What exactly was a Magic God?
Living beings must eventually die. Apples must fall downward. One plus one must equal two... These were the immutable "laws" of the material world. Yet there were beings capable of using the magic recorded in grimoires to destroy, reconstruct, create, and reverse those laws, making one plus one equal three, causing apples to fall upward, and ensuring that the dead would inevitably return to life.
Those beings were known as Magic Gods.
Simply put, the defining characteristic of a Magic God was "infinity." They possessed complete mastery over every dimension, element, and phase within the universe. They could overturn every law and freely distort, destroy, or create entire worlds. To them, the world was something that could crumble at the slightest touch.
The power of a Magic God was beyond the world's ability to comprehend or recognize. Without another Magic God of equal standing, it could not even be adequately explained.
They were the highest and most powerful beings in this universe. Just ten Magic Gods possessed more than 99.999999...% of all the power belonging to the entire magic side.
Truly, knowing what they were capable of, Selene had never considered her own accomplishments particularly grand.
The nature of Honkai made it impossible for Selene to follow the Magic Gods' example of withdrawing from the world, entering seclusion, and contemplating the mysteries of existence. Expansion, conquest, and development were the primary means through which she could ascend to higher levels of existence.
And Selene had unquestionably chosen the simplest, most convenient, and most brutal method—war!
Regardless of anyone else's wishes, every material world, universe, and parallel dimension encountered along the empire's path of expansion would be swallowed by the war machine known as the Holy Selene Empire, which Selene had personally created, guided, and gradually perfected.
Population, territory, resources, technology, culture, civilization... Everything became another step on the staircase carrying Selene toward ever greater, boundless heights.
Throughout this process of expansion and assimilation, it did not matter how enthusiastically Selene's court scholars and soldiers praised her, or how fervently the imperial heartland, the multiversal complex of the Honkai Dimension, and the colonies established during the empire's early and middle periods of expansion celebrated her achievements. Slaughter was still slaughter. What had been done could not be undone.
Those colonial policies that appeared so generous on the surface had never been a glimmer of light amid the darkness. They were chains far stronger than the most ruthless exploitation, stronger than death itself... Stronger than anything that could be described by piling together every terrifying word imaginable.
Fundamentally, Selene's objective was still to treat those people as currency. She had merely devised a more efficient and sustainable way to extract every last bit of value from them.
Sustainable exploitation to the point of exhaustion.
Selene could accept every hymn of praise and every celebration of her accomplishments without the slightest psychological burden. After all, those were her achievements, and she deserved the acclaim.
But at the same time, Selene did not deny that she was the biggest bastard in the entire empire. She could have devoted more time, effort, and patience to implementing gentler, more enlightened policies. She was perfectly capable of managing such a system.
It would simply have been exhausting for Selene, in every possible sense. She would have needed to impose countless restrictions upon herself, endure endless disputes and negotiations, and accept drastically reduced administrative efficiency.
But unfortunately, Selene had already demonstrated her position through her actions—I'm lazy, I don't have that kind of patience, and I'm rather brutal.
You want to drag me into an argument? I'll drag your entire clan into it.
Thus, every step forward, every inch of her ascent, rested upon endless slaughter and mountains of corpses. Every fragment of authority Selene wielded, from its innermost essence to its outermost manifestation, and every step forming the staircase beneath her feet, carried the stench of blood, tears, and rusted iron.
Truly, Selene envied the Magic Gods and their ability to achieve such explosive advancement simply by attaining enlightenment, as though ascending to immortality.
To think that an insignificant ant, something anyone could casually crush beneath their feet, could suddenly expand into an existence so immense that it nearly burst the universe that had given birth to it!
There was a magician who ascended to become a Magic God by gouging out his own right eye, offering it to Mimir's Well, and hanging himself upside down from a tree.
There was a Magic God formed from the collective existence of thousands upon thousands of servants buried inside a pyramid as sacrifices accompanying their deceased ruler. Centered on a professional mourner who accepted money to attend funerals, a divine identity was created and elevated to the level of a Magic God through the faith of countless believers.
