Chapter 227

Chapter 227: Meaningless

Chapter 227. Meaningless

— Stop the childish chatter and let us speak now of that man named Gokma.

Erica steered the conversation in a constructive direction.

— Did you say that the meteor summoned by Erdes was blocked bare-handed?

— That is right.

— The magic used seemed to be the pinnacle of the Seventh Circle…

— First Impact, correct.

— Using magic of that caliber… it seems she truly lost her mind.

— Had we not agreed to talk about Gokma? Why are you changing the subject?

— At any rate, it is the strongest magic in terms of firepower among Seventh Circle spells. To block that, whether by brute force or mana, magic surpassing the Seventh Circle would be required…

Just as Erica was about to sink into thought, Ferda posed a hypothesis.

— What if that is not simply Gokma’s own mana?

— What do you mean by that?

— King Hinkel concentrated the power of all humans into himself through Gamigin’s Legion to create a fortress. What if that power extended not only to King Hinkel, but also to Gokma?

— Since he gathered all the humans in the kingdom, it would be that powerful… but even so, would blocking that attack not be impossible?

Erdes objected.

She also seemed purely curious, appearing terribly serious.

— Of course, the mana created solely from the lives of the kingdom’s people would not be enough. But thanks to King Heian unilaterally sending an infiltrator, we discovered a fact.

— What is it?

Ferda dropped a hint.

— Inside the castle, there is something that can bring someone to the Third Circle in a week.

— The Third Circle in a week?!

Breaking through a circle in one week would already be shocking enough, but adding two more to that?

— Even with a Red Circle, making someone advance that quickly is difficult. How on earth does someone with no connection to magic become a Third Circle mage?

— Red Circles are based on emotions, so…

Erica deduced something and spoke.

— Do not tell me… are they using Trauma?

— Trauma? What is that?

— A creature discovered in the Demonic Lands. Its eyes… make those who look into them recall their most despairing memories.

— Just making someone recall memories? Is that so significant?

— If you truly experience it, you will not be able to speak.

Erdes did not seem to understand.

Like all people, one does not know its destructive power unless one has suffered it.

— It is not as if everyone who despairs creates one. I know better than anyone how Red Circles are formed.

Erdes, who despised demons, was an authority on black magic and Red Circles.

She would have observed everything imaginable.

Yet she had only observed; she had never experienced it.

Ferda had experienced that despair.

The terrible agony of tearing into his own wounds, the emotion that did not cease at its peak but lingered on—that sensation remained vivid.

“But as Erdes said, that alone is not enough.”

However, Ferda saw one more thing.

— What if despair is merely the stepping stone?

— Stepping stone?

— To create a Red Circle, must it not be an excessive emotion, concentrated to that degree?

— Correct.

— They are using the negative emotion of despair as a baseline to trick the activation threshold of a Red Circle.

— For what purpose?

Ferda remembered when he explored Gyeonghui Palace with adventurers.

He knew what the adventurer who suffered Trauma did.

The first male adventurer they encountered was in despair.

And then the adventurer they found afterward.

— For the ecstasy that follows it.

Clinging to that mass, swearing never to let go again.

Like someone who had found a long-lost mother or wife.

— So it is fanaticism…?

Erdes’s lips twitched.

She could say neither one thing nor the other.

She wanted to say it was only theoretically possible, but since a real case had appeared, she could not dismiss it.

— If Red Circles are made in that manner… and their minds collapse, that would not be a major problem, would it?

— They simply use them as mana batteries.

Erdes let out a hollow laugh.

— Gamigin’s manufactured domain, plus demons manipulating emotions… I underestimated things, thinking First Impact could solve it.

— Even so, there was actual damage, was there not?

— At least several thousand humans who were turned into mana nutrients must have died.

— The kingdom may not have been wiped out, but it certainly took a blow.

Which meant her attack was not entirely useless.

Still, what will happen when the siege warfare begins in earnest?

What trump cards they might be hiding… that made her anxious.

Ferda asked Erica.

— What has Lord Blancaros decided to do?

The Grand Council Chamber, which decides and manages the affairs of the entire continent.

— He considers it a crisis… but for now, he is holding back.

Ferda did not like this development.

— Was not the Grand Council established so that the continent would not be shaken by the existence of demons?

— Since its establishment, its executive power has never been activated even once. Because matters are resolved before that, or no signs ever surfaced.

— Right now, they are blatantly displaying ambition, are they not?

— And humans stepped forward saying they would resolve it.

— Do you respect that intention?

— Yes. And he seems to hope the dragons do not step in.

— Why would he do that…?

Suddenly, Ferda recalled what the Bronze Dragon, Frontesis, had said.

— Valdrova and I… are growing weaker. The twilight of the dragons approaches.

The Twilight of the Dragons.

Frontesis and Valdrova are weakening.

It was not stated directly, but Iorga was weakening as well.

What if the other dragons are the same?

If they are weakening,

“They might end up in a situation similar to Erdes’s.”

Beings whose authority stems from fangs and claws meet death the moment they lose them.

It is not easy for such creatures to relinquish the standing of the strong.

If they weaken, obsessing over power is inevitable.

“They might wish to become like King Hinkel.”

If those are Blancaros’s circumstances, this is a trial humans must overcome on their own.

Ferda set aside his immediate criticism.

— We will resolve this somehow with the humans here. And…

Ferda looked at Erdes and spoke.

— Academy President-nim, you must stay out of this.

Erdes frowned.

— Black magic runs rampant, and you tell me to close my eyes?

Knowing that was precisely what troubled Erdes, Ferda answered immediately.

— I will destroy Gamigin’s black magic books.

— What makes you think I would trust you?

— If you wish, I will swear an oath upon my heart.

