The space was alien.

The sky was dark and murky, despite it being broad daylight.

The ground below wasn’t ordinary terrain.

It was as hard as the earth, yet composed of an unyielding, jagged shell that did not scatter.

Atop this enigmatic terrain stood a temple.

Not an ordinary one, but a lofty temple built of black bricks that harmonized with the dark sky.

And inside it.

There were two figures.

Their appearances couldn’t be clearly discerned.

Seated across from each other at a black round table in the center of the temple, the two figures concealed themselves with robes, as if to hide their identities.

The one difference between them was that one figure was wrapped in bandages even underneath the robe,

While the other revealed human-like lips beneath the shadow of the robe.

In this state, the first to break the silence was,

“I can’t tell how much longer we’ll have to keep doing this.”

The figure with visible lips.

His voice carried an air of dissatisfaction, as if discontent with the situation.

“Look here, ‘Wrath.’ Isn’t this a waste of time? Let’s just finish this already. Honestly, we don’t even need Them to come; we could handle this ourselves.”

His tone was relaxed yet bored, and beneath that lay a tinge of impatience. To this, the other figure, who had been silent, responded.

“What exactly do you think we can do, ‘Pride’?”

Wrath’s voice was different from Pride’s.

While Pride’s voice was distinctly male, Wrath’s was not.

It was a distorted voice, unrecognizable as belonging to a man, woman, elder, or child.

Yet, Pride continued the conversation as if unbothered.

“What else? Annihilation. Honestly, if we ‘Apostles’ all took action, it’d be over in no time. The fools out there think they’re strong, but they’re just complacent weaklings.”

Wrath, who had been silently watching Pride’s savage smile beneath his robe, finally replied.

“There are those who might not be so weak.”

“You’re not suggesting we, who were empowered by the Great Original Sins, would fall to them, are you?”

“…Pride, our task is merely to fulfill our duties.”

“Ha, and what duty would that be? Just sitting around like this forever? How much longer are we going to keep doing this? All we’ve done is sow the ‘Seeds,’ and thanks to that strange barrier that disappeared recently, we’ve essentially been waiting for over ten years.”

Letting out a sigh of frustration, Pride rose from his seat.

“Where are you going, Pride?”

“Where do you think? If none of you will act, I will.”

“…I don’t recall giving you permission.”

Wrath’s retort stopped Pride.

The sinister smile he had worn moments before disappeared.

In the next moment, Pride stood right before Wrath.

At the same time, a chilling black lightning bolt struck down from the sky.

The black electricity split into dozens, even hundreds of strands, halting just above Wrath’s head.

That wasn’t all.

The once-intact black temple crumbled into ruins in an instant, destroyed by Pride’s Sin.

Suddenly, Pride was standing atop the round table, extending his hand toward Wrath’s face, crackling with lightning.

“…I don’t believe you’ve ever been my superior, ‘Wrath.’”

A chilling expression, an icy voice.

But Wrath offered no reply.

They merely looked up at Pride.

“Tch.”

After holding the standoff for a while, Pride eventually withdrew his lightning and turned away.

“Where are you going?”

Wrath asked calmly.

In response, Pride returned to his nonchalant demeanor as if nothing had happened.

“Since none of you are acting, I’ll do it. I don’t know what the other Apostles, including you, are thinking, but I’m eager to meet Him. So~”

He smirked.

“I’m going to retrieve the Seeds.”

Walking confidently out of the temple, Pride removed his hood.

The moment he did, his silver-gray hair and a pair of ears peeking through were revealed.

“So~”

Heading toward the temple’s exterior, he slowly stroked his chin.

“Has it been ten years? No, twelve years.”

Muttering to himself, he let out a small laugh.

A strange light flickered in his eyes.

“Let’s see how well the Seeds—or rather, my sibling—has grown, shall we?”

As he muttered to himself, he vanished.

With a single streak of black lightning left in his wake.

***

It had been about three weeks since making the peculiar contract with Penia Crysinne.

“Oh, judging by the way this mana array changes shape, it seems to bend this way.”

“Which means—”

“It’s amplification.”

“I see.”

Alon was in a very good mood.

The magical research he was conducting with Penia was going exceedingly well.

In fact, it was going far beyond just “well.”

“Then this—”

“Oh, looking at the array transforming into a decomposition structure, it seems more like reduction rather than amplification.”

“Intentionally reducing its power?”

“Yes. However, the molecular structure of the mana is intertwined… To be precise, it seems like a hook structure. In this case, even spells that normally cannot be used in combination might be partially possible.”

It was proving to be far more valuable than his solo magical research.

Thanks to this, Alon had spent nearly five hours today on magical experiments and discussions.

“That’s enough for today.”

“Oh, yes…!”

Watching Penia nod enthusiastically, Alon couldn’t help but reflect.

