Chapter 16

Chapter 16.

FWAAAAAAH!

A pillar of dark crimson fire erupted from my left hand.

Simultaneously, the armor vibrated.

The Heavenly Demon Armor's special effect.

Heavenly Demon Aura.

As overwhelming intimidation radiated in every direction.

"Sq-squeak?"

"Grrr...... YELP!"

The charging wolves froze mid-stride.

The ice soldiers' spear tips trembled.

They stumbled backward.

Instinctive terror.

That wasn't all.

An unbelievable sight unfolded before my eyes.

HISSSS!

The blizzard pouring from the sky evaporated above my head.

Before the snowflakes could even land, they vaporized into white steam.

The ground boiled.

Pitch-black flames erupted through the cracks in the asphalt.

Hellfire-Seething Earth.

The instant that authority activated, the laws governing this district had been rewritten.

The domain of cold was erased.

Replaced by a scorching, savage domain of heat.

The rules a god had made, crushed by an even stronger god's power.

I walked.

Flames blazed a path along every step I took.

SKREEEEE!

An ice soldier too slow to flee grazed the flames.

It was instantaneous.

HISSS!

With a scream, its body melted.

And burned at the same time.

Because hellfire was a flame that burned not only matter but souls.

The truly remarkable thing was something else.

FWOOOOSH!

The flames swept across street trees and buildings.

But the trees didn't burn.

The signs didn't melt.

Only the monsters were targeted.

Only the aberrant entities born from disaster crumbled to black ash.

The fire ignited only where my killing intent was directed.

'Path's clear.'

Three kilometers.

No short distance.

But nothing stood in my way.

I strolled leisurely down the red carpet the flames had laid.

Monsters on either side trembled and bowed their heads as they parted.

Like lesser beasts watching a demon king's procession.

Before long.

The heart of downtown.

I arrived before the largest building.

Unlike the others, this one was sealed from the entrance.

A thick, transparent wall of ice.

The epicenter of the cold.

'Hiding, were you?'

I smirked.

I pressed my left hand against the ice wall.

FWOOSH!

Heat blasted from my palm.

Mana-forged ice, said to be harder than steel, dissolved like sugar in hot water.

A hole opened.

A passage just large enough for one person.

I stepped inside immediately.

An empty lobby.

Nothing but biting cold.

And at its center.

A man sat on a throne of ice.

His eyes were closed.

As if meditating.

He must have sensed my presence — he slowly opened them.

"......Noisy."

An irritated voice.

I looked at his face.

A flash.

I stopped dead.

'That face.'

A face I knew far too well.

GRIND!

My teeth clenched before I knew it.

Bones cracked in my balled fists.

"......Kim Insu."

The name was spat from my mouth like venom.

A name I could never forget.

A name I must never forget.

'It was you?'

Betrayal surged upward.

It felt like my blood was flowing in reverse.

Kim Insu.

He'd been a comrade in my previous life.

And not just any comrade.

Humanity's final strike force.

One of the elite five hundred who'd staked humanity's last hope and charged the tower's top floor alongside me.

Kim Insu had dropped out in the tower's early stages, but —

'So that's how it was.'

The puzzle finally clicked.

Memories of the past flickered like a revolving lantern.

The tower's 27th floor.

A brutal labyrinth ruled by blizzards and extreme cold.

We'd suffered irreparable losses there.

The cause had been Kim Insu.

— Ah, my bad! My side got breached!

— Sorry, Jeong-seok! My cooldowns got mixed up!

Too devastating to call a mistake.

Three comrades had died from a single 'mistake' of his.

At the time, I'd thought Kim Insu simply lacked the skill, or was just unlucky.

But.

'It was deliberate.'

He'd trolled at every critical moment.

He'd subtly collapsed our formation, cut off our retreat routes.

And the boss fight on the 27th floor.

At the most crucial moment, he was nowhere to be found.

After the battle, drenched in blood, we waited. He never appeared.

He was listed as missing.

We assumed he'd died.

No body was found, but surviving that chaos would've been nearly impossible.

But he was alive.

No — there was never any chance he'd die.

Because he'd been the master of that very floor.

I approached him slowly.

Inside the armor, killing intent howled like a storm.

"Who are you? How do you know my name? Don't tell me that heat — that was your doing?"

Kim Insu frowned.

Instead of answering, I stared him dead in the eyes.

And spoke, slowly.

"You're 'Caligo,' aren't you?"

"......!!"

The reaction confirmed it.

The master of the 27th floor — Caligo, the God of Blizzards.

Kim Insu had been Caligo's avatar.

'......Ha.'

Damn it all.

I'd hoped otherwise.

I'd prayed that they, at least, weren't among them.

The final strike force.

Humanity's last hope.

I'd wished their spies weren't embedded within it.

It had been rotten from the start.

Kim Insu was an avatar.

