Chapter 44
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Chapter 44
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: The Sixth Circle
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Is there really no way out at all?
Just as Melissa was slowly backing away, her savior arrived.
No, could that even be called a savior?
"Ugh... This is bad! Family Head!"
An elf man came rushing over in a panic and shouted at her.
"What happened?"
Elves were generally quite composed by nature.
But the elf's expression looked so urgent that Melissa's face hardened in response.
"Fr-From Young Master's room, a strange light burst out and..."
Leon's room?
Almost simultaneously, both of them whipped their heads around toward the window of Leon's room.
Paaang!!!
At that exact moment, a burst of light exploded from Leon's room window.
It wasn't a natural phenomenon at first glance.
"Leon, what the hell did you leave in your room?"
"What do you mean, what? Nothing magical besides the essentials. Just a spare Black Night Sword and that blue box..."
Leon trailed off mid-sentence.
Right, there was exactly one thing.
A blue square box presumed to contain a lifeform.
It was still there, overlaid with a barrier he'd woven as a precaution against any mishaps.
"Looks like that barrier you slapped on it backfired. Can't you do something about that?"
"At least it's not a power I wield..."
The curtain of light encroaching on my room was a massive barrier wall in the truest sense.
According to the servant, it had started as a glow from inside the door, but by the time I snapped to, it was steadily consuming the space right up to the outer walls of my room.
Tzzt...
Sparks flew from my hand.
"How is it, Leon?"
"No good. Can't interfere with it."
It would have been nice if I could hack it like a lich's spell. But this golden barrier defied hacking entirely.
No, it wasn't necromantic magic to begin with.
No mage masters every school of magic.
Even with the memories I'd accumulated in the Hall of Necromancy, I could roughly deduce the basics of most spells, but I lacked confidence in dismantling something this sturdy and intricate.
Fortunately, touching the barrier wall didn't cause any issues.
"What? So there are things even you don't know."
Ignoring her snark, I narrowed my eyes at the barrier.
I had no idea how far this slow expansion would go, but things were bad if it kept this up.
"If this goes wrong, it might swallow the entire mansion."
"What?! No way! What the hell did you pick up?!"
Melissa grabbed my collar and shook me.
"Hold on, let me figure something out. We'll have to postpone training for now, unfortunately."
I suppressed my irritation with effort.
Wasn't this the perfect chance to torment my annoying little sister?
Whatever that blue box's lifeform was, it would pay dearly.
"No gaps? Then brute force it."
I immediately shifted position, sat cross-legged before the barrier, and spread my necromantic mana.
No matter how I looked at it, my current circle realm made interference impossible.
But I couldn't just let this damn barrier rampage and squander my golden opportunity to legally torment Melissa.
"What are you doing?"
"Quiet. I'm breaking through the wall."
At the word "wall," Melissa glanced at the barrier.
No, not that one.
Woooong!!! Chiiiing!!
As the massive circles circulating in my heart began resonating with a fierce frictional hum, Melissa's mouth fell open in understanding.
"You're trying to reach the 6th circle right now?! Just like that, out of nowhere?!"
Before her panicked words could finish, pitch-black necromantic mana erupted from my entire body like mist, enveloping the surroundings.
Sword Master, Grand Mage.
There were other realms, but these thresholds existed for a reason.
They marked transcendence beyond human limits.
In other words, I was finally stepping from mortal into superhuman territory for the first time.
Of course, advancing to Grand Mage wouldn't toughen or strengthen my body.
Those who reached these pinnacles gained different boons.
And the fallout was the same for necromancers.
I couldn't say for sure about elemental mages since I'd never seen one up close, but the Grand Mages I'd fought as enemies were undoubtedly superhumans beyond sanity.
I hadn't delayed breaking through to the 6th circle just for fun.
Like putting off the Sword Master wall, forcing the Grand Mage barrier too soon could backfire.
But now wasn't the time to quibble.
Even if it cost me, I had to deal with this damn barrier before it ruined my precious chance.
A massive resistance pushed back, but I pressed on with my greatest asset: overwhelming necromantic mana.
No! Stop! Don't do it!
It was as if the wall was rejecting me, shoving me away.
The more it did, the sharper the pain stabbed my head.
It felt like a simple jolt, but screw this up even slightly, and my brain would roast golden-brown in my skull like bread in an oven—no complaints there.
Crack... Crack!!
"Unbelievable. It's not like you're naming someone's dog..."
