Chapter 197: Ancient Existence (2)

Another spell followed from Raion’s hand.

“Rain.”

With the incantation, the sky instantly grew gloomy, and rain began to fall.

It was the fusion of the 1st Circle spells ‘Water’ and ‘Wind,’ concentrating the moisture in the air above.

The lingering traces of ‘Magma Storm Break,’ which had heated the ground to a blistering degree, rapidly cooled under the rain.

“Just how much mana do I even have right now?”

I had been frantically dealing with Harlan Mineta and the demons, so it had been a long time since I last trained.

I checked my own information.

[Status Information]

Name : Raion Canel

Age : 20

Occupation : Regressor / Arcane Sorcerer / Proxy

Life : 9,410 / 9,999

Stamina : 47,320 / 52,000

Mana : 83,400 / 132,000

Abilities :

Arcane Sorcerer Level Max

True Martial Art Level Max

Raizen-Style Swordsmanship Level Max

“…Am I even human?”

The values in the information I checked after such a long time were terrifying.

Moreover, the numbers were far higher than even Decarsen Falkahn or Malphas, who had undergone awakening.

“More importantly… Proxy?”

It wasn’t hard to understand what it meant to be a proxy for something.

“In the first place, the reason I was able to return here must have been thanks to the one above. These abilities too.”

My mercenary friend Lewis often talked about returning to a fantasy world.

Of course, I retained all the memories of my previous life lived there.

Honestly, I hadn’t even known I would be able to return.

It had been a miracle back then, and it still was now.

“It’s a little unpleasant, but…….”

Thinking about it differently, I had returned to my original world as the goddess’s tool, her weapon.

With that thought, I sank deeply into contemplation and drew out my mana to its absolute limit.

Pahjit! Shuuuuuuuu―!

In an instant, my white aura burst forth and surged in a swirling mass.

Pajijijijik!

Lightning stretched out as if trying to draw in everything around it.

“This alone isn’t enough…….”

Even with the aura of White Lightning Flash alone, I could deal damage to demons.

But that was all.

If the form was unclear and centered around a core like it had been with Valam, it would only create confusion in battle.

Besides, there was no guarantee the core would always be there.

Honestly, Valam might have only been readable because he charged in so mindlessly.

“Focus……!”

The aura that had become a massive vortex gradually began to shrink.

As it did, the wind steadily calmed, and the branching lightning that had been scattering in all directions grew faint.

Only its size diminished.

I felt a massive energy gathering below my solar plexus.

‘Is this like the dantian from those martial arts stories Lewis used to watch?’

Mana and aura were the same.

They were merely called different things depending on the user and how they were used.

In particular, aura and mana were stored within the body and used like parts of it.

Right now, I was shaping that bodily part with an overwhelming density and quantity.

“Ugh!”

Perhaps because I moved the aura too rapidly, the muscles throughout my body trembled as if an earthquake had struck.

The meridians across my entire body also surged violently.

‘It feels like something’s about to happen……!’

Without knowing any method in particular, I simply moved the aura according to its flow.

The more aura gathered beneath my solar plexus, the thinner the surrounding vortex became.

Eventually, as if nothing had ever happened, the wind vanished, leaving me standing alone.

“Kgh……!”

The moment I let my guard down even slightly, the energy threatened to explode outward in all directions.

So I endured it and waited.

Time continued to pass, and the sun sank lower in the sky.

Until then, I couldn’t move at all.

‘…I’m not going to die like this, am I?’

It wasn’t painful enough to kill me outright.

But if someone like me, who had survived every situation, were to die from a mistake during simple training, how absurd would that be?

Everything I had done since returning to the past would be wasted.

‘……Huh?’

At that moment, a small black shape moved in the southern sky.

At first it was no bigger than a fingernail, but as it drew closer, I could tell it was enormous.

That shape was approaching me.

Kooong―!

It finally reached the ground in front of me, landing with a thunderous sound.

‘D-Dragon?’

The identity of the shape that landed just a few steps away was a dragon.

And not just any dragon, but a Green Dragon whose entire body was cloaked in verdant light.

It towered well over the height of a five-story building.

Thin green eye-light, born of its overwhelming size, swept deeply over me.

At the same time, a clear and gentle woman’s voice resonated in my head.

[I am Finzel Gloria. So you are the proxy chosen by the goddess.]

I couldn’t help but be startled.

A dragon, said to have not been seen for countless years, had appeared—of course I would be.

But I couldn’t open my mouth, still controlling the aura I had concentrated.

‘…What should I do?’

As I pondered, the dragon who had introduced herself as Finzel Gloria spoke again in my head.

[Your voice is reaching me, so there is no need to worry.]

‘You can hear my thoughts……? And Finzel Gloria? Don’t tell me, the Finzel Forest’s…….’

I trailed off mid-thought, overwhelmed by the dragon’s immense presence.

The dragon, unconcerned, answered.

