Chapter 421 - Witness
The dark clouds quietly halted in place.
Standing at the edge of the sheer cliff, Verden gazed at the snow-capped mountain ranges.
When he exhaled, his breath rose like mist.
It was a silent landscape.
The Blue Mountains made no sound, as though struggling to maintain silence.
An overwhelming sensation flowed through his being. Verden savored omnipotence he had never experienced before.
It was not ambiguous.
He had fully established the realm of Transcendence. This was the result of his choice.
"..."
Isabella stared intently at Verden from the side. Her eyes were tainted with curiosity, astonishment, and other complex emotions.
She stealthily approached and slowly extended her hand.
Tap, tap.
With her index finger, Isabella lightly poked Verden's shoulder, then brushed across the back of his hand, and swept through his ashen hair.
Her hand touched his face.
Isabella blinked and tugged lightly at one of Verden's cheeks.
"What are you doing."
"It's my first time seeing a Transcendent up close… Since it's already come to this, I was curious to check what might have changed outwardly. But it doesn't seem all that different? Other than your robe's appearance altering slightly and turning black."
That was only natural.
A Transcendent might be a being beyond human, but he was no abnormal species undergoing metamorphosis, so there was no reason his outer form would drastically change.
Not absolutely, at least.
"So, how do you feel?"
It was difficult to put into words.
Yet, if he had to express it…
"Unburdened."
It felt as though the blocked vision had suddenly opened wide. The world looked different.
The perspective of a Transcendent.
His deepened insight pierced through things far more profoundly than before.
Adrian spoke.
"Since my lord, who had been not merely a simple 6th-tier but a Quasi-Transcendent, has now crossed the wall of awakening… would it be correct to say you've ascended to the lower realm of the 7th-tier?"
Verden had at last attained complete Mado.
The incomplete state of grasping only half of Mado no longer existed. Even without dark crimson magic power, he could cast spells belonging to the 7th-tier.
In terms of realm, he had entered the proper track.
But that did not mean his previous uniqueness had vanished.
On the contrary, it had deepened.
Verden did not discard possibility, nor did he remain bound by it. He advanced upward, carrying infinite possibility within him.
Mado
That was the essence of his pure self, the one who had dreamt of becoming a single Mage.
Mado
That was the essence of his self who had defied the will of the heavens through Defying the Heavens.
'I have obtained two Mados.'
Furthermore, as his body and spirit achieved magical harmony, even the partially sealed magic power of his heart was fully released.
Endless magic power.
It surged violently along the flow of
───!
Dark crimson magic power flickered around him.
Raising his head, Verden revealed the true dignity of a Transcendent.
A shiver.
The currents twisted in reverse, the dark clouds dispersed, and the heavens split open.
From the cleaved sky, radiance poured down. Warm light illuminated the harsh nature of the Blue Mountains.
"At this point, dividing my level by tiers holds little meaning."
Verden's current realm had shifted into something simpler and more primal.
There was room to grow. As long as he wished to become stronger, he would. No one could stop him. For Verden, no limit existed.
"Was there… some kind of enlightenment?"
Isabella asked about the reason for his awakening.
What he had gained from meeting the World Tree. The terminus of madness that led him to Transcendence.
"It's not something to speak of now. After finishing my revenge, it won't be too late. But to put it briefly…"
Verden looked down upon the world.
"I intend to overturn the entire continent."
An ideal beyond revenge.
If he meant to realize it, it would naturally come to pass.
Adrian and Isabella involuntarily clenched their fists as they swallowed their breaths.
Wriggle.
Alpha perched on Verden's nape, riding [Ainber].
[Relieved you are safe. It has been 43 days, Your Majesty Verden.]
"Forty-three days? The process took longer than expected."
Only then did he perceive the flow of time.
Immediately after fully recharging Alpha's energy, Verden asked.
"But why are you all here? Did something happen in the Ownerless Land?"
"Well…"
[Awakening is unknown. Dangerous situations may occur. Just in case, Adrian and Isabella decided to wait near Your Majesty Verden.]
Alpha answered directly.
Adrian and Isabella, caught in Verden's gaze, remained silent.
"Well, it hasn't even been two full months, so nothing much would have happened. In any case, as you can see, the goal has been achieved, so we should start heading back."
Verden extended his hand.
"With Spatial Teleportation."
The pitch-black [Ainber] activated.
As vast amounts of magic power were consumed at once, a dark radiance flickered.
Space unfolded.
A circular entrance of violet light stretched before everyone's eyes.
"This is one of [Ainber]'s new functions, 'Gate'."
Ainber, its name meaning Perfection in the ancient tongue.
An evolved artifact created by the first Demon King for Transcendents.
The Administrator had spoken.
───If you reach Transcendence, Ainber will evolve to match you. Perfect, as its name suggests. Its performance, however, depends on the owner, so I cannot presume to advise.
In short, with Verden's Transcendence, [Ainber] too had awakened.
'The white robe turning into a black robe was just one of many changes.'
Overall performance had been elevated, and even without
A relic of the Demon King.
As expected, its class was utterly distinct from ordinary ancient artifacts.
"So, passing through here means my lord will immediately emerge at a designated spatial coordinate?"
"Not only that, but as long as the Gate remains open, it can be traversed in both directions. Of course, given its performance, there is a cooldown time, but in such cases, it's enough to take time and prepare a spatial teleportation circle."
Verden smiled leisurely.
"With this, distance no longer binds us."
