MTLNOVEL Chapter 292
Chapter 293. Failure is Treason, Success is Revolution (7)
I came to my senses in the cold.
My bones were trembling, and it felt like needles were piercing my entire body. It’s natural to feel cold when lying naked in the middle of winter, but this felt different to me.
“Haaa.”
It was unfamiliar, yet familiar at the same time. In my childhood, when I was nothing, the thing I feared the most was this cold.
After hunger, winter was what I feared the most.
The summers in Ruquer were unbearably hot, but if you went naked, you could somehow endure it. After all, sunlight didn’t reach Ruquer.
But the cold froze even the soul. So, whenever I had money, I bought thick clothes first, and when I could control my body temperature with Aura, I made sure not to feel the cold.
“I’m out of charge.”
I thought the penalties of the Mandala would be offset upon regression, so I used it recklessly.
The Aura and Mana that made a superhuman a superhuman, even Ain, were all depleted.
“Well, thanks to that, I survived, so it’s not a loss.”
My head is dizzy. My body feels like it weighs a thousand pounds, and my vision is blurry. This is the worst.
How long has it been since I felt this weak? It feels like I’ve returned to my weak days, which is unpleasant, but at the same time, it’s nostalgic.
“If you want to kill me, now’s the perfect opportunity.”
Right now, I don’t even have transcendent sensing abilities. So, I don’t know who’s around me.
Of course, even without such help, I intuitively knew that there was nothing around me right now. Intuition isn’t in the realm of Aura or Mana, right?
Anyway, I looked around a bit. The sun is still up, but judging by the angle, darkness will come in about an hour.
“Night comes quickly in the mountains.”
This time, I placed my palm on my stomach.
“I haven’t been unconscious for more than a day.”
If I had, my stomach would be empty.
“I might have frozen to death before that.”
I let out a bitter laugh. ‘Keter, frozen to death!’ I wonder how the people of this world would react if such news spread.
“Ugh, it’s cold.”
I can feel the Aura and Mana gradually returning. I could immediately drive away the cold, but I left it alone for a while.
I tucked my hands under my armpits. Human body temperature is mainly released through the fingertips and toes.
“It’s a long way to walk.”
In this state, I had to walk to where Jordic, whom I had taken hostage, was. Even if I walked diligently, it would take 30 minutes, and running would take 5 minutes.
With the Body Refinement Technique, I could arrive in 10 seconds, but I deliberately started walking.
“Walking like this brings back old memories and helps me organize my thoughts.”
Of course, I can’t recall the mindset of the weak Keter from the past. The current me is more of a monster than a human.
I’ve come too far. Even without borrowing the power of Aura, I’ve grown to a level where ordinary blades can’t pierce my skin.
I’ve already adapted to the cold, so it doesn’t feel cold anymore.
“You could say it’s 3% Keter content.”
No matter how good my natural regenerative power is, I can’t bring back severed fingers, toes, arms, or legs.
So what? Accept fate and live as a one-armed, one-legged person, or maybe get prosthetics.
“With current technology, it’s possible, but back then, it wasn’t.”
I attached other human body parts or monster parts to my body.
Well, it doesn’t show. Franken’s body modification techniques aren’t that shoddy. They naturally assimilate into my skin, making it seem like they were always mine.
“Ah, thinking about that time makes me laugh. After attaching the body parts, I developed an allergy I never had and almost died eating shrimp.”
Speaking of shrimp, I remember that shrimp in Ruquer were very, very, very expensive. A shrimp the size of a finger, a single bite, cost a gold coin!
Well, Ruquer is a city surrounded by fog, with no rivers, seas, or anything. How could you get shrimp from the sea in such a place? Of course, it’s not entirely impossible.
Anyway, the important thing is that my wish back then was to eat shrimp to my heart’s content. And that wish came true when I started earning money seriously.
I bought 100 shrimp and ate them to my heart’s content.
“Maknun was there too.”
Thinking of Maknun from the past, who looked like a wild, long-haired stray cat, makes me laugh.
In conclusion, Maknun and I couldn’t eat 100 shrimp. Did we fight? Were we scammed?
No.
We got tired of them.
“At first, they were really delicious.”
But as I kept eating, the taste became monotonous. In the end, just the smell of shrimp made me nauseous.
“After that, I didn’t eat them for a while, but when I suddenly thought of them and tried them again, they were delicious.”
