Chapter 1324: Designed Transcendence (2)

The ground rumbled…!!!!

The tremors shaking the earth grew more violent with each passing moment. A deafening roar swelled, shaking and disturbing the heavens and earth.

The ruins of the Order Alliance’s encampment, located at the entrance to the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors.

Aileen, who had been observing the ruins’ landscape through her binoculars moments ago, shook her head.

“It’s no good. Even retreating this far, the tremors show no sign of stopping.”

Whoosh!!

Aileen lightly leaped down from a swaying old tree, brushed off her clothes, and said, “Simply running away for a bit won’t let us escape the aftermath of that Non-Existence. What in the world did you do to that Demonic Realm?”

“…”

Lennok did not reply.

Instead, he simply sat on a rock covered in dense bushes, silently concentrating on massaging his arm.

Immediately after concluding his decisive battle with the Grand General, escaping the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors, and reuniting with Aileen,

Lennok, along with Aileen, had dragged Arthur Mason much further back from the encampment ruins.

In this moment, as the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors was swept away and vanished by the light of Non-Existence,

the encampment at the entrance of the Demonic Realm could not easily avoid the impact of spacetime axes being erased and the earth’s crust warping.

“The Demonic Realm is collapsing faster than I expected. The scale of the damage is growing with each moment.”

“It won’t be long before news reaches outside the Demonic Realm…”

Lennok said, inserting a syringe into his slowly massaged forearm.

Beside him, more than a dozen empty ampoules from completed injections lay scattered.

Click, Lennok pushed the needle in and activated the ampoule, then slowly closed and opened his eyes before asking,

“What’s the scale of the collapse? Considering the earthquake’s intensity, the impact should reach here soon.”

“You’re not wrong. As the Demonic Realm collapses, the entire internal environment is undergoing geological changes.”

Aileen replied, walking towards Lennok.

“We still have some time, but if the earthquake worsens, we might have to move even further away.”

“Then we should at least finish our preparations before that.”

“That will only be possible once your medication is finished, though.”

Aileen said, looking with a disgusted expression at the syringes laid out beside Lennok.

“Injecting that many drugs would shorten your lifespan due to side effects… Are you sure you’re alright?”

“The opposite.”

Lennok calmly retorted, injecting an ampoule into his collarbone.

“It’s absolutely necessary to leave myself even a little more time.”

“That’s absurd. I heard you picked up some strange tricks after fighting Adamant Thunder…”

The Agency, which had gathered information for Cheonbeon’s scouting, would also know that Cheonbeon had been consistently using drugs after his clash with Adamant Thunder.

Aileen, too, was aware of this fact, so she merely shook her head at Lennok’s appearance, showing no particular surprise.

“Even wielding his Root Mindscape with a dead body, the Grand General’s will alone was twisting the laws of the world.”

Lennok said calmly, finishing his injection and wrapping a bandage around his forearm to stop the bleeding.

“He was an opponent worth risking my life against, a Transcendent truly deserving of such a challenge. I gave my all to achieve a resolution, so if it ends with just this price, it’s a cheap bargain.”

“What in the world… Don’t you realize you’re sounding more like an ancient general?”

She shook her head repeatedly and sat on a box opposite Lennok.

Aileen leaned her dull, worn gunblade against her shoulder, lowered her head, and sighed.

“Haaah…”

Amidst the shaking earthquake, it was as if the reality that the Demonic Realm conquest was finally over had truly sunk in.

After staring at the ground for a long time, Aileen quietly spoke.

“If the Grand General desired rest, then that’s that. I had a feeling things might turn out that way.”

“…”

“Perhaps that’s the only option given to humans in this world.”

Did she instinctively know that the two of them might clash the moment the Grand General sent Aileen back?

Perhaps upon seeing a rational butcher different from what was known, she had surmised the outcome from the very beginning.

But instead of elaborating on such thoughts, Aileen looked up at the sky where the flower mist was washing away, her expression complicated.

“But I must survive and see what has become of our hometown. I’m not… strong enough to simply abandon even that lingering regret.”

