Book Eater

Around five minutes before the battle began, when Wrath was still ten thousand kilometers away, Theo was looking at a wonderful landscape. It was a scenery which couldn’t be glimpsed by humans, unless civilization was several generations ahead of what it was now.

The sky beyond the sky... It was an infinite space where the sun and moon shone regularly—the universe.

... This is the cradle of stars!

This was the world that many pioneers had failed to return from. Theo was filled with fear and joy as he gazed upon the magnificence of space. His material world was nothing more than a small crumb before this infinity. Wasn’t this huge thing amazing by itself? Theo was reminded of words left behind in old books. When people looked at this universe without knowing anything, the small brain of a mortal wouldn’t be able to withstand its grandeur and size.

However, Gluttony’s tone was blasé as usual as he explained.

- Well, it isn’t that special. There are phobias everywhere.

Like a phobia of heights?

- It is a bit different. The fear of height arises from knowing what will happen when you fall from a high place. It is a reaction from learning rather than instincts. A similar phobia is… Yes, it is like thalassophobia, the fear of the sea. That partly comes from cognitive dissonance. It is different from knowing with your head and feeling with your body. The discomfort and anxiety of the things that can’t be seen are what cause the hair on the back of your neck to rise.

Fortunately, it wasn’t that bad for Theo. He was able to regain his composure with simple mental focus. This wasn’t his vision.

“... It will be soon.”

Theo was still standing on a glacier in the northern hemisphere as he watched Wrath come closer. The shining pattern on his right hand was the key, the administrative rights to this material world. It was the responsibility and right of the guardian of the world, which had been handed to him by Dragon Lord Clipeus. Administrative rights couldn’t be used unless a global threat was getting close, but it had recognized Wrath’s approach. However, it wasn’t possible to use it to draw in mana like last time.

It is likely that Wrath will interfere with everything in this material world. If so, it is over.

It was breathtaking to use the administrative privilege to watch this scene from the perspective of the world. Fortunately, there was no sign that Wrath’s power was increasing.

Theo calmed his head and said quietly, “Gluttony, a count from ten.”

- Understood.

Detection magic was useless when the distance was thousands of kilometers. It depended on one of the Seven Sins, Gluttony. Color started to gradually disappear from Theo’s eyes as he started to concentrate in earnest. Time itself seemed to slow around him. A monster was approaching at a speed of more than ten kilometers per second. He would lose a kilometer for every second of error.

- Ten.?

Theo stopped breathing as Gluttony started counting.

- Nine, eight, seven, six…

As soon as the count reached five, Theo raised his left hand to point at the sky. The administrative authority was limited, but he could use this feature without any problems.

「 Opening the dimensional door with the authority of administrator ‘Theodore Miller.’ 」

This was a shortcut he had thought of a long time ago. A normal summoning would consume a great deal of power and magic. However, by becoming the administrator, Theo could connect two dimensions in an instant at his own convenience.

「Come, Fafnir! 」

The dragon, Fafnir, who guarded Muspelheim, had once responded to Theo’s call and wiped out Pride in seven seconds. The air started to combust as the atmosphere of Muspelheim flowed into this material world. The minus fifty degrees Celsius Arctic didn’t shrink back from the heat.

『 Complete. The limit of activity in this dimension is forty seconds. 』

The dragon’s voice echoed across the melting sheets of ice as the sacred white flames started to burn. During the Age of Mythology, Fafnir had burned the world tree and created the Red Plateau. Now, according to the will of the summoner, Fafnir looked up at Wrath.

- Two.

The moment that Gluttony counted down to two…

“Fafnir, now!”

『 Obliterate. 』

Fafnir opened its mouth and let out a breath that was like a ‘laser.’

―――――――――――――!!

The glacier turned into a river and the blizzard turned to steam just in the aftermath of the laser. The extreme heat caused a catastrophic event despite the breath not landing a direct hit. If this confrontation wasn’t taking place in the northern hemisphere, it would’ve been visible to the entire world. The pillar of light that shot up from the ground toward the sky seemed to cut straight through the night sky.

Okay, the speed is perfect!

There was one second left in the countdown as Theo’s vision filled with the light exiting the planet’s atmosphere. He managed to connect his vision with the perspective of the planet using his administrative rights. The moment his eyes came into contact with Wrath…

“Chunk of scrap metal!” Theo shouted. “The welcome is a bit big but please accept it!”

He didn’t know if Wrath had heard him, but the laser crossed ten thousand kilometers and swallowed it up. This was the destructive laser that Fafnir had shot with all its power. In a universe where there was no air, a fierce light impacted Wrath. Half of the continent would’ve been vaporized if it had exploded in the material world. However, Theo vigilantly kept watch.

[External wall damage. Checking the changes in physical properties from the 1st to 14th layer due to the superheat. Self-recovery. Running a separation sequence.]

