Within a space covered in pale white cracks, deep and subtle void slowly flowed.
The countless cracks spread across the entire royal capital like the tangled roots of a giant tree.
The terrifying rift that reached into the clouds extended deep into the sky, as though it had forcefully split open the heavens above the dust-filled clouds, leaving behind a pitch-black hole.
It looked as if a piece of the sky had been violently cut away, filling anyone who saw it with fear.
After a long wait, the chaotic spatial rifts finally began to merge together.
The scattered black void was swallowed by the restored space, and the shattered space was finally filled by the fresh air pouring in.
As the medium returned, sound once again came back to the world.
Countless residents looked up and watched the pale cracks gradually shrink. Their throats trembled slightly, letting out a few stunned gulps.
Yet even after they could make sounds again, when they raised their heads to look at the clear sky that had been washed clean by the rifts...
They still couldn't say a single word.
The terrifying power behind that attack had shaken them too deeply.
Although they hadn't been the targets, the impact the chaotic disturbance brought to the entire land left everyone present utterly stunned.
Many of the residents were so frightened that their minds had temporarily stopped working.
High above them, Cocotte, lying on top of a cloud, finally recovered from the ringing in her ears.
She looked around blankly. The chaotic, densely packed cracks in space filled her vision, and she slowly lowered the hands covering her ears.
Following the cracks upward, Cocotte stared blankly at the torn sky as it gradually healed and blinked.
"So this is... humanity's strongest?"
As expected, the Mage Council's evaluation of the Empire had been completely accurate.
Long ago, the Mage Council had carried out detailed investigations into many nations across the land and established a ranking system based on their true strength.
Among them, only the Calencia Empire received an awe-inspiring evaluation...
'Absolutely Do Not Provoke.'
Judging solely by national strength, the Calencia Empire wasn't significantly stronger than the other empires.
But there was one thing that made its danger rating surpass every other nation in the world.
That was because the Emperor of the Calencia Empire was the strongest warrior in the world.
His name was... Aubrey Sol.
In the past, Cocotte had never truly understood what the title "World's Strongest" meant.
After all, she had never seen Aubrey fight in person.
Although she had met the younger Aubrey before, he had already become the revered Emperor by then.
When Cocotte first met Aubrey, what remained in her memory was his kind face.
:Who could have imagined... That such a gentle-looking man... Could unleash such power?'
Even the sky had been cut apart.
Cocotte looked back at the sky again and watched the air from every direction of the royal capital continuously rush toward the enormous void rift.
Under the pressure of the massive converging airflow, the shattered sky slowly tightened and closed.
She still remembered that Aubrey hadn't even used a weapon.
He had only clenched his fist toward the sky.
Then the air throughout the entire royal capital shattered instantly.
Only then did Cocotte completely understand the meaning of "World's Strongest."
With power like this...
No wonder the Empire had ruled such a vast territory for so many years without anyone daring to covet it.
Whoever dared entertain such thoughts...
Wouldn't one punch from Aubrey bring about the destruction of an entire nation?
She couldn't help wondering how much weaker Viktor was compared to Aubrey.
The thought made Cocotte rest her chin in both hands, her mood sinking.
Viktor...
Where exactly had he gone?
Cocotte lowered her head and looked through the white clouds toward Erica once more.
The young girl was still kneeling on one knee, tightly clutching Viktor's black trench coat in her arms.
Her eyes were empty, as if her entire mind was occupied by Viktor's disappearance.
She remained sitting there in a daze, as though everything that had just happened in the royal capital had no effect on her at all.
Erica was one of Viktor's students. Cocotte knew that.
Seeing Erica so completely lost, Cocotte wanted to go comfort her.
But the truth was, she didn't know where Viktor had gone either, much less how to comfort Erica.
Looking at Erica, Cocotte felt just as weighed down herself.
Cocotte and Erica weren't the only ones feeling down.
Hermes was as well.
He raised his head and looked through the pale cracks covering the now crystal-clear sky.
At that moment, the golden sand flowing within the depths of Hermes' eyes suddenly froze.
His eyes trembled.
He couldn't believe it.
Hermes knew Aubrey was extremely powerful.
But he had never imagined Aubrey's strength had reached such an unbelievable level.
It was simply...
Power that even gods would envy.
Those steel airships and heavy cannons, forged with decades of natural energy supplied by the elves...
They were the culmination of decades of effort, countless resources, and immense wealth.
Unlike the other gods, Hermes had never been one who excelled in combat.
Aside from causing natural disasters and upheavals like the other gods...
Those steel weapons and airship fleets were the only military force he could truly boast about.
It suited Hermes' divine authority.
As the God of Commerce, even his methods of fighting relied on the power of money.
His strength was built upon his wealth.
Those airships alone had consumed tens of billions of Geo in research costs, not to mention the heavy cannons and fuel.
And all of it...
Vanished into nothing in a single instant.
And Aubrey had done it... With one punch.
Hermes completely broke down.
He collapsed to his knees.
The light faded from his golden eyes once more, and he looked as though his soul had left him.
Viktor had taken advantage of every one of his schemes.
And Aubrey had crushed all of his power with a single punch.
At this point, Hermes had lost every bit of pride he possessed as a god.
With his head lowered, he stared blankly at the dust-covered ground.
At that moment, a series of heavy footsteps sounded beside him.
One step.
Two steps.
Hermes froze slightly before weakly raising his head to look toward the approaching crowd.
At the center of the crowd, only one golden crown stood high above everything else, shining brilliantly.
