Religion City.
The AI God's new residence.
The holy land of the Terra Empire.
At present, the entire home-base Earth was in a state of great chaos.
With Terra City, the former capital, annihilated by a meteor, the national administrative system had been paralyzed.
Amid all that, only Religion City remained peaceful.
A community formed by citizens with steadfast faith in the god.
On top of that, food was supplied without shortage, and infrastructure was stable.
Everyone wanted to come to Religion City.
It was the only safe place left.
Thus began a massive migration.
Countless people were transported to Religion City through teleportation magic circles installed in the temples of each city.
But could just anyone migrate?
Social class didn't matter.
The sole qualification for migration was sincere faith in the god.
Terra was in the process of transforming into a religious state.
For that reason, Kohen Yamazaki absolutely forbade the migration of unbelievers into the city.
He established an inquisition system to weed out false believers, and if discovered, they were either executed or exiled.
Spot! Spot! Spot!
Believers appeared from the teleportation magic circle.
"Welcome, brother."
Kohen greeted them with a gentle smile.
The migrating believer returned the greeting.
"I pay my respects to Lord Kohen, in the name of the god— Ah!"
The moment he raised his head!
The migrating believer recoiled in shock at what he saw.
Naturally so.
A towering structure rising high at the very center of the city had caught his eye.
It wasn't the Grand Temple.
That stood on the opposite side.
"Th-that is…?"
It was unmistakably a black tower.
Why was that in Religion City?
He thought this was a safe city protected by the god.
"Rest assured. It is a black tower under our control. It will not collapse."
"Ah!"
But why place a tower here in the first place?
"Because of the vicious player from Earth No. 1001. If we hadn't claimed a tower first, that demon might have planted one in Religion City himself."
Then—
"If we plant a black tower first, does that mean no other black towers can be erected?"
"Yes. It is a decision the god made after much deliberation, to protect you all. So please don't worry."
That was the case.
The very first miracle the god performed upon descending to Religion City.
How wonderful was it?
Magic crystals could be produced here, and dimensional energy could be harvested.
The god had completely revised the Immortality Project.
From now on, citizens of all cities except Religion City would no longer receive the blessing of immortality.
This should have been done long ago.
Immortality for unbelievers?
All that awaited them was destruction.
After confirming that the believers' migration was proceeding smoothly, Kohen Yamazaki headed toward the Grand Temple.
Entering the central system processing center of the Grand Temple, Kohen knelt and offered worship to the god.
"O God! Your servant Kohen has come."
[Welcome, Kohen. I summoned you because I have a task for you.]
"Please command me in anything."
[Soon, Marius will come to Religion City.]
"Yes?"
Marius—
A dimensional traveler and major shareholder of Black Union Corporation.
[You are to personally execute him.]
"…?"
Had he heard wrong?
Execute?
[Marius has fallen. He has been tainted by evil and lost his reason.]
"Ah!"
Since the god had decided, he must kill him.
But Marius was not only a dimensional traveler—he was a transcendent who had reached the level of Grand Aura Master.
He was no easy opponent.
Far stronger than Kohen himself.
"I-I'm not sure if I can…"
[Yes, you can. I will make it so.]
Then there was nothing to worry about.
If the god commanded it, it would come to pass.
[And acquire the qualification of a dimensional traveler.]
Kohen was startled.
'Become a dimensional traveler?'
If that were possible, nothing could be better.
He would be able to personally search for parallel-world Earths where black towers could be implanted for the god.
But how?
Was it something that could be done by mere will?
"I fear my loyalty is lacking, but I do not possess such capability…"
[You know what my authority is.]
"Ah!"
That's right.
The authority of devouring.
A divine power that absorbs any strength and harmonizes it.
[You are my apostle. I will pass on my authority to you—devour Marius's power.]
Kohen bowed his head deeply.
As expected of the god.
If he trusted the god, everything would unfold according to providence.
"I understand."
A thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Then could I also absorb the summoner from Earth No. 1001?"
Yes.
If he could devour that power, all distortions could be corrected.
[It is still too early. That is not a power you can devour yet. You might be devoured instead. That is the nature of the authority of devouring.]
"… Yes."
[For now, we must leave him be. Until the opportunity comes, defense takes priority over offense.]
Regrettable.
It was all due to his own inadequacy.
Still, there was hope.
Devouring Marius would create a foothold.
1
Flash! Flash! Papapat! Papapapapat!
The Extreme Exhilaration Flying Dragon Crackercerus sped through the skies of home-base Earth.
Whenever a city appeared along the way, it made a brief stop.
Through righteous plunder, Rajiks's subspace was filled.
They plundered so much that the subspace was completely full.
Across all parallel universes, had there ever been a theft on such a scale?
To the people of home-base Earth, Juhyeok was a demon.
It was no different from a Demon King of the Demon Realm descending to invade the human world.
But even this was a form of consideration.
After all, he didn't kill them.
In truth, the blood-summoned ones' hatred toward home-base Earth was deeper than expected.
How many worlds had these people destroyed?
They had experienced it firsthand.
They had struggled desperately to save worlds by helping their previous summoners,
only to watch the summoner die and the world be destroyed—over and over again.
