The Black Flame's Howl

The Spirit Realm war had escalated. The forces he had mobilized consisted of two hundred Creator Gods, each one a former pinnacle warrior from the clan that had once been known as the Origin. The power granted to them by the Creator Lord of the 500th Master Universe was so immense that they could resist even the absolute decrees of a Creator General. In exchange for that authority, they had inherited duties and restrictions pushed to their very limits. Their capabilities now approached those of the Creator Gods of the 499th Master Universe.

The bodies granted through dark magic, judged purely on computational power alone, rivaled those of the Highest Creator Gods and fell only slightly short of qualifying them as Substitute GodCreator Gods. Two hundred such avatars meant that no matter how powerful the lifeforms of Wind Star might be, they could not withstand this level of concentrated assault.

The ascension had already surpassed fifty stages. The Magic God of Dimensions absorbed the Vitality of the Black Flame and used it to strengthen his avatars, launching coordinated attacks. Under the relentless barrage of these Creator Gods, the lifeforms of Wind Star—forcibly dimensionally displaced—died brutal deaths, spewing forth their Vitality.

At the very least, unless they are true members of the Black Flame clan, they cannot overcome such a disparity in power.

The dying creatures thrashed wildly, their eyes rolled back in fury and resentment, but a single entity could only go so far. Yet the man himself still considered himself the weak one. Grinding his teeth, he prepared for the next battle.

Accept any being who treats both himself and others with equal fairness. But if he is lenient toward himself and cruel to others, he lacks the qualifications of a warrior and must be executed. A man who is harsh on himself yet lenient toward others will never earn true loyalty, and thus holds no value. This is the very first step for a warrior who seeks to realize his dreams through strength. And whoever obstructs this standard—cut them down without exception.

Those were the words his father, who had taught him intellect, had spoken when the Black Flame Absolute first took up the sword and chose the path of the warrior.

The sage accepts. The warrior excludes. That is the standard he established. Though harsh, it has never once been wrong.

Whenever he had given opportunities to those who appeared upright but were actually two-faced yet possessed outstanding ability, they had inevitably turned against him. Rebellion itself was not the problem. The issue was that the territories he had entrusted to them became completely corrupted. Each time, he had trembled with betrayal and erased them all, starting over from scratch.

The actions of the Magic God of Dimensions reminded him of those past memories. That was why the faces of the three before him hurriedly fell silent at the sight of Jinri’s expression hardening into something ominous.

Jinri’s mind and body stopped developing during adolescence—the period of most rapid growth.

That is why he continues to develop endlessly yet possesses an unstable mental structure.

If his mood sours, there is no telling what he might do.

The True Jinri is absolute, yet it is precisely because exceptions exist that it can be established. The extent of the exceptions allowed by one who is always fair was enough to send shivers down even their own spines.

But when the next calm pronouncement came, they let out deep sighs of relief. It seemed he would settle for dealing with the Magic God of Dimensions personally.

The Magic God of Dimensions irritably hurled the bricks he had been endlessly creating and launching into the far side of dimensional space onto the ground. Fortunately, his preparations were complete, but the tide of battle had shifted. After overcoming the eagles, the next stage was terrestrial combat.

The secret arts of the Black Flame had never been about aerial mobility. They were about bodies colliding, crushing each other’s blood and bones, and stacking Fighting Spirit upon Fighting Spirit. That was why, the moment the first terrestrial creature to possess true Vitality of the Black Flame—a small dog—ripped space apart with its howl, he had detected an anomaly in the dimensional barrier.

The level of Black Flame Vitality mixed into that roar could inflict fatal effects on time and space. It was on an entirely different level from the faint traces he had been unable to actively absorb until now.

At this rate, even though his strength and body are the greatest in the Absolute Realm, his other aspects are at rock bottom. The dimensional barrier that no one in the Black Flame clan has noticed might collapse. If that happens, they will immediately realize he is in the dimension right beside them, and it will all be over.

Members of the Black Flame clan were basically Creator General class by default. Moreover, the especially massive giant known as their chieftain was one of the highest rulers even within the Absolute Realm. The very nature of the Black Flame meant they grew endlessly stronger in battle; aside from Jinri and the Wind Family, no one dared challenge them.

