The second the light burst intensely, Erna thought it would be the end of her as she felt her body’s inherent magic being sucked into the enormous spell. She did create the spell, but it held many uncertainties.
Magic is possible even by the weakest of wizards, yet it is more than just the ability to conjure powerful magical letters. If it cannot be controlled, no matter how much power it contains, it will be nothing more than useless, and if a caster recklessly demonstrated magic beyond his ability, their magic power will easily disappear. To avoid this, Erna drew upon the magic of the pillars, believing that channeling such power would allow her to cast the spell. But, Erna felt her consciousness fade.
Will I die like this?
Moments before she completely slipped into oblivion, however, the world suddenly brightened. When she closed her eyes instinctively, Erna realized that she was surrounded by nothing but magic. It was as if only her and magic were left in the world. She looked around for signs of life, but there was only magic. She tried to approach the magic, softly spinning, but it was as though a heavy lump of metal was weighing her down. Erna stood for a moment and looked at it from a distance.
It was a magic so immense that it could not be described in human language, and she was horrified by its scale, even though she knew it was her creation. It was designed to have an impact as wide as possible as long as the mana sustained, but she had not anticipated that it would continue to grow in size until it covered the entire sky in Hessenguard.
Erna was both in awe and terrified that the magical power of the pillars extended to this level. The rest of the kingdoms should be grateful that whoever made this only wanted to display it in Hessenguard.
Erna desperately took a step closer to the spell with all her might. The flashing and rotating magic appeared unstable. As she stared at it, her eyes strangely closed. Her whole body felt limp, like cotton drenched in water. Furthermore, she wanted to get closer and closer to it. Erna unconsciously reached out to the spinning magic. Suddenly, she felt a powerful tug pulling her back strongly.
“Let go!” she said. She shook her hand roughly at the thought of being disturbed. Then a familiar voice rang in her ear.
“Wake up! Are you crazy?”
It was a pleasant voice, but at the same time, annoying.
“Kalion..?” muttered Erna, confused.
“Yes, it’s me! Do you recognize me? Can you hear me?”
As Erna turned her head, she could see him breathing hard and soaked in sweat. Strange, she thought. How could she see Kalion in this space where only magic existed? So this wasn’t my unconsciousness? He clung to Erna’s waist as if desperately trying to bind her.
“Let go,” she said, “it hurts.”
“No,” refused Kalion. “If I do that, you’ll get closer to that magic.”
“Of course… Of course?” Erna caught herself. Strange, she thought again. The magic in front of her was dangerous. Even if she were fascinated, she, in her right mind, would not have approached it carelessly. She would have inspected it from a distance. What could have possessed her to act strangely?
Erna suddenly returned to her senses, as if a bolt of lightning had struck her brain. “What, what happened?” She blinked in surprise and looked around.
Kalion, who was hugging her, asked, “You didn’t hear me when I kept calling you, did you?”
“You did?” Erna shook her head. Until now, there was only complete silence. The shock on her face caused Kalion to sigh deeply.
“I’ve been calling you ever since I opened my eyes to this strange place,” he said, “but it was as if you couldn’t hear me, and you kept approaching the magic like you were enchanted by it, so I kept holding on to you.”
After hearing that, Erna felt her wrists throb. When she lowered her gaze, a red handprint was imprinted on her skin. She realized how desperately Kalion had pulled her away. As she looked at the magic again, her skin prickled in fear. She had thought until a moment ago it was marvelous, but seeing it now, it was terrifying. It baffled her how she attempted to approach it mindlessly. She grabbed Kalion’s neck and buried her head into his chest. Once her thoughts began to clear, realization dawned on her.
“I guess I didn’t have enough strength,” she muttered.
“What do you mean?” asked Kalion.
“It was good that it absorbed all the pillar’s magic and grew…” Erna trailed off, leaving Kalion in confusion.
“Pillar?” he asked again. “What do you mean?”
“The pillar we saw in the ruins,” replied Erna, “I told you it’d be in the basement of the Grand Castle. There really is. The pillars were so powerful that it made my magic like this.”
At Erna’s words, Kalion looked dumbfounded. “Are you out of your mind?” he shrieked. “Why on earth would you do such a dangerous thing?” Erna closed her eyes tightly to spare herself from Kalion’s scolding, but he went on and on until Erna burst into anger.
“Yes! I knew it was dangerous and did it!” Erna screamed, punching Kalion in the chest. “But what can I do? I thought you were dead! So how could I have thought of anything else! I pretended to be the strongest in the world, but you couldn’t be reached! And all I found was blood-stained and wounded armor! But you’ve been pretending all this time!” she complained, indignantly.
“I did it on purpose to fool Nandes!” explained Kalion.
“Shut up! I was fooled before Nandes was fooled!”
When Erna clenched her teeth and glared at him with tearful eyes, Kalion shut his grumbling mouth. Instead, he smiled and hugged Erna tightly in his embrace. “Were you worried a lot?” he asked softly.
“How can I not worry when my husband is dead!” yelled Erna.
