The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns-Chapter 392

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 392

The realm of Ninth-Circle magic is, in practice, no different from that of a Grandmaster.

From the Seventh Circle onward, the path is typically divided into three internal stages, but the Ninth Circle is considered a realm that encompasses all of them—a domain evaluated as having essentially reached the end of magic itself.

The “end of magic” as commonly understood by mages.

A realm beyond which no one has ever gone.

That is the Ninth Circle.

If mages had witnessed the current situation—where both elemental magic and necromancy were being broken through to the Ninth Circle simultaneously—what would they have said?

The important thing was that there were no mages within this rift.

Only those watching the ominous torrents of mana and necromantic mana.

“My skin’s tingling. This isn’t even a rebirth… Can one’s aura really change this much?”

Those who had formed a circle around Leon, as if standing guard, silently waited for his transformation to finish.

Above the sixteen rings that had been surging around Leon like loosened knots, two more rings settled fully into place.

At the same time, the sixteen undulating rings rapidly compressed back into two, shaking violently.

“Haa… ha….”

A short breath.

At its end, the aura that had enveloped Leon as he kept his eyes closed slowly contracted and began to stabilize.

The moment Leon opened his eyes, mana and necromantic mana spread outward as if alive, as if possessed of will.

Despite being a natural cycle, the origin of magic revealed itself in a way that made it resemble a gigantic magic circle.

In truth, it was no different from the very prototype of magic circles.

But no one else knew that.

Only after all the energy had been completely drawn back into Leon did the resonant power filling the surroundings finally fall silent.

A faint light flickered in Leon’s eyes, then vanished.

At the same time, everyone who had been keeping watch turned their gaze toward him.

“Thank you for guarding me.”

“No need. We got to witness something extraordinary ourselves, so don’t trouble yourself over it.”

When in one’s lifetime would one ever witness such a bizarre crossing of a boundary?

Only then did Yuhav, looking exhausted, slump down onto the ground.

“At my age, it’s been a long time since I pushed my body this hard….”

“Honestly, that thing scares me more than that giant of light.”

“Wasn’t he the one who chased that thing away in the first place? What are you even saying?”

“At this point, it feels like he could actually beat that thing if it came to it….”

Considering the Stars’ inherent power, further enhanced by elixirs, dealing with them at the previous level would be impossible. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

As long as the gate guarded by the gatekeeper didn’t open, there shouldn’t be a major problem.

“But seriously. When is that thing coming out?”

At Leon’s mutter, Isna—who had been concealing her presence—approached.

“Probably not long now. It’ll show itself soon. Still, it’ll take a few days. Stockpile as much strength as you can until then.”

“Fine. This time, we’ll definitely take it down.”

He spoke as if determined not to be caught off guard twice, but in truth, the gatekeeper’s power wasn’t a one-off—it was sustained.

If that power manifested again, it would be difficult to handle even with the Stars’ strength.

“Elders.”

Leon dumped a pile of items out of subspace.

“W–What is all this?”

“If we’re going to be here for a few days, you should be as comfortable as possible.”

When camping gear and numerous items designed for comfort spilled out, their expressions relaxed.

“Well, I’ll be damned… Coming into a rift you’d only see in a demonic realm, and you’re talking about camping. My life’s full of experiences I never thought I’d have.”

“I’ll go take a look at the gate.”

“Be careful. All the monsters are gone, but you never know what might happen.”

“Hey, you old men, move it! If we’re going to conserve strength, we need to be comfortable. Get moving and set things up!”

“Tsk….”

Leaving the bustling group behind, Leon and Isna headed toward the massive gate.

“Something feels off.”

“What does?”

At Isna’s question, Leon narrowed his eyes.

“That giant of light. I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before, but I can’t quite remember.”

“Usually, not knowing is normal.”

If the sense of déjà vu was this strong, he must have encountered it before—perhaps in a different form, or wielding a different power.

