The sharp ’clang’ of steel on steel echoed repeatedly as Silage and Simon clashed. Large sparks flew in the world of sand, and the ground beneath their feet warped. After trading ten blows, the two simultaneously retreated, and the sandy ground erupted like a fountain.
"Go!" At Simon’s shout, the mummy unit charged at Silage like a pack of beasts.
"The power of a legion commander is hard to believe even after seeing it," Silage remarked. He dispelled the blood sword in his hand and drew a new magic circle. It descended to the ground and transformed into two mirrors. "I will show you the true way to use Blood Zombies."
As the Blood Zombies passed through the mirrors, a gleam appeared in their hazy eyes, and the blood in their bodies began to boil.
A low groan rose from the horde. They broke through at a speed unbelievable for zombies, felling mummies in a single blow and penetrating deep into the formation. The Blood Zombies, whose bodies grew redder the more they fought, eventually caused a corpse explosion—no, a blood explosion.
The mummies caught in the blast were obliterated, not even a scrap of bandage remaining.
As the Blood Zombies charged in a straight line through the mirrors and exploded one after another, the mummy unit, despite its overwhelming numbers and size, was helplessly torn apart.
Simon’s expression hardened. ’As expected of a Kizen professor-level powerhouse. Still...’
Seeing Silage clutching his heart, it seemed he was also struggling. The fact that he was using Blood Zombies instead of fighting directly was proof enough.
’Of course, I am running out of time, too.’
Connected to Herseva’s thoughts, Simon could tell she was reaching her limit. Herseva’s dungeon would collapse before Silage’s heart stopped. In that case, he had to create a variable, even if it meant burning himself out.
At the front, where the Blood Zombies and mummies were clashing, Simon quietly circled around, hiding behind a sand dune and moving to Silage’s flank.
"It is useless," Silage’s voice echoed. "Hundreds of years. I have seen more and accumulated more than you."
In a chilling, cold tone, he spoke.
"Even if you were lucky enough to gain the power of a legion commander, there is no chance a mere first-year like you can defeat me."
With a ’crunch’ of sand, Simon slammed his foot down and charged.
"That is not for you to decide!"
He swung the greatsword with all his might in mid-air. The dark blue sword strike cut through everything in its path, but Silage moved to the side and dodged it.
In that instant, Simon landed on the ground and closed the distance to Silage. He could see the old fox, wearing the face of a young Walter, right in front of him.
’If only I can cut him directly with the Sword of Ruin!’
Simon, about to bring the greatsword down, hardened his eyes in regret, then instantly erased his hesitation and pushed off his heels to retreat.
A series of blood explosions erupted from empty space.
"As expected, your instincts are sharp," Silage smiled thinly. Around him, blood droplets that had turned into even smaller particles were floating like aerial mines, waiting. "Now, die."
He created a gust of wind, sending the blood droplets flying. Simon planted his right foot firmly on the ground and gritted his teeth.
A sword strike erupted in front of him with a roar, causing all the blood droplets to detonate in a series of blood explosions. Silage skillfully manipulated the remaining droplets, gathering them in the air. The droplets merged into a heavy sphere of blood, ten meters in diameter, which then fell toward Simon.
Simon gripped the hilt of his greatsword so tightly it felt like it would break.
’One more time!’
The incoming sphere of blood split in two with a deafening ’crack’. Simon twisted his waist.
’Again!’
A three-strike spatial slash. The sphere of blood was marked with a cross and then disintegrated in a blood explosion.
"You continue to learn even in the middle of a battle. An excellent attitude for a student," Silage noted.
"Professor, student. Nonsense!" A glint of madness flickered in Simon’s eyes as he charged. "The one standing before you is a legion commander!"
Suddenly, the strength drained from his legs. Simon’s pupils trembled wildly.
"Pushing yourself that hard, it is no surprise you have run out of Jet-Black," Silage said, stepping back and flicking his hand. The blood droplets he had hidden in the sand all rose into the air at once, dyeing the area around Simon crimson. "This is the difference in our experience."
All the droplets exploded. A deafening roar. An ensuing shockwave.
Silage closed his eyes as he watched the festival of explosions that painted the night desert red. Survival probability: zero. He had accurately confirmed that Simon’s Jet-Black was depleted. Having reached a firm conclusion, he finally turned his back.
