Falling Toward the Imperial City (1)
Earth—001, skies above the Kanon Empire.
When he first came here, Seon Yul only felt that this world was overwhelmingly alien.
A massive continent floating in the sky.
At its center, an imperial city like a giant’s castle is embedded.
Dozens of layered mana barriers surround the castle.
“…This time… I’m doing it in one go.”
Inside Absolute Space, at the center of the combat zone, black spheres were lined up.
At a glance, they didn’t look much different from Version 2.
But the material was different.
“Tungsten.”
Cheon Li Yu smacked her lips.
“It weighs 5,000 tons, but the density is much higher than that of the previous iron spheres. And on top of that–”
“We’re applying initial acceleration inside Absolute Space before dropping them, so the actual final velocity is–”
Seon Yul didn’t finish the number.
There was no need to say it.
“This is God’s Hammer Ver. 3.”
A miniature version of one of the spheres floated above his palm.
“Ver. 1 was single-shot. Ver. 2 penetrated underground. Ver. 3 is… ten consecutive vertical drops.”
Cheon Li Yu muttered quietly.
“So you’re really going to smash the head first.”
“Yeah. This isn’t a ‘warning’ or a ‘message’ this time.”
Seon Yul’s expression didn’t waver at all.
“I’m just going to erase it.”
Above the imperial city, at an altitude of 20 km.
Thunk
The entrance to Absolute Space opened.
This time, it was reversed.
Instead of looking down from above, they were watching a mana storm rising upward from below.
“Seven layers of defensive barriers. On top of that, three layers of imperial spatial distortion fields. And finally, the Emperor’s authority field.”
Cheon Li Yu relayed the analysis through her divine sight.
“No normal attack will ever break through that. Which is why you prepared something that isn’t a ‘normal attack.’”
Seon Yul placed his hand on the first tungsten sphere.
[God’s Hammer Ver. 3 – Deployment Ready.]
[Target: Kanon Empire Imperial City.]
[Number of shots: 20.]
Seon Yul organized what he had prepared into a system in his mind.
“At this level… is it basically planet-destruction class?”
He smiled faintly.
Of course, Earth—001 was far larger than Earth—004, so this wouldn’t actually destroy the planet.
“Let’s begin.”
The first sphere dropped.
Shhhhhhhhhh!!
A high-frequency sound like air burning.
The mana barrier reacted, activating dozens of protective sigils…
KWAaaaaaang——!!
With just that one…
The outermost barrier surrounding the imperial city cracked.
“One layer destroyed.”
Cheon Li Yu’s voice trembled.
Second sphere.
Third sphere.
Mana barriers and spatial distortion layers were torn apart one after another.
By the time the seventh sphere fell, the sky around the imperial city looked completely hollowed out.
Not the walls… the world surrounding the castle itself seemed scraped away.
“Eleventh.”
Seon Yul’s hand dropped again.
Kwadudududududoom——!!
This time, the impact reached deep inside the city.
Massive magical devices beneath the capital exploded in chain reactions.
Knights, engineers, officials, nobles…
Some vanished without even realizing.
Some witnessed the end of their lives until the very last moment.
Thirteenth. Fifteenth. Eighteenth.
Walls collapsed.
Towers snapped.
Mana power lines were severed one by one.
“…At this point, anything that could be called the empire’s heart is probably gone.”
Cheon Li Yu said dryly.
“Nineteenth.”
The 19th sphere… fell into the deepest part of the imperial city.
Directly above the sanctuary where the Emperor’s throne once stood.
KWAaaaaaaaaaaaa——!!
It felt as if the center of the world itself caved in.
The sanctuary, the throne, the altar…
Decorations and symbols that had lasted thousands of years…
All vanished.
“Now the last one.”
Seon Yul placed his hand on the final sphere.
“Confirmation strike.”
As the twentieth sphere fell, Seon Yul said nothing.
He simply watched…
The collapsing imperial city,
The exploding mana, the crumbling land, the empire’s arrogance being erased without a trace.
KWAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang————!!!
Silence.
It felt like everything had ended.
The imperial city was gone.
In its place remained only a massive crater and ashes.
“…It’s over, right?”
At Cheon Li Yu’s voice,
Seon Yul didn’t answer immediately.
Then…
Space trembled.
In reverse.
[Warning – Unknown authority detected.]
[Warning – ‘Coordinate backtracking’ detected from outside Absolute Space.]
[Warning – Interference not compliant with Absolute Space rules detected.]
“…?”
Seon Yul narrowed his eyes.
“What… is this?”
Inside Absolute Space…
The sky above the combat zone rippled slightly.
As if someone outside was tapping on glass…
“You’re in here, aren’t you?”
[Absolute Space System: “No entity may interfere.”]
As that message appeared…
Another message overlapped beneath it.
[Error.]
[Undefined authority detected.]
[First exception has occurred.]
Cheon Li Yu turned pale, staring at Seon Yul.
“…This isn’t a joke, right?”
“Yeah. It’s my first time seeing this too.”
