Combat was a battle against time.
Victory hinged on using your time effectively while simultaneously depriving the enemy of theirs, creating a cascading advantage to secure the win. Against an enemy wielding Metamorphosis, however, every move required meticulous calculation.
Although we had a Sublimation-level power on our side, the enemy wielded a Metamorphosis ability borrowed from the Goddess. The exact effect of『Cogwheel : Freeze』 was still unknown, so I had several options right now.
In essence, my choices boiled down to offense or defense.
I could aim to blow his head off before he had the chance to pull any tricks.
Or I could take a direct hit, analyze its effects, and counter accordingly.
Would the Goddess’s Metamorphosis manifest as an offensive move? A defensive one? Perhaps it was a debuff-oriented ability—or a devastating counterattack type?
Crack crack. Blue, crystalline formations resembling ice stretched across the space, following its contours. Their icy appearance conveyed a chilling intensity. Time was still ticking.
Standing at this critical juncture, I⋯⋯.
“Hey, what’s that ability?”“Why would you think I’d know that?”
“You’ve been acting like you know everything up until now.”
I decided to ask Evil God-chan, hoping that she might have some idea.
She opened her mouth as if she was willing to answer. I expected her to brush me off about twice, but surprisingly, she responded on my first try.
“I don’t know exactly. My memory isn’t complete.”
“Oh, for crying out loud…”
“⋯⋯Then give me back my missing 93% before you start complaining! Anyway, the Goddess is all about maintaining the status quo. ‘To exist in eternal tranquility.’ That much is certain. From what I remember, her abilities were always slow and boring.”
“To exist in eternal tranquility, huh⋯⋯.”
This was the second instance I had encountered the Goddess’s Metamorphosis. The first was 『Cogwheel: Homeostasis』, used by Tara during a session. Now, 『Cogwheel: Freeze』 had been activated right before my eyes.
Homeostasis had provided limitless healing and protection over a wide area.
At the time, I interpreted it as a mass healing and buffing skill from a game. But reconsidering its stabilizing nature⋯⋯ it might have been an ability that reverted all entities within its range to their initial state at the time of activation.
A literal restoration(回復)—power to revert things to their original state.
If so, this 『Cogwheel : Freeze』, cast by the Archbishop, was likely less about attacking with ice and more about immobilizing targets, locking them in place to prevent movement.
If his ability leaned heavily on defense…
Then now was the time to attack—before his defenses fully solidified. I decided to unleash an all-out attack.
“Go, Evil God-chan! Go beat them up!”
“⋯⋯I was going to, so don’t order me around!”
Evil God-chan launched herself forward with a powerful kick.
Crunch, cruuunch.
Mid-charge, she violently tore the dragon scales from her arms. Blood dripped from the wounds, but now she had a handful of sharp projectiles.
Chajajajajack-!
With unmatched precision and speed, she scattered the scales. She was utilizing the combat data I had implanted into her during the Murim session, back when she had taken on the persona of Hee Yeonghyeon.
“Uheuk!”
“Keuaack!”
Priests holding holy texts or maces to block her path screamed as the scales pierced their bodies, throwing their formation into disarray.
Some of the scales targeted the Archbishop’s vital points directly, but…
“『Wild Dog That Protects the Goddess』”
A massive, golden shield materialized, blocking the scales. It was a Divine Magic ability Tara had used in the session. I remembered that it had quite a big cost, so how did he seem unaffected?
My mana scattered like a spiderweb as soon as I began an incantation. However, as soon as it neared the Archbishop, it froze—halted in place like a frozen stream of water.
A large-scale mana freeze… Was that the true effect of 『Cogwheel: Freeze』?
It was an ability that was clearly designed to kill wizards. In terms of defensive capabilities, it even surpassed Roderus’ mana materialization. However, it had two glaring vulnerabilities.
First, the Freeze’s area of effect expanded gradually. The azure branches crackled outward, but they weren’t fast at all.
Second, magic could still be cast freely outside the Freeze’s range
The Archbishop’s plan was straightforward: endure with Divine Magic until the Freeze enveloped the entire area. But that also meant we could win if we managed to overpower him before then.
It would be simple if I borrowed Tower Master’s power, but…
“⋯⋯Should I erase it?”
“Give me a little bit of time. I want to extract some information first.”
If he got hit by a Yuna Death beam, I wouldn’t be able to gather any intel, so I decided to fight him without relying on her power for now.
I shifted my focus away from the Archbishop and turned to the ordinary priests bowing their heads at the altar.
