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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 183
A research lab in the Fairy Tower.
On the experiment table at the center of the lab, Eldir lay with his eyes open.
“To construct the framework of the Divine Sword in just four days… Can it even be called a Divine Sword if it's made that quickly? Your father really makes some outrageous demands.”
Muttering nearby was Johannes.
“…Will he be alright?”
Melvria stood by, watching Eldir with a troubled expression.
“If you hadn’t been here, that elf might’ve struggled. But if you use Dragon Tongue Magic, he shouldn’t suffer any major injuries.”
“Dragon Tongue Magic?”
“Yes. You can still use it, right?”
At Johannes' question, Melvria nodded.
“Yes. I can still use it like before.”
“Hmm… Alright, let me ask. Does Dragon Tongue Magic have no limits? If you command it with mana, can anything be accomplished?”
“Yes. Most things tend to happen as spoken. However, it's more specialized in destruction, and there are restrictions when it comes to healing. It’s impossible to restore or create life. Maybe it's because I can only use two types of elemental magic…”
“Then, after I remove Eldir's Spirit Stone, would healing him be possible?”
“…It won’t be easy.”
“But not impossible, right? If I help afterward, we should be able to heal him.”
With those words, Johannes reached his hand toward Eldir.
“Then, let's begin. Paralyze.”
Johannes paralyzed Eldir, bringing his right hand close to Eldir's eye.
“Extraction.”
Chiiiik...
With a burning sound, the tissue connecting Eldir’s eye to the Spirit Stone began to dissolve.
Due to the paralysis, Eldir didn't move, but Melvria’s face twisted in distress at the sight.
‘The wind mana is disappearing...’
The Spirit Stone, which formed the core of Eldir’s mana, was being extracted.
As it was removed, the mana within his body started to dissipate.
From the now-empty eye socket where the Spirit Stone had been, blood began to flow like tears.
“In the name of the Dragon, I command the mana—heal the body.”
As the Spirit Stone came out, Melvria hastily used Dragon Tongue Magic.
The torn tissue within the socket began to regenerate, but…
The lost eye could not be restored.
Moreover, the loss of wind mana continued, prompting Melvria to call out urgently to Johannes.
“Sir, please help! Eldir's mana is still leaking out.”
“Alright. Warp Gate.”
Ziiiiing.
At Melvria’s plea for help, Johannes summoned a Warp Gate.
No, he should be helping with the healing.
Why open a Warp Gate now?
“Sir…?”
“I’m a lich. How can a lich restore life?”
Melvria’s eyes widened in shock at his words.
Even though Johannes was an undead lich, she thought that as a 9th-circle mage, he might have a solution…
Why was he saying something so obvious now?
"Th-Then..."
"Actually, I was originally planning to seek help from the Saintess... but she had already returned to the Sanctuary."
Did the people of the Sanctuary withdraw after the Holy Emperor revealed his true identity?
Melvria, anxious, raised her voice.
"Then what should we do? Eldir is—"
"Your father found a way."
"My father...?"
"Yes. You'll find out once you cross the Warp Gate."
At Johannes' gesture, Eldir's body gently floated into the air. His body stopped in front of the Warp Gate, and Johannes spoke.
"Why don't you carry him?"
"...You're not coming?"
"I need to forge the Wind Sword."
Melvria glanced towards the nearby workstation. Countless mana stones, spirit stones, and various metals were prepared. Johannes was staying behind to continue forging the Wind Sword, while she would go alone.
Nodding, she embraced Eldir.
"...Alright."
"Good. Then, have a safe trip."
Johannes waved his hand, and after glancing briefly at him, Melvria stepped into the Warp Gate.
Once she vanished from the lab, Johannes gazed down at Eldir's spirit stone in his hand.
'Will it be possible?'
The 9th Circle.
The pinnacle of magical mastery—an achievement no one in history had reached.
Though Johannes called himself a 9th Circle mage... there was no officially recognized 9th Circle magic that humans could wield. Even in the Demon Realm, the so-called origin of circle magic, there were no records of 9th Circle magic.
Johannes, having lived a thousand years as a lich, understood the reason.
'The 9th Circle is the stage of creation.'
All circle magic has structure—runes to chant and frameworks to shape the imagery.
But the 9th Circle had none of these constraints.
9th Circle magic was the ultimate form of magic, where the mage could command mana to create whatever they desired—like Dragon Tongue magic.
'But because of that... it’s nothing more than a lesser form of Dragon Tongue magic.'
Compared to Dragon Tongue, which was backed by the infinite mana of Infinity, human 9th Circle magic had clear limitations.
—Mana, explode the traitor.
When Ernstine blew off Johannes' head in the past, he had felt it distinctly.
Even as a lich, striving to overcome limits, an undead body only stored more mana than a human's—but...
Compared to Dragon Tongue magic, there was an inherent limitation due to the lack of infinite mana from Infinity.
'There is a limit to human imagination, and the power of words doesn’t reach mana as Dragon Tongue does.'
9th Circle magic, free from the constraints of runes, was indeed flexible—but ultimately inferior to Dragon Tongue.
In a way, this was inevitable.
Compared to dragons, humans were lesser beings.
No matter how far a lesser species reached the pinnacle, limitations were bound to exist.
'If it were an era of peace, perhaps that would have been enough, but...'
