I Became the Only Non-mage in the Academy

Chapter 169: Festival (7)

-Do you know what the size of one’s inner image means?

In the past, Black Heaven once said this.

Black Heaven stood with arms crossed, gazing at the sky within my inner image.

‘It means you can expand your world more and manipulate its laws at will.’

-That’s correct. But my former master described the size of one’s inner image differently. He said it was the size of the world I possess.

‘……?’

-It’s essentially the same thing. You could think it’s just wordplay. In this world, martial artists and sorcerers, or those called heroes here, can distort laws according to the size of their inner image. However, when one transcends, the meaning changes.

Black Heaven spoke to me again.

-So, master, the way for you to become stronger is to fill this inner image. A sea the size of the world you live in, not just that vast sky that replaces the heavens. That sky is not good. It’s a force obtained by coercion. A force gained by being bound can eventually devour your inner image.

And now, once again.

‘A sky without the sun is too dull. How about that one?’

-It’s not bad. Of course, you can’t fully accept that black sun. It’s something filled with the power of life. Let’s replace it with the power you possess, the Black Flame Radiance Spirit.

Black Heaven laughed as she said this.

-Master, do you know what others called my previous master?

‘What is it?’

-An unreasonable being. A being that denies all power and goes against everything, the Heaven-Defying Being.

‘…….’

I looked up at the sky.

A black sun made of corrupt power was staring down at me.

-You don’t trust your power. Black Heaven and the Black Sea, both are strong forces. Even in the scattered memories left by my previous master, these two powers were dangerous enough to fit in both hands. Even in a weakened state.

Black Heaven pointed at the sun next to me.

-But the Heaven-Defying Power is not inferior to those. It’s a stronger force. The only reason you feel weak is because you haven’t yet filled the vessel of the Black Flame Radiance Spirit. The Heaven-Defying Power doesn’t fall behind them. Even combined, they can’t surpass the Heaven-Defying Power.

Black Heaven spoke to me with certainty.

I raised my hand to my chest, where my heart is. It has now been replaced by the Black Flame Radiance Spirit.

Thump.

The Black Flame Radiance Spirit throbbed as if agreeing with Black Heaven’s words.

Whoosh.

An unholy black flame that defied everything ignited.

Its size was different from before. It was massive, as if it intended to burn the sun.

Sizzle!

Destruction began to disappear. As soon as I released the Black Flame, it evaporated as if acknowledging its inferiority to the Black Flame.

‘……Really?’

Honestly, I thought Black Heaven was exaggerating.

Then I laughed bitterly. My Conceptual Stat, Heaven-Defying Power, was at 100. Even Kim Seo-hyun could only achieve this at the age of 25. And it’s easier to increase a special stat than a conceptual stat.

‘Well, it was difficult back then.’

I lifted Black Heaven.

The Black Flame responded. The black flames surrounding me flickered like shadows. It was the effect of containing the special stat, Spirit.

[The special stat, Struggle, responds.] The power left by the God of Struggle embedded itself in the Black Flame.

-Despair.

From above, a voice spoke.

It was in the form of a black sun. Tentacles gathered, crawling out, forming a grotesque and repulsive sun.

To beings from other realms, it grants life.

To beings from Earth, it brings death. My inner world’s distortion began.

‘Time is almost up.’

And it was proof of its overwhelming power. I converted all my strength into Black Flame. Everything that could be put in was poured in.

[Flame Demon (S-) is now subordinate to the Black Flame Radiance Spirit.]

The Black Flame Radiance Spirit screamed.

The middle dantian, corresponding to the core, creaked. Blood gushed out.

Crack.

There was a sound of something twisting. It wasn’t from the outside but from inside my body. I should have adjusted my body with the Black God Martial Arts, but I ignored it.

‘First, that guy.’

I clenched my teeth.

The task was clear. Release all the Black Flame from the Black Flame Radiance Spirit. My inner world responded. The Black Flame started to burn, eroding the world of my inner image.

‘Just once.’

The Black Flame burned my body.

It felt like a force beyond my capacity was filling my body with scorching heat. It was literal. The vessel of the Black Flame Radiance Spirit was vast, and my inner world was a force not permitted to me.

A power that consumed my lifespan.

It didn’t matter. There were many ways to recover. That was why Black Heaven and Eternal Heaven screamed but did not stop me. If I didn’t kill it, I would die.

Whoosh!

The vast Black Sea did not exist. My inner world became like purgatory. A space filled with Black Flame that burns everything.

In that place, a mass of black flesh descended.

It was a grotesque entity pretending to be the sun, filled with absolute power.

[Your understanding of the Conceptual Stat, Heaven-Defying Power, has increased. The Conceptual Stat, Heaven-Defying Power, has increased.]

