Chapter 227
Lord of Evil!
Among the Great Lords, he was known as the one closest to the archetype of evil.
He was the lord of all evil and ruled over all demons.
During the Great War, he commanded the largest host of subordinates.
Why would Arcana, the Arcana of Despair, seek out the Lord of Evil among the Ten Lords?
Because the Lord of Evil was the most important key to ending the Great War.
In the past, when the Great War broke out, all races and demons hated each other and slaughtered one another.
There was only one reason the war began.
To decide the true master of the Abyss.
And it was said that the Lord of Evil had started that war.
‘A being at the center of all demons.’
Of course, he hadn’t started the war alone.
The Lord of Evil had merely conveyed the opinions of all the Great Lords as their representative.
And being their representative meant he held tremendous influence over demons.
Even Demon Kings and Demon Gods had to bow their heads and obey him.
However, the Great Lords did not directly participate in the war.
If they clashed alongside the Species Lords, the balance of the entire Abyss could be thrown into chaos.
‘The Lord of Evil bestowed Authority upon his subordinates.’
And so, they waged proxy wars.
The Lord of Evil created subordinates through his Authority.
Just by receiving that Authority, ordinary demons gained power comparable to lower-level Demon Kings.
That was what made the Lord of Evil so terrifying.
But… why?
Why had his wings sprouted on the Original God’s back?
“…Ataraxia. It seems there’s an important part you haven’t explained to me.”
“……”
At Drakan’s question, Ataraxia shut his mouth.
There was no way he could reveal the story of Arcana seeking out the Lord of Evil and becoming a Bone Dragon.
It was a disgrace to the clan, something that would stain Arcana’s honor.
Naturally, Drakan—who didn’t know the truth—couldn’t understand what he was seeing.
“Those wings are definitely the Lord of Evil’s. Why is that mark—the one that appears when he bestows Authority upon his subordinates—”
Could it be that the one who led the Tribe of Despair had become a minion following the Lord of Evil?
For dragons, there was no greater shame.
It crossed the line.
No matter how much Sephiro was involved, he couldn’t suppress even his instinctive disgust.
If other clans learned of it, it would be buried as is.
Ataraxia, who knew the truth, hardened his expression.
“Drakan.”
“…Do you have anything more to say to me?”
Did he have anything to say?
To be honest, Ataraxia was just as unsettled.
Wings that should never have appeared had sprouted.
But if he stayed silent, rumors would spread.
“You’re an accomplice too.”
“……What?”
Drakan recoiled.
He was speechless.
Accomplice—meaning he had committed the crime together.
Ataraxia went even further.
“All of you in the Tribe of Sloth are accomplices.”
Drakan’s jaw dropped.
“What are you saying…?”
“Your tribe is involved in everything—giving the method to create an Original God, shaping the Original God’s appearance, and the Original God’s Core Fission.”
“Is this crazy bastard…?”
“The Great One said ‘we’ made it together. You’ve already stepped into a swamp you can’t crawl out of.”
“Ah…!”
Could it be?
Was this a larger plan to make them true “accomplices”?
He’d been moved by the word “we” and kept repeating it.
If the Lord of Evil was involved, even the great Sephiro would have problems.
No matter how much he was the god of dragons, the Primordial Dragons wouldn’t stay quiet.
They were the great elders of dragonkind.
Leaders who had guided the dragons for longer than Sephiro.
Sephiro couldn’t simply ignore what the Primordial Dragons said.
After all, they were the ones who raised and taught Sephiro.
He would have wanted to conceal this as much as possible.
‘Sephiro was interested because of those wings!’
He’d honestly never understood why Sephiro cared about creating a Colossus.
Now he finally understood.
A dragon who had received the Authority of the Great Nine Lords—the de facto leader of demons.
He must have wanted to see what changes would occur if that dragon was revived as an Original God.
‘What are those wings?’
…Regardless of the dragons’ misunderstandings, Park Chan-woo was also a little unsettled.
He didn’t recognize them.
Even after scanning Arcana’s memories, there was nothing related to those wings.
If Arcana had received the Lord of Evil’s Authority, he would have noticed.
Park Chan-woo stroked his chin.
‘It seems there was something Arcana sealed within his own memory.’
The memory he’d seen through Divine Spirit Magic ‘Elysion.’ was about the reality of the curse.
He couldn’t see it unless Arcana himself allowed it.
But the fact that the wings had sprouted now meant even that sealed part had been overcome by Arcana’s soul.
Kwaaaaaaaa—!
Mana so terrifying it made flesh tremble.
A massive black pillar rose in the center of the Abyss.
And when it vanished, not a single demon remained.
Ting!
[‘Original God, Dragon of Hope Arcana (150Lv)’ has annihilated the demons.]
[76,132 lowest-level demons, 21,350 low-level demons, 5,598 mid-level demons, 100 subordinates, and the Demon Lord Helium have died.]
[Additional rewards will be returned to Arcana’s master, the Soul Binder.]
[You own ‘Warrior’s Land with Flowing Lava’.]
[You have acquired 100 coins.]
[You have directly and indirectly killed the Demon Lord and his legion!]
[Level up.]
[Achieved ‘-58Lv’.]
[Reached Class Level 48]
[Quest: ‘Class Advancement’ is given.]
