Chapter 1104: Level 9 (22)
The entrance to the Eighth Tribulation’s Trial. The very beginning of the gate, where mist swirls like a storm.
Even at this moment, as Kundara ascends, the environment of the gate is rapidly transforming.
The bridge vibrated ceaselessly, and the mist violently spun and scattered.
Kwooohhh!!!!
Beyond the thick mist, two figures emerged.
A red-eyed girl walked at the front, followed by a man with a hood drawn over his head.
The girl, who had been walking in silence, stopped when she saw a colossal crane standing far ahead.
“The administrator of the Seventh Tribulation. It’s been a long time since I last saw your face.”
“I knew you would come.”
Heoryeong, the administrator of the Seventh Tribulation, raised his aged eyes and looked at the Fearsome Blood King.
“With a summons issued to all Eight Great Dragon Kings, there was no way the Fearsome Blood King would not respond.”
“Being a member of the Knowing Crane, you must know a lot.”
The Fearsome Blood King nodded.
“Tell me about the situation. Where are the Dragon Kings now?”
“The Baecheon Dragon King and the Iron Chain Dragon King are in charge of the area between the First and Sixth Tribulations, searching for Short-lived Beings,” Heoryeong replied quietly.
“The One-Horn Dragon King and the Blazing Heaven Dragon King are holding the city in place by connecting their Domains outside Kundara. As for the Water God Dragon King—.”
“That’s not what I’m asking.”
The Fearsome Blood King tilted her head.
“What about Jeonryun and Gwi-baek? They’re the only ones with a compatible nature to Adamant Thunder, aren’t they?”
“……”
Instead of answering, Heoryeong quietly shifted his gaze to the shadow standing behind the Fearsome Blood King.
Heoryeong silently watched the silent shadow, then asked the girl, “You’re going, aren’t you?”
“It’s not my decision.” The Fearsome Blood King answered calmly.
“But I was asked, so I have to grant the favor.”
“You’ve changed a lot.” Heoryeong chuckled.
“The Fearsome Blood King I knew wasn’t like that.”
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, move aside,” the Fearsome Blood King retorted gruffly. “Or are you finally going to fulfill your duties as an administrator?”
“Duties, huh…” The crane closed its eyes and replied quietly.
“This old man has lived too long to be so strict about such things.”
“……”
“Lately, as I’ve aged, my vision gets blurry even when my eyes are open. What do you say?” Heoryeong smiled quietly. “Right now, it feels like even if someone were to pass this bridge, my eyes would be too dim to see them properly.”
What more dialogue was needed?
The Fearsome Blood King nodded and walked past Heoryeong.
The crane opened its wings, making way for the two to pass.
As the bowing shadow brushed past Heoryeong’s wing, Heoryeong whispered quietly, “Please take care of Maleon.”
“……”
What did the word “please” truly mean to Heoryeong?
Was it a plea for Maleon to safely return to Kundara?
Or was it a plea for Maleon to find peaceful rest?
In either case, it was not a meaningless statement.
Perhaps even that ambiguity was an expression of his will, entrusting the decision to them.
After all, Heoryeong couldn’t be the one to determine Maleon’s fate.
“Understood.” Lennok nodded quietly.
It’s not difficult to distinguish between a summoner and a summoned beast.
While summoners may differ, summoned beasts are mostly spirit beasts that have formed contracts in the Spirit World.
However, that’s merely an observation of their appearance, and it’s difficult to determine the power dynamic of the contract itself.
Only the parties involved in the contract could know who held the initiative in the summoning.
In that sense, Lennok’s plan to disguise himself as the Fearsome Blood King’s summoned beast was highly successful.
“The master of the Blood-Veil Palace has made a rare outing.”
“Is that a new pet you have by your side?”
“Given the situation, it must be quite useful.”
“The Eight Great Dragon Kings will greatly welcome the Fearsome Blood King’s participation.”
“……”
Everyone they encountered in the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Tribulations did not doubt Lennok’s presence beside the Fearsome Blood King in the slightest.
Instead, they even made way for them, as if the Fearsome Blood King bringing a summoned beast was only natural.
Only then did Lennok understand why the Fearsome Blood King had devised such a plan. He asked, “It seems you’ve led around summoned beasts like this before.”
“Not summoned beasts,” the Fearsome Blood King replied casually.
