9 Level (28)
The Nine Calamities’ battlefield, having broken through the atmosphere from beyond the Outer Sea, plummets.
In the space-time hurtling towards destruction, the two transcendents’ chants intersected almost simultaneously.
Self-Magnetic Domain Deployment.
Pretended Hierarchy, Mental Image Manifestation.
[Mad Naked Sea Palace]
The kaleidoscope, dyed black, rotates, unfolding the Mad Naked Sea Palace’s domain into reality.
The turning point of a madman, born as a harmless apostle who serves no god, gone insane.
KWA-AA-AA-AA-AANG!!!!!
From the darkness, dozens of black pillars slam down violently on either side of Lenox.
As if creating a path centered on Lenox, pillars of overwhelming size lined up to the left and right, flashing brilliantly.
A meteor shower, dyed pitch black, falls over the domain’s sky, casting ominous shadows on the ground.
Behind Lenox, who lowered his head, halos unfolded in succession, undulating like black wings.
The power of the mortal to kill the undying and impose the laws of reality on the immortal.
The execution ground of a mad apostle who desires a world without gods.
However, even seeing the darkness of the Mad Naked Sea Palace, Seonjong did not stop chanting.
The ability to change the world, obtained as a 9th level ascendant.
To make Malleon Gnosis exist as an ascendant, to alter the world with his own answer-
Phenomenon of Ideological War, Manifest.
Origin Hierarchy, Causality Alteration.
[Galaxy Dragon Star Group]
WOO-OO-OO-OO-OONG!!!!
Thousands of meteor showers, shining silver, embraced the Nine Calamities in a circle, drawing the shape of a dazzling celestial sphere.
The moment the starlight forming the meteor shower curved into a huge sphere of light, flashing silver.
The remnants of the Nine Calamities, which had been falling towards the ground at tremendous speed, ‘stopped’ in mid-air.
JJE-EO-EO-EO-EONG!!!
The falling Nine Calamities, without even a recoil, killed its speed as it was, stopping time.
The moment the Self-Magnetic Domain and the Ideological War Domain overlapped and collided at the same space-time coordinate.
KII-ING!!!!!
At the same time, Lenox’s consciousness accelerated to its limit, splitting into countless fragments.
A brief moment of leeway, where consciousness was stretched infinitely, not even reaching an instant in real time.
“Ban.”
From the far side of the distant consciousness space, Malleon was looking at Lenox.
“I’ve been waiting.”
“…Ideological War Domain.”
At the same time, Lenox, realizing why the Nine Calamities had stopped, raised his gaze.
“You stopped the Nine Calamities with the power to alter the world semi-permanently.”
“To be precise, I am rewriting the laws of physics that were in this space-time as my own.”
Malleon, who had been folding his arms, said.
The silver dragon’s eyes, looking at Lenox, were calmer than ever before.
“The Ideological War Domain is the power to imprint the ascendant’s answer onto the world. The moment I surrounded this Nine Calamities with the Ideological War Domain, all the laws of physics that exist here are replaced by my own.”
“…The load and acceleration on the Nine Calamities must have already exceeded what an individual can handle.”
The space-time of the Nine Calamities where Lenox and Malleon are currently standing is a meteorite falling from thousands of kilometers above.
The load and acceleration here are already beyond what a life form can stop.
However, Malleon Gnosis was able to make it possible just by unfolding the Ideological War Domain.
Erasing the laws of physics that were on the Nine Calamities and covering that space with the Ideological War Domain.
Because the Ideological War Domain is the power to realize the ascendant’s answer, and is like a world in itself.
The Nine Calamities contained within it were also forcibly ‘fixed’ by following the laws of physics of the Ideological War Domain.
The domain of the Mad Naked Sea Palace that covered the battlefield. The Ideological War Domain Galaxy Dragon Star Group, which spread out even encompassing that domain.
Looking at the countless beautiful meteor showers embroidered in the dark sky, Lenox murmured.
“You unfolded the Ideological War Domain from the beginning with the intention of stopping the Nine Calamities.”
“It was my will, but it was also not my will.”
Malleon said calmly.
“But I can’t help but be grateful that I have this time to talk with you.”
“Malleon.”
“Before the end comes… I wanted to apologize to you.”
Malleon’s voice was softer and gentler than ever before.
Lenox stared at the ascendant standing in front of him with an expressionless face.
Because he knew who had appeared in the consciousness space immediately after the collision of the Ideological War Domain and the Self-Magnetic Domain.
