‘At best, it’s only the first invasion, it won’t be much.’
‘We have to handle it as coolly as possible.’
‘Even if they call it the King of the Dimensional fissure, it’ll be nothing more than a lower abyss ruler anyway.’
Everyone was optimistic.
They weren’t even thinking about how to clear it, they were busy worrying about how to deal with the invading monsters in a way that would look cooler on camera.
A mere 10%.
At that level, whatever monsters came charging in wouldn’t be anything special.
But the heroes’ confident attitude changed in an instant.
“Wait, what……?”
“Clear…… who……?”
At the same time, they all started panicking.
They couldn’t help it.
《The clear of the ‘King of the Dimensional fissure’ is in progress.》
《The ‘King of the Dimensional fissure’ has died.》
Because it died in an instant.
It was a total stomp.
But in no Dimensional fissure was any monster observed.
Who the hell was it?
Who is clearing it?
And they even killed it?
《The ‘King of the Dead, Ahram’ is resurrecting.》
《Entering Phase 2.》
“Ahram……!”
Some heroes, seeing the resurrected king’s name, turned pale.
To think the King of the Dimensional fissure was the King of the Dead, Ahram!
The gatekeeper who governed the first hell of the Demon Realm, the ‘Swamp of the Dead.’
Anyone who had participated in the great expedition couldn’t help but know that terror down to their bones.
Because fully half of the great expedition’s participants had been killed by him.
‘A monster like Ahram can’t be cleared in secret.’
The dead and hybrids he commanded were several meters to tens of meters in size.
And Ahram himself was a top-tier undead death knight, a powerhouse who could change the terrain by himself, clearing that in secret made no sense.
《The ‘King of the Dead, Ahram’ has died.》
……All the players couldn’t take their eyes off the window that had popped up.
‘They cleared Ahram in under three minutes?’
‘Is that even possible?’
‘Unless it’s someone as strong as Gracia or Master!’
It hadn’t even been three minutes since Ahram revived.
But neither Gracia nor Master was clearing anything.
A third party.
Someone other than the 8 heroes was clearing it at a speed beyond imagination.
But they had no idea where, or how, it was happening.
And that wasn’t the end.
《The ‘Hybrid Fusion Ahram’ is resurrecting.》
A hybrid fusion!
Ahram was resurrecting endlessly.
Each time he revived, he grew stronger, and the clear time was getting longer too.
A hybrid fusion, even hearing the name was pure terror.
Unlike the earlier clear time, when more than five minutes passed, the players cheered inwardly.
‘Looks like they finally failed.’
‘Did trying to clear it in secret start to overwhelm them?’
‘We don’t know who it is, but now it’s our turn.’
They couldn’t just stand there and let it end like this.
If that person got greedy and died, it wouldn’t count in the rankings anyway.
Instead, they’d just become a laughingstock for helping only themselves.
But their expectations were shattered in an instant.
《The ‘Hybrid Fusion Ahram’ has died.》
《The ‘Black Star Ahram’ is resurrecting.》
“…….”
《The ‘Black Star, Ahram’ has died.》
《The ‘Main Quest ??? : Eliminate the King of the Dimensional fissure’ has been completed.》
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“……What kind of fucked-up crap is this?”
The players naturally blurted out their rough inner thoughts.
It was that absurd.
Not only was there no clear, there wasn’t even an invasion.
Not a single monster showed up, not even an ant.
And yet what?
Clear complete?
The Main Quest is over?
Soon, the ‘Pangaenia’ floating in the sky slowly began to fade.
Around then, people started sensing something weird, one by one.
-Why aren’t the monsters showing up?
-What, it’s disappearing?
-The sky is going back to normal!
-Don’t tell me this is the end?
The world returned to normal.
The monsters that were supposed to invade didn’t appear at all.
It was like they had only threatened them and retreated.
But the players had no leeway to answer people’s questions.
