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Booong――.

Chaling! Chaling! Chaling!

A curtain of light drapes over the surroundings in an instant. A translucent veil adorned with colorful geometric patterns begins to emit light.

Karl’s face turned pale as he muttered.

“The barrier… it’s regenerated!?”

He had just understood why the barrier had deactivated moments ago. It seemed the red mist before him was a type of monster that devoured spells.

Though he wasn’t a spellcaster and couldn’t fully grasp it, he could easily infer from its reaction that the red mist was an extremely threatening existence for spellcasters.

But that wasn’t the end.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Sssssssss…….

Crash! Tskakakakak!

Whoooosh――.

―――……!

Countless spell formations unfolded around the Spell Eater, encircling it from all directions. The formations, imbued with various colors of light, began to release the spells they held without delay.

Earth, water, fire, wind, ether, and the countless phenomena that arise from their combinations. A dazzling array of spells swirled around the Spell Eater, flying towards the red mist. Seeing this, Karl frowned in disbelief and said,

“What on earth are they doing? Spellcasters facing a spell-eating monster, what are they trying to achieve?”

From Karl’s perspective, who had just seen Maria struggle against the Spell Eater moments ago, the current barrage of spells seemed like a pointless endeavor.

However, shortly after, he realized that this spell barrage wasn’t entirely meaningless.

{―――――!!!}

The Spell Eater, seemingly delighted, spread its body made of red mist wide and began devouring the incoming spells. As a result, the red mist gradually concentrated in one place to focus on the swirling spells, allowing those who had been struggling against the widespread mist to finally catch their breath.

“Dammit… my family heirloom has turned into scrap metal!”

One of the warriors sighed as he looked at the sword in his hand. The once-mystical family sword, which had deepened in mystery over the years, had now lost its luster and become a mere lump of metal.

This wasn’t an isolated incident. Similar sighs could be heard from warriors catching their breath all around.

But what Karl noticed first was Maria, who had been struggling to hide the wisp just moments ago.

“Little lady, how’s your body? Your condition… well, I guess I don’t need to ask.”

Seeing Maria, drenched in sweat and shrugging her shoulders as she tried to catch her breath, Karl shook his head.

Since contracting with the wisp, Maria had honed her skills in controlling her breathing to manage the wisp. Naturally, the method she used to seal the wisp within her was to reverse her breathing rhythm.

She had to flip the breathing technique used to exert power into one that restrained power, and reverse the breathing used to circulate the wisp’s energy throughout her body into one that concealed it. She did all this in real-time.

This was undoubtedly a remarkable feat that showcased Maria’s genius, but it didn’t lessen the burden she had to bear.

Breathing is something that, like building a habit, takes time and effort to develop naturally. To suddenly switch to a different breathing pattern while also controlling the pressure exerted on her lower dantian and meridians by the sealed wisp was no small feat. It required immense physical and mental strength.

So, in the midst of all this, Maria’s condition, having even used her martial arts to resist the red mist, was almost completely depleted. Her body, drenched in sweat and steaming with heat, was a pitiful sight.

Maria, pitifully focused on regulating her breathing. Yet, it seemed her accumulated efforts weren’t in vain. Shortly after, she regained her breath, her complexion returned to normal, and she suddenly spoke.

“We need to attack it right now.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Karl was taken aback. Just moments ago, Maria had been struggling to hide the wisp from the red mist. There was no doubt that her mental and physical strength had been pushed to the limit. Although her innate talent allowed her to recover her breathing quickly, her actual condition wasn’t as intact as it appeared.

For such a child to suddenly advocate for an aggressive attack? It was no wonder Karl thought she was being reckless.

“Little lady, you’ve just pushed yourself too hard. You should take some time to recover…”

But Maria, ignoring Karl’s words, gently moved her body to check her condition. Karl knew this was a special training method and movement-meditation technique passed down to her by her master.

Maria seemed to awaken her body’s vitality through this light movement-meditation, releasing the damage accumulated in her muscles and meridians. She then stepped forward and spoke to Karl again.

“We need to move the troops now. If we do as I think, we can destroy it without much loss.”

“No, that’s…”

Karl, about to retort, suddenly swallowed his words when he saw Maria’s eyes. Surprisingly, there was no urgency or despair in her eyes as she insisted on attacking the Spell Eater immediately. Instead, her eyes shone with a sparkling brilliance and an unfathomable depth.