That the one standing in front of him now was not Seonjong’s thought, but Malleon Gnosis himself.
“I knew the moment I saw Seonjong handling your Primal Magic.”
Lenox said, breaking the silence.
“That he had obtained not only your body but also the spell in its complete form. And that it was your own will.”
“……”
The Primal Magic Saint Lotus Eight Extremes Style is a power that can only be handled by Malleon Gnosis’s own mental image.
Unless the spell itself is specialized for it, like Ermong’s consciousness transfer, you cannot take away the spell by taking away the body.
Even for a transcendent like Seonjong, it is only possible after completely destroying and absorbing the original owner’s soul and mental image.
But the fact that Seonjong is handling Primal Magic is proof that Malleon is voluntarily cooperating with Seonjong.
It was proof that he was lending his power to the thought body that had taken his body.
“I’m sorry, Ban.”
Malleon said.
“I lied to you. I tried to forcibly ignore that fact.”
“……”
“After reaching level 9 with your help in the promotion ceremony, I began to question it.”
Malleon closed his eyes.
“I wondered if the path I was pursuing was truly the right one, if a better answer already existed.”
“……”
“I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t. The moment I tried not to doubt, I was already doubting.”
The silver dragon’s expression turned sad.
“The moment the ceremony that should have failed at that point succeeded, I could no longer abandon that thought.”
“…Malleon.”
The seeker cannot move forward the moment he thinks that someone else’s answer is more correct than his own.
Originally, the promotion ceremony should have ended at that point. Malleon should have failed and died.
But the moment Lenox intervened, saved Malleon, and made the ceremony a success, Malleon understood.
That Lenox, who intervened in the process, was looking further than himself, who had reached level 9 as a result of the ceremony.
That the ending he was looking at was heading towards a more distant future than his own.
“I…”
Lenox’s expression, having heard that fact directly from Malleon’s mouth, changed faintly for a very brief moment.
Should he have just stood by?
Should he have let Malleon die, let the ceremony fail, and looked for another way to get on the Nine Calamities?
Perhaps that was the only way from the beginning.
Perhaps that was the only rest for Malleon Gnosis.
But-
“I… am not the kind of being you think I am.”
Lenox answered, lowering his gaze.
“I just do it because I can. I challenge because I believe I can do it. Because I know the result, I can cherish the process.”
“……”
“What I want is not as grand as you think. I am just-”
How should he express it?
What words should he use to convey his answer to this incomplete ascendant?
What should he say to Malleon, who was about to confess his betrayal before the conclusion?
Even though he had answered those who asked for Lenox’s answer countless times, he always agonized like this.
Because words are always incomplete, and hearts are not properly conveyed.
Nevertheless, he is always thinking about how to answer and move forward in the most correct way.
“Even this moment when you and I are talking, I just want to leave it in the next moment.”
“…Ban.”
“So that everything we have done does not disappear into the sea foam. Always, like that…”
There are things that do not change even if everything changes.
The desire to live and see tomorrow is still the same as the beginning.
A more honest and fundamental wish, not a grand and great reason.
The process that moves Lenox to the end is there.
In the quiet silence, Malleon was listening to Lenox’s answer with his eyes closed.
As if to remember this moment when Lenox was expressing his feelings until the very end.
“From the moment you acknowledge your weakness and make it your answer, you are more truthful than anyone else.”
Malleon, who had been silent, said quietly.
“I was captivated by it because I knew that your answer was not just from innate talent.”
“……”
“I tried to deny that fact, but I don’t regret it. At least I…”
The ascendant who opened his eyes smiled softly.
“Even after coming this far, I am convinced that you are right.”
“…Malleon.”
“The Galaxy Dragon Star Group is the power to group dragons and stars from the outer galaxy and unify myself with the stars.”
Malleon said, slowly turning around.
“All the stars that make up the Ideological War Domain are myself, and I am the stars, so this is a Dragon Star. As long as the stars shine, it is almost immortal.”
“……”
“But there is a way. Because I reached the ascendant while being captivated by your answer, the Galaxy Dragon Star Group that contains my path is still incomplete.”
Malleon said that and smiled softly.
“For this fleeting moment to tell you this, I have completely given him my mental image.”
“……”
“With my help, he has gained the sense to handle the Ideological War Domain, so from now on, he will calm my consciousness and make it impossible for me to wake up again.”
In Malleon’s eyes, which met Lenox’s gaze, a strong will was embedded.
