As I mentioned before, there were many reasons to doubt Kreutzvalt.
The poor explanation of the truth and the flimsy reasoning for his actions. And the voice that so closely resembled the Abyss.
What I am about to discuss was also one of those reasons. It was one of the many reasons I had no choice but to doubt Kreutzvalt.
It concerns the vanished history.
There were no records anywhere in the world regarding the war from 1,000 years ago. Even in the Imperial Palace Library, which possessed records from far more than 1,000 years ago, the war with the Strange Entities was not recorded.
No, to be precise, it was recorded, but the records had been damaged.
I once asked Kreutzvalt about it—why the records of the war against the Strange Entities from 1,000 years ago had vanished.
At that time, Kreutzvalt replied that it was also part of the price of black magic. He claimed that the history of the war had disappeared as a sacrifice for his magic.
Back then, I had no choice but to simply nod. I had to do so even though I knew how absurd those words were. There was nothing I could achieve by questioning him further. I had to endure in silence before his overwhelming power.
The records of the war did not vanish as some price for black magic. They were torn out. They were ripped and damaged by someone’s hand. Only the most important pages were gone, removed with precision.
If one looked closely, the history books had been torn so meticulously that the traces were barely visible. Thus, while I nodded my head, I was certain in my heart.
Kreutzvalt had erased the war with the Strange Entities himself. Every record, every truth. He had stepped forward and torn history apart with his own hands.
But why? For what reason? What was it that he wanted to hide?
That wasn’t the only mystery I couldn’t solve. There was one more thing that I had brushed off at the time but find completely incomprehensible now.
It was back when I was still on the continent, before I came to the World’s End. It happened while I was speaking with the Goddess of Ripue in the Sanctuary of Hibernia.
These were the words the Goddess left before she fell into her slumber:
— Will you join the Expeditionary Force? Or will you form a new Expeditionary Force yourself?
At the time, I only had a vague guess as to what those words meant.
— I am curious about the end of your story… but I am so very tired.
There were too many other things to think about and care for back then.
— Child. Do not forget.
The Goddess’s final words had followed in a drowsy tone.
— You are my hope.
It was because those words had made my heavy heart feel even more burdened.
As time passed and I calmed down, I vaguely speculated that Kreutzvalt might be a member of the Expeditionary Force. I hadn’t doubted for a moment that it was Kreutzvalt who saved Hio and Daphne from the Labyrinth, and I thought he was fighting against the Abyss.
But now I know. He was not part of the Expeditionary Force. He could never be someone who risked his life and gave his all for a cause.
He lost his hometown, his kingdom, his family, and his life. In the end, he lost his heart, and even his humanity was taken as the price for black magic, leading him to become the Master of the Abyss.
Even that wasn’t enough for him. He was now consumed by the false notion that he would become a god—that by becoming a god, he could resurrect his family and bring stability to the world.
“My disciple, Pavlenko. You don’t seem to understand, but gods are inherently cruel beings. Such a thing as a human heart doesn’t even exist within them.”
He was wrong. Ripue was someone who understood the heart. She was a goddess who understood responsibility and weight. She was a warm being to whom one could unburden their troubles. She was the Goddess of Hope who could not hide her regret even as she passed that hope along.
“Furthermore, the previous gods were imperfect. They were defeated by the Abyss and could not read the future… Behold, did they not perish among themselves, failing to even grasp a massive variable like me?”
He was wrong about that too. The Goddess knew about Kreutzvalt. She knew he had taken over the empty Abyss. Therefore, she had informed Hio that he was not part of the Expeditionary Force.
“But what about me? I became the Master of the Abyss, which they could not handle, and at the same time, I obtain divinity. I am becoming the most perfect god in history.”
That was why he was pitiful.
**[Hidden Trait: Violence is Forbidden! (Patience: 998/1000)]**
His attempt to force a smile while grotesquely twisting his face, the fate of continuing a life without even realizing his humanity had been stolen, and that attitude of being certain that he knew everything—all of it.
