Even so.
Crack!
With Isaac’s lightning-like spinning kick, the clone’s neck snapped.
He wasn’t just using weapons, he was also skilled in fights that used the body.
But that was the same for Will as well.
Will, too, was thoroughly used to battle.
He had been certain he would never lose...!
That bastard was dragging out his limits, surpassing them, scraping the very bottom to stand against him.
At movements that went beyond the wondrous into something like art, Will lost all words.
‘B-Battle God.’
He was, a god of battle.
If he weren’t, there would be no way he could push him this far.
And yet he still couldn’t accept it.
“What... are you. What the hell are you!!”
Will, who had lost the duplicate bodies of Isaac and Isabella, let out a scream.
Now, the result was as clear as day.
He had lost a game he absolutely could not lose.
What was even more infuriating was that he was killing the clones only with his main body.
Just like now.
In front of him, Serengeti’s true body stepped forward.
Even though they could crush him three to one, they were saying to fight one on one.
They were telling him to struggle all he wanted.
‘That son of a...!’
***
Thud—
Will cut off the neck of the Serengeti he had copied.
In that moment, as his mind came back, ‘Will’ began to fall into despair.
-Aaaah!
Will’s body ripped apart and black bodily fluids poured out.
The end of one who had lost the final game.
He had led it, had been confident, and so had bet everything, but the ‘game’ that bastard was confident in was also a field I was confident in.
《‘Demigod’s Will’ is being destroyed.》
《The accumulated ‘Corrupted Honor’ is eroding the dungeon.》
Corrupted Honor.
It seemed he had absorbed all the honor left behind when those who challenged this place died.
-E-everyone, die!
Truly a pathetic bastard to the very end.
His bodily fluids and the Corrupted Honor were melting everything in the dungeon.
If we stayed still, we’d be eroded along with it.
‘The warp is open.’
The only saving grace was that the warp Will had opened was still there.
But since Will was dead, the warp’s duration would also have been shortened.
“Get a hold of yourselves.”
“Ah.”
The three who had been standing there with flushed faces finally came to their senses.
They looked down at their own bodies, then made expressions as if realizing something.
But it was not a situation where they could afford to savor their realization.
After grasping the situation around them, Serengeti opened his mouth.
“We must leave this place quickly.”
He was right, it was as Serengeti said.
If not for something shining in my arms, we would have done exactly that.
《‘Heavenly Spirit Egg’ is beginning to absorb ‘Corrupted Honor’.》
It was the Heavenly Spirit Egg.
The Spirit Egg I had obtained after witnessing the end of ‘Chaos’ at the Spirit Tower.
That egg, which had been growing by feeding on honor and evil karma, began to suck in and absorb the ‘Corrupted Honor’ that Will was spilling.
‘You... to the very end! S-stop! N-no!’
Will’s thrashing grew even worse.
He was feeling a terror that went beyond death.
At last, the Heavenly Spirit Egg sucked in all the ‘Corrupted Honor’ that Will held.
In that moment.
Riiip!
Kill Phantom!
-Impressive.
The constellations of the Pantheon gave a brief comment as they saw the result.
No matter how much it was just the scraps left by the Constellation of the Radiant Hero, ‘Will’s’ power had still been his.
A once-in-an-era genius, born with a natural talent for handling heroes, moving them, and pushing them beyond their limits.
That ‘Will’, who had inherited that genius’s talent to some extent, would collapse so emptily.
They had nothing else to say but that it was astonishing.
“...He is certainly remarkable.”
The Constellation of the Radiant Hero was just as taken aback.
It hadn’t even been a match.
The technique of observing and moving his three at the same time was enough to draw involuntary admiration.
And that wasn’t all.
Humans, by nature, rarely use even half of their ability properly.
Yet he had drawn the abilities of the three up to 120%.
It was a feat impossible without having thoroughly grasped their abilities.
Isaac, Isabella, Serengeti.
It meant knowing them even better than they knew themselves.
But is that even possible?
To know someone better than they know themselves?
‘So it wasn’t by chance that he obtained an out-of-standard mystery.’