“So, don’t hesitate until the end. You know, right?”
“Malleon.”
Lenox asked with a complex expression.
“Were you waiting for this from the beginning?”
Malleon’s mind, which was going berserk from the Outer Sea’s melody, could not last long.
Soon, when Malleon’s mind was completely broken, Seonjong would immediately absorb his soul and mental image and take away the spell.
But Malleon voluntarily gave the spell to Seonjong and bought a fleeting moment to talk with Lenox.
To tell him that the Ideological War Domain of the Galaxy Dragon Star Group that stopped the Nine Calamities now is an unstable power.
Furthermore, to leave a promise to kill Malleon himself without hesitation.
“What qualifications do I, who failed while carrying the fate of Kundara, have to live and see tomorrow?”
Malleon smiled.
“How can I, who could not even protect my own path, face the faces of those who believed in me and followed me?”
“……”
“If my journey is just a handful of echoes, I only hope that it will end at your hands.”
KII-II-II-ING!!!
The consciousness that had been expanded to its limit and slowed down gradually accelerates.
The time that had stopped surrounding Lenox and Malleon regains its speed.
The last moment given to Malleon Gnosis.
The time that was close to a fleeting moment was coming to an end.
There was no room left to exchange sentiments.
“The opponent is a monster who shares life and death. It won’t go as well as you say.”
“……”
“It may not be the way you want. But if it’s still okay…”
Lenox raised his gaze.
“I will decide your ending myself.”
“Anything is fine as long as it’s the way you want.”
The moment Malleon smiled, light swirled from all directions.
At the same time as his consciousness accelerated to its limit, Lenox’s body was pushed back.
As he bounced back into reality, the clock distorted.
KWA-AA-AA-AA-AANG!!!!!
The black pillars slammed down under the huge silver celestial sphere.
Countless Dragon Stars falling from the dark sky.
All those starlight are Malleon himself, who contains the dragon, and the parts that make up the Ideological War Domain itself.
The moment Lenox thought that and stood up, supporting himself with one hand on the ground, the silver dragon’s massive body, adorned with brilliant light, slowly descended.
GO-O-O-O-O!!!
The Ideological War Domain where the ascendant who reached level 9 manifests his answer to the world.
It goes without saying how absolute an existence an Ascendant is at the center of that space-time.
Whirr-rr-rr!
The scales covering Malleon’s entire body melted, turning into silver flames that blazed.
Malleon Gnosis’s new form, with a dazzling silver flame and a glint in his eyes.
[I can feel it.]
Woo-o-o-oong!!!!
A hollow Seonjong’s voice echoed explosively from the silver dragon’s mouth, now qualified.
[I can feel that Malleon Gnosis has finally completely handed this body over to me.]
“……”
[How was he in the end?]
Seonjong asked.
[Did he accept his end like a great dragon, or did he cry out pathetically to be spared?]
“Well.”
At the same time as he drew up his magic power, a halo spun wildly behind Lenox’s back.
Black lightning exploded in all directions, shattering and overflowing the void.
Zzzzzzzzzzz!
Black lightning, compressed to its limit, stretched out in black lines from all directions.
Lenox, who grasped the black lines created in this way with his bare hands, said,
“Are you curious about that even after obtaining Malleon’s Ideological War Domain?”
[That’s right. This dragon’s body is fundamentally not the vessel I wanted.]
Shuuuuu…..!!
At the same time as Seonjong spread his hand, the light of the meteor shower falling from the sky tilted.
The Dragon Star Army poured towards the area of the Boundless Palace, drawing a majestic semi-circular trajectory.
[There is meaning in the answer and technique that Malleon Gnosis pursued, but that is not the ultimate destination I seek.]
“……”
[There is a trinity miracle completed by combining my power of recursion and correction with Kaise Bajur’s defiance of heaven.]
Seonjong said, with the rain of stars falling from the sky behind him.
[Through him, I will obtain an opportunity that even I, who died, could not obtain.]
“……An opportunity.”
Even though he understood much, Lenox no longer asked anything.
He knew that arguing about whether it was right or wrong now was meaningless.
Having decided on his own answer, wasn’t he aware that there was only one path left to take?
However-
“I promised to decide Malleon’s end with my own hands.”
Lenox muttered, clasping his hands together while bowing his head.
“So, I will take his life before the Nine Calamities fall.”
[If you can, try it.]
Seonjong laughed.
[I will place your death in this graveyard in place of Kaise Bajur.]
