188. Sublimation (2)
188. Sublimation (2)
- 1 -
Two burning eyes in the void.
Meeting that gaze crushed me with a pressure that felt as if my entire body were being ground to dust, while a chill of fear scraped down my spine like ice.
It was as though I stood face-to-face with a colossal demon that had crawled straight out of hell.
And in truth, that was not far from the reality.
- You remain an excellent child.
I had called them 'burning' for lack of a better word, but the reality was more complex.
What was visible to me alone held five elements: fire, fate, darkness, and two substances my imagination could hardly describe.
That was simply the only word I had for the formless writhing of disparate substances clumped together.
A presence that felt like something not of this world, forcibly dragged down into it.
Demon King.
The king of all demons and devils in both this world and the demon realm, and at the same time, the one who was a god.
The owner of that gaze, now looking down upon me, was none other than he.
"Dungeon Lord Libertas greets the true master of light."
The light shining upon the continent was false, and the darkness that devoured all things was the true light. Therefore, the Demon King who commanded that darkness was the true master of light.
My words carried that meaning.
The gaze from the other side was, quite literally, laden with power.
The trials I had endured on Earth and on this continent were by no means light, yet the pressure I felt in this moment surpassed anything I had ever experienced.
It was as if someone were watching my very fate.
- You are curious. What has drawn me to you.
At the Demon King's words, I slowly nodded.
Even meeting his gaze was a struggle.
A sensation as if all the blood in my body had turned to tar flowed through me without end.
Even breathing was growing difficult.
"Yes. You could not possibly have reason to come in person to observe the ascension of a mere dungeon lord."
- Mere, you say...
His voice carried a hint of laughter.
The moment that fragment of emotion colored his voice, I felt every hair on my body stand on end.
The Demon King's emotions were a threat in themselves.
- You should have realized at once that the very fact I was watching you disproves that claim. Do not speak falsehoods to me.
I fell silent.
It was not that I did not understand his words, but rather because I understood them perfectly—and had been thinking the exact same thing.
There is something about me that I do not know. That secret must be what summoned him here.
- As expected of a child of N!#*L&$. To maintain your sanity while meeting my eyes for so long.
"What do you mean by that?"
- You will learn when the time comes. That time is not far off.
But what that secret was, I still could not learn.
Far from resolving my curiosity, his words only deepened my anxiety, but he merely let out a laugh that shook the whole space, as if my unease itself amused him.
After that, the Demon King's voice slowly receded, yet his presence grew heavier.
As if his power were gradually swallowing the entire space.
- I bestow my blessing. Take this power.
Jjaenggeurang!
The moment his words ended, the sky shattered.
Through the tearing black sky, I saw the stained glass bearing the image of the Demon King once more.
The dark light pouring through it deepened.
"..."
I closed my eyes.
The dark light enveloped my body. Metaphorically, it was divinity.
The only difference was that its source lay not on high, but in depths beyond fathoming.
The light that wrapped me, along with the magic flowing from the sacrifices, slowly seeped into me and began transforming every part of my body.
Huuk—!
I recalled the moment Talhan's body had been reborn.
Back then, his existing body could not contain the new power, and everything from his bones on had been reconstructed entirely.
The phenomenon unfolding in my body now was no different.
Only the concentration and density of the power differed.
It was stronger, deeper, and more forceful.
On top of that, the Demon King's blessing added its own weight.
Udeudeuk!
I heard what sounded like bones dislocating all through my body, but there was no pain.
I felt a sensation as if the blood flowing through my veins was boiling, but it was not agony.
It was closer to ecstasy.
Powerful magic surged into my body from every direction, yet it obediently circulated under the control of its rightful owner—me—and did not rampage.
As if it had been mine for ages.
After everything had stabilized.
Hwaak!
This time, my senses expanded.
Mana spread throughout the hall, and with it, my perception.
It must have looked like living, moving darkness.
At first, I could perceive only what was directly before me.
"Master..."
Ran's worried murmur, the composed expressions of Evangeline and Shue, even the cold sweat on their temples—all were vividly visible to me.
My senses, which had lingered beside them for a moment, stretched farther out.
I could feel the gazes, the breaths, even the heartbeats of the crowd staring up at me with astonished eyes from below the dais.
'This is...'
The expansion of my senses did not stop at the interior.
My perception extended beyond my dungeon, far into the outside world.
A truly transcendent awareness that reached beyond the southernmost region of Hysen where the dungeon stood, over the northern part of the Arilit Duchy, across the south-central expanse of Hysen, all the way to the western border of the Norn Empire.
Only now did I understand.
Why it was impossible to conceal the presence of dungeonification the moment a dungeon lord reached the elite stage.
With a feeling of omnipotence like this, testing how far your power could reach would be a fundamental instinct of any mighty being.
'But I am not.'
The magic that yearned to stretch out boundlessly was, to humans, no different from a warning siren broadcasting my presence everywhere.
That was, of course, not what I wanted.
I tried to pull back the senses accompanied by that urge to reach out in all directions.
Far before I even neared the limits of the earthly space I could meaningfully influence.
However, just before that moment.
'This is...?'
I felt something brush past my senses.
A presence like starlight, coming from the western border. It was a mysterious light that seemed to announce someone's existence, yet its identity remained unknowable.
A moment later, I also sensed a single thread of fate from somewhere in the capital of Hysen. It almost seemed as if someone were deliberately revealing it to me.
But it was a sensation that passed in an instant. This was the time to focus on the power flooding into me.
I pulled my senses back once more—more precisely, the demonic power that was the root of that perception.
My presence on the continent would remain an unknown for now.
