D.I.O - CH 307

“A Transcendent Weapon…”

Tan was in disbelief about what he was seeing. Tan had seen various Soul Weapons in the past, but there were almost no weapons that rose to the level of a Transcendent Weapon. How could a Transcendent Weapon be created with only 12 souls? Was it possible to create such a powerful weapon without utilizing the souls of an entire species or the consumption of an enormous amount of magic power and other resources?

‘Even if an Irregular’s soul forms the fundamental basis for the weapon… This is unprecedented.’

Even Tan, who had lived an innumerable number of years, had never seen a case where a Transcendent Weapon was made without the help of an enormous infrastructure. Since ancient times, only high-level or higher gods had been able to create Transcendent Weapons without consuming an exorbitant number of resources.

‘Did someone intervene and assist him?’

Most people would be surprised if a college student created a groundbreaking computer in his or her garage. They’d probably call that person a genius.

But what if that same college student built a space shuttle from scratch, without any infrastructure or prior institutional knowledge? Would people marvel at that person’s creation and call him or her a genius?

The answer was no. If someone were to create such a paradigm shifting creation, which relied on information and tech that wasn’t even created…

People would feel disbelief, not amazement.

‘This can’t be. This is impossible.’

Similarly, Tan reacted the same way. Even amongst the most unrealistic and unlikely scenarios he had prepared for, Tan had never imagined that such a thing could be possible, so it was only natural that he assumed that Arthur received help from a higher being.

And that was why…

‘Come to think of it, Jiang Ziya resides on this planet. In order for the Elohim to keep me and the Noblesse in check, perhaps…’

With this momentary hesitation, Tan had lost his [last] chance to undo his mistake.

Sss.

“Ugh!”

Ascalon’s point stopped twisting and spinning. Tan felt a strange, indescribable sensation spreading from around his heart.

“How…”

Tan frowned at the eerie feeling, but that was all. Of course, he wanted to push Arthur away and pull out the sword that was digging into his heart, but if that were possible, he would have done so already.

‘I… can’t resist?’

Though Tan was still able to control his inexhaustible amount of magic power, he wasn’t able to generate the [will] to resist Arthur’s attack. It was the same case when Arthur first impaled Ascalon into his heart. Tan had plenty of time to dodge or block Arthur’s attack, but for some reason, he wasn’t able to move. He had looked on blankly, as if he was bewitched, as Ascalon approached and then dug into his chest.

Others would have been confused as to the reason, but Tan, as a great mage, immediately noticed the cause.

‘The characteristics of the Heavenly Draconic Being he employed is completely hostile to my being!’

Arthur, who could be said to be the strongest user, was famous as a swordsman who utilized light-based sword skills, but the characteristic that the Noblesse were more interested in was Arthur’s talent as a summoner; in other words, the Noblesse were keener on Arthur’s power as a Heavenly Draconic Being. A Heavenly Draconic Being possessed a soul that was the most compatible, the most beautiful, and the most comfortable for dragons, and since Heavenly Draconic Beings boasted perfect compatibility with dragons, Heavenly Draconic Beings amplified the energy output of dragons and vice versa.

The Noblesse called such beings Dragon Lovers, as these beings were beloved by all dragons across the universe, but currently, Arthur had taken his Dragon Lover’s soul and took the most opposite, detrimental direction possible for a dragon, which meant that Arthur, who was now a Soul Weapon, was the most detrimental existence for a dragon.

‘Shit…!’

Tan’s expression twisted. Just as a man who has the strength to physically resist when a peerless beauty pushes him down onto the bed does not do so, Tan clearly saw Ascalon’s sword path as it was approaching him, but his being refused to take any action to block or avoid it.

An ancient dragon like Tan shouldn’t have been so powerless, but the attractive power of a Heavenly Draconic Being was that overwhelming.

However, if one were to ask if such a thing couldn’t be overcome, the answer was no; it could have been overcome. It would have been difficult for any other ordinary Noblesse member, but Tan was a being who had lived through eons of time.

“Cheeky…!!!”

As a huge magic storm raged around him, Arthur gave a bitter smile.

“Gee, you’re tremendous. Ascalon has a power neutralization function, but you can still output so much power even though you’ve been stabbed in the heart.”

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“You bastard, how dare you…”

After Tan’s anger reached its peak, he started to calm down. Finally, Tan threw away whatever feeling of loss or greed he had regarding Arthur.

“I guess I have no other choice but to annihilate you.”

Whoosh!!!

Tan’s magic storm raged and blew Arthur away. Arthur held on to Ascalon’s handle, but his arm was torn off as if it were made of clay, and soon, Arthur found himself rolling on the ground.

“Arthur!”

“Damn it, get into a defensive formation around him!”

The Masters surrounded Arthur to protect him, but in the end, taking such an action was a mistake.

Boom! Bam!

