I Became the Only Non-mage in the Academy

Chapter 224: The Heavenly Demon (4)

The energy of Defying Heaven.

It was the power that denied everything.

It denied magic. It denied special abilities.

If it went further, it could even deny space or time.

Black Abyss.

It was the power that devoured everything. It denied all things. Like something alive, it swallowed enemies and denied everything inside.

That’s why it could be called a secret technique, and when you reached the end of Black Abyss, even transcendents could not guarantee life or death.

‘But in a fight between transcendents, it’s hard to use it that way.’

Because it had many weaknesses.

On the surface, it appeared to have the power of the strongest technique, but it had flaws.

When fighting someone of equal standing, you couldn’t devour them, and although it boasted absolute power over lesser beings, it consumed an overwhelming amount of Defying Heaven energy.

Even for me, who could retrieve the energy of Defying Heaven, it was burdensome to use that much energy.

But when we were this close, the story changed a bit.

Whiuuuuuuuu!!

Everything was swallowed up. At the end, nothing could be seen.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

All was denied, and even the dust was reduced to nothing at the edge of the abyss.

That was the Black Abyss.

Actually, I could nullify this. My absolute control exceeded the power of the Heavenly Demon’s energy of Defying Heaven.

["Infinite Black Flame Star (Ex)" observes you.]

[The star of boundary discerns its surroundings.]

I calmly stared into the abyss. Everything in the abyss began to be distinguished.

The boundary separated everything in this world. It was imbued with the energy of Defying Heaven. Then, the denying power of Defying Heaven was rejected by my own Defying Heaven energy.

Avoiding Black Abyss in this state was one option.

But I didn’t want to.

‘Is it because it’s been a while since a real battle?’

For the past three months, I have been sparring with Kim Seo-hyun. Thanks to that, I had grasped all of Kim Seo-hyun’s weaknesses and strengths.

But they were all just sparring.

Until now, my life had been filled with battles where my life was on the line.

Maybe that difference made me feel bored. Or maybe I just wanted to test my strength.

One thing was certain.

I wanted to face that head-on.

I reached out my hand.

A power, like some kind of authority, extended from my hand in all directions.

Absolute Stat, Black (黑).

The Heavenly Demon likened Black Abyss to an abyss. It made sense, considering you couldn’t escape once you were in it.

Even if the utility of that power was secondary, I agreed with that notion.

It indeed had the force of an abyss.

But after obtaining the Absolute Stat, that thought changed a little—no, quite a lot.

[Absolute Stat, Black (黑), elevates the power of your thoughts.]

[Destruction of Heaven (滅天) is drawn to Absolute Stat, Black (黑).]

The abyss that absorbed everything.

But Absolute Stat, Black (黑), was an abyss beyond that.

Whiuuuuuuuuuung───.

The black vortex lost its momentum. At first, it was very faint, barely enough for the Heavenly Demon, who was laughing with all her might, to notice.

“……Hm?”

─────.

Then it grew stronger. The black lightning drawn from my mind began to absorb the abyss. Those sensitive enough could tell that Black Abyss was beginning to waver.

The abyss that swallowed everything was losing its power to the black lightning.

‘This is just too overpowered.’

The true nature of Absolute Stat, Black (黑) was revealed when the wielder faced an opponent who also used the power of Black. When they collided, control shifted to the one who wielded the Absolute Stat.

However, Black Abyss was different. It was designed to be unretrievable by its user.

Creating a massive abyss like Black Abyss had more power because it gave it a will of its own, like a storm, rather than keeping it under the user’s control.

Chizizizizizik!!

Lightning imbued with the power of destruction scattered in all directions.

The scattered force was bothersome.

As if, like Black Abyss, it refused to follow its master’s will.

So, I controlled it.

Crack.

A black lightning spear appeared.

Destruction of Heaven had absorbed most of Black Abyss.

“My God, the Heavenly Demon’s Black Abyss…?”

“Wasn’t he just the young lord? Has he already surpassed the Heavenly Demon’s strength?”

