Creation Talent
Somehow, I couldn't figure out why, but Alquinoa's power had grown far stronger than before. She seemed even more intimidating now than she had during the promotion battle when she'd appeared leading hundreds of void beasts. Just a lone figure, yet she exuded overwhelming pressure.
Kim Jihun began to think coolly.
'Is it possible to grow that strong in just a few days?'
Outwardly, she didn't look much different. If he had to point out changes, her wings had darkened further, and faint black flames flickered around her eyes. Nothing else stood out.
But her speech had definitely changed. The old Alquinoa had shown some emotion. Now, she seemed stripped of it—cold, mechanical, maintaining a blunt and businesslike demeanor.
Jihun made a guess.
'She must've used some kind of cheat.'
There was no way she could've achieved such rapid growth in power legitimately in mere days. Whether gods or Ma-shin Clan, gaining true strength required endless training, and that was never easy. No training method could produce power like that in a single week.
'In that case.'
She probably couldn't control her own power properly yet. No being could fully wield suddenly acquired strength right away. It took time to make it their own, to get accustomed to it.
Jihun decided to bet his life on that slim deduction.
-Bang!
His form kicked off the air. In the same instant, he leaped right in front of her.
Alquinoa reached out a hand.
But she was slow.
-Bang!
Jihun kicked the air again and vaulted past her, brushing by to land on the opposite side.
'Her reaction speed really is sluggish.'
Jihun was certain his guess was right. Using divine authority required corresponding computational power. Low-level gods needed low-level computation; general gods needed general-level. But this Ma-shin Clan member, Alquinoa, lacked it. Her void power was immensely strong, but without matching computation, her authority manifested too slowly.
Like a child wielding a massive greatsword—immense strength, but unable to handle it freely.
Jihun's expression eased as he spotted a glimmer of hope.
'I've got a chance!'
Alquinoa's power was undoubtedly formidable. But she couldn't fully bear its weight, slowing her reactions. If Jihun moved nimbly, he could survive.
He turned to check her movements.
And in that instant, chills raced across his skin.
"...!"
He saw it.
The enormously intense void energy swirling within Alquinoa's wings. Black flames burned stickier than ever from her dark wings, and an oppressive, domineering void aura rippled from her body. As if determined to show her full output, the pressure was immense.
Jihun's instincts screamed.
'Danger!'
He poured every ounce of strength into fleeing the spot. Ignoring the pain wracking his body, he kept infusing Creation Force into his shoes. He leaped countless times, passing dozens, hundreds, thousands of buildings. Cleaving the air, he put maximum distance between them.
And then, Jihun saw it.
-Pop.
It was a small sound.
But its effect was cataclysmic.
Jihun glanced back.
His face filled with dismay as he stared at the city.
Half of Seoul was gone.
His home, his high school, the bookstore, countless people and the city itself... all reduced cleanly to nothingness, vanished.
Jihun gazed at the spot with a hollow expression.
"Half of Seoul... gone..."
Exactly half of Seoul had disappeared. The vast eastern expanse was erased, leaving only a massive crater.
Jihun's legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees.
Overwhelmed by the sheer power, despair gripped him. And guilt, too—for the countless lives lost because of him. If he hadn't gained Creation Talent, Alquinoa wouldn't have targeted him, and maybe all those people wouldn't have died in an instant.
Overcome by guilt and emptiness, Jihun collapsed right there.
- Kim Jihun, located.
Alquinoa's voice echoed from behind him.
Jihun slowly turned his head.
She approached leisurely, black wings spread wide against the backdrop of the vast vanished land.
She extended an arm.
-Securing target.
Black void energy boiled up in her wings again.
Jihun looked at Alquinoa with a resigned expression.
How could he beat a monster like that? He was just a low-level god. Even with artifacts, even if he matched mid-level god strength.
He couldn't win against Alquinoa.
Her Ma-shin Clan power was too immense, and he was too weak.
'Is this the end?'
Jihun sensed defeat.
His body was a wreck. Manifesting Creation Force without recovery had shredded his divine circuits like rags; pain stabbed so fiercely he could barely grip his sword. Her attacks hadn't landed once, but the recoil had inflicted severe injuries.
He was utterly powerless now.
"Damn it."
Jihun muttered.
Then Alquinoa's void power erupted.
It surged toward him with terrifying momentum, slicing air, voiding space, lunging to devour him... but it didn't.
"...Huh?"
Jihun blinked open his eyes.
He should've been crushed by the void energy, rolling on the ground. Yet he felt as comfortable as ever.
And he saw it.
A golden barrier enveloping his body.
"Ah!"
He realized.
Asrie—she had come!
Only a high-ranking god like her could create such a warm, overflowing protective shield.
