Chapter 432
Chapter 432
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 432
>Chapter Title: Are You Offering Your Neck as Well?
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Sea Path.
Land Path.
Sky Path.
Of the three gates, it began with the "Sea Path," and the observers took their seats in the viewing area with a clear view of the "Sea Path."
It was a historic moment.
Arch Mage.
If one were to be born from this, it would etch a mark in the history of mages.
But not a single person gathered here felt any tension. No, far from tension—they were watching with bored expressions.
Why wouldn't they?
Three gates.
To those assembled here, they were nothing more than a formality.
There may have once been a time when these gates served as proper trials... but in this era, they were relics of a bygone age, so low in level that the description fit perfectly.
The first among them...
...the Sea Path.
It was a level that even a great mage who had just reached transcendence could pass.
Of course, that was impressive. It meant no one short of a great mage could make it through.
But as a trial for the "Arch Mage," the pinnacle of all time, it fell short. That much was true.
And the second...
...the Land Path.
The same went for it.
The mana’s nature was subtly different from the Sea Path, which might make it a bit trickier, but in terms of difficulty, there wasn’t much difference.
Its only value... well, it could serve as a benchmark to distinguish between basic transcendence and mature transcendence.
But even that failed to stir any excitement.
Those gathered here were mages who already represented an entire era.
‘I’ve long passed the stage of nitpicking the maturity of transcendence.’
The eggs might be half-boiled.
In any case.
The only gate worth watching was...
‘...the Sky Path.’
To be honest, the mana natures filling the Sea and Land Paths were bizarre enough.
But bizarre alone. Their density wasn’t enough to truly pressure great mages, so there wasn’t much to worry about. The Sky Path was different.
‘The nature is bizarre, and the density is incomparably higher than the other two.’
They probably all felt confident... but Aster estimated that few here could pass the Sky Path.
No, to be precise...
‘Demeia and Cazhar.’
No one else.
Of course.
‘I’ll pass it naturally.’
...This wasn’t an overestimation.
Why?
‘I’m the mage who overcame Otto, head of the Urbona Family.’
His personal realm already rivaled the heads of prestigious houses.
The reason he couldn’t handle those houses was because they wielded the accumulated might of their families—grimoires and centuries, no, millennia of power.
‘Cowardly bastards.’
In any case.
The only spectacle was the third.
The Sky Path.
That was it...
‘...No matter how I look at it, this is disappointing.’
And rightly so. It was the "Arch Mage."
The strongest of all time.
A pioneer opening new horizons in mage history.
Yet the trial determining it was this meager? If this got out, plenty of people would clutch their stomachs in agony.
‘Even Senior Muspellun, for starters...’
And all the mages before him, or between him and Pahren—they’d be spitting blood, clutching their aching bellies.
Why?
‘Because if they’d challenged it, they could’ve claimed the title of strongest ever.’
If this was truly the end...
Then the Arch Mage title, at least in this era, would go to whoever challenged first.
Of course, if they lacked the qualifications, another great mage would’ve ended them even after claiming it. But still.
So then.
‘How should I view this?’
Should he rejoice that this era’s mages had surpassed those of the past?
He didn’t know.
However...
‘...There’s a final trial beyond the three gates.’
All judgments could wait until confirming that "final trial."
“ The challenger will enter shortly. Observers, please take your seats.”
At Hermit’s guidance, the scattered observers gathered before the glass wall.
Aster was among them, gazing beyond the glass wall as he gathered his thoughts.
...Whatever the final trial was.
He could only hope.
That by reaching it, he’d learn what Salvatium was aiming for.
And...
‘Pahren.’
That he’d glimpse the horizons the man had reached.
As he watched.
Thud—
The Sea Path’s door opened.
Pahren, stepping into the space, scanned his surroundings, sensing the mana’s density, then slowly closed his eyes.
By the time he opened them, he looked utterly at ease, unaffected by the mana. He raised his head.
That was the exact moment his eyes met Aster’s.
“......”
Aster stood still, watching him. Moments later, he narrowed his eyes.
“What... did you say?”
“What is it?”
Cazhar asked from beside him, but Aster remained rigid, staring at Pahren. Even though Pahren had already turned his gaze forward.
When their eyes met.
...Pahren’s lips had moved.
So.
‘...A gift?’
That’s what he’d clearly said.
- I’ll give you a gift.
Are you offering your neck as well?
As that thought crossed his mind, Pahren moved. And right then, Aster realized what the “gift” Pahren meant to convey was.
* * *
Sea Path.
Standing in that bizarre space, Pahren took one step forward.
The pressure of the mana squeezing in from all sides was beyond imagination, but soon his core’s magic power repelled it.
