The Black Flame That Refuses to Break
The Black Flame Absolute himself had amplified the power of the Black Flame Race by more than a hundredfold. No ordinary material should have been able to withstand it. Yet this Creator God’s Jewel endured.
Crack. Craaack.
It looked as though it would shatter at any moment, yet not even a single fracture appeared. The strongest destructive force in the Absolute Realm—the Black Flame Absolute—was unable to destroy a mere creation made by a Creator God of the Main Universe, something he had once dismissed as trivial.
‘It can actually endure the power of Black Flame? What kind of Creator God from the Main Universe could produce something like this? Even my past self couldn’t have done it…’
The fact that matter could withstand the full destructive force of the Authority of Black Flame—even if this was only an descent rather than his true body—was impossible. It was an achievement that would have been unthinkable even during the days when he had been praised as the greatest sage in the Absolute Realm.
A voice flowed from the Creator God’s Jewel.
“Have you forgotten? I too belong to the Black Flame Race. When my own creative power is included, I gain a certain degree of immunity to the Authority of Black Flame. And more importantly, why don’t you check your divine power again?”
The Black Flame Absolute’s face stiffened for a moment, then twisted into a deep scowl. Using his senses that normally handled 1,000 trillion units of divine power, he detected… nothing. He had to measure with cold precision for a long time before the number finally registered.
“Less than fifty billion? How can such pathetic innate divine power possibly withstand my descent? And where the hell did all the Black Flame Authority I absorbed—over one trillion during the Eternal Judgment on Wind Star—go? How did it drop to something lower than a damn insect?”
It wasn’t even a metaphor. This was far weaker than the insects crawling on Wind Star. Only now did he realize that from the moment he had descended, the Dimensional Mage God had been amplifying his divine power with magic. The moment that amplification stopped, the numbers had plummeted.
The Dimensional Mage God answered bitterly at being called weaker than an insect.
“In the Main Universe, this level of divine power isn’t considered that low. It’s enough to be recognized as a fairly respectable Main God… Well, in the Absolute Realm it wouldn’t even be considered for a Battle God. As for the remaining Black Flame Authority, I poured it all into manufacturing Seongmyeol. Looking back now, I’m not sure if that was the right decision…”
The Black Flame Creator God Seongmyeol was essentially a strategic weapon of mass destruction. Thanks to its status as a Substitute God, its body larger than a planet, and the nature of its divine power that could annihilate gods themselves, its deployment was extremely restricted. Without it, fighting against Almighty Hwi would have been a guaranteed defeat. No matter what his future self tried, he would have lost.
Even now, despite thorough preparation, he had already lost his body twice. Since even the final resort—the Black Flame body—had failed in close combat, there had been no path to victory.
Yet the Black Flame Absolute who had descended could not help but feel a surge of regret. With only fifty billion innate divine power, he had shattered Almighty Hwi with a single strike from Pahoton.
‘Should I have absorbed at least a hundred billion so I could use Exploding Blood and Pahoton even while restricted by magic? And that damn Black Flame instinct really is vicious. Did it suppress the most critical trap—Seongmyeol’s Ego Ayuta—along with Almighty Hwi? I shouldn’t have brought it out. Still… it’s fortunate I didn’t completely erase Almighty Hwi.’
No matter how much of an unparalleled Hero God Almighty Hwi was, having mastered the inscrutable Eight Beginnings, he could not avoid a direct hit from the absolute authority of intuition, Always Coin Heads. The only reason he had shown any mercy was because he had simultaneously targeted Seongmyeol, whom he judged to be the only real threat. Priority had simply been pushed back.
‘At that time, I was so focused on finishing Almighty Hwi that I couldn’t control Seongmyeol properly, allowing him to dodge.’
As a result, Seongmyeol’s right arm—which had been raised to block interference from other Creator Gods—had been severed. It was the power of the Exploding Blood Pahoton that had just been unleashed. There were no other injuries, but without that one hand, Ego Ayuta naturally could not be activated.
Graaaaash—!
The aftermath of Pahoton, which could cleave anything and everything, still had not ended. Its destructive wave continued stretching far into the distant universe. The fact that its power showed no sign of diminishing after nearly bisecting Almighty Hwi and severing Seongmyeol’s arm was simply astonishing. The Creator Gods who had been in its trajectory were frantically dodging in terror.
‘To think the results would differ so drastically just because I gave up that power to maintain magic… I’m starting to wonder if I made the right choice.’
