Grand Duke of the Heibern House

＜Episode 8＞

As the crimson sunset faded, night came.

Countless stars began to emit their own light in the twilight.

It had already been 15 days since Ruin looked up at the sky from the corner of the training ground.

Gyrobel did not know what Ruin’s actions meant.

Considering the pattern of his behavior so far, he wasn’t the type to waste time.

So I can’t help but be more curious.

-What are you looking at?

Ruin laughed at Gyrobel’s question, which was overheated.

“You’ve been patient for quite some time. Marzol.”

sh*t! damn it!

Feeling lost for some reason, Gyrobel felt like going back to before asking the question.

“why? Don’t like your new nickname? At least it was upgraded from a demon to a demon.”

-… … .

A guy who never gets bored.

Dealing with a human who knew all about his future was annoying.

Since the information we possess is asymmetric, we have no choice but to be dragged around every time.

Especially that f*cking way of speaking, as if looking down on yourself from afar.

Gyrobell felt as if he was about to die from the heat of the fire.

Ruin withdrew his gaze from the sky and sat casually on the training ground floor.

“I was observing.”

-… … What do you mean?

As if collecting the foam of the pouring starlight, Ruin gently stretched out his hand toward the air.

“Mana.”

Gyrobel was dumbfounded.

If everything he said was true, he was a human who had lived as a warlock for over a hundred years.

By human standards, that’s a huge amount of time.

A guy like that was only looking at the sky to feel mana?

-Why? Isn’t feeling mana a kind of catering for you?

Louin nodded with a serious expression.

“I guess so. As you said, it is possible to accept, interpret, process, and manifest power right now.”

It was said simply, but that is the standard of magic circuits that magicians aim for.

When a complicated scheme is added to it and the caster’s intense flame creates synergy with the spirit.

At last, mana is pulsated and replaced with various powers, and this entire process is called a magic technique.

– Then what observation do you need? It’s enough if you accept it now.

Ruin couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at Gyrobel’s words.

There is no way that an ignorant drunkard could understand his troubles.

It was a simple thing from his point of view with an almost infinite lifespan, but it was never for him as a human being.

“I am not sure.”

-assurance? What are you sure about?

“I need the confidence that I can become stronger than in the past. But I can’t see it.”

-hmm… … .

Gyrobel finally began to understand Ruin’s worries.

From his point of view, which has an infinite lifespan, strength is a natural result that will come in the future.

On the other hand, since Ruin is a mortal, he has no choice but to consider the efficiency of time.

Ruin moved his gaze toward the air again and opened his mouth as if he were chanting.

“Excluding the intense demonic energy contained in the true mana, the nature of the power itself is extremely simple. It’s too monotonous.”

In fact, Ruin had never seriously considered mana, or magic power.

Due to the nature of the black magician, mana is the power that can be supplied infinitely from the contracted party if one desires it in his heart.

It was all that was expressed by substituting the intense magic power flowing through the Ord into a magic formula.

Therefore, what Ruin has been clinging to all his life is understanding the magic formula itself.

It was a daunting task for a mortal to understand and accept the magic formulas accumulated over ten thousand years.

As such, true magic is a power that is rightly guaranteed to black magicians.

However, Ruin did not have a fundamental belief in mana when he tried to pursue the path of white magic.

It was fatal for a wizard not to believe in mana, the source of magic.

– It is natural that mana in the human world looks monotonous compared to true magic. Preserved in its most natural form, it is truly the prototype of mana. Of course I have to be a little more pure.

Gyrobel’s view of mana in the human world was enough to make Ruin perplexed.

He was the one who was so passionate about the purity and absoluteness of true magical power.

It’s absurd that someone like that suddenly says that mana in the human world is purer.

“It’s ridiculous. The purity of the true magical power was like a religion inscribed in your soul. A guy like that now talks about the purity of mana?”

-You ugly bastard. They are different and pure.

Luin’s expression became more absurd.

Pure (純粹).

A unique property that does not mix with anything else.

No matter how much I thought about it, the phrase ‘different purity’ was not a meaning that could be established.

said Luin.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

– Rather, I will ask. what is mana?

In an instant, Ruin’s eyes sank like an abyss.

To mention even a rudimentary theory of mana to a great mage who reigned over superhumans.

“Nature’s indulgences. The sum of the great elements encompassing all things in the universe. The most original spirit that has existed since ancient times.”

The long history of magic, the wise men’s interpretation of mana was not divided.

One perfect orthodoxy already.

-hahahaha! You are human too! A mortal’s foolish gaze!

Gyrobel finally has the distance to defeat Ruin.

“It’s a habit again. No bravado, just tell me the point.”

Gyrobel, who had always let out a sullen laugh, spoke triumphantly as if teaching.

– Well then, explain. If mana is nature’s concentrated drink, why is there more abundant magical power in the demon world, which is barren in all respects than in the human world?

Ruin immediately frowned while trying to protest.

I heard and saw it.

