A thunderous roar shook the atmosphere—!
The descent of Tāwhirimātea, a god who was the storm incarnate, was no mere entrance. It was a localized natural disaster, a violent warping of the world’s physical laws. The reinforced glass of the hotel balcony shrieked, spiderwebbing with cracks. The streetlights illuminating Waikiki Beach exploded in unison, plunging the city into a fragmented darkness.
"Ugh...!"
Alessandro Gaspare stepped in front of me, drawing a silver-white rapier from beneath his suit jacket. A faint blue aura of magical power flickered around his body, but in the face of the divine Authority smothering the sky, it looked as pathetic as a lone candle in a hurricane.
"Your Majesty! It is too dangerous here! We will do whatever it takes to open a path, you must withdraw immediately—!"
"Withdraw where?"
I spat the question out. My voice was surprisingly steady, fueled by a simmering irritation.
"If that god decides to cut loose, this entire island is gone. His focus is already on the whole city. If I run, that divine wrath will fall directly onto the people down there."
The distant screams of tourists and the wails of children filtered through the howling gale. A resort that had been the epitome of peace just days ago was rapidly devolving into a literal hell of pandemonium.
Dammit. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.
This wasn't what I wanted. I just wanted to reclaim my ruined vacation. Instead, I accidentally killed a god, somehow became a Devil King, and now I’m staring down another deity. And to top it off, I have thousands of lives hanging off my back.
"...Alessandro."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"You’re a knight, aren't you?"
"I am your sword and shield, sworn to serve the King with my very life."
For the first time, I issued a command as a 'King.' This wasn't bravado or a desperate bluff. It was simply the only thing left to do.
"Good. Then I'm giving you a mission. Use every ounce of your ability and every resource the Bronze-Black Cross can muster to protect the people. I don't care if you cast defensive barriers or forcibly evacuate everyone—use whatever means necessary. Your goal is singular: zero casualties. Can you do that?"
Alessandro’s blue eyes wavered. Being ordered to the rear while leaving his King alone on the battlefield was an affront to a knight’s pride. But the figure reflected in his eyes was no longer Min-jun Jeong, the ordinary twenty-three-year-old college student. His lips trembled before setting into a hard line.
"...Understood. I shall obey the King’s decree."
He gave a short, sharp nod and turned without a second's hesitation, disappearing into the hotel corridor. I could hear his urgent shouts behind him as he barked orders to the association's mages.
Now, it was just me and that massive pile of atmospheric disaster.
"A head-on clash is impossible."
I assessed my own strength with cold pragmatism. The only tool I had was the 'Petrifying Evil Eye' I had stolen from Medusa. Its essence was closer to a curse or a defense; it lacked the raw destructive power to punch through a storm god that spanned the entire sky.
But I couldn't dodge this fight either. That left only one option.
"I'll draw the aggro, you storm-addled fossil with the anger issues."
I kicked off the balcony railing and plummeted. Despite being dozens of stories up, my Campione physique absorbed the impact effortlessly, allowing me to stick the landing on the sandy beach below.
I marched toward the roaring ocean. I dragged every bit of power from within—the cold, creeping weight of Medusa's curse. My vision blurred and the blood in my veins turned to ice as I funneled that strength into my eyes.
"Alright. It's showtime."
I thrust my hands toward the surging waves and muttered the words that felt right for this stolen power.
"O you who look upon me, O all that face me. Turn to stone and be silent."
Responding to my will, everything in my line of sight lost its color, bleaching into a dull, lifeless gray.
Rumble—!
The massive wave that looked set to swallow the world froze mid-motion. Every individual droplet of spray was perfectly preserved, transformed into a colossal, ash-colored sculpture. The petrification didn't stop there; it surged outward across the water. In an instant, hundreds of meters of the shoreline’s surface became solid, unyielding stone.
The chaotic world was suddenly swaddled in a momentary silence.
At this bizarre, blasphemous sight, the god in the sky finally reacted. The vortexes churning above stalled. Then, the two eyes of the storm giant—clusters of concentrated lightning—looked directly down at me.
"...Insignificant thing."
The voice echoed directly into my mind. It wasn't language; it was a pulse of raw will emanating from his very existence. It was thick with contempt, irritation, and the sheer displeasure one feels toward an insect that has dirtied their domain.
"Yeah, the insignificant insect called. What's it to you?"
I replied with deliberate insolence, pointing a finger up at him.
"You dare defile my storm with your filthy sorcery. A mortal has crossed the line that should never be breached."
"A line? Tell your fellow gods to worry about lines. As you can see, I’m just a guy with a policy: I don’t forgive anyone who ruins my vacation. Not even a god."
