Chapter 124

Meanwhile, Roan, who came out with a light heart, also felt a strange symptom.

“Why am I so full of energy?”

At first, he thought he was just in a good mood because he had finally completed the Grey Shackle of Life.

But it wasn’t just a trick of his mind; his body really felt light enough to fly.

“Hmm…”

To survive as a black mage in Acherandir, one had to be suspicious of everything, even good things.

Roan briefly checked his condition.

“!!!”

No, there was no need to even perform a brief check.

The black mana in his dantian, which was already abundant thanks to his overwhelming talent stats, was now gushing out like an endless, inexhaustible treasure jar.

Naturally, it didn’t rise beyond the limit of what his body could tolerate, but at this rate, using a moderate amount of magic wouldn’t even show a dent.

Realizing where this black mana was coming from, Roan grew worried first.

‘What if Harden destroys the shackle because it’s stealing his holy power?’

…Well, it didn’t seem likely to happen, though.

To begin with, compared to the holy power inside the secret storehouse, this amount was like a single grain of sand on a beach.

Whirrrr—

At that moment, the False Divinity vibrated triumphantly.

How is it? I exerted some power, didn’t I!

Even Roan had no choice but to acknowledge it this time.

‘You actually did something useful for once.’

Whirrrr—

When you’re only saving your life thanks to me!

The False Divinity felt wronged by the stingy praise.

In any case, Roan decided to use his black mana with a more relaxed mind.

In magic, mana was comparable to capital.

How one utilized it within limited capital was a measure of a mage’s skill.

But if one possessed this much mana?

‘No need to worry about efficiency; it’s a win if I just push it all in.’

He was at a level where he had to ponder how to spend even more mana.

If only he weren’t in the position of a student at Acherandir, he could have utilized it in countless ways.

Of course, had it not been for Acherandir, installing the Grey Shackle of Life in Harden’s secret storehouse would have been an impossible dream, so in a way, it was an equivalent exchange.

Roan fell into pleasant thoughts for the first time in a while.

“Hmm. Since things have turned out this way, I’d like to test it out.”

In “God and Devil,” the power of magic was influenced by both the quality and quantity of mana.

Since it was mana drawn from none other than Harden’s secret storehouse, its quality had to be superb.

Roan pondered a place to test this overflowing mana.

Specifically, a place where he could use offensive magic with some peace of mind.

Just then, a location came to mind.

‘That place would be perfect.’

Since the freshmen’s classes hadn’t finished yet, the surroundings were deserted.

However, this situation wouldn’t last long, so the faster he moved, the better.

Roan hurried his steps.

He headed toward the outskirts of the area where Acherandir’s buildings were clustered.

It was the entrance to a mountain path where a somewhat desolate energy lingered.

However, in front of the trail leading up the mountain, a pale wall was standing proudly, blocking the path.

‘The Wailing Wall. It looks even bigger in person.’

Roan thought as he looked up at the wall, which seemed to be twice his height.

On the surface, it looked like a simple concrete wall about 3 meters high and 10 meters long.

‘A mysterious crafted holy relic that suddenly appeared 150 years ago.’

Surprisingly, the Wailing Wall was a fairly impressive object made with quite a bit of effort.

A graduate majoring in holy relic crafting made it before leaving.

Harden made it to tease the students.

And so forth.

Although there many rumors surrounding it, the secret remained unrevealed.

In the middle of the wall, these words were written:

─ Break your wall! ─

Had it been just this, it probably wouldn’t have earned the nickname ‘Wailing Wall.’

But beneath it.

─ Scared? ─

Because of that single, relatively small word, countless students had rushed to break this wall.

And naturally, as the fact that this wall still remained proved, no one had succeeded.

Of course, to say that there hadn’t been a single talent capable of breaking this wall in 150 years would be absurd.

There were two reasons why the Wailing Wall had not been broken.

‘First, those who were capable of breaking it didn’t even care.’

That was the in-game reason.

‘And naturally, because this wall is meant to be broken by the player.’

That was the out-of-game reason.

In fact, if the player graduated without breaking the wall, it would be destroyed by someone else in the very next year.

At any rate, the Wailing Wall fully lived up to its name, and since it required significant effort even if the player tried to break it, it was perfect for Roan to test his mana now.

Roan stood in front of the wall and pondered which magic to use.

‘If it were just to compare my power, I should use the Blood Spear I often use.’

Seeing how easily he had destroyed the Divine Tree dolls in the Friendship Experience Center, the Abyss Blood Spear would no longer serve as a meaningful benchmark.

In “God and Devil,” one didn’t raise a character or skill’s level overnight.

It was a system where the player’s stats rose as they reached a certain level through research and achievements, thereby unlocking usable skills.

Even so, while individual magic required sufficient research and practice, magic that fell below the player’s current level was naturally much easier to learn.

In any case, since he had defeated even the Divine Tree dolls, he had to move on to a higher level of magic.

Though even if he moved on, he couldn’t completely ignore the school’s curriculum, so he wouldn’t be able to use it recklessly.

‘A magic slightly higher than that…’

Conveniently, a magic came to Roan’s mind.

A magic that could be called the end of the basics among black magic that utilized the Abyss.

Moreover, it was intuitive, making it perfect for immediate use.

‘Strike of Deeper Darkness.’

Roan raised the Abyss in both hands.

The Strike of Deeper Darkness was a sort of finishing move, meant to end things in a single blow.

The principle was to violently rub the Abyss of both hands together to focus the explosive force on a single point.

In exchange for being a simple single thrust, its casting speed was fast, and its power was comparable to mid-level magic.

Additionally, as a finishing move that drew upon remaining power, its strength was heavily dependent on the amount of mana, which was perfectly suited for this situation.

