Chapter 1076: Kundara (9)
“Throughout the continent’s history, fewer than ten Ascendants have officially reached Level 9.”
The two sat facing each other in the Hall of the Eighth Tribulation, playing Obaekro.
Black and white stones rapidly exchanged, constantly flipping over.
But the words that came from Maleon, as he faced Lennok, were not so light.
“That is why Ascendants who have lived for a long time have influenced various civilizations across the continent simply by their existence.”
“……”
“Jindun was no different. His achievements in Barrier Spellcraft and Spell Formations reached an unparalleled realm that even other Ascendants could not hope to rival.”
Maleon, who had been calmly watching the black stone Lennok placed, stroked his chin and spoke.
“Unlike his reclusive nature, his works remain scattered across the continent. You must have some idea, too.”
It wasn’t just an idea; he had personally entered and exited the cradle of the Hanghasa Labyrinth that Jindun had created.
Instead of mentioning it, Lennok gazed at the dragon-headed giant before him with a cold expression.
He had inherited Jindun’s Barrier Spellcraft in the Hanghasa Labyrinth not as Adamant Thunder, but as Cheonbeon.
Whatever Maleon’s true intentions, he had no intention of directly revealing that fact to anyone else.
However, what Lennok needed to confirm was not merely how transcendent the Ascendants’ status was.
Maleon’s plan to become a Level 9 Ascendant and break through the Trial of the Ninth Tribulation.
His proposal that he needed Lennok’s help to handle the Promotion Magic Circle left by Jindun in the process.
If Maleon’s stated plan and the significant event scheduled in Kundara were one and the same—
“I understand the prestige of Jindun. And also the fact that he helped design the nine Tribulation’s Trials.”
Lennok tilted his head.
“It’s not incomprehensible. The very fact that Obaekro is helpful in passing the Tribulation’s Trials would be evidence enough that this city is connected to Jindun.”
“Hmm.”
“What I want to ask is about your explanation itself: that you intend to become an Ascendant by passing the Ninth Tribulation.”
Lennok asked.
“Do you intend to become an Ascendant by passing the Ninth Tribulation, or do you intend to pass the Ninth Tribulation to become an Ascendant?”
“……”
“These two, while similar, are distinctly different, and depending on how you interpret them, they could hold entirely opposite meanings.”
Lennok spoke coolly, watching the silent Maleon.
“If you want my cooperation, I need to know first which direction your goals and means lean.”
A Level 9 Ascendant, newly born in the city of Long-lived Beings created to escape destruction.
If Maleon was on the cusp of such a grand undertaking as a candidate, it was only natural for the entire Outer Tribulation City to be watching.
The fact that Maleon was treated with utmost deference by other Long-lived Beings in this Outer Tribulation City,
That he could freely access the Elder Council’s reports and hand the Elixir of Ascension to Lennok.
That he held such authority yet did not obsess over the elixir, all of this could now be understood.
“The question you’ve posed is, in itself, an answer to me.”
Maleon stated calmly.
“Entering the Ninth Tribulation. Becoming an Ascendant. Both aspirations function as both means and ends, which is why I am undertaking this great endeavor.”
“……”
“It’s not that one is more important. Both are grand undertakings where failure is not an option, which is why I’m asking for your cooperation.”
Maleon, looking at Lennok with an intense gaze, said.
“I ask of you. Help me become an Ascendant and pass the Trial of the Ninth Tribulation. No one else but you can help me with this.”
“You wish to receive my help to become an Ascendant and enter the Ninth Tribulation.”
Lennok, muttering Maleon’s declared proposal, looked at the dragon-headed giant before him with an incredulous expression.
“You know how important that is, yet you intend to reach Level 9 with others watching?”
“……”
“To even use that fact as leverage to borrow my power… it seems you’ve lived too long and gone mad.”
Maleon was preparing to become an Ascendant himself, yet was trying to use that very preparation process as a trade.
The idea of knowing Lennok had business in the Ninth Tribulation, and using that objective as leverage to make him cooperate with his ascension.
He couldn’t possibly be unaware that attaining qualification and reaching Level 9 was a grand undertaking of self-reconstruction.
Was he truly concerning himself with external matters even while facing such a critical event that would determine his very existence and survival?
A madness so profound that even Lennok, who had walked the path of asceticism for so long, could not comprehend it.
