Chapter 227
Chapter 227
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 226
Chapter Title: The Twelve Transcendents
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Thinking that I needed to become an All Master as quickly as possible.
I recalled the time I met Replie.
* * *
If things had gone according to plan, clearing the dungeon would have been smooth sailing.
The special boss Replie was a transcendent powerhouse... but strength is relative. It was a situation where I could take him on one-on-one and win, and since I'd even lured and taken down the Four Heavenly Kings who were guarding him, how could the raid possibly fail?
Honestly, I didn't even need the players' support.
[Trap Card Activated: Soul's Wail.]
...Right. That's how it should have been.
If not for that resonant voice echoing the moment I entered the boss room.
"Soul's Wail activated! When Soul's Wail triggers, all cards below level 9 attack power return to the opponent's deck!"
So calmly. As if delivering an oration. And at that exact moment.
"What!?"
"What the...!"
"This is outrageous! His Imperial Majesty..."
Flash!
The hundreds of players following behind me vanished in an instant. They had all kinds of defensive spells, skills, and items active, but it was no use.
"Log out."
I immediately exited Ardenia and gathered my thoughts.
'Why?'
It wasn't some unidentified attack. No, I knew exactly what it was—too clearly.
The problem was that it shouldn't have appeared here.
"Jaeyeon? Is something wrong?"
I gave Flower an awkward smile at her question.
"Nah. Just hit a snag... Could you call Heukyo for me?"
"I'm here."
Without another word, Heukyo approached and sat beside me. Then, without asking, she channeled her qi into my body.
The amount wasn't much compared to mine... but the quality was incomparable, stimulating my inner sea.
'I need to shatter it... in one strike.'
"Log in."
[Heavenly Sword - Moon-Piercing Fang] & [Sword that Cleaves the Heavens and Earth]
Great Vessel Late Bloom. Heaven-Shattering Extreme Light.
I unleashed it at the speed of light.
Too fast to dodge, too heavy to block—a strike of utter destruction!
But.
Crunch! Crack!
My strike was blocked.
"No, what the... "
[Impressive, human. I never imagined you'd pierce my barrier in a single blow.]
[A simple sword strike... but terrifyingly fast and heavy. And that sword you're holding—you must have obtained it by killing me, right?]
A woman with blue hair and long deer antlers sprouting through it, along with the Demon Sword King Hyperion, stood blocking my path.
Their faces were pale from blocking my strike... but finishing them off with follow-ups wouldn't be easy.
Because the enemies weren't just those two.
"What the hell are you guys... Why are you all here?"
They were clearly not from Revenge. Dark Star's Dark Messiah, Blade & Magic's Demon Sword King, The Darkest Despair's Shilmgon, Black Soul's Deep Eye, and so on.
Some faces were new, but figuring out their identities wasn't hard.
They were all twelve transcendent-level monsters on par with Replie.
Memories of my encounter with the Game Master resurfaced.
"Twelve of them."
"You haven't forgotten who I am, have you? I can't interfere, but of course I know about game-related stuff. However... including you, there are three survivors."
'Damn it... all the bosses from twelve games are here?'
[There, you've finally calmed down.]
The twelve transcendent monsters surrounded me without a hint of carelessness. Individually, none could match me, but two or three together would take time to kill, and four or more made it hard to gauge my odds—mythic-level beasts.
With no way out, my mind started racing.
"...Why haven't you killed me?"
Twelve special bosses were already a tough fight... but what was truly dangerous was that they'd been 'prepared' and waiting for me.
'Especially the Dark Messiah.'
Dark Star, being a card game, had abilities far too dangerous against lone powerhouses. Collectible card games had far too many cards that could [target] and kill a specific opponent.
If he'd used one of those numerous spell cards when I entered the boss room?
I'd have just died.
'Of course, I'd have respawned...'
[So calm even in this situation. Well, a powerhouse like you would be.]
[Anyway, what we want from you isn't much. Just.]
The transcendent monsters said.
[Stay here.]
Their smirks were oddly amiable.
[If possible, forever.]
* * *
"Hoo..."
I finished the recollection and opened my eyes. The twelve mythic monsters were still there.
'T-they don't even leave their posts...'
The boss room accessed through the Temple of Death was so vast the term "room" felt inadequate.
It was spacious enough for the colossal phantom dragon Replie to even enter its flight phase—no need to elaborate.
I pulled a return scroll from my inventory and tore it.
[Absolute Command. 'Item Use Prohibited' is in effect.]
'As expected... not the type that wears off with time.'
I sighed and spoke up.
"Hey."
[Oh? Finally in the mood to talk? By the way, how long were you in the outer dimension? A week? A month?]
The blue-haired woman with deer antlers approached me with a goofy grin.
Of course, not too close.
Crackle!
A barrier of murderous frost formed around her. The distance was over three meters, and behind her loomed Replie's lowered head.
