Read Novel Full Book 2 Chapter 643
Book 2 Chapter 643
Come to think of it, aiming for a higher realm and setting contemplation as the starting point was something far from Residue’s nature.
Naturally so.
This was a mimicry of Lukas’s method. However, unlike other times, there was little aversion to the fact that he was following that guy.
There were two reasons for this.
First, Residue had never tried to aim for a higher realm in his life. Since his time as the Lightning God, he had already considered himself the strongest and greatest being, so there was no reason to worry about or strive for becoming even stronger. Because he did not know how to make an effort, Lukas’s method, which he had seen up close, appeared as the most verified means.
Second, even setting aside such personal assessments, it seemed most correct to start with the step of contemplation.
'I become thunder and lightning.'
Not handling them, but becoming thunder and lightning itself.
Of course, simply becoming lightning in an ordinary sense was not enough. Even the weakest among those Residue would designate as enemies would be strong enough to endure myriads of thunderbolts.
What Residue focused on was the symbolic meaning of lightning. The reason why the naked humans of the past trembled when dark clouds gathered... The reason the rainstorm could strip not just the warmth of their bodies but even the warmth of their hearts was because they could not know what was happening beyond the unreachable sky.
To humans who revered the sky like a god, how must the dark clouds that completely obscured the majestic sky have seemed? And what about the sight that, not stopping there, would sometimes stir pale flames as if enraged? It would not be strange to interpret the thunder striking the eardrums as the screams of the heavens.
That was Residue’s goal.
So that even Absolutes who did not fear thunder and rain would tremble at just the sight of gathering dark clouds, so that those who once ruled a universe would feel themselves as weak mortals.
To fight Destruction while cloaked in that well-honed fear was Residue’s plan.
To achieve this goal, it was necessary to reconstruct the composition of the body from the very beginning. Fortunately, there was a method he could use for this.
He decided to utilize the know-how of how Absolutes could freely transform into transcendental forms.
Generally, the reason they could freely change between physical bodies and transcendental forms, each with entirely different properties, was not something grand. It was because they had perfect understanding of themselves.
A transcendental form is a massive bundle of power, a visualized will. And the will to change is the very beginning of transformation.
Tzzzt-.
Lightning currents began to flow around Residue. That flow soon spread even to the inside of the body, and the skin gradually turned pale, then the whole body began to change into a form like raging lightning.
‘This state now is the transcendental form.’
A transcendental form where most of the body is composed of lightning. Of course, it is different from a typical transcendental form. Because he is bound to Lukas’s body, the state transformation cannot happen quickly, and while he can deflect most physical attacks like a transcendental being, if by any chance he receives a blow, it would lead to actual damage to the body.
Even just maintaining this state would allow Residue to move at an incredibly fast speed. Enough to toy with a Lord-level being.
However, it was insufficient.
To move faster, more ferociously, he must abandon the flesh.
‘The problem is, I can’t do that.’
Losing Lukas’s body would mean death for Residue. Without this body, Residue does not exist.
So at this moment, Residue was in a very contradictory state.
Stronger than several hundreds or thousands of ordinary Absolutes combined, yet trapped in the body of a mortal. That was Residue’s current state.
‘What a headache.’
Because of this, the difficulty feels like it has increased by thousands of times, but that does not mean there is no breakthrough.
Becoming stronger while bound to a physical body wasn't impossible. He thought of Yang In-hyun, who should be not far from here. That guy became strong while remaining human, so in a sense, he is a pioneer who walked a step ahead on the path Residue must take. 𝘙𝘢₦Օ฿ƐS
Of course, that does not mean he intends to follow behind him step by step.
That guy’s path is just a hint, a clue to consider.
‘There are things that cannot be done with a transcendental form.’
Let us suppose there was a human exposed to lightning for about ten million years. As long as they could survive, their outer skin would change its form over generations.
Their outer layer might acquire properties similar to an insulator, or perhaps something like a hard shell similar to that of a crustacean might sprout on their skin.
