Chapter 1092: Level 9 (10)
“The darkness that obscured the Ninth Tribulation is gone, but the labyrinth itself, the subject of the trial, has not vanished.”
Hwoooosh…!!
Every time Maleon spoke, his deep Telepathic Transmission echoed, accompanying his voice.
“Normally, upon successfully completing the Promotion Ritual, one should have broken through the trial and arrived at the Ninth Tribulation, but an anomaly during the ritual caused the trial to halt.”
The vocal resonance from his throat and the Telepathic Transmission resonating with mana simultaneously harmonized, but it wasn’t Maleon’s own will. It was simply the surrounding mana naturally responding and resonating, like a law of nature, as he moved his body.
A Level 9 Ascendant, constructing themselves into a world of their own.
Their very existence reorganized the surrounding spacetime according to their own laws, naturally bringing it under their control.
“Therefore, to enter the Ninth Tribulation, we must force our way through the trial–”
[Listening to this is unnecessarily dizzying.]
At Olivera’s chilling Telepathic Transmission, Maleon’s words abruptly ceased.
Watching Maleon from beyond her veil, she spoke coldly.
[You couldn’t possibly be unable to control overlapping sounds. Are you trying to show off what you’ve become?]
“Ah, my apologies.”
Only then did Maleon calm his mana, adjusted his voice in an instant while touching his throat.
“My mana manipulation and spellcraft output have more than doubled compared to before, so it took some time to re-establish my senses. I apologize if it was unpleasant.”
“……”
“Van? Are you alright?”
“That’s what I’d like to ask you, rather.”
Lennok replied, observing Maleon, who was calmly arranging his presence.
“It was a ritual to redefine yourself to become an Ascendant. There was even an unforeseen variable in the process.”
“……”
“Even if the ritual succeeded, the possibility of your mind and body being stable is extremely low. It would be normal for you to be in a very dangerous state, rather.”
That day, when Lennok reached Level 8 during his decisive battle with Madrich Onnion.
Lennok had to acknowledge his extremely unstable state after transcending his rank and took a long time to stabilize.
If that was the case even when rising from Level 7 to Level 8, what kind of after-effects would reaching Level 9 entail?
Even if he appeared normal on the surface, it wouldn’t be strange if Maleon’s inner state was extremely unstable.
“Hmm, I’m not so sure about that…”
Maleon, wearing a serious expression in response to Lennok’s words, said.
“For now, I can speak normally. My eyes move well, and I can hear clearly.”
“……”
Maleon, propping his chin with his hand, pulling at his eyes and ears once each.
Lennok forced a wry smile, and he felt Olivera’s disdainful gaze.
But Maleon, unconcerned by their reactions, rubbed his shoulders and said.
“There are no issues with my senses or memories. Rather, I’m a bit overwhelmed trying to process the newly perceived things.”
“Is that so…”
He had worried about what Maleon would become after ascending, but for now, he wasn’t much different from before. Aside from being a little more honest than before, almost no significant changes were observed.
But was the fact that Maleon hadn’t changed a normal outcome of the Promotion Ritual?
It was such a massive change that it could fundamentally alter one’s entire inner self.
For him to remain unchanged after undergoing such a Metamorphosis might actually be the strange thing.
However, Maleon seemed to have already anticipated the difference between the parts of him that had changed and those that had not.
“It seems countless new senses have awakened.”
Maleon’s gaze momentarily drifted away.
“Abstract concepts and intuitions I couldn’t understand. Prescience transcending the timelines of past and future. The power to reach into the origin of mana.”
“……”
“I fully grasp all of it, yet it’s difficult to explain in words. It will take a long time to establish this as a theory.”
Maleon’s gaze, fixed on Lennok, suddenly intensified.
“All of this is a miracle made possible by your help.”
“……”
“You risked your life to help my challenge succeed. You reversed a moment that should have failed and handed it back to me in its complete form.”
The Ascendant said.
“Witnessing that, I too received an immeasurable boon. If I haven’t changed, it must surely be thanks to that.”
Because he had observed Lennok’s Talent during the process of assisting with the Promotion Ritual?
Because he became the very culmination of Lennok’s Talent, Maleon achieved even better results than expected?
If he himself was so certain, then what Maleon felt was probably close to the truth.
“The grace I have received from you today is truly an immense favor, one that I could not repay even if I dedicated my entire life to it.”
Maleon’s eyes, pointing to the colossal labyrinth, deepened.
“Now, it’s time for me to repay it.”
