Chapter 209
Chapter 209
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 209
Chapter Title: Tower of the Gods (10)
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Elysion.
The transcendent spell completed by Lyl, the Transcender.
It was a grave mistake to think of it as a mere spell with the simple property of absorbing starlight, washing away the Abyss's curse and converting it into one's own mana.
Reading the story of the world.
Uncovering the name of the curse that begins as the Abyss descends—that was the true way to use 'Elysion'.
'Curses hide themselves.'
That was the nature of curses.
They were feared and dreaded precisely because they were unknowable.
Curses fed on that fear.
They grew endlessly, birthing despair.
But.
If one could uncover the curse's type and name...
'Its power would weaken swiftly.'
The true use of Elysion was to reveal the name of the hidden curse.
The moment it was known, the curse grew frail.
So what kinds of curses existed?
Curses that harmed others?
Curses that aged one rapidly?
Curses that drained vitality through vengeful spirits?
Such things could certainly be called curses, but the directions of curses that 'Elysion' could uncover were far more numerous and vast.
For example.
'...It can uncover the name of a Creator.'
Creators!
They were the demon lords who dominated the Abyss.
Beings who should proudly proclaim themselves and send shivers through all, yet they concealed their true names.
Why?
Because they didn't want the other lords to know?
Were they ashamed?
No.
That, too, was a curse.
Demons bearing the karma of lordship mostly lived with their 'true names' hidden.
They kept them strictly secret because the names themselves held power, and revealing them weakened that power.
But only curses weakened when exposed.
The qualifications of a Creator, the karma of being a demon lord—all were deeply tied to 'curses'.
Aheta, the Lord of the Moon, was an exception, but that had left his inherent abilities in a weakened state.
'Aheta was said to wield influence comparable to the Demon King, but his innate power was incomparably weaker.'
If Aheta truly possessed the Demon King's strength, his head would have exploded the moment he manifested.
A spell that could uncover demon lords' names.
Demon King, Demon Gods, even the mighty Nine Great Lords.
Conquering and surpassing them would allow one to reach the 10th stage of mana, 'Apocalypse', just as Transcender Lyl had desired.
In short.
Elysion was akin to the natural predator of demons.
And not just that.
Krwororor!
The star that had shone brilliantly atop Park Chan-woo's hand transformed into 'Heaven's Chastisement'.
In the blink of an eye, it charged at the Phantasmal Guardian Graktus and began tearing into him.
For that one was an aggregate of curses.
Heaven's Chastisement punished curses, true to its name.
An Illusion Lord, it was called—but in the end, merely an illusion.
A simplistic curse that could do nothing but project its foe.
Craaaack—
Graktus's body tore apart in shreds, cracks spiderwebbing across his form.
Then Graktus's eyes turned toward him.
The curse thrashed in fury, attempting to project Park Chan-woo.
On a level incomparable to the 'Ancient Phantoms' encountered on the 11th floor.
Gathering all curses into one, it focused solely on reflecting that single existence.
At the same time.
Craaaack—!
The cracks widened further.
The projection failed.
No, that wasn't it.
It wasn't a failure.
The moment it reflected and projected the foe, his body began exploding from within by nigh-infinite colossal entities.
He, the Illusion Lord who had encompassed the entire world, could not contain even that one being.
Graktus thought.
That thing, that existence.
-The... own... er... of... curs... es...
...A curse itself.
He could feel it.
Absolute death and terror, the infinite world of yin, the heart of annihilation, and... the human himself.
-Im... pos... si... ble... di... ver... gence...!
It was a contradiction.
How could one who was a curse itself dispel curses?
Uncover a curse's name that even he himself hadn't known!
And rightly so—for an illusion that merely reflected others, how could it have a name?
Graktus learned his own name for the first time now.
The very fact that he had one.
But the greater problem was.
-My... e... xist... ence...
Tower of the Gods, 12th floor.
Matching the challenger's level with an appropriate legion.
The Illusion Lord was not meant to perish here.
He appeared up to the 19th floor.
His mission was to instill despair in climbers, preventing them from reaching the 20th.
Even if felled here, he was but an illusion.
'Configured' to be resummoned endlessly.
Yet now, Park Chan-woo had severed the illusion's core, its true name.
He had erased the configuration.
Thus.
'I vanish.'
If this wasn't a 'major error', what was?
But the Illusion Lord's thoughts ended there.
Crunck!
The savage beast, 'Heaven's Chastisement', had ripped off the Illusion Lord's head.
Soon, a colossal number of curses poured from the neck, and the Illusion Lord's body began getting sucked into a black hole like a vortex.
Endless rising messages.
Park Chan-woo paused to stroke his chin as he viewed them.
Go straight to the 20th floor, or climb properly?