“…”

“If I don’t rush, and just deal with the problems in front of me one by one, perhaps I’ll reach it someday. As you said, if what I want right now is important—”

Click!!

Aileen, having loaded a magazine into her gunblade, abruptly turned the muzzle and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!!!

Simultaneously with the muzzle spitting fire, a bullet shot out at tremendous speed, plunging into the corner of the tent.

Arthur Mason, who had been crawling with his entire body bound, stopped dead in his tracks.

Aileen, rising with a cold expression as she watched him, rotated the magazine and said,

“First, let’s start by interrogating that trash as quickly as possible.”

“Not a bad conclusion, considering how much thought you put into it.”

“Uuugh!!”

Arthur Mason writhed in the corner of the tent, his limbs bound.

His eyes were bloodshot, but at least they weren’t the blackened eyes of a possession.

Proof that Arthur, who had belatedly regained consciousness, was not currently possessed by Yaksha.

Lennok stood before Arthur, raising both hands as if a surgeon preparing for an operation.

“What’s Arthur Mason’s condition?”

“All his bones are broken, and his entire body’s muscles are ruptured, but his life isn’t in danger.”

Aileen looked down at Arthur with a cold gaze from beside Lennok.

“If we had to assess the severity of his injuries, it’s just that he overexerted himself during the Mausoleum conquest? There are no ruptured organs or central nervous system damage whatsoever.”

“Meaning we can’t rule out the possibility that he was in league with Yaksha from the start.”

“Uuugh!!!”

Arthur Mason convulsed at those words, but Lennok paid him no mind.

“How was Arthur restrained? Was anything done after the Grand General broke his neck?”

“I used The Agency’s Binding Incantation, so he’ll be safe. It’s a type of curse discovered while exploring the Salryeong’imun Demonic Mirror; a karma-like phenomenon specialized for humans, which works well even on high-level superhumans.”

Click.

Before Aileen could finish her reply, Lennok pulled out an ampoule from his pocket.

The sharp needle of the drug-filled syringe glinted, and a drop clinging to its tip fell.

Hiss!!!

The trace of the drug drop, melting the surrounding soil as it hit the ground.

Arthur Mason, watching wide-eyed, began thrashing like a fish, crawling away across the ground.

Before he could escape the tent, Aileen stepped on Arthur Mason’s shoulder, stopping him, and Lennok knelt down to press on his neck.

Thud!!

“Stay still. I’m not trying to kill you now.”

“K-k-k-k-ugh!!!”

Arthur Mason glared with eyes full of disbelief, completely distrusting Lennok’s words.

But Lennok didn’t even blink as he brought the needle to Arthur Mason’s neck.

“As long as Yaksha resides in your body, any trickery wouldn’t be surprising. So, before releasing you, I’ll just deprive you of some of your mental and physical resistance.”

“Uuugh!!”

“I’m a bit tired, having just come from facing the Grand General. If you thrash around like that, the needle might hit your spinal cord or nerves.”

“—Ugh?!”

Perhaps startled by Lennok’s mention of facing the Grand General, Arthur Mason’s thrashing suddenly froze solid on the spot.

Not missing the opportunity, Lennok plunged the needle deep into Arthur Mason’s carotid artery.

Thwip.

“…!”

As the drug from the ampoule seeped into his bloodstream, Arthur Mason’s body began to stiffen and become rigid on the spot.

Seeing this, Lennok finally rose, untying the cloth that had been gagging Arthur Mason.

“You, son of a b-b-bastard…”

Arthur Mason, looking up at Lennok with blurry eyes, first spewed out a string of curses.

“What… what did you… inject me with…”

“Not a special drug, just Nether-Dimensional Flame called Hellfire.”

Lennok said calmly.

“It possesses the power to forcibly run a Miniature Universe wild, and as long as Yaksha is hiding using your Miniature Universe as a pretext, it’ll make a perfect whip.”

“K-ugh…”

“It seems your mind has recovered enough to speak, so I’ll ask.”

Lennok slowly loosened his shoulders, looking down at Arthur Mason’s trembling body.

