An Extra’s POV

"God is strong. Humans are weak. Angels are somewhere in-between."

As Claudius heard these words, he shuddered in ignorance.

"No matter how powerful a human tries to become, sacrificing all he can to attain strength, it will all fall under the allocated strength he is allowed to possess." Ater's words echoed coldly in the night.

"Ultimately, it will fall under weakness."

"S-so… all my attempts at strength… were in vain…?"

"Maybe it had some worth against fellow humans, but your luck ran out when you faced me. You see, I know I'm not weak… because I'm not human."

'N-not… human?' Claudius' eyes widened as he heard this deep revelation.

"I can take on whatever shape I want, while also possessing the abilities of those whose form I take. In essence…"

A flash of light sparked around Ater, and his form came into light as he crouched so he could somewhat be on the same level as Claudius.

The latter's eyes bulged as he looked at his reflection—the miserable old man he had become.

"… I can become you."

Ater had transformed into Claudius in every sense of the word, and upon seeing this, the old man felt his heart ache.

He truly… had sacrificed everything for nothing.

"I can also use all your abilities. There are a few limitations placed on my power, but that's how it works in simple terms."

Ater rose to his feet, transforming back into the handsome man he once was.

"You're… invincible…" Claudius croaked.

With such a power, Ater was at least in the realm of the Absolute.

There was no doubt about it in Claudius' mind.

"Am I really? Perhaps in some worlds, that would ring true. Even in this world, maybe…" Ater smirked, shaking his head as he circled around the despairing one.

"However, there exist beings who far transcend my current state."

"T-the Dragons…?"

"Yeah. I'll admit that there exist some that I can't beat right now. But all of it is only a matter of time."

"T-then—!"

"However, there is one that I couldn't possibly hope to beat no matter the passage of time."

Claudius could only make a guess at this point, but he muttered a response.

"Your… Master?"

"Precisely!"

see Ater's face, but the way his eyes narrowed and from the sound of his tone, Claudius

more questions, and so he didn't hesitate to ask

left to lose,

strong… is

just say he can do exactly what I can do and so much more." Ater's amused chuckle echoed in

made Claudius all the

simply transform into him

"…"

one of your

there was silence among the two who

Then—

take on his form. My limitation prevents me from turning into anyone with a higher Class than me,

there was no tone of triumph in

was the opposite,

if it is higher than my Class, then the

there is one exception:

lost,

existed was the

any realm above that, then perhaps it would belong to wherever designed

of Divine

this Primeval Tier that

Skill, and I can't access

delight and drowned in

I can never touch—a

earlier definition Ater had given down, it only meant

Master…

he could now understand—at least to an extent—why he had played with

worth nothing, weren't

Master… the humans of this world

admitted as his face fell.

true power wasn't something one had to sacrifice

It was a mandate.

Necromancer?"

of Chaos, so I can use the Chaos Art of Ancient MajiK. The Hollow Technique is

"I… I see…"

Undead in my stockpile, but that's about it. I doubt I'll be permitted to use any advanced Ancient MajiK here… not that I

"I… see…"

entertaining. At the very least, you managed to feed my pleasures for a while. You have my

know how to react towards being praised as

only respond as he

"You're welcome."

moment, there was a lull in

will happen to me now?" He

seem like the kind of man who would show the likes of

made sure you would die and come back to me as an Undead. The effects

as soon as he heard

"W-when…?"