novelraw Chapter 412:New Rank
Chapter 412:New Rank
The Chimera Knight slowly straightened.
Towering.
Monstrous.
Its armor fused directly into flesh itself.
Draconic scales lined one shoulder.
A lion's maw protruded grotesquely from its chestplate.
Serpentine tails writhed behind it endlessly.
And now—
Alicia finally understood.
It had never transformed.
It evolved.
Again and again.
All the creatures stitched into its flesh had merged together.
From beneath its helmet—
Dozens of crimson eyes glowed within the darkness.
The creature radiated pure corruption.
Alicia wiped blood from the corner of her lips.
"…You're uglier the longer I stare at you."
The Chimera answered with a monstrous roar.
SKRRAAAAAAA—
The sound alone ruptured the ground beneath them.
Nearby ruins exploded outward as violent pressure waves swept through the streets.
Alicia reacted instantly.
Black flames erupted beneath her feet.
BOOM!
She vanished the moment a massive claw descended where she previously stood.
The battle was taking its turning point when suddenly -
"Oh"
A voice full of surprise came in.
"Emilia, still alive"
A voice.
Just that alone—
and the battlefield changed.
The pressure crashing into the ruined palace moved dust from the ground itself.
A presence had arrived.
Sunset-colored hair.
Golden eyes glowing beneath the fractured ceiling.
And a smile carrying enough sarcasm to mock the war itself.
Apollo Lionheart had entered the battlefield.
The moment Emilia sensed him—
her instincts reacted first.
She immediately retreated backward without hesitation.
Even she understood one truth.
Apollo arriving personally meant the situation had already gone wrong.
The Chimera Knight moved instantly.
Unlike Emilia, it did not retreat.
It attacked.
The monstrous creature lunged toward Apollo without hesitation, black flames spiraling around its claws while the ruined palace trembled beneath its weight.
However—
before it could move another inch—
Apollo spoke.
"Gravity."
BOOM.
The Chimera Knight crashed violently into the ground.
The entire palace floor imploded beneath the sudden force.
Stone shattered.
Ancient marble collapsed inward.
A crater formed instantly beneath the monster's body.
Alicia's eyes widened slightly.
She had already fought this creature long enough to understand how terrifying its physical strength truly was.
Yet Apollo had flattened it with a single word.
Then—
the floor beneath the Chimera lit up.
A massive magic circle formed.
Green.
Wind attribute.
One ring.
Five.
Ten.
Fifteen.
And then—
another element emerged.
Lightning.
Then another.
Heat.
Three different elements fused together violently.
Apollo calmly raised one finger.
"Titan."
The spell descended.
A colossal tri-colored beam erupted downward like a divine punishment from the heavens themselves.
The palace shook violently.
The Chimera roared as the attack pierced directly through its draconic scales, tearing apart flesh, armor, and corrupted bone simultaneously.
Blood exploded across the shattered floor.
The pressure alone obliterated nearby walls.
Alicia instinctively shielded her face from the violent shockwave.
Then—
silence.
Smoke drifted upward slowly.
Apollo flicked his fingers lazily.
And suddenly—
the ruined palace stabilized.
Collapsed walls reconstructed themselves.
Shattered floors returned.
Even the burning flames vanished.
Reality itself had been forcibly rewritten.
Alicia stared blankly for a moment before laughing helplessly.
"...Show off."
Apollo ignored the comment.
Instead, he slowly approached her.
The moment he reached her side, his hand gently lifted her chin.
Golden eyes scanned every injury covering her body.
The corrupted wounds.
The unstable mana circulation.
The remnants of paralysis still spreading slowly through her veins.
The damage hidden beneath her forced composure.
Apollo became silent.
Too silent.
Alicia immediately noticed the dangerous shift.
His eyes sharpened.
The air around him distorted subtly.
Like an enormous beast quietly opening its jaws.
"Jeremiah."
His voice carried only one emotion now.
Destruction.
[Yes, Creator.]
"Upgrade my stats."
[As you wish, Creator.]
The temperature around them dropped instantly.
Even Alicia felt it.
The mana in the atmosphere began trembling unnaturally.
"Apoll—"
She tugged lightly at his sleeve.
"I'm fine."
But Apollo only stared toward the smoke where the Chimera slowly regenerated.
His expression remained terrifyingly calm.
"Jeremiah."
[Yes, Creator.]
"It seems you're taking your time."
[Apologies, Creator. Your current statistics have reached the border of the Demigod Rank.]
Apollo narrowed his eyes slightly.
"So we've reached the limit."
[Correct.]
"Then improve the ranking system."
A brief silence followed.
[That would require another level of essence, Creator.]
Apollo glanced toward the recovering Chimera.
Then toward the battlefield outside the palace where the Pillars and Dukes continued tearing apart the heavens.
"...Then we'll gather more."
Far above the capital—
the war worsened.
More Pillars of Aileen had finally joined the battlefield completely.
The skies no longer resembled heaven.
Twelve monstrous beings clashed against the Empire's greatest forces while armies below watched in horror.
The Archduke Helios blocked a descending tidal wave of black lightning using the sacred staff.
Harald split mountains of summoned stone apart with his axe.
Abraham's arrows froze entire sections of the battlefield.
Gilgamesh pierced through collapsing space itself using his divine spear.
Yet even with all their power—
the Pillars would not fall easily.
Then—
Apollo's friends entered the battlefield.
Agnes descended first, with the console on hand she was able to manifest her blessings.
