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Chapter 52: Diana Has Changed (1)
When I turned toward the source of the sound, I saw black blood gushing out of Drake's body.
It coalesced into the shape of a dragon's head, floating midair.
The black blood hovered ominously in the air.
What is that now?
[An Apostle of Order? Who is the King of the Gods?]
“It’s Jupiter.”
The name Zeus was automatically filtered into Jupiter.
The dragon's face twisted in response.
[Jupiter? Still them... I thought a different event had disturbed my rest. So this world must be destroyed too.]
“Excuse me?”
[I am the Black Dragon Arkardian. I will open the Gate of Chaos. If you wish to stop me, come to my lair.]
Arkardian?
Rest?
Wait… does this mean I’m not supposed to defeat this guy?
I consulted the guide.
[Destroying the two magic circles significantly reduced the chaotic energy. Then, by summoning the Spirit of Wrath through the corrupted Diana, the giant wrath spirit and the Black Dragon clashed. The Black Dragon, half-mad, mechanically muttered, ‘I must repair the magic circle. Repair it.’ It alternated between focusing on the magic circle and fighting Diana, making it not too difficult to deal with. Since the dragon’s body was impervious to swords, breaking the magic circle recklessly led it to sacrifice its dragon heart to open the Gate of Chaos. That’s when Phase 2 begins, where you face Ampellion and the undead army. It’s tougher than the dragon fight.]
So according to the guide, the Black Dragon was obsessed with the magic circles and self-destructed while dealing with Diana.
Hmm… if it’s already half out of its mind, maybe I can act as Diana while others focus on the magic circles.
But the last part of the guide bothers me.
“Impressive!”
“A sword imbued with ice amplification… it’s like Elime’s Strike.”
“Elime? Who’s that?”
“The King of Water Spirits. May I name it accordingly?”
Is this Reblo guy infected by them too…?
“...Never mind that. Let’s just destroy the magic circle.”
“Understood!”
Everyone surrounded the magic circle and began attacking it.
At first, they were cautious, but soon their eyes gleamed with determination.
“Just hitting the magic circle raises experience points!”
“Wow! That’s insane. Warriors, let’s go!”
Despite the ominous atmosphere, the warriors recklessly charged and hammered at the magic circle, driven by the promise of experience points.
Perhaps feeling sidelined in monster battles until now, they put their all into it.
The elves and dwarves tried to help, but I stopped them.
The humans were too obsessed with the experience points to let anyone else interfere.
[An Apostle gains merit recognition by destroying remnants of chaos. Let them handle it.]
“Yes, understood.”
After 3,000 people pounded on it for 30 minutes, the magic circle completely shrank.
Cheers erupted as everyone celebrated their level-ups.
Looking at this, I wondered if I’d sent the dragonkin to the Griffin Cliff in vain.
There’s supposed to be another magic circle at Dragon Rock on the Ebi River, right?
“Let’s destroy one more magic circle before moving on. Does anyone know where Dragon Rock is?”
“I do,”
An elf replied.
Following the elf’s guidance, we headed to the Ebi River.
Through the Black Dragon’s Forest and along the path to the lair, we veered toward the river.
Soon, we saw a dragon-shaped rock in the middle of the murky river, surrounded by a three-dimensional magic circle.
The fish were all dead, their corpses floating along the riverbank.
The water was foul and cloudy.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything guarding it.”
“Yes, it looks like we can just destroy it.”
Everyone excitedly prepared their weapons, anticipating the experience points.
That’s when we felt intense heat from the sky.
“Above us!”
“A meteor!”
A blazing meteor descended, glowing white-hot under the sunlight.
It fell directly toward the magic circle, aimed at Dragon Rock.
“Oh no, the magic circle is going to be destroyed!”
Destroying it is good, but the thought of losing the experience points made people lament.
Still, they fired arrows and magic at it, hoping to get some last-minute experience.
Before they could do much, the meteor smashed into Dragon Rock.
Boom!
A massive explosion reduced the magic circle’s size dramatically.
