Chapter 93
Through various means of examining the particles, Park Chan-woo realized—
These particles were the smallest units that composed magic.
They were the clue to creating new magic.
But humanity had never created magic.
They had only used what was already made.
Everyone believed that the creation of magic was the sole domain of the dragon race.
However—
‘I can make it.’
So thought Park Chan-woo.
This corrupted [Innate Mana]… if handled properly, couldn’t it form a new structure?
If he connected the dots, laid down lines, and formed surfaces…
Wouldn’t a completely different form of magic be born?
The problem was time.
There were barely 20 minutes left.
No matter how gifted a creator he was, inventing new magic within that time was impossible.
And yet, Park Chan-woo did not give up.
His mind was working faster than ever.
‘I have to reconstruct the particles.’
These particles were arranged according to a specific rule.
They followed the flow of mana that composed the ‘berserk Ajos.’
Right now, he was surrounded by the very existence of Ajos.
He would reconstruct that arrangement.
But this wasn’t something that could be done with simple thoughts.
It had already been altered.
The original mana pattern and properties of Ajos must have been changed.
Touching it carelessly would cause an explosion.
Thus, a more pressing question remained.
‘What attached itself?’
What had clung to Ajos beyond the Zero Realm?
He needed to find out.
Only then could he understand the true intent of the God of Offerings.
Experiencing the world beyond Level 99 couldn’t have been the god’s only intention.
There was more.
Something deeper that Park Chan-woo had yet to notice.
He carefully examined the particles again and again.
Black and red particles.
Among them, the black ones belonged to Ajos, and the red ones were from something else.
‘I can’t sense any mana from the red particles.’
They clung to the black particles and siphoned mana from them.
As if it were their own.
What were they?
No—
…Who?
‘If these are also Innate Mana, then it means they’re from a being entirely different from Ajos.’
Not a living creature, but certainly a “being.”
He examined the black and red particles separately and thoroughly.
As a result, a peculiar mana pattern emerged.
For some reason, it felt incredibly familiar.
Soon after, he understood why.
‘…It’s identical to my mana pattern.’
What a joke.
The pattern that emerged when he cast spells—exactly the same.
Every mage had a unique mana pattern.
Among 100 mages, you’d find 100 different patterns.
Even among a thousand or ten thousand, no two patterns would match completely.
And yet, the red particles displayed a pattern that matched his 100%.
But they were not his Innate Mana.
Even so, they showed the exact same pattern…
‘The Sealed God.’
Park Chan-woo thought deeply.
When the name of the Sealed God was uttered, Ajos became a sacrifice.
It activated automatically.
But simply saying the name shouldn’t trigger the system.
Offering a sacrifice required conditions.
And Ajos did not meet those conditions.
Yet he became a sacrifice.
‘Wait a minute.’
…What if the God of Offerings hadn’t intervened?
What if it had nothing to do with the god’s will?
What if he had simply misunderstood?
In other words—
‘If he became a sacrifice on his own.’
It was possible.
Even if the conditions weren’t fully met, if the subject willingly became a sacrifice, the requirements could be loosened.
Before the Reaper of Oaths, Ajos had given up.
His soul had surrendered.
He feared Park Chan-woo from the depths of his being.
Yet he hadn’t spoken it aloud consciously.
He didn’t say it—yet his defeat was sealed, and his soul was deeply affected.
The Zero Realm.
The Negative World.
And the red particles with a matching mana pattern.
Ajos’s submission, his voluntary sacrificial transformation.
All of this pointed to—
Only one possible explanation.
‘The Holy Grail of the Sealed God.’
…Only the Holy Grail of the Sealed God made sense.
But Park Chan-woo had lost the Holy Grail.
It had disappeared when he regressed.
He had thought to search for it again one day.
Could it be… that wasn’t necessary?
The world Ajos experienced was undoubtedly the negative realm.
But what if the “Negative Realm” wasn’t somewhere else?
What if it had happened in connection with Park Chan-woo?
Yes.
If examined closely, that was correct.
The Reaper of Oaths only oversaw pacts between two entities.
Only what existed between the pact maker and the opponent was involved.
Naturally, if Ajos experienced a [Minus Level], he must have been connected to Park Chan-woo.
And the meaning behind all of this—
‘…It’s inside me?’
Park Chan-woo looked down at his chest.
There was a possibility he possessed the Holy Grail of the Sealed God.
That it lay dormant within him.
He made his conclusion.
Immediately, he reached out toward the red particles.
He separated them all and placed them in his hand.
Gulp!
And swallowed them in one go.
Unlike the black particles, they did not bounce out.
They were absorbed instantly, as if they had always belonged to him.
Brrrrrr!
Park Chan-woo trembled all over.
Heat surged, and a headache that threatened to drive him mad hit him.
But he didn’t lose track of the red particles’ path.
They entered through his mouth, traveled directly to his head, and were absorbed there.
The center of his head.
At once, Park Chan-woo gathered all his mana to that spot.
Then a faint outline began to emerge.
‘Unbelievable.’
He could see it.
It was unmistakably there.
The Holy Grail of the Sealed God.
Not a physical object—but as a form of mana, it existed in that place.
And the moment he recognized it—
[You have acquired the ‘Holy Grail of the Sealed God.’]
[From the ‘Holy Grail of the Sealed God,’ the ‘Dimensional Encounter, Charpham (-10Lv)’ has emerged.]
[‘Charpham (-10Lv)’ will be sealed again in the ‘Holy Grail of the Sealed God’ after 15 minutes and 20 seconds.]
Dimensional Encounter, Charpham!
This was the identity of the being that had clung to Gatekeeper Ajos.
Charpham had been sealed inside the Holy Grail of the Sealed God.
The -10 level was troubling, but it was likely a realm within the Grail that Park Chan-woo had no knowledge of.
Charpham must have been one of the “nameless” things Ajos saw.
Then—
【Give me a body! A body! I don’t want to be sealed again!】
A voice echoed from within him.
It shook his eardrums.
Dimensional Encounter—Charpham!
His voice was clear.
And now he was begging for a body.
‘Is that why he clung to Ajos?’
But Ajos had gone berserk.
Likely because of Charpham.
Ajos’s body couldn’t contain Charpham, and so it ruptured.
The red particles were desperately resisting being pulled back into the Grail.
Park Chan-woo considered—
‘If I make a body that suits him, will he follow me?’
【Of course I will! I shall serve you! I swear it with everything I have!】
A desperate plea.
He was doing anything he could to avoid being sealed again.
Seeing Charpham’s desperation, it was clear Ajos had no hope of survival anyway.
Park Chan-woo turned his gaze back to the black particles.
Ajos’s [Innate Mana].
Could he reconstruct these into a body?
‘If that were possible, it would be the ultimate alchemy.’
Impossible.
You couldn’t reconstruct a body that had already disappeared.
However—
‘If it doesn’t have to be a living body…’
Then he could.
Something that wasn’t a living creature, but could house Charpham’s soul.
…Magic.
A smile appeared on Park Chan-woo’s lips.
He knew exactly what he had to do—how to make it happen.
The Holy Grail of the Sealed God held many unknowns, and Charpham was only one of them.
Even so, he had driven Ajos to madness.
Reviving Ajos would only lead to the same result.
He couldn’t revive him—but he understood the method.
Boldly, Park Chan-woo began rearranging the black particles.
Then, he interspersed the red particles among the black.
But Charpham’s mana absorbed the mana of the surrounding black particles.
So he positioned the red ones just beyond their absorption range.
【What are you doing? Why arrange the [Innate Mana] like this…?】
Charpham asked.
Naturally.
This way, Charpham couldn’t be the “main.”
He couldn’t be the owner of the body.
【With this sparse arrangement, you can’t create something complete. What are you trying to do?】
A dish that seemed doomed to fail.
Charpham didn’t understand Park Chan-woo’s intentions.
But Park Chan-woo was already imagining the result.
He connected the dots into lines, stacked the lines into surfaces—and then—
“Awaken, Ajos.”
He didn’t call Charpham.
He called Ajos.
【I—I said I would follow you! Why…!】
Charpham screamed his last.
That was the end.
Charpham’s voice was no longer heard.
Instead—
Swish.
Thud!
From within Park Chan-woo’s shadow, another shadow rose.
It was unmistakably the figure of Gatekeeper Ajos—
But with no body. A ‘shadow’ form only.
The shadow Ajos, upon appearing—
Shunk!
Slash!
Skewered the approaching clones with a single thrust.
The spear extended instantly, impaling every clone in a row.
Overwhelming destructive power.
“…He absorbed my mana?”
The guardian warrior was appalled.
And that wasn’t all.
The mana from the pierced clones was completely absorbed by Ajos.
Ajos’s shadow rapidly expanded, its body growing until it touched the palace ceiling.
Losing all that mana at once, the guardian warrior staggered.
“To think my ultimate technique could be broken so easily…!”
His eyes widened in disbelief.
And then, the guardian warrior’s body began to shrink as he lost all his mana.
The battle was over.
Even if left alone, the guardian warrior would die.
Thud!
「I shall follow, my Lord.」
The shadow.
Ajos knelt on one knee.
He would follow. There was no need for further words.
A vow of utmost loyalty.
At the same time—
[Magic Creation!]
[You have created a mythical magic spell!]
[Incredible. You have birthed a spell from pure existence.]
[The title ‘One Who Subjugated a Warrior of Valhalla’ evolves into ‘Mythical Magic: Ajos’!]
[The fusion of ‘Dimensional Encounter, Charpham (-10Lv)’ and ‘Ajos’ adjusts the spell grade to ‘Dimension.’]