The Weight of Past Sins
The thought of how many utterly despicable acts his past self had committed—if this hadn’t been his own history, he would have killed the bastard on the spot—made the infamous title of ‘Worst and Most Vicious Magic God’ feel completely deserved. Back then, he had carried out every mission with flawless perfection, so he never understood why only the vilest rumors spread about him. He had even ground his teeth, convinced it was discrimination against gods of human origin. But now that he was watching it firsthand, it all seemed perfectly natural.
Even if the results were good, a contractor’s perspective and wishes had to be respected to some degree during the process. He had ignored all of that. If not for the protective clause in the Karma Contract regarding unequal treaties with the weak, he would have been thoroughly destroyed by the enraged clients. ‘And that happened more than once. Just stop already. If you turn even the Wind Family into enemies, you really won’t have anywhere left to go.’
Yet the Dimensional Mage God beyond the screen showed no sign of halting his reckless provocation. With both arms spread wide in a completely defenseless stance, he was deliberately inviting attacks from the Creative Sword of Radiance and the highest-ranking mercenary main gods’ divine artifacts.
Without activating the Authority of Black Flame, his body was no more than that of a foresight-level Creator God. It could never withstand strikes from beings of equal rank who possessed transcendent authorities.
The words alone drew an involuntary scream from his throat. What kind of nonsense was the Magic God spouting? Mercy and opportunities for the enemy? Even if the Origin of the Mage God beat him to death, he would have nothing to say in his defense. A quick glance at the Origin’s expression showed it twisted in utter disgust. It didn’t look like he would let this slide easily.
He suddenly remembered how, during his lonely days without friends in the past, he had used the Authority of Dimensions to obtain and devour novels from the Otherworld. The influence had been far more severe than he realized. ‘Those so-called biographies of great men were nothing but self-indulgent fantasy novels written by old farts who got lucky in their youth—! When I investigated the past while training to become the Grey Absolute, I found out those bastards had never actually done any of that. They had crushed the weak even more thoroughly. That’s how they climbed high enough to write those books—! This is driving me insane. Was I really that naïve back then?’
The memory resurfaced of how he had suddenly been handed the administration of the Divine Realm and had meticulously read the manual provided by the Main God of the Divine Realm, attempting to apply it exactly as written. Because he had genuinely believed the book’s idealistic drivel, he had been utterly shattered by the rampage of the cold-hearted realist goddesses of the Goddess Blood Alliance and their subordinates.
‘That’s right—! That’s exactly what happened—! Damn it all—! Books should be written realistically—! Don’t ruin innocent kids who believe in books and try to follow them in real society—! Write that to achieve even a tiny success, you have to endure that much hardship—! That even the smallest favor demands an appropriate price—! And you idiot—! Dodge—! At your current physical level, taking those war gods’ attacks completely defenseless could kill you in a single blow!’
But he couldn’t send his will over there and ruin something already in motion, so all he could do was stomp his feet in helpless frustration.
The Creative Sword of Radiance and the divine artifacts seemed to have taken the words at face value and decided to attack. Attacks poured down on the Dimensional Mage God on the screen like a storm of blades. His face paled at the speed and power that surpassed even his past self’s reaction capabilities. As expected, defending normally with his body was impossible.
His past self had not been strong enough to simultaneously handle one being of equal rank and four war gods who were nearly on the same level. Taking transcendent-grade sword techniques directly with his body was nothing short of suicide.
"Double Helix Cross Sword—!"
⟨ Double Helix Cross Sword ⟩
The secret technique that had once severed the arm of the 500th Master Universe’s Creator General successor—who possessed immunity to divine power—and inflicted a fatal wound, now exploded forth. The subsequent attacks from the highest-ranking mercenary main gods were equally merciless. Almighty Hwi, believing himself superior to the Dimensional Mage God as the Main God General, was pouring everything he had into the assault. With the Dimensional Divine Realm right next door, it was a fire on his own doorstep.
Kwaaaaaang—!
The Main God Temple of the Main Divine Realm shook with a deafening roar. Thousands of strands of sword light shot out, slicing through every area they touched. The severed ruins within the domain split once more into six pieces. The Double Helix Cross Sword executed two consecutive transcendent attacks. The first delivered a direct strike capable of severing even a Creator God’s body, while the second was a deadly, curse-like dual assault that inevitably decapitated and dismembered the head, arms, legs, and torso into six parts.
It was no coincidence that the Creator General’s successor had lost an arm to that lethal sword energy. The attacks from the four mercenary main gods—who had defended the Spirit Realm’s main gate—were no less devastating. These beings were war gods specialized in smashing and destroying anything in their path. Although these were indirect attacks through divine artifacts rather than their true bodies, the overflowing killing intent and fighting spirit more than compensated for the reduced power.
The Main God Temple, already reduced to ruins by the Dimensional Mage God’s wide-area attacks, was now completely pulverized into dust, leaving only a flat plain. And from within the swirling dust and shockwaves came the Dimensional Mage God’s slightly cracked but still booming laughter.
The arrogant lines, which showed no sign of stopping, were enough to send chills down even the Grey Absolute’s spine. No—thinking that this was his own past self made his face burn with embarrassment.
‘Please just stop—! I’m cringing so hard I’m going to lose my mind. And remember who your client is. Remember what kind of being the Origin of the Mage God is. Keep this up and you’ll die by his hand, not Black Flame’s, you crazy bastard—!’