[You have reached the limit of what the Conceptual Stat, Heaven-Defying Power, can contain. The Conceptual Stat, Heaven-Defying Power, does not increase further. You realize there is a power beyond this.]

[You have obtained a clue to the Absolute Stat.]

Something.

It felt like something was greatly expanding within my body. My understanding of the Heaven-Defying Power increased significantly.

-I will kill you! Foolish one trying to protect the false god and world!

I took a true step forward.

The black ground caved in.

Black Flame Radiance Spirit.

Black Heavenly Fire.

Flames that would burn the world and the heavens descended to the mortal realm.

-…What.

Just before the black sun and flames collided.

His battle experience so far judged it to be dangerous.

‘It can’t be.’

Himmler clenched his teeth. The black sun would save him. Therefore, he had to wish death upon this boy with his life. Or at least inflict a wound equivalent to that. Only then could he face the god with dignity.

The black sun and the fire that would burn the world and the heavens collided.

Thousands of tentacles, imbued with the life force that endlessly bestows life upon the otherworldly, began to burn.

The black flame that burns everything began to swallow the black sun, burning as if it intended to consume the world.

-…This can’t be happening!

Himmler cried out in despair.

Life was being incinerated. Heaven-Defying Power, the power that defies the heavens, left nothing behind. It was as if the purpose of existence was to burn everything demonic, consuming the black sun.

Himmler’s black sun, everything he had manifested, was burning.

‘This can’t be!’

It must not be.

This was a power not allowed to humans. It was a power that could be obtained by someone who has built up their strength and transcended. No, it was even beyond that.

-Oh, black sun!

Himmler brought out his life force.

He pulled out the souls amounting to millions that he had offered to the black sun. Hundreds of thousands of tentacles, greedily seeking life, appeared. This was the power he had built up until now. It was the tribute he offered to his great god, witnessed by the world.

And it was his last struggle.

The black flames that would burn the world engulfed everything: his life, his magical power, his status.

‘No…….’

This was a dangerous power.

It was a force different from the one that destroys demons. It was a power that reveals one’s existence and denies everything.

It burns everything, even status. It was not a story meant only for demons. It was an equal force for all beings, taking precedence over all power hierarchies.

It was truly a dangerous existence.

‘Inform the empire…….’

He had to inform them.

But it was impossible.

It had to burn everything.

His life, the life of a soldier who had devoted himself to the Nazi Empire and the black sun, ended here.

Thud.

Leaving only his neck, he fell to the ground. The black earth began to disappear. It signaled the end of his inner world. Himmler silently watched one being.

-So that’s how it is. Now I understand the words left by the god.

“Are you dying? Did you just realize you were being used?”

-Puhuh. Puhahahahaha!

Himmler laughed.

Yes, keep thinking that way. The being that handled destruction died. That death was sudden. Until last year, the being that formed the sea of the other world suddenly disappeared. Just like the sky of the other world.

Until now, he thought it was like that.

It wasn’t. Destruction and Destruction’s Heaven were quietly preparing. Hiding behind that being.

He felt many gazes.

The true gods of the other world. Their stature was similar to that of the black sun I served.

He felt other gazes as well.

The defeated beings inside the boundary who had lost to the true gods. He noticed the false gods were also sending their gazes.

‘They wouldn’t know.’

They would only know that they were defeated in the inner world.

Himmler saw a fragment of the power that denied everything.

They would empower the black sun. Since they are beings that desire the life of Earth together.

However, Himmler felt regret.

He wanted to gain the glory of being a pawn in that great work and witness it.

Meanwhile, Lee Seo-ha was confused.

‘What nonsense…….’

He looked at Himmler.

But he wasn’t lying. Come to think of it, he had spoken nonsense. That destruction had died.

‘No way…….’

The being that used destruction was alive in the game.

In the game, that being was different from others, merely existing. There was no such thing as emotion, just a drifting existence. Yet, it was a being that would descend to Earth and annihilate all life.

Lee Seo-ha closed his eyes for a moment.

They were beings that had to be killed anyway—these guys, those guys, and the ones outside the boundary.

‘For now, smile.’

He lifted Black Heaven. The long, rising blade slit Himmler’s throat.

A faint smile lingered on his face.

The inner world disappeared.

I felt that the things that made up my inner image were becoming complete.

‘This is the rank of status…….’

It was a different power than before. It was complete.

Just that alone increased my strength tremendously.

Ding.

[The world is astonished by the path you have walked so far.]

[Few know the path you have walked. Only you and the sword around you. You have saved countless lives.]

A blue screen flashed on my retina.

[Your epithet is Savior.]

[You have gained 10,000,000 achievement points.]

[……!]

[…….]

And numerous message windows greeted me.