Thorns suddenly surged from the ground.
Not long after, a woman appeared from those thorns.
It was unclear when she had revealed herself.
The woman, clad in a black dress with black hair, sat astride the slanting thorn and laughed.
“What is this…!”
A specter showed signs of confusion, and the woman tilted her head with a faint smile.
No one knew when she had appeared, yet there were the thorns that had suddenly sprouted and pierced through over a dozen specters simultaneously.
Among them, what startled the specters most was the woman herself.
Even with their superior detection abilities, they failed to notice the moment she appeared.
Their quick-thinking ability led them to guess that the woman had used spatial teleportation, and they seemed ready to respond by gathering mana.
The only one who had grasped the truth was the wizard-priest of The Immovable One.
The woman hadn’t used spatial teleportation.
She had been there all along.
She was as good as that substance itself.
That black material forming the thorns.
This was a substance that had never existed in Geladridion before, a universal substance capable of mimicking any energy or material.
Beyond replicating human forms, if it could consume something, it could mock even divine powers with ease.
Its adaptability far surpassed imagination.
Upon seeing Lewena’s thorns rise, the specter, who was both a priest of time manipulation and an imperial manifestation school wizard, deduced its fragments.
This was dangerous.
It needed immediate handling.
If not dealt with now, the specters might be completely wiped out here.
Having made this assumption, the priest immediately acted.
A tongue that had killed countless humans began another incantation.
Fingers that had taken down twice as many wizards formed new hand signs while weaving the spell.
As if knitting, interlocking fingers produced words of mana so potent that uttering them caused pain.
What emerged was a powerful manifestation school spell.
Its name was Solar Formation.
Considered one of the strongest spells in the manifestation school’s fire category, it specialized in widespread annihilation.
To this, acceleration and deceleration were alternately applied.
Quick onset, long-lasting effect.
With the intention of burning away the mysterious omnipotent material and its essence entirely, the wizard prepared the spell.
The distance was great, and the specters blocking the way were many, but they couldn’t interfere with the spell.
Even the warrior who had just moments ago displayed unimaginable speed stood quietly with a sword of black and purple hues in hand.
Thus, completing the spell would mean victory for our side.
At least, the wizard thought so until the very last moment.
Until a certain voice reached his ear.
“You manipulate time, don’t you?”
Suddenly chilled to the bone, a voice filled with apparent amusement echoed.
“Can a time manipulator emerge from eternal time?”
Before the wizard could grasp the situation, the woman pointed at him with a gentle gesture.
Regardless of whatever trick it was, the wizard attempted to counteract it first by launching the spell.
From the moment he saw Lewena, the magical battle was already his defeat.
His mind had already been engraved with magic.
“Solar—”
As he completed the spell by voicing its name and extended his hand,
his time stopped.
Rather, his time slowed down.
His extending hand moved excruciatingly slow, unable to progress no matter how much he pushed forward.
The completed spell and gathered mana merely wandered around his heart, unable to be unleashed.
The priest, still inexperienced with his own powers, didn’t even realize that what was happening wasn’t truly the slowing of time.
Thus, the wizard paused.
He neither died nor lost consciousness.
He simply halted.
Unable to accelerate or decelerate time, his perception of time became grotesquely distorted.
His perception of time slowed immensely, restricting even his thoughts.
An illusion magic surpassing comprehension.
This was Lewena’s true strength, the magic that earned her the title of Black Witch.
The collapsing wizard.
While the surrounding specters panicked trying to protect him, Lewena had already whispered beside Aslan.
“Do as Hyunwoo wishes.”
An ambiguous statement. Yet, Aslan didn’t hesitate, wielding Abyssal Sword and Purity as he charged forward.
Following Aslan’s charge and almost simultaneously, the figure of Lewena disappeared, and Aslan accelerated across the arena.
With the sudden and chaotic events unfolding, the specters, though heroes themselves, reacted swiftly.
They ran toward the charging Aslan.
Because they knew it was their best course of action.
Aslan’s speed remained invisible, but they predicted his attacks using luck and skill, just as Aslan anticipated theirs.
Here it comes. A diagonal downward slash. The weapon used is a pure white sword with cutting power beyond measure.
Don’t block; deflect with weapons.
Cross-block without cutting power, engaging handles to minimize damage and counterattack.
