Chapter 105: Hunting the Darkness (1)

As I have mentioned repeatedly, the Demon King is a being created by fashioning a portion of the God of Darkness.

Therefore, that existence is the Demon King, yet not the Demon King.

He is the God of Darkness hiding within the shell of the Demon King.

He appeared the moment the Demon King perished.

“You… seem to know who I am?”

However, the bastard did not know me.

He showed no signs of remembering me, the one who had driven him to the brink of eternal destruction by triggering the Twilight of the Gods.

That was why it was so surprising.

‘Salmora. He knows me.’

The fact that only Salmora knew me was strange.

How did he know something that even this great divine status could not remember?

The one who had sent the clone had to be planning something even now.

An intense curiosity about what that unpredictable bastard was up to surged within me, but I forced it down.

Now was not the time for Salmora.

It was time to face the Darkness standing before me.

“It would be stranger not to know. Light and Darkness. The two gods who were separated at the very beginning.”

The father of the gods is called the Sky, and the mother is called the Earth.

However, before them, Light and Darkness existed.

They were the first to be separated from the primordial Chaos, but it simply took a long time for them to be perceived.

In that interval, the Sky and the Earth produced gods and claimed the titles of father and mother of all gods.

Light and Darkness were dissatisfied with that.

They had clearly existed first in the beginning, yet they were being placed behind the others simply because those two had produced the gods.

Thus, they devised a plan.

That was the Fetter of Light and Darkness—the eternal reincarnation of the Hero and the Demon King.

Through this, they finally obtained their Lord Tier Status.

And now, one of the two who had obtained that great Lord Tier Status had revealed himself before me.

But wasn’t that a violation of the laws?

Originally, gods cannot interfere in causality.

To intervene, a justifiable price and sacrifice are inevitable.

Of course, the Darkness had paid that price.

The death of the Demon King, who was a part of himself.

It was a sort of ritual.

With the death of the Demon King, the Darkness gained the justification to intervene in causality.

Which meant…

“Rumble!”

The Darkness standing before me was an absolute being capable of wielding the power and status of a god.

“Is that so? How arrogant. To dare look upon a primordial god and not show respect.”

It was evident here as well.

He was emphasizing that he was a primordial god.

It was a kind of inferiority complex regarding the fact that they had existed before the Sky and the Earth.

However, I did not respond or react to those words.

“Arrogant fellow. Well, since you are facing Death, what is there to be afraid of?”

He likely thought I had given up in despair.

“Anyway, it is truly surprising. To think a mere creature would perform such a bold act.”

He looked around.

The fallen Legion Commanders and the Demon King.

That was a miracle that a mere human, a mere creature, should not have been able to achieve.

“You may consider this a whim born of my interest in you. Actually, I am planning to do something very important.” He spoke in a gentle, soothing tone, as if comforting a child.

“Light, that fellow, used up too much of his Status trying to deal with you.” He smirked.

Or was it a laugh?

The part of the silhouette that was presumably his face twisted eerily.

“I cannot believe how long I have waited for this opportunity. My insides have been boiling this whole time. To think I had to take responsibility for a past mistake—a mistake made by a foolish creature, not even by me.”

He was referring to the murder of the primordial species.

“Do you know how much loss I had to endure because of that? Light… that fellow was always the lead. Just like how the Hero always wins in the stories of the Hero and the Demon King. And why do humans like shiny things so much?”

Though it was called the Fetter of Light and Darkness, the one who took the most profit was actually Light.

Because of that, Light was always perceived as good and warm, while Darkness was always perceived as ominous and cold.

“Light’s insides are pitch black. I’d rather be black on the outside like this. I absolutely loathe how he harbors an invisible darkness within him.”

Even though they seemed to cooperate, the two were bitter enemies. 

It was unavoidable, as it stemmed from the very nature of their birth. 

But finally, an opportunity had arrived.

“He went to recover because he overused his status. Now that he is gone, it is the perfect chance for Darkness to swallow all things.”

Light was absent. 

This meant there was no alternative to stop the Darkness.

“The Demon King? A fellow destined to always die at the hands of the Hero is nothing but half-baked. That is why I need a proxy to spread the glory of this Darkness.”

His gaze was clearly fixed on me.

“It’s you. You who screwed over Light and even took care of the Demon King I created. You have proven your qualifications.”

The reason he appeared was not to punish me for killing his creation, but to win me over.

“What do you think? If you swear obedience to me now, if you just say a single word that you will serve this Darkness, I shall grant you incomparable glory.”

And the price was sweet. 

While Light was away, the world would be covered in darkness. 

Light exists because there is darkness? 

That was nonsense. 

Complete darkness blocks out even light. 

The Darkness dreamed of such a world, and he had chosen me as the proxy for that glory.

“With your potential, you could be reborn as a being even greater than the Demon King. Of course, a massive amount of my power will be required, but I can endure that much. In fact, I have hidden quite a lot of power and treasures that Light doesn’t know about.”

It seemed he had secretly commanded the Demon King to gather things without Light noticing.

