The memories gathered in my hand formed a tangible sphere.

I twisted the mana, unraveling the cohesion of the memory sphere.

“Now, it will go where it belongs.”

After watching the memories fade along their rightful path, I turned my gaze to the dark sorcerers before me.

They all wore expressions of shock.

But the most noteworthy face belonged to Archbishop Diamus.

“This is absurd… In that case, we’ll proceed with the second plan.”

With those words, Diamus raised a ring into the air.

Dark mana swirled around the ring.

“Do you think I’ll let you carry out your plan?”

Standing idly by while the dark sorcerers schemed was foolish.

I immediately shaped the wind into blades and launched them forward.

With a whoosh, the wind sliced through the air.

“Lord Diamus, watch out!”

Five dark sorcerer bishops cast a decay spell, shielding Diamus.

The razor-sharp wind blades, which seemed capable of cutting through anything, were easily stopped by the protective barrier.

“Even five bishops are a tough challenge.”

One-on-one, I wouldn’t lose to an archbishop. But against multiple opponents, the situation was different.

No matter how skilled a bishop, a decay spell barrier formed by five of them was not easily penetrated.

Diamus, using the bishops as a shield, was conjuring ominous magic.

“Do you think I’ll just let that happen?”

I placed my hand on the fairy’s gem in my pocket.

The gem hummed, converting a portion of my mana into dark mana.

The essence of decay magic was its rejection of anything but dark mana.

In other words…

“Dark mana can’t be blocked.”

Dark mana gathered in front of my hand.

Though it hadn’t been given a magical form, it was aimed like a sharp spear at the dark sorcerers.

“Dark mana!”

“How dare a heretic use dark mana! Damn traitor!”

The dark sorcerers spat their words at me upon seeing the summoned dark spear, but…

“I never betrayed anyone in the first place.”

I chuckled dryly and gathered more mana.

My target was Diamus, who was constructing magic from behind.

His ring.

“Let’s see how you like your precious dark mana.”

I was about to unleash the dark mana in an attack.

But then—

– Flash.

The gathered dark mana vanished into thin air.

“What the…?”

I looked ahead.

Diamus was grinning, showing his yellowed teeth.

“Forget how to use dark mana, won’t you?”

The ring on his hand glimmered.

“What nonsense.”

Despite his words, I calmly tried to gather dark mana again.

But…

“Can’t remember how?”

I couldn’t recall how to control the dark mana or how to concentrate and release it.

I looked at Diamus again.

The ring on his hand shone brightly.

Just looking at it made my head throb.

“Even if dark mana is out, there are other ways…!”

I attempted to summon a spirit next.

I hadn’t done so until now because his memory magic affected everyone in the school.

Now that my memories had been shared, there was no need to fight alone.

I tried to chant the spirit’s name to summon it.

But…

“I can’t remember the name.”

I couldn’t recall which spirit I had contracted with.

How many spirits had I contracted with?

Or if I had even contracted with a spirit at all.

“It’s because of that.”

I didn’t know how the ring worked.

But one thing was certain: the series of memory lapses were all due to that ring.

“Is that another sacrifice?”

The first sacrifice was space.

The second was time.

I had speculated that the remaining sacrifices were imbued with magical themes from the Seven Dilemmas.

The magical effects of the sacrifices defied common sense.

A single portal, for instance, required only a minuscule amount of mana, defying the principle that spatial magic required a large amount of mana.

The second sacrifice, though used only once, could reverse time within an isolated area.

So I should have expected the third sacrifice to possess unexpected abilities.

“A mistake.”

I hadn’t anticipated that the memory theme could be used in this way.

Erasing specific memories was impossible with human memory-themed magic.

This was a new realm of memory-themed magic, different from Memory Lock.

“This is it. You fell for it more easily than I thought.”

Diamus’s yellow teeth were visible.

“Even without dark mana, you’re nothing.”

“Boast all you want. You can’t even break through this barrier.”

