Noble Lady Reformation Guide - Chapter 258

In the overwhelming storm of magical energy that threatened to blur her consciousness, Rozelyn felt as if time had frozen.

Deep darkness.

Beyond it, she could almost see the shadow of an ancient mage who had imprinted a fragment of his soul onto this ring with nothing but thoughts of someone long gone.

Like curtains drawn behind a stage, the darkness was profound. Though the mingled soul fragment was but a sliver, even that was thick and dark enough to cover the entire waterway.

Beyond the mist-like flow of magic... stood the silhouette of a girl with lavender hair.

The lingering magical resonance she left behind continuously clashed with the Anti-Magic Seal, maintaining a precarious balance of power.

-'Derek, someday you'll become a star in that sky.'

Memories flowed into Rozelyn's mind.

The fervent gaze that had watched over the disciple she'd loved beyond measure, the exhilaration of feeling like she possessed the entire world just by quietly observing—Rozelyn could vividly sense it all in her heart.

The Derek who had been both the beginning and end of her life was here. Just feeling the fragments of his emotions made her breathing grow ragged, forcing Rozelyn to grip the stone floor tightly as she gasped for air.

"Haaah... huff... haaah..."

After continuously resisting the dark magic, Rozelyn finally raised her head and spoke.

"I can feel it... Even the Anti-Magic Seal that mercilessly erased any powerful magic can't easily control this endlessly flowing power."

"Nothing is infinite. No matter how great a necromancer one may be in history, they cannot overcome Providence itself. Given time to adapt to the magic, even the ring on your finger will lose its value to the Anti-Magic Seal."

Drest spoke with cold eyes.

"We don't have much time granted to us."

"...We must head toward the Lily Palace immediately."

"Unnecessary."

Rozelyn jerked her head at Drest's words. Nothing this old mage said was ever understandable at first hearing.

"What do you mean?"

"At last, we've temporarily gained a 6-Star necromancer. It's about to begin."

"...?"

Then, the entire underground waterway began to shake.

With thunderous rumbling, dust poured down, and the water flowing through the channels began to churn.

An earthquake, or something equivalent.

It was too unnatural to be mere coincidence during such critical times. This was... the aftermath of magic enveloping the entire area.

"At last, all those who've reached 6-Star attainment in their respective fields have gathered in one place,"Drest murmured to himself.

"Kochella will ascend."

Rozelyn held her breath at those words. That... was an unprecedented catastrophe that must be prevented at all costs.

She couldn't fathom what this old mage truly wanted.

- Drip, drip, drip

Though Derek's throwing dagger had pierced her shoulder, such a wound barely registered as an injury.

6th-Grade Transformation Magic:"Branch of Truth."

The colossal tree of light formed by this spell had roots thicker than the trunks of most zelkova trees.

It began entwining not just Gremfort Palace's central garden but also the city walls and surrounding buildings.

"Kuhuhu... ughuhu..."

Derek swiftly dismounted and joined Melberot.

With just a glance, Melberot and Derek conveyed everything they needed to say. Both had already grasped how events were unfolding.

"Lord Damon...!"

Meanwhile, Marilyn rushed to Damon's collapsed form, applying pressure to stop the bleeding from his arm.

His face nearly unconscious as blood sprayed everywhere—he was far too old to endure such blood loss.

Before anyone could shout anything to Marilyn desperately pressing on the wound—

- WHOOSH!

A tempest of magic swept through the area again as an enormous amount of magical energy began enveloping Gremfort Palace entirely.

Barrier spells were Kochella's lifelong specialty. Recognizing that all 6-Star mages had finally gathered, she realized no further external intervention was needed and began seizing complete control of the imperial palace.

All this happened in an instant.

Given time, the central palace's bureaucrats would mount a response. After unleashing magic of this scale to announce her presence, she couldn't afford to give others time to resist.

- KWAANG!

Thus, Kochella channeled magic into her massive staff.

Beneath Gremfort Palace.

The key said to connect to the sanctuary preserving Grand Mage Adelbert's remains—a treasure the Gertrel imperial family had safeguarded for generations, and the very reason Head Magic Advisor Kochella had never left Gremfort Palace.

The key to reaching all truths lay here.

No matter where she was born or what she'd witnessed in life, Kochella's final destination was always this place.

"Adelbert. The path you walked to reach truth now unfolds before me. Every night gazing at those stars, I've lived tracing your footsteps toward that dreamed path of truth."

- WHOOSH!

The 6th-Grade Transformation Magic"Branch of Truth"was Kochella's lifelong research—magic to touch those distant stars.

The legendary staff"Light of the Empire,"said to be first manifested by Adelbert, now served as her own instrument—the final step toward breaching the 7-Star realm he had sealed away.

Light radiated as magical formulas were drawn across the night sky like canvas.

The last achievement of one who, born human, had struggled endlessly to reach divine heights.

- FWOOOSH!

- WHOOSH!

The gathering of 6-Star mages here represented the pinnacle of human attainment.

At last, with all continental 6-Star mages assembled, humanity stood ready to reach the next realm.

In response, the magical aura emanating from"Light of the Empire"materialized into steps.

Steps impossibly high.

The spiral staircase embracing all branches of truth summoned by Kochella extended endlessly upward through the night sky. Twisting and turning, the infinite spiral staircase of truth stretched toward Polaris itself. Though its end remained unseen, it seemed to disappear into the starlit radiance painting the heavens.

