Chapter 204
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 204
Chapter Title: The Fourth Circle
Loan arrived alone at the rolling hills around sunset.
They looked as though waves of a constant height had frozen in place.
The gently rolling gray hills, stained red by the setting sun, created a truly magical landscape.
It was beautiful, yet a perplexing space where it was hard to know one's destination. Even if you did, it was easy to get lost.
Loan recalled what Bella had told him.
‘Amy’s first visit to the hills was a coincidence. But after that, it was no longer a coincidence. Like a salmon swimming upstream to find its roots… Amy, no, Asmo, was unknowingly drawn to that place. Just like I… no, just like Amy was drawn to the wheat field in Lodos. You understand what I mean, don’t you?’
Back when Bella had led him to the wheat field, she had repeatedly answered Loan’s questions about their destination by saying she didn't know exactly, that she was just going.
And they had arrived at the stone grotto beneath the wheat field.
If this was a similar case, it could be a kind of instinct unique to demons.
Fortunately, Loan had a guide.
Standing before the endlessly quiet forest on the hill, Loan summoned Aul.
“Aul!”
Aul spun several times in the air, surveying the surroundings, but looked disappointed when it found no heads to eat.
“Aul?”
It gazed into the distance with curiosity, then soared a little higher into the sky.
“Aul!”
It began to pester Loan, urging him to go check out the place.
Loan shrugged lightly and said,
“Lead the way. I'll follow.”
As Aul flew through the night sky, it didn't make a single sound.
A characteristic of owls, who approach and snatch their prey silently in the dark of night.
Loan, too, moved without a sound.
The cold air, touching the Narrow Path, flowed down the hill and aided Loan’s smooth movements.
The two of them raced across the rolling hills, now completely dark, the moonlight still sparse.
Just as Bella had said, it was a long way to the east.
‘It’s in a very remote and hard-to-find location, but Amy still felt the need to manage it. It just so happened that Bifl, having lost its host, made contact with Amy in Bersa.’
Bifrons was afraid of Amy.
When asked about the puppeteer after being covered by Aul, it had resisted with convulsions and had even referred to itself as an errand boy.
Ultimately, following Amy's orders, Bifrons had possessed the head of the Pobel family, Marquis Maurice, an ambitious man who pathologically pursued only strength, and who owned the rolling hills.
‘The Beauvoir Company is a front, but in reality, they are the ones who manage ‘that place.’ Bifl’s last memory of them was that they were ‘mining.’ Digging an entrance, that is.’
A short while later, Loan was able to confirm the information he'd heard from Bella with his own eyes.
-Aul!
Loan sent a mental command to Aul, who was about to dive recklessly, stopping it in mid-air.
Aul hovered, tilting its head this way and that, seemingly fascinated by the silent communication.
-Come here.
Unlike Loan, who grew somewhat serious as he gazed at the enormous cave that exposed an entire side of the hill, Aul was merely curious.
It landed on Loan’s head and began to peck lightly at his hair, as if asking how he did it.
-Later, I'll teach you later. For now, let's check that out. There might be plenty for you to eat.
At the mention of food, Aul whipped its head around and glared at the hole with sharp eyes.
Thanks to that, Loan could calmly survey the surroundings and the inside of the hole.
He couldn't feel or see anything immediately. There were no living creatures, nor was the dark mana particularly noticeable.
Without Aul, he would have passed right by without noticing.
Loan tilted his head, then stepped into the cave.
In any case, before tomorrow's meeting, he had to secure secrets, useful information, or evidence about these hills. If that wasn't possible, he would have to seal it.
‘I know it would be easier to go alone… All right. Well, I can't just leave Duke Melville by himself…’
Recalling what Sienna had said before he left Bella's house, he felt a renewed sense of responsibility.
“Let's go, Aul.”
The cave was very spacious, not dark, and cool.
This was thanks to blue, luminescent Yadus ore embedded in the walls at regular intervals.
It was clear this wasn't just a crudely dug hole but a proper construction project of exquisite skill, reminiscent of the underground city in Lodos.
They seemed to have thought beyond simply securing an entrance, considering what would come after the cave's ultimate purpose was achieved.
On the other hand, despite the meticulous effort put into creating the tunnel, there were no defenses or guards.
They had only dug a hole, without even installing doors or bulkheads.
Perhaps they hadn't felt the need. Even if they had at first, no one would have visited for a very long time.
Nevertheless, Loan did not let his guard down.
He carefully scanned for mana and heightened his five senses. He extended his [Barrier of Perception] far ahead and behind him.
As he gathered mana, he simulated what material properties would be most suitable, what magic would best match the environment.
Every single step was deliberate and full of purpose.
Just when even his humble self felt he was sufficiently prepared.
For the first time, there was a change in his [Barrier of Perception].
It had been repelled without reacting to his magic, a phenomenon he'd never encountered before, which greatly piqued his curiosity.
No living beings. No dark mana yet. Then what could it be?
Only after rounding a sharp bend in the tunnel did Loan find the reason.
“...”
A dead end.
Moreover, it was a place fitted with rather complex devices.
First, a huge crane was installed on the ceiling, and on the floor below it was a large lid, as wide as the tunnel itself.
It seemed there would be a path leading down if he opened this lid, and the crane overhead was likely for hoisting something up from below.
