Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: String (3)
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There are situations where we have to give and take with each other, and moments when we both know that and act accordingly.
For example, right now.
We both knew he was a Probe Rank Transcendent anyway. We also knew full well that clashing head-on would gain us nothing.
So, it was best to back off just enough.
But this bastard broke that unspoken rule. I was just as flustered. I wanted to avoid a direct confrontation, after all.
Whether he was stronger than me, weaker, or had a clear edge in skill didn't matter.
It wasn't just about me and this idiot. If the guy in front of me collapsed, bleeding out, the problem was all the things that would come trailing after him in a chain.
What the hell are you doing...?
Why make things so complicated?
From my position, I couldn't say anything good either.
"Such... ugh... hiding your... power..."
Spouting nonsense like that.
Of course, he was a Probe Rank Transcendent too. He could control the natural mana around him, but not on the scale I could.
Spotting the trap orbs blended into the surroundings wouldn't have been easy. By the time it entered his perception range, the trap would already activate.
He should have been more cautious from the start.
Was I, who thought myself more prudent than Partan, still ignorant about Transcendents?
"Don't you ever think?"
"It wasn't... a bluff...! To keep you from getting cocky... urk."
So, he was just charging in to intimidate me.
But mid-sentence, he suddenly turned his head, scanning the surroundings.
For a moment, I tensed, thinking he had allies, but no.
His body vanished in an instant once more.
He was fleeing.
I couldn't just let him go from here.
Now that things had escalated this far, letting him escape would breed even bigger problems.
My eyes still couldn't track him, but this time was different. The moment I anticipated a similar move, I'd already drawn up my mana. And he was already within my range.
My mana clung to him, and the instant I sensed him vanish, everything froze cold. With his deep wounds piled on, he couldn't flee as nimbly as before.
I immediately stepped on the natural mana and floated into the air, pursuing him.
Following the trail of my mana on him, I spotted shattered ice fragments scattered on the ground. Red-stained ice shards. Traces of blood that had frozen and then burst apart.
Just before exiting the forest entirely. Instead of scattered shards, a long trail of ice appeared.
And that trail led in one direction.
At its end, a figure stood frozen up to its ankles.
He wasn't wearing his robe's hood anymore. The robe was already torn to shreds. His revealed build was much larger than before, and above all, the long tail trailing from his back.
'A beastkin?'
Like a tiger in human form, perhaps.
Yet his right arm was still completely gone.
Seeing that form, I realized the attack he'd launched at me moments ago wasn't serious.
Drained of even the strength to flee, he panted in place.
'At his limit?'
His wounds were beyond reversal.
Even emergency treatment here wouldn't save his life.
That meant I had no pretext to extract information from him. A life I couldn't save anyway—no way for me to seize the initiative.
It felt like stepping in shit by accident.
I approached him slowly.
"...You know I can't let you live."
"Hah... huff..."
He forcibly lifted his drooping head to look at me.
The light of life in his eyes was fading.
"Just tell me your name, and I'll send you off painlessly."
Asking for his name was the least objectionable demand, and it might come in handy if I ever needed to impersonate him.
But what slipped from his lips was something unexpected.
"...If."
"If?"
"If I ask one favor here... will you grant it?"
I shook my head.
"Not to spare you..."
"Not that."
He forced out the words amid labored breaths.
"Just write one letter... leave it where I want."
"..."
The request was so out of left field that I was speechless for a moment.
Even then, looking into his desperate eyes, I pondered.
Normally, it'd end with me getting nothing and stepping in shit. I'd have to erase all traces of the fight here and vanish.
But...
"Not a hard request. But—"
"I know. I'll tell you what you want. My name is Garn."
"..."
Garn immediately named a specific place.
A street in a certain city.
"Tell her to live on without my help from now on... That's all."
"Why not just tell me who it is? I could deliver it personally."
"No."
Garn shook his head, squeezing out his last strength.
Distrust and anxiety flickered in his eyes.
Was he afraid I'd harm them if I knew who they were?
"Who is it for? I need to know that much."
I couldn't rule out the letter being some trap.
"...My wife and daughter."
"..."
"They're ordinary humans, so no weird worries."
Crazy. I almost let slip another curse.
