Chapter 1100: Level 9 (18)
Kaiser Bajour’s preserved, headless corpse, set against the backdrop of a desolate universe.
Maleon Gnosis, revealing his monstrous two-headed dragon form, screamed in agony.
And the ‘Dead Head’ clung to Maleon’s body, speaking to him.
The end of the Ninth Tribulation. The final journey, reaching the innermost Tenth Coffer.
But Lennok, transcending what he thought was the end, was peering into a deeper, darker secret.
Kaiser’s conclusion. The secret Maleon had hidden. The aggregation of dead thoughts remaining within the Ninth Tribulation.
All of it seemed to connect, hurtling towards an irreversible catastrophe.
“After the three possible conclusions a life could meet were lost, life and death became one and the same for us.”
“……”
“But that’s only true for this world. I couldn’t be sure if my arrangements would work properly in the Ninth Tribulation, which exists beyond the Outer Sea.”
A strange, low voice, devoid of emotion.
Was it the natural resonance of the Dead Head’s vocal cords, or the entity’s original voice?
Such concern faded as the entity calmly explained why it had appeared.
“A very powerful inflection point, one that could twist causality. Otherwise, my dead thoughts would not have awakened, but…”
The Dead Head’s blurry gaze fixed on Lennok.
“I always thought there would be a major incident over Kaiser Bajour’s corpse, someday, before everything reached its finale.”
“……”
“I failed once before, but for such an opportunity to come again, I can only call it fate.”
The Head’s voice, utterly composed, declared its decision as it looked at Lennok.
“If it is fate, I am willing to grasp its hand.”
“…Enough with the useless explanations.”
Click!!
Lennok injected an ampoule of stimulant he pulled from his pocket, gazing at Seonjong.
“I know who Faud Older is. And I know he couldn’t possibly be here.”
“……”
Seonjong (Good End), the Ascendant. Also known as Faud Older, the Usurper.
The Evil Star of Kundara. The Rebel Sovereign. The Guardian of Primitive Magic. A True Bloodline from beyond the continent, bearing all sorts of wicked aliases.
A traitor who intervened in the project to steal Kaiser’s body, and an Ascendant who reached Level 9.
But Lennok already knew how Seonjong had reached Level 9.
Seonjong (善終) literally means a proper death. Or a word representing a holy death.
It referred to the origin of Faud Older, who became an Ascendant through the upheaval of death.
“An Ascendant who reached Level 9 through death wouldn’t abandon the realm they built and regain life.”
Lennok’s gaze, fixed on the Head clinging to Maleon’s body, turned icy.
“A being not an Ascendant, yet close to the essence of one. Are you something like the dead thoughts left behind by Seonjong?”
“That wouldn’t be wrong to say.”
The Head readily assented.
“I am Faud Older himself, and also the dead thoughts he left behind, and the ‘life’ he lived.”
“Life?”
“Life and death are one, like two sides of a coin; I had to discard one to become an Ascendant.”
The Head laughed.
“I died to become an Ascendant and departed, leaving behind ‘life’ in my place. That is me.”
“……”
“That is why I could finally reclaim myself by combining with the ‘death’ existing within Maleon Gnosis’s body.”
Seonjong Faud Older, who became an Ascendant through death.
And the life he left behind when he became an Ascendant combined with Maleon’s dead head, finally coming into existence in this world.
A bizarre mode of existence, reborn with both life and death, whose principle Lennok could barely fathom.
Lennok let out a cold laugh at the explanation from the being that was Faud Older, yet not Faud Older.
“You elegantly put it that you were waiting for an opportunity to parasitize another Ascendant’s body.”
“As you know, Maleon Gnosis is an extremely excellent Transcendent.”
The ‘Head,’ claiming to be Seonjong’s dead thoughts, spoke indifferently to Lennok’s sarcasm.
As if such provocations wouldn’t stir any emotional response.
“He was a devoted seeker, never content with the blessing of being born a Gemstone Dragon, constantly testing himself and pursuing enlightenment.”
“……”
“Even feeling an insurmountable sense of defeat from the gap between you and him, he didn’t stray until the very end. Even now. Look at the dead thoughts he absorbed while passing through the Ninth Tribulation.”
Seonjong whispered.
“He endured consuming centuries of concentrated dead thoughts from Long-lived Beings. Isn’t that impressive enough?”
“……”
“You said Maleon Gnosis was weak to dead thoughts for an Ascendant, but in my view, he has already fulfilled the ideal given to him.”
[Oooohhhh!!!]
He laughed, shaking another limp head below Maleon’s screaming head.
“That’s why I was able to seize this opportunity.”
“……”
Lennok could not refute those words and fell silent.
Because he knew the scene unfolding before him proved the Head’s claim.
Where did it all go wrong?
Was it already too late from the moment the failed ritual was forcibly brought to success?
Perhaps this outcome was predetermined from the moment he met Maleon and heard his plan.
“Originally, my will would never have resided in this Gemstone Dragon’s body.”
Seonjong moved the limp head and continued.
