Ch.175Beyond the Dream (3)

The Transcendent had been a being whose true nature was debated since the days when Grim Darker was just a game.

All that was known was that their power was limitless, and that they resided not within the world but beyond the universe.

No one knew exactly what these beings did, how they survived in space, or why they had come to the world of Grim Darker.

However, one thing was certain.

They possessed power over souls and would lend their strength only to those who could perceive them, in the form of contracts.

In the godless cosmology of Grim Darker, they were among the few beings that could be called divine.

Yet even by the third installment, their ultimate nature remained unrevealed, with only one clue remaining.

The first appearance of Transcendents and their Contractors occurred after Neria opened the sky.

She was, after all, the first Contractor.

While little was known about the Transcendents, a veteran like Luwellin knew most of what there was to know.

There were only three types of Transcendents that players could contract with.

The Star, a sentient celestial body that granted fire-wielding powers.

The Shadow, a vast nebula composed of magical energy that granted its Contractors free magical acquisition and enhancement.

And finally, the Elder, a gas giant symbolizing sea and storm, hundreds of times larger than ordinary planets.

While countless other Transcendents existed in the game’s lore, often appearing as bosses or NPCs,

Players could only contract with one of these three.

Because of this, even Luwellin, and even Lucilla, had thought they wouldn’t be surprised if they met someone who had contracted with an unfamiliar Transcendent.

But that only applied when meeting Contractors.

Luwellin stood frozen, staring at the monster that met his gaze.

No, not eyes. Tentacles? He couldn’t fathom what kind of sensory organ it was.

It had no eyes. No antennae-like appendages either. Yet Luwellin clearly sensed that it was “seeing” him.

Naturally, his eyes moved to examine its body. His divinely enhanced vision analyzed every detail.

This was a Transcendent. The power lurking in its body was neither magical nor divine, but something else.

Something completely different. Something that had no right to exist in this Netel.

A greatsword was embedded in its body. A long blade that seemed forged from light itself.

The blade pierced through the Transcendent, pinning it to the floor and the world, rendering it immobile.

Yet their eyes met.

The Transcendent recognized the vessel before it.

In that moment, Luwellin heard something like a cry echoing through his soul.

Similar to Mother Netel’s repeated temptations, yet entirely different.

Something more akin to a scream.

The moment he heard it, his mind snapped to attention. Luwellin suddenly felt black armor enveloping his body.

His haunted intuition that prevented ambushes activated simultaneously with the ring “Combat Ready,” which equipped him with armor in battle situations.

Something was coming. But from where? How?

By the time Luwellin realized it, something black was already flooding his vision.

Too late. As Luwellin crossed his arms to block it—

CLAAAAAANG!

A resounding metallic sound filled the cavern. A broken hammer head flew freely past some soldier, crashing into the path they had come from.

The scattered metal fragments fell faster than they should—evidence of the tremendous force behind the blow that had to be intercepted.

Luwellin looked ahead to see Lucilla, who had stepped forward and swung her hammer.

Her movements were precise yet somehow darkened with killing intent. Movements optimized for taking a single life.

Luwellin followed the hammer fragments floating in the air with his eyes.

Gritting his teeth, he ignited his eyes.

His mind cleared. There was no reason to die quietly.

Mother Netel’s screams, the Transcendent’s sudden hostility.

None of that mattered.

If it’s an enemy, fight. If it’s an enemy, kill. Luwellin’s brain heated up, the divinity within him surged, and the power of mourning rose with his heartbeat.

What rose in his mind were countless deaths by his own hand. Luwellin’s muscles swelled, and his body was imbued with strength that shouldn’t naturally exist.

Luwellin had already drawn a heavy battle axe.

SCREEEEEEEEECH!

The axe screamed as he drew it. The moment he held it, Luwellin leaned forward and charged.

An explosive leap and an application of the Dragon-Dropping technique. He utilized the momentary force of the leap as momentum.

The distance closed rapidly. 10m, 5m, suddenly just 1m.

There was no reason to wait just because the enemy was unknown.

That wasn’t Luwellin’s style.

He raised his left hand, drawing North Wind as he closed the distance. Lucilla, without even looking at her brother passing by, ran alongside him.

The siblings cooperated without exchanging a word. As the distance rapidly decreased, some formless attack erupted spasmodically.

It was invisible to the eye. Yet Lucilla intercepted the attack with the broken handle of her hammer.

As attack met attack, she rotated on her right foot to deflect it.

The deflected attack ground into the floor as it flowed backward, and Luwellin perceived his sister’s movements with his divinely expanded vision.

He didn’t use miracles yet. He was preparing for contingencies. Luwellin gathered strength in his left hand holding North Wind and perceived an invisible trajectory.

The divinity extending from him was not unlike touch itself. There was a feeling of contact. He moved his body accordingly.

SCRAAAAAAAPE!