He turned his gaze to the sky.
There she floated gracefully, white wings spread proudly.
Jihun said,
"You're late, Asrie-nim."
"I came as fast as I could."
She descended slowly to the ground.
Then stood firmly beside him.
He looked at her anew. Dazzling golden radiance flowed from her white wings, holy divine power emanating from her entire body. The oppressive aura that had cloaked Alquinoa diluted and faded under her power.
Asrie said to Jihun,
"You held out well."
With those words, she leaped, rocketing toward Alquinoa.
-Boom!
Her divine-power-infused fist slammed into Alquinoa's solar plexus.
Void energy burst from Alquinoa in response.
-...!
Alquinoa couldn't react in time. She'd grown far stronger by consuming void essence, but Asrie's power surpassed it by leaps and bounds.
Struck by Asrie, Alquinoa staggered.
One blow had half-crippled her.
But Asrie's fury didn't abate.
"Asria."
Asrie called her that.
Asria.
She continued,
"Asria. I can no longer stand by and watch you."
Until now, she'd refrained from decisively executing Alquinoa. They were once blood kin, and she'd caused no direct harm worth the effort.
But things had changed.
Because of Alquinoa, Jihun was on the brink of death, and a huge swath of Earth's intelligent life had vanished. She couldn't overlook someone harming Jihun and Earth—both precious to her.
So Asrie began pummeling her relentlessly.
-Boom! Boom! Boom!
Asrie hammered Alquinoa with divine-power fists. Each strike shaved off chunks of her void energy, eroding her Ma-shin power.
-Boom!
At the final blow, Alquinoa spewed blood and flew limply away.
Asrie looked down at the fallen Alquinoa and murmured loftily,
"I thought you'd come to your senses one day and reflect on everything, Asria."
Holy energy blending Creation Force and divine power rippled in her fist.
A clear motion to deliver the killing blow.
Asrie intoned,
"Farewell, my sister. May the Great Law guide you..."
Just as she swung her fist—
"Wait!"
Jihun interrupted.
...
"Jihun?"
Asrie dispersed the condensed power in her hand.
The vibrating pressure vanished.
Jihun's sudden intervention made her release her strength.
Jihun said to Asrie,
"Asrie-nim, Alquinoa's your blood kin?!"
He'd clearly heard it.
Asrie's words right before the final strike.
-Farewell, my sister...
That's why Jihun had rushed in to stop her.
He knew the weight of family.
Bonds of blood, among the few in this world who believed in and loved you unconditionally. That was family.
And for gods, blood ties—kinship—bound them even tighter than human families. Living near-eternal spans, their connections ran far deeper.
Yet Asrie was about to kill her own sister, Alquinoa.
Jihun wanted to stop her.
Why? Logically, it made no sense. Alquinoa had tried to kidnap him; she was Ma-shin Clan, enemy to the gods. Spare her?
But Jihun thought,
'Family killing family... that's heartbreaking.'
He knew the warmth and comfort family brought. Despite their poverty, he'd grown straight thanks to his family's guidance and teachings. Just being together made him happy—that was family.
Yet Asrie was about to execute such a precious bond.
So Jihun instinctively intervened.
Killing Alquinoa here would scar Asrie's near-eternal divine life deeply.
Jihun said,
"Can't we spare Alquinoa?"
He intended to persuade Asrie.
...
"No."
A brief hesitation.
But Asrie answered firmly.
No.
"Asria's already been corrupted by the void into a Ma-shin Clan member."
"...Is there no way to turn her back into a god?"
"There is, actually."
She glanced at Alquinoa collapsed on the ground.
Alquinoa lay there, vomiting dark red blood from her mouth. Her eyes were unfocused, lifeless like a dead fish's.
Confirming that, Asrie stated firmly,
"If it were just a typical fallen Ma-shin Clan, pumping in massive divine power could restore them. But this child's different."
Ordinary Ma-shin Clan had simply accepted void energy instead of divine power—a betrayal by gods craving explosive growth. In those cases, extracting the void and reinfusing divine power worked.
But not Alquinoa.
"Alquinoa's consumed void essence. Ordinary divine power won't cut it. Only extremely pure, concentrated divine power refined by countless gods can revert her."
Pure, concentrated divine power from countless gods—such a thing was rare. Gods cooperating to create anything was exceedingly uncommon to begin with.
But timely, Jihun had something similar.
"What about this?"
Jihun pulled an item from his subspace.
It was the Divine Power Essence.
◈ Essence refined from the divine power of countless gods. Consuming it raises a low-level god's rank by one step.
◈ Effect: Rank +1 step.
◈ Usage: Consume.
Jihun planned to save Alquinoa with it.