Karne was not called the Mother of Calamity from the beginning.
Rather, she was once known as the Mother of All Things, who watched over humanity.
A being far removed from humankind, a mythical creature.
Karne was a supreme being who wielded the power of life, a blessing descended upon the mortal realm.
Her gentle touch enriched the land, and her warm breath gave birth to new life.
Humans revered Karne, the Mother of All Things.
They built shrines and offered prayers to her daily.
She loved that reverence.
As the mother of all, she believed it was only natural to receive the devoted love of her children.
The same went for her.
Karne bestowed love and made the world fertile.
But love was not fair.
Karne loved all her children, but her children did not love her in return.
“Why…?”
Betrayal came.
The priest she thought was closest to her turned his back on her.
The creatures of the world she had nurtured pushed her away.
“This harlot is no longer our mother! She is not our god! We will stop idolatry!”
The reason was easy to understand.
Karne was an old faith, and the winds of a new belief were blowing through the world.
In that process, she was merely the old, a trivial existence worn away, no longer loved.
Shrines everywhere were destroyed.
The sacred objects offered to Karne were melted down in furnaces to become chalices for the new god, and the priests who served her gradually changed their hearts.
Karne began to fade into the storms of time.
“I see.”
Karne did not resent them.
Her children were finding a new path and leaving.
As a mother, she should not begrudge them that.
So she thought.
Until the one called the hero drove a blade into her heart.
The descendants of her children, who had sought her out in her seclusion, mercilessly tore her wings, ripped her flesh, and plunged a sword into her heart.
At first, she did not resist.
She believed they could resolve things through dialogue.
After all, no matter what, those before her were also part of the life she had created.
“We have slain the source of evil, the Demon King! We are now free!”
But when the hero triumphantly shouted those words, Karne understood.
Outside, she was apparently called the Demon King.
“…Ha, haha.”
Karne, once the Mother of All Things, was now the source of evil, the Demon King who disrupted the new world order.
Thus, she met her death at the hands of her children.
But Karne was a mythical creature.
A being one step beyond death.
“Since I created this life, it is my freedom to take it back.”
From that moment, Karne resented the world and cursed humanity.
Her hatred became a natural manifestation of power.
She spread her black wings, which she had kept folded.
She reaped the seeds she had sown, withered the land, dried the blood, and rotted the flesh.
The world and life Karne had created began to lose their vitality.
The world she once loved was decaying.
Now, the Mother of All Things no longer existed.
Instead, she gained a new name.
“…The Calamity! The Calamity has risen!”
Whenever Karne, shrouded in darkness, passed through the world, plagues bloomed.
Cities crumbled, and the land burned black.
Life vanished wherever her touch reached.
Thus, she burned half the world.
All of humanity once again came to know.
The Demon King, the Mother of Calamity, Karne.
“…Ha, haha.”
Decades passed, and the world withered miserably.
Even then, Karne was still called the cursed Calamity.
She was the source of destruction, the Mother of Calamity, the evil that annihilated life.
But she could not stop.
It would be more accurate to say she could not stop.
Now, she had to dig up the graves of her dead children and ask them.
“Why did you abandon me?”
Until she heard an answer to that question, her curse would not end.
But no answer would come.
Thus, she would remain the Calamity for eternity.
So she thought.
[Entering the rift.]
Whoosh.
[The Rift Lord ‘Actor’ gifts 5★ Mother of Calamity Karne with 5☆ Source of Life.]
Until she met her new child within the rift.
*
“So, according to you, Karne is in China?”
“Yep.”
Mirién, still nestled in my arms, continued speaking.
According to the story, Karne seemed to have taken refuge in a rural part of China.
While listening, I kept an eye on Selene.
Fortunately, Selene, who had been glaring at Mirien with murderous eyes earlier, did not act on it.
Perhaps she thought it would harm me.
Whatever the reason, it sent chills down my spine.
“Anyway, if Karne is in China… that means we have to go there.”
Why China, of all places?
I pondered deeply, but no plausible answer came to mind.
Well, if you think about it, it makes sense.
If you randomly point at a map, there’s a high chance it’ll land on China, Russia, or the US.
“Hmm.”
I frowned.
At least it’s good that we’ve located a 5-star calamity.
But even with Mirién’s tracking magic, we couldn’t figure out what she was doing there.
“What is Karne up to? The fact that there’s been no news so far means she hasn’t revealed herself directly.”
Selene emerged from the abyss during the first outbreak and roamed everywhere, while Mirien erected a massive tower as soon as she arrived in this world.
So what is Karne doing?
