#232
Silmari
Before Harley underwent the new engraving.
After Balteon’s death in Beorsen, while the south was busy dealing with the aftermath— the hero party wrapped up the situation and quickly left the area.
As Undead King Hans receded, the relentless offensive came to a halt, and thanks to that, the chaos on the continent reduced somewhat… but they had matters they simply could not postpone.
“Geos, you fool. Did I tell you that? Did you really have to follow up so quickly…?”
“…I prepared for you to return and rest at any time, but you never came… You really are too much, Lord.”
Chehai and the mansion’s manager, Oliver, wiped their tears.
In the Legas Baronage of the Resk Kingdom, in the southwest of the Ion Continent, a simple funeral was held at the family grave of Geos Kalkin.
Although it was a hurried funeral, the attendees were anything but modest.
The entire hero party, along with the Barons from the area rush in to deliver their condolences, and even the royal family and high priests of Resk, who struggled to make their way without any gates, were present.
In fact, since a high-ranking noble and member of the Special Task Force had perished in the battle against the Undead King, it was only fitting to hold a state funeral. However, due to the wartime situation sweeping across the entire continent, it couldn’t be helped.
Of course, they said national mourning flags were already up in the capital and other key areas, and there were plans to hold an official state funeral again in the future.
‘Geos.’
And throughout the funeral.
While I was pondering how to use Karma, I stopped everything and quietly observed the scene through Heinrich and Harley.
Heinrich wore a sad yet benevolent expression. Through that righteous avatar, feelings of compassion for Geos and prayers for him to be with his family in the afterlife reached me.
Harley wore a regretful but solemn expression. Through that barbaric avatar, there was a sense of loss for a comrade who had been with him for a long time and an acknowledgment of Geos’s warrior-like, majestic end.
And…
Through the negative and twisted avatar of Hans, an indifferent feeling washed over me, as if I’d squashed a bug in the street.
Through the cynical and cold avatar of Heinz II, I felt an unimportant thought that it couldn’t be helped.
Not stopping there, various responses from the avatars continued in succession.
Of course, thanks to the enhanced psychic power from the “Mind Hub,” “Persona,” and the vastly improved mental strength, I felt no confusion during the process.
The subject of Seong-hyun Han simply existed in the center of all personalities, accepting filtered information and making objective judgments.
‘But that’s the problem.’
A self-deprecating bitter smile lingered on my lips.
‘Ties only formed through avatars. They don’t even exist in the world I live in.’
Since I was objectively aware of everything going on, situations experienced through the avatars inevitably felt like a game.
Even if it was the death of an acquaintance.
‘…I might as well go for a walk.’
I had been using “Entity Projection” to go out consistently, but wandering aimlessly without any purpose wouldn’t be bad at all.
As I briefly got lost in thought, time flew by quickly.
Finally, the funeral ended, and the hero party busily moved to return to their duties.
“I heard the news. You defeated the Undead King this time…”
“Truly, you are the Saint! Count Kalkin must be…”
It was a bother to have the royal family and nobles cling to us, seemingly waiting for this moment.
Then Heinrich, following the pre-planned strategies, made excuses and left the situation in Harley’s hands.
“Then I’ll leave the matter of Calcos to you, Harley.”
“Kahahat! Leave it to me! I still have some things to take care of!”
His rough hand pounded the tattoo on his chest, and the large axe hanging off Harley’s back swung back and forth.
Ever since completing the “Ultimate Evolved Lifeform,” his already powerful body became even stronger, that axe, the Giant Killer, hadn’t been used in ages.
Although it was a high-end item crafted by the Dwarf Zhaonik, it was practically just a decorative piece at this point.
It was obvious that if he wielded it with all his might, it wouldn’t last long.
‘I plan to have Howard use rare metals soon to make a new one, but at this rate, I don’t think it’ll last long enough. Would having the Engraving of the Dragon King change anything?’
