Chapter 1097: Level 9 (15)
[Erosion Rate 79%]
[Erosion Rate 83%]
[Erosion Rate 87%]
……
[Erosion Rate 90%]
CRASH!!!
Silver starlight plummeted vertically, piercing through the fire-breathing salamander.
[SQUEEEEEEEEEK!!]
But even with the starlight bombardment tearing through its body, the salamander did not die.
It merely severed its entire burned and distorted lower half, then began to regenerate on the spot.
A corpse already dead. The fact that a mummy, decades old and abandoned in the Ninth Tribulation, possessed regenerative abilities no longer surprised him.
WHOOSH!!
The salamander, having instantly regenerated, swung its tail at supersonic speed.
Maleon, with both hands pressed to his forehead, slid backward as if pushed away.
BOOM!!
In a fleeting moment, Maleon’s form slid back tens of meters, pushed into the far reaches of the cavern.
The salamander roared ferociously, then spotted the silver starlight flickering at the tip of its tail.
HSSSSS…!!
The starlight clinging to the tail instantly incinerated the salamander’s body, reducing it to particles and erasing it.
The salamander shrieked and once again severed its tail, but it was already too late.
The starlight, having spread past its lower half to its upper body, engulfed the salamander’s massive form and utterly annihilated it.
“……Better than I expected. It worked well.”
Maleon, pushing himself up precariously against the cavern wall, chuckled.
His form swayed slightly, then slowly regained its balance.
Maleon slowly turned and approached Lennok.
“Approaching and dealing with them directly saves a lot of mana, which is good.”
Maleon stopped in front of Lennok and said quietly.
“I mixed in Property Transformation, burning it before it could even attempt to regenerate.”
“……”
“As time goes on…… you seem to be getting the hang of it, don’t you?”
Maleon said that, and tried to take a step, but then his knee buckled and he slumped to the ground.
THUD!!
“Maleon.”
Lennok said, looking at Maleon with a grim expression.
“It’s too dangerous now. We need to change our approach here.”
How many corpses of Long-lived Beings wandering the Ninth Tribulation had they faced to get this far?
How many mummies of top-tier Long-lived Beings, shrouded in Invasion Domains, had they killed and absorbed their Dead Thoughts?
More than ten times they had passed through partitions, enduring increasingly high Erosion Rates, and engaged in excessive combat.
His once dazzling scales were now dulled, drenched in blood and bodily fluids, and starlight rotated emptily at his fingertips.
“The burden on your body and mind is causing a detrimental feedback loop. The process of absorbing Dead Thoughts itself must be an immense strain.”
“……”
“While it may not be your absolute limit yet, going beyond this point could be irreversible. We need to switch roles, even now.”
“……No. We can’t.”
Maleon said with a fading, labored voice.
“If an unqualified being kills the Founders, their Dead Thoughts will rampage even more violently than they are now.”
“……”
“I can entrust you with opening the gates. But facing the Founders themselves…… I must do it personally.”
Maleon forced a smile and extended his arm towards Lennok.
“It’s a bit hard to stand up…… Could you help me for a moment?”
With Lennok’s physical strength, let alone supporting Maleon, he might be crushed under just one of his arms.
But Lennok, about to say something, eventually reached out his hand towards Maleon’s arm.
CRACKLE…!!
Dozens of Mana Threads precisely gripped Maleon’s body, helping him to his feet.
“Hoo…… that’s better.”
Maleon sighed heavily, looking at Lennok who was supporting him.
“There’s not much left. You must feel it too.”
“……”
As Maleon said, Lennok also instinctively felt that the end was near.
The outpost created outside the Outer Sea. The deepest part of this Spacetime of the Ninth Tribulation, designed like a gigantic space station.
“I plan to use all my remaining mana to break through.”
A sudden focus returned to Maleon’s hazy eyes.
“From now on, I won’t stop, so keep supporting me like this.”
They headed to the deepest part of a colossal, transparent space station.
Huge partitions, large enough to comfortably accommodate gigantic Long-lived Beings whose main bodies measured tens of meters.
Through them, an uncountable bombardment of starlight fell, indiscriminately piercing the mummies of Long-lived Beings.
Primitive Magic: Star-Linking Eight Extremes Style
Seventh Form - External Method
[Jar in the Sky]
RUMBLE CRUMBLE CRACK!!!
The starlight, falling at supersonic speed, curved in strange trajectories, undergoing repeated diffuse reflections.
The starlight, having pierced through the mummies of Long-lived Beings and curved, exploded on its own, filling the surroundings with a feast of stars.
A world within a jar. The secret art of the Star-Linking Eight Extremes Style that literally transformed the entire space into a celestial paradise.
[SCREEEEEEEEECH!!]
Du-du-du-du!!!
A gaunt mermaid shrieked hideously, and a catfish covered in jewels thrashed about, shaking the very ground.
Amidst the mummies, which were convulsing and wildly firing Invasion Domains, Lennok, supporting Maleon, laboriously moved forward.