However.
‘...So this is it.’
The moment he took that step, Pahren understood why this gate was called the "Sea Path."
The deep sea.
It was like walking through a space akin to hell. No—for mages, this space would be even more tormenting.
Just one step.
The moment he took it, the mana filling the space rippled like waves. The ripple from that single footfall spread in concentric circles, echoing back like an aftershock. And so...
Layer upon layer of overlapping waves.
Keeein—
Before the waves that threatened to shatter his body... no, his internal magic organs, Pahren drew up his magic power. A barrier wasn’t a good choice. In mana this unstable, it would be like thin ice, prone to cracking.
Thud...!
A massive impact...
Thud.
Subsided.
Finally—
Tap.
When only a light tap remained, Pahren lifted his eyelids. He fully sensed the mana’s churning flow in the space.
‘Indeed...’
It was different seeing it.
He’d known the pressure would be intense. He’d known the bizarre magic nature would have some adverse effect. But he hadn’t anticipated this phenomenon.
On one hand, a question arose.
Just how...
Had the first Arch Mage passed this gate without even reaching transcendence?
‘No idea.’
The question was natural.
For Pahren, it was simply “drawing up magic power,” but that encompassed dozens, hundreds of insights he’d internalized. Yet a mage who hadn’t even reached transcendence, how...?
But Pahren didn’t dwell on it further.
That wasn’t what mattered now.
‘A gift.’
It was a whim.
A faint realization from the Tower Master. Developing it into a new realm was his own achievement, no one else’s.
Who else had reached such a height by gaining enlightenment from a mere fragment of magic phenomenon?
However...
- Looks like you’ve eaten a lot of good stuff?
Despite that insolent attitude, the words that slipped out unbidden.
- Impressive.
That was sincere.
What mage achieves such growth in that short time?
Transcendence.
“Transcendence” meant breaking through the frame, literally.
The “frame” here wasn’t the path presented by visions. Deviating from a vision’s path was relatively easy.
Transcendence was...
‘Myself.’
Surpassing oneself.
In other words...
‘The world.’
It was akin to shattering one’s own world.
Recognizing a new world beyond the one you know, and furthermore, smashing your own world—that was transcendence.
Easy to say, but never easy.
The world “beyond what I know” was filled with things unrecognizable from “what I know.”
To put transcendence another way...
‘The stage of recognizing the unrecognizable.’
In terms of an individual human’s worldview, no phrase fit better.
Thus.
Great mages remain merely great mages.
They recognize the unrecognizable, expanding their world, but claiming new things in that world is another matter.
They elevate their realm by “recognizing”...
But fail to “internalize” it.
...It was only natural, in a way.
Everything seen, heard, felt in that world would be inscrutable knowledge inexplicable by paths walked before.
To internalize even one thing, one must forge a new path diverging from the old.
No easy feat.
...Yet.
‘Tower Master.’
He had done it.
Not stopping at shattering his world, he’d rebuilt his own in the newly expanded one.
And...
Expanded that world repeatedly.
Pahren used magic as a tool, so he acutely felt how difficult that was.
Probably...
‘Endless self-denial.’
And also.
‘Desperate self-conviction.’
At every moment, doubting himself while believing.
Denying himself until his self-esteem crumbled repeatedly, until he could no longer trust himself...
Then denying that denial with desperate faith in himself, stepping forward relentlessly.
This was the path for those who weren’t geniuses—the path they must walk, have no choice but to walk.
He knew.
He’d walked it himself.
Reaching transcendence at thirty, hailed as a genius, but Pahren wasn’t truly one.
So he was curious.
...What the Tower Master would gain from his gift.
‘Of course...’
He might vanish before gaining anything, but he didn’t say it.
It was a whim.
A very small one.
Thus...
“Behold.”
Pahren took another step.
At the same instant, flames erupted across his entire body.
This was...
The realization gained from the Tower Master. One magic Pahren had internalized and made his own.
No, not magic.
A horizon.
It was that in itself.
Pahren knew.
Just as he’d gained enlightenment from the Tower Master’s magic, the Tower Master could gain it from his.
Their magics.
Their enlightenments.
Were so alike.
In a way, it was showing the Tower Master a path. An easy one, just to follow.
Yet a smile curled on Pahren’s lips for another reason.
‘Denial and conviction.’
To one who grew through that, Pahren was saying.
- Behold. This is the path you must walk.
- It’s your path, born from you.
Thus...
- You are right.
A gift... and a poisoned chalice.
If taken, he’d ascend.
‘But halt at the same time.’
That’s why he smiled.
...What will you do?