But Maleon merely shrugged his shoulders upon hearing Lennok’s words.
“It seems difficult to understand. But for me, I merely chose the most rational option.”
“Not groundless blind faith?”
“You may not know, but I have been preparing to become an Ascendant for decades.”
Maleon’s expression turned solemn.
“Now, on the eve of the Promotion Ritual, it’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve completed almost all the preparations I can make myself. Otherwise, why would I be leisurely playing Obaekro with you?”
“……”
Indeed, he wasn’t wrong.
Considering Maleon’s relaxed demeanor, and conversely, the extremely cautious attitude of the high-ranking Long-lived Beings towards him.
It must be because quite a few people in Kundara knew that he was on the verge of the aforementioned grand undertaking.
“So you’ve finished all your preparations, and now you want to enlist external help?”
“It’s the gamble of a lifetime, attempting to draw upon all the achievements and fate accumulated over my entire life.”
Maleon said calmly.
“Is this not a grand undertaking that must succeed, even if it means grasping the hand of a demon, rather than simply leaving the outcome to fate and waiting?”
“……”
“Of course, I don’t truly intend to make a pact with a demon, but I trust you understand what I’m trying to say.”
Maleon’s expression, as he slightly tilted his head over the board, turned serious.
“A great wizard who has reached a state equal to my own. A Transcendent who is praised outside the Central Front as being closest to ascension is before my eyes.”
“……”
“Unlike the other elders of Kundara, you are a spellcaster with no vested interests tied to me. Such an opportunity will not come again.”
Maleon spoke seriously, his voice sinking incredibly low.
“I need the help of a fellow challenger, one who seeks to transcend hierarchy and gain qualification, not just anyone else. Do you understand my feelings?”
“That’s…”
Lennok almost answered carelessly, then frowned and closed his mouth.
For Lennok also understood that desire to grasp at even a straw when facing a life-or-death undertaking.
It wasn’t that he lacked self-belief. Nor was it that his preparations were insufficient before the task.
Because the path of asceticism was precarious, one where success could not be guaranteed even with the utmost effort and dedication.
How could Lennok claim not to understand that yearning to rely on even a slim chance of luck or a fortuitous encounter?
“Even if the Promotion Ritual is activated through the Spell Formation left by Jindun, there will be more than a few problems.”
Lennok, having calmed his emotions, looked at Maleon with an impassive face and asked.
“While challenging Level 9, you, too, will become extremely unstable. How can we trust each other in that regard?”
“Even if things go wrong, it will merely be the result of my choice. No one needs to be blamed.”
Maleon shook his head.
“But I trust not you, but the purpose for which you came to this city.”
“……”
“A fervent desire so strong that you would twist the veil to enter closed-off Kundara. For that desire, you, too, would do anything.”
Seeing Lennok’s thoughtful expression, Maleon immediately rose from the platform.
“Well, if you still need to think it over, how about we talk while walking?”
Maleon stretched his broad shoulders back and straightened his waist, casting a massive shadow over the platform.
Maleon, gaping a dragon’s yawn, grinned at Lennok.
“Let’s move. There’s a place I want to show you.”
“I haven’t said a word about cooperating with this yet.”
“But, didn’t you want something from the Sanctuary of the Eighth Tribulation?”
“……”
At Maleon’s casual retort, Lennok’s hand, clutching a stone, momentarily froze.
“The Sanctuary of the Eighth Tribulation, which converts the life force contained in a Ruyi Orb into lifespan.”
Maleon, smiling as if he knew Lennok’s thoughts, said.
“You’ve entered here without even going through the Trial of the Eighth Tribulation; you should visit when you have the chance.”
“That’s…”
“Well, don’t feel pressured and just follow me. It’s not as if you absolutely have to grant my request.”
Maleon said that and swiftly moved on.
“This is my thanks for dragging you here without permission. Consider it a gift from me.”
“……”
Could Maleon truly gift time, more precious than gold to a Short-lived Being, so generously?
Lennok, watching the back of the dragon-man radiating a silvery glow, shook his head and followed behind him.
Goooh…!!
A suffocatingly silent stillness.
The ceiling of the hall was made of transparent glass, revealing the hazy mist surging outside.
The overflowing mist in the sky glowed like a hazy universe, forming a vast galaxy and revolving.
An artificial star swimming above the Universe of Mist. Outer Tribulation City, Kundara.
