D.I.O

“You could say that I’m a half transcendent. No, to be precise, should I say a two-third transcendent?”

The realization of transcendence, commonly called the transcendent realm, was usually completed by acquiring three abilities (although there were many exceptions): basic mana control ability, absolute mana control ability, and one’s synchronization and resonance with all things.

The basic mana control ability referred to the ability to [recognize] and control the smallest unit of mana, absolute mana ability referred to the ability to control any type of mana with just a single thought, and the synchronization and resonation with all things was done by synchronizing with the world to express one’s will upon the world. Each of these abilities could be seen as a great power in and of itself, but the effects were different when all three abilities joined to form a trinity. The basic mana control ability granted freedom to the transcendent soul from the lower laws, absolute mana provided a divine position that could encompass all powers and granted the transcendent being divinity, and the ability to synchronize with all things completed this divinity by [engraving] the existence of a transcendent person and their divine status onto the world.

Of course, since all three abilities were powers reflective of lower gods, a transcendent being’s divinity, divine position, and divine status were relatively weak.

“What are you missing?”

“Synchrony with all things. At the time, I had no choice but to sacrifice the [possibility] of obtaining that realization in order to forcibly enter an unattainable realm. Of course, I didn’t know these details when I forced my transcendence.”

The moment Yongno noticed that Seyoung’s condition was strange had been when he saw Seyoung fight the Legion’s Named.

Seyoung, who was able to photonize his own body, had obtained a fighting power that was incomparable to what he had before he transcended, but there was a fatal problem with that development.

“And so… you can’t use strong qi.”

“Yes. If I, who can move at the speed of light, could use strong qi, I would have been quite a formidable existence.”

“… Not just formidable… you’d be a walking doom bringer.”

From the moment it became possible for Seyoung to move at the speed of light… Seyoung became an overpowered being who could achieve a one hundred percent hit rate and a one hundred percent evasion rate, so to speak.

No enemy would be able to hit him as he moved at the speed of light, and no enemy could hope to escape his attacks, which were also shot out at the speed of light.

However, the problem was his power—namely, the power behind those attacks.

“Obviously, I can’t accelerate at the speed of light while maintaining my physical body. That would require an infinite amount of energy.”

Arthur’s photonized body and the items that he photonized along with it could be said to have a total weight that was extremely close to zero, so Arthur didn’t face any problems moving at the speed of light and attacking his enemies.

Of course, photonization made it nearly impossible to inflict considerable physical damage on the enemy, but hadn’t Arthur already proven that he could use his destructive magic power and sword skills to cut through composite armor in his non-material and nearly weightless state?

“I guess the problem is with enemies that can withstand your sword qi.”

“Yeah. It’s unfortunate, but… Even though I’m at the level I am now, my overall firepower hasn’t improved that much compared to before.”

Even more problematic now was that even if Arthur trained, he wouldn’t be able to aim for the [upper] level of transcendence. By forcefully obtaining power that he should not have been able to obtain yet… his spiritual qi, which was innately powerful due to his status as an Irregular, became distorted.

“I can organize and refine my enlightenment and increase various minor aspects of my being, but I can’t grow and develop like I used to. Well, I was determined to break through, so it can’t be helped.” Seyoung broke out into a smile—a defeated smile.

Yongno shook his head. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re still the strongest person on Earth. Without you, things would have been very difficult for the world and its people.”

Yongno and Merlin, who could be said to be Yongno’s avatar, were currently overwhelmingly powerful. In particular, Merlin’s Irrational Hand Strike, which could perfectly control and output an unheard-of amount of amplified internal energy, and the No Living World system, which made it possible to amplify internal power to an incomprehensible degree, were the pinnacle of irrational power that couldn’t be seen anywhere else in the universe.

In fact, hadn’t Merlin already used an amplified Irrational Hand Strike of six thousand four hundred years of internal energy to defeat DIO’s Skill Master—Marionette Hold, who achieved extreme levels in all of DIO’s skills? Hadn’t he also defeated the red dragon Igniz, who invaded DIO to regain control of DIO’s system for the Noblesse?

Even so, Yongno’s power on Earth was incomparable to Seyoung’s. Of course, Merlin would most likely be able to defeat Arthur in DIO. Actually, Yongno could block Seyoung from accessing DIO itself, but in the real world, the situation was quite different.