“Maleon……!!”
He was forcibly supporting Maleon’s massive body by manipulating Mana Threads, but even that had its limits.
Maleon, leaning on Lennok, had his head bowed low, his steps having stopped a long time ago.
Only his outstretched hand, amidst all this, proved that he had not yet lost consciousness.
CRACKLE!
Lennok gritted his teeth, increased the tension of the Mana Threads, and shouted.
“Stay awake. If you lose consciousness here, it’s over!!”
It wasn’t just a matter of not being able to enter the Ninth Tribulation without Maleon’s help.
This was an extreme demonic realm where oxygen and moisture disappeared, mana and will-thought were gnawed away, and the Mindscape withered.
Either way, losing consciousness here might mean never waking up again.
[Erosion Rate 93%]
The Erosion Rate displayed on the distant partition.
Only that number indicated that the end of their journey was near.
But Maleon’s outstretched hand, even amidst this, wavered and slowly descended.
Each time, the starlight Maleon had been unleashing dimmed, and the mummies rampaged more fiercely.
[SCREEEEEECH……!!]
[……Huma……n……]
The mermaid’s screams subsided, and the catfish stammered, then uttered words.
As soon as the Primitive Magic bombardment weakened, the mummies of the Long-lived Beings regained their strength and began searching for them.
Lennok let out a cold sigh, gritted his teeth, and pulled out a thick ampoule from his pocket.
CLICK!
Confirming that a sharp needle had sprung out, he carefully aimed the ampoule.
Such a mere needle would surely snap like a toothpick if blocked by a dragon’s scale.
It was fortunate that Maleon’s scales were parted all over his body due to his injuries.
Lennok laboriously plunged the ampoule into Maleon’s nape.
THWUCK!!
“……”
The moment the ampoule was inserted, Maleon’s body, slumped against Lennok, twitched.
A strange phenomenon, as if a spinal reflex was forcibly activated, stimulating his entire body, rather than Maleon’s own will.
Immediately after, Maleon laboriously lifted his eyelids.
Maleon, looking around with hazy eyes, then looked at Lennok, on whom he was leaning, and asked with a bewildered expression.
“Van……?”
“The situation was urgent, so I used an extreme measure.”
Lennok said with a grim expression.
“Are you conscious? Can you speak?”
“……You forcibly stimulated me to wake me up, did you?”
Maleon, instantly grasping the situation, ran a hand over his face.
“That was a good choice. I don’t know what kind of drug it was. It was a bit exhilarating.”
“……It shouldn’t have been something that would just end with ‘exhilarating’.”
The substance Lennok had just injected into Maleon was no ordinary stimulant or painkiller.
It was a spinal nerve stimulation accelerant, which he had used on Peshia Grisbern during the Level 8 Transcendent meeting.
He had directly injected that extreme drug, which forcibly stimulated damaged nerves to temporarily improve a condition, into Maleon’s spinal cord.
But Maleon was shrugging off the stimulant that even Peshia couldn’t endure without convulsing from the intense pain.
Was his pain resistance on an extraordinary level, befitting an Ascendant, or was his body so broken that even such a strong stimulus felt dull?
“Thanks to that, I’m feeling a bit more clear-headed…… That’s a relief.”
Before Lennok could ponder that, Maleon raised his hand again.
“I will buy us time…….”
Primitive Magic: Star-Linking Eight Extremes Style
Sixth Form - External Method
[Waning Moon, Dawning Star]
WHOOOOSH!!!
Starlight exploding from all directions twisted like a hazy mist, thickly obscuring the surroundings.
The mist created by Maleon spread to all sides of the partitions, preventing the mummies from finding them.
[OHHHHHHH!!!]
[KIIIIIIK-KEE-KEE-KEE-KEE!!]
The chilling Telepathic Transmission of the emotionless mummies resonated wildly from all directions.
“Quickly, behind the partition……”
“I know……!”
Killing their presence by covering Maleon and himself with mana, Lennok slowly moved to the next partition.
Never hurrying, maintaining composure until the end, and not losing their initial speed.
He pressed the Ruyi Orb Maleon had made against the partition to activate it, and designated the operation command.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!!!
The moment the partition began to open, he immediately stopped the command and issued the open/close command again.
A very brief gap created as the partition instantly opened and closed.
Through it, he cast Flicker on Maleon and himself and leaped over the partition.
FLASH!!
Lennok and Maleon tumbled into the new corridor just as the partition immediately sealed shut.
Immediately after, the partition Lennok was leaning against shook violently with a resounding roar.
CRASHHHHHHH!!
[SCREEEEEEEECH!!]
The still-living mermaid and catfish mummies had charged at incredible speed and slammed into the partition.
He could feel the partition shaking and slowly melting from the Invasion Domains they wielded.
THUD!! THUD!!
His body trembled from the impacts on the partition, even being forcibly knocked down by the recoil.
Lennok gasped for breath, forced a wry smile, and got up.
He understood why Maleon had vehemently discouraged him from stepping forward, just from that single spell usage.
