Chapter 336: Ascension Interlude



I had expected some kind of reaction from the demonic cultists upon activating [Divine Will]. But not like this.

Not to this extent at least….

“Fooh…”

A slow, steady breath escaped my lips. Short yet long. Calm yet unnaturally composed.

Then-

[Recalculating level…]

[Base Level: 141] → [+705]

[Temporary Level: 846]

The numbers flashed violently in my vision, the system’s notifications blaring incessantly, yet they felt distant-irrelevant.

Because at that moment, something inside me ignited.

A sensation far beyond mere strength, beyond power, beyond comprehension-divinity itself.

It was so overwhelming, so all-consuming, that for a moment, it felt foreign-as if I were no longer myself, as if something greater had descended into my very being.

[Strength: EX]

[Agility: EX]

[Endurance: EX]

[Luck: EX]

[Power: EX]

My body was blazing with raw, unchecked power.

It surged through every fiber of my being, searing my existence with an overwhelming realization:

Every action I took from this moment on would interrupt the natural flow of the world itself.

It felt like a single step, a single breath, a single movement from me could erase the academy in its entirety.

A force comparable to not just a nuclear bomb-but thousands of them, concentrated, given form, given will.

And yet…

I was calm.

My heartbeat was normal.

Despite the cataclysmic energy roaring within me, my mind remained eerily serene.

And then-I saw it.

The world. Clearer than ever before.

Not just mana.

Not just magic.

But the very fabric of reality itself.

The flows of power, the conflicting streams of mana intertwining in the air, the delicate threads of existence woven together-

Dimensional rifts.

Dozens. Hundreds.

They bled through every direction, no longer hidden from my sight.

Tears in reality itself.

Each one a gateway-a connection to realms beyond this world.

And in that moment, one undeniable truth settled into my mind.

This divinity.

This power was never meant to exist in a mortal plane.

I understood that now.

And it made sense.

It explained why, in the game, players needed an innate domain or had to rely on Alice’s presence just to withstand even a fragment of ascension’s power.

Without it, the weight of divine energy would crush them, unraveling their existence under its sheer magnitude.

Yet here I was, standing beneath a sky that was no longer just a sky-but a veil, thin and fragile, stretched over the truth of reality itself.

The dimensional rifts shimmered before me.

Some were clear, close, almost tangible-others lay further in the distance, faint outlines against the vast expanse of unseen worlds.

A part of me wondered why.

Why were only some rifts visible while others remained obscured?

Was it a matter of perspective?

Power?

Or something beyond my comprehension?

It didn’t matter.

If my current form-elevated beyond mortal limits, burning with divine clarity-still couldn’t discern the absolute truth behind them, then there was no point in lingering on the

question.

I shifted my focus.

Though the air was littered with countless rifts-dozens, hundreds, possibly thousands-

three among them stood apart.

Brighter. Vaster. More defined.

I recognized one immediately.

‘The Heavens.’

It pulsed with divine radiance, a beacon of sacred light interwoven with the very source of my

power.

It was a domain that resonated with me, where my essence naturally aligned.

But the other two…

The first was a deep, searing crimson-dark red, smoldering like embers in a dying fire.

Its energy bled through the void like an open wound, radiating malice, hunger, and something deeper-something ancient.

‘Hell? The Underworld?’

It seemed obvious, yet there was a sense of wrongness to it.

As if it weren’t merely a domain of suffering, but a living, consuming entity in itself.

And then, there was the third.

A rift of twisting purples and blacks, shifting like a shadow that refused to hold a solid form.

It pulsed with an energy that was neither dead nor alive, neither warm nor cold. It was foreign ―utterly, incomprehensibly foreign.

Even with all my newfound clarity, my mind struggled to place it.

Yet if I had to guess-

It was probably the polar opposite of the Goddess’s domain.

‘Erebil’s domain’

While the Heavens thrummed with life, creation, and boundless energy, this place was its

antithesis.

Not simply darkness.

