Chapter 212

Edward entered the guild office and noticed Harmony quietly gazing at him. He asked, “Your Highness, why is she acting like this?”

”…There was an incident. She inherited memories.”

Edward’s expression hardened at my words. While information about classes was somewhat confidential, it had become fairly well-known among my inner circle. After all, given that both Haze and Edward had experienced ‘memory inheritance’ initially, it couldn’t be kept completely secret.

Edward looked incredulous. ”…Could it be… that there exists a future where you become a Transcendent?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t anticipate this. To think there’s a mythical-rank profession that isn’tRare, Heroic, or Legendary…”

“Edward…”

At that moment, Harmony spoke. But it wasn’t just words; she had already approached and stretched out her hand.

Tap.

Her hand, however, didn’t reach Edward. He had lightly brushed it away.

“Ah, how frustrating. Didn’t you give your body up? You should’ve overcome it like I did.”

“I-I didn’t give my body up! I am from the future…”

“Yes, that future. Explain that future to me.”

”…”

Harmony looked at me with eyes that glowed faintly. Through those eyes, I felt the divinity within her.

This is serious. He seems quite the Transcendent from the future…

It goes without saying, but a Transcendent possesses a mental fortitude and ego that are incomparable to those of lesser beings.

Despite being an artist with an extraordinary ego… is it truly possible for her to transcend her future and win the struggle for dominance against the Transcendent?

She continued, seemingly unaware of my unease. “In my previous life, I was… nothing but a mere incomplete, never accomplishing anything of note.”

Her tale unfolded before me. In her timeline, Harmony had met her end at barely fifteen.

“I was burned at the stake. After refusing the Cardinal’s advances, I was branded a witch, you see.”

“What? That lunatic actually did it?!”

“Edward.”

“Oh, my apologies, Your Highness.”

Harmony pressed on with her story. “All I could do was sing. It was sorrowful and painful, but… that was my only means of expression.”

She burned to death in front of her younger brother’s eyes.

“But she wasn’t killed, was she?”

“She died, yes. But at the same time, she was chosen by God.”

It was the moment when the special boss, Madman Edward, and the myth-class angel, Harmony, were born.

“And after that?”

” moved by my song, the Heavenly God bestowed his voice upon me and sent me to the battlefield against the demonic gods. Among countless divine soldiers and generals… I sang for them.”

He was the highest spender on Revenge, the man who studied it more seriously than anyone else.

I, who not only knew Ardenia well but also lived within it, instantly understood her words.

It’s the fifth floor of the Myth Tower.

The Mythical Tower, the highest-level content in Revenge, was a magic realm where even the most generous pay-to-winner couldn’t accomplish much alone. It was a place where only guilds with at least one palace could properly operate. Among these, the fifth floor was where the highest-ranked guilds with Fire Points were active.

Harmony continued her story.

“We fought for hundreds of years. We sang endlessly.”

”…”

I inwardly groaned.

Ah, damn it, the possibilities are shrinking.

If she had died immediately after accepting the power of the god, there was a chance that the original Harmony could have regained control. Perhaps she only possessed divinity, but had a weak sense of self.

But if they had fought for hundreds of years?

It was only natural for her to possess a strong sense of self.

Indeed, the Grand Angel Harmony and the best singer of the Human Empire, Harmony, had very different personalities. Hadn’t the latter’s attitude towards me been completely different?

Still, she’s too well-behaved to simply kill. Maybe I should just accept her as Harmony.

In fact, if I tried hard enough, I could find ways to justify everything. After all, if I assumed this was the [Harmony who had returned from the future], then everything made sense.

“After encountering the Demon King, I found myself here. That’s where I realized my journey had brought me to this time.”

“So you’re claiming to have come from the future?”

“Of course, it’s not entirely accurate. You see, in the world I came from, there was no one like Your Highness.”

Her eyes, as they fell on me, were impossible to miss filled with unmistakable wariness.

She was an angel of the Heavenly God.

According to [the scenario], she was inevitably destined to become my enemy.

”…Wait a moment.”

I raised my left arm, gazing at the glossy black surface of an elegant watch.

I had been using this transcendental weapon solely to control drop rates.

Even this one effect is incredibly profitable.

However, the Zero-Sum’s effect isn’t limited to drop rates alone.

Events.

An occurrence distinct from everyday happenings—an extraordinary incident. Whenever something was triggered by the Zero-Sum, I had saved it. My experiences being suddenly pulled into two-dimensional worlds had amplified my anxiety about such events.

A large-scale event… Use.

Stored Large-scale Events: 2 -> 1

The count of events decreased accordingly. However, nothing occurred.

What the heck? Am I supposed to go on a wild goose chase for some demon king or a horde of magic beasts?

“Your Highness?” Edward inquired, noticing my frozen state.

In that instant, a burning curiosity consumed me.

“What kind of demon king are we dealing with here?”

“Excuse me…?”

“I’m asking which of the demon kings it might be.”

“That… A demon king is a demon king.”

I pressed, frustrated by his nonsensical reply.

“What kind of foolish talk is this? ‘A demon king is a demon king’? Surely it must be one of the Eight Demon Kings.”

I may love the uniqueness of our world, but there’s no need to reinvent something as widely known across the macrocosm as the demon kings. It’s not as if we’re dealing with some obscure deity or the like. Why bother with the demon kings of all things?

“Eight Demon… Kings? One of the demon kings?” Edward stammered.

“If you don’t know their names, at least describe their traits.”

