[Skill – ‘Earth Bound Shackle’ has been activated.]
The ground of the magic training ground splits open.
What emerges from the cracks are shackles of solid earth.
An earth attribute magic that mercilessly drags the training dummy, buries it underground, and seals it away.
[Skill – ‘Immortal Flame’ has been activated.]
Next is the 6th Circle fire attribute magic, Immortal Flame.
A bird of flame, symbolizing immortality, turns the entire room into a sea of fire.
It brings the agony of terrible flames to the enemy.
And bestows the life force of immortality upon the caster.
After it subsides, a heavenly barrier unfolds.
[Skill – ‘Celestial Shield’ has been activated.]
A shield engraved in the sky.
The shield of the heavens.
Even though he has the supreme skill ‘Celestial,’ the reason Hio learned Celestial Shield is because it specializes in magic defense.
‘Celestial’ is a skill specialized in defending against all physical attacks and purifying sinister auras, as long as Hio’s stamina allows.
Before his decisive battle with Kreutzvalt, he felt he needed something that could block Kreutzvalt’s minor magic attacks, and that’s why he learned it.
After all, the magic Kreutzvalt casually tosses out for harassment is at least of 6th or 7th Circle power.
‘I am prepared.’
Furnel says with a grave expression, and Hio nods.
“Then let’s go!”
‘Understood!’
Hio points his staff at Furnel, who is flying rapidly.
[Skill – ‘Manipulation’ has been activated.]
Then, an hourglass and a skeletal ghostly hand appear.
Furnel’s movements slow drastically, and Hio’s magic power noticeably drains away.
‘Thi…is… is the wo…rst…’
[Skill – ‘Manipulation – Acceleration’ has been activated.]
The ghostly hand twists the clock backwards, and Furnel’s time accelerates rapidly.
Thud!
As always, Furnel crashes head-first into the wall and bounces off.
Three.
“How is it? No control at all?”
‘Ugh… It’s no good. I don’t think we need to test this anymore.’
“Is that so? You’re a ghost anyway, so it’s fine.”
‘Even if it doesn’t hurt, doesn’t it feel weird?! Bouncing off the wall is unpleasant, I’m telling you!’
“Alright. Then next…”
Next is Chronomancy, which freezes the surrounding time.
An even more enormous amount of magic power drains away per second than with Manipulation.
But it was a magic worth that cost.
[Skill – ‘Temporal Rift’ has been activated.]
The flow of time around Furnel begins to stop.
Since everything stops, you can’t attack either, but the same goes for the opponent.
It means you can completely exclude and isolate them from battle.
“I don’t know if this will work on Kreutzvalt, though.”
[Skill – ‘Temporal Rift’ has been canceled.]
As Hio cancels the skill, the bound time is released, and Furnel begins to move.
“How is it? Do you feel like you could break free on your own?”
‘Impossible. At least within the common sense I know, it can’t be broken. Magic is stopped, and there’s nothing you can do to move.’
“I hope I can use this to bind Kreutzvalt.”
‘However, even if they are excluded from battle, their awareness and sight remain the same, so you need to be careful of that.’
“……I understand.”
***
After practice, he dives back into research.
The book he opens is [Tome of the Heavens].
It was to learn a 7th Circle magic.
“I understand it, but the process of inscribing it isn’t easy.”
Thanks to Drisella’s Power, there was no difficulty in comprehension.
‘But the work of inscribing the Circle Inscription is a separate matter, isn’t it?’
‘Ugh… It’s really damn complicated.’
The 7th Circle magic from the [Tome of the Heavens].
The technique known as ‘Meteor,’ recorded as Judgment of the Star, was being prepared step by step.
The ruby-like, sparkling crimson eyes of the Airlights scan the empty air.
[Remaining Divinity Points: 11,755,094 Pt]
In fact, a few days ago, enough Divinity Points had already accumulated to obtain most Powers.
What was troubling was just which one to choose from among Venus’s many, many Powers.
[Power – Venus’s Shining Confession: 7,777,777 Pt]
[Power – Venus’s Heart Scale: 8,800,000 Pt]
[Power – Venus’s Desire Seal: 9,000,000 Pt]
Venus had quite a number of Powers.
Looking up and comparing the names of other gods, she clearly possessed an overwhelming number of Powers.
Roughly counting, there seemed to be about twenty Powers.
It meant she was an ancient and powerful god.
***
[Power – Venus’s Ecstatic Enthralment: 6,400,000 Pt]
[Power – Venus’s Powerless Love: 8,000,000 Pt]
[Power – Venus’s Emotion Edit: 9,800,000 Pt]
[Power – Venus’s Chaotic Banquet: 9,500,000 Pt]
The amount of points consumed wasn’t small either.
It meant each one was a powerful Power.
That made the choice even more difficult, but in fact, she had already roughly narrowed down which Powers to choose.
If she was going to do it, she wanted the best.
The most expensive and the one with the most certain performance.
That was Airlights’s thought and inclination.
‘Hmm…’
Her slender white fingers continue to scroll down the Power window.
Searching for the best and most expensive Power.
[Power – Venus’s Relationship Severance: 8,600,000 Pt]
[Power – Venus’s Resonance Vibration: 9,750,000 Pt]
[Power – Venus’s Obsession Swamp: 9,999,000 Pt]
[Power – Venus’s Thorn Contract: 10,000,000 Pt]
***
She had pondered quite a bit here as well.
