Chapter 1085: Level 9 (3)
Lennok was walking on a bridge blanketed in a thick fog.
A bridge far grander than the one he crossed during the First Tribulation’s Trial, when he first arrived in Kundara and met the Fearsome Blood King.
Beyond it lay a dizzying precipice, and from above, he felt gazes watching him.
Silent silver Dragon-kind looked down, with dozens of high-ranking Long-lived Beings positioned behind them.
“So, that’s the challenger you mentioned for this generation,” Olivera said, without turning her head.
She must have read all the surrounding gazes with her Mystic Eye, without needing to turn.
“A Dragon-kind possessing True Blood. And a Gemstone Dragon, at that, said to be born once every thirteen generations.” She whispered with a hint of interest, via Telepathic Transmission.
“It’s not strange for such a noble-born to dream of challenging if they’ve reached Level 8. You didn’t choose the wrong ship to board.”
“Gemstone Dragon, you say. Is there a separate name for Maleon’s species?”
“They are mutants born through several generations. Among them, it refers to Dragon-kind born with special innate abilities through atavism,” Olivera replied, her Mystic Eye flashing.
“If one were to classify the direction of that talent, it should be compared to my Mystic Eye, rather than other Long-lived Beings.”
“…Maleon’s existence is on the same level as The Seven Debts Jewels Mystic Eye?”
“The seven-colored abilities manifested by my Mystic Eye are, after all, a mutation that doesn’t rely on the causality of Mystic Eye awakening.”
She turned her head, responding with a hint of a laugh.
“That one has obtained such mystery and miracle merely by their birth. Surely, they are the holder of a unique blessing among all Dragon-kind in Kundara.”
“…”
“However, I don’t know why they maintain such an ambiguous mimicry despite their noble birth. Usually, Dragon-kind of that caliber prefer to maintain their true form.”
Olivera, who held extremely high pride in her Mystic Eye, had acknowledged Maleon’s existence as its equal.
That meant Maleon’s birth and status were a rare and exceptional result, even within Kundara.
Just as Lennok was about to say something about it.
“I wondered why my ears were tingling. You were talking about me, weren’t you?”
Maleon’s hearty laughter echoed from beyond the fog.
“It’s regrettable, but flattering me won’t yield anything.”
“…Maleon.”
Maleon, who had been standing at the cliff’s edge thousands of meters away, was now greeting Lennok on the bridge.
Broad shoulders and a muscular physique. A Dragon-kind far larger and more imposing than Lennok.
“Welcome to the Trial of the Eighth Tribulation.”
The giant with a magnificent dragon’s head grinned, accompanied by dozens of attendants.
“For us to enter the Ninth Tribulation together, both you and I must first pass the preceding trial.”
“…”
“Moreover, we don’t know how many times we’ll need to go in and out of the Eighth Tribulation while preparing for the Promotion Ritual. So, the first step of the plan was already set.”
Immediately after Maleon declared his intention to begin the Ascension Plan by seeking Lennok, Lennok stood with Olivera before the gateway to challenge the Trial of the Eighth Tribulation.
Passing the preceding trial was the minimum requirement for challenging the Trial of the Ninth Tribulation. In addition, they anticipated needing to traverse the Eighth Tribulation multiple times while preparing for the Promotion Ritual, hence the decision to secure entry qualifications.
“Once you gain entry to the Eighth Tribulation, we will immediately move to the Trial of the Ninth Tribulation and begin the Promotion Ritual.”
“Who are the Long-lived Beings standing behind you?”
“They are attendants gathered to assist me in this Promotion Ritual. With their innate abilities and spellcraft, they will adjust my mind and body to the state most suitable for the challenge.”
Maleon pointed to the dozens of Long-lived Beings lined up behind him.
“While you complete the trial, I will also begin preparing for the ritual here with their help. The goal is to start the ritual as soon as you pass the Trial of the Eighth Tribulation.”
“I heard the environment and conditions for the Seventh and Eighth Tribulations are quite different in many ways.”
Lennok tilted his head.
“If you’re going to adjust your body to be suitable for the challenge, wouldn’t it be better to do it after entering the Eighth Tribulation, rather than here?”