“『Shaking Heart』, 『Mental Domination』, 『Marionette』.”
Deceptive mana slipped through the priests’ mental defenses, threading through the cracks like a fine needle. It latched onto their consciousness, pulsating with life, and anchored itself.
Ping. And I felt the connection solidify. Moving my finger sent a responsive tension, like pulling on a taut fishing line. The path was firmly in place.
This was far beyond my goblin-hunting days. Thanks to Yuna, my mental processing speed had significantly improved, and the Yuri rescue mission had sharpened my abilities one step further.
I injected malice-laden information into their minds and commanded.
“Declare your faith and prove your repentance! Show your devotion by slaying the false prophet!”
Clench.
With that order, I tightened my grip, squeezing my fist to assert control.
Kiing-!
“Eu, eugueaaaaa-!!”
“My head! My head hurts⋯⋯ Heretic, I’m a heretic⋯⋯?!”
The priests clutched their heads in agony, staggering before collapsing one by one. Their eyes rolled back, and they descended into madness, even those whose bodies had been wounded by Evil God-chan’s scales.
I showed them an illusion of the Goddess sternly scolding them. I showed them how sad she was because they worshipped the fake Goddess. I showed them that their souls were damned, bound for Hell.
But she also offered them redemption—if only they repented now by carrying out Her will.
Desperate for salvation, the priests turned on the Archbishop.
“Forgive, forgive me Goddeeesssssss! I was deceived by this imposter!”
“I’m not a heretic, I’m not a heretiiic!!”
Driven by blind fury, they looked less human and more like beasts. They hurled themselves at the Archbishop, like zombies fighting for flesh.
They pounded on the Archbishop’s barrier, and those who didn’t have weapons, scratched it until their nails broke off.
Not liking the reinforcement I gave her, Evil God-chan growled in frustration.
“Damn it, Mima! These fuckers are in the way!”
“Brainwashing⋯⋯ Illusion wizard? If your faith were truly steadfast, you wouldn’t be so easily swayed. Pathetic, utterly pathetic.”
The Archbishop’s gaze turned icy.
Both Evil God-chan and I sensed an attack coming from the Archbishop.
“『Spear of the Goddess』!”
Golden particles coalesced into three radiant spears. Two were aimed at me, and the last one at Evil God-chan.
Whoooosh ──!
“『Texture Reconstruction』, 『Hologram : Clone』!”
I deployed decoys, obscuring my location by scattering visual and auditory interference alongside a swarm of identical holographic clones.
While I evaded the attack using the “Where’s Wally” meta, Evil God-chan used the brainwashed priests as meat shields to block the golden lances.
“It’s dangerous not to wear a helmet just because it’s uncomfortable. See? You’re using your brainwashed pawns because they’re useful!”
“⋯⋯Shut up!”
Since mana wasn’t working, we needed physical attacks. But the Archbishop’s Divine Shield blocked all physical damage. If I were from Gold Tower or Red Tower, I could’ve pummeled him with something like a rock gatling gun, but…
All I had was Illusion Magic, so I somehow needed to find a way to work around his defences.
===============================================================
I had spotted a little clue earlier. When Evil God-chan hurled her scales, the Archbishop summoned a shield to block them. Her scales weren’t affected by 『Freeze』at all.
Since Evil God-chan was more like a life form made out of information, this hinted at a flaw in his defenses.
I condensed malice-infused information into a physical form—a pitch-black dagger. Although fragile and easily destroyed, upon contact, it would embed Illusion Magic directly into the target upon contact.
In essence, these were dagger-shaped scrolls. I created several of them.
I scattered the information-daggers everywhere. Then I manipulated the brainwashed priests to pick them up and charge at the Archbishop. Finally, I shouted.
“Hee Yeonghyeon! Flower Raining On All Skies!”
“⋯⋯You somehow found a loophole again, haven’t you-!”
Evil God-chan got excited and charged in. Seeing that, the look on the Archbishop’s face turned grim.
“Weren’t you just an Illusion Wizard⋯⋯? No, have you studied both Purple Tower and Gold Tower magic? Such scattered learning would never bring you to true mastery⋯⋯?!”
He misunderstood. He thought my information-daggers were a product of the Gold Tower’s materialization magic. I could see why—he had likely never encountered illusion magic imbued with physical force.
All those years I spent secluded in the Purple Tower and the Academy had finally paid off. My name and abilities were still unknown to the world, allowing me to catch opponents off guard like this eight or nine times out of ten.
