The reason why the mages couldn’t use their magic within the Malacca ruins was due to the dispersion of magical energy.

Extracting magical power from within the body and arranging it into a specific structure forms the foundation of magic manifestation.

However, in this space, the moment one tried to extract magical power, it would scatter into the air, rendering arrangement—and thus magic—impossible.

This meant that even Theon, the one who had created this very situation, had been rendered magically powerless.

However, there was one exception—Alon.

And the reason for this exception was clear:

‘It’s because I fix the arrangement of magical power with the incantation of stabilization.’

In other words, he had the ability to enforce the laws of magic through the use of incantations, no matter the situation.

‘If not for the hint carved into the wall, I’d probably have ended up as bug food while trying to figure out a solution… Not that the current situation isn’t dangerous as it is.’

Even so, it wasn’t a moment to relax.

Even if he could use magic, the fact that the environment actively dispersed magical energy was still a massive disadvantage, not only for Alon but for any mage.

‘No matter how much magical power I pour in, arranging it still takes time, which lowers efficiency. And the Ho Gaftu (Memory of the Black eye) and the bracelet are unusable as well. In short, the most I can manage is three spells at best.’

Remaining calm, Alon analyzed the current situation and scanned his surroundings.

Mutated creatures resembling mosquitoes the size of humans were flying through the air, emitting the distinctive threatening buzz of insects.

It wasn’t just the air.

They clung to moss-covered rocks.

They crawled along the walls of the ruins.

They scattered across the floor.

Even behind him.

The entire ruin was horrifyingly infested with grotesque, insect-like monsters.

“This is insane~!”

While Alon was surveying the area, Theon’s voice, filled with shock, echoed from the front.

“Logically, it shouldn’t even be possible to use magic here…!?”

Theon, dumbfounded, stood with his mouth agape.

Despite his companion’s heightened reaction, Alon devoted all his focus to calmly assessing the situation.

‘I need to take care of everything in a single strike.’

Numerous large-scale area spells that could resolve this predicament flashed through Alon’s mind.

Unfortunately, none of them could be used right now.

If he were to cast one of those spells here, Evan and the other mages would inevitably get caught in the blast.

No, rather than “possibly,” it was an unavoidable certainty.

However, handling the bugs one by one with precision strikes wasn’t a viable option either.

He simply didn’t have enough chances to cast magic.

And as he pondered this dilemma, a thought suddenly struck him.

‘…Wait a second. If magical power disperses like this…?’

His eyes lit up as he arrived at an idea.

“Decomposition.”

He spoke quietly.

The feeble trace of magic that had been lingering just a moment ago was abruptly dissolved and disappeared.

In an instant, it was broken down into tiny particles and scattered throughout the space.

The faint hope the mages had clung to vanished, replaced by sighs of resignation escaping their lips.

“Ah, see? I knew it wouldn’t work~!”

Even Theon, who had started regaining some confidence, gave a dejected wave of his dark staff.

At that moment, when the bugs hovering in the air turned menacing and began to shift, Alon maintained his composure.

Behind his expressionless face, his thoughts remained steady.

‘So even if it disperses, magical energy doesn’t actually disappear.’

He surveyed his surroundings.

Even though grotesque insects were lunging at him with lethal intent, Alon did not despair.

Because he could see it.

The magical energy he had just decomposed was now naturally scattered throughout the space, a result of this chamber’s peculiar properties.

And more importantly, the moment he realized that, despite the diffusion, the control of the magical energy spread across the chamber was proceeding exactly as he intended—

“Hoo—”

Letting out a light breath, Alon formed a seal with his left hand while maintaining his calm.

Then, with his right hand, he executed a Ji-Quan-In (Earth Seal).

“Cheonggwang (청광, Pure Light).”

Pajijijik!

Once again, atop Alon’s palm, a radiant orb of lightning surged into existence, starkly different from the feeble spells earlier.

It shone brilliantly, dazzling the surrounding area.

“Acceleration (가속).”

