Ascension Ritual.
As everyone in the world knows that the lucky letter started in England, it’s an obvious fact that Yu Parang’s tumultuous life began with the ascension ritual.
“Well, thinking about it, I guess I haven’t really cared much.”
Nonetheless, it’s also true that Parang knew too little about the ascension ritual until now.
But hey, Parang has a point. Didn’t they give her just a handful of information to start with?
“Let’s just be thankful that I’m finally learning a bit about it.”
Parang’s strength lies in not falling into negativity during times like this.
She was watching the Slayers who were currently in the process of ascension.
Looking down, she could faintly see the ocean through the beams of light.
This meant that the ascension had just begun.
“Well then, soon….”
Splosh, splosh.
“Ah, this scene, just as I expected.”
The bodies of all the Slayers split apart, and brilliant golden light flowed out between the gaps.
It was an awakening of the flesh.
This part was calculated by the Slayers, so they didn’t seem particularly surprised.
“It feels quite strange…”
And their artifacts also split apart and plopped into the sea.
This wasn’t unexpected, so there was no major shock.
“What a waste. I got attached to it, though.”
“Hey, I didn’t know you could get attached to an object.”
“It’s not an object; it’s a gift. You made it for me.”
Han Siwoo the Hunter gave an awkward smile.
Thus continued the storyline that everyone was familiar with. The Slayers rose higher and higher.
“By the way, Siwoo.”
“Yeah?”
“Your current quest is ‘Ascend,’ right?”
Han Siwoo the Hunter glanced at the air and replied.
“Yeah, and?”
“So, what’s the reward written down? I realized I hadn’t asked.”
Han Siwoo’s [Great Journey] was a personal skill that grants rewards for completing sequential quests and penalties for failures.
This was the last quest introduced in the story and also the most recent piece of original knowledge Parang held.
Knowing the original had changed, she couldn’t trust it too much.
“It just says ‘???’”
“Oh great. What a letdown.”
Should she consider it a relief? This part was the same as the original.
Russell jumped in with a question.
“What’s with that? If a quest that was clearly presented suddenly has a question mark pop up, shouldn’t you be a bit surprised? Why’s your reaction like that?”
Parang kindly answered.
“Important quests often show up with question marks. It’s not an unprecedented phenomenon, and the frequency is quite high too.”
This was also the case when she read the original. Among fans, a common nickname evolved into ‘Shit, another question mark.’
“Ah, I see. That must be a really frustrating skill. But how do you know that?”
“Oh snap.”
“Um… Silo told me.”
“Those guys really know everything. Anyway, let’s keep watching.”
The Slayers didn’t show much interest in the reappeared question mark, and there was just a brief stir.
And about 20 minutes later.
The Slayers had completely pierced the clouds and rose into the sky.
As it’s the sky of a modern fantasy world, it was drastically different from Parang’s home, the Earth.
First off, there were two layers of clouds.
The clouds the Slayers had just pierced were below, and above that was a golden cloud layer that radiated a divine aura.
The lower cloud was engulfed in blue and red flames, burning furiously, with blue and red fire pillars occasionally shooting up to connect the upper and lower layers.
In between them flew golden dragons with eight wings and giant eagles with five heads, along with various holy beasts, and bolt after bolt of lightning rained down from the golden clouds above.
Humans named this place ‘Purgatory,’ and ordinary folks wouldn’t dare to think about coming up here.
Due to this ridiculously harsh environment, launching a spacecraft was practically impossible, except for Silo.
And here, a boss battle—not a boss battle—was about to unfold.
“Can’t believe we’re back here again. And so soon…”
“Hasn’t it only been a week?”
“It’s too fast; there’s barely time for nostalgia.”
They joked around casually.
Parang felt a pang of regret watching them. After all, this was a story she once loved.
And up they went, again.
Finally, the Slayers reached just below the golden clouds.
Soon, they pierced through the cloud and….
Whoosh—
The space above the golden clouds was revealed.
“Indeed, this could be called heaven.”
Above the golden clouds lay a paradise.
