High-Digit Mage (1)
"How in the world did you get here...?"
Lira muttered with an expression of utter disbelief.
"This is the Dream World, a place only we succubi can open the door to! It's a realm that doesn't even exist in reality! How could a human possibly invade this place without an invitation?!"
A world that didn't exist in reality.
It was a secondary dimension capable of beguiling people and trapping their minds in dreams that lasted nearly eternally. The law Eunhyeon had once explained to Elenoa about the Arkys Great Labyrinth—that dungeons and this world were independent dimensions incapable of interfering with each other—applied equally between the dream demons' exclusive realm, the Dream Forest, and the real world's Arkena Continent.
Since only minds could enter this space, there were no physical coordinates from reality, and the authority to open passages belonged solely to the succubi.
Yet Iliana had ignored that law, using her own methods to infiltrate the independent world of the Dream Forest, which no one could interfere with.
"The passage was already open once."
"What?"
Iliana pointed casually at Alex and Erin as she spoke to them without a hint of concern.
"Their minds already crossed over here, opening the passage. There's no reason I couldn't use it too. Sure, opening and closing the door might be your demons' exclusive privilege, but slipping through a door that's already open? Even a human can manage that."
In other words, Iliana had traced the path their souls took to enter, located the passage connecting reality and the Dream Forest, and unhesitatingly shoved her own mind through it.
She made it sound like no big deal,
"Is... is that even possible?"
"It is, since I'm here."
Iliana answered Alex's question with a bored shrug, then turned to Lira, who wore the same shocked expression as him.
"You think I haven't dealt with you demons once or twice before? I experienced this Dream Forest twenty years ago. You think I wouldn't have prepared countermeasures?"
With her explanation finished, Iliana activated her magic once more.
Six-Digit Upper Magic
Prominence
A massive sphere of crimson flame, manifested through her incantation, began to flicker above Iliana's head.
Its mere presence heated the surrounding air and set the forest trees ablaze, resembling a miniature sun. As the crimson flame gradually shrank, Lira knew it wasn't just getting smaller—its inherent power was being drawn inward, compressed and recompressed into a single point.
"Hmph! Useless! That spell's already blocked by my shadow! You think ramping up the power will make it through after I already stopped it once?!"
"You're shaking awfully hard for someone so confident."
Iliana saw right through Lira's bluff from her condition.
"People think fire magic is all about burning everything to ash."
She smirked, aimed her staff at Lira, and locked on her target.
"Try enduring it from inside that barrier. I'll give you a nice steam."
The crimson sphere, now palm-sized from compression, shot toward Lira.
BOOM!
Lira's shadow barrier instinctively flared up at the sensed danger, clashing head-on with Iliana's crimson sphere and producing a thunderous explosion. Though smaller than the one Iliana had fired from the rift passage earlier, the compressed power unleashed far greater destruction.
Iliana swiftly approached Alex and Erin, erecting a barrier to block the spreading blast waves, but Lira at the epicenter fared far worse.
"Kyaaak!"
The explosion's immense heat waves were barely held back by her shadows, but the rapidly rising temperatures threatened Lira's body, inflicting all sorts of status ailments.
Hot. So hot. Thirsty. My skin's cooking. It hurts. My eyes are going to burst.
It felt like being thrown alive into a massive steamer—or the heart of the sun.
Her desperate, all-around shadow barrier to protect herself amid the danger had backfired. The air's moisture evaporated entirely, leaving only scorching heat.
"Grrraaah!"
Lira let out a grotesque scream as pain like her vocal cords burning coursed through her. Iliana's sphere continued spewing flames even after clashing with the shadows, ravaging the entire Dream Forest.
Temperatures kept climbing with every passing second, and the blast waves searing Lira's shadow barrier showed no signs of fading, relentlessly assaulting it.
How long would this attack last?
It dragged on forever.
One second felt eternally long.
Only after more than ten seconds did the crimson sphere finally begin to dissipate.
The forest where Iliana had cast her spell looked like a disaster zone had struck.
"Oh my god..."
Erin stared blankly at the charred wasteland reduced to ashes and murmured.
As if the dense foliage had never existed, only a few blackened tree stumps remained, barely recognizable.
This is the power of a high-digit mage, one of only ten on the continent...
She could see why the people of Pernias Kingdom had desperately tried to recruit her to their side.
One mage, one spell, turning an entire vast forest to ash.
Wasn't this the very definition of a one-man army?
Iliana, who had wrought such devastation on the forest, showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever.
"If she taught Hyun... then what the hell is he...?"
What kind of person was he?
Erin suddenly realized anew just how incredible the person training her was.
"Grrraaah..."
From the epicenter of the fierce blaze, Lira emerged with a grotesque groan as her shadow barrier receded.
Her once alluring, seductive porcelain skin had turned bright red and cooked, her face contorted savagely. Her raspy, cracked voice clearly proved she'd taken serious damage.
"Interesting. That shadow—you called it black magic, right?"
