Chapter 1108: Level 9 (26)
Whhhhhhosh!!!
The entrance to the Ninth Tribulation. Lennok walked alone down the wide, outermost corridor.
Wind howled through broken glass, and fluid seeped from beyond the collapsed bulkheads.
Mummified Founders lay scattered everywhere, alongside traces of fierce battle.
He passed through the gruesome path he had traversed with Maleon, now moving without taking a single step.
Crackle, crackle…!!
The moment he stepped, black lightning flared, and Lennok’s form vanished.
He effortlessly deployed the art of spatial dominion, simply by manipulating his mana.
Flash!
Lennok’s steps, which had been traversing the bulkheads at incredible speed, staining the Ninth Tribulation’s spacetime black, abruptly halted.
A transparent glass outer wall, cracked and shattered.
Beyond the half-destroyed outer wall, the dark Outer Sea was fully visible.
He was, in essence, directly exposed to the Outer Sea, practically bare.
“……”
Lennok silently gazed at the dark sea stretching far into the distance.
A boundless, empty cosmos. Faint starlight glimmering beyond it.
A darkness that, merely by gazing upon it, could drive one mad and stir the mind and spirit.
But Lennok’s inner world, as he stared at the Outer Sea, was profoundly calm.
The scenery of that dark sea felt incredibly familiar to Lennok.
As if he had finally returned to where he belonged.
As if it should have been this way from the very beginning.
Yes, Lennok had, at last—
[……Master.]
Suddenly, Lennok emerged from his prolonged contemplation.
The Cybernetic Spirit tugged at his clothes with its forepaws from within his embrace.
Davi spoke with an anxious expression.
[Don’t go.]
“……”
[You’re not going to just… disappear, are you?]
Though she tried to hide it, Lennok felt Davi’s voice tremble slightly.
After the Promotion Ritual ended, Davi hadn’t said a word about Maleon.
She no longer even spoke of Lennok needing to become an Ascendant.
The Spirit had finally understood how light those words had been for her, and how heavy they had been for Lennok, and she regretted it.
“……”
Lennok gazed at Davi with an unexpressive face, then stroked the Spirit’s head.
Watching the Cybernetic Spirit frantically nuzzle his hand, Lennok spoke.
“It’s alright.”
[But……]
“Not yet, it’s alright.”
As Lennok said this, he slowly moved his hand towards Davi’s tail.
Now, grasping a twisted transcendence predicated on ruin, everything felt tangible, vividly clear.
Even tasks that had previously troubled him now seemed easily achievable.
Crackle, crackle…!!!
Black Lightning surged from his fingertips, swirling and then rising up behind Davi’s back, shimmering.
The Black Lightning flowed through the Spirit’s ethereal body, compressing and quivering behind Davi’s seventh tail.
Zzzzzzzzt…!!!
The black-tinged eighth tail was clumsily taking shape. Though not complete, it was sufficient to lay the groundwork for Davi.
“Because later, there might not be time.”
Lennok offered a hollow smile.
“It’s best to do it while I still can.”
[Master……]
The moment Davi called out to Lennok with a complex voice, a ferocious roar echoed from behind them.
[Grrrrrrr…!!]
From beyond the bulkhead, a four-eyed black panther mummy, dragging its tattered body, rose.
A gruesome, pitiful sight, its head dangling, having been exploded by Maleon’s spellcraft.
Behind it came the bifurcated corpse of a Cloud Kirin. The mummy of a Scaled Dragon Clan member, its back scales split open.
The mummies of the Founders Maleon had defeated gathered into a legion and advanced.
“Maleon must have redistributed the absorbed Dead Thoughts to them.”
Lennok muttered.
Due to the Dead Thoughts absorbed from killing mummies, Maleon’s body was seized by Seonjong.
Was he now redistributing those absorbed Dead Thoughts to the mummies, making them move?
A legion of immortals, incapable of dying even when their bodies were torn apart and crushed.
But Lennok did not hesitate, even seeing the Invasion Domains encroaching everywhere.
“Let’s go.”
Ziiiiiiiiing!!!!
Simultaneously with his step, a black-tinged halo furiously rotated behind his back.
The moment the lightning rising from Lennok’s entire body transformed into Black Lightning, illuminating everything in black.
