Chapter 192
Chapter 192
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: Reverse Heaven Magic
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"It's fine. I'm not seeking to form such a bond."
The Transcendent does not forge close ties with anyone.
They are beings who live solely within their own transcendent Abyss.
They merely acknowledge the honorable, but that alone does not constitute a bond.
The offer to teach magic stemmed purely from curiosity about this human named Park Chan-woo.
'A being who possesses the potential to evolve my magic.'
Park Chan-woo had the talent to fully perfect Lil's magic.
This went far beyond simply being skilled at handling spells.
What was magic in the first place?
The transcendent will that shapes phenomena.
And Park Chan-woo possessed a will strong enough to overcome even the curse of the Demon-Sealing God's chalice.
His thirst for magic was plain to see, without needing to ask.
Thus, there was no need to form a bond.
"I will take you as my master."
In that instant, Park Chan-woo bowed deeply.
His thoughts differed from Lil's.
The act of teaching magic held meaning in itself.
To pass on knowledge was to forge a bond.
Especially since Lil stood at the pinnacle of mana and magic.
He had felt a similar thrill in her presence as he had facing Sepiro, the Dragon God.
For such a being to offer guidance...
'This is a first.'
...Receiving serious instruction in magic was a first for him.
He had delved madly into basic spells before, but no one had ever taught him even the fundamentals.
It had all been self-taught.
He had sought out exceptional mages, even kneeling before them.
He had visited the Mages' Association and magic towers of other races.
Yet none had given him proper instruction.
-You're too late.
-High-grade magic has clear limits for someone like you.
-You'll spend your life handling only basics.
-You'll never master it anyway, so why bother asking?
-Sigh, you think hard work alone is enough?
-Just swing a sword for life—why magic all of a sudden?
Mages had viewed Park Chan-woo with disdain from the start.
They never outright insulted him, but they clicked their tongues in pity.
Who in the world starts learning magic at level 90?
He had even offered coins, but all he got was contempt.
They merely pretended to teach him superficially.
They never shared advanced knowledge or techniques.
All mages were the same.
Those who offered to teach were all scammers.
Thus, Park Chan-woo had never received proper guidance in magic from anyone.
...Never.
Not once.
'I still don't know the essence of magic.'
That was why Lil's words resonated so deeply.
What magic truly was. Whether its essence was something else entirely!
His longing for advanced magic burned fiercely.
That was why he had mastered only one attack spell, 'Heavenly Punishment,' and stuck to it.
He believed even drilling deeply into one was insufficient.
He felt he couldn't truly comprehend high-level magic.
"...Do as you wish. That too is your free will."
Lil did not block Park Chan-woo's resolve.
At that, he offered a small smile.
"Thank you, Master."
A chance to learn magic in earnest.
He had no intention of letting it slip away.
However, one peculiar curiosity took root.
"How much time remains?"
This transcendent Abyss had a limited existence.
It was Aheta's laboratory.
It couldn't be maintained indefinitely, of course.
Above all, hadn't Lil herself said she would teach during the 'remaining time'?
"About seven days in present-world time."
"I'll give it my all."
Park Chan-woo hardened his expression.
It was far too short to learn anything properly.
Lil shook her head.
"Time is relative. And this too is one of man's phenomena, so our time here will slow to a crawl from now on."
The relativity of time.
But he knew it was a matter of the brain and perception.
Now she was saying mana was involved as well.
"Take my hand."
Lil extended her hand.
Park Chan-woo grasped it without hesitation.
At the same moment...
"...!"
The world flipped upside down.
The world has its natural order.
It has a flow.
Yet mages rarely acknowledge reversal as a flow in itself.
In their common sense, mana must always extend straight outward.
They believe reversing mana causes it to run rampant.
"The mana...!"
Park Chan-woo widened his eyes.
It wasn't just the world that had flipped.
The mana had flipped too.
Mana began flowing in the complete opposite direction from usual.
However, mana wasn't some energy that simply flowed backward just because it looked that way.
"Mana begins with perception. It flows according to your perception, so I've merely altered yours for a moment."
That's right.
Mana is perception.
Park Chan-woo had always perceived mana's flow as constant.
He had never imagined a reverse flow.
Let alone...
'The mana in my body is flowing backward too.'
Insane.
If the mana in one's body reversed, it would run rampant and explode.
Just as blood couldn't flow backward, mana shouldn't either.
"Try reversing your mana without my help. You've perceived it once, so you should be able to attempt it."
