“……”
Clang!
The butterfly knife spun wildly between Clara’s pale fingers, dancing in a blur.
With a flick of her wrist, she shook off the blood clinging to the blade, then snapped it shut with a sharp click!
Without hesitation, she lashed out.
There was no mercy in her hands.
Clara drove the blade straight into her opponent’s vital point without a hint of hesitation.
She didn’t spare a single glance at the ones attempting to enter the tunnel; she simply pulled the trigger without mercy.
“Grkk…!”
Her opponent gurgled. Foamy blood spewed from his lips as he clutched desperately at his punctured throat.
Even as his weapon slipped from his grasp, he had no time to care.
Clara finished it with a brutal smash! While using her pistol as a blunt weapon.
Then, with a quick hop, she leaped backward.
“You little rat!”
Boom!
The spot where she had just been standing exploded under the force of a massive fist.
The burly figures, each equipped with a mechanical prosthetic arm, were undoubtedly the beastkin brothers Rohan had mentioned.
Hmm, these two are the only ones left…
Clara paid no mind to the criminals’ curses or their attempts to intimidate her.
There was no need for social manners here. So she shut off both her ears and her mouth.
She only needed to process the information that mattered.
Click!
Landing atop the tunnel, she caught sight of the beastkin brothers transforming their prosthetic arms into firearms.
It didn’t surprise her.
Without stopping, Clara took off and started soaring like a butterfly.
Vreeeeee! Tatatatatatatata—!
She darted through the hail of bullets spewing from two machine guns, weaving like a nimble squirrel.
While dodging, she checked her remaining mana and assessed the battlefield.
Should I use Arachne one more time? But if I do, my mana will…
The fight was taking longer than expected.
She knew that impatience had no place in battle, yet she couldn’t help but hesitate.
After all, Rohan was still inside the tunnel, locked in combat with the boss.
Of course, Rohan would win. But Clara wanted to lend a hand to ensure a victory without injuries.
The reason it was taking time was simple.
Each enemy was skilled. They were on a different level from the humans she had encountered during her first job with Rohan.
Though they all shared the same rotten, shady air, their individual strength made it clear they had spent years surviving in the underworld.
Even if she could take them down in a single blow, more than ten of them were charging at her like madmen, making it anything but easy.
Shiiiiiik…!
The machine gun attached to the brother’s prosthetic arm overheated and came to a halt.
It seemed they had run out of bullets as well. No matter how he manipulated his arm, only a dry clicking sound echoed.
Tak!
Clara seized the opportunity and closed the distance in an instant.
With the lackeys swarming around her now cut down, her path was finally free again.
“Fu*k! This bitch is crazy fast!”
“Just hold out until I reload!”
The brothers were startled and quickly raised their sturdy prosthetic arms as shields.
Clara poured mana into her blade. She was ready to end them in a single strike.
Just as she stepped on the gas to bring the fight to a close—
Fwip!
An arrow tore through the air, disrupting the flow, and dropped to the ground.
“…..…?”
A short arrow suddenly shot from inside the tunnel.
The brothers who had been guarding Doberman recognized the weapon but couldn’t shake the strange feeling. There wasn’t even a trace of mana in it.
“No way… could it be the boss…?”
With wary eyes, the brothers turned to the figure emerging from the tunnel.
Clara too halted her aggressive thrust and looked in that direction.
“This thing’s not even fit to be a toy. What am I supposed to do with this crossbow?”
A familiar voice rang out as the figure walked closer. Clara’s face lit up.
The brothers, however, were struck with shock.
Rohan had slung his used sword across his back. In one hand, he held a crossbow, which was a trophy from his kill.
And in the other, he was dragging Doberman’s lifeless body behind him.
…
…
“Clara, good work.”
“O-Oh! You too, Oppa…! Are your wounds okay?”
With Rohan joining the fight, the beastkin brothers were swiftly taken care of.
They had been destined to fall to Clara from the start, but with Rohan’s assistance, the battle ended even more effortlessly.
“Just a scratch.”
Clara bit her lip as she noticed part of Rohan’s shirt stained red.
Fortunately, none of the arrows had struck him directly. All his wounds were merely grazes.
“What about you, Clara?”
“Uh, I’m fine…”
She twirled around, showing that even the borrowed clothes were untouched. Rohan smiled in relief.
And then, perhaps not even a second later—
A flurry of notification windows appeared before him.
[Quest completed.]
[Rewards acquired.]
The shimmering void urged him to retrieve his quest reward: a random points pouch.
But there was something Rohan was far more curious about.
Transcendence…? How does it get bestowed?
With that thought, his gaze darted around, searching for any additional anomalies in the flickering void.
“!”
As if telling him not to rush, another notification appeared at just the right moment.
[Your first Transcendence awakens.]
Flash!
A brilliant light burst before his eyes.
And then—
Rohan found himself standing in a place he had never seen before, yet one that felt strangely familiar.
It was nowhere near the tunnel littered with corpses.
This place…
Somewhere, flames and blades collided in a chaotic dance. Fragments of fire and steel sliced through the air.
Like karmic mirrors, they reflected his image in countless shards all at once.
“!”
Reflections of himself stretched out in all directions. Standing in place, Rohan felt it.
A deep satisfaction, as if he had finally found what he had spent his entire life searching for.
Was it right to call this resonance pure emotion?
He could feel his soul overflowing, brimming with a fulfillment that words could never fully describe.
Crack!
It shattered….following the laws of nature.
The brief vision came to an end, and the space around him collapsed.
Rohan’s eyes took in the world as it once was.