Then what about the others? The Sword Emperor? The Great Sage?

No way to know.

'Our failure was predetermined from the very beginning.'

I'd known we couldn't win.

But we hadn't just been fighting an unwinnable battle — we'd been dancing in the palm of their hands.

Kim Insu opened his mouth.

"Who the hell are you?"

His alarm was obvious.

"My avatar's name, fine — but how do you know my real name? I've never told anyone. It should be impossible to know."

His eyes narrowed.

"What faction are you with?"

Faction.

There it was again with the faction nonsense.

Same as when I'd killed Kim Yuhwan — the lesser god Kartal.

They were obsessed with factions and affiliations.

That was their hierarchy, their order.

Not worth answering.

I raised my left hand.

HUMMM!

Dark crimson flames blazed once more.

The authority, 'Hellfire-Seething Earth.'

FWAAAAAAH!

Explosive heat engulfed the lobby.

The ice throne evaporated in an instant.

The marble floor melted and ran like lava.

"......?!"

Kim Insu's eyes flooded with shock.

He frantically expelled cold, but it was useless.

HISSSS!

Erased on contact.

No — devoured.

My hellfire swallowed his cold and expanded its domain.

"Th-this is...... domain overwrite?"

Kim Insu stumbled backward.

"That's impossible! How can a mere avatar overwrite my domain?!"

I smirked.

"Thanks."

"......What?"

"Now I know for certain."

I clenched my fist.

"I have to kill every last one of you."

Kim Insu's expression contorted.

He sensed the danger.

At this rate, he'd die.

Even he grasped that instinctively.

"You son of a bitch......"

He ground his teeth.

"Do you know how much work I put into this avatar? I won't let the likes of you ruin it."

He glared at me and muttered.

"You're no ordinary one, I see. Did you feed your avatar 'nectar'? Brute-forced some divine power into it?"

A misunderstanding.

But I had no intention of correcting him.

HUMMMMM!

Golden light bled from Kim Insu's body.

Similar to the 'Descent' I used.

But different.

Mine was brilliant, pure gold.

His was murky, hazy ochre.

"Die!"

Kim Insu thrust his hand forward.

KABAAM!

A colossal ice spear materialized.

A spear of absolute zero imbued with divine power — one that could freeze the very soul.

But.

'Slow.'

To my eyes, it looked frozen in place.

The Heavenly Demon Armor's stat boost.

My physical capabilities had already transcended human limits.

I didn't dodge.

I charged straight in.

THWACK!

I shattered the ice spear with my fist.

"Wh-what?!"

Kim Insu's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

Shards flew.

Without stopping, I reached for his throat.

A blitz.

The distance closed in an instant.

"Kgh......!"

He erected an ice shield.

CRACK!

The shield was torn like tissue paper.

I reached through the ice fragments, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him into the floor.

THUD!

"HURK!"

Kim Insu coughed blood.

I mounted him.

Raised my right hand.

The golden rune letters spun wildly, blazing with light.

WHEEEEE!

Feeding time.

"You — that hand......"

Kim Insu went pale the moment he saw my right hand.

He recognized it.

That it wasn't a mere attack skill.

That it was the power of a natural enemy threatening his very existence.

"No! S-stay away!"

He thrashed.

But the Heavenly Demon Aura's pressure pinned his limbs.

I pressed my palm to his face, indifferent.

"Thanks for the meal, Caligo."

"AAAARGH!"

A scream tore loose.

Not from mere pain.

"My, my power......! The connection to my main body......!"

It was being drained.

Not just the avatar's mana.

The divinity of his main body, far away on the 27th floor of the Asgard tower.

As if a straw had been jammed in, everything was being sucked out wholesale.

"What the hell are you?! How are you devouring my divinity?!"

Kim Insu's face shriveled.

Aging at breakneck speed.

His life force was being depleted.

"Stop! Please! Spare me! I'll give you anything!"

Pleading.

Groveling for his life.

The same cowardice as when he'd betrayed us and fled in our previous life.

I smiled coldly.

"No."

I tightened my grip.

"Hand it all over and get lost."

FWAAAAAAH!

The golden vortex subsided.

What had been Kim Insu.

The form that had been Caligo's avatar vanished without a trace.

All that remained was ashen dust drifting through the air.

DING!

[You have devoured the disaster, 'Lesser Blizzard God Caligo.']

[Divinity absorbed.]

[You can permanently use the Authority, 'Extreme Blizzard.']

Satisfying.

Following fire and earth, I'd now obtained frost.

With this, I possessed all three pillars of natural-lineage disasters.

'Perfect.'

That was when it happened.

System messages cascaded across my vision.

[Warning! Mana concentration in this area has reached critical threshold!]

[Regional Episode 2, 'Frozen Daegu,' begins.]

Episode 2.

Under normal circumstances, this is where it should have started.

Caligo's ice legion occupying the city, people trembling in cold and terror, fighting for survival.

