Chapter 280

But it wasn’t easy.

None of the enlightenments he reached were enough to attain the level of a Transcendent Being.

‘I won’t collapse like this.’

Chris gritted his teeth, but the situation only worsened.

As his soul collapsed, his mind also began to crumble.

His perception faded, and his consciousness began to sink into darkness.

‘Just one more step… just one more step….’

Chris felt a sense of thirst.

It was the feeling that he was missing something important.

It felt like he only needed to take one more step forward, but he couldn't grasp it.

In that moment, Chris felt a sense of crisis.

‘Should I give up now?’

It wasn't as if he had attempted such a dangerous task without any safety measures.

He had prepared in advance the secret arts of a renowned house of divine healers that could directly treat the soul, so he could save his life if he acted now.

Since his soul was already severely damaged, the aftereffects would be serious, but he knew he could recover if he took his time to heal slowly.

But even that had its limit, and this was it.

If his soul were to be damaged any further, he would face complete annihilation.

However, Chris shook his head.

‘I won’t give up.’

His instincts were screaming.

That he must never give up.

‘If I fail to obtain the level of a Transcendent Being now, I will eventually end up kneeling before despair and meeting a miserable death.’

He didn't know exactly what the Demon Emperor wanted.

But he had to assume that the destruction of the world in his previous life was also ultimately the Demon Emperor's will.

Therefore, if he couldn't obtain the potential to surpass the Demon Emperor now, he would ultimately face the same fate as his previous life.

He absolutely could not fail.

‘I will definitely succeed!’

But he still couldn't find the answer.

His consciousness grew increasingly faint, and in the end, he reached a state where he could feel no perception at all.

It was the moment when even his will and his subconscious were about to return to complete nothingness.

Suddenly, a voice caught hold of his soul, which was on the verge of annihilation.

[How foolish. To think you would meet such a reckless end.]

It was Mefina, the fallen devil of the 7th Realm!

She had been silent for a long time, only to appear now that Chris was on the verge of annihilation.

[It's not too late. If you take my hand even now, I will restore your soul.]

[…]

When Chris didn't answer, Mefina raised her voice in anger.

[Are you going to be stubborn again? If any more time passes, even I will be unable to do anything! I don't want you to be annihilated like this either, so I won't ask for anything in return. So….]

Was this to be expected of a mutant who had fallen to the 7th Realm?

It was a surprising show of goodwill, unbecoming of a devil, but Chris answered like this.

[…Sh…ut… up.]

[What? How dare you, even in a situation like this!]

However, Chris showed another incomprehensible reaction.

[Ha… ha. Ha.]

He burst into laughter with his soul.

It was an unfathomable response.

But then, something even more surprising happened.

Mefina could be felt flinching.

It should have been impossible.

Although Mefina had fallen to the 7th Realm, she was once a being who held a great rank.

For her to react like that to Chris, who was nothing more than a mere mortal?

It was because Chris's laughter was imbued with an inexplicable, overwhelming pressure.

[…You?]

Leaving Mefina’s surprised voice behind, Chris’s consciousness sank deeper and deeper.

Within his annihilating soul, Chris couldn't stop laughing.

A thought had suddenly flashed through his mind.

-Why am I afraid?

Chris realized what the wall blocking him was.

It was fear.

The hopelessness he had felt after meeting the Magus Chancellor had been pressing down on his soul from within his unconscious, without him even realizing it.

‘To think I would try to reach the level of a Transcendent Being when I don’t even have the confidence to surpass the likes of the Magus Chancellor and the Demon Emperor.’

Chris found his answer.

‘If I set my mind to it, there is nothing that can be impossible.’

Supreme Self-Existence.

That was the identity of the being named Chris.

It wasn't a simple delusion.

Because for him, nothing was actually impossible.

Moreover.

‘Even that Mefina… I’m sure I can surpass her one day.’

His consciousness turned toward Mefina.

He could feel her unapproachable level.

But why?

He didn’t feel that it was impossible for him to reach that level.

To have the confidence to reach the rank of a great being.

It was an absurd thought, like a delusion, but Chris genuinely felt it was possible.

There was no reason. It was just a feeling that he could.

And with that, all his fear vanished.

In its place, a complete sense of self-worth took root.

His existence came to stand tall and solitary beneath the Dark Heaven.

Fwaaaaaaat!!!

His collapsing soul was engulfed in darkness.

It was not a simple darkness.

It was a darkness as deep as an abyss, yet at the same time, as brilliant as light.

[Ah….]

Kashmir let out a gasp of awe.

A single tear trickled down from Kashmir’s eyes as he watched Chris, who was engulfed in the radiance of darkness.

Such was its beauty and magnificence; it was a great light of darkness.

Finally.

Flash!

Chris opened his eyes.

His collapsing soul had been completely revived.

But that wasn't all.

A faint halo of light shimmered around him.

It was like the aura of the Constellations.

But it wasn't exactly the same.

A pure darkness was flashing like light.

It was darkness, yet it was more majestic than any light.

[Im… impossible.]

Mefina, who had been watching the scene, let out a voice of shock.

[Did he really obtain the level of a Transcendent Being? Even if it's of a lower rank?]

Transcendent beings like Constellations and devils are also divided by rank.

The great rank of the 3rd and 4th Realms.

The common rank of the 5th and 6th Realms.

In other words, the soul-level that Chris had just obtained was equivalent to that of a common Constellation or devil of the 5th or 6th Realm.

It was an incredible feat, even if it wasn't a great rank.

Moreover, there was another reason for Mefina's astonishment.

