"Stop!"

Feeling the immense Magic Power still pouring madly into his body, Roland gritted his teeth and issued a forced command to the Control Gemstone.

The tamed Chaos Creature faithfully executed the order.

But how difficult was it to restrain a nearly endless torrent of Magic Power?

The Control Gemstone did its best to suppress it, but it was like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water, only managing to slightly slow the influx of Magic Power.

Although the influx was indeed slowly decreasing over time, and with just a little more, Roland might be able to gradually adapt and control this Power...

But Roland’s body couldn’t hold out until then.

It couldn’t endure for even another second.

Mental Self-Formation!

His Consciousness Shallows had been torn to shreds by the violent Magic Power. Roland used all his strength, guiding his Spiritual Energy to forcibly solidify his core consciousness, which was on the verge of collapsing.

’Vent! I have to find an outlet immediately!’

’Otherwise, this Magic Power will make me explode in the next second!’

Thinking this, he roared at the Witch not far away in a hoarse voice.

"Vanessa, close your eyes!"

"Hm?"

The Witch’s eyebrow rose slightly. She paid no mind to the warning. Instead, she took a few steps to the side with great interest, moving to Roland’s flank to closely observe his face, twisted in agony. A look of pure inquiry flashed in her eyes.

"Oh, favored of the Dark Night Maiden, let me see what you’re really..."

Before she could finish, a faint orange-red light suddenly flared before her eyes.

Seeing the familiar opening for a Trick, Vanessa raised an eyebrow.

"A little trick like this won’t be enough to release such immense..."

But Roland could no longer respond.

He couldn’t even squeeze out a single word. He could only drain the last of his Spiritual Power to forcibly divert the raging torrent of Magic Power, guiding it toward the mark in his Deep Sea of Consciousness.

At this moment of life and death...

Two completely different, yet equally profound and mysterious forces suddenly began to tear at his fragile consciousness, like a titanic game of tug-of-war!

One was the ultimate Darkness—cold and heavy, as if trying to drag him into the Abyss of eternal damnation.

The other was like the bright moonlight—cool and gentle, trying to guide him down an unknown path.

Diametrically opposed, yet they seemed to point toward the same destination.

Under the extreme pull of these two forces...

BOOM!

A violent hum exploded inside his skull.

Roland felt his consciousness instantly fall into a state of indescribable clarity and openness.

It was as if...

...the bed of a narrow stream had been suddenly widened by a great power.

The torrent of Magic Power, which had been rampaging and stagnating within his body, now roared like a wild, unshackled tidal wave, crashing against an invisible barrier.

VMMMM!

The landscape of his Consciousness Shallows was swept away as if by a Storm, instantly turning into a pitch-black Void.

Immediately after, it was as if spring had suddenly arrived, and all things were reborn.

The gravelly beach vanished without a trace, replaced by countless strange and vibrant scenes.

But Roland had no time to concern himself with the dramatic changes on the plane of his consciousness.

Sensing that the violent Magic Power had finally fused with the Flame Rune Mark, he snapped his eyes open.

The moment he let out a long sigh of relief, his eyes met the cold pupils of Ellis.

And...

...the gray-black Negative Energy coalescing in his palm, emitting a soul-freezing wave of Destruction.

No hesitation.

No delay.

In a flash of thought, immense Magic Power was already gathering madly at his fingertips.

In an instant, countless noisy, sharp "whispers" flooded his Perception.

It was the voice of the Fire Elements.

When he obtained the Heart of the Furnace, his Perception of the Fire Elements was as if through a thick curtain.

After his Awakening in the Consciousness Shallows, it was like perceiving a docile young beast.

And now, under the enhancement of this near-infinite Magic Power, at the very moment that invisible barrier was broken...

...he established an unprecedentedly deep resonance with the Fire Elements dancing in the air.

Those countless sharp whispers began to converge and unify in an instant, finally merging into a deep voice with an ancient accent, like the rumbling of Magma.

"Honored sir... Ifrit, at your service."

Before the voice had even faded.

The restless orange-red fireball at Roland’s fingertip suddenly became extremely contained and calm.

Then...

FWOOSH-BOOM!

Accompanied by a sonic boom that tore through the air!

The fireball, originally only the size of a palm, expanded outward at a terrifying, jaw-dropping speed, like a ferocious beast breaking free from its chains.

In just an instant, a colossal fireball that blotted out the sky, radiating destructive heat and a blinding glare, hung above the High Tower like a second sun, bathing the entire battlefield in a deathly white light.

The moment the blinding firelight engulfed everything.

