Ashen Requiem
Chapter 57: Transcendence

Chapter 57: Transcendence

A gust of wind whipped through the curtains, and the window burst open with a bang.

Leathery wings beat the cold air, and a young girl’s body crash-landed clumsily onto the stone ledge.

— "UURGH... Finally." groaned Ginny as she dumped two heavy reinforced crates onto the wooden floor. The boards groaned under the weight.

The first crate—engraved with the seal of OrphelineLaboratory—released a warm, syrupy scent : healing and low end energy potions, still faintly steaming.

The second, made of blackened metal, hissed with thick, greenish vapor.

A warning seal was burned into its lid : Poison • HighToxicity.

Ginny, already sprawled on the edge of the bed, kicked her feet idly in the air.

Her wings twitched behind her, still shivering from the flight.

— "Made it just in time. Hope you passed along my regards to Helena." Dante said casually, stepping through the door and shrugging off his uniform jacket.

He tossed it onto a chair without so much as a glance at her.

Ginny glanced up at him, dead-eyed and dramatic.

— "I better be getting a feast for that suicide mission... I had to sneak through three black markets, a smuggler’s den, and convince a blind fence I was his long-lost cat. All that for—what?!" She jabbed a claw toward the energy vials. "Aromatic herbs?! Do you know how much these stupid things cost?!"

She flopped backward onto the bed with theatrical despair.

— "You’re burning through all the cash we stole from those Caledron idiots... And if you think I’m sharing my personal treasure stash with you, you’re delusional. Boo!"

Dante, crouched near the toxic crate, didn’t respond.

He opened a black toolkit, revealing a line of fine acupuncture needles, each dipped in a sterilizing solution.

He picked one up, brought it to the light, inspecting the steel.

Only then did he glance her way.

— "If you had half a brain, you’d know why I asked for these specific ingredients." His tone was level, devoid of anger, yet as cold as ever.

Ginny slowly sat up, curiosity winning over her sulk.

Dante grabbed a basic energy vial, uncorked it, then added three pinches of herbafluens, a piece of redyewroot, and a microscopic shard of astralpepper.

The potion turned blue.

He capped it, shook it—violet.

Ginny blinked, her mouth slightly open.

— "Wait... that looks familiar..."

— "That’s Lukas’s formula, isn’t it ?"

Dante said nothing.

She knelt on the bed, knees tucked beneath her.

— "How many years has it been...?" she whispered. "Since the night where we all laughed together with our old friends... Since we all got torn apart."

She looked down. A shadow of sadness passed over her face—quickly masked by a defiant sniff.

— "You think he’s still alive ? Lukas ?"

Still kneeling beside the vials, Dante finally murmured :

— "Even the devil would think twice before killing a mind like his."

Silence.

Then Dante stood, holding the violet potion in his hand.

Ginny watched him silently, subdued now.

He was ready to begin the training.

---

Flashback

The fireplace crackled softly. Through the shattered windows, winter wind howled in brief, icy squall.

A bottle of liquor sat on the low table, half-empty.

Two glasses and two figures.

KangSooJin sat slouched in a battered old armchair, eyes fixed on the flames.

His black shirt hung open, revealing blood-stained bandages beneath.

He didn’t speak. He never did, not when Lukas was talking.

Lukas Morrow, the owner of the second glass, swirled the drink lazily in his hand.

Tousled blond hair gave him the look of a mad alchemist.

He wasn’t tall, nor particularly built—but his gaze held the kind of intensity that pinned you in place. Like he knew what you’d say before you opened your mouth.

— "You know, Jin..." Lukas said, swirling the liquor over the ice, "the human body is just an unfinished Nexus. It was designed to hold energy—not transform it. That’s why we hit a wall."

He stood, rounded the table, and placed a worn grimoire in Kang’s lap.

Its cracked cover and yellowed pages spoke of forgotten ages.

Diagrams of organs, alchemical notes, ancient scribbles.

Kang didn’t even blink.

— "I’m about to change that."

Soo Jin looked up, eyes steady.

— "Your ’awakening potion’?"

Lukas grinned.

— "Better. A catalyst. One that forces a controlled overclock of the Nexus—not through spirit, but pure chemistry." He tapped a diagram. "The herbs are secondary. What matters is the collision between energy and the molecular intelligence of natural catalysts."

