Chapter 280
But it wasn’t easy.

No matter what insight he reached, it still wasn’t enough to attain the level of transcendence.

“I won’t break down now.”

Chris gritted his teeth, but the situation only worsened.

His soul was fracturing, and his mind began to collapse alongside it.

Perception faded, and his consciousness started sinking into darkness.

“One more step… just one more step…”

Chris felt a desperate thirst.

Like he was missing something crucial.

If only he could take just one more step forward, he might grasp it—but it slipped away.

Suddenly, a wave of panic washed over him.

“Should I give up now?”

He hadn’t attempted this dangerous feat without precautions.

He had prepared the secret healing arts of the Uiseon clan, masters of soul restoration, in advance. If he acted now, he could save his life.

Though his soul was already severely damaged and the aftereffects would be serious, with time and careful treatment, recovery was possible.

But this was the limit.

If his soul deteriorated any further, it would be completely annihilated.

Still, Chris shook his head.

“I won’t give up.”

His instincts screamed it.

He must never surrender.

“If I don’t reach the level of transcendence now, I’ll end up kneeling before despair and dying a miserable death.”

He didn’t know exactly what the Demon King desired.

But judging by his previous life, the world’s destruction was ultimately the Demon King’s will.

So if he failed to surpass the Demon King now, he would face the same fate as before.

Failure was not an option.

“I will succeed—no matter what!”

Yet the answer still eluded him.

His consciousness grew dimmer and dimmer until, in the end, he felt nothing at all.

His will, even his unconsciousness, was about to dissolve into complete emptiness.

Then, suddenly, a voice grasped his fading soul.

“Foolish. To meet such a reckless end after all this.”

It was Mephina, the fallen demon of the Seventh Realm!

She had remained silent for a while but appeared the moment Chris was on the brink of annihilation.

“It’s not too late. If you take my hand now, I will restore your soul.”

“…”

Chris said nothing, prompting Mephina to raise her voice sharply.

“Are you going to be stubborn again? If more time passes, even I won’t be able to help! I don’t want to see you vanish like this, so I won’t ask for any price. So—”

A mutant fallen to the Seventh Realm, Mephina’s offer was surprisingly generous for a demon.

But Chris replied coldly.

“Shut… up.”

“What? You dare say that even now?”

Yet Chris’s reaction was baffling.

He laughed—through his soul.

An incomprehensible response.

And then something even more astonishing happened.

Chris sensed Mephina flinch.

Impossible.

Though she had fallen to the Seventh Realm, Mephina was once a being of great rank.

And yet, she reacted that way to a mere mortal like Chris?

His laughter carried an inexplicable aura of intimidation.

“You…?”

Ignoring Mephina’s shocked voice, Chris’s consciousness sank deeper and deeper.

Within his vanishing soul, he couldn’t hold back his laughter.

A sudden thought struck him.

—Why am I afraid?

Chris realized what had been blocking him.

Fear.

The despair he’d felt since meeting the Archmage had been crushing his soul unconsciously.

“To think I could reach transcendence without the confidence to surpass the Archmage and the Demon King.”

Chris found his answer.

“If I set my mind to it, nothing is impossible.”

Self-Existence Grandeur.

That was Chris’s true nature.

Not mere delusion.

Because for him, nothing was impossible.

Even more—

“Someday, I’ll surpass even Mephina.”

His consciousness turned toward Mephina.

He felt her untouchable rank.

But why?

He didn’t think it impossible for himself to reach that level.

To believe he could touch the great rank.

A ridiculous, delusional thought—but Chris genuinely felt it was possible.

No reason, just a feeling.

And with that, all fear vanished.

In its place stood complete self-confidence.

His being rose tall and proud beneath the dark heavens.

Fwoooosh!

His crumbling soul was engulfed in darkness.

Not just any darkness.

A profound abyssal darkness, yet shining brilliantly like light.

“Ah…”

Kashmir gasped in awe.

Tears welled in his eyes as he gazed at Chris, bathed in the radiant darkness.

It was a beauty so profound, so magnificent—a great light of darkness.

Then—

Flash!

Chris opened his eyes.

His soul, once collapsing, had fully revived.

Not only that.

A gentle aura shimmered around him.

Like the aura of the Celestials.

But not quite the same.

Pure darkness flickered like light.

Darkness, yet more majestic than any light.

“Th-this can’t be.”

Mephina watched in horror.

“To truly attain the level of transcendence? Even if it’s a lower rank?”

Among transcendent beings like the Celestials and demons, ranks were divided.

The great ranks of the Third and Fourth Realms.

The common ranks of the Fifth and Sixth Realms.

Chris had just attained the soul rank of a common Celestial or demon of the Fifth or Sixth Realm.

Not a great rank, but still an incredible feat.

What shocked Mephina even more was something else.