Something beyond it.

Something that shouldn’t exist yet did.

And for the first time since this surge of power ignited within me…

A feeling I had long forgotten began to stir in my chest.

A quiet, creeping unease.

Although I can’t directly see her gaze.

I instinctively understood-Erebil was looking at me.

That much was clear.

That much was absolute.

A formless weight pressed against my soul, something vast and unfathomable, something

that existed outside the natural order of this world.

The sensation was not merely that of being observed-it was acknowledgment.

It felt weird knowing that fact…

It was like I had accidentally brushed against something I was never supposed to touch.

I shuddered and shook my head, forcing myself to look away, to break the connection before

it dug deeper into my being.

But as my awareness shifted, I felt something else.

Something far closer.

Something lodged deep inside me.

I lowered my gaze.

And there, within my chest-entangled with my very existence-was an unsettling mass of

darkness and crimson.

It writhed, coiling and unraveling like a living, breathing thing.

No… not quite living.

This was different.

It was chaos.

It was devouring.

It felt nothing like the energy of Hell.

That was sinister but structured, its power drawn from the suffering of the damned.

But this?

This was a complete anomaly a thing that simply should not exist.

‘Liyana’s curse.’

Even without the Goddess’s warning,

I could see it clearly now-especially with my newly enhanced [True Sight].

This wasn’t something I could just cut away.

It wasn’t some foreign object embedded in my soul, something that could be burned,

purified, or sealed.

No, it was woven into me. Intertwined with my very existence in a way that defied logic and fate itself.

The Goddess had warned me before-the threads of fate were beyond even her direct

intervention.

But even knowing that, I couldn’t help but feel a flicker of disappointment.

Somewhere deep down, I had hoped…

No, I had wanted to believe that I could simply erase it.

‘Especially with my ascension now…’

But reality had never been that kind.

It was just as I expected.

There was no way I could break free of Liyana’s impending grasp so easily.

‘In the end I’ll have to rely on the goddess’s blessing in order for my plans to work out

huh…’

I exhaled slowly.

I needed to end this situation now.

And fast.

Any longer… and I had the distinct feeling that I would explode.

The sensation of ascension felt eerily familiar.

It was reminiscent of what I had experienced back in Cheshire’s [Wonderland] Skill-an

overwhelming detachment from reality, an existence transcending mortal limits.

But this time, it was real.

And unlike back then, where the world itself bent to accommodate my power, where there

were no real consequences for unleashing it…

Here, the rules were different.

Here, there were stakes.

A single mistake could wipe out the entire academy.

The weight of that realization pressed against my mind like an iron vice, but before I could

even fully process it-

[Congratulations! You have unlocked all skill libraries.]

[Applicable skills under the user’s current threshold shall now be unlocked.]

[All S-rank skills acquired…]

[All A-rank skills acquired…]

[All B-rank skills acquired…] [All C-rank skills acquired…]

[All D-rank skills acquired…] [All Unique skills acquired…]

[Note: All skills are now applicable!]

[Do you wish to use them?]

[Yes/No]

For a brief moment, I felt an almost instinctual urge to say yes.

To let the knowledge and power flood into me-

But I knew better.

‘No.’

I immediately rejected the system’s suggestion.

Had I unknowingly accepted, it wouldn’t have been just a question of whether my body could

withstand the influx of power.

It wasn’t just a risk of soul damage.

The sheer amalgamation of skills-passive or not-would have been enough to distort the

natural order.

And that meant…

The academy wouldn’t survive.

Most S-rank and Legendary-tier skills had no built-in limiters.

Their conditions for activation did not distinguish between allies and enemies.

Especially the ones classified under destructive and death-type magic.

Some of them were meant to be used only in the presence of divine beings or catastrophic

threats to reality itself.

Some were forbidden, meant only for theoretical use in the game.

If those were to be unleashed here and now-

The academy wouldn’t just be damaged.

It would be torn apart.

A terrifying thought flashed through my mind.