“The mana consumption…… is utterly absurd. Almost all the Flicker I had stored is gone from that one use.”
Flicker spellcraft consumed so much mana that Lennok usually preemptively incanted and stored it in the Papyrus Argenteus.
The Papyrus left by Jindun was excellent at storing mana and spellcraft.
Yet, it had just used up all its reserves simply to move Maleon and Lennok a few meters forward.
Proof that mana consumption and efficiency were falling to an absurd level in this space.
This must be why Maleon couldn’t immediately kill the mummies of Long-lived Beings despite wildly firing Primitive Magic.
“No matter what being…… the reduction in spell output inside the Ninth Tribulation cannot be ignored.”
Maleon, leaning his shoulder against the transparent glass exterior wall, said with hazy eyes.
“That’s because this Spacetime of the Ninth Tribulation is, from the very beginning, inextricably close to the Outer Sea.”
“……”
“Therefore, to truly overcome the sea of darkness, without succeeding in ascension—”
Maleon murmured, staring blankly at the darkness of the Outer Sea reflected beyond the glass wall.
“Ah, I can see it in the distance even now.”
“……You can see what?”
“Van. You must not trust Nives. The Elixir of Ascension she desires is dangerous.”
Maleon said quietly.
“I have a plan to enter the Ninth Tribulation, would you like to hear it?”
“……!”
Suddenly, Lennok felt goosebumps run down his spine and grabbed Maleon by the collar.
“Maleon!!”
“At the end of the Spacetime of the Eighth Tribulation, there remains the Promotion Magic Circle left by Jindun. If we use it, we can enter the Ninth Tribulation together—”
“Maleon, snap out of it!!”
Confusion of memories. Powerful hallucinations to the point of confusing the situation.
He had continuously engaged in combat with his injured body, absorbing an immeasurable amount of Dead Thoughts.
Could even a Level 9 Ascendant’s mind waver when pushed to such a limit?
‘No, even considering that, the extent to which he’s affected by Dead Thoughts is excessive.’
Lennok looked at Maleon, whose eyes were hazy, with a sunken gaze.
He realized that the abnormal symptoms, which he had thought were due to Maleon being pushed to his limit, were far more serious than necessary.
It was a clear fact that Transcendent-rank individuals of Level 8 and 9, who had transcended hierarchy and gained qualification, were particularly unstable mentally.
But even with that in mind, the degree to which Maleon was affected by external Dead Thoughts was abnormally excessive.
A sense of incongruity, as if his mental barrier itself was unusually weak, regardless of his powerful body, spellcraft, outstanding mana, or conviction.
‘Maleon’s mental barrier is unusually weak. Why?’
No, in fact, he knew what the problem was.
The only secret Maleon had not revealed to Lennok until now.
The secret Maleon had tried to hide from everyone, even as he was reborn as an Ascendant.
The true form of Maleon Gnosis, the Gemstone Dragon, hidden behind an ambiguous Disguise.
Some ‘secret’ existing within Maleon’s true form was making Maleon disproportionately susceptible to the Dead Thoughts he absorbed.
Lennok, having reached that conclusion, looked down at Maleon with a grim expression.
‘……Should I reveal it?’
If he wanted to confirm what secret Maleon was hiding, he could.
Lennok had thought of a countermeasure the moment he heard about Maleon’s Disguise.
The ‘spellcraft’ for it, he had possessed since before departing for Kundara.
But if he used it now, he didn’t know how Maleon Gnosis would change.
In the worst case, it could become a fatal move that ruined everything, now that they had come this far.
The deepest part of the Ninth Tribulation. With almost no time left until the Erosion Rate reached 100%.
Was there a truth that needed to be confirmed, even if it meant overturning the entire plan with Maleon at this very moment?
As Lennok thought so and quietly raised his hand towards Maleon.
[Intruder……]
A chilling female Telepathic Transmission echoed from behind them.
Like a creaking machine, yet her voice carried an unmistakably clear murderous intent.
A woman with white wings spread, looking gaunt, stared at Lennok.
Lennok inadvertently looked at her appearance and retorted.
“……An angel?”
Olivera had said that among the True Blood vampires, there were some who maintained their lineage even beyond worlds.
What if among them, the [Angels] of the Second World had remained?
If, among the angels abandoned by the Pontiff, some had preserved their True Blood beyond worlds to create descendants.
[Don’t, come……]
The withered, bony female angel opened her mouth, creaking.
[This, is not, where, you, belong……]
“……You.”
Lennok asked.
“Do you know who I am?”
[……]
The angel did not answer.
Her desiccated eyeballs creaked as she looked at Lennok’s face, then at Maleon again.
She merely slowly extended her hand towards Lennok.
[You, him…… him, you……]
“……”
[Our, god, failed, god……]
CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE……!!
The angel’s broken voice twisted chillingly.
[Why, did you abandon, me?]
“……!!!”
SHIIIIING!!!
From the angel’s fingertip, pointed at Lennok, a pale light began to rapidly converge.