The squad members did not remember what had just happened.
They did not know that they had been possessed by the mages’ evil spirits(?), nor that they had pointed their weapons at me.
“It feels like there was a brief gap in my memory.”
Of course, there was Magreta, who sensed something was off,
“I feel... tired and sad. I don’t think these are my emotions...”
and Hanna, who had felt the emotions of the mage who had possessed her.
But the only ones who knew what had happened were Soph and me.
[I never thought I’d see this magic circle here. This is forbidden magic as well...]
A vast magic circle spread across the basin around the tower.
Though countless years had passed, the magic circle still remained.
It had not remained because it had been carved deeply.
This magic circle was drawing in the surrounding energy to keep itself maintained.
Like a living creature repairing itself, the magic circle gathered energy and restored itself.
The reason a magic circle made by humans could do such a thing was because something resembling life had been breathed into it.
As if creating a spirit.
[That would be the mages’ minds and lives. Some call it the soul, but in any case, the essence of the mages themselves was injected into the magic circle. This is a magic circle made through human sacrifice.]
It was only natural that this magic circle had been forbidden.
It was also only natural that something resembling evil spirits still lingered here.
The souls of the mages trapped in the magic circle had clung to the squad members.
[This is why I hated those mages who went on about corps and battalions. Just what do they think their lives are...? If your soul ends up bound to a magic circle like this, how is that any different from remaining in hell forever!]
Soph denounced the other mages in an angry voice.
He said he did not believe in souls, yet spoke of them all the same.
I looked down at the spear in my hand.
If the mages’ souls were bound to the magic circle, then Soph, trapped in the staff, was no different.
Then was he, too, living in hell right now?
But I could not bring myself to ask.
I pretended not to hear and walked across the magic circle.
The squad members cautiously followed behind me.
They all seemed startled by the sudden appearance of the magic circle.
“This magic circle... it won’t be a problem, right?”
At Tom’s words, I stopped walking and planted the spear on the ground.
Beside me, Magreta asked,
“Do you know what kind of magic circle it is?”
It was my first time seeing this magic circle too, but I felt like I knew what it was.
It seemed to be knowledge left behind by the mage who had tried to enter my mind.
“It’s a magic circle that casts debuff magic. It scatters annoying spells like confusion, weakening, and slowing in the surrounding area.”
At my words, everyone’s expressions turned strange.
“It doesn’t sound all that dangerous, though...”
At Sergeant Woo’s words, Tom tilted his head.
“It does seem like it would make your head and body feel heavy.”
“But it won’t kill you right away.”
Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing.
At Sergeant Woo’s words, they all nodded.
I could only make a bitter expression at what they said.
This magic circle had been created by mages who poured their souls into it.
And yet it wasn’t dangerous?
But that statement was not wrong.
It was also true that this magic circle had no killing power.
[It couldn’t have been otherwise. Its purpose must have been to make the monsters chasing them return as late as possible.]
I had no way of knowing how powerful the monsters that had chased them were.
However, among the mages I had seen in Soph’s memories, only about one-third had reached this place.
The other mages must have died while luring the monsters away.
In the end, the remaining mages could not face the monsters that had pursued them.
So what they left behind was this magic circle.
A magic circle left behind to hinder the monsters until the very end.
That magic circle had remained until now, guarding the tower.
“Don’t tell me we’re under the magic too?”
“Could the brief gap in our memories after entering the basin have been because of that?”
I shook my head at Tom and Magreta’s words.
They had been affected by something, and their memories had been cut off, but it had not been because of the magic circle.
Too much time had passed.
Almost none of the magic circle’s effects remained.
What had attacked the squad members were the minds of the mages consumed by the magic circle—their distorted souls.
[They’re dregs left over after everything was used up maintaining the magic circle. In vulgar terms, they’re like the lingering echoes of souls.]
Soph seemed to be evaluating them coldly, but to my ears, it sounded as if he was disparaging himself.
Because I was silent while listening to Soph, the squad members began talking among themselves.
“The magic circle must have been left by the mages who built the tower, right?”
“But why would they leave behind a magic circle like this?”
“What on earth happened here?”
Speculation and questions continued among them.
Unlike the squad members, because I had seen the magic circle that remained and Soph’s memories, I felt like I knew what had happened here.
The mages of the magic corps had lured the monsters guarding the Demon King’s Castle(?) all the way here in order to help Soph and his companions, and had sacrificed their lives to create this magic circle in front of the tower.
When the monsters came swarming in, all that must have remained before the tower were the magic circle and the mages’ corpses.
The monsters, realizing that all the humans they had been chasing were dead, must have returned from this place while under the magic.
All of them weakened and slowed.
Soph told me the result that followed.
[They succeeded. The monsters could not return until we sealed the Demon King and left.]
According to Soph, their sacrifice had been worthwhile, but unfortunately, neither they nor the humans living on this star received any reward for it.
In the end, humanity on this star had gone extinct.
I pushed aside the heaviness that threatened to settle over me and gripped the spear tightly.
When I looked at the magic circle while holding the spear, a spell came to mind.
A spell that could reverse the magic circle drawn in the basin—a spell to erase the magic circle.