[Raise your Class Level to 50. The direction of the Class will be determined by the actions in between.]
Park Chan-woo whistled inwardly.
He hadn’t expected much experience since he hadn’t hunted directly, but so much came in that he leveled up.
And more importantly—
‘A Class Advancement quest!’
The opportunity had finally come.
In the past, Park Chan-woo had become a Knight after three Class Advancements starting from Barbarian Warrior.
‘Until Class Level 50, it’s nothing more than a tutorial.’
Class Advancement happens three times—at Class Levels 50, 70, and 90—and each time, passing that threshold grants an enormous increase in ability.
Now, he was truly at the starting line.
Normally, clearing the first Class Advancement before the 1st Species War was considered fast, but he’d gotten the opportunity with more than two months to spare.
‘I have to be careful about what I do during the Class Advancement section.’
A quest that begins at Class Level 48.
When he reached 50, he would be given multiple options depending on what he did during that span.
He would choose one, and his Class would change accordingly.
Depending on his actions here, he could end up on a completely different path.
On top of that, he had even acquired Helium’s territory.
‘I have to feed it to Cygnus.’
It was Abyss territory itself, not a Creation Abyss.
Cygnus would be very satisfied.
“……”
Before he knew it, the spectators had fallen silent.
Everyone simply stared blankly at Arcana.
They couldn’t look away from the Grand Magic—and the wings it had revealed.
The completion of an Original God beyond a Colossus.
But there was one thing that bothered him.
Park Chan-woo quietly stared at Drakan.
Drakan met his gaze and bowed his head.
“We didn’t see anything.”
The entire clan had decided to stay silent.
And—
“If you have any other interesting experiments, please call us anytime.”
“I’ll make sure you’re not bored.”
“Ah…! I’ll be waiting!”
That was enough.
To research and experiment alongside Sephiro—
There was no reason for the Tribe of Sloth to refuse.
And if they were being “recognized,” even more so.
They would take it to the grave.
…That was how the test to confirm the Original God’s ability ended.
Now all that remained was—
‘I need to install the Stigmata.’
To sanctify this land so that small fry like that could never invade again.
—
[‘Stigmata of Yaldagoth’ has been decorated in ‘Land of Valhalla’.]
[From now on, demons below the upper level cannot invade this land.]
[‘Followers of Yaldagoth’ are starting to come to this land.]
When the Stigmata was placed at the center of the land, new information appeared.
He could install it in Korea, or on Earth, but that wouldn’t be a fundamental solution.
Right now, sanctifying the Land of Valhalla mattered far more.
Because—
“Adora.”
“Did you call?”
Adora stood beside the Stigmata as if she had been waiting.
She also noticed the magnificent energy protecting the entire Land of Valhalla.
It was an excellent Barrier.
But more than that, what mattered was that Park Chan-woo had finally come for her.
It was the first time he’d returned to this land in a while.
She wondered why.
“Clean up the surrounding Abyss with the Golems and the Original God.”
“Are you saying to invade and dominate?”
“That’s right. Feed the dominated land to Cygnus.”
“If it’s the surroundings, how far should I go?”
“As far as you can. Oh—and it would be nice if you could also clean up the Creation Abyss around where the Earth 666 Creation Abyss is installed.”
“I understand.”
“Ataraxia will support you from the side.”
Adora nodded.
Attacking the surrounding weak lords wouldn’t be difficult.
And the Earth 666 Abyss was a Colosseum.
He was telling them to clean up the other Creation Abyss around the Colosseum they had created.
In other words, to forcibly destroy the Creation Abyss in Korea.
That, too, wasn’t impossible.
With Ataraxia—the master of tracking—alongside them, it was entirely doable.
“Where are you planning to go?”
“There’s a place I need to go alone for a while.”
“…Be careful.”
“I’m also going to ask you to take care of Boksil for a while.”
“Radiant Anubis?”
“Well, I’ll be away for a bit.”
“I understand. Leave it to me.”
She didn’t ask any more questions.
Park Chan-woo was someone who solved everything on his own.
Even if she worried, he’d return with the best results.
It was a little disappointing, but his request came first.
After that, once Park Chan-woo finished preparing, he set out to leave.
Jiiiiing!
Before he knew it, a golden Warp formed in front of him.
[The path to ‘Land of the Golden Nuck’ is open.]
[Only ‘Park Chan-woo’ can enter.]
[Pets, summons, and all other contractual relationships cannot enter.]
Land of the Golden Nuck!
One of the five masters who ruled the Tower Of God—the Will of Mana—had recognized him and granted him the qualifications to head to the Land of the Golden Nuck.
He was curious.
What kind of place it was.
But only he could enter.
There had to be a reason.
“Can you enter too?”
Park Chan-woo asked, looking down at the Shadow.
Then Chronos laughed.
「Huhu. I am Shadow. Shadow is one.」
He shrugged.
If it didn’t work, he’d be kicked out on his own.
Park Chan-woo carefully stepped into the golden Warp.
At the same time—
Ting!
[You have set foot in ‘Mountain of Ascetics, Deepest Part’ in Land of the Golden Nuck.]
“……?”
Wait.
That name was familiar.
If it was the Mountain of Ascetics…
‘The mountain where ascetic Aharans gather!’