He straightened, handing Soo Jin a parchment list.

— "Aventisyewroot — retains pain. Herbafluens — slows energy flow without halting it. Astralpepper — stimulates all four Nexus layers."

He paused, gauging his reaction. But Jin didn’t flinch.

— "You want to break through the limits of humanity, huh ?" He finally said.

Lukas gave a dry laugh.

— "We already were transcendent, Jin. The world, its dogmas—they just ripped us from the Source, so they could rule over our weakness."

Silence. The fire crackled. Lukas leaned in, voice softer now :

— "This potion won’t make you a god. But for a few seconds, it’ll give you perfect circulation. Enough to awaken what most people spend their lives brushing up against but never grasping."

He looked straight at his friend. No—his brother.

— "But you already know all this. I’m not showing you because you don’t get it. I’m showing you because you’re scared to cross the line."

Kang Soo Jin didn’t speak. His gaze burned in the firelight. But his fists clenched slowly.

— "I’m not scared," he whispered. "I just... don’t want to hurt anymore."

Lukas knelt in front of him, eyes locked on his.

— "Then make it worth it. You can’t stop others from hurting... but at least make their pain mean something."

He handed over the ingredient list.

— "Keep it. And when you’re ready... you’ll know what to do."

Then Lukas drained his glass, turned, and walked away.

---

The memory faded like cigar smoke crushedtoosoon.

Back in the present, Dante sat motionless, eyes closed.

The floor creaked softly as he rose to his feet.

Ginny, still sitting cross-legged on the bed, chewed lazily on a half-drenched candied fruit Helena had given her.

Her tone was light, but her eyes betrayed concern.

— "You look spaced out," she mumbled. "Another one of your flashbacks, old man ?"

Dante didn’t reply. He knelt beside the toxic crate, pulling out six perfectly aligned vials.

Beside them : a case of acupuncture needles, forged from a forbidden alloy used in spiritual weaponry—AnkarothBone, outlawed across the continent.

He selected one, dipped it into the green vial. A thin trail of vapor hissed out.

Ginny’s brow furrowed. She sat up straighter.

— "Wait, wait... You’re gonna inject that now ? Jin, you haven’t even digested the potion yet—and Helena told me that stuff’s made from Archnevenom!"

Dante stabbed the first needle into his left shoulder joint. A shudder ran through him—but he didn’t flinch.

The pain was blinding, but contained.

— "Exactly. That’s why I do this."

The second needle went into his lower back, near the hip.

His entire body tensed. Veins bulged beneath his skin as his nervous system fought the foreign invasion.

— "I need to calibrate my inner circuit. If I can guide a deadly poison through my veins without letting it reach vital points... I can do the same with corruption."

Ginny approached cautiously, eyes glowing with fear.

— "And if you screw up the channeling? If it hits your heart or your spine?"

— "ThenIdie." He said it like he was ordering takeout.

Dante sat in lotus position, legs crossed.

He inhaled slowly, syncing with his Nexus.

It hummed faintly—like a string pulled too tight, ready to snap.

The six needles were now in place : two in his liver, one near his solar plexus, one in his right flank, two on his scapulae.

The poison now flowed through his inner meridians.

His muscles spasmed. His breathing shortened.

He shut his eyes. Pain had no place now—only control.

— "On my signal... plant the last one. Skull-point."

Ginny paled.

— "Jin... this isn’t a game. You could—"

— "Ginny." He hadn’t raised his voice. But the way he said her name made her shiver.

She picked up the final needle, solemn. Her little hand trembled slightly.

— "You’re insane, you know that?"

No response.

— "I want double snacks after this."

Still nothing.

Then—

— "NOW!" Dante roared.

Ginny drove the needle into the crown of his head, right at the Nexus convergence.

Instantly, black energy exploded from him—followed by a crimson aura that pushed her back.

The poison churned in his veins—but instead of killing him, it obeyed.

He forced it through a precise circuit in his bloodstream.

Dante opened his eyes. He raised a single finger.

Ginny tossed him a sheet of paper.

With a flick, he sliced it clean in half—with his nail.

Still on her knees, Ginny stared, stunned.

— "You... you actually did it. By the snacks... you actually did it..."

Dante stood, calm, a faint smile curling his lips.

— "Onestep closer to my transcendence, my oldfriend."

The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!