“Didn’t they say recently that among the Four Evils, Baal has awakened?”
“Hm. The breaking of the Four Evils’ seals was only a matter of time. The Four Evils are known to be sealed at the ends of the four directions, east, west, south, and north. And it seems the Black King recently awakened something in the south.”
“Are you saying that ‘something’ is one of the Four Evils?”
“Well. Whatever it is, ever since ‘he’ died, a ‘new game’ has undoubtedly begun.”
The resurrection of the Four Evils, the disturbance of the Black King, the reappearance of the long-sunken Abyssal Labyrinth, and so on.
The board had changed.
A development entirely different from all that came before.
A new game.
All across the world, tectonic shifts were taking place.
And all of this began after ‘his’ death.
“‘He’… you say?”
“The Knight King.”
“Ah, I’ve heard of him. But are you saying his death is what’s changing the world?”
He didn’t want to admit it, but everything that was happening began after the man died.
A knight blessed by the goddess, and the strongest warrior who led the great expedition.
He had countless legends to his name.
They had been watching Wilhelm for a long time.
But they merely watched him, never making contact.
They had no choice.
‘The disgrace of the imperial family…’
Wilhelm.
No—that guy had originally belonged to the imperial family.
And he was a secret the imperial family had tried to hide.
One day he suddenly disappeared, afflicted by a ‘divine disease’, and reappeared as Wilhelm.
Then he achieved countless legends and even triggered the great expedition.
Of course, the great expedition failed.
There, Wilhelm died, and the imperial family’s disgrace vanished forever.
…No. No, that wasn’t true.
The golden mask silently shook his head.
‘The sinner. The one who moved Wilhelm’s body is still alive.’
A man who newly rose under the name of Randolph.
Everyone saw him as Wilhelm’s predecessor.
As long as that man existed, the ‘disgrace’ had not fully vanished.
‘…Baal will invade Earth, the homeland of the sinners. For us, that is welcome news.’
Earth, where the sinners gathered.
They also knew that if Cartel collapsed, the Four Evils’ Baal would invade Earth.
Yet they left it alone.
Lord Darkan had rashly assembled an extermination squad, but that would only make Baal stronger in the end.
‘Burn everything. And make them experience the reality we endured.’
***
The Baal set—also called the ‘Baset’—was completed.
One of the mythic-grade sets that only the tiniest handful knew about, and none had ever completed.
Originally, it consisted of Baal’s armor, helm, and talisman—three pieces—but one more had now been added.
The Sword Immortal Diary.
And from the contents written in the final chapter of the Sword Immortal Diary, I learned of Baal’s “control” method.
—We have studied Baal and have finally found a way to control this beast.
—Baal’s equipment, forged from Baal’s blood, skin, bones, and heart. And with my ‘life’ contained within this Sword Immortal Diary…
—O Completer. Offer your ‘life’. Then you shall be able to control Baal.
A method of control.
Which meant offering my own life.
But there was no need to ‘control’ him.
Because there was a way to face Baal head-on.
‘Transcended Baal.’
The hidden option—Transcended Baal.
The hidden ability revealed when all equipment was elevated to transcendence mythic-grade.
【Baal Armor (Transcendence Mythic)】
—Armor containing the essence of ‘Baal’, one of the Four Evils who once brought the world to terror.
—You have completed the ‘Baal Set’, elevating its grade.
—Hidden Option: When any trait surpasses 1,000, the wearer obtains ‘transcended nature’.
—Transcended Nature (Transcended Baal) [1]: When facing the Four Evils, the performance of ‘Baal equipment’ increases by 100%.
—Transcended Nature (Transcended Baal) [2]: You discover Baal. You may move to his location.
—Physical Resistance: 30%
—Natural Regeneration: 100%
—Mana: 10
—Soulbound
—Indestructible
—Requirement (1): Holder of the title ‘the one who completed myth’
—Requirement (2): All stats 90 or above
—Set Equipment (3/3)
My weakest point had always been physical resistance.
Attacks of mana could be blocked by Giant’s Magic Resistance, mental attacks by Heart of the Eternal Monarch, but I had never had a hidden trait that blocked purely physical attacks.
‘30% physical resistance and regeneration on top of it. Insane.’
No single armor gave 30% physical resistance.