With that, the lightning orb devoured the surrounding air, unleashing a brilliant spectacle of electric blue light.

And in the moment when the spike-like jaws and limbs of the mutated creatures were about to touch Alon’s body—

“Designation (지정).”

A blinding flash was unleashed.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak!

Without a moment’s hesitation, the orb of lightning that Alon had created tore mercilessly through the flying insects.

The heads of the bugs that rose into the air before plummeting back down.

The body of a bug that was about to crush Alon’s hand as it moved sideways.

The curved torso of an insect baring its proboscis, aiming for his heart.

With trails of radiant blue light, as if guided by precision, the lightning pierced only the insects.

In mere moments, the flash wiped out every single bug.

Kwa-jik!

Finally, as if wrapping up its rampage, the lightning struck Theon’s heart just as he was hastily attempting to swing his staff again, and then it vanished.

…

Soon, a rain of the mutated creatures began to fall onto the floor of the ruins.

Their limbs flailed as their green luminescent bodily fluids splattered down, dripping onto the heads of the mages.

Yet not one of them made an effort to avoid the falling carcasses of the insects.

Even Liyan, whose head was soaked in the greenish liquid, stood still without bothering to wipe it off.

She simply stared in one direction.

It was toward where Marquis Palatio stood.

“Ah…”

A faint exclamation escaped from Liyan’s lips.

What emotion was mixed in that low, drawn-out sound? Even she couldn’t identify it herself.

And standing at the center of all the gazes directed his way was Alon.

‘Ah… Aah… I’m… going to die…?’

Having overused his magical power, Alon felt the symptoms of mana depletion creeping up on him after just two spells.

Behind his stoic expression, he was inwardly on the verge of tears.

***

Shortly afterward.

Having gulped down a potion for emergency treatment, Alon realized that his mana had returned to normal from the moment Theon had died.

“…Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“What was that just now? Even during practice, I’ve seen you use similar spells, but I’ve never seen that kind of magic before.”

“You probably won’t see it again, either.”

‘Because I’m never using it again.’

Alon grabbed his still-dizzy head and made a firm resolution.

The magic he had just used was a combination of two incantation-based spells.

First, he had deliberately decomposed and dispersed his magical power throughout the room, taking advantage of the environment’s property of scattering mana.

Then, he manipulated the dispersed magical energy, arranging it in specific patterns that only targeted the bugs and Theon.

Finally, he used a second incantation to guide his magic to precisely strike only the designated patterns.

And that was how the spell had been completed.

However, as he had already stated, there would likely never be another instance where he would use that spell again.

The very method relied on mana scattering to work, which meant it was only applicable under extremely rare circumstances.

Additionally, the level of control it required was absurdly inefficient.

The proof of that inefficiency was the throbbing headache that still hadn’t gone away.

“…I see. Well, it was really impressive, though.”

“Magic isn’t something you use to look impressive.”

“Well, sure… I didn’t mean it like that, just saying.”

It was hard to tell how much time had passed while he was talking to Evan.

“Marquis, I apologize. And… thank you so much.”

Alon soon found himself receiving Liyan’s gratitude.

“There’s no need for you to bow so deeply.”

“How could I not? If it weren’t for you, I would have already died. Truly… truly, thank you.”

Liyan bent her waist into a deep bow, nearly at a ninety-degree angle, expressing her gratitude.

Alon, uncomfortable with the gesture, once again told her that it wasn’t necessary.

“Well, then… I was wondering if—”

Just as Liyan lifted her head and began to speak—

Ku-gu-gu-gu-guung!

Suddenly, the ruins began to tremble.

The mages, who had just moments earlier been calmly retrieving their tools in preparation to leave the ruins, now tensed up with wary expressions.

But contrary to their expectations—

“A staircase…?”

The massive tremor subsided, and what appeared before them was a staircase that had formed in the central arena, where there had been nothing just moments before.

The staircase led underground.

The mages all came to a realization simultaneously.

