The Absolute Celestial Domain

I tried to think. What was the thing that bastard feared the most?

Reading facial expressions from a creature whose face looked nothing like a human’s was impossible. Still, even a rough guess would do. Wasn’t there any clue that could give me the upper hand?

Flames? They didn’t work. Cold? That thing wouldn’t have been scared—it would’ve felt nostalgic.

The most effective blow had been the mungae mungae dropkick. It seemed far more effective to pound the body and crush the internal organs than to slice through its hide. Therefore, among the techniques I could use, the smartest approach was to buff myself and strike with pure physical force.

But that method carried a high chance of making that son of a bitch take the fight way too seriously. I needed to shave away its combat ability ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠without killing it instantly. If the giant bastard felt like it was actually going to die and started spraying cold air everywhere in panic, I’d be the one who was fucked.

At the very least, I need to ventilate the cold air in this space somehow.

Having reached that conclusion, I cast Lightning Missile without a chant. Thanks to my improved proficiency, eleven electric orbs rose into the air even without an incantation.

The giant didn’t seem wary. It might have even been pleased that I was wasting mana on non-lethal attacks. What an idiot.

I twisted the corner of my mouth into a smirk and fired the missiles.

“Get some fresh air, you damn bachelor! You smell like a widower, you ice-age fossil!”

──Crackle-crackle-crackle!!

The Lightning Missiles struck my intended target perfectly. That is, the illusory barrier covering the crater’s ceiling.

“──Gqqqqqqqqqqq!!!!”

The giant finally roared in shock. No, it wasn’t just shock. If I had to describe it, it was pure terror. It was like shoving someone with acrophobia into a helicopter with the doors wide open. The giant panicked and hurled a newly created ice shield at me.

As expected, the bastard really was a moron.

I sneered and cast Lightning Missile again.

Crackle-crackle-crackle─!!

The barrier sizzled under the lightning and turned translucent. One more hit would do it. And the weapon for the finale had been kindly provided by the idiot himself.

I snatched the ice shield and hurled it skyward like a howling wolf. The barrier, struck by the mass of ice formed from water mana, could no longer endure and shattered completely. Thanks to being evenly scorched by lightning, the fragments poured down like broken glass.

I declared mercilessly,

“──Commencing sun-drying operation.”

“Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!”

The moment sunlight poured in, the giant trembled like a germaphobe being shoved face-first into a cockroach. Whoosh─!! Forgetting all about conserving mana, it began spewing cold air from its entire body. The reaction was far more violent than I had anticipated.

Come to think of it, when it tried to block Veronica’s magic earlier, hadn’t it also hesitated to step into the sunlight? It didn’t seem to take actual damage from it, but it looked mentally unbearable.

Thud. Thud. Thud!!

The giant ran toward the exit it had blocked itself. Was it trying to escape?

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

I immediately gave chase. There were many reasons not to let it get away, but the biggest was that I couldn’t allow the battlefield to become a narrow cave. If cold air filled a confined space, I’d freeze to death in an instant!

Veronica’s chant still needed time. I had to pursue it.

──Whoooooooosh!!!

The moment I took my first step, a sudden gust of wind blocked my path. The tropical forest scent mixed in the breeze made me realize a variable I hadn’t accounted for.

“Fuck! A downdraft?!”

The cold air trapped in the crater and the hot air of the tropical climate had collided, creating wind within this space. Beyond simple physics, I could also feel the flow of mana. Of course. They said the island’s heat came from fire mana. It had clashed with the water mana that created the giant’s cold, canceling each other out and producing this violent squall.

It was like the wind magic Tirsi often used—completely blocking my way! Even with superhuman strength, I couldn’t push through!

At this rate, I’m going to lose it!

My original plan had been to eliminate the cold air to make movement easier, then have Veronica suppress it with gravity. I had thought that if I jumped in, received the gravitational pull, and delivered a kick to its spine, I could kill it instantly.

But like this, I couldn’t even pinpoint its location by sound!

──Whoooooooosh!!

Caught in the squall blowing through the tropical crater, I gritted my teeth. The water vapor from my Summon Cloud that had remained thanks to the cold air sparkled like diamond dust as it rose into the sky.

“──Ah.”

I stared at it blankly in frustration, then suddenly sucked in a breath as a realization flashed through my neurons. The worthless knowledge I had picked up on Earth was now granting me inspiration in the face of a natural phenomenon my human body couldn’t overcome.

I clenched both fists, feeling like a landscape painter gazing upon nature itself.