Even unique-grade armor maxed at 25%.
The other options were slightly lower than unique-grade, but with 100% regeneration and 10 mana, it was more than enough. Ordinary mythic-grade items couldn't even compete.
Especially since regeneration exceeding 1,000% could even regrow severed limbs.
‘And the helm and talisman’s options were strengthened too.’
At this point, it was doable.
I immediately used transcended nature to open a warp and headed toward Baal.
***
Crack!
Instinctively, I smashed the skull of a demon-kin.
At that moment:
《‘Transcended Nature’ is being invoked.》
《‘Abyss of the Revived Ones’, this place is the domain of the Four Evil—Baal. The performance of Baal equipment increases by 100%.》
《Curse penetration +30%, curse reflection +60%, curse duration +60% have been increased.》
《Natural regeneration increases by 200%.》
《Star power increases by 40.》
《Star power exceeds 120—All attacks gain ‘total penetration (12%)’.》
《You have slain Baal’s creation: ‘Bell of Curse’.》
《Contribution increased by 15.》
《You have gained a large amount of experience.》
Fast-scrolling messages.
I gave a small nod.
Transcended options multiplied by two.
Baset was truly madness-level performance.
Above all…
‘Total penetration…!’
Once a stat exceeds 120, it adds an extra effect.
Mana grants mana penetration, attribute stats grant attribute penetration, and so on.
But after becoming a Successor of Stars, my star power now granted total penetration.
Meaning physical attacks and curse attacks both gained an additional 12% penetration.
…No wonder my strikes felt so incredibly satisfying.
“Successor!”
A familiar voice from nearby.
Serengeti—no, that must be Hudson.
“Why are you here? Where is Valte?”
“Well… we were together in the lord’s castle, but Lord Darkan forcibly dragged us here. And Valte sensed something abnormal and disappeared somewhere.”
“Something abnormal?”
“Yes. When we descended into the abyss, everyone began going mad. They all lost their minds, like they were possessed by evil spirits. Successor, are you truly unaffected?”
Unaffected?
I nodded.
Completely. Not even slightly affected.
“I’m fine. And you?”
“Yes. I don’t know why, but I’m perfectly normal.”
Only Hudson was enduring Baal’s curse in this realm.
Perhaps because he had been blessed by the Saintess?
There was no other clear reason.
I then looked downward.
“But what I’m seeing now… surely that isn’t Gracia, right?”
“…It is.”
At the end of my gaze—
“Angel! Where are you going without me?!”
“…Ignore him. He’s babbling nonsense.”
Gracia lay there, half-insane, covered head-to-toe in blood.
White hair.
Deepened wrinkles.
He was aging in real-time and weakening.
Such a strong man could not withstand Baal’s curse because his ‘youth’ had been stolen.
His life force was dying, and he could never defeat Baal, who manipulated life and consciousness.
I quietly stroked my chin and took out the Sinner’s Flame.
“Ah… aaah… that— that is my youth, isn’t it?!”
Inside the Sinner’s Flame, Gracia saw his own young image.
At once he screamed and reached toward it.
“You wish to reclaim it?”
“I wish to reclaim it! O golden goat, that belongs to me!”
“Then stand. Stand, lift your sword, and fight.”
“You want me to fight Baal? That monster cannot be beaten! That monster absorbed the ‘Poison of Ouroboros’ and has become even stronger!”
He trembled violently.
It was unlike the Gracia of old.
Judging by his terror, he clearly wasn’t in his right mind.
“Gracia. Your duty is to protect the people you must protect. If you bear the title of ‘hero’, then you know what you must do.”
“I—I am no hero. I… I am a man steeped in sin.”
“What a pathetic coward you’ve become.”
“What meaning is there if I step forward? Why continue a battle that cannot be won?”
Hmph.
Even if he was half-mad, this was disappointing.
The guy who used to brag endlessly about being the best now showed such disgraceful fear.
Facing him like this wasn’t satisfying at all.
But the moment I arrived in this abyss, I noticed something.
The five fallen cities—they didn’t lose all their people.
Many of them were still alive here.
But I had no time to save them all individually—
Because I had to settle things before Baal evolved.
This job belonged to Gracia.
So you go save them. Like a true hero.
“Don’t worry. I will kill Baal.”
