The primeval light filled Kim Songcheol’s interior.

The beginning of all things and the establishment of existence.

The single concept that denied nothingness.

Existence.

At last, light came into being.

It was an extraordinarily special illusion, a concept grander than the magic system Kim Songcheol had built.

Before this colossal and immensely powerful phenomenon, Kim Songcheol felt as if time itself had stopped.

Perhaps the events unfolding at The Source were so incredibly fast that external events felt slow.

As his literally empty interior was filled with light, Kim Songcheol felt a pleasant sense of fulfillment.

And within that fulfillment, he took one step after another.

Towards new ground.

As has been said many times, magic is expansion.

To grow upon the land widened by previous mages, and to plant a flag on new territory.

That was the very reason mages existed.

Until now, Kim Songcheol had followed the path laid out by countless mages who had dedicated their time to expanding it.

While he had gradually pioneered new territories by gaining the power of Transcendence, he was absolutely short on time.

This was because he had the mission to prevent the Apocalypse.

He had merely utilized and improved existing knowledge rather than conducting extensive research.

But from now on, it’s a completely new domain.

I couldn’t properly deal with Nothingness, but Existence is very different.

Existence filled Kim Songcheol’s interior in the form of primordial light.

Primordial light is literally the beginning of everything.

There is nothing that was not born from the primordial light.

The Mother of all things, the oldest Nothingness that can transform into anything.

Using this massive Concept of Existence, Kim Songcheol began to weave new Magic.

As if he had anticipated this moment, his Transcendent body firmly supported Kim Songcheol.

It laid the foundation for him to handle the immense Concept.

Furthermore, through the Will intervening in the current thread, it redefined the Concept of Magic.

The mysterious power called ‘Will’ played a significant role in the rapid creation of Magic.

Kim Songcheol moved forward, building upon everything he had gained until now.

It was the moment a vast territory was incorporated into the realm of Magic by Kim Songcheol, the Pioneer.

A land wider and more fertile than ever before.

He takes his first step onto that land, which could well be called the ‘New Continent’.

Woong!

The Oneness, which had been flickering as if about to go out above Kim Songcheol’s head, emitted an intense light.

At some point, it greatly expanded, becoming a giant ring that rotated above Kim Songcheol’s head.

A surface as sharp as if cut by a knife.

It looked as if it was made of solid matter, not liquid.

To be precise, it was the 0th-tier Mana utilization method.

The most advanced form of Mana utilization had just been born.

He had just exhausted all his Mana, but that wasn’t important.

With the new Mana utilization method, he instantly absorbed the surrounding Mana and constructed a massive circle.

The consumption and absorption of Mana were no longer an issue.

Because he had created excellent Magic.

Kim Songcheol ascended into the sky as he was.

Fragments of stars fell, but he blocked them all by raising his hand and extending it towards the sky.

He ascended, scattering the massive lumps of light that fell like rain.

His appearance did not seem small at all compared to the massive Administrator’s Duplicate.

This was because the range and size of his power were not inferior.

Kim Songcheol’s eye level was now aligned with the Duplicate. But Kim Songcheol went even higher.

A height from which he completely looked down on the Duplicate.

This was possible because he was fundamentally blocking all of the Duplicate’s attacks.

Kim Songcheol folded the fingers he had raised and pointed his index finger upwards.

At that small movement, all the surrounding Mana reacted.

They began to gather in the air with one accord.

Also, light enveloped the Duplicate’s entire body. The light was binding the massive body.

Drrrrr!

The Duplicate tried to move its body, resisting the binding, but the light grew stronger and tightened its grip.

Meanwhile, the Mana that had gathered in the air began to be arranged by the newly created Magic Formula.

The first magic befitting the 0th-Tier Mana Utilization Method.

The first magic Kim Songcheol created, the essence containing his everything.

A great and enormous step that expands the realm of magic.

“Three Blades of Light.”

The moment he uttered the three Korean characters.

A giant curtain of light fell from the sky.

Its scale seemed to split the world in half.

It stretched endlessly, making its length immeasurable.

It was a magic of immense size, even when compared to the Duplicate.

The curtain of light precisely split the Duplicate in half, broke through the floor, and continued to extend downwards.

It was as if space itself had been completely cleaved in two.

The Duplicate, split in half, began to tilt left and right.

“Damage threshold breached. Annihilation beginning.”

A stiff voice.

“999th attempt, Lord Castle. Condition established. First Stone Slab granted.”

The crumbling Duplicate suddenly contracted, becoming a flat nothingness that flew towards Kim Songcheol.

It was a Stone Slab.

But it was slightly different from other Stone Slabs. Unlike Stone Slabs whose patterns connect when stacked, this one had no pattern at all.

Moreover, its material was entirely different from other Stone Slabs.

Kim Songcheol, holding the Stone Slab, descended to the floor. The greatly expanded oneness contracted again and was absorbed into Kim Songcheol.

The Celestial Spirit Maiden and Setsu, who had been watching everything, approached.

The Celestial Spirit Maiden, silently watching Kim Songcheol looking down at the Stone Slab, opened her mouth.

“Did you… stop the Apocalypse?”

Kim Songcheol raised his head.

“I don’t know yet.”

The massive enemy, the Duplicate, was annihilated. The price for that was a piece of the Stone Slab.

