Chapter 176

The Great Labyrinth on the 59th floor.

If you cut along a Möbius strip twice, you get two Möbius strips entangled like chains. After cutting countless rings like this, gather all the twisted segments of the tangled strips in one hand. That, you could say, was the Great Labyrinth.

The Great Labyrinth, where space was intertwined in every direction creating endlessly complex paths, remained mostly unknown territory. But even among these regions, some well-known routes existed.

The ‘Crossroads Hill’ we were currently passing through was both a famous landmark of the Great Labyrinth and its most well-known major thoroughfare.

At Crossroads Hill, you could see countless horizons. ‘Countless’ horizons. This doesn’t really make sense, but Crossroads Hill truly was like that.

True to its name, it was a gently sloping hill, but no matter how much you ran, you could never escape the hill. Normally, when you run to the point where you can see sky beyond a hill, you’d reach a downhill slope or a ridge. But common sense didn’t apply here. When you ran to where you could see the sky, another hilltop where sky was visible appeared beyond that. Even when I turned around to look at the path I’d climbed, I saw yet another hilltop. A hill where you endlessly climbed whether you went forward, backward, or sideways. It wasn’t that this hill was spherical and you’d come back after making a full circle. The hilltop was always far away like a rainbow, and like a Möbius strip where inside and outside switch as you walk, you’d eventually find yourself outside the tower or on a different floor.

That’s why there were ‘countless’ horizons.

The sky visible ahead and the sky visible behind, the sky to the right and the sky to the left were all different skies. Sometimes it was the sky outside the tower where stars were visible, sometimes it was the sky of some floor where just white endless daylight continued, and sometimes it was the sky of other floors that shone emerald or ruby. The scenery where different skies hanging over each horizon mixed like paint above my head was a breathtaking vista that drew gasps of admiration.

But what truly made Crossroads Hill famous wasn’t its beautiful scenery but its characteristic as a transportation hub. Crossroads Hill, connected to countless floors and continents, once had people and goods passing through endlessly. Of course, not anymore.

Due to the omens of destruction that occurred after the water calamity, human power had greatly weakened, and now Crossroads Hill had become a very dangerous place. Being connected to countless regions also meant that calamities would pour in from countless regions. Even worse, lately the Outer God’s minions were running wild here too.

The new monsters. In my terms, the ‘Outer God’s minions.’ Even mages heading to the front lines to fight these creatures avoided Crossroads Hill if possible, and when they courageously passed through, they tried to cross the shortest distance and escape as quickly as possible.

But I was currently leading numerous groups of mages in completely crossing Crossroads Hill. To join the allied command on the 65th floor as quickly as possible.

Sure enough, the closer we got to the 65th floor, the more Outer God’s minions I could see. I could sense their intention to cut off the routes leading to the command.

When we encountered the Outer God’s minions, Ak-hu advised me.

“Don’t step forward from the beginning or try to save every mage.”

“But then the casualties will be heavy.”

“Still, everyone should do their part. They’ve all prepared for death, at least. If not, they shouldn’t be calling themselves mages.”

“Then… when do I step in?”

“When the mage groups have held out long enough and the Outer God’s minions have become vulnerable to surprise attacks—that’s when you end the fight in one stroke. That way the battle ends quickly. After all, our primary mission is the delegation. We should choose the method that ends combat even slightly faster.”

Though it seemed cold-hearted, I accepted Ak-hu’s advice. Anyway, we were making unwinnable fights winnable—our role was more than sufficient.

The battle between the mages and the Outer God’s minions was fierce.

“Crazy! That thing just nullified a 5th Circle spell?”

“Concentrate firepower! It’s too much alone!”

“Urgh… Uurgh… I feel sick.”

So noisy.

The Outer God’s minions all had repulsive appearances. The one that had appeared now was something like a dark blue liquid or gas with no fixed form. I could understand having no form, but mimicking the faces of the surrounding mages was extremely unpleasant. The liquid-gas thing moved with squishing sounds, forming human faces. Then it would grin wickedly or horribly distort the face. It was definitely a human expression… but an impossibly disgusting face that no human could ever make.

‘They say it’s unsettling when robots crudely mimic human expressions…’

My instincts constantly sent warnings. That thing shouldn’t exist here. That thing is too alien. Contact with that thing would result in horrible contamination.

