Chapter 2

“Hoh!”

The moment Jang Il pulled out the platinum-colored orb, Maka’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.

The playful expression that had rested on his face vanished entirely.

Feeling intimidated, Jang Il hesitantly asked,

“D-Did I… choose the wrong one?”

Maka looked at him.

He neither nodded nor shook his head.

Instead, with sincere admiration, he explained why he was so astonished.

“If we were to compare a universe to a human being, then this universe has only just awakened from its first stretch. It is still a child.”

“As for you, who belong to this young universe and possess no significant status… you are little more than a speck of dust.”

“Which is why this is unbelievable.”

“Under normal circumstances, even with extraordinary luck, drawing a 2-Star Authority would already be your limit.”

“And yet…”

“You have drawn a 10-Star Authority.”

“A… 10-Star?”

Jang Il had no idea what that meant.

Seeing his confusion, Maka elaborated.

“To put it simply…”

“The odds of someone like you drawing a 10-Star Authority were less than one in one hundred quintillion (10²⁰).”

“It is, quite literally, an incomprehensible miracle.”

“And yet…”

“You accomplished it.”

“…”

Though poorly educated, Jang Il knew enough arithmetic to understand the enormity of that number.

Only then did he realize just how absurdly valuable the orb in his hand truly was.

However…

Maka didn’t look happy.

The reason was simple.

“I do not know which Authority you have inherited.”

“But now that you possess one of the Ten-Star Authorities, dying easily is no longer your fate.”

“The problem…”

“…is you.”

“Your existence is far too insignificant to properly wield such an Authority.”

“No matter what you do, it will never manifest correctly.”

“At best…”

“You will struggle to display even the power of a 1-Star Authority.”

Ordinarily, such words would have been disappointing.

Yet Jang Il’s face brightened instead.

A being as magnificent as Maka had no reason to lie.

If Maka said he could survive…

Then he believed it.

Seeing straight through his thoughts, Maka let out a helpless laugh.

He had once again been reminded that the person before him was merely a fragile mortal.

Still smiling, he continued,

“Even so…”

“A Ten-Star Authority is, by nature, a Ten-Star Authority.”

“Its range of manifestation is fundamentally different from that of ordinary One-Star Authorities.”

“At the very least…”

“It grants a degree of freedom from the laws of this world comparable to a Two-Star Authority.”

Those words carried tremendous significance.

Unfortunately…

They meant nothing to Jang Il yet.

He would only understand through experience.

Rooooooar!

An earth-shaking scream echoed through the air.

Jang Il flinched.

Maka merely frowned.

“Tsk.”

“Perhaps because this is still a young world…”

“It is remarkably undisciplined.”

“I had intended to stay until your Authority awakened.”

“But it seems that will no longer be possible.”

Casually mentioning that the scream belonged to the planet itself, Maka hurriedly said,

“If you wish to inherit the Authority…”

“Simply swallow it.”

“Hurry.”

“The moment I disappear, the laws restraining this world will return to normal.”

“I-I understand.”

Whatever was happening,

Jang Il knew only one thing.

If time returned to normal…

His death was inevitable.

Without hesitation, he placed the platinum orb into his mouth.

It was larger than expected.

For a moment he wondered if he could swallow it.

His concern proved unnecessary.

Whoosh…

The orb dissolved into smoke the instant it touched his tongue and disappeared into his body.

He expected some dramatic transformation.

Instead…

Nothing happened.

Confused, he looked toward Maka.

“…!”

Maka was already gone.

He had vanished without a trace.

Rumble!

The same tremendous cry echoed once again.

Then…

The frozen world slowly began moving.

At first, everything crawled forward so sluggishly that one could yawn while watching it.

But little by little,

time accelerated.

Grip!

Understanding exactly what that meant,

Jang Il tightened his grip on his sword.

His brief meeting with Maka had restored a little strength to his exhausted body.

He squeezed out every remaining ounce of energy and began moving.

The front lines were impossible.

The rear lines were equally hopeless.

His only option was to head toward the flank and pray for an opportunity.

Before long…

He encountered a problem.

Standing ahead was a towering enemy general over seven feet tall, radiating terrifying pressure.

Someone who had only recently begun learning martial arts could never hope to defeat such a monster.

Running away was the obvious answer.

Unfortunately…

That wasn’t an option.

He hasn’t noticed me yet.

Or perhaps…

He simply didn’t consider someone like Jang Il worth noticing.

Either way,

it didn’t matter.

Although time was steadily returning to normal,

the world was still moving far slower than usual.

A single instant.

That was all he needed.

Jang Il unleashed every last drop of strength his body could produce.

The result…

Exceeded even his own expectations.

“Hup!”

Slash!

“…?”

Moving dozens of times faster than everyone else,

Jang Il suddenly appeared beside the enemy commander.

Even a first-rate warrior couldn’t react in time.

Only after his head had already been severed did realization appear in the man’s eyes.

His final expression was one of utter disbelief.

Jang Il had slain an enemy commander.

What a waste…

Looking at the severed head,

that thought crossed his mind.

Had circumstances been different,

claiming such an important enemy’s head would have earned him tremendous military merit.

Perhaps…

He could even have retired from this cursed battlefield.

But that was nothing more than wishful thinking.

He tightened his grip on his sword and continued onward.

Stab! Slash! Clang!

He stabbed.

He cut.

He forced his way forward.

Soon, however,

his body began failing him.

His strength was nearly gone.

More importantly,

time had almost returned to normal.

The flow that had once been dozens of times slower was now only several times slower.

Naturally,

enemies were finally able to block his crude swordsmanship.

