The Land Boiling with Hellfire
In one corner of my inventory, an icon shimmered with iridescent light.
It was far from any weapon or armor.
Even calling it a typical tool felt off.
I widened my eyes and scanned the related information.
◈ Description: Mixes two different authorities to create a completely new one.
“……!”
A shiver ran through me.
It was thrilling enough to make my hair stand on end.
I already had plenty weighing on my mind.
Disaster Devourer.
This ability was cheat-level powerful, but it had a fatal flaw.
The risk of exposure.
Suppose I used Kartal's earthquake or Toolkacha's volcano.
What would the other gods think upon seeing it?
'Huh? That's Kartal's power.'
'The waves match Toolkacha's volcano perfectly.'
Suspicion turns to certainty, and certainty leads to a manhunt.
If word got out that I was killing gods and stealing their powers, every god in Asgard would come for my head.
No matter how strong I got, I had zero interest in becoming public enemy number one.
But.
What if I combined them into something entirely different?
That changes everything.
It erases the original scent.
Launders the lineage.
This was a kind of authority washing machine.
Perfect.
I activated the combiner without hesitation.
Woooong!
A massive cauldron-shaped hologram materialized before my eyes.
I grinned and tossed in the ingredients.
First ingredient.
Low-tier Earthquake, stolen from the low-tier Earthquake God Kartal.
Second ingredient.
Rampaging Volcano, devoured from the mad zealot Toolkacha.
Both powerful, but held back by innate limits or too flashy signatures.
Combine Low-tier Earthquake and Rampaging Volcano?
I nodded without a second thought.
The cauldron rumbled.
Kugugugu!
The earthquake's dull vibrations clashed with the volcano's searing heat.
Golden sparks flew.
System messages scrolled rapidly.
Disassembling authority Low-tier Earthquake.
Melting authority Rampaging Volcano.
Analyzing compatibility between the two disasters.
Power that shakes the earth + power that rampages through the earth.
Synergy exploding!
The authorities fused.
Messages kept popping up.
A new authority has been born!
Authority rank reset.
Reached Mythic grade.
Authority Name: Land Boiling with Hellfire
The cauldron vanished.
Burning red letters hovered in the air.
Land Boiling with Hellfire.
A straightforward name.
At the same time, a new sensation awakened within me.
My heart area burned hot.
Like I'd swallowed lava.
But it wasn't unpleasant.
Instead, the power coursing through my veins was exhilarating.
I raised my right hand.
Woooong.
A dark crimson flame bloomed above my palm.
Not ordinary red fire.
Black and red twisted grotesquely into a murky, sticky blaze.
The surrounding air dried up in an instant.
Moisture evaporated, space warped.
This disaster embodied corruption and destruction simultaneously.
Success.
The corner of my mouth lifted.
Perfect laundering.
The low-tier earthquake's dull rumble was gone.
No trace of the rampaging volcano's crude eruption.
The flaws of both disasters vanished, their strengths maximized and fused.
The earthquake became the key to split the earth and open hell's gateway.
The volcano filled those cracks with flames of ruin.
No one would link this power to Kartal or Toolkacha now.
This was purely mine—Rag's power.
I like it.
I clenched my fist.
The flame crumbled in my grasp.
My prey were gods.
They had near-immortal bodies.
Normal flames couldn't singe a single hair.
Physical blows or standard magic had clear limits.
But this was different.
Hellfire.
Flames that burned the soul itself.
Even gods would scream before this blaze.
The disaster's caliber had leaped a full tier.
“Master?”
Ceria called cautiously.
Her eyes warily fixed on my right hand.
Like a beast sensing danger instinctively, her fur bristled as she backed away.
Even Angragon on my shoulder curled its tail.
A power threatening even to allies.
I didn't mind their reaction.
“Let's go.”
I shook off the flames and stepped forward.
Target: the heart of the 1st floor.
I walked across the vast, empty white plain.
A world of nothing.
An endlessly boring white landscape.
As GuGu said, the previous owner had stripped it clean.
Not even a breeze stirred the silent space.
Step. Step.
My footsteps were the only sound.
How long had I walked?
A faint light appeared on the horizon.
“There it is.”
I quickened my pace.
The distance closed rapidly.
The light grew clearer.
Soon, a massive shape emerged.
A gigantic crystal, at least ten meters tall.
A transparent blue crystal floated in the air, slowly rotating.
The core of the 1st floor.
I stood before the crystal.
Woooong.
The crystal reacted.
A gentle wave enveloped my body.
Entered safe zone.
Mana recovering rapidly.
Physical fatigue decreasing.
Polluted status effects being purified.
It felt warm.
The battle in the sanctuary.
The authority combination.
Fatigue from the relentless march melted away like snow.
As tension eased, drowsiness washed over me.
I slumped against the crystal's base.
Leaning back, coldness gave way to comforting warmth.
“……Hah.”
I let out a deep breath.
Finally, I could breathe easy.
