“Please take care of Ms. Swan.”

“Okay.”

Pram hoisted Swan onto his shoulder. Swan normally looked so strong, but at the moment, she was no different from a defenseless child.

A simple emergency measure was completed by covering the wound with a compression bandage and applying herbs to stop the bleeding of the wound.

But this was nothing but preliminary first aid. She needed proper treatment to save her life. Pram carried Swan on his left shoulder and braced her with his left hand. This left his right hand free to swing his rapier and use his aura. The chimeras, which were approaching him, were all cleaved in two under in the face of such powerful aura.

Other chimeras turned to face him.

Pram activated his Cloud Walkers. In an instant, he had relocated himself out of the immediate threat of those chimeras.

He could now attempt to get Swan to safety. “Roarrrr!”

The fight had already been settled to a certain extent.

It was worthwhile to suppress their desire to rush at Crow Mask, and instead calmly wait for the perfect opportunity to arise.

The released chimera were now running wild as if to release the anger they had accumulated from being experimented on. In the meantime, the Side Guard were escaping under the protection of Romantica. Swan was still barely alive, so they had to prioritize getting her out safely.

“Then, what’s left… ”

Before he had a chance to finish his thought, powerful gravity magic was invoked towards Desir. Desir, perceiving the subtle flow of mana, hurriedly rolled out of its path before the spell could be invoked.

It was too easy for him to figure out what it was and where it was aimed at based on the formation he saw.

“I’ll kill you.”

An angry Crow Mask emerged, muttering almost inaudibly. “That’s what I was going to say. You must die here.”

The final confrontation between Swan and Crow Mask occurred shortly after Desir entered the tower.

She did not sink her last attack into Crow Mask, but instead fired it towards the bottom of the tower to make a huge hole.

What that meant was all too clear. There’s something in the basement of this tower that Desir needed to see.

‘Swan sacrificed herself so I would know. I can’t let that be in vain.’

By releasing the chimera in the tower, he had induced a massive amount of confusion. The method was crude, but effective.

Now that the stage had been set for the Side Guard to flee, an opportunity had also been created to rescue Swan and make a clean getaway…

Desir’s goal was simple. To know the exact purpose of this tower and to run away safely at the same time. And if possible, he would remove Crow Mask as well.

* * *

Seven circles. The pinnacle of magic.

Beyond the Sixth-Circle that is considered the limit of humankind, all that achieve such power simply deserve to be called legends.

As one would expect, there have been many people regarded as geniuses in magical craft throughout the long history of the continent, but amongst those elite few, even fewer have reached that fabled power.

Amongst the present generation, Icarus Quirgo achieved the point that only Zod Exarion had reached, the first in recent history. These two stood alone at the summit, having attained power that transcended humankind.

There was no other way to describe attaining such power other than as a product of great obsession.

The experience of losing to Desir Arman finally brought him to this level.

Dust billowed up thickly.

Crow Mask raised himself up. Blood trickled down from his mouth. “Roar!”

There were countless chimeras released by Desir in the tower.

Crow Mask had fallen into the middle of a group of prowling chimeras. “Roarrrrrr!”

The chimeras rushed at Crow Mask, moving only by instinct. It was an overwhelming number of them.

Crow Mask calmly reached out to the chimeras running toward him.

At that moment, the chimeras’ movements ceased.

*Booom*

The chimeras, each one able to individually slaughter the elite troop of the Outsiders, exploded in vain.

Blood and meat coated the floor and walls of the tower. The chimeras were no match for him. The gaze of Crow Mask, which soon after locked onto Desir’s party, carried a deadly energy. A lance of flame hung in the air, seemingly heralding the end of all days. The spear flew towards Crow Mask, burning all of the chimera it passed in the air, unceasingly approaching him.

“You little rat… !”

The surroundings warped under the effect of a strong spatial distortion. The lance of fire failed to reach Crow Mask and disappeared in vain.

*Shing*

At that moment, the whole space around Crow Mask froze. It was a bone-breaking chill. The atmosphere thickened as white mist permeated their surroundings.

“How dare you try to touch me.”

Something appeared in close proximity to Crow Mask. A blade of the white ice, the Center of Ice, stopped before his nose. He couldn’t move, as if he were glued to the ground.

The cold couldn’t reach him though.

Adjest’s attack failed to break through Crow Mask’s defense magic. “I’m beyond your ability.”

It was as he said.

