The Authority of Struggle
"You're awake."
The voice came without warning, right beside me. I jerked my head around to find Paewang casually chewing on a piece of fruit.
"...You startled me."
"Saying that with a face that hasn't so much as twitched does you no good. In any case — congratulations. You're finally starting to look the part."
Paewang studied me anew, something like wonder crossing his features.
"Until a while ago you were hovering at the edge of Middle Rank. Now you're halfway into Upper Rank — no, can I even call this a mere half of Upper Rank?"
He looked at me as though I were beyond belief.
"It's absurd, is what it is. I figured you'd shed your shell and attain the rank of Transcendence within five years. You're moving faster than even that."
Beside him sat Cheongyeon, watching me with an intrigued expression.
"Everyone, hush. Our Seoha has only just woken."
"'Our Seoha'? Isn't that a touch excessive for a student, Headmistress? Not that I'm suggesting you dream of forbidden love between teacher and pupil."
"He is my student, whatever anyone says."
Seo Yebin turned her gaze on me — golden hair gleaming, violet eyes curved in a gentle arc.
"Well. Regardless, you did well. When you told me you'd given the Necklace of Stars, I'll admit I only half believed it."
Paewang's eyes swung to me.
"So the brat had strength to spare — he never even needed to summon the 'Stars' against the Wicheon Brigade. Hmm. Seriously, kid — any interest in becoming my disciple?"
"Keep your untoward hands off another's student."
"Insecure, are we? Then again, I suppose you haven't done much for the boy's growth yourself."
"I merely respect my students' free will. I have provided support beyond counting."
Paewang and the Emperor were at each other's throats over me. I forced an awkward smile.
"I already have a teacher, after all."
"...Is that so. Someday I'd like to lay eyes on that high-and-mighty teacher of yours."
"Had I entered in my true body, those fools wouldn't have been worth a single punch!"
Really?
"...Hmph. They do look worth about one punch, I grant."
Heukcheon shot me a sidelong glare.
"By the way — what became of the White Temple?"
"...Many gods died. I did everything in my power, and even that fell a little short."
"Tsk. Our foremost ally losing strength sits none too well with me."
"It isn't all bad news. After this incident, they'll intervene far more proactively."
"Those lead-bottomed bastards?"
"That they will."
Fwoosh!
The moment Seo Yebin finished speaking, a gathering of light materialized before me.
Despite myself, I stared at it, my whole body taut. The rank radiating from that light was staggering.
'Even if I attacked with everything I had, I doubt I'd leave a mark...'
The word "rank" did not merely denote a stage of progress. It could mean hierarchy — and it could mean a boundary. At Upper Rank, that boundary's power scarcely manifested at all; only at Highest Rank did it begin to show itself in earnest. But become a Transcendent, and the story changed considerably. No being below Transcendence could harm a Transcendent, for the rank they had accumulated shielded them from the attacks of all others. Asymmetric power in its purest form. Even a nuclear weapon would not avail against them.
"Hey there."
A casual greeting, the kind an older guy from the neighborhood might offer — and his getup matched. He looked a few years my senior: black leather jacket over a tank top, leather pants, dressed for nothing more strenuous than a stroll across town.
That was how the man — the God of Struggle — made his entrance.
"So it's you, huh? The kid the Transcendents have all been fired up about lately."
"That rumor has spread, then?"
"Well, the Emperor, Paewang, and Cheongyeon moving together is rare enough to turn heads. And we've had our eye on you for a while now. Ah — but that's not what matters here."
With that, the God of Struggle bowed at the waist to me.
"Thank you. Without you, this incident would have ballooned beyond anything imaginable. Half of the White Temple's current survivors wouldn't be alive, and we'd have lost Transcendents too."
"That's far too much gratitude."
"Not at all. You're more than at a level where such thanks is earned."
Having said his piece, the God of Struggle spoke again.
"You humans do love your rewards, no? Anything you want?"
"Our White Temple has crossed thousands of worlds. Don't you worry — we bled badly this time, but our treasures have only multiplied. And I'm here as the White Temple's representative. Whatever you desire, just say the word."
Gods who had attained divinity rivaled Transcendents in rank, if nothing else — and they had passed through countless worlds on their way here. Relics harboring boundless mystery. Miraculous elixirs that could grant an ordinary person the power of Middle Rank in a single dose. Armaments that would let a Middle Rank slay an Upper Rank. They would have all of that and more.
'...Most of which I have no use for?'
Mystery had been fixed on a single purpose from the very beginning. With Heukshin grown so grotesquely bloated of late, I couldn't say whether I could even still claim it — but I had no need of Mystery regardless. As for elixirs, those that raised one's spiritual capacity were vanishingly rare, and at my current level they'd hardly move the needle anyway. Weapons that let a Middle Rank kill an Upper Rank? I'd been killing Upper Ranks back when I was Middle Rank — and among armaments of that kind, I already held two of the Swords of the Four Realms. Not to mention Heukcheon.
