The Black Flame Absolute's Judgment
The Spirit Realm trembled violently under the endless shockwaves of dimensional jumps, only to repair itself instantly. Watching this, the Black Flame Absolute couldn’t wipe the troubled look from his face.
After barely suppressing the Black Flame Rampage that had flared up from rare excitement, his computational power had gained a sliver of breathing room. That small margin allowed him to finally assess the situation with a clear head. The conclusion he reached was… annoying.
‘Killing him is easy, but capturing him alive is a pain. Absolute Dimensional Maneuver? One of the highest-tier absolute authorities under the Dimensional Lord’s power? It’s living up to its rank, huh? How the hell am I supposed to catch this slippery bastard without breaking him?’
In the Absolute Realm, which had continued to evolve under Jinri’s rule, Absolute Dimensional Maneuver was by no means an unbeatable authority. In fact, it was merely one of the mid-tier absolute authorities—difficult to master, riddled with restrictions, and only moderately powerful. Its mobility and versatility were top-class, so its effectiveness depended entirely on the user, but even at its best, it could never challenge the authorities held by the Eight Absolutes.
The proof was that none of the Black Flame Clan showed the slightest tension. The Magic God of Dimensions, who had been slaughtering the lifeforms of the Wind Castle of Black Flame all by himself to ascend, had finally reached a name worth remembering. His ultimate goal was the Black Flame Clan itself.
Someone would have to accept the challenge of this steadily rising Magic God of Dimensions, who had already displayed the Absolute Dimensional Maneuver once used by the former Creator General. Only by defeating at least one of the final evolved forms—the Black Flame Clan—could the Eternal Judgment truly come to an end.
‘Only by winning and surviving will it be decided whether he remains part of the Black Flame Clan or gets expelled beyond the Wind Star. But at his current level, he can’t even scratch one of us.’
Even after absorbing the vitality of the Wind Star lifeforms through combat, his stats were strangely too low. No, the very fact that someone possessing the Authority of Black Flame could wield the computationally intensive Dimensional authority at all was suspicious.
Something flickered at the edge of his mind, but when he felt his computational power automatically draining to suppress the restored Black Flame Madness, he clicked his tongue.
‘No matter how much I raise my computational power, the Authority of Black Flame grows stronger and consumes even more. In the past, among the Absolutes who boasted the highest computational power in the Absolute Realm, I was still the best. The rest of the Black Flame Clan wouldn’t even be worth asking.’
They would probably just scratch their heads and shut their mouths instead of offering opinions.
“Tsk—! I actually tried using my head for once, but it’s no use. Can’t be helped. Where’s the Cyber Realm?”
The Black Flame Absolute’s voice, laced with his destructive authority, momentarily overwhelmed the vitality of the Wind Star and transmitted his will across the cosmos.
Almost simultaneously, a Cyber God wrapped in shimmering rainbow light appeared as if summoned. It bowed deeply, offering the most respectful greeting possible.
The opponent was the Black Flame, called the strongest in the Absolute Realm excluding Jinri and the Origins of the Wind Family. Since Jinri had forbidden all beings of the Wind Family from exerting influence outside their designated domains, the Eight Absolutes were the undisputed rulers and strongest entities of the Absolute Realm. Their power, which could overwhelm even the Eternal Beings at the end of evolution, suppressed and controlled the endlessly vast territory and countless powerhouses of the Absolute Realm.
‘Even a special-grade Cyber God cannot compare in status.’
The Black Flame was the only one among the Eight Absolutes specialized purely in destruction and nearly devoid of administrative ability. Because he supported maintaining the current system by needing the Cyber Realm, the Cyber God had to prove its usefulness by helping in any way possible. The other clans of the Eight Absolutes had implemented their own administrative systems and no longer needed the Cyber Realm, so strengthening ties with the Black Flame Clan was essential. However, because the Black Flame Clan was under Jinri’s direct management and rarely active, opportunities for contact had been almost nonexistent.
Yet thanks to the lifeforms driven mad by the Black Flame’s fighting spirit, this chance had come—a direct summons to the Wind Castle of Black Flame, a place that normally allowed no spiritual beings to approach. There was no better opportunity than this.
“I greet the Black Flame Absolute, one of the Ten Centers of the Absolute Realm. It is the highest honor to be called upon by you.”
Faced with such an emotional reaction, the Black Flame Absolute looked utterly bored.
‘The other Eight Absolutes sometimes complain that the Cyber Realm is inefficient because of vitality consumption and all that. But since I can use it like this from time to time, it’s worth keeping around.’