There was someone who became disillusioned with the secular world and deliberately committed suicide to escape its corruption, ascending as a Corpse Liberation Immortal and thereby attaining the position of Magic God.
There was a Buddhist monk who, driven by the desire to save all sentient beings, voluntarily underwent the ritual of becoming a Sokushinbutsu. He sealed himself inside a tiny underground chamber without food or water until he starved to death and became a mummified corpse, thereby obtaining the power of a Magic God.
There was a zombie originating from Voodoo traditions who achieved divinity by unifying different cultures.
There was the wife of Pluto from Roman mythology, the Queen of the Underworld...
...
That's all it takes? Somehow... I feel like I could do that too.
Compared with Selene's magnificent path of growth, which used countless worlds and all their living beings as nourishment, the ascension of these Magic Gods seemed rather ordinary.
An illusion of possibility took hold of her, and Selene suddenly felt an impulse. Wasn't there a Magic God formed from thousands upon thousands of servants buried in a pyramid as sacrifices to accompany their deceased ruler?
That's easy. I'll go back and try it immediately. It's just burial sacrifices, isn't it?
I don't actually need a tomb, but I can build one anyway. I'll increase the scale by hundreds of millions of times! I'll use entire inhabited planets that stubbornly resist me as sacrificial offerings, burying every rebel on an entire world alive to accompany me in death.
Then I'll choose a suitable name as the foundation for a divine identity within a new mythological system. After that, I'll have my court scholars compose a mythological epic on the spot and spread it throughout the empire. Surely, probably, perhaps...
Of course, she was joking. Selene understood perfectly well that these were probably laws unique to this particular world.
Trying to replicate them in her own Honkai Dimension was unrealistic.
Although the precise requirements remained unclear, those who called themselves Magic Gods needed, at the very least, to study and thoroughly read large numbers of original grimoires, comprehend their contents, and then wield their power through specialized methods.
Based on those conditions, there was a theory that someone who captured Index, completely mastered all the knowledge contained within her Index Librorum Prohibitorum, and successfully drew out its power could reach the realm of a Magic God.
As for Selene exercising her authority... Well, wasn't that even easier than breathing or drinking water? She did not even need any preliminary movements. A single thought was enough to produce whatever she desired.
Clapping her little hands and similar gestures were purely habitual.
Even setting aside the characteristics of Honkai, within the Honkai Dimension and the worlds under her control, wasn't Selene already something resembling a Magic God to a certain extent? She possessed complete mastery over every dimension, every aspect of space-time, and every parallel reality within those universes. She could overturn all the physical laws of their material universes and freely distort, reshape, create, or destroy individual universes.
"Magic Gods, huh."
When the crimson-eyed beauty eased her offensive and finally returned her wandering thoughts to reality, she found yellow sand beneath her feet, fierce winds howling around her, and a blazing sun hanging overhead like a pool of blood.
Heaven and earth had been utterly transformed. The once-boundless ocean had completely dried up. The black seabed mud, formerly buried deep underwater and hidden from sunlight, had been baked dry by repeated scorching blasts, then pulverized into fine dust by the violent, hurricane-like vibrations and collisions.
As scorching winds swept across the landscape, something almost unimaginable occurred. A sandstorm had erupted in what had once been the vast heart of the southern Indian Ocean!
"Spell · Detonation!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Tens of millions of mysterious explosions erupted in carefully directed sequences over a short period. Blinding radiance transformed into a storm of annihilation that swept toward every obstacle in its path.
The relentless explosions were so violent that they prevented sound from propagating. In absolute silence, tectonic plates were torn open, and enormous, bottomless fissures stretched for hundreds or thousands of kilometers. Every trace of the landscape that had once existed was erased, every living thing wiped away. Nothing remained but an endless expanse of devastated terrain, its original features reduced beyond recognition.
Fortunately, both combatants understood the need for restraint. They controlled their strength while continuously reinforcing the continental shelf serving as their battlefield. Otherwise, the aftershocks alone would have been more than sufficient to destroy the Indian Ocean and everything surrounding it, unleashing unprecedented climatic and geological disasters across the entire planet.