But why am I suddenly reminiscing about that time?
Well, it’s something like self-reflection.
“To be happy, you must first know what unhappiness is.”
If I had been born a noble who could eat shrimp freely from the start, would eating shrimp to my heart’s content have been a wish? Could I have shed tears of joy seeing a mountain of shrimp?
Even though I got tired of them and stopped eating, the happiness I felt at that time was real.
“You shouldn’t avoid the unhappiness that comes your way. It doesn’t disappear just because you don’t look at it. You’re just turning a blind eye.”
You can escape by running away immediately, but if you stop, you’ll face it.
“Keter, what… are you talking about now?”
As I walked, I must have unconsciously used the Body Refinement Technique. I can hear Jordic’s voice beside me.
“Shh. I feel like I’m about to have an epiphany.”
“……!”
“I thought I faced all the misfortunes given to me and lived through them, but upon reflection, I didn’t really.”
In my past life, I avoided my relationship with Sephira, avoided becoming an enemy of the Grand Duke, and avoided getting involved with divine beings. I thought all of these were disadvantageous to me.
Of course, I can’t conclusively say that these became the sparks that led to my failure in revenge and ultimately my death……
“I betrayed my own beliefs.”
The belief to ‘live freely’ meant living as I pleased, but at the same time, it also meant accepting and adapting to any situation to survive. I had decided to live my life according to the ‘law of survival of the fittest.’
But in my past life, I rejected this.
Instead of cutting ties with Sephira, I postponed it-
I maintained a lukewarm relationship with the Grand Duke and only saw him occasionally-
When I came into contact with divine beings, I felt fear and avoided them, unlike the humans I had dealt with until then.
“Is it causality?”
Perhaps the causality of my past life led me to death. Because I didn’t take responsibility for the freedom I enjoyed. Because I didn’t try to adapt.
And right now. I vaguely felt that I was at the same crossroads as in my past life.
In this life, did I live honorably? Did I take responsibility for my freedom?
On the surface, it seemed so. But in the end, nothing changed.
I’m helping Sephira, but only ‘moderately.’ If I truly wanted to help, I should have at least handed over the secret of the Celestial Infinity Technique.
It’s the same with my relationship with the Grand Duke. I wasn’t an enemy, nor an ally. I was just a bit bolder because of my past life experiences, but I was still afraid of the Grand Duke.
Only now have I decided to oppose the Grand Duke, but it’s like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. Dealing with Queen Lilian is tough enough, and I didn’t want to make the Grand Duke an enemy too, which led to the current situation.
“The more you avoid fear, the more it grows by feeding on your fear.”
I knew that. It was the secret to my survival in Ruquer. But as time passed, I must have forgotten. I became too arrogant.
“I won’t forget it now.”
I felt a gaze and turned my head to see Rajis and others looking at me nervously.
They’re good guys. And good guys deserve rewards.
“So, in conclusion, I decided to become even crazier.”
“……?!”
“You’re going to become even crazier here?”
“Keter, did you gain enlightenment and become a Prime?”
Jordic hurriedly asked. It’s a stupid question, but it’s a good moment now.
“If you can call enlightenment enlightenment, then it’s not enlightenment. You idiot.”
“……?”
Jordic and the others made expressions of not understanding, but Rajis’s eyes widened.
Opportunities only come to those who are prepared.
*
After making the grand declaration to become even crazier, Keter immediately left the southern region.
Regardless of whether the Family War was over or not, or whether he was suspected of being a regressor due to excessive information monopoly, he didn’t care about trivial worries and moved at the fastest speed, leaving no afterimage.
This was the technique called ‘Arrow of the Sky,’ the pinnacle of the Body Refinement Technique, where one shoots themselves like an arrow. The downside is that it’s too fast to change direction, but since there was nothing blocking the sky, it didn’t matter.
“Here it is.”
The place where Keter stopped was a giant mountain with nothing but forests and rocks. At first glance, it seemed ordinary, but there was a sense of something extraordinary about it.
First, the shape. It looked like a giant kneeling on one knee, so massive that it seemed like it could lift its head and pierce the sky, reaching into space.
“It’s enormous.”
This mountain, known as the ‘Primordial Giant,’ is infamous for being a place where rare herbs grow and named monsters frequently appear.
Even now, there were numerous predatory gazes fixed on Keter. They were true wild predators that even hunted Master-level knights.
