Chapter 380

Something felt off, but there was no reason to refuse Ainzhar’s invitation. Taesan followed him deeper into the library.

“It’s all thanks to you that I found Lady Levinenov.”

Ainzhar hummed as he walked ahead. He hadn’t even known that Levinenov was in the Library of All Things—without Taesan’s help, he would still be wandering in search of his goddess.

“That’s why, if anyone deserves to meet the goddess, it’s you.”

“Is that so.”

Taesan quietly watched Ainzhar.

His behavior and reactions were clearly different. Many things about him seemed changed compared to the past.

“This way.”

Ainzhar led Taesan to the outskirts of the library.

[Hey, old man. Congrats. You finally found her? You’ve been in the labyrinth longer than I have, haven’t you?]

The ghost spoke to Ainzhar. Only then did Ainzhar seem to notice its presence, letting out a surprised exclamation.

“Hero! You’re here too! It’s all thanks to the one beside you—Taesan! Thanks to him, I’ve fulfilled the wish I had when I entered this place!”

Ainzhar laughed heartily and rearranged the books. Before long, a bookshelf shifted to reveal a hidden room.

“Come on in. Lady Levinenov is here.”

Ainzhar entered the passage. After briefly watching his back, Taesan also stepped forward.

Unlike the rest of the Library of All Things, which was bright without a single candle, this place was dark—as if cut off from the outside world.

Above all, the deeper he went, the stronger the strange energy became.

[…Huh.]

The ghost sensed something off. Taesan frowned.

‘This…’

It was extremely strange.

While the energies found in the domains of [Transcendents] were diverse, each had a distinct identity.

But the energy he felt now was a muddled, twisted thing—its nature ungraspable.

And it was similar to a power Taesan himself wielded.

‘The boundary?’

But it was different. The [Boundary] was mixed, yet separated—something that could be controlled to some degree. What he sensed beyond the passage, however, was simply distorted.

Bracing himself, Taesan passed through the corridor.

Ainzhar smiled and opened the door.

“Behold! Lady Levinenov!”

What lay beyond the door was the goddess he loved—Levinenov.

She lay quietly, suspended in the air of a wide chamber.

Her face was incredibly gentle.

Just looking at her brought a sense of peace.

Taesan had seen the true forms of many gods, but this was by far the most serene and compassionate.

But the aura she emitted was something else entirely.

It was twisted—something that should not exist in this world.

The energy flowing from her chest resembled rot, exuding a corrupt and impure presence.

[Urgh.]

The ghost instinctively covered its mouth. Though already dead and lacking a physical body, it reflexively gagged. The energy before them was that repulsive.

[What is this.]

Taesan clutched his chest. His instincts, as a living being, were disturbed by what lay before him. It felt like a masterpiece crafted by a master artisan had been grotesquely defiled.

The goddess’s appearance was beautiful, but it was overwhelmingly unnatural. She could no longer be called a god.

“Now! Kneel and pay your respects to the goddess!”

Only Ainzhar, with empty eyes, spread his arms wide.

“My goddess! Lady Levinenov!”

[You have discovered Levinenov, corrupted and tainted by the Old God.]

* * *

[…Old man.]

The ghost asked in a trembling voice.

[What happened here?]

Levinenov was clearly not in a normal state. Ainzhar simply replied with a question of his own.

“What do you mean?”

[What do you mean, ‘what’? I’m talking about the goddess’s condition. What the hell happened to—]

“Ah! You meant that.”

Ainzhar chuckled.

“Lady Levinenov is feeling a little unwell right now. But don’t worry. In time, she’ll return to her original self.”

[…Return? To her original state?]

“Yes. I’m sure of it. So don’t worry.”

Ainzhar spoke with conviction.

But it sounded less like he was convincing others—and more like he was trying to convince himself.

[Then I suppose there’s nothing more to say…]

The ghost trailed off. Ainzhar was a devout follower of Levinenov. He likely knew more about her condition than the ghost did, so it had no choice but to remain silent.

Still, something felt terribly wrong.

The ghost couldn’t be certain if that state was even something that could be restored.

“It seems Lady Levinenov is a bit tired. We should step back.”

With a worried look, Ainzhar guided Taesan away.

“My apologies. You came all this way only to leave without even offering a prayer. But should the opportunity arise, feel free to visit again. For you, the door will always be open.”

“…Thank you.”

“Nonsense. I should be thanking you.”

Ainzhar let out a hearty laugh.

After parting ways with Ainzhar, Taesan continued flipping through the library’s books, but none of the content registered.

His mind was consumed with thoughts of Levinenov.

The distorted and twisted goddess—and the power he felt within her.

Taesan spoke.

“Balbamaba.”

Rumble.

The ground shifted, and Balbamaba appeared.

[Why did you call me.]

“Ainzhar. You know, don’t you?”

[…So you met him. That’s right, you were the one who told him where the goddess was.]

Balbamaba clicked its tongue.

[Perhaps it would’ve been better if you hadn’t. At least then, he could have lived on with an impossible belief.]

“What the hell is that thing?”

Inside the broken goddess, Taesan had felt the power of an [Old God].

Balbamaba paused for a moment before answering.

[You might be fine, considering who you are now. But not him. Hero. You’ll need to stay back for a while.]

[Am I not allowed to listen to this? How uptight.]

The ghost grumbled but obediently stepped back. Balbamaba gathered its power. A veil wrapped around the two of them.

Only then did Balbamaba begin to speak.

[The Old God is trying to trample this universe. In the process, countless worlds and Transcendents have perished.]

Taesan had already heard this story before. The [Demon God] had said that more than two hundred worlds were destroyed by the Old God.

