"I have nothing to say to you." Othinus spoke coldly.
She was the first Magic God of this world—yet now, she was the weakest among them all. Her divine power as a Magic God was no longer complete.
She deeply regretted ever becoming one. The world she once lived in—the home she cherished—had vanished entirely before her eyes. No matter how many times she rebooted the world, her homeland never returned. Instead, it gradually transformed into something utterly unrecognizable to her.
At first, she thought this was the consequence of becoming a Magic God. She had once willingly abandoned her divinity, hoping to restore what she'd lost. But her homeland never came back. And so, she took up her godhood once more.
Yet, having once forsaken her power, her divine essence was now incomplete. No matter what she did, the results only succeeded half the time.
Nephthys sighed helplessly. "You really are unsociable, Othinus. Always keeping the fun to yourself."
Niang-Niang giggled. "If Othinus won't tell us, then we'll just have to find out ourselves, won't we? Hehehe…"
Having become Magic Gods, they had long since lost all sense of meaning. They had no purpose, no goal—no understanding of why they existed or for what reason they continued.
To lose the meaning of existence was to lose everything that made them human. All their actions now stemmed from a single impulse—to please themselves.
With a mere gesture, they could reset the entire world, reshape it at will. There was little left that could stir their interest.
Yet, whenever something unexpected or incomprehensible appeared—something that defied their understanding—it inevitably drew their attention.
Such moments were among the few amusements they had left.
The withered monk clasped his skeletal hands behind his back, his hollow gaze overlooking the world below.
"Even though a power comparable to a Magic God has appeared, there's no visible change in the world."
"Most likely, whoever it is has sensed our existence and is deliberately hiding their presence."
"Just like that magician Edward back then—trying to block our gaze. Hehehe."
"But truly, the world has grown pitiful again. It seems I must intervene once more."
This monk had once been a true believer—a holy man who had sought to bring salvation to all beings.
Yet, he achieved Buddhahood through blasphemy—becoming a living Buddha by starving himself to death while maintaining full consciousness through sheer will.
Such a state was known as Sokushinbutsu—to achieve immortality through death itself. It was the path of the evil Buddha.
Every ritual of godhood can only produce one deity.
And as the first magician to become a living Buddha, he directly ascended as a Magic God.
Even after his ascension, his wish to save all beings remained—but it had become completely distorted.
Like a corrupted Holy Grail: if one wished for a world without war, it would simply annihilate humanity—after all, without humans, there can be no war.
A love for mankind twisted into an evil toward mankind.
"Hm?"
The monk attempted to manipulate his personal phase to intervene in the world—but then froze.
"My interference through the phase… was nullified?"
Zombie chuckled. "Hehehe… Living Buddha, you're really going backward. Can't even modify the world through your own phase anymore?"
Each of the Magic Gods had created countless phases of their own.
A phase was like a thin film overlaying reality, coloring the world in their own image.
In essence, phases were tools for the Magic Gods to operate and shape the world.
Their power was so immense that direct interference would cause the universe to collapse like a soap bubble. Thus, they used phases as intermediaries—to control reality without destroying it.
A hoarse, monstrous voice echoed through the void as the enormous figure of a beast materialized—its body assembled from countless monster limbs, resembling the Greek Chimera.
"No, Zombie. When I first awakened, I already tried to influence the world. The phases truly don't respond. Even my divine power as a Magic God has no effect on reality."
"It feels as though something far stronger than us is fixing the world in place, preventing our powers from altering it."
Upon hearing that, Niang-Niang's eyes widened with interest. She immediately unleashed her divine power, thrusting it straight toward the mortal world.
The moment the divine power of the Magic Gods touched the mortal realm, it shattered as if striking steel—unable even to pierce the thin veil separating the worlds.
This scene silenced the gathered Magic Gods—but only for a moment. Then, excitement overtook them all.
