The Magic Circle to summon the sleeping dragon.
It was completed over the course of two days.
It clearly required the intricate sigils of a 5th Circle spell, a task of extreme difficulty, but there was an answer to be followed.
If he had been told to suddenly summon a dragon from scratch, it would have been hopeless, but this was not the case.
The book Isidore had given him contained the location of the dragon as well as the magic formula needed to summon it—he simply had to follow the drawings.
“Are you not focusing! Your mana is leaking out everywhere!”
Of course, just copying the drawings didn’t mean the Magic Circle would be completed with a snap.
He had to seal the mana within the sigils he carved, and ensure the passageways allowed the mana to flow smoothly.
“Tsk tsk… Slow, too slow.”
For an ordinary 4th Circle mage, the scale of this Magic Circle would have been unthinkable.
If not for Hio’s extraordinary talent in handling mana with the utmost delicacy, it might have taken over a month to finish such an undertaking.
Yet to complete it in just two days—what an astonishing feat.
But as the saying goes, one only sees what one knows—there was likely no one in Arilleia, nor anywhere on the continent, who could truly recognize the greatness of Hio’s accomplishment.
“Hmm… If you had focused a bit more, you could’ve finished in a day… Are you feeling unwell?”
Even the sole ghost who could have recognized it was spouting such nonsense.
Purunel, too, had simply gotten used to Hio’s talent.
Of course, it wasn’t as if Hio had created this for recognition from anyone, so he simply ignored Purunel’s muttered, “Hmm, is that all?” and gazed down at the Magic Circle he’d completed at his feet.
A wide clearing beneath Arilleia’s Sacred Beast Tree.
The grass had been shorn short, the clearing created solely for drawing this Magic Circle.
“Is everything ready?”
Isidore asked in a calm tone.
Even her clear eyes held a hint of tension.
They, too, had attempted this Magic Circle.
But no matter how many attempts they made, the result was always failure.
“To my ignorant eyes, it seems just the same as always.”
They’d thought the Magic Circle Hio Pavlenko drew would be somehow different from theirs, but to the eye, it looked no different at all.
The grand size, the placement of the mana stones, the shape of the sigils.
And the fact that he had drawn it alone in just two days.
“Well, I suppose it’ll work out.”
Hio only shrugged.
According to Purunel’s analysis, there was nothing wrong with the Magic Circle, and Hio’s skill had reproduced it flawlessly, down to the tiniest detail.
If the dragon truly existed, then it would manifest its majesty atop this Magic Circle, here and now.
For the first time in a thousand years.
“It’s sure to succeed…!”
As always, Freya’s message rose flamboyantly.
Yet, in truth, Freya herself was extremely tense.
She had never even seen her true form.
She was only vaguely aware that she was a dragon, her soul so faint and small that all else was hazy.
Standing by Freya’s side, Regarda’s face was expressionless.
No one knew what he truly thought or felt, but at least on the surface, he seemed utterly unperturbed.
“…Then.”
Hio glanced over everyone gathered, then approached the Magic Circle he’d drawn.
Numerous gazes focused on him.
They had all done their utmost to protect the sleeping dragon, yet none had ever seen its form.
‘Could it really be summoned?’
Everyone’s anticipation, doubt, hope, and tension mingled, making the air feel oppressively heavy.
“Let’s begin.”
The start of the Magic Circle.
He stepped toward the catalyst and placed his hand upon it.
Within his invisible body, four Circles spun furiously, surging with mana.
That mana traveled through his hand and into the Magic Circle.
This was the beginning.
Light began to rapidly spread through the pathways drawn within the Magic Circle.
The various sigils around the circle lit up one by one, each unleashing their designated power.
Wherever mana began to wane, a mana stone had been set, and the mana, empowered again, continued to surge forth, illuminating the sigils.
Soon, the entire vast Magic Circle shone brightly.
“Truly…”
The wide clearing was filled with the radiance of magic.
The Arilleia People encircling it shivered in awe.
“The magic—the Magic Circle is working.”
They had tried countless times, but the Magic Circle had never once worked before.
