Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Silver Flame Storm
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Within the intensifying storm of silver flames that spread ever wider.
‘Ah, this isn’t just ordinary magic.’
Along with the surging euphoria, Jeon realized that what he was wielding now went beyond mere magic.
In truth, the silver flames spreading around him were nothing special on their own.
They were simply ordinary 2nd Circle spells fired off indiscriminately in all directions.
But now, Jeon was aware that every single one of those spells was distinctly recognized and fully under his control.
All those spells, following Jeon’s will, transcended their original usage, turning into true spreading flames. The indiscriminate blaze soon coalesced into one, beginning to form a storm.
‘It’s thanks to that purple energy.’
At first, he couldn’t understand why this change had suddenly occurred, but now he knew.
The purple energy that had automatically settled into his body after defeating Walter had elevated all of Jeon’s mental power—not just by one level, but several.
As a result, every spell was vividly perceptible, and even controlling dozens or hundreds of them imposed no overload on his mind.
‘And Ann’s energy on top of that.’
Moreover, the way and flow of all those spells were being guided through Ann’s energy.
Jeon wasn’t merely casting magic now; he was achieving something transcendent, infusing mystery into the spells themselves.
‘It’s a different feeling from when I reached 4th Circle.’
The moment he had broken through from 3rd to 4th Circle, shattering the blocking wall, felt like clogged meridians opening in a rush of liberation. But now, it was as if his inner world was manifesting, elevating Jeon’s very existence to a new stage.
And that euphoria was beyond words.
Jeon gazed at the growing silver flame storm with ecstatic eyes.
He couldn’t stop imagining what awaited at the moment it fully formed, yearning for that culmination.
“Hand it over—aaaaah!”
Because of that, he noticed Kabbal charging right up to him a beat too late.
“……What?!”
The silver flames raging around Jeon weren’t complete yet, but their momentum was far from ordinary.
Yet Kabbal had broken through them.
It was something virtually impossible with Kabbal’s original capabilities, but the black mist enveloping his entire body made it possible.
However, while Kabbal succeeded in reaching right in front of Jeon, he couldn’t advance further.
“Kyaaang!”
Silver, who had been guarding Jeon’s side, blocked his path.
The black-mist-shrouded Kabbal tangled with Silver.
Even amid the clash, Kabbal’s gaze remained fixed solely on Jeon.
“Get out of the way!”
Craaaack!
From Kabbal’s body, entangled with Silver, his face, neck, and the spine attached to them tore free like they were detaching, shooting toward Jeon.
Caught off guard by the unimaginable sequence of events, Jeon hurriedly created a distortion field with Lunareik.
Griiind! Grriiinding!
But Kabbal’s black-mist-wrapped face forcibly tore through the distortion field’s flow and pushed in.
In the process, his facial tissues were ripped away, leaving a gruesome sight, but such things meant nothing to Kabbal anymore.
“Hand it over!”
“This guy……!”
Crunch!
And finally, Kabbal reached Jeon, jaws gaping wide to bite into Jeon’s nape.
Perhaps because it was no longer human flesh, Kabbal’s bite overcame even Jeon’s reinforced body.
Not only was the skin pierced, but the collarbone at the nape shattered as well.
“Kuh—uuuugh!”
Jeon gritted his teeth against the pain of flesh grinding and bones shattering.
He tried to pry Kabbal off somehow, but Kabbal wrapped the spine torn with his face around Jeon’s torso, clinging desperately.
“Hand it over, hand it over, I said!”
Even as he chewed with teeth embedded, he screamed in rage.
Each time, the teeth dug deeper, forcing Jeon to endure dizzying agony.
‘But what the hell does he want me to hand over?’
By now, Jeon was starting to wonder just what this guy was so desperately begging for.
Kabbal knew Jeon, but Jeon didn’t know whose soul this creature was made from or how.
“My imagery, my everything……!”
Then, from Kabbal’s furious shout, Jeon grasped his identity.
“Kairon……?”
“Yes, no—yes! Right, I’m Ka……bbal!”
At Jeon’s words, the creature faltered, confused about its own identity for a moment.
But through that, Jeon realized this being was based on Kairon.
And what such a creature so desperately sought was……
‘The imagery that entered my inner world back then and was destroyed by the Compression rune?’
But if so, Jeon felt wronged too.
Kairon had barged into his inner world recklessly, suffered the consequences, and vanished.