Even Seon Yul’s voice had stiffened slightly.
And then…
At the center of the combat zone,
A golden crack appeared.
Zzzzzzzng
A thin fracture widened…
And from within it, a foot stepped out.
A black curtain-like garment.
Pale, glowing skin.
An overwhelming presence that couldn’t be quantified by any mana detection.
“…This doesn’t match what I was told.”
Seon Yul muttered.
“Wasn’t this supposed to be a place no one could enter?”
Pushing open the golden rift,
A man stepped through.
His eyes… belonged to someone who had just taken the full impact of twenty consecutive God’s Hammer strikes, and survived.
They were calm.
Quiet.
But at their core was the exhaustion of a ruler who found even the entire world boring.
“…Finally found it.”
The man spoke.
“Absolute Space. And its owner.”
It was the Emperor.
The head of the Kanon Empire.
A being who flipped through countless worlds like pages.
One who, while turning to the next page, felt it tear for the first time.
And now…
had personally come to find the cause of that torn page.
[Warning – External entity has entered Absolute Space.]
[Warning – Rule violation.]
[Warning – Authority conflict.]
Cheon Li Yu whispered, almost screaming.
“…This is insane.”
Seon Yul’s lips curled slightly.
“Yeah.”
He faced the Emperor.
“Now it really begins.”
***
At the center of the combat zone,
The golden crack fully opened,
And the Emperor stepped out, glancing around.
“…Interesting.”
Like someone casually touring another person’s house,
He examined the walls, floor, air, and lighting one by one.
Cheon Li Yu whispered behind Seon Yul.
“Hey… does this even make sense? This is your space, right? No one’s supposed to get in.”
“I thought so too.”
Seon Yul narrowed his eyes.
“But I guess there are exceptions.”
The Emperor’s gaze slowly turned toward him.
“You must be the owner of Absolute Space.”
His voice was low and clear.
It didn’t seem forceful… yet the moment it was heard, it resonated deep inside the ears.
Seon Yul shrugged lightly.
“Yep. I’m a customer support. Let me know if you have any complaints.”
The Emperor laughed.
“You’ve got quite the mouth.”
The laugh was short and light… but the emotion beneath it was anything but.
“At first, I thought it was just a toy a child happened to pick up.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“But I didn’t expect that toy to be powerful enough to erase everything I’ve built over thousands of years in an instant.”
[Warning – ‘Undefined authority’ is analyzing Absolute Space structure.]
[Warning – Indirect interference with Absolute Space core detected.]
Cheon Li Yu’s face turned even paler.
“Is he… dissecting your space right now?”
“Yeah.”
Seon Yul answered shortly.
“So we should shut him up first.”
He raised his hand.
[Absolute Space – Structure Modification Mode.]
Ziiing
The walls and floor trembled slightly.
Then…
Click.
The space is split.
“…Huh?”
Cheon Li Yu’s eyes widened.
The rectangular combat zone… had been divided into nine circular platforms.
“What is this?”
“Partitioning.”
Seon Yul replied calmly.
“This is my house. I just split it into more rooms.”
The Emperor looked around again.
“You perceive this space as ‘rooms’?”
He smirked.
“How cute.”
At that moment…
Something sprouted beneath his feet.
A golden gear-like sigil.
It spread across the floor.
[Warning – External authority attempting to override coordinate definition.]
[Warning – Absolute Space rules partially ignored.]
Seon Yul frowned.
“…What a pain.”
Absolute Space existed outside all worlds…
But the Emperor’s authority was trying to register it as a world.
“My authority is ‘dominion.’”
The Emperor slowly extended his hand.
“Once my hand reaches out, every world it touches becomes mine.”
The spreading sigil… advanced tile by tile, like conquering a board.
Seon Yul snapped his fingers.
[Absolute Space – Local Area Isolation.]
Boom!
The circular platform beneath the Emperor… was cut off and dropped.
Shrinking to the size of a coin.
“…!”
The Emperor frowned slightly.
“Your rules are well-made.”
Seon Yul smirked.
“My house. I may not design everything, but I manage it.”
Wires shot out.
Shrrrrrrrk!
Dozens of wires surrounded the platform like a cage.
“Let’s bind your feet first.”
“Hah.”
The Emperor laughed.
“You think you can bind me?”
“Worth a try.”
Seon Yul moved instantly.
First attack.
The Spear of Death in hand…
He closed the distance instantly, opening and closing space itself.
Slash
The spear thrust toward the Emperor’s chest.
Thud—!
The Emperor caught the spearhead with his bare hand.
“…Huh?”
That sound came from Cheon Li Yu.
The curse flowing from the spear… hit a wall and stopped.
“Interesting.”
The Emperor spoke slowly.
“This is… an authority of death. Very refined. A normal mage would be conceptually fixed into ‘death’ the moment they’re struck.”
He pulled the spear slightly closer.
“But I am not a being defined as ‘one who can die.’”
Tap.
The spear bounced away.
The curse… was rejected.
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