[Translator - Kiteretsu]

    [Proofreader - Kyros]

    Chapter 77

    One by one, the mana stones began to shine, and the massive magic circle started to glow with a crimson hue...

    Whoosh!

    Eventually, a towering pillar of fire erupted from the center of the magic circle.

    “Gasp!”

    Perhaps because the focus was solely on firepower, the fire mana was far stronger than anticipated. Kaylen''s figure was completely engulfed by the fiery pillar and vanished.

    “W-will he be okay?” Irene asked in a trembling voice.

    Although she had heard from Eldir that Kaylen was a Sword Master... could even a Sword Master withstand such flames?

    ‘The mana stones have only activated up to 50 so far, and the power is already at this level...

    If all 256 are activated?’

    “Irene, don’t worry. That man doesn’t need your concern.”

    “Yes...”

    Unlike the anxious Irene, Myorn stared at the fiery pillar with calm indifference.

    There was no way that monster could fail.

    As the excess fire mana began to spill out, Myorn thought to herself, Might as well use this to grow my spirit energy.

    With that mindset, she slowly moved closer to the fiery pillar.

    “Myorn! It’s dangerous!”

    “I’ll be fine. I’m just going to enhance my spirit energy a little.”

    “Seriously... why has reckless behavior become so trendy?” Irene muttered with a sigh.

    Meanwhile, Kaylen was channeling the fire mana enveloping his entire body into his flame sword.

    Within the fiery pillar, not even the edges of his clothing showed signs of damage.

    He had completely mastered control over the fire mana.

    Even if all 256 mana stones were activated, he was confident he would emerge unscathed.

    However...

    ‘The purity of this fire mana is fairly high. But... compared to the water mana of Glacia, it’s far too lacking.’

    The mana of Glacia was an extremely pure, top-tier water mana.

    Compared to that, the magic circle’s firepower left much to be desired.

    ‘This isn’t the time for control.’

    To forge a flame sword that could rival the water sword infused with Glacia’s power, he would have to abandon control altogether.

    That meant allowing the fire’s energy to fully consume his body.

    Whoooosh!

    Kaylen’s entire body, starting with his clothes, burst into flames.

    In an instant, his garments were reduced to ash.

    His body, too, was engulfed by the fire.

    First, his hair caught fire.

    Kaylen’s radiant silver hair couldn’t withstand the flames for even a moment and was completely incinerated.

    Next was his skin.

    His porcelain-like skin began to blacken almost immediately, turning charred and dark.

    Beneath the epidermis, the dermis and muscles still held out, but it was only a matter of time before they were consumed as well.

    “Hmm.”

    The intense heat burned through his entire body.

    For an ordinary person, their nerves would have been scorched before they could even feel the pain, and they would have been reduced to ash in an instant.

    But for Kaylen, a Sword Master, his extraordinarily resilient body endured the flames, paradoxically amplifying the excruciating pain he felt.

    An unrelenting pain surged through him, so intense it felt as though his central nervous system might shut down.No?v(el)B\\jnn

    ‘Quite exhilarating.’

    For Kaylen, who had previously endured the Demon King''s Hellfire, this was tolerable.

    If anything, he regretted that the fire mana still wasn’t strong enough.

    ‘I need more... more fire.’

    Standing amidst the roaring inferno, Kaylen called out to Irene.

    “Irene.”

    “Yes, Sir Kaylen! Are you unharmed?”

    “Summon the spirits of wind to amplify the firepower. Have the others assist as well.”

    “H-here? Even more firepower?”

    “Yes. Quickly!”

    “...Understood. Sylph!”

    At her command, the elves summoned the wind spirits in unison.

    “Myorn, step farther back. Things are about to get dangerous.”

    “Got it.”

    Even Myorn, who had been absorbing the stray fire mana, withdrew to a safer distance.

    Whoooosh!

    As the wind surged, the flames grew even fiercer.

    But Kaylen still found it insufficient.

    ‘I need to weaken the power of the water sword.’

    Clang!

    Behind him, a sword of water extended outward.

    In a flash, the water sword split the fiery pillar and soared high into the sky before embedding itself in the mansion’s outer wall.

    Swish—

    The moment the water sword struck, the mansion’s walls froze solid.

    As the water mana drained rapidly from Kaylen’s body, the firepower intensified.

