Black Wings Over the City
People stared at the bizarre being before them with startled expressions. Black wings that didn't even reflect light. Glossy black hair flowing with beautiful luster. White skin starkly contrasting those black features. It was like a depiction of a fallen angel straight out of mythology.
Such a being had pierced the sky and appeared in the heart of the city, so it was only natural that all eyes were drawn to it.
Kim Jihun's location. Searching again.
Alquinoa turned her head toward the direction where Kim Jihun's divine power emanated. Beyond the city's countless high-rises and apartments, on the outskirts, lay his home. She extended her hand in that direction. And murmured.
Location confirmed.
She spread her black wings once more. Then she began gathering void power into them. Black flames ignited on her wings. Void flames that had no business existing on Earth, condensing upon Alquinoa's wings.
I'll make a path.
Alquinoa unleashed the void power condensed in her wings. And....
.
.
.
There was no sound at all. No brilliant glow, no clamor of voices. She had nullified all secondary effects produced by firing the void power.
In the direction she had fired, a massive hole had formed. An enormously massive hole. Toward Kim Jihun's location, she had reduced dozens, hundreds of buildings to nothing, clearing them away to forge a giant path. Like hacking down trees in a forest to blaze a trail, she had deleted hundreds of high-rises.
Departing.
Alquinoa began striding along the void-scoured void in the city center. To find Kim Jihun.
...
Kim Jihun gazed at the white orb resting in his palm. A sacred orb dripping with holy energy. This orb, condensed from the divine power willingly contributed by countless gods, was a priceless item that elevated low-level gods to mid-level gods. The essence of divine power. And Kim Jihun was staring at it.
"Essence of divine power, huh. Eating this should make me a mid-level god right away."
Kim Jihun pictured himself as a mid-level god. Himself, brimming with far more divine power than now. Greater divine power meant more feats achievable as a god, and finer control over his creation force as well. Divine power was, after all, the very power of a god—the most fundamental force underpinning divinity.
Of course, Kim Jihun's divine power was on the lesser side, but he'd managed just fine so far. He'd compensated for his deficiency compared to other gods with his creation abilities, climbing to this point and seizing the chance to become mid-level.
"But my body's not fully recovered yet, so I gotta wait a little longer."
Still, Kim Jihun felt a twinge of impatience. He wanted to swallow the essence of divine power right then and there. Doing so would flood his body with immense divine power, propelling him straight to mid-level godhood. A realm that demanded a century of training at low-level school, achieved in one gulp from this orb before him.
But Jihun couldn't consume the essence just yet. His body hadn't fully recovered.
"Tomorrow, though, it'll be all healed up."
Come tomorrow, the damage to his divinity from the void would be completely mended. Then he could ingest the essence and ascend to mid-level.
Jihun smiled contentedly at the thought of himself as a mid-level god.
That was when it happened.
Wooong...
A heterogeneous energy rippled. Jihun instantly sensed an ominous presence. A sticky, repulsive aura. He knew its nature all too well—he'd been hit by it just days ago.
Kim Jihun's face drained of color in an instant. He muttered,
"This is void energy?!"
Void energy, all of a sudden? Here in the realm of existence, far from the boundary—and in a place directly managed by the mighty high creation god Asrie, no less?
Kim Jihun scanned his surroundings with a tense expression, then agonized.
Asrie's territory is far from the boundary. Plus, Earth is shielded by barriers, isn't it?
He knew how dearly Asrie cherished Earth. She'd layered barriers of unimaginable strength and resilience to protect it from external forces. She treasured Earth and its intelligent life like her own children.
For void power to breach her barriers?
Soon, Kim Jihun arrived at one conclusion.
"Did the Ma-shin clan invade?"
Nothing else explained the current situation. Barrier damage. Asrie's absence. Void energy so potent even he could sense it. It all fit if the Ma-shin had launched an assault.
Kim Jihun began preparing for the imminent battle.
They're probably here to drag me off.
From the chaos of the promotion battle, he'd realized the Ma-shin were targeting him. So Jihun steeled his resolve. To fight to the bitter end.
And Asrie isn't here.
The void energy was thick enough for even him to sense, and it wasn't fading—it was heading straight here. Normally, Asrie would have crushed any Ma-shin in moments, but since she hadn't appeared, something must have happened to her.
In other words, he couldn't count on her help right now. He'd have to hold out until she arrived.