Ten brainwashed priests charged at the Archbishop, stabbing at him relentlessly. He retaliated with an array of Divine Magic, damaging and pushing them back, but it wasn’t easy to fend off humans who were running in without any regard to their own lives.
This was especially true since Divine Magic generally had weak offensive capabilities.
Amid the chaos, Evil God-chan moved as if she was dancing. She kicked an information-dagger lying on the ground, flipping it into the air, and caught it with her hand. Then, she threw it with a spin.
She leaped to retrieve broken daggers deflected by the Archbishop’s shield, repaired them on the spot, and hurled them again. Her continuous spinning motion formed a circle, sending the daggers flying in all directions.
The precision and fluidity of her movements couldn’t be called anything but a dance. While it might have fallen slightly short of being called Flower Raining on All Skies (滿天花雨), it was undoubtedly an exceptional throwing technique.
Then.
“Keut──?! Eueub⋯⋯.”
A dagger grazed the Archbishop’s cheek. That was all it took for the malice-infused information to seep into him. His eyes spun wildly as he clutched his mouth and started gagging violently.
It worked.
I had imbued the dagger with the sensation of extreme nausea—like being spun around on a rollercoaster ten times in a row. The Archbishop would feel as though he were trapped in a bottle being violently shaken.
With his concentration faltering, it became increasingly difficult for him to fend off the daggers. The tide of the battle had shifted in our favor. Slowly but surely, we were breaking him down.
“But why does the effect feel weaker than I expected⋯⋯?”
“You, I’m⋯⋯! Over here! Throwing for my life! Why can’t you⋯⋯do, something more?!”
“We’ll get him if you keep it up! I’ll cover the rear in case reinforcements show up. Let’s go, team!”
“HEY-!!”
The Archbishop’s face contorted in frustration.
Did he think he would win? Of course, he did. He was using the Goddess’s Metamorphosis, after all. Meanwhile, we hadn’t even touched the “M” of Metamorphosis.
Given the difference in power, he must have assumed victory was certain. But look at us now—I was still strong without that Metamorphosis thing or whatever.
That fancy ultimate ability, I don’t even need it!
“⋯⋯How?! Without even using Metamorphosis? Dammit, the Goddess is⋯⋯ useless! My faith wasn’t misplaced. If the broken Goddess’s power isn’t enough, then I’ll use Her power──!!”
The Archbishop grabbed the golden plate containing the liquid remnants of the Queen’s information. Seeing this, Evil God-chan’s face turned pale.
“Don’t drink ittttttttttt──!!”
Gulppp.
He drank it.
Although Evil God-chan had been critically damaged by this embarrassment attack, this act was nothing more than a meaningless last struggle. Drinking the remnants of the Queen wouldn’t suddenly elevate him to Sublimation or grant him new powers.
If anything, it would cause a clash with his existing self, likely leaving him in shambles. I waited patiently, intending to sift through the High Priest’s brain for information once he broke down.
“Dammit, you should’ve stopped him Mima!!”
“What⋯⋯? I mean, drinking it won’t do anything.”
“The Goddess will sense my presence! I’m blacklisted—she’ll try to erase me!”
Notice? Erase?
Click.
Click click.
A chill ran down my spine. Like icy coolant flooding through my nervous system. Where was it coming from? What was happening?
The sky.
Before we could act, we saw it—a vast, open blue sky. Despite being underground, we could still see it.
“⋯⋯It’s 『Divine Punishment』!”
Then, a pillar of light descended from the sky, directly above the Archbishop.
BOOOOOM ──!!
The ceiling and floor dissolved as the superheated air created a powerful shockwave. I was thrown backward, while the Tower Master and Evil God-chan, being lighter, were completely swept into the air.
“Eu, Euwaaat?!”
“I told you to stop him! Didn’t I tell you to stop him?!”
“Damn it! Then you should’ve warned me beforehand , you punk-!! Tower Master, catch me!”
I quickly grabbed onto the Tower Master beside me and leaped to grab Evil God-chan’s ankle as she was being carried away by the wind. The intense light continued to illuminate the underground chamber.
I had always thought Divine Power lacked offensive strength—and it was true—but.
Just like how sunlight could melt steel when concentrated enough, the overwhelming density and mass of Divine Power burned through everything. Within that light, the Archbishop was obliterated, leaving no trace behind.
But even though the Archbishop was gone, the pillar of light remained. As if it was determined to erase every fragment of the ‘Thing’ from existence.