Thinking and moving thus, the specter faced Aslan.
A martial arts priest specter swinging a mace rushed toward Aslan, who wielded two swords.
In the moment the two heroes passed each other, Aslan explosively charged into the specter’s view.
And the sweeping diagonal downward slash.
When the priest tried to block the attack with the mace’s center of gravity,
the Aslan’s form shattered upon contact with the handle, revealing the real Aslan beyond.
“What—”
Sshh!
The genuine diagonal downward slash. There was no way to block after swinging the handle.
The blade slicing through from the clavicle, cutting through the lungs, splitting the heart, and exiting through the side.
The martial arts priest split into two by the excessive cutting power collapses after futilely swinging his weapon.
Though shocked by the sight, the specters still rushed toward Aslan.
However, the first to greet them wasn’t Aslan.
Illusion School Magic.
At first glance, it seemed powerful, but in reality, it wasn’t.
Powerful illusions reveal themselves as illusions.
Illusions disconnected from the situation can be noticed quickly.
Once noticed, the effect is minimal since the intended deception becomes obvious.
Moreover, the more potent the illusion, the more explosively it consumes mana.
Therefore, illusions are shown without waste.
The key lay there.
Lewena’s illusions show possible events as illusions.
Deceiving in layers, manipulating realistic images, misaligning timing, and disturbing senses.
Ultimately, they deceive.
“Guh…!”
Rushing Aslan’s illusions. Behind them came Aslan’s attacks.
The illusion of a dagger thrown by Aslan. Attempting to block it results in being stabbed by the real Aslan coming from the side.
An illusion hiding Aslan’s form while suggesting a swing from behind. Naturally turning around leads to decapitation by Aslan.
Showing an illusion of kicking while locking weapons. Lowering your body to counter results in having your head crushed by the Dragon King’s fist.
Throwing a real dagger, mistaking it for an illusion and not blocking leads to having your leg swung and neck cut using Heart Piercing.
Thus flowing, the specters had no means to respond.
Suspecting illusions and hesitating due to paranoia, Aslan wasted no hesitation in killing.
Chaaak!
Clashing swords. Leveraging natural weight shifts to press down and slice through the weapon.
Kaang, Chaak!
Deciding to attack regardless of whether it’s an illusion, ignoring it leads to being easily blocked by Purity while the Dragon King’s fist kills.
The specters’ perceptions gradually twisted.
They couldn’t distinguish where the truth ended and the lie began.
They could only respond with their best efforts.
Thus, the balance of the fight heavily tilted.
“How surprising…”
A Knight of Love, taking advantage of the opening Aslan created, barely felled a specter in admiration.
“Tch, good expressions…”
The female knight of dragons recovered the remains of the deceased Golden Falcon knight during the battle.
Seemingly at ease, the specters aligned with Omul had no time to worry about others.
Attempting to stop Aslan alone drained their focus.
Naturally, Aslan had plenty of room to maneuver.
“Fire, burnaaaah!”
A specter enveloped in flames charged, scattering fire in all directions.
Without Aslan needing to respond separately, Lewena created a wall from the shadows to block the attacker.
The momentarily halted specter—an undoubtedly wild wizard shape.
Aslan’s Abyssal Sword transformed into a long spear, piercing through the wall and the specter’s heart, causing it to collapse without a sound.
Behind Aslan approached an assassin, becoming transparent.
The assassin, revealed by the Abyss spreading over them, had their waist instantly sliced by Aslan’s Purity drawing a half-circle.
Faster than the divided assassin hitting the ground, Aslan’s sword and Abyss moved.
Lewena assisted Aslan by scattering illusions, manipulating shadows to hinder and finish off the specters.
“It’s been a while since we’ve coordinated like this.”
Amidst the chaos, Lewena’s voice resonated from Aslan’s sword.
Indeed, it had been a while since Aslan fought alongside Lewena.
And this Lewena, fighting together after such a long time, matched perfectly with Aslan, astonishingly so.
Aslan and Lewena had adventured together.
During those adventures, Aslan realized Lewena had never once disappointed him.
Thus, Aslan and Lewena fought silently.
No words were necessary; Lewena understood Aslan well, and Aslan trusted Lewena.
Accelerated by Hell’s wind and speed magic, Aslan had already escaped the specters’ perception.