Not the most expensive, but expensive enough, and the ability inferred from the Power’s name also seemed quite good.
What needed to be chosen as the top priority right now was a decisive power to use in the final battle against Kreutzvalt.
A Power with that kind of ability.
So, ultimately, the core choices were the last two.
First, the one with the highest price.
[Power – Venus’s Mirror World: 12,000,000 Pt]
And the second one was…
“Didn’t you say you gathered all the points? Haven’t you bought it yet?”
“Ah, Hio.”
Had she been too lost in thought?
Hio approached Airlights, who had been staring at the Power window all day, and Airlights stands up with her usual pretty smiling eyes.
“I was just looking at it for a bit.”
“Something seems to be bothering you.”
“Well… It’s not that there isn’t.”
It’s Hio, after all.
Somehow he noticed she was bothered by something and asked.
He was someone she simply couldn’t help but like.
“What’s bothering you? Is there a strange word in the Power name?”
A strange word.
There is.
But that wasn’t what was really bothering her.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just there are too many Powers, so I was pondering a bit more.”
What was truly bothering her was a memory.
The memory of Venus she saw at the Memory Gate.
‘When the time comes, do not hesitate. Everything you do is love.’
The words Venus spoke to her, using the conversation with Liphyue as a pretext.
‘It could be anger, or it could be joy. Obsession, anxiety, or…’
Advice given with some future in mind.
‘…It could also be sacrifice.’
That’s why she was troubled.
She had been delaying and hesitating, putting off the decision until now.
“Well, you’d know best, but if you’re really troubled, tell me. Let’s think about it together.”
“……Okay. I’ll think about it a little more.”
At the very bottom of the Power window.
The final Power, placed alongside ‘Venus’s Mirror World.’
[Power – Venus’s Sacrificial Flower: 11,500,000 Pt]
Airlights takes one last glance at the Power window and then promptly closes it.
***
After the quick conquest of the 72nd floor, no particular incidents occurred.
Only that the 73rd floor opened a little faster than average.
A mere month or so.
Still, it was enough time to achieve meaningful results.
Because he had learned two 7th Circle magics, including the heavenly magic ‘Meteor.’
“What about you? Still haven’t decided on a Power?”
If there was a small variable, it was that Airlights still hadn’t decided on a Power.
Since they weren’t fighting Kreutzvalt immediately, it was good to choose carefully, but she was being overly cautious.
Unlike her usual self.
“I’ll decide right after we conquer this floor and return.”
“Alright, well, you’d know best about Venus.”
He said that and just let it go.
She seemed to be seriously contemplating, and didn’t seem to want to talk about it, so he thought he’d just check which Power she chose after conquering the 73rd floor.
That’s what he thought.
“Let’s move.”
Perhaps because it was an Abyss Gate that opened after only a month.
This time, there was even less to prepare than for the previous floors.
Still, since you never know what variables might arise, they didn’t let their guard down, but it was true that the tension was lessened because they had become far too strong compared to the conquest difficulty.
“You’ve arrived.”
In front of the Gate, the now-familiar members stood naturally.
Vitalianus, Freya, and Regarda.
Add Hio and Airlights to that, and the Expeditionary Force is complete.
“Then let’s go in right away.”
Without any particular conversation, they immediately headed towards the Abyss Gate of the 73rd floor.
[Abyss – Conquest of the 73rd floor has been successful.]
[Abyss – The 73rd floor sinks into an unfathomably deep abyss.]
[Returning to the original space.]
The 73rd floor was also conquered quickly without any particular variables.
If there was a variable, it occurred after the conquest was completely over.
In the place where everyone, including Hio, had gathered in front of the Gate.
“You look like you have a lot on your mind.”
The one who broke the silence was Vitalianus.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t Hio he spoke to, but Airlights.
It wasn’t that their relationship was bad, but they weren’t close enough to have private chats. Yet, unusually, Vitalianus spoke first.
Airlights did not answer.
Whether she ignored him as usual, or couldn’t find what to say.
She just stood still, not even looking at Vitalianus, her gaze fixed on the sky.
Vitalianus spoke quietly, but perhaps because it was right after finishing the conquest, his voice was clearly heard by everyone.
“Let me give you one piece of advice: don’t think too hard. There’s no need to be swayed by others’ words. Just follow what your heart tells you.”
“……Who do you think you are?”
“Just an old man who likes to meddle. And one who’s a bit good with a sword.”
Listening to the conversation, it seems there is something going on.
Airlights is troubled, and Vitalianus knows the answer.
At least, that’s how it looked in Hio’s eyes.
“Walk the path you believe is right.”
“What do you know, acting like you know everything?”
“Well… Just a feeling, a hunch.”
Vitalianus just smiles through Airlights’s sharp retort.
Hio couldn’t understand what they were talking about.
So he was about to ask.
But.
“If the conversation is over, let me say something too.”
As soon as the words ended, Regarda stepped forward as if he had been waiting.
And with his following words, the previous conversation was completely pushed from Hio’s mind.
“I found the passageway.”
Hio’s eyes flash.
The passageway Regarda is talking about is the door for their counterattack.
“……Finally.”
The path to the Abyssal Depths has opened.