Chapter 194

Dragon God Palace.

Sephiro gazed at the star falling toward his throne.

“Lil…”

He knew at a glance what that magic was.

And who had completed it.

It was Transcender Lil.

No one else could create magic on that scale.

However—

“You are still foolish.”

Sephiro shook his head.

Once, he had been interested in Lil’s magic.

Because her level of magical knowledge was exceptionally high.

Her understanding of mana, her approach to magic, her skill—each was comparable to Sephiro’s.

It wasn’t simply a matter of “who was stronger.”

In academic talent, Lil surpassed him.

So the two spoke about magic for a long time.

Because he thought the magic she sought to complete and the direction he pursued were similar.

“You still think you can reach ‘the end’ with that magic.”

…But it wasn’t.

He saw the limitations of Lil’s magic midway through.

Sephiro gave advice and even tried to create magic with her, but he became certain that Lil’s magic could never reach “the end.”

Because—

‘Mana must be dominated and made to obey.’

Lil’s method could not overcome its limits.

Even if you coaxed and soothed it, mana—mere energy—would never respond.

If Lil had chosen the path of dominating mana, she would have surpassed the stage of Transcendence long ago.

Above all—

…That magic had a fatal flaw.

A flaw that could never be solved.

“You still don’t know why the next stage of Genesis is called the end, Lil.”

(T/N : Yeah, I know its weird. Genesis should be the beggining in English language but in this context its used as one of the final stages. Ive double check the raw and it really translates to Genesis. )

You couldn’t overcome it without realizing that.

You wouldn’t even reach Genesis.

Transcender Lil was taking the Curse of the Abyss too lightly.

How could a mere Transcender solve what even the Creator could not?

Still, Sephiro’s lips twitched.

‘Which is closer to the ultimate—your magic, or mine?’

His conversations with Lil had been interesting.

He had also been intrigued that someone could discuss magic with him at that level.

But their natures were too different.

How they treated mana.

How obsessively they clung to fundamentals.

Magic wasn’t like that.

To create the ultimate phenomenon, you had to pour in more mana.

And to handle mana that could devour the world, there was only one answer: forcibly dominate it.

Basics mattered, but there was no need to be shackled to them.

That was why his heart was whole—

…Though one of them had now been lost.

“Interesting.”

Incomprehensible phenomena were appearing one after another.

Things he didn’t recognize. Things he couldn’t grasp yet.

Lil’s emergence and the completion of her magic were part of the same chain.

Originally, even if she completed it, she shouldn’t have been able to break the seal and come out on her own.

Someone had forcibly broken the seal.

…Who could it be?

The Archmage—who took his heart beyond his perception.

And the one who broke Lil’s seal.

All of them were “errors.”

That was why even he couldn’t find them.

Of course, it was only that he couldn’t find them right now. It wouldn’t take long.

But when “errors” occurred one after another, a problem inevitably followed.

“The Great Rift opens.”

…The Great Rift opens.

It was inevitable.

With the King of Rift weakened, it would no longer be able to prevent the Great Rift from opening.

And the larger the error, the more varied the Hyperdimensional Monsters that poured out of the Great Rift.

Could the Great Nine Lords block it completely?

If even Sephiro had to consider it, then these errors were unusual.

Events exceeding his perception were happening again and again.

It wouldn’t end here…

This time—

‘The balance will be broken.’

There was a chance one of the Nine Lords would be annihilated.

If that happened, the balance would collapse, and all races would begin to stir.

“Very interesting.”

Sephiro’s smile deepened.

—

―There are two ways to reach stage 3, ‘Cohesion’.

Lil explained briskly.

Now that Park Chanwoo had reached Awakening and Flow, she intended to complete the last basic process: Cohesion.

At minimum, he needed to reach stage 3 while she still existed, so he could handle magic properly.

“What is it?”

Park Chanwoo listened with complete focus.

Ears wide open, eyes shining.

Reversing mana—and the resulting changes in magic—was already enormous.

But that was only stage 2.

He couldn’t imagine how much the next stages would change the very perception of magic.

Lil said,

―Increase or decrease the concentration of mana.

“Increase the concentration… are you talking about ‘Divine Power’?”

When mana concentration exceeded 100%, it was called Divine Power.

Lil nodded.

