Chapter 194: I Won, Didn’t I?

To the corrupted spirit, the mage had been an eyesore from the very beginning.

And understandably so. His given order was to kill the two members of the imperial family.

But that mage had been interfering from the start.

At first, he seemed merely threatening due to the amount of mana he possessed, and the spirit thought his actual skill was beneath his own.

But everything changed the moment the mage stepped out of the barrier.

Whatever he had done, his power had risen to a level that posed a real threat. So the spirit quickly tried to come up with a way to separate him from the imperials.

The answer was mental projection.

It was something only a spirit like him capable of endlessly drawing mana from this vast ocean could accomplish.

So he cast the mage into the mental projection, planning to take care of the imperials now that he was gone.

But…damn it.

The problem was the storm of flames the mage had summoned just before being dragged into the mental projection. Instead of fading, it had grown larger the closer it got to the sea.

From the perspective of the spirit who was now pouring all his mana into maintaining the mental projection, there was nothing he could do.

He must die.

With that, he turned his gaze back toward the mental projection.

At first, it looked like the mage was struggling.

His attacks were passive, and even killing the monsters seemed like a stretch.

The spirit thought everything was going according to plan.

Soon, the monsters born of the host’s mental projection would tear the mage to pieces and bring him to a gruesome end.

He had no doubt.

That is, until the mage’s expression changed.

Suddenly, the mage smirked as if something had clicked and began unleashing spells in rapid succession.

…!

At that rate of casting, his heart should have given out.

And yet, the mage continued to cast without issue.

That was when the tide began to turn.

The mage’s spells were different.

They burned through mana at an abnormally fast pace and the speed was alarming.

At this rate, even the mana forming the mental projection would run dry.

The corrupted spirit hurriedly began drawing in more mana from the sea.

Gwooooooooooooooo…

Instantly, his physical body took damage.

Put simply, it was like this—

Even if you connected a pipe to the sea, the pipe would still have a fixed diameter. And no matter how much seawater you tried to draw through it, there would always be a limit.

Derman’s body was essentially functioning as that pipe.

The problem was that, compared to the amount of mana being consumed, his physical body couldn’t withstand the strain.

His body had already been pushed to its limits once to sustain the mental projection.

At this rate, it could collapse.

It’s not over yet…!

If there was one relief, it was that the mage trapped inside the mental projection also appeared to be reaching his limit.

His entire body had turned purple, and now it was even starting to shift into a crimson hue.

Just a little more.

Just a bit more endurance, and he would win!

With that conviction, the corrupted spirit forced himself to ignore the ongoing collapse of Derman’s body.

But then—

What is he…?

A change began to occur in the mage’s body.

***

Perhaps it was because he had knocked on the door once already.

The wall of the Sixth Circle, which he had thought would take longer to overcome, crumbled almost absurdly easily.

So this… is the Sixth Circle.

A sixth ring had formed atop the five that already existed.

From a conventional standpoint, the difference between the Fifth and Sixth Circles wasn’t all that dramatic.

It simply meant you could now cast a few stronger spells.

But for Jun, it was something else entirely.

It’s like… I’ve grown a new hand.

And it wasn’t that it felt unfamiliar.

Rather, he was struck with a realization: he could now do things that had only been theoretically possible before….things he’d never been capable of due to his limitations.

And that realization instantly sparked new inspiration.

It was a moment of true wonder.

Even now, the Devouring Flame Jun had summoned was engulfing everything around it.

And yet, within that raging inferno, Jun stood motionless. He was gazing blankly into the air as if intoxicated by something.

Now I understand, Sergey. The world you once saw.

Sergey, the master of the Volcatornic Magic Tower, who had died on the gallows and whose severed corpse was later used as a chimera. A mage of the Seventh Circle.

At first, Jun had found Sergey’s mental domain unbelievable, something impossible even in theory.

But now, he understood.

Jun hadn’t lived long as a mage.

But now, having reached the Sixth Circle and begun preparing to ascend to the Seventh,

The solid layers of knowledge he had accumulated seemed to whisper in his ears.

Normally, this would be impossible to use.

But at this moment, it was within reach.

A spell came to mind. One that would only become usable after reaching the Seventh Circle.

All he needed was blazing fire.

And in this place, there was more than enough of that.

Even now, flames were battling the countless monsters rising from the abyss.

Watching that inferno, Jun opened his dimensional bracelet.

What emerged was the crimson orb Sergey had passed to him just before his death.

It was an artifact that would now guide Jun into a new world of magic.

What a strange feeling.

It was almost absurd.

The man who had tried to kill him, who had even joined forces with Heavenly Church to slaughter many others—

And yet, the item that very man had entrusted to Jun in his final moments…

was now the key to Jun’s growth.

Well, I’ll make good use of it anyway.

He focused his mind on the orb.

In truth, the spell he was about to use was clearly beyond his current capacity.

It was a spell that involved drawing a portion of the [Mental Barrier] into reality.

But—

Temporarily summoning just a part of it… that much, I can manage.

Given the current environment, and with Sergey’s essence contained in the orb, it was possible.

Jun turned his gaze to the flames that had spread across the area.

Without any grand gesture or chant, he simply extended the hand holding the orb.

Fsssssshh…

From the flames all around, thin threads began to draw themselves out.

Crimson strands, dozens of them, like the image Jun held in his mind, swirled around the orb and began to tangle together like a skein of yarn.

The mental domain I’m recreating…

It was the hottest space Jun could possibly conceive.

He condensed a fragment of the conditions required to form that space into the palm of his hand.

