Chapter 282

However, even after inputting the Abyss and asking politely, the book did not respond for a while.

An amount of time sufficient to make Roan feel slightly embarrassed passed in a flash.

‘Shouldn’t it at least give some reply?’

When Roan slightly picked up the pen again, letters appeared on the book in a somewhat hurried manner.

Roan nodded, thinking, ‘Of course.’

‘Since this is an old book too, it must have some loading time.’

─ Apologies. I was trying to interpret this…… is this perhaps the Abyss? ─

─ Yes. That goes without saying. ─

The basic condition for the Void was, first of all, being proficient in using the Abyss.

It was an incomprehensible question to Roan.

─ Ah, ah, I see. I thought you had perhaps learned the Ancient Darkness already……. ─

─ Aha, you flatter me. ─

Ancient Darkness was an advanced advanced attribute, which was a reinforced version of the Abyss.

It was an extremely destructive attribute, but even when he reached the advanced level, he had no intention of learning it yet.

─ It is not flattery at all…… then, if I may ask, which number of intermediate attributes are you learning this time? ─

Somehow, despite being a book speaking through letters, its tone showed that it was thoroughly bewildered.

Roan was slightly curious about why it was prying so closely, but he just answered honestly.

─ Naturally, it is my first. ─

Silence once again.

─ ……? ─

The book, which displayed question marks for a moment,

decided not to try and learn Roan’s complicated circumstances.

─ Ah, yes…… well, goodness, I wonder what the world is coming to. At any rate, we can begin right away with this. ─

‘Is that a compliment?’

Of course it wasn’t.

However, Roan did not know.

The fact that by saying ‘we can begin right away,’ the preliminary exercises, which amounted to roughly thirty percent of the total content, were entirely skipped.

─ Since your control over the Abyss seems to already be outstanding, we will go straight into the concept of the Void. The Void is fundamentally a concept of dismantling and dispersion, which is the opposite of the compression of the Abyss. ─

‘Mhm, correct.’

Roan nodded.

That was precisely the reason he had chosen the Void as a countermeasure for the Lucia event in the first place.

The Void was an attribute with a faint presence that did not give off any trace of black magic at all, as much as it was difficult to master.

If the effect of the False Authority was added to that, it would literally be a perfect disguise that no one could detect unless they were a god or a being equivalent to one.

Roan waited quietly, expecting the tricks for dismantling and dispersion to appear in the book.

However.

─ Now, please try it. ─

“……?”

……?

At the book’s sudden request, Roan and the False Divinity simultaneously gaped.

Try what?

Roan tilted his head and wrote on the book.

─ So, are you saying I should try using the Void right now? ─

─ Yes. It seems possible for you, but is it not? ─

‘What kind of…….’

Roan was so dumbfounded that he almost broke his pen.

If it was just going to tell him to do it because it was dismantling and dispersion, why did he bother going through the trouble of reading a book?

He might as well have self-studied alone.

Wooong─

I think that elf professor of the dark attribute said something similar to you.

‘……Hmm, should I have just self-studied? Then again, come to think of it, this is self-study.’

……Are you listening to me?

Roan easily ignored the words of the False Divinity.

Thinking about it, it actually felt like it might work, which made him hesitate for a moment.

At any rate, when learning the Abyss, it had been convenient to learn because it gave all kinds of exercises and even questions, but it seemed the tendencies of each book were poles apart.

As Roan remained silent for a long time, letters appeared on the book again.

─ It seems you are flustered. ─

‘Of course I would be.’

Roan decided to hold back, fearing that if he unnecessarily provoked the book, he might catch fire and turn into ashes by himself, just like when he learned the Abyss.

Wooong─

Even if it does, it will be restored to that Ludiac fellow’s bookshelf anyway, so why not just give it a go?

‘……Oh?’

Hearing that, it made sense.

Of course, if he actually did that, Ludiac would hate it immensely, and he would have to go out and come back into the Bell of Eternity, so he did not put it into action.

However, as if it had heard the conversation between Roan and the False Divinity, a few sentences and a moving picture appeared in the book.

─ It will be helpful to refer to the following illustration. Keep in mind the concepts of dismantling, dispersion, opening, and regeneration, and align your mental image. Also, even if it takes a long time, if you keep trying without getting discouraged, there will be good results. ─

Roan read the entire sentence and cast his eyes on the illustration below.

The circles packed in a narrow space seemed to instantly spread apart, and soon nothing remained on the page.

But after that, the page suddenly began to gradually turn black.

Next was a repetition of the same process.

The False Divinity vibrated as if clicking its tongue.

Woong, woong─

What are you supposed to do after looking at this? It seems we need to get a different book.

And Roan:

“Ah, so that’s what it meant.”

He understood the illustration.

Wooong──?!?!

What on earth did you see to……?

The False Divinity was literally astonished.

The Void was not an easy attribute to the point where one could claim to understand it just by seeing circles moving and then turning black.

Well, in that sense, Roan was not an easy boy either.

Roan clicked his tongue and spoke to the False Divinity.

“Dismantling and dispersion, opening and regeneration. And even this illustration. Since it tells me everything, it would be stranger if I didn’t know.”

……?

Was that really strange?

