Episode 119
Chapter 37: The Power That Erases the World, the Power That Sustains the World (3)
Jin was the last to realize that Klam had descended.
Everyone else had already been waiting for him to wake up for about five minutes, calmly handling the situation.
‘So everything I just saw was an illusion?’
It was maddening.
The shards piercing my chest, the blood I coughed up in handfuls as I collapsed—all of it felt so real. Now, standing here unharmed, felt almost like the fake part.
‘Then I must have lost consciousness the moment Priestess Laosa started walking on her own.’
That was exactly it. Jin had already suffered a fatal wound and blacked out at that point. But now, all his injuries, including the reflux, had vanished without a trace.
His body felt as light as if freshly cleansed, and when he instinctively pinched his cheek, the sting was real.
Seeing this, Syris chuckled softly.
“You acted like you were ready to die just moments ago, but I guess even you think your life’s worth saving, huh?”
“Well, Syris, you were trying to save me too, weren’t you? When I collapsed…”
“What are you talking about? When did I ever do that? Besides, the moment you went down, that god descended and ended everything.”
Jin forced a sheepish smile.
‘Looks like this god Klam only showed me the “what if” scenario when things went wrong.’
No one else had experienced that hypothetical reality like Jin did.
Still, even if it had been real, Jin felt grateful—Syris would have acted the same way.
“Hmph. Honestly, I was wondering what that little Runkandel brat was thinking, being so reckless. To think he’d actually summon a god… Daughter, your boyfriend’s got some sly tricks up his sleeve for someone his age.”
Talaris mistakenly believed Klam’s descent was part of Jin’s plan. Syris thought the same, and both were secretly impressed.
Reading the mood, Jin felt a bit embarrassed, but there were more pressing matters to confirm.
“Murakan. What about Murakan!?”
“He’s fine. Damn brat! I thought you were dead!”
Murakan, furious, kept cursing while clutching his chest even though Jin was perfectly fine now.
This time, it had truly been dangerous.
If the ancient god Klam hadn’t descended, their journey would have ended today.
Murakan, still scolding Jin, suddenly turned his glare toward Klam.
“So, who the hell are you? Judging by your power, you’re no minor god. I don’t recognize your energy at all.”
Murakan wasn’t exactly friendly toward Klam.
Having experienced countless gods alongside Solderet in his prime, he believed that when gods cause anomalies, it’s usually because they’re scheming for their own gain.
“Look at that shattered ship over there. All the geniuses of Ziphl are passed out on the floor… With this much power, showing up only now means you want something. Tell me, what do you want from the kid?”
Where Murakan pointed, Jin saw mages who had lost consciousness from magical reflux. Even the six enemy red dragons that came with them had succumbed to the reflux and were unconscious.
All of it was caused by Klam’s divine power.
Instead of answering, Klam pulled a small mirror from within his robes.
‘A mirror!?’
In Jin’s previous life, this mirror was a divine artifact in Ziphl’s possession, mass-producing countless seven-star mages.
[I have been waiting for the one who would take this. The thousand-year contractor Solderet spoke of—the very boy before me.]
As Klam looked toward Jin, everyone’s gaze fixed on him. Even the Kolonin, bowing nearby, glanced at Jin with curiosity.
[I was once the god who governed all magic in the world. But when I could no longer contain my own power and nearly destroyed the world, I sealed myself within this mirror with Solderet’s help.]
“I’ve never heard Solderet mention that. Nor that there was a separate god of magic.”
[I will show you proof you cannot doubt, Black Dragon.]
No sooner had Klam finished speaking than the mirror’s surface darkened.
Something inside struggled to break free, but the black energy on the surface forcibly restrained it.
That black energy was spiritual energy—dense and potent, even beyond what prime Murakan could handle.
“Solderet’s seal…?”
Murakan had witnessed Solderet imprisoning many powerful beings in the past, but he had never seen a seal this strong.
Wiping away his surprise, Murakan nodded.
“So it’s true you nearly destroyed the world… I get it now. The seal is weakening. That’s why you’ve been waiting for someone who can maintain it.”
[Exactly. What this seal holds back is the source of infinite magic—myself. And the endlessly expanding magic could erase this world entirely at any moment.]
Klam smiled bitterly.
If magic became more abundant than air, no living creature could breathe.