The meteor bounced away.
No, upon closer inspection—it was a fiery chariot?
On the chariot was someone waving both arms in our direction.
“Jiho! You’re here!”
“Huh? Diana?”
It was Diana, who had left after being appointed as the Apostle of the Sun God.
Oh, has her training ended?
What perfect timing!
We needed help fighting the dragon—wait…?!
“I missed you!”
Diana jumped at the Flame Chariot as it vanished, running into my arms.
Uh?
What’s happening??
“Diana…?”
“The Sun God told me about my true destiny. You saved me from falling into despair and elevated me to an Apostle. Thank you so much. I missed you terribly.”
Wait, this isn’t like her at all.
Diana, who always wore an expression of sternness and melancholy, was now smiling radiantly in my arms.
I understand the gratitude, but why is she, an elf, acting so… cheerful?
Is this also because she became an Apostle?
Diana looked up at me, smiling brightly.
With her breathtaking beauty and joyful gaze, I felt like I might be drawn into her.
And then… the sensation of her chest pressing against me…
Oh… this is bad.
[Clear Mind is activated.]
[Aurelia advises that the Sun God's power is strongly present in Diana. However, since her level is still low, she’s unlikely to act against the Order faction in Kevrian. Trust her—for now.]
Aurelia’s advice came as Clear Mind helped me compose myself.
Can I really trust this change in Diana?
“Hm-hm… Jiho, shall I give the command for an all-out attack?”
Clearing her throat, Kang Shia approached, her tone pointed.
The stares from others were intense, especially the elves, who seemed utterly shocked.
“Oh. Yes, please do.”
“For the sake of discipline… it might be better if you… distanced yourself.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just so excited.”
Diana quickly stepped back, her face apologetic.
She had a point, but… something about it felt a bit disappointing.
“I’ll definitely repay you, Jiho. For now, please accept this as a small gift.”
She handed me a small backpack.
Opening it, I found a set of World Tree’s items for enhancing the potential.
Wow, I really needed this!
I’d been consuming the leaves and bark—it’s perfect.
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“There’s something I truly wish to give you, but… as she said, this is a battlefield, so it’s not the right time. Please stay in this world after the battle ends. Okay?”
“Yes, understood.”
“Hehe, you’ve promised.”
Diana’s cuteness was impossible to resist.
Even though I felt a piercing gaze from the side, what could I do?
Men are weak against beauty, after all.
“Well then, I’ll help destroy the magic circle too.”
“Oh, we can leave that to them. The credit—”
“Ah… is it because of the experience points?”
Diana flashed a knowing smile.
Ah, no matter what expression she made, she was so beautiful.
“Did you realize this after becoming an Apostle?”
“Yes, thanks to the favor of the deity, I’ve learned many things. Speaking of which, the Chaos Magic Circle is at Griffin Cliff… How about you personally handle that, Jiho?”
“Me? Alone at Griffin Cliff?”
“Yes, you should also level up. Besides, the terrain there is too rough for a large army.”
I had left it to the dragonkin, but after hearing her words, I started considering going myself.
But I don’t know the exact location…
“I’ll summon a wind spirit to guide you. I’ll protect things here, so hurry and come back.”
When she summoned the wind spirit and even offered to guide me, I made up my mind.
I had planned to grow slowly until I gathered enough SP, but at this rate, leveling up was taking too long.
Before reaching level 100, I might gather 100,000 SP at this pace.
I just needed to avoid spending it recklessly.
Griffin Cliff seemed to have rough terrain, so it was probably better to handle it alone.
“Understood.”
“Yes. Sylphid, guide Jiho.”
At her command, a wind spirit appeared.
The green, petite, fairy-like spirit gestured to me and then fluttered ahead.
“Alright, I’ll be off.”
“Take care and come back soon!”
Diana waved me off with both arms wide open.
Her chest, previously hidden under armor, swayed noticeably.
Ah…
What is this?
She’s changed so much.
I prefer a bright demeanor to a dark one, but this is such a drastic change that it’s a little overwhelming.