Like Arthur Mason, the effects of the drug were slowly beginning to take hold in Lennok’s body, and the pain gradually subsided.

Feeling his muscles stiffen from the painkiller’s effect, Lennok quickly selected the questions he needed to ask.

“When did you start accompanying Yaksha? Tell me when you surrendered your body to it.”

“In front of the, the Singularity Reactor…”

“In front of the Singularity Reactor? You were already accompanying Yaksha that far?”

To reach the Singularity Reactor inside the Mausoleum, Lennok too had to successively face many monsters.

If Arthur Mason had been acting with Yaksha up until that point, it was certainly not something to be overlooked.

As Lennok thought, Arthur Mason’s neck trembled as he replied with difficulty,

“We agreed to act together after entering the Mausoleum… and the conquest speed was strangely fast… So, I was suspicious, but…”

“But what?”

“Yaksha suddenly… leaped at the Grand General… committing suicide… Because of that, I also… fought another general and then…”

“…”

There were two Grand Generals of the Empire guarding the Singularity Reactor. The number of Dead Flowers and corpses guarding the surroundings amounted to hundreds.

If a sudden battle erupted and Arthur Mason had to face two Grand Generals alone immediately after Yaksha committed suicide, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible that his body was taken, but…

“I thought I was dead… but when I opened my eyes, I was here… Damn it… It’s unfair…!”

Lennok and Aileen quietly exchanged glances at Arthur Mason’s desperate, blood-spewing words.

It wasn’t particularly trustworthy, but Arthur Mason himself was denying any collusion with Yaksha.

In the end, then, the surrender of his body to Yaksha wasn’t something Arthur Mason himself desired from the start.

“He’s a mercenary who was active even in the Vulcan Civil War. How much should I believe that such a veteran had his body taken so helplessly, unable to do anything?”

“Well, do we have to believe him?”

Aileen aimed her gunblade at Arthur Mason’s forehead with a cold expression.

“If it’s a lie, there’s no need to worry, and even if it’s true, his body was still taken. Either way, dealing with him here and now would be cleaner, wouldn’t it?”

“If I wanted to kill him, I could do it anytime. What I’m curious about is when Yaksha began to intervene.”

Lennok fell into thought.

“If, as Yaksha claimed, the technology that corrupted the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors was from an alien civilization, then it’s highly likely he knows the circumstances of the Imperial Palace’s use of it. Isn’t that why he was the first to arrive before the Grand General’s Mausoleum?”

“…”

“Given how things have turned out, it knows there’s no possibility of recovery. Come out.”

Lennok said, drawing up his mana.

“I’ll have to hear the unfinished story directly from the Grand General’s Mausoleum.”

“K-ugh…!”

Whoosh!!

At that moment, the Hellfire injected into Arthur Mason’s body resonated with Lennok’s mana, burning his entire being.

Flames flowing through Arthur Mason’s veins flickered intensely, incinerating his body and stimulating his Mind Imprint.

At the moment the Nether-Dimensional Flame drove the Miniature Universe into a rampage to its limits, even overturning it, and forcibly pulled out the hidden entity within.

Arthur Mason’s trembling, convulsing eyes began to turn into blackened eyes.

“…Well, well.”

From Arthur Mason’s deeply bowed head, an infinitely calm and subdued voice emerged.

At the same time, the presence emanating from Arthur Mason’s body transformed, becoming horrifyingly alien.

“I never… imagined things would turn out this way. How ironic.”

“…”

“That a Watcher favored by the Lighthouse Keeper… was a Transcendent mighty enough to fell an Imperial Grand General alone.”

Yaksha slowly lifted its gaze, muttering in a low tone.

The blackened eyes, reflecting Lennok’s face like a mirror, gleamed with a strange emotion.

“Don’t you think asking a lowly evil spirit like myself to predict and plan for such unrealistic variables is too harsh?”

“I don’t know what nonsense you’re spouting the moment you emerge.”

Lennok massaged his wrist, replying coldly.

“You couldn’t do it, so aren’t you right there now?”

“Heh heh… Indeed. That’s not wrong.”

Yaksha acquiesced readily, nodding.

