*
Isabella opened her closed eyes.
The wavering figure of a child before her eyes.
Sonora.
That Isabella had killed that girl, who had been one of the candidates to inherit the queen,
“Is true. I was the one who killed that child. The queen was a monster who lived forever on the girl’s blood, and because the curse kept me from killing the queen, I cut off that child’s suffering in her stead.”
The Desert Queen was a monster wearing human skin.
She kidnapped girls whose blood carried powerful mana, drained their blood, and killed them.
After Sonora, it was Isabella, it was her turn.
Knowing her own turn would come soon, Isabella still ended Sonora’s pain.
The truth she had never told anyone until now.
Isaac, too, looked at Randolph and opened his mouth.
“Yes. I broke all the warps in the mining city and sank the place into the abyss. In the process, the people who couldn’t escape in time were buried together. It’s shameless, but, I was glad. So what, though? Is it wrong for me to cry?”
Serengeti likewise answered flatly.
“To be honest, when I first met Hudson, I envied his freedom. It’s true I used him as an escape from endless training. But I believe everyone’s love begins differently. Also, Lord Wilhelm is my teacher who taught me, the commander I must follow, a father-like figure I should emulate, and he is completely different from what I feel toward Hudson.”
They spoke the truth.
But the trial still was not over.
Even if they went on and answered the remaining questions, it would be the same.
But at the same time, the three of them thought.
Isabella, Isaac, Serengeti.
They all spoke with absolute certainty.
“...This space and these people are all fake.”
“Come to think of it, the Star Bearer would never ask crappy questions like this. Why are you throwing out questions as you please, you fakes.”
“At this point that should be enough of an answer, you stupid dungeon bastard!”
In that moment,
Crack—
The dungeon began to split.
*
“Will” could not believe it.
The space and the people had been reproduced perfectly.
They had been made based on the challengers’ memories, so there should have been no way for them to distinguish the fakes.
Yet they had answered, and at the same time, with conviction, they had labeled that place as fake.
The Room of Truth.
A room where you answered questions truthfully.
But that was not the real trial.
Before the three questions were over, having all three of them realize that the place was fake, that was the true content of the trial.
‘How...!’
Humans were a species that, once they harbored doubt, slid naturally into distrust.
There was no way they would all stay united, and they were supposed to be divided by the gaps between them.
This framework had never once been broken.
‘What is this. Why are they all so sure?’
They should have been suspicious.
Their secrets, secrets no one knew, had been exposed.
Once their secrets were dragged out and they began to search for who had exposed them, it was only natural that their fingers would eventually point to Randolph.
Doubt would become anger, and anger would rush toward ruin, it was the perfect picture.
That picture shattered.
In an instant.
It had already fallen apart at the very first question.
Yet it still made no sense.
That kind of trust, that level of faith.
Just what had they been shown,
What had they seen to believe, that they could be this firmly certain!
No matter how legendary a hero might be, their insides were always black.
Noble humans?
They did not exist.
There were only those who believed such a thing.
And such belief was easily broken.
This time, it was supposed to be the same, of course.
“I figured you’d be here, trashy Will of the great Creator.”
...That was what it had been sure of.
“Will” stared in shock at the doom standing before its eyes.
Heavenly Spirit.
The “Master Floor.”
Just as I’d expected.
If it wanted to tamper with the trial at will and pull me out while I was challenging it, there was only one possible place, the Master Floor.
The place where the owner of the dungeon resided and exerted absolute authority.
When the trial shattered, the Master Floor naturally revealed itself, and in that process “Will” showed itself as well.
–Who... are you...? I have never seen an “irregular” like you...!
The will of a demigod, of a great demigod, stared at me in confusion.
Will’s form was a black shadow.
Crown on its head, seated at a round table, it had been looking down over the dungeon, sneering.
As if it were playing a game.
But as its defeat approached, its utterly pathetic true nature was laid bare.
“I already told you. I am your doom.”
I am your doom.
It was time to end this long, bitter connection.