This was the place Theon had just mentioned earlier—the location of the object.

But that realization lasted only a moment.

“Marquis, please take this item with you.”

“…Are you sure that’s acceptable?”

“Of course. It’s something everyone has already agreed upon.”

As Alon turned his gaze at her words, he saw the other mages bowing their heads in unison.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a group of mages bowing like this,” Evan whispered as he watched the scene unfold.

“…Then I won’t refuse,” Alon replied.

Taking the item into his hands, Alon didn’t hesitate as he began to descend the stairs leading underground.

Before long, he came upon a single door with an inscription written on its surface.

The words, written in a strange ancient script that Alon could read just like before, said:

—To the mage who remembers the incantation of unification after escaping to the end, a legacy of harmony is left behind.

…

Alon stared intently at the inscription for a moment before opening the door.

With a grating creeeak, the door swung open.

Contrary to his expectations of darkness, the room beyond was bright enough for him to see clearly.

Inside, Alon saw two things.

The first was an egg.

A black egg resting atop an altar, so dark it seemed to absorb all the light in the world.

The second was a series of letters.

Specifically—

“…‘Harmony of Shadows’?”

The words, which appeared to be the key to self-manifestation, were written on the wall behind the ominous black egg.

As Alon stepped closer to examine the egg more carefully—

“Hm?”

He noticed an old parchment lying next to the egg, inscribed with ancient writing as well.

The contents were as follows:

Never allow the Shadow Dragon (영룡) to consume anything but mana until it is born.

If the Shadow Dragon consumes a mage’s blood beyond a certain threshold, the egg must be broken.

Failure to do so will result in the Shadow Dragon transforming into a Death Shadow Dragon (사영룡), causing it to go berserk.

Two warnings in total.

Having read this, Alon quickly pieced together what Theon had been trying to do.

…Was he attempting to turn the Shadow Dragon into a Death Shadow Dragon?

Although the reasons behind it were unclear, one thing was certain.

‘Someone intentionally orchestrated this to provoke a mage into turning the Shadow Dragon into a Death Shadow Dragon…’

He briefly considered the forces working behind Theon.

But another thought soon surfaced in his mind, prompting him to tilt his head.

This one was about the Queen of Asteria, Cretinia Siyan.

‘Theon himself admitted to the attack, so there’s no connection there… But considering she sent me here, it’s clear she knew something about this…’

Although it was true that rumors about Alon using ancient-era magic had circulated among mages, even so, there were parts of this situation that defied explanation.

‘She did say I’d understand why she told me to come to the Malacca ruins once I got here.’

That much was certain.

Moreover, this Malacca ruin was a place that required the ability to read ancient texts to fully comprehend its significance.

Which meant—

Cretinia Siyan knew that Alon could read ancient script, and that whatever was here would be of use to him.

‘What is going on here?’

Alon’s expression grew more puzzled, but only for a moment.

‘…First things first, let’s head back up.’

Pushing aside his thoughts for now, he picked up the pitch-black egg and began his ascent back to the surface.

…The egg was incredibly heavy.

At that moment.

“We should be arriving soon.”

Inside what could only be described as a room disguised as a carriage, Siyan sat comfortably as it traveled back toward Terea.

At her words, her secretary, who had been silent up until now, finally spoke.

“Your Majesty seems to be quite concerned about Marquis Palatio.”

“Concerned, you say?”

Siyan leaned deeper into the carriage’s backrest.

“Does it seem that way to you?”

“Forgive me, but yes, it does.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

“Forgive me again, but may I ask—what part of him makes you so concerned?”

“What part, indeed?”

Siyan pondered the question briefly before a soft smile spread across her lips.

“Who knows.”

She turned the question back to her secretary instead.

“What do you think it might be?”

…

The secretary dared not answer.

However—

The secretary couldn’t help but notice that Siyan’s golden eyes, the legendary Gilded Eyes of History (금사안), seemed to shine more brightly than usual, though perhaps it was merely an illusion.