baal.’

‘……This isn’t just giantism. This is something else.’

This was the true definition of power.

At last, two titans of nightmare stood face-to-face.

Gooooooo!

Baal, feeling the sheer weight of the Dreadful Omen’s killing intent, flared its wings in a challenge and lunged.

I had never operated a body of this scale, but I couldn’t afford to be reactive.

I let out a piercing, world-shaking cry.

Kaaaaaaaak-!

The two massive entities collided in the sky.

The survivors trapped in the Abyss could do nothing but watch in paralyzed awe.

“……What kind of nightmare is that?”

“Is this… am I actually seeing this…?”

The refugees from Jeju Island were stunned into silence.

A beast with the head of a goat and a colossal bird of darkness, resembling a crow, crashed into one another.

Kwaaang-!

The very air exploded with the force of the hit.

The ground buckled, and winds of hurricane force whipped through the void.

“…Swords.”

Gracia deployed his Thousand Swords.

This time, it was purely for survival.

The thousand blades fanned out, creating a complex web of defensive barriers to shield the people.

Kurrung! Kururung!

It was madness.

Even just absorbing the secondary shockwaves made his limbs vibrate with pain.

Cold sweat poured down his brow.

‘What in the world is that giant crow?’

Even a veteran like Gracia had never laid eyes on such a creature.

It had the silhouette of a crow, but it seemed composed of ‘black flames’ rather than flesh.

An ominous fire that was actually putting pressure on Baal.

But this was Baal’s sovereign territory.

How could another being rival it here?

‘Is it a lord from a different Abyss?’

He knew that Abyss masters sometimes engaged in territorial wars.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

Only one Abyss had anchored itself here.

The Abyss of the Resurrected.

This was Baal’s world alone, without any interference.

‘If not that…… then is it the Overforce?’

Such a terrifying thing.

Could this be the same Overforce that had ended Ryle in the Abyss Labyrinth?

The entity known as the King of Corpse Crows, under the personal protection of the White King.

Gracia had always wondered about the true identity of that being.

The warrior who had defeated Ryle—someone Gracia himself couldn’t best—in a single strike.

Could that crow named ‘Randolph’…… truly be this mountain-sized horror?

If it was, then the ‘Randolph’ he had heard of and this ‘Randolph’ were worlds apart in power, despite sharing a name.

“S-save us!”

“Mom! Where are you?!”

“Waaah!”

Total chaos erupted among the civilians.

They were losing their minds in the face of the apocalypse.

But the spectacle wasn’t finished.

“……Look over there. What are those?”

“There are more of them……?”

Following the shocked cries of the crowd, Gracia looked up.

During the struggle, burning feathers were being torn from the Omen.

As these feathers fell, they twisted and took the form of crows—but they were dressed as Taoist priests, complete with flowing robes and long beards.

Kaak!

Kaaak!

A vast army of these crow-priests manifested.

As they joined their hands in a collective prayer and shrieked, a localized ‘black sun’ ignited above the Omen.

Tears of blood began to pour from the center of this ‘black sun.’

As the crimson liquid drenched the Abyss.

Gooooooo-!

Baal suddenly let out a harrowing shriek of pain.

A sound it hadn’t made even when Gracia and the others had thrown everything they had at it.

Gracia didn’t understand the mechanics of the black sun, but he understood its essence.

【Death】

……It was the manifestation of the end.

If Baal’s world was fully submerged in the blood of that sun, Baal would cease to exist.

Tremble tremble tremble!

Staring up at the black sun, the great beast began to shudder.

This was the authority of absolute, inevitable death.

A pure, primordial end that was on a completely different level from the simple ‘poison’ it had encountered before.

‘……The true terror isn’t Baal.’

For the Overforce to possess such power.

For the master of the Labyrinth to be this kind of entity.

‘I understand now why the White King went through the trouble of announcing the Labyrinth.’

There was no other explanation for why he would protect the Overforce.

In that moment, Gracia made a silent promise to himself.

‘The Overforce’s Labyrinth is a forbidden realm. It must never be disturbed.’

Under no circumstances would he ever set foot in that Labyrinth again.