I hadn’t heard any reports of a 5-star calamity appearing in China.
‘Karne is definitely a character specialized in covert operations.’
What worried me most was the abilities of Karne, the Mother of Calamity.
Unlike Selene, who excels in direct combat, and Mirien, who is more of a damage dealer, Karne specializes in stealth, surveillance, and assassination.
Since she wasn’t a calamity that engaged in direct combat, she was often sent on expeditions requiring covert actions.
If Karne decided to act, it would be beyond the capabilities of even Selene and Mirien, both 5-star calamities.
Perhaps sensing my concern.
“My lord, there is one thing that worries me. May I dare to bring it up?”
Selene, who had been silently watching me, knelt on one knee and spoke.
Perhaps sensing the unusual atmosphere, Mirién also got off my lap.
“…Go ahead. What is it?”
“It’s about Karne, that woman.”
Selene furrowed one eye and continued.
“Once, I had a few conversations with the Mother of Calamity, Karne, inside the rift. Although she was a filthy harlot who dressed like a prostitute and pretended to be your mother, her affection for you was genuine.”
“…..”
I decided not to comment on the epithets Selene attached to Karne.
“…And?”
“But all the calamities you command were once abandoned by the world. So, I don’t know what feelings she might have towards you now, having been abandoned twice.”
“…Are you saying that only you two are still loyal to me?”
“Yes.”
Selene, even after being dismissed from the base, sought me out and begged to become my servant.
Mirien, though her methods were wrong, acted out of concern for my safety.
But it’s hard to assume that the other two calamities feel the same.
They might even harbor resentment for being expelled from the base.
“Above all… Karne is a bit different from us two.”
“Different how?”
“Having been abandoned by her children once, and now abandoned again by you, whom she thought of as her child…”
Selene hesitated, glancing at me.
But I could easily guess what she was going to say.
“She might hate me?”
“…Yes.”
Listening to Selene’s story, I remembered something.
Something I heard from Kang Sena when I first became an S-class awakened.
Surely…
‘Didn’t she say that three 4-star calamities appeared in China and swept through a major city?’
I took out my phone and searched for related articles.
It was from a few months ago, but it wasn’t hard to find.
The moment I saw the first article that popped up, I let out a sigh.
[Three 4-star calamities, Grave Crows, appear in China. Estimated deaths in the millions.]
“…Wow.”
That was Mirien’s exclamation.
*
Karne faced a new world within the rift.
There, she found salvation.
[The Rift Lord ‘Actor’ gifts 5★ Mother of Calamity Karne with 5☆ Source of Life.]
The Source of Life.
The power Karne once relinquished when she spread her wings.
The Rift Lord Actor restored her power, cleansing the filth of plagues and decay that clung to her body.
Above all, he offered her tribute, unlike the priests of the old world.
“What value does this terrible calamity have…?”
Karne was the Calamity.
A horrific calamity who corrupted the world she had created with her own hands.
A great sinner who should not feel happiness, nor could she.
[The Rift Lord ‘Actor’ gifts 5★ Mother of Calamity Karne with 5☆ Scythe of the Dark Wings.]
[The Rift Lord ‘Actor’ gifts 5★ Mother of Calamity Karne with 5☆ Amulet of Earth’s Embrace.]
But within Actor’s rift, Karne was equal.
She received the love she had lost in the previous world.
In the end, she could not help but be satisfied with her new life.
“What do you desire from this mother? Speak, anything will do.”
[The Rift Lord ‘Actor’ assigns 5★ Mother of Calamity Karne to 5☆ Expedition 「Abyss of Twilight」.]
Karne received love and was willing to return it.
Naturally, maternal love sprouted.
Unlike the previous world.
Her new child gave her love without reservation, and repaid her even more.
Though unspoken, just as Karne cherished Actor, he too cherished her.
Karne liked this world within the rift.
Though she had only one follower who looked only at her, she had a beloved child.
But that thought lasted only a moment.
[5★ Mother of Calamity Karne has been dismissed.]
[The calamity has been released. Their power is immense and will destroy another world. This decision cannot be undone!]
[Y]
“…I see. You abandon this mother again.”
Karne was abandoned once more.
This time, she was not surprised.
Having experienced it once before, she did not despair.
Instead, she did not resign herself.
As she had done before, Karne planned to dye this newly entered world with her feathers once again.
“…Why.”
After dyeing the entire world black, she would ask again.
“Why did you abandon me?”
Time lost its meaning.
[The Mother of Calamity Karne sings of destruction. Fear the night.]
The curse of the Calamity shall last forever.