With Yu Joonghyuk’s roar, the airflow of the battlefield reversed. Frightened incarnations began to withdraw from the field one by one.

[Someone uses the ‘Star Ladder’!]
[Someone uses the ‘Star Ladder’!]

This scenario was a ‘sub-scenario.’ There was no need to clear it.

“Wait, you—”

They hadn’t come here to defend Washington in the first place.

“I’m sorry, Prophet.”

As even the incarnations of allied nations she’d trusted disappeared one after another, Anna Croft’s expression was dyed with anxiety.

The ‘Star Ladder’ in the sky kept pouring down bright light.

“Anna.”

Selena Kim and Christina stood beside her. Her comrades knew, too, that there was no chance of victory like this.

Anna and Zarathustra’s elites had already finished subjugating the Grade-4 disaster species. If they wished, they too could use that ‘Star Ladder.’

Even so, Anna didn’t leave the scenario.

If she abandoned Washington, America would collapse as it was. The Demon Realm invasion would continue and eventually sweep over Las Vegas.

As the representative of ‘Zarathustra,’ she had the duty to defend this continent.

“Cheon Inho.”

Anna Croft looked at me.

She was desperate enough to rely on the swindler she hated most.

“I’ll stop him. In return—”

So the timing for the swindler to name a ‘condition’ was precisely now.

“Lend me your ability.”

“What…?”

“I know you have the ‘Elixir Manufacturer’ trait.”

The real reason I had come to see Anna Croft.

I took out a ‘Low-grade Dragon Heart’ from my bosom. It was the reward I had obtained after taking down a Grade-4 earth-dragon species.

But Dragon Hearts were so tricky to process that, at present, there was only one way to refine it into ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) an elixir.

“I need your blood.”

Mixing in the blood of an ‘Elixir Manufacturer.’

Startled, Anna Croft stared closely at me and spoke.

“You know what happens if you drink my blood.”

“I’ll become your retainer.”

I spoke while recalling Kim Dokja of the third round, who had been revived by drinking Anna’s blood.

“But that’s only when your tier is lower than hers.”

“Are you saying your tier is higher than mine right now?”

Certainly, outwardly, I was in a pitiful state.

I didn’t have an incarnation body as solid as Yu Joonghyuk’s, nor did I possess mental-type skills as powerful as Nirvana’s.

I didn’t lead a great group like Anna, and I didn’t have a backer constellation anyone would recognize.

But even so, there was one thing I was confident in.

[The tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name,’ smacks its lips.]

‘Story.’

“You—how already—”

Anna’s eyes widened as she sensed the tale flowing from my entire body.

It was only natural.

I had already gathered three tales. And by exactly those three tales, there was a clear difference in tier between me and other incarnations.

“We don’t have time. What will you do?”

Anna Croft still looked hesitant.

The fact that her ‘blood’ was an elixir was a top-level secret. The moment this was revealed, incarnations all over the world would target her.

So, manifesting this ability before me now was already a gamble.

After deliberating, Anna finally accepted the Dragon Heart.

“It will take about five minutes. You’re confident, I assume?”

Turning my back to Anna, I stepped forward.

“Of course.”

Standing over a trampled Nirvana, Yu Joonghyuk howled toward the sky.

[Trait, ‘Circulating Body,’ activates.]

I slowly inhaled and circulated the mana through my entire body.

—Kid.

‘Yes. It’s possible now, right?’

The cooldown of [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] had long since returned.

[‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ Stage 3 is activating!]

The problem was plausibility.

Even ‘Stage 3’ of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint wasn’t completely free from the influence of plausibility.

—It’s possible.

But now was different.

I could tell it instinctively.

Just as when Yamata no Orochi descended on [Peace Land], in this scenario the ‘backlash of plausibility’ didn’t blow in a normal form.

In other words, this scenario functioned by placing each other’s tiers on a ‘scale’ and mutually canceling plausibility.

In that case.

「This time, I might be able to use the true power of the ‘Demon King of Salvation.’」

I triggered [Agitation] in time.

「I am Kim Dokja.」

[‘Agitation’ resonates with ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’!]
[Your synchronization with your backer constellation rises!]

It felt as if a layer of membrane settled over my soul, like donning clothes that were both firm and supple.

