The Hunter's Only Weakness
The moment the Black Flame body launched a full-powered straight punch at Hwi of Omnipotence marked the climax of the Otherworld War. Already airborne with every ounce of strength funneled into his right fist, stopping the attack was impossible. Yet the body had sensed the sudden shift in the enemy's power. The Always Coin Heads authority sounded its warning, and the body reacted on pure instinct. There was no room for rational thought—only immediate response.
BOOOOOOOM—!
He forcibly canceled the Authority of Black Flame he had gathered for the punch. The internal backlash from the explosion tore through his body, forcing blood up his throat, but none of that mattered. At the same instant, he kicked off the ring floor with explosive force.
CRAAAAAASH—!
The ring's floor shattered as his leg sank deep into it. The Black Flame body, having halted its ferocious charge, stared at Hwi of Omnipotence—who now unfurled fifty-six pairs of wings—with eyes blazing with murderous intent. Like a predator eyeing its prey, he studied the crossed-arm stance prepared for a counter. The moment the opponent slightly relaxed that posture, the Black Flame body leaped backward. He abandoned the full-powered strike he had prepared, accepting the injury, and raised both hands to shield his face. Muscles tensed, transforming his front into an impenetrable iron wall.
The Divine Spirit Purgatory embedded in his forehead flickered for a brief moment before blazing with even greater intensity.
“A Divine-Demonic Fusion between the Origins of the God Tribe and Demon God Tribe? I never expected you to reveal even this. Still, as a last resort, it’s rather cliché. All I have to do is avoid the instant of fusion and it’s over.”
The Divine Spirit Purgatory throbbed violently, amplifying both magic power and divine power. Innate divine power surged from twenty billion to over two trillion in an instant, reinforcing the body beyond its limits. He had solidified an iron-wall defense capable of withstanding the explosive force of the fusion.
“How long can you maintain that state? Five minutes? No, I’d say less than three. If you can endure that long, victory is mine.”
Watching the scene unfold, the Sage of Omniscience’s voice flowed from Hwi of Omnipotence’s mouth, laced with regret. I revealed even my final secret technique but couldn’t finish him. This ultimate move—countering the opponent’s full-powered attack with the explosive force of Divine-Demonic Fusion—could not be defended against through thought alone. They had bet everything on it, only to fail. The plan was to fuse the moment the enemy attacked and end the fight with a maximum counterstrike using that instantaneous explosion. Without prior knowledge, blocking or dodging was impossible. Since this was its first real-combat revelation, the opponent naturally shouldn’t have known. Yet the charging Black Flame body had chosen to retreat despite the self-inflicted loss. It meant he had evaded using nothing but the body’s crisis-sensing instincts. As expected of the Authority of Black Flame—the undisputed number one in the Absolute Realm’s close-combat field.
“Haa—! That should have ended it. This guy is seriously annoying to fight. The Black Flame body paired with the Dimensional Mage God’s brain? Instantaneous situations are handled by pure physical instinct, while long-term strategy is managed by the mind. Isn’t that basically cheating?”
“Did the body instinctively sense the danger and dodge? Is something like that even possible?”
The voices of the two Origins resonated simultaneously. A mere descent could never have been their final secret technique. By overlapping two existences, they drew out several times their original power. Add the temporary amplification from fusing divine power and magic power, and it could even surpass absolute authorities. The only flaw, just as the Dimensional Mage God had pointed out, was its temporary nature. No matter how much they trained, they could not maintain it beyond three minutes. Sustaining the power generated by perfectly balanced fusion to that degree was something only they could achieve. As a result, they couldn’t launch a proper attack and were instead desperately focused on stabilizing their internal state.
“Of course not, you idiot! Did you not even bother researching the enemy? No matter how power-obsessed you are, this is ridiculous. The Authority of Black Flame includes the absolute intuitive authority called Always Coin Heads. It forces the optimal choice even without awareness or recognition of the situation. It even perfects accuracy, so head-on confrontations must be avoided at all costs. I’m sending the analysis data—accept it now.”
The Sage of Omniscience specialized in computational ability. While her combat prowess wasn’t on the level of the Dimensional Mage God, it surpassed that of any other Creator God. The information and analysis of the Black Flame body, derived from her exceptional processing and cognitive powers, flowed across.
“The Authority of Black Flame is the ultimate piercing and finishing technique. Evasion is impossible, and defense is meaningless. The only way to win is to meet it with even greater power?”
