I became transcendent

Here's the translation of your text:

Kane thought he could escape.

Really, even if just for a moment, he thought he could escape.

But then...

The entire space compressed.

The reality around Kane twisted.

The step he took to move… froze in the air.

His legs… locked in place.

His arms… didn't even dare to tremble.

And his eyes…

He couldn't even blink.

Only his mouth could move.

Owen and Leroy stopped laughing and began to watch carefully.

Kylin slowly walked toward him.

His footsteps echoed.

With each step… Space compressed a little more.

With each step… An ancient fear filled Kane's insides.

He couldn't even breathe.

The only thought echoing in his mind: I DON'T WANT TO DIE.

His eyes watered slightly. He couldn't do this.

He couldn't die like this.

No… No, NO!

His mouth trembled. His lips opened with effort…

And Kane started crying.

"H-Headmaster… Bro… Look, i-it was a joke..."

Kylin's eyes were cold and merciless.

Kane's entire body shuddered.

"I'm sorry!" he shrieked. The fear in his voice was pure and unfiltered.

"I'm really sorry! Don't do this, I'm still young! I… I'm a skilled person! You might need me!"

Kylin stopped.

Kane's eyes opened with hope.

But then Kylin slightly tilted his head.

And Kane realized he was smiling.

That wasn't a good sign.

It wasn't good at all.

Still shaken by the waves of pain, Kylin furrowed his brow and took a deep breath.

His eyes locked onto Kane.

With a calm expression, in a hoarse and threatening voice, he asked:

"Do you have any idea how much this hurts?"

Kane froze like ice.

But...

He was a joker, right?

He should laugh this off.

With a tense grin, he shrugged.

Here's the translation of your text:

"Uh… I guess I have no idea! I was just joking, haha!?"

At that moment, Kylin's eyes narrowed slightly.

And he slowly tilted his head to the side.

"Is that so?"

Kane realized something was wrong inside him.

Because the relaxed, careless expression on Kylin's face had completely disappeared.

"Then..." Kylin said, slowly lifting his foot.

"... I should give you an idea."

BAM!

Kylin's kick landed directly on Kane's most vulnerable spot.

And…

The universe echoed once more.

Kane's soul was about to leave his body and float toward the sky.

He couldn't even make a sound.

Because his lungs couldn't even process the pain.

He only collapsed to the ground with vacant, dull eyes.

Owen and Leroy…

For the first time, they felt sorry for Kane.

Kylin glanced at Kane, who was lying motionless on the ground. He had passed out.

He took a deep breath, shook his head, and grabbed Kane by the collar, throwing him over his back.

"Let's head to the palace."

Owen and Leroy fell silent.

Though both of them secretly felt sorry for Kane, their hairs stood on end as they looked at Kylin.

This man…

Was truly terrifying.

Nevertheless, they quietly nodded.

As Kylin carried Kane on his back, he made his way toward the throne room.

Along the corridor, servant girls, succubi, cat women, and elf girls gave him surprised looks.

For a while, there was silence… Then one of them sighed and muttered:

"Ah… Again?"

Another cat girl dropped her ears and wagged her tail slightly, adding with a hint of sadness:

"I feel sorry for the King..."

One of the succubus servants giggled softly and whispered to her friend:

"But let's admit it, doesn't it look like he's being a bit too rough this time?"

One of the elf girls sighed and shook her head.

"I think she's already gotten used to it."

Owen and Leroy involuntarily cleared their throats when they saw this scene.

But Kylin didn't react at all.

He simply let out a tired sigh and continued carrying Kane on his back.

A few minutes later, the large doors to the throne room opened.

Kylin stepped inside with Kane still on his back. Owen and Leroy followed him.

The silence in the throne room began to fill with the sound of Kylin's heavy footsteps.

Kylin squinted his eyes as he lowered Kane from his back and asked in a mocking tone:

"How long are you going to keep pretending to faint, Kane?"

Without waiting for a second, he threw Kane toward the couch.

"Ugh—!"

Kane slammed into the soft cushions of the couch and rolled.

While muttering curses, he frowned.

It really hurt, a lot. But still, he slightly lifted his head and thought to himself:

"Still... I got away with it."

Owen and Leroy, after briefly glancing at Kane, silently settled into separate couches.

Kylin stretched out comfortably and sat down.

There was a brief silence in the room.

Finally, Owen took a deep breath and muttered, "What a day..."

Kane, as if nothing had happened, suddenly sat up with a wide grin and shouted, "Alright then! Party time!"

He gestured to the servants.

