Chapter 1082: Kundara (15)
The Level 9 Ascendant Pyeonram (偏濫). The Snake Guarding the Well, a Transcendent who mastered spellcraft and attained qualification in the humble body of a spirit beast. A monster capable of bending her senses to literally encompass an entire planet within her range. Pyeonram’s words, claiming a debt regarding Heavenly Sight’s final moments and offering to help him become an Ascendant.
However, Lennok immediately realized what Pyeonram was referring to when she spoke of a debt.
‘It’s because of Pyeonram’s thought-form.’
Back then, when Adamant Thunder and Cheonbeon’s identities clashed, drawing attention, and Lapis was sent to the Boundary Line of the World. At the end of the battle, witnessed by the entire city, Lennok had faced Pyeonram’s thought-form that had burst into reality. At the time, he had forcibly manifested a fragment of the Eight-Linked Lightning Labyrinth into reality to destroy that thought-form and end the battle. Pyeonram was referring to that incident when she said she owed Lennok a debt.
‘So the thought-form appearing in Vulcan wasn’t Pyeonram’s will after all. But I didn’t expect her to remember that incident even now.’
The Snake Guarding the Well, Pyeonram Padme Kiesa, is an Ascendant who obtained her qualification by completely rebuilding herself through spellcraft. However, as a reaction to abandoning herself and establishing a new form during that process, she suffers from the endless Curse of Oblivion. The very fact that this Transcendent, who struggles to even remember who she is, remembers that incident is proof of how significant the situation was to Pyeonram herself at the time. More importantly, for Pyeonram to still remember Adamant Thunder’s identity, whom she only met once in a consciousness space—
“……”
Nives Orosia’s Domain, twisted and frozen in place. Nives, frozen on the spot, and Olivera, who grasped the situation and quietly averted her gaze. And even the mimetic Ascendant, waiting silently for Lennok’s answer with an expressionless face. In the quiet silence, Lennok quickly sifted through what he needed to know.
“I don’t understand what it means to say you’ll help me become an Ascendant.”
“……”
“Even if you are a qualified Transcendent, how can you directly assist in that process?”
He tried not to lose his composure, consciously schooling his features. Lennok himself found it difficult to gauge a definite chance of victory against a Transcendent who had reached the pinnacle of spellcraft. Furthermore, with her unstable memory, it wouldn’t be strange for her to forget her words, rampage, or change her mind at any moment. He was facing an Ascendant who, if things went wrong, could destroy the entire Outer Tribulation City. He had to accurately gauge her intentions to escape this place safely.
However, unlike the tense Lennok, Pyeonram’s reaction was surprisingly calm.
“The Dead Thoughts accumulated in this city have long exceeded their limits. It’s because they hide beneath the Shadow of the Star, rejecting normal causality.”
“Dead Thoughts…?”
“If you use that backlash as explosive power to twist fate, you might be able to create a miracle, if only for a moment. I can guide you.”
The copper-skinned girl said, slowly tilting her head to the side.
“It’s a bit risky, but a Seeker of your caliber should be fine even if you attempt it.”
“……”
Did she mean the conditions for a challenge had been met in Kundara, and she acted because Lennok met them? It was a vague answer, more akin to ‘I can, so I will’ rather than a necessary or special reason. It was certainly not the answer Lennok had expected from Pyeonram.
Lennok, who had been contemplating with his head tilted, asked.
“Is this completely unrelated to Maleon’s challenge?”
“I do not know such a name.”
Pyeonram replied with an expressionless face.
“It has been a long time since I could remember the names of mortals. You are the only one I have business with.”
“……”
She didn’t know Maleon, yet she realized that an Ascendant might be born in this city. She knew nothing of the process, yet foresaw the outcome and casually intended to intervene. This Transcendence, freely traversing between ignorance and omniscience, made Pyeonram even more unfathomable to Lennok.
Lennok, hesitant to judge due to that unfathomable gap, asked.
“Why… are you making such a proposal to me at this moment?”
“……”
Before answering, Pyeonram silently gazed at Lennok for a long time. As if looking at Lennok helped her retrieve a momentarily forgotten memory. An unbearable silence hung in the air, then a low voice emerged from Pyeonram’s lips.
“You said you would do it because you could.”
“…What?”
“That you would challenge it because you believed you could achieve it. Didn’t you say that?”