**[Hidden Trait: Violence is Forbidden! (Patience: 999/1000)]**
And that conviction that everything would soon go according to his will.
‘Poor Kreutzvalt.’
Everything about him was miserable.
**[Congratulations! You have reached the target for the Hidden Trait ‘Violence is Forbidden!’]**
**[Please select one of your owned skills.]**
Since reaching the 6th Circle, I had learned three spells from Kreutzvalt.
The first I learned was a black magic spell called ‘Dark Dome.’ Just because it was black magic didn’t mean it followed the method of always paying a price; this was a magic that used the purest dark mana—the kind that could be extracted from a soul—as a medium.
Black magic that required a price belonged to the ‘Sacrifice’ school, one of the two branches of black magic. Dark Dome, which Hio learned, belonged to the ‘Darkness’ school, making it a completely different type… but I’ll skip the overly detailed explanation.
Regardless, dealing with pure dark mana in the Darkness school was a method Hio was quite familiar with, as he had used it while learning Kroetzwald-style Necromancy. Of course, since there was no way to replenish souls here at the World’s End, he substituted it with the energy of the Abyss, and it became Hio’s strongest offensive magic.
Originally, Dark Dome was a magic that turned an area into a domain of darkness, using the power of pure dark mana to break the mind and body of enemies within. However, the version modified by substituting dark mana with the Abyss was different. It became a domain of pure destruction.
Once the cast Dark Dome cleared, the area would be so devastated that nothing remained. Since it was such a destructive magic, I had never used it as a skill, but given its power, the effect was bound to be incredible.
Thus, if Dark Dome were to evolve into a skill through the power of a Hidden Trait, it would undoubtedly become an immense destruction skill.
The second spell I learned was a gravity spell called ‘Gravity.’ It was a wide-range support spell that controlled movement by increasing the gravity of a designated area several times over. While it was a higher-tier spell than ‘Entangle,’ which bound targets with growing grass or trees, honestly, it wasn’t very useful.
It was the same when dealing with Strange Entities. While controlling one direction was an advantage, Hio’s combat style involved constantly changing positions, so there was no reason or need to keep channeling Gravity, which consumed a lot of mental and magic power.
To be honest, I suspected Kreutzvalt had just tossed me a plausible-looking spell. What mattered to him was that Hio gained enlightenment to expand the grade and vessel of his soul, not that he mastered great 6th Circle magic. Therefore, I didn’t have much of a sense of how it would evolve even if it became a skill. Well, I could substitute most things with the Domain of the Void anyway, so I didn’t feel a particular need to evolve it.
And the final spell I learned was Teleport. This was the magic Hio had specifically asked Kreutzvalt to teach him, and it was also the reason he was certain Kreutzvalt did not know his true abilities.
Teleport was a spell Kreutzvalt never would have taught him if he knew about the Hidden Trait that evolved magic into powerful skills through patience. It was a spell learned under the pretext that it would be used often once he escaped the World’s End and went to the continent.
It was a long-distance space-movement magic that moved the caster to a designated location. It had many drawbacks, such as needing to know the coordinates of the destination, the requirement to draw an auxiliary magic circle despite being relatively simple, and the significant time it took to connect the passage.
However, did I not know of a way to cover all those weaknesses?
**[Skill: ‘Teleport’ has been selected.]**
**[Analyzing effects of skill: ‘Teleport’ in connection with the trait.]**
This was the power Kreutzvalt had ignored. It was the joint creation of the gods that allowed me to stand against Kreutzvalt, whom I normally shouldn’t even be able to face.
The System.
**[Analysis complete.]**
**[The Hidden Trait reward: ‘Patience is Bitter, But Its Fruit is Sweet!’ is applied to Skill: ‘Teleport’.]**
However, the evolution of this sixth Hidden Trait was slightly different.