He has skill.
He has unpredictability as well.
That was why their eyes were drawn to him more than to anyone else.
Because never before had all the constellations of the Pantheon unanimously agreed to raise someone’s reward.
He had made those impossibly fastidious constellations have no choice but to agree.
When you thought about it, there was no way that could have been luck.
‘He won overwhelmingly in something even the constellations had thought would be fifty-fifty.’
Though he had lost the bet, his heart felt refreshed.
Since he had lost without a single doubt remaining, he intended to give the promised ‘special reward.’
“Hm, that is...?”
The Constellation of the Radiant Hero, who had been watching him the whole time, tilted his head for a moment.
Not only him but all the constellations at once, began to stare at the newly appeared ‘something.’
Because something had been born that drew all of their gazes.
And when they checked the existence that had been born, the constellations could only be appalled.
“That is...!”
-Ho...!
***
In that moment, two lines of text appeared before the eyes of every player.
《‘Demigod Trait Dungeon’ has been cleared.》
《Hall of Fame has been updated.》
That alone was enough to make everyone tilt their heads.
“Demigod Trait Dungeon? That trash dungeon?”
“Who the hell cleared that place?”
“No way?”
The worst party dungeon, which everyone loathed and avoided.
The words that the Demigod Trait Dungeon had been cleared.
But that place was a dungeon everyone had given up on.
Phantom, Gracia, Master, and every other top-tier ranker had challenged it only to come back out cursing—that was the Demigod Trait Dungeon.
It wasn’t a place made to be cleared, so who in the world did it?
In that instant, one person flashed through every player’s mind.
“Randolph!”
“Crazy...!”
“He actually cleared that place?”
“That’s impossible!”
It was unbelievable, but it was real.
Because Randolph had proudly put his name at first place in the hall for ‘Main Quest 6: Clear the Party Dungeon.’
This time as well, by an overwhelming margin.
Which meant that the one who had cleared the Demigod Trait Dungeon was Randolph.
Special and unique places like the Demigod Dungeon, once cleared, are recorded as ‘history’ and announced to all players.
So there was no way it was false.
“...Drag Phantom in front of me. If he resists too much, you may kill him.”
“Yes, Master.”
As soon as he saw the notice, Master set the ‘Shadows’ in motion.
If he’d cleared the dungeon, he would still be there.
It was the perfect chance to capture Randolph.
No matter how extraordinary Randolph was, there was no way he could stand against the Shadows.
Because the Shadows were powerful beings trained to hunt even Transcendents who had eaten stars.
‘To think he would really clear that place...’
After the Shadows vanished, Master showed a slightly surprised expression.
Because he had not expected Phantom to clear the ‘Demigod Trait Dungeon.’
A place even Wilhelm had failed at, and he went out of his way to do it?
‘Are you trying to show us? The difference between you and us?’
Now he felt like he understood what Phantom was thinking as he moved.
He was trying to show them.
The difference in rank.
The difference in class between them and himself.
He was forcing them to realize anew that no matter how many years they prepared, no matter what they did, they would never surpass him.
Just like before.
Like back when he played Wilhelm.
Grrrk!
‘What an infuriating bastard.’
Master hated Phantom.
Because he was bad luck.
Because he always acted like some aloof crane, all by himself.
That hadn’t changed even after they became players.
Most players panic and die over and over right after becoming players.
Without proper help, they all just die in the early stages.
Pangaenia is not a place where one can live alone easily.
So they began to band together in order to live, and by leading the group, Master became a king.
But Phantom was accomplishing everything alone, as if to laugh at him.
Thanks to that, his rank in the hall of fame had been pushed back again.
Being pushed down in the hall’s rankings does not have a simple meaning.
It means his majesty has been damaged.
Because every player can check the hall.
‘If I don’t eliminate him, he’ll threaten even my seat.’
He would start to threaten not only his own spot but the places of the other heroes as well.
Once people started shouting Randolph’s name and following him one by one, it would become uncontrollable.
He had to eliminate him before that.
If he couldn’t eliminate him, he at least had to capture him.