Creation-Type Unique Magic Property Transformation: Heaven’s Nadir [Malevolent Thunderplay]
A wave of black lightning erupted, sweeping away the charging mummies.
Bwooooom!!!!
[Grrrrooooaar!!!]
[No…!! Death…!!]
[Aaaaaaaaagh!!!]
Sharp black lines etched themselves across the Cloud Kirin’s body, then exploded, tearing it to shreds.
Lightning struck the head of a Scaled Dragon Clan mummy, piercing its tough scales like paper.
The Invasion Domains that encroached everywhere were erased and annihilated with each strike of black lightning.
Mummies screamed, scattering bodily fluids, as black light flashed relentlessly above them.
Kwakwakwakwakwa!!!
[Rooooar, roooooar-!!!]
[Kyaaaaah!!]
[Choke, choke, human…!!!]
A hand formed of black lightning seized an elephant’s head and crushed it.
Lightning, scattering like feathers, shredded the wings of a flying Thunder Bird.
It tore off a catfish’s fin, and incinerated and ripped out a mermaid’s tail.
With each casual flick of his hand, black lines etched themselves into the air and exploded, black lightning tore space apart, incinerating the Ninth Tribulation.
Boom!!
Crrrack!!!
He accelerated, passing through the writhing mummies in pain all around him.
He accelerated, effortlessly leaping across the demon-ridden land where Long-lived Beings and True Bloodline mummies rampaged.
The memory of struggling with Maleon to break through the Ninth Tribulation seemed like a lie.
As if repainting and erasing the previous journey, at the moment he completely covered the Ninth Tribulation’s spacetime with dark magic.
[Erosion Rate 101%]
Whoosh!!
Lennok stood once again before a massive hollow, from which ten large conduits hung.
A basin lay beneath the conduits, and a colossal throne built from piled mummy corpses.
Ascendant Maleon Gnosis, waiting for him from beyond the void.
“……Wizard.”
Grooooan!!!!
The moment Lennok silently raised his gaze and his eyes met the silver dragon’s.
Seonjong asked, as if unable to believe his eyes.
“What… what have you become?”
“……”
Lennok did not answer, but moved forward.
Whoosh!!
Before Seonjong could react, Lennok passed him, landing behind a broken bulkhead.
Olivera was slumped against the bulkhead, a spear piercing her shoulder.
Lennok, silently gazing at her with black spectral light in his eyes, opened his mouth.
“Olivera.”
[……]
She wasn’t unconscious yet, but was worn down to a state dangerously close to it.
Lennok turned his gaze to the spearhead embedded near her shoulder.
A gruesome sight, impaled through the bulkhead. Blood flowed from her shoulder, staining her robe crimson.
With an unexpressive face, Lennok circulated mana and reached out a hand towards the spear shaft.
Crack!!
The moment Lennok’s hand grasped the spear, sharp Black Lightning enveloped the shaft, flashing.
The spear shaft piercing Olivera disintegrated and vanished on the spot.
At the same time, her body, which had been impaled by the shaft, lost its balance and tilted forward.
Thump!!
The moment Lennok supported her with one arm, Olivera turned her gaze with difficulty.
[Adamant, Thunder……]
Olivera’s telepathic transmission faintly echoed.
Lennok lowered his head, meeting her gaze.
“I’m listening.”
[You foolish, fool……]
Her words, flowing beyond the veil, broke off weakly.
Even the telepathic transmission, conveying her will, was an unclear, drawn-out whisper.
[Who would… such a method?]
“……”
Since she had been with him in Nives’s Poison Jurisdiction, she must have immediately understood what method Lennok had used.
Olivera struggled, whispering incomprehensible words as she heaved.
[The conclusion, enough… meaningless…]
“That’s right.”
But Lennok understood Olivera’s words and replied as if it were obvious.
“You alone might have been enough to bring the project to a conclusion. I also know you remained here, wishing for that.”
He heard unsaid facts, understood unexpressed emotions, and responded.
Lennok’s answer, disregarding the order of cause and effect, leaping ahead across the timeline.
[……You.]
Olivera, sensing a fragment of transcendence in Lennok’s reply, flinched and raised her gaze.
The wizard standing before her now was, quite literally—
“This situation might not have been what you wanted.”