**[This skill has no room for further evolution.]**
**[Breaking the skill’s limits.]**
**[Rank: ‘Transcendence’ is unlocked.]**
It was a message I had never seen and a word I had never seen. Transcendence, a new rank beyond the highest rank. It was a concept that hadn’t even existed in the game, but in a way, it was only natural.
Teleport was a spell with quite a few drawbacks—needing coordinates for the other side, preparing an auxiliary magic circle, and having a long casting time. But the moment it was used as a skill, those drawbacks disappeared immediately. Thus, even if I selected it with a Hidden Trait, it was a skill that had no room left to evolve.
**[The rank of Skill: ‘Teleport’ has been upgraded to ‘Transcendence’.]**
**[The name of Skill: ‘Teleport’ has been changed to Skill: ‘Dimension Shift (次元轉移)’.]**
A sensation I hadn’t felt in previous evolutions washed over me. It felt as though something deep inside, neither soul nor body, had broken through a shell and opened up.
“…It seems you had one last trick up your sleeve.”
Perhaps Kreutzvalt felt the unusual energy as well, for an abyss deeper than the Abyss itself approached. That monster, which firmly believed itself to be ideation, lunged toward Hio.
**[Transcendence Skill: ‘Dimension Shift (次元轉移)’ is activated.]**
However, the absurdity of a skill was that it could be activated faster than that.
**[Please designate a destination.]**
First, it was certain that I had to move to the Verden Continent. But where specifically should I go? At first, I thought about going near Vitalianus. His vicinity was bound to be the most dangerous and fierce battlefield.
But I changed my mind because it was Vitalianus. While his side would be the most dangerous, it would also be the safest place.
‘Verden Continent.’
Since I didn’t know the situation on the continent, I decided to leave it to the System’s judgment this time. I decided to actively utilize this great System that the gods had worked together to create.
‘The most important yet most dangerous place.’
It was a vague request that could be seen as somewhat forced or interpreted in many ways, but the System completed the designation immediately without any delay.
**[Designation complete.]**
**[‘Continent: Verden’ — ‘Kingdom: Hibernia’ — ‘City: Eldrida’]**
And then.
*Woooooong*
Space cracked. The layers of space stacked upon each other split with a clattering sound, revealing a massive wall of the dimension. It was the wall of the world, brilliantly wrapped in all sorts of colors. The wall of the dimension, where the boundary between heaven and earth was blurred and rose so high its end was unknown, began to split.
*Woooooong*
Kreutzvalt’s distorted face. His thick darkness. Even the smiling expression on Hio’s face as he confronted him. Everything stopped as if time itself had frozen.
**[‘Dimension Shift (次元轉移)’ is beginning.]**
In that very split second. In that incredibly brief moment when space opened and the rift in the dimension split, causing everything to stop moving.
“…!”
The one whose eyes snapped open in surprise was not Kreutzvalt, but Hio. The reason Hio’s grin, which had been there because he had landed a blow on Kreutzvalt, stiffened and his eyes began to tremble slightly was clear.
Unlike Kreutzvalt, whose gaze was fixed on Hio, Hio’s gaze was directed a bit further back, beyond Kreutzvalt. It was likely because the Abyss had been brightly lit by the light of the activated skill ‘Dimension Shift.’ It was because entities Hio hadn’t even detected were holding their breath not far away. It was because the face of the one leading them was so very familiar.
Though the face was a bit older than in his memories, it was certain. There was a group of people in various outfits. And the person at the very front, who locked eyes with Hio, was…
‘That is…’
The greatest Master Magician of his time who had fought against the Strange Entities 1,000 years ago.
Abellar Pavlenko.
And the group with him. A band of people who followed their convictions and acted at the risk of their lives. The real heroes who had been fighting against Kreutzvalt and the Abyss for over 1,000 years.
‘It’s the Expeditionary Force.’
**[Subjects: ‘Hio Pavlenko’, ‘Kreutzvalt Aten’]**
**[‘Dimension Shift (次元轉移)’ is complete.]**
The Expeditionary Force still remained in the Abyss.