But.

DING!

[Main boss 'Caligo' has been annihilated.]

[Episode 2, 'Frozen Daegu,' has concluded.]

It began and ended simultaneously.

No — it ended before it even started.

With the source of the disaster gone, the changes outside were immediate.

I looked out the window.

The raging blizzard had stopped dead.

The ice soldiers and snow wolves roaming the streets collapsed and melted into puddles.

The storm clouds cleared, and fierce summer sunlight broke through once more.

A city that had reverted from winter to summer in the blink of an eye.

Even the system seemed taken aback — a moment of silence passed.

Then, with a blaring alert, it spat out its messages.

[Measuring clear time.]

[Measurement impossible.]

[Time elapsed: 0.00 seconds]

[Contribution calculation impossible.]

[System error.]

The natural result.

I'd submitted my answer sheet before the exam was even handed out — there was nothing to grade.

But the system was absolute.

Glitch or no glitch, rewards for results had to be issued.

[Abnormal clear, but the result is undeniable.]

[System authority grants Rank 1.]

[A record that should not exist has been set.]

[Rolling the die (1-110).]

[110! A hidden reward is granted!]

[Reward (1): 'Heart of the Frozen Wastes (Mythic)' awarded!]

[Reward (2): '10 Fragments of the Broken Golden Rule' awarded!]

Hidden reward.

As always, the real spoils came from walking paths no one else walked and doing what no one else could.

Plus ten Golden Rule fragments on top.

My lips curled upward.

The notifications didn't end there.

[Would you like to register your name in the Hall of Fame?]

The Hall of Fame.

This message had appeared back in Episode 1, when I'd killed Kartal.

But I'd held off on registering.

The reason was simple.

'I'd just arrived back and had no idea what was going on.'

The moment I'd logged out and realized I'd regressed, the tutorial had slammed into me.

I'd been wary of registering my name, just in case.

But now was different.

Just as I was making the name 'Rag' ring through Asgard.

On Earth, I needed to make 'Kim Jeong-seok' ring as well.

That way.

'The gods' avatars will treat me all the more cautiously.'

Some would try to compete.

Some would approach me.

But none would dare attack recklessly.

They'd assume I was a top-tier god.

There was another reason to register in the Hall of Fame.

'Hall of Fame ranking rewards.'

Additional perks granted only to those who registered.

Particularly generous rewards scaled to ranking position.

Before the regression, the Hall of Fame had been the exclusive domain of avatars.

"I'll register my name."

Not anymore.

I'd devour it all.

And so.

DING!

[Please decide the name to register in the Hall of Fame.]

There was no need to use my real name.

Using your true name could bring wealth and renown.

But it could also paint a target on your back.

Especially for an 'irregular' like me — there was a high chance of becoming prey for avatars.

The gap was simply too vast.

Overexposing myself was dangerous.

They needed to remain ignorant of who I was, where I lived, what I did.

Therefore.

'Quietly, yet greatly.'

Silent. But decisive.

Before long.

DING!

A golden message appeared before every awakened on the planet.

[The Hall of Fame has been updated!]

[Episode 1, 'Invasion,' 1st place has changed.]

[1st: NONAME]

[Score: 990]

[2nd: Yamamoto]

[Score: 588]

[3rd: Gares]

[Score: 491]

.......

[1st-place perk: 'NONAME's' experience gain increased by 50%!]

[Title — 'The First Champion' acquired.]

The gap from second place was a full 400 points.

A truly unbridgeable divide.

On top of that, the Hall of Fame's ranking 'perks' were essential for widening the growth gap going forward.

I nodded.

'In the past, Yamamoto held first place.'

Battle Emperor Yamamoto.

One of the final five who'd reached the end alongside me in the strike force.

True to his epithet as the sovereign of combat, he must have dominated the battlefield with overwhelming violence from the very start.

Personally, he was one I desperately hoped wasn't a god's avatar.

Because he was a 'true genius' who'd started on a completely different level than me.

'In terms of pure combat power, I was the weakest.'

Among the final five, my fighting ability was the lowest.

Battle Emperor Yamamoto and Sword Emperor Aritolt had vied for first and second.

A head-on fight meant certain defeat.

If I fought on a battlefield I'd personally prepared, with every possible advantage — maybe I could expect fifty-fifty odds at best.

'But that scenario would never happen.'

I smirked.

What good were hypotheticals?

They weren't fools.

They wouldn't obligingly fight me on my home turf.

......That was the moment.

DING!

[The Hall of Fame has been updated!]

[Episode 2, 'Frozen Daegu,' 1st place recorded.]

[1st: NONAME]

[Score: 1,100]

[2nd: None]

[3rd: None]

[4th: None]

.......

[1st-place perk: 'NONAME's' experience gain increased by 50%!]

[Title — 'The Transcendent Champion' acquired.]