Their ability level has already passed the threshold, but the side effects of their extremely strengthened bodies make them dislike using their heads. They live according to their instincts, and he keeps them in check.

Deceiving the senses and perception of such beings would have been impossible if he had not fully unleashed Origin and raised the Authority of Dimension to the absolute level.

Woof woof woof! Grrrrrrrrr!

Yet when the dog barked, the absolute-grade dimensional barrier shook. Even the former Origin Creator Gods could not stop it. He still had to overcome more than ninety additional stages in this state, but a mere puppy’s cry threatened to bring everything crashing down.

Although it was an Authority of Dimension manifested by borrowing the title of Origin, it was an absolute-grade power with almost no equals in the same category and represented the crystallized essence of his life as a god. To see it crumbling so helplessly at a stage where he had processed barely half the ascension caused his eyes to burn with rage.

The crystallized Fighting Spirit of the Black Flame, which seemed ready to set his entire body ablaze, blazed in harmony with the wings of light that symbolized the Authority of Dimension. A maddening fighting spirit and emotion surged within him.

Though indirect, the blood contract connected his avatars to himself; the pain and the results of training were shared. I cannot simply ascend.

Knowing full well that he had to pass the criteria, he had linked all two hundred avatars to his main ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠body in the same way. Although he had not fought directly, he had suffered every wound his avatars had endured. Through that blood connection, he had also obtained a portion of the Black Flame Vitality.

That was why the absorbed Black Flame Vitality rose up as black flames, wrapping around the body of the Magic God of Dimensions. The only thought that remained was the intent to annihilate the hostile killing intent before his eyes. Everything else gradually faded away.

This is why the Black Flame clan possesses the greatest power yet has such poor heads.

In the Absolute Realm, the Black Flame was unmatched in pure destructive power. Suppressing the fighting spirit and rage it awakened consumed enormous computational power and eroded one’s will. Therefore, the greatest burden for the Black Flame clan was maintaining composure. Most of their computational power was spent on this, and the higher their level, the heavier the burden became.

In short, they were always angry but forcibly suppressed it with reason. However, there was a limit. Once emotion exceeded that threshold, they risked rampaging worse than a god of destruction. That was why they could not escape Wind Star.

And even the Magic God of Dimensions, whose computational power was enough to qualify him as a Substitute God Creator God, could not perfectly control that emotional explosion.

In the end, he spat out a curse and hurled himself toward the front line.

“Grrrrrrrrr—! Grr—!”

You cowardly bastard—! Come at me—!

The thirteen pairs of wings of light and darkness on the Creator God fully deployed. Cloaked in Black Flame Fighting Spirit, he charged at the puppy that was also burning with Black Flame Fighting Spirit.

The moment the two Black Flame Fighting Spirits collided, the two hundred Creator Gods hurriedly retreated and poured every ounce of their power into reinforcing the dimensional barrier.

At our level, we can no longer fight while protecting the barrier.

Coordinated attacks only worked when the power gap was not too wide. However, the Authority contained within that Black Flame Vitality could now repel even fairly strong divine power. Since the bodies they had borrowed had reached their limit, they had no choice but to focus on protecting the dimensional barrier rather than fighting.

The aftershocks of the battle alone threatened to shatter it, but once they reinforced it, the barrier solidified once more. In exchange, they could no longer participate in the fight. The outcome now rested entirely on the Magic God of Dimensions.

He had passed nearly seventy stages, absorbing Vitality all the while, and had pushed the Authority of the absolute-grade Karma Contract—which would turn him into an insect—to its utmost limit. Thanks to that, the Magic God of Dimensions had maintained his original human form.

There was no reason he should lose to a being whose original shape had been overwritten and turned into a dog. Moreover, his abilities had already reached the level of a Highest Creator God.

Yet something made him extremely uneasy.

Crunch—! Boom—! Kuuuung—!

“This—!”

“Yelp—!”

A fierce brawl had broken out between the highest-level Creator God of Light and the dog. When the puppy bit down on one leg, he kicked it away with another. When he swung a fist down, it dodged nimbly and went for the throat. He met the attack head-on with his forehead, knocking it away, then drove his knee into the exposed belly. It blocked with its hind legs and retreated.

Since both possessed the Authority of the Black Flame, only direct physical attacks worked. The exchange was desperate.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-gang!