‘But the applicability of my abilities is still poor. It’s already hard enough, if not near impossible, to land my Irrational Hand Strike on my intended target.’

Obviously, the amplification of internal energy through No Living World and its linkage to Irrational Hand Strike formed the pinnacle of irrational power, so Merlin’s hand strike worked even against transcendent beings. The problem was that his attack was only powerful; if his opponent avoided the attack, it would spell the end of Merlin.

Meanwhile, Arthur, who could photonize his body just by consciously thinking about it, could move at the speed of light, which would make it easy for him to avoid Merlin’s hand strike.

‘Well, if I even tried to use one thousand years of internal energy in real life, my body would become an unrecoverable mess.’

Merlin was able to output six thousand four hundred years of internal energy in DIO because he could use the [non-destructive setting] through the Editor Blade. If he tried to output that much power in his real-life body, his physical body wouldn’t be able to withstand the coursing power and collapse instantly.

“Shall we stop with the chit-chat and get down to the main point?”

While Yongno was organizing his thoughts, Seyoung took out a few items—a metal plate the size of his palm and a black marble the size of his fist.

“Oh, this must be…”

“Yes. This metallic plate is the Spirit Record that contains the soul of the Named Legion, and the black marble is the Grotesque’s Core of Darkness. I don’t have any use for these two items… but they’re not trivial items, so I held onto them. I never thought I’d be using them like this.”

Obviously, these items were very important since they possessed strategic, rather than useful, value on Earth. This was because Earth didn’t have spiritual pathways, so it was fundamentally impossible to properly utilize these items. Merlin could recreate an artificial spiritual pathway by using a technique that enabled the materialization of his Heavenly qi, but it was impossible, even for Merlin, to create such high-level spiritual power items like the metallic plate and black marble in Seyoung’s hands.

“Alright. Let me get out my items as well.

Saying so, Yongno opened a subspace, and twelve jewels poured out.

“This is what I gave my party members and Cruze… a [growable] spiritual pathway generator. It’s not easy to make, so these are all I have right now. But if you need more, I can make them and give them to you over time.”

Yongno was the only one who could make a spiritual pathway generator, which he was able to design and create through his studies and experiences in magic stone crafting, and it took a lot of time to make a single growable artificial spiritual pathway. This meant Yongno was offering a truly blockbuster deal, yet Seyoung shook his head lightly.

“I no longer need growable spiritual pathways. I’ll probably need some lower-level spiritual pathways, but I can just buy them through the normal marketplace. Ah, rather, could you offer bulk sales instead?”

“Of course, that’s not difficult.”

Yongno nodded. After all, he knew it was possible to mass-produce as well as outsource the production of Level 1 to Level 2 artificial spiritual pathways. He also knew that Level 3 and 4 artificial spiritual pathways could be produced in a short amount of time.

Of course, Yongno was planning to control and limit the number of sales as the use and effect of spiritual pathways would shake the world and cause considerable turbulence in society for the time being. In addition, the sales would give him enormous wealth and power.

Of course, Yongno still didn’t have a clear grasp of Seyoung’s ultimate purpose… Nevertheless, at the very least, Yongno didn’t feel that Seyoung would do anything to hurt him, so Yongno extended his right hand to Seyoung.

“Well then, good luck in the future. No matter how it is now, the Noblesse will not completely give up on Earth.”

“Yeah, of course,” Seyoung said as he smiled brightly and shook Yongno’s hand.

His brightly smiling eyes were quietly burning with intensity.

*** Cataclysm ***

“Stop immediately! You evil monster!!”

“Amitabha, stop. Trying to reach heaven with such a false consciousness is absolutely unforgivable.”

Blood flowed like a river. The whole area was full of corpses. Hundreds, thousands… no, maybe even more bodies than that that were piled up, and an altar, covered with blood and flesh, was at the center of that mountain of bodies.

Dozens of people ran toward the altar while exuding a mighty fighting aura and momentum.

An essence of light shone in their eyes as if each one of them were a powerful warrior. Just with the presence of these warriors alone, the thick evil monster qi that covered the area around the altar was pushed out forcibly. The auspicious energy flowing around the warriors made them look like celestial knights.