Why Did I Have to Enroll

Why Did I Have to Enroll - Chapter 169

Lesson 34. Free Subordination - 4

“Slothia, when the time comes, you need to come right away.”

“A secret meeting? Right after mating with the first one―― Ouch!”

I had a bad feeling that if someone didn’t keep their mouth shut, the news of my affair with Luciel would spread across the entire universe.

…Or was it already too late?

“Remember, I hit equally, even if you’re a woman.”

Even now, I could sense countless ‘concepts’ of insects crawling underground. If there really was someone on the enemy side who could control the Forest Worms, then sweating all afternoon uprooting trees was literally a waste of time. As long as the insects followed them, the enemy could walk on bare ground without any problem, while the Wolf Fang Tribe would be at a disadvantage.

‘But replanting the trees right now would be a bad move.’

“All the insects? Is that possible?”

“Of course.”

Everything I prepared before leaving for the special activity was for emergencies like this. Ban Yu-won replied confidently and mounted Lilith.

Checking the sky one last time, I saw Dokgo Yeon summon a Mountain Giant from the sky, crushing a massive ship beneath it before skillfully unsummoning it.

―Yeah, why should I worry about her?

Meanwhile, Luciel was learning the fox magic from her mother in real combat. Determined to lead this war to victory for her sake, Ban Yu-won launched Lilith.

[Aren’t you taking Guangzhao, Master? You’ll need it for the complete form.]

“It’ll be needed by Dokgo Yeon. Besides, it’s not the right time yet.”

―You’re keeping it well hidden.

“The enemy hasn’t shown themselves yet, so of course.”

While conversing with Lilith and Celon, Ban Yu-won prepared for battle. He took out all twenty-five Rain Swords and charged them with Magic Power. Since completing the Origin Blade, he could freely control twenty-five streams of rain without resonating with the Executioner’s Longsword. If he evolved the Mysterious Body Technique, he might even wield each of the twenty-five swords as if he held them himself…

‘No, that’s soon enough.’

The foundational martial arts that shaped the current Dokgo Yeon had taken its time, but since arriving on this star, Ban Yu-won had felt the signs of change.

‘The direction to step forward seems decided.’

All thanks to Luciel…

A smile crept up. Until now, he had been pretending to be calm due to the circumstances, but alone, he couldn’t hide the emotions surging within. Pride, emptiness, self-satisfaction, contentment, happiness, anticipation, affection for Luciel—all these feelings.

―Are you happy? Enjoying it?

“Let’s be a little childish when it’s just us.”

Ban Yu-won tried to wipe the smile off his face, responding seriously to Celon’s sudden remark, but failed. Even knowing an important battle awaited, he couldn’t…

―He manages his expressions well in front of his girl… Men are really something.

[It means he’s honest in front of me.]

―That’s true, how cute.

“Enough of you… Ouch, Eve?”

At that moment, Eve bit Ban Yu-won’s hand a little painfully. The concept of the Forest Worms moving underground was intensifying, and she noticed it first, alerting him.

“Tsk, is it because we made a path that they’re moving more actively… Go.”

All twenty-five streams of rain flew up and plunged into the ground. Like worms, they burrowed into the soil, severing the Forest Worms at the end of their trajectory and retrieving only the concept before rising again.

Ban Yu-won, who had achieved a depth of 100 in an instant by filling the drill with all the excavation, smiled proudly.

“The deeper the depth, the harder it is to raise, so let’s aim for a thousand.”

[I’m definitely not using that.]

“You don’t know the charm of drills, how unfortunate.”

Ban Yu-won soon emerged from the forest into an open space. On this star, there was nothing but forest, so the open space was merely the empty area created when Ban Yu-won uprooted a large number of trees earlier. Now, a large number of Forest Worms were writhing there.

“That’s enough to kill the appetite…”

―There’s definitely a sorcerer somewhere. See? It’s the art of Gu Poison.

Gu Poison is a type of Eastern curse where multiple poisonous insects are placed in a jar to kill each other until only one survives. However, Ban Yu-won found it quite unfamiliar that Celon mentioned it.

―Did you forget I have the concept of curses among those I hold? I understand all magic, regardless of the field.

“Now that you mention it, you did.”

―It’s good we came early. Once Gu Poison is complete, there’s no solution. Let’s end it quickly.

Nodding, Ban Yu-won picked up his staff. The Forest Worms writhing on the ground all turned their heads to stare at him. Immediately, a spell flew in from somewhere, bouncing off the shield Celon had deployed.

―They’re sniping from afar. Seems they’re scared to face us head-on.

“Eve, can you handle the disturbance?”

“Ssssss.”

Eve, who bit Ban Yu-won’s hand once more, disappeared into the air as if melting away. Even as the sniping continued, Lilith moved lightly to evade it. Sensing the flow of concepts from all directions while resonating with Ban Yu-won, she quickly evaded as soon as she detected his intent.

“Still not enough. We need to respond perfectly to every situation.”

―Reflecting is good, but shouldn’t we deal with that first?

“What should we use?”

―Light Magic is good, but Holy Light Magic is even better.

Considering the effect of Light Magic in suppressing monster waves, it was natural to apply the same principle. However, Holy Light Magic was a concept Celon had regained upon awakening, and Ban Yu-won couldn’t wield it…

“I can’t use Holy Light Magic, is that okay?”

―Just inject Light Magic Power. I’ll handle the rest.

Celon was becoming more and more reliable these days. Without hesitation, Ban Yu-won injected Light Magic Power into the staff’s crystal. At the exact moment when more than half of his Magic Power was poured out, Celon directed all the Light Magic Power into the sky.