Lewena’s illusion magic twisted their perception.
This fight was as easy as slicing through blindfolded opponents.
An utterly unfair fight.
A massacre involving priests, heroes, evil gods, and villains alike.
At the end of this massacre, what Aslan had anticipated occurred.
Kagagag, Kwaajik!
A specter charging in, swinging their weapon.
Blocking the attack with Purity, Aslan transformed his left-hand Abyssal Sword into an axe and smashed it into the specter’s head.
In that instant, Aslan felt an odd sensation.
That intense oddity. Instinct-driven crisis awareness.
It was as if an invisible, colossal entity was squeezing the world.
A feeling of the world being mashed, twisted, tangled, torn apart, and reattached within an infinitesimally short moment.
This fleeting sensation could not be dismissed as coincidence.
“…Lewena.”
Without responding, Lewena conjured countless armaments from Aslan’s shadow, creating a wave that sent the specters retreating with cries of pain.
“Hmm.”
A sound of interest emanated. Lewena’s tone confirmed that Aslan’s sensation was accurate.
Someone was altering the rules, the framework of the world.
Who that someone was was obvious.
As Aslan glared at the specters, the altered rules descended upon them.
“Ugh, a, weak, weaken pro, ohohohoh!”
The body of a specter who had survived being slashed multiple times by Aslan violently contorted.
Countless animal body parts grew on and fell off his body repeatedly.
“Consciousness takeover process initiated. Effective immediately, control rights of designated operator Freden are revoked.”
A specter with some mechanical body bulked up by devouring corpses.
Girik, Girilik…
Priest specters who were once cut down by Aslan or driven insane by Lewena slowly rose.
Their bodies rapidly healed, and their eyes, which had lost consciousness and reason, gradually filled with something else.
There were no exceptions in this entire series of changes.
Every specter standing against Aslan here was twisted.
What enabled this was Divine Power.
Suddenly thickening, it felt to the highly fortunate Aslan as if his neck was being squeezed.
An amount so substantial that it would have made sending anyone to Geladridridion impossible under normal circumstances.
Aslan guessed what had happened.
“Hyunwoo.”
Lewena softly called Aslan’s name.
“The Dark Ram has come and gone.”
Confirming Aslan’s suspicion.
The unprecedented rise in the rate of priesthood and the enhanced capabilities of priests since Aslan’s resurrection were possible due to none other than the world rules set by the Dark Ram himself.
“Looks like I freed the constraints of Divine Power because I’m with Hyunwoo.”
Now, those rules were breaking down.
From now on, priests would far exceed previous ones in capability.
Each specter priest facing Aslan now would possess strength comparable to former high-ranking priests.
“But then…”
Yet, there was no extreme caution or anxiety in Aslan and Lewena’s expressions or voices.
On the contrary, Aslan spoke indifferently.
“Lewena.”
Ordinarily, it would have been insurmountable, with little to no chance of victory.
“Yep.”
But with Lewena and Abyss in Aslan’s possession, it wouldn’t be so.
“Release the Abyss.”
“How much?”
As Aslan raised the Abyssal Sword to his face in a gesture akin to a sword salute, the sword writhed darkly.
Feeling that writhing, Aslan opened his mouth.
“All of it.”
With those words, Lewena smiled.
“This will be fun.”
Then, the Abyssal Sword swirled as if consuming space.
The sky, glowing blue, turned black as the Abyss spread over the arena like a dome covering everything.
Aslan’s shadow stretched, greedily swallowing everything.
At the center, Aslan summoned the system window.
[Aslan]
[Strength 2] [Agility ■] [Health 2]
[Mana 16] [Willpower 10] [Luck 10]
Pressing firmly on the mana without hesitation, the flow of mana and omnipotence throughout his body.
Feeling that, Aslan erased the system window as if wiping it off and spoke.
“Dominate.”
In the world painted black, Aslan’s voice reverberated.
The efficiency of unique magic is dictated by mana.
And Aslan’s mana had already reached the divine realm.
Dominance, reaching the divine realm, freely controlled the world within its grasp.
Kwarrlrlrlr!
Aslan’s Domination.
Lewena’s assistance.
These two elements meshed, and the Abyss filling the arena joyfully roared.
Within the omnipotence of holding the world in his hands, Aslan exhaled deeply.
