A tingling sense of omnipotence flashed through his brain.
In the past, he had felt this sensation before in the Black Forest, but back then it was only 13%. Now, it was 30%.
Jun clenched his teeth as he struggled to control his emotions.
You’re not my master.
He growled the words under his breath, as if snarling at the [Mana Body].
True to its legendary status, the skill tried to manipulate Jun’s emotions at will, but Jun rejected it.
Instead, he fixed his gaze coldly on his mana.
Thanks to pushing [Mana Body] to its limit, his affinity with mana had increased significantly.
However, his mind shook just as much in return.
Jun barely endured it with two skills of Unshakable Will] and [Steadfast Heart].
Is it getting hard to manage with just these two skills?
It was a problem he would have to solve later. For now, Jun turned his attention back to the mana, which was trembling in instability once again.
The mana continued to waver uncertainly.
It seemed like some kind of error had occurred due to the influence of a being not of this world. Something from beyond the cosmos.
To move such mana…
He would have to understand it first.
Jun believed that mana had a nature that was surprisingly similar to that of humans.
The fact that it could become anything, it shared that trait.
And like humans, it feared the unknown.
Jun wanted to become the center of gravity for such mana.
Gather.
Just as humans feel fear when they’re alone, so too does mana.
He first gathered the scattered mana that was thrown into disarray by the aura of the Outer God into one place.
In response to his command, the mana moved.
It wasn’t merely because of the power of [Mana Body].
Like a frightened person instinctively obeying orders, the mana too seemed to understand on a primal level that it had to gather in order to resist the invading foreign energy.
It was an almost instinctual act.
[What is this? What are you doing this time?!]
The old crone shouted from the sky upon noticing the ominous shift in the air surrounding Jun.
Jun paid her no mind.
He focused solely on the mana that had begun to gather and gave a single command.
“Follow me.”
As the mana gathered, it realized it was no longer alone and swelled in size even further.
Jun guided it naturally.
The mana followed him, drawn toward the one who had united it. Like ducklings chasing after their mother.
[What…?]
The old crone gasped in shock as she watched the scene unfold.
This was her domain, a space crafted by her witchcraft.
Yet now, an enormous amount of energy was gathering of its own will, and worse, it was moving under the direction of that mage.
Unease crept over her once more.
That unpredictable anomaly. There was no telling what he would do next.
[Krrrk, spawn of the Outer God!]
The old crone tried calling out to the Spawn of the Outer God, but it too was preoccupied.
The moment Jun freed the surrounding mana, the golem absorbed some of that energy and grew even stronger.
If it had merely become sturdier, the Spawn could have easily avoided its attacks.
Fwoosh—!
But this was no ordinary golem that was mindlessly following commands.
It was a golem created by the artifact [Tear of Teia], which had absorbed Jun’s mana. It could think for itself.
It realized that if things continued like this, it wouldn’t be able to hold down the Spawn of the Outer God.
So, it forcibly ignited the fire attribute within the mana flowing from Jun’s circles and imbued itself with the elemental power.
Boom—!
That meant its flaming fists could no longer be taken lightly.
A direct hit would deal significant damage.
But the Spawn of the Outer God also sensed it instinctively.
If it left that mage alone, the situation would become truly dangerous.
Diiiiiing—!
And so, the bell tolled once more, scattering the surrounding mana.
However, once condensed, the mana did not disperse so easily.
Instead, it grew even stronger, resisting the force unleashed by the Outer God’s Bell.
[Witness the dawn of a new world.]
Diiiiiing—!
At this rate, it would be impossible to kill that mage.
Realizing this, the Outer God’s Bell began to absorb the energy it had just spread.
[You?!]
The old crone let out a furious roar as she watched the energy converge toward the Outer God’s Bell.
She had realized what it was doing.
The lingering will within the Forest of Life and Death, which she had cultivated for so long, was being forcibly absorbed by the bell.
The energy that was supposed to remain under her control was now being consumed like a mere expendable resource.