The next step, then, was to open the lid and go down.
It looked like a giant cauldron lid, or perhaps an overturned round shield.
The lid, made of long, pointed black iron plates joined together, was interlocked with flawless precision, looking both intricate and beautiful.
This was no ordinary craftsmanship.
At last, Loan was certain of his guess. The ones who had dug this cave, the ones who had made this lid, were dwarves.
Loan carefully examined the surroundings and the lid, trying to figure out how to open it, but found no way.
‘These black iron plates are repelling magic. It seems less like a barrier and more like they've been turned into a magic tool...’
Considering he couldn't sense anything below despite being so close.
They must have enchanted the iron plates and joined them together to block the flow of mana from both inside and out.
‘It must be designed to open when a specific condition is met.’
Since it didn't use a magic circle or formula, there was no way to figure out the condition.
Breaking it would be a simple solution, but he couldn't rashly destroy it without knowing its purpose.
Thus, the method Loan chose was ‘magic extraction’.
Of course, Werner, who had taught Loan the Schwerin-style of enchanting, had said that re-extracting magic from a magic tool was next to impossible.
He had said it was because grasping the object's essence was difficult.
‘You never know until you try.’
Loan brought his hand close to the lid and began to tap it with thread-like extensions of Convection.
He did so with extreme care, seeking to understand its material properties and grasp the mineral's essence—not its original state, but its altered ‘subjective essence’ after being imbued with magic.
He resonated with it, laying out the disjointed impressions that arose in his mind.
He constantly re-examined them, shaping them into a single, concrete mental image, then into the most precise combination of words, and finally, from that, defined the core essence with a single, clear word.
‘Containment.’
It was meant to keep what was inside from getting out.
Probably dark mana. Or a demon.
Whatever it was, there was a high probability that something that should not appear in this world lay below.
There was a somewhat ironic aspect to it.
If demons or Le Tell had created this space, why would they bother sealing it?
In any case, completely extracting the magic and nullifying the lid's primary function was not something Loan wanted to do.
This lid had a function to open and close as needed, not for permanent containment, so he only needed to interfere with the ‘opening action’.
Loan figured it would be better to extract everything but the core essence of ‘containment’ rather than meddle with the miscellaneous parts. Of course, extraction meant ‘destroying’ the corresponding elements.
Since it was deleting the promised powers that were bound together, there would be no physical impact.
‘The reverse of when the magic was enchanted...’
If enchanting was the process of materializing a mental image into an intention, then this was turning something concrete back into an intangible image. Now that he understood the material's ‘subjective essence,’ it wasn't difficult.
Loan extracted the meanings that arose, aside from the essence of ‘containment,’ and turned them into metaphors.
For instance, he visualized ‘binding’ as the image of Aul settling perfectly on the head of the Archbishop's Nest, or ‘rotation’ as an ice cream cone solidified in its conical shape.
And then.
Vwoooom?
The lid began to react.
Just in case, Loan wrapped his Domain around the lid, creating another virtual layer of cover.
Soon after, the massive lid, resonating with Loan, let out a faint sound. Then, with a series of clicks—*clank, clank*—the individual triangular iron plates began to move, overlapping one another to reveal an opening in the floor.
Simultaneously, an overwhelming torrent of dark mana surged upward.
It was a sudden development, but thanks to the Domain he had set up, he managed to block the initial backflow of mana.
‘Ugh...’
Soon, an immense pressure began trying to break through the Domain.
It was a force so great that no one could have easily overcome it by meeting it head-on.
Fortunately, Loan had the unique ability to draw mana into himself and reconstitute it.
First, to switch to a spell that required more magic, he launched himself into the air and formed a [Sphere of the Void].
It was the perfect size to seal the opening. Pushing back with physical force, he achieved a moment of stability.
Loan’s will spun faster, commanding his Circles to draw in the mana.
The vertical, horizontal, and single diagonal—his three Circles—faithfully carried out the order, sending the mana through the various paths of circulation.
After circulating through his body, it flowed back out, further solidifying the sphere.
But it wasn't enough.
The attempt was good, but it was overwhelming.
The supply of mana was far too excessive. The output he was producing with Convection couldn't keep up with the vast amount of raw material.
‘Urgh...’
The concentration was similar to the wheat field in Lodos, but it was as if it had all been condensed in one place and released at once. It had surpassed the volume he could handle.
Krrrrrrk?
The sphere, wedged tightly in the opening, began to be pushed upward.
He extended his Convection more forcefully.
He tried to make the sphere even harder.
At the same time, his body felt like it was about to explode. As if he was being torn apart from the inside.
A feeling he could never get used to.
Along with the awareness that he was surpassing the limits of his circulation, the limits of his body.
Loan once again recalled the feeling of ‘desperation’.
If he was pushed back now, it would be no different from having caused the dark mana to spill out himself.
Loan gritted his teeth.
‘I can't let that happen!’
In that moment.
His powerful will and sense of responsibility to hold it back triggered another change within Loan.
Mana surged into the fourth path of circulation, which had been separate from his three Circles.
A ring, closely resembling the flow and threatening to overtake that violent circulation, bloomed around his heart.
It condensed into a size and structure perfectly symmetrical to his third Circle.
Giiiiiiiiing?.
The fourth Circle began to draw in mana.