◈ Chapter 468. Unfit to Be Called a God (1)
How was he supposed to keep face in front of his junior like this?……
Thud.
It must be because he was a contractor that he could not defy him.
His knees buckled on their own.
Beyond bowing his head, it was slammed into the floor.
Bang.
Gabriel clenched his teeth.
While his head was pressed down, he desperately rolled his eyes.
The Shadow God’s apostles lurking throughout the corridor.
He could see their feet.
They, too, were prostrating in the same direction.
‘I knew this would happen.’
That a contractor would turn against him.
He had not even expected the master to tolerate it.
Because the opponent was the Shadow God, not some blockhead.
The reason he pursued the Shadow God despite knowing this?
The demon hunter of Akshan he’d run into by chance in the corridor.
Because that man had said:
“There can be no exceptions to the rules. Even if one is the master of the corridor.”
The meaning behind those words was simple.
It meant that even the Shadow God dwelling in the Shadow Corridor had Karma, a bounty on his head. In other words, it meant the Shadow God could be hunted through a duel.
Gabriel smiled bitterly.
‘Rules, huh.’
Suddenly, he wanted to ask that man.
If you value rules so greatly, why are you trying to break them, just like me?
Trying to break Akshan’s strict rules.
“……At least to ask you that.”
Until you come up here, I must stay alive.
Gabriel ignited his ‘Obsession.’ The obsession honed through perseverance and endurance forcibly raised his body that had surrendered.
He looked at the Shadow God. He had not hoped for praise, but Gabriel flinched at the dry voice.
“You are not the one I was waiting for.”
“Is that so? That’s a shame.”
Gabriel dredged up the memory of the day he’d signed the contract.
“I’m fairly certain I told you to remember it clearly. The reason I signed a contract with you was not because I wanted to join the Shadow Mercenary Corps, nor because I wanted the power to shake the Arcana Continent. It was solely to hunt you.”
The vilest god, the Shadow God.
Gabriel could swear.
That no contractor besides himself had ever uttered such words.
Even if you pretend not to, you cannot help but remember.
It was the moment he loaded a bolt into his crossbow.
“Do you remember everything?”
“What do you mean?”
“The chirping of noisy insects.”
He looks at the Shadow God.
Haggard pupils in a pale face.
Perhaps because of that, the god looked filled with emptiness. His focus was unclear as well. His gaze was directed at him, yet it felt like he was looking at something entirely different.
Of course.
Click.
Gabriel did not listen.
The difference between demons and those no different from them?
Gabriel, who had hunted them all, knew.
At the final moment.
Unlike demons who only think of the pain from burning in the inferno.
Those no different from demons deny their own faults until the very end.
Just like the Shadow God before his eyes.
“Thank you. Thanks to that, my conviction hasn’t wavered.”
An obsession that defied the master-servant bond.
Gabriel fired the crossbow just like that.
It was the moment he was about to plunge into a full-fledged hunt.
Clink.
Black chains stretched out from every direction.
There was no time to react.
The chains began binding Gabriel’s limbs and nape.
Crunch.
“Kuk!!”
He could be certain.
That his arms, legs, and neck had broken just like that. Yet the reason he was still alive was simple. It was because the Shadow God had not terminated their contract.
Soon, the chains pulled taut.
Snap.
At the same time as the sound of bones being crushed.
His head was forcibly lifted.
The Shadow God spoke to Gabriel.
“To me, it was simply mercy.”……
Mercy?
What do you mean by mercy?
Gabriel repeated inwardly.
‘Look at the results you wrought.’
Centered around the Shadow Mercenary Corps.
The underworld of the Arcana Continent gradually expanded its influence.
Countless innocent people were sacrificed in that process.
“Do you know why they were sacrificed?”
The bastard’s voice was frighteningly serious.
“It is because they did not beg me for mercy.”
Is that so.
So you truly saw us as insects.
Gabriel came to terms with it.
‘No, perhaps it is not just you.’
Including the Church of the Goddess that worshipped her.
The Arcanans were people who believed in and worshipped countless gods.
