Chapter 538

Drip-

Jet-black blood flowed down the black spear shaft. The Prophet had deeply burrowed the Blasphemy Spear into himself, allowing the fatal power embedded within to seep out and kill his vital organs—his heart included—simultaneously.

“...”

Seeing the horrifying sight of contaminated blood beginning to seep out through the golden cracks, Karl reached out again.

“...He’s not here?”

Karl met eyes with the Prophet, whose tilted back head had slowly returned upright.

“Lee Se-Hoon... that monster isn’t here...?”

“...”

“No... I see now. You disguised yourself as Him? To think you’d stoop to such pathetic tactics. How laughable.”

Squelp-

The Prophet forcibly pulled the Blasphemy Spear out from between his brows. Then, one by one, the injuries of his body began healing. It was clear: the Prophet’s recuperative power completely

rejected

the idea of a lethal strike.

It was a sight that made Karl smile bitterly.

“...Do you not realize what you’ve done?”

“Silence.”

“That power is forbidden in this world. It is a heretical force beyond God, beyond the very laws of the world.”

“Be quiet.”

“Why would you make such a choice—”

BOOM!

Karl couldn’t finish—his head had been blown apart by the Prophet’s fist.

“I TOLD YOU TO BE QUIET!!!”

CRASH!

Infuriated, the Prophet continued his merciless onslaught on the headless body. And, unable to endure the Prophet’s onslaught, Karl’s body was just smashed deeper and deeper into the ground. Only golden and black sparks could be seen.

“Don’t imitate Him!”

Bang!

“Don’t speak with His voice!!”

Crackle-

“Don’t... look at me with His eyes!!!”

Crunch!

The Prophet frantically tore apart Karl’s flesh with his fists and nails, releasing an energy that shook Salvation Radiance and made more cracks spread.

Woong-

A purple haze spread all around, hastily repairing the cracks. Seeing that, the Prophet’s eyes widened.

Yes... this really is a dream created by Lee Se-Hoon. There truly is no way He would treat me like this!

Believing the repulsive imitation was to make a mockery of him, the Prophet resolved to do whatever it took to escape and began gathering his full strength to tear apart the nightmare—

“Sinclair.”

The Prophet’s body froze at the low voice. His fingertips faintly trembled.

No.

Desperately trying to convince himself that it was all just a dream, his gaze slowly moved downward... only to see Karl’s figure, regenerating through Divine Magic.

At that moment, against his will, he realized:

He’s real.

The Karl Andersen before him wasn’t a dream crafted by Se-Hoon. No, the man before him was the real being—it was his teacher, his very God.

In disbelief, the Prophet loosened his clenched fists.

“Why...”

“...”

“Why are you doing this to

me

?”

The Prophet’s voice was filled with anger, sorrow, betrayal, and confusion. Hadn’t He said He would save him? Hadn’t He promised to become his God?

Why?

Karl looked up.

“Because this is the only way you can be saved.”

Karl now knew. Without Se-Hoon, he would never have come up with such a method. But now he knew.

“Please trust me.”

It would be the only way they—the sinners—could be saved. Sincerely believing it to be so, Karl gently reached out his hand toward the Prophet.

“...I see.”

Taking Karl’s hand, the Prophet looked down... and began shedding dark red tears.

“So You’ve abandoned me again.”

Crack-

The Prophet’s grip slowly crushed Karl’s hand, spilling blood that soaked the ground.

“Once more You bow before that false god and forsake my wish.”

Sizzle-

The Prophet’s tears fell onto Karl’s face, the twisted power within them corroding his skin.

“Then... if that is truly Your will...”

Slice-

The Prophet’s head, once fixed together by the Crown of Original Sin, split again and began to mutate. Now, with a head resembling a gaping maw, the Prophet looked down at Karl.

“I’ll just make sure You never abandon me again.”

Even if it meant harming God and devouring His corpse... it didn’t matter. Regardless, he would understand and forgive. With utter fanatical faith, the Prophet’s maw moved toward Karl—

Judgment Sword

Stab!

A sword burning with golden light pierced through the Prophet’s mouth.

“...!?”