'As I thought — there's only one thing I want.'
A power unlike Mystery — one steeped in the might of divinity itself.
"Could you grant me the Authority of Struggle?"
"Struggle, hm."
The God of Struggle gave a troubled smile.
"You certainly know how to ask for the difficult things."
"Is it not possible?"
"No — I have my pride. A man can't say two things with one mouth."
The God of Struggle pressed a finger to my forehead.
"You already carry one Engraving. Which means if you take mine, that is the only one you may ever bear."
A colossal radiance erupted from the God of Struggle.
Holy and divine — and yet a power that burned like an unquenchable will to fight.
You have obtained the Authority of Struggle from the God of Struggle.
You have acquired the special stat: Struggle.
'I really am walking away with a lot this time.'
Judged by raw force alone, I felt at least twice as strong as I had been before.
"Oh, and one more thing. Ever thought about becoming my apostle?"
"An apostle, you say?"
"Yeah. An apostle."
An apostle was, in the most literal sense, one who carried on a god's power. You could call them the god's proxy — for all the world, the god's own face.
There were any number of advantages. First, I'd wield authority in America all but indistinguishable from a god's — and since gods preferred their apostles strong, they'd push me up by every means available.
'And the God of Struggle ran hot-blooded by nature. He'd push me through the roof.'
But I shook my head.
"I'm sorry, but I have no intention of that right now."
"I see."
The God of Struggle regarded me quietly for a moment.
"Well, if that's your answer, so be it."
With that, he shook off his disappointment and stepped back.
"Anything else you'd like to receive?"
"I did just receive the Authority of Struggle, though?"
"It means a number of things. But for now, take it as a gesture — one that says I'd like us to be close."
The God of Struggle said it with a booming laugh.
"Ah, right — I've made special arrangements for your group. You can return to Korea this instant without any issue."
"And the demons? What becomes of them?"
"Ah. The demons."
His expression shifted — from the friendly guy next door to a cold cruelty glazed with frost.
"They made the mistake of touching us, so I'll have to teach them what price that carries. For their own sake, they'd best not show their faces in America for a good long while."
So said the God of Struggle.
"In any case — thank you, all of you. I'll see that each of you gets a gift of your own, in due time."
"Aye. Send mine to China-52."
"Fifty-two? It's climbed again already? China does nothing but multiply these days, I swear. Cheongyeon and the Emperor are in Korea, yes?"
"They are."
"Then I'll see them delivered before long. We're rather busier than you'd imagine just now."
And with that, the God of Struggle was gone.
"What will you do? The Emperor and I are heading back."
"And you, Lord Cheongyeon?"
"Cheongyeon will be staying here. The Emperor has her stars to restore."
...
"No need for that look. The stars will recover soon enough. I'll simply have to seek a little deeper communion with them."
"Shall I help with that?"
"...If you are the one helping, I could hardly be anything but glad."
Seo Yebin said it with the faintest of smiles.
"Say, do you two even know how wide your age gap is? A good fifty years and then some—urk!"
Out of nowhere, the First Star appeared and clamped a hand over Paewang's mouth.
And with that, our party returned to Korea once more.
Breathe.
The Black Flame Radiant Star God was a colossal vessel — a vast container woven from Origin, flame, and the essence of Absorption.
'Did I make it too big?'
I poured Reverse Heaven into it, but what entered amounted to a ladle of water emptied into the open sea.
Drawing on Reverse Heaven, I gathered it into my palm.
Fwoooosh.
A negating flame sprang to life — a byproduct of forging the Black Flame Radiant Star God. Black flame, negating all it touched and of the purest order, bound to an attractive force that siphoned in the power around it. Yet its purity was so extreme that the pool of power I could actually put to use had dwindled instead of grown.
'So the crux is filling the Black Flame Radiant Star God.'
The fastest way to fill it would be to claim the Heavenly Demon's legacy.
'Trouble is, the Heavenly Demon's legacy is anything but easy to find.'
Ever since the dimensions had begun folding over one another, the worlds had started to blur together. The legacies the Heavenly Demon had once arranged might by now be tainted by other things — or, like the one in America, they might have already slipped into someone else's hands.
'This I'll have to leave to the Electronic Witch.'
I passed the matter along to the Electronic Witch over my phone.
I clenched my fist. A power unlike anything I'd held before was rippling inside it.
'Time I started moving, I think.'
There were no demons left near Seoul. To be precise, none remained save the truly high-level ones — because I had already swept the rest away behind a mask.
I put on the mask, and over it the coat Ersil had given me. Since returning to Korea I had run a full inspection of my body, and after turning the matter over in my head, I had concluded that at my current strength, the ones I hadn't dared touch before were finally within reach.
'Tonight, the hunt begins.'
I sent a text to Seol Hwaryeon.