[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]

Chapter 333: Did He Hit His Head?

What exactly is transcendence?

I realized that I would never be able to properly explain it to anyone.

A boundless sense of elation, a detachment that went beyond even that elation, a feeling of omnipotence felt amidst the detachment…

Just as a human cannot know the sensation of a bird spreading its wings and soaring through the sky, the feeling of reaching the 9th-tier was the same.

“……I have now become the loneliest man in the world.”

Geninghen, who had been quietly watching my monologue, muttered.

“He’s spouting a whole load of nonsense. Did he hit his head?”

“It could be Mana Deviation.”

Leszek lifted my eyelids and examined them closely.

“His eyes are glowing gold, so it doesn’t seem to be Mana Deviation.”

“Elders, you misunderstand,” I said.

“My mind is clearer than it has ever been.”

“I’m sure it is.”

“That’s not all.”

“Has a Heart Demon gotten to him?”

“I’m telling you, it hasn’t.”

I cleared my throat and said.

“My memories have returned.”

Only then did the three men’s reactions change.

“Ah!”

“That’s good.”

“What a strange thing. Your memories have returned?”

I grinned at my father.

“I have regained all my memories. Even memories from my early childhood that I shouldn't be able to recall.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I could even see the moment you held me in your arms and gave me my name.”

“……!”

Tears welled up slightly in my father’s eyes.

“You did?”

“I never thought I would see my father in his youth. Mother was beautiful back then, too.”

“Mm, Lusatia was truly like a fairy.”

“It seems you wouldn’t have had much to say if people called you a thief.”

My father let out a soft laugh.

“Ah, come to think of it, I saw the two of you as well.”

“Hoh.”

“How were we?”

I answered Leszek and Geninghen in turn.

“You were as gentlemanly then as you are now—”

“Mm.”

“And you were teasing me back then, too.”

“Heh heh heh.”

Geninghen’s shoulders shook with laughter.

“It seems you’re not lying, you punk.”

“So how does it feel? Have you reached the 9th-tier?”

“I believe so.”

“You believe so?”

I replied.

“For example, with my current eyes, I can see the essence of this barrier and its flaws.”

“What?”

“If it’s not too rude, may I try cutting it?”

Geninghen stared at me for a moment before nodding.

“If you succeed, this magic will have served its purpose, so you may.”

“Understood. Then—”

I drew my sword smoothly.

With no particular intent or tension, without even raising my internal mana, a single swing—

“Heo.”

The sky split apart.

As the desolate plateau vanished, the night sky with its river of stars was revealed.

“……So it was night. No wonder I was feeling sleepy.”

I checked the condition of Voyager of the Night. Normally, it would no longer be a sword befitting my 9th-tier caliber, but—

Perhaps because it had suffered much alongside me and had its fill of good-quality mana, it had now become a blade so sturdy that it wouldn't bend even if a drake stepped on it.

“Old-timer, and Clan Head. Can you two do something like this?”

The two men's answers to Geninghen's question were simple.

“Impossible.”

“I cannot.”

“Is that so? Then you have undoubtedly surpassed us.”

Geninghen said.

“The realm of imagination, the realm of the gods.”

I had ascended to the 9th-tier. It was uncharted territory where no one had ever set foot.

* * *

“I have reached the 9th-tier. Even without the Dragon Heart.”

At the Dark King’s declaration, Gulbark was overcome with emotion.

“Ohh, truly magnificent.”

“It is a truly outstanding martial art.”

The Dark King said with his eyes closed.

“Indeed, the wisdom of our ancestors, their will, was not mistaken.”

“To have reached the 9th-tier with only one wing, if you now take the Dragon Heart as well….”

“I may be able to shed the vessel of this mortal body. ‘Perfectly,’ that is.”

“Ah, if that happens, there would be nothing more to wish for.”

“Indeed.”

“Now, please take this.”

With an attitude of utmost reverence, Gulbark opened the box containing the Dragon Heart.

“The preparations for detoxification are already complete.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Serving my master is my joy.”

“Your devotion will be rewarded.”

In a rarely seen heartwarming atmosphere, the brilliant Dragon Heart was finally revealed.

“Ooh, this is—”

Gulbark was too moved to continue.

“……Let us begin.”

The Dark King reached for the Dragon Heart.

It began to glow red, and the form of a dragon appeared like a phantom.

“Hm?”

Feeling something was off, Gulbark tilted his head.

“There was no mention of such a phenomenon occur—”

It was at that very moment.

The dragon-shaped phantom flapped its wings and suddenly ascended towards the sky.

“……?!”

“What?”

While everyone was bewildered, Gulbark, who had looked down, let out a sharp scream.

“It-It’s gone!”

And nothing remained inside the box.

“……?”

“……!”

“……”

Everyone was dumbfounded by this unexpected situation—

“S-Something is written on the bottom.”

Ivan, the first to regain his senses, read the small letters engraved in the box.