“……Becoming an Ascendant isn’t the end. Entering the Ninth Tribulation like this would be extremely dangerous.”
Normally, Maleon should have reached the Ninth Tribulation, transcending the trial, simultaneously with his ascension.
However, due to the Black Lightning that fell from the Outer Sea during the ritual, the gateway to the Ninth Tribulation had stalled.
Thanks to Lennok’s help, Maleon was reborn as an Ascendant, but the Trial of the Ninth Tribulation had not yet been passed.
He had to lead his unstable, newly Ascended body, pass the trial, and reach the Ninth Tribulation.
This would entail considerable risk for both Maleon and Lennok.
“No, precisely because of that, we must proceed immediately.”
But Maleon, despite knowing this fact, shook his head firmly.
“If not now, while you’re cooperating with the ritual, we cannot cross into the Ninth Tribulation together. If we try again later, I will only pass the trial alone.”
“……”
“If I am to keep my promise to you, we must proceed immediately. It’s now or never.”
Whoosh!!
Maleon, extending a colossal dragon’s head right before Lennok’s nose, spoke with burning enthusiasm.
“I beg you. Help me repay what you’ve done.”
[You weren’t an ungrateful animal who forgot a favor after enjoying a moment of glory, after all.]
Olivera, standing beside Lennok, laughed.
[Not bad. With this, you won’t be wasting your time in the Ninth Tribulation.]
“……”
[In a situation as pressed for time as this, increasing our company would be a luxury.]
Olivera’s cold lips, visible beyond her veil, were momentarily obscured, as if suppressing emotion.
[And if one of us must go, it should be you, not me.]
“……Olivera.”
[Go and meet Kaiser. I will wait here.]
She whispered as she turned, her robe fluttering.
[Tell me what happened at the end of the Ninth Tribulation. That will be enough for us.]
“……”
Though she had been with Lennok for Kaiser Bajour’s sake, was she ultimately giving up herself?
Perhaps she thought that Lennok, free from The Prohibition, should go instead of her, a failure of the project.
But Lennok had not forgotten Olivera’s answer from Nives’s nest.
Her answer, that she had already decided on a response she would hold to until the end of her life.
As Lennok pondered this, lost in thought.
“Hm? What are you talking about, all of a sudden?”
Maleon asked, eyes wide.
“Of course, you must come too. I was speaking with that in mind from the very beginning.”
[……What?]
“Did you not also assist Van in the Promotion Ritual? I clearly felt it within the magic circle.”
Maleon raised a large hand and pointed at Olivera’s veil.
“The Seven Debts Jewels Mystic Eye that resides within that veil. Even if it was for Van and not for me, you aided the ritual by taxing your own body.”
[……]
“I know it was done with a great burden. In that case, you too should rightfully achieve what you desire.”
Kwoooh…!!!
The moment Maleon drew forth his mana, brilliant halos of light began to converge around the Ascendant.
He formed a small galaxy centered on himself, directly shaping and spinning stars.
That alone warped the surrounding space as if it were being crushed, emitting strange resonant sounds incessantly.
Kiiyuuung!!!!
Standing before the ramp that overlooked the labyrinth, Maleon slowly thumped his chest and said.
“Let’s go together. I will personally take you to the far side of the Spacetime of the Ninth Tribulation.”
“You know, saying that without even a stitch of clothes on doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, does it?”
Lennok chuckled and stood beside Maleon.
“Alright. There’s no reason to refuse if you’re willing to go out of your way to help us.”
Lennok met Maleon’s grinning gaze and said.
“Ascendant. You’ll have to continue being my loyal backer from now on.”
“Indeed.”
[……Ha.]
While Olivera shook her head in exasperation, Maleon was engulfed in a swirling cluster of stars.
With brilliant halos of light draped over his shoulders, the Ascendant moved unhesitatingly towards the labyrinth.
“……Maleon.”
Regnus, standing beside Maleon, called out to him in a firm voice.
“Do you truly believe this is acceptable?”
“……”
“If you take your place in the Ninth Tribulation and move Kundara, there might be no turning back. Is that truly what you desire?”
Regnus reiterated, seeing Maleon not turn around.
“If you believe that simply moving the city beyond The Veil will solve everything, you are mistaken. At the Central Front–”
“Monsters who have transcended the cycle of lifespan are running wild, trying to overcome the inevitable end,” Maleon interrupted Regnus, responding.
Slowly turning his gaze, Maleon looked down at Regnus.
“I know. Everyone has known for a long time.”
