Long-standing Ill Fate (4)

The fissures in the mine worsened rapidly and began to collapse.

I released mana and barely erected a Bone Wall to prevent the path from being completely buried as I sprinted; in a place like this, it wasn’t easy to use Blink, so I was in a situation where I had to run using only my physical capabilities.

‘I should have… done some exercise or something…’

I quickly utilized buff magic and cast a ‘Frenzy’ curse on myself to induce agitation.

It was for the sake of maximizing my physical capabilities somehow.

While I was running up quickly and struggling with the feeling that my heart might explode, a message arrived.

“Seong-chan, where are you?!”

It was Go Yu-jin, who had sent a message with a sense of urgency, and though that message felt very welcome, I couldn’t tell her my location.

I couldn’t let her come down recklessly.

Even if the mine collapsed, I thought it was sufficient for me to preserve my own body, and I could recover my mana while buried and then exit this place before the Gate closed.

It would be a very difficult task, and there were many variables, such as potentially missing the timing or the bedrock of the collapsed mine being too large and hard to pierce through at once; however, I thought it was better than Go Yu-jin entering the interior, getting buried together, and increasing the chaos.

So I did not answer, and for now, I tried to run up through the collapsing interior somehow, but at that moment, I felt a massive mana stabilizing the fissures little by little.

‘The mana of that old man, Jeong Gil-sun. He’s overexerting himself.’

That wasn’t all. I felt the mana of Jeong Do-bin, An So-mi, and even Go Yu-jin, who shouldn’t have been able to operate mana beyond the 3rd Circle.

‘…Is she at least 5th Circle?’

I had no choice but to click my tongue because they were squeezing out a considerable amount of mana to suppress the fissures.

‘What if someone ambushes them while they’re doing this?’

I hadn’t completely dealt with Wang Sun, and in a situation where I didn’t know what other threats might be lurking inside, I didn’t understand wasting mana to this extent.

So, as if I had no other choice, I quickly released mana to call in and attach bones around my body, and after transforming them into a Hell Hound form, I had it sprint immediately.

In reality, I was running in a state where I was swallowed by the Hell Hound, but as long as I injected mana well, there would be no problem, and I focused on operating the Hell Hound in the sense that I didn’t have to worry about the collapsing shaft immediately.

And after about five minutes had passed, the fissures progressed rapidly again, but I was able to narrowly pull myself into a stable zone.

But it seemed I had let my guard down.

“Geum Seong-chan!”

Seeing Go Yu-jin’s urgent shout and the mine shaft behind me beginning to completely collapse and pour down, she reached out her hand.

Then, as if by a miracle, a massive amount of mana gushed from her hand, and the bones of the Bone Wall that had been holding up the shaft to prevent collapse reacted with Go Yu-jin’s mana and turned into a golem.

It happened in an instant, and Go Yu-jin, who held up the collapsing shaft so easily, rushed into my arms and said.

“Just how many lives do you think you have?!”

I looked up at the ceiling and asked.

“It’s stable. Have you finally learned how to handle mana properly now?”

“I don’t know. Because it became urgent… No, more than that, we have to get out right now. Because I can’t maintain it for long.”

Then, Go Yu-jin grabbed and pulled my arm with brute strength.

Under that force, I was forced to be dragged along as we exited the mine.

“You, your appearance is a mess. Just what on earth happened?”

At the Gate entrance, while the collapsed shaft and the countless piles of dirt pouring out suggested that this place could no longer serve its purpose, I tried to briefly explain the circumstances upon receiving Jeong Gil-sun’s question.

“The investigator…”

As I spoke, I closed my mouth because there were many eyes and ears around, and Jeong Gil-sun, who understood my attitude, released mana to block out the surrounding sight and sound.

“Don’t worry about the surroundings and tell us.”

Jeong Gil-sun frowned at the story that flowed out quietly.

“In the end, it seems the fellow intended to end the situation as the work of the Cultists of Ruin.”

“I think so as well. I don’t know why he didn’t step forward himself, but seeing how Wang Sun acted with determination, there might be more background to it.”

It would be foolish to simply view it as the work of the Cultists of Ruin.

So, I threw out a bait to infer the deeper inside story, but at that moment, there was a presence digging into the mana field.

“Is it an uninvited guest?”

Everyone fell silent due to the familiar face and the freakish man of brute size.

“Geum Seong-chan, it’s been a long time since we’ve met face to face instead of over the phone, hasn’t it? It’s been a long time for you too, old man Jeong Gil-sun.”

It was the appearance of An Sang-ik, and Jeong Gil-sun also replied with a nod while looking at him.

“For a big shot to show up all the way here, is it because of that?”

It was clear that An Sang-ik had been monitoring Wang Sun.

“Who would have known that the bastard would cause trouble so boldly?”

“What about the rest of the remnants?”

“I’ve put down all those scattered across the country, but I missed a few. Li Chang also disappeared secretly.”

“So you missed him in the end too?”

“Ah, he’s a fellow who is hard to find once he goes into hiding.”

I also thought it might have been an intentional release.

Because in order to grasp the mastermind, letting a well-known figure go was something that happened often in intelligence warfare.