Something only living beings can achieve.
Adaptation to surrounding environment, and changes accordingly....
In a word, evolution.
What was needed for that was the creation of harsh environments, obsession with survival… and quite a long time.
The first two elements were tools Residue possessed, but he did not have time.
Still, there was a way to substitute it.
Residue had tremendous regenerative abilities... in other words, spare lives. The other Lukases that Lukas had force-fed himself back in the Dumpsite. Those guys would become good spare lives.
Hehehehe.... Residue laughed like someone half-mad.
Should he try it?
To cram an evolution that would normally take about a million years into just a few dozen hours.
Pahng!
With the sound of something bursting, lightning currents wrapped around Residue’s entire body.
Michael, who had been standing nearby, reacted and looked in that direction. There had been a few discharges of lightning while Residue assumed a posture of meditation, but this time the output was especially unusual.
As he observed for a moment, an expression of absurdity, followed by seriousness, spread across Michael’s face.
“What are you doing...?”
The smell of burning flesh wafted in the air. That smell alone was terrible, but what could be seen was even worse.
His skin was scorched pitch black, and chunks of flesh, reduced almost to ashes, dropped off like sand before regenerating again. The flesh was sprouting at a rate even faster than the lightning discharges. In a word, it was a deeply revolting sight.
“Lukas Trowman. What on earth...?”
“Lukas Trowman...? What the hell...?”
Could his power be running rampant? If so, it must be stopped.
It was the moment Michael took one step forward.
Pzzzt, a streak of lightning extended out and etched letters onto the ground.
[Fuck off ]
“……”
Was this some kind of code? (TL Note: Here a slang is used which means 'Fuck off' which Michael is unable to understand)
Its meaning could not be deciphered, but at any rate, it seemed he did not want Michael to approach. After hesitating for a moment, Michael sighed and sat back down in his place.
Residue saw the scene through his melting and reforming eyeballs and smirked, then entrusted most of his consciousness to the processes of destruction and regeneration.
An addictive sort of pain stabbed through his entire body. Using that as a pleasant stimulant, a part of his consciousness continued to think.
If this process ends as planned,
Residue would be able to become a streak of lightning while still retaining a physical body.
And if the ‘bullshit theory’ he heard from Michael was correctly applied to that, it would be possible to move faster than anyone else within the Minimal Time Zone.
That would become Residue’s greatest weapon in the battles to come.
‘There’s still one day left.’
It’s not a lot of time, but there’s no helping it.
He had to try.
***
The deep fatigue and emptiness Beniang Argento was feeling right now did not originate entirely from herself.
In the past, the fallen dragon, in order to forcibly maintain the identity of the Seven Fanged Dragon God, gathered those who possessed dragon blood from different universes.
They were one and many at the same time, beings that could be described as multi-minded with a single body.
Because of that, when she met Lukas in the past, Beniang was in a half-dissociative, multi-personality-like state.
Now it was different.
Though she had not told Residue, the seven personalities of the dragon had been completely merged into one, and strangely, the main personality had become Beniang.
She did not know why that happened.
Maybe one of the personalities had known, but at any rate, Beniang did not. She could not know.
And, she did not particularly feel the need to know.
‘…I want to rest.’
One of the reasons for thinking that, to be frank, was clearly due to Lukas’s absence. No, it was greater than she had thought.
Realizing that she would never meet him again left her feeling hollow, as if a hole had been pierced through her chest, and that sensation refused to go away. What gradually filled that space afterward wasn’t something like motivation, but accumulated fatigue.
So-
The reason Beniang had helped Residue escape back then wasn’t actually out of any sense of kinship as a Ruler.
She too had received a shock comparable to that of the Blue Knight or the 0th Demon who had been present at the time. The form was just different.
Honestly, she had been surprised at herself.
In that mansion built on the dragon’s back, the fact that she made a choice so far removed from her expectations was unexpected.