Convection. It was convection.

Molecules flow from dense areas to less dense ones, from hot places to cold ones. Mana worked the same way. Opposing mana collided and canceled each other out. In untouched nature, such things were everyday occurrences.

I recalled the 21st-century knowledge inside me. The clash between extreme heat and cold usually canceled out to zero. But sometimes, it didn’t end there. Wasn’t a typhoon a natural phenomenon created by the combination of high pressure, low pressure, turbulence, heat, and cold?

──Can I do it?

Even while doubting the possibility, I operated my mana according to instinct. Realizing the idea that had just occurred to me would be incredibly difficult. It was like a child who only knew basic arithmetic attempting advanced mathematics.

No. I can do it.

I crushed the negative thoughts in my grip. In theory, it was entirely possible. Magic had always been created by combining spells and formulas. Weren’t those with truly exceptional skill able to handle opposing attributes together? The unicorn black mage I had seen and the underground ruins of the City of the Dead had done exactly that.

If the hypothesis had already been proven, all that remained was to challenge it!

I released the spear, focused my mind, and chanted.

“Burning Hand.”

──Fwoosh!

Flames bloomed in my right hand.

“Freezing Hand.”

──Crackle!

Cold energy settled in my left hand.

I linked the mana of both hands to the output of Beast Regression. The doubled output roughly warmed and cooled the fiercely blowing wind. I closed my eyes, concentrated, and continued adding magic.

“Summon Cloud.”

When the pressure of the steam was added, the heat finally began to rotate. After spinning the red-hot steam and blue-cold steam once, the small wind began to accelerate on its own without me adding more power.

It was a success. Perhaps because I had borrowed the power of a natural phenomenon, I had managed to create a whirlwind even with my lacking skill.

Though I couldn’t feel any joy—only cold sweat running down my back.

Fuck…!! This is insanely hard…!!

I had managed to bring the wind under control. However, the difference in proficiency between my spells became a problem. I firmly suppressed the wind that kept trying to escape my surroundings and spin wildly.

Compared to Burning Hand, which I could cast without chanting, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Freezing Hand had far lower proficiency. And since Summon Cloud wasn’t a high-output spell, as the centrifugal force of the rotation increased, I couldn’t contain the wind with the steam’s pressure.

If I give up here, this technique will be worse than simple wind magic!

My wind would be devoured by the squall blowing through this crater. I couldn’t give the escaping giant even a second to get away!

It was right when I clenched my fists so hard they bled.

“What an interesting idea. As expected of my master.”

It was a familiar mana. A wind that was free yet dignified, as if shackles had been placed upon its feet. The moment those shackles were released, a wind that could blow wherever it wished embraced my mana.

“The rune ᛏ (Teiwaz) that leads the stars is also a rune that prays for victory.”

As I spoke, I felt Veronica’s hand press against my back.

“Do as you wish. As your servant, I shall lend you a hand as well.”

Veronica laughed boldly. It was magnificent assistance. What one person couldn’t do alone became possible with two.

──Kiiiiiiing!!

I raised the output of my magic. My mana, having passed through the formula, transformed into fire and water mana and drew a taegeuk pattern. The Confucian dragon inside me roared. Even the ancient god’s mana—which had been useless for magic—frolicked in the heavenly wind like a dog taken for a walk after a month.

When the rotating wind finally became a storm, I muttered as if opening a closed door. I felt as though someone far away had bestowed a name upon this magic.

“──Absolute Celestial Domain.”

Whoosh.

The wind blew and the air grew heavy. The ten-meter radius around us became solemn, like a temple of the heavens. It was a majestic space where even uttering a single word seemed to require qualification.

Beyond the domain, waves of clouds surged magnificently. It truly looked like a typhoon seen from above.

There was no mistake in that impression. This domain was literally the eye of a small typhoon. The magic I had unfolded was a recreation of the natural phenomenon known as a typhoon.

I opened my hand and called for my spear.

──Whirl.

The spear that had been lying on the ground faithfully answered its master’s call. I planted it into the sky like a flag.

Are you watching, you Germanic brute ghost?

“Concentrate.”

I gathered the typhoon into the spear. As the wind coiled around the blade like threads of cotton candy, the ᚨ (Ansuz) rune engraved upon it turned the wind golden. Veronica’s magic supplemented my still-insufficient control. Without exchanging words, we shared images through the flow of mana alone.

Thus, the golden wind wrapped around the spearhead and took the shape of a scythe.