But had the gods ever answered their prayers?
—“The priest took care of those who had nowhere to go…….”
Gabriel suddenly recalled the priest of the Church of the Goddess who had been murdered by a bandit. Even the priest who served from lower than anyone else had not been looked upon by the goddess.
The Shadow God continued.
“Because I was the only one who could not ascend to the Pantheon. Because to me, the only one who could hear your prayers, you did not cry out. You did not desperately beg.”
Pantheon (萬神殿).
What……?
It was a realm beyond what Gabriel, a mere human, could comprehend.
Nevertheless, the Shadow God continued.
“Since that day, the door of the Pantheon has been shut tight, not budging in the slightest. Do you think your prayers to the Goddess, the Sun God, the myriad gods could reach beyond the door? Do not resent them for not answering.”
As if.
“Moreover, I pitied your plight and granted your prayers. Only I, who could not ascend to the Pantheon because I lacked divinity……! Remained here and bestowed mercy upon you.”
As if venting his resentment.
“……Kuk.”
Each time he spoke, the chains pressed down on Gabriel even more fiercely.
Gabriel thought.
Whatever nonsense he was spouting, voicing his grievances.
Was just as he had expected.
But then.
“Yet nothing remains for me. Therefore, I cannot help but hate them. Those damned bastards who sealed the Pantheon, collapsed the bridge, and devoured even the divine beast.”
Where his gaze turned, there was the whale he had ridden.
That the Shadow God would spew words of hatred toward the whale.
Gabriel had not expected that.
Gabriel chewed over the Shadow God’s words.
‘…Was that thing’s doing the one that sealed the Pantheon?’
Surely, the demon hunter of Akshan had called it an ‘Omen.’
Only then did Gabriel completely regret his action.
‘Damn it.’
If he had not pushed him aside.
He would have been able to fully understand those words.
The Shadow God continued to vent his grievances.
“I thought endlessly. Why was I abandoned? Why was I alone left behind on the Arcana Continent, unable to ascend to the Pantheon? Why did the myriad gods submit to them without any resistance? At the end of that tormented agony, I reached the answer.”
The haggardness around his eyes deepened further.
“Everything was because of ‘them’.”
It was then.
Crackle.
Magical particles scattered in the air, and…
The chains binding Gabriel were severed.
“Your manners toward a guest are deplorable. This, too, shall be reflected in my judgment.”
Despite the sudden venom, the Shadow God responded as if he had been waiting.
“That’s right. The root of all evil was you ‘Adventurers’.”
*What on earth were those two talking about?
‘…Why is he suddenly blaming adventurers?’
Of course, there was no time to exchange pleasantries.
The moment they faced each other.
His vision flickered.
[The Shadow God is changing the field.]
The moment I saw that message, I could intuit.
‘First off, it’s not him.’
Unfortunately, the Shadow God was not Raymond Sean.
Putting aside the theatrics of changing the field.
Would Raymond Sean blame the players?
‘To the point where opinions are still divided.’
Granfel may have regarded Raymond Sean as prey.
But his actions were honestly full of questions.
When he poured out nonsensical new updates, one might think he wished for humanity’s destruction, but seeing him dutifully pay out rift-clearing rewards, such thoughts inevitably vanished.
Of course.
“Hiel.”
More than that, I checked on Gabriel first.
He did not seem to be dying, perhaps because he was a shadow.
But one look told me he was in no state to move.
“Support Gabriel.”
“I shall follow my liege’s will.”
“……Good to see you again.”
Our senior, quite the jokester, aren’t you?
Of course, mine’s even better.
I replied nonchalantly.
“I’ll hear your circumstances after this is over.”
Yes, now was the time to face the Shadow God who had been eagerly waiting to meet me. Let’s see, that favorability which had been nearing its lowest point didn’t seem to be an error after all.
“I was waiting for you.”
The changing field.
Before I knew it, the surroundings had turned pitch black.
Well, if there was something different…….
In the empty space, only large and small prototypes could be seen.
They were floating in the air like fish in an aquarium.
‘What kind of scenery is this.’