He genuinely didn’t understand why they wanted to eliminate something that worked perfectly fine under the banner of “innovation.” He knew full well that if the Cyber Realm disappeared, he would eventually have to beg the administrative organizations of the other Eight Absolutes—a filthy situation.
‘In the end, no matter how great or exalted you become, it’s all just a fight over your own rice bowl.’
It was nothing more than a power struggle. They didn’t trust the Cyber Realm created by Jinri and wanted to replace it with their own administrative organizations to control the entire Absolute Realm and the Master Universes. He found the whole thing annoying and stayed silent, using the pretext of reinforcing his forces on the Wind Star.
“Enough. Answer properly and handle it.”
“Yes.”
“How is this newcomer, the Magic God of Dimensions, able to wield the Dimensional authority while possessing the Authority of Black Flame?”
“Yes. That is… ugh! Mmph—!”
The special-grade Cyber God’s words were suddenly cut off as if forbidden from answering directly. An apology flowed out instead.
“I am sorry. The content is related to the Eternal Judgment under an absolute-grade Karma Contract, so disclosure to involved parties is temporarily prohibited.”
“Even me? You’re saying a mere absolute-grade Karma Contract can affect one of the Eight Absolutes?”
The Black Flame Absolute spoke in disbelief. The Cyber God smiled lightly and answered with composure.
The Black Flame was precisely because of these shortcomings that it was such an attractive existence to the Cyber Realm. The principle that the strong who need help from those around them are merciful had not changed.
‘Among the Eight Absolutes, the Black Flame possesses the greatest destructive power but the lowest computational ability.’
That was why a Cyber God, whose computational power had been developed to the extreme, could produce such dramatic effects by assisting. Such cases were rare.
“Yes. As the final arbiter of the Eternal Judgment being carried out on the Wind Castle of Black Flame, you are indeed subject to those restrictions at this time.”
“Is that so? Well, it is a permanent execution without my approval.”
The Black Flame Absolute immediately understood. The Cyber God carefully presented the data.
“Here is the current combat power of the Magic God of Dimensions. With this, you should roughly understand the present situation.”
The Black Flame Absolute pointed at the divine power section with a look of utter disbelief.
“With only 10 billion divine power, how is he beating the lifeforms of the Wind Castle of Black Flame? Hmm—! The shock from dimensional movement would be hard for living beings to withstand. And this guy? Only 2.5 billion in Authority of Black Flame? If he defeated a puppy he should have over 100 billion. Where did he sell the rest? Did he only absorb the minimum needed to perform magic? For his final magic? What is he aiming for? Don’t tell me he actually plans to fight the Black Flame Clan with magic? With just this?”
Even as he spoke, he had probably already realized the truth. Everything was for the final duel against the Black Flame Clan.
He gave a light glance to the surrounding members of the Black Flame Clan and the female holding the infant, transmitting his will so they would stay on guard.
‘If he lands a surprise dimensional strike, even a Black Flame in infant form could suffer a fatal blow.’
The Cyber God watching this scene could not hide his admiration. It was simple, yet he understood everything. And yet, with just a little advice, he naturally made the most efficient judgments and actions.
‘He truly is an Absolute worth helping.’
With only this level of assistance, he was already strong enough to compete for the title of strongest among the Eight Absolutes. If providing information on such an existence could earn recognition for the Cyber Realm’s value, it would be truly worthwhile.
However, looking at the Magic God of Dimensions’ stats floating in the air, the Cyber God clicked his tongue.
No matter how much he had received the title and even inherited the authority, his growth rate was excessively fast. Among the nearly billion title holders and authority-bearers currently managed by the Cyber Realm as subjects of interest, his development speed was unrivaled.
Moreover, the Dimensional authority—which dramatically strengthened his own forces while weakening enemies—had even worked on the lifeforms of the Wind Star. No matter how much he used the shock of dimensional movement, without the unconditional weakening effect against hostile targets, he could never have won so easily.
He possessed Origin, which granted endless vitality to beings with fighting spirit, and Dimension, which had now evolved into a new form of wide-area support and enhancement through the fusion of time and authority. And now he had even obtained the Authority of Black Flame, the strongest in the physical domain.
‘If he grows smoothly to the end, he is a title holder whose limits are worth looking forward to. He will likely become a shining existence even in the Absolute Realm.’