“To overcome mortal fate and gain the level of transcendence… that means you’ve earned the right to challenge Ascension…”

“Ascension?”

Chris looked puzzled.

Mephina’s expression shifted—she seemed to have misspoken.

“I can’t reveal the details of Ascension—it’s forbidden under the Dark Heavens. You’ll understand naturally if you gain the qualification someday.”

“…”

“Anyway, to truly become an Elder…”

Elder?

Chris had never heard the term before.

It wasn’t forbidden, so Mephina explained.

“It refers to mortals who have attained the level of transcendence. You’re not the first.”

She continued.

“But you’re special. You achieved transcendence solely by your own power… so you may be the only one qualified for Ascension.”

Mephina’s expression softened.

“I will be watching you from now on.”

Chris frowned briefly.

“Ascension, huh.”

He couldn’t quite guess what it entailed.

“It doesn’t seem to mean simply gaining a higher soul rank.”

If that were the case, Mephina wouldn’t have reacted so strongly.

From her reaction, Ascension seemed extremely important even to the great ranks of the Celestials and Gehenna.

“There’s no way to know now. Anyway, I’m alive again.”

Chris examined his condition.

He still couldn’t fully grasp what had changed.

“When I gained the half-demon rank, I didn’t feel much different either.”

To be precise, he had changed when he gained the half-demon rank.

But his physical vessel wasn’t sufficient to reflect the higher soul rank, so he couldn’t feel the difference.

It was the same now.

“No, this time it’s a bit different. I can feel the changes.”

Chris looked inward and was surprised.

His dark magic had reached the seventh star!

“How? I thought it would take much longer.”

It had taken a long time to reach the sixth star.

The seventh should have taken even longer, but he’d jumped straight to it.

“Thanks to the higher soul rank, my microcosm has been completed, and my dark magic reached the seventh star.”

It wasn’t just dark magic.

Holy light, extreme poison, life-giving power—all his abilities had expanded greatly as his vessel grew.

For example, his holy light had been only at the seventh star’s lower level, but now it neared the seventh star’s upper level.

“Of course, it’s not a perfect seventh star upper level yet.”

Because he hadn’t achieved it through proper balance, it was still unstable.

But with a little effort, he could stabilize it fully.

“The miracle I gained from dark magic reaching the seventh star… just as I intended.”

Chris had hoped for this miracle.

He hadn’t used it yet, but seeing the newly formed microcosm in his mind, it seemed he’d obtained it as planned.

“This miracle will be the most lethal move to strike down the Azure Flow Demon King.”

After organizing his thoughts, Chris turned to Kashmir.

“The Prince Kashmir, please absorb the lingering energy of the Lost Flame scattered around.”

The Lost Flame energy that had been turning Chris’s soul to nothingness still hovered nearby.

“Since I’ve subdued its nature with dark magic, it should be easier for Kashmir to absorb.”

Kashmir’s face lit up with gratitude.

“Oh, how many favors have you bestowed upon me? I, Kashmir, will repay every one of them to the Crown Prince.”

With that resolve, he began absorbing the Lost Flame.

Kashmir was also a prodigy.

He absorbed the Lost Flame quickly and easily.

But then a problem arose.

He reached his limit halfway through.

At about seventy units absorbed.

“That’s not a bad level.”

It was a remarkable amount, even compared to past destructive mages.

The heads of the clan in history had absorbed around seventy units as well.

“Compared to the current users of Destruction Magic who are resorting to shortcuts to siphon off the energy leaking beyond the sealing array, this is on an entirely different level.”

For reference, the way those Destruction Magic users absorbed the energy of the Cursed Flame was like this:

They would gather the faint, trickling energy bit by bit through a magic circle, then absorb it.

It was safe, but the concentration they could absorb was inevitably much lower than the traditional method.

“Apparently, they’ve developed other dark techniques to strengthen Destruction Black Magic, but no matter what, it can’t compare to the real thing.”

In that sense, the current amount of 70 units absorbed by Kashmir was indeed staggering.

But Chris felt greedy.

“It’s still not enough to be my main source of power.”

His primary source—most notably Evan.

Even if Kashmir had talent, he couldn’t be compared to Evan, the continent’s top genius.

For Kashmir to become a source of power as valuable to him as Evan was, his current level simply wasn’t enough.

“There is a way… but would Lord Kashmir even accept it?”

As he pondered this, Kashmir unexpectedly spoke.

“Lord Archduke Christian, please help me.”

Kashmir’s eyes blazed with determination.

“I know. This amount alone isn’t enough to be of any real help to you. I want to become stronger. For you.”

Kashmir gritted his teeth, struggling against the overwhelming energy of the Cursed Flame.

“I want to grow stronger, so I can repay the kindness you’ve shown me. Please, I beg you—help me.”