Desir summoned his mana . It was a level of mana that reached the level of the Third-Circle .
The mana arranged itself around him, assuming a geometrical form that started revolving around him endlessly .
The steps in casting a spell are as follows: arranging the magic into formations derived from a set equation specific to each spell, followed by exciting the magic enough for it to start revolving around the caster and eventually invoke the spell .
‘Although I can only execute an imitation of it…’
However, by using various spells and shaping them into something that looks like the Tesseract that was used by Crow Mask, Desir was granted a hint toward what could allow him to surpass his previous limits .
The Tesseract artifact essentially allowed the caster to use a spell that mutated and combined many low-level spells to forge high-level spells .
‘I’ll use that concept . ’
By combining the draconic magic system and the Tesseract spell style, they could be blended into a single arithmetic equation .
Desir merged these new magical structures he learned, creating a new spell that could be used .
Together, the spells merged elegantly and stretched out beyond Desir .
Considering that multiple spells had to be analyzed and formatted simultaneously, the required level of calculation had long passed what a Sixth-Circle magician was capable of .
This should have been a feat impossible to achieve with the skills of a Third-Circle magician, but Desir had made it possible .
Adjest struck back against the tail that flew towards her and took a step back in the process . Her breathing had become labored due to the never-ending battle .
As she regained her breath, the numerous spells that shot out from the ice palace restrained the Mother Worm .
In a low voice, Desir spoke with Adjest .
“Adjest, invoke defensive magic with all your might . ”
Adjest’s eyes drifted to the spell that was being formatted ahead of Desir .
“…!”
It wasn’t normal in the slightest . Getting a hunch that something out of the ordinary was about to happen, Adjest decided to follow Desir’s commands instead of questioning them and wasting time .
[Kijard’s Sigh]
Five layers of ice formed a shield in front of them . It was Kijard’s Sigh, known as the strongest magic of the Third-Circle .
Just as the defensive spell was finalized, a blazing red ring of fire was drawn beneath Mother Worm .
As Adjest gazed at Desir with unadulterated excitement and reverence, he opened his mouth .
[Fire Storm]
Fire Storm, a Third-Circle fire attribute spell .
Adjest found this rather dubious . There was no way Desir didn’t know that Third-Circle magic wouldn’t inflict any damage on Mother Worm .
She knew he wasn’t someone to do something without a good reason, so she started questioning him .
“Desir, what on earth…”
Before Adjest had a chance to finish vocalising her question, a tremendous shockwave struck the magic that she had cast .
“Urk!?”
In an instant, two out of the five layers that she had put up were vaporized . Gritting her teeth, Adjest focused her remaining magic on maintaining the layers that were left .
‘There’s no way Third-Circle magic can be this powerful…!’
As she shifted her gaze ahead, Adjest’s pupils widened .
All she could see was a ghastly tempest of flames .
The unbearable heat swept over everything in the hall .
The numerous spells that had bound the Mother Worm, the ice palace, all of it simply melted away as if just regular ice .
Although two of her five barriers had been instantaneously vaporized, the fact that any of them remained was a sign that the attack’s range had been greatly limited by an astonishingly high degree of control .
*CRACKLE*
A sickeningly painful scream rang out .
“AGHHHHH! ARRRGHHHHHH!”
Amidst the red flames, a big black figure desperately thrashing around could be seen .
It writhed in pain as it was engulfed in scorching fires . The acidic fluid it desperately shot out evaporated without a trace in the face of the blazing heat .
Soon, the fire that looked like it was ready to swallow everything had died down . Confronted with the sight before her, Adjest could not hide her disbelief .
The Mother Worm, who with her endless regeneration had caused the strongest party, the Blue Moon party, to retreat in despair, had been wiped out completely without leaving even a trace behind .
Was this truly something that a Third Circle magic spell could achieve? It didn’t take a prodigy like Adjest to know such a thing was impossible .
The magic that Desir had invoked could hardly be called normal .
“Desir . ”
Adjest hurriedly checked Desir’s condition, glancing up and down his body . She wanted to confirm whether he had been hurt invoking that monstrous spell .
Desir spoke to her with a wry smile .