The commotion was everywhere.

I ignored it all and focused on my opponent.

‘I’m only lacking in one area compared to her.’

Even in control, quantity, and density of Defying Heaven’s energy, I didn’t compare.

I invented the Black God Martial Arts, but I had the body of a giant god.

Experience?

The Heavenly Demon said she didn’t view others as humans. I think I understood why.

Most martial artists weren’t very exceptional.

To put it extremely, even a random transcendent from the original world could easily dominate the entire martial world.

‘There aren’t even ten peak-level beings?’

Even right before the war started, it was the same.

There were a few more classified as spirit beings, but it was still not enough. In the original world, over a hundred had revealed themselves.

That’s why the difference in power between the Heavenly Demon and me wasn’t that great.

All the advantages I had over the Heavenly Demon were offset by just one factor: rank.

A story.

The power to take one’s own story, unfold it like a legend, and strengthen one’s existence—that rank was powerful enough to negate all my advantages.

‘If I were to measure it, she’d be a 6, and I’d be around a 4.’

Thinking that, I extended the hand holding Destruction of Heaven.

“What’s its name?”

“Destruction of Heaven.”

“Impressive. It suits you.”

The Heavenly Demon said with a bright smile.

I threw Destruction of Heaven.

Normally, I would have coated it with mana from alchemy.

But I couldn’t.

Aside from Black rejecting it, the destructive power of Destruction of Heaven was raging too wildly right now.

Booooooom──────!!

A massive roar spread as the Spear of Destruction of Heaven stopped in front of the Heavenly Demon. The energy of Defying Heaven coated her hand.

Black scales.

The power that emerged like scales reduced the might of Destruction of Heaven. At the same time, she used another power: Black Mirror.

Crackle!

However, Destruction of Heaven, imbued with the power of Black, was erasing it. The black lightning was destroying the force of denial.

I looked at the Heavenly Demon.

She was smiling brightly, as if she couldn’t help but enjoy this moment.

Crunch.

The Heavenly Demon advanced, blocking Destruction of Heaven with one hand and drawing her sword with the other.

-Master, be careful!

Black Heaven spoke urgently.

But even faster than that, my instincts were already warning me of danger.

I quickly ducked my head.

[The proficiency of "Sword Demon (S+)" has increased.]

Slick──.

Something seemed to pass by, leaving only the result of a clean cut.

‘No, that’s right.’

I looked at the top of my hat, which had been completely sliced off.

“Isn’t that a bit too dangerous?”

“I knew you’d dodge. Even if you hadn’t, it couldn’t be helped.”

The Heavenly Demon was laughing. Destruction of Heaven had disappeared. She seemed to have done something with that earlier cut.

I glanced at Black Heaven.

It seemed unaware.

‘Mind World.’

The Heavenly Demon twisted the laws of the world to make them her own.

It didn’t seem like she had created a Mind World. Or perhaps, it was her own private world.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

If I had fallen to this, I would have been disappointed in myself.

Boom! Boom!

The sound of explosions echoed from behind.

It must be the work of Vicious Abomination. The reason the Thousand Sorcerer wasn’t here was to prevent that existence from being left unattended.

Whoosh.

Flames burst into the air.

[The proficiency of "Extreme Flame Demon Sword (A)" has increased.]

An inspiration flashed through my mind.

But there was no time to ponder it.

I gripped Black Heaven and swung.

Booooom!!

Swords clashed. The essence was Black Heaven, but now it had changed to be my own, different from its original form.

“Black Heaven doesn’t seem to suit you anymore, huh? Changed it to your taste?”

“The former master was a bit rough with it. It said it likes this form better.”

We exchanged sword strikes. Shockwaves rippled out in all directions.

As the swordplay continued, the Heavenly Demon’s expression began to change.

‘Troublesome.’

The external martial arts strengthened by Black God Martial Arts would have crushed most things. But now, I had the strength of a giant god.

The Heavenly Demon’s sword began to change.

It was leaking my power. Just a bit. About 30% of my strength.

