Chapter 287

Chapter 287

I Became the Only Non-mage in the Academy.

Episode 287: The One Who Devours Stars (5)

Fwoooosh.

Flames roared to life.

Flames imbued with a color reminiscent of the sky.

Its black body was engulfed in such flames.

Azure Flame.

Blue flames. Unlike other flames, it did not exude the power to burn everything to ashes.

Instead, it carried a peculiar force that merely spread the fire. Instinctively, he realized that this was a highly dangerous power.

The power infused within the Azure Flame did not possess the force to incinerate, but it carried an equivalent might.

-Kuuooooooo──!!

A being with a long, black body that could coil around the world was looking down arrogantly, cloaked in the Azure Flame.

-Did you say Jörmungandr? That power is similar.

Black Heaven mentioned the name of a serpent from mythology that encircled the world.

The entity cloaked in Azure Flame resembled it.

‘A dragon.’

Lee Seo-ha still did not understand why the essence of his power and form had taken this shape.

He had attained the status of a Colossal Deity, but he had yet to obtain the status of a Dragon God. The color associated with the Colossal Deity was blue.

So, he had expected a being related to colossi to manifest.

‘I thought something like Surtr would appear.’

-Does the master prefer giants over dragons?

‘Dragons are cool too, but…’

It was slightly different from his preference.

With that thought, Lee Seo-ha focused on the battle.

This question could be pondered later.

Right now, the important thing was that entity.

The Evil God, the One Who Swallows Stars, had begun to move.

[The losses are great.]

The Evil God gazed at the black dragon cloaked in Azure Flame.

It was dangerous. That enormous being, which could encircle the world, should not have posed a threat to him.

It was simply an oversized form, devoid of true power.

Such beings only held meaning when it came to destruction—destruction akin to his own Annihilating Wind, which could obliterate stars effortlessly.

It should have been incapable of harming an existence like him.

That should have been the case.

Yet, its essence—its master—was highly troublesome.

A being who had seized two qualifications from the Heavens.

One who had devoured Black God, a foundational aspect of the Creator God, and now wielded blue, a power of propagation.

Although that being did not yet fully grasp the meaning of these forces, this was an unprecedented absurdity.

Since the dawn of creation, only one such existence had ever appeared.

[That is why you must die.]

The moment that being turned against the Evil Gods—

The Evil Gods would suffer great losses.

Even the White—if he fully awakened to his power—could spell doom for the Evil Gods, who had long manipulated the laws of the universe.

The probability of that happening was extremely low.

However, if the beings they had long oppressed—those with qualifications granted from the Heavens—broke their neutrality and turned against them, it was certain.

Thus, he had to kill him with his own hands.

The One Who Swallows Stars began releasing his grip on the black sphere he had been holding.

Dozens of hands withdrew from it.

A massive black sphere radiated overwhelming malice.

It was the culmination of all evil intent the One Who Swallows Stars had gathered until now.

Sssssssssst!

A repulsive concentration of malice—so vile it was nauseating to even gaze upon.

As it was released, the One Who Swallows Stars was enveloped in it.

At the same time, malice spread across the world.

As if declaring that this would be his opponent’s final struggle.

From the moment the sphere that the One Who Swallows Stars had held was released.

A chilling sensation ran through his entire body, making his hair stand on end.

His mind already recognized the immense danger it posed.

But facing it directly, he could now grasp more clearly what kind of power it wielded.

‘This is dangerous.’

He did not hesitate.

[Primordial Spirit Deity · Black Azure (Ex) is activating. The user’s body is assimilating with the world.]

Primordial Spirit Deity.

His body transformed into a spirit form.

Black flames engulfed his body, while his azure-lit eyes gleamed. A fusion of black flames infused with blue light enveloped him.

[Absolute Stat, Black Azure, is assimilating with the world.]

In that state, he fixed his gaze upon the One Who Swallows Stars.

As the sphere unraveled, it began to enshroud him.

A body filled with malice stared directly at Lee Seo-ha.

The One Who Swallows Stars began to change.

Its three-headed dragon form merged together, its body expanding massively.

That was the malice it had accumulated until now.

A force that fueled temporary evolution by consuming that malice.

Thus, it was stronger than the Primordial Spirit Deity.

For it wielded the power to amass all the malice it had accumulated and refine itself.

Its size shrank.

From a being that once covered the sky, it condensed into a form around one kilometer in height.

It now had elongated limbs like a human, a dragon’s head, and 36 pairs of wings spread out from its back.

[Hoo─.]

Lee Seo-ha gazed at the One Who Swallows Stars.

Its power had increased exponentially.

Numerically, at least three times greater. In actuality, it had likely grown fivefold or more.

The One Who Swallows Stars moved.

It reached out its hand, and an immense amount of malice energy radiated in a violet hue, releasing shockwaves.

Boom!

A massive electromagnetic field erupted around them, compressing everything under immense gravity.

The power of Star Annihilation.

The overwhelming gravitational force itself had no effect on Lee Seo-ha.

However, the gravity imbued with malice energy was dangerous.

Even in his Spirit Deity form, his body was being crushed.

Had he not been accustomed to this, he would have struggled to even lift an arm.

Forcing himself, he raised his arm. His entire body creaked.

He grasped the Black Heavenly Divine Sword, now overlaid with the Dark Azure Sword.

For the past year, Lee Seo-ha has focused on one thing.

Studying the properties of black and blue.

And contemplating the power of Sword God, granted by the heavens.

He fused black and blue together.

When that fusion extended to the Primordial Spirit Deity, a month had passed.

When he perfected the fusion and refined his other skills, another month had passed.

For ten months.

Lee Seo-ha had pursued mastery of the Sword God’s talent.

If he had inspiration, he would project his will into his blade.

Rather than simply swinging his sword or refining the Celestial Water Moon Empty Art,

At some point, he had begun to meditate.

He had not physically trained his body, yet by refining black and blue into Black Azure, modifying Celestial Water Moon Empty Art, and letting it train his body autonomously, he had reached this point.

‘From Ex-rank onwards, the title “Throne” is used.’

He did not know the reason.

However, he speculated that those who had accumulated such powers could obtain the power of Color.

What Lee Seo-ha realized in that moment was that the Sword God talent was comparable to the power of Color.

If multiple Thrones gathered.

And if their combined force gave rise to the power of Color.

Then perhaps the Sword God talent alone possessed comparable strength and potential.

The Dark Azure Sword emitted an eerie glow.

Black and blue light shimmered, consuming the surrounding light.

The One Who Swallows Stars extended its hands.

Malice energy surged violently, forming a mass of violet power in one hand.

In the other, black winds condensed.

Star Annihilation and Annihilating Wind.

They merged, ready to engulf Lee Seo-ha.

For some reason, Lee Seo-ha momentarily halted his attack.

But the Evil God had no reason to concern itself with that.

With azure-lit eyes, Lee Seo-ha observed the One Who Swallows Stars.

A dragon’s form.

How should he cut it down?

He swung the Dark Azure Sword.

A single slash.

It severed Star Annihilation and Annihilating Wind.

Kwoooom—!

He leapt forward.

The boundary’s power reacted to his presence.

Or perhaps, it was being distorted by the enemy’s influence.

The Evil Gods were well-versed in magic, authority, and mystic arts.

Though their bodies were formidable, their battles relied on malice energy, authority, and mystic power.

In an instant, Lee Seo-ha closed the distance.

He raised the Dark Azure Sword high.

Rumble—!

The Dark Azure Sword absorbed everything around it.

Within the world of Imagery, it devoured his conceptual domains—Annihilation and Destruction of Heaven.

A black sun rose high into the sky, radiating death’s presence.

The sword denied all, divided all, consumed all, materialized essence, shattered matter, annihilated life, and deepened death.

Lee Seo-ha swung his sword.

Kwaaaadududududuk!!

A chilling sound rang out.

That colossal blade did not merely cut through its flesh.

Within the Imagery World, it tore through space and time itself.

A jagged slash, as if it would never vanish, carved through the Imagery World.

A sword that severs the world itself.

The One Who Swallows Stars instinctively understood.

That sword was forged to kill beings like itself.

All its talent had been honed to slay Evil Gods.

To restructure, shatter authority, and eradicate divinity.

There was no escape.

That power was created to kill Evil Gods.

For some unknown reason, that sword devoured and destroyed their very essence.

Counteraction?

No, that sword was devouring their power.

The One Who Swallows Stars knew that Lee Seo-ha had consumed the Black God.

However, he was merely human.

The One Who Swallows Stars knew that Lee Seo-ha had obtained black, one of the most dangerous qualifications descended from the heavens.

But black was not a power that a mere human should dare to wield.

The One Who Swallows Stars made a decision.

Destroy him completely.

One of his trump cards had already been played.

Because of that, he would soon have to enter a long slumber.

Thus, he had to eliminate him at all costs, even if it meant suffering near-fatal injuries.

He maximized the power of Annihilating Wind and Star Annihilation.

Ku-gu-gu-goong!

Parts of his body began to collapse.

These forces were meant to shatter stars and manipulate their power.

The power wielded by the One Who Swallows Stars was the power of scale.

He forcibly compressed that power.

A force capable of shattering dozens of stars within a single world descended.

A violet aura formed a sphere, and a black storm layered over it.

Lee Seo-ha swung the Dark Azure Sword.

The blade extended to an enormous 100 meters, moving to shatter Annihilating Wind and Star Annihilation.

A force potent enough to destroy dozens of worlds swelled, ready to burst.

And in that moment—

The Dark Azure Sword began to shine brilliantly.

A slash containing all powers erupted forth.

Countless sword paths were drawn in the air.

Each one of them transcended understanding.

Sword strikes so refined they seemed to reach the end of the path of the sword, twisting perception itself.

Swish.

A sound echoed.

The black storm layered over the violet sphere was sliced in half.

The core of power had been severed.

The concentrated force he had compressed began to unravel.

The One Who Swallows Stars accepted the loss.

From close range, he detonated it immediately.

─────!!

No light.

No sound.

Only pitch-black darkness swallowed the world.

Boom.

The clouds that covered the sky collapsed.

The black waves engulfing the world rippled and sank.

The black sun that had been floating in the sky had partially crumbled.

“Khh.”

From within the aftermath, Lee Seo-ha emerged—battered and broken.

His clothes were nearly torn to shreds, yet he still held his sword.

The One Who Swallows Stars was also far from unscathed.

One of his horns was gone, and one of his legs had collapsed.

His arms had burned away from the middle of his forearms down.

“My…”

His sword trembled.

He forcibly activated his body using Celestial Water Moon Empty Art.

Lee Seo-ha bared his teeth and grinned.

“Turn…”

He raised his sword high.

A blade of black and blue consumed everything around it.

Even though half the Imagery World had collapsed.

No, rather—as if it had finally broken free of its restraints, it radiated an even greater light.

It devoured the Imagery World.

And absorbed it.

The One Who Swallows Stars realized something in that moment.

After this battle, the Imagery World that Lee Seo-ha possessed would change.

Some things would be erased.

Some things would be added.

And those powers would undoubtedly be the authorities of Annihilating Wind and Star Annihilation that he once wielded.

“It’s over.”

The One Who Swallows Stars—

Had been defeated.