Even so, from the perspective of human civilization, this was unmistakably the end of the world, with the heavens collapsing and the earth splitting apart!
Hummm!
"Although your constitution approaches that of a Magic God, you're still one step short. And that single step makes all the difference in the world."
Parting the smoke, Selene held the crystal Voidstar Anchor, which looked almost like an exquisite work of art, diagonally behind her back. Her other hand rested before her chest, glowing with an ominous purplish-red radiance.
"The most terrifying attack in this world is an 'inexplicable power.' And just how much do you know about me, Ollerus?"
"..."
Only the sound of teeth grinding could be heard.
On a mound of earth at the very center of the sandy wasteland, Ollerus knelt on one knee, breathing heavily. A bloody gash across his forehead was still pouring blood, staining one of his eyes a rusty crimson.
His skin was exposed, and his limbs were twisted at unnatural angles. His hands, which had repeatedly collided head-on with Selene's attacks, were particularly horrifying. Even though his near-Magic God constitution was rapidly repairing the damage, their grotesque deformation revealed just how badly he was suffering in each collision.
More than ten thousand shattered Voidstar Anchors lay embedded in the sand. Wisps of purplish-red energy flickered across them before disappearing. Every single weapon had been broken, like toys smashed apart by a child.
"Hah... Hah..."
Aside from facing the one-eyed woman who had stolen his position as a Magic God, and others of her kind, this was the first time Ollerus had ever felt that his strength was so utterly inadequate.
That woman possessed the qualifications to confront beings who had reached the realm of Magic Gods directly.
Is she a Magic God of Science who is still growing? To think that bastard Aleister actually managed to find someone like her, someone willing to help him of her own accord!
Selene's constitution and terrifying regenerative abilities were particularly troubling. They had allowed Ollerus to glimpse the concept of "infinity," something that should only exist at the level of a Magic God. Unless he could completely annihilate her down to the molecular and atomic levels in a single instant, Selene would return the very next moment in perfect condition, her strength fully restored.
And only a genuine Magic God could accomplish such a feat!
Although Ollerus was a quasi-Magic God, he still belonged to the realm of humanity. What he could not accomplish was simply beyond his abilities. Even if he could theoretically achieve it with sufficient preparations and elaborate rituals, did anyone seriously expect Selene to stand motionless like a wooden puppet and allow herself to be attacked without retaliating?
Furthermore, the malicious thoughts currently converging from across the world were overwhelmingly powerful. Ollerus could clearly sense their profound hostility.
Aleister was a magical genius qualified to ascend to the position of Magic God, although he had personally rejected that path. With a century of preparations, combined with the foundations and accumulated resources of Christianity over the past thousand years, what exactly was he planning to accomplish?
A terrifying suspicion began forming in Ollerus' mind.
"He's courting death."
"Whether he's courting death or not has nothing to do with you, does it? If you're living in seclusion, then stay in seclusion. Why come out and interfere? Fiamma of the Right is already dead. As for that woman named Silvia, do you want him to live, or do you want her to die?"
Selene asked casually. With a sharp crack, she smashed through the fabric of the material universe to her left with one hand. Amid a shower of purplish-red crystal fragments, a muffled groan sounded.
Ollerus' expression changed drastically. "You wouldn't dare!" On the other side of the rift Selene had torn open, the woman being held by the throat was unmistakably Silvia, the maid who had accompanied him here to take Fiamma of the Right away.
"And why wouldn't I?"
The required level of malice had already been reached. After fighting to this extent, the satellite broadcast had long since been interrupted. Why would Selene bother showing him any courtesy now?
Selene glanced toward the blonde woman on the other side of the rift. "Carissa once told me about a maid at Buckingham Palace who frequently smashed decorations while intercepting assassins, despite being employed as a bodyguard, and received plenty of criticism for it. Recently, she even ran off to Milan, Italy, where she accepts assignments but refuses to obey orders. That would be you, wouldn't it?"