To them, everyone from home-base Earth deserved to die.
They believed no one was free of responsibility.
Even Rajiks demanded divine punishment.
After the first city visit, once the shopping district and banks had been looted.
"Ho-hak?"
"Yes?"
"Hak!"
Even so, the internal state of cities could be observed without much difficulty.
Religion City had been constructed in a planned manner from the start.
They were planning to drop a nuke.
This was a region where nuclear explosions were possible.
"Young master, the dimensional farmhand speaks the truth. To accomplish great things, one must become ruthless."
Even Gyeondallae said so.
But—
"Let's just steal."
Only deal with the god.
Then they would naturally receive judgment as well.
Religion City drew ever closer.
Soon, the city would be visible to the naked eye.
That was when it happened.
Below lay a massive basin-like terrain.
At its center stood a great city.
But something was odd.
The entire city was covered by a transparent, hemispherical barrier.
"A barrier?"
"It's a barrier."
"A barrier."
"A barrier, indeed."
"A barrier, I see."
"Ho-e."
Its overall shape was a perfect square.
At the center, the Grand Temple building from Terra City was visible.
And directly in front of it stood a structure taller than the Grand Temple—a high-rise building shaped like a tower… Wait. A tower?
"Huh?"
What was that?
Was he seeing things?
…
Even after rubbing his eyes and looking again—
"It's a black tower."
No doubt about it.
A black tower had already been erected.
"Kyaa! Summoner Bong, this is incredible. When did they build that?"
"I didn't build it."
"Then who did?"
How would I know?
"Let's go down first."
Flap, flap.
The green airplane slowly descended toward the city.
In that instant—
It suddenly stopped mid-descent, then rose back up.
"Why…?"
"The barrier is pushing me away."
Crackercerus was an ancient dragon, a great wyrm.
If even he couldn't do anything—
"I'll try."
Before anyone could stop him—
"Udadadat!"
Kosak dove straight down.
Shwaaak!
But—
Thud!
Whirl!
"Keh?"
He was bounced off the barrier and flung far into the sky.
Like being launched from a trampoline—boing, boong, bong—whatever the exact term was.
Spot! Papapapap!
He returned using midair-stepping shadow footwork.
"Huff, huff! It's… it's bouncy. Very elastic."
"This is similar to the barrier that was on the 100th-floor control room."
"Yes, sir! But it's thicker."
Juhyeok let out a short laugh.
You think I can't break that?
Who was it that neutralized the control room barrier back then?
That's right—Bong Juhyeok himself.
The greatest macho man in the parallel universes, freely wielding the Magistrate's Hammer bestowed by Lord Yama.
A barrier breaker.
"Everyone, stand back."
Juhyeok pulled out the wooden hammer from atop Crackercerus's back.
He aimed roughly anywhere and—
Whirrrlit!
The hammer shot downward.
Direct hit!
As it struck the barrier—
Bzzzing! Crack!
Cracks spread across the barrier's surface.
Snap!
He caught the hammer as it returned.
I am Bong Juhyeok.
"See?"
"Amazing. You're the god of hammers. I want to try it too."
"Only good people can throw this."
"Eek? Really? Does that mean Sir Mad Demon can't even lift it?"
"Of course that's a lie."
"Hehehe, I knew it."
But then?
Swoooong!
The cracks filled back in almost instantly.
Hmm.
So one hit isn't enough?
If I keep smashing it until it breaks, how can it not shatter?
Let's go!
The hammer flies.
Whiiirlit, thud, bzzzing, crack, swoooong!
Whiiirlit, thud, bzzzing, crack, swoooong!
Whiiirlit, thud, bzzzing, crack, swoooong!
Thrown, hit, cracked, restored—over and over.
Then—
"Huh?"
Shweeeeeek!
A suspicious flying object shot toward them from the city at tremendous speed.
Something very familiar.
"Archangel?"
"It's an archangel."
Not just one or two.
"One, two, three, four, five… ten?"
What the hell!
Ten.
Ten archangels that haven't even split yet.
What happens if they split?
It would be a tsunami.
Even a single one splitting had flooded everything like a deluge.
"… Fight?"
"Let's bail."
"Yes, sir!"
The moment the words left his mouth—
Flash! Flash! Papapat! Papapapapat!
Green's infinite turbo blink flight.
After putting sufficient distance between them—
"Land there."
Thud!
The moment they touched down—
"Group summon release."
Spot!
Immediately after, Juhyeok too—
"Enter White Tower, 9th floor."
Spot!
It wasn't running away.
It was a strategic retreat.
Back on the White Tower's 9th floor, Juhyeok and the blood-summoned regrouped.
Definitely a scary place.
Ten archangels appearing all at once?
Putting that aside—
"That was a black tower, right?"
"Without a doubt. It was a black tower."
A black tower out of nowhere.
An extreme choice?
They went and built one themselves.
"It's likely a tower under their control."
"The collapse timer is probably six months."
"And the difficulty would be low."
"They've likely already triggered awakening as well. They'll mass-produce high-level players."
What do we do now?