Before long,

Jang Il found himself rolling across the ground to avoid death.

Now time moved only five times slower than normal.

“Blue Battalion? Hooow did someone from theeeere end up here?”

“Does thaaat matter?”

“Thaaat brat killed the enemy Hundred-Man Commander!”

“Is that so?”

“Then welcome.”

By sheer luck,

while rolling to avoid attacks,

Jang Il stumbled into one of the army’s elite units.

The man leading them immediately recognized Jang Il’s battalion and found it strange.

But after hearing his men’s excited shouts,

he ignored the inconsistency.

The commander Jang Il had killed had relentlessly hunted their soldiers.

Though officially only a Hundred-Man Commander,

his actual strength rivaled that of a Thousand-Man Commander.

He had never been an opponent Jang Il should have been capable of defeating.

The elite captain was so thrilled he nearly wanted to kiss Jang Il.

“What are you standing around for? Help him up!”

“Got it!”

“Hey, can you stand?”

“Huff… Huff…”

Jang Il had no idea the enemy commander he’d killed was such a famous figure.

Their kindness only confused him.

But that feeling quickly vanished.

His face turned pale.

Time…

Had completely returned to normal.

His inner energy was gone.

His stamina was gone.

His miraculous advantage had disappeared.

His chances of surviving were now practically zero.

Slash! Clang!

“Push forward!”

“Open a path!”

“Captain! What are you waiting for?”

“Right! Let’s move, you bastards!”

Fortunately,

the elite soldiers were incredibly skilled.

They understood how badly the battle had turned.

With the enemy commander dead,

they immediately began carving out an escape route.

Their captain alone possessed strength comparable to most Hundred-Man Commanders.

That gave them hope.

“Huff… Huff…”

Jang Il followed them desperately.

Simply keeping up exhausted him.

The captain shouted back,

“Hold on!”

“No matter what happens, keep following us!”

“If we survive…”

“You’ll be promoted immediately!”

For a soldier who had served only a single year,

such a promotion was almost unheard of.

Most men fought five years before even becoming a squad leader.

I don’t need that.

Those words did nothing to encourage Jang Il.

He had never cared about rank.

The only thing he wanted…

Was to return home.

If only his master had lived…

Perhaps things would have been different.

But his master had died before his very eyes.

That alone was enough to rob him of all ambition.

Still…

His desire to survive remained.

Grinding his teeth,

he forced himself onward.

“AAAGH!”

Slash!

“Persistent bastards!”

The captain cursed while decapitating another spearman.

Despite his irritation,

hope shone in his eyes.

The resistance in the allied rear was stronger than expected.

They might actually succeed in opening an escape route.

Jang Il…

Had no such hope.

“Ghk… Ghhh…”

He had pushed his exhausted body far beyond its limits.

His breathing had completely collapsed.

His soot-covered face turned deathly pale.

His lips had become bluish-purple.

Unless someone carried him,

he could no longer survive.

Unfortunately…

No one here could afford to.

The fact that these elite soldiers had allowed him to follow this far without needing to fight was already more kindness than he deserved.

His legs trembled.

Then…

They gave out.

Thud!

Jang Il collapsed over a rock.

“Hngh… Hngh… Cough!”

Thud!

As though waiting for that exact moment,

a sharp spear flew from somewhere and pierced straight through his torso.

“Damn it!”

“You pick now to fall?!”

The captain shouted.

But that was all.

He still had men of his own to protect.

He couldn’t risk everything to save a single soldier.

Thud… Thud…

More bamboo spears pierced Jang Il’s back.

Even the faintest hope disappeared.

His entire body convulsed beneath unbearable pain.

This…

This is really the end…

Death—

which had narrowly missed him countless times—

finally embraced him.

And so…

Jang Il died.

Then…

Something unbelievable happened.

[The awakening condition for the Authority “Clone” (Death) has been fulfilled.]

[The 10-Star Authority “Clone” has been downgraded to 2-Star due to the user’s current limitations.]

[As a result of its downgrade to 2-Star, the Great Laws of the universe have begun interfering with the Authority.]

Messages resembling those from a modern video game appeared before him.

As they revealed,

the awakening condition for the Authority Maka had bestowed was…

Death.

Every Authority possessed its own unique awakening requirement.

That was why Maka had originally intended to remain until Jang Il’s Authority awakened.

If fortune had been unkind,

it might never have awakened before Jang Il died of old age.

Even so,

Maka had departed without hesitation for two reasons.

First,

forcing the world’s laws into further submission risked exposing Jang Il’s existence.

Such exposure would have made him irresistible prey to the godlike beings inhabiting this world.

It was a danger Maka couldn’t ignore.

The second reason…

Was his faith in Jang Il’s luck.

After all,

Jang Il had achieved what even a cosmic being like Maka believed impossible—

drawing a Ten-Star Authority with odds of less than one in one hundred quintillion.

Someone with fortune like that…

should have little difficulty eventually fulfilling the Authority’s awakening condition.

In reality,

Jang Il had fulfilled it almost immediately—

by dying.

Maka’s judgment had not been wrong.

The only unexpected outcome…

was that the awakened Clone Authority manifested as Two-Star rather than One-Star.

The reason was simple.

The Authority of Clone demanded the enormous price of death before it could awaken.

Without such a severe drawback,

awakening it to Two-Star would likely have taken Jang Il an unimaginably long time.

Regardless,

Jang Il’s death had caused the bizarre Authority known as Clone to bloom.

And with its birth,

the future of a continent that had already endured endless turmoil became more uncertain than ever.