“……”
Only then did Lennok grasp Pyeonram’s words, and a shiver ran down his spine. The conversation in the consciousness space, where he had met Pyeonram alongside a young Heavenly Sight’s consciousness. Pyeonram had asked why he sought ascension, and Lennok had answered those very words. Because he realized that Ascendant still remembered.
“You said your aspiration and answer were no less than anyone else’s.”
“That’s…”
Pyeonram, bound by the Curse of Oblivion and unable to even remember herself, remembered the answer Lennok had given then. Perhaps it was because that answer had remained such an impressive memory for Pyeonram herself. The moment Lennok, momentarily speechless, parted his lips to respond.
BOOM!!!
The entire Domain shook violently, and Nives could be seen fleeing at full speed in the distance. Taking advantage of Lennok and Pyeonram’s conversation, was she planning to escape her Poison Jurisdiction entirely?
“What useless antics.”
Pyeonram glanced over, faintly furrowing her brows as she drew forth her magical power.
ROOAAR…!!!
The Domain [Foggy Dome Serpent’s Affliction] deployed by Nives Orosia, an 8th-level poison master. Using the skin she shed through metamorphosis as a ‘gate’ to forcibly connect her Domain and Poison Jurisdiction, she dissolved her own poison spellcraft throughout spacetime, transforming into an incarnation of disease. Normally, this should have poisoned Lennok and Olivera, who had stepped into the Domain, almost infallibly and without warning. However, Nives’s Domain, deployed with a deadly will-thought, was fading before a single Transcendent.
CRUMBLE!!!!
The moment Pyeonram, mimetic in human form, took a step, the poison-soaked ground cracked and collapsed. Her mere movement erased Nives’s constructed Domain. Lennok, watching from behind, his face hardened.
‘Just by existing, she’s overriding and crushing Nives’s Domain. Just how vast is her consciousness…!!’
Pyeonram was the Transcendent with the most expansive mental image landscape among all Ascendants. Even if the density or durability of her mental image wasn’t exceptional, the sheer size of her consciousness was, quite literally, overwhelming. That was why Pyeonram, simply by standing still, was shattering the Domain where Nives’s mental image was imprinted. But Pyeonram, as if sensing Lennok’s thoughts, turned her gaze and spoke.
“Normally, the balance wouldn’t tilt so drastically.”
“…What?”
“This Domain is being devoured by me because the essence of that Long-lived Being is in a hierarchical relationship with me.”
Pyeonram said, watching Nives thrash in the sky with an expressionless face.
“It is a rule that the future of a species converges into a grand flow. Since I exist at its pinnacle, that serpent will also follow suit.”
“……”
Lennok had once heard something similar from Pyeonram, regarding his Guardian Spirit Beast. Because the essence of Lennok’s Guardian Spirit Beast was similar to Pyeonram’s, it was fated to be devoured by her someday. Hadn’t he gone all the way to Military Spirit City Yorta to erase the Curse of Metamorphosis afflicting his Guardian Spirit Beast? If that same Curse of Metamorphosis was inflicted upon Nives Orosia.
“Uwaaaaaah!!!”
Before his thoughts finished, the white serpent floating in the sky screamed violently. It moved according to Pyeonram’s raised hand, forcibly changing its position against its will. Every time the girl gestured, it was dragged around, helplessly smashing its head into the ground.
“This cannot be. This cannot…!!!!”
CRASH!!!
Nives, bowing her head as if surrendering beneath the vast swamp of poison she herself had created, howled.
“To a mere beast, I, a noble Long-lived Being!!!!”
“……”
“Why is the Curse of Metamorphosis…!!! Why has that serpent, born a beast, reached a higher species than I have!!!!”
Pyeonram asked quietly.
“You denied the natural order, even knowing the outcome, so the fate you’ve met is truly worthy of being called a curse.”
“Kuuugh…!!!”
Nives convulsed violently with a strange sound, neither a scream nor a sob. But Pyeonram ignored her struggles and placed a hand on Nives’s trembling scales.
CRACKLE…!!
The tips of the scales split, slowly crumbling, and began to seep into Pyeonram’s fingertips. A bizarre phenomenon, as if Nives’s body was turning to dust and becoming one with the Ascendant. Seeing her scales being pulled out, Nives screamed and prostrated herself on the spot.