But that would only be after he escaped the Wind Castle of Black Flame. The strength of the Black Flame Clan was fraudulent simply by existing. Their bodies were impossibly tough, and the Authority of Black Flame ignored most authorities while absorbing even physical impacts. They defended against all physical and mental attacks using Black Flame Fighting Spirit—a transcendent aggregate of fighting spirit and vitality—while raising their own power to the limit.
If most authorities and magic weakened the opponent while doubling one’s own strength, the Authority of Black Flame purely multiplied one’s own power by roughly ten times. By raising pure physical force, once one reached the level of the Eight Absolutes, they could literally pulverize a Creator God’s body with mere movement and crush an equal Absolute’s body like tofu, possessing unspeakable destructive power.
‘Although computational power drops to the limit to control the constantly rampaging Black Flame Fighting Spirit, the compensation more than makes up for it.’
They were a race that walked the complete opposite path from the Cyber Gods, who were forbidden from intervening in reality and had developed only their computational power to the extreme. If the two were to fuse, they would gain power equal to all the other Eight Absolutes combined. In fact, not only the Cyber Realm but most races thought the same. The Black Flame Clan was the symbol of brute force that could destroy anything, but because they lacked brains, if utilized well they could create the strongest faction.
‘But utilizing them is difficult. Now I understand why the strongest authority of the Black Flame isn’t pure destructive power but “Always Heads,” which supplements choice. An absolute authority that transcendentally activates senses and intuition honed through countless battles and fighting spirit. No matter what choice or action one takes without any prior knowledge or information, it is always correct and right? In battle and in all of life, one unconsciously takes the correct action and behaves unpredictably. How could anyone possibly use such beings? It’s nothing but a useless delusion.’
Even now, the Black Flame Absolute had unconsciously stayed close to his mate and child since earlier. For someone who usually found baby cries incomprehensible and was sick of childcare, remaining nearby for such a long time was unimaginable.
He himself might not realize it, but his absolute sense—“Always Heads”—was controlling him to protect the infant that the Magic God of Dimensions was targeting. As a result, the Magic God of Dimensions had been continuously aiming for the newborn of the Black Flame Clan, an opportunity to pass the Eternal Judgment in one go, yet he couldn’t even attempt it.
‘I threw countless dimensional shift bricks through spatial gaps, but they are all destroyed the moment they enter the Black Flame Absolute’s absolute domain.’
That was why he was shaking the Wind Star so noisily to lure him out, but because the Black Flame wasn’t moving as violently as expected, he was feeling troubled. But even that had its limits.
‘Since he has passed all the ascensions and only the final result remains, he must inevitably stand before the Black Flame Absolute.’
The absolute-grade Karma Contract continuously spat out victory declarations and finally announced the 149th ascension.
“Haaah…”
With a thick sigh, the Magic God of Dimensions revealed himself from within the dimensional gap. His tone showed zero interest in etiquette. Or rather, it was more accurate to say he had no room to spare for it.
Everything had gone according to plan, but the final stage had gone awry. And in the worst possible way.
“Huuuuaaah—! Goddamn it—! There’s no opening at all. It doesn’t seem like he’s doing this because he knows my intention to keep targeting the baby or my Dimensional authority. Is it some kind of authority that activates automatically, like my ‘Sacrifice Tolerance’? Having to fight the Black Flame Clan head-on… what rotten luck.”
The robe the Magic God of Dimensions wore had gone through countless regenerations and washings, yet it was still soaked in blood. The black robe that covered even his head reeked of thick blood, and the Black Flame Fighting Spirit that rivaled it flickered ominously. His wings of divine power and magic, sharper than before, had fully materialized and radiated killing intent like peerless treasured swords.
He dropped the mangled human corpse he had been holding onto the ground and began recovering his arms, which were covered in wounds and dark bruises.
‘Traces of resistance while enduring tens of thousands of dimensional movement shocks in the fight against the humans of the Black Flame Star.’
Although only about three minutes had passed in normal time, inside the barrier created by the time acceleration of the absolute-grade Karma Contract, he had already fought desperately against them for over ten thousand years and won. Yet when he returned to normal time, this world remained completely unchanged, making it feel like a dream.
But the traces of recovering from countless injuries, the blood-soaked clothes and body, and above all, the Authority of Black Flame burning with such fierce rage and fighting spirit that it could scorch his mind black even from absorbing only a tiny fraction—it was all real.
As the Magic God of Dimensions barely maintained the computational power needed to perform magic, a bright voice reached his ears.
“Welcome, newbie. First, take one hit and die.”
The Black Flame Absolute, who had been protecting his mate and child with a relaxed smile, moved.