“Not all of my attendants have achieved a high enough level to pass the Trial of the Eighth Tribulation.”
Maleon shrugged.
“Of course, I too believe it would be best to complete the ‘adjustment’ within the Eighth Tribulation, but I cannot insist on the impossible.”
“…”
“It seems you understand the necessity of this arrangement.”
Maleon stroked his chin with a pleased expression.
“Good. Things moving quickly is never a bad thing. Heoryeong!!”
“…Yes.”
At the summons, a gaunt old man stepped out from behind Maleon.
Maleon carefully patted his shoulder and nodded.
“It’s time for you, the Administrator of the Seventh Tribulation, to step forward. Prepare these friends to challenge the Trial of the Eighth Tribulation.”
“…”
The old man called Heoryeong did not answer. He merely stared at Lennok with narrowed eyes.
It was an overtly displeased attitude towards Lennok.
But Maleon, seeing this, calmly patted Heoryeong’s shoulder again.
“I’m counting on you. Can you do it?”
“…With the command of the Silver Star and Poison Mountain, how could an old man like me refuse?” the old man called Heoryeong replied quietly, nodding his head.
At the same moment, his body glowed brightly, transforming into a colossal crane scattering pure white feathers.
Flap!!
Spreading its faded wings, the long-beaked crane tilted its head, directing its aged gaze at Lennok.
“I shall treat you to the best of my ability.”
“Good. I will remain outside with my attendants and wish for your success.”
Seeing this, Maleon nodded and immediately turned to leave.
Bang!!
An attendant standing behind him transformed into a giant scorpion, bowing its head to Maleon…
The Dragon-kind leaped onto the scorpion’s back, grinned at Lennok, and waved.
“I’ll see you in the Spacetime of the Eighth Tribulation. Good luck!”
Fwoosh!!
The crouched scorpion leaped with incredible force, scaling the cliff hundreds of meters away.
The remaining attendants watched, then one by one began to conceal their presence.
On the now-silent bridge, Heoryeong, who remained last, spoke in a hushed voice.
“Come closer, human.”
“…”
“Before starting the trial, I must inscribe your name in the register and count the attempts.”
“What do you mean by ‘attempts’?”
“It seems you know nothing, never having passed a Tribulation’s Trial.”
Heoryeong scoffed, shaking his beak.
“There is a grace period set for challengers. If you fail once, you must wait decades before challenging the next trial.”
“…”
“To violate this would twist Kundara’s timeline, which flows independently within the Universe of Mist. Therefore, the administrators of the lower Tribulations record challengers’ names and manage these grace periods.”
“Only one name can be recorded for each challenge, then?”
Lennok glanced at Olivera and asked, “I have a companion. What should I do in that case?”
“As I said, only one person can challenge at a time,” Heoryeong replied indifferently. “However, since both of you stood before the bridge of trial together, understand that if you fail, that woman will also be considered to have failed.”
“…”
“…Hmph,” Olivera let out a cold laugh, as if sensing something in Heoryeong’s arrogant reply.
She, too, understood what the Long-lived Being’s excessively difficult attitude implied.
Flap!!
As the aged crane, several meters tall, spread its wings, an old scroll unfurled beneath it.
Beneath it was a dense list of countless unknown challengers’ names.
The crane, bringing an ink-soaked brush to the bottom of the scroll, stared at Lennok.
“Name, origin, age.”
“Van.”
Lennok, who had been watching, replied, “Let my origin be Vulcan. As for age, I don’t know.”
“What did you say?”
“Is ‘age’ the time of the soul, or the time of the body?”
Lennok retorted at Heoryeong’s twitching eyebrow.
“What is the standard for a living being to age? The orbital period of a planet, or Kundara’s timeline flowing independently within the veil?”
“…”
“It’s absurd for me, not being a Long-lived Being, to meticulously count my age by such standards. Feel free to write whatever you like.”
Lennok said with a smile, “After all, I won’t be challenging this trial twice.”
“…Indeed, you’ve spoken well.”
The aged crane’s eyes gleamed eerily.