Leon suspected it was one of those.

“Does it matter?”

“It might. We could end up in trouble because of some hidden trump card we don’t know about.”

As he spoke, Leon fiddled with the gate and asked,

“Do you know what happened after this gate opened last time?”

“You never really talked about what happened here.”

“Then that’s fine.”

Leon thought.

The Leon of the closed world was called a traitor—but that wasn’t quite right.

With no other method available, he had sealed the world himself to force success.

Whether his actions could be justified was another matter entirely, but one thing was clear: he had chosen Isna as the next successor.

“You once asked why I gave you authority.”

“…Yes.”

“Isn’t it thanks to that authority that your memories are so intact now?”

“That’s why I don’t understand it. After destroying the world, why do this now?”

For her, imagining a plan that would definitely win the next time didn’t come easily.

Well, she wouldn’t have been able to assume that regression itself had already happened multiple times.

“Either way, that thing is coming out here again.”

Leon stepped back a few paces and moved his mana.

Ninth-Circle elemental magic and necromancy.

With both acquiring their ninth rings, their freedom increased overwhelmingly.

From Leon’s fingertips, blue mana and black mana scattered as if intertwining, filling the area around the gate with an enormous number of magic circles.

Though they appeared to be many different kinds, in truth they were not.

“Each magic circle spread out there has a meticulous structure, like several of Leon’s usual high-tier spells fused into one.”

Dozens of such magic circles forming simultaneously meant that the range of usable magic had clearly surpassed its former limits.

“Things have changed a lot. Where are you at now?”

“At the very least, the number of lightning spells I can use simultaneously has increased tenfold.”

When software outpaces hardware, boosting processing speed inevitably improves performance.

That was Leon’s current state.

“How many spells are you planning to use?”

“This is just one spell.”

Ninth-Circle magic demanded a commensurate cost.

As the spell’s setup completed, a smile appeared on Leon’s lips.

“Just watch. When it comes out, you’ll see something really interesting.”

* * *

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

As Isna had predicted, things remained quiet for several days.

During that time, the Stars adjusted their condition as best they could and waited.

Then, when the expected time arrived—

Signs appeared that the gatekeeper was about to emerge from the gate again.

“It guards the gate by nature. No matter what happens to the gate, it retreating inside is absurd to begin with.”

From hundreds of meters away, the massive gate radiated its presence.

Beyond it, white light leaked out, pulsing like a heart as if something were about to appear.

“This time, let’s make sure it can’t escape.”

“It won’t. I’ve placed sealing magic as well.”

It was free to come out—but not free to go back in.

I had already prepared a Ninth-Circle spell around the gate, along with seals to cut off its escape route.

Then—

Before long, a massive resonance spread from the gate, its surface rippling as something made of light began to emerge.

“It’s coming out!!”

At Spear Saint Bellion’s shout, Bow Saint Yuhav swiftly formed a light arrow on his bowstring and drew.

The gatekeeper’s presence began to reveal itself beyond the gate.

Its appearance had changed from before.

Instead of a sword of light and a giant body of radiance, it now wore full plate armor and wielded a jet-black sword that seemed to absorb light, like vantablack.

“Ah. Now I get it.”

A completely different atmosphere.

A completely different form.

That was why I understood.

“An entity corrupted within the gate.”

“Corrupted within the gate?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry. It’s not that dangerous.”

Speaking calmly, I snapped my fingers.

Wooooong… crackle!!!

Strange, rune-like symbols rose and drifted around the creature, isolating the area around it completely.

Startled by the sudden sealing spell, it lashed out to escape, destroying many seals before they fully activated—but in the end, its retreat was blocked.

“Everyone, block your hearing and vision.”

At my words, Isna reflexively covered her ears.

The Stars flinched at the magic circles blooming around me and quickly protected their ears and eyes with aura.

The magic circles around me resonated, drawing chains of lightning from their centers, intertwining and linking together.

