D.I.O

Chapter 261

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

A transcendent being could exist separately from anything, so it was possible for one to somehow distort DIO’s defenses and break in.

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

‘Maybe that’s why DIO contains more transcendents than necessary. Well, anyway….’

Merlin stopped his train of thought and looked at Arc.

There was no chance that Arc had transcended. Thus, Merlin briefly considered the possibility of someone impersonating her; however, Merlin’s intuition told him this wasn’t the case.

Merlin nodded, knowing 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 the still-grumbling Miho to the DIO library before activating the Editor Blade in his hand.

“Data Patch.”

A new message quietly popped up before Arc, Sungmuk, Quiet Heaven, and Ellie after Merlin’s Editor Blade stabbed them.

/Non-destructive setting complete./

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

The texts swiftly ended without explanation, but Arc and the two pets were stunned after reading 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 applied on various buildings and areas, such as the Holy Lands and Starting. Any location designated with this setting couldn’t be destroyed, no matter what one did.

This setting prevented users from destroying objects in the city or collapsing critical infrastructure; hence, it could be said that this non-destructive 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.

Furthermore, this was the setting that stopped Igniz’s ultimate magic spells from destroying the buildings in Starting during the last closed beta mission.josei

“No one ever applied it to living beings, but doing so was always possible. For an entire day, we won’t receive any adverse effects or injuries from external attacks.”

“Why didn’t you use this setting when we fought the Gold Dragon?”

“Our opponent wasn’t strong enough to necessitate the non-destructive system setting. I also needed some practice in sharpening my combat senses… anyway, let’s go.”

With this, Merlin thrust himself into the blue gap floating in the air.

Arc and Sungmuk went through the portal as well, and the two pets followed suit afterward.

From the outside, the place the party members entered looked like a blue gap, but once the group went through, they saw a huge temple-style building before them.

“… It’s more normal than I expected.”

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

After speaking, Merlin walked towards the building.

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

The only difference was that the temple in front of them was a bit smaller and had fewer decorative elements. Overall, this building was quite simple and modest looking.

A woman was standing in front of the temple’s front door.

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

The white-haired beauty had a puzzled expression as she looked at the party members. This was the famous guide that every user met when they first entered DIO - 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 attractive. Among DIO’s top ten beauties, she’s definitely within the top three.’

Suddenly, Merlin thought of what would happen if he took a picture of Mary and posted it on the Internet. Not only would his post immediately go viral, but people would likely write over a dozen articles about it as well.

A considerable number of users stanned Mary, with her beautiful appearance and mysterious atmosphere. 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 a name that Merlin had heard before.

“Snowflake Flower?”

[I am Snowflake Flower of the Frost Warrior Clan. Remember. Don't forget.]

The name made Merlin recall the fading image of the woman who placed the Seal of Heaven upon his forehead. He remembered her complex and infinitely-lonely expression, an expression 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 she no longer recognized him. That was when Merlin suspected something had happened to Mary.

However, Merlin didn’t know exactly what had occurred.

‘Now that I think about it, the reason I could use mana in real life was because of the Seal of Heaven.’

Merlin was born with the talent of an Irregular and possessed an abnormal body. Yet, he was still restricted from using mana, as he didn’t have any functional spiritual pathways.

If he didn’t have the Seal of Heaven, 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’ve been almost 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 speak in such a dumbfounded manner.

“Have you become stupid? 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 others named Sungmuk walking around this place?”

After hearing Sungmuk’s reply, Mary’s jaw couldn’t help but drop 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 sneaked away as he watched and listened to the friendly banter between the two, who seemed to know each other fairly well.

Although Merlin was surprised that Sungmuk and Mary were acquainted, his main purpose for coming here was more important.

Whoosh.

When Merlin stepped 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. The smooth teleportation didn’t even seem to reveal his presence. However….

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

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

DIO placed Mary 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 sent her way.

Though Merlin’s Irrational Hand strike instantly exerted an unimaginable amount of power without any forewarning, Mary blocked it without any damage whatsoever.

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

“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 combat-ready state.

Yet, despite the group’s appearance, Mary scoffed.

There were no signs 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 swift sword attack so fast that even the most advanced swordsmen couldn’t react properly.

Whoosh.

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

The sword in her right hand was a beautiful sparkling blue blade, and the other was an impressive red blade that seemed like it would burn through anything at a moment’s notice.

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