―Meteor Shower!

“That’s a straightforward and good name.”

Muttering while replenishing the lost Magic Power through the Mysterious Body Technique, Ban Yu-won watched. But the effect of the spell was no joke. As soon as the light shot into the sky, it illuminated the heavens like a fireworks display, visible to anyone on this star.

―Holy Light Magic is powerful because it creates the power of stars on its own, but it’s also strong because it draws power from other stars. Without a deep understanding of the movement of stars and the light they create, it can’t be wielded.

“Indeed… It’s a bit different from what I thought.”

Before he knew it, the sniping had stopped. Perhaps surprised by the light illuminating the sky, or maybe Eve was effectively stopping them. Either way, it didn’t matter anymore. A meteor shower was pouring down.

―Screeeeech!

The masses of light filling the sky fell like strands of noodles, piercing through the Forest Worm swarm. With each falling beam of light, the sacred energy within was released, causing the grotesque insects that were merging to scream and disintegrate. Eventually, more and more beams of light appeared, merging into what seemed like a pillar of light connecting the sky and earth.

“That’s amazing…”

―The level of my soul is now 800. If I can’t perform magic of this level, I can’t call myself a great mage, can I?

With Ban Yu-won supplying the lacking Magic Power and Celon supplementing the lacking level, they borrowed the miracle they couldn’t achieve with their power from the stars filling the sky.

―Let’s enchant before the magic effect disappears. I’ve used up all my Magic Power, so casting additional spells is tough.

“Okay.”

Though Ban Yu-won and Celon didn’t resonate, they shared magical knowledge, so he understood her intent without needing a detailed explanation. Ban Yu-won sent all twenty-five streams of rain into the pillar of light, and Celon partially transformed the magic to imbue the Rain Sword with starlight.

―It’s not all over. You know that, right?

“Of course.”

Almost simultaneously with the enchanted Rain Sword emerging from the pillar of light, the pillar lost its power and disintegrated. More than half of the Forest Worms were dead, and of the remaining, half had lost most of their bodies and were writhing, but the surviving insects were still devouring each other, growing their bodies.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Ban Yu-won mercilessly retrieved the golden strings overflowing from the ground, sent the Rain Sword to deal the final blow to the surviving insects, and conceptualized their bodies before other insects could devour them, retrieving them as well. The depth of the excavation concept held by the hand drill, which had become a dedicated core, was continually increasing, reaching nearly 800.

One could tell how many Forest Worms had been killed just by looking at that.

―This is getting hard to maintain.

[I’m not eating it, Master!]

It’s only natural that the entities capable of holding a deep concept are limited. Ban Yu-won’s artifacts were balanced with concepts that could substitute for soul, magic, and body, and they were endlessly growing, so they were enduring. But a regular hand drill couldn’t handle the excavation.

“Alright, let’s expand the vessel a bit…”

He was extracting concepts necessary for maintaining form, like Magic Power or a hard shell, from the insects. After embedding all the unnecessary concepts into the hand drill, it finally regained stability.

―Screeeech!

A significantly larger Forest Worm surged up from the ground, targeting Ban Yu-won. But when Ban Yu-won aimed the hand drill at it and activated it with Magic Power, its head was ground away, and its body exploded before it even made contact!

“How about now, still think excavation isn’t great?”

―If you gather 800 concepts, anything would be strong.

Even the Rain Sword, which was being grown in real-time, had a core concept depth of about 300. Adding the Executioner’s Longsword, he had raised the depth of a whopping twenty-six swords that much. But now, it seemed like all the Forest Worms on this star were gathering in one place, so if they were all combined…

“Wait a minute?”

―What’s wrong?

“Then this is practically Gu Poison.”

―…It is.

Celon began calculating as she looked around the area, which was collapsing under the weight of the increasingly gathered insects.

―The art of Gu Poison hasn’t been stopped yet. Alright, let’s take it.

“Can you do it?”

―As I said earlier, I have the concept of curses.

The plan was simple. Inject a fragment of Ban Yu-won’s soul into the hand drill, which had already absorbed most of the Forest Worms’ concepts, and add resonance to allow it to absorb concepts on its own. Then, use Celon’s curse to focus the effect of the Gu Poison art on the drill. Finally, insert it into the Forest Worm swarm.

“Oh, ohhh.”

―Our collaborative magic.

Celon said proudly. The hand drill, spinning fiercely, charged into the Forest Worms like moths to a flame, sacrificing themselves. The number of insects was decreasing much faster than when Ban Yu-won controlled the Rain Sword to kill them. Despite being a grand spell using all the insects on the star, the result was that Ban Yu-won could devour it all, achieving a far better outcome than wasting energy killing them!

“What are you――― doing?”

Finally, they revealed themselves. A group of people, faces hidden under hoods, floating on strange platforms in the sky. The sorcerer attempting to use Gu Poison was likely among them.

“Ssssss.”

“Good job, Eve.”

Eve, who had disrupted and blocked their attacks with her abilities, including illusions, felt sorry for not stopping them completely, but Ban Yu-won never expected her to handle it alone. Instead, he was grateful for the time she bought, allowing them to secure the Gu Poison smoothly.

“Is this the one the master mentioned?”

“Unbelievable, how did he interrupt the ritual midway…”

“It’s not too late, kill him and take it back.”

“Kill him!”

Uttering ominous words, they charged in. If they were mere minions, it would end quickly, but thanks to Ryu Cheol-myeong’s heavy spending, they all had a stronger presence than Ban Yu-won. But he had no intention of losing. Ban Yu-won smirked and summoned his mechanical servants. Then he shouted.

“Lilith, combine!”

[Yes, Master!]