Chapter 465: Ninety-Sixth Floor, Divine Armament (6)

Not only had I received an entire world as a reward, but that world also contained a Seed of Annihilation, and the right to detonate it rested solely in my hands. Detonating it wasn’t hard, either—my divinity was sufficient.

I had already tested how feasible it would be to use mid-battle during tea time with Natalie. Two-Way Portal connected easily to the battlefield, confirming that it was within reach with my current reserves of mana.

It can be detonated just like she described.

When I entered the battlefield itself, I could clearly sense the Seed of Annihilation buried deep below the surface. However, if I triggered it through divinity, my lingering divine energy would give away its presence. An opponent could detect it instantly. On the other hand, if I placed the Star Devourer there instead, I could detonate it without any warning at all, albeit with precise calculations and timing,

Easier said than done, though.

I would have to determine the exact rate at which the Star Devourer consumed anything beneath it, and the distance between the surface and the Seed of Annihilation. It was theoretically possible, but I wasn’t confident in my math skills.

Then again, perhaps that didn’t really matter. The true advantage of placing the meteor there lay elsewhere. It could restore itself to its original size after devouring a world.

That means I can continue using it as a forging material.

While the battlefield likely wouldn’t be useful until far in the future, before then, I could safely store the Star Devourer there without endangering anyone. It didn’t consume worlds particularly fast, after all. Moreover, if I adjusted its position within the battlefield from time to time, I could theoretically preserve it indefinitely.

As long as it isn’t shattered, it will always regenerate.

Although I would forge my divine armament on this floor, there was no shortage of other potential uses for it. I could craft weapons for Thunder Axe or Master of the Five Carriage Wheels, considering both had helped me greatly. Even if a god at their level didn’t need a new weapon, the fact that Vulcanus, a first-class god, had been astonished by the material said enough. It was unquestionably valuable.

I don’t even have to use it myself, since I can always trade with other gods after my ascension.

The more I thought about it, the more benefits I saw in keeping it. I was glad I hadn’t simply destroyed it but had instead found a way to use it. Even if, by some chance, I died and could no longer reach the battlefield, it wouldn’t matter. The Seed of Annihilation sealed within that world was clearly a remnant of some ancient power, something even causality couldn’t suppress. The Star Devourer definitely couldn’t withstand it, and it wouldn’t be able to harm any other world either.

I ended my thoughts there.

Roughly two-fifths of the Star Devourer had already sunk into the ground. With the help of the Spirit of Storms, I cleared away the surrounding soil, then summoned causality. Focusing its power through Soulbound, I released a clean, vertical strike. A brilliant surge of golden-blue light cleaved the Star Devourer neatly in two.

“

Oh!

” Vironus gasped in awe, then quickly composed herself.

She scanned the area with a wary expression. Still, I could tell that her gaze toward me had shifted. There was a quiet respect in it now. Vulcanus’s reaction was much the same. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes flickered between me and the meteor, wide with disbelief.

“One moment,” I asked, and both the god and his apostle turned toward me with puzzled looks.

Rather than explaining, I opened a portal leading to the battlefield. Since Vulcanus’s world was being consumed in real time, I decided it would be better to finish this task before chatting.

Carrying half of the meteor, I stepped through the portal. I was immediately greeted by the massive pit I had dug earlier, the same one I had created to reach the Seed of Annihilation.

I should probably cover that up now.

It wasn’t an urgent issue, but there was no reason to leave it open. I had more than enough soil, having stored all of it inside Mung-chi.

Setting the Star Devourer down a safe distance away, I walked toward the pit. “Mung-chi, let’s fill this up.”

“

Mew!

”

Before I could even finish, a swarm of shadows burst from my waistband and expelled heaps of earth. It truly was a tremendous amount, which made sense, considering I had excavated it while stacking Flash Strike four times.

As I watched the soil pour down, another idea came to mind.

Can I buy more soil from the shop? Maybe the tower sells soil so climbers can grow plants in the waiting room.

Sure enough, the shop did sell it. I had plenty of achievement points to spare, so I planned to buy a huge amount and pile it beneath the meteor. That way, I wouldn’t need to visit as often.

Not a bad idea.

There would be no risk of the Star Devourer damaging a healthy planet, and if I ever needed the battlefield again, I could just dig it back up. For now, I decided to leave that plan for later. After waiting for Mung-chi to finish filling the pit, I returned to Vulcanus’s world. Both of them looked at me expectantly, curious about what I had done.

Without explaining, I used causality to lift the remaining half of the meteor. “Let’s move. Maintaining this consumes energy.”

“Understood.” Vulcanus nodded and turned, walking swiftly ahead.

I followed with Vironus close behind.

“I decided to store the remaining meteor instead of destroying it. Since it regenerates, I can reuse it later.”

“It regenerates?” Vulcanus stopped mid-step, his tone rising with surprise. “Then that means—”

“Yes. It can be used to forge again.”

“Wow,” he remarked with genuine intrigue.

Although he had told me to dispose of it earlier, he clearly regretted losing such a valuable material.

“If that’s the case, would you entrust it to me again next time?”

“Of course. If I ascend to godhood, that is.”

He smiled faintly and turned away once more. Watching him, I realized that Vulcanus really hadn’t known the meteor could regenerate. Then again, the notification windows were only visible to climbers like me, courtesy of the tower. There were times when the windows didn’t appear, but they had always proven useful. Once I left the tower, I would find their absence inconvenient.

