Chapter 34: Another Awakener
“Hmm…… I was rather rude.”
As Diesel withdrew the Black Ice Curtain he had just deployed, a cracking sound rang out as the ice shattered and scattered.
“To think I was ignoring a mage who handles black ice.”
The troll floating in the air brushed the dust off his clothes with a few taps.
“Diesel, was it……. Raksha called you that earlier. Is that your name?”
“Yeah.”
Diesel answered curtly and began analyzing his opponent.
‘His awakening ability isn’t showing clearly.’
Through ‘Surreal Awakening,’ Diesel could see magic or miracles, but awakening abilities were the one thing he could not perceive directly.
At best, he could only infer what kind of power the opponent possessed.
‘If I watch a few more times, I might figure it out…….’
As he was thinking that, the troll lifted his chin stiffly and spoke.
“Kaztikan.”
“I heard you used to be a formidable Ghostcatcher.”
“There was a time like that.”
“So how did a back-alley freelancer end up getting hired by a megacorp?”
There was a common stereotype that Ghostcatchers and corporations were natural enemies.
To some extent, that was true.
A significant portion of the jobs Ghostcatchers took on involved attacking corporations.
However, most corporations harbored no particular ill will toward Ghostcatchers.
That was because the clients who gave Ghostcatchers the most work were, in fact, corporations themselves.
Occasionally, they would even recruit a Ghostcatcher who showed remarkable prowess in the underworld entirely to their side.
But that was also a demand that the Ghostcatcher abandon the freedom they valued most.
So it was only natural that Ghostcatchers who sided with corporations would be branded with a mix of mockery and envy.
Just like Kaztikan standing before Diesel now.
“Hah, for such a young friend, you’re already quite narrow-minded.”
The troll frowned.
Then, as if making a proposal, he spoke to Diesel.
“Don’t you get tired of living like the street vagrants, always shooting around?”
“……?”
“What do you say. How about working together with me as a megacorp agent?”
This time, Diesel’s expression hardened.
“This isn’t some half-baked probe. With your level of skill, I can get you promoted at high speed. Think carefully. Opportunities like this don’t come to just anyone.”
The troll continued, spreading his long arms wide.
“Living under a powerful organization is a far more comfortable life than you might think.”
But Diesel let out a snort and replied.
“Trusting a megacorporation. There’s nothing stupider than that.”
In some ways, Kaztikan’s choice might have been the right one.
Though it ranked near the bottom, Podvig was still one of the world’s top ten megacorporations.
If you entered under such a company, you could enjoy a reasonably comfortable life.
But entering under the wing of a giant corporation meant complete submission.
In exchange for a certain quality of life, you were squeezed dry until the day you died.
If there was one truth Diesel had realized after adapting to this world, it was that megacorps never did anything at a loss.
“I don’t make the same offer twice.”
“Good. I don’t like refusing twice either.”
At Diesel’s response, Kaztikan’s cold gaze dropped downward.
“What a pity.”
At the same time, blue sparks began to scatter across the troll’s entire body.
“You were a promising talent, for once.”
Kaztikan’s massive body moved in an instant, appearing right before Diesel’s eyes.
His sharp fist shot straight toward Diesel’s heart.
But before that—
Diesel clenched his molars with a grinding sound.
The artifact ‘Kantara’s Sixth Molar’ activated, and his mind entered an awakened state.
Time across the entire world slowed, while his thoughts and actions accelerated to the extreme.
Diesel slipped past Kaztikan’s fist, which now moved sluggishly.
Crackling static electricity brushed against Diesel’s collar.
No sooner had he dodged one attack than the bastard chained into the next.
Facing that, Diesel stacked several spells simultaneously.
First, he raised a shield lined with black ice spikes in his left hand.
At the same time, in his other hand, a jet-black glacial spear took shape.
Soon, Diesel—now looking less like a mage and more like a warrior—exhaled a frigid chill.
‘This isn’t enough.’
Before the artifact’s effect ended, he brought his left hand close to his heart.
Then, centered on Diesel, a black wave surged outward, and the absolute-zero zone known as the ‘Black Ice Zone’ spread in all directions.
“Hmm…….”
Confronted with three consecutive types of cold-based magic, Kaztikan raised his eyebrows.
If he attacked as is, the black ice shield in front would block him.
If he tried to slip around it, the icy terrain spread across the ground would bind his body.
If he retreated, he would enter the lethal range of the spear aimed at him.
It was a complete dead end.
