I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods

ㅡAaargh! This arrogant…

The creature staggered back, unable to finish its sentence. The weapons in its hands dropped to the ground, transforming into shadows and melting into the abyss.

It was the signal for the start of the 2nd Phase.

I stepped back, taking a breath. It was time for a brief rest. I glanced down at the blood-stained sword in my right hand. The blade shimmered brightly, almost like the sun.

The duration of the solar eclipse seemed to be nearing its end; the flickering light gradually faded away. I took out the sacred catalyst tied to my waist and brought it to the blade of my bloody sword.

Bright sunlight surged once more.

‘…Is this a bug?’

Ever since the sacred catalyst suddenly began to shine, this unusual situation had persisted. No matter how many times I used the solar eclipse, I didn’t feel my faith depleting.

From just the situation, it was overwhelmingly fortunate, but I couldn’t simply rejoice without reason. While it might be a good situation, it was by no means normal.

‘I haven’t heard of any hidden gimmicks in the boss battle against the Creature Abandoned by God.’

If there were such details, they would have been revealed in some way long ago.

Like most single-package games, Brightest Darkness 4 had undergone extensive data mining by numerous players. Especially in the Brightest Darkness series, there tended to be a lot of dummy data.

There were even mods that implemented only the leftover dummy data, so even if there were hidden gimmicks, they would have been thoroughly uncovered over the span of ten years.

However, I had never heard of faith suddenly overflowing during the boss battle against the Creature Abandoned by God.

‘…Well, good is good. It doesn’t seem to harm me.’

There were no signs of my life force draining or anything suspicious.

As of now, there were no visible penalties, and if there were any hidden penalties, I would be unable to notice them anyway, even as time passed, so worrying about it didn’t make sense.

I could just ask an Inquisitor or a Heretic Inquisitor about it once I got out of here later. Right now, I was too busy making the most of the opportunity presented to me.

Assuming I could use the solar eclipse infinitely, I might be able to finish this fight within the next hour if I played my cards right.

ㅡAaa… Aaaaaaah…

The monster, covering its face with four arms in agony, suddenly looked up at the ceiling. Then, with a sorrowful voice, it shouted.

ㅡO merciful Sun! O compassionate Moon! Why have you forsaken me? Why have you cast me out!

It was the dialogue from the 2nd Phase cutscene. It would mumble a few more lines before attempting to fight again, so I could rest until then.

Whether the Almighty really created the world according to the Holy Kingdom’s doctrine, I didn’t know if that monster was truly a product of God, but reading the background descriptions of items related to it revealed that it was entirely its own doing.

It had tried to overshadow the world with shadows and the abyss and was cast out to this place.

Now it thought it was innocent and unfairly abandoned. There was no room for sympathy.

After pleading its grievances to the sky, it lowered its head again. All eight eyes turned toward me, its jagged teeth grinding together nervously.

ㅡYou know nothing!

Shadows and the abyss began to converge in its hands and soon transformed into the form of a sacred catalyst. It looked far more grotesque than the catalysts used by NPCs or players of the Holy Kingdom.

ㅡMy way is right! This world must drown in the abyss!

The raspy voice of the 1st Phase had significantly mellowed out, replaced by a slightly higher pitch. It seemed like its original personality was surfacing as it lost a bit of health.

A dim light swirled around the catalyst. Dark energy writhed and spiraled upward, merging above its head. The dark substance soon morphed into the Sun and Moon.

To be precise, it was a sphere that only mimicked their appearance. If the people of the Holy Kingdom heard that the shadow and abyss were dripping from that, they would surely foam at the mouth in fury.

The spheres floating above its head glowed ominously in black. From the 2nd Phase onward, magic would be added to existing attacks, making things even more chaotic. This was the beginning of its opening pattern.

Kaboom! The Sun and Moon exploded, scattering fragments in all directions. An immense number of black shards poured down throughout the boss room. I slowly stepped back, creating space.

Where the Sun’s shards fell, black flames erupted, and where the Moon’s shards landed, black frost sprouted. When the frost and flames met, yet another explosion occurred.

The entire boss room was engulfed in a deafening roar and disastrous explosions. It was complete chaos.