It wasn’t over.

“I need to use communication magic with this Stone Slab. That’s my mission.”

“You dealt with something like that, just for communication?”

It was a voice full of resentment. Was it his imagination that her emotional expressions had become richer after killing the Divine Demon?

Kim Songcheol, even in this situation, thought about that as he ran his hand over the Stone Slab.

The magic formula itself wasn’t difficult. Even if it was somehow different from other Stone Slabs, the magic formula was continuous.

The fact that it was 10th Circle communication magic remained unchanged.

Instead, the clearly written coordinates for the destination caught his eye.

‘Can the coordinates be like this…?’

That was Kim Songcheol’s question. The coordinates were strange.

This was the first Stone Slab he had seen with proper coordinates written on it.

Last time, when he forcibly activated communication magic, it was closer to crushing the coordinate part and amplifying the signal with his will.

The magic formula for the destination of the communication magic he held, corresponding to the coordinates, resembled mental magic.

‘For now, I have no choice but to try.’

Kim Songcheol prepared the magic.

Other magic formulas were already ingrained in his mind. All he needed was this coordinate and other supplementary magic formulas.

Now, he could perfectly activate the communication magic.

A magic circle began to be drawn around Kim Songcheol.

This magic was 10th Circle.

It required a suitable activation method.

A magic circle, almost 10 meters in diameter, filled slowly but clearly.

With geometric patterns and unknown runes.

The moment the last shape was drawn, an intense light burst from the magic circle, and a five-colored light shot towards the sky.

Suddenly, a space opened in the sky, and the light began to advance towards a completely new place.

It was not an ordinary space.

It felt as if he was passing through a mental world.

Having frequently traveled between the mental world and The Source while researching The Source, Kim Songcheol recognized a similar feeling.

However, the unusual thing was that he was crossing not one or two, but dozens, even hundreds of walls.

It was as if this world was composed of hundreds of layers.

With such fragmented information, he couldn’t infer the true nature of the world.

That’s why he was curious.

What kind of structure did this world have?

The light, moving past wall after wall towards the coordinates, emitted an even more intense light the moment it crossed the last wall.

That was the destination, and the connection was further strengthened the moment it linked with the designated coordinates.

[…I will summon you. Do not resist. The end of everything is near.]

An old, weary voice resonated through Kim Songcheol’s body. It was a strangely familiar voice.

He could also feel the weariness and sadness contained within that voice.

Kim Songcheol looked back at Setsu and the Celestial Spirit Maiden.

“Wait a moment. I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?”

Setsu asked, almost badgering him, as if speaking to someone who wouldn’t return once they left.

“I don’t know. They said they’d summon me…”

“You must return, Sorcerer. Even if the world perishes, I wish to see your face one last time before I die.”

The Celestial Spirit Maiden said.

“You have to come back. I’ll be waiting.”

“Don’t worry. I’m Kim Songcheol.”

Kim Songcheol replied with a smile. But Setsu only lowered her head, her eyes welling up. Kim Songcheol ruffled Setsu’s hair once. And patted the Celestial Spirit Maiden’s shoulder.

The Celestial Spirit Maiden quickly turned her head as if displeased, but she didn’t swat away the hand patting her shoulder.

Eventually.

Light poured down over Kim Songcheol’s head. The unknown entity had begun the summoning.

“I’ll definitely be back, so don’t worry, everyone.”

Kim Songcheol left those words and then vanished, as if sucked into the light.

Kim Songcheol traveled at an incredible speed through the beam of light.

While moving rapidly, he saw strangely shaped worlds outside the light beam.

It seemed he was moving through worlds.

There were places where several planets seemed stacked, places with scattered planets, and places where planets were lined up in a row.

The number of planet-castles is in the thousands.

I learned about the Universe in my school days, but this was the first time I’d seen planet-castles existing in such a way.

At that moment, the speed increased even more, and my mind became hazy.

When I came to my senses again, I found myself standing on a hard floor.

The first thing that caught my eye was a massive ruin.

‘Seoul…?’

Kim Songcheol stood on a rooftop that was half-collapsed into nothingness.

Below him lay ruins.

Having lived in Seoul for a long time, Kim Songcheol recognized it at a glance.

That this place was Seoul.

It was then.

“I don’t know what to say.”

A voice from behind.

He quickly turned around, and there stood ‘Kim Songcheol’.

Kim Songcheol with an identical face.

Of course, his attire was different.

He was just wearing jeans and a jacket.

“First, an introduction, I suppose? I am the original Kim Songcheol. The first one. Ah, to be precise, I’m a clone. Currently, the first Kim Songcheol, that is, I, am almost half-dead. It’s impossible for me to come out and greet you directly. That’s also why I said there isn’t much time… because if I die, that’s the apocalypse of everything.”

Kim Songcheol stared at ‘Kim Songcheol’ for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“What do I need to do to stop the apocalypse? That’s what’s important.”

“…”

‘Kim Songcheol’ found it difficult to speak. He kept silent for a moment, then took a step closer.

He slowly raised his hand and gently touched Kim Songcheol’s forehead.

“Before that, I’ll tell you what path ‘we’ have walked. I think that’s the right thing to do. And… I apologize in advance. I’m sorry.”

At that moment, the first Kim Songcheol’s memories began pouring into his mind through his fingers.