"Preserve our forces," he sent a message to the followers using blood-flow magic. "The caster has fallen, so the barrier will soon collapse. Immediately proceed with the Apostle’s resurrection plan—"
Something pierced his back with a sickening ’thud’.
His steps faltered to a halt. The shock that spread through his brain forced his mouth open, his expression a mixture of surprise and disbelief.
A pure white spear was embedded in his back.
"This... is...!"
Blood trickled from his mouth. When he coughed, thick clots of blood came pouring out.
’Could it be...!’
Even though he had turned his back, the defensive spells he always kept active—the Blood Veil and Meat Armor—had been pierced in an instant.
He turned his head. As the red explosion was swept away by the wind, he saw the figure of a boy, hidden within a white defensive barrier.
"Talking about age, talking about experience. People like that often have a common problem." Even with blood streaming down his forehead, Simon was baring his teeth. "First, they jump to conclusions."
"You bastard!"
"And second, a lack of imagination."
’<Lethe Original - ’La Escrim’ & Divine Barrier>’
Silage’s eyes wavered in bewilderment.
"A necromancer with a core... using divinity? What kind of trick is this?!"
"It is undeniably happening!" Simon dismissed the Divine Barrier and opened his divine subspace with the artifact. "It is happening whether you can accept it or not!"
What emerged from within was the divine beast in the form of a bear, Akallion.
"Let’s go, Akallion!"
A low roar echoed. As Simon infused it with divinity, Akallion’s size rapidly increased, transforming it into a monstrous bear. Simon climbed on top of it and gave the order to charge, the Sword of Ruin held out before him.
Silage immediately tried to use black magic, but he choked, and blood continued to pour from his mouth with each cough. The divinity from the previous attack had entered his entire body, sending his core into shock.
"Block him!" Silage shouted. The rampaging Blood Zombies that had been fighting the mummies converged in front of him.
"Akallion! Keep going!" Simon gripped the Sword of Ruin, infused it with divinity, and began to swing.
With each ’clang’ and flash of the Sword of Ruin, imbued with a pure white radiance, countless undead were split apart. He sliced through the Blood Zombies entirely before they could cause a blood explosion, and Akallion cleverly dodged their attacks, calculating their movements. It also swung its own divinely-infused paws or bit into their torsos to prevent them from exploding.
’A lack of imagination?’ Silage, having barely stopped the bleeding, let out a hollow laugh. A first-year Kizen brat suddenly claims to be a legion commander. And now that legion commander is using divinity. Above all, that Ancient Undead Simon was wearing as Bone Armor.
’How in the world can an Ancient Undead handle divinity?!’
[Khehehehehe!]
After Simon used divinity, Pier’s entire body was glowing pure white. He was accepting the divinity into his body and using it as a power source to assist Simon.
This was something no one could possibly imagine.
"There is a limit to being an irregular!" Silage personally opened his subspace and poured out his own Blood Zombies. Crimson figures swarmed out.
"Move!" Simon raised his left hand, the one not holding the greatsword. Above it was a single, sleek, pure white spear. Multiple bands of divinity flew toward it, wrapping around the spear and forming the shape of a drill.
’<Lethe Original - ’La Escrim’>’
With a high-pitched ’whine’, the divine spear shot out like a white pillar, sending the Blood Zombies flying with its pressure wave alone. Silage created a blood-flow magic barrier to block it head-on.
"Jump!"
In that moment, Akallion leaped into the air. Simon let go of the greatsword and violently swung both hands downward.
’<Exorcism>’
A crackle of thunderous power erupted as white lightning struck down on Silage’s head, but he quickly deployed a blood-flow shield to block it. He, too, was a veteran of a hundred battles. He had been caught off guard by the unpredictable situation earlier, but if he treated his opponent as a priest, he could counter with appropriate anti-priest tactics.
With a sharp ’whistle’, Akallion descended from the air, raking its claws across Silage’s chest.
’So close!’ Simon’s expression hardened. Blood spurted from Silage’s chest, but the wound was shallow, and Silage immediately struck Akallion in the abdomen, sending it flying.
Akallion collapsed with a heavy ’thud’. Simon activated the pendant to recall Akallion, then summoned the Sword of Ruin back into his hand.
"Kugh!"
