Chapter 288

Chapter 288

I Became the Only Non-mage in the Academy.

Episode 288: The One Who Devours Stars – Interlude

The world shattered.

A world filled with black began to scatter like shattered glass.

A black sky, a black sea. And a black sun.

Above them, a colossal being in the shape of a dragonkin was slowly collapsing.

I gazed at the One Who Devours Stars.

‘Hoo.’

The Black God consumed and digested the Evil Gods. That was how it strengthened itself. However, according to the One Who Devours Stars, it merely digested them with its own power.

But there was one question.

When I first stepped into my mental world, there was Destruction of Heaven as well as Destruction. How should I explain that?

‘No point in overthinking it.’

The mental world was slowly fading. As it did, I sensed the presence of Deceptive Evil. When I searched for another presence, I felt Kim Seo-hyun’s.

‘The Six Dragons and the Martial King are on their way too.’

Guild members were appearing one after another.

I approached Kim Seo-hyun, who was the closest to me.

“You’re here?”

Kim Seo-hyun was smiling brightly.

She was gripping an intangible sword in her hand. Judging by the turbulent mana coursing through her body, there had been a battle just moments ago.

‘Is it because of the power of white?’

I smiled and responded to her greeting.

“You arrived pretty quickly. You don’t seem injured either.”

“It was a fight where victory was likely.”

Saying so, she sat down nearby.

It had been a calculated gamble. If I pressured Deceptive Evil, the first to step forward would be the One Who Devours Stars. Since its power involved the destruction of mental worlds, I believed I could counter it to some extent with my vast mental world.

‘The last attack was dangerous, though.’

If not for Black Azure, I might have lost.

“You seem well.”

“Yeah. What I gained this time is really good.”

Destruction of Wind and Destruction of Star.

Forces powerful enough to destroy planets. These abilities were useful for large-scale slaughter, which didn’t quite suit me.

‘If I hadn’t grasped the power of blue properly…’

The newly evolved Absolute Stat—Black Blue.

Black absorbed all colors as its own, while blue spread its own color.

These two powers complemented Destruction of Wind and Destruction of Star well.

It would take time to fully assimilate them.

‘But it won’t take long.’

It was an instinctive certainty.

I closed my eyes and quietly felt the energy.

I could sense the storm raging inside my body and the stars in the sky being engulfed by violet energy.

I opened my eyes and looked at Kim Seo-hyun.

Kim Seo-hyun was smiling at me with clear eyes.

“What about Deceptive Evil?”

“I handled it. It was easier than I expected.”

I nodded as if it were obvious.

Her power was that of a master of color, one that paralleled mine. If I was the master of black, then she was the master of white.

If black was the power that consumed everything, white was the power that reduced everything to nothingness.

With her power, dealing with Deceptive Evil, which controlled gravity, would have been easy.

I looked at Kim Seo-hyun anew.

Even dealing with just one Evil God was incredibly difficult.

Yet she had stood alone against the Evil Gods in a world that had already been destroyed. Although it ended in ruin, the fact that she had slain all the Evil Gods proved the potential of white.

“What are you staring at so intently?”

“Just.”

“Hmmm.”

I studied Kim Seo-hyun.

She had once given off a more boyish impression, but now she appeared more delicate. Her curves had become more pronounced where they should be, and refined where they needed to be.

‘Is it because of the Divine Maiden?’

I considered that possibility, but the Divine Maiden’s physique was similar to Kim Seo-hyun’s.

Then, perhaps… White—the Martial God—had influenced Kim Seo-hyun’s body.

“By the way, where’s the Evil God’s body?”

“I… deliciously—no, I left it in my mental world.”

The remains of an Evil God were extremely valuable.

Its thick skin, which could only be scarred by my sword strikes, as well as its heart and its divine authority, would serve as materials to build my mental world.

“In your mental world?”

“Yeah. I don’t know why, but my ability allows me to devour the power of Evil Gods and strengthen my mental world.”

“……Ah, so that’s why your mental world is so vast.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

I turned my gaze toward the approaching Six Dragons.

“…Our youngest is truly impressive.”

“I packed a few things just in case, but to think you took down an Evil God alone.”

“Fufu. As expected of the youngest who carries the blood of the Black Flame Dragon. Even I can’t predict your limits anymore.”