[That is correct. That place is my resting ground. And you may speak comfortably. Proxy chosen by the goddess.]

‘Weren’t dragons supposed to have disappeared from this continent?’

I recalled the dragon dungeon in the Finzel Forest that Charoen of the Black Crescent Moon had mentioned.

But according to the explanation, it was already a home that had lost its master.

[We are gatekeepers and observers who guard the space between the Middle Realm and the Heavenly Realm. We were never seen by anyone, but we did not disappear.]

‘So you were hiding there all this time?’

[You could say it was similar.]

‘If I had gone looking, it could’ve been dangerous. Then why did you reveal yourself? And why come here?’

I was facing a dragon that had not been seen for countless years.

There had to be a reason for that, which only deepened my curiosity.

[I sensed a power that might knock on the gate of the Heavenly Realm, so I came to see. However, once I realized you were a proxy, I understood everything.]

‘Because of me?’

[It did exceed expectations to some extent……, but a proxy can possess any kind of power.]

‘What if I ended up destroying the Middle Realm with that kind of thinking?’

Even now, it was possible.

If I unleashed magic beyond the 6th Circle and aura capable of cleaving the continent, every kingdom would kneel before me.

Of course, with the Demon King as a massive obstacle, it wouldn’t be easy right now…….

[The goddess would not have bestowed her blessing upon such a person.]

‘Then what kind of person am I?’

[A person who regrets the past, who strives to protect the present, who longs for the future. One who was once weaker than anyone, yet has now grown stronger than anyone.]

It was a voice that seemed to know everything.

Finzel’s voice felt as though it pierced straight through my mind.

‘So in the end, you want me to resolve the current situation? Why not do it yourself?’

[Because the goddess cannot directly interfere with the Middle Realm…….]

‘Back in the original past, wasn’t there someone like me?’

The question arose naturally as our conversation continued.

I wondered whether there might have been a proxy like me even in the future I had experienced before returning to the past.

[There was not. No—saying that they disappeared would be more accurate.]

‘Why did they disappear?’

[I do not know. We are merely beings who live within the current Middle Realm.]

‘Ah……, so I’m the only one who retains memories of the original future?’

[Probably…….]

Of course, even those memories were extremely limited, ending when I died after staying in the Canel Kingdom and the Kanas Territory.

If I hadn’t changed my resolve, I might have experienced the same future again.

‘More importantly…, can’t you help me somehow?’

I had been standing in a horse-stance-like posture since the sun was high overhead until now.

I was still holding onto the aura gathered beneath my solar plexus.

Each time I responded to the dragon, I was on edge, fearing the condensed aura might explode if I made a mistake.

[You are trying to break through a wall.]

‘……A wall?’

[A trial that beings of a higher order must pass through in order to grow. You have created it yourself.]

‘…A trial?’

[I cannot help you. Only by completing it yourself will it truly become yours. However…, I shall leave you a gift—something humans of the past were fond of.]

A black space opened in the air before Finzel.

It was a subspace, similar to the storage I used.

From within it, a crystalline silver-white mass, shimmering and translucent, popped out.

[It is Orichalcum, a metal said to have been touched by the hand of a god. For me, forming a connection with the proxy is also worthwhile. I hope it becomes a good gift.]

Chwaaaak!!

The sun fully set, plunging everything into darkness.

Within that darkness, Finzel spread her massive wings and prepared to take flight.

‘Why are you doing this much for me?’

[As I said before, you are a proxy. I am a gatekeeper and an observer. In the future the goddess desires, your power will not be insignificant.]

‘What do you mean?’

[When you stand at the end, you will know.]

With those words, Finzel rapidly soared into the sky. Her speed was so fast that an ordinary person wouldn’t even be able to see her.

Of course, with my body not in perfect condition, it was hard to follow her until the end.

‘I need to deal with this state first.’

I hadn’t received any advice.

In the end, it was a problem I had to solve on my own.

I carefully sensed the condensed aura.

The surface, which I had thought would be smooth, was shallowly yet violently surging, as if boasting that it was the aura of White Lightning Flash.

Like lightning searching for metal.

‘How do I stabilize this? Should I make it rotate? If I mess up, it could burst out. If only there were gravity…….’

As I continued muttering inwardly, something important flashed through my mind.

‘That’s it. Gravity!’

I rotated the mass beneath my solar plexus, hollowing out the center.

As the speed increased, the stamina I had been enduring rapidly drained away.

‘I have to complete it somehow.’

The center was cleanly hollowed out. At the same time, I extracted mana from the aura using a magic operation method.

The spherical mass of mana, unlike the aura of White Lightning Flash, was stable.

Using that mass, I deliberately made it draw in the aura.

Shuaaaaaak! Pajijijijik―!

The aura, spinning at tremendous speed, gradually became smoother.

Instead of bursting outward, it began to stabilize in accordance with the mana pulling it inward.

At the same time, I slowly opened my eyes, which I had closed briefly while focusing.

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