Chapter 97: The Barrier That Melted

As Gaon headed toward Palagas, he thought.

They’re probably all dead already…?

Kranium, where a 5-star rift to the demon world had opened.

Not a single survivor remained in Kranium.

So would there be any survivors in Palagas, where at minimum a 7-star rift had opened?

The probability was close to zero.

Even if by some miracle there were any, they would likely be dead by the time Gaon arrived.

Of course, he had no intention of going slowly just because there were no survivors.

Demonic energy would rapidly erode the surroundings, and demons and demonic beasts would rampage while expanding their territory.

To minimize the damage, he had to arrive as quickly as possible, eliminate the demons and demonic beasts, and stop the spread of demonic energy.

If only I could freely use Teleport…

At the sudden thought, Gaon wore a regretful expression.

Spatial movement magic largely falls into two categories.

The first is the method of connecting space to space using a medium, like warp gates.

The second is moving directly to the coordinates without a medium, like Teleport or Blink.

The first method—using a medium to connect spaces—consumes an enormous amount of energy.

In return, it is stable.

The second method is the opposite: it does not require much energy.

Instead, it places a great burden on the body.

This is because spatial force presses down on the entire body during spatial movement.

If the body cannot withstand the spatial force?

Then one would fall in a strange place, not the intended destination.

Naturally, with the body severely damaged.

And spatial force has the property of growing stronger the farther the distance traveled.

Thus, even Gaon—who had obtained a body stronger than most sword masters through the Pacheon Mind Method—could not perform ultra-long-distance Teleport.

If I cross a few more walls, will I be able to use it freely?

Shortly after entering the 9th Circle, Gaon had faced the seventh wall.

But he did not break through it immediately.

Because the seventh wall was not the end.

If he wanted immediate strength, breaking the wall would be correct, but in the long term, waiting for it to melt on its own was more efficient.

Including the seventh wall, six walls remained.

If he crossed all six?

He figured he would easily withstand even ultra-long-distance Teleport.

Right at that moment.

“…!”

Gaon stopped flying.

The reason Gaon suddenly halted his flight.

It was because of the seventh wall.

The seventh wall had begun to melt on its own.

Gaon checked his surroundings with his senses.

He felt several energies.

But they were in different directions and not worth worrying about.

Gaon descended to the ground.

Then he waved his hand.

Trees and rocks in the area flew away, creating a neat clearing.

Afterward, Gaon set up simple magic circles in the clearing.

Once finished, he sat in the center of the clearing, closed his eyes, and contemplated his inner body.

It should fully melt in about 30 minutes.

Judging by the melting speed, it was estimated to completely dissolve in 30 minutes.

But given the situation, he hesitated.

Was it okay to invest 30 minutes right now?

Anyway, the loss rate would be low at this point.

If it were before it started melting on its own, breaking the wall would require investing a lot of Pacheonki.

At least 30%, at most over 50% would permanently vanish.

But now that it had begun melting on its own?

He wouldn’t need to invest much Pacheonki.

At most 20%.

…No. In the long term.

After pondering, Gaon made his decision.

To leave it alone.

If the 7-star rift to the demon world were the end, maybe not, but it wasn’t.

He couldn’t waste Pacheonki just to advance by mere tens of minutes, not days.

Having decided, Gaon silently watched his interior and thought.

Will there be a change?

The sixth wall had no special change.

What about the seventh wall?

Would it be like the sixth, with no special change?

Or like the previous walls, with a special change?

Time passed like that.

Soon, the wall fully melted and disappeared.

And a change came to his body.

A very special one at that.

A curtain made of Pacheonki formed inside his skin.

It wasn’t limited to specific parts.

It formed over his entire body.

A protective barrier?

The first thing that came to mind was a protective barrier.

No matter how he looked at it, it was in the form of a barrier.

Gaon focused on the curtain.

“…Huh?”

Soon he couldn’t help but be surprised.

Spatial force?

Understandably so—strangely, he felt the ‘spatial force’ one experiences during spatial movement from the curtain.

It was clearly a curtain made of Pacheonki.

Yet why did he feel spatial force?

Wondering if he had seen wrong, Gaon slowly examined it once more.

But he hadn’t been mistaken.

He definitely felt spatial force.

If this is the case…

Regaining his composure, Gaon swallowed hard.

Then he closed his eyes and concentrated.

Not long after, Gaon opened his mouth.

“Teleport.”

With the incantation, Gaon vanished amid light.

The place where Gaon, who disappeared from his spot, reappeared was far away from where he had vanished.

Having traveled a long distance via Teleport, Gaon said nothing.

It was because of the pressure from the spatial force generated during spatial movement.

Precisely, not because the spatial force pressure was strong.

But because the spatial force pressure felt like nothing.

He felt no pressure at all.

To be exact, the Pacheonki curtain absorbed and dissipated all the pressure.

As a result, the Pacheonki in the curtain had decreased.

To about half.

In other words, if he had traveled farther than this distance?