“Well, alright. If that’s what our little lady wants, let’s give it a try.”

In the end, Karl had no choice but to nod in agreement. In fact, he also thought that if they were going to act, now was the time.

Thanks to the sudden reactivation of the barrier and the dazzling spell barrage that drew the Spell Eater’s attention, they had a rare opportunity. Although Karl couldn’t help but think that the spellcasters had their own reasons for doing what they did, relying solely on that and waiting blindly was too risky.

If you don’t seize the opportunity when it arises, you’ll often end up regretting it deeply. This was a lesson that became more ingrained in Karl’s bones the more experience he gained as a swordsman.

Once Karl and Maria made their decision, the reaction from the commander of the following troops wasn’t bad either.

“Good. In such a dire situation where it’s hard to know what to do, the answer is to try something, no matter what. Let’s do it.”

‘The descendants of Vikings never hesitate in the face of the unknown, nor do they kneel before despair!’ The 50-man captain laughed heartily, showing his agreement with Maria and Karl’s decision. Karl placed his right fist over his left chest and bowed his head in respect.

Finally, the formation began to move. The command followed the 50-man captain’s orders, but the path was guided by Maria and Karl.

As the formation advanced under Maria’s guidance, following the ‘March Formation,’ it gradually gained strength. At some point, each member of the formation began to notice something strange happening.

‘What is this sensation?’

The soldiers, following the 50-man captain’s orders without stopping, couldn’t hide their inner doubts. They tilted their heads in confusion at the unfamiliar sensation, but when the captain’s orders came again, they focused on matching their steps.

Of course, if there were any warriors among them who had reached a high level in sword or qi arts, they would have been astonished. The sensation they were feeling was a glimpse of the transcendent realm they had only imagined.

The qi arts of a Wu Xin Dong master and the sword arts of a Heart Sword master intertwined, and soon the March Formation began to regain its strength. Each member of the formation started to share their sensations, sword arts, and qi arts as if they were one body.

Karl, who had experienced communication through spells before, was surprised by this similar yet different experience.

‘So, this is the world you saw?’

Pulling his consciousness from his body, bound by the five senses, he unfolded his sword arts through his consciousness. He drew out the thoughts embedded in his consciousness and honed them into a blade.

This was the essence of the Heart Sword. This honed blade of the mind became a living proof of the idealistic worldview, capable of prying open the gaps in phenomena and natural laws to inscribe one’s will within. Thus, the Heart Sword, by breaking the strictness of technique, transcends the limits of technique to become a martial art beyond form.

However, Maria’s Wu Xin Dong was different.

Ordinary techniques are obscured by the illusions of the body and consciousness, preventing the completion of their true form. Only by emptying the mind and body repeatedly, reaching true emptiness, can one cut through all things and phenomena without hindrance.

The illusions of the body based on the five senses and the illusions of the mind based on consciousness are all cast aside. The Wu Xin Dong’s essence, which allows one to achieve a formless form and effortless action, was the polar opposite of the Heart Sword’s idealistic foundation.

So, logically, a master of the Heart Sword and a master of Wu Xin Dong should never have the chance to experience each other’s worlds. Affirming the other’s enlightenment would be akin to denying their own accumulated theories.

Even if Karl had vaguely grasped the realm of Wu Xin Dong, it would have been a lifelong challenge to truly make it his own. There was a vast chasm between the Heart Sword and Wu Xin Dong.

Yet, this impossible event was happening right now.

At this moment, the members of the March Formation, advancing under the guidance of Maria and Karl, were all sharing the sensations of the Wu Xin Dong master’s qi arts and the Heart Sword master’s sword arts.

Although each individual’s level was far from reaching the heights Maria and Karl had achieved, their collective energy and will, united through the March Formation, began to react appropriately based on a shared perception.

Moreover, the ecstasy Maria and Karl felt was extraordinary.

If the transcendence of a martial artist is to delve deeply into one of the three elements—mind, qi, and body—and surpass the limits of the other two, then its completion must ultimately be freedom from all three.

It’s rare for a martial artist who takes their path seriously not to dream of perfecting their art. Faced with a clue to that path, it’s incredibly difficult for the soul not to be drawn in.