Vanessa, who had been watching with a playful, inquisitive expression, suddenly went rigid.

In her deep violet eyes, her earlier composure vanished completely, replaced by incredulous shock, and...

...a flicker of sharp realization.

She saw it.

Deep within the dazzling firelight, it was as if a path had been opened across thousands of planes, pointing directly to the trail of the... secret artifact she was searching for.

Losing their composure just as she had were the thousands of human soldiers on the battlefield, as well as a crowd of Extraordinary Professionals from the nations of the River Domain.

Among them... was naturally Ellis, who was bearing the brunt of it all.

The Negative Energy coalescing in his palm suddenly dispersed.

The Magic Power backlash made him let out a pained grunt. His body, reconstructed by the Life Box, trembled violently as dark red blood gushed from his mouth and nose.

But he had no time to worry about his physical pain.

Because...

...at the core of that ball of destructive light, he saw a figure.

A figure in a loose, plain Magic Robe that couldn’t hide her beautiful face.

"Master Natania?" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

All coldness and indifference vanished from Ellis’s voice, which now trembled like that of a lost child.

"How could you... No... I didn’t... I didn’t..."

His face, which should have been indifferent to everything, was now filled with pain, remorse, struggle, and profound regret.

"No! This... this isn’t real!"

A low roar filled with despair was forced from his throat.

Drawing on his previous experience, Ellis violently broke free from the effects of Dazzling and Enchanting.

He took a deep breath, and when he looked at Roland again, his cold eyes burned with pure, blazing hatred for the first time.

A bone-deep hatred that seemed poised to burn even himself to ashes.

"How dare you..."

His voice was distorted by extreme rage, like scraping metal.

"...desecrate Natania’s resting soul... You deserve to die ten thousand deaths!"

His sanity completely shattered. Ellis cast aside the calm a Caster should possess, and the remaining Negative Energy around him surged wildly like an out-of-control black Storm.

"Turn to eternal dust!"

Ellis’s roar tore through the air as he made a grasping motion toward Roland with both hands.

The surging Negative Energy around him, like an out-of-control black hole, instantly collapsed inward and condensed.

This wasn’t Magic, but a Curse.

It was hatred made manifest.

A pitch-black torrent formed from the purest death and despair, seemingly capable of devouring all light, shrieked with the power of Annihilation as it lunged toward Roland and the "sun" on his fingertip, like the maw of a great beast from the Abyss.

Roland’s pupils reflected the all-devouring Darkness.

There was no Fear, only determination.

The "sun" on his fingertip responded to his will, slowly pushing forward.

Collision!

Light and dark, life and death, infinite Magic Power and ultimate hatred that burned the soul...

...collided with a thunderous crash atop the High Tower!

There was no sound.

Or rather, all sound was instantly erased.

Only the ultimate white and the all-consuming black silently tore at, devoured, and annihilated each other.

Space began to warp.

The spire of the High Tower disintegrated inch by inch in the invisible Energy Storm, turning into the finest crystalline dust.

A brief yet seemingly eternal singularity of Energy was born at the center of the collision, then expanded.

The boundary between white and black abruptly blurred.

And then...

RUMMMMMMMBLE!

The sound of Destruction, suppressed to its absolute limit, finally erupted.

A ring of Destruction, a mixture of deathly white Energy and shattered Darkness, swept across the tower’s peak, the sky, and the entire battlefield at a speed that transcended thought.

The clouds in the sky evaporated in an instant.

The earth tore apart with a mournful cry.

But in the end, the light overpowered the Darkness.

The "sun," supported by near-infinite Magic Power, though dimmed countless times over, tenaciously tore through the final torrent of death.

The residual flames, so hot they warped space itself, shot through the location of Ellis’s skeletal body like a spear of divine punishment.

"Argh!"

A shrill scream filled with endless pain and disbelief rang out.

Ellis’s figure twisted and burned violently in the purifying flames.

His body, reconstructed by his Life Box, melted rapidly under the intense heat like a poorly made wax figure.

Only a faint, almost imperceptible Soul Fragment, carrying his final obsession, transformed into a dim, ghostly light and fled desperately toward some unknown corner deep within the city, just a moment before the flames could incinerate it completely.

The flames of Destruction slowly dissipated.

Atop the High Tower, only a huge, molten gap remained.

Scorching air howled through it.

Drained of strength, Roland dropped to one knee. A searing heat lingered on his fingertips, and his body trembled violently from overexertion.

But his eyes were brighter than ever before.

Subtitles colored with blood and fire slowly appeared in his vision.

But before Roland could get a clear look, a massive tremor came from beneath his feet.