Chapter 123

Contrary to Harden’s expectation that he would suffer quite a bit, Roan completed the magic with great ease.

Every time Roan moved the Abyss along the circuits, the six magic circles resonated and emitted energy.

It was a scene of brilliant talent that was, by anyone’s standards, far from failure.

‘……So everything really is possible with just talent?’

Harden felt a sort of marvel as he watched that scene.

Since Harden’s long life itself had been nothing but a ‘wonder,’ the marvel he felt now carried an even more special meaning.

For it was like witnessing a certain state of being that transcended him—in other words, transcended the present world.

Harden had felt a similar marvel once before.

A very long time ago.

Back when he was still a breathing human.

‘……But I never expected to feel it from a black mage.’

Harden, who had been doubtful until now, was certain at this moment.

There was only one place Roan would reach.

Roan made even Harden’s life—which had risen as the strongest morning star as soon as he stepped out into the world as Hiloa’s saint—lose its luster and seem ordinary.

Although the factions of black mages and clerics were strictly divided, once one reached a certain height, the boundaries became meaningless.

That was also why Harden had chosen not to fight the legendary black mages of the past.

“Haha.”

Harden chuckled softly.

Kyaaa—?

The Abyss Dragon cradled in his arms raised its head in puzzlement and looked up at him.

‘It seems another reason to accept him has been added.’

Clatter— Clatter—

The Grave Incense Burner and the divine beast’s eggshell, which had been placed in the center of the six black magic circles, rose into the air.

The Frame of Recollection underneath the incense burner shot light toward them.

The Grey Shackle of Life was a magic that restored the caster using the state of the life force contained within.

The role of the Frame of Recollection was to add the power of time to be used for that purpose.

At the same time, Roan’s black mana also flowed out of the black magic circles, surrounding the incense burner and beginning to whirl furiously.

In the process, the disguise of the False Divinity was peeled away, and the grey Abyss turned back to its original color and energy.

This was because Roan had not yet found a holy magic capable of matching the Grey Shackle of Life at his current level.

That was the only flaw Roan could not resolve with his talent.

To those in the know, it was a mere speck of dust that couldn’t even be called a flaw.

Once completed, the Grey Shackle of Life would be engraved on Roan’s heart, then move to the location most strongly bound to Roan’s fate, remaining bound there unless destroyed.

Now, like a game, that place would become Roan’s respawn point.

Roan nodded in satisfaction at the outcome, which was identical to what he had seen through the Prophet’s Eye.

“With this much…”

Even if he got caught by Kaina, he could rest easy for a while!

In fact, it would be even better if he died once by Kaina’s hand, as he would revive somewhere other than Acherandir.

He wouldn’t even pee in this school’s direction!

Clack— Clack—

The black mana surrounding the incense burner grew more violent before eventually being absorbed entirely into it.

At the same time, the Frame of Recollection lost its power and became an ordinary wooden frame.

In a quiet atmosphere, as if nothing had happened just moments ago, only the floating incense burner vibrated faintly.

And.

Whoosh—!

“Urgh!”

Suddenly, the incense burner embedded itself in Roan’s heart.

Roan let out a scream at the terrible, sharp pain.

‘It actually embeds itself?’

Since it was magic, he had thought “embeds” was a magical metaphor, but who would have thought it would physically embed itself!

Naturally, he wouldn’t die, but it hurt far too much.

Slide—

After a brief moment that felt like eternity, the incense burner slipped out of Roan’s body again.

The blood spilling from the wound was absorbed into the incense burner as if by magic.

With this, the incense burner, having finished engraving itself to Roan, slowly turned into powder.

It would melt and bind itself to the space most strongly intertwined with Roan’s fate.

‘Probably… the ruined castle of the Darc family.’

Roan coughed up bloody phlegm as he watched the empty space where the incense burner had vanished.

New flesh quickly filled Roan’s hollowed chest.

Naturally, Roan, who had engraved his life force onto the incense burner, could vaguely feel its location.

The vanished incense burner was…

“?”

Right here, in Harden’s storehouse.

Roan looked around with a bewildered expression.

‘Why is it bound here?’

Then, his eyes met Harden’s, who wore an equally bewildered expression.

“Why did you bind it here?”

Roan was not fooled by Harden’s acting.

“……How did you know?”

“You little lamb. I don’t know if you think this is your own living room, but this is my space. How could I not know?”

“Did you perhaps use some trick…”

Roan looked at Harden suspiciously.

Flash—!

“Respect.”

“……It seems I respect the Principal so much that my life force was entrusted to this place.”

“Stop talking rubbish.”

‘What do you want me to do…’

Roan’s chest was still throbbing, and his eyes stung so badly he felt like dying.

If this kept up, wouldn’t he be able to count the feathers of a sparrow sitting on a mountaintop by the time he graduated?

Meanwhile, Harden was suspecting Roan in his own way.

‘Did this fellow bind it here on purpose?’

Harden didn’t know that the Grey Shackle of Life bound itself to the place most connected to the caster’s fate, regardless of their will.

Since every time he had destroyed one, it had been in a safe place deeply associated with a black mage, he had never had cause to doubt it.

Moreover, as the owner of this space, Harden could guess a rational reason why Roan might do so.