With a shattering sound, a new black ring materialized in my heart.
Kwaaang!!!!
But the ring didn't hold—it began to crumble right away.
Huh? Why isn't this working?
I narrowed my eyes at the completely unfamiliar phenomenon.
Dozens, hundreds of hypotheses raced through my mind, but no clear answer emerged.
As the sudden slack in my mana flow hit, Melissa astutely picked up on it.
And she didn't miss the opening.
"Pfft. What? Can't get past the wall?"
This brat?
Weeeeeeng!!!!
I could tolerate not becoming a Grand Mage yet. But...
I absolutely could not tolerate Melissa mocking me for it.
[Warning: Excessive excitement will be poison in the current situation...]
I forcibly stabilized the circle. Interference? Failure? Such setbacks had vanished from my life long ago.
Melissa's mockery infuriated me far more than the difficulty of success.
Hwaaaak!!!!
The crumbling ring forcibly reformed, enveloping the five furiously spinning rings to forge a new one.
At last, the sixth circle completed.
Simultaneously, my body shed its shell like a fragment of light.
It was a transformation distinct from the classic "shedding the mortal coil."
"Wh-What?! You were failing just now!"
Melissa clearly didn't realize her taunt had played a major role.
Of course, she would pay for that mockery.
[Realm changed from Advanced 5th Circle Necromancer to 6th Circle Grand Necromancer.]
What is the 6th circle?
It could be called the realm of the Grand Mage.
The tale was famous enough to reach even those ignorant of magic.
So, does the 6th circle make that much difference?
Are the spells it enables that extraordinary?
Not wrong, but not the full picture.
A mage who reaches the 6th circle fundamentally alters their circle structure and mana handling from before.
Now the stuffy air felt refreshingly crisp.
No matter my control prowess, low engine output limited my options.
Besides, the 6th circle wall was my only hurdle; everything beyond was no issue.
Spell proficiency for 6th circle magic? Adapting to the changes upon becoming a 6th circle mage?
Not for me.
No sooner had I reached it than denser necromantic mana surged through my body.
Quick on the uptake, Melissa signaled the servants and swiftly retreated several steps.
Sggrrrk!!!
At once, intricate magic circles manifested along my fingertips, bearing down on the barrier with unleashed force.
[6th Circle Necromantic Magic]
[Weight of Grudges]
A gravity-based pressure spell I'd cobbled together from the elemental dragon's mid-tier gravity magic during my Hall battles.
Most 6th circle spells were like that.
Without 6th circle output, even veterans couldn't cast them due to sheer power deficiency.
But having surpassed it like now? That was no problem at all.
I usually commanded undead, but in this scenario, neither Death Knights, wraith wolves, nor the shadowless would help much.
The barrier ahead wasn't my specialty: necromantic magic.
No hacking possible, and no known necromantic spells to dispel it.
So my only option was simple.
A contest of raw power.
Smash the barrier.
As if reacting to my intent, the barrier pushed back fiercely.
The more it did, the greater the weight my black magic circles generated, pressing down harder.
That was when it happened.
Pzzt... Pzzzt!!
Sparks suddenly flared, and bolts from the barrier shot toward me.
Pachang!!!
But they collided with the necromantic mana cloaking me and scattered harmlessly.
They did, however, succeed in twisting my expression sour.
"Kyaa!!"
This damn barrier's backlash hadn't targeted me—it struck at Melissa and the servants nearby.
If she hadn't reflexively deflected it with sword aura, one of the maids would have been hurt.
"Unbelievable."
Barriers lacked ego, so it was probably a standard defensive design.
Typically, such systems prioritized eliminating the primary threat.
With me as its greatest danger, it should have poured everything at me—yet it affected others too.
In other words, a blatant taunt: my attacks weren't much of a threat.
[High probability of speculation.]
Shut up.
I widened my eyes wildly and cracked my neck.
"Even if I just broke through and haven't adapted yet, come on—underestimating me? You picked the wrong fight."
I extended my other hand alongside the first.
Then, as if overloading, I explosively unleashed the nonstop necromantic mana, morphing the magic circles.
Leon's aura was off—dangerously so.
Whatever had pissed him off, his face screamed pure rage.
My big brother had always harbored a subtle pride since childhood.
Sure, he'd abandoned the sword without hesitation, but I remembered how he'd stewed over it for days afterward.
Maybe that's why.
The mana overflowing around Leon looked ominous even to a non-mage like me.
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