“I thought I could control every situation, but I never expected things to unfold this way. I didn’t know you would stop the Sacrificial Ritual in such a manner.”

“…”

“Nor could I predict that the awakened Grand General would side with you among the assembled human race, or that he had a prior relationship with you. But—”

Yaksha’s blackened eyes, which had paused mid-sentence, pierced Lennok’s face.

As if, even in this moment which might be Yaksha’s last, it wished to imprint Lennok’s face in its eyes until the very end.

“What made me more insignificant than any plan… was the fact that the Outer God, who descended through the Sacrificial Ritual, held you in such utter abhorrence.”

“…”

Had it been observing what happened inside the Mausoleum even after being struck down by Lennok?

It wouldn’t be strange, as it had tried to scheme until it was subdued by the Grand General and dragged away.

The moment Lennok exchanged a glance with Aileen, she quietly loaded a magazine outside Yaksha’s line of sight.

If necessary, she would blow off Arthur Mason’s head and simultaneously retrieve Yaksha’s Spiritual Presence residing in his body.

Using the Corrupted Golden Rule, it wouldn’t be impossible to completely shatter Yaksha’s Spiritual Presence beyond recovery.

A minimal measure to ensure that any secrets it had witnessed here would not leak outside the Mausoleum.

However, Yaksha’s impressions seemed far more intense and profound than Lennok had imagined.

“I’ve wandered the Sea of Darkness and traversed many worlds… but I’ve never seen an Outer God react so strongly to a particular individual.”

Yaksha spoke, fully aware that Aileen was aiming her gun.

“The sea gods were never beings capable of conversation to begin with. We merely plead with them and stimulate their desires, borrowing fragments of the dreams they forever dream. To even touch their transcendent intellect and existence, let alone understand them, is not something we are permitted to do.”

“…”

“All the gods who descended from beyond the infinite universe were like that. Never conversing, scoffing, loathing, forever feeding only on the depravity of sacrificing their own kind… I thought there would be no exceptions.”

Yaksha’s vacant eyes reflected Lennok’s expressionless face.

“Yet, the great demise that devours humans and destroys worlds, acted like a fawning dog before you.”

“…”

“To speak with you, even for a moment, it learned the language of this world and attempted to exist in a material form… Do you understand what that means?”

A silent hush fell.

Aileen’s expression, too, had grown complicated as she aimed her gun at Yaksha’s head.

That this alien evil spirit, which had taken Arthur Mason’s body, had no intention of playing any tricks at this moment.

She too instinctively knew that it was only borrowing that body to converse with Lennok.

“Evan Martinez. What are you, really? What kind of being are you? Why is it that only you can stand before the sea’s Outer God in such a way?”

Yaksha, kneeling and looking up at Lennok, asked in a hollow voice,

“Why, when our world was destroyed… did the gods not show us such mercy?”

“…”

For a moment, Lennok could not answer those words and remained silent.

Because Lennok, too, could not find a suitable reason for such irrationality and unfairness.

What Lennok possessed was the innate talent of a wizard, not some talent that earned the love of an Outer God.

He had sometimes wondered if such an aptitude was included within his own talent.

But in this world, the power of Outer Gods was not something that could be bound by such talent or fate.

To attract their attention with a mere aptitude, the very existence of Outer Gods was too transcendent.

He didn’t know. He had never thought that everything he possessed had a rational reason.

Was it not that the result of Lennok existed because he was chosen, but that he had to choose because the result of Lennok existed?

He merely bore an unwavering question, having repeated such reversed thoughts countless times.

But Yaksha seemed to be thinking something different as it observed Lennok.

“If you alone are different throughout the entire universe, if you alone are like a beacon that receives their attention in this world…”

Yaksha, slowly kneeling with its limbs still bound, spoke.

“I wish to serve you, and no one else, as my god.”

“…What?”

“I will offer all my knowledge and abilities to you. I will tell you how to destroy the world you were born in, design eternity… and become an Outer God.”

Yaksha looked up at Lennok and asked,

“Evan Martinez. Will you take me as your disciple?”