341 - Regressor of the Fallen Family

**Chapter 341: The Supreme Sword's Presence** The overwhelming aura of the Supreme Sword compelled Logan to tread cautiously with his actions. Although the impulse to draw the sword and uncover its mysteries was strong, he chose first to regain his energy. Logan reached for some rations he had taken from the enemy's supplies, quietly consuming a handful as he began to meditate and restore his force. One of the most significant abilities of the Supreme Sword was said to be its gift of inexhaustible stamina to its wielder. Yet, somehow, drawing it to replenish his strength seemed an incorrect choice. After some time passed and he confirmed his energy was more than half restored, Logan exhaled deeply and stood before the Supreme Sword. A low hum emanated from the blade as Logan entered its range, as if welcoming his presence with a surge of holy power. "In my past life, I never even glimpsed divine power." Now, facing it, he felt an unexpected heaviness in his heart. It was as if he were doubting the comrade who had stayed by his side until the last moment of his previous life—a most unpleasant feeling. "Let all of this be for naught," he hoped as he slowly grasped the sword's hilt. At that moment. A flash. The energy surged, momentarily blanketing his vision in a dazzling white light. And then, for the first time, an unfamiliar voice echoed in his mind. "I have waited for a truly long time." With the echoing voice, memories—someone else's—flooded Logan's mind. They were vivid, as if he were living that person's life. A genius child, recognizing objects clearly from birth and mastering a common language before even reaching 100 days old. In a tranquil era, such a child might have grown into a great scholar or mage, educated accordingly. Yet, born in a chaotic age riddled with monsters, the child lived a life of constant pursuit from an early age. An era where most humans turned into nomadic tribes to escape monster attacks, persecution, or hunts by other races. Though he was fortunate to be born into a large tribe exceeding a thousand members, they too had to continue their nomadic existence. Even amidst the uncertainty, moving homes frequently, the child's genius shone without restraint. Fleeing from orcs and lizardmen, the child learned their combat techniques. Passing through elf forests, he absorbed their archery and elemental magic of wind and water. Briefly staying in dwarven cities for trade, he picked up their technology and learned elemental magic of fire and earth. "Our tribe's future is this child," they declared. Yet, a voice from the heavens contradicted them. "No, that child will become the future of the human race." A sage of the rare dragonman race descended upon the village the tribe inhabited. For reasons unknown, the sage began teaching the child "magic." That marked the turning point of my life. The child absorbed the sage's teachings as if born for magic. By the age of just twenty, he wielded 7-class magic, not of the human race's circle magic but the complex class magic of dragonmen. "7-class as a superhuman? And dragonmen were the source of class magic?" Surprised by the tales differing from his known lore, Logan gained new insights previously unknown to him. Briefly distracted, his mind awakened from the immersion into the 'child' within the memory, yet faced with the grand epic, Logan found himself drawn again into the unfolding scenes. Naturally, the child rose to lead his tribe, and within a decade, he became the representative of humanity in the continent's eastern regions. Then, reaching the prowess of 8-class, he was known as the Archmage, all before his thirties. Among all races, he was the youngest of archmages, commanding reverence for achieving such heights. "8-class as an archmage? What's the standard?" Startled again, Logan attempted to regain his composure, as if in response, the voice continued. "After mastering magic, I believed myself the greatest being. It was close to the truth but never quite so." Ten more years passed, and he was deemed the strongest archmage among humans. Yes, solely among humans. He could never claim the world’s pinnacle, for others had achieved 9-class mastery. A minority among dragons, the majority of 'super' sages of dragonmen, and leaders of other races. Demigods transcending the limitations of lifespan, reigning eternally over the world. Alas, his magic never reached the realm of these demigods. "So unfortunate. Were you not human, you might have reached the 9-class, the god-initiator realm." The limitation of his race. His master, the dragonman sage who taught him magic, lamented this truth sincerely. A disciple who caught up to his master's stature in an unimaginable time, yet the sage discerned that the young man would never surpass the bounds of his race. The young man, no longer a child but a middle-aged archmage, rebelled against this notion. He insisted he could do it. That he could transcend limitations. He raged hotly for the first time, resenting his master's dismissal of his talent. Vowing not to seek a path impossible under his master's teachings, he resolved to find another route. Driven by this fiery determination, he abandoned all glory and chose seclusion. Decades after his disappearance, an unparalleled calamity befell the world. The ancient dragon, said to be closest to the gods among demigods, went mad amid its quest for godhood, dubbed 'ascension.' Mad but still powerful, the ancient dragon heralded catastrophe upon the world. World powers convened to extinguish the dragon, yet by then, a third of the continent had already burned. In a cruel twist, humans, lacking an absolute power, were selected not to join the strike assembly but as a vanguard—the sacrificial sheep to exhaust the dragon's powers. It was the calamity—the plight of the descendants doomed to perish in the demon dragon's flames—that called the genius back to the world from his seclusion. Yet, despite this return, the genius remained a master at the 8-class level. His failure to reach the realm of demigods meant that the hopes vested in him by humankind could not sway the opinions of the demigods. The genius's participation was akin to pouring a bucket of water on a rapidly spreading