Chapter 1080

〈 Episode 1080 〉 1080. Spirit’s Atlantis

“I was prepared to die once… and I thought I’d at least take one of his arms with me.”

That was when it happened. A bright blue butterfly, completely out of place, fluttered right into my face.

The butterfly gently landed on my shoulder. And just after, my vision shifted. I reappeared far from Balor.

“What the hell is this?!”

Balor shouted in irritation. His thirteen eyeballs were rolling around frantically, clearly unable to locate Elena. Of course, I had no idea where she was either.

-I can’t reveal myself.

A familiar feminine voice echoed in my ear. It was Elena.

-Unlike you, who are faking death with that ridiculous golden mask, I have no way to disguise my death. Using illusions to appear would be a waste of mana. I’ll support you from here.

I smirked.

“With your support, even if the opponent is a Spirit… it might be doable.”

Her presence alone felt like having an army of ten million. Light returned to the desperate situation.

“…First, I’ll kill you, then I’ll hunt down whoever’s hiding and exterminate them too.”

Balor approached me, still unable to find Elena with his thirteen eyes.

-In a confined space, movement isn’t easy, right?

My body floated upwards into Heaven. I felt something strange yet familiar. Though I was flying, there was a contradictory sensation as if I were standing on solid ground. My body moved exactly as I willed it.

-In Mythology, Balor died when his eye exploded, right? Mythology represents the deeds of Spirits. The eyes are Balor’s weakness.

“I get it. That’s why I aimed for his eyes too… though I never succeeded.”

-All thirteen eyes. Destroy all of them.

“Can’t I just focus on the ones on his body?”

-If those twelve extra eyes were just magical illusions, they wouldn’t possess such power. To defeat Balor, you must target all thirteen eyes.

“That’s inconvenient.”

I trusted Elena’s words without hesitation. Gripping the Hwa Ryeon Sword, I flew toward the nearest eyeball. Twelve of the eyeballs began circling me. Their pupils glowed ominously, ready to fire beams.

-Don’t stop.

Trusting Elena, I poured power into the sword. A crimson current of Astrape surged along the blade.

Keeeeeeeeeeng!

Thirteen red beams shot straight at me.

The blue butterfly appeared beside me, then vanished.

Elena’s illusionary technique temporarily deceived the world’s rules. By bending space, she redirected all the beams targeting me off-course.

‘First one.’

Swoosh.

I sliced through one of Balor’s eyes. The split eyeball fell to the ground with a thud.

‘Right away, the second!’

I rushed toward another eyeball less than 10 meters away. The eyeball tried to escape, but I was faster.

Clang!

An invisible barrier repelled my sword.

‘So he won’t give up easily, huh?’

Zzzzzzzziiiiip!

I increased Astrape’s output. Pushing the lightning beyond its limits caused my mana gauge to sting painfully. I didn’t care. Even if the gauge burned out completely, it could be restored later.

‘Death is right in front of me. If I hesitate even a little here, I’ll die.’

Ka-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak!

I forcibly cut through the barrier and stabbed the eyeball with my sword. Crimson lightning incinerated the eyeball.

Eleven eyes remained.

I destroyed four more eyes in quick succession. Seven eyes left. I could feel my breath rising to the very edge of my throat. My mana gauge had reached its limit. Blood trickled from my mouth, nose, and ears. But I didn’t stop.

The iris of the targeted eyeball changed from red to purple. My body froze momentarily. I couldn’t move.

-It’s the Stasis Evil Eye. This effect diverts the stasis to another location…


The body is better off with support.

Thanks to Elena’s backup, my body moved again in less than 3 seconds. However, those 3 seconds were costly. A beam from afar vaporized both my legs.

But I didn’t stop. Even without legs, I could still fly.

Pooook.

An eyeball drops out. Remaining eyeballs: 6.

“It’s a trap.”

The eyeball explodes. Flames engulf my body. By the time Elena used her illusion technique to extinguish the flames, my body was already charred black. My physical form begins to plummet.