“……Maleon.”
“I knew that living a little longer than Short-lived Beings was no great boast.”
Without using any power, without any will or emotion, he met their gazes.
That alone caused their presences to overwhelmingly tilt towards Maleon, and Regnus’s face turned pale.
“We might live a little longer than humans or Beast-kin and witness the moment the world perishes.”
Maleon said.
“But by then, we will no longer be beings capable of making any choices.”
“……”
“When everyone says it’s too early, when everyone clamors that it’s too urgent, now is precisely when I intend to test it.”
Kugugugung…!!!
The moment Maleon stepped forward, the darkness engulfing the gateway receded a step.
The Ascendant’s mere presence pushed back the outer darkness, filling the void with dazzling starlight.
Paahhh!!!
Becoming a brilliant star himself, he illuminated the darkness and tore open a path.
Silver Star (Eunseong). As his epithet and the origin of his name dictated, he became a star rising in the Universe of Mist.
“Whether we are truly beings who can choose our own ending.”
There was no further answer.
Pah!!
As Maleon extended his hand, dazzling halos of light appeared beneath Lennok and Olivera’s feet.
The Star-Linking Eight Extremes Style, a Primitive Magic that freely creates and manipulates ‘stars’ at desired spacetime coordinates.
The moment Maleon, holding the two in starlight, took a step forward.
Kwaaaang!!!
Maleon, transformed into a brilliant silver star, plunged diagonally into the center of the labyrinth at tremendous speed.
Deurureureuk!!!
The walls of the labyrinth rose from all directions, blocking Maleon’s charge.
Thousands of complex spell formations engraved throughout the labyrinth activated, isolating space and beginning to nullify physical impacts.
Woo woo woong!!!
The entire labyrinth vibrated violently, seemingly neutralizing the impact from outside.
The Trial of the Ninth Tribulation, borrowing the essence of the Hanghasa Labyrinth directly created by Jindun.
A gateway permitted only to those who have earned the right to challenge ascension.
“Ooooooh!!!!”
Kwakwakwang!!!
The silver star rotating around Maleon pierced, incinerated, and shattered the walls of the labyrinth.
He destroyed by force a labyrinth that should have been painstakingly navigated by deciphering each secret of Barrier Spellcraft.
“Ugh…!”
The recoil reached Lennok, who was watching from beside Maleon.
His entire body shook violently, the shock extending to his mind, and his mana and Will-thought resonated fiercely.
The will of the Ascendant who had already departed, and the will of the newly born Ascendant, clashed, extending their impact to the far side of the Universe of Mist.
Finally, they pushed back the mist filling the other side of The Veil, revealing the dark sky above.
Kwaaaahhh!!!!
“……!!!!”
So that’s why he wasn’t just breaking through the labyrinth, but destroying it by force.
It was to forcibly generate an impact to push back the spacetime of the mist itself.
The sky, cleared of the mist surrounding Outer Tribulation City, did not reflect the Central Front outside The Veil.
Just dark, impenetrable gloom.
The chaotic realm beyond, filled only with transcendent madness incomprehensible to human senses and intellect.
“There was a direct passage to the Outer Sea beyond the other side of The Veil……!!!”
“It’s possible because it’s a Star-Patterned Ritual Garment using the Shadow of the Star as a medium.”
Maleon grinned and asked.
“You must have heard where to go after passing the Trial of the Ninth Tribulation, right?”
“That’s–”
“Upwards.”
Kwaaang!!!
The moment Maleon lifted his head, his body, which had been smashing straight through the labyrinth at incredible speed, shot vertically upwards.
The mist split in all directions, and he ascended at immense speed towards the fully revealed Outer Sea.
“The Spacetime of the Ninth Tribulation is directly beyond the Boundary Line of the World, in the Outer Sea.”
Kwawoooong…!!!!
Maleon’s silver scales glowed red with intense frictional heat, emitting smoke.
The surrounding air burned so intensely that it was instantly depleted, making respiration impossible.
The heat of friction was so immense that even a normal Superhuman would instantly melt and evaporate.
An eerie chill, as if to freeze everything, poured down from beyond the Outer Sea, intersecting simultaneously.
The world before his eyes bleached white, then was dyed red and blue, as darkness and light danced and mingled.
An ocean of darkness incomprehensible to human senses.
A world of chaos where physical laws were warped, inverted, and mixed.
He plunged directly into a corner of it, riding Maleon’s power, ascending endlessly.
