Chapter 290. Transcendence (1)
“Hmm… What could possible be there?”
Astania looked at the screen her clansman was broadcasting with curiosity.
A strange spaceship.
And the lands beyond the sky high mountain range.
Anybody would be curious about it.
‘Is there really information regarding the 6th patch?’
That’s something she would need to prepare for.
As a person who was in charge of a huge clan.
Kiiiing.
Astania leaned back as she watched the screen on the spaceship through the broadcast.
It seemed like it would take a bit before this screen actually turned on.
At that moment a flower came into the corner of her vision.
The bouquet that Tiamet had given her before.
‘Where the hell did this man go anyway?’
Astania touched the necklace on her neck as she mumbled.
This was also something that Tiamet had given her while congratulating her for her rise to the lord of this territory.
A gem which symbolized the ownership of this special district.
‘… I don’t know why he’s so nice to me. Is my beauty so incredible that it even impacts NPCs?’
A smirk had started to appear as she thought up to this point but she quickly resumed her original expression.
Tiamet’s actions weren’t sincere enough for her to think this way.
With an NPC with immeasurable strength, he could’ve easily forced his way in but instead he just roamed around her and took care of her discreetly.
‘How petty… Just charge at me like a man or something.’
This was an another world.
There were cases of people dating NPCs as well.
No, it was quite common actually.
Since the players, who were confident in their looks, approached the NPCs for their power or wealth.
And her clansmen were always joking with her as well.
That she should just lure him in and catch him.
— Isn’t it fine as long as he’s interested? Just…
Though it was still a joke in the end, there was a bit of desire for this to actually happen deep inside the clansmen’s minds.
Since the Kalikul clan wouldn’t just remain as one of the 15 Great Clans once their relationship with Tiamet improved.
There would only be a single clan to rule over all other remaining clans.
That was how powerful Tiamet was.
Even if he just shifted around a bit to let off his excess emotions, the entire world of Exodus would flip upside down.
If Tiamet wanted to give Astania the capital then that would happen, along with the taxes that the Empire collected.
A tremendous strength.
And Astania had actually dreamed about this alluring future as well.
Though she stopped rather quickly.
‘That eye is the problem…’
Astania smacked her lips.
Eyes.
The eyes of Tiamet that stared at her.
Those eyes were always so sad and filled with immeasurable sorrow.
And because of this, using him to gain more power and wealth didn’t feel quite right to her.
Astania smiled as she touched the necklace on her neck.
‘I should treat him better once he comes back. We should eat or something. The new restaurant that opened in the front looks good.’
At that moment.
— Oh! It’s coming up! The screen to the outside!
The entire Kalikul clan started roaring at the broadcast.
And the moment Astania heard this, she resumed her cold expression and regained her posture.
Whatever was there was really important.
— But before we do this, shall we hear the words of the people first? As to how they feel about this historical event?
“This bastard…”
He was purposely letting out the steam after riling them all up.
And as Astania smirked at the clansman who was pretending to be a reporter at a scene.
‘What the…’
Astania focused her eyes she brought the screen closer to her face.
— Ahh! What the hell!
— Uaa…
— What’s going on…!
Whoooosh.
Shwooosh.
The countless clansmen who were on the broadcast started to disappear into golden light while only leaving behind echos of screams.
“…What? Why are they logging out?”
Astania was confused as she stared at the broadcast.
Since these guys, who had no reason to log out, were disappearing into golden light.
She assumed poison but it didn’t seem like it.
— Uh… Huh?
And the players who were watching the broadcast of the screen on the spaceship heard the clansmen broadcasting this backing up in shock.
The players then all looked at the scene on the screen.
— Woah…
A giant tower that reached above the clouds.
And the vast city that spread out beneath it.
The moment they saw this.
Whooooosh.
Even the broadcasting player disappeared into golden light.
But Astania now knew why this was happening.
The moment she saw the tower.
All of her lost memories were coming back.
Memories of the long forgotten past.
She remembered when she had run to the city during the apocalypse.
She remembered when she had been oppressed by the 1st grade citizens in the city.
She remembered when she had risen up against the 1st grade citizens.
And…
‘Tiamet. You dumbass.’
Astania smiled as she remembered all this.
She realized why Tiamet had taken care of her so much.
And why he had always been around her.
‘… I guess we won’t be able to eat together.’
Whooooosh.
Astania’s body started to disappear.
For the price of breaking the law of this world.
A body which was supposed to be trapped inside the Obelisk but had instead been allowed to live in this world.
A body made by someone else would disappear once it breaks their rules.
And soon.
Clank.
Astania disappeared into golden light as only a single necklace remained beneath where Astania originally stood.
***
“… Ah.”
Kiiiiing.
Tiamet was at a loss as he looked between the spaceship that had started to fly up in the distance and the light disappearing from the ring on this finger.
