The Root of Fear
The war in the Otherworld was something he already knew. The identity of the overwhelming pressure he had received from the Black Flame Absolute’s divine spirit, Silence of Truth, and the reason the Golden Absolute had never once spared a glance for his past self in the Grey region, was nothing more than the insurmountable gap in talent and the pride born from effort that had surpassed even that talent. It was also the contempt and disregard reserved for the weak who could never reach such heights. Beings of that caliber would never sign a contract simply because the weak asked them to. After all, anything a weakling could do, they could accomplish far more easily themselves.
“However…”
He had witnessed his past self at the 8th circle suffering from the side effects—side effects that were not truly side effects—of forcibly activating 14th-circle magic with the support of his racial authority. His body was undergoing a violent evolutionary process as a direct result of an 8th-circle mage casting 14th-circle magic. His computational power had expanded explosively, overloading his brain, while his creative power had surged to the point that his entire body was hyper-activated. Combat was currently impossible.
“The 8th circle is no longer of any help. We should send him back to rest.”
Yet the Grey Absolute merely gave a cold smile and countered.
“I think you’re misunderstanding something. Why do you believe our 8th-circle self was weak? Or rather, have you ever stopped to consider why we developed such a glaring weakness in close-quarters combat? Whenever a melee battle arose that we couldn’t guarantee victory in, we avoided it without exception, didn’t we? And when we were forced to participate because of the Mercenary God’s reward, we would strangely charge in with reckless abandon, as if seeking a fight to the death. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”
“Huh?”
A sudden throbbing pierced his skull, and a memory felt like it was about to surface.
‘There is a memory I sealed myself out of overwhelming terror.’
While stabilizing his 8th-circle self who was writhing in agony, the Grey Absolute continued speaking, channeling both magic power and divine power into him.
“From the time we were at the 6th circle, we fought for survival against the High Elf Empire—led by five High Elf Queens who were swordmasters and spiritists surpassing even 8th-circle lower gods—numbering one billion strong. Inside the Great Forest, a space that nullified magic, we struggled against them relying solely on our physical abilities to secure food. At first it was out of starvation. Later, it was out of pure rage and madness that we charged at them endlessly. We survived countless battles against tens of millions of troops supporting five swordmasters of equal or higher rank, all while completely unarmed. So where did that exceptional close-combat ability we gained disappear to, leaving only this terror and paranoia toward melee fighting? What exactly made us abandon close combat and obsess exclusively over long-range magic battles?”
“……”
There was no need to hear the answer to that question.
A heavy resonance echoed inside his head—Dooooooong—!
One by one, the sealed memories began to unravel.
‘That’s right. In the magic-nullifying zone, I fought countless battles against the High Elf Empire and became more skilled in close combat than in magic. So why, after becoming a lower god, did I start avoiding melee entirely and focus only on magic research? The reason I came to prefer only safe, long-range battles…’
The thought almost surfaced, then stopped. The confusion within his memories was severe. No—it was more accurate to say the shock he had received back then was so great that he instinctively recoiled from revisiting it.
The Grey Absolute placed a hand on the shoulder of the confused Dimensional Mage God and spoke as if making a vow.
“My present self. Your power has not yet grown strong enough to face that terror directly. Alone, you would likely never overcome it. But the situation has changed. You have become an impossible Main God and grown even stronger. Now, with the Dimensional Trinity manifested—when the past, present, and future versions of myself have gathered in one place—this is precisely the moment to surpass and overcome that past fear. Let us reclaim the confidence and pride we lost. That alone will become the foundation for you to walk the path you desire.”
Gugugugugung—!
The racial authority of the 10 Mainstays activated once more, wrapping around the three bodies. Almost simultaneously, a gate through space opened. It was an incredibly long-distance connection; the other side of the spatial door stretched endlessly into the distance.
‘What? What is he trying to do? Who could he possibly be calling right now?’
As the Dimensional Mage God tried to organize his chaotic memories and turned his gaze toward the spatial gate, black flames erupted like a volcano.
Hwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak—!
The spatial gate itself began to burn. Black flames powerful enough to incinerate space could only belong to the Authority of Black Flame, and the only being outside capable of wielding it was the Black Flame Absolute.
“You summoned the Black Flame Absolute that we sent flying to the main universe?”
The Dimensional Mage God hurriedly dodged in shock, but the Grey Absolute stepped past him and absorbed the black flames as if savoring them.
Hwarurururuk—!
The flames entered his body as if they had met their rightful master. His robe slipped off, revealing hair that had turned into blazing black flames. The Grey Absolute had fully released his power as the highest-ranking member of the Black Flame Clan from his days as a 14th-circle mage god.
Thud.Thud.
He strode across space and came to a stop before the spatial gate burning with vivid crimson flames. As he absorbed the black flames, they grew even brighter, like charcoal catching fire.