The mighty forces ruling the world each possessed some trump card to overcome space, whether through airships or magical items.
Verden now stood among their ranks.
Before leaving the Blue Mountains, Verden turned his gaze to the aged man.
"I think it's about time I return, I'll visit the hut another day, sorry for causing a disturbance without meaning to."
It was a natural tone of superiority.
Though his manner of speaking had changed, the man did not mind in the slightest.
Rather, he felt it was only natural.
"N-no, not at all, please come back whenever you have the time, then I'll serve you even better tea."
"I'll look forward to it, what is your name?"
The man opened his mouth.
It had been a long time since he had spoken his own name.
"I… my name is Jose."
"Jose, I will remember."
Turning his body, Verden stepped into the Gate.
Adrian and Isabella followed in turn, and soon the space closed.
In an instant, they had all vanished without a trace.
"..."
Jose was left standing alone.
With a blank expression, he endlessly gazed upon the vast, radiant landscape of the Blue Mountains, where the blizzard had vanished, and dazzling light stained the world.
Suddenly, he rummaged through his chest.
What his eyes caught was a carved figure he had prepared as a gift for his guest, a figure modeled after the guest himself.
The greatness of that existence, engraved in his mind, stirred his soul.
The scriptures said, only the God of Light, Luas, is the one true god.
But.
'I have, today, witnessed a god.'
The nature of the Blue Mountains… no, the world itself was ruled by a single individual. The heavens overturned. If one who could bring forth such phenomena was not a god, then what else could he be?
He was but a commoner.
Transcendent or otherwise, in the eyes of an ordinary man, that was all he could see.
Jose ran across the snow.
He had to reach the hut before the memory faded, he had to carve his feelings as they were into the sculpture.
He simply wanted to.
Having witnessed a sight never to come again in his lifetime, Jose's heart swelled for the first time in many years.
Thud.
From the inner pocket of his robe, a rusty crucifix fell, half-buried into the snow, the symbol of the Luas Church he had carried with him for so long.
From afar, storm-filled clouds approached once again, casting their shadows upon the Blue Mountains.
The reflected sunlight, the lone crucifix, left behind, gleamed faintly as it faced the coming darkness.
***
The DarkWarton Magic Tower of the Eastern Continent.
At the top of the tower, built in a district inaccessible to outsiders, stood an old man.
The tower master of DarkWarton,the Transcendent of Death, Ryndel Nexleon.
He kept his gaze fixed toward the west.
Though nothing could be sensed through his Transcendent magical perception, his Mado
The ordained death.
The concept of death Ryndel had long observed and accepted was now wavering.
"Master? What are you doing up here?"
His successor, Haldirn, approached.
It was one thing if it were a day or two, but the tower master had been standing atop the tower for days, gazing vacantly at the world, and this worried him.
Yet Ryndel did not respond.
Even at the presence of his only disciple, he did not withdraw his fixed gaze.
It was then.
He suddenly raised both arms and slowly began to clap.
"Applaud."
"Pardon?"
"Change has begun."
Words difficult for Haldirn to comprehend.
But instead of questioning further, he joined his master, clapping his hands together.
For within the eyes of his master, which had always been shrouded in dimness like death itself, there now gleamed a life he had never before seen.
***
The Primal Land.
The World Tree, seated upon a small, verdant hill, narrowed its eyes toward the sky.
"…So, you have made your choice."
The world that had been at a standstill now began to move again. Yet, it was entirely different from before.
As tangled flows unraveled, the previous course was wholly overturned. Darkness descended, making it impossible to observe the future.
The unknown was returning.
And with it, the 'end' that had been fading began to show itself.
"The world returns to its true form… the cog of destiny you created has stopped. Moreover, you now slumber by the hand of the 'Resister', unable to respond. I never imagined the threads would intertwine this way."
But.
"In the end, it returns to the origin, you, the 'Resister', the 'Singularity'… the far-off future will once again be decided by the victor."
Whether fate would circulate, and eternity begin.
Whether fate would collapse, and the end arrive.
Or, lead to a result no one could ever conceive.
The only variable was the Singularity, Verden.
It was his nature from the very start, yet upon meeting him, it became even harder to read.
The fact that he did not accept the World Tree's leaves, instead confronting himself, and choosing Transcendence, proved it.
The World Tree recalled the long ages.
"Resister, Oldarc… your defeat has now vanished, if one day you shatter your seal and meet the Singularity, Verden, and persuade him, perhaps you may fulfill your long-cherished wish."
She tilted her head.
"But, would Verden ever follow you? I doubt it, to be honest, I am skeptical. Perhaps that is why… I cannot help but be so very curious as to what will come."
The unknowable future.
The long-forgotten anticipation brought a smile to the World Tree's face.
Which soon turned into sorrow.
"Of course, whatever future it may be, I will simply watch."
Once, the World Tree too had resisted against 'you', against the shackles of fate.
And was defeated.
To observe, that was the duty of one who had lost.
***
Passing through the Gate, Verden and his companions returned to the Ownerless Land. As their coordinates were set in the middle of an uninhabited forest, no commotion arose.
They returned to the city, Arein.
Upon entering the castle, they immediately ran into Keirel, who was rushing about busily.
"What took you so lo───"
Keirel froze.
For Verden's appearance was so different from when he had last seen him.
Most of all, it was the atmosphere. It was the beastman's instinctive sense.
Momentarily at a loss for words, Keirel blurted out whatever came to mind.
"…Black suits you well."
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