Chapter 299

Chapter 299 – Dreams… Come True?

A multitude of electric discharges scorched his skin to cinders.

Had he attempted to deflect them with a defensive shield, it would have shattered instantly under their immense force. Taking them directly with an unprotected body would have meant instantaneous demise. It was destructive sorcery of that cataclysmic scale.

Yet through this relentless storm of thunderbolts.

“…….”

Aster’s fingers locked around Leodis’s wrist with the crushing strength of a vice.

Attempting to channel energy through limbs locked tight by the electrical surge sent waves of intense agony throughout his entire frame, but Aster’s bloodshot eyes flashed with unadulterated murderous intent.

“You…… can use Light of Healing as well?”

“…….”

It was an observation made upon seeing the blackened flesh knitting back together in real-time, but Aster offered no reply. Instead, he concentrated his internal mana into the hand pinning Leodis down with unrelenting power.

Kiiing—

The realm of Transcendence opened up.

His field of awareness broadened immensely, fracturing a single moment into hundreds of distinct fragments. With those eyes, he kept his gaze locked onto Leodis, yet simultaneously achieved an external perspective, overlooking the entire surrounding battlefield.

A landscape brightly illuminated by the blazing lightning.

The violent ocean beneath them seemed like a cavernous void ready to swallow both of them, while the wooden fishing pier lay decimated in ruins. Shards of destroyed watercraft from the battle’s collateral damage drifted out into the open waters.

Rumble—

The dark storm clouds blanketing the sky let out a deep roar.

Sparks of electricity danced between the clouds.

A sharp snap seemed to resonate, though sound could never outpace the speed of illumination.

Even within these shattered fractions of a second, the lightning maintained its absolute velocity. A brief spark quickly rippled through the overcast sky before pulling back into its epicenter faster than it had spread out.

And then—

Craaaack…!

“……!”

An unimaginable wave of pain forced Aster’s head backward.

It was an unavoidable physical reflex.

Even a supreme sorcerer who had achieved the pinnacle of Transcendence remained a mortal being, vulnerable to the neural shocks caused by the electrical current.

He could have utilized his internal mana for self-defense, but Aster allocated only a microscopic amount for safety, projecting the entirety of his power outward instead.

Throughout this compressed timeframe, his heightened perception never wavered.

In that duration divided into hundreds of pieces, Aster kept his gaze locked tightly onto Leodis.

Had Leodis also crossed into the realm of Transcendence? His transparent eyes stared right back at Aster with clear intent.

Like clear glass marbles, entirely unblinking, they analyzed him.

Childlike in their innocence and seriousness, resembling a young boy observing an insect under a magnifying lens. Aster returned that stare, then shifted back to his panoramic view of the world.

Once more.

Rumble—

The tempest roared, and sparks flickered. Electricity ignited from a single origin, spreading out across the clouds once more……

Craaaack!

Another bolt struck down.

The agony was immense.

His elevated senses magnified every bit of suffering, and dividing a second into hundreds of pieces meant the torment felt agonizingly prolonged.

Yet Aster bore it all, channeling his energy to reshape the surrounding ambient mana. His four circles rotated at high speeds, ensnaring the surrounding magic alongside his personal reserves.

Concurrently, his transcendent willpower seized total command over that energy with brutal strength.

Mana, circles, and Transcendence.

With those three forces working in tandem—

Craaaack…!

Aster took absolute control of the surrounding area right as the lightning fell.

The shift began right around Leodis.

Like an expert carver slicing cleanly through the grain of meat, the energy enveloping Leodis was stripped away. No, it was completely severed.

Astonishment finally crossed Leodis’s expression.

“……!”

Lacking the necessary magic even to maintain his flight spell, his body began to drop under the pull of gravity. Because his mind was also operating in this slowed state, he appeared to hang motionless in the air as if frozen—but it was an ominous sign.

Thus, Leodis quickly drew directly from his inner core to reactivate his levitation. At that exact moment—

Grrrrrind, grrrrind……

Into the vacuum surrounding Leodis rushed an enormous volume of mana. No, it wasn’t simply flowing in.

Crunch, cruuunch…!

High-density mana flooded the space surrounding Leodis, packing it entirely. And binding it tight.

Though he could still move physically, the area was so densely congested that not a single drop of his own magic could escape.

For a sorcerer, this deprivation was far more crippling than physical chains.

That was when Leodis’s expression shifted.

Emotion crept into eyes that had previously observed the fight with total indifference. Impatience or caution—it was difficult to distinguish. The feeling was far too subtle.

Regardless of his feelings, his response was instantaneous.

Screeech…… screeeeech!

A colossal wave of magic surged from Leodis’s core. Like a massive dam bursting…… no, like a tsunami crashing down, it attempted to displace the compressing forces.

But his reaction was too slow.

The magic Aster had established held firm like an impenetrable fortress wall, leaving no openings whatsoever. ……It wasn’t even enough to cast a shield.

But.

Rumble—

The storm Leodis had originally unleashed persisted. Freed from its master’s control……

Crackle, crack……

The lightning thrashed around with even greater fury.