“But in an extreme environment that even an Ascendant would struggle to endure, Maleon Gnosis, consumed by a sense of defeat, desperately tried to hold himself together… and in doing so, he lost control over this very Dead Head.”
“……”
Maleon’s contributions and sacrifices had been so significant that Lennok believed he wouldn’t betray him until the very end.
He judged Maleon could be a trustworthy companion to the end of the Ninth Tribulation, and Maleon indeed kept his promise.
But precisely because Maleon did not change until the end.
Because he kept his promise until the very end, this catastrophe occurred.
“So, there’s no need to dwell on failure so much, wizard. This wasn’t your mistake, nor Maleon’s fault, nor a strategic blunder in the plan.”
The Head whispered, genuinely sounding regretful.
“It’s just… what can be done about how he was born?”
“…You.”
Lennok glared at Seonjong with an icy gaze.
Because with those words, he had definitively understood that the entity before him was twisted to its very core.
Click!!
Discarding the used ampoule with a trembling hand, Lennok pulled an elixir from his pocket.
A restorative medicine whose efficacy was boosted at the cost of side effects. A painkiller that suppressed pain and numbed sensations.
He gathered the medicines he had prepared for a life-or-death battle, one by one.
Within the Ninth Tribulation, mana consumption for spells was several times higher than usual.
Even with Lennok’s mana manipulation and mana perception, efficiency was so low that normal combat was impossible from the start.
He would have to fight by drinking elixirs and mana restoratives like water just to maintain a balance,
And each time, he would have to risk his life, enduring the debilitating side effects.
He had prepared for all of it. All of these items were ready to be used if necessary.
But–
Lennok had not anticipated facing Maleon, who hadn’t betrayed him until the end, instead of a Maleon who had.
[…Van.]
“……”
Maleon’s blurry telepathic transmission, as he lost his reason and spiraled into a rampage, surrendering his body to Seonjong’s dead thoughts.
The ampoule he was injecting into his bruised forearm stopped abruptly, the rate of administration momentarily slowing.
Lennok’s expression, which had remained calm until this very moment, flickered faintly for a brief instant.
But immediately after, Lennok erased all emotion, turned around with a blank face, and completed his combat preparations.
Flap!!
His coat flared as he pulled out a heavy musket from within.
Teremer’s Demise. The Magic Gunner’s equipment he obtained in Machina, the Machine City.
An artifact from the Old World that transformed into six forms, and an item once used by the Director.
While Lennok, not being a Magic Gunner, couldn’t use it perfectly, in a battlefield with such low mana efficiency, there was no better equipment.
Clank!!
He loaded mana and will-thought into the musket, raising it.
The musket, aimed at Seonjong’s head, had already perfectly transformed into the shape of a sharp, flood dragon.
Even Seonjong seemed surprised by the musket Lennok produced, letting out a faint sound of admiration.
“Hoo.”
“It’s pointless to say anything now.”
Lennok, raising the muzzle, spoke quietly.
“Let’s begin. I’ll end it with a single shot.”
The Old World’s musket. Teremer’s Demise’s final, sixth form: Dragon’s Song.
He aimed a power that mimicked Dragon’s Authority, firing the user’s mental image contained within the musket, at a real dragon.
If Maleon truly fell because he believed Lennok’s answer was superior to his own.
Then the power of this musket, firing Lennok’s answer, could offer Maleon peace.
“You still don’t seem to understand what I’m saying.”
But Seonjong slowly shook his head, even with the muzzle pointed at him.
“I’m not here to fight you.”
“What nonsense are you spouting, parasitizing Maleon’s body?”
“If I intended to kill you here, why would I have waited until you finished your preparations?”
Seonjong retorted.
“I gave you time to accept this situation, and to discuss a more important matter.”
“Is there anything more important than killing the dead thoughts inhabiting an Ascendant’s body?”
“Of course. The most powerful reason I could inhabit Maleon Gnosis’s body and seize control was because of you.”
Seonjong said.
“Because he felt that the talent and answers you displayed were more correct than his own, Maleon Gnosis could not be fully perfected as an Ascendant.”
“……”
“A Long-lived Being who lived for centuries. That rare and magnificent Gemstone Dragon was swayed by a mere human’s answer. Isn’t it only natural that I would pay close attention to that fact?”
Seonjong asked, gazing at Lennok with blurry eyes.
“In some sense, you are a being beyond the categories of Gemstone Dragon or Ascendant. That’s why I’m taking this time to explain my advent and persuade you.”
Claiming to be mere dead thoughts, the entity possessed an unbelievably logical mind.
Even after awakening in the Ninth Tribulation, seizing Maleon’s body, and standing before Lennok, it sought to control the situation rather than eliminate the variable.
That must be because this dead thought was the dead thought of Seonjong, who had already died and become an Ascendant.
If the dead thoughts of a Transcendent who reached Level 9 by transcending ‘death’ possessed consciousness and judgment equivalent to the Ascendant themselves, even as mere dead thoughts.
“Persuade, you say.”
Lennok raised his gaze with a hardened expression.
“Are you saying you want to negotiate with me after taking Maleon’s body?”
