Ch.223Transcender (4)

Llewellyn’s expression soured, and Lucilla naturally read her brother’s face.

Anyone could see it was an unpleasant expression, but exactly why he was displeased…

She could tell instinctively, having lived as “Yoon Sejin’s sister” for so long.

Ascension. As far as she knew, what was called the Great Ascension had failed.

It must be true, since none other than the God of Dreams had said so himself.

But her kind-hearted brother wouldn’t be this upset merely because someone had recommended something that failed. She believed there must be something she didn’t know, and Lucilla gazed steadily at her brother.

Waiting for him to speak and act on his own.

Sure enough.

“The Great Ascension wasn’t just a failure.”

Her brother, Llewellyn, spoke with feigned indifference. Though his displeasure was evident to anyone, he was clearly trying not to show it.

Even the typically oblivious Beliareus seemed to flinch as if realizing his mistake, but it was too late.

“It was a trap. And not just any trap… one that someone had meticulously prepared.”

Llewellyn spoke impassively.

“Every god who participated in the Great Ascension was devoured and killed the moment they ascended. Every single one, without exception. Even your star is merely an invader that consumed the ascended Fire God.”

His suppressed emotions were bitter. Beliareus listened quietly, neither angry nor sad despite this.

“And yet you propose ascension to me? It’s obvious what awaits me if I ascend, but I don’t understand your intention.”

“Of course, the star would…”

“I just recently fought a transcendent being that devoured the God of Night and was impersonating him. Only by borrowing my sister’s power and drawing out everything I had was I able to repel it.”

This was news to Lucilla. Her eyes widened, and Beliareus scratched his cheek.

“And now you’re telling me that the star has proposed ascension to me. In other words, a transcendent being that devoured the Fire God and consumed its identity and power has made such a proposal.”

Lucilla understood why her brother was upset. It was remarkable he wasn’t attacking outright. She looked at Beliareus as if in disbelief.

The only reason Llewellyn wasn’t drawing his sword or lunging at him was because the other party was Beliareus.

A man so innocent it bordered on foolishness. Someone with a brain structure too simple to scheme anything complicated.

There was no reason such a person would openly tell someone to go die. Llewellyn knew this, so he stopped at displeasure rather than anger, and Lucilla understood this too.

But clear anger frosted her eyes. Indeed, the whites of her eyes turned black.

“Bel.”

“Hmm.”

“If I understand my brother correctly, it sounds like the transcendent being you serve wants to devour my brother, or is asking you to help it devour him. Is that right?”

The typical response in such a situation would be predictable. Denial or excuses.

Beliareus did neither.

“That’s correct.”

Without Llewellyn having to stop her, Lucilla’s accelerating hand grabbed Beliareus by the collar. Though his eyes widened in surprise, the avatar of this entirely red star offered no resistance.

Rather, he remained docile, as if this was only proper.

“Continue.”

“The star said this would be only the last resort.”

An implicit declaration that he knew something. Considering that Beliareus wasn’t the type to use such tactics, and if one believed that…

All of this must be at the star’s direction.

“It’s the final path to take when there’s no other way out and no other method left.”

“What exactly do you intend to do if I ascend?”

“The star said it would inherit your qualifications and power… to close the world.”

Llewellyn fell silent, and even Lucilla tilted her head quietly.

There was a strange sense of synchronicity as the siblings with identical features simultaneously expressed confusion, but Beliareus didn’t miss his chance to speak while distracted by this.

“You didn’t know, I see.”

“Know what?”

“This world is facing destruction.”

Words too heavy to come out so suddenly. To the siblings who paused, Beliareus spoke matter-of-factly.

“Transcendent beings that have devoured ascended gods, like the one you faced there, are waiting for opportunities all over the world. Opportunities to burrow into this world and devour everything that remains.”

He spoke as dryly as if he were stating that the sun rises after night passes, as if it were self-evident.

“The star is advising that you must somehow prevent this, and if you fail to prevent it, you should choose ascension.”