Fwoosh-

As golden flames engulfed the Prophet’s head, freezing his body, Karl’s right leg glowed. Then, Karl kicked the Prophet’s abdomen with full force.

BOOM!

The reinforced leg exploded with power, launching the Prophet far away. His eyes following, Karl—who had finished regenerating in the blink of an eye—slowly rose.

“...It seems we truly can not resolve this issue through words.”

Realizing once again that peace would have happened long ago if it were possible, Karl sighed bitterly and raised both hands.

Clang!

The Judgment Sword in the Prophet’s mouth and the Blasphemy Spear on the ground flew into his hands. Wielding both weapons skillfully, Karl assumed a stance.

“It’s been a while since I moved like this myself. Has it been... seven years?”

“Six years.”

The Prophet, also fully healed now, stood and glared at Karl with burning eyes.

“It ended incompletely because of interference back then.”

During that time, the two often had altercations along the Pilgrim’s Path. The only difference... was that while they were serious, it always ended inconclusively due to interference from other Perfect Ones and Ten Evils.

“Six years... I see.”

Karl smiled regretfully. If they had forced a conclusion back then, maybe their sins wouldn’t be so heavy now. Unfortunately, it was too late. Shaking it off, Karl walked forward with both weapons in hand as the Prophet, without a word, mirrored his steps.

Step by step, the distance between them narrowed to just one meter.

“Let’s end it for real this time.”

“As I’ve always wished.”

Swoosh-

A spear and fist crossed, striking the other’s head.

BOOM!

Karl’s head burst from the Prophet’s punch while the Prophet’s head was annihilated by Karl’s spear—both fatal blows that would’ve ended any fight. And yet, both Karl and the Prophet regenerated without issue and continued their battle without skipping a beat.

CRACK-CRACK-CRASH!

A ferocious battle unfolded, devoid of any ‌interest in protection or escape. With both relying solely on recovery, their battle was nothing short of hellish brutality.

BOOM!!

On one side, Karl’s body, enhanced to its limits with Divine Magic, broke apart upon landing a massive blow. On the other side, the Prophet unleashed devastating attacks through miracles, magic, and raw power to tear apart Karl’s physical form.

Splatter!

Blood and flesh scattered endlessly around the two. Being untalented in martial arts, Karl could only retaliate with crude techniques relying on recovery. However, because of that very recovery, their unrelenting battle seemed to have no end at all.

We’ll never reach a conclusion if we continue to fight like this.

The Prophet met Karl’s eyes. For near-immortals, such a battle was only a light skirmish. So, in that case... the Prophet immediately activated a new technique using the Crown of Original Sin.

Castitas

Woong-

A light shot down from the heavens, overlaying the world.

One of the seven cardinal virtues embedded in the Paradise of Confinement, invokable solely through Karl’s power, had now been recreated through the Crown and Salvation Radiance.

Bang!

Influenced by the newly introduced law, Karl was affected by a 0.1 second lag in recovery. Overall, Karl’s transcendent recovery rate was essentially unaffected—but it was enough for the flow of the battle to change from that moment on.

Boom!

Karl’s body, which could previously maintain over ninety percent integrity under the Prophet’s fierce assault, slowly began degrading. His recovery was slowly struggling to keep pace with the damage.

With both sides having equal power to kill the other, Karl started being pushed back.

Temperantia

Woong-

Another burst of light shook Salvation Radiance. With another law, Karl’s recovery slowed further. Thoroughly overpowered now, Karl’s right leg was severed, his posture collapsed, and his exploded head now disrupted his vision to make him lose track of the Prophet’s movement.

Little by little, what had been a tiny gap had widened with each exchange to result in Karl’s body being at only seventy percent capacity. From now on, any further degradation could break the stalemate and lead him directly to death.

Declare the third law, and he would win—for the first time, out of decades of battles, the Prophet could end it all with victory.

Yet, the Prophet felt only confusion and doubt.

Why is He solely using Divine Magic?

Salvation Radiance, an area where the power of Grace was maximized, was essentially Karl’s very domain. Within it, even the Prophet knew he—a believer—could not match Karl.

Bang!

Yet Karl used not a single miracle or law? The Prophet could not understand why. It was almost as if he couldn’t spare the energy...?