“This one’s far more exceptional than I thought.”
What Kaztikan chose was an irregular move that overturned the board entirely.
Pajijijik……!
He dispersed all the mana flowing through his body outward.
As it passed through Kaztikan’s blood vessels and muscles, it manifested into magic of a fixed form and began to wrap around the troll’s thick skin.
‘That is…….’
A fiercely shining blue light enveloped Kaztikan’s entire body.
Thick sparks, like writhing snakes, leapt up with a thunderous roar.
“There aren’t many who’ve faced this form.”
The incarnation of the lightning system descending upon the earth.
Kaztikan floated in the air, looking down at Diesel.
“There are even fewer who’ve seen it and lived.”
The magic known as the pinnacle of lightning-type enhancement.
The form called the god of thunder.
‘Leigong.’
It was a secret art that converted the overflowing mana throughout his body directly into pure lightning.
When Kaztikan extended his hand forward, a streak of sparks burst from the empty air.
At the same time, every hair on Diesel’s body stood on end.
‘This is pretty dangerous…….’
One hit would be the end.
With that thought, he hurriedly drove the glacial spear he was holding into the ground.
The spear acted as a lightning rod, drawing the lightning toward it.
Kwa-gwang……!
Along with the thunder that erupted from the lightning, the black ice that had lost its mana shattered into countless fragments and scattered.
“Mm, good improvisation.”
Kaztikan raised his hand once more.
“But how many times can you do that.”
A wicked smile crept across the troll’s face.
This time, Kaztikan’s attack was not a single strike.
Dozens of sparks simultaneously formed in the air.
In response, Diesel ground his molars again.
‘I wasn’t planning to go this far…….’
He detonated the black ice shield he was holding, creating a smokescreen zone made of cold air.
Within that fog, Diesel began to wield a completely different kind of power.
One worshiped by countless people.
The miracle of the ‘Heavenly Realm.’
‘Ah…….’
As the blessing of an absolute being descended, a strange exhilaration washed over him.
At the same time, a single beam of light descended from the lofty sky above.
When that radiant light touched Diesel’s back—
It soon began to transform into two pairs of wings.
‘So this is the power of the Heavenly Realm…….’
Among the countless other worlds, it was known as the greatest of all.
The power of some absolute being who governed the order of that place added a new organ to Diesel’s body.
‘Response of Saint Michael.’
Diesel flapped his wings of light and shot powerfully up into the air.
By a hair’s breadth, a high-output lightning storm poured down.
“Truly regrettable……!”
Wearing a grin that looked ready to tear apart, Kaztikan poured lightning into the fog, unaware that his target had already slipped away from its position.
Only after finishing his all-out assault did the troll notice the unfamiliar light and lift his head upward.
Upon spotting Diesel with wings of light, his expression stiffened.
“W, what……? Weren’t you a mage……?”
The face that had been relaxed just moments ago twisted into something ferocious.
It was the first time he had revealed pure hostility.
“It seems that angel bitch left you a miracle earlier. Doesn’t matter.”
Kaztikan unleashed the full power of Leigong and charged toward Diesel.
But before that—
Behind Diesel, the halo of the Fire Faction appeared.
Something that should not have been possible.
Two kinds of miracles that could not coexist were engraved simultaneously upon Diesel’s body.
“T, this is……!”
A creeping black aura spread and enveloped his body.
Then, two pairs of powerful arms sprouted from Diesel’s shoulders and back.
“Containing miracles from two other worlds in a single body……?”
Before the troll could even finish speaking, Diesel thrust out his fist.
Arhat Eighteen Fists.
Eighteen strikes imbued with the blessing of the Arhat overwhelmed Kaztikan’s sharp lightning.
“Kgh……! You worm-like bastard……!”
With a furious roar, Kaztikan split into two in an instant.
Watching that, Diesel muttered the result of his earlier observations.
‘The maximum number of divisions is two.’
As long as even one of them survived, further division was possible.
“I don’t know what trick you pulled, but it was a very good attempt! That much I’ll praise you for!”
Amid the slashing barrage of lightning unleashed by the two figures, Diesel’s arms made of black aura were torn away one by one.
At that moment, Diesel let out a massive battle cry.
“Hup……!”
The black aura bursting out in all directions made the two Kaztikans squint their eyes.
Seizing that opening, Diesel invoked yet another miracle in his hand.
From the sky poured down a beam of light incomparable to before.
Then, a bright yellow radiant sword composed solely of dazzling light was grasped in Diesel’s hand.