If the Meier Empire had unified the continent, and the world was at peace, perhaps he would have been content with merely reaching the 9th Circle, even if it was considered a lesser form of Dragon Tongue magic.
Though it was weaker compared to Dragon Tongue, the 9th Circle was still an absolute realm where a mage could realize creation at will.
'But in the current situation, I can’t afford to be so complacent.'
The present era was a critical moment for humanity—an existential crisis.
Even setting aside the fact that the Middle Realm had become a colony of the Demon Realm...
Considering the eventual resurrection of the Dragon God Meier, and the White Demon King who ruled the Three Realms, being content with the lesser magic of Dragon Tongue was not an option.
"I, the Ninth Circle, renounce the authority of creation granted to me."
Johannes tightly grasped the spirit stone and slowly opened his mouth.
His mana circle surged explosively, spinning eight times in an instant.
"I also restrict my free imagination."
He renounced creation and constrained his imagination.
From Johannes' mouth, only words that suppressed himself flowed.
"My mana, which turns for the ninth time, seeks only one thing."
The restriction of runes.
The restriction of imagination.
As a mage progresses through the circles, they gradually overcome the limitations that bind them.
Johannes, who wielded 9th Circle magic, had already reached a realm where all such restrictions were meaningless.
Yet, he chose to seal away all the possibilities that his 9th Circle magic granted.
Even though it was 9th Circle magic, he confined himself within a framework.
Even though he could have spoken in human language to manifest magic, he recited the runes instead.
Just before chanting the activation phrase, at the final moment, Johannes thought,
'Perhaps there was another way.'
Considering the possibilities of 9th Circle magic, perhaps he didn’t have to choose this method for humanity’s survival.
'Creating a refuge like a Sanctuary would have been well within my capabilities.'
If it were simply about preserving the lineage of humanity, that might have been the better choice.
Rather than opposing an Absolute Being, escaping would have been more advantageous for survival.
'But even so... that would have only delayed extinction.'
Humans couldn’t live forever locked away in a refuge.
To truly ensure the survival of the human race, they had to resist the Absolute Beings.
'And the means of resistance I have chosen... is Ernstine.'
Even if she once destroyed his head...
Whether he resented her or not, Ernstine was humanity’s only "weapon" capable of opposing the Absolute Beings.
Johannes recited a rune that did not exist in this world.
"What I seek... is a sword. A vessel to contain only one mana."
The mana stones surrounding the laboratory all floated into the air.
They connected with Johannes’ mana circle...
And formed the ninth rotation of mana.
"God Hand."
9th Circle Magic—God Hand.
A mage who reached the ultimate realm renounced all possibilities.
It was the first 9th Circle magic created to forge a Divine Sword.
Melvria, holding Eldir, stepped beyond the Warp Gate and looked around.
'This place is...'
Beyond the Warp Gate lay a space lush with greenery.
The ground was covered with vibrant grass and blooming flowers.
It was a place where the energy of life was so intense that Melvria’s dark elf skin tingled from its force.
She immediately realized where she was.
‘This is where the World Tree stands.’
In the past, when she had infiltrated the capital, she hadn’t dared to approach for fear of revealing her identity.
Standing by the massive trunk of the World Tree was Kaylen.
"Father!"
"You returned sooner than I expected. How is Eldir?"
Melvria, holding Eldir, hurriedly ran toward him.
Though she had scolded Eldir in the past, her concern for him outweighed any resentment.
Her face was filled with worry.
"Eldir's wounds have healed, but his mana keeps leaking.
Even though the spirit stone was removed... it feels like there's a hole in his mana core."
Melvria’s incomplete Dragon Tongue magic couldn’t fully resolve Eldir’s condition.
Kaylen observed Eldir’s state for a moment, then pointed to the front of the World Tree's trunk where he had been standing.
"His mana is indeed still leaking... Lay him down over here."
"Yes!"
Melvria carefully placed Eldir in front of the World Tree’s trunk.
Then, one by one, the leaves of the World Tree began to fall onto Eldir's body.
The leaves quickly turned a vivid green and were absorbed into him.
‘It seems like his mana is leaking less now. It’s working!’
Relieved, Melvria watched over Eldir.
Just then, Kaylen gently tapped the trunk of the World Tree.
"Deluna. I entrust my son-in-law to you."
Deluna?
Melvria’s eyes widened.
The name of the mother she had loved and hated all her life…
Why was it being mentioned here?
"...Father? What did you just say?"
"It’s been a while since you called me ‘father.’"
"Father!"
"Deluna. Even though your daughter has come to see you, will you remain hidden within the World Tree?"
The branches of the World Tree trembled softly, and more leaves fell.
But they all drifted toward Eldir, without any noticeable change.
As Melvria watched the leaves brush past her, she felt an odd sense of betrayal and emptiness.
Was this tree really her mother?
A tree whose leaves wouldn’t even touch her?
"...If you won’t come out even when your daughter is standing before you, perhaps I should speak of something else."
Kaylen crossed his arms and continued.
"Saint Benedict was a High Elf. It seems the King of Wind Spirits is with him. Do you know anything about this?"
As soon as Kaylen finished speaking, a green light flickered before his eyes.
The light gathered and formed into a distinct shape…
And it was a figure that even Melvria recognized.
"Mother…?"
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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