Translator: Alpha0210

The monsters around Michael had 'demonic' appearances.

This wasn't just a metaphor. They truly had wings reminiscent of bats, tails that looked like spears or whips. Their faces were grotesque, as if melted by lava, and each time they breathed, something like sulfuric gas flowed out from the nostril-less holes.

There were quite a few of them. Easily more than dozens, but that didn’t mean each one could be taken lightly.

To sum it up, they were formidable foes. Of course, from Residue’s personal point of view, they were just small fry.

“……”

Residue was about to fry them with lightning flow, but suddenly stopped and sat atop a nearby collapsed pillar.

“Kieek!”

In the meantime, one devil approached Michael and bared its teeth. It held a menacing trident in its hand, and its eyes were vividly red, like they were filled with lava, quite striking.

The sooty trident lunged straight at Michael’s neck, intending to pierce through in an instant.

Crunch.

Then it crumpled.

It looked as if the devil’s entire body had been flattened by an invisible block of metal. Blood and flesh turned into a mashed pulp and splattered all over the floor.

“Kieek……?”

“Keck! Keck!”

Sensing the anomaly, the devils let out grotesque cries and hesitated, but soon charged again. Their end was no different.

They were crushed, split, shattered, chunks of meat flying in every direction. In the blink of an eye, the area around Michael became a sea of blood.

And yet, Michael remained completely unaffected. Not a speck of blood or a piece of flesh stained his body.

Only then did Residue jump down from the pillar and clap his hands.

“This exceeds expectations by far.”

“……”

"You seem to have no hesitation at all in handling the authority of space, as if you originally possessed it. Was this body's interpretation wrong?"

“…No. It’s correct.”

Michael, with a slightly confused look, was staring down at his own hand.

Seeing that, Residue smirked and spoke.

“About ten hours have passed. Originally, I planned to give you some time to understand that power and practice until you could use it to a certain level……”

He had considered giving him between two to five hours, but looking at Michael now, he began to think it might not be necessary.

“I think we can begin the lesson right away. What does the teacher think?”

Michael let out a sigh.

“I’m still a bit uncertain… but it seems we’re short on time.”

“Excellent.”

Residue quickly nodded and waved his hand. With a fierce gust, the flesh and blood were swept away like fallen leaves.

After the area was cleaned, he sat down heavily and began explaining the situation.

“─The power of space was the unique authority of a guy named Lord, who was once the leader of the Demigods. And now, by some twist of fate, this one has come to possess the power of every individual from the Demigod race. However, using their powers as they were wasn’t very efficient, and I judged they wouldn’t be much help in the battles I must face going forward.”

“The Demigods were a race nearly equivalent to Absolutes.”

Michael seemed to have learned something about the Demigods upon receiving the authority of space. That’s how memory works. It can be imprinted not just on objects, but also in bodies, souls, and powers.

“If you wield their authority, it would be far more powerful than when the original Demigods used it.”

“Not all authorities are like that, but generally speaking, yes.”

“A total of 127 authorities… If you could use them all, you’d be nearly unrivaled in today’s world.”

Michael asked in a puzzled tone.

“Who exactly do you have to face?”

“At the very least, inevitable clashes with the Twelve Void Lords, the Four Knights, or Rulers, and not to mention the Half King and even Destruction are included.”

“…That’s a perilous path.”

“It is indeed a perilous path.”

Residue extended his hand.

Fsszt, lightning flow sparked like static on his palm.

The lightning flow stretched toward the sky. It looked like an inverted lightning strike, or like a tree made of lightning rapidly growing upward.

Each branch of the stretched lightning flow underwent a different transformation.

Some turned into flames, some into ice. Others became sand, metal, light, darkness...

Only then did Michael realize Residue’s intention.

“All of this is lightning?”

“That’s right.”

Residue nodded as he spoke.

“This body decided to convert all means given to me into thunder and lightning. It’s inefficient, but efficient.”

Even as he said it, it didn’t make much sense to him either, but there was no better way to put it.

“But it was ambiguous how to apply this power to teleportation. After much deliberation, I reached a temporary conclusion, to aim for utmost speed. ‘Like lightning’, ‘as thunder strikes’, ‘as if lightning has fallen’… Thunder and lightning are commonly used as metaphors when describing something that moves unpredictably or at unreadable speed.”

Residue continued speaking.

“So I’m aiming to become lightning.”

“……”

“In the past, I merely ruled over thunder and lightning, but now I aim to become it itself. I don’t know if this state is superior to the one I once reached. It could even be a regression. But I had no other choice.”

At those words, Michael’s expression turned strange.

“You said you used to wield thunder and lightning… Just who are you?”

“That depends on how you interpret it. This body no longer wishes to explain myself to others.”

“……”

Michael silently pondered for a moment, then nodded.

“Fine. I won’t ask any more.”

“You really are easy to talk to.”

Though it might sound a bit regretful to Lukas, Residue and Michael didn’t have a bad compatibility.

Even if they were different beings, receiving teachings from someone who was essentially Lord might have been one of the things Lukas couldn't accept.

For some reason, that fact was interesting and pleasing to Residue. It was a childish emotion, but it made him feel like he was walking a different path from Lukas.

“If this authority were to be named, [Space Domination] would be the most fitting. It’s a power close to invincibility, but not truly invincible. Let’s assume for a moment that you and I were to fight. How would you fight against me, someone who can freely dominate space?”

“……”

This was probably assuming a scenario where both sides had equal power.

After a brief pause, Residue asked.

“…There are a few methods. But the most effective strategy with the highest win rate would be to aim for the openings during and immediately after teleportation.”

"What if you attacked in other ways?"