It was a proposal to save the world with Llewellyn’s life.

*

“Melody.”

While Llewellyn was receiving the proposal of his lifetime, at the entrance of the Pantheon, a small girl who had become blind and an even smaller dog beastkin were facing each other.

No, “facing each other” wasn’t quite right. One had no eyesight, and the other was the type who would speak unilaterally regardless of whether they were facing each other or not.

“…Maya.”

Melody greeted the girl with a troubled expression. Leaning on her estoc, which she used in place of a walking stick, she fidgeted with the hilt uncomfortably.

“You know why I’m here, don’t you?”

The words, spoken with a sweet smile, were sharp. Melody’s senses, heightened due to her blindness, detected Maya’s keen killing intent and magical energy.

It felt as if she might draw her sword at any moment.

“I…”

“Never mind. Whatever you say won’t have much impact on my decision.”

She was right. No matter what persuasion Melody attempted, “persuasion” wouldn’t work on a fellow duelist.

For a duelist, it was all too easy to break through persuasion laced with magical energy.

So instead of listening further, she reached behind her back.

A sword drawn without making a sound.

A heavy weapon modeled after the beloved sword of her new master, called the Shield Breaker.

A weapon that most duelists wouldn’t use, one that she had trained with solely to kill another duelist.

Melody hardened her expression as she felt the heavy sound of the sword moving and the air being pushed aside.

“I’m here to end our bad blood.”

Darkness seeped deeply into those black eyes. Melody knew that any persuasion would be futile, as she had said.

So she drew her sword with a deep sigh.

The estoc, smoothly drawn and gripped in her hand. A famous sword that Lucilla had obtained and given to Melody.

Scale Breaker. She held the sword low with a rigid expression.

The two girls wore different expressions. One was stiff and cold, while the other seemed excited by the bloody price they were about to pay.

Only the blades they held were lukewarm.

Holding those blades, they closed the distance. Maya growled as she gripped her sword with both hands, while Melody pointed her sword forward and thought.

Was there a way to avoid this situation, to somehow resolve it?

After much deliberation, the answer was “no.”

Vengeance is not so easily extinguished; if it were, it would have already faded with time.

So must they fight, kill or be killed?

Is that the only way it ends?

Melody sighed as she angled her sword to aim at the heart.

An unfinished sigh filled her lungs, and her closed eyes trembled.

Maya took a step forward with a lingering smile. As the distance between them shortened, and the two swords were about to taste each other’s flesh—

Swish, a light metallic sound rang out.

Maya leaped back to create distance, and Melody slowly lowered her aimed sword.

CRASH!

Something crashed like a meteor. Right in the center, as if to block the space between them.

A positioning that took no one’s side. Though whether it was intentional remained unclear.

When the thick dust that obscured vision cleared, the siblings appeared.

Llewellyn and Lucilla.

The rising master of the Pantheon and the Extinction. The most dangerous siblings in the world.

Maya clicked her tongue low, and Melody exhaled in relief.

An elf descended around them belatedly. An assassin who followed the siblings, calling them Master and Young Master.

She spoke on behalf of the siblings.

“Unauthorized violence within the Pantheon is punishable by death. Do you wish to die?”

Though the subject and object were clearly reversed, with the clear intent to kill you instead, Maya didn’t mind.

“Stay out of this, crazy woman. If there’s no reason to block a righteous revenge, I’d appreciate you not interfering.”

Though she didn’t say “do you want to die first,” it was implied. Llewellyn tried to hide his troubled expression as he landed.

“There is certainly a reason. Can’t you see that the Young Master is greatly displeased?”

He didn’t say that wasn’t why he was troubled. Instead of explaining in detail, Llewellyn let Esha continue.

He already had a lot on his mind. It was because of the news he had just heard.

Because of being told that it would be difficult to live long and happily as he wished.

Because he was told that a problem was approaching that couldn’t be solved simply with power and luck.

So Llewellyn was honestly troubled and hoped his worries wouldn’t increase.

His mind was complicated. He had no room to think of more elegant and sophisticated methods.