[So many beings have fallen. Mortals, immortals, and even Transcendents who had carved out their own domains. Levinenov, whom you saw, is one of them.]

“Was she harmed while trying to stop the Old God’s invasion?”

[It’s more complicated than that, but yes, that’s the simplest explanation.]

“Still, her condition is far from normal.”

Levinenov was broken.

Her divine power was twisted and corrupted, entangled with the Old God’s power. It couldn’t be explained as mere damage.

[That’s because the Old God is a being beyond the laws.]

Balbamaba spoke calmly.

[A Transcendent with their own domain does not die unless that domain itself is destroyed. But many Transcendents have vanished before the Old God. The reason is simple. He can corrupt the domain itself.]

“Corrupt it?”

[To a Transcendent, their divine name and domain are everything. The Old God taints the domain itself. It’s fatal—disrupts the very foundation of divinity.]

“…Is that even possible?”

A god’s domain was absolute. No one could interfere with it or touch it.

Breaking it with greater power like the [Demon God] was one thing, but corruption? That was hard to imagine.

[I told you. He is a being beyond the laws. Even divine names and domains are, in the end, just a kind of law.]

“And what the hell are these ‘laws’?”

Laws, and beings beyond them—he had heard this constantly, but still didn’t fully understand what it meant.

[They are the fundamental principles that make up the universe. If you were born in this world, there’s no escaping them—they are absolute truths.]

“…Hold on.”

Laws were the principles of the universe. Anyone born within it could not escape them.

But the Old God was beyond those laws.

A thought flashed through Taesan’s mind.

[That’s enough.]

Balbamaba cut in quietly.

[That’s all the information you’re allowed to know.]

“That’s still quite a lot.”

[That’s because, as you are now, you’ve partially transcended mortality. That much is permitted. Now you understand why I said his belief could never come true, right?]

“Roughly.”

A power beyond laws had corrupted a Transcendent’s domain. And a domain was everything to a Transcendent.

Even other gods couldn’t interfere with another god’s domain.

[The [God of Knowledge] is preserving Levinenov in the Library of All Things by his own will, but even a god can’t fix her current state.]

Balbamaba clicked its tongue.

[To be honest, I’d rather remove her right now. That thing is far too unstable.]

No sooner had those words left its mouth than a violent wave burst forth.

It was a distorted shockwave, a blend of the Old God’s power and the goddess’s divinity.

[There it goes again.]

Taesan quickly launched himself toward the source of the wave. It was Levinenov’s secret room.

When he arrived, he saw Ainzhar desperately trying to restrain her power.

“Goddess, please!”

The serenity on the goddess’s face was gone.

Her eyes were wide open, streaming black tears.

Her blackened chest spewed dense, foul energy as if vomiting.

[Kyaaaaaa!]

A shriek of agony rang out. Ainzhar flinched. It was a scream that shook the very mind.

Shatter!

As the wounds on the goddess tore open, ashen energy surged out.

It was a corrupted power that contaminated everything it touched.

Taesan invoked his [Divinity]. His divine energy suppressed and began to purify the ashen power.

[What a mess.]

Balbamaba manifested its power violently. The labyrinth twisted around the goddess.

Rumble!

It pressed down hard, sealing Levinenov’s power. After some time, Levinenov closed her eyes once more.

[Ainzhar. Is this the ending you wished for?]

Ainzhar sat slumped, staring blankly at the goddess.

Balbamaba spoke as it turned to leave.

[This time, I got involved by chance, but I don’t intend to interfere with the goddess again. If it becomes a problem, Jorge will handle it. But don’t you think, as her only devotee, it’s your duty to give her peace rather than leave her in this state?]

* * *

“That must’ve been hard to watch.”

Ainzhar apologized to Taesan with a sorrowful face.

“I’m truly sorry. I dragged you into something terrible.”

“Not at all.”

Taesan shook his head. He asked quietly,

“Did you already know?”

“…Of course I did.”

Ainzhar nodded with a devastated expression.

Ainzhar was a monster.

He was far stronger than Taesan was now.

In pure scale, he was likely among the top of all immortals. There was no way someone that powerful could have missed something even Taesan had vaguely sensed.

He had simply turned his eyes away, escaping from reality.

“Lady Levinenov is suffering. I want to help her, but there’s nothing I can do.”

His face was full of helplessness.

“She sacrificed herself to save me, but I can’t help her. That fact is just too crushing. She’s still holding on with her own strength, refusing to give in… but there’s no way.”

The goddess had not yet been fully consumed by the Old God’s power.

The black tears and that scream were proof. She was resisting.

But as Ainzhar said, there was no solution.

Even the gods couldn’t resolve this—how could Ainzhar?

It was practically meaningless struggle.

“Maybe, like Balbamaba said… the right thing is to give her peace.”

Ainzhar clenched his fists in anguish. His nails dug into his palms, drawing blood.

Taesan quietly pondered.

The goddess was not yet completely corrupted. She was still resisting the Old God’s power.

And Taesan was familiar with a force similar to her condition.

“This is purely hypothetical.”

“Hm?”

“If, by some small chance, there were a way to purge the corruption consuming her…”

Ainzhar’s pupils widened. Taesan continued.

“What would you do?”

* * * * * *

Translator’s Note:

Hey everyone, just a quick heads-up — starting next week, chapter releases might be a bit inconsistent for a while. My wife and I just had our baby, and I’ll be prioritizing taking care of them during this time. Depending on how things go, I might still be able to post chapters here and there, but I can’t promise a regular schedule just yet.

I really appreciate your patience and support. I’ll do my best to keep updates coming when I can, and I’ll let you all know once things start settling down and we’re closer to getting back to a steady rhythm.

Thanks again for sticking with me and this story. It means a lot.