But Keter ignored them lightly. He didn’t come here to deal with mere beasts.
Keter landed near the forehead of the stone giant and took a deep breath.
“Guardian of Toban, Malphite. I’ve come to undergo the trial of strength.”
At that moment, the ground began to shake. A presence that hadn’t been there suddenly appeared.
But looking around, there was no noticeable change. That’s because the mountain, or rather, what was thought to be a mountain, had moved.
[It’s been hundreds of years since the last challenger. State your name.]
“Keter.”
[Challenger Keter. Do you know what you seek by coming here?]
“It’s the Earth attribute of the Five Elemental Artifacts.”
The Five Elemental Artifacts.
Artifacts that gather the power of the five elements: Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth. It’s said that gathering all five grants the power to kill gods.
Among them, Keter came to obtain the Earth attribute ring, Toban.
[Do you know what trial you must undergo?]
“I know that all the Transcendent Beings who challenged it over hundreds of years died.”
Thanks to his past life memories, Keter knew he could undergo Toban’s trial here, but he didn’t know what the trial was. There were no survivors.
‘Primes and all, they all died.’
A trial that even kills Primes.
Is it worth going through all that just to obtain one artifact? But Keter decided not to avoid fear anymore.
The Five Elemental Artifact Toban is absolutely necessary. Along with it, all the other artifacts that can be obtained!
Rumble!
The mountain shook. It was laughter. A landslide caused by laughter.
[Hehehe, challenger prepared for death. The trial to obtain Toban is very simple.]
Rumble!
Crack!
It looked as if the entire mountain was moving. But in reality, it was just Malphite moving his arm.
Then, a shadow loomed over Keter’s head. Looking up, something donut-shaped was floating above Keter’s head.
[Challenger Keter. I will give you Toban. All you have to do is take it.]
Keter couldn’t help but laugh.
“Surely, this thing above my head isn’t Toban, right?”
It was so big that it couldn’t even fit in both eyes.
It wasn’t even close to resembling a ring in shape. The overwhelming weight felt through the skin was almost like an entire mountain had been sculpted.
[Don’t worry. I won’t drop it. Challenger, stretch out your arm. When your palm touches it, I will release the ring. As long as you don’t get crushed to death by Toban, it’s yours.]
“Ha, it’s really simple.”
A ring the size of a mountain. Take it if you can. Does that make sense?
“Well, this level of trial is fitting for a Five Elemental Artifact.”
Keter doesn’t know exactly what effects Toban has. But he knows well that it possesses unique and unparalleled power.
That’s enough. If I can challenge it, I will. What else do I need?
Keter stretched his palm towards the sky. Then, the self-proclaimed Toban slowly descended.
Even from that simple phenomenon, an overwhelming pressure that felt like his entire body was being crushed already engulfed Keter.
Soon, Keter’s palm touched the bottom of Toban. It looked like an ant being crushed under a human’s shoe.
And then, a curse escaped Keter’s lips.
“Wow, fuck.”
I was actually a bit puzzled. If it’s a 7-Star Prime, they should have near-infinite Aura, so why couldn’t they obtain Toban?
Keter realized the secret firsthand.
“The Aura was absorbed and I collapsed.”
Not just Aura. Mana, even Ain, was sucked in.
So……
“You’re telling me to lift this mountain of a ring with pure physical strength?”
[Challenger Keter. Are you ready? As a mere human, are you prepared to regret the arrogance of challenging a trial meant for demigods?]
Malphite’s voice, mocking.
Gradually, Keter’s entire body began to tremble. But it was a tremor of excitement, not fear.
In crisis, tension rises, and the blood in the entire body boils. All memories and potential explode to survive. The death before you pulls your potential to the limit.
If you fail, you die. There’s nothing to regret.
“You’re chattering away like a fool who can’t do anything without someone to find you.”
[…Die.]
Malphite, blatantly telling him to die, releases the hand holding the ring.
At that moment, the image of the master who taught Keter Heavenly Power flashed before his eyes like a panorama.
“Heavenly Power! Up to the 6th stage, there are no names, right! Because they are truly human stages, you see! But from the 7th stage, which transcends humans, there are glorious names, you see! Keter! You have the talent for Heavenly Power, so remember this. The name of the 7th stage of Heavenly Power is…….”
Heavenly Prison (天獄), Open (開放).