Published: January 24, 2026
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The day after locking Nagisa in a room of the Shinonome family residence, I was climbing the Sacred Mountain.
“So, Lady Philly, what exactly was that thing you used to imprison Lady Nagisa?” Kiryu, who had followed me, asked with curiosity.
“That magical tool was used by Orun Dura when he fought the hero last year. It was left behind after use, so I retrieved it.”
“The Demon King Orun Dura, huh? That must be a powerful magical tool. It’s reassuring to know you’re producing more of those.”
“...Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to mass-produce it.”
The magical tool we obtained by chance during the incident in Reglyph Territory last year creates a barrier that encloses the target space and engulfs it in scorching heat.
Despite advanced analysis, for some reason, the technique sealed within that magical tool cannot be replicated.
Neither the Doctor nor the Thunder Emperor, both mana lifeforms, could fully decipher the technique, and both were astounded by the skill of the magical tool artisan who made it.
It’s impossible that Orun himself made it back then, and who exactly crafted such a tool remains unknown.
Since he used it, I assume it was someone close to him at the time, but I have no idea who that could be...
“I see. So there’s only one of those magical tools...”
“Yes, that’s right.”
As I chatted with Kiryu, the destination—the Heavenly Spirit Shrine—came into view.
We passed through the torii gate and stepped into the shrine grounds.
Beside the large main hall standing ahead, a yagura stage for dedicating dances had been erected.
From that yagura, I could feel mana vibrating through the air.
That fact brought an involuntary smile to my lips.
Standing on the stage, I felt as if I could see the massive mana gathering there.
Even with my poor ability to sense mana, I could detect its vastness. Such immense mana was here.
“Heh heh heh. The conditions are perfect.”
I murmured and summoned something like the ebony egg that had swallowed Belia near the Royal Capital of the Nohitant Kingdom a few months ago, placing it at the center of the yagura.
“Lady Philly, what are you planning to do?” Kiryu asked as I finished setting it up and stepped down.
“We are going to invoke our god.”
This world exists inside a massive barrier that blocks the mana from the outside world, which is lethal to humans.
And maintaining this barrier requires enormous energy.
However, because this world cuts off outside mana, even a hero of fairy tales could not secure such energy.
What caught his eye was the being they call the evil god...
The evil god Oberon is also a mana lifeform.
By restraining Oberon's movements, his mana is used as the energy source to maintain this world.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Oberon is responsible for sustaining this world.
Yet, most people live unaware of this fact.
“Don’t you find it ironic?”
I continued quietly.
“This world is maintained thanks to the very enemy that almost drove humanity to extinction. Yet humans now are creatures that would perish without Oberon.”
That said, the immense mana Oberon contains exceeds even what is needed to sustain the world of principles of techniques.
That surplus mana flows through ley lines to create dungeons worldwide.
The demonic beasts born in those dungeons are, in other words, Oberon’s vanguard born from his mana.
When those demonic beasts die, part of their mana crystallizes into magic stones left behind, and the rest becomes “black mist” that drifts through the air.
This black mist is diluted Oberon’s mana itself.
Ultimately, these black mists gather here—at the Sacred Mountain.
“Kiryu, do you know what the Spirit Dance Festival held once a year is about?”
“As a member of the Tendō family, I only know that it is a traditional ceremony.”
“I see. Then let me tell you. The essence of that ritual is to release Oberon’s mana contained here on the Sacred Mountain into the outside world.”
The Spirit Dance Festival ritual creates a path to send Oberon’s mana out through the dances offered, and the demonic energy housed in the cursed sword transmits Oberon’s mana through that path.