At the same time—

An enormous magic circle of the same color suddenly manifested on the ground beneath the corrupted one within the gate.

Pop!! Gulp gulp!!

I downed the reinforced elixirs I had prepared.

If we’re doing this, let’s do it properly.

[Ninth-Circle Thunder Spell]

[Genesis Origin]

The creature belatedly prepared its defenses—but it was too late.

Snap!!!

With a light snap of my fingers, blinding white light surged across the world.

The spectacle lasted only an instant, but the ensuing shock was on an entirely different level.

It sounded as though thousands—tens of thousands—of lightning bolts were striking at once.

The entire space wavered like a mirage under the tremendous roar, sound itself shattering.

Even with their hearing fully blocked by aura, the Stars’ bodies shook violently.

“Gah?! What is this?!”

“Damn it! Even with aura protection, it’s this bad?!”

Staring in shock, they beheld the scene before them.

A colossal pillar of flame and lightning, over five meters in diameter, descended straight from the sky, slamming into the corrupted one within the gate.

The massive pillar of light did not vanish.

It twisted, burned, and annihilated everything around it.

It was clearly firepower beyond comparison with any spell I had shown before.

Normally, the entire area would have been erased—but the shockwave of that overwhelming power was refracted by the pre-installed sealing spells and focused back toward the center.

Even the highest-tier sealing spells would last at most thirty minutes.

That alone proved how powerful the pillar of light truly was.

Snap!!!

Not yet.

I snapped my fingers again.

A spell that drained my mana in massive chunks couldn’t be allowed to produce a poor result.

When I first used this spell in the Labyrinthos, a single cast had completely exhausted my mana.

Compared to that, this was merciful.

Next, I moved all the black necromantic mana drifting around us.

[Rune Engraving]

[Behal] [Linderum] [Behena] [Rofaha]

As the four runes flickered and emitted faint waves, the necromantic spell activated.

[Ninth-Circle Necromancy]

[Reversal of Life and Death]

Riiip!!!

With a sound like something tearing apart, color began to drain from the pillar of light.

The world turned monochrome—only black and white—before being swallowed and vanishing.

For a Ninth-Circle spell, it was a surprisingly concise impact.

But the result was not.

The gatekeeper, struck by the lightning pillar, was no longer intact.

Its body collapsed, and the follow-up necromancy annihilated even what seemed to be its hidden trump cards, forcing everything to accept death.

On top of that, I had infused it with the authority of death—Thanatos—making the effect far stronger than I had anticipated.

I hadn’t expected to kill it outright in a single blow.

The problem was—

“My god… It died without even doing anything….”

“W–Wait! Isn’t that gate opening?!”

The power had been too strong.

The gate the gatekeeper had been guarding lurched with a loud clang and began to corrode.

“Uh… Should I have held back?”

“You lunatic!!”

With a distorted shout, Isna grabbed me by the collar.

“Couldn’t you have shown some restraint?! You did this with the Hydra too!”

“Uh… um… Sorry.”

Honestly, the synergy of the Ninth-Circle spells I unleashed was about fifty percent stronger than I had calculated.

Because of that mistake—or rather, that miscalculation—the gate we had no intention of opening began to collapse.

“Everyone out—now!!! The passage back outside the rift should be open again! Don’t look back, just go!”

At Isna’s shout, the Stars halted their attacks, stared in disbelief, and hurriedly retreated.

“No… this isn’t how this was supposed to go….”

Watching the situation unfold with a stunned expression, I waved my hand.

There was still the Ninth-Circle necromancy—Reversal of Life and Death.

[Reversal of Life and Death]

Boom!!!

At my gesture, the lingering spell surged again, wrapping around the energy spilling from the gate and exerting its force.

Of course, it had no effect.

“That didn’t work.”

“You idiot! You should’ve held back!”

“Who told it to be that weak?”

At this point, I armored myself in shamelessness.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]