CHAPTER 149

Thud!

A dull sound of impact echoed as the blow sank into flesh.

But the sound hadn't come from Elric's direction.

"H-How…?"

The man turned his head and saw Sophia standing behind him, her expression cold and emotionless.

"What do you mean, how? If you were ready to hit someone in the back of the head, you should've been prepared for the same. I told you clearly—entering this place would be dangerous."

That warning she had given earlier had, in fact, been meant for them.

But more shocking than that was the realization that Sophia's skills were far superior to what they had known.

To approach so silently and strike like this…

He had always prided himself on having sharp instincts, but it seemed it had all been a misconception.

Of course, as someone who operated in the shadows, he also had a few hidden cards up his sleeve. But it was clear now—Sophia's abilities far exceeded his by a wide margin.

As he stared at the dagger protruding from his throat, blood bubbled up from his mouth.

Even as he tried to muster strength in his body, it kept draining away, as if pouring out through the cracks in a broken jar.

Gurgle—

Thud!

The man slumped lifelessly to the ground.

"Haa…"

Sophia let out a deep sigh of relief as she retrieved her dagger from the body.

Despite the icy storm raging around them, her back was soaked with cold sweat.

In contrast to what the man had assumed, Sophia had no real tricks left up her sleeve.

She had already used all her resources just to make it this far through the dungeon.

The only reason her ambush had succeeded was due to the thick mana permeating the dungeon.

'This is clouding my senses… even my judgment.'

Sophia's warning to the two men had been no lie.

She didn't know what treasure Elric had awakened, but it was definitely no ordinary item. The feeling of danger had been gnawing at her mind, making her want to observe the situation longer.

Having grown up in the harsh back alleys, Sophia had always relied on her instincts for survival, which had saved her time and time again when danger loomed.

This situation was no different.

Sophia had tried to stay calm and resist the treasure's pull, but the other two men, blinded by greed, had ignored her.

They fought among themselves and foolishly exposed their backs to Sophia, allowing her to easily take them out.

Thump! Thump!

Sophia steadied her breathing, trying to push back the enticing lure of the mana-filled air. She instinctively knew that staying here any longer would be dangerous.

'As much as I hate to leave it, if I take the treasure the other two men were after, I'll still be able to live comfortably for the rest of my life. And I can just get Elric to deal with the remaining dungeon guardians.'

Teaming up with Elric seemed like the most rational choice for now.

But just as she was about to leave—

"You're quite sharp."

Sophia's blood ran cold, and a shiver ran down her spine.

Elric, whom she thought was still wrestling with the treasure, had already turned his gaze toward her.

"Y-You…?"

"Wondering when I noticed?"

Sophia swallowed hard.

Elric smiled faintly, and to her, it looked all the more terrifying.

"Well, ever since you all pulled out your weapons."

"…!"

Sophia trembled.

That meant he had been watching everything from the beginning to the end.

And the clever Sophia quickly grasped the hidden message in his words.

If she hadn't stopped those two fools, she would have been dragged into the same fate and died as well.

'Come to think of it…!'

Only now did she realize that Elric had switched from using formal speech to more casual, informal language.

Of course, it would be ridiculous for him to maintain politeness toward people who tried to kill him.

But this felt different.

A moment ago, Elric had been cold and reserved. Now, he radiated confidence and danger—the complete opposite of before.

And this new attitude suited him much better, as if he had been hiding his true nature all along.

'He knew our plan from the start!'

Sophia felt chills run down her arms.

They had thought they were trapping Elric, but in reality, they had been the ones walking right into his trap.

How much of a fool must they have looked in his eyes?

'He made us lead him here on purpose.'

Maybe Elric had been searching for this dungeon all along. Or perhaps, from the very beginning, this dungeon had belonged to him.

"Oh, you seem to have figured things out."

Elric casually waved his hand.

The howling storm and blizzard that had filled the cave vanished as if it had all been a lie, and the overwhelming mana in the air also receded.

No, it wasn't quite that.

'It's being… absorbed?'

Sophia sensed that all the mana that had filled the dungeon was being absorbed into Elric.

The mana that had controlled the dungeon guardians, the ghost knights, and perhaps even the core of the dungeon itself—it all now belonged to him.

"You can feel that too, huh?"

Elric watched her with interest as her expression shifted.

"You're quite sensitive to mana. If you had received proper training, you might have become a decent magician."

But Sophia didn't hear a word of Elric's praise.