“How about it? Isn’t it an attractive offer? Honestly, the fact that I am not taking your life here is already a sufficient reward, but to grant you infinite glory on top of that… surely you can’t resist?”

His tone made it seem as though I had already accepted his proposal. 

However…

“I refuse.”

“I see… What?!”

He seemed quite flustered, as if he had taken my acceptance for granted.

“You… didn’t just say you refuse my offer, did you?”

“You heard me correctly.”

-Whoosh!

In an instant, the friendly atmosphere turned as cold and murderous as if we were mortal enemies.

“What did you hear? I told you I would save you. I said I would make you the master of this world as the proxy of Darkness. What are you dissatisfied with?”

“Everything.”

“What?”

“Where in the world would you find a fool who enters the service of someone weaker than themselves?”

“…What did you just mutter?”

He had returned. 

He was back to being that arrogant god from the beginning.

“Do you truly believe you can oppose me?”

“Of course.”

-Creeeeak!

His face twisted strangely.

“I misjudged you. I thought well of you since you managed to crawl up this far despite being a mere creature. To think you were just an idiot who doesn’t know his place.”

“Those are the words I wanted to say to you. How dare a fellow who doesn’t know his place try to boss me around?”

The conversation died out.

“It seems I need to carve the truth of my greatness into you.”

However, it seemed he still hadn’t given up hope. 

Well, it made sense. 

Finding a proxy like me was no easy task. 

I had defeated the Hero and the Demon King alone, without any transfer of power. 

Not only that, but I was a human who had obtained divine status. 

Finding a being who possessed such status but still remained in the human realm without entering the divine domain was practically impossible.

That was why he had no intention of giving up. 

He intended to recruit me even if he had to use force. 

And if that didn’t work…

‘He’s probably planning to forcibly take my shell.’

As a last resort, he would try to seize my body to complete the plans of Darkness. 

However, the possibility of that happening was zero.

“Gods are all the same.”

“How arrogant and foolish. Didn’t you notice that I didn’t even flinch when the Demon King perished and you, the Darkness, appeared? Do you really not realize that I had planned for all of this?”

I hadn’t wavered even once when the Demon King died and the Darkness appeared. 

What did that mean? 

It meant I had anticipated his appearance and planned everything with this exact situation in mind. 

Yet, he was arrogantly boasting as if he controlled everything. 

How incredibly arrogant and foolish.

“A god… cannot be my match.”

I am the God of Victory. 

I was the one who led the Twilight of the Gods in the past. 

It goes without saying, but that included the gods of Light and Darkness. 

Every god bowed their head beneath my feet. 

As the Supreme God, I separated them from the human world and created a complete world for humans—one without gods, where they could not communicate with them.

But isn’t the present different from the past? 

I had exhausted all my divine status while dealing with the Legion Commanders and the Demon King. 

If I had my divine status, I could have invoked the Twilight of the Gods and found a way somehow, but that was impossible now. 

With no power or strength left, how could I face the Darkness, especially one who had obtained Lord Tier Status?

“So. What is your hand?”

Those were the words of the Darkness, filled with that very question.

“This.”

I pointed to the camera mounted on my chest. 

I pointed to the live broadcast that had been filming this entire situation.

[Number of Viewers: 25,315,290]

The highest number of viewers in the history of live broadcasting. 

A broadcast being watched by more than half of the current population. 

They had seen the deaths of the Legion Commanders and the Demon King. 

And what was being engraved into them was faith in the God of Victory—their devotion.

A god gains power through the faith of their creatures. 

And now…

-Vroooooom!

The belief and faith sent by 25,000,000 people were settling inside me. 

Through that power…

-Flash!

I returned once again. 

To the god who exists only for victory, to that unique and great status.

“A primordial god? I don’t know anything about that. I only recognize the superiority of power.”

Light and Darkness? 

They were merely gods who existed in the beginning. 

Just as old men want to be compensated for their years, they were no different in that context. 

That was why I did not recognize them. 

I am the unique divine status. 

The only one who can control and govern me is myself.

[Victory Formula: Twilight of the Gods]

-Sshhh

My domain began to dominate the space. 

An absolute territory that nullifies the status of all gods.

“What?!”

Even the Darkness could not escape it. 

The presence of the bastard that had filled the surroundings just a moment ago vanished. 

With this, he had become a creature with no authority, no different from a human.

Of course, the same applied to me. 

My authority had also vanished due to the Twilight of the Gods, but there was one difference between him and me. 

In a state where no authority or divine status can be exercised, I am the best in the world. 

No, I can confidently say I am the greatest across all dimensions. 

The karma engraved upon my physical body was that heavy and absolute.

“Shall we begin then?”

“Crack.”

I cracked my knuckles and warmed up my body. 

In truth, I didn’t even need to adjust. 

I hadn’t neglected my physical training even after returning to Earth. 

In fact, I had devoted myself even more to my training to return to my past state. 

My condition was at its peak.

That was why I had no intention of missing this chance. 

The perfect opportunity to beat the hell out of the Darkness.