“After failing this challenge, do not ever show your face before Maleon-nim again. Simply leave Kundara and live among the humans of the mortal world.”
“…”
“I heard you achieved outstanding accomplishments for a Short-lived Being. That you slew countless lives beyond the veil?”
Heoryeong continued, “However, the great feat Maleon-nim challenges is not something a spellcaster steeped in murderous intent can partake in. It is the exploration of truths difficult to reach even by endlessly pursuing the profound mysteries of great magic.”
“…”
“I heard you taught Long-lived Beings in the city, but such shallow charity cannot hide your dreadful nature.”
The crane’s voice was tinged with undisguised contempt.
“Leave. And never return to this city again. Those who live short lives have countless other matters to hold dear than Kundara’s grand endeavor.”
“Interesting. Especially coming after Maleon has left.”
Lennok tilted his head.
“Was sorting out who remains by Maleon’s side also the role assigned to the Seventh Tribulation’s Administrator, then?”
“The challenge Maleon-nim seeks to achieve is not just for him alone, but a great undertaking for the enlightenment of the entire city,” Heoryeong retorted.
“From my perspective as a Wise Crane, I see how deep the karma of slaughter you bear is. How much blood you have spilled beyond the veil…”
The crane’s eyes glinted with displeasure as it looked at Lennok.
“Surely, even in the mortal world, you must have brought all sorts of wicked misfortunes.”
“You must know who proposed this plan first, though.”
Lennok asked with a smile, “I have no intention of clinging to Maleon’s plan. If it fails, I’ll have to find another way. But…”
Lennok stared at the aged crane with chilling eyes and said, “If you bother me again for such trivial reasons, I will tear off those wings. Understand that.”
“My life was already once saved by Maleon-nim. The rest of my days mean nothing to me.”
Heoryeong remained unperturbed by Lennok’s chilling warning.
He calmly folded the scroll, then simply spread his wings and flew up.
Flap!!
“If my death can serve as a warning to Maleon-nim, then that too would be good.”
“…”
Lennok did not answer.
He ignored Heoryeong and merely gazed beyond the thick fog, at the presence that was slowly growing stronger.
Even without a proper explanation, he knew that the trial had already begun.
The colossal crane looked down and declared coldly, “Now, the Trial of the Eighth Tribulation shall begin.”
The Spacetime of the Eighth Tribulation, located at the boundary between the Seventh and Eighth Tribulations.
A secret sanctuary directly managed by Heoryeong, the Wise Crane.
The colossal crane landed on the cliff overlooking the gateway where the trial was taking place.
Flap!!
Scattering pure white feathers, the crane folded its wings and turned its gaze towards the dragon-headed giant standing at the cliff’s edge.
“Maleon-nim. Is this sufficient?”
“It is sufficient, Heoryeong.”
Maleon, the Dragon-kind who had been watching with his arms crossed, replied without turning his gaze.
“For Adamant Thunder and I to work together, he first needs to be able to freely enter and exit the Eighth Tribulation.”
“…”
“Thank you for fulfilling your duty as administrator. I won’t forget it.”
“Compared to Maleon-nim sharing his True Blood to cure my grandson’s illness, this is not even close to being significant. However…”
Whoosh!!
The fierce wind howled on the cliff.
Heoryeong, looking down with a nonchalant expression at Lennok standing alone at the base of the sheer cliff, said, “No matter how exceptional their talent, they are beings born and dying in the blink of an eye.”
“…”
“To us, they are like dogs or cats. I will not stop Maleon-nim from associating with that one…”
The aged crane’s eyes suddenly changed subtly.
“But if you become attached to each and every one, you will surely regret it.”
Maleon knew that Heoryeong was reluctant towards Short-lived Beings like Lennok.
Yet, knowing this, he had feigned ignorance and entrusted Heoryeong with the trial’s preparations.
Was it because he trusted Heoryeong, whom he had known for a long time, or because he trusted this human, whom he had known for only a few days?
Much time had passed, but Heoryeong could not fully discern the mind of the great Silver Dragon, who offered benevolence to all.
“We felt the affairs of the mortal world were fleeting, and its answers meaningless, so we hid ourselves behind the veil,” Maleon said calmly.
“But now that Ars Nova has been engulfed and destroyed by the causality of the mortal world, is there any reason for us to cling to this way?”
“…”
“I don’t think so. To truly know what is right, we must venture into the mortal world and see for ourselves. And I -”
Maleon slowly raised his gaze to the sky and murmured, “I am convinced that gaining the qualification to challenge ascension is the only way to uphold that belief.”
“Maleon-nim…”
“If one doesn’t begin by believing in oneself, nothing can be achieved. It is because one believes in oneself that one can believe in others. The existence of Adamant Thunder is no different.”
Maleon’s gaze turned towards Lennok, who was drawing mana from below the bridge.
“You may not believe it yet, but I see it. That man is a spellcaster born with talent rarely seen twice in the history of the continent.”
“…”
“To think such a wizard would be born now, as the end approaches. Heaven is truly indifferent. But conversely, perhaps it is precisely because of these times that such a person has appeared.”
Maleon chuckled and shrugged.
“If that is fate, I am fully prepared to take fate’s hand.”
“…It’s beginning.”
Fwoooooosh!!!
As Lennok stepped forward, a blood-red magic circle unfurled before the bridge.
A foreboding, colossal magic circle rotating, blocking the misty bridge.
The other high-ranking Long-lived Beings watching beside Maleon murmured in surprise.
“The Demonic Heavens Style!!”
“How unlucky. Of all the trials in the Eighth Tribulation, to face the most dangerous gateway…!!”
“I heard there hasn’t been a challenger for over 10 years, did he get caught at this time?”
The Trials of the Eighth Tribulation took different forms for each challenger.
However, information about particularly dangerous trials would spread by word of mouth.
The blood-red magic circle unfurling before Lennok was a type of ancient demon worship ritual called the Demonic Heavens Style.
It required the challenger to disassemble 665 spell formations within a set time and reassemble them in entirely different ways even faster.
Failure would cause the magic circle itself to enter a state of Demonification, unconditionally hostile to the challenger.
Among challengers who faced the Demonic Heavens Style in the Trial of the Eighth Tribulation, only two survived. None ever passed.
It was a trial so infamous that its dread spread even among the Long-lived Beings challenging Level 8.
Clink!!
But as soon as Lennok saw the Demonic Heavens Style’s magic circle, he began pouring mana into it and manipulating it.
He manipulated the formations fearlessly, using the magic circle as a colossal mana circuit.
At the moment Heoryeong’s expression subtly twitched while watching this.
Crackle!!!
The Demonic Heavens Style’s magic circle glowed intensely red as if about to burst, then completely disassembled and began transforming into an entirely different shape.
The boundary forming the outer edge of the formation became limbs, and the inner symbols and characters intertwined to construct a body.
A gaunt, blood-red giant with a T-shaped head rose up, using the magic circle as its own body.
It was a grotesque demonic form that, merely by looking at it, seemed to twist the mind and confuse the senses.
Seeing this, the other Long-lived Beings gasped in shock.
“A-a Demonified Variant…!!”
“The demon worship ritual is complete. Has it already entered the Demonification stage?!!”
“It hasn’t even been 5 minutes since the trial began. Is something wrong?”
The transformation of the Demonic Heavens Style’s magic circle into a demonified state was a precursor to failure.
But for such a result to appear immediately after the trial began was unprecedented even for the Long-lived Beings.
“No, that’s not it,” Maleon said with a沉靜 gaze.
“He never intended to disassemble and reassemble the magic circle in the first place. He forcibly induced failure to bring about the Demonification stage.”
“What, what do you mean…”
The other Long-lived Beings turned their heads with confused expressions upon hearing Maleon’s words.
“A fully Demonified Variant is not an opponent even we can easily handle.”
“Surely, that human doesn’t intend to pass the trial by overpowering the variant head-on?”
“If he intended to pass the trial through sheer force, he wouldn’t have chosen such a cumbersome method.”
Maleon said this, then raised his gaze.
“But I think I understand why Van chose this method.”
