CH 261

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‘If it’s a transcendent being… then it might be possible to escape from the shackles of the system.’

A transcendent being could exist in independence of anything, so it was possible for a transcendent being to somehow distort DIO’s system defenses and break into it.

In other words, if a universe-wandering transcendent happened to come across DIO, which existed on the surface of Earth’s moon, it was possible that the transcendent being could enter DIO.

‘Maybe that’s the reason why there are more transcendents than necessary within the world of DIO. Well, anyway…’

Merlin stopped his train of thought and looked over at Arc.

There was no chance that Arc was a transcendent, so Merlin briefly considered the possibility that some other being was imitating Arc; however, Merlin’s intuition was telling him that this wasn’t the case.

Merlin nodded his head, as he knew he could trust his intuition, which was usually correct, although it wasn’t at the level of foreseeing the future.

“Well, I guess, for whatever reason, you can enter. Anyway, follow me,” Merlin stated.

“Uh, hey, then… am I the only one being left behind?” Miho pouted.

“Sorry. I’ll send you to the library, so continue practicing and training.”

“Ugh, why only me…”

Merlin teleported Miho, who was still grumbling, to the DIO library before activating the Editor Blade in his hand.

“Data Patch.”

A new message quietly popped up in front of Arc, Sungmuk, Quiet Heaven, and Ellie after they were stabbed by Merlin’s Editor Blade.

/Non-destructive setting complete./

/[Time remaining… 71 hours 59 minutes.]/

The texts ended briefly without any explanation, but Arc and the two pets were stunned after reading the content of the brief message.

“Non-destructive setting… wait… is this what I think it is?”

“Why not? Of course, it is.”

“Can it also be applied to living things?”

The non-destructive setting was a DIO system setting that was applied on various DIO buildings and areas, such as the Holy Lands and Starting; whatever building or areas designated with this non-destructive setting couldn’t be destroyed, no matter what one did.

It was a system setting to prevent users from destroying objects in the city or collapsing critical infrastructure buildings; hence, it could be said that this non-destructive system setting was essentially one of the core functions of DIO’s system.

This setting was also why all users and beings were bound to DIO’s system.

Furthermore, this system setting was why the ultimate magic spells used by Igniz during the last closed beta mission didn’t destroy the buildings in Starting.

“It was just never applied to living beings, but it was always possible. For an entire day, none of us will receive any adverse effects or damage from external attacks.”

“Why didn’t you apply this to us when we were up against the Gold Dragon?”

“Because our opponent wasn’t strong enough for me to bring out and apply the non-destructive system setting. I also needed some practice in sharpening my combat senses… anyway, let’s go.”

Saying this, Merlin thrust himself into the blue-colored gap that was floating in the air.

After Merlin entered, Arc and Sungmuk soon followed. The two pets followed suit afterward.

From the outside, the place that the party members entered looked like a blue-colored gap, but once the party members entered the gap, the party members saw a huge temple-style building in front of them.

“… It looks more normal than I expected.”

“Well, there’s no reason to create a unique environment or building unless one’s tastes are unique and eccentric.”

After saying this, Merlin walked towards the temple-like building.

It had a similar architectural style to the Star Temple, a place where many users visited to receive their missions.

The only difference between the temple in front of them and the Star Temple was that the temple in front of them was a bit smaller in size and was less adorned with decorative elements. Overall, the temple in front of them was quite simple and modest looking.

Standing in front of the temple’s front door was a woman.

“Huh? You all are users… How did you all get here?”

The white-haired beauty, who looked at the party members with a puzzled expression, was the famous DIO guide that every user met when they first entered DIO; it was the NPC, Marionette Hold.

Mary was tall and had a slender body; she wore a modern T-shirt and skinny jeans, which accentuated her long legs.

‘Certainly, a beauty is a beauty. Among DIO’s top 10 beauties, she’s definitely within the top three.’

Suddenly, Merlin thought that if he took a picture of Mary right now and posted it on the Internet, not only would his posting go viral in an instant, but more than a dozen articles would probably be written about the image in an instant.

The number of users who stanned Mary, with her beautiful appearance and mysterious atmosphere, was considerable. There was even a fan club with millions of subscribers.

“Hey, aren’t you Snowflake Flower?”