Even after perfectly defending the spell, the aftermath alone had reduced her to near death. Iliana was impressed, but her interest lay in the shadow magic that had fully blocked her spell.
"They say using that black magic assimilates you with the shadow's aggression, eroding the caster's body and turning their mind feral. But your sanity looks intact enough."
"How... how dare you...!"
Lira ground her teeth, glaring murderously at Iliana, who calmly analyzed her with her raspy voice.
"You gave your shadow something other than 'aggression,' didn't you?"
"I won't forgive you! I won't forgive you! I won't forgive you!"
"Like 'defensiveness,' maybe? Ah, so that's why it automatically blocked my spell."
Ignoring Iliana's words entirely, Lira muttered while glaring daggers at the one who'd inflicted such agony on her.
She hadn't consciously registered the initial forced Prominence shot from the rift passage.
But her shadow had protected her from Iliana's magic regardless of her will.
Iliana had noticed the trait.
The black magic Shadow Puppetry that Eunhyeon had described involved infusing one's shadow with thoughts, granting it a will of its own.
Elvin used it by imbuing aggressive intents like "kill, stab, slash, crush," turning his shadows entirely offensive to subdue or slay foes.
But Lira's was different.
Her shadow, imbued with "protect" and "save," possessed pure defensiveness dedicated to shielding its master, Lira.
Lacking aggression, it didn't erode or corrupt its host's body or mind to take over.
It blindly existed only to protect its owner.
"You refined Elvin's magic. Made it usable without the penalties."
"Oppa’s magic..."
"I won't let you die easy. I'll brainwash you into a plaything for men, sucking their essence dry as my slave!"
"What're you blabbering about, you psycho bitch? I'm already taken."
Dark crimson mana enveloped Lira's body, and her cooked red skin and burn marks began to fade.
As the damage Iliana inflicted slowly healed and her original form returned, Alex's expression hardened sharply.
"The wounds are... regenerating."
"Kyahaha! Surprised? I told you—this is our dream demons' domain! In this world where only minds exist, physical attacks can't possibly work! And even if they do, I just heal like this! You can never beat me!"
"Hmmm..."
Iliana tilted her head slightly, staring at Lira.
"Hehe! How's that? The tables have turned, huh? Even your fancy magic can't interfere with this world itself!"
In reality, succubi specialized in mind control and brainwashing had negligible combat prowess.
But in their home turf, the Dream Forest, their mental manipulation wielded power akin to reality-warping.
"But even that has limits."
No matter what, endlessly restoring a near-death body to perfect condition wasn't infinite.
It defied basic common sense, the foundation of all laws.
Limits existed everywhere.
"Let's bet—which runs out first: the limits of your ability, or my mana?"
"Kuh..."
Iliana's confident grin and brimming assurance grated on Lira's nerves.
She couldn't hide her frustration that her bluff hadn't landed at all.
In truth, as Iliana said, Lira could use dream manipulation to restore her body to peak condition, but it consumed vast mana and had strict usage limits.
Facing a witch utterly unfazed after unleashing that massive blaze spell was still overwhelming.
Dangerous. This is seriously dangerous!
The witch before her was on another level entirely.
If she really wanted to, incinerating Lira repeatedly would be child's play.
Terror filled Lira's eyes, having tasted high-digit fire magic once already.
She absolutely couldn't win.
Before the humiliation of defeat to a human, her mind filled with the survival instinct screaming I have to live.
Following her instincts, Lira immediately acted to survive.
"Where do you think you're going?"
A massive mana barrier enveloped the area, forming a perfect hexahedron that sealed off inside from outside.
Its scope covered the entire Dream World Lira had created.
Even her final resort—trapping them here and fleeing the dream world—was blocked.
"N-No way..."
With escape cut off, Lira recoiled in shock.
The fact that a human mage, not a succubus, had forcibly sealed the Dream Forest's entrance shook her to the core.
"You invite them here and then bail? Some host you are."
Humans trapped in the Dream Forest couldn't escape on their own.
Unless Lira, who dragged Alex and Erin here, sent them back, they'd be eternally trapped in the dream, their real bodies falling into unending slumber.
That was her plan, but Iliana had made it impossible.
"Wonder how long that black magic can hold out?"
Tak!
She lightly tapped her staff on the ground. The magic circle spinning around Iliana began expanding, rising toward the sky.
"M-Meteors..."
Dozens of small meteors emerged from the magic circle covering the hexahedron barrier's ceiling. Erin stared dumbly at the falling stars in the sky and murmured.
"If you block this too, then regardless of being a black mage—your brother created something truly remarkable. As a fellow mage, I'd offer my respects for that."
"Ah..."
Iliana's words, showing pure admiration for Elvin's magical achievement without prejudice against black magic, filled Erin with an inexplicable warmth.
Glancing at Erin, Iliana tapped her staff on the ground once more.
Six-Digit Upper Magic
Meteor Strike
"No, no, NO!"
Lira's screams echoed across the now-barren wasteland that was once the Dream Forest, as dozens of meteors plummeted toward her under Iliana's summoning magic.