Chapter 72
Mana gathered in front of him.
A large circle appeared before Azek.
His whole body began heating up.
The circle was pushing past his current limit.
His heart started pumping faster while his body screamed in sheer pain.
Azek gritted his teeth.
The magic circle completed itself in front of him.
Mana danced in the air, arranging itself into a vertical line…
Then a horizontal one…
Then another crisscross.
It formed a wheel.
And then it began rotating.
The platform picked up speed, gradually accelerating.
They crossed the hilly area and emerged into a flatland filled with monsters.
Azek's eyes turned bloodshot.
The wheel spinning in front of him rotated faster.
His legs went numb.
Veins burst.
Blood dripped down, soaking his shoes.
The wheel began mincing through the horde like a meat grinder.
Layana gripped her sword.
Mana ignited around her as she swung without rest.
Monster flesh and blood splattered wherever they passed.
Her arms threatened to give out every time she lifted the sword.
But she didn't stop.
The embers had died out, yet she persisted.
"Burn through it."
Azek looked ahead and poured every last bit of mana into the circle.
"I will not give up."
Layana's eyes crossed past sanity, revealing a crazed determination.
"I will burn through every last one of you."
She lifted her sword, wrapping it in the last strand of mana — and swung.
Azek conjured every last bit of strength.
The wheel rotated, increasing its speed.
Thud.
A monster's head fell.
Crack. Crack. Splatter.
Monsters were cut into pieces in front of Azek. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere.
Layana's arms burst open, flesh tearing apart.
But she didn't stop swinging.
"AHHHHHHH!"
She let out a wild shout and lunged at the monster charging toward her.
Azek's legs began bleeding everywhere.
Blood now soaked the stone platform.
Layana's eyes became hazy.
A fleeting thought entered her mind.
Maybe this was the last time…
…she would swing this sword.
Suddenly, her thoughts slowed.
No.
The world became slow.
Azek looked forward again, blood draining from his body, consciousness starting to fade.
Haaaa…
A sigh escaped him as his thoughts jumbled.
Layana looked at everything—
Azek bleeding.
Genevieve praying.
Emiline silently crying.
Professor Zain unconscious.
Her own arms, deeply wounded, flesh exposed.
Her heartbeat slowed.
Hmmm…
Azek opened his eyes.
What was I doing again?
His heart raced dangerously fast while blood continued pouring from his legs.
Oh right.
I was trying to get through this area filled with monsters.
What was after it?
Ah…
Solar City.
If we just persisted through this path, they would reach Solar City.
But how much farther?
How much more time do I have left? Layana wondered.
A monster charged at her.
But its movements appeared incredibly slow.
Hmmm…
She tilted her head slightly in confusion.
Why is it so slow?
The world began turning into shades of white and black.
Dizziness assaulted her as she tried to close her eyes.
…
Can we make it through? Azek thought.
We don't have mana stones.
No more crystals.
Layana is wounded.
The rest won't hold out.
Do we give up?
The world had slowed before him.
For some reason, he could clearly see everything happening.
His circle was caving under pressure.
But his body couldn't hold any longer.
Then—
A small flicker of light entered his vision.
Hmmm?
Layana noticed a flicker at the edge of her vision.
It was red.
Azek looked at the light.
It was grey, softly glowing.
He reached toward it.
The light began glowing in Layana's hand.
Mana gathered in her palm.
She blinked.
The monster attacked—
She avoided it with just a tilt of her head.
Mana surged violently into the sword.
She swung.
The blade cut through the monster like tofu.
She smiled.
A bright, childlike smile — like someone praised for doing something good.
She felt lightheaded.
Mana danced around her, following her commands effortlessly.
It was like mana was listening to her.
Azek looked ahead.
The wheel glowed brighter.
It spun faster.
Mana gathered eagerly wherever he directed it, following him like an obedient child.
He smiled in relief.
And began massacring.
A gory scene unfolded before him, but he felt too light to notice the pain.
It was as if his mind erased all complicated thoughts.
Only one remained.
Survive.
They would survive.
That was the only thought.
Unbeknownst to him, light began gathering behind him.
At first slowly.
Then rapidly.
It glowed brighter and brighter.
Genevieve formed a spell with trembling hands.
His desperate prayers drew out every last bit of healing power he possessed.
Please… make it work.
Light gathered in his hands.
At first, mana felt cold and intimidating, but Genevieve desperately tried to control it.
In his last attempt, he gave up on writing sophisticated mana commands.
He simply injected his internal mana outward, trying to gather as much air mana as he could and attempting to form a healing spell.
While pleading.
Please… help me.
Mana was a living thing.
The internal mana he released started interacting with the surrounding mana and pulling it toward itself.
He gathered more and more.
It looked like mana was listening to his desperate pleas and answering them as more and more gathered.
Genevieve's whole body heated up.
His hair stood on end.
Pain shot through his blood into every vein.
A very familiar sensation.
He had felt it for the first time when he was in church.
Whenever he tried to practice higher-level healing, he would always end up losing consciousness due to the sheer amount of pain.
After that, he never went near the church again.
But right now, his comrades needed him.
And he needed to persist through this.
He endured and tried.
A circle started appearing in front of him.
And crumbled.
He gritted his teeth.
The circle started forming again.
And crumbled again.
Blood rushed through his body, and it felt as if needles stabbed him everywhere, numbing him.
His breathing became difficult.
Haaaa…
Haaaa…
Haaaa…
He knew that he was a coward.
But he needed the courage to persist through this if he wanted anything.
Suddenly, blood entered the periphery of his vision.
Azek was bleeding dangerously.
From the other side, blood splattered onto his face.
He looked in Layana's direction.
Her arms had torn open at some point.
But she was still swinging her sword.
His eyes became hazy.
"Hahahahahaha…"
He let out a laugh.
"Hahahahhahah…"
Tears started streaming down his face.
He let go of his mana core.
He used to suppress pain and spells by blocking the mana flow of his core.
And for the first time in his life…
He let go.
Boom.
Boom.
His heartbeat started slowing.
While his body twitched and convulsed uncontrollably.
Pain coursed through his vessels, jolting him with shockwaves.
He bit his lips.
He didn't scream.
His core started releasing mana.
His pathways, which weren't used to it, tore open.
He felt excruciating pain radiating into his bones.
His body threatened to give up.
He bent forward and hunched over on his knees.
The mana circle started forming again in front of him.
Much bigger.
Much brighter.