Eden 3: Overflowing Greed
"Your greed is just as overflowing as ever."
The elder inside the shield, siphoning mana from me, opened his mouth.
"High-purity mana. I can swallow as much as I want with this."
"Think you can say the same in front of infinite energy?"
"You... you're talking about the critical point of collapse."
The point where the contradiction is resolved: when energy amplifies infinitely, the vessel eventually shatters.
The elder, re-evaluating the possibility at my words, spoke up.
"No... there's no such thing as infinite energy. Infinity only exists in concepts."
"Is that so?"
The elder's expression hardened.
He was now being forced to confront the variable he'd desperately ignored and buried: the critical point of collapse. Whether he'd judged it accurately or not.
"...Nonsense! Before you reach that critical point, your mana will run dry! No matter how many dragons you've slain, it's impossible to pour enough into this vessel!"
"We'll see."
I tapped near my heart.
"From where I'm standing, your vessel looks small, and my battery capacity looks huge."
Woooong...
My heart pulsed slowly but heavily.
Like the roar of a massive engine startup, a bursting sound twisted the laws of the world, filling the space.
Dragon Heart: Output Released.
Mana Release Amount: Immeasurable.
"Take as much as you want. Fill up however much you need."
Mana erupted from the Dragon Heart, pouring through my hand into the shield.
No—dumping it in would be more accurate.
Kwaaaaaah!!
Like a dam bursting, a flood of mana hammered the shield's surface relentlessly.
"Kuh, kuahaha! You mad bastard! Feeding yourself to me on a silver platter!"
The Elder of Abundance cheered.
But his cheer didn't last long.
The shield grew larger.
Larger than the elder's eyes.
Its black surface glowed red-hot, then its form crumbled, swelling up like a balloon.
"Wha? Wh-what? Stop, stop! No more infusion!"
The elder panicked.
By his calculations, the infused mana should have circulated in an external orbit, absorbed gradually.
But the mana pouring in through the filter layer due to the drastic concentration difference far exceeded the circulation speed.
It was like filling a water balloon with a fire hose.
"How's that? Abundant enough?"
Having just started the mana supply, I shoved even harder.
Kikikik! Pajik! Pajijik!
Golden cracks spread across the once-black shield surface.
The shield he'd believed perfect was tearing apart under the overwhelming energy assault.
"No! It's gonna blow! The equations are breaking!"
Adel screamed, deploying a defensive magic shield.
"Stop! Stop it!!!"
"Infinite, right? No end, right?"
"Y-yes, you're right! So stop!"
"Nah."
Skill: Dragon Breath (Grade: S) activated.
Form Change: Short-Range Shot.
A condensed golden flash exploded from my palm.
Kaaaaaaaang!!!
Critical point breached.
System error.
Contradiction forcibly terminated.
"Gaaaaaaaah!!!!"
With the elder's scream, the thorny vine dome called the absolute shield shattered into pieces.
Black fragments scattered like fireworks, and the shockwave blew away the entire penthouse ceiling.
The night sky over central Gangnam in Seoul came into view.
Under the pouring starlight, clouds of dust rose.
"Hah... hah..."
As the clouds cleared, in the middle of the ruined living room.
I stood unscathed, and at my feet lay the charred remains of the Elder of Abundance.
Adel peeked out, released her defensive magic, and widened her eyes.
She rushed over with thrilled, incredulous eyes.
"You're insane... Lee Han, you're really insane!"
She grabbed my still-sparking hand and jumped around.
"Solving the paradox of the mana tunnel like this... Sure, proving it with experiments over theory like now is solid, but demonstrating the limits of a closed system with infinite power like that! Brutish yet crystal clear!"
"...That a compliment?"
At my words, Adel muttered in an excited voice.
"Of course! As expected of my partner. I hereby appoint you Research Assistant No. 0."
"No thanks. Pass."
I brushed the soot from my hand and looked down at the fallen elder.
A pitch-black charred body.
Yet, with tenacious vitality, he was still breathing.
"Cough... impossible... My... perfect design..."
The elder raised a crumbling hand, flailing at the air.
In his eyes, incomprehension and despair overshadowed fear.
The futility of the knowledge tower he'd built his life upon crumbling before overwhelming power, the problem he'd buried at its peak now proven.
What have I been doing all this time?
Adel's fingertip aimed at the elder's throat.
"Alright, let's finish it. Keeping this old geezer alive is just a waste of pepperoni. We can interrogate his soul later."
Purple mana gathered in the ring on her finger.
Trait: Intuition (Grade: A) warns.
[Strange waves detected.]
A chill ran down my spine.
The sensation of something larger, more ominous awakening.
"Wait!"
I reflexively grabbed Adel's wrist.
Paat!
Her magic missed, scorching the floor.
"Hey! What the hell? Why stop me? If we don't kill him now, it'll be a hassle!"
Adel snapped, but I pointed at the elder instead of answering.
"Back off. It's a trap."
My eyes were fixed on the elder's bosom.
On the dying elder's lips, a grotesquely twisted smile had formed.