I took a slow, controlled breath, suppressing the absurd divine pressure flowing through me.

In the game, there were three proper ways to use ascension.

The first was through Cheshire’s domain via Alice.

A conceptual world woven by the fabric of her imagination, where reality bent to her will,

where logic itself became a mere suggestion. Within that space, she was absolute. The second was through unlocking one’s innate domain-a terrifying technique that forced opponents to fight within a subconscious world shaped from the very essence of one’s soul. A battlefield where history, emotions, and the deepest aspects of one’s existence manifested

into tangible reality, crushing enemies under the weight of one’s own truth, no foreign power must be involved when using an innate domain…

“Though it was possible for me to learn an innate domain… it would mean I have to abandon

my divine powers in order for it to work, which is something I can’t afford.’

And the third…

Was simply being born divine.

A natural-blooded entity of higher existence, one whose very being was an extension of the

divine.

Gods, demi-gods, half-angels-beings who ascended not through skill or struggle but by the

undeniable fate of their birth.

Unfortunately… I wasn’t like that.

Even if I was currently blessed beyond reason, even if my body pulsed with an unfathomable

level of power, I did not have the privilege of being born a celestial entity.

I wasn’t like Lucas, who had inherited divinity from the moment of his birth.

No matter how much power I had now, I wasn’t someone who was meant to wield it.

And I could feel it-the weight of something that was never meant for a mortal.

It pressed against my very existence like a foreign parasite, not harming me yet demanding to

be acknowledged.

Even with my mind eerily calm, my heightened senses continued to assault me with an overwhelming flood of information.

I could feel the air shifting around me, as though I had become one with the atmosphere

itself.

I could hear the subtlest of sounds-the faintest trembling of particles, the beating of a

thousand different hearts, the echoes of breaths taken miles away.

I could smell the raw scent of mana, thick and intertwined in the air like threads of fate

binding the world together.

I could feel like I could see everything and nothing at the same time.

Every fracture in reality.

Every dimension lurking beyond the veil of what should be visible.

And yet, I was still me.

‘It was simply a miracle my brain was working right now…’

Though the goddess’s blessing was probably helping… Forcefully I directed my senses away from the infinite and narrowing them down-to the

woman in front of me.

The demonic cultist.

She trembled violently, her entire body shaking like a marionette with its strings cut.

Her breath came in short, erratic gasps, her hands twitching as though her body had long lost

the ability to function under normal human control.

Her face…

Her deranged, hollow face.

The madness in her gaze had completely shattered, replaced with something more primal.

Terror.

A fear so deep, so absolute, that her mind could no longer comprehend it.

The woman’s lips parted, but no words came out-

Just a faint, choking whimper-

Then-

A warm, damp sensation spread beneath her.

She had lost control of her bladder. Peeing to herself she suddenly spoke… “P-Please forgive me… I only wanted…t-to….” Her once-arrogant presence was nothing more than an annoying eyesore now.

And before I could even process my own thoughts about her-

-POOF!

She exploded.

A sudden, violent detonation-

Not of magic.

Not of some external force.

Her body simply ruptured.

A mist of crimson sprayed into the air, splattering against the ground in thick, uneven

splashes.

She had been crushed.

Not by an attack.

Not by any spell.

Not even by my intentional will.

But simply by the fact that, for a single moment, I had thought about it.

[Skill: [God Hand] has been activated.]

Tsk…

Dammit.

I had momentarily forgotten.

At this level of power, I didn’t need to activate skills manually.

The mere act of willing something to happen-

Even just thinking about it- Would automatically force reality to comply.

‘Since I have access to all skills in the skill library…’

This was getting dangerous.

Any intrusive thought, any stray impulse- Could manifest into destruction.

I exhaled slowly, a deep sigh escaping my lips as I closed my eyes, willing my breath to

steady.

My mind was still reeling from the overwhelming flood of information-the heightened

senses, the crushing realization of my own power, the lingering weight of what I had just

done.