The servants quickly moved into action, filling the table with wine, various fruits, and snacks. The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.

Kylin let out a slight sigh, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and placed it between his lips.

Just as he reached for his lighter, Owen snapped his fingers.

Fwoosh!

The flame flickered momentarily at the tip of his finger and effortlessly lit the cigarette.

Kylin exhaled slowly, a slight smile forming as he said, "Nice timing."

Owen smiled back and replied, "Always."

But in the midst of the cheerful atmosphere, Owen suddenly became serious. "Alright, let's get to the real issue... How are things going, bro?" he asked, looking at him intently.

Leroy nodded while sipping his drink. "Yeah, we're curious about the latest situation."

Kane raised his wine glass and added, "The fun is great, but your return has been quite eventful."

Kylin took a deep drag from his cigarette. As he exhaled the smoke slowly, his thoughts drifted back a hundred years.

The Black Logan Kingdom...

A hundred years ago, this place was still not theirs. The sky was gloomy, and the earth was soaked with blood.

Back then...

Owen, Leroy, Kane, and Shaw were searching for a planet.

A place where they could establish order, where they could truly build something.

But most importantly, a system where they could solidify their powers, a world they could create...

And then, the Black Logan Kingdom appeared before them.

Logan...

That man.

A Half-Step to the Transcendent. Stage 7.

With his power, status, and authority, he ruled his kingdom with an iron fist.

But for him, the most important thing wasn't power. It was Rias.

Back then, Rias moved freely on her own.

But Logan had set his eyes on her.

When Kylin first heard this, he hadn't even cared.

But things had changed. When Logan decided to do whatever it took to claim Rias...

That's when war became inevitable.

When the war began, Kylin was at Stage 6. Kane was at Stage 6, Owen, Leroy, and Shaw were at Stage 5. On paper, they shouldn't have stood a chance against a Half-Step to the Transcendent. But that was only on paper.

The real battle... was different.

Logan hadn't been as easy to defeat as expected. Kylin had been inches away from death with every move. The stage difference, power difference, even the superiority of concepts were all on Logan's side.

But there was something on Kylin's side as well. The Universal Object.

At the end of the battle, Kylin stood over Logan's corpse, still holding the sword with blood dripping from it.

And in that moment… the Black Logan Kingdom had fallen.

Kylin was not a king.

So, he left the kingdom to the men beside him.

Kane, Owen, Leroy, and Shaw.

They had been willing to rule this place from the very beginning.

Kylin had just fought, won, and then turned his back and walked away.

For the last hundred years, he hadn't returned.

And now, in the lands he had once conquered, sitting before his old friends.

At that moment, Kane raised his glass. "Now you're a Transcendent..."

His gaze was serious. He leaned forward on the table.

"Are you thinking of establishing an empire?"

Kylin, as he pressed his cigarette into the ashtray, lifted his head. Just as he was about to respond, he noticed Owen and Leroy frozen in shock.

Shock.

His eyes widened slightly, and their bodies were almost motionless.

"Wait…" Owen's voice was hushed. "Did you become a Transcendent?"

Leroy suddenly stood up. "Why didn't you say this before?!"

Kane rolled his eyes and raised his glass into the air. "That's why he wasn't meeting with us. He's not even on the same level as us anymore."

While Owen and Leroy were still trying to process this, Kylin took a deep breath. "Yes. I became a Transcendent."

And for a brief moment, a deep silence filled the room.

Kylin smiled faintly and shook his head. "A lot has happened…"

His eyes scanned his friends at the table.

The glass in front of Kane, Owen's still-dazed expression, Leroy's astonished gaze…

But he noticed something else. Kane's power.

His aura… it wasn't the same as before. It was deeper, more intense.

"Kane… You've reached Stage 7 too."

Kane grinned slightly and shrugged. "Well, when one person leaves, someone else has to grow stronger, right?"

Kylin turned to Owen and Leroy. "You two have reached Stage 6."

For a moment, he closed his eyes, trying to suppress the warmth inside.

"I'm proud of you."

Leroy exhaled through his nose and crossed his arms. "You should be proud! Back then, we were a few stages behind you, but look, we're catching up!"

Owen raised his glass and slightly gestured toward Kylin. "You haven't fallen behind either. Becoming a Transcendent… You really did it."

Kylin opened his mouth to respond to Owen, but then he realized something. One person was missing at the table.

He furrowed his brow and looked around.

"Where's Shaw?"

Silence.

For a moment, Kane avoided looking at him. Owen and Leroy's cheerfulness slightly faded.

Kylin felt a bad sensation creeping over him. "What happened to Shaw?"