“I treated the cultists I captured during the Holy War in this manner.”
“……”
“I was interested in the cult’s spellcraft that used faith as a medium. Instead of killing them, I experimented with them in various ways.”
The Fearsome Blood King spoke while Lennok was speechless.
“And because I dragged along people I should have killed, I earned this outrageous nickname.”
“Then, ‘Fearsome Blood King’ means…”
Was it a sarcastic jab at the Fearsome Blood King’s actions of dragging cultists around instead of killing them?
While Lennok shook his head at the unexpected etymology, the two arrived at the gate of the Eighth Tribulation.
They passed Heoryeong, who turned a blind eye to them, and entered the Hall of the Eighth Tribulation.
A colossal hall where statues commemorating the Founders stood in two rows. Mist, visible through the glass ceiling, swiftly rushed past.
In front of it, a giant reindeer wreathed in blue flames awaited the two.
Regnus, a Supreme Committee Member of the Elder Council, the administrator of the Eighth Tribulation, one of the True Blood Long-lived Beings called the Crown Reindeer.
“Regnus.”
“In the end, it has come to this, has it?”
Whoosh!!!!
The reindeer violently shook its antlers and transformed into a human.
Regnus, who had disguised himself as a young man with blue hair, turned with a grim expression.
“Maleon, you foolish fellow…!”
His eyes, fixed on Lennok, trembled slightly with unconcealed emotion.
“I clearly told him it was reckless…!!”
“……”
Regnus had known Maleon for a long time, and was the one who recommended him to the Elder Council.
He was an ancient Long-lived Being who had both tried to stop Maleon and, paradoxically, helped him with the ritual.
Since he cared deeply for Maleon, it was not strange for him to be distraught now that things had come to this.
“Explain the situation in detail,” Regnus muttered, closing his eyes as if to hide his emotions.
“What has become of Maleon?”
“He’s rampaging, his body possessed by the will-thought of an Ascendant called Seonjong,” Lennok replied.
“There were various causal factors that pushed Maleon Gnosis to his limit, and he held out until the very end before collapsing.”
“……”
“But there’s still something that can be done. I intend to return to the Ninth Tribulation and stop Maleon.”
Lennok looked at Regnus with a clear gaze and asked, “Do you intend to stop me?”
“……If that were my intention, I wouldn’t be waiting for you here.” The young man replied firmly with a noble voice.
“I would simply be comfortably observing you struggling under the suffocating grip of the Eight Great Dragon Kings.”
“……”
Having said that, Regnus turned and started walking.
“Follow me. I will guide you to the entrance of the Ninth Tribulation, where the Promotion Magic Circle is located.”
Regnus was one of the individuals who had observed the Promotion Ritual that Lennok and Maleon had performed in the Eighth Tribulation.
As such, he wouldn’t have believed the rumors that Lennok had forcibly caused Maleon to rampage.
However, Lennok hadn’t expected him to step forward and help him in this way.
He had thought that, at best, Regnus would merely acquiesce, like Heoryeong. Could it be that he cared for Maleon even more than Lennok had imagined?
“Regnus Aerom was like a godfather to Maleon Gnosis, watching over him since he was a young dragon,” the Fearsome Blood King said, as if reading Lennok’s thoughts.
The girl nodded, counting on her fingers one by one.
“Knowing Maleon’s secret, he cherished him yet pitied him. If you need a collaborator in this city right now, Regnus would be the most suitable.”
“Don’t speak so carelessly, Racy…” Regnus, walking ahead, turned his head with a grim expression.
“What do you know about him, to carelessly reveal Maleon’s vulnerabilities to a Short-lived Being?”
“Since Maleon went astray, Adamant Thunder must have seen what his true form looks like,” the girl replied, unfazed by Regnus’s sharp demeanor.
“Adamant Thunder knows that and still intends to return to the Ninth Tribulation. Wouldn’t it be right to explain everything to him properly?”
“……”
“If it weren’t for Adamant Thunder, who helped Maleon preside over the Promotion Ritual, no one else could even attempt to ascend to the Ninth Tribulation again right now.”
The Fearsome Blood King, Racy, looked up at Regnus with folded arms.
“I believe Adamant Thunder deserves that much respect.”
“……”
Regnus, seemingly unable to deny her words, remained silent, unable to reply.
The young man, who had been quietly walking ahead of them, spoke in a hushed voice.