It had never budged, nor had they even known how to proceed. Yet now, it was blazing with light.
The broad clearing overflowed with light.
They.
Waited.
And in that light, a form slowly began to coalesce.
“Ah…”
The enormous form gradually emerged.
Beneath the towering Sacred Beast Tree, what appeared was a green tail. Green wings.
Scales that shone like gemstones in the sunlight, and a body so large that even curled up, it reached halfway up the trunk.
“A dragon.”
It was an Emerald Dragon.
All eyes in the assembly drank in the sight of the dragon.
Under the Sacred Beast Tree, as if guarding it, the sleeping dragon’s majestic figure was burned into everyone’s memory.
Except for one.
Except for Regarda Ovierre.
“Only now…”
***
While everyone else widened their eyes in awe, he instead closed his eyes.
“It has appeared.”
Open or closed, it made no difference to Regarda.
He had always pictured it in his mind.
Not this dormant, seemingly dead form, but the glorious figure from the past, which he still remembered.
“I’ve waited so long.”
‘How many years had passed because he could not keep a single promise?’
‘How were those thousand years for you?’
‘Were they an excruciating, patient age?’
‘Or merely a fleeting moment, as if you closed and reopened your eyes?’
I do not know, but at least…
“To me, it was an eternity.”
For Regarda, it was practically infinite time.
When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with the sight of the sleeping dragon.
“O dragon.”
Just as it had sealed itself before his eyes a thousand years ago.
*- So that’s the Green Dragon. It’s my first time seeing it in person, too.
What had manifested atop the Magic Circle was the dazzling green Emerald Dragon.
“Magnificent.”
Its size alone was beyond the reach of humans.
And the immense aura could be distinctly felt.
Vast mana suffused every inch of its body, every single scale.
“…Now I see why it was called a demigod.”
Just its presence alone made it difficult to breathe under the crushing mana.
The air felt so heavy it seemed to choke.
Others, not understanding, would simply attribute it to the dragon’s overwhelming pressure.
Well, they wouldn’t be wrong.
“Hm… Am I really seeing this right?”
“Why?”
“Through a ghost’s eyes.”
“Through a ghost’s eyes?”
Following Purunel’s absentminded mutter, Hio activated the Ghost’s Eye.
「Trait – ‘Ghost’s Eye’ has been activated.」
He could see it.
“…Insane.”
The word “huge” didn’t do justice to the dragon’s soul.
Such a lofty rank.
“I’ve never seen anything like this, either.”
But it was stained utterly black.
It wasn’t the blackness of the dead, nor the soul of an undead.
It was something far deeper, far thicker.
Yes, in a word…
“…Abyss.”
A soul tainted by the Abyss.
“The dragon…was consumed by the Abyss?”
“Didn’t you say that ordinary people, without abilities, would be consumed by such energy?”
“Yes… I did.”
That’s how it was in the game.
NPCs with awakened skills could resist the Abyssal energy, but regular citizens went mad, overpowered by it.
“That’s the Abyssal energy that spreads when the raid fails… But what has possessed the dragon is something different.”
It was a more direct, blatant energy.
Like the kind that surrounded you after being dragged into the Abyss—when even Daphne lost her mind.
“So the extinction of dragons really was deeply connected to the Abyss.”
He had suspected, but seeing it firsthand was a shock beyond imagination.
He was seeing a vast, lofty soul for the first time, and to find it utterly corrupted like this…
It was, truly, a horrifying sight.
“Now I understand. Why they left 4th Circle Purification instead of using holy magic to cleanse the dragon’s soul.”
“I agree. If you cast holy magic on that… the soul would probably be destroyed, too.”
He’d thought that once the dragon was summoned, purification would be easy.
Perhaps, foreseeing the loss of advanced magic in future generations, they had left the lowest-grade purification, Purification, as a safeguard.
Hio had his ultimate defensive skill, ‘Celestial,’ after all.
A skill that could repel all hostile presences within the domain of the Goddess’s Touch.
It worked not just on the physical, but the spiritual as well.
And it even required the Holy Power stat, making it the supreme defensive skill in the holy magic category.
And that was the problem.
