- Master of Psychokinesis.
One who freely controls everything within the domain.
The moment that thought ended, a curse burst from Hyeonseung’s mouth.
"Hey, you bastard."
Nam Taemin turned around, bewildered.
Behind him stretched viscous blood, and the corpses of hundreds of monsters.
How could a man who knew the Abyss’s dangers so well not have cleared it?
"You bastard, look at me."
"...Are you talking to me?"
"Yeah, you son of a bitch."
Nam Taemin’s expression sank from bewilderment into coldness.
"I’m not the sort of man who takes such vulgar words from a stranger."
Killing intent flickered from Nam Taemin’s body.
Not a mere scowl, but killing intent—a skill registered as intermediate-grade.
A mental-type skill that stimulated the primal fear of those it touched, rendering them unable to even contemplate resistance.
It was a very convenient skill for teaching a lesson to some rude bastard who butted in out of nowhere, so he thought this would be enough, but—
「The trait 'Can’t Live Without Style!' activates.」
Hyeonseung made an incredulous expression and actually quickened his pace.
"Hah. Nam Taemin, no, Silbert."
Only then did Nam Taemin’s expression turn serious.
"Why didn’t you clear it? What if there had been even the slightest mistake?"
"You... who...?"
Having finally reached him, Hyeonseung grabbed Nam Taemin by the collar.
The flustered Nam Taemin’s pupils shook violently.
"Y-you, it couldn’t be..."
Pulling lightly on the grabbed collar,
"Yeah. Me."
The name whispered into his ear.
"Supreme Heavenly Demon."
Above Hyeonseung’s head, blue flames rose, and beneath those flames bright as broad daylight—
「Skill - 'Fire' activates.」
Strength left Nam Taemin’s legs, and he staggered.
* * *
- This confirms it. The Supreme Heavenly Demon has lost his powers.
Hahaha...
Who was the bastard spouting such nonsense?
He felt like dragging that man here and making him sit right beside him.
'Lost his powers? Who? Him?'
Flames so bright they could blind the eyes.
The massive blue inferno rising behind the Supreme Heavenly Demon illuminated the empty city like a sun.
The Supreme Heavenly Demon had not failed to grow stronger.
He simply hadn’t needed to.
'Could the benefit of being rank one... have been the transfer of his original abilities...?'
Under the circumstances, it seemed almost certain.
The Supreme Heavenly Demon’s original ability was 'Ruler of Flames.'
And what was visible to his eyes perfectly matched the Supreme Heavenly Demon’s appearance from those days.
'Then the reason he didn’t raise his fame... was because there was simply no need...?'
If he had inherited his former absolute power intact, why would something like fame points matter?
He was already a supreme existence.
Even with such a fireball floating in the sky, all he felt was a mild warmth.
That made it even more horrifying.
Just how high was his mastery over flame?
"Explain. Silbert."
The halo was so bright that he could barely make out a figure, so Nam Taemin pulled himself together.
The Supreme Heavenly Demon cherished the Ventaiel setting no less than he himself did.
He must not make a mistake in his answer.
"I prepared for two years. I can guarantee there were no mistakes. So please, just calm down and listen to me..."
"I didn’t step in because I trusted you. And yet this is how you stab me in the back."
"No, no! We thought this was the best course of action! I’m telling the truth, so please, believe me."
"Best, the best course..."
The Supreme Heavenly Demon’s face shot forward, stopping right in front of Nam Taemin.
Those unwavering eyes stared directly at him.
The blue flames consuming the background looked down upon him.
"Can you be certain that was the best course?"
Because of that, Nam Taemin dared not be certain.
Certainly, until just before meeting the Supreme Heavenly Demon, he had been convinced this was the best course, but he could no longer think so.
Beneath this blue flame, anything would seem small and insignificant.
"As expected, you can’t answer."
But he had to answer somehow.
He didn’t want to anger the Supreme Heavenly Demon any further. He couldn’t afford to lose any more of his trust.
"So what happened is..."
"Tch."
Thus he had tried to open his mouth and offer some excuse, but—
"I’ll come find you soon, Silbert."
As he said that, the Supreme Heavenly Demon’s figure blurred.
"Then you’d better have a plausible plan ready."
Startled back to his senses by that figure fading as if it would vanish any moment, Silbert offered a final question, but—
"D-does that mean you’re going to start moving in earnest...?"
There was no reply.
He had vanished completely.
So had the Supreme Heavenly Demon. So had the blue sun that had dominated the sky.
"H-hahaha..."
Strength drained from Nam Taemin’s body, and he slumped to the ground.
In an instant, night had returned, but the blue flame was seared into his mind and would never fade.
"Even a bolt from the blue isn’t this sudden..."
The encounter was brief, but the shock was like a storm.
The roughly one minute spent facing him had been hundreds of times more nerve-wracking than fighting Abyss monsters.
His perfectly neat clothes were wrinkled and disheveled, and his hands were soaked with sweat.
When was the last time he had been so disheveled?
He smoothed his wrinkled clothes, dusted himself off, and rose.
Reaching up to fix his disheveled hair, he felt his slightly singed bangs and got goosebumps once more.
'If he had raised the temperature... even slightly.'
