The battle raged on.
Neither side could completely overwhelm the other, but with every clash of Divine Authority, Ian gained a deeper, and far more dangerous, understanding of his own power.
"I'm evolving. But what about you?"
He spoke to the god that had been so certain of its victory, his tone dripping with contempt.
Within the realm of consciousness, the divine radiance of Paradox and the darkness of Decay twisted around each other like two giant serpents, tearing, devouring, and corrupting one another. Ian's will felt like a lone ship caught in a storm, yet his hands never left the helm. He was no longer merely defending himself or looking for openings to counterattack; instead, he had begun actively guiding the collision between their Divine Authorities.
Every time the darkness tried to brand the concepts of "End" and "Decay" onto his soul, Ian responded with ever-more-refined paradoxes, twisting them apart, dismantling them, and even attempting to graft them onto something new.
He redefined "Decay" as another form of stability.
He reframed "End" as merely one point within a cycle.
This wasn't simple sophistry. Using his own understanding of the universe's laws, he was forcibly driving a wedge of his own concepts into the domain of the enemy's Divine Authority.
The process was incredibly dangerous, like walking a tightrope above a bottomless abyss. One mistake and his sense of self could be assimilated by the god's frenzied faith-corruption, or his Paradox Divine Authority could collapse under the weight of too many contradictions. But Ian's mind was as solid as stone. His desire to explore the nature of power outweighed any fear of danger.
And so, his mastery of Divine Authority grew increasingly refined. He was genuinely growing stronger.
Under this extreme pressure, he could feel his Paradox Divine Authority changing. Originally, it had been more of a tool, a special trait. Now, it was becoming something more alive, more profound. It no longer merely distorted the rules of the outside world; it had begun influencing his own understanding of existence, truth, and logic itself.
Put simply, a grander and far more dangerous perspective was slowly unfolding before his eyes.
For the first time, something appeared in the Fallen God's twisted crimson eyes besides rage and greed.
Fear. Real fear.
It could clearly sense that Ian's soul was not weakening under its corruption. Instead, he was using its divine power as a whetstone, constantly tempering and sharpening that bizarre Divine Authority of his.
Just as Ian had declared, the light of Paradox had not dimmed during their struggle. On the contrary, it had become more concentrated, more refined, and possessed a kind of aggression and growth that the Fallen God could not comprehend.
"He's... evolving?! Using my power?!"
That realization sent a chill through the depths of the Fallen God's soul. It had existed for countless ages, devouring innumerable living beings and nature spirits, yet it had never encountered an opponent this strange, this... absurd.
Just a wizard. Yet not only had he obtained Divine Authority, he could actually use an enemy's divine power as nourishment during battle, accelerating the growth of his own.
"What the hell is this thing?!"
"Damn it!"
The Fallen God let out a furious, alarmed roar across the spiritual plane. It realized that if this stalemate continued, not only would it fail to devour the soul of this legendary wizard, but it might actually become the catalyst that pushed him toward a higher divine station, or perhaps some entirely new level based upon Paradox, something even it could not understand.
If this mortal completely abandoned certain limitations of being a wizard and fully embraced and elevated that cursed Paradox Divine Authority, then even the Fallen God at its peak might not be able to defeat him. And now? Now it was already corrupted and bound.
At that moment, fear overcame greed. It could not accept becoming someone else's stepping stone to godhood.
Without the slightest hesitation, the Fallen God severed its deep connection to Ian's mental world. As if burned, it forcibly tore its will and divine power away from the vortex of Paradox.
The battle within consciousness ended. Reality returned.
"Hm?"
Ian abruptly opened his eyes. Countless contradictory concepts seemed to flash through the depths of his gaze before vanishing.
He immediately sensed something wrong with the Fallen God. The twisted humanoid body was clutching its head in agony, releasing meaningless howls filled with chaos and struggle.
"I can do it... no... I can do it... I can do it..."
The filthy divine power surrounding it had become wildly unstable. The corruption covering its body like mold and festering sores flickered constantly, sometimes spreading, sometimes shrinking, as though two different consciousnesses were fiercely fighting for control inside it.
Forcibly withdrawing from the mental confrontation, especially while facing Ian's rapidly evolving Paradox Divine Authority, had clearly caused severe backlash. It intensified the conflict between the fragments of its own divinity and the foreign corruption infecting it.