Mages with weak nerves or insufficient mana couldn’t overcome such repulsion and dry-heaved.

“No… No! Just hold on a little longer!”

The mages showed admirable fighting spirit, but the battle lines were slowly, gradually pushed back. Even with five or ten mages clinging to a single Outer God’s minion and pouring spells, it wasn’t enough.

“Hieek! Hiiieek! No! Save me!”

One mage was devoured. The thing that had been taking human face forms and squishing around opened its mouth wide and swallowed the mage. I could dimly see the mage struggling inside its body. Even though it wasn’t clearly visible… it was horrifying.

Normal digestion involves melting and eliminating the target, but the way the Outer God’s minion digested the mage proceeded in the complete opposite way. The struggling mage’s body gradually swelled larger and larger. Tumors sprouted all over his body and he puffed up like a toad. He must have been in pain as his thrashing hands and feet moved faster and faster. Those hands and feet had now become so swollen that you couldn’t distinguish fingers from toes. Finally, when the mage had grown more than five times his original size, pop pop, the sprouted tumors began bursting with blood and pus. The tumors burst faster and faster, and when all the tumors had burst, nothing remained. The mage had vanished like foam.

The Outer God’s minion lazily swayed its body with squishing sounds.

The mages froze in shock. Some could be seen hesitantly retreating.

But still… there were groups holding the line.

“Hold on! If we hold out, the Divine Wizard will clear a path for us!”

“Grr… Grrgh! When will the Divine Wizard…!”

“Don’t be scared! If we all work together, we can win even without the Divine Wizard!”

Those who trusted me and didn’t run away. And those who showed strong fighting spirit regardless of me.

‘Hmm. There’s the advantage of naturally sorting out useful talent.’

I memorized the skilled and strong-willed mages. I wasn’t interested in mages who joined the fight with half-hearted resolve. We needed mages to fight alongside us. Not immature brats we’d have to follow around and take care of.

“Grrgh! Fall back!”

“Fall back again? Damn! Let’s go together!”

“Hurry up and get out! We’ll retreat slowly, so hurry!”

The battle lines were pushed back faster and faster.

More mages died miserably.

But the Outer God’s minions were equally scattered, and their attention was completely focused on the mages before their eyes.

The perfect moment for a surprise attack.

“I think we can clean this up soon.”

At my words, Ak-hu and Beatrice beside me widened their eyes.

“Already? Their momentum is still fierce… wouldn’t it be better to wait until their momentum breaks once before going in?”

“It’s fine.”

“Ooh? Are you finally going to use a 7th Circle spell?”

Seeing my relaxed demeanor, expectation filled my companions’ eyes. They must be wondering what amazing magic I’d use to step forward already.

Watch closely. I’ll show you generously.

I closed my eyes.

‘Gyeolli. Please help me.’

-Of course.

The blood flowing through my vessels felt refreshingly cool, then I heard Gyeolli’s voice. From inside my body, like the sound of a stream flowing through my blood vessels.

Suddenly I heard Ak-hu gasp in admiration.

“Senior Elder! I had my suspicions, but now I see you’ve achieved 7-star through Ki-blood magic as well?”

I answered with my eyes still closed.

“That’s right. But now distinctions like 7th Circle or 7-star no longer have meaning.”

“What? You mean?”

“Wait! Senior Elder, then…!”

“What? If that’s really the case, this is no joke! I want to learn Ki-blood magic too!”

At my single comment, everyone’s eyes grew wide. Following Ak-hu, Lytol approached, and Beatrice made a fuss.

Meanwhile, Gyeolli moved throughout my body, and following its movements, the mana neural network spread throughout my body began to awaken. Sensations expanding infinitely.

The world looked completely new. Hollow mages. Ak-hu who was half-full, Beatrice who held something pearl-like and solid inside, the Outer God’s minions who were empty inside but hard on the outside.

I couldn’t help but smile.

“Both 7th Circle and 7-star create mana neural networks. It’s the stage where Circle and Ki-blood integration occurs. You complete the peripheral nervous system that governs movement and sensation. So I dare say that mages who learn only Circle or only Ki-blood will be incomplete even upon reaching 7th Circle.”

If you’ve finally created a peripheral nervous system but can only move through Circle or only through Ki-blood, wouldn’t that be too wasteful?