The Black Flame Absolute, growing irritated that he could not destroy the Creator God’s Jewel no matter how much force he applied, ripped it from his forehead and hurled it to the floor.
CRAAAAAACK—!
The Black Flame Absolute’s fury erupted as he slammed the jewel down, only for it to bounce perfectly off the ring floor and spring back into the air.
‘Ugh—!’
Staring at the perfectly intact Creator God’s Jewel with murderous eyes, the Black Flame Absolute began concentrating fighting spirit into his hand.
“Argh! This is pissing me off. Let’s see if you can withstand Pahoton too. Huh…? What the…?”
The fighting spirit and killing intent he tried to materialize in his grip scattered into nothingness. Without the amplification of magic, his body and divine power were simply too weak to manifest Pahoton.
The Dimensional Mage God let out a sigh.
“Haa… You already knew that fifty billion divine power combined with my Black Flame body would be insufficient, didn’t you? Did you really think I, a Mage God, would accept a descent without any countermeasures? With my current Black Flame body, destroying this Creator God’s Jewel is impossible. Of course, if you had come in person it would be simple, but the Golden Absolute would never allow the Black Flame Absolute to intervene directly in the Main Universe. You were obviously prohibited from direct travel to the Main Universe first, weren’t you? Lower ranks who are distrusted have it hard everywhere. The Sole Dragon God Emperor can visit any Main Divine Realm he wants. Maybe if you had behaved better in the past?”
“You son of a—! Die!”
Indeed, among the Ten Mainstays, there was no one controlled as strictly as he was. The Sole Dragon God Emperor was not only Truth’s successor but also widely respected for his character, so he could enter any divine realm without issue. But for him, they demanded multiple layers of guarantees and collateral. It was practically treating him like a potential criminal.
All because of a few past rampages and incidents caused by his race. Enraged by the Dimensional Mage God’s cutting words that struck right at the truth, he stomped down mercilessly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Dimensional Mage God, who had deliberately provoked the Black Flame Absolute’s rage and was now calmly enduring the consequences, was just as anxious. Though he continued to taunt with a relaxed tone, his insides were burning.
‘Damn it—! The Black Flame Absolute has been completely hooked, but my future self who’s supposed to deliver the fatal blow isn’t showing up. How long do I have to hold out? Why isn’t he here yet?’
At this point, he had no choice but to buy time however he could. No matter how perfectly the Black Flame Absolute controlled the Authority of Black Flame with his boundless reason and intellect, there was still a limit. Once he grew this heated, the Authority of Black Flame would surge explosively while his reason diminished proportionally, making his thoughts shorter and simpler.
That was why he had deliberately provoked him into beating him. But now even the Creator God’s Jewel was beginning to feel uneasy. Everyone had concluded that with only fifty billion divine power, destruction was impossible—yet the force striking its surface was increasing at an alarming rate.
‘It’s about to crack!’
He was truly realizing just how impossible it was to calculate the power of Black Flame using ordinary common sense.
The Grey Absolute and he were originally the same being, so they were intimately connected regardless of distance. He urgently sent his will through that connection.
‘You insane future bastard—! At this rate I’m going to lose another precious life. Get over here right now—!’
‘…Sorry. I don’t think I can.’
‘What—?!’
‘They gave me a long speech about denying passage to the Main Universe, but in the end they just said a madman is permanently banned? Haha. Should I just kill every Eternal Being and be done with it? Ah, right. That won’t work because of Truth. Sorry, past me. There’s no way for me to come. But I’ll definitely get revenge for you.’
‘What the hell are you talking about? I’ll take care of my own revenge, so you just get over here right now!’
‘Just do what I would do—curse him with your full innate divine power and self-destruct. Since it’s the Black Flame Absolute’s spirit in a descended state, it should deal quite a blow. I’ll count that as completing the request.’
‘You crazy son of a—! What kind of future self tells his past self to bet all his innate divine power on a suicide attack?! Unlike you with your 14th circle, my level of reality-denying magic and Dimensional Authority is low, so I’ll take massive damage! Sure, I’ll eventually return to normal, but I don’t know how long I’ll need to recuperate. I’ve always wondered—are you really my future self?’
‘What can I say? As you know, I can do whatever I want in the Grey Realm of the Absolute Realm without consequences, but if I cause a scene in the Main Universe, Truth will grab me immediately. There’s nothing I can do. Even when I openly threatened them, they said they wouldn’t take any side from the Ten Mainstays until this ranking war ends. They claim that if I touch them, they’ll report it to Truth right away. Everyone’s on edge. Did I go too far?’