Niang-Niang kicked her legs gleefully, eyes glittering with madness. "Hahahahaha! What's happening? What in the world has happened to the mortal plane? This is something truly fascinating!"
"Unprecedented—absolutely unprecedented! Hahahaha—!"
"Nephthys, Zombie, Othinus, High Priest! This has never happened before! Hahahaha!"
"The world has changed—something occurred while we slept, something beyond even our perception!"
The monk's sinister voice echoed coldly. "Hehehehehe… even the power of the Magic Gods cannot shake the world. It seems the mortal realm has become far less fragile than before."
"I wonder… could we even enter it now? Shall we test it?"
Their power was far too immense. Should even one of them enter the mortal world directly, the world would collapse instantly.
It would be like a drop of ink falling into a cup of clear water—instantly turning it to chaos. Everything in existence would vanish like an illusion.
Once they left, the world would reboot anew.
Yet, it would not return to its original form—it would become something entirely different. Even if it appeared identical, humanity would no longer be the same. Even if the people seemed unchanged, they would be nothing more than similar flowers grown from different soil.
Niang-Niang smiled—bright and lively, yet carrying a domineering will that allowed no refusal. "We'll never know unless we try."
Before her words fully faded, she vanished from the Hidden Realm, reaching both hands directly into the world below.
The instant her fingers breached the veil of reality, golden light enveloped her form. A tremendous, irresistible force seized her, pulling her into the mortal realm.
Her expression twisted between disbelief, fear, and exhilaration. Her body was beyond her control—her voice could not escape her throat—as she was dragged violently into the world.
What—what is this?! The world—it's… solidified?!
In the next instant, her body emerged outside the atmosphere.
The Earth's gravity seized her, pulling her downward. Her descent blazed across the sky, leaving a fiery meteor trail in her wake.
Impossible!
All the divine power within her—all her strength as a Magic God—was being sealed and compressed by an indescribable force.
She was growing weaker—infinitely weaker.
"What… what is happening—ahhhhhh—!"
Gravity. Atmospheric friction. Pain. Helplessness.
How long had it been since she last felt such sensations? She had even forgotten what they truly felt like.
A massive blue planet loomed before her—continents, oceans, cities—everything spread out beneath her eyes. Her body, searing from the friction against the atmosphere, filled her with both terror and exhilaration.
She no longer knew what she was feeling.
Even if a Magic God wished for death, it was impossible. Magic Gods could not die. No matter how many ways they tried to execute themselves, true death would never come.
But now—now she felt it. The possibility of dying. That raw, terrifying, thrilling sensation that overwhelmed all her senses.
"Hehehehehehahahahaha! The world has changed! The world has changed! It's become something beyond comprehension! Something terrifying—like an unknown beast devouring everything!"
Her ecstatic voice reverberated through the Hidden Realm. The other Magic Gods, long since weary of eternity and bored beyond reason, instantly felt the same wild excitement.
Like dying travelers stumbling upon an oasis, even if they didn't understand what had happened, they could no longer contain their curiosity. They all surged forward eagerly.
After all, they were Magic Gods—almighty beings. Even if the world had changed, it was merely new and fascinating, not dangerous. Nothing, not even death, could frighten them.
"It can hold us? The world can contain us now? Wonderful! Hahahaha!"
"Wait for us, Niang-Niang! You don't get to keep all the fun for yourself!"
"I don't understand a thing—but the new world awaits! Hahahaha—!"
The Magic Gods, seized by madness and exhilaration, rushed toward the world like lunatics—like true abominations.
But the instant they touched the veil of reality, their expressions changed. All control vanished as they were forcibly dragged into the mortal realm.
An incomprehensible power—like an invisible cosmic hand—manipulated their divine essence, compressing it into nothingness before wrapping it in a golden membrane that sealed their power.
"Ahhhh—!"
"What is this?!"
"What kind of force is this?!"
"Hahaha—such power! Something far stronger than us!"