The False Divinity felt as if it had heard the most absurd words since becoming an Authority.

If one could truly use the Void with just that, all the black mages in the world would be overusing the Void.

Also, if it was going to be like this, wasn’t there really no big difference from self-study?

Wooong─

Fine, if you are that confident, give it a try.

It was a tone as if the False Divinity would have comfortably crossed its arms if it possessed a body.

Indeed, since he had already accomplished the absurd feat of engraving a Black Mark on his heart, there was nothing more to be surprised about.

Roan nodded and brought his hands together, beginning to gather black mana.

The black mana, which was white at first, gradually turned black.

It was the Abyss.

Although you are learning the Void, not the Abyss, right now.

‘I know.’

Roan ignored the False Divinity’s point and continued compressing the Abyss.

The Void was an attribute with such strict conditions and difficulty to master that he hadn’t used it much even when playing “God and Devil.”

Still, he naturally knew all of the basic settings without exception.

……Setting aside whether that was actually a basic level.

Now that he had engraved the Black Mark, the Abyss, which could be operated more stably and flawlessly, underwent compression after compression.

Gggygyg─ Ggyg─

The black mana was gathered in such a small space that even an ominous sound could be heard.

‘Let’s try it to this extent for now.’

As if releasing a tightly drawn bowstring.

Roan withdrew all the pressure that was pressing down on the black mana at once.

Paang──!! Hooouuung───

Naturally, the heavily compressed black mana exploded in all directions, returning to the air in an instant.

Numb─

The aftermath was so severe that Roan’s body, swept away by it, felt a bit sore.

However.

‘It is still not enough.’

In Roan’s eyes, it was a scene that showed a hint of possibility rather than a simple failure.

“Again.”

Ggygygyg─ Ggygygygyg──

Roan gathered the Abyss once again.

More densely than before, in an even smaller volume.

On top of that, he added the rotation he had utilized when mastering the initial sensation of the Abyss.

Wooong─

The False Divinity expressed its anxiety.

This is practically a bomb! It’s too dangerous!

If it was compressed to this extent, it was dangerous even if it was just pure black mana without any spell applied.

In the first place, holy power, mana, and black mana were all components that mixed to form nature.

Holy arts, magic, and black magic were techniques that utilized one of those components to harness the laws of nature in a specific way.

But there was a limit to that utilization; what if such a formidable level of black mana gathered at a single point?

People called that a disaster.

Even now, the black mana felt in this area was zero.

There was none at all.

Even an ordinary person with no connection to holy arts or magic would feel an inexplicable anxiety if dropped into such a space.

However, Roan smiled calmly despite the False Divinity’s warning.

‘No, it is according to plan.’

……What?

Roan compressed the Abyss, which now had nothing but pure black mana left, even further.

Crackle─ Crackle─

Now, the effect of the False Divinity was also reaching its limit, and its shell was gradually peeling off.

The black mana inside finally began to reveal itself without any disguise.

‘From one extreme to another. The creation principle of “God and Devil.”’

It was a maxim frequently encountered when digging into the secrets of “God and Devil.”

The fact that Demona had rambled at the beginning of the semester about the extreme of holy arts being related to black magic was likely influenced by this maxim.

……Of course, in his case, there was a high probability that he had just made up whatever because black magic looked cool.

At any rate, the Void was an advanced attribute that hid the aura of black mana to the extreme.

To reach it, wouldn’t there paradoxically be a need to generate the strongest black mana?

At least, Roan’s intuition was saying so.

Just like that, how much time had passed?

Roan’s Abyss had now had its shell completely peeled off, becoming intact black mana, and was rotating fiercely.

‘Looking at it this way, it is truly a massive relief that I obtained the Bell of Eternity.’

No matter if he chose a late night hour and climbed a deserted mountain, to do something like this in Akerandir?

He wouldn’t even need to look through the Prophet’s Eye; it would be a bad ending that very day.

At any rate, surprisingly, the black mana sphere that had discarded all of the Authority’s shell:

Seeee……

It became quiet, no longer making ominous sounds or trembling.

The False Divinity had also remained silent from a certain point, but.

……Truly absurd.

It only left that single comment after seeing the scene.

It was still too early to confirm the success of the Void.

However, considering the amount of mana contained within, just the fact that he had created such a stable state:

The talent of the boy named Roan, inside whom it resided, was proved once again.

It was surprising every time it saw a new side, but what could it do?

Each and every thing this boy casually performed was something that completely shattered conventional common sense and principles.

Now, what do you plan to do with this?

‘Disperse and dismantle it, of course.’

Roan answered casually, just as he had casually stabilized the black mana sphere.

The False Divinity let out a hollow laugh.

Fine, try it as you please.

Roan was intending to do so even without being told.

Roan released the pressure applied to the black mana sphere in a single stroke, just as he had done in his first attempt.

However, he added something more on top of that.

‘Rather, add explosive power from the inside.’

Simply having the suppressed black mana return to its place was not enough.

To cause an anomaly, a force that exceeded the conventional was necessary.

Even if it was a tiny, unnoticeable force.

Crackle─

At the moment he released the pressure, Roan let a tiny spark fly at the center of the black mana sphere.