Ferda firmly insisted he had no interest in black magic.

Yet she merely scoffed at that oath.

— You swear by your heart? Is that supposed to prove it to me?

— Yes.

— That is no proof. You say that because you are not even sure you can do it yourself.

He was rendered speechless for a moment.

He tried to say it was not true, but a thought surfaced from deep within his chest, suggesting she might be right.

As Ferda remained silent, Erica stepped in to defend him.

— Erdes, Regent Ferda is trustworthy enough.

— Even so, you tell me to stand aside? Am I just supposed to sit still?

— This was something you initiated unilaterally, and holding the Magic Academy accountable would not be strange. Until it is determined that the kingdoms’ forces cannot handle it, keeping yourself out of it would be best for your position.

— If I cared about my position, I would not have come here. And did I deploy magic irresponsibly?

— Regardless, there were casualties. Right now, you are becoming an unpredictable variable. When Regent Ferda covers for you like this, just quietly go along with him.

— Uuugh…!

Erdes made a frustrated face and stood up from her seat.

Just as the meeting seemed to end, Erdes sat back down.

— Since I am here, let me ask you one thing, boy.

The much smaller boy spoke.

— Speak.

— You… how much do you remember of your mother?

Ferda reflexively grimaced.

— If you open your mouth about my mother, I will not consider the consequences either.

— I did not bring it up to curse. This is quite important.

Erdes said so, but Ferda still regarded her with guarded eyes.

— Then, must I expose my family history first? I was conceived in a test tube, the only daughter of the Roton family who never saw her father’s face.

From my birth, my mana resonance was so outstanding that they grew greedy, feeding me more drugs than milk, and rather than acting spoiled, I spent more time meditating.

Thus, I opened the First Circle at three years old. When I failed to achieve the desired goals, she beat me directly, and when hitting grew tiresome, she tore off my skin and dug her nails into it—that despicable woman. Even now, merely hearing the word ‘mother’ makes my hair stand on end.

A face that said, ‘Is that enough?’.

A woman who could not bear humiliation had revealed her own shame, making him curious about what her question truly was.

— What makes you curious?

— As I just asked… how much do you know about your mother?

— Anna Rosnova is a good mother.

— Is that all?

— Yes.

Erdes looked at him with suspicious eyes.

Yet what Ferda said was the truth.

He had never harbored other thoughts about his mother.

If he continued to reminisce, longing would take root in his heart rather than solace.

Thus, he tried not to think about his mother as much as possible.

— Did you never consider that the source of your magic might originate from your mother?

— Are you saying my mother is a witch right now?

— No. ‘Witch’ cannot even begin to describe her.

Erdes recalled what occurred in the Rosnova territory.

That woman she saw that day was not merely a witch.

A simple witch could not have provoked such overwhelming helplessness within her.

— Think carefully… about what kind of existence you were born from, and under what kind of existence you were raised.

Leaving those words behind, Erdes departed the tent.

Inner Castle of King Hinkel.

Gokma, who had been atop the spire, returned to the interior of the castle.

— You have arrived.

Turning his head slightly, he saw King Hinkel.

Hollow eyes and dry breath.

A man exuding the scent of death, now far removed from humanity.

— Are you all right?

His gaze fell upon Gokma’s right hand.

— As you can see, it was a fatal blow.

Gokma raised his right arm.

Where the arm should have been, there was only crushed bone and mangled flesh.

Demons possess their unique regenerative power, but the impact was too severe for it to function.

— Had you or I not been here, we would have been annihilated without recourse.

First Impact, the pinnacle of Seventh Circle firepower.

It could only be blocked thanks to the properly established power of the Legion.

King Hinkel became an Archmage, and Gokma, whom he serves as lord, was able to utilize the mana he holds.

— Fortunate.

— How many lives were lost?

— 4,000 out of 80,000 died. It is still manageable.

— Those 4,000 were also mana sources created by opening the Third Circle and activating them. Producing such sources from ordinary commoners is difficult…

Gokma walked down the corridor, and King Hinkel followed him.

A place once used as the knights’ training ground.

King Hinkel knew what that place used to be like.

To cultivate faith and loyalty, the emblems of the Order and the kingdom were placed prominently, beneath which countless knights and cadets honed their martial arts.

Now, however, a single giant mass with eyes occupied that ground, and the training area was packed with people like a coop, staring at it.

Like a cult gathering.

— Aaah…!

— My life had so much meaning!

— So happy… reaching the Truth, so incredibly happy…!

Those who chanted the void to escape the shackles of this world.

No reason remained in their appearance.

Only a twisted ecstasy had taken hold of them.

Within that ecstasy, they felt something in their chests.

— One has entered a new path.

King Hinkel spoke.

The sensation of a Red Circle forming, driven by emotion.

Today, a new mana source was born.

— My King! Today, another sheep to offer you has increased!

— May the Void be with the King!

Ecstasy breeds new ecstasy.

Everything is meaningless; only the absolute One is everything to them.

Red Circles spun constantly within their bodies.

Yet such madness could not continue forever.

Red Circles form quickly but carry danger, and their backlash arrives inevitably.

— Uwaaaa! Cough-cough…!

Someone vomited blood and collapsed.

The body could not withstand the emotional excess, and the circle crumbled.

And this, too, was a new ecstasy.

— Your son has returned to the Void!

— Aaah! How enviable!

Their march does not halt.

Whether someone dies or is injured, everything is a path toward the Void, and only those eyes are their bliss.

King Hinkel smiled as he observed them.

Yet the smile was incomplete; something felt wrong.

He felt something deeply lost in his heart.

Soon, however, he realized it was insignificant and stopped.

Being born and dying is the natural order,
For us trapped in the cycle, only the void remains,
Life is that meaningless.