"...Your arrogance shall be the instrument of your extinction."
Tāwhirimātea’s fury vibrated through the atmosphere. His personality was exactly the archetype Pandora had warned me about—pure, unadulterated hubris. Good. Keep poking the bear.
Black lightning plunged from the heavens like harpoons. Dozens, hundreds of strikes rained down with me as the sole target.
"!"
I couldn't dodge. Instinctively, I raised my gaze and 'perceived' the storm of bolts. A short, sharp command burst from my lips.
"Turn to stone and be silent!"
Crack—Crrrunch!
The lightning bolts pouring toward my head froze in mid-air. The searing plasma lost its vitality in a heartbeat, turning into grotesque shards of black rock that shattered upon the ground.
I dove away from the falling debris, sensing Tāwhirimātea’s Authority surging to the next level.
"That Authority... it belongs to the Queen of Serpents. You are a disgusting usurper who slew a god and thieved her power!"
"Bingo! No prize for you, though."
The assault intensified. It was no longer just falling lightning. With the sound of the atmosphere splitting apart, invisible blades of wind began flying from all directions. The beach was carved up like wet paper, and deep gouges were etched into the petrified sea surface.
"Ugh...!"
I moved relentlessly, dodging the wind blades I could and petrifying the ones I couldn't with my gaze. But the bastard’s attacks were endless. Every direction was an attack route; every angle was a blind spot.
I finally hit my limit. A wind blade grazed my side, shredding my shirt and drawing blood. Luckily it didn't hit the bone, but the stinging pain and the rapid drain on my stamina began to take their toll.
"Your insect-like struggling was mildly entertaining. Now, perish."
As Tāwhirimātea spoke, the surrounding gales began to converge on me. A massive cyclone boxed me in, and within that eye, thousands upon thousands of lightning bolts manifested, baring their teeth. There was no escape. It was a perfect cage of death.
'I’m supposed to turn all of this into stone? That's impossible.'
My field of vision was limited. Tracking every single attack coming from 360 degrees was a physical impossibility. Was this the end? It’s pretty pathetic to get beaten to death by another god just days after becoming a Devil King.
At that exact moment, in the face of total annihilation, a realization struck my mind like a flash of lightning.
'Medusa.'
I thought about the myth of her end. She had looked at her 'own reflection' in the hero's shield and turned to stone.
'Why? Why would she be cursed just by seeing herself? Does that make sense?'
Curses are usually external. It's weird to fall victim to your own curse. Unless... what if Medusa's petrification wasn't just limited to her eyes?
What if her entire existence was a mass of petrifying curse? What if her Authority was the power to turn everything she perceived into stone, regardless of her intent? And that’s why even she herself wasn't exempt?
If so, then the same applied to me. The power I held wasn't just the ability to petrify 'what I saw.'
It was the power to petrify 'what I cognized.'
My gaze was merely the 'trigger' to focus my will.
"...Heh, hahah."
A dry laugh escaped me. All this time, I hadn't even known the proper way to use this terrifying power.
I closed my eyes. By cutting off my visual information, my other senses became explosively sensitive. I felt the flow of the wind rushing to tear me apart, the heat of the lightning burning the air—I felt it all through my skin.
And I 'saw' it. Not with my eyes, but with my will. I perceived the space—the 'domain'—centered on myself.
With my eyes still shut, I whispered softly.
"Welcome to my garden, God of Storms."
Then, I uttered the declaration that signaled the true awakening of this Authority.
"I proclaim to all where my gaze lingers, to every domain my will reaches: Let all that lives and breathes find eternal rest in the Garden of Stone."
My will manifested a new form of the Authority. I no longer needed to designate targets one by one. The space within a dozens-of-meters radius around me became my 'gaze.'
Crack, crunch, shatter—!
An unbelievable scene unfolded. The thousands of lightning bolts and wind blades rushing toward me lost their momentum and turned ash-gray before they could even touch my body. As if hitting an invisible wall, all those living, moving forces lost their life and fell to the ground as harmless pebbles.
A perfect stillness settled around me.
The cyclone still surrounded me, but within it, I was perfectly safe. A Domain of Petrification. An absolute defensive territory governed by my will. This was a true fragment of Medusa's Authority.
"...You...!"
For the first time, the god in the sky let out a voice mixed with confusion and rage. It was the shock of a deity witnessing his power neutralized within the domain of an insignificant insect.
I slowly opened my eyes. They weren't their original black. They were glowing with a deep, cold gray that seemed to swallow all light.
"Now, shall we start round two?"
The counterattack of the Devil King whose vacation had been ruined was just beginning.
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