“I’m okay, Adjest . ”
This indeed wasn’t a lie . He hadn’t collapsed, nor did he have any visible injuries . Besides being light-headed, there were no other symptoms at all .
“Forget about me, the others still need help . ”
Desir pointed at the passage . The battle was still raging on .
They had taken care of the Mother Worm, but the battle wasn’t over yet . The countless Great Worms that had been summoned by Mother Worm were still running loose .
“But… ”
“I’m okay . Really . ”
Adjest hesitated for a moment, but once she heard a scream coming from the passage, she had no choice but to follow Desir’s words .
“I’ll be back soon . ”
Once Adjest left, Desir stumbled as all the tension flowed out of him . His head was spinning .
‘That was more exhausting than I expected… ’
He had been confident that he wouldn’t lose to anyone when it came to his calculation skills, but even for someone like himself, using a new calculation technique to invoke a spell had completely worn him out .
‘I was fine when I used it against Tyrant-Tula though… ”
It was most likely because he had invoked a spell of a much higher level .
Desire looked around him . The aftermath of his magic remained in the hall .
The Fire Storm had been so hot, the stone in the hall had melted . The lingering heat excited Desir .
It wasn’t perfect . Having not practiced it much, even the origin of his calculation could be considered as flawed . Nevertheless, the power was incredible .
With just Third-Circle mana, he had been able to invoke a spell with the power of a Fifth-Circle spell . He had surpassed the limits of the Third-Circle .
For Desir, who had been unable to escape the crutches of the Third-Circle due to his inherently limited mana, it was a momentous occasion for him .
‘With some practice and fine-tuning, I may be able to use this regularly . ”
*CRASH*
‘They really don’t give me a break, do they?’
Desir heaved a sigh and stood up as his fantasy about introducing a new magic-based system that could go beyond the limitations of the existing calculation-based system was interrupted .
He started invoking a magic spell as he approached the battle that was furiously raging on against the Great Worms .
***
An hour later, the battle had finally come to an end .
Miraculously, no one else had been sacrificed during the battle against the Great Worms . However, the sudden emergency in addition to the prolonged battle had exhausted everyone physically and mentally .
They gathered the bodies and laid them all down in a corner of the hall .
The silence that came after the battle was overwhelmingly heavy .
People had died .
They would have resolved themselves to be prepared to die at any moment when they decided to challenge the Shadow World .
Even so, the anguish that came along with death was unforgettable . That applied to Desir, who had experienced numerous deaths first hand as well .
Freechel was pitifully trembling like a leaf and traces of anxiety could be heard from Pram, who was comforting her . Romantica appeared to be unaffected, but the unexplainable situation seemed to have left her somewhat anxious .
Only Adjest, Desir, and the Blue Moon party’s veterans remained calm .
“…”
Argeria, the Blue Moon party’s leader, studied Desir as he spoke with his party members .
He knew that Desir was a skilled magician . That was a truth that had been fully proved through all of the feats that he had achieved so far .
Even so, rumors about the event in Prichella had been exaggerated, as usual .
Everyone would have thought the same way .
It didn’t make sense that a mere student took down a demon that had wreaked so much destruction on Deltaheim, the capital of the Prichella Empire .
‘But he took down a Mother Worm with a single spell . ’
There was no choice but to admit it . He had already surpassed the limits of a student . What he had achieved today suggested that the rumors may have been true .
The other party members must have shared similar thoughts as they all sat there in silence, when usually the very act of sitting near a commoner would have displeased them greatly .
Amidst the grim mood, Pram spoke up .
“Do you think the information we sent out about the map went through?”
Desir nodded as he replied .
“Of course it did . We saw it being received on the Blue Moon party’s communication pad . ”
“That’s true, but… ”
Desir had sent out a map that outlined a safe route to all of the other parties that had participated in the competition . If lives could no longer be guaranteed in this place, danger had to be avoided as best as possible .
“For now, our priority is for everyone to join forces . ”
There couldn’t be any more sacrifices .
That was why they were waiting for other parties at the entrance to the Third Stage . Feeling an approaching presence, Adjest sounded the alarm .
“Someone’s coming . ”
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