A sanctuary built as a city using the nine Tribulations as its structure, seeking to avoid destruction.
“Even if we use the Spell Formation left by Jindun, the area where others can intervene would be extremely limited. What kind of cooperation do you want from me?”
Lennok asked, looking up at the Universe of Mist reflected above the hall.
“Originally, aren’t the ways humans and Long-lived Beings accumulate hierarchy different?”
“Even a Long-lived Being with True Blood hasn’t completely transcended the category of living creatures.”
Maleon replied casually.
“Break their head or stab their heart, and they die. They live for hundreds of years and eventually die of old age. When the end comes, we too will be cast out like trash into the Outer Sea.”
“……”
“It’s the same. The ritual itself required for ascension isn’t largely different from that of humans, so you should be able to understand it without difficulty.”
Maleon glanced back at Lennok and said.
“I wish to entrust you with adjusting the Promotion Magic Circle left by Jindun.”
“Adjusting the Spell Formation?”
“Knights skilled in Obaekro are mostly exceptionally talented masters of Spell Formations.”
Maleon gestured towards the board game they had left behind and said.
“Moreover, weren’t you a knight so skilled that you could teach Obaekro to the elders of the Seventh Tribulation?”
“……”
“I heard you taught Obaekro to Angron, bringing him to the very brink of passing the Trial of the Eighth Tribulation.”
Maleon stroked his chin and let out a deep, resonant laugh.
“To be able to teach that fiery friend, it truly means your skill and insight have reached an exceptional level.”
Was it that Lennok was chosen as an assistant for the ascension simply because he was an 8th-level great wizard and an exceptional Obaekro knight?
He was convinced that Lennok’s presence could be a significant help, not only for his magical talent but also for his proficiency in creating Spell Formations.
“You seem to place great trust in the connection between Obaekro skill and Spell Formation creation ability.”
Lennok asked.
“Even if Jindun designed the Tribulation’s Trials, do you believe Obaekro can be used as a basis for handling the Spell Formations?”
“Of course.”
Maleon replied.
“Because I was the one who spread the fact that Obaekro is helpful in passing the Tribulation’s Trials throughout Kundara.”
“…What?”
“Kundara is a city influenced by Ars Nova, but those who understood the true value of Obaekro, which was consumed as a pastime, were extremely few.”
As they walked down the quiet corridor, Maleon shifted his gaze.
“I personally proclaimed that unconventional method, which only a few Long-lived Beings had realized and enjoyed, throughout Kundara, so that everyone could use it.”
“……”
“Because I believed that escaping destruction required the enlightenment of the entire city, not just individuals.”
Maleon raised his head, gazing at the Universe of Mist spread far in the distance.
“Not just individual transcendence, but for the entire city to pass through the nine Tribulations and reach the Outer Tribulation.”
Maleon’s voice, as he turned his gaze away, his expression hidden, seemed to sink into darkness for a moment.
“That is precisely why I intend to become an Ascendant.”
“……”
“Because if no one fills the empty Ninth Tribulation, Kundara will not be able to properly reach the Outer Tribulation.”
He was explaining, yet not explaining.
He was answering, yet Maleon was not answering Lennok right now.
He was merely monologuing on the stage of the Spacetime of the Eighth Tribulation, with Lennok as his audience.
Maleon’s fundamental reason for wanting to become an Ascendant and take his place in the Ninth Tribulation.
The meaning behind his words that someone must fill the Ninth Tribulation to complete the Outer Tribulation.
Just as Lennok was thinking about it, and about to state his own conclusion.
“We’ve arrived. This way.”
Maleon stopped abruptly in his tracks.
Somewhere in the vast corridor of the endless hall. At one side of the empty, featureless corridor.
As Lennok watched Maleon stop before it, he tilted his head in momentary confusion.
“Hoop!”
Maleon, with his arms crossed, lightly flicked his tail, which was encased in silvery scales.
The moment he casually swung his tail, as if doing a light warm-up, stirring the air.
Paaang!!
A deafening shockwave erupted, sending ripples through the empty air.
An intense, monstrous strength, like the crack of a whip, hard to believe was the result of a light flick of his tail.
As Lennok instinctively raised his hand, the scene before him shattered, and something began to appear.
“…A fountain?”
Red liquid poured from the mouth of a turtle statue erected in the center of the fountain.
The circular basin installed beneath the fountain was filled with shimmering red spring water.