“This is the root of our terror toward close combat. The Black Flame Absolute, our past 8th-circle self, you, and I—we all fought together. And we were brutally defeated, barely managing to flee. Three of us attacked him, yet we could not win and only ran. Even our future self who had become one of the 10 Mainstays and our present self who had become a Creator God were defeated in a single exchange by a close-combat war god. That latent memory manifested as distrust and avoidance of melee combat ability.”
The explanation made sense, yet something felt off. If his past self had been utterly defeated by the Black Flame Absolute and harbored such fear, it was understandable that he would avoid fighting a close-combat war god at all costs. But the Grey Absolute was deliberately trying to force a battle he was likely to lose. The Black Flame Absolute was not the type to spare any attention for a challenger who had already been defeated once.
‘Instead of receiving recognition, erasure was all but guaranteed.’
As the flames grew fiercer, he could sense the Black Flame Absolute approaching. His body stiffened on its own and his feet instinctively stepped backward. He still had not shaken off the oppressive pressure he had felt from Silence of Truth, and seeing the killing intent directly triggered a memory of what the Black Flame Absolute had said when released from his seal.
‘He said he would kill me if he saw me again. I have to run.’
Yet before he could even act, the Grey Absolute’s words struck him like a brand.
“Are you going to step back again? Back then, in order to finish off the Black Flame Absolute, I used the Dimensional Trinity to forcibly drag both my past self and you into the fight. That’s why you only attacked Coa from a distance and tried to run away. Even if the past and future fought with everything they had, if the present kept trying to flee, it was only natural we couldn’t win.”
“……”
He was rendered speechless. Indeed, even if it was his future self forcing him into battle, there was no way he would have risked his life to fight. No—he probably would have interfered out of sheer frustration rather than actually help.
“That is why we were defeated, and why I had no choice but to send my past self—who had his memories erased—back to his original timeline while he carried an inexplicable fear of close combat. The result is the sorry state we see now. No matter how much we strengthen and train our magic, the moment we encounter a close-combat war god on the level of the Black Flame Absolute, we abandon the fight and focus only on running. Far from overcoming the fear, it became our fatal weakness. With this kind of mindset, becoming one of the 10 Mainstays? Don’t you find it laughable, my present self?”
“……”
The Dimensional Mage God remained silent, unable to say a word. The Grey Absolute did not even look at him. Instead, he stared at the giant figure that had nearly reached the entrance of the spatial gate and spoke with a smile.
“Heh. The preparations for the future are complete. This time it will be the fair close-quarters battle you love so much. As the highest-ranking member of the Black Flame Clan, I challenge you, Origin—Black Flame!”
“Grey—! Thunder Sound Pahoton—!”
Instead of answering with words, the Black Flame Absolute swung his fully materialized giant double-headed axe, Pahoton, and unleashed a strike with all his might. The absolute blow that split the entire spatial passage and visible field of vision cleanly in half was not something even one of the 10 Mainstays could easily block.
Yet the Grey Absolute smiled at the sight of the Black Flame Absolute immediately launching an attack at the highest level he could currently handle.
At first, the Black Flame Absolute had treated him with near contempt, swatting him away like an annoying insect with ordinary attacks. The fact that he was now using maximum output from the very first strike meant he acknowledged him as a worthy opponent.
“Ha! My evaluation has gone up. I’m moved. Then I’ll answer in kind. Exploding Blood Pahoton—!”
Though not fully materialized, the Grey Absolute created a Pahoton that still radiated terrifying destructive power and fired off an identical cleaving strike.
There was a reason he was engaging the Black Flame Absolute in this reckless contest of strength.
‘The only way to counter the previous “Always Coin Heads” attacks—which had only a 1 in 25,000 chance of error and were otherwise perfect—is to meet them head-on and cancel them out.’
Kwaaaaaaaaaaang—!
Unable to overcome the difference in the level of the Authority of Black Flame and his own lack of physical training, the Grey Absolute was pushed backward. As the Exploding Blood Pahoton disintegrated under the Thunder Sound Pahoton, a horrifying aura slowly closed in.
‘Ugh—! So a head-on fight really doesn’t work? I thought an injury of that level would be enough…’
The Black Flame Absolute’s current physical condition was the worst possible. He was bearing the injuries from the ranking battle and the critical blow he had received while descended as the Dimensional Mage God. Even so, he was barely maintaining his 14th-circle state while connected directly to this battle. On the other hand, the Grey Absolute was nearly at full strength in both magic power and divine power, with no injuries. Although most of his power was being consumed by maintaining the Dimensional Trinity, his body itself was perfect.
‘Even during training with Master Origin of the Mage God, I never stopped physical conditioning. It was my hidden trump card, yet it’s useless.’
Among the Black Flame Clan excluding the Black Flame Absolute himself, he had been confident he was the strongest. If he mobilized 1,000 trillion in divine and magic power, he could increase the power even further. But the wall that was the Black Flame Absolute was simply too high.
‘After all that suffering to train even the Black Flame Clan’s authority, to still be pushed back like this… isn’t this unfair?’
