Chapter 193

‘Magic of Defying Heaven…!’

Transcender Lil’s eyes flickered.

Magic that seemed to defy the heavens, violating the natural order.

It didn’t mean that Heaven’s Wrath, which should fall from the sky, was surging up from the ground.

Kuuuuooooooo!

Chireuk! Chirureureuk!

The magic was alive.

Violent lightning converged, taking the form of a giant beast.

It circled Park Chanwoo, lingering around him.

Everything it brushed was scorched, and lightning scattered through the entire laboratory.

Yet it was hard to call it ordinary lightning magic.

That enormous, murderous lightning beast—

Magic could take countless forms, but she had never seen one like this.

‘It’s like a fierce god.’

A lightning god, ominous to the core.

But the Heaven’s Wrath Park Chanwoo had recited was nothing like this.

Heaven’s Wrath.

A punishment from the heavens in name.

Grand as it sounded, it was usually just ordinary lightning-type magic.

Whoever cast it, it took the same shape.

Yet from Park Chanwoo’s mouth, it manifested as something entirely different.

Like true Heaven’s Wrath.

Like a beast sent down by the heavens to punish a sinner.

‘It’s magic imbued with Dragon Speech.’

Dragon Speech.

The Authority of language used by dragons.

That was why it was magic of Defying Heaven.

Words that created phenomena—and twisted them.

But how could the Authority of dragons burst from the mouth of a human?

And it wasn’t even ordinary Dragon Speech.

A dragon’s words grew stronger as it aged.

If he could shape a lightning beast with words alone, it was clearly Ancient Dragon… or an even higher level of Dragon Speech.

Sssssss!

Soon, the lightning beast, having lost its target, vanished as if evaporating.

“Is this how you’re supposed to use it?”

―…….

Lil stared at Park Chanwoo in silence.

He was the type to restrain his emotions.

But when it came to magic, his eyes shone.

The only time his expression truly shifted was when it was related to magic.

Lil thought.

‘A pure, unadulterated desire for magic.’

He was that kind of human.

At least in magic, he was like an innocent child.

Long ago, she must have had that same desire.

But at some point, completing magic became a mission.

Interest, fun, even small sparks of passion had long since died.

Yet the human before her was different.

His passion kept swelling, growing larger with time.

That meant he hadn’t used Dragon Speech intentionally.

‘…When magic power is reversed, the power of words is strengthened. It surpasses simple language and reaches Dragon Speech comparable to an Ancient Dragon. In other words.’

What did that imply?

Did Park Chanwoo have the heart of an Ancient Dragon?

But if he did, his pure stats couldn’t be 1.

Above all, a mere ‘Dragon Heart’ wouldn’t allow Dragon Speech.

Dragon Speech was a species trait of the dragon race.

And the traces of ‘Wish’ she sensed from him were unrelated to Dragon Speech.

There was only one conclusion.

‘Is Park Chanwoo’s essence—his soul—magic itself?’

If a god of magic existed, was that god dwelling inside him?

Reversing magic power meant tracing it back to its essence.

It was going against the current to reach the first spring.

By reaching that essence, Park Chanwoo’s latent potential had surfaced.

It was so bizarre that only this explanation fit.

“…I guess this isn’t how you’re supposed to use it.”

―……That’s right. You used it correctly.

Lil shook her head and corrected him.

It was simply that Park Chanwoo’s magic was unique.

No matter what she taught, she couldn’t predict what form it would take.

Could this even be called proper instruction?

Magic that appeared completely different from the teacher’s intent.

―Do you know that magic power has stages?

Her worry didn’t last long.

There wasn’t much time left.

She needed to make him understand as much as possible.

Park Chanwoo still couldn’t handle high-level magic in this state.

“Are you talking about the names based on the concentration of magic power?”

Park Chanwoo asked, serious.

When the concentration of magic power exceeded 100%, it was called ‘Divine Power.’

But Lil shook her head.

―The first stage is ‘Awakening.’ The second stage is ‘Flow.’ The third stage is ‘Cohesion.’ These are the three basic stages of magic power that make up magic. You have now passed ‘Flow.’

“You mean I’ve only passed the second stage?”

―Most mortals stop at the first stage, ‘Awakening.’ Those who can reverse magic power are rare.

Only when reversing magic power becomes possible does one settle into the second stage.

“How many stages are there in total?”

―Nine stages. From the fourth stage onward are advanced stages: Resonance, Creation, and Domination. After the seventh stage comes the ‘Stage of Transcendence,’ which includes Transcendence, Divinity, and Genesis.