“Oh, ohh… Great Ascendant…!!!”
THUD!!
Nives, with her thick lower jaw pressed tightly to the ground, stretched out her body and displayed her intent to submit, shouting.
“I-I will do anything you wish. Please, anything but being absorbed by the Curse of Metamorphosis…!!!”
“……”
A declaration of surrender, perfectly contrasting her arrogant demeanor from just moments ago. As Lennok silently watched Nives beg for her life, Pyeonram spoke dispassionately.
“The Transcendence you gained through metamorphosis should have long since converged into the grand flow and vanished.”
“Th-That’s…”
“You repeatedly underwent metamorphosis to gain Transcendence, yet you ignored the natural order through expedients, and now you beg for your life?”
“Why would I take the arduous path to Transcendence when an easy one exists…!!”
Nives retorted, as if spitting out the words.
“Even fully enjoying the blessing of being born a Long-lived Being, the path is long, so how could I be bound by a mere curse! I merely chose the path to survival!!”
Lennok, listening to the two serpents’ exchange, turned his gaze as if a realization dawned on him.
“Olivera.”
[Raising one’s hierarchy is a continuous process of redefining and transforming oneself.]
Olivera replied.
[But among Long-lived Beings, there are species that can easily transform themselves by shedding their skin and undergoing metamorphosis.]
“…Is shedding one’s skin itself the same as abandoning one’s former self?”
[Blessed Long-lived Beings can reach high hierarchies simply by following the natural order bestowed upon them. But….]
She emitted a telepathic transmission, as if sneering, and spoke coldly.
[Because of that, they ultimately become bound by the natural order they accepted.]
“……”
They shed their skin and underwent metamorphosis to raise their hierarchy, but precisely because of that, the higher their hierarchy, the more they resembled a superior species of the same lineage. Among them, Pyeonram was the Transcendent who had reached the pinnacle of species that shed their skin and undergo metamorphosis. Lennok, now understanding why the Curse of Metamorphosis, which had once afflicted his Guardian Spirit Beast, bore such a name, nodded.
“It seems you once helped prevent that curse from consuming Nives.”
[My Mystic Eye possesses the unique ability to fix causality and make it unchangeable. It must have been perfect for that old serpent.]
Olivera laughed.
[But I didn’t realize Nives Orosia harbored such an inferiority complex towards Pyeonram.]
Was her emphasis on the difference in birth between Pyeonram and herself, and her display of displeasure, a reaction stemming from her awareness of the Curse of Metamorphosis binding her? She probably had a vague understanding of the gap and outcome between herself and Pyeonram. If she desired the Elixir of Ascension because she didn’t want to admit it, forcibly denied it, and desperately wanted to bridge that gap, it would make sense.
But—
“Padme Kiesa.”
Lennok, having thought that far, stepped forward and addressed her.
“I have something to say regarding your proposal. Let’s pause for a moment and talk.”
“……”
Pyeonram, who had been about to absorb Nives, stopped her hand and turned her gaze with an expressionless face. Lennok, meeting her eyes, calmly brought forth the words he had prepared.
“I intend to give birth to a new Ascendant in Kundara and reach the Ninth Tribulation. In that process, I want to confirm what it truly means to become an Ascendant.”
“And?”
“I have no intention of refusing your proposal, but I feel I need to personally witness and prepare for the process of reaching Level 9 at least once.”
Lennok said dispassionately.
“Therefore, I cannot give you a definite answer as to when I will attempt promotion. I understand the significance of an Ascendant’s cooperation, but I cannot rush things because of it.”
“……”
Lennok knew as well. Ascension was a challenge that one had to achieve completely alone, without the help of others. But there was clearly another reason why Pyeonram intervened at this point and urged Lennok to challenge it. Rather than outright rejecting the offer, he needed to take a moment, grant a reprieve, and calmly consider what Pyeonram wanted. Moreover, if he could gain even a little experience or knowledge about promotion from an Ascendant who had reached Level 9, there was no reason to refuse.
“You weren’t aiming for your own promotion in this city.”
Pyeonram dismissed Lennok’s answer with an expressionless face.
“You mean you need time to make a judgment on that matter.”
“To figure that out, I’m gathering various plans and materials. For example, Nives Orosia, who is currently trying to escape from you.”