The issue was due to a lack of ability to enhance his weapons compared to his transcendent body. If the power of the engraving that amplifies his inner energy could strengthen even further, it might create a possibility.
‘An axe is the romance of a barbarian warrior, I can’t give up on that!’
After the hero party, minus Harley, took off,
Harley returned to the south, helping to stabilize the chaos as a member of the Special Task Force and finally received the “Engraving of the Dragon King,” with two Great Mages and over twenty mages participating.
And it was no surprise that…
“The entity has fulfilled the conditions and gained enlightenment. The skill ‘Calcos Battle Engraving’ evolves into the special skill ‘Engraving of the Dragon King.’”
The result was a great success.
*
Inside a wide tent that could accommodate dozens of people.
“Urrrgh—”
“Ugh!”
“Umm…”
Thud—
More than twenty mages stationed around the tent suddenly groaned in pain before collapsing to the ground.
Some even stumbled and fell unconscious.
“Kuhuh, that’s pretty intense… I thought it would succeed, but I never expected not a single moan would be made.”
“…Ah, wonderful. Truly a manly man. Hah— with muscles like steel and a will just as unbeatable…”
“Whoa, looks like this one messed up. Get it together, you!”
“Ah! Hah… Grandma?”
At the center of their activity, Harley slowly opened his eyes amidst the sound of a conversation between a grandparent and grandchild by his side.
[Entity Information]
-Entity Name: Harley
-Race: ???
-Common Traits: “Mind Hub,” “Persona,” “Clarity,” “Insight”
-Entity Traits: “Ultimate Evolved Lifeform,” “Tyrant of Madness,” “Biotic Aura,” “Devour,” “Gem Eye: Suppression,” “Engraving of the Dragon King”
-Special Notes: Achieved transcendence after striving for the ultimate as a lifeform. As long as energy remains, even if the heart or head is destroyed, he regenerates endlessly. Controls madness and converts it to his own energy. All engravings throughout his body are connected and unified. As the number of engraved patterns increases, the related effects overlap and are maintained constantly.
Limbs, torso, and head.
He felt the power of the engravings, once separate, flowing together, wrapping around his entire being.
‘Incredible. It seems that each engraving’s effectiveness has increased at least fivefold.’
The improvement in “Biotic Aura” that felt the effect was also, needless to say, astonishing.
This was just a basic effect maintained constantly, and it was also possible to enhance beyond this by pouring in more energy.
Wondering just how much this would help after having already transcended, it seemed more than sufficient.
“Hmm, refreshing.”
As he roughly assessed his bodily condition, Harley slowly got up from where he had been lying.
During that process, the bizarre flame patterns etched onto his body wriggled and showcased their presence.
“Ah…”
“……..”
It wasn’t much of a movement, but both the groaning mages on the ground and the two Great Mages in charge of the engraving stared at him blankly.
“Eh? What’s this?”
Harley tilted his head slightly at the unusual attention directed towards him.
Now a transcended being, he inherently possessed a strong presence.
Just by standing still, he seemed to impose his existence on the world—a violent intimidation like that of a “deadly dangerous unknown monster.”
However, if the previous presence felt overwhelmingly like ‘terribly dangerous,’ now there seemed to be an unknown charisma added to it.
A pulsating energy flowing through all his engravings, radiating an odd aura during the process.
It was like that of a— king’s majesty.
The might of the Overlord.
“…King.”
“O King…”
The mages, still slumped in pain, pulled themselves together and quietly knelt before him.
Even the Great Mage standing beside him followed suit.
‘…Ah, come to think of it, I remember that saying.’
Amidst the sudden situation that left Harley blinking, a story told by the old mage who first engraved him flashed through his mind.
The name “Engraving of the Dragon King” was not named without meaning.
Although it had become an insignificant fact by being forgotten for hundreds of years, the mages at this spot were the ones most sensitive to tradition.
In an unforgiving land where only life-and-death struggles dictated existence—.
To end that endless war, a pact passed down since the early formation of the Calcos Tribal Alliance agreed upon by various tribes.