At any rate, if An Sang-ik appeared here, it would mean the government intended to respond in earnest, and I could see the will to wrap up this situation as quickly as possible was being projected.

In many ways, I felt a bitter taste because they used power as they pleased, but I thought it was right to take practical benefits from An Sang-ik rather than being swayed by a disorganized situation.

“What are the follow-up measures going to be?”

“The government will reveal your contribution. But since you know that person’s personality, I won’t say much; don’t argue back. And don’t respond to any interviews at all, got it?”

I couldn’t tell what they were preparing that he’d say this much, but just then, Jeong Gil-sun refuted An Sang-ik’s words.

“Just how long do you think we have to be dragged along?”

“Probably until that friend steps down from power, wouldn’t it be?”

Jeong Gil-sun was releasing an ominous momentum, but An Sang-ik naturally let it flow away and spoke to him.

“He said he’d grant your request, so he told me to tell you to set a date and talk. My role ends here.”

In the end, I had no choice but to nod.

‘It means he’s saying he’ll keep the promise. It seems old man Han Sang-gil wrapped things up well.’

It was proof of how great the status Han Sang-gil held was.

At any rate, since there was also a demand to decline everything including interviews, I had no choice but to be treated that way for my own peace of mind.

I posted a notice that the company would not be operated for a while, and I, Go Yu-jin, and An So-mi were in a situation where we enjoyed a leisurely life of seclusion at the mansion.

“Mana operation is quite complex.”

Upon the fact that Go Yu-jin had become able to operate mana up to the 5th Circle, she had requested training for magic operation that had been postponed, and I carried out the training for various forms of mana operation for her.

Along with her, An So-mi also came to receive the training together, and An So-mi raised her hand as if there was something she was suddenly curious about.

“The attributes we can handle are limited. But looking at the magic used last time, the balance was perfect even though you used white magic and black magic together. How did you do it?”

There existed a fairly simple solution for this part, but the problem was that the price was fatal.

“You just have to process and manifest the mana itself so that it is not exposed to dark mana inside the body.”

“…Are you crazy?”

“It’s quite easy. It’s just that it hurts.”

An So-mi shook her head. Then, after seemingly trying to operate mana in her body for a moment, she frowned fiercely and shouted at me.

“You really are a crazy guy! Ahhh!!”

An So-mi rolled around on the floor; in the end, the pain was bound to be maintained for a long time unless she released the shaped mana from her body.

So I approached the rolling woman, grabbed her arm, pushed a bit of mana in, and then pulled the transformed mana out to the exterior and spoke.

“I praise the attempt itself. But next time, I recommend discharging it perfectly.”

“Ugh… You really are a crazy human. You’re saying it’s okay even after swirling that much mana? Really? For real?”

An So-mi was making a fuss, but just then, Go Yu-jin also frowned with a “Ugh.”

So, leaving An So-mi alone, I approached Go Yu-jin.

Then, after grasping her mana operation state, I advised her.

“The mana once transformed inside the body must be ejected for the pain to disappear. Otherwise, it will act like a needle piercing the mana circuit itself, and you’ll have to be in pain for a long time.”

“It’s… difficult. It hurts to the point that my concentration becomes blurred.”

“I’ll help you.”

Then I reached out, grabbed her hand, and guided the flow of mana. While doing so, I naturally helped with the mana shaping, and after a while, Go Yu-jin was operating a Fire Ball.

Even though she was sweating profusely, she was marvelling as she looked at the perfect white magic floating in the air.

“Is it possible for a white mage to operate black magic in this way too?”

“Theoretically, it is possible. But it won’t be easy.”

“…Then that means an 8th Circle white mage can operate 8th Circle black magic, doesn’t it?”

“That too is theoretically possible. However, the quality of mana is different, so it will be difficult to utilize black magic above the 7th Circle, which is called the human limit. Because your body might not be able to endure it and might collapse.”

To operate 8th Circle black magic inside the body, one would have to be at least a 9th Circle white mage to even try, and even then, they would go right up to the point of their body collapsing with just one use.

In practical terms, it meant that it was more beneficial to just pour out 9th Circle magic.

“Theory… But you’ve proven that theory, haven’t you, Seong-chan?”

In fact, I had combined Deadly Humming by operating 8th Circle white magic. Go Yu-jin had noticed this, and An So-mi also realized something and came running over to ask.

“Can you see beyond the wall?”

I nodded slightly at the gazes of the two women, which were full of curiosity.

It was because the clue to breaking the wall of the 7th Circle and moving to the next was so simple yet not so.

‘Breaking the boundary between body and spirit’ was the clue I had found.

As the simplest method, it was to make the body into a complete undead.

It appeared that if one became a Lich, one could naturally rise to the 8th Circle. However, I wanted to be human, and a Lich is defined as a monster and becomes a target for subjugation.

During the war, there was a strong aspect of allowing cases where victory was seized through such Lich-ification, but most of them met the result of losing their reason and running rampant, falling to the status of subjugation targets.

There are several war heroes who died in that way.

‘Rising to the 8th Circle while remaining human… It’s difficult, but it’s a path I must take.’

I glanced at Go Yu-jin and made a vow. Not to give up on being human…