It was said that the sky god Odin also possessed the aspect of a reaper who governed death. A god who rode a divine horse down from the heavens, driving storms and harvesting lives like the Grim Reaper.

I was recreating a fragment of that divine authority using the power of the connections I had built.

It was different from the time when I had gained wisdom and rampaged like a beast in rage. Now, I was not consumed by either anger or madness.

Therefore, I swung the scythe with dignity and roared.

“──ODIN!!!! Your cheap copy has returned!!!!”

I swung the storm-forged scythe with savage force. I didn’t know the direction, but it didn’t matter. Even with my eyes closed, I could tell where the giant that lived in the shadows would flee from the blue sky.

──Slice.

The scythe cut through the solemn celestial domain, through the squall, and even through the distance the giant had opened in its desperate attempt to survive.

The storm scythe split the space before me from top to bottom in less than a second.

“──G, giiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeq!!!!!!!!.”

The giant, struck by the wind, was cut in half at the waist. Its hide, tougher than steel, snapped like styrofoam. The upper body, caught in the remaining wind, spun 720 degrees while spraying blood.

Splat!!

Thus, the giant met its end inside the crater where the noise had returned.

──Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!

And the whirlwind, whose power had not been reduced by even half, left enormous claw marks on the cliff where the exit was located. I had forgotten to control my strength.

““Ah.””

We both stood there with our mouths agape. We already knew what was about to happen next.

──Rumble rumble rumble!!

The crater’s cliff could not withstand the claw marks and collapsed. The exit that had been on that cliff was, of course, completely blocked by falling rock.

“…………….”

“…………….”

I remained frozen in the posture of swinging the scythe, while Veronica became a statue with her mouth wide open.

“……There must be another exit somewhere, right?”

“……If not, I suppose I can just carry you and fly. Mm. Probably.”

And so we stood there stupidly, wrapping up the battle against the giant with a pathetic mental victory.

Fuck. What can I do? It was my first time using the technique. How was I supposed to control the power?

Veronica and I sat down haphazardly on the floor and caught our breath.

“Ha, fuck. I’m so damn tired.”

When I lay spread-eagle and muttered that, Veronica, who had been drinking from her canteen, replied.

“Still, you barely used any of your own mana, didn’t you?”

“That wording sounds weird. I used eighty percent of my maximum mana capacity. It’s more accurate to say ‘the mana consumption was low compared to the power.’”

Absolute Celestial Domain was a spell that combined three or four magics through formula linkage to draw in natural mana. In other words, it was the kind of technique you’d see in those mass-produced fantasy novels—using the mana of nature to cast magic. Though of course, it was on a much lower level than what I had done in my berserk state.

Even then, I probably couldn’t recreate it alone.

There were several problems piled up, so it was difficult for now. Either a magician like Veronica—who was compatible with me and possessed outstanding skill—would have to cooperate, or my magic techniques would need to improve several times over.

Still, having a clear goal is always a good thing.

Lately I had only been practicing Gerðr, so I felt like I had been neglecting magic. Experiencing a nearby realm I could aim for was a valuable experience. The berserk mode was on a completely different dimension, so recreating it was difficult anyway.

“Ugh.”

After resting for a short while, I stood up. Since I had won the fight, it was now time for the important item looting phase.

I approached the giant’s corpse rolling around in the distance. Its upper and lower body had been cleanly severed, and its intestines were spilling across the floor. Ugh, gross. I pinched my nose at the smell of stale blood.

“Your guts look like kimchi in a jar. It’s seriously ugly.”

──Shwaaaaaaaaah.

As I approached, ancient god mana ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠began rising from the corpse. There was no need for a confirmation kill.

I raised the jade seal.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah─!!!!

I had been thinking that once I absorbed all this bastard’s mana, I’d have to start skinning it. But the mana flowing from the giant’s corpse was a little strange.

“……What the hell?”

A pillar of blue mana vapor shooting into the sky! It displayed an enormous amount of ancient god mana incomparable to anything before and was sucked straight into me.

Fuck, if I took this with my bare body I’d definitely faint.

I held the jade seal up like a shield and transferred all the mana into it. The blue mana rushing in felt almost like standing under a waterfall.

“What a damn bumper crop.”

One, two, three… The ancient god mana flowing into the jade seal far exceeded ten times the amount needed to learn a rune. Then the mana gathered into a single mass inside the seal. It felt so heavy that it seemed to increase the weight of the jade seal itself.

The moment I absorbed that mana, I instinctively understood.

If I used this mana, I would be able to comprehend the true meaning of yet another rune.