Roan aimed directly at the word ‘Scared?’ in the middle of the wall.

And he poured a substantial amount of mana into a single strike.

‘If I pour in too much, it might cause an uproar again.’

If he couldn’t break the wall, he could just try again, but it would be a problem if he used too much force and accidentally bored a cave into the mountain behind it.

When he completed the magic circle he had memorized from the grimoire and felt that the preheating of the Abyss was at an appropriate level.

Roan brought his hands together and clashed the two Abysses.

That was the trigger.

Vrooom—!!!

“Huh?”

Roan stared in bewilderment at the hole pierced through the Wailing Wall.

It was as if a beam of mana resembling a sci-fi movie battleship cannon had passed through, leaving a hole large enough for a person to easily walk through.

‘Was it always this easy to pierce? Is this really the Wailing Wall?’

‘There’s no way.’

Roan momentarily doubted whether he had found the wrong place.

The Wailing Wall was definitely a fairly impressive defensive holy relic that only characters who had grown to assistant-level or higher would attempt.

Yet, even with Harden’s stolen holy power, to think it would be pierced like this by a mere finishing move at the end of the basics?

‘I should have just used the Blood Spear…’

Whirrrr—

The False Divinity, observing this, made a bewildered remark.

Are you really trying to live quietly?

Roan could not bring himself to answer.

Rumble—

Not long after the hole appeared in its center, cracks fractured across the Wailing Wall before it completely collapsed into fragments of various sizes.

Only then did Roan realize that he had truly broken the Wailing Wall.

‘Lest Kaina sees this, let’s run away quickly!’

Roan glanced around, then ran toward the dormitory without looking back.

***

Before Roan broke the Wailing Wall.

At a certain place on Acherandir’s Dragon Street.

Zorve was receiving reports from an informant there, as he did every evening.

For him as well, it was originally time to attend an elective class, but today happened to be Professor Wooly’s class.

To Zorve, skipping Professor Wooly’s class was as easy as taking money out of his own wallet.

…It was literally that kind of thing.

─ We have intel that Darc is heading toward the Wailing Wall.

When the report regarding Roan came up, Zorve raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm. The Wailing Wall. Is he planning to challenge it?”

─ It is not certain, but there is no reason for a freshman to go near there otherwise.

“That’s true. It’s not like a freshman would go up the mountain alone.”

Zorve had no idea that Roan had already climbed the mountain several times.

At any rate, Zorve pondered for a moment after receiving the informant’s report.

The Wailing Wall was an Acherandir landmark, famous enough that rumors had surely spread among the freshmen by now.

A person of Roan’s caliber would naturally harbor a competitive spirit.

“A successor of Dragon Street should have at least that much ambition.”

Zorve stood up with a faint smile.

Zorve did not think that even Roan would break the Wailing Wall.

Zorve had a different reason for stepping in.

‘An upperclassman who appears to offer support when an outstanding junior is disheartened by failure.’

For an idea conceived on the spot, it was a fairly decent approach.

If they grew closer like this, wouldn’t Roan change his mind?

And building a connection to eventually groom him into a powerful ally of the Richmond family.

That was Zorve’s objective.

Although Roan himself was an undeniable talent.

If Roan truly resurrected the Darc family, Richmond would become a tiger with wings.

“I will go myself. Hand a few coins to anyone approaching and send them away.”

─ Yes. I will do so.

“Goldy.”

Gurrr—

The yellow iron-scaled bird guarding Zorve’s side plucked one of its preened feathers and gave it to the informant.

─ I will dedicate my life!

The informant withdrew, deeply moved.

He would make sure not a single soul approached the Wailing Wall!

No matter how one looked at it, it was a strict hierarchy that didn’t look like relationships between fellow students.

…Even the informant was a fourth-year student, just like Zorve.

“Let’s go as well.”

Gurrr—!

Thus, Zorve spread his Golden Wings—a holy relic that allowed him to fly while scattering gold dust—and soared into the air.

Although there was quite a distance from Dragon Street to the Wailing Wall.

“There he is.”

Zorve and Goldy were able to locate Roan in the blink of an eye.

Sure enough, just as the informant had said, Roan had already arrived in front of the Wailing Wall.

Although not a single scratch remained on the wall, rendering all the time and attacks it had endured meaningless, one could feel it when standing in front of it.

The sense of intimidation and weight accumulated while weathering a long span of time.

Those factors made the challengers feel infinitely small.

‘In front of it, it’s hard to easily use any holy magic.’

Zorve had also challenged it during his second year with a fairly decent holy relic, only to fail.

Zorve intentionally landed a significant distance away and walked the rest of the path.

Fortunately, there was a large boulder nearby to hide behind.

Zorve and Goldy hid behind it and watched for an opportunity.

‘I must step in when Roan is disheartened after failing. Since he might feel embarrassed, I should first draw his attention with Goldy’s feather, and then…’

While Zorve waited with slight tension for Roan’s challenge.

Roan finally raised the Abyss—which looked like his characteristic grey holy power—in both hands.

Even a glance revealed an extraordinary power.

Zorve’s eyes blazed with greed.

‘As expected, only you are fit to take charge of Dragon Street, Roan! Though you won’t be able to break the wall, of course!’

At the same time, a formidable force of mana was shot in a straight line from between Roan’s hands.

Vrooooom—!!!

“????”

The greed burning in Zorve’s eyes was extinguished in an instant.

And a slightly different emotion took its place.

Kiiiruk—?

A scene so shocking that even the yellow iron-scaled bird watching Roan alongside Zorve flapped its wings involuntarily!

The Wailing Wall, which had brought tears to countless students of Acherandir for a whopping 150 years.

“……Was pierced?”

Had a clean hole punched through it by Roan’s single strike.