The corrupted butterfly seemed to drift slowly on the wind, but its speed was faster than expected.
In an instant, the distance between Jun and the butterfly began to close.
[Light of Life]
A brilliant light of life sliced between Jun and the corrupted butterfly.
As soon as the light of life collided with the corrupted butterfly, they repelled each other like oil and water.
He couldn’t afford to turn his head due to his intense focus, but it must have been Eleanor’s holy magic. She acted quickly after she got free from her abnormal state.
However, it seemed insufficient for her to face the corrupted Queen of the Forest alone, as the light of life gradually began to be pushed back by the corrupted butterfly.
“It worked…!”
But in that brief moment, Eleanor had bought Jun the precious time he so desperately needed.
The red flames that glowed blood red devoured the stray magical power within itself.
Before long, the red flames that stretched out escaped Jun’s control and headed toward the enemy.
It found the most flammable target in the space.
-…….!
As the blazing mass approached her, the Fairy Queen spread her wings.
Though her wings were tattered and torn in various places, they posed no issue for evasive maneuvers.
That monstrous Fairy Queen had chosen to dodge rather than defend.
It meant that the energy contained within the flames was enough to threaten even the corrupted Queen of the Forest.
Just as the red flames were about to miss the Fairy Queen, Jun’s magic activated again.
[Detecting Target]
The magical targeting point formed and locked onto the Fairy Queen.
Sensing this as prey, the red flames pursued the targeting point and flew straight toward the Fairy Queen.
A chase ensued, but in the end, the one that lost was the flames.
The fire couldn’t find its target and consumed itself.
Jun drew upon his magical power once more.
He twisted the magical targeting point toward the flames. As soon as the targeting point touched the fire, he altered its magical pattern on the spot.
It was an unbelievable feat, but it was made possible by Jun’s delicate control and the year of dedicated practice he had put in.
Of course, completely rewriting the foundation of the magic was impossible.
But I can at least overload the magical pattern.
He could make the raging flames that were now devouring themselves explode.
Boom—!
– Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!
The forest caught fire.
The air ignited, and the greedy flames recklessly consumed even the oxygen around them.
The Fairy Queen within that range was no exception.
Though the power of corruption tried to resist the flames, the fire stubbornly clung to its prey and refused to let go even as it burned out.
“Ugh…”
The aftermath of the explosion reached Jun as well.
The intense heat engulfed him in an instant. Fortunately, it allowed him to escape the range of the purple butterfly’s influence, but…
His skin turned red as blisters began to bubble up.
“Damn it…”
It was the first time Jun had ever been hit by his own magic, so he quickly pulled out a potion and splashed it on his face.
“Ugh…”
Amidst the excruciating pain of his burning skin, the urge to pass out surged within him, but [Iron Will] and [Unwavering Heart] refused to let that happen.
“Jun!”
Eleanor’s voice rang out from a distance and soon a warm light seeped into his body.
After he experienced the divine power of a priestess for the first time, Jun’s gaze turned toward the Forest Guardian.
Or rather toward Luke’s back, who was moving to finish it off.
***
“Gah…!”
The reason Luke was able to escape Jun’s magic unscathed as he climbed up the Forest Guardian’s body was purely thanks to Jun’s efforts.
Jun had lured the Fairy Queen away and did his best to keep Luke as far from the magical aftermath as possible.
Even so, the intense heat tormented Luke, but he never gave up and kept climbing upward.
Finally, he reached the Forest Guardian’s chest.
“No…!”
But the monster’s chest was already nearly healed.
Perhaps because the Fairy Queen had noticed Jun, the healing had momentarily paused, but the gap had shrunk noticeably compared to before.
At this rate, even the space for Luke’s sword to strike would soon disappear.
Luke hastily focused on the sword he had drawn and formed his aura around it.
“Just die already!”
He thrust the sword down.
With more desperation than ever in his life.
The blue aura blazed fiercely as it made contact with the essence of the forest.
Ziiiiiing——!
A powerful force pushed back against the blue light.
The sword in his hands felt like it might be flung away at any moment, but Luke clenched his teeth and held on.
Even as his grip tore open and blood ran down his hands, his eyes never left his sword or the essence of the forest.
Crrrack—
Was it a hallucination born from desperation, or was it the result of his sheer will?
It seemed like a faint crack had formed in the essence of the forest.
It was barely visible unless he focused intently, but…
There was no doubt about it. It was working.
– Kyaaaaaaaaaah——!!
If it hadn’t been, that monstrous Queen of the Forest wouldn’t have screamed like that.
He could feel her hateful gaze on him.
But ironically, that emotion twisted Luke’s lips into a smile.
“Haha… So in the end, you’re in pain too, huh?”
The monster that had easily subdued dozens of humans was now sending feelings of hatred toward him, a mere level 3 adventurer.
He found it absurdly amusing.
“Haaaaap!!”
Was it the result of those emotions?
Luke’s muscles swelled as he swung his sword down with even greater force.
Crack—!
This time, he heard it clearly.
He could see it too.
The essence of the forest was beginning to crack like a spiderweb.
But the Fairy Queen wasn’t just standing idly by.
Just before her power of corruption seeped into the Forest Guardian—
Kwoooosh—!!
A blade of wind shot toward the Fairy Queen.
Jun’s magic, which was once again summoned with all his might, irritated the Fairy Queen.
Although it lacked the full force it had before and the same intensity of focus, it still managed to divert the Fairy Queen’s attention for a moment.
Thwack—!
But the Fairy Queen was fully aware of this.
“Ugh….”
A branch pierced through his abdomen.
A tree branch, sprouting from the body of the Forest Guardian in response to the Fairy Queen’s power, impaled Luke’s side.
At that moment, he realized how Benjamin had met his end, but it was a realization that came far too late.
“Ah, shi…!”
Strength drained from his entire body.
The blazing aura gradually faded, and the sword was pulled out by the repelling force emitted from the essence of the forest.
“Haaaaaat!!”
At that moment, a voice echoed from behind.
Through his dimming vision, Luke caught sight of a young man soaring high into the sky with his sword glowing red.
His radiant golden hair flew in the wind, and his sharp blue eyes were clearly targeting the heart of the enemy.
Craack—!
Aiden’s sword pierced through the crack Luke had created and drove deep into the essence of the forest.
***
Aiden’s attack landed.
Unlike the previous frantic attacks, Aiden’s red-stained sword sharply penetrated the forest’s essence, and the essence disintegrated in a wave of purple energy.
The Forest Guardian collapsed.
It looked like an old tree that couldn’t bear its weight and crashed down.
The forest was dying.
Not in a figurative sense, but in real-time. The trees started to wither, and the forest was crumbling.
The third phase.
This was the phenomenon that occurred immediately after destroying the essence of the forest to kill the Fairy Queen.
At this point, the raid was essentially a success.
With the forest’s essence, her source of power, gone, the Fairy Queen would enter an extended stunned state.
It would last about ten minutes.
In a typical raid, this would be the time to launch an all-out attack on the Fairy Queen and end the battle.
If we don’t kill her within that time…
The Fairy Queen’s wide-area instant death attack pattern would begin.
The power of the forest, which had formed the core of the Fairy Queen, had completely vanished and in its place, only a pure embodiment of corruption remained.
That corruption, once born, would consume everything around it.
During his days as Lee Jeong-jun, there was one time when this pattern was tested experimentally, and the entire party of level 6 adventurers was wiped out without being able to do a thing.
We need to escape before it comes to that…
The problem, however, was the situation with the adventurers and mercenaries.
Although the Fairy Queen’s wide-area debuff skill [Cycle of the Forest] had ended, the lingering effects hadn’t fully dissipated yet.
This is why I wanted to deal with things before the Fairy Queen joined.
While taking Aiden, Eleanor, and the injured Luke out of here was an option, if possible, he wanted to save everyone.
It wasn’t just a moral dilemma holding him back, but the future also mattered.
The survivors here were needed to properly finish the imperial investigation that would follow.
However, no matter how skilled Jun was, there was no way to dispel the debuffs affecting everyone at once.
Damn it. There are so many spells I still need to learn.
As he recalled the growing list of spells he needed to master, Jun turned to their last hope.
“Priestess Eleanor, do you think you can manage it?”
“Haa…”
The priestess, who had her eyes covered by a black blindfold, was visibly exhausted.
She was also part of the raid team, and her vitality was drained by the fairies. But instead of resting, she took care of the injured.
And even during the battle, she had been channeling her divine power.
Was that all? She had just barely escaped from the grip of [Cycle of the Forest] moments ago.
“…It’ll take some time.”
“How long?”
“About eight minutes.”
“…That’s too long. Is there no way to shorten it? We need to finish in at least three minutes.”
“Then there’s no other option. You’ll have to choose. I can only save half of them.”
A priestess of Ariklotus, the god of healing who holds life above all else, was now weighing lives on a scale.
If someone were to see this, they might point fingers in judgment, but at this moment, such idealism had no place.
Eleanor directed her gaze toward Jun from behind her blindfold.
She was asking the one who had led the operation up to this point.
Who would he choose to save?
“……”
“……”
In the brief silence that followed, Jun found himself deeply frustrated by the situation.
Why, in the midst of fighting for survival, was he constantly being forced to make such difficult decisions?
Just a year ago, the most pressing question on his mind had been what to eat for lunch at work the next day, and now he faced questions far too cruel for that same person.
But he was no longer a mere office worker; he was a mage, and more importantly, the strategist behind this operation.
“Haah…”
Before Jun could even respond, Eleanor had already entered a state of deep concentration.
If he didn’t make a decision soon, she would choose who to save on her own judgment.
Even that situation irritated him.
It all just made him so angry.
However, in the end, he was still a mage, and over the past year, he had tried to view the world from a perspective more fitting of a mage, in order to survive.
What is a mage?
They observe, imagine, project, and derive conclusions.
That is what a mage is, and their eyes always view the world through those four lenses with detachment.
At least, that’s what Jun believed made a great mage.
“……”
So he observed.
What did he observe?
The adventurers who risked their lives on the frontlines, fighting even in the face of their own sins?
Or the mercenaries who had to embrace even their enemies just to survive?
No.
Mages don’t solve problems dictated by others.
The only questions they can ask are about the principles of the world.
Therefore, what he needed to see, what he needed to observe, wasn’t “Who should I save?” but rather, “What will save them?”
In other words.
Jun focused his eyes on Eleanor.
“Eleanor, that staff…”
A staff held by the priestess with the black blindfold.
Until now, he hadn’t noticed it since he was too distracted by other matters, but finally, the staff caught Jun’s eye.
“How do you… have that? Huh?”
For a moment, a scene flashed through his mind like lightning.
At the same time, he recalled the identity of the priestess standing before him, but Jun quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind.
The woman’s identity isn’t what’s important right now.
The important thing was the staff the priestess was holding.
“That staff is definitely…”
On the surface, it appeared to be nothing more than a well-worn staff.
An ordinary item, the kind anyone could carry.
The only distinguishing feature was the grain of the wood which formed a consistent pattern along the handle and was wrapped loosely with cloth.
The markings were so naturally carved into the wood that unless someone looked closely, it would be difficult to notice.
However, Jun’s [Keen Eyesight] skill didn’t miss a single detail of that grain.
And to his astonishment, that pattern stirred memories from his past life as “Lee Jeong-jun”.
His [Exceptional Memory] skill had done its job.
“[End of Sorrow]…”
It was the name of a piece of equipment from the late stages of the game <Blackout>. It was wielded by a boss in a world-scale raid.
It was the ultimate gear for mages, with a level of difficulty so extreme that only a handful of players, even in the most veteran communities, had ever acquired it.
And now, that very piece of equipment was standing right in front of Jun.
“Uh, Priestess Eleanor, wait. Just—hold on a second.”
“What are you doing all of a sudden?!”
When he suddenly reached for Eleanor’s staff, she jumped back in surprise.
Ignoring her reaction, Jun lifted Eleanor’s hand up and looked closely at the handle of the staff.
If my memory serves me right…
He pulled a potion from his coat and drank it. Although its effect had significantly diminished from drinking it several times in such a short span, he had no choice but to drink it again.
He needed to calm down his overheated magic circuits, even if only slightly.
With his other hand, he focused his gaze intently on Eleanor’s staff.
As he traced the patterns carved along the wood grain, he felt something catch on his fingertips.
He quickly removed the cloth from that area, and he uncovered a small groove etched into the staff.
“Priestess Eleanor, there’s no time to explain in detail right now. But there might be a way to save everyone here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you know this staff is an artifact?”
“What?”
From her reaction, it seemed like this was the first time the priestess with the black blindfold had heard of it, as she looked down at her staff.
Judging by the look on her face, it was clear she had no idea about the staff’s true nature.
“I’ll explain briefly. This staff has the property of [Transformation].”
“Transformation…?”
“It draws in external energy and converts it into another type of power.”
Then Jun pointed to the groove on the staff.
“This part is responsible for the [Transformation] ability. Do you understand?”
“…Hah…”
Though Eleanor seemed confused by Jun’s sudden explanation, he showed her with actions rather than words.
“Focus on the staff.”
“…Alright.”
When Jun pressed his thumb against the groove in the staff, Eleanor followed his words and focused her mind on the staff.
Suddenly, she saw a blue wave.
No, it wasn’t exactly a wave, but something that resembled one came crashing over her.
Was this what the ocean, spoken of only in stories, looked like?
The blue shape made her eyes dizzy. It felt as if a huge wave was surging beyond the horizon.
She soon realized that it was a form of magic and looked at Jun with an expression of astonishment.
“Focus… just… focus….”
But Jun didn’t have the strength to explain any further.
His hand was already resting on the choker.
The seal, [Odyssey of the Lazy Pilgrim], had only been released to 5%.
But for now, that was enough.
Magical power flowed through his circuits and it was still faintly tinged with a red color.
His entire body burned up again, but it was much easier than before.
This time, he wasn’t the one using magical power, it would be Eleanor.
“Transform the magical power… into divine power….”
Though it was only a few fragmented words, Eleanor quickly grasped what Jun meant.
He said it was transformation.
She accepted Jun’s vast, ocean-like magical power and began transforming it into divine power.
At that moment, Eleanor gagged and nearly retched.
“Wha—ugh!”
“Don’t receive it, transform….”
“You crazy mage….”
Shouldn’t you have told me that earlier?
Unlike Jun who was a mage, Eleanor’s magic circuits were completely ordinary, like those of a common person.
She had nearly suffered serious internal injuries, so she bit her lip and refocused her mind.
If there was any silver lining, it was that thanks to her earlier mistake, she had a rough understanding of what Jun was trying to convey.
With intention and desperate will.
If magical power could become anything, divine power could embrace everything.
The two forces began to synergize.
Through her staff, Eleanor overlaid the image of divine power onto the magical power surging toward her like a wave.
And she moved the divine power without a shred of doubt.
A priest must, without any confusion, believe in the power they possess in order to fully unleash its potential.
O, the one who brings the light of life to the world, I beseech you, this humble one prays.
The blue wave gradually began to shine.
Like the surface of the sea reflecting the light of the rising sun in the east.
But the light didn’t stop there and slowly expanded its reach.
Eleanor had never seen such warm light in her life.
And at that moment, she felt something.
This light, which felt so cozy and warm, stirred a dangerous impulse within her.
It was a sense of omnipotence.
The fleeting moment when a mere human brushes against the power of the divine, an emotion that should never be felt. In that instant, Eleanor was startled by herself.
“Fo.…cus…”
Jun’s voice which was twisted with pain pulled Eleanor back to reality.
This power wasn’t her own.
It was a miracle created by the mage in front of her, and at the same time, a possibility given by God.
She was merely borrowing it.
That realization, which she had known from the beginning but had forgotten at some point, made Eleanor fall to her knees.
[Sphere of Light]
The vast ocean of light began to form a sphere as the light refracted.
Its size was modest, no more than a meter in diameter.
But the light of life descended on the forest where death was beginning to descend.
“……”
Even Jun, who had been blinded by pain from overheat, began to show signs of relief on his face.
This is a scene entirely different from my magic.
The warm light was nothing like the blood-red [Fireball].
Jun wondered if the imagery behind his magic could ever resemble something like this.
It was a landscape he couldn’t yet imagine.
But his thoughts went no further.
At the edge of his vision, he spotted Aiden running toward them through the crowd of people who were beginning to regain their senses.
His body which was already pushed beyond its limits found comfort in the warm light and the sight of his comrade, and he lost consciousness yet again.
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