If the bell continued to gather the will in this manner, the entire Forest of Life and Death that she painstakingly created would be destroyed.
And yet, the old crone did not stop it.
[Damn that mage! I’ll tear him apart!]
Even to her, the mage’s power was becoming unnervingly dangerous.
At last, the Outer God’s bell infused half of the energy it had gathered into its sword.
There was no need to use all of it. In its current state, it lacked the ability to unleash its full power in a single strike.
Instead, it materialized a portion of the lingering will from the bell.
Clatter!
From beneath the earth that was tainted by black water undead began to rise.
Dozens, then hundreds.
These were expendable minions meant to be discarded after a single use.
But there was no better way to restrict the mage’s movements.
The remaining half of the energy was then transferred to the sword.
A horrific concentration of will coalesced into a single entity, letting out a ghastly wail.
A mere human who came into contact with this power would have their very soul annihilated. Even seasoned warriors, upon blocking it, would feel their vitality seep into their brains like a toxic miasma.
There was no way a golem could withstand it.
With that certainty, the Outer God’s Bell pointed its sword forward.
***
Jun traced a magical pattern into the condensed mana, imprinting his will upon it.
Something is different.
The flow of mana had become more intricate.
It seemed like a minor change, but Jun who was directly handling the mana understood exactly where this transformation had come from.
It’s resonating with me.
Until now, the mana had simply followed Jun’s commands, moving exactly as he directed.
Like a machine devoid of emotion.
It obeyed simply because it could.
Magic existed to become something, only to return to its original form in an endless cycle, like a Möbius strip.
For infinite ages, it had repeated this process.
But this time was different.
It moved of its own will.
It resonated with Jun’s emotions.
To Jun’s eyes, the magic seemed to cry.
How absurd. Magic had no emotions.
And yet, at this very moment, it was undeniably responding to his emotions, mourning alongside him, and it harbored a deep, burning rage. Just as he had once done
Jun gazed into the image he had shaped.
A young child stared blankly into the air, as if his soul had been drained away.
No. That wasn’t quite right. There was something in those eyes.
Fire.
A massive inferno, consuming everything in its path.
The home where the child had spent a lifetime was engulfed in flames.
To most, it was nothing more than a passing line in the news.
But to one person, it became an unshakable, lifelong terror.
That day, everything was lost.
Fire was greedy.
That day, a child lost everything to the flames.
The toys he had once cherished.
The family portrait he had drawn at school.
The space filled with his family’s memories.
And—
Even the parents who had meant more than anything in the world.
To the child who had lost everything, fire became an object of terror.
And as he grew into an adult, it became an object of hatred.
The magic resonated with that pain, that rage.
It understood the greedy flames reflected in the child’s eyes.
It embraced the child’s fear.
And the hatred of the young man he had become.
It held all of it within itself.
And then, he brought it into reality.
[Flame Rage]
A fireball, as if holding the sun itself, took shape.
But this was no ordinary flame.
[What… is that…?]
The old crone stared blankly at the fireball before her.
It wasn’t the usual color of fire.
A crimson-red fireball like blood spun in a spiral.
But what the old crone saw was not just its outer form.
She could feel the energy contained within it.
[This… can’t be…]
The energy was being devoured.
Not only was it consuming the energy the old crone had spread across the area, but it was also burning away even the Outer God’s energy.
It was as if greed itself had taken shape.
Even if they managed to stop that mage here, the Forest of Life and Death would never be usable again.
That realization struck her instantly.
And then—
“Go.”
At Jun’s command, the blood-red fireball slowly began to move forward.
Hundreds of undead, summoned by the Spawn of the Outer God, rushed in to surround Jun.
But flames erupted from the fireball’s core, spiraling outward toward the undead.
Fwoooosh—!
The undead that were infused with the Outer God’s energy tried to resist the flames.
But the fire unleashed by the fireball burned away even the energy of the Outer God.
[How is this possible?!]
The old crone gasped in shock at the sight.
She knew exactly what kind of power the Outer God’s energy was—
It was the very essence governed by a god from beyond the cosmos.
