It burns.
Amidst the blue flames, I stand facing a colossal entity.
Whoosh.
A massive blue flame dominates the entire space.
Its form resembles that of a giant bird, easily surpassing 50 meters in size.
I am confronting this monstrous beast alone.
All the magic power that once constituted my body has been consumed by fire, and every weapon I wielded has been destroyed, reduced to embers.
What remains is merely my willpower.
Though I’ve challenged it countless times and been shattered just as often, I am still not dead.
[Are you going to give up?]
A voice echoes in my ear, blending various emotions: dispassion, concern, and a hint of urging me to stop.
‘Gamers don’t give up.’
Even if I lose dozens, hundreds, or thousands of times, the victory at the end is what counts.
‘If you give up after a relentless series of attempts, you’ll never achieve it. But if you persist, no matter how long it takes—hours, days—you become the one who clears it.’
Ahead.
SS-rank boss, [Phoenix].
Even in-game, this massive beast has already caused me countless game-overs, and now it targets me alone.
The moment I move my hand, it lashes out with flaming feathers, scorching my body, and as soon as I lift my head, it obscures my vision with flames.
Yet, I bring my hands together.
No matter how complete the Phoenix seems now, its appearance is deceiving—the reality is different.
‘Phoenix Mode.’
First form: Solar Form. Clear.
Second form: Divine Dragon Form. Clear.
And now, the final, third form: [Phoenix].
A flaming bird that burns everything in its path, turning the entire battlefield into a sea of flames.
Against such an opponent, I have drawn out its final form.
And I have forced it to use its ultimate technique.
‘This is the first time I’ve made it this far.’
In-game patterns were mere references, but in actual combat, they became more of a hindrance. The Phoenix created new patterns based on the fact that it “knew” them.
As a result, I encountered patterns I had never seen before, with attacks that should have followed a predictable trajectory suddenly flying in completely unexpected directions, and the Phoenix even using other bosses’ patterns.
I have countered all those attacks and dealt damage, leaving only one final tick of health.
That last tick is the ‘strongest technique’ we both can use—the final attack in the last pattern.
Whoosh.
It soars into the sky.
It ascends so fast that it’s impossible to track with the naked eye, stopping as a blue dot, like a comet streaking across the sky.
It flies to the highest point in the sky, then unleashes all its magic power in a suicidal dive aimed at its target, intending to die together with the enemy, confident in its ability to resurrect. The ultimate, final attack.
How do I respond to such a move?
‘It’s decided.’
There’s only one way.
I bring my hands together.
My body, composed of magic, has already lost both arms, but through sheer willpower, I clasp my hands together as if in prayer.
I raise my head toward the sky.
The dot draws nearer, turning into a deadly spike aimed directly at me.
The bird, now a meteor, plummets.
‘Who needs a Meteor spell when that’s the real thing.’
The Phoenix’s ultimate skill is to become a meteor itself.
I may be the only one who has seen this technique, but if anyone else in the community were to compare its destructive power, they would say—
[Planet Destroyer. Can you withstand it?]
Not just a country or a continent, but a force that could pierce through the entire planet.
‘I’m not going to withstand it.’
I lift my fingers toward the sky. There’s no actual shape, but I imagine pulling the trigger of a gun, aiming it at the approaching dot.
‘I’m going to fight back.’
In all my battles against the Phoenix, I’ve found only one solution.
‘You fight fire with fire.’
The Phoenix may wield countless flame-based techniques, but the essence of the fire attribute is raw firepower.
Therefore.
The answer is to use the most powerful technique I know that can produce the greatest firepower.
“Blazing Flame Devastation.”
Click.
I pull the trigger, transforming all my magic and willpower into a bullet.
I fired with all my might. The result is left to fate—
The result is up to fate-
No, to the countless deaths I’ve endured, to all the effort I’ve put in, and most of all, to the time I spent with Changyeom, who helped shape me into the person I am now.
“Ah.”
The blue flames falling toward where I stand—this familiar sensation of being consumed by fire feels all too much like the familiar embrace of death.
[Puhuhuhu.]
And then, from behind, I feel a warm, comforting embrace.
[You did a good job.]
I surrender my entire body and mind to the hands that gently hold me and stroke my hair.
In the fading consciousness, which has turned from blue to white, I see a very familiar word flickering in blue flames.
[GOD SLAIN]
* * *
How long would it take for an ordinary human to reach the ranks of the strongest beings in a world where magic exists?
The time may vary for each person, but at least I can confidently say how many deaths it took for me.
“It feels like I’ve died as many times as I’ve killed enemies across a thousand games.”
“Pretty much. Starting from the 7th playthrough, you were playing on Lunatic difficulty.”
Changyeom hands me a fruit juice.
It’s a strawberry slushie, one of the drinks you can get at the beach during the summer event, filled with crushed ice and strawberry juice.
“Say ‘Ahh’.”
The straw is twisted into a heart shape, and both Changyeom and I sip the strawberry slushie at the same time.