Thankfully, Evil God-chan didn’t appear to be its target. That relentless barrage of light showed no signs of redirecting toward us. Despite being so close, it still hadn’t noticed us.
Even though fragments of the ‘Thing’ were lodged in my mind, the beam didn’t seem to recognize me.
Could it be that the detection only worked if the ‘Thing’ was within the bounds of Inherited Metamorphosis? It seemed the Goddess’s targeting mechanism was incredibly specific. Meaning that we were safe. For now.
At that moment, a reckless idea struck me.
If 『Divine Punishment』 was directly from Goddess, then this pillar of light must act as a direct connection to her. What if I could trace it back and extract some crucial information⋯⋯?
I handed Evil God-chan over to Yuna as an anchor and began walking, step by step, through the gusts toward the light.
“Miama, what are you doing?!”
“⋯⋯It’d be a waste to walk away without gaining something from this!”
I heard Yuna calling out behind me.
“D-Don’t do it. It’s dangerous! You’ll get h-hurt!”
She was right—I might get hurt. But I could see how the Goddess was so explicitly opposing the ‘Thing’.
The so-called benevolent being, who forgave all sins and bestowed Divine Power even upon those who insulted her, had unleashed this devastating attack the moment she detected even a hint of the ‘Thing.’
This gave me hope. If I could learn more about the Goddess, I might find a way to fight back against the ‘Thing.’ Maybe I could even extract it from my mind entirely.
And then!
I could have my happy ending right there. I wouldn’t need to tangle with anything strange—I could simply live a peaceful life with Yuna and Yuri!
I stood before the pillar of light.
The Inherited Metamorphosis had ended with the Archbishop’s death, and the beam’s size was already shrinking. I did a quick scan just in case from multiple angles. This pillar of light didn’t have any detection mechanisms.
This meant there was no risk of a second beam targeting my head even if I reached in with my hand.
Taking a deep breath, I thrust my hand into the mass of energy.
“Aat, its ho⋯⋯.”
Sizzzzzle. My clothes disintegrated in an instant, and my skin began to blister and melt. Nice. It wasn’t outright hostile as expected—but.
A laser that had vaporized the Archbishop in seconds just felt very warm to me.
I was saying that it was relatively warm, yes. But my hand, burning in real time, hurt like hell.
I poured mana into my arm, pushing it upward through the beam. It felt like trying to climb a powerful waterfall.
I strained my mind, twisting my mana threefold to amplify its penetration, identifying weak points in the Divine Power, and navigating the shortest possible path upward.
It was working. Somehow⋯⋯ it was actually working!
I pressed in further—forearm, then up to the shoulder.
“Ghhheuk⋯⋯.”
Sizzzzzle. The stench of searing flesh filled the air as my skin burned away, revealing raw muscle beneath. And then, I reached it.
■■■■■■■⋯⋯.
There was an enormous, intricately encrypted mass of information. It was so big that I could trace the outline. Just reading everything could take decades.
So, I focused on the weakest part. I extracted a fragment and began to analyze it. Show me a secret. Anything—just give me a small piece I could analyze to get a clue.
[Wo■■■■■vice ■■Rate ■■%]
A little more. Just a little more—
[Wo■■■zation■vice Corru■Rate 2■%⋯⋯]
Just a little, just a little bit further──
===============================================================
“Kek!”
A sudden yank on my hood dragged me backward. My neck strained as I tumbled out of the pillar of light.
It was Evil God-chan. She stood over me with arms crossed, her foot tapping impatiently. When I tried to ask why she’d stopped me, she held up two fingers.
She folded one down and pointed at my arm.
It was a grotesque sight. My arm was burned down to the bone. If I’d stayed in there even a second longer, my left arm might havebecome Sans.
Then, folding the other finger, she gestured next to me.
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
Yuna sat on the ground, tears streaming silently down her face as she stared at me. She had begged me to stop, but I’d recklessly pushed forward, and now my arm was ruined. Her heartbreak was palpable.
I needed to console her immediately—but my mind was elsewhere. Because I was using the entirety of my brain to process the fragment of information I had just got.
The words I had seen were that ominous. They were terrifying words to just let it slide with optimism.
The message from the Goddess was as follows:
[Wor■■ilization■vice Corruption Rate 24%⋯⋯]
[Warning: If the Corruption Rate exceeds 30%, Administrator Purge Protocol will commence.]
Corruption Rate and Purge.
I might have just stumbled upon the prelude to a disaster.
***
https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken