Chapter 1091: Level 9 (9)
Oooohhh!!!
Across Kundara, hymns of birth echoed without cease.
Amidst the soul-stirring shouts, Maleon emerged, clad in brilliant starlight.
Whoosh!!
With a casual sweep of his hand, space rippled like waves, pushed back by his intense presence.
The silver halo hovering behind him rotated violently, extending his will to everything within sight.
KWAH-AAAAAA!!!
The colossal silver pillar, embracing Maleon, surged skyward, then burst apart and rained down in all directions.
Countless beautiful silver meteor showers fell upon Maleon, whose hands were outstretched.
A meteor shower poured across the entire Universe of Mist, as if blessing the birth of a newly awakened Ascendant.
Silver Star [은성].
An epithet symbolizing Maleon Gnosis, and his other name, reborn as an Ascendant in this moment.
At the instant Lennok recalled his origin and essence, now one with Maleon himself.
Long-lived Beings, seeing the magnificent meteor shower, wept and knelt.
“A new Ascendant has been born in Kundara…”
“Did you succeed… I knew you would…!!”
“Thank goodness!! Thank goodness, thank goodness…!!!”
“Lord Maleon…!!”
Overwhelming emotion and joy. Awe and reverence.
And a vast relief that eclipsed all other feelings.
It seemed as though relief, not at Maleon becoming an Ascendant, but at not losing Maleon, filled them.
The Long-lived Beings’ trembling hands and tearful reactions, as if that alone were enough—that Maleon Gnosis remained among them even after challenging the feat of Ascension—hinted at what Maleon truly meant to them.
But Maleon did not look back at them; he slowly turned his gaze.
“I think I finally understand,” Maleon said quietly, looking down at Kundara spread beneath his feet with a calm gaze.
“The legacy left by our ancestors. The conclusion they sought to reach. The true meaning of heading beyond the Tribulations.”
“……”
“All those things I only understood intellectually, I finally feel I’ve embraced with my heart.”
Maleon closed his eyes, as if in self-intoxication, and muttered.
“I’m riding atop an immeasurable, colossal flow.”
“……Lord Maleon.”
“I, too, am merely a part of it, an actor on this stage. Everything will flow as destined, eventually finding eternal rest.”
He merely whispered in a low voice, lips pursed, yet his voice reached Lennok’s ears like thunder.
Presumably, across Kundara, others were also hearing Maleon’s declaration of his own birth.
The death of Heavenly Sight and Jindun. The first new Ascendant to be born since Pyeonram’s awakening.
How would an Ascendant, newly born in an era where the end was near, perceive this fact?
It was surely pouring unreservedly into the mind of this newly qualified challenger—the passion and despair surging from beyond the world.
How would that fact affect Maleon Gnosis, the Ascendant?
Could Maleon truly maintain his initial stance, even after becoming an Ascendant?
The moment Lennok looked up at Maleon, floating at the edge of the sky.
CRACK!!
Above Maleon’s head, the mist tore apart and began to transform into pitch-black darkness.
The misty galaxy filling the inner depths of the Veil.
This ominous residue, staining spacetime itself with darkness, swiftly approached Maleon.
The Long-lived Beings, who had been watching Maleon with emotional eyes, startled and shot to their feet.
“L-Lord Maleon…!!”
“Is it the Outer Darkness?!”
Regnus immediately recognized the source of the darkness and channeled his magic.
“How could such a malevolent remnant of the end pierce the Veil and reach even here…!!!”
Maleon’s Ascension had been hindered by the Outer Sea’s darkness, and now it was actively penetrating the Universe of Mist and interfering.
Was it refusing to tolerate the existence of Maleon, who had just become an Ascendant in this place?
A power that transcended mere will was piercing the [Veil] and polluting the spacetime where Kundara was located.
“You all, direct Maleon’s attention back to the ground.”
KIIING!!
Regnus said, conjuring complex spell formations on both hands.
“I will repair the inner side of the Veil and prevent that darkness from entering.”
“Understood…!!”
Directly moving or protecting Maleon at this very moment was impossible.
Therefore, blocking off the spacetime where the darkness crept in and removing the source of contamination was the priority.
The Long-lived Beings, immediately understanding Regnus’s words, frantically returned to their true forms and were about to rush out of the Universe of Mist when.
“It’s alright.”
Maleon raised his hand.
As he lifted his hand, seemingly to deter the Long-lived Beings moving in the Hall of the Eighth Tribulation, others paused for a moment.
“As cause and effect dictate, so too are birth and death not an end, but part of an eternal cycle.”
Maleon said, one hand extended towards the ground, the other raised towards the sky.
“Even the birth and death of stars will cycle and revolve in my hands.”
BOOOOM!!!
Simultaneously, the countless meteor showers falling above Maleon’s head slowly began to shift their trajectories and tilt.
The clusters of light, falling diagonally, rotated around Maleon, as if turning the celestial sphere itself.
A magnificent spectacle, as if the silver stars falling across the entire Universe of Mist moved according to Maleon’s will.
“Come.”
Primitive Magic: Star-Linking Eight Extremes Style
Eight Forms – Outer Law
Starfall Cycle
KWA-WOOOOOONG!!!
Maleon Gnosis’s unique spellcraft, Primitive Magic: Star-Linking Eight Extremes Style.
This magic, named for linking and shattering stars, was quite literally the power to manipulate and explode stars.
It was a spellcraft that processed the unique magic of Dragon-kind into a powerful heat source, summoned it into the sky, and then dropped it towards the ground like a bombardment.
Though its mana consumption was enormous, its efficiency poor, and its focus purely on destructive power, this supreme Primitive Magic, imbued with ancient mystery, completely defied the laws of spellcraft and the principle of equivalent exchange in certain aspects.
Immediately after activation, the position, direction, and speed of the falling ‘stars’ could be designated independently of the caster.
Once the spell was in orbit, it was the pinnacle of Outer Law, forcibly drawing in the mana or will-thought of others to create ‘stars’.
“This is…!!”
KUWOOOOHHH!!!
The myriad silver stars, which had been rotating around Maleon, now defied gravity and surged skyward.
Simultaneously, silver radiance crisscrossing the Universe of Mist incinerated and erased the darkness falling from the sky.
The moment dozens of ‘stars’, forming a brilliant silver hemisphere, converged at a single point.
Maleon slowly clenched his fist and whispered.
“Be born.”
[Supernova]
PAAT!!
That word, confusing the birth and death of stars, became truth for Maleon.
There was no sound.
The colossal silver stellar body that appeared above Maleon’s head blazed fiercely, annihilating the pouring darkness without a trace.
Soon, it melted and flowed, completely restoring the Universe of Mist to its original state.
“Th-this is…!!”
“Divine authority… far greater than before…!!!”
Even the Long-lived Beings who knew about Maleon’s Primitive Magic could not hide their astonishment at its overwhelming scale.
This was likely because they had virtually never seen the Star-Linking Eight Extremes Style wielded with such magnitude and output.
A spellcraft that formed a small galaxy around himself, presiding over birth and death within it.
This arrogance, mimicking a god, was the very symbol of Primitive Magic, wielding the blessing born with ancient Dragon-kind.
And Lennok, confirming Maleon’s unique spellcraft, offered a bitter smile.
‘The spell performance itself is ridiculously high-level.’
Maleon was not one to flaunt his power, and he was the leader of the Eight Great Dragon Kings, with almost no one to rival him within Kundara.
As Maleon had no reason to exert his power during the plan’s execution, this was effectively the first time Lennok had witnessed his spellcraft firsthand.
Lennok had assumed he was exceptionally skilled, being a Grand Spellcaster with the most stable hierarchy he had ever seen, but this exceeded all expectations.
‘Primitive Magic of Dragon-kind. And an ancient mystery that completely disregards the laws of spellcraft.’
Primitive Magic was an ancient form of magic that existed before spellcraft systems and categories were properly established.
It was, quite literally, the source of magic that existed even before the world fully took shape.
Supreme Primitive Magic, imbued with ancient mystery, was closer to divine authority than to spellcraft existing under fixed laws.
And Maleon’s Star-Linking Eight Extremes Style was precisely one of those spellcrafts at the pinnacle of Primitive Magic.
‘Each individual starlight surpasses Saint Wizard-level power. If such heat sources can be freely designated in terms of position coordinates immediately upon spell activation…’
It would literally be possible to make starlight erupt inside an opponent’s belly at the start of combat, blowing them apart.
PA-AAAAAHHH!!!
Maleon, enveloped in a shower of silver stars, was descending from the sky to the ground.
Every place Maleon passed, the debris of the shattered hall and broken glass were restored as if time were rewinding.
The mist raging outside the hall slowed, gradually returning to its original flow.
SWA-AAAAAH!!!
Silver starlight poured from the edge of the sky towards the ground, infusing abundant vitality into everything it touched.
“Oh, ohhh…!!”
“My body, it’s recovering…”
“Is this a blessing from Lord Maleon…?”
The exhausted Long-lived Beings one by one regained their vigor, and withered petals revived, lifting their heads.
A warm rain of life poured over all of Kundara simultaneously with Maleon’s descent.
As if the entire city was finally ready to accept the birth of an Ascendant, it slowly found stability after the upheaval.
SHWOOOO…!!!
Maleon’s colossal body, almost entirely nude and muscular, landed on the hall floor.
His presence, which had been eerily calm, now pulsed ceaselessly like a newborn star, filling the surroundings.
It was a weighty sensation, as if Maleon Gnosis’s vitality and will-thought were erupting and consuming the space of the hall.
“Lord Maleon…!!”
Even Long-lived Beings, approaching Maleon with joy, stumbled and sat down for a moment, pushed back by the exploding spiritual pressure.
WHOOSH!!
“……Huh?”
The Long-lived Beings looked bewildered, gasping for breath, unaware of what was pressing down on them.
But Maleon ignored them, his brilliant starry gaze fixed on Lennok.
THUD!!
The moment he took a step, it felt as if the very ground tilted.
A momentary illusion as Maleon’s contained presence disrupted the balance of the Eighth Tribulation, inclining it to one side.
He slowly moved towards Lennok amidst a chilling silence.
As if he knew what Lennok had done for this moment.
Lennok met Maleon’s gaze and tilted his head silently.
‘…I don’t know. Which one is it?’
Maleon Gnosis had clearly succeeded in the Promotion Ritual and reached Level 9.
The sound of the Horn of Commencement resonated throughout Kundara. A soul’s resonance, bursting forth with a mixture of life and miracle.
The silver meteor shower he wielded, and the rain of life he bestowed, were so warm.
Yet, Lennok could not be certain if Maleon truly possessed the same transcendence as the past Ascendants.
Heavenly Sight, Jindun, and Pyeonram. Monsters who had carried heavy burdens for immeasurable ages.
Had Maleon truly gained the same status as them, as he claimed?
“I’m tired,” Maleon said.
“It feels like I ran a very long race at full speed and only just reached the halfway point.”
“……”
“In a birth filled with nothing but pain… I felt only your will.”
Maleon’s voice, unlike before, carried a powerful resonance.
Sensing the emotions contained within that voice, Lennok momentarily halted his mana circulation.
“You… you kept guiding me. Didn’t you?”
“……That.”
“You turned back an ritual that should have failed, with your own hands.”
Maleon looked at Lennok, his eyes burning, and said.
“You changed my destiny. If not for you, I would have failed and died here.”
“……”
The emotion in Maleon’s voice was not ordinary joy or relief.
Lennok only understood its true nature after hearing Maleon’s next words.
“I saw your talent within it.”
To succeed in the Promotion Ritual, Lennok had directly manipulated the Promotion Magic Circle and guided the ritual to its end.
Everyone had witnessed how impossible that process was, but they hadn’t fully grasped its true value.
But Maleon, who had been directly dissolving within the Promotion Magic Circle, had felt it with his soul.
“I saw what level your talent had reached.”
“……”
How Lennok had completed and finished the ritual.
How he had manipulated mana and will-thought to draw forth miracles.
How he had created an opportunity for Maleon to choose.
Maleon, having become a part of the ritual and the magic circle itself, had observed it all.
The transcendent talent Lennok had acquired upon awakening in this world.
Maleon had, for a moment, observed it more closely than anyone else, and understood how unbelievably powerful it was.
Even after reaching Ascendant status, he did not feel satisfied or fulfilled with himself.
He had seen Lennok’s talent and recognized his own shortcomings and deficiencies.
“……Maleon.”
What Maleon had realized was not a great danger to Lennok.
Lennok’s talent was an absolute standard, unapproachable by anyone. A power that could not be harmed or threatened in any way.
Rather, having his penalties exposed would be incomparably fatal for Lennok.
The danger was not Lennok, but Maleon.
In the process of reconstituting himself to match his own answer, he had been forced to confront and understand Lennok’s talent.
In that process, he must have inevitably remembered his own talent and Lennok’s.
No one could guess how that would affect the new Ascendant.
“Are you… alright?”
“……”
In the Hall of the Eighth Tribulation, echoing with starlight, the Ascendant closed his eyes without answering.
The air was hot. In contrast, there was a silence that felt blood-chilling.
The moment Lennok’s fingers twitched, enduring the taut tension.
“I suppose there’s no helping it.”
Maleon grinned and opened his eyes.
“To still have such a long way to go even after becoming an Ascendant. Is saving myself truly this difficult?”
“……”
“I’ve lived for hundreds of years, but this is the first time I’ve so deeply recognized my own shortcomings.”
Maleon slowly turned around and muttered, tilting his head back.
“But precisely because of that, it’s worth challenging.”
“……You.”
The intensely tense air suddenly seemed to relax.
A peculiar sense of unity, as if the incomprehensible Ascendant had returned to the Maleon Lennok knew.
“Where… are you standing right now?”
Maleon shrugged at Lennok’s hesitant question.
“Well, I don’t know either. I’m not really sure how to describe this state.”
“……”
“There have been almost no Long-lived Beings in Kundara’s history who became Ascendants, so there’s no way to verify if I truly reached beyond.”
The eruption of will-thought, sparkling like stars, the unreserved crushing of other Long-lived Beings in the process.
The manipulation of galaxies, wielding unmanageable Primitive Magic as easily as breathing.
There was no knowing how long the miracles granted to Maleon would continue.
But if there was anything still anchoring Maleon Gnosis to this place.
“Shouldn’t I keep the promise I made with you?”
“……”
Even after becoming a Level 9 Ascendant, Maleon had not changed.
He still remembered and affirmed his promise, intending to fulfill it exactly as he had originally wished.
“You made me an Ascendant as promised, so now it’s my turn to keep my promise.”
Having said that, Maleon was now standing before the swirling darkness.
The dark path leading to the Trial of the Ninth Tribulation.
The entrance to where Kaiser Bajour’s final resting place was enshrined.
“Let’s go, Van.”
The Ascendant, who had turned to Lennok, said.
“As promised, I will take you beyond the Ninth Tribulation.”