After all, he was the next Sword Saint.

“Do you really want to duel so badly?”

“It doesn’t have to be a duel, but it would be more beautiful to end things cleanly with one. For both of us.”

Those black eyes scanned Melody. Melody remained indifferent to such a gaze.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t feel it because she was blind. Rather, she felt it vividly.

“What, will you mediate the duel? You, the next Sword Saint?”

“I don’t see why not.”

This made both duelists simultaneously surprised.

Melody felt a slight sense of betrayal and her eyes trembled, while Lucilla remained quiet, wondering what her brother was thinking.

Eshatherna seemed indifferent, as if she had no interest in this matter from the beginning.

But Maya.

This dog beastkin girl was different. She tilted her head in surprise.

“Is this because of your position as the next Sword Saint? Are you targeting me first to control the group?”

A girl who compared herself to a castle under siege. Melody gripped her sword hilt, thinking it plausible, and Maya saw this as an opportunity.

Ah, an escaping exclamation and an overt mockery.

“Ah, so you also want to get rid of that abominable woman, but need a pretext?”

Clearly slander. Everyone present knew it wasn’t true.

But it sticks in the heart. Melody, hurt, rubbed her forearm, and Llewellyn, with too many worries, had no room to speak indirectly.

He was simply honest.

“Bullshit.”

Maya blinked, and he continued.

“Melody is someone who likes me, and I’m a typical person whose arm bends inward. It’s hard for me to dislike someone who likes me.”

He had always been that kind of person. That’s why even though he thought he should find the Empress and ask about everything, hatred didn’t come easily.

Even though she might be a clear bitch and possibly an enemy, that’s how he was.

“I’ve never found Melody abominable. Well, sometimes she’s so cute I want to tease her. That’s her charm.”

“L-L-Llewellyn…?!”

Melody stammered in embarrassment, but he paid no attention.

“Sometimes I do feel sadistic, but not because I dislike her. Rather, it’s because I like her. So… I’d prefer if Melody lived a long life.”

Words that sounded like a declaration that you would die if you dueled. Maya raised an eyebrow.

“If I’m prepared to die, who knows what might happen? If your precious Melody dies…”

“That would normally be the case. That’s why I’m offering to be the duel observer.”

Words difficult to understand in general. As everyone looked at him questioningly, he closed his eyes and spread his divine power.

Then a word resonated.

“Miracle Manifestation.”

Words unmistakably clear and a corresponding pulse.

Divine power spread in concentric circles, enveloping the Pantheon and its surroundings.

To the garrison where Arba was, to the campsite of the Sword Saint Society, to the cradle where the Black Knights stayed.

Wind blew from the top floor of that cradle. Valterok’s cloak fluttered, and the golem quietly turned its head to look at Llewellyn.

Its head turned as if to say do as you please. Llewellyn read his body, his life.

A long time that felt distant.

Not as dense as the Sword Saint’s, but still an innocent span of years.

A new technique that emerged without being buried in those years.

“Survivor, Valterok.”

Anti-magic power. He recreated anti-magic power with divine power and molded its form.

Thump!

Another pulse spreading. This time it’s narrower. A scale that barely exceeds 50 meters.

When the miracle he had molded using his experience with Miracle Implementation finally took shape.

Lucilla felt the power in her demon eyes fade, and instead felt something enveloping her skin.

A warm feeling that was somehow strange.

It clung to her skin like underwear, but covering her entire body felt unfamiliar.

Though it didn’t feel claustrophobic, she knew something was different.

It was something that neither Lucilla nor anyone else could explain, something only the God of Dreams could perceive.

The power and domain befitting the divine name that exists in all gods.

Just as the Night God’s transcendent being pulled down the east and created night, just as the Dream God sees people’s consciousness through dreams and influences the world.

Llewellyn’s divine power changed the rules within a 50-meter radius centered on him.

“If you want to duel, go ahead. However.”

He specified the first rule.

“No one will die in here.”

That declaration was imbued with deep conviction.