And having the world’s top beauty push herself on me like this is a bit intimidating, but…
Well, why not?
It’s a limited-time offer with Kevrian, after all.
She likes me, so there’s no need to refuse, right?
I wondered if she was acting on the Sun God’s orders, but…
As Aurelia said, for now, I’ll help as long as it’s limited to Kevrian.
For now, I need to interfere with Hades.
“Is it over there?”
The wind spirit nodded vigorously.
After flying until dusk, I arrived at Griffin Cliff.
The cliff path was so rugged that it was almost impossible to traverse without flying.
Despite its name, Griffin Cliff, there weren’t any Griffins—at least, not initially.
“Is it just named Griffin? Oh… never mind.”
Near the edge of the cliff entrance, blackened Griffins were flying around in a pack.
Monsters with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.
They were engaged in battle at the entrance.
“Far Sight.”
Using magic to see more clearly, I observed that the dragon-kin I had sent were fighting the Griffins.
The dragon-kin had the upper hand, but the Griffins, coming out in full force, were holding them back.
Looks like I’m about to loot an unguarded house unintentionally.
“Grow, Yeoui. Thunder God.”
Expanding Yeoui and imbuing it with Thunder God’s power, I slashed through the enormous magic circle piece by piece.
No matter where I cut it, the circle’s size would shrink overall.
It was easy to slash through because even cutting one side slightly reduced the entire circle.
[You have leveled up.]
Already?
Wow, this speed is insane.
[Your mana has increased.]
My mana rose, and so did my level.
Wow, what a jackpot.
Diana, you’re such a lucky charm.
[The Chaos Magic Circle, filtered through Soul Absorption, forms a skill in the Recycle Bin. You can use the skill 'Chaos Magic Circle Summon' once.]
Huh?
I’ve never used the Recycle Bin even after opening it.
No matter how many monsters I massacred, they never dropped anything, yet here it is now.
As I reduced the magic circle by about half, the Griffins seemed to notice something was off and started flying toward me.
“Cawww!”
But could they be a match for what even the dragonkin couldn’t handle?
“Fire Storm.”
I laid down a Fire Storm on their path and happily continued cutting.
Standing too high in the air was draining my mana, so I perched on a section of the cliff.
[When standing on the ground, your physical regeneration and magic recovery rates increase.]
As per the Earth Goddess Skadi’s blessing, my mana recovery noticeably sped up.
That means I can cast more.
“Flame Chariot, destroy it too. Phoenix, block the Griffins.”
[Understood.]
The phoenix soared through the air, and the blazing storm prevented the Griffins from approaching.
I continued dismantling the magic circle right in front of their eyes.
“Ah, this is great! My mana is skyrocketing. Another level up!”
“Cawwww!”
The Griffins cried pitifully, but I kept slashing relentlessly.
The magic circle gradually shrank until it finally condensed into a black jewel-like object.
I’ve never seen anything like this before.
It didn’t appear when I destroyed the ones at Trent Colony or Dragon Rock earlier.
When I thrust my sword into it, an enormous surge of magic erupted.
BOOOOM!
The entire Griffin Cliff exploded, and I was flung away by the shockwave.
It didn’t hurt much, but the mana was immense.
“Fly.”
Using flight magic to stabilize myself, I noticed a new message window pop up.
[You have absorbed the core of the magic circle, a fragment of the Dragon Heart.]
[Mana +7.]
[Strength +2.]
[Agility +2.]
[You can choose the Dragon Race – Mature Dragon class in the future.]
[You have acquired the skill ‘Mana Regeneration of the Dragon Heart.’ This skill is incomplete and requires more Dragon Heart fragments to activate.]
Whoa, a Dragon Heart fragment?
Diana, you lucky charm!
I love you!
As I shivered with excitement over this unexpected fortune, a majestic voice echoed in my ears.
[To think you would absorb my heart… This Apostle of Order is something else. Come to me, Apostle of Order. I await you in my lair.]
It was the same voice I heard when I killed the drake.
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