Lennok said, reaching out his hand towards Olivera’s shoulder.
“Even so, I will not let what we’ve done become meaningless.”
Crackle…!!!
The Black Lightning blooming from his fingertips peeled away, revealing a pure white, pristine energy within.
The Disengagement ability that Myeong had shown and taught Lennok.
It shaves away corrupted magic to its extreme, leaving only pure, entirely opposing power.
The moment Lennok flowed it into Olivera’s shoulder without directly touching her.
Whoosh…!!
Olivera’s shoulder wound, which had been pierced through, began to heal little by little in real-time.
[……]
At the same time, vitality slowly returned to Olivera’s body, and her body tilted forward.
Her consciousness, which had been clinging beyond its limits, loosened its tension and faded as her body recovered.
Lennok silently laid Olivera down and said.
“From now on, I’ll take care of it.”
Shhhwa-ra-ra-rak!!
Olivera’s unconscious body was enveloped by the dripping blood from the conduit’s tip.
A Blood Magic Circle unfolded around her, forcibly transferring Olivera’s body.
Flash!!!
In an instant, Olivera Ron Maize’s presence vanished from the Ninth Tribulation’s spacetime.
The moment Lennok slowly rose, looking at the spot she had left.
“Remarkable.”
A deep, draconic voice echoed from behind Lennok.
“Did you send that woman back from the Ninth Tribulation first?”
“I temporarily halted the True Bloodline’s function within Olivera’s body.”
Lennok said, turning around.
“Complex catalysts like blood are usually difficult to interfere with, but it’s not impossible now.”
The dragon-headed giant, adorned with dazzling silver scales, was waiting for him, arms crossed.
The pulsating aura, as its muscular upper body twitched, contained an unparalleled, domineering presence.
But Lennok continued his explanation calmly, even facing Maleon.
“The Blood Contract expels those who do not possess True Blood, so she should have safely returned to Kundara by now.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
The Transcendent dwelling in Maleon’s body chuckled.
“She was an extremely capable spellcaster. Wouldn’t it be better to fight with her help?”
“No. It should have been like this from the beginning.”
Lennok closed his eyes.
“It was something I should have done alone from the start. So now, at least……”
Crack!!
Black lightning compressed within Lennok’s hand, transforming into a black line.
Lennok, grasping the black line and lowering his gaze, spoke quietly.
“I’ll end it all here.”
But Maleon’s body did not answer.
Instead, it merely began to walk slowly, with a smile that conveyed no emotion.
“Kundara was a city built using the lifespan of Long-lived Beings as power, to avoid its promised destruction.”
Seonjong spoke, walking past Lennok.
“Conversely, the Ninth Tribulation was a graveyard for the deaths of Long-lived Beings, and an outpost established beyond the Outer Sea.”
“……”
“Just as life and death will one day meet on a single timeline, a powerful pull exists between Kundara and the Ninth Tribulation.”
Tap.
Maleon stopped at the end of the bulkhead and turned his head.
“For the two spacetimes to be drawn to each other, to escape the world and traverse the Outer Sea. That is the true nature of the Outer Tribulation Kundara sought.”
Kundara’s life and the Ninth Tribulation’s death.
The very concept of life and death being drawn to each other was the Outer Tribulation Kundara pursued.
It was, quite literally, the Long-lived Beings’ answer to standing outside of destruction.
Lennok, walking in the opposite direction from Maleon, spoke.
“That’s why Kundara is being pulled into the Ninth Tribulation and rising.”
Just as life, once born, advances towards death.
Life constantly moves and changes, but death does not.
That’s why, despite the overwhelming mass difference between Kundara and the Ninth Tribulation, Kundara was being pulled by the much smaller Ninth Tribulation.
“Do you believe it’s a feasible plan?”
“It used to be.”
Seonjong said, walking alongside Lennok.
“But I realized there was a more fundamental answer. I felt the possibility of integrating that principle, which divides life and death, into my own path to enlightenment.”
“……”
“That is how ‘I’ gained qualification by overcoming the upheaval of death, and became an Ascendant.”
Maleon’s two heads slowly turned and spoke simultaneously.
“And the same must be true for you.”