This absurd dungeon was better off erased.
A trait dungeon. From the name alone, it sounded like a dungeon where you had to compare the talents and traits you possessed with your party’s composition, then attack after you had a well-balanced team.
Most challengers, myself included, had thought that and entered.
But it was not.
The Demigod trait dungeon was a dungeon you could only clear if you knew the “traits of the demigod.”
In other words, this bastard.
After figuring out Will’s traits, the garbage of this bastard’s inclination, you had to break every rule to reach this place.
‘Damn wordplay.’
Damn Will.
Besides, this place was not a trial ground.
The restraints that had been suppressing me were gone.
I drew two Extreme Iron Swords.
The very next moment,
《All Constellations of the Pantheon begin to focus on you and “Will”.》
The Constellations of the Pantheon had finally turned their gaze.
It was not a bad thing that they were watching,
But it was strange that their eyes were on not only me but also on “Will.”
Clang, claaang—!
I swung the swords in two swift arcs to cut off its neck, but there was a dull sound as the blades bounced off.
‘Physical nullification.’
It looked like physical attacks did not work at all.
Then how was I supposed to kill it?
Bzzzt, bzzzzzt!
At the same time, like a broken TV screen, noise began to crawl all over “Will’s” body.
In that state, “Will” spoke.
–So, you’re a minion sent by Ruin. Sent to erase me, the great Will, you “absolute evil”!
It lumped me together with Ruin and labeled me absolute evil.
But its state was clearly different from before.
Phase 2.
As expected, this bastard was the final dungeon boss.
–O absolute evil, let us play one last game. A fair game of glory!
...Was it actually insane?
Where exactly was there “fair glory” in any of this for it to use those words.
Will was probably the being farthest from those words.
Soon, the crown it wore vanished and, beside the round table, three people appeared.
They looked exactly like Isaac, Isabella, and Serengeti.
–Your party and my party will clash. But they cannot move. The only ones who can make them move are you and I!
The noise-ridden “Will” pulled out a sheet of paper.
–You and your party shall swear on this! Then you will all become a perfect “one”! If you are afraid and terrified, you may flee, o absolute evil!
What a ridiculous bastard.
Pulling out a game in which it had an overwhelming advantage and calling it “fair”?
Judging from the oath, I would be able to move my party members’ bodies as if they were my own.
The problem was, all senses including pain remained intact.
If the pain became too severe, they could resist my commands.
More than anything, no matter how freely I was allowed to move someone else’s body, there was no way it would be easy.
“Interesting.”
However, in other words, this was a genuine “game.”
Like a gamer moving an avatar in a game.
Of course, the control would feel completely different from using a mouse and keyboard, but this was Pangaenia, and Isaac and Isabella were characters I had raised myself.
Will did not know that I had been a “gamer.”
I had no idea how different the controls would feel, but if even finer control was possible...
–The oath is complete! Khahahahahahaha! Now, show me your desperate struggle, o absolute evil!
Will laughed like a madman.
*
Ssshk.
The man wearing the crown slowly rose from his throne.
Then,
Fwoooosh!
Candles flared to life in the dark space.
One hundred candles, including his own.
“You must all have been quite curious as well, fallen ones.”
The Constellation of the Radiant Hero.
He smiled as he looked at the other Constellations rising above the flames.
“A part of my past and a currently promising hero will face off. Who will you bet on?”
The Constellation of the Radiant Hero urged the other Constellations to choose.
But it was not a choice they could make lightly.
His ability to handle heroes, forge them, and make them follow was truly astounding.
How could one possibly surpass the one named the “Radiant Hero.” Even if what stood now was but a remnant of his past.
Whoooosh—!
It was then.
A gigantic wave of Golden Rule surged like a tsunami from all sides. Soon, as it merged, the Golden Rule turned into a golden bird and gently settled on the ground.
Seeing this, the Constellation of the Radiant Hero’s smile deepened.
“Constellation of Adventure. You still love hardship and adversity, I see.”