‘If he knew I would have to step in if his identity was exposed, and hid the shackle in my space?’

There was no match for Harden on this earth.

Strictly speaking, only Harden himself.

In other words, this secret storehouse, which Harden had created himself and accumulated years with, paradoxically became the space that was hardest for Harden to touch.

……Thus, the Principal and the student stared at each other with suspicious eyes.

In truth, the problem lay in Harden’s secret storehouse itself, which Roan had thought of as a variable to twist the fate seen through the Prophet’s Eye.

Because Harden’s existence was too grand a variable in fate, the Grey Shackle of Life had ended up bound here.

Neither Roan nor Harden had any inkling of such circumstances.

At any rate, the tense state did not last very long.

‘Well, thinking about it, there really is no place safer than here.’

Roan’s goal was solely to protect his life and live a long, long time in this world.

Darc’s ruined castle wasn’t bad, but in truth, it couldn’t even be compared to this place.

Even if this entire continent turned to dust and disappeared, the Principal’s Office of Acherandir would likely be the very last to go.

Moreover, a crazy inquisitor like Professor Kaina would never dare to inspect the Holy Spirit’s storehouse.

The only drawback and the biggest obstacle was that Harden knew the location, but…

‘Unless I lose my mind, there’s no way I’d fight Harden.’

Roan had absolutely no intention of standing against Harden—no, against the Holy Empire.

On the other hand, Harden also accepted the situation positively at around the same time.

‘Better to keep the seed of disaster under my foot than to let it sow seeds in a place I don’t know.’

Even if Roan became a disaster for the continent in the future, it wouldn’t be a problem if his shackle was here.

After all, it meant Harden held Roan’s lifeline.

Without a word, Roan and Harden reached a dramatic agreement.

First, Roan spoke with a deep smile.

“Principal, I will always live respecting you. Of course, I will live quietly without causing any trouble to the Empire.”

‘I’ll live quietly, so please look the other way. Don’t waste your energy trying to destroy the storehouse.’

Although he looked like someone anyone would run away from without looking back in terror.

“Yes, my beloved disciple. I will also watch over you with constant love and support. Raising a talented student is a great reward for an educator.”

‘If you stray just because you’re a bit talented, I will personally destroy the storehouse and the shackle altogether.’

The same went for Harden.

The smiles of the teacher and disciple, having confirmed each other’s intentions, grew even deeper.

“Then leave now without any worries, my disciple.”

“Yes. Principal, please always remain in good health.”

“Yes, I don’t have a body, but I will accept the sentiment.”

Roan warmly exchanged farewells with Harden and left the Principal’s Office.

Meanwhile, Harden, left in the Principal’s Office, was smacking his lips with regret.

‘Tsk, the young lambs ought to know how hard I work for them.’

Of course, all Imperial citizens respected Harden, but among them were those who thought the Holy Spirit had become the principal and put his hands behind his back, losing interest in the affairs of the world.

……Even if they didn’t think so starkly, it meant they thought along similar lines.

Besides, why were the ordinary students who should grow well busy playing, while only the black mage student was already running around doing all kinds of things?

‘Does a person really grow in the midst of crisis?’

Harden wondered if he should establish a black magic school and send students there.

Then, feeling a strange sense of dissonance in the secret storehouse, he slowly turned his head.

“What is this?”

The Principal’s Office and the secret storehouse were places where Harden had resided for thousands of years.

He couldn’t help but notice even the slightest change.

It was definitely very small, like scooping water from the ocean a bucket at a time, but…

“The holy power… is disappearing?”

The holy power inside the storehouse was disappearing little by little!

Harden hastily opened the door of the storehouse to see what was going on.

And he quickly found the cause.

In fact, the space itself was the problem, without even needing to look for it.

The Grey Shackle of Life Roan had created was absorbing the holy power in the storehouse and converting it into black mana.

Naturally, that black mana would be handed over to Roan.

“What on earth… What kind of black magic eats up holy power?”

Harden muttered in bewilderment.

Harden recalled the places where black mages had bound the Grey Shackle of Life in the past.

The rotten forests of the south, the ruined castles in the central wetlands, the poison-filled caves of the east, and so on…

Naturally, since it was black magic, he knew it absorbed the surrounding energy, devastating the area.

However, eating up even holy power, which was the polar opposite of black magic, was beyond common sense.

By any logic, black magic embedded in a holy land shouldn’t remain intact.

There was only one reason why this could happen.

“It’s the work of that strange authority!”

The False Divinity, which converted black mana into holy power, had exerted its influence here as well.

Even with the False Divinity, converting holy power into black mana normally imposed a load.

But since it was now bound to the space itself, there seemed to be no such restriction.

Of course, even if it stole holy power like that, it didn’t affect Harden in the slightest.

The legendary relics in the storehouse were already resonating with one another, producing holy power like a perpetual motion machine.

‘It’s a good thing, since I normally have to draw out holy power when it gets too full.’

It actually reduced his workload and made things easier.

But regardless of the circumstances, Harden’s heart was troubled to see the holy power in his storehouse being handed over to a black mage intact.

‘Did this brat… think of even this…?’

And for some reason, he felt like he had lost out a little.