Kim Jihun began pulling his weapons one by one from his subspace.
Artifacts he'd crafted himself. He equipped them one by one: wristwatch on his left wrist, sneakers on his feet, gladius in his right hand.
He resolved himself.
My divinity might take more damage.
Kim Jihun was still bearing wounds from the void. Fortunately, they were nearly healed, but traces lingered inside his body. Using divine power was sure to reopen them.
But he had to fight now. Ma-shin were closing in on him, and Asrie wasn't here to back him up. Besides, a man had to know how to protect his own body.
Kim Jihun gripped his gladius tightly.
"Come at me."
He waited for the Ma-shin.
...
-BOOM!
An explosion roared. Kim Jihun gazed coldly toward the source.
He was fully geared now. A watch for stealth, a sword that unleashed sword aura, swift shoes. His optimal loadout.
But his foe wasn't one his paltry tricks would work on. Ma-shin—a god clan corrupted by void power. Dangerous wielders of gods' one true weakness. And they were coming for a mere low-level god like Kim Jihun.
Jihun gritted his teeth.
I have to endure as long as I can.
He harbored no illusions of victory. The Ma-shin's power was overwhelming; his own was feeble. And he was injured by void to boot. By any measure, he was in dire straits.
Yet Kim Jihun didn't despair. His eyes gleamed as he stared fixedly toward the approaching Ma-shin.
Nothing for it but to hold out until Asrie arrives.
Asrie wasn't coming—yet. But Jihun trusted her. She'd wrap up whatever was holding her and rush to him. He knew how precious Earth and he were to her.
So Kim Jihun refused to give up. He would simply strive.
-BOOM!
The building in the direction Jihun was watching crumbled with a roar. Simultaneously, a void pulse spread wide.
He winced at the dark aura. The sticky, repulsive energy assaulted his senses.
"You're here."
Kim Jihun muttered. He raised his sword. With a tense expression, he stared toward the freshly collapsed building.
There, atop the rubble, appeared a being he recognized.
Kim Jihun couldn't help but frown at the sight of her.
Alquinoa?
Alquinoa. A Ma-shin who resembled Asrie yet contrasted her in every way.
Seeing her revived the nightmare of the promotion battle days ago.
Kim Jihun captured.
She spread her black wings wide.
Kim Jihun tensed and drew up his divine power. But
"Ugh!"
He flinched from the pain surging through his body. The faint void remnants in his body were devouring and unraveling his divine power.
He'd braced for pain from the void wound, but not this intense. He groaned.
"Krghhh!"
It felt like his veins were tearing bit by bit. Along his divine power channels and body, the void triggered ruptures everywhere. His body was like a firecracker going off in spots all over.
The lingering void rebelled against his circulating divine power, gnawing away at him.
But Jihun didn't falter. This level of pain?
"I've endured way worse during creation force training!"
Back when training his creation force, he'd pushed beyond his limits countless times, suffering endless headaches. That experience had built his pain tolerance high. It hurt, but he could bear it.
He wasn't cowed. He just gritted his teeth and hardened his resolve.
"Come at me!"
Jihun boldly shouted at Alquinoa.
Subjugating Kim Jihun.
Alquinoa glanced at Jihun as he mustered his divine power, then spoke flatly.
She promptly unfurled her black wings. From those pitch-black, light-devouring wings, black flames began to seethe.
Danger!
A colossal sense of crisis from his senses made his skin crawl. What was that insane void power? The aura pouring from her dwarfed the void he'd felt during the promotion battle.
Jihun swiftly infused creation force into his sneakers.
[Low-level God Kim Jihun's crafted sneakers for the promotion battle.]
[Effect: Instant movement speed increase.]
[Usage: Infuse with creation force. Leap a set distance at high speed.]
Pain flared. The void inside rebelled against the creation force.
But he clenched his jaw and activated the artifact. To survive.
-Bang!
Kicking off the air, he shot away from his spot. Leaping over dozens of buildings, Jihun let out a sigh of relief.
But that relief turned to horror in an instant.
-Rumble...!
Everything where Kim Jihun had stood moments ago was engulfed in a void storm. The road he'd been on, the parked cars, even the air itself. All reduced to nothingness.
The dizzying scene was like glimpsing the apocalypse. Void power denied existence outright. Anything exposed to it warped and vanished.
'...'
Jihun swallowed dryly and tensed up again.