Though she said that, replicating 'mana reversal' after just one experience was no easy feat.
But understanding 'mana reversal' was crucial for mastering magic.
Especially for 'ultra-high-tier magic,' this process was essential.
The more powerful the magic, the more it deviated from the natural order.
Like the spell she had created, one that influenced the entire Abyss.
It couldn't be produced by conventional mana flow.
Reversal meant returning to the origin.
It meant grasping the roots.
It allowed designing more powerful phenomena—magic.
It was a necessary process for any mage, yet most denied it outright.
'It won't be easy to accept.'
Park Chan-woo would be no different.
No matter how talented, it was inevitable.
One couldn't instantly overturn a lifetime of perception and habit.
The terror that reversing mana meant death was etched deep into the subconscious.
Yet without mastering this, further lessons would be pointless.
How quickly he overcame it here would determine the extent of his learning.
In the worst case, she might impart nothing at all.
...Lil slowly released the hand she had clasped.
"Ngh...!"
Park Chan-woo's body swayed.
Dizziness and nausea hit him.
"Urp...!"
He clamped his mouth shut.
It felt like all his innards would spill out.
After about thirty seconds, he shook his head and forced it down.
He bit his lip and closed his eyes.
He had to act before the sensation of reversal faded.
'Reverse the mana in my body.'
He hesitated for a moment.
But the deliberation was brief.
Gurgle!
Grrgle!
It felt like his blood had stopped.
The mana clashed, producing an eerie sound.
Park Chan-woo didn't stop.
He erased the instinctive terror ingrained in him.
This too was his thirst for magic overpowering instinct.
Soon, the clashing mana in reversal quieted.
"...".
Lil silently watched the scene.
'...He did it on the first try.'
It was unbelievable, even seeing it.
This process lay beyond the realm of talent.
Changing perception and overcoming the fear of mana reversal.
Even intense self-hypnosis might barely succeed.
Yet he accomplished it on the first attempt.
He grasped reversal in an instant.
But no matter how she thought about it, it was strange.
'Is he not afraid of death?'
Mortals inevitably harbored a primal fear of 'death.'
Park Chan-woo seemed utterly devoid of it.
He was unnaturally familiar with death.
...As if he had truly died once.
Another curiosity arose simultaneously.
Her mage's instincts stirred.
'He bears the Demon-Sealing God's chalice, and his understanding of mana is extraordinarily profound.'
She wanted to know.
In greater detail.
Where such a human had suddenly emerged from.
She wanted to trace his roots.
To do that, she first needed to examine his brain and heart.
They were on a level she couldn't fathom as human.
For a moment, he even overlapped with that guy... Sepiro.
'Sepiro.'
The path of magic Sepiro walked differed utterly from Lil's.
Long ago, they had competed in magic against each other.
They sought to settle which was the 'greater direction'—the magic she aimed to perfect or the magic Sepiro pursued.
It sparked a battle akin to war.
For 170 days thereafter, they clashed fiercely.
Spells capable of shattering the transcendent Abyss flew ceaselessly.
It was no exaggeration to say the entire Abyss shook.
"I've lost interest. Your magic doesn't seem helpful to me."
At the end of the duel, Sepiro clicked his tongue as he looked down at the fallen Lil and vanished.
It was only natural.
Her magic was not yet complete.
Right after, Lil chose to seal herself in an ancient tome.
Yet Sepiro had already glimpsed the realm where her magic would be perfected.
Sepiro possessed an understanding of mana and magic beyond even her comprehension.
Eyes that saw the future, and a savage desire to reach the ultimate.
Lil was certain.
Sepiro was wrong.
...So why did Sepiro's shadow overlap with Park Chan-woo?
Lil shook her head.
'I believe.'
He was different from Sepiro.
She believed the path he pursued differed from that destroyer.
In the short time, the will and thirst Park Chan-woo showed were utterly pure.
Soon, Park Chan-woo opened his eyes.
Eyes utterly serene.
Deep as those of an enlightened monk.
"What now, Master?"
"...Handle magic in that state."
He had succeeded in reversal.
Wielding magic in that state was another dimension entirely.
No, far more difficult.
Park Chan-woo gazed at a corner of the laboratory.
Then slowly opened his mouth.
"Heavenly Punishment."
Roooooooar!
Wooooooong!
"...!"
The manifested spell left even the Transcendent Lil speechless for a moment.
'Heavenly Punishment' unleashed in mana reversal had manifested in a way she hadn't anticipated.
'Reverse Heaven Magic...!'