‘Who would call her a person with a ruined personality?’

Just as he was reevaluating her character—

“Sister.”

“What is it?”

“Well, the magical reagents en route here were stolen by bandits.”

“What? Those damn bandits again~!!!!”

The moment her brother Felin delivered the report, Penia let out a piercing scream, making Alon quickly reconsider his thoughts.

‘…That seems accurate, after all.’

“Um, Marquis?”

“Yes?”

“Pardon me, but may I leave the Marquis’ estate for a day or so?”

Penia asked nervously, as if she were seeking a tremendous favor.

Alon nodded lightly.

“…I don’t mind.”

“Oh, really…?! I just heard that bandits have stolen the magical reagents coming here, so I thought I’d—”

Despite Alon’s casual response, she began explaining herself in detail.

Though he thought they had developed a degree of camaraderie through their magical research, she still struggled to make such simple requests.

Alon felt slightly awkward.

“…Go ahead. And for the record, you don’t need my permission to leave.”

“Oh, really…?! I thought for sure I needed to…”

“…”

Penia hesitated, fidgeting as if unsure.

Alon once again felt like a criminal forcing someone into labor somewhere in Southeast Asia.

“That’s not the case, so just go.”

“Oh, yes…!”

With that, Penia grabbed Felin by the scruff of the neck and strode out.

“Why me…?”

Felin’s strangely sorrowful voice echoed, but he was helplessly dragged away by Penia and soon disappeared.

A moment later.

“Marquis.”

“Yes?”

“Well, it seems like you finished a bit earlier today.”

“That’s because today was a wrap-up session.”

After replying to Evan, Alon looked down at the papers in front of him.

The stack of papers was filled with numerous seals.

Among them were seals Alon had known, those discovered during his research with Penia, and additional seals with their abilities, arrays, and applications.

“Wow, you accomplished all of this in just three weeks?”

“Yes.”

“That’s… an incredible amount.”

Evan’s jaw dropped.

Alon shrugged.

“It’s not done yet.”

“With all this, it’s still not done?”

“Yes.”

He looked down at the papers again.

Over the past three weeks, he had confirmed the mana flow paths and mana arrays associated with the seals.

But the more significant realization was something else entirely.

It was the structural transformation of mana molecules according to the seals.

He had grasped the first substantial clue regarding multi-seals.

Until now, if more than one seal was applied to a single spell, it often failed to manifest or resulted in the spell breaking entirely.

This was the case even when Alon began exploring seals in earnest after hearing from Lainisius that it might be possible to use multiple seals.

However, recently, Alon had discovered a very small but significant clue: there existed seals that naturally complemented each other due to the way mana-binding structures changed with each seal.

These paired seals formed a completely different structure when combined.

“…There’s still a lot to do.”

Despite the indifferent tone of his voice, his gaze, filled with satisfaction, swept over his research journal.

He hadn’t understood before.

Why wizards in novels willingly ventured into hellish situations just to obtain a single research journal.

Now, he felt he understood.

“By the way, Marquis, aren’t you leaving soon?”

It was Evan’s voice that interrupted his thoughts.

“Where to?”

“To Lartania. Didn’t you mention visiting there? And you said you’d also stop by Colony.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“You even sent letters about it.”

“Ah.”

Alon nodded to himself, recalling the memory.

Indeed, when he first began his research with Penia, he’d sent letters to Rine and Seolrang, promising to visit soon.

Realizing this now, he murmured.

“…They’ve probably arrived by now.”

“Then we should prepare to leave.”

‘…I’ll finish this first and prepare tasks for Penia to handle.’

With a wistful look at the magic journal in his hand, he added.

“We’ll leave in two days.”

“Understood.”

***

The desert city of Colony.

Unlike the bustling streets, always filled with the excitement of the Colosseum, Seolrang’s office was quiet.

When not training guild members, Seolrang typically spent her time sleeping unless there was something pressing to do.

This pattern had never deviated before.

Which is why Lime, the golden-maned assistant and secretary to Seolrang, found her current demeanor unusual.

The usually languid guild leader was unusually animated after receiving a certain letter.

“Guild Master?”

“Hmm?”

“You seem excited.”

“Of course!”

“…May I ask what’s making you so happy?”

Lime was curious.

What kind of letter was she clutching so dearly, ears perked with enthusiasm?

At Lime’s question, Seolrang glanced at the letter in her hand and then replied.

“It’s time to hear the answer!”

“An answer…?”

“Yes! My Master promised to answer—two years ago!”

A radiant smile spread across her face.

Lime, now even more bewildered by the cryptic answer that lacked all context, watched as Seolrang swayed her golden tail enthusiastically.

“Hope they arrive soon~”

Seolrang chuckled softly, the excitement clear in her voice.