Simon’s hand trembled. He was running out of divinity now, too, especially after two shots of Lethe’s technique, ’La Escrim’. It consumed a massive amount of divinity.
’You used to fire this off like nothing even before you became a saint, Lethe?’
[K-Kid!] Just then, Herseva’s voice came to him, speaking directly into his mind so that others could not hear. [Ten minutes at most! I can only maintain the dungeon for ten more minutes!]
’...Okay.’
He had managed to inflict a fairly serious wound by baiting Silage’s carelessness, but this was as far as he could go. He was short on both Jet-Black and divinity. To finish him, he needed a decisive power.
’Now, there is only one last resort!’
"In the most desperate moment, when your life is in danger and all other means are exhausted, when the situation is so dire that all you can do is pray to the heavens, trust me and use ’Compelonia’."
Now.
Now was the only time. The moment he had saved until the very, very end.
Simon released the divinity from his body, then reactivated his core and returned to necromancer mode.
"Mummy unit!"
Silage’s forces were depleted from sending Blood Zombies after Simon, and in that gap, the mummy unit swarmed in again to attack him. Silage had no choice but to unleash wide-range black magic.
While the mummies bought him time, Simon steadily prepared his secret technique.
’I am out of Jet-Black. I have to make this work!’
First, he quickly drew the four great curses. Then, he used his finger to move the core formulas of the four curses to the center and assemble them. It was a process of taking a part of one ecosystem and connecting it to another, and seeing how they perfectly interlocked on their own made him realize just how incredible their creator, Bahil, was.
After fitting all four formulas together, he completed the curse.
’<’Compelonia’>’
Simon held the magic circle and took a deep breath. There was no more time for hesitation. He boldly activated the ’Compelonia’ magic circle on himself.
A silent roar of energy washed over him.
It was a sensation that defied description, a feeling that shattered the very boundaries of mortal thought. An enormous amount of information flooded his mind like a tsunami. His head was filled with countless numbers and languages.
’Ah.’
In a matter of seconds, the influx surpassed the amount of information Simon had learned at Kizen. In a matter of minutes, it surpassed all the information Simon had learned in his entire life.
But he could not possess it. He could only stand agape at the oceanic flow of information.
In an instant, Simon’s soul transcended its shell. The sight of the undead and the Blood Cult fighting to the death grew more and more distant. The sight of Simon’s precious friends and the entire first year turned into sacrifices also grew distant. Outside the dungeon, the sight of the professors and teaching assistants trying to break the blood rings grew distant. The sight of Kizen. The sight of his hometown, Leshill. The sight of the Dark Alliance and the Holy Federation. The continent.
Soon, transcending everything, Simon passed through the gate.
It was a pitch-black mental landscape. Even at this moment, he was moving farther and farther away. The planet that held his continent now looked like a speck of dust.
[Do you not think it is trivial?]
In the suffocating darkness, a voice seeped into Simon’s ear.
[The fact that everything you have strived for, fought for, and struggled for—all of it—originated from within that tiny dot.]
And next to Simon, in the pitch-black space, was a pitch-black being.
[Your answer?]
[Ah, my apologies. It is difficult with so much information flowing in, is it not?] The being changed something. Only then did Simon gain the authority to ignore the information being driven into his head and momentarily look away.
First, he looked at the being. It had the silhouette of a person with a head, arms, and legs, but he could easily tell it was not a real person. It had likely changed its form to resemble Simon’s to appear more familiar.
"Who are you?" Simon asked.
[You mortals are always so desperate to cage phenomena within the confines of language. Very well. I shall condescend to your level,] the being answered with a grin.
[I am a being who is all things, and at the same time, nothing at all. A pleasure to meet you.]
That was not an answer at all.
[Thank you for crossing the gate to come and see me. It gets boring here all by myself.]
Simon nodded at its words and moved his eyes. All around was an endless darkness, a boundless void where countless, innumerable dots twinkled.
"Hey," Simon said, turning his head. "I want to go back to where I came from. Can you help me?"
[Why would you?] the being asked, its voice laced with genuine surprise. [Why? Why? Why? Everything is right here!]
"And at the same time, nothing is here either."
The being fell silent.
"What I want is," Simon said, pointing with his fingertip, "that speck of dust."
The entity waved its hand as if it could not understand.