In the midst of it all, as I carefully dodged the falling fragments of the Sun and Moon, the Creature Abandoned by God charged at me with heavy thuds.

The sacred catalyst in my right hand darkened, forming into a flail. The flail swung horizontally, brushing past my position as it swept across the floor. I rolled to evade and dove inward.

Just as I aimed to strike its legs, I noticed a shard falling this way and quickly revised my strategy, dashing left to escape. The shard landed and exploded magnificently.

‘What a nuisance.’

While that magic wouldn’t last indefinitely and would soon dissipate, I regretted missing that recent deal time. No matter what happened after this, another spell would surely come flying.

Using the sacred catalyst as a medium, it appeared similar to the sacred spells used by the Popes, but it was indeed dark magic. That was the part where people were often misled.

ㅡTo drench the world in the abyss! That is my mission!

Now it was just spewing nonsense. After feeling pain again for the first time in hundreds of years, it seemed to have lost its reason.

The 1st Phase was merely wearing a mask; the 2nd Phase showed its true personality. Judging by its words, it seemed to have become even more pathetic than in the game.

‘That thing was the first Pope? How ironic…’

As was typical of the Brightest Darkness series, which conveyed the story indirectly through item descriptions or character backgrounds rather than straightforward exposition, all those little details somehow tied back to the lore.

As people diligently pieced together clues and activated the Brightest Darkness neural network, the conclusion was drawn that the Creature Abandoned by God was indeed the founder of dark magic and the first Pope of the Holy Kingdom.

How ironic that the greatest enemy of the Holy Kingdom was its very first Pope.

ㅡCrack!

I dodged the hammer that rolled off, squirming with black liquid on the floor. The hammer struck the ground, sounding like some flesh being crushed.

In the 2nd Phase, I couldn’t use parrying with weapons; I had to reserve it for blocking tail strikes and foot-rolling attacks. Of course, there was a reason for this.

All the weapons it swung around were magic damage.

They might look identical on the surface. But unlike in the 1st Phase, the weapons swung in the 2nd Phase dealt pure magic damage rather than physical damage. Naturally, even if I parried, I’d take penetrating damage.

Without even needing to look further, I was bound to die from that penetrating damage alone as a frail human.

I focused on attacking its left calf but rolled back to escape. Black flames erupted near its foot simultaneously as dark magic descended vertically from above my head.

As I widened the distance, I kept a close eye on its movements. A flail and an axe took shape in its right upper arm and left lower arm, while its other two arms shone brightly with the sacred catalyst.

‘It’s that pattern.’

I needed to concentrate hard now.

First, the axe made of dark magic flew toward me. I precisely rolled away diagonally to the left. The sacred catalyst in its opposite hand ignited with black flames, but I was already gone from that spot.

It scraped the ground with its tail and turned its body. I parried and immediately drew my sword to reduce combat fatigue. The flail in my left hand rolled away, and I twisted my body.

The black flames grazed right beside my head. It was a move that could easily be executed in the game if you just paid attention to the direction of dodging.

‘Right hand, left hand, magic, magic, left hand, right hand, lastly magic.’

I ran through the sequence of combos in my mind and moved my body according to the corresponding counters. The fierce blasts and dark magic continued to whiz by right next to me.

Finally, the axe struck the ground with a massive explosion. Seizing that moment, I swung my sword again. A scream erupted from the monster’s mouth.

Taking advantage of its stun, I swung my weapon a few more times before swiftly retreating. The monster, which had been suffering in pain for a while, glanced at me with a dazed look. I ignored it and got ready to continue my assault.

ㅡYou were hiding your power, weren’t you?

I was about to say something.

If it hadn’t unexpectedly started to speak calmly with those words, that is.

‘Hiding my power?’

What an absurd statement. If I could hide power, I wouldn’t be in this situation. Why hide power? I should just reveal everything from the start and use it all to the fullest.

In a world where dodging just one attack could mean life or death, I had no intention or reason to pretend to be weak. If I died while doing that, I would die feeling unjustly wronged and would never close my eyes properly.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Have you lost your mind from taking so many hits?”

ㅡDo not try to deny it.

The monster growled.

ㅡI can feel the divine power of the Sun and Moon from you.

‘…Huh?’

What in the world was that supposed to mean?

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