‘Ugh, my head feels like it’s going to explode!’

‘Ugh, my focus is slipping…!’

The endlessly branching streams of inspiration were so violent and captivating that one wrong move could sweep away their consciousness. Maria and Karl, captivated by the explosive flood of inspiration, had to cut off excess consciousness with all their might to focus solely on realizing their strategy.

As the formation moved forward, a significant change began to occur in the overall troop deployment within the barrier.

+++++

“The formation… it’s revived?”

It happened while Conra was designing and supplying spells according to the battle plan. Brantley, who had been monitoring the situation inside the barrier to respond to any anomalies, suddenly faced an unexpected situation and turned pale.

The formation, which he thought would dissolve without issue, had begun to revive.

But unlike Brantley, who was stunned by the unexpected turn of events, Conra nodded calmly as if he had expected it.

“Well done. I knew my junior sister would pull it off.”

“Are you saying that Maria is the one who revived the formation?”

In response to Brantley’s question, Conra nodded matter-of-factly. Brantley, still unconvinced, asked again.

“Did your junior sister have any knowledge of formations?”

“Of course not. Since being taken in by the master, she’s been devoted to martial arts. She only learned the basics of Qi Men Dun Jia.”

Conra’s words only deepened Brantley’s confusion.

“Then how did she revive the formation? Formations aren’t something you can just tinker with and activate properly without knowledge. At least, not as far as I know.”

“Hmm, ‘revived’ might not be the right word. In this case, it’s more like… she created a new formation on the spot.”

There’s a term called the snowball effect. A small initial change can lead to a chain of cause and effect that results in a significant outcome, enough to turn the tide.

The change in the formation’s flow within the barrier was exactly like that. What started as the movement of a single formation influenced the movements of other formations it encountered, creating a chain reaction that eventually formed an overall flow.

“That’s possible? Well, theoretically, it’s not impossible, but…”

Brantley couldn’t hide his astonishment at Conra’s explanation. Conra added one more thing.

“Did you forget? Maria is a master of Wu Xin Dong. And Karl, who’s with her, is a master of the Heart Sword.”

The perception abilities of masters who have nearly reached perfection in form, harmonizing with natural laws, and those who wield the power of the Heart Sword to defy natural laws, are on a completely different level from ordinary people. Their ability to perceive, even if their methods differ, can find patterns akin to works of art amidst chaotic clutter.

The current result was only possible because of these two individuals, Conra concluded.

“Well, I’m not a martial artist, so I don’t fully understand, but if you say so, it must be true. Still, isn’t that an absurdly difficult task? There can’t be any errors in human actions, so how was that part resolved?”

“Of course, in such a movement relying on chance, it’s impossible to have a perfectly smooth situation without any deviations. There will inevitably be moments where the flow doesn’t align. But…”

But, in reality, such minor deviations don’t pose a significant problem in reviving a dead formation flow, Conra explained.

“As you know, Lord Somz, in the grand flow of nature, such minor misalignments are just everyday occurrences.”

“Indeed, that’s true. Nature has no central authority managing variables.”

“Exactly. Yet, despite all the minor misalignments, nature continues its majestic flow without faltering. There may be small changes along the way, but the fundamental flow rarely collapses.”

Perhaps because he was a druid who lived close to nature, Conra’s explanation exuded the aura of a forest sage.

“In short, the difference lies in whether you’ve grasped the flow’s essence or slipped past it.”

“You’ve understood it well, Lord Somz.”

Just as swordsmen, even if they’ve learned the same techniques from the same school, will have their victory or defeat determined by whether they’ve grasped the essence or not when they cross blades. And just as spellcasters must control the spell waves to cast spells, but if they fail to grasp the proper formula, the spell won’t activate properly.

Conra nodded, concluding his explanation.

Brantley, with his own exceptional talent and insight, could understand Conra’s meaning without needing such detailed analogies.

‘But easier said than done. To calculate the influence on the entire military force spread across the vast port area, not just a small group in a limited area? My senior brothers are all monsters.’

Understanding and accepting the possibility was one thing, but actually realizing it was another. Thinking this, Brantley clicked his tongue at the sight of the boy at the center of the spellcasters, managing the coordination and control of countless spells.

 

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