Chapter 310

Chapter 310. Spoils of War (2)

Fortunately, there was still hope for those left in the Biharin.

When the second wave of the legion was confirmed, the radicals discovered that hope like a miracle.

They established a magical mana array far sturdier and more lasting than the magic tools using spirit stones or barriers established with spatial mana.

It was a triumph discovered by mages they had secretly taken and treated like slaves.

The fact that this hope required the life force of Demi-humans as a sacrifice in black magic posed no significant problem for the radicals.

Since the outsider had left, they had to secure land to ensure their survival somehow.

There was no room to be selective about means or methods in that process.

‘There’s no need to worry about sacrifices to fill the life force either.’

They just needed to spread hallucinogens and aphrodisiacs among the poor to produce the blood sacrifices.

Despite doing the same thing as the monsters that created farms to gain attribute mana, the radicals defined their actions differently.

– This is a noble sacrifice to preserve the lineage of the Demi-humans.

Those who believed in this sophistry acted unitedly with one mind.

While the moderates were busy evacuating the citizens, they steadily prepared to set up the magic circle.

In the plan led by Shelver Vilkzion, Haley had a straightforward role.

To build a barrier to protect the territory necessary for the Demi-humans’ welfare until the magic circle was completed.

To accomplish this task, Haley worked harder than anyone to persuade the priests of Temoria.

Most of the priests she approached accepted the persuasion.

They were already exhausted from maintaining the barrier, wearing themselves out over several days to weeks under the banner of being hope to the Demi-humans.

Thanks to this, they were able to protect all the territory the radicals and the imperial family selected with deliberation using a new barrier.

However, the installation of the magic circle to establish the barrier took longer than expected.

Originally, the moderates and citizens abandoned outside the barrier would have created a distraction.

But because of the outsiders who suddenly returned, all plans were disrupted.

The outer perimeter was already under attack.

When the barrier was damaged, it was only natural that the burdens on the priests maintaining it would increase.

They would tire out much faster than initially anticipated.

Of course, resources were needed to offer new offerings and replace priests.

The authority of the gods could not be used for free.

For that reason, the leaders of the radicals recalculated the amount of sacrifice required.

They needed to buy time until the magic circle installation was completed.

‘I have no choice. I must join them.’

Even though using divinity left her utterly exhausted like a wet cotton ball.

Sacrificing for lifelong safety was unavoidable.

At the moment Haley resolved herself and left her private prayer room.

“.. Hmm?”

The authority of Temoria, felt more clearly by Haley as an apostle, wavered.

Could the priests have reached their limit already?

Haley hurried her steps.

While she moved, the authority of Temoria wavered again.

By the time Haley stepped outside the temple.

“What is this……?”

From the west, Temoria’s authority was disappearing.

Clearly, something had happened to the priests of Temoria responsible for that barrier.

Haley stared blankly towards the west.

“No……”

Imagining what was about to unfold drained the strength from her legs with fright.

With a thud, she collapsed to the floor.

The tragedy starting from the west began approaching her swiftly, threatening to envelop her.

* * *

After running along the sky path for an entire day,

I discovered a couple more places where the priests of Temoria had settled and were guarding the barrier, and I dealt with them too.

As a result, the barrier collapsed significantly once more.

Monsters that took advantage of the breach would undoubtedly be wreaking havoc in various places.

Leaving that tragedy behind, I arrived in the Kmotl region, located in the southern part of the Atar Empire.

At this present time, it’s the only spirit stone mine the Demi-humans could use.

This place is famously protected by not only an array of magic circles but also troops supported by the imperial family.

It meant a formidable level of surveillance, similar to the Dwarf village.

‘And rightly so.’

Think of spirit stones as having a value similar to oil on Earth.

They are the basic material needed for creating various magic circles and magic tools.

So, when Biharin was relatively intact, it wasn’t a place one could easily approach.

But now the story is different.

‘It’s empty.’

According to the covert information I received from a noble who was the owner of this spirit stone mine, their numbers should have been twice what they are.

Most were knights loyal to the imperial family known to be quite authorityful among humans.

But currently, the number of mana signals caught by my detection magic wasn’t substantial.

‘They must have gone to offer assistance somewhere.’

With the barriers breached by the monsters, there would have been requests for help from various places.

‘Let’s get in and out quietly.’

There wasn’t any need for combat when it would only draw the mine’s protective forces to swoop in.

I planned to postpone any confrontation until after I had completed my task in the mine.

Draped with Giolan’s cloak, I descended vertically and stealthily.

Landing silently and proceeding unnoticed for several minutes,

I entered deep underground through the entrance guarded by knights.

Avoiding the complex magic circles set up at the entrance and inside the mine was not difficult.

In my hand was the owner’s mark allowing me free access to this place.

‘I acquired it in exchange for informing them about the evacuation plan.’

The sole individual I informed about the refugee plan was the noble who owned this mine.

While he was quite vain and proud, he certainly wasn’t foolish.

– Replacing the owner’s access pass requires altering the entire magic circle. It involves an immense amount of manauthority and resources.

– The emperor isn’t the kind of person to spend such amounts just to replace passes for a mine whose owner has disappeared, so don’t worry.

And thus, I agreed with his logic.