Heoryeong, following Maleon’s gaze to the sky, was momentarily speechless.
“This is…”
[Electric Enclosure Resonance]
Blazing blue lightning surged from the end of the bridge, consuming the thick fog.
The lightning’s brilliance, soaring above the cliff, split into hundreds of strands, repeatedly connecting and disconnecting.
The lightning’s connections, reaching the peak of fragmentation and resonance, rotated as if piercing through the gateway of the Eighth Tribulation.
It painted the sky above the cliff where Maleon and Heoryeong stood with a beautiful radiance.
[Lightning Convergence Deflection]
Fwoooooosh!!!!!
“…”
Heoryeong, speechless, slowly opened his mouth.
Maleon gasped in admiration, and the faces of the spellcasters behind him turned pale.
A wave of beautiful starlight, coloring the entire sky, something never imagined from a human.
At that moment, the space was filled with an awe-filled silence, the climax of will-thought, an unbelievable sight even to behold.
[Great Luminous Azure Confluence]
Flash!!!
The sky-blue lightning, fragmented into hundreds of strands and overflowing, poured down towards the demon variant as if converging into a single point.
Kiiiigiiigiiiigiiii!!
Within the spiraling stream of Great Luminous Azure Confluence lightning, the demon’s entire body twisted and broke down.
A grotesque scream erupted, and the demon variant, formed from the disassembled magic circle, began to melt.
Its withered limbs fused to the ground, and it slumped, blurring into nothingness.
The demon thrashed, flashing blood-red light, but the silvery-white light intensified, rendering even its resistance futile.
Fwoooooosh!!!!
Evaporating all the thick fog covering the bridge, it revealed the full landscape of the gateway.
“Ugh…!!!”
The intensity of the light was so blinding that even those observing the situation momentarily averted their gaze.
But beyond it, an entirely unexpected sight unfolded.
Kiiigii, giiigiiig…!!!
The demon, struck head-on by the Thunder Seal, did not vanish on the spot.
It merely writhed, its entire body strangely fused to the bridge.
And as if using the demon’s existence as a ‘gate,’ another landscape was reflected behind the empty gateway.
The Hall of the Eighth Tribulation, where Lennok had once entered with Maleon’s help.
The sanctuary where statues honoring Kundara’s founders stood, reflecting the Universe of Mist.
The Long-lived Beings, realizing belatedly what had happened, gasped in telepathic shock.
“He forcibly stopped the Trial of the Eighth Tribulation in progress!!”
He had neither failed to disassemble and reassemble the magic circle, nor passed the trial by killing the Demonified Variant.
Instead, he used the Great Luminous Azure Confluence to create a chain reaction explosion in the mana embedded within the Demonic Heavens Style’s variant.
Simultaneously, he used Davi’s computational abilities to forcibly inject a massive amount of information into the destabilized variant.
He had deliberately broken the variant, formed from the magic circle, just before it was utterly destroyed, forcing its functions to cease.
As a result, the gateway leading to the Spacetime of the Eighth Tribulation remained ambiguously open.
“A human interfering with a system designed by Jindun…!!”
“No one in Kundara has ever been able to intervene in the trial’s structure itself. How in the world?”
“He was toying with the Demonic Heavens Style’s magic circle from the start. Just how extensive are his computational abilities…?”
He had paralyzed the gateway formed by the Tribulation’s Trial, making it possible for others who had not challenged the trial to enter.
And Lennok’s reason for forcibly opening the gateway and stopping the trial was clear.
“If I pass the trial alone and cross into the Eighth Tribulation, there will be people who can’t follow.”
Lennok gestured to Olivera, then turned towards the cliff and said, “But while the system overseeing the Trial of the Eighth Tribulation is paralyzed, others will also be able to enter the Eighth Tribulation.”
“…Van.”
“If the help of other Long-lived Beings in the Eighth Tribulation is necessary to increase the success rate of the ritual, then that’s what must be done.”
Lennok nodded towards Maleon, who was looking down with a surprised expression.
“If you’re ready, guide me. I need to personally examine the Promotion Ritual Magic Circle that Jindun left behind.”