“Faud Older was an exceptionally anomalous existence, even among the ancient True Bloods.”
“……”
“He was a Long-lived Being born outside the continent, a being who controlled the powers of Recursion and Serenity. Possessing profound insight and intellect, some Long-lived Beings revered him.”
Regnus’s voice suddenly turned cold.
“However, his nature was akin to a truly zealous Seeker. He tried to find answers from the past by sacrificing this city.”
“……Seonjong found answers in the past?”
“True Blood is a genetic trait that persists even across worlds. Therefore, True Blood also functions as a ‘catalyst’ connecting to the lost Old World,” Regnus replied to Lennok’s question.
“Faud Older reached Level 9 by using his own death as a medium, under the watchful eyes of the Founders. In that process, he used True Blood to connect himself to the past.”
“……”
“Because of that, there were rumors that Seonjong, after becoming an Ascendant, had a quite different nature than in his lifetime. But that wasn’t the end of it.”
Regnus raised his head, as if to hide his expression.
“Even after becoming an Ascendant, he left a part of himself in the Ninth Tribulation. He intended it as a provision, hoping it would become a possibility in a different way than himself.”
“……”
“If he awakened because the failed Promotion Ritual succeeded. Because you and Maleon achieved more than what was given.”
The scenery of the hall gradually became familiar to Lennok’s eyes.
The entrance to the Ninth Tribulation, where the Promotion Magic Circle was located, the place he had arrived with Maleon.
The moment Lennok realized the gate to the Tribulation’s Trial was not far.
Regnus turned and walked toward Lennok with resolute eyes.
“I am—”
[You were here.]
Kwoooong!!!!
The wall of the hall exploded, crumbling, and an immense volume of water began to pour in.
The water, gushing like a waterfall, surged in all directions, filling the corridor and overflowing.
Whoosh!!!!
The Fearsome Blood King and Lennok immediately moved to avoid the current, and Regnus began to incant Barrier Spellcraft.
Behind Regnus, who blocked the rushing water, Lennok, perched on a statue, looked down with a grim expression.
‘High concentration of salt… it’s close to seawater. Could it be?’
It wasn’t ordinary water, but the smell of highly saline seawater.
In the Hall of the Eighth Tribulation, there could only be one entity capable of freely controlling such a vast amount of ocean current, couldn’t there?
[I thought you would find some means to avoid the eyes of us Dragon Kings.]
Thud!!
Beyond the pouring water, a colossal Water Dragon, clad in blue scales, appeared.
The dragon-kind’s massive form stomped on the walls, writhing, and instantly filled its surroundings with seawater.
[To stand above the Dragon-kind, just as you toyed with me.]
“……Alohan.”
Alohan, the Water God Dragon King, who controlled all seas and currents in Kundara.
The Level 8 Dragon King, whom Lennok had once faced in the Deep Sea Domain, had smashed through the Hall of the Eighth Tribulation and burst in himself.
The Dragon King’s blue eyes, filled with chilling ferocity, looked down at Lennok.
[In that regard, my experience and judgment seem not to have been wrong.]
“Water God Dragon King! What is the meaning of this?!” Regnus shouted at Alohan with a rigid expression.
“To invade and defile the Eighth Tribulation without permission. Do you think I, as an administrator, can overlook this?!!”
[Leader of the Crown Reindeer. It is not you who should be receiving admonishment now.]
Alohan bared his fangs at Regnus without blinking.
[Knowing that the Eight Great Dragon Kings are mobilized, yet sealing the Eighth Tribulation and helping this human. Is this the decision of the Elder Council?]
“……!!!”
[The reason we Dragon-kind defend Kundara’s perimeter is that we are the only ones capable of constructing semi-permanent Domains in the Universe of Mist. Yet you ignore us and act unilaterally.]
Regnus’s and Alohan’s gazes sharply collided in the air.
[Without Maleon Gnosis, who represented the Dragon-kind’s position, do I have any reason to follow the Elder Council’s recommendation?]
“This is not a matter for the Elder Council and the Eight Great Dragon Kings. Now that Maleon has become an Ascendant, the fate of the city is—”
Was there a difference in stance between the Elder Council and the Eight Great Dragon Kings even within Kundara?
But Lennok ignored the conversation between the two Long-lived Beings and fell into thought.