fire—insufficient to save humanity from imminent destruction. Regardless of whether the world itself could resist the catastrophe, humankind seemed fated for ruin. Still, the genius rejected that fate. The battle with the demon dragon shattered a limit he hadn't been able to overcome in decades of seclusion and research. Inspired by the combat, the genius transcended his former boundary and became the first demigod of the human race, joining the ranks of the mighty in their councils. True, this elevation came too late to prevent the deaths of the other human archmages and nearly ninety percent of the human warriors. For the race as a whole, it was a belated deliverance, yet it did avert complete annihilation. I claimed for humanity their rights—the right to survive—and the other supreme beings acknowledged my claims. Only then did the true "Allied Union of Races" come into existence. Establishing the union was just the beginning; eradicating the demon dragon took much longer. The mad demon dragon, wielding the half-embezzled power of a god, began summoning entities from other dimensions indiscriminately. By the time the union finally subdued the dragon, these summoned entities had fundamentally altered the world. The most significant of these alterations was the disappearance of the southern sea of the continent, replaced by an endless mountain range. But this was no ordinary range. It became an extraterritorial maze connected fully to another dimension, one that even I and the other supreme beings could not entirely eliminate. Alone, I was powerless against it. This shift brought changes among the ten supreme beings who led the battle against the dragon. The opportunity for breakthrough during the dragon war presented itself not just to the human genius. The other supreme beings, through studying the dragon's remnants during the prolonged war, found paths to exceed their limits—and they shared none of their newfound knowledge with me. A profound anger was evident in the voice. Three remaining great dragons from the dragon race, two supreme sages from the dragonians, the long-lived judges of elves and dwarves, and the leaders of lizardmen and orcs—all opted for ascension, the path to godhood, once the war concluded. Thus, the previously non-existent "Nine Gods" emerged. "What!?" Startled, Logan's consciousness resurfaced from the epic life and war saga he was immersed in. "Then these nine gods?" In response to his thoughts, the lament of the supreme being continued. Those irresponsible beings abandoned the world for their selfish desires, merely posing as gods. Isolated, I had no choice but to devise my own measures. As the solitary remaining supreme being, the genius could not, by himself, resolve the otherworldly maze. Consequently, he pushed the continent's mana to its limits, erecting an invisible barrier in the south to curb the world's erosion. Years passed, and as species attuned to mana found it increasingly difficult to reside on the continent, stemming the erasure became the priority. Unexpectedly, this necessary decision generated unforeseen variables that even the genius hadn't imagined. The first unforeseen consequence was the decline of the other races. Firstly, dragonkind began to migrate towards the maze's deeper regions one by one. Due to their natural dependence on consuming and absorbing mana, they couldn't withstand the diminishing mana concentrations any longer. Moreover, with only three dragons who had ascended during the demon dragon war as exceptions, none who achieved demigod status remained to resist the human supreme being who caused the calamity. As dragons were reduced to myth and legend, a second variable emerged. Amid other races' decline, a minority of humans began awakening and harnessing a life force to substitute mana. Pale in comparison to mana, the genius hoped this sustenance might bolster humanity, dubbing it "Force." "Force?" Startled, Logan involuntarily spoke aloud, but the voice offered no response. This was indeed a positive twist. A favorable turn for the humans, who, despite possessing a supreme being, remained the weakest on the continent. The final significant shift affected the supreme being himself. The reason driving the dragons to depart ultimately touched him as well. Having surpassed human physiology and sustained by mana for energy and breath, he found the continent increasingly inhospitable. Yet dismantling established barriers for his own survival would defeat the purpose. Faced with the challenge, the genius confronted a new issue. How could the faith in the Nine Gods—those vile beings—have reached into humans' affairs? It was incredulous. A faith had developed among humans, venerating those demigods who ended the dragon war and ascended. Indeed, these Nine Gods granted their believers power, a sweet boon for ordinary humans unable to wield mana or Force in the harsh land. Enraged, the genius originally wished to slaughter every one of these so-called priests. Yet soon, he discerned another possibility within them. Divine power—it was uncanny. It resembled a more refined form of mana, and it fundamentally allowed ascended beings to exert influence over the present world. It sparked my creativity. Standing shoulder to shoulder with those who would become deities, I instinctively discovered how to wield this energy myself. Might this enable me to become a god too? Not by transcending dimensions, but as a Sage-Being, remaining on the earthly plane. Revived by a long-suppressed ambition, the genius delved into divine power. It wasn't long before he wielded an authority far surpassing anything those so-called priests could muster. From that point onward, his title changed. From the King of Humans, he became known as the Mage-Saint. At first, it seemed acceptable enough, but then— "The Mage-Saint is the emissary of the Nine Gods." "We must follow the transcendent will of the Mage-Saint and believe in the Nine Gods." "He is the foremost servant carrying out the gods' will..." Absurd statements that turned his stomach began to spread throughout the world. The indignant demigod, demoted to "transcendent" status and even labeled as the servant of former allies who betrayed and abandoned him—how could he not be enraged by such notions?