Crow Mask was constantly consuming mana, but there was no end in sight. ‘They’ve gotten stronger.’

Crow Mask was able to realize that the party had become far stronger than before.

After observing her so far in this battle, it was clear that Adjest had become a more perfect magical-swordsman than before. The movement of her sword had become far more accurate, and the magic covering the sword and improving her physical ability had become more powerful. Her skillset looked complete and professional.

Desir had also become far stronger. It was different from the days when he exclusively used spells belonging to the lower circles and specialized in inverting spells. Desir now freely used spells up to the Fifth-Circle. In terms of the speed of his invoking and the power of his spells, he had essentially reached the Sixth-Circle in all respects, so long as one overlooked how many circles he had. He had made a great deal of improvement in just a year.

Moreover, this party was fighting harder than they typically would, since they were upset that Swan had been badly injured. They chained attack after attack without relenting.

Though he wore a terrifying front, in reality, Crow Mask was beginning to get nervous. Originally, Desir was not that great of an adversary. He’d been a pain, but he was ultimately weak. Until now, he had been determined to kill Desir Arman with his own hands.

Unfortunately, this situation was outside of his plans. They shouldn’t have faced each other this way.

The fight against Swan had been intense. The battle to the death with Swan, the person considered to be the strongest archer in the Empire, left him physically and mentally exhausted.

‘I’m sure I had that Pierrot Mask on standby somewhere close.’

While Desir and Crow Mask exchanged powerful spells, Crow Mask began to study his opponent. He observed that Desir was covered in wounds. So many, in fact, that his clothes were dyed red with all of the blood he shed.

‘It looks like he’s had a bloody fight. Was that clown not enough for him?’ It didn’t look like he sustained any serious wounds.

‘For Desir to have taken Pierrot Mask out of the picture, he’d either have to be dead or have suffered significant damage.’

The fighting ensued. A spell unfolded in front of Crow Mask. *Boom*

A fierce storm of space and flame magic collided. “Did you always have that kind of defense?” Desir muttered.

Crow Mask’s magic flooded toward the approaching Desir. [Void Sword]

Desir backed away. Two steps back exactly.

Space itself was cut wide open where he had just stood. But Desir had stepped exactly out of range. He had grasped the range of the spell completely, and wasted no movement in avoiding it.

Desir’s gaze turned back to Crow Mask. His eyes had lost all light in them, and they looked dull like a fish’s. Crow Mask shuddered as he felt like his gaze, like his very soul, was being drawn into an abyss.

Desir’s mana lingered in the air. He could feel that Desir had started calculating how to invert his defensive spell. It wouldn’t be long before he finished doing so. Being able to read the attack range of that last attack alone, already signalled as much.

Crow Mask cast the spell again, attempting to distract Desir. But the magic did not reach him.

[Sigh of Kizard]

Adjest invoked defensive magic to prevent his attack and immediately swung her Center of Ice in retaliation.

Crow Mask desperately used his own defensive magic to counter that. ‘This is just annoying.’

Desir’s ability to invert spells was itself an almost tyrannical advantage in any magical duel. Unlike Swan’s use of aura, in which there were still some ways a magician can respond to, Desir’s ability to invert spells left magical opponents no way to respond.

Over time, as more spells are inverted, the battle is forcibly ended with one side unable to use any spells. And in any battle against Desir, the losing side will always be his opponent. One had to resolve themselves to this fate when using magic against Desir.

Drawing such a magical battle out was disadvantageous.

‘In such a situation, the only right option is backing down and fleeing.’

Even though Crow Mask had also become stronger, it was simply too much to deal with Swan and then Desir consecutively.

‘But Desir Arman must be removed as soon as possible.’

Desir had ruined numerous plans. He was a threat that he could no longer afford to leave alone and watch from the sidelines. Especially since this would be the only opportunity to face him on his home soil.

He couldn’t back down.

‘If a sustained battle is disadvantageous, there is only one remaining option.’ *Ring*

His seven circles made a strange noise and began to resonate. Seven circles worth of mana gathered around Crow Mask in mere moments. Just by circulating his mana through them, a physical phenomenon had been created.

“You’d better be prepared.”

Desir Arman, who had been busy concentrating on inverting Crow Mask’s spells, raised his head.

He was conscious that the situation had taken a strange turn. It was almost a miracle Crow Mask had been able to invoke Seventh-Circle magic while maintaining defensive magic too. But Crow Mask had managed to pull off such a miraculous thing without even breaking a sweat.