‘How… How could this happen at the last moment.’
The light had gone off on the ring on his finger.
The light of the ring that was connected to Astania’s necklace.
The light on this ring would only go off when the necklace had lost its owner.
And the royal necklace wouldn’t lose its owner even if one logged out.
Which could only mean one thing.
That the necklace had completely lost its owner.
Which meant…
“Haha… Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!”
Tiamet started to laugh like a maniac.
The laughter which had both rage and hysteria mixed together spread out all around him and Hansoo.
‘For what… For what have I survived up until now?’
The moment he knew Astania died.
Something that had supported him for the past thousand years had fallen.
And at that moment he knew.
That he had cherished this woman more than he had thought he did.
“…”
Tiamet gazed at Hansoo expressionlessly.
“There was a lot more I wanted to talk with you about but… It doesn’t matter anymore.”
A cold smile appeared on his face.
And the moment Hansoo saw this.
‘Danger.’
Hansoo instinctively crushed his heart.
It was the expression of a man who had thrown away everything, someone who had nothing to lose anymore.
Kwaduk.
Splurt.
Blood exploded out from Tiamet’s mouth but the cold smile remained.
He was a supernatural being even out of the supernatural beings on this world.
He wouldn’t die immediately even if his heart was crushed.
Even if his brain was smashed his body would still move according to his final will.
It would only be for a moment but it was more than enough.
Enough to erase everything.
“This damned world… I’m going to return it all.”
‘Since it was a world created from the contract… It’ll be okay for me to just return it all to how it was before.’
Then.
Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!
The tremendous amount of condensed energy next to Tiamet’s heart started to pulsate as it quickly enlarged.
The energy which he had compressed with the Rangkom’s stake and the White Dragon Arena for a thousand years.
This energy, which could easily flip the world upside down, started to burn up with a blinding light.
“Hahahaha! How useless!”
As Hansoo heard Tiamet’s crazed laugther he quickly took Rangkom’s stake from his hands.
It was too late to prevent the explosion.
But he had to lessen the damage as much as he could.
Hansoo breathed in and out and then stabbed the stake towards the condensed energy next to where Tiamet’s heart had been.
— !!!!
The enormous amount of energy started to get suppressed by the stake as they created an intense amount of sparks.
And cracks had appeared on the sphere of energy and energy started to leak out.
This energy followed the stake up into the sky.
Like a bolt of lightning being attracted by a lightning rod.
Kwadddduk!
Hansoo quickly forced the stake to be pointed towards the sky.
Rummmblee!
And the energy that had started to explode out from the sphere started to follow the stake into the sky.
The snowstorm got dispersed from the energy storm of the sphere and even the clouds above them started to swirl into a storm.
Cough.
Tiamet, who still had a bit of strength left to talk, laughed in a weak manner as he looked at the stake that had embedded him onto the ground.
“Haha…”
If it was something that could be suppressed so easily like this then he would’ve never said it could flip the world upside down.
Though most of it flew into the sky.
The remaining energy was more than enough for what he wanted to do.
Boooom!
Hansoo stomped onto the ground as he quickly rushed towards the inner parts of the Obelisk.
It was not time for him to bicker.
‘I can only live if I reduce the damage as much as I can…’
The energy he was feeling from inside Tiamet was no small matter.
Hansoo, who had entered through the broken wall from before, quickly rushed in and started to drop as deep as much as he could as he broke apart the floors.
Towards the deepest parts of this tower.
Boom! Boom!
Tiamet laughed at a loss as he heard the sounds of Hansoo breaking through the floors.
‘Will you… Be able to succeed? In crossing that huge barrier?’
As Tiamet’s eyes slowly closed.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
An immeasurable amount of energy exploded out from Tiamet’s body and started to sweep through everything around him.
***
Rumble
“What? What the hell?”
“What happened?”
Mudusella and the adventurers who were with the Ains were at a loss as they stared at the huge pillar of light that had appeared far behind the mountain range.
A deafening sound which rang throughout the world, the earthquake that made the world tremble and blinding light that shook the entire world.
If there wasn’t this sky-high mountain range defending them, that huge energy storm would’ve swept through them as well.
As people stared at the tower of light.
Mudusella saw something else.
The scene of the future she had seen through the Mudusella System in the past.
Though her view was blocked by the mountain range, she could clearly see it.
The scene of the city in the distance.
‘The thousand year old guardian tree… Shall fall.’
She saw the scene of the huge tower falling from the energy storm.
Mudusella asked the adventurers at this moment.
“You. You all received our blessings right?”
“… Yeah. Why do you ask?”
Mudusella smiled coldly.
“… Winter is coming.”
Then.
Boooooom!
The tremendous snowstorm that the Obelisk had been suppressing this entire time started to sweep through the world.