…A long way to go.

But Park Chanwoo smiled.

The more walls there were, the more he had left to break.

“What stage has Master reached?”

―I have reached the end of the seventh stage, ‘Transcendence.’

The Stage of Transcendence.

She had reached the first step of the highest-level stage.

That alone made her a Transcender—and allowed her to complete magic that resonated throughout the Abyss.

He couldn’t help being curious.

Thirst surged, his mouth going dry, and he blurted it out.

“…Do you know what stage Dragon God Sephiro has reached?”

―Sephiro’s shell is at the same ‘Transcendence’ stage as me, but its true form has reached the ninth stage, ‘Genesis.’

She spoke as if it were nothing, but it was a shocking statement.

She was clearly separating the shell from the true form.

In other words, Lil knew the identity of that insane ‘Transcendent Dragon.’

【I will give you the greatest despair.】

【Humans, disappear.】

The nightmare resurfaced.

…A single word: disappear.

With that one word, humanity was destroyed.

Everything turned to dust.

Decades of effort vanished in an instant.

All the sacrifices made to overcome the Abyss became meaningless.

…The ninth stage, Genesis.

For a being that had reached the pinnacle of magic, destroying a world would be effortless.

‘Can I overcome it?’

It was still too far.

No matter how he looked up, he couldn’t see the end.

He had only just settled into the second stage.

If even Lil was at the seventh, when would he ever surpass the ninth?

Then—

―If we only consider the stages of magic power, Sephiro is undoubtedly an ideal being. But that’s why it cannot surpass the ninth stage.

Lil spoke abruptly.

It made him tilt his head.

Wasn’t the ninth stage the end?

“…What does that mean?”

―Because it was born a dragon, it sees and handles magic power too easily. It doesn’t try to understand the essence of magic power. It uses it like a slave, so it has no foundation.

Foundation. Basics.

Sephiro would laugh if it heard this.

But Lil’s tone was unwavering.

And Park Chanwoo agreed with that much.

‘That bastard ignored the basic magic I learned.’

That was Sephiro’s weakness.

Because it ignored Park Chanwoo, who wielded only basic magic, its heart was seized.

If it could wield all kinds of high-level magic with a single word, would it ever respect basic magic?

“But didn’t you say magic power has nine stages?”

―There is one more stage that integrates all stages. The completion of true meaning—the hope Sephiro desperately desires. You could even say the only reason it takes interest is to reach that stage.

Sephiro thoroughly ignores anything outside its interest.

And what earns that interest is whatever can lead to the ‘completion of true meaning.’

“What do you call the stage of completion?”

The ninth stage was Genesis.

It already sounded like the power to create a world.

It was hard to even imagine something beyond that.

Lil finally answered.

―The end of phenomena. It is called ‘Doomsday.’

Park Chanwoo was stunned by the unexpected name.

Lil continued.

―Only the ‘Creator’ who created the Abyss has reached Doomsday. Sephiro, who does not try to understand the essence of magic power or the true nature of the Abyss, can never reach that realm.

At the mention of the Creator, Park Chanwoo shrugged once.

“Is there… really a Creator who made the Abyss?”

―There was.

“If there was? Doesn’t exist now?”

―It has been lost.

Lost.

Gone.

“Then is the ‘Easter Egg’ really a trace left by the Creator?”

―Easter Egg? That’s a name I’ve never heard before. Even we Transcenders don’t know much about the Creator, aside from the fact that it suddenly disappeared. Do you happen to have one?

He had believed the Easter Egg was a trace left by the Creator.

Not just believed—he was convinced.

But even Transcenders didn’t know the Easter Egg.

After a brief pause, Park Chanwoo pulled [Easter Egg (001)] from his inventory.

“…This is it.”

―Hmm… A strange egg. Too crude to claim it was left by the Creator. I don’t know.

Lil clearly seemed to be seeing it for the first time as well.

If even Transcenders didn’t know, then almost no one truly understood the Easter Egg.

‘Sephiro might know.’

It might even possess one.

It was one of the beings that had explored the Abyss the most.

―And.

Transcender Lil’s voice lowered.

Park Chanwoo turned back to her.

Hwaaa!

Lil raised a hand, and a small shooting star appeared on her palm.

The essence of the ancient texts.

The magic manifested through it.

She gazed at the light and spoke.

―My magic is to reach the final completion, ‘Doomsday.’