-Think about it yourself. Why you got hit.
“……”
She touched the crown of her head.
The stinging pain had now faded, but oddly, the sensation wouldn’t easily go away.
He looks like her master, but does things her master would never do. Despite having fallen, and despite now no longer even being that strong, he had a face soaked in arrogance.
How could that be? What had happened?
He hadn’t been like that the last time she saw him. He’d looked so pathetic and pitiful, so weak she wanted to comfort him.
How had he overcome it?
-You have no purpose in reading books.
It wasn’t just that she had no purpose in reading books. Beniang had no purpose in living.
That’s why it confused her all the more.
“What happened to you?”
A cautious voice was heard.
It was Lesha Trowman. Beniang knew her expression softened whenever she looked at her.
It couldn’t be helped.
Though they had no direct connection and knew little about each other, she was the blood relative of Lukas Trowman. In fact, her expressions, personality, and behavior were all strikingly similar to her master. Compared to Residue, who now only bore an identical appearance, she reminded Beniang far more of Lukas.
“No. Why do you ask?”
“Um... You just seem a little different than usual.”
“Huh?”
“You seem... a little more spirited, I guess?”
Spirited?
Only then did Beniang take a look at herself.
Rather than lying on the floor, melted into it as usual, she was sitting in a chair, flipping through a notebook and scribbling with a pen. The page was covered in disordered writing, but this was a habit she had always displayed when her thoughts became tangled.
“……”
Beniang looked down at the page with a complicated gaze.
An old habit. One she thought had disappeared. It had been a long time since she last witnessed it herself. She hadn’t been like this for some time now.
Naturally, Beniang recalled another characteristic of this habit.
No matter how complex or difficult the dilemma, once she started scribbling, a conclusion would come out in some form.
But her hand holding the pen came to a stop. Because she knew that drawing a conclusion wasn’t always a good thing.
It was hard to predict whether that conclusion would have a positive or negative effect on her current self.
A sudden surge of fear welled up. The one sitting here now was not a fallen Ruler.
She was the half-dragon girl from the past, young and immature,
who had been forced into the position of leader of an organization without any time to prepare.
‘Did you overcome it?’
How did you overcome it? Was it not difficult? What did you find comfort in?
If it’s all right... would you tell me that method too?
‘…Once again.’
Again, she found herself wanting to meet him just once more.
And at that moment, she also thought that if she still showed such a pathetic appearance, she’d become the object of ridicule.
That thought hit harder than she expected.
Because that man had the face of her master, didn’t he?
Just using that face as he pleased was already an unforgivable act, and now to be the subject of his ridicule?
To Beniang, it would feel like being mocked by the teacher she revered, an emotional blow multiplied by hundreds.
Twitch.
It felt like some part of her deep inside, long motionless, had stirred. Like dust that had built up was now pouring away.
Was it stubbornness? Was it anger? Whatever it was, it was an emotion that could be used as driving force.
Her grip on the pen tightened.
Right. Let’s reach a conclusion. Let’s settle on something, however it turns out.
And then let’s meet again and talk.
“…Um.”
“Ugh.”
But Beniang’s grand resolve faltered once again.
When she turned around, Lesha was still there. That had never happened before. Lesha was, by nature, a considerate child, and she knew well that Beniang currently preferred being alone.
…Come to think of it.
From the beginning, she had spoken in a very cautious tone.
“Lesha, do you have something to say to me?”
“…The schedule has changed.”
“What?”
She asked back, but no answer came.
The moment their eyes met.
“…Ah.”
Beniang saw the sadness in Lesha’s eyes and sensed her fate.
Clang.
A sound of metal interlocking was heard.
A heavy presence emerged from behind Lesha.
The figure was clad in armor that looked as though it had been painted with blood.
With a strangely shaped sword hanging from one hand, he looked down at Beniang with eyes glowing in different colors.
[Come with me.]
The Red Knight spoke briefly.
[It is time to die.]
*****
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