“We’ll see about that.”

I needed to chant the most suitable spell for the situation.

I had dozens of spells etched into my mana circuit, incomparable to the past.

Among them, the most necessary spell…

“…”

“Heh heh heh… It’s over.”

Diamus laughed.

He sneered at me, showing his yellow teeth.

In front of him, I could only bite my lip.

I couldn’t remember any spells.

It was as if my brain had been reset, and nothing came to mind.

“You’ve been too much of a nuisance. Yes, the cult leader himself ordered your death.”

The bishops spread out, creating a path, and Diamus stepped forward.

“You are indeed remarkable. You’ve killed two bishops and even an archbishop.”

Confident of his victory, Diamus smiled leisurely.

“But your strength ultimately comes from magic. Without the power of the demon, what are you without magic?”

“…”

“Yes, you have nothing to say. Without magic, you’re nothing. Just a useless human being…”

– Swoosh.

Before he could finish speaking.

A cut appeared on his cheek.

A single drop of blood trickled down.

He touched his cheek with a startled expression.

“You shouldn’t be able to use chanted magic…!”

“Hey.”

I ignited mana in my hand.

“Don’t lump me in with talentless fools like you.”

Not being able to use chanted magic meant I couldn’t imbue themes.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t use magic.

“I’m on a different level than you, who can’t create anything without memories.”

The startled Diamus looked at me again.

In my hand, pure blue mana flickered, ready to burst forth at any moment.

***

Hana ran, forgetting even to catch her breath, and looked up at the sky.

The moon hung higher than before.

She didn’t know when her teacher had left her at the dormitory.

But the last position of the moon she remembered was lower than it was now.

“Time has already passed.”

That meant danger.

As a new personality awakened, various memories were imprinted in her mind.

Among them was information about the third sacrifice.

A sacrifice of the Dark Cult that could erase specific memories.

The third sacrifice could even erase magical knowledge.

She never doubted Lee Jaesang’s abilities.

He had never backed down against dark sorcerers, always emerging victorious.

Against stronger dark sorcerers, he had won with even more overwhelming magical prowess.

Yes, magic.

The foundation of Lee Jaesang’s power was magic.

“But if he can’t use magic…”

How long could he hold out?

He might even be unable to summon spirits.

“I have to go.”

The moment her memories returned, she knew why she was running without calling for anyone.

“I’m the only one in this school unaffected by the memory theme!”

She knew the reason now.

Because she was the first sacrifice.

She knew that the abilities of sacrifices didn’t affect each other.

“…The first sacrifice.”

Hana disliked that name.

It didn’t sound like a person’s name.

But at least for now, she was grateful to be the first sacrifice.

“This way.”

Hana, almost at the clock tower, focused on the flow of air around her.

Since realizing she was a homunculus, her senses had gradually expanded.

She hadn’t known what this new sense was until recently.

But now she knew.

The sense she felt most strongly from Lee Jaesang.

It was dark mana.

“Underground of the clock tower!”

Hana hurriedly searched the clock tower and found the stairs leading underground.

“Please be safe, teacher.”

Her expression was filled with anxiety as she descended.

***

The basement of the clock tower.

A flash, and blue mana branched out in all directions.

Though the mana wasn’t imbued with a theme, its precise control made it formidable.

The decay magic easily blocked it, but the problem was the continuous assault.

Lee Jaesang didn’t stop for a moment, continuously unleashing mana.

“Wasn’t he affected by the third sacrifice?”

“How is he using magic?”

The five bishops were quite flustered by the situation.

They had seen the third sacrifice activate.

Lee Jaesang had indeed failed to use dark mana and couldn’t chant any spells.

But what was this power?

“Can he control mana to this extent?”

Diamus was no different.

Dodging the pure mana, he continued to activate the third sacrifice against Lee Jaesang.

The ring flashed countless times, and each time, Lee Jaesang’s expression twisted as if a memory had been erased.