The curtain’s Pacheonki would have run out, and he would have had to endure the spatial force pressure directly as before.

The important thing was that he could replenish the curtain’s Pacheonki.

Gaon infused Pacheonki into the curtain.

It instantly returned to its initial level.

…This seems to be the limit.

Gaon tried infusing more Pacheonki, but the curtain no longer absorbed it.

Unfortunately, there was a limit.

Still, with this much…

Gaon swallowed hard.

Reaching the destination Palagas in one go was impossible.

But if he kept replenishing the curtain’s Pacheonki and continued Teleporting like now?

He could arrive in an instant.

Gaon closed his eyes again.

“Teleport.”

Swish!

Gaon vanished amid light once more.

And appeared far away.

Gaon replenished Pacheonki again and cast Teleport.

After repeating this several times, Gaon finally arrived near his destination, Palagas.

Of course, ‘near’ meant the outskirts.

One more Teleport was needed to reach Palagas.

But he couldn’t use Teleport.

Space was distorted due to the rift to the demon world.

Casting Teleport in this state would send him to a strange place or place enormous burden on his body.

Still, to be able to use it anytime, Gaon replenished the curtain’s Pacheonki and began flying toward Palagas.

Soon he could see the ‘black hexagram’ Lepra had mentioned.

Not only the hexagram.

Below it, a cracked space—the rift to the demon world—sat open.

From the rift, black smoke, gray smoke, and various colored manifested demonic energy gushed out abundantly; at this rate, nearby cities and villages of Palagas would soon be eroded by demonic energy.

Moreover, what emerged from the rift wasn’t only demonic energy.

Demons of all kinds were continuously pouring out.

Gaon checked the level of the rift, the demons, and the density of demonic energy, then felt relieved.

It’s 7-star.

He had worried it might be 8-star.

Fortunately, the rift in Palagas was 7-star.

Closing it right now would be too inefficient…

Of course, being 7-star didn’t mean he could eliminate it immediately.

Precisely, he could eliminate it right away.

But piercing the protective barrier would consume enormous power.

Unlike the 5-star he eliminated in Kranium, a 7-star barrier wasn’t easy even for Gaon.

Above all, wasting power in a situation where Palagas was likely not the end was unwise.

Just clean up.

Gaon decided to first clean up the demons and demonic beasts to reduce the demonic energy.

And as he cleaned, the protective barrier around the rift would disappear, and he could destroy it then.

Having decided, Gaon looked at the walls of Palagas in his view.

On the walls, groups of demons roamed.

“Blizzard.”

Gaon cast Blizzard centered on the walls.

Whoooosh!

With the cast, a sudden snowstorm began raging.

The demonic beasts roaming the walls froze solid with bewildered expressions and met death.

Gaon passed the walls and entered the city interior.

Then he focused on his senses.

Expanding senses was not easy due to the demonic energy.

Searching the entire city was impossible.

But it didn’t matter.

The demons and demonic beasts, aware of the attack, were gathering toward him.

Gaon smiled faintly and opened his mouth.

“Frozen Tempest.”

The 8th-Circle spell called the superior version of Blizzard, ‘Frozen Tempest,’ was cast.

Whoooosh!

A storm laden with freezing cold began sweeping through the city interior.

Naturally, the demons and demonic beasts within range met death outright.

Gaon immediately moved and cast a new spell.

“Volcano.”

Demon world, the city ‘Kanium’ under the dominion of Count Kalbornia.

In the center of Kanium, a massive rift connected to the middle world had formed.

Countless demons were leaping into the rift.

“My lord Count, then we shall depart as well.”

Baron Edian, one of the nobles following Kalbornia, said to Kalbornia.

“Yes, prepare well; I’ll follow soon.”

“Yes, I will prepare perfectly.”

Edian smiled brightly in reply and headed toward the rift to the demon world with his subordinate demons.

Left alone, Kalbornia silently watched the rift.

Rumble!!

Soon after, the rift grew even larger.

Kalbornia grinned widely.

Finally, it had become large enough for Kalbornia himself to cross to the middle world.

Having waited only for this moment, Kalbornia strode forward without hesitation.

And entered the rift.

Arriving in the middle world, Kalbornia closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Though not as much as the demon world, thick demonic energy entered and circulated through his body.

It was extremely satisfying.

…Hm?

But that was only for a moment.

…What is this?

Feeling something strange, Kalbornia opened his eyes.

“…?”

He couldn’t help but be bewildered.

Because of the sight before him.

Ahead, a snowstorm raged.

And immediately to the right, a massive tornado—not easy even for Kalbornia—whirled, sweeping everything away.

That wasn’t all.

To the left of the snowstorm, a huge volcano spewed lava.

Kalbornia checked behind him with an incredulous face.

The rear was no different from the front.

A region cracked open as if from an earthquake.

A region where lightning struck without pause.

An unbelievable spectacle unfolded.

Kalbornia blinked in absurdity and thought.

Is this really the middle world?