…I will annihilate Baal.
Jeju Island.
After the man wearing the golden goat mask and the pure white knight Serengeti left, Gracia was left alone.
—Die like an insect, or do what you must.
The voice lingered in his ears.
But what kept replaying in his mind more than the words… were that man’s eyes.
A stranger, someone he’d never met.
Yet the instant their eyes met, Gracia shuddered.
Hard to express in words, but if he had to define it—
He had been overwhelmed by the man’s gaze.
Even when Riley stood before him, he had never wavered.
‘It felt like… somewhere…’
Unfamiliar, yet familiar.
Like he had glimpsed those eyes somewhere before.
And very few people in the world had such overwhelming eyes—if he’d seen them, he would never have forgotten.
If he met him again, he felt he could know for sure.
‘Insect…’
A gaze that looked down on him like he wasn’t even worth killing.
A first in his life.
He had never been so belittled.
He had always been the strongest, always admired.
But what of now?
Now he looked exactly like a beaten loser.
No wonder he’d been looked down on.
‘…Failure after failure has broken me.’
Where had it begun to go wrong?
The defeat against Baal?
Losing his youth to the reapers?
Fleeing from the Abyssal Labyrinth?
Driven back again and again, Gracia finally broke.
He dropped his mind and showed disgrace.
‘I am not an insect.’
No—he was not a worm.
Gracia rose to his feet.
He grasped the Blue Radiance rolling on the ground.
—Kyaaaaa!
Slash!
He cut down a charging demon-kin in a single stroke.
Then Gracia began walking through the abyss.
‘I am Gracia. The strongest warrior called the Sword of Stars, and a hero.’
He went to do what he must.
***
A black cocoon.
The path toward Baal was a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Countless soldiers of Lord Darkan’s domain and Baal’s ‘Bells of Curse’ were tangled and dead.
The trail of corpses led all the way into the cocoon.
“…Not helpful at all.”
Inside the cocoon, the sight was even worse.
Lord Darkan lay dead, neck twisted.
For someone who had started so boldly, the death was pathetically anticlimactic.
His face was twisted in horror.
As though he had witnessed something he should never have seen.
The corpses around him bore the same expression.
‘Strange.’
But something felt off.
A large number of them had died… not fleeing from the inside out, but fleeing from the outside in.
…Strange.
Usually, people flee outward, not toward danger.
Why had they run toward the cocoon’s interior?
But the curiosity didn’t last long.
I soon understood the reason.
Step. Step.
Something approached with heavy footsteps.
Letters floated above its head.
【Baal’s Servant – ‘Guardian Knight Pamel’】
【Lv.13】
…It was Pamel, the guardian knight of Darkan’s domain.
The strongest among them had become one of Baal’s cursed servants.
If Pamel suddenly attacked, the soldiers would have no choice but to flee inward.
He must have transformed because he was heavily influenced by Baal from inside the cocoon.
But even so—could someone that strong change so suddenly?
‘That thing was never human to begin with.’
Pamel had not grown strong by consuming stars to transcend.
He had become strong by abandoning his humanity and leveling up.
Meaning—
He had always been a monster.
Of course he’d be even more influenced here in Baal’s cocoon.
Especially since his appearance now made the reason clear.
“…Demon.”
Eyes void of whites, pure black like spilled ink.
A fully blackened body, two massive black wings, huge horns on both sides, a lizard tail, beast-like legs, and claws—the form of a monster.
The appearance of a demon.
Those who rejected the goddess and worshipped evil.
The beings revered by demon worshipers.
Maxim had merely used a demon heart to grow stronger, but Pamel had been a demon from the very beginning.
Or he had become one through another method.
‘Did the empire know and tolerate him? Or…?’
Why had a demon—the very embodiment of the demon worshipers—been in an imperial domain?
And how could he even serve as a guardian knight?
Even if the empire despised players, they wouldn’t openly cooperate with those who rejected the goddess.
Perhaps he had hidden his identity so well that even they didn’t know.
‘But that’s not the issue now.’
The real issue was dealing with the monster standing right before me.
Pamel had become Baal’s servant and was further strengthened by the curse.
Facing him head-on would be suicide.
He wasn’t some half-breed like Maxim.
He undoubtedly possessed unimaginable demonic attributes.
But—
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