Therefore.

I was the most special 7th Circle in the world.

I had integrated Circle and Ki-blood, and there was even a being to assist the vast neural network thus created.

-Neural network operating at 100 percent! I’ll assist!

Water spirit Gyeolli.

After being seriously injured in the battle with the Prophet, it ultimately couldn’t recover its body.

The method I attempted to save the dying Gyeolli was to synthesize it into my body. There was the precedent of Iron Blood, and I had absorbed Iron Blood’s corpse, so it wasn’t too difficult.

So it became a life form parasitic in my body, and became part of the system assisting the mana neural network’s calculations.

The size of the neural network? Large enough to connect both Ki-blood and Circle.

The precision of calculations? Because Gyeolli, who had been a spirit, directly assisted, it was more precise and meticulous than anyone else’s.

So I could read the Akashic Records more deeply than any other 7th Circle.

The single spell thus obtained.

“Aether On.”

Ah,

The pronunciation is nearly perfect. Though the accent might be somewhat lacking, there’s no slurring in the pronunciation at all.

Thanks to the mana neural network, Circle felt as natural as part of my body.

And the moment this spell activated, the aether dimension overlapped this entire area.

‘Inggolli. Ari.’

-You called?

-Here. I’m here.

The fire spirit and wind spirit puffed up their bodies.

‘Drive out all those damn invaders!’

-Understood!

-I’ve been waiting patiently for this!

The aether dimension. That was a system created by the spirit race, who had been demigods, to efficiently manage the world.

In truth, Ari and Inggolli had lost almost all their past power and glory. They were like critical patients who had just awakened from a coma. They couldn’t remember past events and had to lie down surviving on IV drips—they were in such a pitiful state. Naturally, the power they directly wielded was too weak compared to their original strength.

But the aether dimension was different. That was their authority granted as administrators. Power they could wield regardless of their physical condition.

Opening and maintaining the dimension was my job, but what followed was the spirits’ solo performance.

-Waaa~ Fire! Fire everywhere!

-Amazing! This place is full of wind. So much!

These guys. Not a hint of tension.

They weren’t children showing off toy boxes. While chattering away and pouring out the power filling the aether dimension, I even smiled warmly.

And what followed was…

Ah,

Too surreal.

Suddenly fire and wind filled the world and swept through everything.

The Outer God’s minions with their strong resistance couldn’t withstand the repeated heat waves and hardened and crumbled to pieces. They helplessly pushed back the massive flames, unable to handle them. Meanwhile, friend-or-foe identification was incredibly accurate—our side didn’t suffer even a hair’s damage amid the firestorm. Though they couldn’t help but tremble in fear.

Step.

I took a step forward. Seeing me in the swirling flames, the mages rushed to hide behind me. Hiding behind me, they muttered with faces full of awe.

“This is 7th Circle magic…”

Wrong. It’s not possible because it’s 7th Circle, but because I’m the 7th Circle.

I gazed forward. The Outer God’s minions who had been helplessly burned to death were devising countermeasures. They merged their squishing bodies together to create a massive lump. Its body reached the sky and cast shadows over the flames. As if becoming stronger by gathering, it began pushing back the wind and brushing off the flames.

“This… this…”

“My goodness…”

I could hear the terror-stricken voices of the mages.

But I…

Just found it funny.

Hey. Did you think getting bigger would work?

Don’t you understand?

I opened the aether dimension, you know. I can draw out as much fire and wind as I want.

“Burn it all and turn it into fertilizer.”

-Ah… this reminds me of the old days.

-It doesn’t feel strange. I think I’ve done this before…!

Whirl-whirl-whirl-

Wind. Pouring down as if it would knead the entire continent. Flames exploded above it. No. Flames were born. Wind and earth, and even the Outer God’s minions were all reborn as flames. Those flames gave birth to wind again.

The Outer God’s minion that had reached the sky? No such thing existed now. Only a fountain-like pillar of fire where fire and wind were endlessly born stretched to the ends of the sky.

A world of fire and wind.

Rumble!

With light and sound that seemed to blind the eyes and deafen the ears, it seemed to proclaim,

‘In the beginning, everything was fire and wind.’

Ah,

But.

I think I’m stronger than I expected?