At about the same time, dozens of Masters exploded without even the chance to properly scream. The remaining Masters, stunned by the sudden death of their compatriots, hesitated.

“What? What just happened?”

“Hey, how come the whisper function isn’t working?! No, more importantly, those Masters who just exploded have completely disappeared from my Friends’ List window…”

The Masters had been able to maintain a relatively equal battle with Tan because of their collective strength, but also because of their unique characteristics as users.

In other words, they were able to contend against Tan because users possessed immortality.

It was the single most important characteristic for the users. Since a user’s main body was located in a safe place, not on the battlefield, even if one died during battle, it was not a real death.

Because of this, the gathered Masters attacked Tan, who possessed absolute power over them, without hesitation. Even if one were to die, one didn’t truly die in the normal sense. One might face a slight penalty from the DIO system, but for all intents and purposes, one continued to survive.

However, when Tan attacked in earnest, the situation drastically changed.

“Since I’ve been dragged this far down… I’ll have to bear some losses.”

Tan still considered the souls of the Masters as his [property] and was reluctant to damage them. Though he had been killing off the Masters, Tan had made sure that he didn’t damage their souls.

But now, Tan lifted that self-imposed ban.

Boom!

Again, several Masters exploded. It wasn’t a physical explosion but more like a complete [deletion], as not even a remnant or corpse was left behind.

As a powerful tanker on the frontline, Adol was fully exposed to Tan’s attack, so he had to face it head-on.

Pop!

“Ugh… Ack!”

The strongest tanker in DIO, Adol, who was evaluated by many users to be one of the top Masters who were next in line after the Heaven above the Heavens in terms of defense, rolled on the ground as he felt a pain in his heart; it was as if someone or something was trying to rip out his heart. There were no visible wounds on his body. His gear was also intact and fine. However, Adol knew he had suffered an irreversible blow.

“He’s employing Soul Extinction!”

“Argh. After all, he was DIO’s past operator, so he’s able to evade DIO’s defensive Marduk System…”

“Retreat!!”

The Masters, who had attacked Tan without fear, quickly stepped back. If they were being affected by a powerful, overwhelming attack, that was one thing, but just by being nearby Tan, all the Master tankers had perished except Adol.

“Oh my… to take such a drastic action against lowly humans. Aren’t you ashamed of calling yourself a great dragon?”

Arthur, who was facing Tan, gave a snarky smile. Arthur knew that Tan had exploited a loophole in DIO’s user protection system; it was a loophole that Tan knew of because he had previously been the main operator of DIO.

DIO’s Marduk System possessed a powerful defense function that protected users from mental interference and spiritual attacks. Of course, as with all defense systems, it wasn’t absolute, but at the very least, it shouldn’t have allowed a Soul Extinction skill to erase the souls of all the Master level users within the range of Tan’s skill.

This result occurred because Tan was knowledgeable about the gaps in DIO’s Marduk System through his experience of previously running DIO.

“Hmm, you’re really getting on my nerves to the very end.”

With Ascalon still stuck in his heart, Tan looked at Arthur. Having already consumed his soul to create Ascalon, now a Soul Weapon, Arthur wasn’t affected by Tan’s Soul Extinction spell. In truth, Arthur was only a phantom shell maintained by fragmentary thoughts.

“Well, even so, my deep-seated resentment has faded considerably. As expected, it’s bullshit whenever people say that revenge is futile.”

While floating in the air, Arthur met eyes with Tan, who was looking down at him. Arthur’s body gradually faded and was becoming more and more translucent.

“… What are you talking about?”

Arthur laughed after hearing Tan’s confused voice.

“I’ve successfully taken my revenge.”

The madness in Arthur’s eyes, which had engulfed and consumed him until now, disappeared. Arthur now seemed extremely calm and stable, almost tranquil. Seeing this change, Tan suddenly burst out with laughter.

“Hahaha! What? You got your revenge? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yeah.”

“By sticking this sword through my heart?”

“That’s right.”

Arthur nodded his head, not paying any heed to Tan’s blatant ridicule and sarcastic remarks. And just then…

/Crack!/

The sound of something hard being crushing, like rock or steel, rang out so clearly and loudly that it seemed to enter the minds of everyone around them. The reverberation was so intense that even the Masters who were surrounding Tan from a distance trembled unconsciously.

Of course, the sensations that Tan felt were on a completely different level from what these Masters felt.

“… What?”

The initial shock and bewilderment Tan felt when he was stabbed in the heart by Ascalon was due to the fact that he suffered a blow from a mere pseudo transcendent; though he was surprised, he didn’t feel a sense of crisis. His current human body form was illusory. Even if he couldn’t extract Ascalon from his heart right away, the situation would be resolved once he left the planet, so he’d be able to escape with only minor injuries. As long as he didn’t die instantly, he’d be able to escape.

Currently, Tan was a transcendent being with the authority of an intermediate god.