Instead, with trembling pupils, they were denying reality.
Because they saw it.
《Evaluating contribution for ‘Main Quest ??? : Eliminate the King of the Dimensional fissure.’》
《Rewards will be given according to contribution ranking.》
《1st Place – Randolph》
《Updated to the hall of fame.》
“……!”
“……!!!”
Contribution rank 1.
The only single name that existed on that list,
…Randolph’s name.
***
The Giant of Annihilating Evil, and Dramut, and all the star guardians.
They still couldn’t believe it.
That a Corpse Crow had been recognized as a star guardian was something without precedent!
But the star guardians could feel it clearly.
That star currently held by the Corpse Crow, Randolph, had acknowledged him as its guardian.
“Strictly speaking, he’s a little different from us.”
At that moment, the Giant of Annihilating Evil added a word.
One star guardian asked, puzzled,
“What do you mean, different?”
“We are guardians who follow the Earth Goddess ‘Rhea,’ but that Corpse Crow is the only guardian of the Sky Goddess ‘Pina.’”
The 32 stars belong to the Earth Goddess ‘Rhea.’
But the 33rd star, that one, was clearly one eye of the Sky Goddess ‘Pina.’
Still, you couldn’t say it was completely different.
Because Goddess Rhea and Pina were twins.
Without the two existing together, the world couldn’t exist either.
Strictly speaking, in the end, they could be seen as the same.
The Giant of Annihilating Evil corrected himself.
“Even so, since he is a star guardian all the same, it is certain he possesses equal ‘qualification’ to us, I will formally acknowledge the Corpse Crow’s elevation to star guardian.”
“Mm. True enough, he even destroyed a ‘unique-grade’ mystery.”
“And he sealed Ahram.”
“If he’s a Transcendent Species, his qualification is more than enough.”
The star guardians began nodding, one by one.
The Corpse Crow wasn’t just an ordinary Corpse Crow.
He was a Transcendent Species who destroyed a unique-grade mystery, and even sealed Ahram.
Only the appearance was different, his very grade was overflowing with enough to become a star guardian.
“Wait, he is not a star guardian.”
That was when it happened.
The Giant of Annihilating Evil frowned at the voice suddenly heard from the side.
“……White King, don’t interfere in our affairs.”
“Our affairs, he’s already a Fifth Great Master, not some star guardian.”
“What are you talking about?”
The White King shrugged.
“Before coming here, I granted him the qualification of a Fifth Great Master, the other Masters agreed too.”
Strictly speaking it was half-and-half, but that didn’t matter right now.
Star guardians and Masters were completely separate domains.
They could never overlap.
He had to be one or the other.
And the White King had already given him a Master’s seat and marked it as his.
Meaning he was clearly stating the star guardians couldn’t take that away.
But the Giant of Annihilating Evil shook his head.
“The moment a star acknowledges him, he is a star guardian, it is impossible for a mere creature like you to surpass the qualification bestowed by the Goddess.”
“All things have causality, even gods are not free from this law of causality, I granted the qualification first, so kindly get the hint and back off.”
“Are you saying you’ll see blood no matter what?”
“Out of respect for the Goddess I let you into Kramdel, but my patience ends here.”
“How laughable, White King, do you think I fear you?”
Their gazes collided fiercely in midair.
You could feel their will not to yield a single inch.
“Why are you bastards deciding my future however you like, caw?”
Listening quietly, it was ridiculous.
Two monsters were fighting over my future.
The Giant of Annihilating Evil looked at me and said,
“It’s not that we decide, it’s already decided……”
“No, Randolph is right, your future is something you decide yourself.”
But the White King backed him up.
At the same time, the eyes of all the star guardians, the White King, and the Four Great Masters turned to me.
As if to say, go on, decide.
But even that wasn’t an answer I liked.
I slowly looked between the Giant of Annihilating Evil and the White King, and said,
“Prove which side gives me the bigger benefit, caw.”