Perhaps the source of that corruption was punishing this god. Of course, that wasn't Ian's concern. He only knew one thing: this was an opportunity. A perfect chance for a sneak attack.
Ian didn't hesitate for even a second. Ignoring his mental exhaustion and physical injuries, he raised his wand once more. But this time, his target wasn't the Fallen God itself. It was the endlessly surging, corrupted divine power surrounding it.
"Paradox definition: Corruption is the foundation of purity!"
Ian had gained a great deal from their earlier clash. As expected, pressure was the best catalyst for growth. The progress he'd made today alone was worth months of relying on the System.
"As expected, I'm better than the System."
After indulging in a moment of self-satisfaction, he acted.
Rather than trying to destroy or resist the power, he used a more refined, more fundamental form of his Paradox Divine Authority and directed it at the very concept of "corruption." He forcibly redefined that nauseating divine power, filled with madness and destruction, as a harmless form of primal energy that could be transformed.
In a sense, it defied simple common sense, and yet something remarkable happened.
A wave of dark corruption surged toward Ian, but the instant it entered the area covered by the light of Paradox, its nature changed completely. The maddening whispers vanished. Its power to corrode all things was stripped away. What remained was merely something slightly cold, yet fundamentally and astonishingly pure, perhaps an attribute-less flow of energy.
In any case, it ultimately became nothing more than a cool breeze that brushed across Ian's face before dispersing into the air.
It worked.
A sharp gleam flashed through Ian's eyes. This had only been a test, yet the effect was far more dramatic than he had expected.
It seemed that the Fallen God's greatest threat wasn't its ancient divine power itself, but the corruption attached to it, twisting its very nature. If that layer of corruption could be stripped away, or even purified, then what remained might be nothing more than a weakened ancient god, perhaps even one capable of recovering part of its sanity. That would greatly reduce the threat it posed.
Then there was no reason to hesitate. Ian immediately changed his approach to the battle.
"I'm not trying to save it. I'm just making it easier to kill."
He stopped avoiding the divine spells the Fallen God was hurling around in its confusion and instead moved directly toward the spreading, corrupted divine power. With every movement of his wand, beams of Paradox Divine Light sliced through the darkness like precise surgical blades, continuously cutting, redefining, and transforming the black energy.
"Existence and Void overlap, within this place, corruption both exists and does not exist!"
"Causality reversed, the fruit of corruption shall produce the cause of purification!"
"Logical closure, this corruption is destined to negate itself!"
Ian seemed to enter a mysterious state, pushing his understanding of Paradox to its limits.
The once-rampaging corrupted divine power encountered its natural enemy in him. Vast amounts of it were transformed into harmless breezes, faint points of light, and even fragments of pure magical power carrying traces of ancient history. And those fragments could be absorbed, strengthening Ian's own magic power.
"How is this possible?! How can this be possible?!"
At first, the Fallen God continued howling and struggling in confusion, instinctively resisting the purification. But before long, it seemed to notice the changes occurring within itself.
As the corruption that had clung to it like a parasitic disease was slowly stripped away, the original consciousness buried beneath its ancient divinity, suppressed and twisted for countless years, felt something it hadn't experienced in ages.
Relief.
The madness gradually faded from its crimson eyes. In its place appeared overwhelming shock, disbelief, and a rapidly growing joy that bordered on insanity.
"You can actually do it!"
It stopped attacking. More than that, it began actively directing the corrupted divine power around itself into the area covered by Ian's Paradox Divine Light, as though it were cooperating with the purification.
"So that's it... so that's it!!! I understand now! I understand!"
The Fallen God's voice no longer sounded like a crazed roar. Instead, it carried the excitement of someone who had suddenly grasped a long-sought truth. Its gaze locked onto Ian, as if looking at a priceless treasure. Or perhaps... its only hope.
"You can do it! You really can do it! This Paradox... this power that denies every definition... it's the key! The key that can free me from this eternal torment!!"
It seemed to have realized something. It finally understood the special significance of Ian's bizarre power to its own situation. Ian was no longer prey in its eyes; he had become salvation. Of course, the fact that part of its corruption had already been purified also played a role in that change.