“...!?”

Observing Karl, the Prophet finally noticed that Karl wasn’t looking at him but

past

him. Alarmed, the Prophet hurriedly turned his head.

Woong!

There, hovering in the sky behind him, was a massive golden ring. And above it were twelve white cards arranged like a clock face, six of which were already flipped and revealed.

[Birth] [Happiness] [Upheaval] [Despair] [Hope] [Lament]

The cards portrayed the story of Karl’s life. After being born, he lived a happy life until the upheaval of the world occurred from the emergence of the Towers of Heroes and Abyss of Demons. What he once knew was gone, making him fall into despair. However, it was in that despair that he found hope in God and began lamenting the suffering of others.

Are those Oracle Cards?

He himself had used the Oracle Cards as a former archbishop to see the future, but it seemed Karl was using the skill completely differently.

Why is it showing the past...?

The six revealed Oracle Cards, which were supposed to show only the future, depicted only the past. And the newly flipped seventh was no different.

[Agony]

Rumbleeeeee—

The reveal of the seventh card—a man lost in thought as he gazed at the ring above and the people below—made Salvation Radiance quake. However, it was a subtle yet vast change, too faint to recognize without direct observation.

Despite that, though, the Prophet intuitively grasped what was occurring in an instant.

A confirmation of the future.

Using the past and present as a foundation, Karl was attempting to lock the future—technically, an imitation of the power of Perception.

This means...

The Prophet’s body tensed. He had realized that once all twelve cards were flipped, he would be absolutely bound by whatever Karl was prophesying... even if it depicted his death.

BOOM!!

The Prophet’s furious offensive intensified, making the already one-sided assault grow even more intense.

[Salvation]

Woong-

Yet the eighth card still flipped—showing someone who prays more fervently than anyone else—and the Prophet immediately felt an immense force surging from within.

That was when he knew. From then on, his fate was shackled to the prophecy.

Wasting no more time, the Prophet declared the third law.

Industria

CRACK!

Karl’s body, its integrity falling to sixty percent, lost its balance and collapsed. Taking the opportunity, the Prophet’s claws and fangs viciously sunk in. From Karl’s head to his left arm, solar plexus, clavicle, right leg, and then back to his head again, Karl was not spared.

It had been the blink of an eye, yet Karl’s body had been reduced to thirty percent integrity. What was once a fight was now just one side solely dealing damage.

[Battle]

Slice!

Yet the Judgment Sword continued to swing, beheading the Prophet. The Blasphemy Spear also moved forward to pierce the Prophet’s heart and vital points in an instant. Karl’s arms were completely mangled, and yet, his weapons continued to move according to his will.

Karl, in fact, was still fighting on equal ground.

[Stalemate]

The ninth and tenth cards had made sure the impossible fight would continue.

“Why... why... why... why... why... WHY!!!” The Prophet’s face twisted.

He had held the advantage. He had gained enough strength to overpower the Perfect Ones and Harbingers of Destruction. Yet it was

he

who was being pushed back? How had things even come to that?

Forced to face an unjust future, the Prophet’s face contorted in rage.

“I’ll curse you all...”

“...”

“Whether it's the Golden Ring that scattered disaster across the world... or you who abandoned me... I’ll curse all of you!”

There is no God in this world. No... there mustn’t be a God in this world.

On the verge of madness, the Prophet’s spiteful curse was enough to drag his mind down into full corruption and turn the Crown of Original Sin pitch black

CRACK!

The delicate balance of power within his body collapsed thoroughly. Now uninhibited, the demonic mana conjured contaminated thorny tendrils that pierced out through his body to envelop him.

Trading his life, the Prophet had invoked his curse: slay the God. Wielding the power to deny the world itself, the Prophet grabbed Karl with a scream.

CRACK!

The thorns coiled like serpents and shot through Karl’s body, burrowing into him. The curse was running wild, spreading throughout the area and contaminating Salvation Radiance.

Rumble-

It was tailored to kill God and destroy the world. Before its rampage, every other possibility had essentially been erased—but that no longer mattered.

At that moment, the Prophet—no, now Apostate—burned his life to draw forth the power of a demon and proclaimed a new law toward the crumbling Salvation Radiance.

