Chapter 124

One day, the Demon King suddenly had a question about the existence of the Ancient Gods.

The Ancient Gods are said to be the Law of the Universe. But is that really true? That seemingly trivial question actually held the most fundamental secret.

To uncover the truth, the Demon King investigated. The conclusion of his investigation was, well, “unknown.” The Demon King had no way to experiment within the realm of the Ancient Gods. Without evidence, no matter how grand the theory, it remains mere speculation.

However, the Demon King thought. What we call the Ancient Gods might not actually be the Law of the Universe.

Just as weeds grow naturally in fertile soil, perhaps the spirit born naturally from the body of the Law of the Universe is what we call the Ancient Gods.

“There was no evidence, but thinking that way explained a lot of things.”

Since he couldn’t ask the Ancient Gods, there was no confirmation. But the Demon King was confident in his theory.

If the Ancient Gods are not the Law of the Universe but merely spiritual entities born from it… then the reason they struggle to maintain their own bodies finally makes sense.

After all, the body is the main entity, and the spirit is merely something that naturally arises from it. Just as humans don’t fully understand their own bodies, the Ancient Gods don’t fully understand the Law of the Universe, which is their body. Some parts they naturally know, but others remain unknown until they investigate.

‘Even the Ancient Gods are only that much. That’s when I first began to doubt.’

He witnessed the fall of the Vampires firsthand. To drive out just one race, the Vampires, the Ancient Gods destroyed themselves and altered the Law of the Universe.

If they were truly great beings, would they need to self-destruct just to eliminate one earthly race? From that moment, the Demon King began to doubt the absoluteness of the Ancient Gods.

Aren’t they essentially no different from personal gods? Perhaps they are merely spiritual entities born from the Law of the Universe, separate from the Law itself.

For a long time, it was just a theory without confirmation, but now there was evidence. The experiment with the Fruit of the World Tree provided all the answers.

“Thrilling. Proving a theory correct is always like this. It’s tough, but worth it.”

The Death God, Modrig, is the evidence. The Divine Power collected by Grimudo is based on faith, fundamentally the divinity of personal gods. On the other hand, the Fruit of the World Tree is the divinity of the Ancient Gods, rooted in the Law of the Universe.

Yet, the two divinities, originating from completely different sources—human faith and the Law of the Universe—naturally fused together. What does this mean?

The Ancient Gods are not the Law of the Universe but, as their name suggests, gods.

They are merely based on the Law, and thus do not require faith. This was proven by the experiment.

‘The Law of the Universe usually exists as a dead law, but occasionally, when a self is born, it becomes what we know as the Ancient Gods.’

So, the original state of the Law is to be dead. Having a self and being alive is abnormal.

That abnormal state is the Ancient Gods, and that state eventually returns to normal over time. Perhaps the most pitiful beings in this world are the Ancient Gods.

From the moment they are born, their selves are destined to erode and be destroyed. No matter what they do, they only hasten their own destruction.

If they want to last longer, they must remain emotionless and do nothing, but even then, they are on borrowed time.

The Demon King didn’t want such a position. Just thinking about it gave him chills.

Anyway, the Ancient God who descended the World Tree has already been destroyed and returned to the Law. Like the Law of the Universe, the World Tree and its fruit now exist without any self.

Into that object, Grimudo’s divinity seeped and merged, finally giving birth to a self.

The Death God, Modrig, who possesses the attributes of both the World Tree and Grimudo, looked at his creator with disdain. While Grimudo was lost in the thrill of the experiment’s success, Modrig quietly expanded his domain, confident that the Demon King wouldn’t attack him.

Swish!

No elf could avoid the black threads that wrapped around them like parasites. The thin threads, like those spun by silkworms, were sturdy and sticky.

Once entangled, escape was impossible. Like insects caught in a spider’s web, they screamed as they were wrapped into cocoons.

“Save me!”

“I don’t want to die like this. Not yet…”

The elves, who had been leisurely chewing dried fruit as if watching a play, were completely unprepared. With no defenses, the threads quickly covered all of Elvenheim. Amidst it all, a small black child calmly observed his new subjects.

There is a saying: “Nothing is eternal.”