"Hm?"
Ian had no idea what exactly this fallen evil god was so excited about, but its cooperative attitude undoubtedly sped up the purification process. He continued pouring out Paradox Divine Power, like a master cleaner carefully scrubbing away the thick layers of corruption covering the Fallen God.
The twisted body gradually became clearer. Beneath it, the outline of something older and more majestic began to emerge, like a divine statue buried beneath mud that was finally about to see daylight again.
Yet just as the corruption was on the verge of being completely purified, just as the Fallen God's true appearance seemed ready to reveal itself, and a trace of the gentle radiance that should belong to an ancient god of procreation or abundance began returning to its eyes...
As usual, whenever everything seems about to go right, something unexpected happens.
A sudden change erupted.
From the deepest darkness of the ruins, a depth so vast that even Ian's senses could not reach it, a terrifying, indescribable force descended without warning.
This wasn't an energy blast, nor was it mental pressure. It was more like a mandatory intervention at the level of rules themselves. Silent, yet carrying absolute tyranny and an unquestionable will, as though the universe itself had issued a command.
"What the hell? There's an even bigger boss?!"
Ian suddenly felt his smoothly flowing Paradox Divine Authority grind to a halt, as though an invisible hand had forcibly pinned it down. Every Paradox effect he had placed on the Fallen God, the purification process that had been progressing steadily, melted away like snow beneath sunlight in the face of that power. It was overwritten, replaced by a colder, more fundamental law.
Before Ian could even understand what was happening, he saw the invisible force effortlessly shatter his Divine Authority's influence. Then, like living tendrils of darkness, it wrapped itself around the Fallen God, who had only just regained a trace of clarity and whose face was still filled with joy and hope.
"NO...!!!"
The Fallen God let out a scream more desperate and agonized than any before.
"Just a little more! Just a little more!! Let me escape it! Let me..."
Its cry was cut off. The irresistible power from the deepest abyss dragged it away as easily as pulling a weightless shadow. Despite its frantic struggles and unwillingness to submit, the Fallen God was effortlessly pulled backward into that absolute darkness, a place where even light and sound were devoured, where only endless silence remained.
The region that their battle had never been able to affect before had indeed been hiding something.
Everything happened in an instant. One moment, the purification was nearing success; the next, the target was gone.
Ian stood alone, his Paradox Divine Authority still sluggish from the interference. In his mind echoed the Fallen God's final scream of despair and unwillingness, that last "No," along with the image of the abyssal darkness that seemed capable of swallowing everything.
Whoosh...
The wind blew for a few brief moments, and then the depths of the ruins returned to a deathly silence. As though the breathtaking battle between gods, the nearly successful purification, and the sudden terrifying change had all been nothing more than a dream.
Only the lingering traces of purified divine power in the air, along with Ian's heavily depleted magic and mental exhaustion, proved that everything that had just happened was real.
"...So after all that, the thing I was fighting was just a grunt? A pawn?"
Staring into the endless darkness, Ian's expression became more serious than ever before. He realized that the secrets hidden within these ancient ruins, and the true objectives of the African Ministry of Magic here, were likely far deeper and more terrifying than he had imagined.
The Fallen God that had been dragged back into the abyss might not have been a free evil god at all. It might simply have been a prisoner, or a tool, controlled by something even more horrifying.
If that were true, then what exactly was the African Ministry of Magic trying to accomplish? Or rather... could the African Ministry of Magic still even be considered wizards anymore?
Question marks filled Ian's mind. He knew that if he wanted answers, he would have to venture deeper into the darkness.
"...Yeah, let's not."
It was perhaps the first time Ian had ever backed down. But there was no helping it. No matter how reckless he could be, he still possessed something called self-awareness.
Even fighting a mere pawn had been incredibly dangerous and difficult. Who knew what kind of existence controlled that pawn? Who knew what horrors lurked in those untouchable depths?
Ian was a bold wizard, not a suicidal one. And besides, he didn't even belong to this era. At this point, all he wanted was to leave this time period as soon as possible.
"I need to get out of here. This place is way too dangerous."
With that thought, Ian turned around, preparing to leave.
However, the moment he turned around, he froze.
The door... was gone.
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 110 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395