But he didn’t stop attacking.

The pure blue mana, devoid of any theme, kept coming.

In fact, the attacks only grew more intense.

– Boom!

He blocked the blue mana coming at him with decay magic.

It wasn’t difficult to block the mana blades, but their power was terrifying.

A low-level dark sorcerer couldn’t even hope to handle such mana manipulation.

“Then I’ll make you forget everything.”

Diamus filled the ring with even more dark mana.

“Forget magic. Forget who you are!”

The ring sparkled.

At the same time, the veins in his neck bulged, and his eyes turned blood-red.

The side effect of the third sacrifice.

The penalty for using the extraordinary ability to erase memories was life force itself.

This was why Diamos hadn’t unleashed his magic to its fullest from the start.

“Sigh.”

Diamos looked at Lee Jaesang.

The magic seemed to have worked; Lee was gasping for breath, rooted to the spot.

“Good.”

Now, Lee wouldn’t even remember who he was.

His life force was nearly depleted, but it didn’t matter.

There were plenty of bishops to use as batteries.

“Let’s do this safely.”

He snapped his fingers at the bishop beside him.

The bishop dissolved into black mana and was absorbed by Diamos.

The reason for bringing the bishop was simple: a portable battery.

“After all, they’re just low-ranking bishops. We can always recruit more.”

There might be some areas left without coverage until new ones were appointed, but it was a small price to pay.

If he could kill Lee Jaesang now, that gap was worth it.

Diamos chanted a dark spell.

Black mana coalesced into a bolt of black lightning.

Lee Jaesang merely hung his head.

It was only natural; he couldn’t even remember who he was.

“This is the end. Farewell.”

With those words, Diamos unleashed the black lightning.

“Teacher!”

A young girl suddenly appeared in the basement.

The first sacrifice.

She instinctively opened a portal to disperse the black lightning.

But.

“It’s useless.”

The black lightning was a spell that maximized the aggression of black mana.

It would keep adjusting its path until it hit its target.

“No!”

Hana screamed.

The black lightning ignored the rapidly forming portals and struck down.

The bolt that overcame all obstacles.

At the end of its path was Lee Jaesang.

“Goodbye, traitor. You’ll pay with your life for killing our brothers.”

With a thunderous crash, the lightning struck.

Dust billowed everywhere, obscuring the view.

“A… ah…”

Hana collapsed to the ground.

It was over.

An ordinary person who couldn’t use magic would surely die from such an attack.

“Aaaaaah!!!!!”

Tears welled up in her eyes.

Grief.

It slowly transformed into rage.

“You killed my teacher.”

Sparks began to flicker around her, and her eyes turned red.

“That filthy dark sorcerer!”

Hana surrendered to her fury.

It felt as if another persona was surfacing.

And she had a foreboding sense that once she let go, she might never return to her current self.

“It doesn’t matter. As long as I can tear that dark sorcerer apart…!”

Darkness tinged with red filled her eyes.

“Stop.”

A voice suddenly broke through.

Hana’s wide eyes turned to the side.

Everyone’s gaze followed to the same spot.

Where the dust was clearing.

As the dust settled completely, a silhouette emerged.

Lee Jaesang stood there.

Completely unharmed.

“Teacher?”

Hana’s eyes quickly returned to normal.

“What… how is this possible? A human who can’t even use magic!!!”

In that moment, Diamos saw it clearly.

Lee Jaesang creating magic without drawing a magic circle.

“This is mana.”

Mana began to rise around Lee Jaesang.

The air filled with mana, forming spears without any assigned theme.

There were no magic circles, no incantations.

Only Lee Jaesang wielding magic.

“This can’t be…! Magic without incantations, and it’s not even dark magic!!!”

A sound like space tearing echoed as the spears multiplied.

With dozens of blue spears forming behind him, Lee Jaesang spoke softly.

“Mana’s Spear.”

The spears of mana began to shoot forth in all directions.