In the meantime, I thought it was just a characteristic of another dimension called the demon realm.

However, the nature of the Demon Realm is literally desolation itself.

In such a barren place, it was a phenomenon that could not be established in theory that the concentrated mana called true magic spread infinitely.

“Why… … ?”

Ruin’s question full of passion for exploration as a wizard, deep desire.

-The Elf race likes the forest. This is because the abundant mana flowing from the forest fills them up.

What kind of nonsensical explanation is this all of a sudden?

“I told you not to be bluffing.”

– Impatient guy. Alright, then I’ll ask. Do you think forests generate mana? Or do you think mana gathers in the forest?

Gyrobel’s extremely simple words.

However, it was an interpretation from a new perspective that Ruin had never had before.

“What do you mean? What do you mean?”

-Yes. Mana is not something that is generated or circulated by nature in the universe. Mana is a god’s prank and guest device designed from the beginning when the dimension was born. Therefore, the absolute amount of mana belonging to that dimension is always unchanging.

thud!

My heart sank.

The absolute amount of mana belonging to the dimension has already been determined!

That mana is not part of the power given by the gods since the beginning of time, not a drink from the cosmic nature?

Isn’t it the power that the pure elements circulate without rest?

-Why do you think mana gathers in the forest? Among the things that the god of the beginning created himself, the thing he was most satisfied with was life. This is because it is the attribute of the first god who cherishes and is willing to live. Mana has the attributes of a god.

-human… … Do you think you guys didn’t know? joy! It is not accepted philosophically, but humans are fully aware of it. Why do human wizards wear mana rings through their hearts?

“vitality… … .”

-Yes. The heart is the source of life force. You are also feeling the attributes of mana that gathers in places with strong vitality, in other words, the attributes of gods.

It feels like knowing the great secret of the universe.

Ruin muttered with a bewildered expression.

“Then, the true magic of the Demon Realm is… … ?”

-Khehehehe! What is the first thing a demon king does when he descends to the human world?

mass killing.

When the Demon King descended, he would surely take countless human lives.

-The reason we conquer other dimensions is to use them as a base to collect life force. And with the life force we gathered, we changed the very nature of our world. To gather mana better.

Ruin shuddered slightly.

“no way… … Did you make the entire vast demon realm look like a mana circle?”

– It’s a little higher level than that. Didn’t you just hear? that the character itself has changed.

As if realizing something, Ruin jumped up.

“no way! Mana traits!”

-As expected, he’s a guy with a good head. right. We changed Mana’s form. The mana of our world was processed with the collected life force. We agreed to call the mana that was processed that way true magic.

Ruin’s head went awry.

Those crazy beings changed the mana itself that their world had.

The jinmaga that had been embracing vitality would have caused a virtuous cycle of attracting more mana.

When other mana was mixed and the nature of true magic was diluted, he must have invaded another world to collect life force again.

Finally, Ruin witnessed the true face of the demon realm, the terrifyingly cruel truth.

Now everyone understands why demons like Gyrobel are constrained by the ‘Oath of Existence’, that is, the law of causality.

If that madman can directly manifest itself in the human world like the demon lords, humans will face extinction rather than a catastrophic level.

It wasn’t just a game that he used humans as his hosts and extorted life force.

-Our determination and enthusiasm to maintain Jinmanpower is pure. You humans, who don’t even know that, perceive us as monsters who just enjoy blood.

I never thought the innocence he spoke of was that kind of innocence!

“I feel like throwing up. Certainly you demons are a race that crossed the line. If I had known in advance that true magic was like that, I would never have signed a contract with you.”

Gyrobel laughed.

-What the hell are you talking about to a human being who has an Ord! Ha ha ha!

“Why Odd?”

-Ode was created by removing a part of the core of this Gyrobel! How much vitality could the nucleus grown by this Demon God have conceived over an infinite amount of time?

“… … .”

-Khehehe! Didn’t you know how formidable the power of the Demon God’s true magic is? There is no other passage of true magical power other than Aether. With tolerable beatings, your time won’t last even a month.

Ruin frowned as if he had dirt on his body.

But then.

Suddenly, a thought like lightning flashed through Ruin’s head.

ugh-

Ruin suddenly summons an aether in the air.

Taking it out like this has never been done in the past life.

To the warlock, Audran was like a lich’s Life Force Vessel because if it was destroyed, its source itself would disappear.

Gyrobel immediately reacted with anger, as if it was difficult to see the essence of herself that had cooled off.

– Take it away!

“for a moment!”

They are gathering really fast.

not real magic.

The pure mana of this world.

Gyrobell jumped up and down as if he had an ominous feeling.

-What, what do you mean?

An ominous smile crept across Louis’ lips.

“As you said, this ode seems to have tremendous vitality.”

-no way! Part of my great core! You guys are just… … !

sh*t.

Luin’s smile grew thicker.

The devil’s core, Ord.

A transcendent medium that far exceeds the mana that a human heart can contain.

“Thank you, Gyrobel. My mana ring is here from now on.”