I had not learned this spell from the ghost, nor had Soph ever cast it.
But I simply knew it.
It was probably because it had been created by reversing an existing spell.
Even so, it was strange, but this was not the time to dwell on it.
For now, I decided to keep it in mind.
Now was the time to release the mages bound to the magic circle and suffering.
Lastly, I spoke to Soph.
[I will remove the magic circle.]
[What? You can remove the magic circle?]
[Yes. I just need to reverse it, don’t I?]
[That’s true, but... have you seen that spell somewhere before?]
[There’s no way I have. You see everything I see, Soph.]
Whether I saw Soph’s memories through dreams or other methods, or whether I was possessed by an evil spirit, Soph could see all of it.
If one thought about it, I had no privacy.
He said he did not look or listen when necessary, but aside from when I was unconscious, I had no way of knowing what state he was in.
[Then that makes no sense... That is not a spell one can know without learning it.]
Soph kept grumbling, but it had nothing to do with me.
After calling the magic circle and incantation to mind, I tried to dispel the magic circle.
Wooooong.
That was when Soph hurriedly stopped me.
[Wait. There is no need to simply erase the magic circle.]
At Soph’s sudden words, I withdrew the energy again.
[Rather than wasting energy by erasing it outright, it would be more effective to use the magic circle on the monsters coming this way.]
When I drew back the spell, Soph quickly continued.
[With a bit of adjustment, the magic circle can be used again. Only about once, but it will be a great help in dealing with the monsters.]
Soph’s words were certainly reasonable.
Though it was a magic circle that could not kill directly, if it could be repaired, it would undoubtedly be a great help in dealing with the monsters.
But this time, I did not follow Soph’s words.
“If that is the only reason, then we don’t need the magic circle’s help. I was planning to fight even without it.”
As Soph said, the magic circle would be helpful, but it would not be a major problem without it.
On the way here, I had already made plenty of plans for fighting the monsters.
A plan to use the basin and the tower to bring the monsters down. There would be some damage, but we could defeat the monsters well enough.
In the worst case, we could also flee using the tower’s spatial movement facility.
However, that was not why I opposed Soph’s words.
I simply wanted to hear what Soph had to say.
After a moment, Soph spoke the words I wanted to hear—his true feelings.
“...I beg you. Let them finish it, just this once.”
I nodded at Soph’s words.
In truth, I had been thinking the same thing.
It did not matter whether what remained was their souls or the dregs of their minds.
This was the place where they had made their final sacrifice.
Their final funeral had to be carried out properly.
This time, without calling any spell to mind, I poured energy into the staff again.
Soph began to chant.
[Repair yourselves. Recall once more what you desired. The enemy is approaching. Undo your final shackles and prepare to accomplish what you longed for...]
Perhaps because it was forbidden magic, it sounded less like a magical incantation and more like sorcery.
As I listened to Soph’s chant, I felt like I could imitate it to some extent, but this magic would be difficult to perform as well as Soph did.
‘Magic that requires communion with the target...’
No wonder Soph disliked it.
Since I was not as close to them as Soph was, I could not properly cast the spell.
‘Were Soph and the mages much closer than what I saw in his memories?’
If not, there was no way the magic circle would be repaired this easily.
Wooooooong.
Light began to fill the magic circle.
I spoke to the squad members, who were looking at me and the magic circle with startled eyes.
“The magic circle seems like it will help in the fight. I will repair this magic circle, so please head to the tower as planned.”
Though old, the tower with windows still looked sturdy enough.
It seemed like it would be able to withstand more than a few attacks from the monsters.
Even in the original plan, we had intended to fight using the tower as a defensive wall.
The plan was for the squad members to enter the tower and launch long-range attacks at the monsters while I lured the monsters outside.
The tower might be damaged in the process, but as long as the spatial movement facility underground remained intact, there would be no problem.
Thinking about it, not much had changed from the plan.
Everyone else could proceed as planned, and I alone would stand atop the magic circle instead of running away.
As soon as I gave the order, the squad members moved quickly.
Normally, they joked around and sometimes objected, but when I gave an order like this, they moved immediately.
The tower’s security was still active, but I released it all with my own hands.
That was because I could use all the magic contained in the tower lord’s bracelet.
The squad members who passed by me and went upstairs let out cries of surprise, but I had no time to check what they had seen.
After confirming that the spatial movement device in the basement was safe, I came back outside.
Then I stood at the center of the magic circle and waited for the monsters to come.
The dust storm drew closer and closer, covering the hill.
Through the dust, the monsters came into view.
I could see the control entity and the monsters that had followed us for ten days.
Grrrrrrr.
The monsters roared as they looked at me, and I flicked my spear toward them.
Bwooooooo!
Perhaps angered by the sight of me, the control entity let out a siren-like sound.
Together with that, the monsters began racing down the hill.
Their target was me.
I planted the spear into the ground.
Shwaaaaaak!
The magic circle shone brightly.
A magic circle filled the basin.
Within the shining magic circle, human figures could be glimpsed.
They were the people I had seen in Soph’s memories.
The mages.
The magic circle.