From the start, the premise for those two was wrong.
I mean, if you’re going to scout me, shouldn’t you call out the salary first like normal?
***
A dramatic deal wasn’t finalized, but the two factions, having clearly understood my intent, decided to discuss it over time.
They meant to measure my value and settle it properly later.
In the meantime, I was organizing what I had gained in the Death King’s castle.
‘Level 6.’
My level had already reached 6.
It seemed the decisive role I played in killing Ahram had come back as even more experience.
So that made it 6.
If I were any other normal character I’d probably have hit 9 long ago, but since the experience needed to level up increased, I had gained benefits too, so there was nothing to regret.
More than anything,
‘Status window.’
<Status Window>
Name: Randolph
Class: Successor of Stars
<Stats>
Level: 6
Strength: 82(72+10) Stamina: 82(72+10) Agility: 82(72+10)
Intelligence: 82(72+10) Mana: 82(72+10)
<Activated Hidden Traits>
【Emptiness】
【Dexterity】
【All-master】
【Weapon Master】
【Giant’s Magic Resistance】
【Druid’s Nature Affinity】
【Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch】
【Beast Lord】
【Golden Grace】
【Heavenly】
【Mutation】
【Glutton】
【Great Sage】
【Eternal Randolph】
A smile naturally formed.
Because the stats were deliciously sweet.
My level was 6, but my stats were at the level of an average level 10.
It was thanks to winning two stars, and the ‘Successor of Stars’ class trait raising all stats by 10.
When I saw that a fourteenth hidden trait had been slotted in, an indescribably grand feeling rose in me.
Leveling might be slow, but stat growth itself was beyond that.
‘If someone saw this, they’d call it a bug character.’
Even I could barely believe it, if someone else saw it they’d have been terrified.
Level-ups, and stars.
But that still wasn’t all.
‘Main Quest 1st place, since I contributed alone, it’s only natural.’
The one and only participant.
Naturally, since there was only me, first place was mine too.
‘Still.’
I placed the reward I got this time on my palm.
A square object emitting a brilliant platinum glow.
‘A Platinum Box.’
A reward I had never seen in my life.
I had no idea what might be inside.
Unlike other Main Quests, in an invasion case the rewards were determined by ranking, and what was given to first place was this Platinum Box.
-Kraaaak!
At the screeching scream I turned my head, and Ahram, thrashing about, came into view.
Ahram was suffering with the Golden Fillet clamped onto his head.
And his appearance was very different from before.
‘He’s gotten a lot smaller.’
Once the Golden Fillet sealed Ahram, he shrank to about the size of a small child.
‘To seal Ahram so easily.’
The Nameless Constellation’s hair was Golden Fillet, a seal tool powerful beyond measure.
It was clear they had transformed their hair into Golden Fillet for that effect.
At first I was puzzled, but seeing Ahram sealed, I thought it had been a good choice after all.
‘Golden Fillet doesn’t just seal monsters, it also takes one ability from the sealed monster.’
If it were only sealing, it would’ve felt a bit disappointing.
But Golden Fillet’s true ability lay in stealing an ability from its target.
Similar to the hidden trait Glutton, but different.
‘And it takes the ability exactly as-is.’
One of Ahram’s abilities had been applied to me intact.
Glutton makes you transform into the species you eat and you have to raise the skills from scratch, but Golden Fillet lets you use the target’s inherent skill itself, which is unique.
Of course, using the Golden Fillet didn’t guarantee a seal every time.
If the Giant of Annihilating Evil hadn’t held him down, the seal would have failed.
‘There’s the restriction that the target must be immobilized for 10 seconds, but thanks to the Giant of Annihilating Evil, I was able to put the Golden Fillet on him.’
And a warning is sent to the target too.
Still, if you can hold them for just 10 seconds, Golden Fillet seals anything at all.
Even if that target is a Demon King, or a god.