If he had willed it, what burned would not have been his bangs, but this entire city.
And belatedly, the final words he had left behind came to mind again.
- I’ll come find you soon. Silbert.
Nam Taemin let out a sigh that welled up from the very depths.
"I’m really screwed."
* * *
「All Abyss Gates have been annihilated.」
「Returning.」
His vision blurred, and when he came to, he was in a dim mountain valley.
A familiar vegetable garden.
He had returned to the place where he had last been.
'...There was a lot I needed to ask.'
Thinking about it, everything was absurd.
Silbert was supposed to be trapped in this world, unable to leave—so how was he active in Korea under the name Nam Taemin?
Which meant...
'Could the so-called First Awakeners all be... Rankers?'
If this assumption was true, it meant they could travel back and forth between Earth and here.
...Impossible.
Hadn’t he himself tried every possible method to logout?
He had even scoured the point shop, wondering if he could buy a logout with fame points.
'There is one method I haven’t tried, though...'
One method he had only thought of but never attempted.
It was to try dying.
'...Forget it. It’s not like I have any reason to go back that badly.'
It had been a while since he returned to Earth, but honestly, he hadn’t felt much.
There was no one he needed to protect, no one he wanted to see.
"Come to think of it, I forgot about the old man. Is he worried?"
To him, perhaps this world felt more like home.
"What excuse should I give... Need to say I met someone from the village and went somewhere?"
Whatever he said, the old codger would be quite sulky.
Well, if he called him 'Master,' the old man would immediately be over the moon.
"Shall I head in for now?"
As Hio turned to leave the garden, what entered his vision was—
"..."
An alien pillar of flame rising in the distance.
* * *
The moment Hio was forcibly logged out and sent to Earth.
Berga was proudly gazing at two books he had made in his underground research lab.
The hand carefully stroking them as if they were treasures stopped at the loud gurgle of his stomach.
"Ahem. Hio. Is it not ready yet?"
Berga came up to the first floor calling for Hio, but Hio was nowhere to be seen.
What was taking him so long in that small vegetable garden.
Berga, who had been contemplating going back downstairs, decided to just wait a bit.
Wasn’t today a good day?
The face of his disciple, who had run out with an excited expression at the news that he would teach him a second magic, was vivid in his mind.
"Hehehe. He must be so happy."
For someone with such talent, his body must have been itching to learn other magic, yet he had held back and studied diligently—a praiseworthy fellow.
Because this disciple had suddenly appeared to him, who had lived his whole life obsessed with magic, he felt all the more proud.
If only there was one thing to worry about...
"- A mage? Hehehehe! I never took you for the crazy type!"
"- A mage? Those fellows who can’t even earn their keep and just pretend to be smart?"
"- Berga. I’m sorry, but you’re too weak. Frankly speaking, you’re useless. So..."
The perception of mages that had already spread far and wide.
It had already been at its worst when he was young, and now mages were practically treated as lunatics.
Despite striving his whole life to change it, nothing had changed at all.
All that had grown was his patience for contempt and mockery.
"...This place has been here a long time too. Longer than me."
He had heard that it was his master’s master.
Or perhaps even before that, this mage’s house had existed; he did not know how old the place truly was.
Berga looked around the room, immersed in old memories.
It was Berga’s master who had saved the life of an orphan begging to survive.
Garrett Pavlenko.
Berga’s master, who called himself a great mage and brimmed with pride for magic.
Following him, Berga learned magic and traveled the world, and thanks to that, he learned how much mages were despised.
Even his master, who had always been dignified before him, often put on a servile expression before others to earn money.
And Berga was no different. He had to eat and live.
"...But at least Hio."
He would not let his own disciple live like that.
The boy was undoubtedly a genius who could overturn the perception of mages; he could accomplish anything he set his mind to.
"But why is he taking so long?"
It was long past the time he should have returned, yet the disciple who had gone to the garden showed no signs of coming back.
"Tch. Making an old man move about."
In the end, Berga raised his aged body and went outside.
The warm autumn weather enveloped him.
Arriving at the garden, feeling the softness of dead leaves crunching underfoot.
"Disciple! What are you doing!"
He shouted as he entered the garden, but he felt no presence at all.
The only thing he saw was the basket Hio had taken with him.
A single basket rolling on the ground, the vegetables and fruits it had contained spilled out.
"...Hio?"
His heart dropped.
But since he could not understand it no matter how much he thought, he stopped and pondered.
There was nothing dangerous nearby.
There was a Kobold territory, but they were creatures that almost never came outside their domain, were they not?
Only the basket was rolling about, and the surroundings were not disturbed, so it was not a beast attack.
Then had Hio run away of his own will?
Why?
Because magic study was boring?
"...That can’t be."
There was no reason for someone who had been so excited to run.
It was not as if he had been forcibly kept there in the first place.
Then there was only one assumption left.
"The lad... must have spotted a hare and chased after it in a hurry. Hehe..."
He must have thrown the basket aside in a rush at the thought of eating meat.
Yes. That had to be it.
Wasn’t every circumstance saying as much?
"Hehe... that lad."
Berga gathered the spilled vegetables.
"Hehe..."
In the laughter he habitually let out, somehow a great deal of anxiety seeped through.