Noble Soul (15)

Dots, curves, and runes.

The phenomenon where spells and magic circles controlled the flow of mana that permeated all things in nature, was known as magic.

Typically, for a mage to use magic, spells and magic circles were essential components.

It was a fundamental principle to control the flow of magical power through a spell and then shaping the magic through a magic circle.

However, a very small number of mages broke these conventions. Perhaps because they inherited a special lineage or possessed unique traits, or maybe...

"Reverse!"

A mage who reached Class 9.

Rumble!!!

Aryumon Brushun.

At his quiet command, the earth flipped over and rose high into the sky.

Soon after, Florin reached out her hand into the air, and the thick branches of the World Tree grew from the earth, supporting the overturned land.

"Oh, oh…"

Chelven watched their incredible actions with slightly surprised eyes.

Indeed, he wondered how they would fight without harming ordinary people inside the World Tree... And here they were, lifting the entire ground and moving it.

'Amazing...'

Both Aryumon, who flipped this heavy land, and Florin, who supported it with the roots of the World Tree, were formidable monsters.

"Wow, this is quite a show. I can't do something like this."

"... You speak so lightly for someone blessed with such an ability."

It was well-known that Chelven had a contract with Dusk Soil Moon and received the love of the earth.

Therefore, Aryumon's gaze turned sharp at his nonchalant words, but Chelven was sincere.

"I'm serious... But no one believes me."

He merely received the love of the earth; it didn't mean he could control it. 

Just because one was blessed by the Twelve Divine Moons didn't mean they could freely command that power.

This power was literally called a blessing.

"You all have no idea how the blessing of the Twelve Divine Moons can turn into a dreadful curse."

"Hah. You speak like that even after contracting with the Dusk Soil Moon, which can make you invincible?"

Since Aryumon primarily studied the earth element, he was hostile toward Chelven, who manipulated the earth without much training, but Chelven was sincere.

"... Yes, it's invincible."

Chelven muttered bitterly.

"Even when I don't want it... That's the problem."

"Rubbish."

Aryumon wiped away his languid expression and spread his arms.

Without any particular preparation, a brown magic circle formed and meshed like gears, then a distorted iron gate in the shape of a dragon hammered down from the air.

Screech-!

As the iron gate opened, a giant black figure emerged from within. 

Standing at over thirty meters tall, the giant held a hammer in its right hand and an axe in its left, reflecting the sunlight with a strangely shimmering metal that was clearly extraordinary.

"Could it be... A golem made of black adamantite?"

Considering that even creating a palm-sized piece of black adamantite required the research of dozens of alchemists for a year, this was indeed a colossal size. 

Though Chelven was genuinely impressed, he couldn't afford to stay idle.

Vroooom!!

The black giant began to swing its axe down.

But Chelven didn't move. 

He waited quietly as the earth flipped itself to form a ceiling.

Bang!!

The hammer of the giant collided with the earthen ceiling, generating a tremendous shockwave. It was hard to believe that it originated from mere physical force.

The earth was deeply dented, creating a crater dozens of meters in diameter, yet at the center of it, Chelven stood motionless, unscathed.

However, Chelven could undoubtedly feel it. He could sense that the invincible shield of the earth was beginning to crack.

"Haha... This is no joke."

Indeed, a Class 9 mage.

There was a time in the distant past when mages were said to have opposed the Twelve Divine Moons. 

Seeing the current Class 9 mages wield such god-like powers, perhaps it wasn't a lie.

Chill!

"… Huh?"

While staring at the black giant, Chelven suddenly felt a chilling sensation and rapidly spread out his mana.

Then, as the earth absorbed his mana, it piled up layers of earthen armor over him. It was more than three layers thick, and shortly after...

Sizzle!!

With a strange noise which resembled a snake licking it with its tongue, all of the earthen armor melted away and disappeared.

"Damn...!"

As Chelven rolled on the ground swiftly and made a large leap backward, he finally realized the nature of the magic targeting him.

"Sunlight…"

A branch stretching out from the World Tree high above had formed a transparent droplet of water and it was cast towards the sun like a magnifying glass. 

As the sunlight passed through it, it became a laser that shot down to the ground.

"What kind of monstrous..."

Florin, who was controlling the World Tree with her hand raised high in the sky, stared coldly at Chelven. Her mere gaze shook his heart, for she possessed a mysterious and beautiful appearance.

"You're more ruthless than you look…"

Swish!

As Florin spread her arms wide, the branches of the World Tree coiled like snakes and parted to either side. 

Soon, the branches of the World Tree spread like a fan, almost covering the sky, and green mana began to gather.

'... As I thought, it seems like she can't recklessly fire that sunlight attack again.'

Well, if a Class 9 mage were to recklessly use something like that, he could overthrow a country in the time it takes to cook instant noodles.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

The ground shook as the roots of the World Tree rose, and suddenly, a volcano erupted from the ground, spewing lava. 

It was literally a natural disaster.

