Chapter 197: Regis’s Return

"I don’t have much mana left from the earlier battles, but I hope this will help."

Eldrin sat on the ground with both hands supporting him, exhaustion apparent on his face.

The magic spell only lasted for twenty seconds, yet it felt like years had been taken off his life.

’Every time I use this, I’m reminded of why other mages hated it...’

Meanwhile, Regis sat up straight with a look of wonder, "Amazing, it feels like my mana has fully recovered!"

"That’s just an illusion caused by the magic spell. I had less than half of my mana to begin with, and the cleansing process decreased it even more."

"Is that so? Still, I think this much is fine. Can you continue what you were saying earlier?"

Regis urged the old mage, worry gripping his heart at the thought of Marzak harming his friends.

Knowing the situation they were in, Eldrin did not waste any more time.

"What I’m essentially saying is that for humans to use mana as fuel for aura arts like elves, they would need a lot of preparation, even if the problem regarding the contamination of mana isn’t present."

"But what if I used the vessels of aura to circulate my mana?"

"Are you insane?! You’ll die!!"

"Please just answer my question."

Seeing the desperation on the child before him, Eldrin sighed, "Do you know the highest Star Realm one can achieve?"

"What does that have to do wi—" Regis felt that they were straying from the topic.

"Just answer me."

"Seven. The highest realm a mortal can achieve is the Seven Star Realm."

"Yes, a mortal who reached that level will be so powerful that one will be called a demigod."

Before Regis could complain, Eldrin spoke, "Do you know what the next realm is after that?"

"What..." Such a question was something he did not expect to encounter, "...no."

"For a mortal to ascend to godhood, they would need to complete a hellish, yet straightforward process..."

"...it’s nothing but the alignment of stars within their chests, weaving together to form a constellation in their very being."

The things Regis was hearing right now overwhelmed him, "What..."

Seeing his stupefied expression, Eldrin chuckled, "I won’t make this long; we’ve wasted too much time."

"Since you want to use the vessels used by aura to circulate mana, you would need to mimic the ascension method I told you about earlier."

"Though, of course, just connecting stars of the same energy source was already difficult, so I’m not sure what will happen to your body."

Just as he was speaking, Eldrin saw something that made him widen his eyes in shock.

On Regis’s chest, Two Aura Stars and Four Mana Stars shone.

One could see that the former were dimmer than the latter, a testament to his currently lacking aura.

However, something else caught the old mage’s attention.

It was none other than the fact that a mana thread seemed to forcefully connect the six stars on Regis’s chest.

"Impossible..." Eldrin muttered, feeling goosebumps all over his body.

This reaction was not only because of what he was seeing, but the mana fluctuations around them.

He could feel the very space itself quaking, as if welcoming the presence of a higher being.

"This..." Eldrin’s whole body trembled, bringing back some unpleasant memories in his mind.

He had experienced these exact phenomena in the past.

It was the very reason why he lost all motivation in pursuing the path of mana.

"This is just like... back then... when..."

When he had witnessed the descent of a god.

"No..." It took Eldrin all his strength to calm himself down.

"Although it has some resemblance, it’s a much milder phenomenon."

As a mage with years of experience, regaining his calm had become his forte.

At this moment, Regis spoke, clearly suppressing the pain he was bearing, "H-Hurry, I’ll try completing it on the go..."

He was forcefully trying to connect the stars with a mana thread, but the repulsion, pressure, and pain he was feeling were too overwhelming.

Fortunately, his Perfect Adaptation helped him with the process.

In this instance, the mana threads were just a centimeter away from each of the stars.

Just the mere action of extending mana from his stars was already overwhelming for him.

’Strange... It’s like I’m continuously adapting to the pressure while it’s continuously becoming more intense.’

It was Regis’s first time experiencing this feeling, making his face contort.

"Don’t worry, I’ve left myself just enough mana to teleport us back. Hang in there!"