[Why? You know everything now. You know that anything you could possibly want is boundlessly insignificant!]
"Just as you say, humans are insignificant. And simple," Simon said. "Being simple means we can think simply, and that is a blessing. Take a single pebble lying on the roadside. To one person, it might just be a rock to kick. To another, it could be an object that brings back a precious memory. And to someone else, it could be a subject of study with archaeological value. Whether something is big or small does not matter. Whether it is insignificant or not..."
Simon poked his chest with his thumb.
"The heart decides."
[Ha. Haha...!] The entity burst out laughing. [What you call a ’heart’ is nothing more than autonomic excitement, an electrical signal from the brain. It is the very symbol of insignificance!]
"I am human, too."
[No! You can now enjoy a status equal to my own! In the realm of what you call ’God’...!]
"If I really am that god right now," Simon declared, his voice as cold as ice, "I would gladly shatter my own wings and fall back to the mortal world. Because everything I hold precious is there."
The Existence fell silent.
"You’ll help me, won’t you?"
’Hehe. Hehehehehe.’
The Existence chuckled, a sound that seemed to echo from the dawn of time.
[I cannot win against you. What a shame. It has been a long while since a friend came to visit.]
Simon remained silent.
[This is your final chance, just after passing through the first door. I shall ask one last time: are you truly certain?]
"Yes." A faint smile touched Simon’s lips. "I’m certain."
[Very well.] The Existence rubbed its palms together. [I am sorry, but these memories will be forgotten when you return. If you were to remember them, your brain would simply burn away.]
"I understand."
[Still, you have come all this way. I should send you off with a gift. What do you desire?]
"Power." Simon’s eyes hardened with resolve. "The power to overcome the crisis I now face."
[I understand.] It spread its arms wide. [It was a true pleasure to meet you, my friend!]
"...Hah!"
Simon’s eyes flew open. Sweat drenched his body as he gasped for air, his chest heaving. His gaze trembled, unable to process the impossible sights he had just witnessed.
[Boy!!]
The roaring cacophony, the shouting voices, the sharp scent of sand—it all came rushing back. Simon knew he had returned to the battlefield.
[What are you doing! Snap out of it!]
Pier had disengaged his Bone Armor and was now personally blocking the Blood Cultists’ attacks.
"Pier, how much time has passed?"
[A few minutes! There are only about five minutes left before the dungeon collapses!]
’A small mercy, at least.’ He had to end this now.
"Stand back, Pier."
[Right, I will form the Bone Armor again—!]
"No. I need you to move far away."
The memories and sensations still pulsed through his body, a phantom limb of cosmic power. Simon strode forward.
"You seemed to be putting a great deal of effort into that spell of yours."
Silage watched Simon approach, a sneer on his face. "It looks like it didn’t go so well for—"
His words died in his throat.
Simon’s eyes were no longer normal. They were dark and unnervingly somber, like ancient things sunken in the abyssal depths of the sea. Without a word, Simon raised both his arms.
’Jet-Black in my right hand.’
A violent storm of black power surged over his palm.
’Divinity in my left hand.’
A dazzling, holy light bloomed from his other hand. The two opposing forces rippled, their very presence warping the air. A flicker of caution crossed Silage’s face.
"...What are you planning this time?"
"This," Simon answered, bringing the Jet-Black and the Divinity crashing toward each other.
Silage’s eyes widened in shock.
He slammed them together.
’CRACKLE!’
The two powers began to writhe and coil around one another. Silage’s face twisted in horror.
"Are you insane!"
[Boy! To forcibly clash those two powers is— Huh?]
But the opposing forces weren’t repelling, fighting, or exploding. They were fusing. The black and white energies converged, swirling into a perfect circle.
"Thank you, my friend."
Simon muttered, his gaze turned toward a sky only he could see.
’FWOOSH!’
With a brilliant flash, something entirely new was born from the union of Jet-Black and Divinity.
"This is...!"
It was a deep, indigo light, a perfect fusion of black and blue that mirrored Simon’s own Jet-Black. A single sphere pulsed in his hand, writhing as if to devour all of existence, its power distorting the very fabric of space around it.
"Void."
As Simon clenched his fist around the sphere, the dimension itself seemed to twist in protest.
"This is the authority of the void, a power that transcends this world."

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