Ceria stood beside me.
She still scanned the surroundings warily.
Not letting go of her bow even in this barren wasteland.
Terminal occupational hazard.
“Ceria.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Stand down. No one's here.”
“……Can't be sure. There could be stealth specialists.”
Her rigid reply.
I chuckled and shook my head.
Not a bad thing.
A sharp subordinate makes the boss's life easier.
I closed my eyes.
Curious about Earth's time.
Time spent here flowed there too.
I'd killed one avatar.
Kim Yuhwan, low-tier god Kartal.
Needed to check the ripples from his death on Earth.
And the rest.
Had to hunt down the gods' avatars still hiding across Earth.
The hunt was just beginning.
“Taking a short break,” I told Ceria.
“Keep anyone from approaching.”
“Understood.”
She replied curtly and lowered into stance.
Angragon crawled onto my lap.
I stroked its head once.
The holy sword Archangel Avriel floated by my head, assuming guard position.
Solid forces.
This place was safe.
I opened the system window carefree.
The button at the bottom.
[Logout]
I pressed it without hesitation.
My vision flickered.
The white world drowned in darkness.
A floating sensation as consciousness was pulled away.
Asgard's scenery receded simultaneously.
Logged out.
Returning to reality.
I opened my eyes.
Chaos outside the window.
Sirens wailed nonstop.
I turned on my smartphone.
The internet was a madhouse.
The world was pure pandemonium.
After the cataclysm, countless people had awakened.
But they couldn't control their powers yet.
The system's guidance was still too harsh.
Above all, eyes were glued to the sky.
I opened the window and leaned out.
Far off, between the clouds, the silhouette of a massive tower shimmered.
God's Tower.
For now, it looked like a mirage.
The place where Rag had claimed the 1st floor.
Untouchable, unenterable.
The tower's doors would open exactly one year from now.
That's when true hell began.
For now, it was a sort of beginner protection period.
Time for humanity to adapt to the system, for awakeners to build strength.
Of course, some would fill it with hunting instead of grace.
I raised my right hand.
Nothing.
No reaction.
Only responds if a disaster user is nearby, huh.
Seems the detection range isn't wide.
Or they hadn't started moving in earnest yet.
I clenched and unclenched my fist, reacquainting myself with the power.
Time to sort things out.
The Disaster Devourer authority splits into two categories.
First, one-use.
Heimdall's Mass Slaughter Typhoon.
Devour an incoming spell or phenomenon, and it fires once like a bullet before vanishing.
Can store them, but they're gone after use.
Second, permanent.
Like with Kartal or Toolkacha—swallow the disaster's source, a god or avatar, whole.
Absorb their divinity, and the authority becomes fully mine.
Usable indefinitely, like an unfailing spring.
Efficiency-wise, the latter wins, obviously.
One-use are emergency rations for crises.
To grow my power, I had to devour them whole.
The issue was difficulty.
Taking on a true body like Toolkacha was suicide.
Without Avriel's help, I'd have died in the sanctuary.
So the answer was clear.
Avatar hunting.
The gods' divided selves on Earth.
Weaker than the originals, but sharing their divinity—prime prey.
Like Kim Yuhwan.
Finding them won't be hard.
They're attention whores.
Drunk on godhood superiority, they play hero.
Slaughter monsters with overwhelming power, pose as saviors, crave worship.
Insanely strong from the start.
Standing out in the tutorial phase.
Those were my targets.
Several names came to mind.
'Lord of Flames Choi Taemin.'
'Witch of Freezing Ser Jisoo.'
'Berserker Lee Do-hyung.'
Korea's top 10, plus global heavyweights.
Some among them were gods' avatars.
Deceivers of me and humanity.
And though I hoped not...
The last-ditch survivors might include one too.
I'll check them one by one.
As I prioritized targets—
Ding-dong!
The doorbell shattered the silence.
Who at this hour?
I went on alert and checked the intercom screen.
Shiny forehead.
Greedy eyes.
A flushed middle-aged man pounding the door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Jeong-seok! I know you're in there!”
A familiar voice.
Unpleasant memories flooded back.
“It's your Uncle! Open up! You alive?”
A vaguely familiar face.
Ah.
Aunt's husband, Park Kwang-cheol.
Showed up after my parents died in the accident, claiming to be my only kin.
But he wasn't after me.
The inheritance.
The life insurance payout from my parents.
Sweet-talked and deceived me to steal it, then tossed me to the streets.
Memories from my past life sharpened.
Right after the cataclysm, he exploited the chaos—faked documents, stole my seal.
I lost the house.
Starved, suffered like a dog.
“Jeong-seok! Came 'cause I'm worried! You see the news? World's gone mad!”
Worried, my ass.
Here to check if I was dead or alive.
If dead, he'd snatch the deed first.
Bang bang bang!
“Open the door! It's your uncle!”
Desperate pounding.
I smirked.
Before heading out to hunt gods.
……A rat had walked right into my trap.