Master picked up the remote and turned on the TV hanging on the wall.
‘Are you afraid of monsters? Just trust our Warriors!’
‘Super Hero! Super Hero! Super Heroes protecting the Earth!’
‘Check it out right now on the “Interdimensional Community”!’
Every channel and medium was plastered with stories about the Dimension Warriors.
It was his role to build up and craft the image of heroes.
He had been working at it from the ground up for three years already, so it was nothing strange.
A painstakingly built tower.
He could not let that bastard bring down the empire he had built.
‘If I can just eliminate him, capture him, or at least reveal his identity...’
If even one of the three came true, it would be his victory.
However, it had to be done before that bastard climbed any higher.
Even so, he wasn’t worried.
As long as the Shadows properly picked him up, there would be no future for him.
‘This time, I absolutely won’t let you slip away, Phantom.’
***
《You have completed ‘Main Quest 6: Clear the Party Dungeon’.》
《Settling the results.》
《It is a catastrophic result that will shock everyone!》
《Total score 350 points》
《It will be updated in the ‘Hall of Fame’.》
《You have obtained ‘large Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule’.》
《The ‘Constellation of the Radiant Hero’ presents you with a special reward.》
《The ‘Constellation of Adventure’ praises you. The reward list is upgraded by one tier.》
《The ‘Constellation of Luck’ smiles kindly. The reward list is upgraded by one tier.》
《The ‘Nameless Constellation’ says you are not bad. The reward list is upgraded by one tier.》
......
《The grade of the reward list, including the Lucky Dice, rises by 51 levels.》
《You may choose one reward from the 11 listed.》
《Extreme-True Saber》, 《Robe of Radiant Honor》, 《Absolute Emptiness》, 《Armor of the Corrupted King》, 《Crown of the Corrupted King》, 《Round Table of the Corrupted Knights》, 《Starwalker》, 《Staff of Original Sin》, 《Terror of Shatiros》, 《Spear of Impurity》, 《Edge of the Labyrinth》
Those were the rewards that appeared before my eyes when Will died and the dungeon was cleared.
At those transcendent rewards, I was at a loss for words.
Because each of the 11 rewards surpassed any reward that had appeared so far.
They far exceeded the level of rewards one should receive at the stage of Main Quest 6.
‘They’re all top-tier items.’
Unless they were unique-grade, they would have almost no rivals.
Just agonizing over what to choose was enough to make one scream in bliss.
On top of that, I hadn’t even checked the reward given by the ‘Constellation of the Radiant Hero’ yet.
But even those overwhelming rewards failed to capture my gaze.
“...Is this... a spirit?”
“It looks just like...”
......
What appeared when the Heavenly Spirit Egg cracked.
The three of them all recoiled as they looked at the newly born spirit.
They couldn’t help it.
Especially Serengeti spoke as if convinced as he looked at the spirit’s appearance.
“It’s not a spirit... isn’t it a reaper?”
It was about the size of a fist, with flames flickering around its body like a black cloak and a scythe in its hands.
Its body and face were made of bone. No matter how you looked at it, it was unmistakably a reaper.
Of course, there were differences from a normal reaper.
The wings.
One black wing and one white wing flapped on its back, giving it a strangely cute charm.
Kyahaha!
The little guy triumphantly climbed up onto my shoulder.
For the spirit that had been born by sucking up all the Corrupted Honor to look like such a peculiar reaper.
But wasn’t it definitely a Heavenly Spirit?
I turned my head and stared at the little thing closely.
【Lv. 1】
【Heavenly Spirit】
【Rightful Successor】
【Dimensional Slash (Lv. 1)】
Its level and identity soon floated up.
It definitely carried the label of Heavenly Spirit.
‘Is the Heavenly Realm related to reapers?’
I had no idea.
Everything about the hidden trait Heavenly was a mystery.
All I’d managed to learn through the quest to obtain the mystery was that it was a racial trait named ‘Heavenly’, and that was it.
‘Rightful Successor.’
Orthodox.
It has a similar meaning to a proper lineage, or bloodline.