At that exact moment, the Black Flame body relaxed its defensive stance. It coincided perfectly with the instant they had finally suppressed and stabilized the explosive force of the Divine-Demonic Fusion. How he had discerned their internal condition was nothing short of astonishing. Judging the critical moment over, he shifted back to offense. Then, as if issuing a challenge, he slammed both fists together above his chest. It was an obvious provocation: Come at me.
KWAAAAAAAANG—!
KWAAAAAAAANG—!
The mere collision of fists produced impact sounds that seemed capable of collapsing the heavens and earth. At three meters tall, his fists were nearly the size of a normal person’s head. The sight of those absurdly perfect muscles contracting repeatedly made it clear there was no competing with raw strength. Even basic physical parameters placed the opponent in an entirely different league. Moreover, the newly received data included the Black Flame’s inherent Exploding Blood—the amplification born from blood explosion and battle madness. Head-on confrontation was now completely out of the question.
Having seen the information, the Black Flame revealed itself as an immeasurably powerful body and the very embodiment of absolute violence. For the first time in his life, Hwi felt small.
“Th-this is impossible. How are you supposed to beat something like that with strength?”
As Hwi of Omnipotence’s fighting spirit rapidly withered, the Sage of Omniscience spoke urgently. Even the oppressive presence felt indirectly after descending into the Dimensional Divine Realm surpassed imagination. It wasn’t about divine rank or the scale of power. It was the sheer presence radiating from that overwhelmingly massive, perfect physique. Anyone who could infer the power it generated would abandon all thoughts of a frontal assault. Only Hwi of Omnipotence—who had overcome supreme talent and extreme training—could endure this long. Any lesser war god would have lowered their head long ago.
“Since competing with strength is impossible, deflect the attacks as much as possible. Our only chance is to look for openings at the moment of impact. It’s coming.”
The Black Flame body, which had been smashing its fists together in provocation, began advancing when the opponent refused to charge.
“We’re going all-out from the start. Their physical ability is clearly superior. If they grab us, it’s over. Stay sharp.”
“Understood.”
WHOOOOSH—!
VRRRRRRRRR—!
With those words, the fifty-six pairs of divine power wings that had been deployed compressed to the extreme and clung to the entire body. They were concentrating divine power to draw out maximum physical performance. Even then, they couldn’t confidently claim to surpass the Black Flame body’s capabilities, but at least they wouldn’t be helplessly overwhelmed. According to the Sage of Omniscience’s analysis, mixing in the art of counterattacking by utilizing the opponent’s own attacking force would allow them to defeat even the Black Flame.
Yet the very next development nearly drove them to despair.
“Vicious… isn’t it? So there was a move like that.”
Crack.
Crunch.
What approached with excruciating slowness was a wall of muscle. Both arms spread wide in a clear invitation: Hit me if you dare. Every muscle had been infused with maximum divine power, literally forging armor from flesh. With the body locked in such a solid defensive posture, it was questionable whether any attack would have any effect at all. The greater problem was the agonizingly slow speed. It was closing in so gradually that counterattacks would lose all effectiveness.
“He clearly doesn’t know the full details of my counter skill, the Unfathomable Eight Verses, yet he’s responding like this. He’s simply reacting with the most appropriate instinctive response. What now?”
“Retreat—! Half-hearted attacks won’t damage that body. Whatever you do, don’t get caught.”
Swish—! Tap—!
With the three-meter giant spreading both arms to the sides, the ring was almost completely filled. There was no path to circle around. Yet when Hwi of Omnipotence tried to step back, the ring ropes blocked him. Before he realized it, his overwhelmed body had already been forced this far backward. Left, right, and rear were all sealed. Attempting to leap upward in such a restricted state would be suicide. This was a situation that demanded a head-on fight. Against the Black Flame—the supreme close-combat authority—it was the absolute worst possible scenario.
Even the Sage of Omniscience let out a hollow laugh.
“Haha—! Nowhere to retreat, nowhere to dodge. And there was that out-of-ring loss clause too, wasn’t there? Why did I ever accept this worst possible battlefield? Doesn’t absolute advantage for oneself mean it can become absolute disadvantage in reverse? What now?”
“I never imagined the Dimensional Mage God would surpass me in close combat after I mastered the Unfathomable Eight Verses.”
“I thought the same, but… ugh, forget it! We have no choice but to endure as long as possible.”