But now wasn’t the time to get lost in thought.

I forced my thoughts blank-clearing away the unnecessary noise-before activating the

spell embedded within my earrings.

[Skill: Time Stop] → [Activated!]

The world stopped.

Everything froze in place, like reality itself had been put on pause.

The overwhelming, eerie sound that had been grating against my senses suddenly vanished.

Silence.

True, absolute silence.

A familiar sense of detachment washed over me, as if I had stepped outside the flow of

existence itself.

Then-

[Skill: Time Stop – Limit Increase!]

[Stopped Time Limit: 5:00:00]

A noticeable increase. The original five-second cap had expanded, allowing me five full hours

within this frozen world.

I took a step forward, the soft tap of my foot muted against the stillness.

The world, devoid of motion, felt fragile.

Every single frozen detail-the suspended dust particles in the air, the way the flickering

mana in the surroundings remained trapped mid-flow, the lingering echoes of movement

that should have long disappeared-was laid bare before me.

It was unnatural.

And yet, it was power.

I cast my gaze toward the storage unit, where a handful of men stood like statues-trapped in

the exact positions they had been in before time had stopped.

Their faces, though frozen, bore signs of distress-the subtle wrinkles of tension, the

lingering traces of confusion in their unmoving eyes.

They were too well-dressed to be regular captives.

Good-looking, well-groomed, well-kept. A stark contrast to the usual victims of demonic cults, who were often left battered, broken,

or worse.

Now that I had time to properly observe, I realized what felt off.

“…So that’s it.”

I had initially thought it was strange that some of the staff in this facility didn’t carry the

usual aura of demonic cultists.

Unlike the others, these men seemed normal-even restrained, in a way.

But now I understood.

They weren’t cultists.

Or rather, they hadn’t been cultists to begin with.

Above each of their heads, I could see the thin, dark threads of demonic influence.

Marionette strings.

Mind control.

“That explains why they were so eager to die in the game…. Even goblins weren’t that much

of a mob characters compared to these guys, it also explains why they had a huge number of

followers inside the academy…. Most of them were puppets huh…’

I narrowed my eyes, tracking the corrupted threads back to their source-

Or at least, to where they had been.

The woman I killed.

She had been the one controlling them.

Her death had severed the threads, leaving these men momentarily adrift, their minds still

trapped in the aftereffects of her influence.

They would likely regain their senses soon, but just in case- I extended my hand, allowing the faintest pulse of divine energy to trickle into the room.

A gentle golden glow radiated outward, invisible to normal eyes but spreading through the

air like a cleansing mist.

The moment my power touched them, the remaining traces of demonic influence began to

unravel—like ink being wiped from a pristine surface.

Their bodies didn’t move.

Their expressions didn’t change.

But I could feel it-

The corruption was fading.

Even though I had only used a fraction of my divine energy, it was more than enough to purge

the remnants of the woman’s spell.

Tomorrow, when time resumed and they woke up, they’d likely feel refreshed.

Any lingering wounds-physical or mental-would be mended from the inside out.

That was the nature of divine energy.

With a simple flick of my fingers, I cast Greater Teleportation on the unconscious men.

A soft, shimmering light enveloped their bodies before they vanished in an instant, relocated

to a medical ward within the academy.

The sudden appearance of multiple injured men in the middle of the ward would definitely

cause a stir.

Doctors and medical staff would rush to their side, confused and bewildered, wondering where they had come from, what had happened, and who had sent them.

But that didn’t matter.

Not right now.

I had more pressing concerns.

Turning my gaze eastward, I focused on Blue Café-a small, unassuming establishment

nestled within the city streets.

On the surface, it appeared no different from any other cozy gathering spot-warm lighting,

neatly arranged tables, a façade that gave off an air of normalcy.

But beneath that thin veil of deception, it was infested. Through my enhanced perception, I could see them-the twisted presences lurking within.

Demonic worshippers.