The moment when the Earth God’s penalty was released, his minor injury wouldn’t even be considered injuries. Even if Ascalon reached the level of a Transcendent Weapon, it was not enough to kill an intermediate transcendent god in one blow.

In other words, though Tan was taken aback by Arthur’s powerful attack, and had his pride hurt, based on the result of their battle, Tan judged that, on balance, he had obtained a Transcendent Weapon for relatively free.

However, Tan suddenly realized that he had made a grave mistake.

“Do you know why I chose Ascalon instead of Excalibur as the basis for my soul-based Transcendent Weapon?” Arthur remarked.

“… You bastard.”

Crack!

Crack!

Ascalon was solidifying its grip around Tan’s heart. Arthur grinned at Tan, who was taken aback when he realized that he couldn’t stop the process.

“One’s Master Weapon is a summoning-type weapon that manifests for a certain period of time, so using Excalibur as the base for my Soul Weapon, which is created by training one’s soul, was a possibility. Since my Transcendent Weapon is based on my soul, which reflects the characteristic of photonization, Excalibur, with its attributes of lightning and light, matches better with my personal qualities than does Ascalon, with its attributes of metal and water. It would have been more natural and logical to have chosen Excalibur to be the basis of my Transcendent Weapon.”

However, Arthur had chosen Ascalon rather than Excalibur even though there was a risk that the overall strength and power of his Transcendent Weapon may be weaker, and Tan, realizing that Arthur had made this conscious decision for a reason, recalled Ascalon’s second name.

“… Dragon slaying sword, Ascalon.”

“Right. I chose Ascalon because it’s a dragon slaying sword.”

Ascalon, an SS Rank magic weapon which was said to be named after the holy sword that defeated a dragon, was one of DIO’s strongest weapons. Arthur had obtained the sword after battling Zygmunt in the Seadragon’s Temple in the deep sea.

Zygmunt had handed over Ascalon to Arthur and told him about the sword’s origin, and Tan, who was the previous main operator of DIO, knew of this transfer and of the sword’s qualities and background.

‘A sword made by an ancient species, who were destroyed by dragons, that contained the vengeful yearning of their species.’

Even though this ancient species completed Ascalon, they were eventually defeated and had their existence completely annihilated from the universe. However, after their complete defeat, instead of being lost, their masterpiece sword found its way into DIO as just another one of the spoils that the draconic species and the Noblesse had gathered over the years and invested into the DIO project. Even though it was a weapon that was explicitly produced to kill dragons, the Noblesse decided to keep the sword instead of destroying it because of its expert workmanship. In other words, they decided to keep the sword as a sort of trophy.

/1. Dragon Slayer

2. Apocalypse Tree

3. Pacific

4. Dragon Extermination/

Even the dragons couldn’t find fault with this collection of four spells, which were created and imbued on Ascalon to harm the dragon species. Considering that dragons, who made their reputation throughout the universe as the masters of magic, saw Ascalon in this light, one could tell just how highly they thought of the sword and just how much hatred the creators of the sword had for the dragon species.

And now, that sword…

Crack! Crackle!

Ascalon firmly lodged itself in Tan’s heart and took root. Tan’s mighty output of mana became Ascalon’s fuel source, so Ascalon ‘s bond with Tan was getting stronger as time progressed.

“Until the day you die, that sword will never fall out. Ascalon has anchored to your soul, so even if you survive this battle, the wounds and pain you suffer now will be with you forever.”

Hearing Arthur’s words, Tan desperately tried to resist the magic power exerted on his heart by Ascalon, but it was already too late. It might have been possible to dislodge Ascalon if Tan had driven it out with all his might the moment it got stuck in his heart, but his arrogance and prejudice eliminated that possibility.

“Hahaha! The likes of you… a mere worm… you dare!!!”

Rumble!!

As Tan contorted his face like a wicked demon, the space around him roared as if it was a living beast. The rushing momentum was so terrifying that the surrounding Masters found themselves unconsciously crouching down for cover. However, Arthur wasn’t affected by the reverberations.

‘Mother…’

Starting from his fingertips, Arthur’s body began to turn into particles of light. His soul had been consumed as the main raw material to complete the dragon slaying sword, so his being’s dispersion was a natural result.

‘Mother…’

As Arthur’s consciousness and vision became increasingly blurred, he started seeing a figure. Uld, who had already melted into his soul, smiled and took his hand.

‘Let’s go, Arthur, no, Seyoung.’

‘Yeah…’

And finally, Arthur’s figure disappeared without leaving a trace behind. All that was left was Ascalon, which was firmly embedded in Tan’s chest.

“Arthur… you bastard…!! Arthur…!!!”

Though Tan roared with anger and madness, Arthur was no more.

The bright existence of Arthur, who brightened the future of humankind as a good filial son, a hero of humankind, and even as a god of humankind, was finally extinguished.

Though his physical presence was no more, memories of his life and achievements remained vividly in the minds of many beings…

… like a flash of light.