The spirits moved swiftly toward the room that Shion Lan had entered after he stood up in a crazed manner. They saw that boy transforming his hand into claws and destroying the room.
"What is that idiot doing?!"
"It looks like he's lost his mind!"
"Look at this!"
Shion fell toward the secret chamber where the magic circle was located.
"If he goes to the circle, his life will be drained by the evil spirit and it will grow stronger!"
"It seems the evil spirit has taken control of his mind!"
"We must stop him now!"
But before they could move, the ominous circle revealed dark tentacles emerging from it, attempting to seize Shion. At that very moment, however, he smiled perfectly.
"(Aura of Death)."
An aura erupted, sending chills through everyone. The tentacles and the spirits recoiled in fear. Shi Yun Lan stood upon the circle on his burned feet, completely unaffected, and said:
"Although the maximum limit of this place is the fourth level, that is not enough to bind me."
His aura spread throughout the entire palace.
"What is this?!"
"This is too terrifying!!"
"What kind of monster did that girl bring here?!"
The spirits spoke in terror, even being pushed out of the area by the pressure. Elsewhere, Sol's body trembled as she was surrounded by a pure white circle, unaware of what was happening. Outside, the spirits fled rapidly from the palace.
At the spot where Shi Yun Lan stood, a dark spirit manifested within the circle, surrounded by a sinister crimson-red and ominous orange light. It spoke angrily:
"A human like you dares to come before me?! Die!"
Before its attack reached him, it looked into those dark eyes, that magnificent smile, and that black hair darker than night, and was shocked by his level.
"Sixth level?! How is this possible?! We are inside a sealing domain!!"
Shi Yun Lan looked at it and said:
"An evil spirit whose true power is at the eighth level, yet sealed… how audacious. Creatures like you were once beneath my notice, trampled unconsciously, and now you dare stand before me face to face? I haven't even used my other power yet."
The spirit tried to flee from the boy. Because of the seal, it was at the fourth level, and it had taken immense effort for it to reach this place, yet now it stood before someone two levels higher, unaffected by the seal. Shi Yun Lan spoke with a smile:
"(Aura of Death) (Spirit of the Dead)."
The spirit felt its power being drained away and was shocked. Shi Yun Lan said indifferently:
"Spirits belong in the realm of the dead. You manifested in the world of the living, so you shall witness death once more."
The circle beneath them began to disintegrate, but Shi Yun Lan redirected his power to specific points within it.
"This circle possesses great power. It would be a waste to damage it, so I will erase your existence from it and replace it with mine. That way, You will only be at the seventh level. My sincerest apologies."
"Save me, my lord! I will do whatever you command!"
"I have no need for a weakling like you." "Nooo— Aaaaah!!"
The spirit vanished before Shi Yun Lan, screaming in agony and despair. Shi Yun Lan looked around and found the area quiet.
"Very well. Shion, you will handle things after I place you in this circle."
Energy surged from his body, drawing lines within the circle until it turned pitch black, with a faint light at its center. He murmured:
"(Body of the Dead) (Blood of the Dead)."
Shion's body was temporarily healed. He sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes
…
The spirits stood at a distance, having sensed that ominous aura. Once things calmed down, they decided to approach.
"Did he finally die?"
"That's strange, I don't feel the presence of the evil spirit."
"But where did that power go, and how did he release it under this seal?"
They entered cautiously, feeling around until they reached Shion Lan. His hair color had returned to normal, he was sitting cross-legged, and his injuries were nearly healed. Most importantly—
"Bring treatment immediately! That ominous aura has vanished!"
White spirits with gentle green auras arrived and used their power to heal his wounds, but one of them shook its head.
"I can't do anything at my current level. These injuries may look simple, but they require a living healer at the seventh level."
"Damn it! We couldn't do anything for the boy, and now that girl won't give us the Lady's remains!"
"But this is strange. This circle has changed, and the evil spirit's presence is gone."
The spirits looked at the circle, unable to understand its new symbols.
"Does this boy know spirit magic? Even so, his knowledge shouldn't rival that of the Neumann family in this field."
"Yes, and the color of the circle has changed. It used to be dark and emit an evil atmosphere, but this…"
"It carries no feeling at all. This blackness and darkness emit nothing, and that alone is terrifying. But that light at the center…"
"It's overflowing with life. I can feel everything from it—joy, sorrow, calm, anger. I can feel everything within it, yet it struggles against that darkness just to stay alive."
"This circle is extremely complex. I believe the darkness represents death, and the light represents the boy's life. It's as if the circle reflects what is happening now and, at the same time, is trying to save him due to the immense magical energy it absorbed from the evil spirit."
