Paladin of the Dead God-Chapter 442: The Millennium Kingdom (10)

Isaac hadn’t misheard.

[The Nameless Chaos is watching you.]

[The Nameless Chaos is watching you.]

[The Nameless Chaos is watching you.]

The Nameless Chaos—silent for so long—was now flooding Isaac with messages, as if to prove its presence.

And that wasn’t all.

[The Nameless Chaos is watching you.]

[The Nameless Chaos desires that you find a greater feast.]

[A reward of Chaos awaits you.]

It was hungry.

It growled with starvation.

Isaac immediately understood what it craved.

The greatest feast in this place was obvious to anyone.

"Is… the Nameless Chaos opposing the Nameless Chaos?"

No—this wasn’t about him.

It was a struggle between the Mother of All Gods and the Nameless Chaos.

But the Lighthouse Keeper had always spoken as if the two were one and the same.

Was he wrong?

Or was this a battle of dominance between their influences?

Isaac didn’t know.

But what was clear was that the Nameless Chaos, which had remained silent until now, had returned—and was now empowering him.

The truth of their connection would remain unknown unless Isaac could speak to the Nameless Chaos directly.

But for now—

His greatest weapon had returned.

He embraced that endless hunger.

Summoning forth Predation, Isaac unleashed the spinal tendrils of the Nameless Chaos from his left hand and hurled himself forward.

The phantom-like tendrils followed his every movement, almost like his own shadow.

Tendrils sprouting from the air itself became steps for him to climb.

The Lighthouse Keeper scowled in disgust as Isaac ascended rapidly.

Rising higher, he whispered to Leonora—

["Why haven’t you struck him down already? Are you not afraid?"]

"I—I’m trying!" Leonora stammered, "But what else can I even do—"

The Lighthouse Keeper frowned.

The problem wasn’t Leonora.

It was the Mother of All Gods.

If she were serious, even Elil could be shattered in an instant.

Yet, she wasn’t even trying to kill Isaac.

If anything, she seemed to be restraining herself.

The realization struck the Lighthouse Keeper.

The Mother of All Gods had no intention of harming Isaac.

Of course.

She prevented murder—not violence itself.

If a god attempted to harm a human, she would tear them apart.

But if humans attacked each other, she would only uphold the murder ban imposed by Leonora.

Her best course of action was simply to restrain Isaac.

The Lighthouse Keeper abandoned the idea of relying on her and focused solely on Isaac.

At the very least, the Mother of All Gods was limiting Isaac’s movements, confining his approach.

Taking advantage of that, the Lighthouse Keeper unleashed six beams of light directly in Isaac’s path.

They moved with no sound, no flash—pure heat.

Normally, he would create visible light as a symbol of authority, but heat itself was colorless.

But even as the beams pierced Isaac’s body—

He pushed through.

["Ah… Burning Maiden."]

The Lighthouse Keeper let out a bitter sigh.

Isaac’s right hand was wreathed in flames, the same flames as the Burning Maiden’s.

The fire-whip curled around his arm, its heat deflecting the beams effortlessly.

It was clear now.

Sword of May had given Isaac a sword.

The Burning Maiden had given him fire.

The Lighthouse Keeper hated this.

He had no way to kill Isaac.

Even if he did, the Mother of All Gods would simply revive him.

But if he had time, he could subdue him.

["You irreverent, violent beast… I represent all life that chooses to survive!"]

The Lighthouse Keeper roared, soaring upward with Leonora in hand.

His speed was far beyond what Isaac could reach.

But that didn’t matter anymore.

Isaac had the Nameless Chaos on his side.

The moment he locked eyes with the Lighthouse Keeper—

Dark, unfathomable colors spread across the sky, swallowing even light itself.

"The Hidden Rite."

The Colors Beyond engulfed the Lighthouse Keeper and the space around him.

From within, murmuring whispers and distorted figures coiled and writhed, attempting to consume him.

Yet, none could breach the domain of order he had established.

The Lighthouse Keeper wasn’t surprised.

He had always known this was a possibility.

With Chaos, no prediction was ever certain.

That was why he had prepared Sword of May to control Isaac—

Though he had not expected her to betray him.

"It doesn’t matter.

Midas’ Hand cannot be defied."

Midas’ Hand was the only true proof of order that Chaos had left behind.

The Lighthouse Keeper had seen it used countless times—

And that was the one thing he could trust.

Even the Mother of All Gods had used Midas’ Hand to slaughter her own followers.

Yet, at this moment—

Leonora, the holder of Midas’ Hand, was curled into a ball, eyes shut and ears covered, trembling inside the Colors Beyond.

Annoyed, the Lighthouse Keeper forced her eyes open.

He shoved a lantern in front of her face.

["Do not look away.

You are the firstborn daughter of the Mother of All Gods.

Find your true self—

Embrace your power, your authority, your courage—

And stand against Chaos!"]

Leonora had endured more than any ordinary human should.

Yet, her mind had not broken.

The Lighthouse Keeper acknowledged that as strength.

She had suffered shock after shock, but if she could recover, she could illuminate the world as his beacon.

Who else could claim the blessing and protection of three different faiths?

She had been given unparalleled authority.

The dream she had always pursued—the power of the Golden Idol Guild—

Was not an empty fantasy.

The Lighthouse Keeper planted a light within her heart.

Forcing her courage to the surface.

Gasping, Leonora opened her eyes—

And stared directly through the Colors Beyond.

"There."

Even in this unnatural darkness, she saw Isaac’s exact location.

With newfound determination, the Lighthouse Keeper banished the Colors Beyond.

