Beneath the High Tower, Purgatory raged.

The human soldiers’ defensive line crumbled under the heavy stomps of Magical Guide Structures and the tearing bites of Undead Corpses, their screams drowned out by the clash of steel and flesh.

Farther away, the Transcendents of the River Domain were struggling to dodge and weave under the Witch Demon’s furious Negative Energy Shock, their disadvantage growing more apparent by the second.

There was no time!

Before Vanessa had even finished speaking, all hesitation had vanished from Roland’s eyes.

With a sharp wave of his arm, the newly tamed Control Gemstone, radiating a dangerously submissive aura, shot forward like an arrow from a bowstring, straight toward the shimmering Magic Core before him.

The gemstone sliced through the air.

The Energy Barrier on the core’s surface—once seemingly indestructible and a source of Roland’s helplessness—dissolved like an Illusion the moment it touched the Control Gemstone.

It was as if the barrier itself existed only to welcome this key.

HISS!

A strange, low hum resonated.

The Control Gemstone plunged unimpeded into the depths of the core, like a drop of water merging with the sea.

Tendrils of deep purple Chaos light instantly erupted, spreading and corroding wildly along the twisted veins inside the Magic Core.

BOOM!

A pure torrent of Energy erupted violently in the depths of his soul, like a volcano dormant for ten thousand years.

Endless, suffocatingly vast Magic Elements surged through the invisible connection, pouring into Roland’s body and soul with the unstoppable force of a flood shattering every dam in its path!

Overload!

Roland felt like a wineskin being forcefully stuffed with an entire ocean storm.

Every nerve was on fire.

Every blood vessel was being stretched to the breaking point by searing liquid Energy.

His bones groaned.

His flesh screamed.

His consciousness was completely submerged by the pure brilliance of the Energy, his vision filled with nothing but an endless, churning, roaring sea of Magic Power.

He felt like the center of the Storm, a focal point about to be utterly burst apart and annihilated by this boundless might.

Just as he reached the very edge of complete Annihilation... 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The torrent of Energy that had been rushing in, on the verge of overwhelming him, suddenly transformed.

The Control Gemstone, embedded deep within the Magic City’s core, acted like a chaotic valve, forcibly combing through and guiding the violent flood, channeling it into energy pathways that his will could perceive.

The next moment, he "felt" it.

The towering spire was no longer just a building, but a massive Energy channel connected to the depths of the ley lines, drawing upon an infinite supply of chaotic Magic Power.

The entire Magic City Jiles—its source of power, the Authority over its very core—had been forcibly seized in his grasp.

Vanessa quietly watched as Roland struggled to stabilize himself within the pure Energy Storm.

She watched his violently trembling body emit a dangerous magical glow.

She watched his clenched jaw bleed, yet show the first signs of gaining control.

The inquisitive light in her violet eyes was shockingly bright.

"The ripples... have begun."

A low whisper, lost in the roar of Energy.

「The battlefield below the tower.」

The Witch Demon, who had been toying with his opponents, felt his pupils suddenly contract!

He could clearly feel the lifeline between himself and the Magic City’s core, the connection he relied upon to draw endless Magic Power...

Severed!

A cold, unfamiliar will, tinged with an aura of Chaos, had brutally taken control of his source of Power.

The Negative Energy he had been gathering exploded out of control for lack of reinforcement, and the backlash caused his Soul Fire to flicker violently, like a candle in the wind.

This sudden weakness and opening, in the eyes of the Transcendents fighting for their lives, was like a torch in the dead of night.

Having been desperately holding on, a light of hope flared in their eyes. Their posture instantly shifted from defense to offense, and they lunged like starving wolves upon their prey.

But beneath his hood, Ellis’s expression remained as cold as ever.

There was no Fear, no panic—only a mind that cleared in an instant.

’Without the infinite Magic Power support from the Magic City’s core, facing a numerically superior and re-energized group of Transcendents, continuing this fight would be an irrational waste of energy.’

’Forget it... I’ve had enough fun, anyway.’

Watching the Extraordinary Professionals rush eagerly toward him, his decaying black robes stirred without a wind, and his remaining Magic Power transformed into a precise and cold shadow.