Invidia

Woong-

The fate within Salvation Radiance twisted, and just then, the eleventh card flipped to reveal a new future.

[Death]

On the card was a man, pitifully impaled and slain by black-horned vines. However, it was not Apostate—it was

Karl.

And thus, for the first time, Karl’s bodily regeneration came to a complete halt.

“...Agh.”

Black blood surged up from Karl’s throat, staining his jaw. Pain and chills came throughout his body, accompanied by a growing numbness from all sensations fading away.

“So... it’s come to this...”

Karl’s face was covered with a bitter expression. Apostate’s curse brought him physical death from his very nature being denied—his identity as the Pilgrim—to erase him entirely from the world.

It came with a long-forgotten sense of liberation, and also... overwhelming emptiness.

Karl let his head fall weakly, a sight that made Apostate bite his lips bitterly.

“It’s all... all your fault...”

“...”

“If only you hadn’t given me false hope.... If only you’d killed me before it came to this...”

Apostate’s grotesquely mutated body gradually returned to what it originally was—including the face that perfectly mimicked Karl. Now, the one standing before Karl was a gloomy man filled with fear and despair. And that man, with his feeble expression, continued to lay blame.

“You ruined everything.”

“...”

“The hundreds of thousands you killed... the billions of believers you deceived... they’ll all curse you. Again and again and again!!!”

Finally unleashed, Apostate’s resentment poured out endlessly. And yet, despite venting, Apostate was filled with a strange dissonance.

When... did I start feeling this way?

Just moments before, he had been full of denial about the man in front of him. Why... had that turned into what felt like decades of hatred? Why... did he feel as though the fog that covered his mind had suddenly lifted?

Apostate fell silent, mulling over the strangeness of it all. Then, realizing something, his eyes locked onto Karl.

“What did you do to me...?”

“...”

“Tell me...! WHAT DID YOU DO!?”

Not caring about the thorns piercing Karl’s body, Apostate grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him violently.

“I did... nothing...” Karl slowly began, coughing up a mouthful of black blood.

“What?”

“If anything... I have only come to realize... the wrongs I’ve committed against you all...”

Rumble-

Ignoring their collapsing surroundings, Karl continued in a weary voice. “I reached ascension... confronted the world’s source... and revered that omnipotent force as God... then spread its name far and wide through you all...”

“...”

“But due to my foolishness, I turned that belief into dogmatic faith...

cough...

deceiving and manipulating everyone...”

The law that allowed one to perceive the Golden Ring and borrow its power—Karl had defined that entire concept as “faith.” And thus, humanity, which had to adapt to the law the Pilgrim imposed onto the world, began gradually losing the potential for new possibilities.

However, just as that potential was about to vanish completely under the Pilgrimage Church’s continued inquisition and Karl’s influence,

he

appeared.

Se-Hoon changed everything.

“Seeing how Lee Se-Hoon used the Golden Ring’s power freely, unbound by faith... I finally realized...”

“...Stop.”

“Your descent into fanaticism... the believers’ worship of me and the Ring...”

“Stop it!!”

Apostate’s desperate screams rang out; he didn’t want to hear more.

Yet Karl finished with calm finality: “It was all... my fault.”

He had defined the world’s source as God and cut off all other means of accessing it through the power of Grace, branding and slaughtering any who tried otherwise as heretics.

Despite dedicating himself to humanity, the very essence of the Pilgrim had simply been a fanatic who stifled the possibilities of humanity instead.

“That... that... that... that can’t be...”

Apostate stumbled back in disbelief. While he had denied Karl and hurled curses, he hadn’t ever rejected their shared past. The entire time, his rage had been fueled by regret and longing for a better future.

“Ah... aaah...”

Yet that was all... a lie? What words could he even offer now? His entire self denied in an instant, Apostate powerlessly let go of Karl’s shoulder.

“Then what’s going to happen now...?”

“...”

“Will the world... continue to be deceived like this... forever?”

Just moments ago, Apostate had mocked humanity as monsters and unbelievers for being slaves bound by the shackles of false faith and reverence for a god that didn’t exist.

Yet now he felt no such contempt. After all, they too would meet the same end that he did. Thinking of that, Apostate could only sigh.