Eldrin hurriedly stood up as two complex magic circles immediately manifested with a wave of his staff.

[Master Rank Magic: Teleporto Massam]

***

Back in the temporary infirmary...

"Is this all you’ve got?" Marzak had an unamused expression on his face.

"Fuck, did Boss really fight this fucker the whole time!?"

Colorful words came out of Killian’s mouth as he gripped his lightning sword with his remaining hand.

"Fucking bastard."

Larkson blew a puff of air upward, pushing his bangs out of his eyes as he cursed.

Meanwhile, Pandora did not speak—no, it was that she could not speak.

Hearing their words, Marzak uncontrollably chuckled, "Haha... HAHAHAHAHA"

His laugh lasted for a few seconds before a serious expression appeared on his face.

"You scums really have a knack for annoying me, huh!?"

At that moment, Aurelia was the only one who appeared uninjured.

She worriedly looked at the others as tears continuously streamed down her face, "P-Please... s-stop... Don’t anger him anymore..."

"J-Just take me... I c-can’t do this anymore..."

She stepped in front of Marzak, who merely looked at her with scorn, "I would have accepted that proposal earlier, had your friends not angered me."

"Unfortunately, it’s too late now. I’ll only be satisfied once I see them begging for their lives."

"No!" Aurelia tried to push him away, only for Marzak to send her flying away with a punch.

He looked at his fist before glancing at her, "Why isn’t she taking any damage? Strange... His Excellency never mentioned anything about this kind of ability from the curse."

"Well, it’s not like she can cause me any harm."

Marzak muttered before smiling towards the three figures who stood before him.

"I didn’t expect humans to have this much grit. To be honest, I admire you."

At this moment, each of them was already bearing life-threatening injuries, with their only remaining hope resting on Regis’s return.

The last minute was the longest moment of their lives.

Killian clenched his teeth in pain.

His left arm had been brutally torn from his shoulder, and one of his eyes gouged out, yet his glare remained fierce.

Larkson stood without hands, the raw, exposed bones of his elbows jutting out, but still, he stood unyielding, a silent testament to his endurance.

Pandora’s expression was eerily calm, despite both of her eyes being gouged out.

Blood continued to spill from her mouth, a cruel result of her torn tongue, but there was no sign of weakness in her gaze.

Seeing their composed expressions as if they would not be satisfied until they ground him to death, a serious expression appeared on Marzak’s face.

"You know, there was once a human warrior, I think it’s about a hundred years ago, who kept ranting about their human spirit being unyielding and indomitable. I used to treat it as a feeble attempt at grandeur— like a desperate attempt to exaggerate their achievements."

"It was fun tearing him in half, but..." He looked at their eyes, which were filled with perseverance and continued, "...it looks like what that idiot said had some truth in it."

Marzak then grinned, "Are you ready to die?"

"No." Larkson smiled as he replied.

The demonic worshipper raised his brow, "It’s not like you have any choice."

"Yes, but thanks to your yapping... a minute has passed." Killian smirked as well, as he inevitably fell to his knees.

’It hurts...’ He dared not say it out loud as he glanced at Pandora, who had also slumped on the ground.

Seeing the three already fallen, Marzak scoffed, a cruel smile tugging at his lips.

"And here I was, foolishly complimenting you. Unbelievable! Do you truly believe that friend of yours will return?!"

He let out a mocking laugh, his voice dripping with scorn.

"Wake up! He must have fled with that old fool of a mage, who only knew how to bark and do nothing else!"

At this moment, he felt a presence behind him, followed by an old voice.

"That’s quite rude. Don’t you have any respect for the elderly?"

Marzak paused for a moment before sneering, "Haha, do you want to die that badly? So much that you returned here on your ow—"

But before he could finish, he was cut off by a chant.

[Lux Aeterna]

Then, to everyone’s shock, Marzak’s figure was cleaved across his body.

His limbs and torso fell one after another, the expression on his face frozen in the same mocking sneer he wore when speaking.