In the center stood a colossal palace made of gold and marble, with apple trees sporting golden leaves growing everywhere, and between the clouds, white milk and golden honey rose and fell like a dream.
Clear and bright chimes occasionally echoed, while glass rabbits, doves, and deer squirrels happily frolicked above the clouds, and if one looked up, countless stars and galaxies seemed to pour down from the sky.
Yet, there were no gods or angels anywhere.
The Slayers had slain them all.
And just as they expected, ascension should have ended here.
However, as we all know, ascension didn’t stop there.
Initially, those who envisioned a blissful life in paradise gradually began to realize the oddity of the situation as the ascension didn’t halt.
“Aira.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s supposed to stop around now, right?”
“Exactly. I’m quite bewildered too.”
“There’s never such an easy resolution to worldly affairs. Perhaps my past life sins are rather severe.”
A woman clad in priestess garb shook her head.
Whether she acknowledged it or not, the ascension showed no signs of stopping, and its pace even quickened.
Eventually, they burst into space, finally confirming with their own eyes that Earth was not dinosaur-shaped.
By now, everyone realized something was amiss.
“This is bad. We have no weapons.”
“Pointless worry. Whatever comes at us, we’ll just slice it down.”
“Why is everyone so pessimistic? There’s no guarantee a fight will even happen.”
“Statistics exist. Usually, when something goes wrong, fighting whatever pops up solves it.”
The Slayers readied themselves for battle all at once.
They had no clue what went wrong, but the anticipation of an impending battle was strong.
Well, they couldn’t mock anyone; they had walked this path themselves.
Since it was in their genre after all. Regardless of the various triggers for problems, the resolution always culminated in a battle.
Then, their vision suddenly went dark.
“It’s coming…!”
After a moment of silence.
“What the…!”
“What the hell…!”
“Everyone, stay calm!!”
Russell couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked again.
“What’s going on? What’s happening right now?”
“Probably, our vision went dark, and we were teleported underwater a moment later. We’re feeling disoriented because our sight is still dark while our bodies are submerged,” Bertea deduced astutely.
As they couldn’t share tactile sensations, Oceanos couldn’t feel it, but the Slayers had certainly sensed a shift since they had gone from space into the water.
“Then why is our sight still dark?”
“Think back. Remember when we saw Alexandra’s memories, right? The first place the Slayers were transferred to was that mysterious pit.”
That much was true.
“Still, how in the world does the ascension ritual directly lead into that damn hole? It looked like a clear trap.”
If that was the case, the darkness they were seeing now could indeed be explained.
“Let’s just keep watching for now.”
“Got it.”
The memories began to replay again.
“It seems we’ve been teleported underwater. Everyone, don’t lower your guard. Let’s gather and then slowly rise up.”
Han Siwoo the Hunter calmly issued the command.
The others adeptly positioned themselves and slowly closed the gaps between them.
During that time.
Guruguruguru—
“Ahhhhhhh—”
The surrounding area trembled violently, and an unfathomable, surreal sound echoed all around, something that could hardly be thought of as a noise made by a living being.
Perhaps the entire pit was shaking and generating that noise.
With the whole space clamoring and howling, it was evident that the Slayers were taken aback.
Sudden changes in situations always have their limits, and this crossed the line by a long shot.
Amid the chaotic scene, someone shouted.
“Siwoo, look up!!”
“Huh?”
Brrrr—
Bubbles created by someone rose up.
As they shifted their attention upward, they saw a tiny bit of light shining down from above.
“Can you see that light up there? It’s likely a way to get out!”
“True. Everyone! Let’s head over there!”
The Slayers swam towards where the light was seeping out.
“Such amateurs.”
“Seriously.”
Russell and Elvira clicked their tongues.
Light in the ocean should never be trusted like that. Following it blindly was just naive.
Parang was about to express her disappointment about this part when—
“Wait a second.”
Wouldn’t following such behavior mean looking down on the original protagonist?
“That, that must not happen!!”
There hadn’t been a single character that had come out unscathed from such actions, as far as Parang knew.
Finally biting her tongue, Parang internally praised her astonishing self-restraint.
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