[Only one who proves the qualifications of the Dragon King shall be crowned as king.]
This was the proof of such a king.
*
In the dark, dim great hall.
[Then, the girl shall take her leave now… Rest easy…].
The hazy figure of a noble lady who had been reporting until just moments ago began to fade away, and at last, the silence enveloped the space completely.
[Hmm.]
However, that silence was instantly shattered by a faint gasp that followed immediately.
Seated upon a grand skull throne placed high in the great hall, the Undead King Hans looked down below.
He slowly raised one hand to stroke his own chest, which had been pierced by the holy sword.
Though there was no trace of any wound remaining, the lingering energy of the holy sword continued to gnaw at his vitality.
‘I should’ve been more careful with that stab.’
While it wasn’t quite serious, it was somewhat suffocating.
Surely it was this desperate feeling that allowed Heinrich to reach transcendence.
Hans leaned back casually into the throne.
This was the most efficient location for his recovery, even within the Undying Castle, filled with death energy.
It would probably take about a month to fully shake it off, but in Earth time, that was barely three days.
‘By the way, the Seed of Madness… I thought the catalyst would be hidden somewhere, but that revolutionary scoundrel just had to snatch it away in between.’
The largest piece of “Madness” that had emerged from the Abyss Gate— the existence that would become the catalyst for all the madness currently spreading across the continent.
That was what Balteon used to break down the mental barriers of transcendent warriors.
Hans took out a small metal fragment from his own spatial dimension and stared at it quietly.
This was the one impurity left behind in a meticulously cleaned location after the Abyss had opened.
He had kept it thinking it might become a clue…
[Hehehe— so this was indeed the lead?]
Through tracking and cursing, summoning, and various attempts using this as a catalyst, it had all failed before, making him wonder if he had been aiming in the wrong direction.
But now, after obtaining information about the Abyss Gate via Balteon, he was able to figure out what it was.
After 30 years of preparation, the one who finally opened the Abyss Gate.
He was someone who, only a step away from transcendence, ultimately fell due to the inner demons filling his heart, unable to reach that place as a great mage.
And also, the host filled with the madness seed that came to the surface.
This was part of the item he had with him while opening the Abyss, sacrificing himself for that very moment.
And it means…
‘When using magic, the outcome greatly varies depending on how accurately one knows the origin of that catalyst.’
By anchoring this, it meant he could track him down definitively now.
While he had previously failed to track down vague connections, the situation was different now that the direction was set correctly.
Finally, he had the key to catch that revolutionary scoundrel.
‘Plus, I have the orb of consciousness too.’
A treasure that enhances mental abilities.
This would also be a great help when conducting a large-scale ritual to track him down.
With that realization, Hans felt quite satisfied as he toyed with the orb.
Just then, various conditions fell into alignment, and instinctively, he became aware of a certain possibility.
To be precise.
The synergy between this orb and the ‘Dimension Barrier Mitigation’ he had invested a whopping five million points in.
‘This? If done right…’
Hans had been collecting the thoughts of many people by reading their minds.
That was an enormous amount corresponding to the number of humans he had executed thus far, but it was hardly a problem for him as an transcendent being.
Yet among those subconscious thoughts that settled deeply within him, there was one particularly special one.
It was a memory taken from an Awakened One, specifically one who had reached transcendence, collected from Earth.
‘Salma.’
A master of the Current Realm who had finished perfecting itself, who had crushed the Abyss within the flesh and spirit of the Thousand Death Demon by squeezing out mental information.
With the dimension barrier restricting the Awakened Ones weakened, viewing that memory through the orb brought a density incomparable to any other thought.
Though it was merely a damaged fragment of some part, it felt so vivid as if he were directly experiencing it.
‘Not yet complete, but… if done right, this might truly work!’
The culmination of those three elements.
He had caught a whiff of the trail leading to another world.
The Ganghwan Realm, the dimension of Salma.
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