Huddled together, hiding within the walls, disguised as ordinary citizens.

Their disguises wouldn’t fool me.

I could clear them out in one go.

One command.

One thought, and God’s Hand would wipe them from existence like they had never even been

there in the first place.

But that wasn’t what I wanted.

No, if I intended to send a message-**not just to them, but to their leader… no, their

demonic lord-**then a mere extermination wasn’t enough.

I needed something bigger.

A clear display of power.

A warning.

My mind raced through the catalog of spells at my disposal, assessing each one for its impact,

effectiveness, and sheer destructive potential.

With the sheer number of buffs and passive enhancements automatically active on me, I could

have chosen something far more devastating-a catastrophic-tier spell that would reduce the

entire block to ash in an instant.

But that wasn’t the approach I wanted.

No, I needed something simple.

Something that would burn.

Not just the worshippers, but the restaurant itself.

A cleansing flame that would turn their sanctuary into a pile of smoldering ruins.

Considering all the buffs I have right now I didn’t need to use any high-ranked spells.

[Skill: Low-rank Flame Magic]

[Flame Orb]

A small, unassuming fireball began to form in my hand.

At first, it flickered with the usual orange hue of normal flames-ordinary, unimpressive,

nothing to fear.

But then-

It changed.

The fire twisted, shifting as my very presence imbued it with something beyond mortal

comprehension.

The orange glow melted away, replaced by a blinding, golden light.

I could feel the deep energy swirling within the orb-radiant, overwhelming, yet restrained

by the limitations of a low-rank spell.

But in the end, it was just that.

Low-rank flame magic.

Not something that warranted any careful consideration.

Without a second thought, I hurled it toward the building.

And.

That was my mistake….

-BOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!

The instant the golden flame made contact, the entire structure detonated.

A massive explosion of divine fire erupted forth, consuming everything in its path.

A heatwave of searing, golden radiance tore through the night sky, expanding outward with

unstoppable force.

The brilliance was blinding-so intense, so godly, that for a brief moment, it felt as if the

entire night had been forcibly turned into day.

Every shadow vanished.

Every street, every rooftop, every corner of the city was bathed in pure, holy light.

Then, just as suddenly, the shockwave from the explosion slammed into me.

The sheer force of it shattered my concentration-

Note: [Skill: Time Stop] has been interrupted.]

The frozen world shattered like delicate glass.

Time resumed.

I stood there, staring at the destruction before me.

A massive crater where the café once stood, and a beam of light stood never seeming to stop

for a few moments…

Nothing but scorched ruins and smoldering embers laud across where the building once were.

The streets were dead silent, the air thick with the lingering traces of divine fire.

I gulped.

‘Did I overdo it?’

Before I could process the thought, a familiar series of system messages flickered before my

eyes:

[Note: You have defeated an entity aligned with Evil and Darkness.]

[Congratulations! Bonus points have been awarded!]

[Bonus Status Points: +20]

[Note: Your soul is slightly shaking… Fixing problem… Solution success!]

[Your soul was not damaged.]

[Congratulations! A portion of your divinity has significantly Increased!] [Note: The Goddess’s Blessing inside you has returned to its slumber.]

[Note: Blessing shall reawaken every time user enters Ascension.] [Warning: It is advised to only reawaken and use the effects of the blessing while under

Ascension. Using the blessing under a mortal soul will lead to permanent soul damage.]

[Note: Detected Evil Presence has now diminished. Stats will return to normal levels after 10

seconds.]

Shit.

I needed to get out of here.

Immediately.

I could already sense celestial magic gathering in the sky.

It was faint at first—a ripple in the atmosphere, a distortion in the mana flow-but then it

intensified, forming into multiple magic circles. And these weren’t ordinary spells.

They were being cast by the academy’s highest-ranking staff.

Mages powerful enough to wield celestial magic-

‘I can’t let the principal see me…’

My mind rattled with urgency.

Gritting my teeth I instantly teleported out of the area.

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