The price of his future self running wild as he pleased had arrived at this critical moment. He had perfectly played the role of bait and caught a massive fish, but the fisherman who was supposed to reel it in had disappeared.
If things continued like this, he would be dragged into the water and end pathetically. And then to be told to just self-destruct if he felt like it—his insides were practically flipping over. But after calming down and thinking for a moment, he realized he could probably manage even without the Grey Absolute.
It was a good thing he had prepared a backup plan because he couldn’t trust that lunatic.
‘Fine. I’ll handle it myself.’
‘Huh? You’re really going to self-destruct? The chance of dealing damage to his authority is almost zero.’
‘Shut up! Then don’t suggest it in the first place! Besides, this is a perfectly good life I barely managed to create. I’m not wasting even a single one.’
‘Then what are you going to do?’
‘This.’
The Creator God’s Jewel rolled across the floor like it had been kicked and tumbled out of the ring.
Rumble rumble rumble—!
Boom!
It had perfectly timed its escape the moment the Black Flame Absolute raised his foot to smash it, sensing that it was about to break. The Black Flame Absolute had only managed to completely pulverize the ring floor. His eyes chased after the Creator God’s Jewel that was flying away like a bullet.
“You bastard—! Where do you think you’re running in that state?!”
Enraged by the insolent flight, the Black Flame Absolute tried to chase after it outside the ring, but suddenly froze.
An aura of fighting spirit and killing intent that was almost comparable to his own had suddenly surged toward him. And then the Dimensional Mage God’s voice rang out.
“Ah—! I really didn’t want to do something like this again since it ruins my reputation…”
The body of Almighty Hwi, who had been nearly bisected by the earlier Exploding Blood Pahoton and knocked out of the ring, was slowly rising. He had clearly lost consciousness from the overwhelming destructive power, yet he stood up as naturally as if nothing had happened.
The Black Flame Absolute, who instantly assessed the situation with a single glance, was genuinely shocked.
‘What the—? He’s completely taken over the body and is moving it? Don’t tell me he possesses enough magical power and computational ability to remotely control even a Creator God who has mastered the inscrutable Eight Beginnings from a higher divine rank? Is that even possible? More importantly… this is dangerous.’
There was a reason he had immediately blown Almighty Hwi away with a full-power Exploding Blood Pahoton the moment he saw him. He was by no means an easy opponent to face after descending into such an inferior body.
Moreover, even in that mangled state, he was maintaining a hundred billion divine power. Meanwhile, without the Dimensional Mage God’s amplification, he himself only had a pathetically weak amount of divine power—less than fifty billion—and could not even use Pahoton.
‘If he starts charging at me with reckless abandon while controlling a Creator God’s body of that caliber, this will be extremely bad.’
With such insufficient divine power, launching a preemptive strike felt too risky, so he observed the situation. At that moment, the title of Origin wrapped around the body.
‘Is that the Title of Origin that guarantees infinite life force as long as fighting spirit remains? To think it can even recover from wounds caused by my Authority of Black Flame… How astonishing.’
The body of Almighty Hwi, which had been nearly split in half, fused back together in an instant. Even the Authority of Black Flame that had been burning the severed areas was sucked into his forehead without a trace.
Shwooooo—! Fwoooosh—!
The Black Flame of the Black Flame Absolute was the very origin authority for the Black Flame Race. For any member of the race, it was the ultimate catalyst for stimulating and amplifying divine power. Moreover, because it was the purification of fighting spirit, it also had the effect of amplifying the authority of Battle Gods.
Therefore, it was possible to absorb the Authority of Black Flame that had been destroying his body with hostile intent, purify it with Dimensional Authority, and convert it into a recovery effect. Adding divine power amplification through Dimensional Authority and magic on top of that allowed his body to regenerate completely while simultaneously growing stronger.
In a single moment, his body had been reinforced by a hundredfold.
The Creator God’s Jewel embedded in Almighty Hwi’s forehead glowed with an exceedingly dark crimson light as a voice mixed with lamentation flowed out.
“I thought that once I became a Lord God, I would stop doing things that would earn me this kind of abuse. I planned to obediently bow my head to the organization, swear loyalty, and just live quietly. I was sick of always being watched from above and below, so I resolved to be polite, obedient, and exemplary. I even decided to become the ideal middle manager who would earn trust from superiors and respect from subordinates… But life never goes as planned, does it?”
KWOOOOOOOOOOM—!
