Chapter 536: Promotion to Co-Leader, Talking With a Celestial?

Ding!

[Do you wish to promote "RainbowDragon"?]

"Yes."

Leon granted Violet the necessary authority.

And almost immediately, an announcement rang throughout the stronghold, informing its inhabitants of the change.

Ding!

["RainbowDragon" is now Co-Leader of the Requiem Stronghold, pay your respect to her.]

[Co-Leaders: RainbowDragon.]

"Thanks," Violet said with a smile. "You three can spend the rest of the day freely. I’ll be going."

"Where? Why?" Leon asked.

"Well, a place like this needs someone to give directions, right? I’ll just be handling that, and then we can leave."

"Oh, alright."

With that settled, Violet left the room to begin organizing the stronghold, while Leon, Emilia, and Celeste decided to enjoy the rest of their day together.

They explored the place, ate at a restaurant, and relaxed while residents watched them with fear, anger, and admiration for Celestial’s victory over Cavin.

By the time night arrived, Violet finally returned to the hotel room with a big smile on her face.

"Everything should be done now," she announced. "I gave instructions for rebuilding the damaged areas and appointed a few people to take care of everything. They know what needs to be done, so we shouldn’t have any problems leaving."

Leon stared at her in surprise, "How the hell did you do all that? And since when do you have so much experience?"

"Every inhabitant of [Ember] receives this kind of training," Violet replied with a shrug. "Anyway, it just means we don’t have to worry about this place anymore."

She then explained that the Requiem Guild had not been doing much to manage the stronghold beyond searching for Stronghold Crystals.

According to the inhabitants she had spoken to, Empress, Granite, and the man with mechanical limbs were the only members who occasionally went around the settlement to check on things and give orders.

With Violet having appointed people to handle the rebuilding and daily management, the stronghold should be able to sustain itself without their involvement.

Which meant...

"I dealt with every servant I knew of in Higher Domain #1," he mumbled. "It feels... good, but we’re nowhere near done."

Although he felt relieved to have eliminated another group of enemies, he knew that there was a lot more to accomplish.

There was no reason to delay their next move.

It was time to seek the second target of his hunt in Higher Domain #2: the Heretic King.

Leon’s main problem was no longer his strength, as he had more than enough power to defeat enemies with 40 million combat power.

Very few opponents could threaten him in a direct fight, and even in the Eternal Battlefield, monsters, players, natives, and other entities with such high combat power were extremely uncommon.

However, strength was not the only thing that mattered.

Once again, Leon checke his status panel, and more precisely, his level.

[Level: 99 (87,295,400/105,200,000)]

’Killing the [Heretic King] will be enough to push me to Level 100 even if I kill nothing else...’

In other words, completing the Hunter’s SSS-Level Quest was now outright impossible.

’Goddamn it, how did the other Celestials do it...?’

If reaching Level 100 meant being forced to ascend to the next stage, then how had they completed their objectives in the Higher Domains without running into the same problem?

He spent several minutes thinking about it, trying to find an explanation that made sense, but nothing came to mind.

Meanwhile, Violet, Celeste, and Emilia were busy with their own activities, leaving Leon alone with his thoughts.

With a deep sigh, Leon took the [Celestial Token] out of his inventory and examined it.

’Come on, you stupid thing, help me out!’

The token had been with him for quite some time, but despite its importance, he still knew very little about its actual purpose.

’What does it even mean to be a Celestial if it just stops me from doing what I want?’

Leon couldn’t deny that [Celestial’s Might] had saved his life on numerous occasions, giving him the strength to overcome enemies who would otherwise have been impossible to defeat.

The ability had been invaluable throughout his journey, and he was grateful to possess it.

However, the forced ascensions were another matter entirely.

They prevented him from progressing at his own pace, forcing him to consider his level whenever he wanted to complete an objective.

He stared at the token, wondering whether there was anything he could do to avoid that problem.

But just as he was about to put it away, the token suddenly began to glow.

Leon raised an eyebrow as a panel appeared before his eyes.

Ding!

[You still have time to do what you wish.]

His eyes widened faintly as he read the message, and he instinctively scratched his chin while considering its meaning.

"You still have time...?" he murmured. "Does that mean I’ll be able to remain in the Higher Domains for a while even after reaching Level 100?"

He had assumed that reaching Level 100 would immediately trigger his ascension, leaving him with no choice but to move forward.

However, the message seemed to suggest that he had more freedom than he initially believed.

Before he could think any further, another message appeared.

[We still await your arrival, #200.]

"What the fuck?"

Leon stared at the words, his expression changing as he realized that something unusual was happening.

He thought the message from the [Celestial Token] as an automatic one. But this felt different.

Someone seemed to be communicating with him directly this time!

Was an actual player or entity speaking to him through the token?

He examined the item again, trying to determine whether he had misunderstood something, but the token continued glowing in his hand.

"Who are you?" he asked.

[#12.]

Leon paused as he read the answer.

"You’re Celestial #12? How is it possible that I can talk to you? Are you alone?"

He had never expected to communicate with another Celestial through the token, especially since he had been unable to receive any messages from it until now.

[Secret~ Also no, #73 and #104 are with me.]

"...Huh," Leon muttered.

The casual response only made him more curious.

Celestial #12 seemed perfectly willing to communicate with him, yet they were deliberately avoiding the questions that mattered most.

Leon decided to focus on the original message instead.

"What did you mean when you said I still have time?"

[Secret~ You’ll discover it once you reach Level 100, bye!]

Before Leon could ask anything else, the light surrounding the [Celestial Token] disappeared, and all the panels vanished from his sight.

He immediately tried speaking to the token again, asking several questions about Celestial #12, the other Celestials, and the meaning of their previous messages.

However, no matter what he said, the token remained silent.

’The Celestials can communicate through the token...!’

Leon examined the item for another moment, trying to understand why it had suddenly allowed him to communicate with someone else and then stopped.

’I wasn’t able to do this before, but now I can? Or was this just a one-time thing?’

He had no way to know whether the conversation had occurred because some condition had been fulfilled.

Nevertheless, the message had given him something important to consider.

Celestial #12 had explicitly told him that he still had time to do what he wanted.

He couldn’t be certain that they were telling the truth, but the possibility was worth keeping in mind.

And if it was indeed true, it also meant Leon would be able to complete everything he wanted to do!