[To overcome the fate of a mortal and obtain the level of a Transcendent Being… this means you have grasped the right to challenge ‘Ascension’….]

[Ascension?]

Chris looked puzzled.

Mefina looked as if she had misspoken.

It felt as if she had said something she shouldn't have.

[The details… concerning Ascension are a taboo of the Dark Heaven, so I cannot speak of them. You… will naturally come to know of it when you earn the right in the future.]

[…]

[In any case, to think you have truly become an ‘Elder’….]

Elder?

It was the first time he had heard the term.

It seemed this wasn't a taboo, as she explained it.

[It is a word that refers to those who have obtained the level of a Transcendent Being as a mortal. You… are not the first.]

Mefina continued.

[However, you… you are special. To have obtained the level of a Transcendent Being entirely by your own power… you must be the only one to have earned the right to Ascend.]

Mefina's presence began to fade.

[From now on… I will be watching.]

Chris frowned for a moment.

‘Ascension, she said.’

He couldn't guess what it meant exactly.

‘It doesn’t seem like it simply means obtaining an even higher soul-level.’

If it were merely something like that, there would be no reason for Mefina to react in such a way.

Based on Mefina’s reaction, ‘Ascension’ seemed to be something incredibly important, even to the great ranks of the Celestial Realm and Gehenna.

‘There’s no way to find out right now. In any case, I was at death's door and came back alive.’

Chris looked over his own condition.

He couldn't yet feel a tangible sense of what exactly had changed.

‘It was the same when I obtained the level of a half-demon; nothing seemed to have changed drastically at the time.’

To be precise, it wasn’t that nothing had changed when he reached the level of a half-demon.

It was just that his physical vessel was insufficient to reflect his high soul-level, so he couldn't perceive the changes.

It was the same now.

‘No, it's a little different this time. There are changes I can feel immediately.’

Chris observed his inner self and made a surprised face.

His Dark Demonic Arts had reached 7-Star!

‘How? I thought it would take much longer.’

It had taken quite a long time just to reach 6-Star.

It was only natural that 7-Star would take even longer, yet his level had risen in a single leap.

‘Thanks to my elevated soul-level, my microcosm has been completed, allowing the Dark Demonic Arts to reach 7-Star.’

It wasn't just his Dark Demonic Arts.

Stellar Radiance, Extreme Poison, Life-Saving Arts, and so on.

As his vessel expanded, every type of power he had learned had increased dramatically.

In the case of Stellar Radiance, it was originally at the mere entry-level of 7-Star, but now it was at a level nearing high 7-Star.

‘Of course, I can’t call it a complete high 7-Star yet.’

Since he hadn’t achieved it through a proper process, it was in an unbalanced state.

Still, with just a little effort to sort things out, he would be able to attain complete mastery.

‘The miraculous ability I gained from the Dark Demonic Arts reaching 7-Star… I see. It’s just as I intended.’

There was a wondrous ability Chris had been hoping for.

He hadn't tried using it directly yet, but looking at the new microcosm that had settled in his mind's eye, it seemed he had obtained it just as he had wished.

‘This ability will be the most fatal strike to sever the neck of the Demon King of Azure Flow.’

Having organized his thoughts, Chris turned his gaze toward Kashmir.

The task was not yet over.

[Lord Kashmir, please absorb the scattered energy of the Flame of Ruin lingering in the area.]

The energy of the Flame of Ruin, which had nearly turned Chris’s soul to nothingness, had not yet disappeared and was still swirling around him.

‘Since I’ve already subdued its nature once with Dark Demonic Energy, it should be easier for Kashmir to absorb.’

Kashmir’s face was filled with emotion at Chris’s consideration.

‘Ah, just how many favors is this? I, Kashmir, will definitely repay the grace I have received from you, Your Grace.’

With that resolve, he began to absorb the Flame of Ruin.

As expected, Kashmir was also a possessor of outstanding talent.

He absorbed the Flame of Ruin smoothly and without difficulty.

But a problem arose.

He reached his limit partway through.

It was when he had absorbed an amount equivalent to about 70.

‘It’s not a bad level.’

This was enough to be considered among the top few, even when compared to the figures of the Destruction Demonic House from the past.

The historical heads of the house were said to have absorbed around 70.

‘And it’s an overwhelmingly superior level compared to the current members of the Destruction Demonic House, who are using an indirect method to take the energy leaking from beyond the seal.’

For reference, the method the members of the Destruction Demonic House used to absorb the energy of the Flame of Ruin was as follows:

They would gather the faint trickles of leaking energy through a magic formation and then absorb it.

It was safe, but the concentration of energy they could absorb was inevitably far lower than the original method.

‘I heard they developed other secret arts to strengthen their destruction dark magic instead, but it still can’t compare to the real thing.’

In that respect, the amount of 70 that Kashmir had currently absorbed was indeed enormous.

But Chris felt greedy.

‘It’s not enough for him to become my prime asset.’

A prime asset. A prime example was Evan.

Even if Kashmir was talented, he couldn't be compared to Evan, a genius of the highest caliber on the continent.

For Kashmir to become an asset as helpful to him as Evan, his current level was insufficient.

‘There is a way. But I wonder if Lord Kashmir will accept it.’

As he was contemplating, Kashmir said something unexpected.

[Grand Duke Christian, please help me.]

Kashmir spoke with a burning gaze.

[I know. At this level, I cannot be of any strength to you. I want to become stronger. For your sake.]

Kashmir gritted his teeth, as if struggling under the weight of the Flame of Ruin's energy.

[I want to become stronger and repay the grace you have shown me. So please, help me.]