Beyond full recovery, Almighty Hwi’s body was now exponentially amplified with divine power through the Authority of Black Flame. With a hundredfold body reinforcement from Black Flame and over a hundredfold divine power amplification through magic, his power now exceeded one trillion.
Of course, Almighty Hwi’s original innate divine power had been over a hundred billion to begin with, so this was his normal maximum output. However, after consecutive fierce battles and critical injuries, it had dropped below a hundred billion. This kind of high output should have been impossible. Yet the Dimensional Mage God had mobilized every ounce of his magic and Dimensional Authority to restore him this far in an instant. And with the addition of the Authority of Black Flame, his body now radiated even greater fighting spirit and killing intent than when the battle first began.
“As expected, even if I bow my head, the other party doesn’t show any consideration. They only grow more arrogant and treat me worse. There’s nothing I can do about it. Still, we’re both from the Black Flame Race. If you’re the Origin, shouldn’t you at least show some moderation? Instead, you try to kill me at every opportunity. From the perspective of the one being attacked, it’s simply absurd. I don’t know what kind of grudge you hold against me.”
The Black Flame Absolute’s mind began racing urgently.
‘The body controlled by the Dimensional Mage God is that of a Creator God with over a hundred billion divine power and mastery of the inscrutable Eight Beginnings. Even if I inflicted a blow that should have caused instant death, the fact that he didn’t lose consciousness means there’s no way he would allow his body to be controlled so defenselessly.’
Of course, since it was a higher divine rank, perfect control like one’s own body should have been impossible. But this was the Dimensional Mage God, who could even control Seongmyeol, the Black Flame Creator God. In comparison, the body he had descended into, while exceptionally well-made, had never been trained and could not fully withstand maximum output.
The conclusion was clear.
‘Even if he can only use a hundred billion divine power, in my current state I cannot handle him. The innate divine power left in this body is only fifty billion, and I too am ultimately controlling someone else’s body through descent. There is no way I can contend with a Battle God’s body that has been trained with over twenty times more divine power of a nearly equal authority.’
It was an extremely disadvantageous situation. He had to cut off the descent and retreat immediately.
The Always Coin Heads seemed to sense the crisis as well, continuously sending danger signals. However, the pride of one of the Ten Mainstays prevented him from backing down.
‘After going so far as to descend, if I retreat in defeat to someone from my own race, I will be a laughingstock for eternity. The difference in divine power is large, but I have no choice but to fight.’
Wiiiiiiing—!
The nearly destroyed ring was restored by dimensional divine power. Although being knocked out of the ring no longer held any meaning, it was like a bell signaling the restart of battle.
The mind of the Black Flame Absolute, now facing the body of Almighty Hwi who had intended to end everything by targeting even Seongmyeol at once, spun chaotically.
‘Just what the hell is this situation? It’s fine that a spirit of the race descended to help in a disadvantageous battle and even escaped from punishment. But to cling to the body of a defeated enemy, recover, and then challenge me, the Origin? Has there ever been such a ridiculous case?’
It had happened because he had tried to kill the Dimensional Mage God, but now that the situation had come to this, it was simply absurd. When he thought about the other Ten Mainstays watching this scene, his face burned with shame.
Yet despite such mortifying thoughts, the Dimensional Mage God—who was controlling the body of Almighty Hwi that had lightly stepped back onto the ring—spoke with perfect courtesy to conclude.
“As a Mage God, I cannot simply die gracefully. Therefore, I have no choice but to fight using any means necessary. It seems you have no intention of retreating, so please die together with this Black Flame body of mine.”
“!!!”
The body of Almighty Hwi charged at the Black Flame Absolute at a speed far greater than before.
KWAAAAAAAAANG—!
Thud!
Once again, flesh collided with flesh, producing a metallic clang. But the situation was completely different this time. They had thrown identical punches, yet it was the Black Flame Absolute whose skin tore and muscles ruptured.
The overwhelming divine power gained through magical amplification, combined with a body reinforced by the Authority of Black Flame—though still inferior to the Black Flame Absolute’s own—began to overwhelm him. The Black Flame Absolute, instantly driven into a defensive position, grit his teeth and blocked the relentless barrage of fists and kicks.
‘Damn it—! No matter what, whenever I get entangled with this Dimensional Mage God bastard, nothing ever goes normally. I wouldn’t be this angry even if he openly committed treason.’
To think that an opponent he had easily defeated once would immediately come back stronger and push him back without him being able to do anything—it was enough to make his blood boil in reverse no matter how hard he tried to stay calm.