[When attacking a target with an assigned weakness, there is a low chance of inflicting a debuff. The debuff shares the level of the inflict weakness skill.]
[The cooldown for shop skill updates will be accelerated.]
[The wielder of Sword of the Holy Judgement of the Heavenly Sun will be unaffected by its flames.]
Incredible.
Rohan clenched and unclenched his fist, feeling the surge of newfound energy within him.
Then he read through the notifications.
With Transcendence, enhancements to physical abilities and mana were just the baseline. On top of that, it instantly advanced unique skills.
And with three unique skills, the growth was immense.
“…..…”
Transcendence was proof that, until now, he had been nothing more than an empty shell of a character.
Six was the maximum number of transcendence.
And now, he had achieved his first. His path to power had expanded.
“Oppa.”
“Ah, huh?”
Clara’s voice cut through his thoughts, pulling him back to reality.
When he refocused, she looked up at him and asked,
“Oppa, what do we do now?”
“I already have something in mind.”
Rohan approached the discarded corpse of Doberman and searched its belongings. He eventually discovered an old-fashioned leather pouch.
Inside, he pulled out two pitch-black coins.
He didn’t have the time to loot every scattered corpse, but this was something he had to secure for what lay ahead.
I’ll need one more in the end.
To take the first step toward the Doberman’s grand dream and ultimate goal, he needed at least three of these coins.
Some called this a “baptism”. Others referred to these lumps of metal as “grace”.
There were plenty of names used by those who collected them.
But the coin’s true name was Judas’ Silver. Black as it was, that was still its name.
Good.
It was a shame he didn’t have the luxury of searching every pocket one by one.
Checking the time on his smartphone, Rohan headed toward the tunnel where abandoned cars were piled up.
Clara trailed closely behind him,
Rohan approached the black sedan that was now an open-top car thanks to Clara’s trap.
Using the stolen keys, he started the engine and popped the trunk, giving the stockpile of weapons inside a quick once-over.
“The front’s a bit crumpled, but no big deal. Get in.”
“Oppa, can you even drive…?”
“Of course. We’re just taking this to the entrance. Think of it as a little drive.”
“A d-d-drive…!”
When Rohan tapped the passenger seat, the girl scrambled to sit down.
He switched on the seat heater and drove out of the tunnel.
“With no roof or windows, it might get a bit chilly.”
“I’m warm! Let’s go already!”
Clara proudly showed off the coat she was wearing. It was his coat.
Amused by her playfulness, Rohan smiled before checking the time again.
They’ll be here soon.
He wanted to get to Sion as quickly as possible. That was urgent, no doubt.
But even so—
In Abyss City, failing to kill Doberman within the given time triggered a natural disaster.
If events followed the original timeline, a small dimensional rift would soon form nearby, releasing dozens of monsters.
Monsters were always hungry. The scent of blood would draw them in, and they would ravenously devour whatever they found. Cleaning up the corpses and the wreckage would be left to them.
If we get caught… well, it can’t be helped.
It would be a hassle to come up with a convincing explanation if they were discovered, but there was nothing to feel guilty about.
Vroooom!!!
With that thought, Rohan stepped on the accelerator.
..
..
Bzzzzt—!!!
Just as Rohan hid the car near the ruins and was about to step out, a message arrived.
Once again, it had a red exclamation mark attached.
[Elysium Public Safety Department: 01:55 today / Confirmation of a small-scale dimensional rift / Avoid going outside / Report any monster sightings to the Public Safety Department…]
Good.
His memory hadn’t failed him. And since some time had already passed, the rift had now been detected.
Satisfied with this ideal outcome, Rohan started walking with Clara.
“The location in this message. It’s near where we just were.”
“Really!?”
“We’re lucky. Whenever I’m with you, things always go well.”
“R-Really…?”
He talked to Clara who was startled by the message and pushed further inside.
Sion was likely maintaining this area regularly.
Signs of battle and the remains of monsters were scattered everywhere.
As they ventured further in, Clara suddenly turned her gaze sharply to one side, as if sensing something.
Rohan was impressed by her instincts and halted his steps.
“Oppa, just now, up there… I felt mana.”
“Yeah, I know. Sion should be there.”
The building where Sion and the elven elders would be.
There were eyes watching from over there. It was a type of observation skill.
Let’s give it a try.
The elven elders were from Tigrova, a place that once prioritized bloodlines over strength.
It wasn’t their abilities that put them in power, but the noble blood they were born with.
They were a group with little to no combat experience, and though many of them were timid, their security against intruders was thorough.
That was why simply getting inside would mean half the battle was already won.
Because of this, Rohan had been agonizing over it.
How could he get inside that building? Would he have to struggle his way through, just like in Abyss City?
He pondered. He strategized. He deliberated.
As he spent more and more time thinking, his contemplation bore fruit.
Rohan’s answer was something that would have been impossible in the game.
“Clara.”
“Mhmm?”
“From now on, just go with the flow. If things seem uncertain, just stay behind me.”
“……?”
Rohan asked the bewildered-looking girl to keep a straight expression.
Then, he strode confidently toward the building.
The surrounding mana churned wildly as if something could come crashing down at any moment.
But Rohan paid no mind. Maintaining an air of authority, he spoke in a commanding tone.
Showing disdain for his opponents and exuding an overbearing presence were essential.
“Chief Elder Levin Maxwell!”
His booming voice echoed through the ruins.
“Come out at once and obey the orders of the Reverse Reverence Society!”
Rohan held up the black coin he had taken from Doberman.
This was the path he had chosen to break through the quest.
It was deception.
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