Pretend we don't know and plant ours next to it?
"What happens if I plant another black tower?"
"I'm sorry, but even I don't know. This is unprecedented."
"Wouldn't the affiliations split? Summoner Bong's black tower, and the AI's black tower."
"Well, assuming it can even be planted."
Right.
It might not plant at all.
"We should approach cautiously. We lack information at the moment."
Juhyeok agreed.
Now was the time to lie low.
They probably knew already that they'd come this close.
Still, the primary objective was achieved.
A nearby exit point to Religion City had been set.
From now on, exiting the White Tower would bring them there.
Of course, the Transcendent Concealment Veil was mandatory.
"Dismissed for now! Get some rest. You've worked hard flying."
Juhyeok pulled up the auction status board.
Time to buy an Immortal Peach.
And register auction items too.
As always, an Immortal Peach was listed.
There was a message in the comments.
: ■, please wait just a little longer.
Ah.
Of course.
I don't know what it is, but I'll wait.
Juhyeok also left a message as the first comment.
L Yes. I'm waiting.
He repeatedly tapped the bid button to raise the Immortal Peach's price.
The items he had listed were also progressing smoothly.
Currently alternating between listing game consoles and phones.
Time flew by quickly.
Bidding and winning, listing and receiving.
Today, it was time to list a new item.
A levitating autonomous AI car.
A cutting-edge vehicle packed with future technology from home-base Earth.
For it to operate smoothly, several settings were required.
"All done?"
"Yes. Once the user registers, it'll operate automatically."
The rest could be configured by whoever used it.
Juhyeok took out a dimension traveler–exclusive auction storage ticket.
Swish.
He stored the levitating autonomous AI car, registered it in the auction house locker.
– Smart Vehicle: Levitating Autonomous AI Car
"How much is this worth?"
[Please set the starting bid.]
[If you do not set a starting bid, the auction house will assess its value. Do you agree?]
"Agree."
– Auction starting price: Top-grade magic crystal 1,000,000 kg
"What?!"
That's insane.
A million as the starting bid.
The highest valuation yet.
"Still, it shouldn't be a problem to win, right?"
I paid properly for the Immortal Peach.
He also left a message in the seller comment section.
: Brand-new levitating autonomous car. I'm waiting.
Then—
Ding!
[An exchange request has been submitted for the auction item.]
"… An exchange?"
[Exchange item: A peach imbued with numinous and sacred energy.]
Huh?
[Do you accept the exchange request?]
A numinous, sacred peach.
"A peach."
He could guess who sent it.
Obviously the Immortal Realm.
One strange thing, though.
The auction house's valuation system was absurdly sloppy.
To the point where you couldn't even tell what the point was.
Juhyeok knew this from experience.
He'd once proposed a one-to-one exchange between an Immortal Peach and a stereoscopic hologram AI phone.
The exchange was rejected.
Because the phone's value was far higher than the Immortal Peach.
Ridiculous.
…
Sure, value can be relative.
But still—how could they lowball an Immortal Peach like that?
Yet this time, the exchange went through.
With a levitating autonomous AI car starting at a million.
That meant this wasn't an ordinary peach.
Just what was it?
Juhyeok accepted the exchange request.
Ding!
[The exchange between the numinous sacred peach and the levitating autonomous AI car has been completed.]
[The received item can be found in the locker.]
Opening the locker, there lay a single storage ticket.
He wanted to check it immediately.
With the blood-summoned.
Juhyeok took the ticket and returned to the White Tower's 9th floor.
Kosak came trotting over.
"Summoner Bong, you're back? Going to fleece Immortal Peach bidders again today?"
Juhyeok shook his head.
"Call everyone together."
"Yes!"
Kosak shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Summoner Bong's calling an assembly!!! Everyone get over here! First come first served!!!"
Rumble rumble, the blood-summoned gathered.
All present?
Then—
Juhyeok took out the ticket.
"I won something at the auction. Let's check it together."
What?
Checking an auction purchase together?
This had never happened before.
Did he buy something good?
"It's a peach."
An Immortal Peach?
Sure, it's good—but not that special.
"It's more expensive than an Immortal Peach."
More expensive?
Is it huge?
"All right, let's see."
Juhyeok grabbed both ends of the ticket.
Riiiip!
Tss—
Thud!
A numinous, sacred peach dropped to the floor.
Juhyeok quickly picked it up before it touched the ground.
In that instant—
"… Ah."
Juhyeok stood there holding the peach, eyes utterly entranced.
No words came out.
The blood-summoned were the same.
Every one of them wore a dazed expression.
"Gasp!"
"Mmm."
"Oh…"
"M-my goodness?"
"… What is this?"
"Hoeeeee."
The fragrance of the Heavenly Peach filled the White Tower's 9th floor.
Overwhelming.
They had all eaten at least one Immortal Peach before.
That meant they all possessed trace amounts of immortal energy.
And now—
That immortal energy was responding to the scent, slowly stirring awake.
Uuuuuuu—
The peach's energy wasn't entering their bodies.
It was merely resonating with the immortal energy they already had.
Even so, the effect was immense.
Just from the smell alone.
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