However, even though Aryumon and Florin's full-scale attack had begun, Chelven remained calm.

"Haha... You still don't understand who I am, do you?"

Underneath his feet, an aura stirred. 

The Dusk Soil Moon sensed the threat to Chelven and opened its eyes.

It loved Chelven so much that it would never forgive the source of any danger that befell him.

Even if the enemy were a god.

'... Must someone die again because of me?'

He did not misunderstand them. 

Chelven was a Dark Mage and a slaughterer after all.

However, Chelven swore he had never once killed innocent people without reason.

It was just that…

His power.

The blessing of Dusk Soil Moon.

It had an excessive desire to nullify any threat that came his way.

Due to that overwhelming desire.

Countless children, elders, women, young men, homes, villages, cities, and nations collapsed.

He was a villain.

No matter the reason, every place he went became a site of disaster, resulting in a massive loss of life.

In his heart, he wanted to die at their hands.

No, perhaps... He should have completely died that day he sought out the Dark Magic King to commit suicide.

'But I couldn't die.'

Because he was a coward.

And so today, he created yet another victim.

He was loved by the earth.

However, he became someone who could not be loved by anyone.

— 

… Meanwhile, in the Garden of Leafanel.

After sending Soya away, Baek Yu-Seol continued to look at the still-frozen Leafanel. 

Though he had roughly guessed it, seeing firsthand the reason for her fall into corruption made his heart feel very uneasy.

'She chose to fall of her own will.'

Soya's abilities weren't recorded in the Sentient Spec, but at least he was able to deduce that she was a Half Witch.

'A doppelganger…'

This wasn't an ordinary doppelganger.

Unlike in comics, where a clone simply popped by using duplication techniques, there had to be a 'doll' to serve as the body of the clone. 

The caster would imbue their soul and mana into this doll, and depending on the grade of the doll, the value of the doppelganger varied.

At the lower end, there were wooden dolls, and at the higher end… Usually, the material was an actual living person. 

To grant consciousness to a person with awareness, the caster had no choice but to 'corrupt' the subject with their energy.

In other words, this meant extracting all the blood and mana from a living person and replacing it with their own.

... Disgusting woman.

The reason the woman who stole Leafanel's heart returned to this place was not simply to absorb the heart. 

She intended to corrupt Leafanel with her energy and turn her into a puppet.

But who was Leafanel? 

No matter how childlike her speech or how young her appearance seemed, she was a divine spirit who had lived for a thousand years. 

Even though she had lost all her power, she had not lost her wisdom and chose to corrupt herself to avoid being corrupted by Soya.

… To become a divine spirit, she even gave up the noble soul she had acquired over hundreds of years.

Baek Yu-Seol unconsciously clenched his fist. 

The more he thought about it, the more he pitied Leafanel, and he could hardly contain his urge to kill Soya.

'That must not happen.'

He must not be consumed by rage. 

A simple death would not be a fitting punishment. She needed to experience something more painful than death itself. To make her regret ever daring to touch Leafanel's heart.

"Just wait a little longer. I'll get you out of here soon."

Leafanel had lived too long, bound to this garden. 

After losing her heart, she had become too fragile to adapt to the outside environment. 

However, now that she had completely fallen into corruption, it might be possible to purify her soul again and take her out.

'That woman surely headed for Chelven.'

The last emotion he saw in her was nothing but 'desire.' 

He clearly felt her intense desire to sever Chelven's neck and fully absorb the divine spirit's heart.

Could there be any greater reason to be thankful for the blessing of Pink Spring Moon? 

With such certainty, he could act with purpose.

'More than that... purification is the main issue.'

He couldn't ignore the pressing problem right in front of him just because he was blinded by anger. 

If Leafanel chose to corrupt herself, restoring her to her original state would be extremely difficult. 

Even in the original game, unless she hadn't fallen at all, there were almost no episodes about restoring someone who had been corrupted, making it even more complicated.

'If there is only one hope...'

The only girl in the world capable of restoring a corrupted Dark Mage was Flame, but it was uncertain if even she could handle this situation. 

If the corruption was forced, maybe, but Leafanel's corruption was by her own will.

"Phew... I don't know. Just wait a bit; I'll be back soon after dealing with Soya."

With a face full of worry, Baek Yu-Seol gently touched the purple barrier surrounding Leafanel and then stepped out of the garden.

Now, in the moonlit garden where no one remained.

Swoosh...

The corrupted divine spirit slowly opened her eyes. 

The air was undoubtedly polluted by the corrupted dark magic, yet how could this be?

Leafanel's gaze was clear and pure, still worthy of being called a divine spirit.

She remembered the back of Baek Yu-Seol. 

A back that appeared to carry a heavy burden. 

A back that kept moving forward, overcoming everything.

'I'll be back soon...'

Leafanel desperately tried to send her thoughts toward Baek Yu-Seol, but it was in vain.

However, it didn't matter if he couldn't hear her. 

They would meet again.