Owase no Gaō is a sculptor consumed by an obsessive quest for artistic perfection. Born into poverty, his early life was shaped by hardship—orphaned young, he endured years of grueling labor. Self-taught, Gaō honed a raw talent for crafting eerily lifelike sculptures, though critics dismissed his early work as unrefined due to his lack of formal training.

A relentless ambition defines him, fixated on surpassing his celebrated rival, Akanemaru, whose success ignites a consuming envy. This rivalry drives Gaō to sabotage and violence, eroding his morals. A turning point arrives when he uncovers a dark secret: phoenix blood grants art immortality. Obsessed, he pursues the mythical creature’s power, ultimately carving the essence of transcendence into his own flesh through brutal self-mutilation.

As his sculptures grow grotesque and twisted, so too does Gaō’s psyche and body fracture. His fixation on eclipsing Akanemaru and securing an eternal legacy severs human bonds, stripping his humanity. The phoenix’s promise lures him deeper into ruin, until the very ambition that forged his path seals his grim fate—a demise woven inextricably into the shadows of his art’s cursed immortality.