Not the smile of defeat, but the eerie madness only one resolved could wear.
"Kukuku... kuhahaha. You saw through the trick. Impressive. I admit you broke my shield."
The elder pulled something from his bosom.
A sharp, massive horn emitting a dark red glow.
Its surface was engraved with unknown ancient script, exuding a murky aura that muddled the mind just by looking.
Warning! Demon King's Fragment detected.
"You can't stop this. This city was destined to be my table anyway. You've just changed the order of the meal."
The elder plunged the horn into his heart.
A devoted sacrifice without hesitation.
Pook!
"Crazy?"
Adel gasped in horror.
The horn embedded in his heart pulsed red, sucking in the elder's life force.
At the same time, the decorative patterns on the penthouse floor ignited black, transforming into a massive magic circle.
"With my flesh and blood... I summon the ancient weapon! By the pact of the abyss, descend upon this place!"
Kugugugung!
The penthouse floor shook as if it would cave in.
Space tore, black mist swirling.
From within, a massive form was rising.
Steel and bone. An ancient civilization's weapon fused with turbid mana.
"Rise! O Abyss Titan Weapon!"
A colossal steel arm gripped the floor and pulled up.
A shadow vast enough to blot out the night sky loomed over us.
"That... a titan weapon?"
Adel's face paled.
With trembling hands, she morphed part of her ring into a staff.
"That mad old coot! The moment that manifests here, everything vanishes!"
Facing an uncontrollable catastrophe, Adel urgently swung her staff.
Her eyes flickered with desperation.
"We have to stop it! Cut the mana supply before the summoning ritual ends! Now! Lee Han! Smash that horn right now!"
Adel lunged forward.
Her judgment was correct.
For a mage versed in all knowledge, destroying the medium mid-ritual was textbook.
I firmly grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.
"No. Let it happen."
"What? Let it? Are you sane? If that finishes, Gangnam—no, Seoul is done! We'll all die!"
"We can't stop it."
At my calm voice, Adel froze, meeting my eyes.
What she read in them was the composure born only from experience, the residue of horrific memories.
Back then, they'd summoned an incomplete titan weapon prematurely.
-Titan weapon!
-Fire at will on Adel-nim's command.
-Target: Demon King's corpse, the summoning medium.
The allied forces back then had followed Adel's order, destroying the medium to forcibly halt the ritual.
-Volley fire!
The result was catastrophic.
The severed mana backlash caused a massive explosion, erasing a third of Seoul from the map.
In other words, what Adel was about to do wasn't stopping the summon—it was pressing the detonator on the bomb they'd set.
I won't repeat the same mistake from the past.
I stared straight into Adel's shaken eyes.
"Forcibly cutting it causes a blast. That's what he's aiming for. If we rush in, he'll take us out with him."
"Th-then what? Just sit on our hands? Even if it completes, we're dead! No way out!"
In the frantic situation, Adel's mind stalled, and she cried out in despair.
"Think about it. There is a way."
"What? My brain's frozen from the chaos."
"What's a genius mage like you doing?"
"H-hint!!"
"Golem."
"...!"
Adel reached into her subspace, rummaging, and pulled out exactly what I had in mind.
The metal spheres she'd assembled in the abandoned factory whenever she had time—looking like mere scrap metal.
The ones the Red Skulls called "Sis, should I toss this trash on the desk?" and got electrocuted for.
◈ Cannot operate or test due to lack of massive power source.
"Yeah. That one."
"I brought it just in case... but it hasn't even been tested. No engine yet—just a shiny empty can!"
"Doesn't matter. What I need right now is that can—no, that vessel."
I pointed at the writhing black mist on the floor and the titan weapon gradually taking form.
"What that old guy's summoning is a pure mana mass. No ego or control established yet. Just pour it into that vessel of yours. I'll handle the rest."
The mad scientist's curiosity stirred at the absurd plan.
"Transplant the titan weapon's power source into a golem?"
"Why not? Can't do it?"
The genius mage's ethical qualms reared up, recalling her tower's past.
-Our Magic Tower cannot condone such methods!
-By unanimous agreement, we impose restrictions upon you.
"It's just sticking a straw into that titan weapon's mana with your core."
If we secure output for a certain time, no engine needed.
"Think of it like a backburn to stop a wildfire. To stop their titan weapon, we summon one of our own."
The mad scientist lurking within the genius mage lifted her head.
"Whoa... you maniac. Hijacking their summoning ritual? Using the Demon King's Horn as medium, no less?"
"Isn't it fun? When else do you get to experiment like this?"
"Y-yeah, true."
Theory was theory, but moments to test it were rare.
She licked her lips.
Steal, pilfer, hijack, plunder.
Words she loved kicked aside the occupational ethics binding the genius mage.
"Kyahahahaha! This is fun. No, it's thrilling, electrifying. Buy-one-get-one-free event? Placing my golem next to their titan weapon..."
"Can you do it?"
"Lee Han. I'm Adel von Kraiber."
"Yeah. I believe you. Partner."
Adel's ring and staff glowed simultaneously.