As I slowly blinked, the scenery of the world changed. The sky that had seemed so high sank lower, and the gazes of the constellations felt even more blatant.

[Some constellations are startled by your tier!]
[A tiny few constellations pay respect to your tier.]
[Constellation, ‘Bald Militia Commander,’ is surprised, asking if you’ve been hiding your power.]
[Constellation, ‘War God of the Sea,’ examines your tale closely.]
[Constellation, ‘Black Flame Dragon of the Abyss,’ stares at you with eyes wide open.]

A few steps away, Christina staggered.

Well, if she really was an ‘Apostle,’ she couldn’t help but recognize it—who had possessed me now.

“As expected, you are……”

At last, Yu Joonghyuk looked this way. The moment our gazes met, I knew he would move.

“Come, Yu Joonghyuk.”

As I transferred control of the body to Kim Dokja, ‘Unbreakable Conviction’ flashed in midair.

The beast’s forepaw that came flying and the ‘Blade of Conviction’ that rose brilliantly clashed head-on.

Kugugugugu!

As blade and forepaw collided, a thunderous roar erupted.

I was blocking the attack of that monstrous beast.

—What’s so surprising? I’m ‘tale-grade,’ you know.

I realized anew.

That the playful ‘older brother from the neighborhood’ was, in truth, a ‘constellation’ shining in that sky.

—With this incarnation body, I can’t properly use even a tenth of my strength.

Strictly speaking, even that ‘one-tenth’ was too much.

The muscles across my whole body screamed, and I felt my mana draining rapidly in real time.

—we finish this in five minutes.

In place of Kim Dokja, a tale began to speak.

[The tale, ‘King of a World Without a King,’ begins its story!]

The first tale obtained by Kim Dokja, the ‘Demon King of Salvation.’

「Beneath the sky of this world, no king may usurp the name of king.」

The ‘King of a World Without a King’ was declaring toward the ‘Conqueror.’

「Only the king who denies kings shall solely exist.」

As the power of the tale exploded, I kicked off the ground and charged. Confidence welled up that I could cut through anything in my way.

The ‘Blade of Conviction’ surged explosively.

For the first time, bewilderment rippled in the eyes of that terrifying beast.

Skagak.

Sheared black fur scattered in the air and blood spattered. Yu Joonghyuk’s stance, so far nothing but offense, began to shift.

A cautious guard centered on [Body-Protecting Gang Qi].

In that brief moment, the beast had judged: this ‘tale’ could not be used for very long.

‘Smart, aren’t you?’

Yu Joonghyuk was even instinctively suppressing the ‘Conqueror’s’ tale.

As if he knew that the moment he used that tale, he would be devoured by the ‘King of a World Without a King.’

He used only the ‘beast’s’ techniques relying solely on instinct.

—Whether that’s Yu Joonghyuk’s cleverness or the demon species possessing him, I don’t know.

The tale of 「King of a World Without a King」 was scattering in real time.

As he had anticipated, with this incarnation body I couldn’t maintain the power of a legendary-grade tale for long.

‘What now?’

—Use another means.

Another means?

I was about to ask what else there was when a message rang in my head.

A sigh escaped me inwardly.

Right.

This was the very skill that made ‘Kim Dokja’ a ‘reader.’

With this skill he had defeated countless foes and absorbed their power as his own.

[Activating exclusive skill, ‘Bookmark’!]

In my head flipped the list of countless characters Kim Dokja had read until now.

Some I knew, and some even I did not.

Some were too weak to be suitable now, and some were too strong to know if plausibility would permit it.

—There is someone to choose.

But there was no hesitation in Kim Dokja’s choice.

[Bookmark No. 11 is activated!]

—Because if this guy is that ‘41st round,’ then there’s a being we absolutely have to choose.

Mana surged violently through my entire body, and then chills ran over my skin.

I realized what I had become.

「The white coat was covered in white fur.」

I hadn’t expected to see this sight with my own eyes.

[Bookmark No. 11, ‘Calamity of Inundation, Shin Yuseung,’ is activated!]
[Activating exclusive skill, ‘Beast Lord’s Sensitivity Lv.???’!]

White fur scattered like whirling snow.

Yu Joonghyuk’s pupils, looking at me, trembled. Even with only instinct remaining, he would have recognized it.

