Chapter 39: Transcendence IV

The current energy on his body was in a liquid-like state where it was free to flow wherever Herbert needs it, however, to reach the Transcendent level, this liquid-like state should be changed and converted into a solid-like state in the area around his forehead.

His shoulders trembled, he did not know how long this would last, but he had to maintain his concentration. Once he felt that he had completely transferred the energy to his forehead, he started to feel a qualitative change. The sporadic pain that he was feeling turned into something that constantly came. If he were to use words to describe it then he would like it to be the feeling of being stabbed by countless needles all over his body. Feeling this sudden pain, even he couldn't help but have sweat form over his body.

This reminded him of the feeling that he once had when he had undergone that evil ritual to increase his potential. His concentration was almost breaking. He recognized that this must have been the reason why the original Albert failed in replicating the original Herbert's feat of ranking up during battle.

Regardless of this, since Albert from Earth had merged with Albert who was pretending to be Herbert, he had gained a far greater tolerance for this pain. He was no longer the same Albert as in the past.

With his teeth gnashing, Herbert carried on with his transformation. From inside out, he could feel his body being destroyed and rebuilt starting from his bones until it reached his skin.

He had to endure it no matter what. If he did not break through now then he will never be able to do so. He had to convince himself to become this desperate because he knew how powerful the protagonist is and how far his strength will become soon. Herbert continued to endure everything as if his life was on the line. If he could not break through the Transcendent rank now then the protagonist would easily take his life away with one sword strike. He had to live.

Five seconds… Ten seconds… One minute…

Time passed slowly but Herbert persistently continued to cling to this opportunity tightly. He would never let this chance go. In his mind, he kept on repeating to himself that he just needed to last for one more second. Just one more second and everything will pass. Just one more second and he could truly start to defy his fate of being a stepping stone. Just one more second and he could take hold of his destiny.

His calm breathing had long been turned into something chaotic. He no longer had the same composure as before, but his obsession to achieve his goal was far too strong for him to give up now.

Herbert could feel his heart beating and he had noticed that it had become erratic. He could sense his flesh squirming in agony while his skin felt like it was getting torn apart.

In his head, his image of the Argent Moon Raven was slowly overlapping with the same Iron Wing Ravens that had been used during his ritual. Instead of maintaining its divine aura, the impression that it gave off turned into something malevolent and full of malice.

He understood that this was wrong, but he couldn't just get this off his head. From the common understanding of the awakened, he knew that the closer his image of the origin from his bloodline, the higher the success will be to become a Transcendent.

All of a sudden, he heard a loud booming sound. During the period that he had his eyes closed, the Transcendent level White-Horned Snake had managed to break free from the vicious offensive cycle that came from Herbert's guards. It was only because they were capable of being able to fly that they had managed to last this long. If they didn't have this ability then they would only be able to launch long-range attacks on it and hope that it hits.

One by one, the vanguards that flew all over the White-Horned Snake became affected by the illusion and started falling. Naturally, their bodies were capable of withstanding this due to their physique as awakened, but if they did not do anything about it then they could only remain stuck in the illusion.

Noticing this, one of the guards took command and ordered the others to quickly replace their Silver Moon Leaf. Soon after, some were sent to recover those who had fallen to check them. With this quick recovery, they had managed to keep up with the White-Horned Snake and prevent a total team wipe.

The commander who temporarily took over Herbert's control could already sense that the chance of failure for this mission was slowly increasing. At this point, he had already sworn in his heart that he would issue a retreat order if Herbert did not succeed in ranking up.

At the same time, Herbert opened his eyes and locked gazes with the Transcendent White-Horned Snake. Despite the guards that came and surrounded its body, it continued to look at Herbert as if it was looking down on him, mocking him for failing to rank up to become a fully-fledged Transcendent.

But soon after, this condescending gaze shifted when he saw Herbert erupting with an even stronger aura.

"This… A divine bloodline? No, something is different. How could this be? Human, who are you?"

"Haven't I already told you the first time? I am the one who will bring you death."

After saying so, countless feathers materialized on Herbert's back. This time, instead of the same black feathered wings that every Ravenmoon had, white feathers had mixed along to form another pair of wings.

Seeing Herbert's obvious change his guards couldn't help but feel a sense of schadenfreude. Herbert was now at the Transcendent level and could face off against the White-Horned Snake on his own.

After replacing his Silver Moon Leaf, Herbert once again entered combat against the White-Horned Snake.