―Similar. But only when it exceeds 200% can you truly say you’ve reached ‘Cohesion’.

“200%…”

Even hearing it sounded absurd.

His mana concentration was only slightly over 100%.

That level was only possible when summoning Dimensional Interloper Charpham.

―Continuously force mana to gather at a single point. The fastest way is guiding it so it doesn’t disperse or explode, and pushing it to 200%.

Easy to say.

But forcibly gathering mana at one point was never easy.

Mana was unstable by nature—touch it wrong, and it exploded.

“Tell me the other method.”

―Empty the mana. The second method is to use magic with only Innate Mana remaining.

“Won’t I die if I empty all my mana?”

You would faint from exhaustion before you died.

He had experienced something similar several times.

But he had never reduced the remaining mana in his body to 0%.

It was impossible in the first place.

―Choose one of the two. Once you reach stage 3, the preparation is complete.

Lil didn’t bother answering further.

She meant: decide for yourself.

‘The first method is safer.’

Maximizing mana concentration.

It wasn’t easy, but it wouldn’t kill him.

After reversing mana, he understood its essence to some extent. If he pushed himself, he could reach it.

But the second method was death.

There was no way the body could endure completely empty mana.

Even if it were possible, he’d have to pass through the brink of death again and again.

Park Chanwoo pondered for a long moment.

Transcender Lil watched in silence.

‘Depending on your choice, everything that follows will change.’

Cohesion was the last of the three basic stages that formed mana.

How you completed it would reshape the mana and magic Park Chanwoo would handle from then on.

That was why Cohesion was the final stage of the basics.

Sephiro completed it with the first method.

Lil completed it with the second.

The latter was overwhelmingly more difficult.

But difficulty didn’t guarantee a higher peak.

In fact, Sephiro’s mana stage was far higher than Lil’s.

Complete Cohesion by raising concentration, and you dominate mana.

Complete it by lowering concentration, and you grow closer to mana.

‘Most complete Cohesion with the first method.’

Those who reached it through the second were only a handful.

…Lil was curious.

Which would Park Chanwoo choose?

“I will use the second method.”

―…It won’t be easy.

“What else can I do but die?”

Park Chanwoo smiled.

Just hearing it, he could tell the second method was far harder.

But he challenged it because that was the path of a magician.

Giving up because it looked impossible wasn’t in his nature.

‘The more I see him, the stranger he becomes.’

Lil thought.

…Where had this human come from?

He was unlike any mortal she had ever seen.

No matter how fearless you were, you didn’t normally choose the path that reeked of death.

Yet Park Chanwoo kept choosing paths that were likely to lead to death.

As if he had already died once.

He didn’t fear death itself.

‘If that is your choice, then as a teacher, I must help you with everything I have.’

Teacher.

At first, she hadn’t thought much of it.

It was only that she wanted to teach him once.

But in this short time, Park Chanwoo had changed her mind.

Someone who wished to walk the same path as her.

…She truly wanted to teach him.

With this talent and this transcendent will toward magic, he might actually reach “the end.”

It was a pity there wasn’t much time left.

But that only meant she had more reason to pour everything into it.

―Sit in front of me.

Park Chanwoo sat before her.

The moment he did, Lil’s hands touched his back.

‘Hmm…?’

Mana didn’t empty immediately.

Instead, Lil’s mana flowed in slowly and began to embrace Park Chanwoo’s mana.

‘Mana massage?’

She performed a mana massage—strengthening connections and neatly organizing scattered mana.

But flowing your mana into someone else’s body and moving it within them was extremely dangerous.

Mana existed as part of the body itself.

You could lose all the mana you sent out.

And if something went wrong, you could even die.

Even a skilled magician with mana like a great sea would only do this for a direct disciple—often before death.

…But—

[‘Transcender Lil’s mana is flowing in.]

[The connection of mana is strengthened.]

[Mana increases by 1.]

[Mana increases by 1.]

[Mana increases by 1.]

…….

[The mana of the Transcender strengthens the whole body.]

[The title ‘One who has accepted the mana of the Transcender’ has been added.]

[Attack power efficiency according to mana stats increases by 10%.]

[Transcender Lil’s mana wraps around the whole body.]

[A mana transcendence phenomenon occurs!]

Vrrrrrrrr!