No matter how strong the beastified one was, he couldn’t defeat what I was now.

「“I am the ‘Beast Lord.’”」

The Calamity of Inundation, Shin Yuseung.

「“The king of all ‘beasts.’”」

Kim Dokja dashed in and rapped Yu Joonghyuk’s head with the flat of the blade.

Once, twice, three times.

They were attacks he could surely have evaded, yet Yu Joonghyuk failed to dodge—as if a vassal unable to defy the command of their king.

Each time he smacked Yu Joonghyuk’s head, the tale of the 41st-round Shin Yuseung bloomed intact.

「“Captain, what were we to you?”」
「“I hate you, who live the world alone.”」
「“I’ll end your world in the most horrifying way.”」

Whatever anyone might say, no one could call this pain a lie.

The 41st-round Shin Yuseung, by her very existence, was the sin of the 41st-round Yu Joonghyuk.

As if exacting the price of that sin, Kim Dokja drove a powerful kick into Yu Joonghyuk’s abdomen.

Hurled ten-odd meters, Yu Joonghyuk smashed through a capitol window and tumbled inside.

「“Mister… can I call you that, too?”」

The moment that voice sounded again, Kim Dokja faltered.

Whose memory was this?

Shin Yuseung. Or the 41st-round Shin Yuseung.

Or else,

‘Are you all right.’

Was it the memory of Kim Dokja, who had been the ‘Demon King of Salvation’?

—And what if I’m not.

For the first time, I sensed a certain emotion in Kim Dokja’s voice.

Like someone who didn’t want to let go of that thread of feeling, I said,

‘When you miss them, it’s all right to say you miss them, isn’t it?’

Why are you so cold.

Was Kim Dokja really such a person as I knew him?

No.

At least the Kim Dokja I knew, the ‘Demon King of Salvation’…

—That’s not my ‘role.’

Role?

—It’s another ‘Kim Dokja’s’ part to look at people and grieve.

The instant I heard that, it felt as if all my questions could suddenly be understood.

When he first saw Jung Heewon, Lee Hyunsung, Lee Jihye, Shin Yuseung.

The reason the words Kim Dokja used to address them had felt somehow distant and unfamiliar—could it be—

‘There’s no such thing.’

Any Kim Dokja has the right to grieve. When you see someone dear, you can be glad and call to them fondly.

You can speak your feelings.

But he did not.

—I am the ‘first Kim Dokja.’

That Kim Dokja was looking at Yu Joonghyuk.

From inside the capitol, the beast Yu Joonghyuk rose to his feet and charged with a shriek.

「Kim Dokja, who favored ‘extermination methods.’」

Seen from afar, it would have looked like black-and-white beasts clawing at each other.

「Kim Dokja, colder than anyone.」

As Yu Joonghyuk’s claws snagged on the fur-tips of ‘Beast Lord’s Sensitivity’ and he floundered, ‘Unbreakable Conviction’ shone.

「Kim Dokja, who hates taking losses and hates the constellations.」

Staggering from the blow, Yu Joonghyuk reeled.

Kim Dokja pressed the attack without giving him any room to breathe.

「Kim Dokja, who had to survive first before any other ‘Kim Dokja’ could exist.」

Driven into a corner, Yu Joonghyuk let out a howl and manifested a secret art.

[Heaven-Sundering Meteor Strike].

The strongest secret art the current Yu Joonghyuk could use was manifested through his spearwork.

A bundle of gang qi tearing the world apart poured toward me.

「Kim Dokja, who chose to become a demon king to save someone.」

Unflustered, Kim Dokja slowly spread both arms—as if to embrace a world that had been shattered to pieces.

[Activating ‘Monster Gate.’]

Dozens of portals swirled in midair, and calamity-grade beast species thrust their heads out all at once.

A variety of breaths spewed from the beasts’ mouths canceled out the gang-qi barrage of Heaven-Sundering Meteor Strike.

「He is the ‘Demon King of Salvation.’」

As he slowly approached, fear rose in the pupils of the black beast.

As if to soothe such a Yu Joonghyuk, Kim Dokja smiled faintly.

“I’ll take back what’s mine now.”

The ‘Kim Dokja Fragment’ embedded in Yu Joonghyuk’s back was yanked out along with blood.

And at that very moment, the forgotten memory of the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ returned.