Jji-yu-u-u-ung!!!!
At the same time as the black halo twisted, a thick darkness poured out like wings.
Formless black magic forcefully pushed Lenox’s body up, centered on the halo.
He soared at an incredible speed, defying the hundreds of meteor showers falling from the sky.
Original Magic: Star Union Eight Extremes Style
Nine Forms – Outer Law
[Heavenfall]
Kugwagwagwagwa!!!!!!
Hundreds of starlight accelerated diagonally and fell like cannonballs.
As dozens of meters of light pillars rose above the area of the Boundless Palace, they annihilated space.
Pat!
Lenox, who leaped through space-time, crossed the area of the Boundless Palace at an invisible speed.
The black pillars that soared to the left and right tilted diagonally, and a black sphere soared from the center of the Boundless Palace.
Creation-Type Unique Magic
Nature Transformation: Heaven’s Bottom
[Black Sea: Extreme Blaze]
Kugugugugu!!!
The bombardment of starlight that fell on the area of the Boundless Palace was sucked into the black sphere and distorted.
The Dragon Star Army, rotating in a vast spiral around the Extreme Blaze, collided with each other and disappeared.
Malleon and Lenox’s new forms, falling from the sky, clashed in the sky above the area.
[Fall: Carnage]
[Black Twilight]
[Silver Myriad Forms]
[Dragon Calamity]
Sharp lightning and heavy starlight crossed and exploded through the area and the space-time of the entire domain.
The moment Lenox, scattering black lightning, and Malleon’s massive body, covered in silver flames, intersected in the void.
Innumerable black lines rippled as if splitting and breaking the celestial sphere, and a vast tide of black lightning overflowed.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!!!
As if crushing the vast boundary line of the Galaxy Dragon Star Army, which reached a radius of thousands of meters, into a circle.
Amidst the black lightning that dismantled all things, starlight fell, exploded, and shattered.
The moment Lenox, stained with black blood, and Seonjong’s hand, flickering with flames, turned towards each other.
The black halo and the silver meteor shower exploded and disappeared hundreds of times, burning the world.
Jjeo-jeo-jeo-jeong!!!
Every time he chanted Uroboros, dozens of black halos unfolded simultaneously.
A barrage of Heaven’s Bottom Techniques that burned Lenox’s remaining magic power and time to the limit.
Black ripples appeared and disappeared hundreds of times on the dragon’s entire body, made of pure white silver flames.
Black lines and black lightning dotted every point of impact, erasing Malleon’s body.
Kwajijijijik-!!!!
Uroboros Magic System. Nature Transformation: Heaven’s Bottom.
The power of corruption, which gave up interpretation at the lowest point of providence, ‘dismantled’ all the pouring backlash.
The moment it began to look beyond Malleon’s body, and even at Seonjong’s soul, with a destruction beyond that.
[Impossible!!!!!]
Seonjong grabbed the rotating black halo with his bare hand, with a chilling roar.
Crunch!!!
The Ascendant’s arm that came into contact with the halo was crushed and scattered on the spot, but it did not stop.
The moment he stretched out his left arm, which was being dismantled in real time, pierced through the halo, and grabbed Lenox’s neck.
[Magician!!!!!]
Seonjong swung his arm at an invisible speed and threw Lenox to the other side of the domain.
Ppeo-eo-eong!!!
“……!!”
Even though he had dismantled and eliminated the impact and backlash, the shock shook his soul.
The moment Lenox, who had spat out black blood silently, raised his upper body with empty eyes.
Malleon’s massive body, which had fallen from the sky, pressed down on Lenox, exceeding the speed of perception.
Kwaaaaang!!!!
“Kuh……!!!”
[It’s not just difficult to deal with, it’s a disgusting power.]
Seonjong said chillingly, pressing down on Lenox’s neck with his right arm instead of his missing left arm.
[The more you match techniques, the more you are helping me, so the more you fight, the more you are inviting your own loss.]
The Heaven’s Bottom Technique of Uroboros, which added dismantling and removed interpretation.
Everything that was dismantled and crushed became the driving force to turn Uroboros.
Seonjong realized this immediately after matching techniques with Lenox, and endured a brief loss and forcibly ended the battle.
[But even if I dismantle this body and soul, I cannot be killed within this Ideological War Domain.]
Whirr-rr-rr!
The starlight that fell from the sky landed on Malleon’s left arm and turned into silver flames.
The silver flames formed Malleon’s left arm anew, giving it a complete form.