“Exterior, exterior, exterior…”

Something was amiss with Harmony. Her expression seemed to warp as the firm divinity within her began to waver.

His figure was… was…”

This sight of confusion triggered a sudden realization.

”…Is this… the appearance of a celestial god?”

”…”

Harmony’s trembling abruptly ceased.

And then, in an instant—

Thud!

With a heavy spiritual wave, her presence diminished.

“Huh? What in the world?” Edward’s bewildered voice broke the silence.

In a single moment, the power emanating from her had plummeted to an unbelievable degree. She remained quite formidable, but she had undeniably fallen short of being a transcendental existence.

“…Is this for real?”

“Phew…!” Harmony, who had been trembling, suddenly took a deep breath.

Edward grinned widely. “Sis! We won!”

“Can we really say…we won?” Harmony groaned. “Oh no! My head…”

As I watched Harmony in pain and Edward supporting her, the situation was crystal clear to me.

So she failed to create a Demon King, huh…

This new creator deity, her, had just committed an act that defied the common sense of the Macrocosm. Even though it was in the form of a monster, the feat of creating a Transcendent—a low-level god—in the Macrocosm was unheard of! However, for her, creating a mid-level Transcendent like an Emperor or a Demon King was no easy task either.

It might be possible someday… but not yet.

This revelation caused the self of Grand Angel Zero-sum, originally connected to a Holy God, to crumble. From the beginning, her backstory had been full of holes.

I see. So this is what it means to be part of a [Major Event].

Events don’t require massive causes to occur. A chance comment, stumbling upon a place, or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time can all spark something significant. Just now, Zero-sum had set in motion a small change within my mind, raising a question mark and creating an event.

“You’ve been truly fortunate in many ways.”

“Ugh… Your Holiness.”

“You’ve had quite the ordeal. I’ll arrange for an attendant to be at your disposal. Go get some rest, my dear.”

After ushering Zero-sum and Edward out, I took a moment to sort through my thoughts.

And then I made up my mind.

“I must carry out this experiment.”

And I executed it immediately.

I called forth Namgung Iljeon and handed him the Sword God class card.

The missing Transcendent had been replenished anew.

Namgung Iljeon, no… Sword God Namgung Iljeon burst into laughter. ”…Ha ha.”

“I see. Is this the past… or perhaps another timeline?”

Originally, I had planned to crush Namgung Iljeon if he attacked us, but it seemed like this immense figure at the pinnacle of swordsmanship had no intention of fighting. After all, this God Sword incarnation was a testament to humanity’s victory, having endured countless hardships and faced insurmountable odds to protect the continent and mankind for hundreds of years.

Despite sharing the same origin, there was no way this great hero could be cut from the same cloth as the Wulin Grandmaster, who had become the emperor’s dog and abused his power as he pleased.

Ha ha… It’s truly hard to believe, I thought. The monsters pouring out of the gates have been swept away, and an invincible wall has been erected to protect humanity…

Following my guidance, Namgung Iljeon ascended the castle wall and quietly gazed down at the city below.

The vast metropolis and the lively people bustling within it.

His eyes gleamed.

“Is this… a world where the Savior has appeared…?”

After a bit of persuasion, he readily took an oath to fight for humankind under my command.

It turned out I hadn’t even needed the Zero-Sum preparation I’d been readying.

“Oh, by the way,” Namgung Iljeon suddenly spoke up. “Your body is terribly frail, even for someone who’s come from the past. Your inner force is unusually turbulent—so much so that it’s hard to believe you ever mastered it.”

“Still, it’s probably better than for someone at my young age back then.”

“Is that so? Empress of the Human Empire. Your Majesty is likely correct, as always,” Namgung Iljeon responded with a witty smile.

“I would like to train first. My experiences haven’t changed since before, but… my body is not the same.”

“Do as you wish. I will arrange for a place.”

“Thank you. No, thank you very much. Your Majesty.”

I watched Namgung Iljeon take his leave.

It might not go well. If only there were a priest of the God of Truth here. It would be much simpler.

The Human Empire could easily defend against Transcendents during the Mercury War, but that was only possible due to the Mythical Rank Palaces. The Sword God was not an opponent the current Human Empire could control. Moreover, as a human, he had the potential to create his own empire. Even if he was weaker than me… as Emperor of the Human Empire, I had to eliminate him.

But if I kill them all, when will I be able to conquer Heavenly Yuan?

I decided not to kill him. If I wanted him dead due to unease, I wouldn’t have given him the Mythology card in the first place.

I suppose I’ll have to keep him close and observe for a while.

I needed to see if he would regain his original self like Edward or Harmony. In case of an emergency, I might have to use him as a zero-sum game.

Still, the best option… is to become the priest of the God of Truth. Even a Transcendent wouldn’t lie to a priest of the God of Truth.

“Log out.”

I returned to Earth. As always, I went through my daily routine while pondering.

Should I become the priest of the God of Truth?

It wasn’t that I hadn’t already decided to become a priest of the honored God, but once I realized they couldn’t comprehend Ardenia, it seemed like the right choice. I wanted to be a priest of justice but failed at becoming one overnight.

“Well, being an apostle of the truth is much easier than being a priest of justice. It might take some time though…”

Just then…

Meow!

I muttered reflexively, as I hadn’t heard that sound in a while.

“Lowest price?”

But it wasn’t that.

“…Ah, damn it! Damn it!”

The curse slipped out involuntarily.

“So that was the bottom back then!”

However, unlike before when he had tens of trillions of won, now… he had no money.