There was no way a mere mage, one who had only reached the fifth circle, could possibly counter such a force.
“It’s precisely because it’s the Outer God that it’s being consumed.”
Jun who was watching the scene unfold spoke calmly.
[What…?]
“The Outer God is a being rejected by this world. It was never meant to exist in the first place, so its power could never be whole.”
Just like white blood cells eradicate bacteria that enter the human body—
Jun’s mana was playing that very role.
The only reason the Spawn of the Outer God had been able to maintain its form, even barely, was thanks to the old crone’s witchcraft. The Forest of Life and Death.
But even that space, the Forest of Life and Death, could not withstand the heat of [Flame Rage].
[Wh-What have you done to my Forest of Life and Death!!]
The Forest of Life and Death began to collapse.
Crrrack—
Cracks formed along the black walls. The rotten trees, which had been emitting demonic energy, began to lose their shape.
The old crone let out a scream that was more of a shriek.
At first, she thought the collapse was simply caused by the Spawn of the Outer God devouring stray thoughts.
But now she saw it. It wasn’t that.
From the center, around that mage—no, from the fireball conjured by the mage—it was melting the entire space itself.
—They had been played.
Apparently, even the Spawn of the Outer God had the same realization.
[Welcome the great upheaval.]
For the first time, the glyphs emitted by the Spawn of the Outer God faltered.
When the Forest of Life and Death which was sustaining the creature began to waver, its very existence grew unstable in turn.
If just a little more time passed, it would vanish completely.
Sensing this instinctively, the Spawn of the Outer God raised a sword radiating with a blast of black-violet light.
It was going to pierce through that spiraling fireball and kill Jun.
And then, the moment it launched itself into the air—
[Wha—]
From the cracked black wall, golden particles began to flow out.
That light struck directly at the Forest of Life and Death, which had been steeped in grey.
Trouble had begun even outside.
That was the last thing the old crone was able to sense.
Her grotesque face disappeared from the sky.
Left alone, the Spawn of the Outer God began to burn, tragically, like a moth flying into flame.
[The great upheaval…]
The Spawn of the Outer God, who had vanished like smoke within the blood-red flames, was unable to finish its words in the end.
The Forest of Life and Death collapsed.
***
The corrupted Butcher Monk furrowed his brow for the first time.
Divine power burst forth from the woman who had fallen victim to the “Two Blades, Three Warriors” curse.
“What are you doing…”
The Butcher Monk let out a voice filled with faint bewilderment.
The divine power of the Ariklotus Church was, by nature, weak in destructive aspects.
The reason was that the god they worshiped Ariklotus was a god of healing.
But the energy that now spread before his eyes could not be described with such a gentle word.
It was certainly the divine power of Ariklotus, yet it was not warm.
It was not the gentle light of the sun. It was a scorching sun that burned the earth. A light of death that illuminated the desert.
“Eleanor?”
The Butcher Monk wasn’t the only one who sensed the change.
Though he couldn’t shift his gaze because of the enemy before him, Bern was just as taken aback.
But he was a skilled paladin.
He sensed that the overwhelming energy radiating from the Butcher Monk had begun to wane.
Only then did Bern realize what Eleanor had done.
“She’s purifying it!”
The Butcher Monk’s skill, [Blood Mountain Reincarnation], was not only a buff-type skill; it was also a curse.
The longer [Blood Mountain Reincarnation] was maintained and the more powerfully it was wielded, the more one’s mind became corrupted.
And Eleanor’s divine power was purifying even that very power of [Blood Mountain Reincarnation].
Such a thing should have been impossible.
The Butcher Monk knew the weakness of his own skill well, and that was why he gripped that power so tightly.
There was no way Eleanor’s divine power alone could achieve this.
So how was it even possible?
The Butcher Monk couldn’t pursue the thought any further.
Once again, his brow twitched.
The divine power erupting explosively from Eleanor was now affecting both Jun and the old crone.
***
TN: Hello everyone! This novel is back. And sorry for dropping it for a long while…
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