“Reveal it.”

As Leon chanted the spell, his magical energy visibly drained, and dazzling light began to gather around him. The threads of light converged in the air towards his forehead.

Soon, a hot heat seeped into his forehead, and an intense pressure was felt. A pain, like skin sizzling, flowed along his brow, and a yellow eye-shaped pattern was engraved in the center of his forehead. This pain was much weaker than when he first used the Genesis Radiance. The more magic he used, the more the pain seemed to subside.

At that moment, Leon's field of vision explosively expanded. It felt as if all the magical currents of this world were laid out before him.

Dark, ominous strands of magic, black whirlpools, blue beams of light, red waves… Countless colors and shapes of magic shook his senses.

Beyond that, the hazy outline of the future one second ahead began to shimmer.

Countless scenes flashed through his mind. The torrent of information overwhelmed Leon’s consciousness. He wasn’t completely accustomed to it yet.

Struggling to organize the swirling information in his mind, Leon launched himself forward.

He began to search for the magical beasts nearby.

The place where he stood was one of the shallowest areas inside the defensive magic circle. Here, black spiders roamed. The spiders, about the size of Leon's waist, had fangs capable of delivering venom. They were beasts that a typical apprentice magician of levels one or two could easily handle.

Spotting a black spider, Leon lightly landed in front of it.

Skiiiit—

The spider rushed at Leon the moment it noticed him. No, to be precise, the scene of it charging at him flashed in his mind first, and only then did the actual spider move.

Having already maximized his physical abilities with magic infusion, Leon easily dodged the spider’s movements.

The spider lunged at him several more times, but Leon, able to foresee its movements, avoided all its attacks.

Soon after, he noticed black magical strands gathering at the tip of the spider's body. Through the flow of that black magic, he quickly discerned what spell it was trying to activate. And a scene of the black threads spewing towards him replayed in his mind.

‘So this is how magic works.’

He could anticipate what spell the enemy was preparing through the flow of magic and even predict the following attack.

‘This is outrageous magic.’

He had felt the same when assessing the Curse of the Black Night, but the SSS rank wasn’t given for nothing. If he elevated his realm just a bit more, he felt he could directly manipulate the flow of magic spread out before him.

What required advanced insight could be done with just a mystical level.

However, this incredible power naturally came at a cost. While maintaining the Genesis Radiance, Leon's magical energy was rapidly depleting. As the duration extended, cold sweat began to trickle down his back. It wasn’t just a side effect of losing magical energy.

His vision gradually blurred, and a sharp buzzing filled his ears.

Then, at a certain point, pain surged through his skull as if lightning was striking within it.

Feeling as if his brain was melting, Leon hurriedly canceled the spell.

“Hah… Hah…”

Leon clutched his knees and gasped for breath. His whole body was soaked in sweat, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

He immediately entered the gem and assumed a lotus position.

‘Can I sustain this for about 10 minutes?’

Leon pondered as he gauged his limits. Of course, the more familiar he became, and the higher his level rose, the longer the duration would be.

When his breathing stabilized, and his body and mind calmed down, Leon emerged from the gem once more.

He practiced alternating between Genesis Radiance and the Curse of the Black Night against the black spider, repeatedly training to become accustomed to his magic.

These spells were different from conventional magic. Unlike the structured forms of special magic or grand magic, their power changed solely depending on the user’s level.

It had been almost five months since he arrived in the Valley of Souls, but Leon's progress was slow. Learning multiple spells simultaneously naturally took time. That was also why he sought to combine his magic.

As Leon continued training at the entrance of the Valley of Souls all day, he began to sense something strange.

This area was typically home to only low-tier beasts like black spiders. Yet, at some point, powerful beasts began to emerge, such as wolves with black manes and harpies with human faces and bird-like bodies. They possessed powers ranging from apprentice level 5 to beginner level special magic, making them beasts that shouldn’t appear here.

‘Now that I think about it, Reisia warned me to be careful…’

While Leon had no difficulty overpowering them, his curiosity only deepened. He felt something was off in their movements.

The organized movements of the beasts, as if preparing for a response to some danger.

Leon found their behavior oddly familiar. It resembled the movements of monsters that had occurred in the Western Beast Forest before he came to Astellia. The reason the beasts had moved chaotically there was due to the confusion caused by a ruler who had been overthrown by a witch.

‘What could this be about…?’

This suspicious movement needed to be reported.

He made a decision and immediately turned his body to exit the defensive magic circle.

“…”

Leon briefly placed his hand on the defensive magic circle and observed it. The translucent barrier was slightly trembling. It was vibrating erratically, as if someone was constantly knocking on it.

‘Definitely strange.’

With a serious expression, Leon headed straight to Reisia’s quarters.

However, upon arriving, Reisia was not there. No matter how much he knocked on the door, she did not come out.

Leon turned his gaze to Neo, who was waiting outside his room. Neo stood still, seemingly in a daze, but he held a piece of paper in his hand.

Leon took the paper and unfolded it.

‘Come to Area C upon discovering this paper.’

The handwriting was unmistakably Reisia’s.

Leon immediately launched himself forward.

Area C was another section of the Valley of Souls managed by someone else. As soon as he arrived, Leon sensed that something serious was already happening.

Hundreds of harpies covered the sky, fiercely pounding on the defensive barrier. Inside that barrier, the mages guarding the Valley of Souls were desperately trying to defend, but the situation looked extremely precarious.

Some mages seemed to have exhausted their magical energy and were resting in a lotus position outside the defensive barrier.

Leon spotted Reisia fighting inside the barrier and flew straight toward her.

He raised his hand toward the five harpies she was facing.

Crack—

As thunder cleaved the sky, the five harpies screamed and simultaneously plummeted to the ground.

“What’s happening?” “You’re here.”

Reisia sighed in relief upon spotting Leon. However, her expression remained serious.

“I have no idea why so many beasts have suddenly appeared.” “Have you reported this?” “Yes, a few have already gone.” “Then shouldn’t we retreat quickly?”

Leon asked with a worried gaze, scanning the surroundings, but Reisia scratched her brow, looking troubled.

“Well… if we retreat now, everything including the defensive magic circle and the quarters will be completely destroyed. Since a few have already gone to report, we need to hold this position until support arrives. So far, the beasts have only gathered in Area C.”

Reisia’s words didn’t make sense to Leon. Even if this phenomenon was only occurring in Area C, facing hundreds of harpies that could handle beginner level special magic would be impossible for the mages present.

“Then… that puts our lives in danger, doesn’t it?” “If the beasts flood in, the imperial council will send investigators. If we are criticized for negligence, we could lose our authority over the Valley of Souls.”

But they seemed to have their reasons.

At that moment, someone pushed between Reisia and Leon. It was a man with a mop of hair, who was the highest-ranking mage here at the advanced special magic level.

Leon quickly sensed that he was temporarily in charge of this area.

He spoke urgently to Leon.

“Could you bring the golems you left in Area E?” “…”

He seemed to know about Leon’s golems.

Leon nodded. Following the leader’s decision was the right course of action.

‘I might be able to hold off the harpies by myself…’

Leon crossed over to his assigned area and retrieved all the golems except for 30 scouting scorpion golems, then returned to Area C.

However, the situation was worsening.

More harpies had gathered, mercilessly pounding on the defensive barrier. The barrier was in a dangerously unstable state, about to collapse at any moment.

Leon took a deep breath and pulled out a large spatial pouch. As nearly 500 golems prepared to emerge from the pouch—

Boom—

The ground trembled violently.

At the same time, a mage flying from afar hurried toward the shaggy-haired mage.

“It’s serious! Magical beasts are also flooding into Areas A and B!”