Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Magic Genius with Korean Patch
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"Ah."
Not long after activating the Compression rune within his mental world, Jeon opened his eyes in the outside space where he had originally been.
Or rather than saying he opened his eyes, it would be more accurate to say he regained his senses.
Anyway.
The first thing that entered Jeon's vision upon returning from his mental world to reality was the gray magic he had unleashed.
The silver salts that had been blocking the gray magic lost their power in an instant and scattered in all directions, allowing the unobstructed gray magic to strike Kairon's body.
Flash!
The moment the gray magic touched Kairon's body.
A distinctive light flashed once, and Kairon's figure collapsed to the floor.
"Lord Jeon! Did it succeed!?"
"Are you alright? It looked like the mana from Kairon's body reached you."
"Lord Jeon, a-are you okay?"
"No injuries anywhere? Are you really fine?"
Seeing this, the party members rushed over in a panic to check on Jeon's condition.
"Ah, yes. Well..."
The situation had changed so abruptly that Jeon stammered a bit.
And understandably so.
To them, it had been over in the blink of an eye with a few flashes of light, but for Jeon, who had been to the mental world, a considerable amount of time had passed.
"I seem to be fine."
Even so, after blinking a few times to get his bearings, Jeon calmed the worried group.
From his speech to his appearance.
Seeing Jeon looking perfectly fine without any major harm, the group's worries subsided as well.
"So, what exactly happened?"
But that didn't fully quell their curiosity.
Everyone had seen the mana extending from Kairon's body touch Jeon at the last moment.
Then suddenly, Kairon's magic dispersed, and Jeon's magic hit its mark.
To the onlookers, it had appeared as if a light flashed from Kairon's body, causing his own magic to vanish, followed by Jeon's gray magic flashing and Kairon collapsing.
From their perspective, it was only natural to wonder what had happened.
"Well... I went to the mental world."
"Mental world?"
He tried to explain to satisfy their curiosity, only to spark more questions.
But not everyone failed to understand Jeon's words.
"Was the mana Kairon shot at you at the end pulling you into the mental world?"
"Yes, exactly."
"Hah..."
Among the group, only Khalid seemed to grasp what Jeon meant and what he had experienced.
"Even for an archmage, I didn't expect he could drag someone into the mental world."
"Um... Lord Khalid, what is this mental world?"
Rector, unable to contain his curiosity, interjected with a question to Khalid, who was marveling anew at Kairon's realm.
"I'm only just stepping into it myself, so I don't know the details... but the mental world refers to the world within one's inner self. Understanding that world means understanding oneself, and that leads to great achievements in magic."
"So your recent major progress was...?"
"Yes. It started when I entered the mental world."
Khalid had managed to withstand Kairon's mana field thanks to recently entering the mental world.
Of course, Rector only knew of Khalid's recent advancement without the finer details, so he showed fresh surprise.
"Indeed... The world that high-circle mages perceive and experience is beyond even imagination."
"Yeah... I can't even picture it."
"I've vaguely thought such a world might exist..."
Rector and Tasha, both 4th circle mages, couldn't grasp the concept at all, while Ralph, who was on the higher end of 5th circle, seemed to sense its existence faintly.
"But Lord Jeon, you returned alive from such a world?"
Now that they had a rough idea of what the mental world was, Jeon's survival after being pulled in became even more astonishing.
"Could it be... you're an archmage hiding your identity?"
Tasha's offhand question wasn't dismissed as nonsense by anyone in the group.
Evidence was that everyone watched intently for Jeon's response.
"Well, that gray magic had power too immense to simply call a secret art."
Rector even added his own comment slyly.
In truth, amid the urgency, everyone had been curious how a 3rd circle mage like Jeon wielded magic beyond belief.
"Hey, I am definitely a 3rd circle mage."
However, Jeon waved off their gazes and denied it.
"And these aren't magics created solely through secret arts. Without this staff, I couldn't have used them either."
It was half right, half wrong.
The spells he used today were ones he could cast before.
However, Lunareik had doubled their power, making them far more potent.
"Hmm, it is certainly an impressive artifact."
"Indeed. Far superior to the Ring of Distortion... Of course, wielding it like that is Lord Jeon's skill."
It didn't convince them entirely, but it seemed explanation enough to pass.
"And in the mental world, I got lucky. I'd had a similar experience before, so I could cope."
"...To have mental world experience at such a young age—I'm starting to doubt your age more than your realm. Haha."
Khalid chuckled teasingly at Jeon's words.
Regardless, what mattered was that everyone had survived.
"Still, this experience will greatly aid your future path. Direct experience is invaluable for gaining enlightenment."
With Khalid's well-wish as the finale, the group stopped questioning Jeon.
"By the way... he's... dead, right?"
As questions for Jeon wrapped up, their gazes turned to Kairon collapsed on the floor.