’However...’

Looking at the constantly trembling Eight-sided Dice in his hand, a hint of curiosity flickered in Ellis’s eyes.

’It can even interfere with a device specially developed by Schmidt? How interesting. Who could it be... Could it be Van Buren?’

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, he ignored the attacks coming from behind him. With an elegant glide that seemed to defy the very space it crossed, he instantly broke away from the battle and ascended swiftly and calmly toward the top of the tower.

「Amidst the city ruins.」

An even more obvious change swept across the battlefield.

The tireless Magical Guide Structures that had been crushing the human defensive line suddenly saw the ferocious red light in their eyes extinguish.

Their heavy metal joints let out a piercing screech and then locked up completely.

The iron giants, who a moment ago were swinging their massive arms to smash down, now stood stock-still as if their spines had been ripped out, turning into cold, useless heaps of scrap metal.

In an instant, an eerie forest of motionless steel had appeared on the battlefield.

The soldiers, who had been resisting in despair just a second before, stared blankly at the now-motionless Mechanical Bodies and the Undead Corpses, which had become sluggish and significantly weaker.

The ecstasy of escaping death and the shock of the battle’s reversal shot through the near-collapsing defensive line like an electric current.

"For the Kingdom!"

It is unknown who was the first to let out a hoarse but powerful war cry.

The next moment, a sky-shaking roar echoed through the ruins.

The remaining soldiers erupted with astonishing strength, launching a ferocious counterattack against their dazed and disordered enemies like a bursting flood.

「Atop the High Tower.」

Roland had no time to consider the impact of his actions on the war.

His body was currently a fragile vessel being forcefully filled with an entire ocean storm.

Endless Magic Elements were still pouring and compressing through the forcibly established connection.

His blood vessels bulged beneath his skin like coiling dragons, emitting a piercing magical glow.

His bones groaned under the unbearable load.

His muscle fibers trembled on the verge of tearing.

A shriek of pure Energy overload echoed in the depths of his soul.

His consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse, scorched by the brilliance of the Magic Power.

At this extreme moment, on the verge of complete collapse...

A figure silently appeared, hovering before the High Tower’s massive Magic Core.

His black robe flowed like ink in the turbulent Energy Storm. The Shadow under his hood was bottomless, save for two emotionless pupils that focused with precision on the peak of the High Tower, like a viper locking onto its prey.

’It’s him?’

After seeing Roland’s face clearly, the indifferent look on Ellis’s face faltered for a moment.

Although they had only had brief encounters in Distant Harbor and the Black Water Territory, Ellis had a deep impression of this young face.

’A strong physique, an outstanding Spiritual Talent.’

’And especially that... strange Trick.’

Thinking of the Illusion he had seen in the Flame back then, Ellis’s lips tightened slightly.

’Before finding my Life Box, I even considered using Roland as a vessel for my reincarnation.’

’I remember back then, he was just a mortal...’

The Witch Demon’s cold thoughts flowed silently.

’To cultivate the Breathing Technique to this level in just a few short months? And his soul and Spirit as well... Truly admirable talent and perseverance. A pity...’

A faint sigh seemed to echo in the depths of his soul.

’If it were before the Era of the End, perhaps... we could have been friends.’

In an instant, gray-black Negative Energy gathered and compressed in his palm, emitting a destructive wave that made even the Transcendents of the River Domain, who were in close pursuit, tremble in spirit.

But Roland was faster.

Just as the Negative Energy had yet to fully coalesce...

A faint, orange-red glimmer ignited at Roland’s fingertip.

’That strange Trick again?’

Ellis’s thoughts stirred, and a fleeting sneer touched his lips.

’But the me of today is no longer... ’

The disdain in his indifferent pupils suddenly froze, replaced by profound shock.

He watched as the faint glimmer expanded outward at a terrifying speed.

It devoured the Magic Elements surging wildly from the Magic City’s core.

In the blink of an eye.

A massive fireball that blotted out the sky, radiating destructive heat and a piercing light like a sun falling to earth, had already roared into existence in Roland’s palm.