“All that’s left now is to move on to the Middle World. What do you think?”
“I’m thinking that an Archduke of Hell truly lives up to the title.”
“Huh?”
“It was harder to fight against your ‘avatar’ than it was to defeat the other ‘Dukes’.”
I mean it.
“Did I ever die while fighting the avatars of the other Dukes?”
“You took them all down on your first try, right?”
“And how many times did the Phoenix kill me?”
“Well… For the sake of your pride, I didn’t count. Hehehe.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
I died a lot—perhaps more than I should have.
“When you ascend to the Middle World, be careful. I won’t be able to directly connect with or assist you there.”
“Because an Angel will appear.”
I stretched out my hand in front of me.
“The moment I use the power of [Azure Flame], the Goddess will immediately send an Angel to that exact spot.”
Whoosh.
“And if I use [Azure Flame] as a being with the rank of a ‘Demon King’…”
A sphere of blue flames forms in the center, with six different-colored flames swirling around it in a hexagonal pattern.
Originally, it wasn’t flames.
But I accepted it as such—a fusion of seven different types of mana, forming a singular magical force.
In other words, it’s ‘Divinity’.
“Now that I have this power, I understand. The Demon King was able to cross into the Middle World not because he was a Demon King, but because he was a ‘God’.”
“Well… That applies to us too.”
Changyeom smiles faintly.
“Are you going to go without seeing it? I think you’re secretly looking forward to it.”
“Mother told me to just watch from below.”
Mother. Otherwise known as the ‘Demon King’, and the true ‘Mother’ of Hell’s seven Dukes.
‘I never thought she was originally a woman.’
I always interacted with her male persona, so I never knew, but it turns out that side of her was a goddess.
And the other side…
Anyway.
“I’ll go, seize all the Angel powers, and then open a passage from the Demon World to the Middle World.”
“…Yes. You’re the hope of us, the ‘Exiled Gods’.”
“You weren’t talking about a game, were you?”
“Of course not. That’s… my little secret, a privilege only I have, as the one who has everything you have.”
Changyeom winks as she rises from the sunbed.
“Alright, then. Before we head off, let’s enjoy our final moments together at this summer camp, even if it’s just a virtual one, at Esdinas Academy.”
One last time, then.”
“Yes. The ‘Old School Passage’ must remain as an emergency route for you to return here if necessary.”
The only passage from the Demon World to the Middle World.
“The Mother Goddess, the Demon King, is staking her eternal slumber to send you to the surface.”
Or rather, it wasn’t quite that.
“Mother will launch you into space. You’ll have to navigate through the cosmos and fall into the Middle World. The Goddess would never expect you to break through the atmosphere and ‘descend’ in such a physical manner.”
“And not just as any banished demon god, but as a soul born in the Middle World, enslaved by the Archduke.”
Well.
To put it simply.
It means breaking through the magical barrier [O-Zone], which stretches between the Demon World and the Middle World, through sheer physical force.
“If they learn of your absence, the absence of the Demon King… All the demons that you subdued after falling into this world will start to stir.”
“But the Dukes of Hell are on our side, aren’t they?”
“Their divine cores have passed to you, so the demons will think their power has diminished. Do you think those demons are the type to fear anything? They all believe they can win.”
Whoosh.
The sound of waves rolling over the sandy shore.
But it’s not real—it’s a virtual scene created from magical memories, touching Changyeom’s feet.
“I’m Changyeom, the Azure Flame, right? Normally, I don’t get along well with water, but after meeting you, I’ve started to think differently.”
Changyeom presses a white hat down on her head as she gently sits on the sandy beach.
“I’m looking forward to swimming.”
Whoosh.
“I’ve never dipped my body in the sea of the Middle World before.”
“Of course.”
The contract is sealed.
* * *
[Imperial Year 997, Transcontinental Train KTS 088, Car 4.]
Toot-toot!
The horn of the magic-powered train blares loudly.
“…What’s going on?”
Passengers in Car 4 begin to glance outside the windows of the train, puzzled and curious.
“Huh?”
“The sky….”
“…?”
A young woman with short blonde hair and red eyes looks out the window.
“A blue… comet?”
Whoosh.
A blue comet streaks across the night sky.
“Wow.”
The girl clasps her hands together as she gazes at the comet.
“Please let me pass the Academy entrance exam…!”
They say if you make a wish quickly three times while looking at a comet, it will come true.
“Please let me pass…!”
She prayed earnestly, and just as she was about to utter the final wish.
“Please let me pass the Academ—”
A flash of black and yellow light shot toward the comet as it flew in a straight trajectory, striking it.
“…Huh?”
The comet, which had been falling toward the ground, was hit by the mysterious light and its path wavered.
And its new direction—
“…Is it coming here?”
The unsteady blue comet was now heading toward the train bound for the Academy.
“…?”
As everyone began to panic and prepare to evacuate, the girl noticed something strange in the middle of the comet.
“A person…?”
Whoosh.
(TLN: Join the Discord to see illustrations that haven’t yet appeared in chapters.)
