Maybe I was just an idiot when it comes to strategic planning, or maybe I just didn’t have the experience of a seven-century-old mage. Whichever it was, it didn’t matter.

Because everything actually did end up working out anyway.

Our forces marched straight toward the gates that barred our way into the kingdom’s territory. We were met with countless arrows that blanketed the sky. Flaming boulders painted crimson trails of destruction in the black-shafted sky.

In our isolated corner of the world, in that supposedly soon-to-be bloodied battlefield, the apocalypse had descended upon us, punishing us for our boldness.

Yet, even armageddon was turned aside on that day.

“Shit! We have to stop and brace, otherwise the troops’re gonna get slaughtered!” The worried tone in my voice carried over the clamor of the march a little easier than I would’ve liked. I doubted that the barrage could actually harm me, but I knew it wouldn’t be the same for everyone else.

Gah! Damn it! I knew it’d turn out like this! I mean, Radeca at least had an inside man! Why the hell’d I listen to Valencia!? I rounded on Valencia even as I mentally berated herself, ready to ask her what the hell her plan was now that we were about to get peppered by flaming rocks and a shitton of arrows.

To my surprise, her expression was not one of shock, nor was it one of trepidation. Instead, the mask that she wore was amusement.

“Irrelevant.”

I stared at Valencia in confusion. The arrows began their downward arc.

Valencia laughed. “Irrelevant,” she repeated.

The boulders descended. Valencia raised a single hand into the air.

Mana collected in the center of her palm within the span of a second, gathering it into a small blue sphere. It shot straight up toward the apocalyptic heavens that threatened to collapse within moments.

Like a lone star upon the stygian surface of those black-shafted arrows, that small blue sphere glowed brightly until its light reached such intensity that it remained nothing more than a glowing white point in space.

“Fools. They must have forgotten who I am. Before becoming the Tower Master, I was the Crimson Witch Valencia, but even before that...” Valencia’s lips twisted into a ferocious smirk. The smile of a predator.

“...I was the Pure-White Supernova.”

And indeed, just like a star going supernova, that single infinitely white point in space exploded, bursting apart and scattering its bountiful energy across the sky. The wind howled in my ears, and the touch of its violent whip stung the soft flesh of my cheeks.

My troops averted their gaze from the sky, and even I was forced to close my eyes at the flood of pure-white light that blazed with the strength of the universe’s creation.

When the light finally faded, all that remained was the cerulean sky, not even a cloud in sight. The magic that Valencia casted had surpassed the very concept of destruction, perhaps even trespassing on the boundaries of creation.

For that impossibly bright light that rivaled even the genesis of existence did not merely vaporize those aerial obstacles that the kingdom had beset upon us.

No. It had done far more than that. Rather than mere destruction, the spell had created the endless expanse of blue that we now looked toward. Valencia had permanently painted its beautiful visage in this corner of the sky, never to be overwritten.

And sure enough, not a single arrow nor boulder blemished that flawless azure surface even as we arrived at the gates. I couldn’t help but be impressed by Valencia’s power.

Upon first inspecting her statistics, I had been less than impressed, but now it was clear that even in a world that operated on a system compiled within a [Rulebook] and monitored by statistics, mastery of an art far surpassed any numerical evaluation.

It was a thought that gave me confidence even as we smashed through the kingdom’s gates and plowed through their final line of defense as if they were no more than dominoes to be toppled by the momentum of our might.

As we neared our final goal, there was still one worry that plagued my heart, and it was none other than the “system.” All of my strength was given to me by this system.

Even as my fist smashed through the steel armor of the kingdom’s troops as if it were no harder than paper, I wielded that strength only at the leisure of the system. Even as I allowed dozens of blades to fall upon my bare skin without consequence, I was gifted that durability only by the grace of the system.

The system that “God” had created.

The last piece of the puzzle had become clear to me now.

Even if we reached “God”, it would all be useless if our strength depended only on the numbers that were allotted to us by the system. But just now, Valencia had proven that theory wrong.

The magic that she wielded did not trespass on the boundaries of the system, neither did it interact with the system. Yet she had still surpassed its limits. It was a true expression of strength that originated from herself.

A power that was exclusive only to Valencia, unbound by the world or the system that governed it. Her very own declaration of independence from this world of levels and skills. It was the very realization of Valencia’s countless centuries of study, and the crystallization of her efforts.

Magic of the highest order, her personal magnum opus... and my greatest hope.

The only question now was simple. Would I really be able to manifest such power in the absence of the system?

As our march finally brought us to the entrance of the royal palace, I thought back to the very reason for my journey thus far.

At first, I’d come here for the sole purpose of revenge, but against all odds, I found friends. I learned to care, learned to love. I’d even put the past behind me.

That’s right. Lucrezia, Priya, Antenora... Even that idiot Alesia. They were all counting on me now.

I pushed open the palace’s ornately gilded doors.

What kind of stupid question is that? ‘Can I beat God’s ass?’ Hah. You fuckin’ bet I can.