Still, even a first-class god didn’t know about the Star Devourer?

Vulcanus hadn’t been shocked by its name, but by the fact that I had retrieved such an anomalous power. Its description mentioned how it had devoured several worlds, and for gods unable to wield causality, it would have been a calamity beyond comprehension.

So how doesn’t he know of it? Did the tower intentionally conceal it?

If even a first-class god was unaware, that seemed likely. The tower, which governed causality itself, had isolated the Star Devourer specifically for the trials. That explanation fit best, although I wasn’t complaining. Thanks to that, I had managed to obtain something truly extraordinary.

***

The interior of the building was simpler than I had expected. I wasn’t familiar with the architectural style, but even to my untrained eye, everything was neatly arranged and orderly.

Following Volcanus’s guidance, I made my way to the hottest flame and found that it was composed entirely of causality. It was the purest flame I had ever seen. It felt as if I were witnessing the very essence of fire itself. Describing fire as “pure” sounded contradictory, but that was the only word that fit. There was no other way to describe it.

Anyway, I placed the meteor atop the flame and stepped back outside. It was time to prepare for my next venture into the Flame of Aspiration.

Vulcanus had left me with a warning about my last trip.

“You should return as quickly as possible.”

The hottest flame. Since it was born from causality, melting the Star Devourer wouldn’t be an issue. The real problem was that it would melt too fast, which meant that all the other materials had to be mixed in before long. If I took too much time to retrieve the next material, the power within the Star Devourer would begin to fade.

I had four hours total. That wasn’t much to begin with, but Vulcanus had told me to return within two hours at the latest. He couldn’t say for certain, but as a first-class god of smithing, his judgment wasn’t something I could ignore.

“

Ugh,

”

I exhaled softly.

This was the final chance, so there was no room for hesitation. I stepped into the Flame of Aspiration. The flames surrounded me, but unlike before, my vision didn’t fill with light, nor did I feel the familiar sensation of weightlessness. The Flame of Aspiration merely enveloped me in silence.

What is going on?

A notification window didn’t appear. I knew there were supposed to be four chances, but nothing happened. My instincts urged me to recall everything. The first, the second, the third. This should have been the fourth. Vulcanus himself had told me to hurry back.

There was no way we were all mistaken—Vulcanus, Vironus, and I.

Then why isn’t it responding?

I stepped out of the fire. The flames that had surrounded me retreated to their original form, still burning quietly in place. A possibility occurred to me.

Did I already enter the fourth trial and fail? It could have erased my memory the moment I left it.

It wasn’t likely, but I couldn’t completely rule it out. Given the nature of the previous spaces, anything was possible. A Primordial World Tree, a storm that spanned the heavens, and a meteor that erased everything it touched. Each trial had shown me powers beyond comprehension.

If I had really failed, Vulcanus and Vironus would know how many trials I had left. I needed to confirm it with them. I turned toward the building once more.

Hopefully, my memory didn’t get erased.

It would be a shame if I had missed out on the last opportunity, but returning within two hours wasn’t a bad outcome.

Or is it? What if I already used all four hours and failed completely?

If that were the case, then I had no time to spare. Just as I was about to move faster, another thought struck me.

Wait... is this the fourth chance?

I turned around instinctively. The Flame of Aspiration still burned quietly in its place. I recalled what had happened moments earlier, about how the fire hadn’t blinded me or teleported me, but had wrapped around me with its gentle warmth.

Stepping closer again, I let the flame spread softly across my body, and the warmth seeped deep into my skin.

I closed my eyes.

***

The Flame of Aspitation burned without any fuel, rising directly from the ground. After standing still for a while, I could feel a bit of it course through me. The idea that I could guide it grew stronger and stronger, so I summoned my causality. When I pulled it upward, the Flame of Aspiration began to climb my skin like flowing water.

This solidified my assumption that this was the fourth opportunity, and the material I was meant to retrieve was none other than the Flame of Aspiration.ui

Hee-Jeong would probably like this.

The thought surfaced without warning. Whether she could wield it or not didn’t matter. It had been a while since I had seen her, and she had been on my mind more often than not lately. Not that I could actually give her something like this, of course.

I sighed quietly and turned.

The Flame of Aspiration circled me playfully, weaving around like a living ember. The warmth it carried melted away my earlier tension, leaving behind a calm and steady peace.

I walked forward at a controlled and deliberate pace.

The building wasn’t complicated, so I still remembered the way. Before long, I reached the forge where Vulcanus and Vironus were working. Both stood before the hottest flame, drenched in sweat.

That was fast.

More than half of the meteor had already melted. Molten silver flowed along the furnace beneath the flames.

As I stepped closer, Vulcanus and Vironus turned toward me, freezing the moment they saw me. Vironus even stumbled back, nearly falling over. They stared in stunned silence, mouths slightly agape.

I immediately understood their reaction. “

Uhhhhh

, turns out this is the fourth material.”

Vironus gawked wordlessly, while Vulcanus squeezed his eyes shut with a groan.

“Good heavens.”

***

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has successfully obtained all of his materials. When forging his equipment, each material will harmonize to create an extraordinary amplification effect.」

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has completed the hidden mission ‘All-In-One.’ All stats increased by 15.」