Aster needed to move quickly.

The gathering clouds grew increasingly perilous.

Even within these fractured moments, it swelled at light speed, carrying an overwhelming amount of power compared to the prior strikes.

With his defenses minimized, a direct strike from that would undoubtedly be fatal.

Aster quickened his magical arrays.

This was a true sorcerer’s conflict.

While martial artists could perceive fractured seconds, physical constraints prevented them from bypassing natural laws entirely. Sorcerers, with their accelerated minds, manipulated forces completely independent of physical boundaries.

Warriors could also achieve incredible feats through visualization, but within these micro-seconds, sorcerers possessed absolute freedom.

And that freedom……

Aster was experiencing it for the first time.

And finally understood.

Why Aevilon had engaged in such a prolonged confrontation.

Accessing this state was the true challenge; once inside the realm of accelerated cognition, an incredible sense of liberation followed.

This……

Yes.

It felt exactly like the escape he experienced in his past life, keeping his eyes locked onto a wyvern while escaping the Decullan estate.

It brought a profound sense of realization, too.

The dark ocean resembling a cavernous void, the tempest above, the deep night, and even the obscured moonlight and starlight hidden by clouds.

Previously, he understood the universe through his own existence……

Now, he understood himself because the universe existed.

Stepping into this enlightenment, his old ideas of Transcendence dissolved.

True mastery could only be found by pushing oneself to the absolute precipice.

In this state, Aster looked back on his conflicts with Destrow, his clash with Lortel’s leader Muhard, and his battle against Aevilon.

And now, at last, he perceived reality exactly as they did.

‘You clever old man.’

Even if he faced Aevilon again, he wouldn’t be defeated so easily like before.

Focusing back on the immediate threat……

Aster pulled back from the edge of realization and locked his eyes on Leodis. Their gazes met, reflecting one another.

What a haggard appearance. His electrical burns were mending in real-time, but soot covered his face in patches. Amidst it all, Leodis’s natural nobility remained bright, but Aster’s reflection looked like a common street urchin from the alleys.

The sight brought back old memories.

• Listen, brat.

• My name is Damian.

• Irrelevant.

• Bianca is my mother.

• Are you slow?

• I don’t have a mother.

• Well, I don’t have a father either. So I win. Go away.

Was he upset about losing that argument?

Damian had responded.

• Fine.

• What?

• I don’t have a father either.

……What a lie. His father was standing right in front of him, fully alive.

“Father.”

Aster returned to the normal flow of time. From his grip on Leodis’s wrist, a spark of fire erupted. No, it flared briefly before drawing in the surrounding magic, expanding massively in a split second.

To Leodis, still trapped in the slowed perception, the sight was unmistakable.

The ambient mana converged into Aster’s hand. The ravenous blaze consumed it hungrily, like an insatiable jaw. The absorbed magic became fuel, amplifying the flames—and Leodis could only watch, unable to act.

He could not manifest a shield, nor could he cast a spell. He could not even break free from that brutal hold.

Fwoosh—!

Thus, in that brief moment of release.

Aster’s voice cut through the chaos.

“You’re actually happy about this, aren’t you?”

Then, everything detonated.

Screeeee—

The explosion erased all sound, fire spreading in every direction. The dark ocean evaporated into steam, and the storm clouds dissolved completely.

It looked as though day had broken.

A brilliant illumination.

Amidst the blinding light, Aster had one final thought.

‘Dreams……’

Do come true.

Kokartana Coast, City of Kotana.

Kotana’s 7th Pier.

A sudden, blinding flash illuminated the harbor where ships regularly sailed.

The massive eruption of fire over the sea turned night into day, awakening the nearby townspeople from their sleep.

“What on earth is happening…….”

“Has dawn arrived already?”

Rushing to the docks, the locals witnessed a bizarre sight beyond belief.

The ocean water was boiling rapidly. The damaged pier showed signs of melting from the intense heat, leaving a complete mess. A perfect circular opening had been carved into the clouds, revealing a starlit sky where moonlight poured down.

Would the arrival of a deity look like this?

The citizens stared in awe, unable to comprehend that this was merely the result of a duel between two powerful mages. They simply couldn’t imagine it.

Before long.

“The deity of the sea is displeased! The deity of the sea is displeased!”

“The sea deity always answers.”

“Deity, are you angry?!”

“He answers yes.”

Some elderly fishermen even knelt down in prayer toward the waters, bowing their heads.

A short distance away from the commotion, in the dark shallows, a figure emerged onto the land.

Rather, two figures.

A platinum-haired man carrying a gray-haired youth.

The man placed the unconscious Aster onto the sand, looking down at his face.

……Naturally, the man was Leodis von Blandoga.

“Hmm.”

Leodis looked down at Aster, whose eyes were closed, and flexed his fingers idly.

As if deciding whether to destroy his core or blind him first.

For a brief second.

Then Leodis pulled a clean cloth from his storage space and…… carefully wiped away the salt and grime from Aster’s face, focusing around the eyes.

……After all, the salt water would sting.