“The Abyss is already deeply woven into the soul. It’s essentially become a part of it.”
Overwhelming holy power could surely eradicate the Abyssal energy.
But it was already fused with the soul itself. The soul itself had been stained by the Abyss.
‘What meaning was there in erasing both the Abyss and the dragon’s soul together?’
A thousand years of Arilleia’s mission couldn’t end like this.
“At least, the dragon’s rank is so high, and the sealing magic on its entire body has kept it barely asleep.”
“If the seal were broken and the dragon woke up, what do you think would happen?”
“Before it could be purified?”
“Yes.”
“Then, it’s simple.”
Purunel delivered the answer in a matter-of-fact tone.
“The dragon would go berserk, and the world would be destroyed. Since it would be out of its mind, maybe after a long struggle it could be subdued, but the damage would be indescribable.”
Before fighting the Abyss, the world would first have to deal with a rampaging dragon.
Infinite mana, scales that swords barely scratch.
A gigantic body, agile and able to soar freely in the sky, and breath attacks of devastating power.
A true catastrophe.
Naturally, the damage would pile up, leaving little strength to confront the Abyss.
“…That’s horrifying.”
“Which is why we must purify it. But on the other hand, if we succeed, and the dragon regains its senses, there could be nothing more reassuring.”
“Should I call Nkingki and ask if he can extract only that black energy, like he did with Sylvia last time?”
‘That might not be a bad idea. If anyone can, it would be an inhuman Death God.’
“Alright.”
With that thought, he activated his skill.
「Skill – Summon Death God has been activated.」
Suddenly, darkness intruded upon the sunlit clearing.
As if someone had turned down the contrast, the air grew dim, and the aura of death thickened.
A shadowy figure emerged behind Hio.
A blood-red scythe hung before his neck.
And redder still, the Death God’s eyes glared down at Hio.
“Yikes! Nkingki, you’re scary!”
Nking!
At Hio’s words, Nkingki instantly shrank to a small, wiggling form.
His trademark pouting ended as quickly as it began.
“Nkingki. Last time, you extracted Sylvia’s energy—can you do the same for that?”
As a Death God, he could control the aura of all living beings within his range.
He’d even saved Sylvia from the brink of death with that ability, so Hio asked hopefully.
Kiiing…
Nkingki shook his head.
Worried that he couldn’t help, his eyes filled with anxiety.
“That energy shouldn’t even exist in this world, right?”
Nking!
“That’s why you can’t control it?”
Nkingki!
“So, you’re useless for now?”
…Kiiing.
“Want to go back?”
Kiiing kiiing…
Tears were already welling in his eyes, and if Hio teased him any further, he might actually burst out crying.
“I’m kidding. You can stick around a bit longer.”
He gave Nkingki a little pat with his finger, then turned his gaze back to the sleeping dragon.
Not even a Death God could solve this, nor could the Celestial’s holy power purify it.
That left only one way: the straightforward approach.
“I’ll have to use Purification.”
He stepped toward the dragon’s emerald-glowing head.
He reached out, stretching his hand toward its head.
He could barely touch a single scale near the jaw, but he had to cast Purification, so he summoned his mana.
The four Circles spun in different directions, power rising from the sigils.
The powers gathered and converged into magic.
“Purification.”
Left hand on the dragon’s scale, right hand gripping his staff, the 4th Circle purification magic took effect.
This advanced spell, crafted through a complex process, pierced the dragon’s scale and reached its soul.
According to its set laws, the magic tried to purify the tainted soul.
And soon, Purification fulfilled its duty admirably.
He succeeded in purifying the dragon’s soul, corrupted by the deepest Abyss.
Thus, the soul tainted by the Abyss was purified.
“It’s… purified, I guess.”
He had succeeded.
But only the tiniest part of the immense soul, a speck no bigger than an ant’s eye.
By percentage, perhaps about 0.0002%.
That much had been purified.
For the first time in a long while, Hio let out a low curse.
“Damn.”
‘Did this mean he’d have to do this ten thousand times… no, even more?’
“Should I just kill it?”
“…That might not be such a bad idea.”