It means nothing remains unchanged. The elves dreamed of eternity, but such a thing does not exist in this world. While the Demon King worked tirelessly to conquer them, what did the elves do?

Nothing.

They did nothing.

They believed their protection would last forever, content with the present and refusing even the slightest progress. They showed no ambition to improve against the Demon King.

There is a saying: “Survival of the fittest.”

It means selecting the best, but it also implies the disappearance of unnecessary parts.

A race that neither progresses nor changes is naturally doomed. Now, that was happening in real-time. As the world darkened, the Death God’s power grew.

The black child, with calm eyes, looked around and then at Grimudo, his eyes flashing with newfound confidence.

Swish!

A bundle of threads surged and wrapped around the Demon King’s arm. Just as he had done to the elves and Elvenheim, he attempted to corrupt Grimudo entirely and make him his subject.

With all the elves gone, the Barrier of the World Tree lost its meaning and vanished. The Demon King leisurely observed it all and chuckled when attacked by the Death God.

“That power of corruption you possess. Do you not know where it originated?”

A single drop of Grimudo’s black energy, like a nightmare of pure darkness, swallowed the Death God’s divine power.

When black fights black, the darker black wins. That is the Demon King.

The deep darkness devoured the lighter darkness, and the Death God quickly severed his power. It was just one exchange, but the child retreated in fear.

A being beyond gods, who makes even gods tremble in fear. With each step the Demon King took, the Death God retreated three.

“Well, it’s done. In a way, you’re like my son, so I have no intention of destroying you myself.”

Grimudo laughed as if he had been playing. Like admiring a masterpiece created by his son, he marveled at the black cocoons everywhere.

The first to transform into a cocoon was the High Elf, once called Kania. She slowly emerged, her skin and hair now black, with butterfly-like wings growing from her back.

Grimudo laughed as he saw the woman, once elegant, now with a blank stare, spreading her dark, silken wings.

“This is beyond my expectations. Not bad, Modrig. Corrupting those who are not your subjects to make them yours? It seems a lot of mutation occurs in the process.”

Gah!

The woman, once elegant and refined, lunged forward with her mouth wide open.

It seemed that the Death God’s subjects felt extreme disgust towards those who were not corrupted like them.

Spreading corruption, gradually increasing, creating more followers—is this their way?

They have no reason, only instinct, so naturally, their faith, centered on that instinct, is immense. That faith is directly transmitted to the Death God, fueling his growth.

At least for this guy, followers are not sought but created. While other personal gods search for followers, this one creates them.

“Haha.”

Well, it’s unique. To the Demon King, to the Primal Demon King, that was the extent of his impression.

Grimudo’s masterpiece, Modrig, not only failed to corrupt the Demon King but was almost swallowed himself. So, no matter how hard his subjects tried, it wouldn’t make a difference.

The Demon King flicked a finger, and a shockwave swept through the “butterfly,” tearing her wings to shreds. Next, her bones and flesh were ripped apart, scattering into the air. Not a drop of blood remained; she was completely annihilated.

But that was because her opponent was the Demon King.

If this guy faced humans or demons, his ability to corrupt and assimilate others alone would cause massive casualties, regardless of his combat skills.

“This is fun. I’ll enjoy watching you run amok until the next cycle.”

The Demon King’s masterpiece, forged from the faith he had gathered over eons. Compared to him, other Death Gods started poor and destitute.

No, even the Three Divine Gods were not born under such conditions. This one was born with a golden ring in his mouth, akin to royalty.

In fact, he could be compared to imperial royalty. Unlike the Three Divine Gods, this god had his own physical body.

That meant he could directly intervene in this reality. Authority, abilities, and divinity. Even though he was just born, there were no flaws. Yet, this god now cowered like a frightened chick.

“Who are you? No one can control me. I will corrupt everything.”

A frightened dog tucks its tail and runs, but a frightened god still speaks boldly.

Regardless, the Demon King let out a laugh, clasped his hands behind his back, and disappeared.

Until he created a portal of darkness and vanished beyond it, the Death God could do nothing but quietly watch his retreating figure. Only after he left did the Death God swallow his anger and mutter.