“Healing through illusions… is impossible. The power of a god lingers in your wounds. It’s no ordinary flame.”

As my consciousness fades, I activate full recovery. The scorched skin regenerates anew. The vaporized legs reappear. Falling me rises back toward the heavens.

“Kuuuh… You’re more formidable than I thought.”

A sigh from Balor reaches my ears. Still, his attacks continue. Dodging beams leaves me mentally exhausted. When I make mistakes, Elena covers for me, but even she has limits defending against divine assaults.

Five floating eyeballs begin scattering in all directions. I grimace as the distance between them exceeds 10 kilometers.

“Balor, for a god you sure fight dirty.”

“You should be flattered. This means you’ve pushed me this far.”

Balor brazenly reveals himself. I chase after the retreating eyeballs. The eyeballs move freely through the air, firing beams at me. Their movements have improved since earlier; fewer eyes mean better control by Balor.

“Elena, at this rate we’ll tire out first. Is there any way?”

“…There is. But using full recovery will make supporting you harder.”

“Better than collapsing from exhaustion. Also, this guy keeps getting stronger. Or maybe adapting? Either way, dragging this out favors him.”

“That’s agreed. …Shall we give the gods something to be surprised about?”

A blue butterfly appears.

The butterfly flutters through the sky. One becomes two, then three. With every flutter, their numbers grow.

When the count reaches about a thousand, they stop multiplying. I instinctively know Elena has fallen. Yet the butterflies continue to multiply.

‘Using full recovery and casting another illusion.’

Ultimately, around 3,000 butterflies fill the skies.

“Hold on. I’m about to flip the world.”

Elena declares.

Thousands of butterflies combust simultaneously, merging into the space around us.

The world flips. More precisely, Sector 5,485 flips. Earth becomes heaven, heaven becomes earth. And it doesn’t stop there – the world spins wildly, growing ever smaller.

The distance between Balor’s distant pupils forcibly narrows.

“…Who exactly is helping you? This isn’t something a human can do. Which god is aiding you?”

Balor’s presence weakens compared to before, deprived of the power granted by the corrupted zone.

“Yeah, a god is helping me.”

I lied. If this makes his thoughts even slightly more complicated, it’ll be worth it.

Crackling sounds erupt around me. Six lightning orbs appear and begin clustering together.

Myriad Thunder (卍雷).

Rotating lightning shoots bolts at the eyeballs. Three are pierced, but barriers protect the remaining three, causing them to vanish.

‘Three is enough. Exploiting his confusion was correct.’

Balor summons the two eyeballs floating nearby. They merge into his forehead. Three eyes glare at me.

I fly toward him. The closer I get, the less imposing his figure seems.

‘…This must also be Elena’s support.’

Perhaps this is her final assistance. Asking for more would be greedy. Clutching the now-enlarged Fire Lotus Blade, I charge at Balor.

His three eyes turn purple. The Eye of Stasis. My body stiffens, stopping momentarily. A victorious smile graces Balor’s lips.

“That help of yours won’t work. You won’t escape like last time.”

Exactly what I wanted.

I activate the skill I’ve been holding onto until the very end.

‘Heavenly Heart (天心).’

[Heavenly Heart (天心) activated. Duration: 1 minute.]

I stayed still until the perfect moment came, pretending to succumb to the Eye of Stasis.

Balor stretches his hand toward my neck. Just as his massive hand is about to strangle me, I stab his large eye with my sword.

“Kueeeeh! Ho, how…?!”

“Lightning!!”

Red currents course through his body, making him tremble violently.

“I, I won’t lose like this…!”

The violet pupil on his forehead turns red again.


It’s about to begin.

“Eye gouge!”

I jabbed its eyes with my index and middle finger of my left hand. SQUISH. My fingers sank deep into both eyes. Balor has lost all sight.

“I… I, to be defeated by a mere human…!!”

Balor’s massive body collapses.

