Chapter: 01
The Archmage Who Killed a God
“What is the definition of ‘magic’?”
When I asked with a serious expression, Tuje Yamamoto answered.
“Kim Jeong-seok. Why do we need to define magic at a time like this?”
We were standing at the top of the Tower.
The upper reaches of space.
Looking down from the outside, the center of Earth was a massive crater endlessly spewing volcanic ash.
Countless typhoons swept across the entire planet.
Relentless earthquakes shattered the continents into countless fragments.
On one side, floods.
On another, devastating drought.
Elsewhere, deadly plagues spread, wiping out humanity.
Earth was already as good as destroyed.
I smiled faintly.
“Just answer. I’ll give you a score.”
There was nowhere left to return to.
The only thing we could do was move forward.
To be precise—
We were all going to die.
An unavoidable death awaited us.
So…
I simply wanted to lighten the mood, if only a little.
As if he had read my intentions, the Sword Emperor, Aritolt, spoke.
“Magic is the art of using mana to create miracles?”
“Five points.”
A textbook answer.
I shrugged, and this time the Great Sage, Plunium, answered.
“Magic is the ability to twist the laws of the world.”
“Zero points.”
“…Why?”
“Even what appears to be twisted is still part of the world’s laws. If a caveman saw a gun, wouldn’t it have looked like magic?”
After hesitating for a moment, the Spirit Lord, Park Hayan, spoke.
“…A conversation with the world?”
“That’s a better answer.”
“You sense mana, speak to its flow, and achieve what you desire through it… that’s what I think magic is.”
“Eight points. Yamamoto, your turn.”
Tuje Yamamoto frowned.
“I’m not playing your childish game.”
Playing hard to get, huh.
The highest score went to Spirit Lord Park Hayan.
“Congratulations. Park Hayan, what’s your wish?”
“You’ll at least build us a grave, right?”
“Isn’t this Tower our gravestone?”
“…I suppose you’re right.”
“Any other wish?”
“Not really.”
How bleak.
I clicked my tongue softly.
Then, as I looked upon every disaster unfolding across Earth, I gave my own definition of magic.
“A disaster.”
In the end, the ultimate purpose of magic—
Was to become something like what lay before our eyes.
“Magic is the power to create disasters.”
Its true purpose was to bring calamity into existence.
Sword Emperor Aritolt asked,
“Then are you saying every catastrophe happening on Earth was caused by a magician?”
“Correct.”
I slowly nodded.
The Great Sage Plunium muttered as though he had realized something.
“Wait. Then the dragons, magical beasts, mysteries, and monsters we’ve been defeating all this time… they didn’t cause the disasters by appearing…”
His eyes sharpened as he stared at me.
“Are you saying the disasters happened first… and only then could those creatures appear?”
“As expected of the Great Sage.”
“The ruined land summoned magical beasts, polluted seas gave birth to monsters, and humanity’s cries of despair created supernatural beings?”
“That’s how I see it.”
I added casually,
“Our entire approach was wrong from the beginning. We mistook the results for the cause. If you’re fighting the consequences instead of the source, you’ll never find the right answer.”
At that moment—
Rumble!
The entire Tower shook.
A presence on a completely different level.
Even the flow of time seemed to slow.
Behind us, at the Tower’s highest floor—
Darkness rippled.
Space itself tore apart, and a single figure slowly emerged.
“…So that’s the magician.”
“Calling him a magician makes him sound kind of weak.”
I couldn’t help but add,
“You idiots. Do magicians really seem that weak to you?”
I let out a small laugh as we prepared for battle.
The owner of the Tower.
The one who had caused every one of these disasters.
The Absolute God had arrived.
Kim Jeong-seok.
The name my parents gave me because they wanted me to live an upright, proper life.
I did everything I could to live up to those expectations.
I studied hard.
Got a respectable job.
And then the world ended.
Sure, I’m skipping over quite a bit in between.
But in the end, there was nothing we could do.
Too many catastrophes struck humanity all at once.