I watched as the Six Dragons made a noisy entrance.

Even if they all fought together, they wouldn’t have been able to stop an Evil God. However—

“Heh, hihit. O-Our y-youngest is… w-who?”

“You’re acting all smug just because you’re both black dragons. But technically, you’re an Eternal Dragon, so you’re a different species—”

“Y-You wanna die?”

“Tch. This guy always changes when it comes to the youngest.”

“And you don’t? In a place full of rude, self-centered, and arrogant people, the youngest is actually polite and considerate. Of course, he’d be popular.”

“Hm… Maybe it’s because he was raised by humans.”

“The youngest is just a special case.”

Cecilia said this while looking at me.

“Anyway, you really are remarkable. To think you actually killed an Evil God.”

“…Even you didn’t believe in me, huh, Noona?”

“…Well, considering the opponent.”

Cecilia gave an awkward smile.

“Look at that. That guy acting like that.”

“He’s completely enchanted by the youngest. Normally, with his temper, he’d throw a punch to the gut first—!”

“But seriously, are you guys all really dragons?”

The Martial King directed his question toward the Six Dragons.

“You didn’t know about our Six Dragons—no, the Seven Dragons?”

“…I had a rough idea of your appearances.”

“Of course. I taught someone a lesson a while back and told them to avoid these guys.”

Kim Cheol-su boasted, puffing out his chest.

“…Wasn’t he the one they said had dementia?”

“It’s just a bit of madness creeping into his brain. It’s not dementia… though, in human years, maybe a little dangerous?”

As Kim Cheol-su hesitated between punching the Martial King or not,

I lazily opened a portal with the power of blue.

The destination: the guild entrance.

Using blue energy, I opened the portal and returned to the guild.

Inside, a group had gathered.

I saw the Witch Maiden with a resolute expression. The Elder was the same. Ha Seong-hwi looked like he was trying to dismantle something.

“……?”

What’s going on?

As I looked at them with a puzzled expression, the Witch Maiden, kneeling, spoke to me.

“Heavenly Demon. We have made our decision.”

“A decision?”

“In the last battle, we failed to be of any help to you. We understand why you left us behind.”

“……Kuh.”

At the Witch Maiden’s words, the Elder let out a frustrated scream.

Ah, I see how they could misunderstand.

‘It’s only half wrong, though.’

In a battle against an Evil God, few could survive on their own.

Of course, it would be great to receive help, but most of them wouldn’t be able to protect their own lives in such a fight.

‘For now, only Kim Seo-hyun and Seo Ga-yeon could.’

Even most transcendents were powerless before them.

If they were directly struck by Destruction of Wind, used by the One Who Devours Stars, they’d lose their transcendence and need at least ten years of recovery.

To be honest—

If the one I fought wasn’t the One Who Devours Stars, I would have fled immediately and brought those two instead. I would have fought the Evil God with their support.

“That’s not the reason.”

“Don’t worry! Even though Black Heaven’s training is terrifying…”

“No, don’t do that.”

I recalled Black Heaven’s training methods.

Opening her mental world, dragging her subordinates inside, beating them within an inch of death, then reviving them and repeating the cycle…

‘It was horrifying.’

Even Ha…what’s-his-name, who once idolized Black Heaven, ended up begging for his life.

“Don’t worry.”

I thought about the Evil Gods.

And with high certainty—no, with absolute certainty—

“Even if you don’t want to fight, the time when you must fight to the death is approaching.”

When that time came, the entire continent would be in chaos.

That thing—stronger than the One Who Devours Stars, commanding an endless army—would unleash its forces the moment it appeared.

And in that battle, there was a key figure.

That role didn’t belong to Kim Seo-hyun or Seo Ga-yeon.

‘It’s Seolhwa Ryeon.’

The one who wielded Destruction of Flame and Destruction of Ice.

And there’s another.

Someone prepared to counter that entity.

The guild had invested enormous resources into producing transcendents, but that alone wasn’t enough to prepare for what was coming.

A secret weapon.

For when the Evil Gods invaded.

There was one individual created as a last resort.

An unimaginable amount of funds and spirit elixirs had been poured into its completion.

‘After all the effort put in…’

It was time for it to prove its worth.