“I am the ultimate being. The ruler of nature. Someday, even you will not escape corruption and become my subject.”

As the Death God looked around, he felt the presence of the World Tree, which had lost its function but still existed. This god was born from the fusion of Grimudo’s accumulated faith and the Fruit of the World Tree.

If the Demon King is the father, the World Tree is the mother. Since the World Tree and he share the same origin, he naturally felt drawn to it.

As if entranced, the Death God approached the World Tree and touched it, only to quickly pull his hand away and fall back. He trembled like a reed in the wind, so shocked was he.

“This… this is…”

Just moments ago, he tried to corrupt the entire tree and make it his own, but at that moment, he felt a terrifying sensation. Worse than pain, it was the feeling of his very self disintegrating!

The feeling of his self drifting in an endless void. The feeling of his existence being swallowed whole! He was everywhere and nowhere. But for an individual, it meant complete destruction.

He almost faced a result he could never handle. After catching his breath, the Death God cautiously reached out again. This time, he made no attempt to corrupt, merely touching and exploring the World Tree.

“The Law… of the Universe.”

This World Tree is a kind of terminal connected to the Law of the Universe. To corrupt it would mean corrupting the Law of the Universe itself.

Of course, that is something this small Death God could never handle. Even the Ancient Gods lose their selves from the recoil of slightly twisting the Law of the Universe.

Let alone corrupting it entirely and making it his own? This vast universe, so immense it’s beyond comprehension? Attempting such a thing would immediately result in his self being torn apart and absorbed into the Law of the Universe. If a person tries to absorb the universe, the result is only devastation.

Of course, he is a Death God, but before the universe, the difference between a personal god and a human is nothing. If you drop a drop of ink into the ocean, does the ocean become polluted? Or does the ink become part of the ocean? Just thinking about it gives the answer. The universe is infinitely vast compared to his power.

Modrig gulped. He still had greed, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t handle the Law of the Universe with his power. The moment he touched it, he would be overwhelmed by the universe’s immense presence and lose his self.

“There’s no choice. I’ll have to give up its function as a terminal and salvage what’s left.”

After all, this Death God shares the same origin as the World Tree, so he accessed it and severed its connection to the Law of the Universe. Once severed, reconnecting is impossible with his power, but there was no other way.

The World Tree is no longer as special as before, but at least now it can be consumed.

Though no longer connected to the Law, the World Tree is still a special tree. The faith the elves had offered to it remains intact.

The darkness spread along its massive trunk, smoothly corrupting the World Tree. The newly born Death God rubbed his face against the branches.

“I love you, Mother.”

Now disconnected from the Law of the Universe, the World Tree needed more nutrients to maintain its existence. Thus, its roots spread far and wide.

The now-corrupted tree, no longer worthy of being called the World Tree, spread its roots, and wherever they went, the ground was tainted by the Death God’s power, and the groundwater turned black. To Modrig’s followers, it was holy water, but to ordinary creatures, it was a terrible calamity.

Amidst the decisive battle in the Capital, a dark and dreadful Death God was born anew.

With a grand dream of painting the entire continent in darkness, the first to discover this Death God’s existence were the Three Divine Gods. The three saw one and were afraid.

Ding ding ding!

In the Church Country, the bells of the Three God Faith’s main temple rang out continuously. A true threat had arrived without warning. Now, in the eyes of the three goddesses, the events in the Empire were trivial. What threatens gods is always another god.

Secular power no longer mattered. A challenger to their divine thrones had been born, with a different level of power and stature than previous Death Gods.

This is a serious problem. The longer it’s left unchecked, the more it will corrupt the continent and grow in power. It must be destroyed as quickly as possible with maximum force.

Let us hope it’s not too late. Contrary to the goddesses’ wishes, a great battle was already underway in the Capital. The clash between the two predetermined forces had begun as planned.

No one ordered it, but the people of the Capital closed their doors and stayed inside. The clash between imperial and religious authority was not something they could intervene in.

But no matter who won, one thing was certain.

The World Tree was spreading its roots across the continent, spreading corruption wherever it went. If that wasn’t stopped, all that remained was destruction.