Nest

If you proceed through the 15th floor normally, the challenger slowly washes away their impurities and challenges the labyrinth. And a human who has perfectly cleansed their impurities ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cannot enter the place where the Heavenly God resides. Because the Heavenly God rejects any existence that might pose a threat to itself. But right now, I'm perfectly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fine.

I'm still under restriction from the Heavenly Realm's power. The Heavenly God must see me as prey. And since I wrecked the altar, it has every justification to unleash a first-class heavenly punishment on me. All I have to do is surrender obediently now.

"Euriel, Floel, Dantaniel! Deploy the sacred barrier. We will execute the first-class heavenly punishment!"

The High Priest drew his weapon and immediately prepared the punishment. He planned to block me before the barrier went up, in case I went berserk. But I have no intention of escaping the barrier. I'm hoping the first-class heavenly punishment proceeds. Still, since it's a rare opportunity, maybe I should check out the High Priest's skills.

The High Priest's weapon was a spear again. It looked exactly like that one that could transform freely. But a priest's weapon changing shape isn't due to the weapon itself—it's the power of the grace they possess. Without that transformation ability, it's just an ordinary spear—

The moment I thought that, the High Priest demonstrated an absurd ability.

-Ku-gu-gu-gu-gung!

As he raised his spear, shining mana gathered around the High Priest, soon forming the shape of a colossal giant. It felt similar to the summon Adriel used. It was as if the High Priest himself had become a massive mana summon. I could end it in one hit by smashing the core, but the core was the High Priest himself, and the body made of mana was way too enormous. To pierce it in one go, I'd need an insanely long weapon, which I don't have. Maybe aim for the center with a powerful ranged attack? How effective would iron marbles be against a mana body?

"I won't let you rampage!"

I deployed mana sensing with Super Sense and dodged the incoming arm. As expected from its size, the attack itself was sluggish. Rather than focusing on the enemy's attacks, I should concentrate on landing my own hits reliably.

I leaped high into the air and infused mana into an iron marble from my inventory.

I hurled the lightning-infused iron marble with all my strength. It collided with the mana giant's body but didn't penetrate deeply and stopped. However, the lightning made of my mana embedded in the marble struck the giant properly. It wasn't completely ineffective, but physical attacks seemed meaningless. It only dealt damage equal to the mana I infused. Weapon throws won't be very effective either, then.

"A special tank... gotta see it that way, huh."

The High Priest's role wasn't to kill me anyway—just to buy time until the barrier was up and the punishment executed. I could whittle it down eventually with a mana-infused sword, but it'd take forever. If I could handle auras, I could shoot sword beams and slice the High Priest himself, but I can't do that yet.

"Guess I'll test this, then."

I couldn't afford to go down in one hit this time, so I specially used a higher-grade mid-tier magic stone to summon the sword spirit. The restrictions should be loosened here, so maybe he can show some decent skill now?

"You bastard, summoning me in a situation like this again! No respect at all!"

The summoned Sword Spirit Kaleon complained as usual. I went out of my way to use a mid-tier one, and that's his first words?

"Heh, at least this time you used some decent material. The mana is somewhat..."

"The mana is... what the hell, it's still shit! How am I supposed to fight in this state?!"

Whoops, thought the restrictions were loosened, but nope. Seems summons and their masters get treated separately.

"Ugh, summoning such an impure soul... Begone!"

The High Priest reacted sensitively to the completely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠unpurified sword spirit.

-Kwa-gwang!

And just like that, Sword Spirit Kaleon died again.

After grinding it down like sharpening an anvil into a needle, the massive mana giant finally collapsed in tatters. The High Priest himself wasn't sliced, but chipping away at the mana giant with sword strikes led to this. Even golem-types with cores can't regenerate infinitely. Once the mana runs out, it's over.

"Hah, haah... How can a human from the surface be this strong... But you are finished now."

After a long battle that drained his mana, the High Priest panted and declared victory. While he held out, the barrier for the first-class heavenly punishment was completed. The table was set for the Heavenly God.

"Though I'm trapped in the barrier with you... If I can punish a sinner like you with this body, it's what I desired."

Trapped in the feast with me while buying time, the High Priest trembled as he spoke.

"Even if you kill me, the barrier won't collapse. If you want to vent, go ahead."

He thinks he's sacrificing his life for mutual destruction, but unfortunately, he's wrong on all counts. For one, I was planning to head to the Heavenly God myself anyway. The barrier doesn't matter. And I have no intention of killing the High Priest. My target is solely the Heavenly God. Finally, if I really wanted to, I could break through this barrier.

This barrier isn't some sacred thing to begin with. It's just an ordinary mana-based barrier spell. Pretty sturdy and intricately constructed, but not unbreakable. Turn on Mana Reinforcement and ram it full-force a few times? It'd shatter.

"Why would I kill you?"

"Pardon?"

"Perfect timing. Follow me."

The first-class judgment traps the taboo-breaker in the barrier, then the Heavenly God comes out the door and devours them. The priests cover their eyes after deploying the barrier, so they don't know the Heavenly God's appearance or the true nature of the punishment. I grabbed the mana-exhausted High Priest by the scruff and dragged him beyond the door where the Heavenly God waited.

"A High Priest, and you don't even know what the Heavenly God looks like?"

Heavenly Realm places are full of decorations and statues imagining the Heavenly God's form. But to challengers who know the truth—and me—it's laughable.

"W-wait! Stop! Dare not lay eyes on the Heavenly God's form—it's utter blasphemy!"

Behold the true form of the god you worship and praise, and the nature of this Heavenly Realm. Time for your red pill.

The Heavenly God is supposed to crawl out itself once the barrier is up, but I walked in first. The Heavenly Realm boasts beautiful scenery everywhere, but its heart—this place—is utterly barren. Passing corridors of realm-constituting clouds reveals a filthy passage piled with waste.

Hard to believe, but the system confirms this filthy place is indeed where the Heavenly God resides. Even without the message, you could tell—the overwhelming mana surpassing even a Demon King gushed fiercely. And knowing the Heavenly God's true nature, this dirty passage doesn't feel out of place.

The dragged High Priest and I finally met the Heavenly God at the passage's end.

"There it is. That's the god you serve."

"W-what..."

"Didn't expect it to look like that, huh?"

White feathers soiled and filthy with waste, eight pairs of wings identical to the heavenly folk's. The winged body covered in feathers, with three heads attached. In simple terms: a massive pigeon monster ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with lots of wings and three heads.

"And you had no idea it lived like this."

I pointed at the pigeon monster's feet as I spoke. Gnawed, filthy corpses littered the ground. Probably some familiar faces—those who broke taboos and received first-class heavenly punishment, former heavenly folk and a few humans offered as living sacrifices.

The true Heavenly Realm where heavenly folk lived was destroyed long ago. What's left is just a giant man-eating pigeon's nest, and the Heavenly God is merely a parasite monster feeding on the heavenly folk.

"What bullshit."

-Ku-reu-reung!

I used Mana Reinforcement to push back the oppressive mana. The faintly floating system message vanished cleanly. Then came the real system message, revealing the true identity of the monster disguised as a god.

"Time to drop this thing to the dirt."

Worse than the Demon Realm, this man-eating pigeon's nest—the Heavenly Realm falls by my hand today.