The upside-down world returns to its proper place. The constricted space widens, the ground sinks back down where it belongs, and the heavens rise above. My enlarged body shrinks back to normal human size.

“The Lord of the Sky has donated 100,000 AP.”

“The Lord of the Sky is satisfied.”

“The King of Horses has donated 50,000 AP.”

“The King of Horses licks his lips.”

“The Fallen Star has donated 10,000 AP.”

“Foolish Balor! PUHAHAHAHA!”

“The Shining Spear has donated 100,000 AP.”

“The Hunter of the Moon has donated 100,000 AP.”

“The Adversary of the Sun has donated 30,000 AP.”

“The Master of Gold has donated 30,000 AP.”

…

An endless stream of donations poured in. Most of the deities I knew gave generously, while nameless spirits contributed around 1,000 AP.

It’s the price of admission for this spectacle – battles between gods and humans don’t often end with the human winning. They’ll remember this day for hundreds, even thousands of years.

Of course, not all deities donated.

“The Light Steps laugh.”

“The Queen of Shadows watches you.”

“The Flower of the Moon is outraged.”

“The Black Pharaoh observes you.”

I ignored the messages from the divine seats. What mattered were the rewards. Balor’s corpse turned to dust and vanished, leaving behind no items. Rewards must be claimed from the system.

“A great myth that shocks the celestial gods.”

“You have obtained the title: God Slayer.”

“All stats increase by 5.”

“75% contribution confirmed.”

With 75% contribution…

Without Elena’s help, it would have been me who died, not Balor.

“Other challengers have forfeited their contribution.”

“100% total contribution confirmed.”

‘Has Elena given up? Where is she…?’

“You may choose three rewards.”

“1. Valour’s Essence (SS)”

“2. Constellation Creation.”

“3. All stat increase, 1 SSS Rank Upgrade Token”

Option 1 is definitely the dud.

Valour’s Essence sounds OP, but there’s no way the system would just hand over Balor’s powers easily. Even if they didn’t nerf it, it’d probably come with five or more conditions.

‘The SSS Rank Upgrade Token is rare, but still less valuable than creating a constellation. You only get those after achieving legendary feats that shock the gods. If Elena hadn’t given up her share, this option wouldn’t even be available.’

Who knows when this opportunity will come again?

I chose option 2.

“Think of a constellation that represents you.”

“The effects will be determined by the form of your constellation.”

‘Hmm… Lightning constellation?’

“It already exists.”

‘Figures. Atlantis has gone through 8 cycles. Constellations aren’t reset, so it makes sense they’d still exist. As a celestial horse, I should try to benefit from this… How about Demon constellation?’

“It exists.”

‘…’

“Are you sure you wish to select this constellation?”

‘I want every existing constellation I thought of. Let’s go with this one.’

“Are you absolutely certain about this choice?”

“A constellation cannot be changed once chosen.”

“You may delay your decision and think it over.”

‘I’ve already decided.’

“…A new constellation has been inscribed in the sky of Atlantis.”

For some reason, it felt like the system sighed. Probably just my imagination. The system wouldn’t do something like that.

Twinkle twinkle…

A new constellation appeared in the blue sky.

Lines of light connected the shining stars, revealing the new constellation. The people of Atlantis must have noticed the appearance of a new constellation by now.

‘That brightest star right there is the clitoris. Below it, the labia and urethra… all the way to the vaginal opening. Perfectly rendered. Anyone can tell what it is.’

“A constellation representing you has been inscribed in the heavens.”

“You have obtained the title: Guardian of the Pussy.”

“All stats increase by 5.”

“You have obtained the skill: Blessing of the Pussy Constellation (S).”

“Blessing of the Pussy Constellation

Gains advantage in conflicts against females.

Temporarily gains buffs during sexual relations with a female.

Can bestow the Blessing of the Pussy Constellation on a female once per month.

Type: Constellation Blessing

Rank: S”

‘Perfect.’

“Many divine seats are astonished.”

“The Lord of the Sky regards you with awe.”

“The King of Horses bursts into laughter.”