"Silvia, the British Royal Family's highest-ranking shrine maiden and a Saint. Since you're a servant who refuses to obey orders, I'll consider this a favor to Carissa and clean house on her behalf."
Whoosh!
Ollerus sprang to his feet in a fury, roaring with uncontrollable rage. "If you dare hurt her, Selene, I swear I'll sink Academy City beneath the sea! And your family will also... Ugh!"
Silvia was one of the few truly close friends Ollerus had in the world, and she was someone no one was permitted to threaten!
Hummm!
Ollerus activated his spell.
Yet in the very next instant, the corners of Selene's lips curved into a faint, triumphant smile. His vision blurred, and when Ollerus' eyes finally refocused...
"Damn it! When did...?"
"ROOOOAR!!"
Selene had vanished.
In her place, eight enormous, ferocious dragon heads filled his vision, lunging toward him with gaping jaws and overwhelming ferocity.
This power... Kamijou Touma! The power hidden within Imagine Breaker... Selene is trying to—
With a faint crack, all eight dragon heads in the sky let out agonized cries. An invisible impact crushed them mercilessly, reducing them to countless points of light that scattered and disappeared into the air. At the same time, Kamijou Touma, who had been concealed behind the dragons, also let out a muffled groan.
But the black-haired, spiky-haired boy was not sent flying backward. An invisible vortex emerged from the stump of his severed arm, only to be swallowed by another, even greater power belonging to Kamijou Touma himself. His right hand quickly regenerated.
His fist was already inches away.
BANG!
Ollerus spat out a mouthful of bloody foam mixed with chunks of flesh.
"Corrosion... When did this happen...?" Glancing sideways at Silvia, whose hand was thrust like a blade through his waist and abdomen, and seeing the patterns of Honkai corruption glowing across her entire body, Ollerus gave a bitter, helpless smile.
"So I'm still not a true Magic God after all. Imagine Breaker really is our natural enemy."
His abdomen and spine had been bent and shattered by the impact. A jagged fragment of bone protruded from his body, dragging thick tendons with it, all dripping with blood. Ollerus collapsed to the ground.
And all of this had happened in little more than the blink of an eye. Silvia stared blankly at her blood-soaked right hand, now covered in purplish-red patches of light. Behind her, Selene slowly lowered the hand she had placed on Silvia's shoulder to inject her power.
"Tch. You really do care about her. You were so afraid your reflection spell might kill her that you actually disabled every one of your automatic counterattack spells."
With a single knife-hand strike, Selene knocked Silvia unconscious and sent her sprawling to the ground. Then, looking down at the fallen Ollerus, she extended her hand in a summoning gesture.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
Five Subspace Lances descended. One pierced his torso, while the remaining four pinned his limbs, firmly immobilizing and sealing him in place.
"Selene... You... Him?"
Clutching his fully restored right hand, Kamijou Touma stared blankly at Selene. Six platinum angelic wings spread from her back, a radiant solar halo hovered above her head, and her magnificent platinum battle attire made her look even more like an angel than an actual angel.
He was utterly bewildered.
Since when did you become part of the magic side?!
"An ally of Fiamma of the Right. An enemy."
Selene nodded toward the bewildered Kamijou Touma, Kanzaki Kaori, and Stiyl Magnus without offering any further explanation. Her gaze shifted toward Fiamma of the Right's body, which had completely transformed into a Christian "Archangel."
Aleister's figure had already disappeared.
"Displaying the coordinates of the Hidden World inhabited by the Magic Gods in decimal form... What a truly ingenious idea."
A crimson glimmer flashed through Selene's eyes. What she saw was a tiny point of silver light traveling through boundless darkness.
"Aleister, my dear Board Chairman... Will this place become your final resting place?"
Darkness.
A darkness so complete that one could not see a hand held directly before one's face. But it was more than that. The profound darkness seemed to press relentlessly against Selene's perception through Aleister's perspective, stretching infinitely in every direction she could sense.
Selene knew what it was.
That was a Phase.
"Well then, it's about time my true body got moving too."