“……”
“Did you truly grasp a status comparable to ascension by promising your own ruin? You truly brought to fruition those wild threats you made to me.”
Seonjong gazed at Lennok, who was scattering black magic from his entire body, as if dazzled.
“How wondrous it is that a mere human has reached the same path as me. That alone makes me realize the greatness of the talent residing within you.”
He recognized the meaning of the side effect of consuming the Elixir of Ascension, which presupposed death.
He saw that Lennok, having awakened the senses of an Ascendant through it, truly commanded awe.
Without grasping the spellcraft or achievements of an Ascendant, he had awakened a similar understanding merely through the ruin that had descended upon his own body.
He recognized that this fact itself was a miracle, proof of Lennok’s talent and transcendence.
“Just as Kaiser Bajour was, your existence is also nothing short of a miracle born before the causality of destruction.”
Maleon closed his eyes and raised his fist, and an intense silver heat source began to bloom within his hand.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!!!!
Dazzling starlight flashed within the dragon’s hand.
The core of the Star-Linking Eight Extremes Style, impossible to wield properly without Maleon’s own soul and will.
“If even this opportunity for choice was arranged for me by fate, I shall gladly accept it.”
Maleon said, slowly turning towards Lennok with the starlight in his hand.
“The meaning Kundara will leave behind, turning to a handful of dust, will be enough if it were that.”
“You’re talking in a grand, roundabout way about whether you’re debating stealing Kaiser’s body or mine.”
Lennok smiled darkly.
“The chance to choose isn’t some fate bestowed from the heavens. It’s merely a result you’ve brought about with your own hands.”
“Indeed.”
Seonjong neither affirmed nor denied his words.
He merely stood, slowly spreading his arms, and gradually intensified his mana.
The silver dragon smiled, staring intently at Lennok’s face as if to commit it to memory.
“Then, shall I now savor and ascertain your existence to the fullest?”
Kugugugugu!!!!
The steps of the two, who had been circling each other, halted simultaneously.
The air grew cold and rapidly intensified.
The chilling sensation, like standing on a knife’s edge, that only Transcendent beings could feel before a decisive battle.
In the atmosphere, sharp enough to explode at any moment, just as Maleon was about to move.
“Wait a moment.”
Lennok raised a hand.
“It’s not time yet.”
“……What?”
“Four seconds, three seconds, two seconds.”
Folding his fingers, Lennok nodded.
“Now.”
Kwooaaang!!!
The ground beneath them violently shook and began to convulse.
The entire spacetime of the Ninth Tribulation twisted, vibrating up and down as if to shatter.
“This is……”
Kugugugugu!!!!
He turned his gaze, and saw stars soaring from beyond the Outer Sea.
A scene where starlight, stretching like dazzling lines of light, seemed to accelerate upwards.
But Seonjong soon realized that the scenery outside was not rising.
So much so that the Ninth Tribulation was plummeting at an incredibly high speed.
Only then did Seonjong turn back to Lennok, scattering a chilling aura.
“What have you done?”
“The Ninth Tribulation can remain outside the Outer Sea because it orbits like a satellite, offsetting the star’s gravity with centrifugal force.”
Lennok said calmly.
“So I spread my mana across the entire Ninth Tribulation, ‘dismantling’ the centrifugal force acting upon it.”
“……”
“It’s not something I can do twice, but if I didn’t do this, Kundara would completely drift out into the Outer Sea.”
Kwooaaaang!!!
The space station that had been floating outside the Outer Sea was falling towards the planet spread beneath their feet.
Breaking through the Shadow of the Star where Outer Tribulation City was hidden, towards the vicinity of the Central Front, located in the heart of the continent.
As it entered the atmosphere, it gained speed, and the outer walls of the Ninth Tribulation ignited, burning fiercely.
“So, we’re riding an accelerating meteor falling into the middle of the continent.”
Lennok smiled amidst the hellscape, which was intensifying in heat as it plummeted.
“It’ll be the perfect stage for the battle that decides the fate of Outer Tribulation City. Shall we begin?”
Whoosh-
There was no answer.
Seonjong, gathering mana, spun the starlight with a chilling expression, and in the next accelerating moment within the turbulent battlefield.
Black lightning, blazing in Lennok’s hand, pierced and exploded through the dragon’s colossal body at immense speed.