“...No.”

Karl’s voice was now steady.

“I will set them free.”

“...Free?”

Karl met Apostate’s gaze. “I will break all the chains that bind humanity in my sin... and make them free.”

“...Hah.”

Apostate could not believe him. In his state—stripped of all power and on the brink of death—what could he possibly do?

Under Apostate’s doubtful gaze, Karl silently looked to one side. And seeing that, Apostate turned his head as well.

“...What?”

The twelve Oracle Cards were still in the sky? Even though Salvation Radiance was on the brink of collapse and Karl was about to disappear? How were the Oracle Cards remaining active—and gathering power to flip the final, twelfth card?

Confused, Apostate looked around in confusion... and finally noticed the purple mist still covering the world.

“This is...”

The dream that Se-Hoon had weaved to isolate Salvation Radiance and Karl had yet to end. Its thorough persistence shocked Apostate.

Was this nightmare... not created just to trap us?

Only now feeling the power that seemed to isolate them completely, Apostate turned back to Karl. And upon meeting eyes, Karl answered: “This place is a dream created by Lee Se-Hoon. And a dream is... another world that’s distinct from reality.”

“Don’t tell me...”

“Yes. What you’re thinking is probably correct.”

Karl nodded at the astonished Apostate.

“This is a world

separate

from the Golden Ring’s influence.”

Getting confirmation, Apostate’s face twisted in sheer stupefaction. A being that was neither a Perfect One nor a Harbinger of Destruction had created a world independent of the Golden Ring—the source of the world—with his own strength...?

That’s

impossible...!

He tried to reject it as nonsense, as something that couldn’t be, but Apostate couldn’t get the words out. ‌Karl not using the power of Grace during their fight, the denial of his own law, and affirmation of his guilt... those seemingly impossible things now made sense.

If it’s because he was simply outside the Golden Ring’s influence...

The Golden Ring made it so that the Pilgrim could never deny itself. But should Karl no longer be the Pilgrim, becoming an ordinary human free from the Golden Ring... then that no longer applied.

The evidence was undeniable, forcing Apostate into a long silence.

“...What are you going to do?”

“There’s... nothing left to do. The moment I realized my sin... and chose to repent... everything was already in place.”

When he died and Se-Hoon let them wake, the two truths would collide—and the world would erase the law of the Pilgrim, for it would be an error.

“I see.... So you planned to die from the start.”

There was never a need for Apostate to kill or deny him. Karl’s end had already been decided the moment he stepped into the dream.

But that left Apostate puzzled.

“Then why did you try to persuade me?”

Karl could’ve just ignored him. There was absolutely no need to take risks or create new variables. Why had he even tried so hard?

“...I wanted to apologize,” Karl answered bitterly.

“Apologize?”

“Because even the sins you committed were ultimately born of my original sin.”

Of course, if one were to trace the origin of sin to its very essence, only newborns would be innocent. Karl knew that, yet even still, felt guilt toward Apostate.

If only he had been just a little more cautious.

“And maybe... I just wanted to be forgiven by someone.”

So that despite his unforgivable sin, he had still brought solace.

“...” Seeing Karl looking down, ashamed of his selfishness, Apostate let out a hollow laugh. “How shameless of you.”

“I know.”

“Still... I suppose I’m no different.”

Apostate closed his eyes, recalling the past. He too had committed numerous sins, cursed God, sought forgiveness, and longed for salvation.

“So, I will forgive you.”

“...What?”

“It’s laughable for sinners to forgive one another... but something like this should be allowed, don’t you think?”

Apostate—no, Max Sinclair—opened his eyes to look at the dazed Karl.

“After all, you and I... we will both wander through hell for eternity.”

Even a god who claimed to forgive all sins wouldn’t accept them now.

“...”

Karl quietly gazed at Max, then gave a sorrowful smile.

“Thank you.”

The moment his gratefulness sounded—and their conversation came to a conclusion—the twelfth and final Oracle Card slowly flipped over to dot the story.

It was a depiction of two men kneeling and praying to each other.

Dream Manifestation: Repentance

BOOM!

The long nightmare finally ended, and the law known as the Pilgrim vanished.