    Yet...

    Half of those gazes were downright blatant, scanning him from head to toe—a look he had encountered many times before in his previous life.

    ‘Well, my body does feel lighter, but...’

    When he looked down, his eyes fell on three concentric circles etched across his solid pectorals, leading to his sharply defined abdominal muscles. And beneath those...

    A form he hadn’t seen in this life:

    ‘...This is my body from my past life.’

    The body of Emperor Ernst Stein.

    Even at fifty years old, he had been revered as the most handsome man on the continent.

    “Do I really resemble this Melvria person?”

    “Yes, yes, you do!”

    Irene nodded repeatedly, her face still flushed.

    Melvria, his daughter in his past life, had inherited much of his appearance.

    If Kaylen’s current face resembled hers, it meant he now wore the face of Ernst Stein.

    “May I have a mirror?”

    “Y-Yes, of course...”

    Taking the small hand mirror from Irene, Kaylen inspected his reflection.

    It was undeniable—this was the face of Ernstine.

    A face that, even in his fifties, had left women in awe.

    The face that had caused:

    A princess from an enemy nation to betray her kingdom.

    A succubus sent to seduce him to fall for him instead.

    Aristocratic daughters at royal balls to beg to be his concubines, enthralled by his charm.

    ‘What a troublesome face.’

    This was not what he had wanted. He actually preferred his former appearance as Kaylen, which felt dependable and sturdy.

    Without realizing it, his brows furrowed slightly in displeasure.

    “Wow...”

    “He’s so amazing...”

    “How is someone like this even possible?”

    “More shocking than Lady Melbria...”

    Yes. Even with just a slight furrow of his brow, the elves, embodiments of beauty themselves, couldn’t help but marvel at him.

    How did it come to this?

    Kaylen recalled the events from just moments ago.

    ‘When I completed the Flame Sword, I burned my entire body and reconstructed it. That was where the issue arose.’

    In his effort to forge the ultimate Flame Sword, he resorted to an extreme method, feeling that it was otherwise impossible.

    He had burned his entire body to ash, fusing himself into the Flame Sword.

    Once the Flame Sword was completed, the remaining three swords converged, and his body was reconstituted.

    ‘In that process, I must have unconsciously envisioned the most ideal physique.’

    And what could be more ideal than the body of Emperor Ernst Stein?

    Compared to his former self, Kaylen, Ernst Stein’s physique was leagues apart.

    It was a perfect body that naturally absorbed mana with every breath and quickly reached infinite mana capacity—“Mana Infinity.”

    A body that all knights dreamed of possessing.

    “Hmm.”

    Still, this body was too handsome.

    Looking into the mirror, Kaylen frowned in dissatisfaction and began to channel mana to alter his appearance.

    Rippling. Rippling.

    His body began to swell and reshape itself, returning to the sturdy, practical form of his previous life as Kaylen.

    But before he could finish, Irene let out a shrill cry.

    “Kaylen! W-What are you doing?!”

    “I was just trying to go back to the way I was before.”

    “Why? Why would you do that to such a perfect body?!”

    Irene looked as if she was about to cry, as though it were her own body being changed.

    The other elf researchers had similar expressions, and even Eldir, a man, looked at Kaylen as if to ask, What are you doing?!

    ‘This reaction is exactly why I want to change it.’

    Kaylen tried softening his features and bulking up his frame again, partially restoring his old look.

    But...

    ‘It’s uncomfortable.’

    Having once experienced the perfection of Ernst Stein’s body, he now fully realized how limited and awkward his old form had been.

    Fine. He’d stay as he was.

    Whoosh.

    Kaylen allowed his body to return to its reconstituted, ideal state.

    “Whew...”

    “Thank goodness!”

    A collective sigh of relief swept through the room.

    “This body is undeniably more comfortable. I’ll stick with it.”

    “You’ve made the best choice,” Irene said, pressing a hand to her chest as if she had narrowly avoided a disaster.

    “But... what will you say to people?” Myorn asked cautiously.

    Kaylen responded simply.

    “Let’s just say... it was a failed magical experiment.”

    “This is supposed to be a failure?” Myorn muttered incredulously.

    If this was what failure looked like...

    Every magician in the world would probably want to fail the same way.

    [Translator - Kiteretsu]

    [Proofreader - Kyros]