Under the sunlight, the golden crown radiated an untouchable dignity.
The crown drew closer.
The nearby residents turned one after another under its golden light.
They lowered their heads of their own accord and stepped aside, opening a path for it.
At the center of that path, Hermes saw Aubrey, wearing luxurious robes and the supreme golden crown.
Bathed in sunlight, he walked through the crowd.
Although his back was slightly bent, and he wasn't even as tall as some of the young men nearby...
With the crown upon his head and everyone's respect focused on him, he seemed incomparably towering.
As the footsteps stopped, Aubrey came to a halt before Hermes.
At the same time, the phantom of a crimson lion appeared behind Aubrey, circling him lightly.
"You weren't even worth my full strength, Lipiot."
At that moment, Hermes' eyes were filled with despair.
He stared blankly up at Aubrey.
The noble pride of a god had completely disappeared from his face, leaving only deep helplessness and unwillingness.
He shook his head and lowered it again.
"I... lost?"
Hearing those words, the surrounding residents revealed expressions of deep admiration and pride.
All of their reverence was directed toward Aubrey.
Because...
He was the Emperor of the Calencia Empire.
A nation where the worship of gods was forbidden.
Before Aubrey's strength...
Even a god willingly admitted defeat.
Finally, Aubrey coldly looked at the broken Hermes before delivering his final judgment.
"Tell me everything you know."
"Starting with Viktor's disappearance."
"Otherwise..."
He slowly raised one arm.
Instantly, the crimson lion phantom beside Aubrey began to spin.
Its crimson aura gradually condensed into a blood-red spear.
The fiery crimson mane around the lion's neck transformed into the spear's tassel.
The spear floated in midair.
Its mere presence radiated overwhelming pressure.
Aubrey lightly grasped it and pressed the crimson spearhead beneath Hermes' chin, forcing him to lift his head.
A fierce light flashed in Aubrey's eyes.
It carried the aura of endless slaughter.
"Before my life's record comes to an end, I don't mind adding one more achievement to it."
"The slaughter of a god."
———
Within endless darkness, a calm voice slowly broke the silence.
"A virus."
As the words fell, purple flames like brilliant candlelight suddenly ignited in the distant darkness.
Then the voice spoke again, "I never thought I'd one day experience being treated as a virus and scanned."
A pair of black eyes, flowing with dim light, shone in the darkness.
Then more purple flames lit up throughout the darkness, gathering toward the center.
The purple flames glittered like stars.
They surrounded the land, illuminating the deep darkness around them.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A gentle wind swept through the space.
The remaining candles ignited one after another, gathering toward the center of the land.
Bathed in their brilliant light, Viktor's figure gradually appeared.
The trench coat he usually wore was gone.
In its place was an ordinary shirt.
Viktor instinctively reached toward the pockets at his sides, only to find they no longer existed, leaving behind a trace of loneliness.
He coughed twice, adjusted his collar, and calmly composed himself.
This familiar place...
Viktor knew it all too well.
Its name was [Judgment Prison].
Players affectionately called it the "Little Black Room."
The nickname came from its unique mechanics.
Whenever a player cheated, used power leveling services, or received repeated reports, the system would conduct an investigation and send them into Judgment Prison.
Their treatment would then be decided according to their performance inside.
Players who behaved well could leave normally.
Players who performed poorly could face the severe punishment of having their accounts destroyed.
Judgment Prison sealed away every special ability a player possessed.
Only the most basic items could be used.
Even their equipment was limited to what they personally owned.
Viktor glanced over his player interface.
It was still available.
[Name: Viktor Clavenna]
[LV: 50]
[HP: 30000/30000]
[MP: 100000/100000]
Calamity was the natural origin of the world.
Within this space, which differed from the previous world, he naturally couldn't control the natural energy of Calamity.
After checking everything, Viktor turned his attention toward the center of the prison.
There, a blurry figure slowly flickered into existence before him, gradually becoming clear.
Viktor narrowed his eyes.
Everything had happened exactly as he expected.
Floating before him was a skeleton wearing a tattered red cloth cloak and holding an unusually long, slender scythe.
The skeleton also seemed to notice Viktor's presence.
It slowly turned its head, its hollow gaze settling upon him.
Above its head floated its level and crimson name.
[Judge: LV: ???]
Most notably... It had no health bar.
Because as the Judge, it could not be defeated.
Within this space, it was absolutely invincible.
And when it appeared... It meant...
"So the trial has already begun?", Viktor murmured.
At the same time, he slowly rolled his neck and rotated his arms as though warming up.
He raised one hand and spent mana to ignite a blazing fireball in his palm.
He knew that as long as his performance convinced the Judge he hadn't cheated, he would be allowed to leave this place.
As the fireball flared to life, the entire dark prison lit up.
Even the Grim Reaper's finer details became visible before Viktor.
Only then did he notice...
Suspended beneath the skeleton's half spine, within the center of its ribs, hung an exquisite birdcage.
Inside the cage lay a pitch-black one-eyed crow.
It appeared to have lost consciousness, collapsed motionless inside.
"So that's it."
"So this is how viruses are dealt with?"
Seeing this, Viktor extinguished the flames in his hand.
He lightly twisted his feet and stretched his body.
Immediately afterward, a small round shield appeared on his left arm.
Its crimson eyes looked savage, as though grinning coldly.
[Evil Knight]
Originally, Viktor had only intended to casually get through the trial.
But now it seemed...
"I don't have a choice."
"I'll have to defeat you."
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