Swaaaaa!!
A vivid yet bizarre sight, as if blood had literally melted to form a spring.
Maleon, standing beside the fountain with his arms crossed, raised his tail and pointed at the turtle statue.
“Aitalon’s Spring. It is a sanctuary made from the shed shell of an Eternal Turtle, said to have lived the longest in the world.”
“……”
“Befitting the shed skin of a Long-lived Being with the longest natural lifespan, this sanctuary possesses the power to convert life force into lifespan.”
Maleon shrugged his shoulders and turned towards Lennok.
“I know you were looking for this sanctuary. That’s why you took lifespan from Alohan through the Obaekro wager, wasn’t it?”
“……”
“As I said, this is merely my goodwill, so there’s no need to feel burdened.”
Maleon smiled at Lennok and extended his hand, saying.
“If you wish, try using it. I’ll watch from here.”
“……”
Lennok looked silently at Maleon, then pulled out the Ruyi Orb from his pocket.
Paaat!!
The Ruyi Orb glowed, radiating brilliant light, just as it had been perfected after being taken from Alohan.
Originally, he should have used it to purchase equipment at Olber’s Workshop,
But thanks to things going well teaching Obaekro to the Long-lived Beings, the Ruyi Orb itself suffered no damage.
Click.
He approached the turtle statue, which was pouring out blood-red spring water, and inserted the Ruyi Orb into its wide-open mouth.
The moment the Ruyi Orb became lodged in the turtle’s mouth with a grinding sound, the spring water flowing from the statue abruptly ceased.
Crackle!
The rigidly hardened turtle statue began to violently convulse, slowly turning its head towards Lennok.
The turtle, powered by the Ruyi Orb, moved like a living creature, gazing at Lennok.
The statue’s unfocused eyes suddenly fixed clearly on Lennok.
Chwaaaak!
“…!”
The red spring water, surging below the fountain, began to be entirely absorbed by the statue, as if time were reversing.
The moment the wide basin was completely drained of its red spring water, and the bottom of the fountain was exposed.
Click!!
The turtle statue dropped the Ruyi Orb it had been holding directly at Lennok’s feet.
The Ruyi Orb, having absorbed all the blood-red spring water, now glowed with a brilliant red radiance.
Lennok snatched up the Ruyi Orb that had fallen at his feet, lifting it with a puzzled expression.
Because the Ruyi Orb, which had been a transparent sphere, had changed its form from before.
The Ruyi Orb had been indented along the turtle’s teeth, transforming into a container, like a small box.
“This is…”
“Although it contained the Water God Dragon King’s life force, did it use up all the remaining spring water in a single conversion?”
But Maleon, watching from the side, seemed even more intrigued by the sight.
“That’s not a common occurrence. You’ll have to wait at least a few years to use the sanctuary next time.”
“What is this?”
Lennok said that, raising the Ruyi Orb in his hand.
“The Ruyi Orb itself has changed its form. Can this be called lifespan?”
A result entirely different from the image of converting the life force in the Ruyi Orb into lifespan.
How could a Ruyi Orb, which had originally transformed into a container, substitute for lifespan for Lennok?
But Maleon shook his head the moment he heard those words.
“That is not lifespan, Van.”
“What?”
“When Aitalon’s Spring converts lifespan, it operates by directly delivering it to the user.”
Maleon, with his arms crossed, said.
“In this case, it seems the sanctuary acted upon this Ruyi Orb you possess, rather than upon you directly.”
“Hmm…”
Was it because he hadn’t turned off his Targeted Resistance ability, or because Lennok’s penalty itself was that peculiar?
He hadn’t expected the sanctuary to function normally in the first place, so an unexpected outcome was understandable.
Maleon, however, seemed even more intrigued by the sight of the Ruyi Orb in Lennok’s hand, now resembling a small container.
“A long time ago, I saw something similar in texts from the Old World.”
“……”
“I heard that masters of Sorcery, who commanded infinite time, used it to divide their own lifespan and avert death.”
“That’s…”
Only then did Lennok understand Maleon’s words, and he fell silent.
Surely, if his words were true, what Aitalon’s Spring had given Lennok was not lifespan, but rather…
“An Extra Life Vessel.”
Maleon said, sounding intrigued.
“Instead of increasing your maximum lifespan, Aitalon’s Spring seems to have given you an extra life within your remaining lifespan.”