Countless blows intersected endlessly as they targeted each other’s vital points. The sight was dizzying. But this was absolutely not the style of a dark mage. A dark mage rained down attacks from afar using magic. Close combat like this was the domain of battle gods.

The extreme development of computational power at the cost of a frail body was the weakness of a dark mage. Although he did not know much about the 499th Master Universe, he knew this fact well.

Why is the Magic God of Dimensions choosing close combat? There must be other ways.

That question was answered immediately.

He no longer even spat out curses. The eyes of both the god of light and the puppy, now wholly focused on destroying each other’s bodies, flickered only with black flames. Not even a trace of reason remained. Only the Magic God of Dimensions occasionally seemed to regain his senses, but each time he did, the Black Flame Fighting Spirit only grew stronger.

“He’s almost completely consumed by the Authority of the Black Flame. Even the computational power of the Magic God of Dimensions has its limits, it seems.”

“No, it looks more like he’s desperately reinforcing the Black Flame Fighting Spirit with his life on the line. Has he given up on magic and divine power?”

“There is no other way anyway.”

“It’s no longer a level where half-baked divine power or magic would work.”

“So he has no choice but to do it this way.”

“Is a mere dog from Wind Star our limit?”

“Until we recreate the true body of a battle god instead of the Origin we once possessed, this is as far as we go.”

It was the despair of the former Origin beings. They had attacked the puppy only to find their strikes completely ineffective, and had nearly caused the dimensional barrier protecting them from Wind Star and the Black Flame clan to collapse.

Meanwhile, outside the dimensional barrier, members of the Black Flame clan were searching everywhere with irritated voices. They flipped over rocks and combed through bushes, continuing their search. Startled insects flew away in panic each time, only to be caught again. The Black Flame clan represented the final stage of Wind Star’s Black Flame lineage. Mere insects could not escape them.

“I’ll protect you, so come out right now. Newbie! Do any of you know where the newbie is?”

“Buzz buzz—!”

I’m not him. I don’t know.

“Then get lost—!”

After conveying their intent to the captured insects and animals and confirming they lacked the Authority of Time, the Black Flame clan members irritably hurled them far into the air one after another.

They were searching every inch of the area because they could not locate the Magic God of Dimensions. Watching the scene, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chieftain of the Black Flame clan grimaced again at the sight of the baby faces that looked bored and on the verge of tears.

No matter how I think about it, childcare and the Black Flame clan are a terrible match. It requires a calm temperament and strong patience, the complete opposite of the Black Flame clan whose fundamental Authorities ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are fighting spirit and rage.

He had hoped the newbie who possessed the Authority of Time would solve that problem, but the newcomer was holed up somewhere taking an ascension trial.

Even I barely managed to reach that ascension level after more than ten thousand years of fighting dogs. To try to pass it with such underhanded tricks—I cannot tolerate it as the ruler of Wind Star of the Black Flame.

In the end, the chieftain of the Black Flame let out a roar that shook the entire planet.

The lifeforms of Wind Star fled back to their homes as if running from an illusion of being burned to death by black fire. The chieftain of the Black Flame clan shook his head as he watched the chaotic scene.

I sensed a slight anomaly right behind me just now, but I cannot ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠find it no matter what. If I were still in my sage lineage, I would have found it immediately, but this damned Authority of the Black Flame gives me no room to manifest calm and intricate powers. When I was a sage, I could handle this level of search as easily as drinking cold porridge, but now I cannot even pinpoint it accurately.

Such delicate and precise search Authorities were simply impossible for the Black Flame clan, whose power was the pinnacle of Fighting Spirit.

“Ah, damn it—! How is this newbie hiding so well? No matter how I look at it, it seems like an absolute-grade stealth barrier. How is the Black Flame clan even using something like this? What kind of computational power does this require?”

“That’s why I told you to train to raise your lowered computational power, didn’t I? You used to be able to do more than this in the past, yet now you can’t even detect it? Why don’t you study like you’re supposed to instead of just fighting all the time?”

“That’s just how the Black Flame is. What can you do when studying doesn’t work?”

As the clan members scattered and he was left alone, the chieftain of the Black Flame clan—who had the potential to become the strongest in the physical category of the Absolute Realm—could only sigh at the sight of his wife preparing to nag him again.