LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 74
Chapter
The sky and the earth were flipped upside down. It sounds easy to say, but for those experiencing it, it’s anything but simple.
“Ugh…!?”
“Grab anything quickly!”
The Rangers were falling from the sky. It sounded strange, but that was the reality.
The sky became the ground, and the ground became the sky. Depending on the will of the one performing this act, even the direction of gravity was reversed in this case.
Gravity refers to the mutual attraction between objects with mass, but under the Sword God’s blade, such common sense held no meaning.
[Click…!]
Rionne gripped her sword tightly with her tingly hands. The reflected strike, a mix of Enok’s technique and the Sword God’s power, felt quite electrifying to her as well.
However, since it wasn’t critically damaging, she immediately poured all her strength into swinging her sword down.
‘Justice eventually prevails.’
It’s easier to return an upside-down sky and earth to their original state than to completely flip them.
By inserting her own sword into the force trying to return to the original state, she could break the clone’s technique.
As the world shook once again, Tsukiyo lunged forward, walking on air.
“Stay back, Butler!”
Her nails shimmered with fighting spirit. For a demigod who could manipulate intent like a hand and foot, Tsukiyo’s level of illusions was insignificant. In this situation, her best choice was hand-to-hand combat.
Hanging upside down from a tree, Enok silently observed the scene.
Even after the sky and earth returned to their rightful places, and Rionne joined the fight against the clone and the opponent, he watched quietly.
‘Convergence.’
Tsukiyo’s advice to concentrate on one was simple. Just as lighter bodies could rise higher, so too could levels of mastery.
But was that truly necessary? Simply rising normally wasn’t enough. Look now. There he was, falling behind without even being of help.
[…I’m tired.]
His body felt heavy. As if burdened by a heavy weight on his heart, he continued to sink lower.
[…There’s nothing I can do now, Dad.]
[……]
He didn’t like this powerless situation. But that alone wouldn’t change anything.
The godlike sensation he had felt when forming the third ring during the duel with Tsukiyo had long since shattered.
[Convergence.]
Muttering absentmindedly, he observed the fight before him.
At a glance, it looked quite simple. The clone had been facing two Grandmasters armed only with basic swordsmanship since that single moment of restraint.
In contrast, how about himself? The lightning swirling around him was merely spectacular, but stepping in there would only be akin to clowning around.
Rionne getting hurt, his own inadequacy, the rising murderous intent—none of those feelings bore any meaning in this situation.
[Convergence.]
He didn’t even aspire to reach demigod status.
What was the required level called Grandmaster? Even though he was confident he had somewhat caught up in brute strength, the reason he couldn’t ascend to that level remained unclear.
He knew the prerequisite for reaching Grandmaster status: the opening of the Central Dantian.
But he had already opened his Central Dantian long ago, not recently, but since childhood.
Yet he couldn’t call himself a Grandmaster. Naturally, that was because he had not yet reached it.
[Convergence.]
The Grandmaster level was also referred to as the stage of harmony. It meant being in harmony with nature and being able to manipulate external energies like limbs.
But did he really have to harmonize? Why did he have to concede even a bit to nature?
He had no desire to seek harmony with nature. He wanted to trample, crush, and break it down, forcing it to submit beneath him.
[Convergence.]
Then, what should he do?
Well, isn’t it simple?
He should do as he pleased.
That’s the logic he had learned from Rionne, and it was where his heart led him.
[Convergence.]
To one place. Heavily, into a single point.
He raised a star upon the spectrum of colors unfurling behind him. That star was inspired by Adolf’s gravitational star.
There was nothing that suited the image of converging into a single point better than gravity.
Whoooooom────────!!
[Convergence.]
Slowly, very slowly, the space around Enok began to converge into a single point.
*
“Holy moly.”
Since the sky and earth flipped, the Ranger Captain, who had stepped far back, couldn’t close his mouth at the spectacle unfolding in the distance.
The space around the human boy muttering, “Convergence, convergence,” gradually distorts. The Captain sensed it.
‘A new superhuman is about to be born today.’
An outrageous growth. He witnessed the duels. The boy easily defeated Rangers and seemed to take things into his stride, yet he was engaged in a serious battle against Tsukiyo.
That alone was enough to deem him a genius who appeared once in a millennium. The boy there was now taking another step forward.
