════〔 STATUS 〕═════

▸ NAME: ⟦ Askruak Ahankara ⟧

▸ TALENTS: ⟦ Cannot be viewed ⟧

▸ CORE: ⟦ Tier V Exalted ⟧

▸ NOTE: ⟦ A deceiver of fate, wielding countless names. He is not merely consumed by pride, he is the primordial incarnation of Pride itself. Awakening his mana as a mere child, he slaughtered his own blood without hesitation, devouring their talents to forge the foundation of his own supremacy ⟧

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Askruak.

The future God of Pride. A being who would one day ascend by looking down upon even the heavens themselves.

I knew almost nothing about his past and it seems the world itself didn’t wish for me to know much either from how it censored his talent.

No history book ever mentioned his existence but the moment he appeared in my previous life, he took one of the very few people I had ever respected.

My master.

The woman who had saved me from my own soul.

She never told me who he was. Even as she lay dying, unable to resist his curse, she made me promise never to seek revenge.

As though that were something so easy to do.

Perhaps this damned trial truly wished to judge my soul. Perhaps that was why it had placed me before the one man I would have done almost anything to kill in my previous life.

Every instinct screamed at me to tear him apart where he stood but I couldn’t. Not while the children were still chained behind him.

One reckless move and Askruak could kill them before I ever reached him. I was sure by now that they were the key to this trial.

If they died now, everything would be lost.

Besides...

This was the first and perhaps the only time I had ever stood face to face with Askruak before he became a God.

I needed answers.

Every word that came out of his mouth might become the key to saving my master in this life. I needed someone to act as a distraction to save the children before I could go all out and I had a perfect candidate.

Chiki.

"How do you know my true name? And why is a human standing within my domain?" Askruak asked calmly. "As for what I do with my own slaves, that is none of your concern."

He sounded utterly disinterested in fighting me despite the overwhelming difference in our strength.

"Do not interfere with my ritual. Leave. I have no desire to fight another human."

"Slaves?" I let out a cold laugh. "Is that what you call people who aren’t even capable of defending themselves? So that’s how you justify preying on the weak."

"How fitting for a pathetic coward."

Exactly as I intended, his expression darkened.

"I call them slaves because that is exactly what they are. I purchased their ancestors over a century ago. I have fed them, sheltered them and even protected them."

"For all these years, I have ruled over these oblivious Murgins as Ruruk. If that doesn’t make them my slaves... what does?" His crimson eyes narrowed. "And who exactly are you to judge me?"

A moment later, realization flashed across his face.

"So it’s you. The human who recently appeared and has been deceiving my slaves with false hope. Pretending to be Ruruk’s angel... while siphoning away the faith that rightfully belongs to me."

A faint sneer appeared on his lips.

"And yet... a hypocrite like you dares call me a coward. The irony is almost amusing. It was your appearance that forced me to act sooner than I intended. But I am willing to be generous. Walk away now... and I shall not pursue this matter any further."

So that was it.

There had never been two beings.

The god they worshipped had never existed, it had always been a human playing god and that same human was the monster they feared.

Still, I pushed him further.

"If you were the one acting as the Ruruk then why did you curse your own believers as Ahankara?"

He frowned.

"Must a king justify himself before an insect?"

"I simply can’t understand why someone would stoop to something so cowardly." The moment the word cowardly left my mouth, his lips twitched.

"Over the passage of time, those damned Murgins forgot my benevolence. Their faith began to waver. So I merely reminded them of the dangers waiting beyond my protection."

"If that satisfies your curiosity. I hope you’ll leave."

He spoke with clear impatience as a smile spread across my face.

Chiki was already rushing toward us. If I had sensed him, Askruak certainly had as well but I didn’t care. That brief moment of distraction was all I needed.

Kosetsu appeared in my hand.

Reinforcing the vectors within its shattered blade, I slashed through empty air. Instantly, the blade fragmented. Dozens of shattered pieces shot across the clearing, slicing cleanly through the chains binding the children to the stakes.

One after another, their bodies collapsed harmlessly onto the ground.

The moment the last chain broke, I lunged straight at Askruak, Kosetsu already reassembling itself in my grasp as I swung without hesitation.

For the first time...

Before Chiki could even reach us...

Askruak’s composed expression cracked with surprise but even so, he reacted instantly.

"Chiki, take the children somewhere safe. I will deal with this bastard."

I ordered.

Chiki snapped out of his rage, his eyes immediately shifting toward the children. Without a moment’s hesitation, he nodded before rushing toward them.

With every distraction finally gone...

I could devote my full attention to the bastard standing before me as a wild smile slowly spread across my face.

For the first time in a long while, I loosened my body completely.

***

Meanwhile, Chiki carried all nine children on his back with surprising ease as he looked toward the sky, where the battle between Zenith and the one claiming to be Ruruk raged.

He couldn’t understand what was happening.

The god he had prayed to since childhood, the god every morning offering had been made to, the god whose name they had whispered before every meal...

...Had never existed.

There had only ever been one man, the same man who had cursed the village and the same man who had taken the children.

Why...?

Why is the world so cruel?

Why is the one we worshipped as our God so heartless?

Without Chiki even realizing it... Something deep within him slowly began to unravel. With every beat of his heart, his strength increased and his speed followed.

And for the first time...

The shackles suppressing his true self began to loosen.