“Yes. To define it precisely, ‘deal’ would be the correct word.”
The Head smiled.
“A deal, wizard. Will you help me revive Kaiser Bajour’s body here and now?”
“…What?”
At Lennok’s momentary hesitation, caught off guard by the completely unexpected proposal, Seonjong casually said,
“Since neither you nor I can transport Kaiser Bajour’s corpse out of the Ninth Tribulation as things stand.”
“Rather than leaving the corpse abandoned beyond the Outer Sea forever, wouldn’t it be better to take Kaiser Bajour out of the Ninth Tribulation by ‘reviving’ him?”
“……”
“If the plan succeeds, Maleon Gnosis will escape his rampage, and you, too, will achieve your purpose for coming to the Ninth Tribulation. It wouldn’t be a bad deal for you either.”
“What does reviving Kaiser Bajour’s body have to do with that problem?”
“It’s not a difficult story.”
The Head slowly shifted its gaze.
“Kundara’s Ninth Tribulation is a demonic realm that ‘preserves’ death beyond the Outer Sea… all the corpses laid here remain perfectly intact, without decay.”
“……”
“While they are mummified due to lack of moisture, it’s not difficult to restore the body to its living state with sufficient rehydration.”
Seonjong gestured towards Kaiser Bajour’s corpse, enshrined on the throne between the two of them.
“That fact applies to Kaiser Bajour’s corpse existing here now, too.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Kaiser Bajour’s corpse, enshrined in the Tenth Coffer, maintains its living appearance through a blood contract that supplies True Blood.”
Seonjong explained.
“That’s why it hasn’t dried up and retains its original form, even with its head severed. Do you understand what this means?”
“……”
“It means that if there is a ‘head’ to attach to this corpse, this body can be resurrected at any time.”
“A head to attach to a corpse…?”
A continuous stream of proposals that made Lennok’s head spin just by hearing them.
The topic of reviving Kaiser Bajour’s body was absurd enough, but the method of resuscitation was even crude.
“I don’t need an explanation of how biologically ridiculous that method is, do I?”
Lennok said, pressing his temples and hiding his expression.
“There will be rejection at the blood and cellular level. The very idea of attaching someone else’s head, not Kaiser’s own, is–”
“No, there’s no problem. To preserve Kaiser’s body, ten True Bloodlines gathered to supply ‘True Blood’ to that body.”
Seonjong replied slowly.
“What flows through that body now is not Kaiser Bajour’s own blood. It is the abundant True Blood itself, permitted only to blessed Long-lived Beings.”
“……”
“Then don’t you think that the head of a being possessing the same True Blood could adapt to that body?”
“…The head of a True Bloodline, you say.”
Lennok retorted with an icy expression.
A body that wouldn’t reject the True Blood flowing through Kaiser’s body.
The existence of a ‘head’ that could be grafted onto that severed body.
Lennok instantly understood who the target was referring to the moment he heard the explanation.
“Then, whose ‘head’ will be grafted onto Kaiser’s body?”
“I’m not sure why you bother asking.”
Seonjong laughed.
“Do you truly believe there’s another option besides me in this situation?”
“……”
Yes, in fact, he knew from the moment he heard the proposal.
Seonjong was not trying to revive Kaiser Bajour’s body.
He was trying to completely seize Kaiser Bajour’s body and talent.
And through the most debased method imaginable: transplanting the ‘Dead Head’ currently on Maleon onto Kaiser’s body.
“If the deal is successful, Kaiser’s body will be revived, and Maleon Gnosis will somehow regain his sanity.”
“……”
“You, too, will be able to safely escape the Ninth Tribulation with Maleon’s and my help. Don’t you think it would be beneficial for both of us?”
Absurd as it was, his words hinted at what would happen if Lennok refused Seonjong’s proposal.
Maleon would remain rampaging, his body taken over by Seonjong’s dead thoughts, never to return.
If caught in that rampage, Lennok would also be unable to retrieve Kaiser’s corpse.
Seonjong had read this situation and was proposing cooperation, using Kaiser’s body as a condition.
If he compromised just a little, he could survive this situation safely.
If he turned a blind eye just a little, he might even be able to return everything to how it was before the plan began.
But–
“What would be the meaning of that?”
“What?”
Clank!!
Lennok loaded the musket, simultaneously drawing up mana.
He poured all his remaining mana into the musket as if emptying it completely.
Finishing his aiming and loading with practiced movements, Lennok murmured.
“There was a failure that occurred when Kaiser changed at the last moment.”
“……”
“There was a catastrophe that occurred because Maleon didn’t change until the very end.”
Lennok, who had been silently gazing at the smooth gun barrel, raised his eyes.
“If both lead to failure, then as always, I’ll have to find the method myself.”
“Wait–”
“Neither Kaiser’s resuscitation nor Maleon’s recovery would have any meaning that way.”
Creak.
Lennok slowly pulled the trigger and said,
“I refuse your offer.”
There was no answer.
Before Seonjong could say anything, Lennok pulled the trigger.
The Old World’s musket flashed, and a golden bullet pierced Seonjong’s head.