That’s when something shifted.

Gwooooooooooooooo…

A reaction came from Derman.

The bastard had realized it.

And he was clearly… afraid.

He began to thrash wildly, desperate to kill Jun right here and now.

It seemed he’d pushed himself too far.

The Abyss felt even closer than before.

No, more precisely, the Abyss was expanding.

And with it, the number of monsters born from within was growing exponentially.

Is he planning to abandon his host entirely?

Chances were high that he’d been spooked by the magic Jun was constructing.

A corrupted spirit is, in a way, like a newborn. It’s completely blank.

Even in the game, it had always shown a particular vulnerability to fear.

Yes, be afraid. Be terrified.

And that was exactly what Jun wanted.

The tangled threads of flame continued to grow, knotting and swelling in size.

No matter how Derman responded, Jun remained focused on steadily building up its mass.

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiii――!!!

Still, Derman’s frenzied struggle wasn’t completely meaningless.

Some monsters had started pushing through the flames, inching ever closer to Jun.

Illusia.

[Lightning Whip]

A whip of lightning formed in the air, lashing out at the oncoming monsters.

But once again, waves of creatures surged from the Abyss.

Among them, some bared their charred, gaping maws.

Golem.

A golem, cloaked in searing flame, swung its massive fist.

With a single blow, monsters were torn apart, their flesh scattered.

Kuwaaaaaaaaah――!!

Then, from deep within the Abyss, an enormous pair of glowing eyes burst forth.

Unlike anything before, the creature they belonged to was large enough to swallow a human whole.

A colossal whale surged up from the depths.

Absorbing Jun’s mana in an instant, the golem grew even larger and raised both arms to block the creature’s charge.

Creaaaaaaak――!!

[Lightning Call]

A bolt of piercing blue lightning crashed down onto the beast’s head.

Fzzzzzzzzzzzzt! Fzzzzzzzzzzzzt! Fzzzzzzzzzzzzt!!

It didn’t stop at one strike….two, three bolts fell in rapid succession.

Eventually, the beast collapsed, tongue flapping, and its strength drained.

But just as it lay dying, its glowing eyes flared once more, and it opened its massive jaws wide.

From within, a swarm of monsters burst out.

[Flame Rage]

At that moment, the spiral fireball summoned by Illusia unleashed a torrent of flames like a mad beast.

Some of the monsters, using their allies as shields, finally made it to just before Jun’s nose.

A horrific monster, its entire face lined with teeth, lunged forward, jaws wide open in an instant.

Predator.

And yet, without even glancing at it, Jun simply extended his hand and the creature froze in place.

Sssshhhhhhluuurp!!!

Perhaps because enough time had passed, it was devoured in an instant….teeth and all.

And at that exact moment,

Jun’s spell was complete.

[Red Giant]

A tiny fireball, small enough to sit in the palm of his hand.

But the heat it emitted couldn’t be judged by its size. Like a dying giant star, it slowly began to swell.

There was only one thing left in the process ahead.

The death of a star.

Kwaaaaa—

The tiny fireball began to lose its light.

And as it dimmed, the wave that spread from it evaporated everything in its path.

The black dimension collapsed.

The space formed by a sea of mana couldn’t withstand the shock and shattered into fragments.

And beyond that—

Jun took a step forward, toward the space that connected to the original dimension.

All that remained behind him was a lifeless, white star.

***

A massive coral reef met its end in a mass extinction.

He had tried to protect it, somehow but failed.

The mist that had blanketed the area slowly dispersed, and one man calmly walked across the ocean surface.

“I won, didn’t I?”

Gone was the massive form from earlier. Derman, just as he had first appeared before Jun and his companions, knelt on the ground.

Jun stood before him, grabbed him by the collar, and yanked him upright.

The only difference from the beginning was perhaps the fact that the body was still dying, even now.

“But you… you don’t get to die like that.”

Just as he’d said to Dexter.

Derman couldn’t be allowed to die like this.

If he did, the Sea Serpent on the other side of the island would go berserk.

The Sword Soul… If it’s him, he’d be more than enough to protect Dexter, but…

The nobles trembling inside the city likely wouldn’t survive.

That wasn’t the outcome Jun wanted.

Whoever planned this… really did a damn good job.

Had it not been for the game knowledge Jun possessed, the current situation would have played out very differently.

One side would’ve undoubtedly suffered near-total destruction.

It’s probably that bastard.

There was only one person capable of executing such a meticulous and insidious plan.

The one he saw in the Contamination Zone of the fourth level….Ervantos.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on him.

“For now… yeah. I’ll have to keep him alive.”

As absurd as it was, he had no choice but to save someone who could drop dead at any moment.

Ridiculous or not, it had to be done.

And the magic to do it was already prepared.

“Velles.”

“Ready!”

At the same time, Velles who had been preparing all this time unleashed the spell in response to Jun’s signal.

[Ice Age]

A deep blue mist settled over the ocean’s surface.

It was a high-level binding spell that froze the very space in the surrounding area.

But in this case, freezing didn’t simply mean turning water into ice.

It freezes even mana itself. A spell of extreme difficulty.

Although it was classified as a sixth-circle spell, it was extremely rare for a single mage to cast it alone.

Normally, it would take several fifth-circle mages working together to pull it off, yet Velles completed it on his own.

“Go.”

Jun hurled Derman into the icy mist zone.

Crack, crack-crack-crack!

The moment Derman entered the mist, he froze in an instant.

And at each of Derman’s temples, eerie purple threads were strung.

[Mental Magic: Marionette Line]