Completely ignoring the surrounding worry and concern, the Dimensional Mage God casually grabbed the Guide of the Origin once more and reappeared with a relaxed expression. With a light wave of his hand, the shockwaves and dust settled instantly.
Paah—!
The Dimensional Mage God who appeared in the now-silent Main God Temple looked utterly wretched. Four divine artifacts were embedded deeply across his entire body without a single gap. And the Creative Sword of Radiance, true to his reputation as the greatest sword god, had struck every vital point. He had pierced the heart—the center of life—and the throat to prevent any incantations.
The cracked voice had come from the divine sword lodged in his throat, and blood gushed like a fountain from the wound in his heart caused by the blade embedded there. On top of that, a secondary attack activated from the twin swords that had pierced his body, sending six streaks of splitting light spreading throughout his form. It was a fatal strike meant to tear the body into six separate pieces.
The Dimensional Mage God stared at the dangerous splitting light with an amused gaze.
Kwa-dudududuk—! Thud—! Thud—!
Explosive sounds erupted from within his body. No—it was more like detonations. Amid the rapid pounding of his heart, even as blood sprayed like fireworks from the heart pierced by the divine sword, a languid voice flowed out as if it were nothing.
At the same time, the blood from his wounds transformed into black flames that wrapped around the divine artifacts embedded in his body. The moment the wounds where the artifacts were lodged seemed to widen further on their own, they slammed down violently as if chewing on something.
Jjeeeeooook—! Kwadeuk—! Kwajijijik—! Eudeuk—!
The divine artifacts crumpled and shattered from the grip of the wounds. The horrifying, bone-chilling sounds of wounds tearing wider and then closing again echoed through the Main God Temple.
The screams and shouts of the highest-ranking mercenary main gods erupted from the divine artifacts. Almost simultaneously, the artifacts shattered into pieces and were sucked into his body. The wounds disappeared so completely that it was as if the artifacts had never been embedded at all. Even the Creative Sword of Radiance that had stubbornly remained in his throat and heart had its wounds forcibly widened once more. The moment the black flames of the Authority of Black Flame flickered, the blades shattered and were absorbed into his body. Only the hilts remained.
Tang—! Tadang—!
The Dimensional Mage God caught the two hilts—the blades completely devoured by the wounds in his throat and heart—with both hands as they fell to the ground.
With those words, the hilts of the divine swords dropped between his widely opened jaws. The black flames of the Authority of Black Flame concentrated into teeth that chewed and crushed them with loud crunches.
Kwa-dudududuk—! Kwajijijijik—!
From the body of the Dimensional Mage God, who had literally chewed and eaten the foresight Creator God’s divine sword and the highest-ranking mercenary main gods’ divine artifacts, even stronger black flames than before surged forth, threatening everything around him.
Stagger—! Stagger—!
The bizarre yet overwhelmingly dominant sight of him even chewing and swallowing the hilts of the divine swords left the Creative Sword of Radiance without even the anger of losing his cherished divine sword. In the end, he stepped back. Having lost the divine sword in which he had concentrated all his authorities, there was nothing more the sword god himself could do. Although the seat of glory lay just behind him, he had done everything he possibly could.
Gulp—!
Kuuuung—!
The Dimensional Mage God forcefully yanked the Guide of the Origin, which had been planted in the floor, and stepped onto the round table that had somehow maintained its shape, pressing it down. The legs supporting the table shattered and bounced away as he forced it flush against the ground. Walking across the table now stuck to the floor, he headed toward the seat of glory belonging to the Main God General, only a few steps away.
The ecstasy of finally reaching this point overflowed from his eyes.
There were gazes watching this scene with utter bewilderment. The 10 Mainstays, who had been observing with interest while the ranking war was on hold and the Absolute Realm remained silent due to the Grey Absolute’s rampage—leaving them only to watch each other warily while recovering their strength—could not help but let out gasps of admiration at the sight of the Dimensional Mage God literally chewing and eating divine artifacts with his body.
They had thought it was over when the artifacts embedded themselves in his body, but he had reversed the situation by literally devouring his opponents’ weapons and divine power with his body and claimed victory.
Naturally, the verification request went to the Origin of the Black Flame Clan, but the reply that came back was one of utter bewilderment.
At first it had seemed absurd, but upon further thought, this appeared to be a useful secret technique that other members of the Black Flame Clan could also employ. The reason one could eat divine artifacts with the body itself was because a physique that had fully manifested the Authority of Black Flame possessed greater durability than any divine artifact. Moreover, the body’s control over its own tissues was beyond question. Crushing an opponent’s weapon that had dug into the body by tightening the surrounding muscles was child’s play, and there were even officially adopted secret techniques for it.
It was no coincidence that they fought completely unarmed, without fixed divine artifacts or equipment. They needed no defensive tools, and it allowed them to move even faster. Of course, if the gap in power was too great, they would still sustain such wounds, but prolonged direct contact with the Authority of Black Flame would weaken the artifacts. Furthermore, a Black Flame body could recover from most injuries almost instantly. In that case, it seemed entirely possible to melt the divine artifacts through the injured area and devour the opponent’s authority all at once.
It was a miracle made possible only because Black Flame was the ultimate fusion of fighting spirit and killing intent that surpassed all other close-combat authorities. Even the Black Flame Absolute later found himself thinking he might give it a try himself.
‘If done well, I could devour the divine artifacts and divine power of beings of equal or higher rank all at once. It would be an instant reversal, wouldn’t it? Should I try it?’