Time froze around one of the Pillars momentarily, allowing Harald to cave in the man's chest with a direct strike from his axe.
Keith followed immediately.
Gravity crushed another Pillar into the ground before Abraham pierced its skull using a frozen arrow.
Blair distorted a battlefield with Mystics, forcing one enemy directly into Gilgamesh's spear trajectory.
Samael engulfed the heavens in Sacred Flame.
Aaron twisted space itself to redirect fatal attacks away from the Dukes.
While Vesta and Arabella use their magic to create enough confusion among the soldiers.
Together—
the battlefield tilted slowly toward the Empire.
But the cost became immediate.
One Pillar exploded.
Then another.
Then another.
And each death released enormous amounts of essence into the battlefield.
Apollo felt it immediately.
"Do it"
Jeremiah reacted instantly.
[Large quantities of essence detected.]
[Absorption initiated.]
Inside the palace—
Apollo slowly looked upward.
His eyes widened faintly.
The system was evolving.
Not upgrading.
Evolving.
WARNING.
WARNING.
WARNING.
The blue screen before Apollo suddenly shattered apart.
Cracks spread across the interface itself.
Then—
the entire system reconstructed.
The color changed.
Blue became gold.
The pressure erupting from Apollo distorted the palace instantly.
Alicia stepped backward instinctively.
Even she felt danger now.
Jeremiah's voice echoed mechanically throughout Apollo's mind.
[Requirement fulfilled.]
[New Rank acquired.]
[Reconstructing Status Window...]
The screen appeared once more.
But now—
it no longer resembled a mortal system.
══════════════════════════
STATUS WINDOW
Name: Apollo Lionheart
Status: Ascending
Position: Creator
Rank: Transcendent
Mana Type: Blue
Level: ERROR
══════════════════════════
STATS
Strength: 500,000
Agility: 490,000
Dexterity: 520,000
Endurance: 610,000
Stamina: Infinite Conversion
Intelligence: 1,000,000
Mana: 1,500,000
Ki:ERROR
Vitality: 5,000,000
Mana Regeneration: 15,000 per second
Ki Regeneration: 15,000 per second
══════════════════════════
DUE TO THE CREATOR'S UNPARALLELED FURY
A SKILL HAS BEEN CREATED.
WARNING
WARNING
SKILL UPGRADE
NEW AUTHORITY ACQUIRED
[Creator's Domain] (ORIGIN)
– Reality within range becomes influenced by the Creator's will.
– Skills below Origin Rank may be overwritten.
– Mana laws become controllable.
– Physical laws may be temporarily altered.
– All copied Authorities evolve beyond original limitations.
══════════════════════════
NEW EVOLUTION DETECTED
[Absolute Copy]
– All copied skills permanently evolve after sufficient analysis.
– No degradation.
– No rejection.
– No limitation.
══════════════════════════
Spell Synthesis (Transcendent) {Passive}
Alchemic Craft (Transcendent) {Passive}
Weapon Creation (Transcendent) {Passive}
Machinery Engineer (Transcendent) {Passive}
Light of Aegis (Transcendent) {Passive}
– Solidifies surrounding mana every time the bearer is attacked.
– Can be manipulated by the wielder's will.
– Maximum size: 10 kilometer.
Lightning Call (Transcendent) {Passive}
– Increases all lightning-based spells and attacks by 1000%.
Demigod Fighter (Transcendent) {Passive}
– A level of combat stemming from newly generated power.
Master Weaponist [Overhaul] (Transcendent) {Passive}
– A synthesis of weapon arts crafted by Jeremiah and magic swordsmanship from the Sage Sphere.
Mirror Thousandfold (Transcendent) {Active}
– Returns one thousand times the damage and pain of an opponent's attack.
– Works on physical, magical, spiritual, and mental attacks.
Automatic Weaponry (Transcendent) {Active}
– Automatically creates any weapon the Creator envisions.
– Blueprints recommended for full accuracy.
Strength:
• No materials required
• 700% stronger than regular weapons of the same grade
Energy Bank (Transcendent) {Active}
– A space that stores thirty times the bearer's mana and ki.
– Accessible only when energy reaches zero.
Disintegrate (Transcendent) {Active}
– Acquired during experimentation inside the Black Tower.
– Reduces targets to decay or nothingness.
Demonification (Transcendent) {Active}
– Transforms the body into a demon beast.
– All stats increase tenfold.
- Immunity to debuffs
Demonize (Transcendent) {Active}
– A refined version of Demonification.
– Allows the use of both human and demon skills.
- Immunity to debuffs
Oppressor (Transcendent) {Active}
– Applies overwhelming pressure without physical action.
– Causes confusion, judgment errors, and lowered battle awareness.
– Can momentarily halt thoughts and induce internal chaos.
– May activate autonomously depending on circumstances.
– Range increases based on situation.
══════════════════════════
NEW TITLE ACQUIRED
[One Who Stands Beyond Gods]
══════════════════════════
The moment Apollo finished reading—
the Chimera attacked again.
But this time—
Apollo simply looked at it.
And the creature stopped.
Its entire body froze mid-motion.
Not because of gravity.
Not because of time.
But because of an invincible force that no longer permitted it to move.
[Oppressor is in active]
Apollo slowly stepped forward.
Golden eyes glowing unnaturally beneath the ruined palace.
For the first time since its creation—
the Chimera Knight felt fear.
And Apollo smiled.
"Now then," he said softly.
"Let's continue."