His power could eradicate the Hidden Rite.

But its depths were impenetrable, even to the Mother of All Gods.

"What are you doing?"

Isaac wasn’t attacking.

He simply stood within the dissipating colors, watching.

Why?

He could have lashed out with tendrils.

He could have summoned parasites to swarm the Lighthouse Keeper.

Or—

He could have drawn endless spinal tendrils to devour the light and heat itself.

"Is he waiting for something?"

The Lighthouse Keeper sneered.

"Struggle all you want. I have fought Chaos for a thousand years.

No monster, no god, no curse has ever broken me.

What can a mere child like you possibly do?"

The Lighthouse Keeper bathed Isaac in overwhelming light.

Within that radiance, Isaac was not wielding a sword—

He was turning the pages of a book.

That was when the Lighthouse Keeper finally realized what Isaac held.

The Book of the Nameless Worm.

A scripture newly created by Isaac—

A holy text of the Nameless Chaos.

"Wait..."

The Lighthouse Keeper’s mind reeled.

The Mother of All Gods—the old chaos—

And the Nameless Chaos that had reemerged through Isaac—

They were not the same entity.

This wasn’t something Isaac could have done alone.

It was the result of centuries of unseen machinations, finally coming to fruition.

And now, the Lighthouse Keeper understood—

He had been played.

By the White Owl.

Isaac, enthralled, gazed at the Book of the Nameless Worm.

Even when he wasn’t reading it, the book continued writing on its own—

Recording the actions of "Prophet Isaac" in real-time.

Watching the fluid script constantly rewriting itself, Isaac understood.

He saw what needed to be done.

What he was meant to do.

The Hidden Rite had been nothing more than misdirection.

He had never intended to face the Lighthouse Keeper head-on.

The power gap was too great.

Instead, Isaac sought a miracle that could oppose the Millennium Kingdom.

He needed to invoke that miracle through the Book of the Nameless Worm.

And that book…

Was already writing his actions as if they had already happened.

"Who is writing this book?"

Until now, he had assumed it was the Nameless Chaos.

But, honestly—

Neither spinal tendrils nor the Mother of All Gods seemed capable of such a refined, literary talent.

In this world, there was only one writer that Isaac knew.

"The White Owl?"

At that moment, he felt it—

A hand covering his own.

A presence gazing at him, from the past to the present.

[The Nameless Chaos is watching you.]

["White Owl!"]

The Lighthouse Keeper’s wings flared wide—

The Colors Beyond shredded apart, as if torn from reality.

His countless hands surged forward—

A sun-like heat that even tendrils could not withstand surged toward Isaac.

It seared his entire body—

Reducing even his exoskeleton of the dead to ashes.

Before the heat even reached him, his flesh was already disintegrating.

["Do not touch my world."]

But the one desperate to stop this—

Was not Isaac.

It was the Lighthouse Keeper.

His hand touched Isaac—

And flames erupted across his entire body.

Even angels would have burned away instantly.

The heat shattered Isaac’s form, reducing him to scattered embers.

And yet—

Isaac did not stop.

His consciousness never wavered.

His hand remained, gripping the Book of the Nameless Worm.

And the book—

Calmly continued recording everything.

The spinal tendrils of Chaos gathered his ashes—

Collecting his scattered remains—

Weaving together his miracles, his power, his blessings—

And then—

The Lighthouse Keeper saw it.

An impossible miracle—

Isaac, burned to nothing,

Restoring himself before his very eyes.

The blessings and miracles that Sword of May and the Burning Maiden had bestowed—

Were no longer just borrowed gifts.

They had become offerings—

And the one they were offered to—

Was Isaac himself.

A golden robe wrapped around his body.

A figure burning brilliantly within the flames.

The Lighthouse Keeper felt a dreadful sense of familiarity.

The herald of an era’s end had arrived.

The Millennium Kingdom had only just been born—

And already, its destroyer had appeared.

Isaac, his vision blurred, spoke not to the Lighthouse Keeper, nor to Leonora—

But to a god who should have already perished.

"Your time is over."

"The Millennium Kingdom is finished."

"Your followers are gone. Your seat of power belongs to the new Nameless Chaos.

Chaos will no longer be ruled by fear, hatred, or horror."

This was not a reckless rebellion.

This was a carefully orchestrated ritual.

A graceful and reverent succession—

A plan centuries in the making—

A ritual designed for one purpose only—

To bring down the Lighthouse Keeper.

["THE MILLENNIUM KINGDOM WILL NOT END!"]

Leonora gasped in horror—

But the Lighthouse Keeper had already seized control of her body.

She had been chosen as a vessel for the Millennium Kingdom’s incarnate.

Her will was erased without even the chance to scream.

The Lighthouse Keeper acted immediately—

No—

He made a wish.

["THE MILLENNIUM KINGDOM BELONGS TO THE MOTHER OF ALL GODS!"]

Isaac’s mind staggered.

"What…?"

The Millennium Kingdom had been created to preserve the Codex of Light’s heaven forever.

But now—

The Lighthouse Keeper had offered it to the Mother of All Gods?

"That’s a contradiction—"

And contradictions broke the world.

Just as Elil’s violence had shattered the balance when it clashed against the murder ban—

The Lighthouse Keeper’s new declaration ripped the world apart on a scale beyond comparison.

Both Isaac and the Lighthouse Keeper heard it—

The screams of a breaking world.

Through the thousand fractures splintering reality, Isaac saw—

The Book of the Nameless Worm.

It alone remained untouched.

And it continued to write.

"And thus, I returned to the world."