As Lennok pointed to Nives, the massive body of the white serpent with cracked scales flinched.
“I need that serpent’s True Blood. I don’t care if you kill Nives or keep her alive, but I’d like her person to be handed over. That viper cannot disappear yet.”
Resolving the situation without a fight wasn’t a bad outcome, but it would be problematic if Pyeonram simply absorbed Nives like this. He needed Nives’s True Blood to revive the blood contract, open the Tenth Coffer, and retrieve Kaiser’s body. If Pyeonram devoured it all, nearly half of Lennok’s purpose in coming here would vanish.
“I see.”
Pyeonram, who had been staring at Lennok intently, removed her hand from Nives’s scales.
THUD!!
“Kuh!!”
“You seek to choose the moment of your qualification yourself, yet you do not cling to it.”
Pyeonram, having pushed Nives back with a single gesture, said.
“Wizard. You already understand the meaning of your ‘choice.’”
“……”
“Very well. I don’t expect myself to remember the existence of other mortals now. There’s no reason to consider other possibilities.”
Pyeonram nodded and raised her hand. The girl’s right hand, etched with complex spellcraft characters, plunged directly into her left forearm.
CRACK!!
The girl moved her hand, still plunged into her forearm, with an expressionless face. The sound of blood and flesh tearing echoed, and the moment Pyeonram pulled her hand out of her forearm. A single, very thick Dark Scale lay in the girl’s hand.
Lennok, silently receiving the scale Pyeonram offered, asked.
“This is…?”
“It is a Dark Scale (墨鱗) detached from my true form for mimesis.”
Pyeonram said dispassionately, not even thinking of staunching her bleeding arm.
“It is used to shape a physical body by combining with my consciousness, so this scale is essentially a part of me.”
“……”
Pyeonram looked up at Lennok and said with an expressionless face.
“When your decision is made, use this scale.”
“…Wait, if this scale was the catalyst used for your mimesis.”
The moment this scale was handed over, wouldn’t Pyeonram’s mimetic human form be unable to maintain itself normally? As if his conjecture was correct, Pyeonram’s bleeding body was fading like a mirage on the spot. Nives, who had been bowing before Pyeonram, also began drawing forth her magic the moment she saw it.
“A mistake. She has retreated that being from my Domain and prepared to return.”
HISS…!!
Acrid smoke, where the ground was melting. Nives, emitting poison from her entire body, muttered in a sinister voice.
“If I can just get my hands on the Elixir, I can escape the curse… How long did you think I would be bound by this curse?”
“Whether you are bound by a curse or escape it, I have no interest in the outcome you will face.”
But Pyeonram, looking at Nives, said in an indifferent voice.
“However, there isn’t just one way to resolve the Curse of Metamorphosis.”
“…What?”
WHOOSH!!
At that moment, Nives’s slumped massive body once again slammed its head before Pyeonram.
CRASH!!
“Kuh…!! Wh-What are you doing!!!”
Pyeonram placed her fading hand on the crown of the terrified serpent’s head and drew forth her magical power. With an eerie resonance, a strange sound echoed from within Nives’s head.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH…!!
A sound like gears grinding out of alignment, colliding and breaking. An unpleasant grinding, like a colossal tower built within her being being scraped from its peak. Breaking and twisting, it soon became irreversibly damaged. A prelude to ruin that no being who had ascended in hierarchy could ever tolerate. The moment Lennok realized it was a miracle, allowed only to an Ascendant at the pinnacle of their species, to intervene in another’s origin.
“HUUWAAH!!!!”
CRACK!!
A snapping sound came from Nives’s head, and the serpent’s massive body scattered as if exploding.
BOOOOM!!!
From the size of a house, the white serpent instantly shrank to the size of a human, smaller than Lennok.
“……”
“Aah, aaahhhh…!!!”
After a brief silence, Nives, belatedly realizing what had happened to her, shrieked. Lennok, too, was speechless, staring at Pyeonram with a bewildered expression. Because he felt that the hierarchy emanating from Nives’s body had plummeted to an incomparable degree.
“…No way.”
Pyeonram hadn’t resolved the Curse of Metamorphosis afflicting Nives by absorbing her.
“Did she… forcibly strip Nives of her level… reducing it to a point where she wouldn’t be consumed by the curse?”