As a result, that noble set his residence ablaze, faking his disappearance as an attack by marauders.

‘After confirming through Agnotia’s priests that I wasn’t lying, he bribed Palao’s priests to testify that his mansion was indeed attacked by marauders.’

Thanks to this, he was safely in Kimol during the refugee operation and successfully escaped to Earth.

I even checked the refugee lists and sent personal relief items.

‘This turned out well. I might as well seek his advice regarding mining operations.’

As steps advanced and thoughts organized, after descending to a fairly deep underground, I felt the distinctive tingling mana at my feet.

‘Indicative of declining deposits.’

Over the past ten years, the Biharin could only procure spirit stones from here.

Unlike the mine connected to the Philippines, mining had continued steadily, so it was only natural for deposits to decrease.

However, “scarce” is a term relevant for collectives.

For an individual using spirit stones,

‘Frankly, it’s abundant.’

I quickened my pace slightly.

Fortunately, I arrived at a time when there was no mining activity due to the lateness of the night.

This allowed me to witness a truly splendid sight.

‘…… It’s like the Milky Way.’

Stones embedded throughout the mine refracted in rainbow hues, emitting light on their own.

Even I, worn down from the journey here, was momentarily entranced.

Though the admiration was very brief.

I had not forgotten my mission.

Once I resumed my halted steps, I ventured into the deep part of the mine where sparkling spirit stones abound.

And when all around me – front, back, top, and below – was filled with the characteristic mana of spirit stones, my hand touched the wall.

「Attribute Stone (???)」

A stone with an immense amount of attribute mana.

Though referring to them as spirit stones had grown on me.

The item description window before my eyes felt quite familiar as well.

I had consistently bought spirit stones auctioned by Bronze rank players and absorbed them.

Thus, I had no hesitation injecting mana into this spirit stone now in my possession.

「Using Attribute Stone (???).」

「Assessing the most suitable attribute for the user.」

「User already possesses a suitable attribute.」

「Attribute mana ??????? is being absorbed.」

The surging mana promptly uplifted me.

I felt omnipotent, as if I could achieve anything I desired instantly.

Simultaneously, it was terrifying, akin to standing naked before a vast tidal wave.

However, as mana accumulated in my body grew, that intricate sensation became an unmistakable pleasure.

It was an exhilarating delight that felt almost addictive.

Each cell, each mana circuit rejuvenated anew.

At the end of that delight which persisted quite a while, the core, where all my mana lay dormant, started heating up.

Soon after, the message window updated.

「You hav reached the limit the body can tolerate.」

「To ensure the player’s safety, further mana absorption is blocked.」

In a somewhat dazed state, I exhaled a deep, languid breath.

The lingering euphoria from the pleasure that melted my brain was intense.

I had experienced a similar sensation once in the past.

When I first faced the general-rank.

By unleashing Flame Strike, absorbing a massive amount of mana at once brought about a similar sensation.

However, the current pleasure was even more intense than back then.

The type of mana and its scale were different.

I reveled in the attribute mana, now pulsating vigorously and filling my core for quite some time.

After a bit more time passed.

I finally gathered my wits and opened my status window.

Player Kang Hyunwoo (Beta Tester) – Platinum rank

Codename: K

Mana: 39,992,989,886.06 (Attribute Mana: 10,000,000)

Chaos Index: 0%

Affiliation: Earth, order of Palao

Race: Human (Player)

Rank: Alpha

Attribute: Lightning (★★★★★)

…….

The numbers I hadn’t seen in a while looked completely transformed.

‘Nearly 40 billion total mana.’

Of which, 10 million was attribute mana.

At the inception of this game, achieving such numbers was unimaginable.

Yet presently, they appeared proudly on my status window.

With a contented sense of fullness, I exhaled a long breath.

I also took in the neat figure of the attribute mana.

‘1% of the standard for advancing to Platinum rank……’

According to the principles of magical studies, it was an amount far beyond what an ordinary life form could possess.

It appeared that the ordinary mana, overwhelmingly abundant compared to the attribute mana, was supporting the body, preventing the mana from dispersing.

‘If so, could advancing beyond Platinum rank allow for absorbing more attribute mana?’

The ultimate level a player could attain in the game guide is Platinum rank.

Yet, I was veering off the standard growth trajectory by accumulating status.

I personally speculated that reaching beyond the Platinum rank phase would allow hunting gods like Agnotia.

‘Still quite far away though.’

Both the status and mana needed substantial accumulation beyond what they were now.

“Phew.”

I habitually took a deep breath, once again taking in the figure of attribute mana.

Unintentionally, an excited voice escaped me.

“Ha, ten million, ten million.”

Although it was a bit disappointing that only a small portion of spirit stones remained in the mine, hence reaching an end here.

Objectively speaking, the results were satisfying.

‘I could unleash Flame Strike a hundred times consecutively.’

It was an amount sufficient to disregard mana allocation concerns.

‘With this, I might be able to cast Flame Strike over the entire area of Seoul and Gyeonggi Province simultaneously.’

Such was the enormous amount.

Now, tallying mana before entering combat no longer concerned me.

The more I affirmed that fact, the more elevated I felt.

However, there was no abiding long in that satisfactory admiration.

– Kyahhh!

From a far, distant place, a familiar cry echoed.

Damned System