"Utterly beyond comprehension—indescribable!"
"So we never truly understood the world after all! There are still unknowns waiting before us! Hahahaha!"
After the initial wave of terror, endless excitement and delirious joy filled their hearts.
Bzzzzzzzz—
The beings of the Magic God level fell from the deepest layers of the phases, their descent painting the upper atmosphere in radiant auroras.
The brilliance was so intense that even the night-shrouded western hemisphere was illuminated as if by day.
Across the western world, those still awake looked up in awe at the prismatic heavens.
...
London — Buckingham Palace
In the midst of her discussion with Queen Elizabeth regarding the commencement of the Great Judgment—starting from their homeland—Lola lifted her gaze toward the sky. Her pupils widened, and after a brief pause, the corner of her lips curved upward.
The Queen's keen eyes fixed upon the abnormal lights above, her expression grave.
"Such immense angelic power… no, not just that. There's something else—something incomprehensible. A phase?"
As the Queen of England, her entire nation was enveloped within a divine angelic ritual. Once activated, the entire country would temporarily transform into a Heaven on Earth. The Queen would ascend as an Archangel, and her knights would become angels of war.
This was a power equal to that of an Angel-class being—the equivalent of a Level 6 Esper in Academy City terms.
Naturally, the Queen could comprehend how terrifying that power in the sky truly was.
If it were to descend directly upon the Earth, the entire western hemisphere would be annihilated—perhaps even the planet itself.
"The world is about to fall into true chaos."
Queen Elizabeth drew in a deep breath.
Lola had appeared in the dead of night, proclaiming that God Himself had descended into the world in a physical incarnation. At first, the Queen thought Lola had gone mad—driven insane from reading too many grimoires.
But when she saw those three divine artifacts bestowed by God Himself—and that absolute will—no amount of self-deception could convince her it was a dream.
Those three artifacts were true instruments of God, capable of rewriting reality in an instant. Before them, all forms of magic were rendered meaningless…
She had no doubt—if Lola were to raise the Divine Scepter and utter the words, "The world should not have magic," then all magic across the globe would instantly cease to function, reduced to nothing more than cheap parlor tricks.
With such power in her possession, why should she fear the Roman Orthodox or Amakusa Church waging war against Britain? Ridiculous.
Counterattack. Counterattack! A holy war must be declared—to hang every last one of those Roman and Amakusa zealots from the streetlamps!
Lola narrowed her eyes, a deep irony glimmering within them.
"To clarify, Your Majesty—the auroras you see are but the afterglow streaming down from the higher phases. Those crimson meteors… are the heretical gods being struck down."
How could beings of such magnitude as the Magic Gods possibly fall into the mortal realm? There was only one explanation—God Himself had stripped those heretics of their divinity, casting them down from their divine thrones.
To have fallen into the mortal world meant that they had already lost their Magic God powers. At best, they were now no more than quasi-gods—beings like Orellius.
Though they bore the title of "quasi-Magic God," in truth, they were nothing more than magicians who had transcended the limits of humanity but had not yet reached the divine realm.
Without stepping into the domain of godhood, regardless of their title, they remained only magicians.
Queen Elizabeth's aged eyes widened in shock. "What? Heretical gods—aren't those the Magic Gods?!"
Lola's tone was dismissive. "Those heretical gods merely stole fragments of the Lord's power. Now that God has returned, divine retribution has fallen upon them—as it should."
...
Elsewhere, at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, a young man in crimson clerical robes stood frozen at the entrance, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Heretical gods? Damn it! And this happens precisely when my powers have inexplicably stopped working! The world truly is straying further and further from its rightful path!"
...
Academy City — Windowless Building.
Aleister hung upside down, his face twisted in madness, his lips contorted into a crooked grin. Within the nutrient fluid surrounding him, countless small bubbles rose to the surface.
"Magic Gods—have fallen! Hehehehe! Has that great being finally made a move?"
—
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