Absolute Choice
chapter-396

Transcendence

City walls that were more than a hundred meters tall stretched out for miles in all directions.

Unlike the other three city walls, the western wall was especially reinforced. It was built with even harder materials.

This wall was extremely special because it was closest to the Silent Desolate Lands, and it was also the city wall that was closest to the Infernal domain. If the Infernal King would come attacking, this wall was the first to be hit.

Therefore, this city wall was not only a city wall. It was the first line of defense Transcendence had against the Infernal domain. Even though the Infernal domain had not invaded Transcendence for millennia, the Transcendents did not lax on the construction of the city wall that faced the Infernal domain.

But...at that moment, something that shocked the Transcendence was reverberating through the country. It was even something that caused great panic. A gaping hole in the western gate that had been specially reinforced had been ripped apart!

The gap went from top to down, stretching a hundred meters or more. The gap from left to right was also a hundred meters wide. It was as though a hundred-meter squarish gap had burst through the city walls.

What sort of terrifying force could create such appalling damage?

And most surprising of all, the hundred-meter-tall giant that always sat behind the western city wall like a mountain had suddenly disappeared!

Combining these two points, the truth to the matter could easily be inferred. Furthermore, a few eye-witnesses had seen an unbelievable scene. The gatekeeping giant had torn a hundred-meter-wide gap in the city wall with his bare hands before leaving Transcendence through the hole!

The entire city fell into panic as they discussed the matter.

The gatekeeping giant was brought by Leonis a decade ago from the outside world. Back then, the giant was only slightly more than ten meters tall.

And according to what Leonis said, the giant was a mixed child between the Transcendents and the Gargantuans. He had happened to encounter the child and brought him back.

Although the giant was large in size, the Transcendents did not feel any fear of him after they got accustomed to seeing him. This was because in their established expressions, the Gargantuans were as weak as ants in front of the Transcendents.

With the entrenched racial discrimination, they only looked at the mixed-blood giant with contempt.

However, Leonis handed the important task of guarding the gates to the giant. Although Leonis said that he was not guarding the gates but watching it, it still resulted in the jealousy and protests from rogues.

Therefore for the past decade, there were several Transcendents that deliberately came to mock and bully the giant. After learning that the giant was a weak coward who did not dare to fight back, to the point of not even daring to speak back at all, the Transcendents went from bad to worse.

The giant only faced the city wall and had his back facing everyone else. He was like a lonely mountain, as his back endured the mockery and bullying of the Transcendents, but the only response he gave was silence and tolerance.

And what was even more astonishing was that in a decade, the giant went from a height of ten meters to about a height of hundred meters. He far exceeded the impression the Transcendents had of Gargantuans.

However, his increase in size did not make the Transcendents feel any fear for the gatekeeping giant. It was because the giant had also been influenced by the racial discrimination, as the belief that the race of the Transcendents was the strongest race became entrenched in him.

He would be extremely polite to Transcendent beggars, but would hurl invectives at Bravehearts of other races. He was like a Transcendent more like any other Transcendent. He stubbornly believed that the bloodline of any other race was garbage.

And it included his Gargantuan bloodline.

As the saying goes, whoever is pitiful must have a cause to be despised. It was probably the most apt description of the gatekeeping giant.

But at this moment, the giant had left after the few humans left. He had left Transcendence, leaving the spot he had never left for a decade!

Why did the gatekeeping giant suddenly leave?

Furthermore, why did he leave in such a shocking and exaggerated manner? The hundred-meter-wide gap looked like the gaping hole of an enraged behemoth.

However, what was even more astonishing ensued.

King Leonis had disappeared as well!

...

...

Silent Desolate Lands

Yellow sand stirred as a massive figure walked on it. Its speed was not too fast, but every step was filled with force. Each step on the desolate ground caused a loud rumble as the land quaked like an earthquake.

The firm ground caved in, forming deep holes. They connected into a path and they were footprints of anger.

The hundred-meter-tall giant was walking on the vast expanse. He was heading west, where the Infernal domain was.

Suddenly, an extremely fast figure chased the gigantic footprints from afar.

"Stop!"

A commanding voice resounded.

The voice obviously reached the giant's ears and when he heard the voice, he suddenly stopped his angry footsteps like a tame lion.

The giant turned back and said with a humble and respectful attitude, "Your Majesty."

The person who chased after him was obviously King Leonis. However, Leonis did not seem to look fine. He was chasing after the giant with his third form. However, his trembling feet indicated his weakness and how he could barely maintain his form.

When Leonis came close to the hundred-meter-tall giant, he looked like an ant in front of an elephant. However, the giant's humble stance of bowing his head made it seem like he was the ant that could be easily trampled.

Leonis tried his best to hide his weak pants. It sounded like angry breathing, causing the giant to lower his head even lower.

"Why are you leaving Transcendence?"

Leonis asked with a solemn tone.

However, the giant did not respond. He was silent, like an ice-cold mountain.

Leonis's expression turned increasingly gloomy, but he did not force the giant for an answer. Instead, he asked a question, "Where do you plan on going?"

The giant remained silent.

Leonis narrowed his eyes as he stared at the giant. After a moment, he said with a deep voice, "So do you think that you have grown up and can now think independently?"

The giant finally looked up and slowly opened his mouth.

But he did not answer any of Leonis's questions. Instead, he used a firm, but somewhat crazy voice to say deeply, "The race of the Transcendents is the strongest race in the world!"

Leonis faltered slightly as a wry smile suffused across his lips. He said, "This King had once thought so too, but This King has lost. He has lost to a human. Child, This King still believed that the race of the Transcendents is the strongest race in the world, but maybe there should be a prefix of 'one of'."

The giant shook his head and decisively said, "No, there is no 'one of'! You once said over and over again that the race of the Transcendents is the strongest race in the world and that I, who have Gargantuan blood flowing inside me, is more wretched than Transcendent beggars. I believed in every word you said. Furthermore, I completely embraced it. I even tolerated the humiliation of Transcendent beggars, but if you tell me that everything isn't real, and that my decade of concession and tolerance was worth nothing, I will not be able to accept it. Neither can I accept it! The race of the Transcendents has to be the strongest race in the world, not one of the strongest!"

When Leonis heard this, he fell into a prolonged silence. He took a deep breath and slowly said, "Child, This King was afraid that you would cause trouble and wished that you would keep a low profile. That is the reason for those words. You have done well for the past decade, but This King's concern for you has been lacking to not know that you had suffered such humiliation. It is the fault of This King. But when you are down a path of mistakes, stopping is also a form of progress. Child, This King wants to correct his mistakes. The race of the Transcendents isn't the strongest race in the world. Be it the Infernal King or that human, they can defeat This King. You do not need to remain humble against any Transcendent, including This King."

The giant fell silent for a moment before the humility in his eyes gradually vanished. He said in a deep voice, "Your defeat does not represent the defeat of the Transcendents, because...you are not the strongest Transcendent!" IChooseDogLeading (我选择狗带) when read in Chinese sounds like I Choose Go Die. It was a meme that resulted from a former member of famous Korean boygroup, EXO, TAO (Huang Zitao). At a concert, there was a part in a rap that where he said "", but due to a mispronunciation, it sounded like he will not easily choose to be led by dogs. This phrase now means 'I'd rather die/I choose death'.