My inner aesthetic sense was screaming.
That venom I spat moments ago was already enough, Granfel.
I swallowed my sarcasm and got to the point.
“Terminate your contract with the Shadow Mercenary Corps.”
At my words, the Shadow God nodded.
“Shadow Mercenary Corps? That measly contract can be undone as if it never existed. Yes, tell me what else you desire. What is it you want from me?”
I continued.
“Apologize to those who were sacrificed in your contracts.”
Having come all this way.
An apology only to Granfel’s sister was insufficient.
Accepting an apology for all your misdeeds would balance the scales.
But…….
“Very well. I shall also apologize with all my heart.”……
Why was he being excessively easygoing?
Of course, knowing that his exterior and interior were different.
I did not believe his words sincerely.
Thanks to that, I was not surprised.
“Then is it my turn now?”
Yeah, well, there is a give and take to everything.
Go ahead and speak.
Whether I’ll listen or not, it won’t be too late to decide after hearing it.
As I fell silent, the Shadow God continued.
“Do you know what kind of place this space is?”
As if I’d know such a bizarre place.
He did not seem to have expected much to begin with.
The Shadow God gritted his teeth and spat out.
“This wasteland is the entrance to the Pantheon.”
Pantheon.
The quest, [Lifting the Veil on the Mastermind].
So that was the place specified in it.
The place that the Shadow God, who had not attained sufficient rank, wished to ascend to.
Honestly, I did not get it.
‘If it’s the Pantheon, isn’t it a place where gods are?’
But then, why couldn’t I see hide nor hair of anything god-related?
And why were only prototypes floating around?
Of course, the question did not last long.
‘……Wait.’
Because I realized belatedly.
Why the Shadow Mercenary Corps—no, the Shadow God—was called the mastermind of the Arcana Continent.
AAU’s Bak Minjae and the other branch chiefs had warned me countless times.
—“We know the Shadow Mercenary Corps joined the Holy War Allied Forces and proved their pride. But what concerns us is that the setting once existed……!”
—“They are still the greatest mastermind of the Arcana Continent.”
—“The Shadow Mercenary Corps, or the Shadow God, has a high chance of acting as the players’—that is, the Adventurers’—nemesis until the very late stage of the Arcana Continent’s early story……!”
To be honest?
‘In a way, it was like gossip about Kichine.’
That’s why I hadn’t even pretended to listen back then.
Not me, but Granfel judging someone based on others’ words?
He wasn’t the type.
But I knew well that settings could not be ignored.
That existing settings would somehow come to fruition.
Because I had learned that through experience.
The moment I realized that fact, my thoughts reached the prototypes.
‘If Raymond Sean had moved to realize the setting.’
If the Shadow God needed a valid reason to be hostile to the players……?
Thinking so, all this scenery began to make sense.
As if to back my guess, the Shadow God shouted.
“That’s right! The divine beast that guarded the Pantheon, the beautiful scenery, all were devoured by those damned monsters! Do you know the reason? Yes, it was all for you. For you Adventurers, favored by those monsters!”
His gaze turned toward a firmly shut iron gate in the air.
“Thanks to that, I was unable to know anything of what was happening inside the Pantheon. It was a torment beyond endurance. Amidst that, I discovered you. Suppressing my hatred toward you, I invited you to the Corridor. In order to devour you and seize the rank to reach the Pantheon……!!”
Is that so?
I looked at the Shadow God with an unwavering gaze.
How should I put it, he did not feel like a stranger.
‘Because he looks like he’s being swayed by that damn setting.’
Of course, I would have to hear the details to know for sure.
Before exchanging words.
I needed to make one thing clear.
I raised the spectral iron at my waist.
No, I drew Illusion Breaker.
And swung.
Slash.
The Shadow God flinched.
I might be mistaken about other things.
But I refuse to be treated the same as that trash, Raymond Sean.
CRASH.
The Pantheon.
Its entrance.
The floating prototypes burst and gleamed.
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
…….
Soon, I asked.
“I’ll ask again.”
“……?”
“Is that delusion still valid?”
“……!!!”