- Sorry for the trick. This one’s a fake. We’ll put the real one to good use.

“……Ah.”

Finally realizing the truth, Gulbark let out a roar of rage.

“GENINGHEEEEEEEEEEEN! YOU TRICKED ME!”

The Dark King muttered in a small, emotionless voice.

“……They swapped it? I was deceived?”

“M-My Lord.”

Everyone prostrated themselves in fear.

“They struggle until the very end. Do they truly believe that by feeding the Dragon Heart to that young brat, Allenvert, he can surpass me?”

The Dark King passed judgment on this tiresome resistance.

“I will kill them. In the most painful way possible.”

His rage was chillingly cold.

* * *

“Two months have passed?”

Upon my return, I couldn't help but be surprised by the change in season.

“Yes.”

“Wow. More time has passed than I thought.”

The biting cold of winter was already approaching.

“……Has there been any particular reaction from the Dark King during this time?”

“None. It was a tense time in many ways.”

Verdzig stared at me intently.

“The 9th-tier… One cannot tell just by looking at you.”

I replied.

“It is a state where everything is at my will—projecting and spreading my presence, concealing my very existence, or overwhelming all creation with pressure.”

“From the state of a transcendent,” Verdzig asked, “how do you see me?”

“Brother, you are you.”

I read the envy, the slight jealousy, the slight concern, the slight feeling of inadequacy, the slight competitiveness, and the immense patience in Verdzig’s question.

“You have finally overcome the wall of the 8th-tier.”

Verdzig was now a complete warrior, a powerhouse who would rank among the top ten on the continent.

“I tell you truly, brother, you are a great genius.”

“It is embarrassing to hear that from you.”

“Not at all.”

I acknowledged it. Verdzig was an extraordinary man.

‘Only because Karzan’s past life and Allenvert’s present life were combined could I finally surpass Verdzig.’

If either had been lacking, I would have never been able to defeat this man.

That was an undeniable fact.

‘Therefore, it was a great blessing that my reincarnation led Verdzig to abandon his ties with the Black Society and his penchant for schemes.’

In other words, it was a tremendous relief that he had turned from darkness to light.

If Verdzig had remained on the opposite side until the end, refusing to abandon his ambition for the dukedom.

‘And if he had acted according to his ‘initial disposition’—unscrupulous in his methods, enraged by our father’s preferential treatment of me…’

The me of today would not exist. And the Dark King would have become a demon god.

“Brother.”

“Speak.”

“……Thank you.”

Verdzig turned his back.

“It’s fine. It’s not like I did it to receive your thanks.”

But.

“It doesn’t feel bad, though.”

I grinned at his words.

“Right?”

.

.

.

During my absence, the reconstruction of the royal castle had progressed quite a bit.

‘Strictly speaking, our prolonged stay in this castle is a factor that incites political instability and resentment.’

There could be backlash, accusing us of acting like an occupying force, and from an external perspective, it would be easy to suspect that Grunewald was taking this opportunity to seize the weakened throne.

Therefore, the 8th Prince and Verdzig had been performing a complex political dance, appearing together at official functions and showing mutual respect to the public.

‘When it comes to this kind of statecraft, Verdzig is the best among us brothers.’

Of course, I had parried Verdzig’s various attempts, but by nature, I am not well-suited to laying intricate schemes and leading the board by coordinating between factions.

‘There’s a reason why even Father and the two elders entrusted the aftermath to Verdzig and focused solely on teaching me.’

Until now, I had been part of that flow—

But now, everyone had made considerations for me for the sole purpose of building my strength to face the Dark King.

‘……Thanks to that, I became a transcendent.’

But there is just one thing that makes my heart uneasy.

Fear of the decisive battle with the Dark King?

‘No.’

Was this not the moment I had yearned for?

I am not afraid.

Besides, I have obtained everything: my mother’s salvation, Eisenach’s revenge, the succession to the clan headship, and transcendent power.

I even have the power and freedom to spread my two wings and fly anywhere at this very moment.

To the end of the continent, the highest mountain peak, the most remote island, the hottest desert, the Dark King’s castle anywhere at all.

‘Freedom is the right to go anywhere.’

I recalled my state immediately after reincarnation, entangled in a suffocating situation.

And the image of Allenvert, who had locked himself in his own cave.

‘Now, I am more free than anyone.’

And yet, there was one place I could not go.

‘Adeline.’

Meeting Adeline was a long-held dream of mine.

I had planned to meet her after the fight with the Dark King was over.

‘But.’

It wouldn't be right to make her wait indefinitely.

‘Should I not go?’

But if I were to lose to the Dark King and die again this time—

……Adeline would never be able to meet me.

She would shed tears hearing the story from Zamuel.

When I thought of that worst-case scenario, my heart ached as if it were being stabbed and torn apart by a knife.

‘I must make a decision.’

I turned my steps toward Zamuel’s quarters.

[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]