Moreover, Jeon had only erased the imagery, not stolen it.
“Why the hell are you……freaking out at me!”
Infusing his grievance, Jeon began gathering the silver flames swirling around him.
The storm’s momentum had already started faltering and dissipating the moment he was ambushed.
Jeon collected the dying silver flames and began burning Kabbal clinging to his body.
“It’s my imagery, my enlightenment! It’s mine, I tell you!”
Even as he burned in the silver flames, Kabbal didn’t give up.
For a mage, imagery was the root of enlightenment.
His current subservience to Kan and wretched state stemmed entirely from reclaiming that imagery.
“Kuhaha, that’s right. Then let me help a bit!”
Suddenly, Kabbal’s voice changed.
From furious rage to haughty arrogance.
At that instant, Kabbal’s hollow pupils gleamed darkly, locking onto Jeon.
“Come on, let’s have a proper fight!”
The chilling black gaze pierced Jeon, and he felt the souls within Kabbal confronting him.
‘Kairon and……Valkazar?’
Facing the souls of the two mages he’d encountered in the dungeon stirred odd feelings.
Unlike Jeon, however, the two souls immediately invaded his mental world.
“Don’t enter the inner world!”
“We know that from endless warnings. So we’ll shatter his mind instead!”
Having suffered humiliation entering Jeon’s inner imagery before, the souls meticulously targeted only his consciousness.
If the inner world and imagery were based on the subconscious, his mental world was rooted in consciousness.
They believed that with Kan’s power, they could conquer the consciousness-based mental realm, not the rune-dormant inner world.
‘Looks like they learned something from last time.’
But Jeon smirked at the two souls invading his mental world.
‘Sorry, but this side’s no joke anymore either.’
With that, a flash—purple lightning illuminated Jeon’s mental world.
The black energy that had guided the souls here vanished like a shadow under light.
“What is this?”
“Wh-what?!”
The souls, who had trusted the surrounding black energy to pressure Jeon, froze momentarily.
‘If you’d come just a bit sooner, you might’ve had a chance……Too bad.’
And that was their end.
The purple energy extending from Jeon’s mental world ensnared the reckless souls and erased their existence entirely.
“Kuh.”
With that, Jeon returned from his mental world to reality.
With the souls dissipated, the face and spine biting his nape ceased resistance, burning away in the silver flames.
But that didn’t heal the wounds already inflicted.
“Damn it.”
Jeon hurriedly pressed the wound.
But with flesh torn and bones shattered, it was severe.
‘The wound……is too deep…….’
No matter the reinforcement, it didn’t enable wound recovery, so continued bleeding from the pressure made Jeon collapse to the ground.
‘I was just starting to find a way…….’
He had begun grasping the mystery within his body and thought it might counter Kan’s abilities properly.
Yet compared to his advanced mind, Jeon’s flesh was pathetically frail.
His mind stayed sharp amid the staggering blood loss, but his body kept weakening.
Then, suddenly, Jeon felt a hard object in his bosom.
“The……wooden box?”
The wooden box containing Hyun Eunsam, an elixir excellent for balancing body and mind.
Seeing the box and recalling Hyun Eunsam’s effects, a flash of insight struck Jeon.
He quickly pulled out the wooden box from his bosom and opened it.
‘Let’s bet on this.’
Normally, one would consume such an elixir in a fully prepared state to handle potential side effects.
But now, there was no turning back.
The area was clear of black soldiers thanks to the silver flames, but they could return anytime.
Asking others for help? Mirna wanted to but was blocked by Kan, and everyone else was busy fighting the black horde invading the village.
“All or nothing.”
Crunch.
Jeon immediately took out Hyun Eunsam and chewed it down in one bite.
If it just healed the wound, it’d be a jackpot; even basic hemostasis and stat boost would succeed his goal.
Gulp.
And as the chewed Hyun Eunsam finally slid down his throat into his stomach.
“Kuh?!”
Jeon felt a scorching pain like fire burning from esophagus to stomach. But it didn’t end there. The fiery pain reaching his stomach spread rapidly throughout his body.
“Kuh—uuuugh?!”
A horrific agony like his whole body aflame made Jeon grit his teeth unwittingly. Grind, cruuunch! His teeth clenched so hard they grated eerily. And that excruciating pain finally reached his head. In that instant, Jeon’s vision went black.