“That is……!”
Kaztikan stared blankly upward for a moment.
Because something that should not have been able to occur to Diesel was happening.
A crown granted only to those chosen by Yahweh.
A golden, flashing ‘Golden Halo’ appeared above his head.
But.
‘Ugh…….’
The halo of the Fire Faction surrounding Diesel interfered with that glory.
Blessings of entirely different origins clashed, rejecting one another.
‘I have to control it…….’
With that, Diesel began committing an act that made no sense logically.
Trying to merge the miracle inscriptions of two realms into one.
Under normal circumstances, it could never happen, but with ‘Surreal Awakening,’ which grasped the truth of all things, it became possible.
Soon, the miracles of the two worlds were forcibly mixed together.
“What in the world are you…….”
Kaztikan, witnessing a sight he had never seen in his life, muttered with blazing eyes.
“What exactly is your true nature…….”
Space twisted violently as the halo of the Heavenly Realm and the halo of the Fire Faction fused together.
What emerged was a distorted glory from which black paradox dripped.
The crown of the Black Halo descended upon his head.
“What in the world is that power……!”
The two Kaztikans roared and charged at Diesel.
But to Diesel, who already held a sword in his hand, they posed no threat at all.
‘Holy Sword.’
One sword technique engraved into my older brother’s body surfaced.
A sword art based on the blessing of the Heavenly Realm.
Just how far had this man advanced?
‘Cross Brand.’
Two branching brands that annihilated evil.
As if a priest were drawing the sign of the cross, two holy slashes were carved through the air.
Along with them, the blue light radiating from the two Leigongs shattered into countless fragments.
“This…… can’t be…….”
Above that pitch-black cosmos.
The Earth, glowing vividly blue, floated into view.
Against that backdrop, the only shadow standing tall was Diesel’s.
A server room that had been reduced to almost half-ruins.
Diesel keenly felt the backlash of the power he had unleashed.
‘I pushed it too far…….’
Something that should not have been possible.
The price of having miracles from different other worlds descend upon a single body was severe.
‘Ugh…….’
Tremendous pain assaulted his entire body.
As the arms and wings that should not have existed vanished, a throbbing phantom pain struck as if his limbs had been severed.
‘Still, to think this was possible.’
Combining the miracles of the Heavenly Realm and the Fire Faction.
A hollow laugh escaped his lips without him realizing it.
A ridiculous combination—Yahweh’s bestowed weapon layered with the blessing of the Arhat.
If the Inquisitors had seen that scene, they would have tried to kill Diesel on the spot.
‘I can’t use this twice.’
This power drew far too much attention.
After all, miracles were acts of borrowing power from other beings.
If he kept using it, he would surely offend the great existences.
Earning their displeasure was no different from suicide.
‘Hoo…….’
He sat briefly atop a fallen server, steadying his body.
Only after injecting a strong painkiller into his system through his drug injector implant did his violently trembling hands finally stop.
He looked around.
Between the wrecked servers, the unconscious Nachal and angel lay collapsed.
Diesel slowly walked over and checked the condition of the two Ghostcatchers.
‘Their lives aren’t in immediate danger.’
They would regain consciousness before long.
Both were races with remarkably strong vitality.
Just then, a series of beeping sounds—beep, beep—rang out from the shared core at the center of the server room.
It signaled that the zettabyte-capacity chip had finished downloading.
‘At least the job’s properly finished.’
Diesel approached the prison containing the Witch of the Electrosphere, the objective of this mission.
That was when—
‘……?’
Suddenly, Ar sprang out from Diesel’s chest.
For the first time ever, it took an action he had never seen before.
〈M, Master……!〉
With all its fur standing on end, it hissed threateningly toward the server imprisoning the witch.
Then it spoke urgently.
〈You must not get close……!〉
“Ar……? Why all of a sudden…….”
〈The being in there is something utterly impossible……!〉
Before the Electrosphere spirit could finish its warning—
Someone appeared before Diesel’s eyes.
“I was about to die of boredom waiting.”
“……!”
A voice that sounded strangely familiar.
It was clearly sound waves entering through his ears, yet at the same time, it felt as though the words were being spoken directly into his mind.
“What took you so long?”
The being called a witch was sitting atop the tall server that had imprisoned her, legs crossed.
Then, as the reflected light from the Earth high above illuminated her face brightly—
Diesel was so shocked he could not even continue speaking.
Because……
“You……!”
The witch’s face was exactly the same as my Younger Sister’s.