[Even if your technique has the power to defy providence, the result of this fight is already decided.]
Seonjong said with a chilling gaze, pointing his left hand at Lenox’s head.
[I will blow your head off in one go, leaving no room for anything.]
Kiiiiiiing……!!!
Dozens of meteor showers that make up the Ideological War Domain gathered in Seonjong’s hand.
A level 9 spell that concentrates light to the limit and annihilates the target of the technique.
Nine Forms – Outer Law
[Annihilation Radiance]
Having confirmed the danger of Uroboros, there was no reason to delay.
Without waiting for Lenox’s answer, he completed the technique. The moment he dropped the light of Annihilation Radiance.
A majestic silver starlight surged like a tide over the area of the Boundless Palace.
Kwaaaaaang!!!!
However, in the center of that light, Lenox was still lying down, looking up at Seonjong.
His face was scorched, but he seemed almost unaffected by the Annihilation Radiance that Seonjong had unleashed.
[He dismantled the technique and preserved his body at the same time……?]
For the first time, the emptiness in Seonjong’s eyes was tinged with confusion.
[Impossible. The output of the Nine Forms Outer Law is a power that even any transcendent can withstand-]
Original Magic Annihilation Radiance is the power to annihilate the target with the backlash of exploding starlight.
At such a close distance, even Lenox would not be able to survive unless he dismantled the technique with all his might.
That’s why Seonjong also intended to tear apart his body by exploiting the gap in consciousness while Lenox was focusing on dismantling, but-
[You yourself did not perfectly dismantle my technique.]
Seonjong’s empty eyes were filled with a cold murderous intent.
[Is there a problem with the performance of my technique itself?]
“Silver reacts with poison and discolors and denatures……”
Lenox coughed weakly as he looked at it.
“The further away from pure silver, the lower the magic power conductivity and conversion rate……”
[……Could it be.]
Chiiiiik……!!!
Malleon’s right arm, which was strongly pressing down on Lenox’s body.
Lenox’s blood, which had turned black, touched it, and was slowly corroding Malleon’s body.
It looked as if a very potent poison was reacting with the silver.
Original Magic Star Union Eight Extremes Style is the power to convert the dragon’s unique magic power into a powerful heat source.
It is a technique that is allowed because Malleon, who was born as a silver dragon, had the powerful heat and magic power conductivity of silver.
However, if poison is mixed into the silver dragon’s body to induce the denaturation of silver, the efficiency of converting magic power into a heat source decreases.
It was a weakness, not a weakness, of Malleon, who was born with the properties of silver, that Oliviera had advised Lenox about.
Lenox remembered it and constantly poured his poisoned blood into Malleon during the battle.
He had finally succeeded in inducing denaturation to the point where Malleon’s technique output was falling.
[Even if you have altered the characteristics of the body, can you interfere with my technique output within the Ideological War Domain? Impossible. In the first place-]
Seonjong realized something and suddenly raised his gaze.
[Could it be, the ability of this domain is-!!!!]
The apostle of Boundless, dreaming of a world without gods.
A place of execution that brings everything that exists under the laws of reality, killing what cannot die.
That is why the Boundless Palace can return Malleon’s body to the laws of reality even within the Galaxy Dragon Star Army.
Was everything intended up to this point from the beginning?
By colliding with each other’s techniques, he smeared Lenox’s blood all over his body.
Forcibly forcing a melee to check the power of Uroboros.
Now that he has come down to the area of the Boundless Palace himself and narrowed the distance with Lenox.
“Of course, I had thought everything through up to this point from the beginning.”
Kiiiiing!!!
A black halo, compressed to the limit, rotated in Lenox’s hand.
Holding the halo compressed like a revolver bullet, he aimed it at Malleon’s heart.
Self-Magnetic Domain Deployment. Liberation of the Boundless Palace’s Domain.
By liberating the fixed form of the domain, the power of the Boundless Palace is compressed into a single point instead of the entire domain.
And only this moment, when the distance between the two transcendents does not exist.
“It will be the only moment when I can directly ‘dismantle’ your rank.”
Click!!
The halo, a mixture of the Boundless Palace’s image and Uroboros, distorted, drawing a double helix.
The sound of tilting a finger and loading a bullet echoed.
Lenox whispered, firing the halo as if bouncing it off.
“Fall, Ascendant.”
Pajik!!
The moment the black light twisted into a spiral pierced the Ascendant’s heart.
A sound like something breaking echoed from within Malleon.