Wrath couldn’t defend itself perfectly against Fafnir’s most powerful attack. A portion of its damaged outer wall peeled off like dried snake skin. Wrath shed its molten surface before the heat could penetrate deeper. Even so, Wrath was neither surprised nor confused. In addition to the orichalcum that could endure the heat for a few seconds, it had countermeasures against this laser.

[This laser is an eraser, a primitive type of ultra-high heat ray. The unique weakness of the ray-based attack means reducing heat conductivity will be effective. Repair. The dimensional boundary surface on the outer wall surface will block heat conduction.]

The surface of the huge silver Wrath turned blue.

[Summoning a dimensional boundary. Dimensional name ‘Cocytus’, width kept at fifteen meters.]

The dimensional boundary that appeared on Wrath’s outer wall started to absorb most of the heat. As an absolute dimension like Muspelheim, the chill that overflowed from Cocytus canceled out the heat.

“That damn tin can...!”

It was a response worthy of admiration if Wrath wasn’t the enemy of the world. Theo quickly realized that Fafnir could no longer help. Wrath started to penetrate the terrible heat. Forty-three seconds. The dragon, which would’ve caused millions of victims on the material world, ended up being sent back with little profit.

“Kuk, it wasn’t like I was expecting much to begin with!” ｂｅ𝚍𝚗ｏｖｅ𝚕．𝚗𝚎𝚝

It wasn’t entirely as he said. No matter how great the power of the laser was, Wrath was still a destructive weapon that could crush a star. It was amazing that the outer wall was even slightly damaged. Theo sympathized with the world since he could tune into the senses of the planet.

Wind was blowing in the vacuum that was infinite space. There was a name for the waves generated by radiation, ultraviolet rays, and all types of other energies. Interstellar wind… As he felt the wind that couldn’t be felt with human senses, Theo invoked the wind magic he had inherited from a senior, White Tower Master Heathcliff. Theo read the sky with the body of a mortal and wielded the energy storm. Before he became a transcendent, the sky had been incomprehensible, but he could now handle the wind.

「 Together! Wind that flows between stars and planets! 」

He wouldn’t have been able to control it for one second without his administrative rights. Theo suppressed the interstellar wind that was trying to escape his control while staring at Wrath, which had returned to its silver hue again. Fafnir had disappeared, so Wrath’s outer wall had restored itself in order to reduce the consumption of power as much as possible and carry out an efficient eradication.

... Yes, keep looking down on me. I will smash you to pieces!

「 Supercell, activation. 」

Theo had no choice but to release the reins of the interstellar wind. It had reached a terrifying scale despite having only gathered for a few seconds. He couldn’t control the overflowing forces in this limitless space for long. The sunlight that fed life in the material world and the phenomenon which caused the tides were just a fraction of the power of the universe.

「 Aiolos’ withdrawal! 」

Theo’s hands seemed to distort starlight as a tremendous power wound around Wrath. This was a power which would blow away the planet’s atmosphere if it continued to strike the silver sphere.

Jjejeok! Jjejejeok!

The interstellar wind battered Wrath’s outer wall until it cracked like dried clay. The silver surface was split apart revealing a rugged form. Theo’s Supercell magic proved to be a valid blow.

[Sensing a large-scale pressure. Interstellar wind. Primitive magic that circulates compression and emission. It is suggested to form a vacuum area while simultaneously using repulsive force to offset the pressure. Repair.]

Wrath, however, responded deftly.

[Reflect Force is deployed, vacuum wave launched on the path.]

The power of the magic which controlled the interstellar wind was far superior to ultimate magic. However, its scale was so large that there was no room for sophisticated magic formulas. Simply generating a force field that dissipated the magic’s force meant that more than half the pressure disappeared.

Once the ‘vacuum’ was formed in front of Wrath, the curtain made of interstellar wind tore, and a hole was created for Wrath.

[Breakthrough.]

The interstellar wind was torn apart. As Theo coughed up a bit of blood from the recoil, he calculated Wrath’s accelerated path again.

“Dammit. I heard it was strong, but this is too dirty...!”

Theo thought that he could gain at least a hundred meters with these attacks, but his calculations were already going wrong. He gritted his teeth as he looked up at the sky. A star was falling rapidly. It couldn’t quite be seen from the planet, but if Wrath kept approaching at this speed, then it would be seen in five minutes. When Theo thought about this, he missed a few seconds from hesitation.

Let’s go.

Theo’s body turned cobalt.

Forced Harmonization - Phase 2. Mode INDRA.

He had taken a step beyond lightning. This was plasma, something which would be classified as a class 4 material in a scientific civilization. The output and speed of plasma were better than those of lightning.

Kwarururung!?

There was a thunderous sound as Theo rose into the sky, leaving a plasma tail behind him. He left the atmosphere in a matter of seconds, heading for Wrath, who was thousands of kilometers away. Theo was moving absurdly fast in an unobstructed space, at a speed of a hundred kilometers per second.

I will blow it away!

Theo didn’t decelerate as the silver sphere grew larger.