When Sungmuk laid eyes on the woman, he called out with a name that Merlin had heard before.

“Snowflake Flower?”

[My name is Snowflake Flower, and I am from the Frost Warrior Clan. Please remember.]

The name made Merlin recall the fading image of a woman who had placed the Heaven seal upon his forehead. He recalled her complex and infinitely lonely expression; an expression that she always carried with her.

[Snowflake Flower was here.]

Once DIO was open to the general public and Merlin came across Mary again, he found that Mary no longer recognized who he was. It was then that Merlin suspected that something had happened to Mary.

However, Merlin didn’t know exactly what had happened to Mary.

‘Come to think of it, the reason why I was able to use mana in real life was because of the Heaven seal.’

Merlin, who was born with the talent of an Irregular, possessed an abnormal physical body from other human beings on Earth; however, he was still restricted from using mana, as he didn’t possess any functional spiritual pathways within his body.

If he did not have the Heaven seal, Merlin would not have been able to use his superpowers on Earth, which didn’t contain any spiritual pathways, and the process of creating an artificial spiritual pathway would have been close to impossible.

“Ah, your name in this place must be different. Are you in charge of the system NPCs?”

“Wait… wait… do you know me? Judging from how you’re speaking, it seems as though you’re from the Jin Continent.”

Sungmuk frowned after seeing Mary tilt her head in confusion and hearing her speak in such a dumbfounded manner.

“Have you become dumb? Can’t you see the ID name written above my head?”

“What are you talking about… Eek!? … Sungmuk? Is it really you? You’re really… Sungmuk?”

“Are there a bunch of beings named Sungmuk walking around in this place?”

After hearing Sungmuk’s reply, Mary couldn’t help but drop her jaw in surprise.

“Nonsense! Why do you look like that? Why are you a monster? No, even if you decided to become a monster… why are you an orc!?”

Merlin, who was watching and listening to the friendly banter between the two, who seemed to know each other fairly well, quietly moved.

Although it was surprising that Sungmuk and Mary were acquainted with each other, Merlin’s main purpose of coming to this place was more important than the fact that the two were acquainted with each other.

Whoosh.

When Merlin took a step forward, he naturally crossed the space and teleported to the front door of the temple.

The way Merlin moved, as if he was folding space, was so perfect that it looked similar to an advanced Dao mage’s method of contracting space. Merlin’s teleportation movement was so smooth that it didn’t seem to reveal his presence. However…

“This is a restricted area. Only authorized personnel are allowed.”

Mary spoke in a calm and friendly tone of voice, but the will contained in her voice was firm and unyielding.

Mary was placed in this area for the sole purpose of protecting the DIO system control room from unauthorized personnel, so there was no room for compromise.

“I want to go in.”

“That’s not possible."

“Is that so?”

Merlin smiled and raised his right hand.

And the moment he did that…

Rumble!

With the sound of roaring thunder, a clear barrier rose around Mary and dissipated all the attacks and shockwaves that were sent her way.

Though Merlin’s Irrational Hand strike instantly exerted an unheard-of amount of power without any forewarning, Mary was able to block his attack without sustaining any damage.

“Whoa, this… hey… is the transcendent being that we have to fight her?”

“Yes. She’s the guardian of this place.”

After hearing Merlin’s reply, Sungmuk pulled out his Divine Red Sparrow Sword.

Arc had already started the chants to her spells, and the two pets had also prepared and entered into a state of combat.

However, despite the party members’ appearance, Mary scoffed.

There was no expression of fear or concern on her face.

“Then, shall we see what happens?”

After stating this, Sungmuk rushed toward Mary.

Whirl.

Once Sungmuk spun, plum blossom leaves shot out like thunderbolts.

Flashing Frost Plum Blossoms.

It was a speedy sword attack that was so fast that even the most advanced and expert swordsmen wouldn’t be able to react properly against the attack.

Whoosh.

However, in no time, a sword appeared in each of Mary’s hands.

The sword in her right hand was a beautifully sparkling blue blade, and the sword in her left hand was an impressive red blade that seemed like it would burn through anything at any moment.

These were two of the seven Divine Weapons that Mary possessed. The swords were named [Tranquility] and [Rage] respectively.