A vast sense of exhaustion, as if Lennok himself, and even Olivera’s presence, were evaporating and disappearing.
The pressure difference between the world and the sea caused their minds and bodies to shake and churn as if being ground down.
Cheol-peok!
With a strange sound, like passing through a film, Lennok tumbled onto a cold surface.
Kung!!!
He hadn’t even thought of moving his body to regain balance.
He extended Mana Threads from both hands and affixed them to what seemed to be the ground to reduce his speed.
Kki-gi-gig…!!
The harsh sound of ropes pulling taught. Realizing his hearing had returned, Lennok opened his eyes.
“This place is…”
Whiooooh!!!
A colossal cavern where everything around was made of transparent glass.
Walls, floor, ceiling. The entire exterior was composed of transparent, cold glass.
No, perhaps it should be called ice.
This cold surface, so sharp it felt like his skin would freeze upon contact, surely couldn’t be called ordinary glass.
If not for the barrier he wore on his skin, his flesh might have been torn away.
“……Olivera?”
A woman, her face veiled, stood with her back to Lennok, a few steps away.
[Look outside, Adamant Thunder.]
“……”
[The void is so close to us.]
Goohhh!!!
Beyond the transparent, glass-like outer wall, only darkness filled the space.
An eerie sensation, as if trapped within a glass structure in the middle of a dark universe.
Would this be what it felt like to look at the desolate universe from inside a giant, transparent space station?
This was the deepest and outermost sanctuary of Outer Tribulation City Kundara.
The Spacetime of the Ninth Tribulation.
[I have never envied the lifespan of Long-lived Beings, but I can only express awe for what they accomplished with that time.]
Olivera spoke softly.
[This may perhaps be the last frontier remaining outside the Outer Sea.]
“……”
The Ninth Tribulation of Kundara referred not to the inside of Outer Tribulation City, but to the space existing outside the Outer Sea.
Why did the founders who created Outer Tribulation City construct and maintain the Spacetime of the Ninth Tribulation in such an extreme environment?
“The internal space is overwhelmingly larger than it appears.”
Lennok suppressed his疑问 and quickly looked around.
“They’ve warped and inflated the internal space. The interior of the bulkheads must be dozens of times larger than it seems.”
Only the outer walls, including the ceiling and floor facing the Outer Sea, were made of transparent glass.
The bulkheads installed in each sector, and the internal spaces isolated by them, were not visible to the naked eye.
“Move. We can’t stay still here.”
Lennok stumbled to his feet and pulled out an ampoule from his pocket.
“Maleon’s presence isn’t felt. In this space, from the start–”
Kwajijijik-!
Lennok’s Will-thought and mana were incessantly being crushed and shattered.
Upon entering the Ninth Tribulation, a suffocating pressure, as if his very soul was being crushed.
Was this the Eternal Pressure (Yeong-ap) Maleon had mentioned, the price to be paid by those unqualified when reaching the Ninth Tribulation?
He did nothing, yet his breath caught in his throat, and his energy seemed to drain away in an instant.
Maleon, who had brought them here, was now nowhere to be seen.
If they couldn’t endure long, they had to move.
More importantly, Maleon and Regnus had warned–
Kwajik!!
Behind Lennok, something stomped its foot with a harsh vibration.
The floor shook violently with the tremor, and Lennok, gasping for breath, stumbled.
“……!!!”
His mana reacted before his body could feel it.
He simultaneously erected a Circular Barrier and used Flicker, designated his evasion direction, then began layered incantations of lightning magic.
Flash!!
Lennok, having risen into the sky of the Ninth Tribulation, gripped a tingling Lightning Spear in one hand and twisted his body for a moment.
His movement halted abruptly at the sight of a colossal turtle glaring at him from the ground.
“……Wait.”
Its entire body ragged like a tattered cloth, its shell broken and crumbling—he had seen this form somewhere before.
The sanctuary displayed in the Hall of the Eighth Tribulation. Aitalon’s Spring, used for converting lifespan.
The Eternal Turtle, said to be the longest-lived among Long-lived Beings, and a statue created to honor Kundara’s founders.
It bore an astonishing resemblance to the turtle statue displayed at Aitalon’s Spring.
[Adamant Thunder!]
Reacting to Olivera’s sharp Telepathic Transmission, Lennok was about to launch his Lightning Spear when.
Kwawoooong!!!
From the far end of the corridor, a dazzling silver star exploded, rotating and accelerating.
Eight Forms - Outer Law
Mass Transformation
An intense heat source, containing immense thermal energy, repeatedly pierced and launched through the sturdy bulkheads.