[So I asked Solderet to imprison me within this mirror. And I entrusted the Kolonin who served me at the time with the mission to protect it.]
“Why entrust such a grave task to such weaklings? Do you know how much those people have suffered over the centuries?”
[Back then, it was close to the dawn of time. Those creatures were quite dominant—among the strongest humans of their era.]
Surprisingly, the Kolonin’s distant ancestors had been the victors of the primitive age.
[Also, since I was sealed, I couldn’t guide them properly. I couldn’t advise them to develop technology or build a better civilization to grow stronger.]
Even the Kolonin were left speechless.
Klam spoke again.
[But in the end, my choice was right. The thousand-year contractor Solderet spoke of has finally come to find me.]
Klam stepped closer to Jin.
[Take this, Jin Runkandel.]
As Jin took the mirror, the spiritual energy on its surface quickly stabilized.
He felt the immense spiritual energy used for the seal—and the infinite magic trying to break free—flowing through his body like an electric current.
Just touching it unleashed two overwhelming forces wildly stirring through him.
[What you hold is the power that sustains the world. Solderet’s seal.]
Of course.
The information Jin had about the mirror from his past life didn’t include this. He only knew it as a ridiculously powerful artifact that boosted magic just by looking at it.
‘This isn’t an artifact—it’s a disaster waiting to happen.’
Magic surged wildly through his fingertips. Holding it for just a few days would grant him seven-star magic effortlessly.
‘But every time the magic rises, the seal loosens just a little.’
A sensation only those who use spiritual energy could feel.
‘If I use this carelessly and the seal breaks, it’ll be the end of everything.’
That’s what Ziphl did in the past.
As thousands of mass-produced mages were created, the seal must have weakened.
By the time tens of thousands were made, there would have been serious problems.
“So now I’m supposed to protect this instead of the Kolonin?”
[Precisely. The Kolonin were entrusted with what no one but you could guard.]
“That’s an overwhelming responsibility. I’ve watched those who served you suffer for so long without reward. I have no intention of doing the same.”
Klam nodded.
[You’re right. As a god, I did nothing for those who served me. I was sealed, so I couldn’t help. But your case is different.]
“How so?”
[Solderet’s seal isn’t just a seal—it’s a gift from Solderet prepared especially for you.]
“This seal?”
[It was Solderet’s masterpiece, created when he was at his strongest, pouring all his power into it. It’s not just dense spiritual energy—it’s part of Solderet himself.]
“…The reward I was originally supposed to receive was for Priestess Laosa to summon Solderet once.”
She didn’t know you were living a second life. Nor how you could live two lives.
Klam swallowed those words and met Jin’s gaze.
[Looks like she took a gamble to get your help. How could she summon a being who can’t even call the Black Dragon beside you?]
Before his reincarnation, Jin had lost contact with Solderet just before death.
Murakan’s connection ended right after his defeat by Temar a thousand years ago.
Unlike ordinary contractors or guardian dragons, neither had received the god’s care.
[In that sense, your fate and the Kolonin’s are similar. Perhaps that’s why you care so much for them.]
Klam bowed his head once toward Jin.
Talaris, witnessing this, was struck like a thunderclap—none of the gods she had met before had ever bowed to a human.
[To you who saved those who served me in my stead, I offer my deepest gratitude. Now, those children will finally be freed from their burdens…]
Before Jin could even respond, Klam’s form began to fade, becoming translucent bit by bit—like salt dissolving into a flowing river.
The manifestation was ending, which meant that Raosa’s body was about to vanish as well.
“Klam, Priestess Raosa!”
Jin reached out to grasp Raosa’s fading figure, but before his hand could touch her, she disappeared completely.
The only reason Klam, whose powers were sealed, could manifest even briefly was because Raosa had willingly offered herself as a sacrifice.
“…Hmm, so you were the contractor of Solderet. I’ve just overheard quite an interesting story. It’s the first time I’ve seen a god bow before a human.”
Startled, Jin glanced over at Talarys.
Though the situation was unavoidable, it was true that the Bikyung faction had now uncovered many of Jin’s secrets because of this incident.
“Lady Talarys.”
“Maybe we should get out of here for now. Those mages will probably come to their senses within a few hours. And that thing up there looks like it’s about to fall.”
She pointed toward the sky, where the half-destroyed Kojek was slowly descending toward the ground.