‘Did he use his experience fighting me in the Deep Sea Domain to directly charge into the Eighth Tribulation?’
All Long-lived Beings across Outer Tribulation City had witnessed Lennok falling from the Ninth Tribulation into Kundara.
Immediately after, Maleon’s rampage became known, so it was natural to attribute the cause to Lennok.
However, unlike others who searched the city to hunt Lennok, Alohan had judged differently.
He was convinced that Lennok wouldn’t be caught in a simple encirclement, and had been waiting in the Eighth Tribulation from the beginning.
And the moment he detected Lennok’s presence, he smashed through the Hall of the Eighth Tribulation and rushed in.
It was a forceful, almost brute-force idea, but Alohan had proven his judgment correct in the end.
A judgment only possible for Alohan, who had experienced Lennok’s abilities firsthand in the Deep Sea Domain.
[You seem to have sealed off your presence by blocking the Spacetime of the Eighth Tribulation with the administrator’s authority, but it doesn’t matter.]
As Alohan spoke, the overflowing water currents began to gather at the Dragon King’s head.
[Once the fight begins, the entire Kundara will more than notice this anomaly.]
“……!!!”
He enveloped his entire body in the pouring water currents and incanted his spellcraft without hesitation.
The essence of Water God Spellcraft, compressing water to its extreme and rotating it at supersonic speed to fire it.
[Piercing Water]
Kwooaaaaah!!!
The jet of water, fired like a laser from Alohan’s mouth, pierced through the statue Lennok was standing on.
As he twisted his head, a vivid blue current cut diagonally across the Hall of the Eighth Tribulation.
Kagagagak!!!
A dozen statues of the Founders, arranged in the hall, were severed and fell.
Alohan glared at Lennok, who had evaded the Piercing Water using Flicker, with malevolent eyes.
[In the name of the Eight Great Dragon Kings, I shall personally punish your sin.]
“You’re acting more aggressively than I thought.” Lennok landed on the severed surface of a statue and gave a wry smile.
“Still, I thought we ended things on not so bad terms when I left last time. Is it perhaps because of the lifespan I took from you?”
[I am past the age of clinging to thousands of years of lifespan and holding grudges.] Alohan retorted with a cold Telepathic Transmission.
[But Maleon is different. He was the spokesman for the Dragon-kind, leading the Eight Great Dragon Kings. It was because of him that we accepted the arduous task of guarding Kundara’s perimeter.]
“……”
[If you attempt to cast evil sorcery upon Maleon in the Ninth Tribulation and plunge Kundara onto the path of destruction, there is only one thing we must do.]
Alohan declared to the silent Lennok.
[To kill you here, leaving no trace, and help Maleon’s rampage cease…!!!]
Kugugugugu!!!
The severed fragments of the statues were carried away by the surging currents in an instant.
The Water God Dragon King, who controlled Kundara’s currents. The place where he existed was no different from his Deep Sea Domain.
The Dragon King’s power was such that his mere presence formed and controlled enough water currents to fill the Eighth Tribulation.
If several such Dragon Kings gathered to face Lennok, Lennok would not be able to avoid battle either.
“Adamant Thunder.”
Swish!!
At that moment, a curtain made of blood appeared before Lennok’s eyes, and the girl materialized.
Perched on the severed surface of a statue, she turned as if to block Lennok.
“Run to the end of the Eighth Tribulation. Don’t look back.”
“……You’re going to do it?”
“You know he’s not someone you can reason with, right?” the Fearsome Blood King said with a calm expression, pressing down on her wrist.
Simultaneously, blood surged from her wrist, transforming into the shape of a long scythe.
The girl, gripping the scythe of blood rotating in the air, her red eyes gleaming.
“I’ll hold off Alohan and the other Dragon Kings here. I can buy you about an hour.”
“……”
“Finish it during that time. Can you do it?”
No matter how powerful the Fearsome Blood King and Regnus were as spellcasters, how long could they hold off eight Dragon Kings?
If it were a contest of spellcraft performance, perhaps, but in a simple clash of power, Dragon Kings were incredibly formidable opponents.
Facing seven more such Dragon Kings, it wouldn’t be strange to be swept away and killed by the overflowing waves of power.
The Fearsome Blood King knew that fact, yet she was saying she would risk her life here to buy Lennok time.
For some reason, Lennok actually knew the reason.