A far greater unknown than before.
Udeuk, udeudeuk!
Once again, I heard the sound of my bones resonating throughout my body.
This time it was different. If the earlier sounds had been of existing things shifting out of place, these were the sounds of something being restructured anew.
My bloodstream was stabilizing, and at last my physical form was being completed.
"Hoo..."
The magic still drifting around me. I could feel that all of the sacrifices in every coffin had been consumed.
"So this is the ascension of a dungeon lord."
"Even seeing it again, it is beautiful."
The murmurs of Mure and Evangeline reached my ears.
My senses, having only just expanded, were now sharply receiving all information and stimuli.
As clearly as if the words had been whispered directly into my ear.
Seureureuk—
The magic circle drawn beneath my feet shifted and rotated, then instantly contracted, gathering underfoot.
A power deepening like an unfathomably profound fate.
And the intuition that I could perfectly control that power.
"This is..."
Ascension.
The moment a dungeon lord climbs one step higher.
And the meaning behind the fact that the Demon King had personally watched over and blessed that moment...
'There are still so many things I cannot know.'
A secret hidden inside me.
When that time the Demon King had spoken of would come.
And who the owner of the name he had mentioned was.
But now was not the time to worry over that.
- Splendid, as expected.
Along with 'his' praise, I slowly opened my eyes.
- 2 -
The moment Libertas opened her eyes, the entire hall brightened for an instant.
The gleam radiating from her pupils betrayed traces of magic not yet fully stabilized.
That brilliant light instantly captivated the gazes of all who beheld her.
The whites of her eyes were completely dyed black, and at their center sat violet irises.
And at the center of each iris, a vertically slit crimson pupil gleamed, like that of a snake or a demon.
"Master..."
Shue let out an admiring gasp.
An admiration rooted not in fear, but in reverence.
That bizarre yet beautiful form did not last long.
When Libertas closed her eyes and opened them once more, her eyes had returned to their normal appearance, with white sclera and violet irises.
However, faint magic still lingered around her pupils.
"You have stabilized."
Relief colored Serica Baritra's voice.
Having confirmed that the process of ascension had concluded without incident, she was now keenly aware that Libertas had taken a step beyond her.
What filled her heart was a subtle jealousy and a far more intense joy.
- Beautiful...
The voice of the Lamia Queen, Echidna, occupying the skeleton's body, spilled out in admiration.
The magic hovering around Libertas enveloped her like wings.
It resembled six pairs of wings unfurled, only to be absorbed into her back and vanish.
When the darkness was finally fully absorbed into her, her black dress was revealed once more.
Yet magic still cloaked her body in a dark and soft form of light.
"..."
The crowd watched in silence.
Everyone could feel it. That a being who might lead a new era had been born before their very eyes.
And those among them who were powerful or sensitive realized they had become witnesses to a historic moment.
That they had seen the one who received the Demon King's blessing.
"It is time to conclude the ritual."
Evangeline, who had assumed the role of officiant, stepped forward.
The crystal ball that had rested on the table at the center of the ritual's magic circle was passed back to Libertas through her hands.
"Master."
"Thank you."
Receiving the crystal ball, Libertas examined it for a moment.
Unlike before, the black fog inside it had completely vanished, and a faint light was now swirling in its place.
That light rotated slowly within the crystal ball, like the Milky Way.
"Everyone, please rise and show your respect to the Demon King's candidate."
At Evangeline's words, the crowd stirred.
Those who already belonged to Libertas knelt, and even those who were her equals or allies bowed their heads in respect, if only for this moment.
Some among them, who had known Evangeline was once human, did question how she was so well-versed in the Demon King's ceremonies, but they dismissed it, guessing some other demon had assisted her.
This was not the time to entertain such trivial questions, after all.
Kureureureung...
The balance of space itself trembled.
Libertas's magic was increasing once again.
But this time, there was no chaos.
Under her perfect control, the magic simply hovered around her.
"I, Libertas, do swear."
Her voice, carried by magic, resonated in all directions.
"As a dungeon lord, to head toward a higher place."
Jjeojeok!
A crack appeared in the crystal ball as it blazed with light.
That light intensified in power with each and every word she spoke, growing ever more brilliant as her small hand shattered the crystal, following the power it released.
"To seek deeper darkness."
"Greater power."
"More vast territory."
The residual magic left within the crystal ball swirled into a vortex.
The magic, now dazzlingly bright, shone forth profusely as if to bear witness to her oath.
"And..."
Libertas's voice paused for a moment, and she turned to look up at the stained glass.
A faint presence could still be felt from the place where the image of the Demon King was depicted, but it was only the lingering echo of the one who had departed.
"To become one worthy of the throne of the true master of light."
The crystal ball crumbled silently within her hand.
But the fragments did not scatter further, instead remaining around her hand, then slowly spreading out to hover around Libertas.
Seureuk...!
The fragments, which had sparkled like tiny stars, were gradually absorbed into her body.
The ritual had reached its end.
"My dear people."
While everyone held their breath, she looked down upon them and smiled.
Behind Libertas, the dungeon core, now completely stained violet, shone upon her like a halo, wreathed in rings of black light.
"I hope you will continue to stay with me."
Challang!
Above Libertas's head, the crown, now dyed black, emitted a clear chime once more.
As if blessing the path ahead.
- 3 -
After everyone had withdrawn, I returned to my private room and closed my eyes for a time, feeling the power flowing within my body.
Senses spreading out in all directions. Magic coursing majestically through my system.
It was a power that made me truly realize I had become an existence utterly different from before.
'Status window.'
The evidence of that definitive change soon unfolded before my eyes.