A body lying as if dead, with no mana detectable.
It was hard to believe this same figure had just unleashed monstrous 7th circle magic—no movement or mana emanated from him.
"...He's dead. No heartbeat."
Khalid, closest to him, confirmed and pronounced death.
With that, the eyes of those affiliated with Silvermont wavered momentarily.
The human heart is a strange thing.
They had just fought for their lives against him, yet seeing him fallen like that stirred old memories inevitably.
"He's not worth such pity or mourning."
But Jeon decisively pronounced Kairon's death, sweeping away the mood.
"He was no longer the archmage you knew. Just an ugly old monster left with greed, selfishness, and self-justification."
Having entered even his mental world, Jeon knew well.
There, Kairon had candidly explained abandoning his lifelong comrades.
"He sold out his comrades to reach the 8th circle, which he hadn't climbed to in over a decade. Then he justified it by planning to wipe out the Ruin Order after ascending."
A truly absurd plan.
Not content with sacrificing everyone's lives for his own advancement, he rationalized it by shifting blame to the Ruin Order.
Moreover.
"Even an 8th circle archmage couldn't solo the Ruin Order..."
He still underestimated their power.
Even by revealed forces alone, it was a group beyond one archmage.
All who had operated with Silvermont knew this well.
"Tch, he just needed an excuse to overcome the wall before him."
Gazing at the fallen Kairon, Khalid clicked his tongue in pity.
One of Silvermont's two pillars, leading its mages.
No one could have foreseen such a giant's end met with mere disdain.
"Anyway, seems the situation's sorted. Let's move on. We need to find the missing people."
Valkazar, presumed Ruin Order, was dead, and Kairon, who colluded with them, too—but their goal wasn't just defeating them.
"Agreed. Chimeras or other Order members might remain, so no dropping guard."
After wrapping up, they pressed deeper into the dungeon.
The dungeon's interior was far larger than expected.
Fortunately, no obstacles appeared along the way.
This allowed Jeon's group to expedite exploration.
Soon, they found where Silvermont's mages were gathered.
"What a horrific thing they've done."
In the deepest cavernous chamber.
Silvermont mages lay motionless inside rectangular coffin-like devices.
"A device to forcibly extract mana from mages. It seems they've funneled their mana into one space."
Ralph, versed in artifact crafting, quickly identified the coffins.
"Probably absorbed their mana forcibly to break the wall."
Compared to ambient mana.
Mages' mana is far more refined and pure.
Especially from those trained in the same circulation method—easier to assimilate.
"A brutish plan, but effective."
Possible only among fellow Silvermont mages—brutish, effective, and thus all the worse.
"If I grasp the mechanism, we can stop it safely. Help?"
"Ah, yes!"
Unsure of risks from abrupt shutdown.
Ralph and Tasha, knowledgeable here, analyzed the operation.
Soon, they safely halted it.
Rustle, rustle.
The motionless Silvermont mages began slight movements, some even opening eyes and slowly rising.
"Ugh... Hmm?"
"What? Where are we?"
"What... happened?"
"So... sleepy..."
"Why's my body so heavy?"
Though regaining senses, their bodies weren't fully intact.
Mages normally surpass commoners in physique several times over, yet they could barely rise like corpses.
"Due to prolonged forced mana extraction. Maintained minimal life support, but that's just minimal—bodies weakened too."
Thus, the group helped extract and guide Silvermont mages outside the coffins.
The vast space offered ample room beyond coffins.
"We'll need to request aid from the Mage Tower. Hard to relocate everyone ourselves."
"I know guilds nearby that exchange with the White Mage Tower. Requesting them gets Tower contact and lodging pronto!"
"Good. Tasha and I will go out and request support."
Tasha and Ralph volunteered for the request.
While they headed out.
"What exactly happened?"
Jeon, Khalid, and Rector had to explain roughly to the still-confused Silvermont mages.
Hearing it, they reacted with disbelief and rage.
"Why would Lord Kairon do such a thing..."
"Don't 'lord' that beast worse than an animal!"
Understandable reactions.
Kairon was their pillar, and they the direct victims of his betrayal.
'...How ironic.'
Knowing their feelings.
Jeon conveyed the story plainly, without exaggeration or embellishment.
Amid this, Khalid, explaining separately, called Jeon.
"Hey, Jeon. Come here a moment?"
"Yes?"
"Lady Mirna wants to see your face."
"Lady Mirna...?"
He'd heard on the way.
One of Silvermont's two archmages leading its mages.
For her to suddenly want to see him.
'Well... makes sense.'
A bit abrupt, but not unnatural.
Khalid and Rector knew them well, but Jeon was a stranger—natural to verify by sight.
However, approaching Mirna, Jeon couldn't help but be startled by her words.
"You... seem to bear the Guardian rune, correct?"
"...Yes?"