With a grating sound, the attack was repelled by the red wind that erupted, unable to penetrate it.

Naturally, his knees bent, and his feet dug into the floor as he was pushed back.

The floor was scraped, scattering stone fragments, and countless abrasions appeared on his black armor.

But he didn’t stop. Luwellin stomped the ground fiercely with overflowing power and stepped forward.

He was within striking distance. The Transcendent was within reach of his axe.

Luwellin twisted his body using the force generated from his leap, pulled back his axe, and with an inhaled breath, instinctively imbued the axe strongly with Mortality, as he did with all his attacks.

The attack was a nameless technique. Yet it had a clear trajectory drawn by his mental image.

Sensing Luwellin’s momentum, Lucilla slowed her pace to match him while preparing her own attack.

She discarded the tattered hammer handle and reached behind her back. She drew two swords: one with a sharp single edge and one long, thick blade.

The two drawn swords traced organically connected paths. If the leading single-edged sword was blocked or dodged, the following heavier blade would tear the opponent apart—a combo attack.

A movement predicated on the enemy’s evasion and defense.

In rhythm with Luwellin, she timed her sword strikes to land the moment Luwellin’s axe made contact.

That was the essence of a combo. Rather than mindlessly unleashing rapid attacks, connection was what mattered.

A combo that gave the opponent no time to breathe or defend. But as they swung, an anomaly occurred.

Space distorted. Lucilla sensed the presence and twisted her body, while Luwellin, detecting the ambush, ducked.

CRUNCH!

Lucilla’s left arm was severed, and Luwellin’s battle axe, the Screamer, broke.

Teeth marks remained in the air as fabric scattered. Luwellin’s gaze fell on Lucilla’s missing left arm.

Sparks flew from his gray eyes.

CRACK!

Anger moved his body. An instinctive movement that could be described as automatic.

Luwellin’s right hand grabbed the axe blade from the air and threw it, creating a silver line etched in space.

SCREEEECH!

As the thrown axe blade embedded itself precisely in the Transcendent’s head.

Their vision inverted.

Both Luwellin and Lucilla disappeared, only to reappear farther away.

‘Space distortion…!’

The first attack was like that, and so was this one now.

All abilities that directly manipulated space. Luwellin forcibly planted his feet on the ground to stop being pulled by the repulsion.

No more attacks came, perhaps due to the range, but it wouldn’t be strange if some new attack was attempted at any moment.

Luwellin felt his heart pounding violently as he examined his sister.

Discovering her missing left arm, he frowned. It was almost a tearful expression.

“Sister, your arm….”

“It’s fine. It’ll heal soon.”

Lucilla smiled gently, trying to reassure him, while Luwellin looked at her with concern.

“More importantly, shouldn’t we focus on that?”

Lucilla spoke kindly as she kicked up the fallen single-edged sword and gripped it with her right hand.

Hearing her words, Luwellin nodded.

After the distance was created, the Transcendent was no longer looking at Luwellin.

Rather, it lay quietly motionless, just as when he first saw it.

The axe was embedded in its head, and its side was greatly torn, perhaps from Lucilla’s attack before they were flung away, with blood flowing steadily.

Yet it didn’t move.

‘Is it dead?’

No, that couldn’t be. The blood continued to flow, suggesting it was alive.

It soaked the floor, gradually gushing out and wetting the surroundings.

Yet it didn’t stop. It was bizarrely unnatural.

By now, the amount of bleeding was incomprehensible even for such a massive body, yet the blood showed no signs of stopping.

This gave the impression that it couldn’t be killed. It wasn’t just a feeling—the fact that his divinity didn’t deny this conjecture bothered him.

It made sense if the opponent was a Transcendent. Transcendents were fundamentally beings of mystery.

“What on earth is…”

At that moment, Arba, who had been speechless at the absurdity of what had happened in just a few minutes, opened her mouth.

Luwellin remained quiet, having no intention of explaining, and Lucilla stayed silent, thinking that addressing her would only frighten or antagonize her.

But they couldn’t remain quiet after hearing what followed.

“What on earth happened that made you slash at empty air?”

Both Luwellin and Lucilla turned their faces toward Arba.

Arba flinched at the two pairs of clear gray eyes staring at her.

“Can’t you see it?”

Luwellin asked with a puzzled face, while Arba, unable to see his expression, stared ahead in even greater confusion.

All that reflected in her eyes was an empty cavern and…

“Are you talking about that woman over there?”

A woman who had been almost hidden from Luwellin’s view by the massive body.

Luwellin now saw the woman hanging behind the bleeding Transcendent.

“…Renia.”

It was Renia, the first Contractor, known as the witch, the first Structuralist mage feared throughout the continent.

The puzzle pieces fit together. Luwellin glared at the Transcendent that had once contracted with Renia and had, for some reason, crossed the universe to reach Netel.