From beyond the transparent glass chamber, it struck hundreds of meters away, directly above the head of the turtle corpse.
[Meteor Cannon]
Kwaaaahhh!!!
“……!!!”
The dazzling starlight bombardment swept over the Eternal Turtle’s corpse, vaporizing it.
Without even a whimper, the Eternal Turtle’s body was filled with silver radiance and exploded.
Not a drop of blood emerged from its shriveled body, only tattered skin fluttering in the air.
Peoong!!
Maleon stood behind where the Eternal Turtle had burst like a balloon, his hand extended.
“Glad you’re safe.”
“……Maleon?”
Lennok, using mana to land on the ground, stiffened his expression upon seeing Maleon.
“You, your body…”
Chee-ii-eek!!
The silver scales were glowing red, emitting smoke, and blood flowed from between his ruptured skin.
His mana or Will-thought wasn’t damaged, but physically, he appeared significantly injured.
Noticing Lennok’s gaze, Maleon gave a wry smile and covered the broken scales with one hand.
“It’s nothing. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“……”
“However, it seems forcing one’s way up to the Ninth Tribulation wasn’t as easy as I thought.”
Was this the price for enduring the recoil of forcibly breaking through the Trial of the Ninth Tribulation with his own body?
It was clear that Maleon had suffered damage that even his immense regenerative power couldn’t easily heal.
No, perhaps one should rather marvel at his transcendent durability, having broken through the Ninth Tribulation bare-bodied and only shedding a little blood.
“Damage to an imitated body isn’t a big problem for me. The problem lies elsewhere, rather.”
Maleon casually changed the subject and said.
“As you already know, what roams the Ninth Tribulation are not mere monsters. They are far more hideous and noble beings.”
“……The Founders.”
“Indeed.”
Maleon nodded.
“The founders who created Kundara. They are roaming this sanctuary as mummies, unable to die or decay in this Outer Sea.”
The statues commemorating the founders that existed in the Hall of the Eighth Tribulation.
But why were there no living founders or even tombstones honoring deceased founders within Outer Tribulation City?
For Long-lived Beings living for hundreds of years, it wouldn’t be strange for founders to still be alive and remaining in the city.
The answer was right here.
“Beings who created Kundara and perfected it through their deaths. To pass through the Ninth Tribulation, we must face them.”
“……”
“The death of the founders will be lurking behind each bulkhead isolating the sectors of the Ninth Tribulation. It will be by no means easy.”
‘The things that roam’ the Ninth Tribulation, as Maleon mentioned and Regnus warned.
Not mere monsters, but the remains of the highest-ranking Long-lived Beings who founded Kundara – was this who they would have to face now?
“Most of them are Transcendent beings who either accumulated immeasurably high ranks or whose very existence is akin to an innate ability.”
Maleon’s gaze turned towards the Eternal Turtle he had defeated.
“While it may not be difficult in the outer regions of the Ninth Tribulation as it is now, as we delve deeper, we will encounter beings who retain their power from life.”
“……As we proceed further into the Ninth Tribulation, does the boundary between life and death blur?”
What did it mean for the dead to still preserve their bodies and roam this space?
What kind of environment would the Tenth Coffer, located at the deepest part of the Ninth Tribulation, possess?
As a strong sense of unease pierced his mind, Lennok’s expression momentarily furrowed.
“But don’t worry.”
Kuruurung…!!
Maleon, getting to his feet, turned to Lennok and spoke with glowing silver eyes.
“Because I’m here with you to help with that.”
“……Maleon.”
“Of course, I can’t say that what we have to do in this Ninth Tribulation from now on will be safe–”
Maleon smiled and stepped forward.
“Don’t worry and trust me. There’s much to gain from a place where such beings once existed.”
“To gain?”
“The entire Ninth Tribulation is a colossal tomb and an ark for preserving the deaths of the founders.”
Maleon said that and turned his body around.
“That’s why the treasures and artifacts that the founders possessed are stored here.”
“That’s…”
“Myth-grade artifacts crafted from the body parts of True Blood species. Various armaments created by pushing the innate abilities and talents of Long-lived Beings to their extreme.”
“……”
“When I said I would help you in the Ninth Tribulation, it wasn’t simply to lend you my power and qualifications.”
Maleon, looking back at a speechless Lennok, flashed a rare, mischievous smile.
“Before undertaking something big, shouldn’t you take care of what needs to be taken care of first?”