Did he carry old ties from before becoming a Transcendent, or set up house after? ...
Either way, one thing was clear: they lived by their own rules.
What the hell were these guys? Partan, Garn—same deal.
A ragtag bunch? Transcendents who didn't act like it?
There were no noble-peasant hierarchies among Transcendents beyond raw power, but... this felt worlds apart from Joat's group's vibe.
"I'll deliver it. In exchange, I'll ask something."
"What?"
"What's the name of the faction you belong to?"
"...Moonlight Afterglow."
Moonlight Afterglow... Moonlight...?
Something flashed in my mind. Moonshadow Assembly. The evil force Ad had gathered.
Just similar names—too hasty to connect them.
"What's your group's purpose?"
"No grand collective goal that I know of. I just joined because they protected us..."
"Protected? Who?"
"Most Transcendents here have their own circumstances. We gathered under the pretext of protection. Who it is? I don't know, nor do the others."
"What about Partan?"
"That guy... said he had to settle a debt first and went down alone. Threw away his own protection."
Because of the Arcana Bloom?
"A member of yours wandering nearby under the name John. Know him?"
"Not... well. Only that he's the strongest among us."
His voice began to fade.
His strength was spent.
"He might know... who founded the group..."
"Real name?"
"Zmoll. Dragon Rank Transcen... dent..."
The strongest is Dragon Rank...
My hunch was right, at least.
Everyone in this group was unhinged for one reason or another.
Gathered under the banner of protection via some pact.
Whoever it was.
I wanted to probe the group's size, but it was too late. His breath had stopped.
Just frozen solid up to the chest, so he hadn't fallen.
Confirming their strongest was Dragon Rank eased my mind a bit.
It was a relief, somewhat...
Still, to be safe, I'd hide Cedric's identity for now and operate under a new one.
I'd planned to do that anyway when hunting the Fleshkin Messenger, so no big change.
First, I started disposing of Garn's body.
A man with silver hair cascading down past his ears. From afar, his delicate features made it hard to pin as distinctly male or female, exuding an androgynous charm.
He sat leisurely on a rocky outcrop at the cave entrance, where the wind brushed through, gazing at the forest.
"Maron!"
This was the man who had rallied Joat, Merin, Gabina, and various other Transcendents.
Merin strode up to Maron and immediately vented.
"While you were gone, all sorts of annoying things happened."
"Yeah? Like what?"
"Some unheard-of Transcendents from the Empire are running wild."
"Been too busy lately to keep tabs. But Transcendents causing trouble... that's not new."
Maron had been bogged down in tedious negotiations with the elves recently.
They were still dragging on without resolution.
"The name coming up most is some Cedric. They say he killed Partan."
"Partan? Good riddance."
"...Rumored to wield magic with insane destructive power. Probably human, Probe Rank."
"A human..."
Maron glanced at Merin.
Understanding the look, Merin shook her head.
"First I've heard. Found similar traces in the nearby forest recently, but then poof—vanished clean."
"Vanished?"
"Weirdly thorough. No traces at all. Handles various magics, it seems. With rumors spreading fast, he's no ordinary guy."
Maron, lost in thought, spoke up.
"Hope that one becomes a full Transcendent soon."
"Who... Ivan?"
"Yeah. He'd be a big asset to us."
Merin pictured the calm-faced man with black hair, then nodded readily.
"Agreed. He's got real talent."
The brief lull in conversation picked up from Merin again.
"Cedric... doesn't seem to know about the pact yet."
"Hm, guess personally scouting new ones is outdated now. Can't keep up with how fast they're popping up..."
"No one matches your spatial jumps anyway. Problem is, everyone's turning Transcendent these days."
"Mana handling's advanced, probably."
Maron paused mid-sentence, asking curiously.
"Cedric... any chance another half-breed?"
"Could be. No clue why all the troublemakers are that type."
Merin continued, as if there was more.
"Lately, rumors of someone intimidating Fleshkin Messengers too. Minor, but naturally suspected as a Transcendent."
"Well... my old methods can't catch everything anyway."
Maron spoke calmly, like a passing breeze.
"If they ignore a warning, no choice then."
Maron tore his gaze from the forest vista and stood.