"...Can't we talk a little closer?"
[I can't. You'd just try to sever my neck with that terrifying sword strike, wouldn't you?]
"..."
These damn monsters—twelve of them, yet not a shred of carelessness. If I pushed myself to take one down, the other eleven would all swarm to protect it.
Annoying, but also strangely peculiar.
'Their patterns are completely different from the monsters that emerged into reality.'
Curiosity struck, and I asked.
"Why are you all so cautious with your lives? Don't you respawn anyway?"
The blue-haired woman replied to my question.
[Ah, resurrection. Of course it's possible. But... the question is whether the one that revives is truly 'me.']
"..."
I wasn't particularly interested... but it was something I already knew.
I'd fought and killed countless monsters, and naturally, there were times I'd kill the same one multiple times.
And in doing so, you naturally realize.
'Something's always subtly different.'
The basic character backstory is the same. Take an orc lord—it always comes with the setting of being the ruler of the orc tribe and the such-and-such son of whoever.
The swordsmanship they use is the same, stats identical.
But... their speech is always different.
More precisely, their personality. Sometimes more reckless, sometimes cautious. Hell, even cowardly at times.
"...What the hell are you?"
I had to ask.
"What do you really want? Why are you invading this world?"
The damage from the monster crisis was astronomical beyond words. Civilizations like the 34th Earth with minimal damage were rare even in the universe.
Lower civilizations suffered as lower ones do, cosmic civilizations as cosmic ones—incurring massive losses.
[To put it simply... plunder.]
"...Plunder?"
[Yes. Because you all possess what our Mother needs.]
"What is it?"
[You're not asking who Mother is?]
The blue-haired woman smirked. Her face screamed she knew I'd figured it out, but I didn't blink.
"Who else? The plagiarized worlds and your master, obviously."
[...]
"..."
We stared silently. I thought to myself.
'They're probing constantly, these bastards...'
They didn't want me dead. Deep down, they wanted to chop off my limbs and seal me... but even with twelve of them, capturing me alive was impossible.
They could wear me down and drain my strength, but wasn't I someone who could log in and out?
'And these guys... they even recognize logins and logouts.'
That's when it happened.
[Pro-tect--- the--- ba-rr-ier!]
A roar like a storm shook my mind. Not physical sound, but potent spirit speech.
I turned to glare at the bellowing Shilmgon.
"You can talk, huh."
[We could always talk. You inferiors just couldn't understand.]
"Oh? Is that what the one who kept getting beaten to death by those 'inferiors' has to say?"
[From your world? You must've ganged up on me like cowards!]
"Wanna check?"
I stood, and Shilmgon advanced snorting steam.
But no duel ensued.
[Enough.]
[Don't do anything reckless.]
[Tsk tsk... Falling for such a shallow trick?]
The other special bosses immediately stepped in to scold Shilmgon. He seemed indignant but couldn't defy the will of eleven peers.
I sneered at him.
"Coward."
[In--sol--ent!]
Rumble. Seawater rose from the floor. He looked dumb—and probably was—but he was still a transcendent monster.
Yet his rage subsided quickly.
-The Blesser decrees: Beneath the dazzling sun, all was at peace.
With the mighty spirit speech, the rising seawater vanished without a trace. Moreover, the fighting spirit deep in my heart rapidly ebbed away.
'Ah, what's this guy's deal.'
I eyed the man sitting cross-legged, his eyes covered by red blindfold. Unfamiliar, naturally.
'Well, not all games have been identified.'
The Game Master said nine of the twelve original players had died, leaving three survivors including me.
Meaning twelve games, but only seven identities known so far.
Personal games lost before reveal, or those from civilizations wiped out in the monster crisis.
Gathering raid info for those was notoriously difficult.
"...Log out."
Back to Earth.
"Ha."
A sigh escaped naturally. As expected, resolving things in Ardenia was tough.
"Didn't go well?"
Ruby, nestled in my arms, asked with a voice full of worry. Her big eyes welled up.
"...Yeah. Not going well."
"Ugh... So we can't do the 14-night, 15-day trip? I was really looking forward to it..."
Her whiny voice drew a deep sigh from me.
Honestly, we should just go. It was just an unexpected hiccup—they'd worked hard for me, no doubt.
But the situation wasn't that carefree.
Beep!
I activated the display. News was on.
[The Union announced statistics showing a 30%+ increase in appearances of monsters dubbed transcendent-level. As extraterrestrial invasions intensify, the mounting damage shows no end...]
[The Leonhardt Empire's holy planet has entered lockdown. The holy planet, core of the Holy County with over 3 billion residents...]
[Transcendent monsters capable of space flight are ravaging merchant vessels with weakened combat capabilities...]
I sighed inwardly.
Because the cause of that cosmic calamity... was glaringly obvious, right at hand.