"Let us hope everything will be fine."
And at this moment nine pillars of light rose into the sky, visible throughout the kingdom: seven with an ominous glow, one with a pure light, and the last shrouded in darkness with a single shining point at its core
…
"Hmmm? Ah! Where am I?"
Shion Lan raised his head after lying on the floor and examined his surroundings. He was in a luxurious, well-lit room. He looked toward the window and saw that night had fallen.
"Have we been delayed this long?!"
He tried to stand up, and strangely, he did so with ease. He looked at his body in shock.
"All the wounds, the burns, everything… healed?! This is impossible unless… Shi Yun Lan!"
He shouted loudly, just as the door suddenly opened. Shion looked to see who it was—a man with white hair and clear eyes, wearing formal clothes. Shion sensed his power and was stunned.
'An eight-star duelist?!'
The man did not react to him at all and moved toward a desk. Shion instinctively stepped back.
'I don't know where I am, and I'm trapped with someone far stronger than me. How will I get out of here with Sol? But this man is ignoring me… does that mean he'll leave me without anything?'
Suddenly, a scream echoed throughout the palace. The door burst open and a servant rushed in.
'A five-circle mage?!'
But what happened shocked Shion—the servant passed straight through his body as if he didn't exist, then bowed quickly and said:
"Sir! The lady is about to give birth!"
"Now?!" The man was greatly startled. "Gather all forces and prepare immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
Without wasting time, both the master and the servant rushed off, passing straight through Shion, who stood there stunned.
"...."
Then he thought for a while,
'Birth? Forces? The palace?'
Outside, the atmosphere turned stormy—rain, lightning, and thunder. Shion murmured:
" What happened??'
He moved quickly toward the source of the woman's screams and found groups of duelists and mages, twenty in total. Shion was shocked.
"Two duelists and two mages at the seventh level, and the rest at the sixth!"
He didn't know how to pass through, but remembering what had happened, he decided to try. He reached out to push one of them, but his hand passed straight through.
"Alright?… this is strange?"
Shion moved through everyone like a ghost, unseen and unfelt, until he reached the room's door and passed through it as well. Inside, he found a woman whose appearance showed signs of madness, her entire body covered in scars and various marks.
He looked at her swollen belly, and unexpectedly, it was unharmed—her skin pure and white. As the women tried to manage the situation and preserve their lives due to the circumstances of the fetus, Shion sat on the ground, thinking unbelievably,
'Solan Neumann?!'
He stood there, unable to comprehend what was happening.
"This is impossible! Time travel cannot exist! Even in Shi Yun Lan's world, no one has done it! Even Director Tim Ayr has no right to do such a thing!"
Then he watched with troubled breaths,
"Based on what I see, I've gone back eighteen years. There's no interaction with me, and I can pass through everyone without being noticed. Is it because I hadn't been born yet? But time travel itself is impossible… so is this an illusion? No! I can sense all powers with perfect accuracy, and that precision didn't come recently—it's the result of staying in a body with sharp senses for a long time! …Wait! I can't sense Shi Yun Lan!"
Cold sweat drenched Shion as he closed his eyes, trying to reach Shi Yun Lan, but he couldn't.
"You bastard! Whenever I need you, you're not there!!"
He was extremely anxious, lost in thought, when he suddenly felt something and looked toward its source.
"This?!"
As the women tried to handle the situation, Florid Neumann was also looking at him with blood-red, sinister eyes.
"This… what is really happening?!"
The women around her were behaving strangely, as if trying to calm her, but Florid—or rather, the spirit—wasn't enraged at all. Suddenly, Shion felt a vile presence near the door.
"You again?!"
They were the evil spirits that had chased him ever since he entered the province. Now, the twenty people outside entered in the same strange way Shion had—passing through the door like ghosts. Among them were the fourth-level spirits he had fought before. But now he was in a terrible position without his sword, so he used (Fire Claws) and (Cutting Flames) again.
A small battle erupted inside the room during the childbirth.
"Damn it! Damn it! How can I stand against them?!"
Yet it didn't stop there—some spirits rushed toward the child about to be born. Shion thought for a moment before realizing:
"If they're heading toward Solan and can pass through the women normally, that means Solan isn't ordinary, and they might be able to harm her."
He swung his claws toward the other spirits and muttered coldly:
"(Star Vortex)"
He deflected the attacks that nearly struck him and killed the spirits that were about to harm Solan. Shion was astonished.
"I couldn't kill any of them outside, but I can now! Hahahaha!"
He looked excitedly toward the remaining spirits, especially those of the fourth level, and prepared both water magic and fire magic in his hands.