Of course, I became a fairly accomplished magician.
I achieved countless feats and was praised as humanity’s strongest mage.
…But what was the point?
I couldn’t protect anything.
The conventional magic I had learned couldn’t create the miracle we needed.
There were simply too many branches of magic, and I couldn’t master them all.
Take the category known as “mystic arts,” for example.
It alone was divided into five major disciplines:
Curse Arts.
Tao Arts.
Dark Arts.
Illusion Arts.
Spirit Arts.
And magic?
It had over a hundred different branches.
In other words—
There was simply too much to learn.
There were too many kinds of magic to master through the proper path.
That was why it needed categorization.
The most common classification was the Four Elements—
Fire.
Water.
Wind.
Earth.
Each possessed obvious strengths and weaknesses.
Naturally, none of them could reach the ultimate truth.
I was no exception.
I mastered the four elemental magics and earned the title of Archmage.
But…
“How shallow.”
At best, it was like scooping up a single handful of sand from an endless beach.
It wasn’t enough.
Yet the field was so vast that no one could ever fully reach its end.
A different approach was necessary.
A turning point.
A more definitive method of classification.
Disasters.
I looked at the “god” standing before me.
The one who brought disasters.
Or perhaps…
The disaster itself.
That was it.
That was the answer.
But it was too late.
I had finally realized it—
Only for the Sword Emperor’s head to be severed with a casual wave of the god’s hand.
The Great Sage’s body exploded.
Everyone died.
Only I remained.
The god spoke.
“You are mistaken.”
“…”
“This is not the end of the Tower. I merely descended because I wished to witness your final despair.”
“…I know.”
I already knew.
Out of everyone who had wandered the world in search of truth—
Only I knew.
“Damn… I’m really going to die.”
I had three minutes left.
At most.
I clenched my teeth.
That thing called a god.
The one standing on the Tower’s highest floor was merely one among countless Gods of Disaster.
And likely the strongest among them.
It had only come down for a moment to watch us sink into despair.
It was tragic.
Infuriating.
Humanity’s extinction had been decided from the very beginning.
But…
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
I smiled.
“…?”
“I knew you’d come down once humanity’s destruction was certain.”
Which meant…
“No matter what happens… I’m taking you with me.”
“You still have another move left?”
Not just another move.
The decisive one.
Thud!
I tore out my dying heart.
Cough!
Spitting black blood, I raised it into the air.
“We never intended to win.”
Even if we won, what would it matter?
Earth had already been destroyed.
From the beginning, we had only one objective.
To destroy the Tower.
We climbed all the way here only after agreeing that we’d all die together.
“A mere heart…”
“Does that still look like a heart to you?”
“…?”
Magic had countless classifications.
My heart was the final hope—
The culmination of every form of magic.
“You fool.
This is the Philosopher’s Stone.”
In that instant—
Fwoooooosh!
A colossal magic circle spread across the entire planet.
Blood vessels burst from the corpses of my fallen comrades, connecting to the Philosopher’s Stone.
The mana of every life that had perished on Earth gathered together.
The Ultimate Magic—
Forging the Philosopher’s Stone by concentrating every ounce of mana on Earth into my heart.
I had traveled the entire world for this one moment, carving magic circles everywhere.
Along the way, I gathered the greatest alchemist, diviner, necromancer, spirit summoner, summoner, and countless others.
I assembled every category of magic.
The final strike born from the blood and sweat of humanity’s survivors.
Then—
I released all that accumulated mana at once.
We never planned to win.
From the very beginning, we had lived only for this moment.
I raised my middle finger at the god and said,
“Let’s die together, you bastard.”
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Ding!
[You have killed the Absolute God, Irresistible Force.]
[Absorbing the Law of Causality possessed by Irresistible Force.]
[You have obtained the title Godslayer of the Absolute.]
[Authority awakened: Devourer of Disasters.]
[You have destroyed Earth.]
[You have been designated as The Greatest Disaster.]
I opened my eyes.
“…What is this?”
Why…
Am I still alive?