It didn’t matter.

I didn’t have the talent to modify or create martial arts like the Heavenly Demon or Kim Seo-hyun.

Black Heaven and Eternal Heaven called me a once-in-a-lifetime genius, but those were talents I had obtained.

It would be hard for me to acquire such radiant talent immediately.

Crack.

But I had strength. The accumulated talents and skills I had built up over time.

Boom!

“Hmph…!”

I infused killing intent into my strike.

If the opponent was increasing their power, I simply had to add more power.

“Quite rough!”

“It’s going to get rougher.”

“I like it even more.”

The Heavenly Demon licked her lips with her tongue.

-Master?

Black Heaven called out to me in a puzzled tone.

-You, too, are like that battle maniac, Seo-ha?

-Is that some trait of the Heavenly Demon?

Hearing Black Heaven and Eternal Heaven’s words,

I realized that I was smiling.

“So, you’re enjoying this too!!”

The Heavenly Demon laughed brightly as she charged at me.

She threw a punch. The energy of Defying Heaven was swirling around it. It was a combination of Black Scales and something else.

With Absolute Stat, Black (黑), I could easily scatter it.

Boom!

Our swords clashed.

“So, how about it? Do you like me?”

The Heavenly Demon wrapped Black Mirror around Black Heaven.

“No, I already have a woman in my heart.”

I angled my sword and deflected her attack.

The Heavenly Demon’s Black Heaven followed right after.

“It doesn’t matter. Would any woman dislike a man having multiple women? Especially someone as exceptional as you…”

A union.

The power of Black Heaven surged. I felt the stars within me grow as black energy stretched out from Black Heaven.

It was light.

The light of annihilation, a power praised as one of the highest forms of authority.

As I swung it wide, the Heavenly Demon laughed as she extended Black Heaven.

“Aren’t you worried about the other side?”

“That old man doesn’t need my concern.”

“I see. Even as a fellow transcendent, I didn’t find him that appealing.”

The Heavenly Demon smirked as she spoke.

“Need some help?”

“Giving up already?”

“I just thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to deal with that first.”

The Heavenly Demon looked at me.

The way she stared was unnerving. Her face and body were too perfect.

On top of that, the affectionate gaze she directed at me made it hard to treat her harshly.

“Sigh.”

Before I knew it, the Thousand Sorcerer had teleported to my side.

“Is the fight over? Looks like you’ve picked up another woman. Tsk.”

“…Yes, for the most part. Need my help?”

“I’m not at the point where I need help from youngsters yet.”

The Thousand Sorcerer smirked as he spoke.

“But when it comes to taking down one of the great evils, there’s no need to be prideful.”

In the distance, Vicious Abomination was looking our way.

“Filthy worms, gathering together.”

“Be careful. His actions are suspicious.”

And indeed they were.

‘Well, that’s to be expected.’

Vicious Abomination was the most disadvantaged one here.

When the Heavenly Demon first intervened, she enjoyed turning the battle into a three-way fight.

But after I got involved, turning it into a two-transcendent battle, Vicious Abomination became severely outmatched.

The fact that I wasn’t able to use my full power at the time didn’t matter.

‘If the Thousand Sorcerer lands a fatal blow…’

It’d be over.

My power would deny the life of Vicious Abomination, one of the great evils.

“Hmph.”

I gathered my strength.

I poured my power into Black Heaven and sent it straight toward Vicious Abomination.

“Hah.”

Vicious Abomination deflected Black Heaven with his injured hand. Then he glanced around.

Maybe he realized that with both the Thousand Sorcerer and me as his enemies, he had no chance of winning.

“He’s trying to escape,”

The Thousand Sorcerer whispered to me.

“It’s fine.”

It didn’t matter anymore.

“No way…”

Vicious Abomination looked around.

Black Heaven wouldn’t be visible. I had surrounded his area with the power of the boundary, completely separating him from escape.

To be more precise…

It meant that no matter what Vicious Abomination tried, he wouldn’t be able to escape now.