Because, as Olivera had said, the Fearsome Blood King also harbored the same ardent wish.
To allow her to accept that the project had completely failed.
To definitively bring closure to the salvation she had risked everything for.
Because she had acknowledged that Kaiser’s plan was not a solution for the future, but merely an echo for what was to come.
She was now entrusting Lennok with the final resolution, risking her life in this place.
When Lennok said there was a way to re-enter the Ninth Tribulation, the Fearsome Blood King didn’t ask what that method was.
Even now, she wasn’t asking what was needed, only trying to fulfill her assigned role.
She must have been a highly capable and cooperative colleague in the project as well.
The Fearsome Blood King, Racy, Olivera Ron Maize, Madrich Onnion.
Brilliantly outstanding and twisted talents who had stood by Kaiser’s side.
That’s why—
“……No.” Lennok shook his head.
“We don’t have the luxury of counting time after coming all this way.”
“What?”
“The method to re-enter the Ninth Tribulation.” Lennok reached into his pocket and said.
“I’ll begin it right here.”
“……I don’t know what you’re talking about. We haven’t even reached the entrance to the Ninth Tribulation yet.” The surprised Fearsome Blood King said quickly, clutching her scythes with both hands.
“We can’t even see the Ninth Tribulation’s Trial or the Promotion Magic Circle, so how can you do anything?”
“I never intended to tamper with the Trial or the Promotion Ritual from the start.” Lennok said that, slowly withdrawing his hand from his pocket.
“The method I had in mind was a little more… fundamental.”
Click.
A small vial, resembling an amethyst, shimmered in his hand.
As soon as its lid was opened, an exceedingly ominous will-thought leaked from within.
[Die… Kill… Die…]
[Butcher the insects…]
Kwooohhh!!!!
An intensely withered will-thought emanating from within the vial. A ‘toxic fluid’ stained with all sorts of ominous and corrupted mental images.
The Elixir of Ascension, made by mixing the Inner Core of a dead Ascendant who failed ascension with Nives’ True Blood.
“You’re insane…!!” Only then did the Fearsome Blood King realize the identity of the poison Lennok had produced, her expression hardening.
“If you drink that, you’ll die! Are you planning to resolve Kundara’s affairs and die right there?!!!”
“It’s not over just by going back up to the Ninth Tribulation,” Lennok replied quietly.
“I have to break through from the outskirts of the Ninth Tribulation to the Tenth Coffer, confront Maleon and Seonjong, and retrieve Kaiser’s remains.”
Kwoogwagwagwa!!!
Even at this moment, Regnus and Alohan were fiercely unleashing spellcraft from across the hall.
Regnus’s Barrier and Alohan’s Water God Spellcraft twisted and rotated with countless variations, water jets and barrier fragments distorting and evaporating in the intense battle.
But amidst the battle encompassing the surrounding water, Alohan also immediately noticed Lennok’s abnormality.
Alohan, who whirled around to face Lennok holding the vial, his killing intent flared even more ferociously.
[You, what are you trying to do?!!!!]
“There’s only one way to complete all these processes within the time limit.” Lennok slowly brought the vial to his lips and said.
“That is for me to briefly reach a ‘state’ similar to an Ascendant.”
The Elixir of Ascension was not an item that genuinely transformed the user into an Ascendant.
It was merely an extreme poison that induced the same ‘status effect’ as an Ascendant in the user.
But merely gaining the ‘sensation’ of being an Ascendant, even temporarily, was enough for Lennok.
A way to pass the Ninth Tribulation’s Trial without conditions, and to fight within the Ninth Tribulation without being suppressed by Eternal Pressure.
A means to once again face Maleon Gnosis, who was rampaging at the end of the Tenth Coffer.
“It was the same when I helped with the Promotion Ritual, but it’s hard to understand anything without experiencing it directly.”
[Stop!!! I will not forgive you!!]
Splash!!
With Alohan’s furious roar, waves that had risen from all directions merged, transforming into a colossal tidal wave.
But Lennok, looking at the tidal wave looming above his head, unhesitatingly swallowed the contents of the vial.
“What it feels like to become a Level 9 Ascendant—”
Gulp.
“I’ll find out for myself, right now.”
Kwooaaaaah!!!!
Immediately after, the tidal wave unleashed by Alohan swept over the spot where Lennok had stood with tremendous speed.