Sasasasasasak—!
The Thunder Sound Pahoton devoured the Exploding Blood Pahoton and came crashing down in a straight line from his forehead to his thigh. Now that it knew the weaknesses of the Root School mage god, it was aiming to split open the only vital point—his head—from the start. The previous Exploding Blood Pahoton had been his full power in the current state; there were no other options left. And if he took this hit directly, it would be the end.
‘I’m going to die again. No—since I’ve already done everything I needed to do, is it time for erasure now?’
A faint sense of regret remained. Both the present Dimensional Mage God and his past 8th-circle self were still far too weak. When he glanced over, both the past and present versions were frozen stiff, trembling violently from the killing intent and fighting spirit radiating from the fully revealed Black Flame Absolute.
‘What am I supposed to do with these little chicks? Now that the racial authority has been activated, they are both 14th-circle like the 10 Mainstays. Yet they’re completely overwhelmed and can’t even move. It’s not a lack of power—it’s a lack of mental strength.’
But it was too late to turn back. No—the predetermined sequence had arrived.
‘I wondered if it might work after seeing my present self become a Main God, but as expected, it doesn’t. Still… this isn’t so bad either.’
In truth, his revenge was already complete. The Black Flame Absolute—who had once looked down on him as a weakling unworthy of existence—was now ignoring the state of his own body and launching attacks that surpassed his limits. He had drawn out a level of response the Black Flame Absolute had never shown to any of the other 10 Mainstays.
‘Now the Black Flame Absolute can never call me weak again.’
He had also taken revenge on the Golden Absolute, the one recognized as the strongest and ranked first. Through his own self-destruction and schemes, he had damaged the Golden Absolute’s authority and caused all of his carefully built alliances to collapse. Although the Golden Absolute was holding on alone without allies, with those injuries he would inevitably lose to the Second Generation Wind Absolute—the current number one in personal combat power—and drop to second place. The Golden Absolute, who had once declared that losing to an equal like All-Powerful Splendor meant he no longer deserved to exist and passed judgment of annihilation, would now suffer the same humiliating defeat to an equal and fall to a lower rank. His pride as the supreme being for the past 500 billion years would be shattered into pieces. All of this had originated from him. There could be no sweeter revenge.
‘It’s just a shame I won’t get to see his face twisted with humiliation in person.’
Pagagagak—!
The Thunder Sound Pahoton finally shattered the Exploding Blood Pahoton completely and began slicing through his body’s defensive barrier. Although the highest-ranking Black Flame Clan’s protective membrane allowed him to endure for a moment, it could not stop the attack. The black flames scattering in all directions felt like the final moments of his fate.
“Tch—! So this really is the limit? I suppose I must be satisfied with carrying out the procedure Master Origin of the Mage God spoke of and achieving this much revenge. Farewell, my present self. I leave the rest to you.”
“……”
At those words, the eyes of the current Dimensional Mage God widened. No matter how he looked at it, a head-on fight against the Black Flame Absolute was impossible. This was clearly a situation where he should abandon the fight and flee immediately—yet the other was saying goodbye and leaving a will? It made no sense.
But the next words left his mouth hanging open in shock.
“First, clean up the Otherworld. After that, create the Grey Clan and restore the half-destroyed Grey region. Then, in exchange for the signatures, you just need to grant the requests of the other 10 Mainstays. That should wrap things up nicely.”
The unimaginable workload being casually dumped on him made the fear he had felt toward the Black Flame Absolute vanish, replaced by surging rage.
But that was not the end.
“Ah—! And do your best when challenging Jinri as well. If you go to Master Origin of the Mage God, he will train you properly up to my level. As for me, I shall now disappear. It was a refreshing revenge. Kahahahahahahaha—!”
The Grey Absolute laughed, but the Dimensional Mage God’s face twisted beyond recognition. The words his future self had just spoken ultimately meant he would have to receive training from Master Origin of the Mage God once again.
‘Becoming a Creator God drove me insane for 30,000 years, and now I have to go all the way to the 10 Mainstays? And what the hell is all that work—! Just managing my own Divine Realm is already enough to make my head explode!’
Kwaaaaaaaaaaang—!
An explosive surge of divine and magic power erupted, accompanied by a roar that sounded like space itself was exploding. What appeared, distorting the empty air, was a gigantic hand reminiscent of a satellite.
“Seongmyeol, the Creator Great God of Black Flame—! Block the attack with full power!”
Black flames blazed across the entire hand and poured forth like a flamethrower, slowing the advance of the Thunder Sound Pahoton. Although he had reached the 14th circle through the racial authority, blocking a full-powered strike from the Black Flame Absolute was by no means easy. His brain felt ready to explode from the strain of mobilizing an unfamiliar authority and all his magic power, but he grit his teeth and desperately worked to dissipate the Thunder Sound Pahoton.
“If it’s come to this, I would rather disappear myself.”