Thud!

She dropped to her knees in desperation.

"Please… spare me."

"Oh, come on. Don't be like that. Anyone who hears this would think I'm about to kill you right now."

Elric joked lightly, but it only made Sophia tremble even more.

"Please, I beg you, spare me!"

"You tried to kill me, but I can't do the same to you?"

"I'll do anything! I'm good at anything you ask—serving as a maid, stealing, anything. Please, just let me live!"

Sophia groveled at his feet, pleading desperately. The only thought left in her mind was survival. She had learned in the rough alleys that no method was too low if it meant staying alive.

"Well, making another corpse would just be annoying to clean up. Fine, go."

"Th-thank you! Thank you!"

As soon as Elric gave his permission, Sophia hurriedly stood up, afraid he might change his mind.

"Oh, and leave everything you took with you. They were originally from this dungeon, weren't they?"

Sophia hesitated for a moment but quickly realized that this was another test and abandoned everything without a second thought, rushing out.

Thankfully, the dungeon guardians didn't stop her.

『She runs like a scared dog. But are you really going to let her escape? She could expose the dungeon's location.』

Mephisto looked at Elric with a puzzled expression.

The Elric he knew wasn't the type to let potential threats walk away.

He was more of a ruthless figure who would uproot any potential problems before they could grow.

"She won't get a single step outside the dungeon."

『…?』

Mephisto stared at Elric, confused.

"You know, that sort of thing."

Elric waved it off as if it was no big deal.

Mephisto didn't dwell on it either. Whenever Elric said something like that, it usually meant he had some devious plan in mind.

No wonder Mephisto often referred to him as a cunning snake.

"Anyway, how do I look?"

Elric opened his mana fully and showed himself to Mephisto.

Mephisto's lips twisted into a sneer.

『So, you gained something after all. Is it divine power?』

"Bingo."

『You've completed the "Winter." You've become the full successor of Otto Han's legacy.』

Mephisto's pitch-black eyes sparkled with intensity, his lips curling further.

The power of his old rival, the one who had shattered his ambitions long ago, was now before him once again. It was impossible not to feel agitated.

『And it looks like you've unlocked the Spell-power Circuit.』

But what intrigued Mephisto even more was something else.

The Mana Pathway that was responsible for circulating Elric's mana had completely transformed.

Spell-power Circuit.

Not just anyone could create one.

The term "circuit" referred to a vast network of mana pathways that had been meticulously carved out. Mana had to flow smoothly through them, and each pathway had to be easily opened and closed with a mere thought.

Because of this complexity, creating a Spell-power Circuit was known to be incredibly difficult. Mastering it required even more effort and time.

But once completed, it allowed the user to freely manipulate their mana according to various magic disciplines, making it a shortcut to becoming nearly omnipotent.

In ancient times, many magicians had attempted to create Spell-power Circuit, but most had failed.

Over time, the knowledge of Spell-power Circuit seemed to have disappeared, lost to history.

Yet now, Elric had returned with that very knowledge.

Mephisto felt a strange sense of nostalgia.

It was as if he had suddenly been transported back a thousand years, to a time before his defeat and imprisonment.

"Just one month."

『…?』

"It took a whole month to fully master this."

『….』

"I thought I was going to die from exhaustion. Ugh!"

Elric shuddered, remembering the grueling time he had spent under Otto Han's relentless training in the mind realm, learning about the Spell-power Circuit and divine power.

Mephisto couldn't help but chuckle, half in disbelief.

Did this fool realize how many people in the past had desperately yearned to complete a Spell-power Circuit, despite the immense hardship?

And here he was, complaining after achieving it in just a month.

If they could drag him back a thousand years, people would surely beat him for making such an arrogant statement.

'But still…'

Mephisto scanned Elric from head to toe.

'This kid… he's nearly at the level of a Warlord.'

Was it because he had accumulated so much within himself?

It felt like everything Elric had learned, seen, and experienced was reaching its peak.

If some significant event triggered his full awakening, he might truly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Warlords—beings of immense power.

And—

'My spiritual power… my power has risen as well.'

Mephisto was certain of it.

As Elric unlocked his Spell-power Circuit and increased the dissolution rate of his mana core, Mephisto, who was linked to him, had also grown stronger.

Sizzle, crackle!

Mana sparks jumped from his open palm like tiny bolts of lightning.

The deeper his power grew, the more his eyes darkened with determination.

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