“…Aren’t you ashamed?”
At the Captain’s words, the surrounding Rangers bowed their heads. They couldn’t hide their dismal feelings about this situation.
“That little kid is desperately chasing after those people while we’re just standing here watching.”
“…Even if I had ten mouths, I wouldn’t have anything to say.”
“Yeah, neither would I.”
That said, jumping in to help would only hinder the situation and would be a foolish act.
“Just etch it in your hearts. Don’t get complacent with the long time given to us; we need to move more diligently.”
He clenched his fist. The intense grip was pale from the exertion.
“…Well then, let’s just pray for now. That the wings of that little superhuman won’t be broken here.”
*
Rionne and Tsukiyo continued to sustain more and more wounds.
They weren’t being overwhelmed by the clone, but they couldn’t close the minor gaps, and gradually, the distance widened.
Yet, for this moment, they let go of impatience. They simply used this fury, powerlessness, and that indescribable annoying emotion as fuel.
[Convergence.]
They blindly chased a single goal. Conveniently, there were three targets right in front of them. To properly see those targets, it was essential to mentally prepare themselves.
[It’s okay.]
They had grown since then. They had to endure.
It was foolish to discard an advantage simply because they were up against a stronger opponent.
Kiiing────────
The ring in his left eye began to slowly spin. Of course, he engaged safety measures. Not to peer too deeply inside. It would be just as foolish as burying one’s head in the abyss.
[Ugh…!]
As lines etched themselves into the world, a wave of nausea rose. In that space where incomprehensibly complex intricacies unfolded like breathing, certain lines stood out distinctly.
[Calm. Calm?]
For the Sword God, was that what calm felt like? After a moment of surprise, he continued to observe.
Lacking or overflowing—without worrying, he accepted it all for now.
Excessive amounts would naturally overflow anyway. There was no need to consider that backlash at this moment.
With a step forward, grasping the realization. The target was that battlefield. He needed to upset that subtly tilted balance.
[Enok!]
“Butler! Right now…! Ugh!”
The clone’s sword. He didn’t know the intricacies that formed it.
But having seen it, he could add a bit of foreign substance to it.
‘Spear.’
Magic took shape. All he needed was a single thrust. Just that much was no different from extending his hand.
Bwooom──────────!!
A dazzling burst of lightning erupted following the trajectory of the spear. The clone easily dealt with it.
Swoosh—
With a single swing, the attack was extinguished.
That was alright. After all, it was merely an experiment.
Following that, Rionne blocked the swinging sword of the clone. During that time, Tsukiyo aimed for an opening, but the clone stepped forward and easily dealt with her.
[Convergence.]
If everything he used converged into a single point, what would that be?
Not knowing, he instinctively shaped it. He gripped the surrounding space that had gradually begun to converge.
‘Black Hole.’
What the world called a black hole. He clenched the result held in his hand and thrust it out.
────────────────!!!
Before the shattering space, the clone swung its sword just like before.
Swoosh—
That all-out strike absurdly dissipated.
Blood poured like a waterfall from Enok’s left eye, which absorbed everything.
[Convergence.]
This time, he would ignite spirit energy and magic. As mana circulating through his body mingled with foreign substances, he would converge it into a single point.
Yes, true self.
Hadn’t it also been three rings turning into one large point? A sphere in the mind had no difference from a point with volume.
Central Dantian, nature, harmony, domination. One step forward to true self. The blessing of Heavenly Death and the divine decree.
The world around him, and the world within him. Meaningful and meaningless things for him.
Constructing fences to distinguish them, while embracing what was inside and excluding what was outside.
[That too is convergence.]
There was no need for perfection. He didn’t need to walk the path that those three had taken.
Enok’s newfound form, having realized this, scattered lightning and dyed the sky purple.
I will reject harmony and reign over it.
I will reject everything in this world while embracing only what I desire.
Thus, I will cradle a singular world in my heart and move forward with it.
Carelessly stepping down from the throne that had been mistakenly called divine, I took a seat momentarily.
[Listen well.]
From the sky, now tinted purple, thick strands of lightning poured down like rain.
More splendidly, more intensely.
[I am Enok Estor.]
I announce my presence here.
[I am the King of Thunder.]
The master of all thunder has awakened.