The enemy’s physical ability was superior and their authority’s power surpassed theirs. Even the ring’s battle conditions were overwhelmingly in the opponent’s favor. There was no solution. They would have to continue the fight while accepting losses and search for any weakness.
Whether such a weakness even exists is questionable…
The Black Flame body that had delivered such despair now began slowly tightening the arms it had tensed to their absolute limit. At this rate, there would be no room for counterattacks. The moment they attempted to strike, the opponent would overwhelm them with even greater power and speed. In that nearly hopeless instant, the Divine Spirit Purgatory resonated and spoke.
“Continuous defense followed by a decisive counter. The Black Flame’s power seems infinitely strong at first, but ultimately it is nothing more than an attack instinct. It endlessly targets the enemy’s weak points and launches continuous assaults. Like a hunter risking his life to hunt a wild beast, every strike is delivered with full power—making it incredibly strong. However, it is relatively weak against sustained defense and struggles to adapt. No prey ever focuses entirely on defense, after all. This flaw stems from the fact that the first Black Flame Absolute—the origin of the authority—was a born hunter who survived by hunting from childhood in a forest teeming with demonic beasts and wild animals. If you can somehow block every attack and maintain continuous defense, exhaustion will eventually reveal an opening. Trust in the Unfathomable Eight Verses that you trained to perfection. The gap between close-combat rank two and rank one is not an insurmountable wall. A hunter can never defeat a true martial artist in direct confrontation.”
To reveal the weakness and even offer encouragement—the Dimensional Mage God was so ambiguous it was impossible to tell whether he was friend or foe. Yet now was not the time to worry about such things. It was a desperate situation where even the Sage of Omniscience had failed to find a response. For whatever reason, he was providing information disadvantageous to them, but they were not petty enough to ignore it out of pride.
“What if we can’t withstand the attacks? How long must we maintain defense?”
“Against an equal-level opponent, even with the Unfathomable Eight Verses the probability of blocking the Black Flame’s attacks is less than fifty percent. You would need to defend successfully more than ten thousand times in succession. That is the limit of the Black Flame body and authority’s full-powered assault. However, if you pause midway and grant even a moment of rest, everything recovers and you must begin the count anew.”
At the Dimensional Mage God’s explanation, the Sage of Omniscience immediately began rapid analysis.
“The only counter is to endure until exhaustion while blocking more than ten thousand consecutive lethal attacks with less than a fifty-percent success rate? It’s a valid strategy, but…”
It was perfectly accurate. The real question was whether any being could actually execute it and survive.
“Is that even possible? You want us to only defend against attacks like that? That’s not a weakness at all!”
According to the information, an equal being seeking to defeat the Black Flame clan could not attack or counterattack at all—they could only defend. And they would need to endure more than ten thousand strikes, waiting for the moment when stamina and authority were depleted before landing a decisive counter. An absurd victory condition indeed.
A single hit is potentially fatal, coming at fifty-percent probability, and we must process that more than ten thousand times in succession.
That monstrous strength could not be blocked normally; it had to be deflected. Naturally, altering its trajectory to nullify the force was even more difficult than simply blocking. For a human with limited stamina it was impossible, and even for a god it seemed beyond reason.
“The strategy is to unleash maximum continuous attacks to force the opponent into a defensive posture and annihilate them. However, the only weakness in that absolutely powerful body appears when stamina and authority are depleted from such continuous maximum output. There cannot exist an equal being capable of enduring ten thousand consecutive attacks that nullify all defense and evasion, penetrate without fail, and strike with absolute accuracy. That is why most fools die to the absolute offensive and defensive power while launching ineffective attacks. This single weakness is simultaneously its greatest strength—hence its position as close-combat rank one. Only the supreme counter skill, the Unfathomable Eight Verses, offers a win rate of less than fifty percent. Now then—steel your resolve.”
For Hwi of Omnipotence it was not impossible, though the chance of failure was higher. Still, they had no choice but to try. The arms had already drawn close enough to graze their body. Without any other options, there was only one path. Even the Sage of Omniscience had acknowledged that this ridiculous solution was the sole valid countermeasure.
No helping it. We have to do this.
The instant they tried to solidify their defensive posture, killing intent like sparks of flame erupted from the Black Flame body’s eyes. It had detected that its extremely dangerous prey had abandoned all intent to attack and fully committed to defense.
KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNG—!
The slowly approaching hands suddenly transformed, ripping through the air as they surged toward Hwi of Omnipotence. At the same time, Hwi of Omnipotence’s response changed completely. His body began spinning fiercely in place.