The one who made the impossible possible.
The being also called the indomitable adventurer, because it never gave up.
The choice was so like him that it drew a laugh.
Whoooosh—!
Whooosh!
Starting with the Constellation of Adventure, the Constellations made their choices.
Seeing the result, the Constellation of the Radiant Hero stroked his chin at the interesting outcome.
Fifty to forty-nine.
Even if that was a fragment of his old self, that final ability of his was “real.”
Even knowing that, for it to end up a half-and-half split.
Was it because of the miraculous mystery he had shown them?
But miracles did not happen twice.
“Then I shall place my stake as well.”
Behind the Constellation of the Radiant Hero, the Golden Rule rippled.
*
‘So this is what it feels like.’
It felt like my vision was floating in midair, like I had become an observer.
In short, it was like watching characters on a monitor.
Familiar to the point of comfort, I tried moving the three of them.
“...!”
Isaac, Isabella, Serengeti.
When their bodies moved on their own, they wore startled expressions.
But they naturally entrusted their bodies to it. They knew I was the one moving them.
The feeling was the same as when playing a game, but the problem was multiplayer.
I had never moved three characters at once.
“Take your time and prepare as much as you like. I shall at least give you time to grow accustomed.”
The three standing opposite all spoke at the same time.
Copies moved by Will.
Their stats and traits had been duplicated perfectly, and Will was manipulating them freely.
It was acting as if this were its last bit of kindness, which was disgusting, but that only proved how confident it was.
The certainty that it would never lose.
I shook out my hands a few times, rolled my legs, then drew their weapons.
Seeing that, “Will” sneered.
“Already finished preparing? Arrogant brat. I went out of my way to show mercy...”
It had graciously bestowed its esteemed mercy, yet this arrogant brat dared to raise his nose.
Will shrugged its shoulders.
‘Scream in agony and despair.’
It was a trial it could not possibly lose.
*
‘What is this?’
Will tilted its head.
When the trial began, it had imagined the situation as a picture in which it would overwhelm and crush its opponent.
Just like that, at first, it did have the upper hand.
Every time it inflicted a wound, they let out a groan.
When confronted with real pain, control usually fell apart.
Once control slipped, consciousness mixed and collapsed in on itself.
But except for its first three attacks, the bastard had blocked every strike.
He had the experience of observing and manipulating something.
‘Did his control abilities improve while handling undead?’
Come to think of it, when he first entered the trial, he had turned into a corpse crow and controlled the leader of the werewolves.
If you know how to handle undead, you could, to some extent, pick up a similar method of control.
‘But even so...’
Clang—!
The moment Isaac knocked a sword aside and ducked, Isabella, as if she had been waiting, thrust hers forward. Behind her, Serengeti erased any space left to evade.
A perfect coordinated movement.
Slash!
In the end, Will had no choice but to sacrifice one arm from Isaac’s copy.
It hurriedly threw the remaining two into the fray and broke the formation to save him, but Will could not understand.
‘...What is this?’
When you move while observing from above, your movements are bound to become unnatural.
But that was not just smooth like flowing water.
It was beyond that.
‘He’s drawing out power beyond their limits.’
He was dragging their stats and physical traits right up to the edge, and then manifesting them beyond.
It was the same as its own ability.
Will, too, could handle other people’s bodies and push them past their limits.
Yet this bastard was doing that with three people at once.
Was that even possible?
No, from the very beginning,
‘As if he’s done this thousands, tens of thousands of times...’
Moving someone else’s body was not easy.
But this guy was doing it as if he had repeated it for an eternity.
Will could not comprehend it.
This was a problem on a completely different level from manipulating undead.
What was more, at the very start, his movements had been extremely clumsy.
‘And yet as time passes, he’s becoming more perfectly one with them?’
For that kind of thing to become possible in such a short span, it made no sense.
He had definitely been a beginner.
It had looked like the first time he had ever moved someone else’s body while observing from above.
Let alone three people at once?
Impossible.