“Imprisoning in a specific space, or tearing the space itself like you did earlier? That’s a foolish question. It doesn’t work on an opponent of equal or slightly lesser strength.”

This was something Residue realized after acquiring space domination.

In the first place, beings like the Ruler, who could freely move between universes, or the Four Knights at a similar level, couldn’t be confined for long no matter how precisely the space was constructed. Even among the Twelve Void Lords, those with bad compatibility could break through it.

Therefore, the most reliable attack method becomes hand-to-hand combat based on teleportation. It’s quite ironic for the Lord of the Demigods, who couldn’t even imagine such a fighting method in the past.

Michael nodded deeply.

“That’s right. In other words, space domination is not an offensive skill.”

“Can’t it be used for attacks?”

“It can be used. But I’m speaking of the fundamental aspect. Cutting or sealing space... that’s merely an application of the power called domination. Blocking or deflecting an attack with a sword doesn’t make the sword a defensive weapon, does it?”

“……”

It was an apt metaphor, but hearing it in the tone of someone instructing him was unfamiliar, and his expression grew slightly displeased.

Michael continued speaking as if he hadn’t noticed anything.

“In other words, Space Domination is a power specialized in auxiliary fields such as creation or high-speed movement. I don’t know much about you yet, but I’ve figured out enough about your tendencies. My conclusion is that this kind of ability doesn’t suit your aptitude.”

“…That’s true.”

Michael’s statement matched the conclusion Residue had reached after long thought, and he found himself nodding naturally.

“Aptitude is a very important matter. In a decisive moment, such a minor difference often changes the outcome.”

“So what’s your conclusion?”

“I wouldn’t recommend that you use Space Domination.”

“……”

So it’s come to that. Residue clicked his tongue briefly.

Michael suddenly asked.

“What’s the reason for your obsession with this power? If you want to use thunder and lightning as your main force, wouldn’t it be better to refine that power further?”

“There already exists a being who stands at the peak of that power. No matter how much this body struggles, I cannot catch up to that one by choosing the same path.”

Residue clenched his fist.

“Whether it’s a shortcut, a personal path, or even a heretical one, it doesn’t matter. Just not the same road. This body needs a method unique to myself. Space Domination is an extremely rare authority, so I thought there must be a reason it came into my possession. If I could just digest it, I believed I could elevate it into a means to fight against the strong.”

“…I see.”

Michael answered shortly and then made a serious face. Seeing that expression, Residue thought again that a face with clear features was easier to deal with. At the very least, one could tell what the other person was thinking.

“…Teleportation is…”

Michael spoke again.

It wasn’t so much that he had finished thinking, but more that he was forming his thoughts as he spoke.

“A movement technique that leaves no trace. Only the beginning and the end exist, with no process in between. Because it simply ends in movement, it can’t become an attack.”

“……”

“But what you need is not the result, but the process. It shouldn’t end with just movement, you have to destroy everything between the starting point and the destination.”

“Hm.”

Still too vague.

Residue frowned. If he were still the Lightning God, he might have been able to easily grasp the true meaning or the flaws in these words… Strangely enough, he couldn’t get a solid feel for it now.

No. To be precise, even if the logic had holes, he didn’t feel like refuting it right away. Because now he knew even failure could become something great.

“For example?”

“There’s a theory, mostly nonsense, but still…”

Woom.

As Michael waved his hand, three stone pieces floated up. He lined them up in order, then pointed to the one at the front.

“This is you.”

Then the one in the middle.

“This is the enemy.”

Lastly, he pointed to the one at the end.

“This is the destination. If we use a thrusting attack as an analogy, it could be seen as the point where the tip of the spear reaches. Now here’s the important part. You don’t move directly to this end point, but plant a flag there first.”

“A flag?”

“Of course, I don’t mean literally planting a flag, it’s just a metaphor…”

“No need for that kind of explanation. Just keep talking.”

Whether being cut off hurt his feelings, Michael’s expression became somewhat sulky, but he continued speaking.

“…Anything would be fine. Just mark the coordinate, or create something symbolic. With your current ability, it shouldn’t be hard to create fire, ice, or metal.”

At Michael’s words, the stone at the final point began to change form.

“And then?”

“Encase that location in a magnetic field.”

“Ho.”

“Then, do the same, apply a magnetic field to your body as well─”

“This body would become a human magnet.”

Not a human, but still.

Residue added with a chuckle to himself.

“That’s a very interesting piece of bullshit. But to make that bullshit a reality, this body’s body will have to be reconstructed from the most basic units. If that process is completed successfully, and I can control the magnetic field as I wish… I would be able to reach the destination point at extreme speed. The faster I move, the more that speed would be multiplied. Truly, ‘like lightning’.”

And every enemy along the path would be shredded to pieces. The magnetic fields surrounding Residue and the “end point” would be incomparably powerful.

“It’s not a method I’d recommend. It’s a double-edged sword. If you make even the slightest mistake, the one torn into pieces and scattered won’t be your enemy, but you.”

“Indeed.”

Residue said with a laugh.

“That’s why I like it even more.”

“…Did you even listen to what I said properly? This theory is mostly nonsense. There are more than a few logical flaws. To apply it in real combat, like you said, you’d first have to alter the nature of your body, and even then, you'd go through countless trial and error. And right now, we don’t have the time.”

“There’s still about a day left, so it’s fine.”

“But…”

"Enough. Shut up for a bit. You're good in everything else, but you talk too damn much.”

Residue said with a frown.

“I’m going to focus from now on, so don’t get in the way. Just stand guard here properly. Understood?”

And then Residue really closed his eyes.

“……”

Michael looked at him with a hollow expression, then suddenly clenched his fist tightly as emotion surged within him. Then, shocked by his own action, he looked down at his fist.

He had nearly punched him on impulse.

*****

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