Either choice would complete the 'Stigmata' upon reaching the 20th.
However.
Clap clap clap clap!
Oh, what a splendid curse!
Chronos clapped from within the shadows.
With Elysion dispelling the Illusion Lord's curse, much of it began converting to mana via Chronos.
An amount that would crush an ordinary spirit outright.
But Chronos was far from 'ordinary'.
Pure Mana had risen substantially.
To 37 now.
A small proportion compared to total mana, but unlike mana added by gear or tools, 'Pure Mana' was Park Chan-woo's own.
Mana that would never vanish, far easier to wield.
Emotion swelled within him.
At the same time.
...
...
The Dusk Tribe warriors and Ataraxia stared blankly at Park Chan-woo, having halted their battle.
The moment 'Heaven's Chastisement' burst forth.
All four Dusk Tribe warriors froze.
An unrecognized existence had abruptly unleashed magic.
'A human?'
'Dragonkin...?'
They couldn't tell.
Ataraxia was so renowned among dragonkin that most of the Twelve Races knew of him.
For those in hostile relations, identifying promising powerhouses was basic.
Especially the apocalyptic ancient dragon, a sworn enemy to memorize.
Even transformed, they knew his features on sight.
But they had no clue who this suddenly appearing human was.
Even more astonishing was what followed.
'What kind of magic is that?'
Was it even magic?
It differed utterly from any dragonkin magic they'd seen.
Heaven's Chastisement... wasn't that the most basic spell?
Yet from a human's lips came the name 'Heaven's Chastisement', the Illusion Lord's name—and it upended the world in an entirely different form.
Had he evolved a basic spell to its extreme?
Or perhaps.
'Dragon tongue?'
Then what draconic incantation was that?
Dragonkin could infuse clan names with power to wield them.
But they'd never seen such a draconic tongue.
It pounced on the Illusion Lord, devoured and shattered him.
And the Illusion Lord's words lingered troublingly.
Curse's owner, major error!
Finally, as the Illusion Lord vanished, a massive flood of curses poured out.
The problem was that every curse flowed straight to that human—or dragonkin?—they couldn't identify.
The curses...
He devoured them...?
He had even consumed them.
A sight they'd never witnessed before.
They'd never even heard of curse-eaters.
Let alone curses from the Illusion Lord, enough to overwhelm even them.
They exchanged glances.
Who the hell was he?
Was there such a dragonkin?
Revere him.
That was when it happened.
Ataraxia dropped to one knee.
Gazing at the human in adoration, he bowed his head.
'Ahh. A Transcender's authority.'
He had realized it.
That the magic manifesting from his hand was a Transcender's spell.
Likely stolen from Aheta's secret lab.
And he wielded it with such perfection already.
Even at a glance, 'Heaven's Chastisement' was chaotically unstable.
Authority and magic fused into something wholly new.
A realm Ataraxia couldn't dare imitate.
Impossible without the great Dragon God Sepiro.
Master of all dragons, god of magic, absolute sovereign of the Abyss.
His titles were countless, but.
'The Greatest One.'
Ataraxia believed that alone truly represented Sepiro.
...
The Dusk Tribe warriors alternated glances between Ataraxia and the human, lips pressed tight.
Who could command such devotion from Ataraxia, like a god?
He wielded absolute magic transcending cognition, and even more mystical authority.
'The new master of the Despair Clan?'
'We've identified most dragonkin...!'
'No way the primordial dragonkin?'
'S-Sepiro...?'
They couldn't tell.
No sense at all.
One thing was certain.
Gulp!
...They couldn't win.
Anyone worshipped so by Ataraxia had to be stronger than him.
They could barely match Ataraxia alone—now a stronger being had appeared. Victory was impossible.
Step.
Suddenly, the human stood before them.
After confirming their faces.
Ataraxia, we're heading to the 13th floor.
Yes!
He brushed past them swiftly, as if they were beneath notice.
Once the two vanished.
Thud!
Hahhh...
What the hell was that...
Shouldn't we tell the elders?
What do we say? That we got beaten by dragonkin?
Tension drained, they collapsed in place.
No matter how they thought, that human-mimicking thing was a monster beyond these newly adult warriors.
Then a sudden thought flashed through their minds.
Wait. He's not entering the Inter-Race War, is he?
...We're competing too.
The newly adult warriors of the Twelve Races fight first...
...Yeah. Even if he fights, it won't be against us.
They nodded reluctantly.
A monster followed by Ataraxia.
Clearly a primordial dragonkin or clan lord.
An enigmatic ancient dragon they wouldn't face in the Inter-Race War.
For such beings never appeared there.
They wouldn't meet again—especially not fighting in the Inter-Race War.
...They had better not.