Something lay beyond that light.

The towering staircase was visible from anywhere in the imperial capital.

From beyond the grasslands to distant snowy peaks, the spiral staircase's form could be seen stretching into the distance.

Its starting point was none other than Gremfort Palace itself.

From the origin of power that commanded the continent and ruled the empire—the very cradle of human authority—a passage to the divine realm now revealed itself.

"Yes, of course..."

Ecstatic, Kochella placed her foot upon the endlessly ascending spiral staircase.

All that remained was to climb. Adelbert had clearly hidden the clue to reaching 7-Star magic high above Gremfort Palace's skies.

At last, she could reach the secret garden.

Unable to wait another moment, Kochella began trudging upward despite blood streaming from her shoulder.

- CRASH! KWAANG!

No one would simply let her proceed.

The giant arrows summoned by Melberot's combat magic rained down upon her, but the golden glowing spiral staircase seemed surrounded by invisible walls that deflected all magic.

Kochella, climbing ever higher, appeared to have lost all interest in Melberot or Derek.

Her gaze was fixed solely upon the stars filling the sky.

Having fulfilled all conditions to reach those heavens, with the path now open... earthly matters meant nothing. Even if the empire crumbled this instant, Kochella wouldn't bat an eye.

Only one desire remained—the 7-Star realm. Standing atop magic's pinnacle to achieve everything—that alone was the goal she'd longed for.

"External magical bombardment won't work. That spiral staircase's form... wasn't created by Kochella."

"Meaning someone else previously inscribed magical formulas beneath Gremfort Palace."

"Yes. Though I don't know who..."

Amid the raging tempest, Melberot calmly gazed upward.

Kochella's lips curled into a near-tearing smile as she endlessly climbed. This was the moment she'd spend her entire life awaiting—reaching the secret garden.

"...It might truly be the ancient Adelbert himself."

Melberot shook his head sharply.

He looked down at Damon groaning in pain on the ground.

Marilyn spreading her arms protectively before him seemed pitiful. If Melberot truly acted, Damon's life would hang by a thread.

But Kochella had already achieved her purpose. All that remained was her celestial ascension.

If she succeeded—if she truly reached the 7-Star realm where one could manipulate the world at will... she would become an entity beyond all control.

That had to be prevented. Rather than wasting time killing Damon now, they needed to pursue Kochella immediately.

"We must ascend the staircase too. However unfathomable the power of the 7-Star realm may be, we cannot allow Kochella to become such a transcendent being."

"I agree."

Derek shook his head and looked up at the spiral staircase reaching into the night sky.

"And as a mage myself, I'm curious too."

"..."

"What could possibly lie at its end?"

Some denied Grand Mage Adelbert's existence, while others at the opposite extreme claimed he was a godlike being who'd transcended all worldly limits.

If now was the moment to approach that truth, then Derek the mage—before being Count Ravenclaw—found himself yearning to glimpse that reality.

Kochella and Derek were likely alike.

As Melberot often said.

Yet between them lay one critical difference.

"Are you worried?"

Derek preempted Melberot's concerns.

"What?"

"That I might become like Kochella—consumed by madness chasing truth, willing to discard everything for the 7-Star realm?"

Melberot didn't deny it.

For those who'd lived their lives as mages, the drive for achievement was as intrinsic as a body part. Not something one could simply discard at will.

And now, here lay the chance to reach the source of all magic.

Though Kochella prepared this stage, stabbing her aside to climb to the end might reveal all truths.

There, one might encounter traces left by Grand Mage Adelbert himself.

If so, what choice would Derek make?

Could anyone guarantee Derek wouldn't become another Kochella?

Perhaps it'd be better to leave Derek here while he pursued Kochella alone.

Just as he thought this—

"I too believe I'd do anything to reach magic's pinnacle... yet there are things I would never abandon."

Derek clenched his teeth and spoke through the raging tempest.

His unwavering stance amidst the storm remained as steadfast as ever.

When Melberot first met him, when he rose to nobility, when he became a high-ranking mage commanding the continent—it never changed.

He never acted against his principles. His life had proven this beyond doubt.

"At first, it was my safety, security, livelihood, future... Like everyone, I was too busy surviving to see beyond myself. But upon reaching 5-Star attainment, becoming head of my house and territory, leading a school with many followers... I've gained too much to abandon now."

Melberot was among those who'd observed Derek's life most closely.

Throughout his meteoric rise, Derek had made many cruel, cold decisions... yet never sacrificed his humanity.

Whenever Derek killed, there was always proportionate justification.

He respected life, revered learning, cared for his people, and remained ruthless to enemies. Like most humans, even while coveting divine realms, he thought thoroughly as a human.

"Ravenclaw Academy, Ravenclaw County, every mentor and disciple I've encountered, all my connections... I've no desire to abandon a single one. Even if reaching divine realms were possible, what meaning would remain if I discarded everything built?"

"Even with such immense power within reach?"

"We can always try again later."

Derek gave a hollow laugh.

Seeing this, Melberot felt he was witnessing Derek's human side for the first time.

"After all, I can reach it myself."

That fearless willingness to challenge divine realms embodied the essential quality of one destined for greatness.

Melberot responded with a weary smile.

"Take the lead."

They would ascend the night sky.

At its end lay the 7-Star realm—the pinnacle all continental mages sought to reach.

-'The greatest mage in history, those who devoted lives to magic, even heaven-blessed individuals—all concluded their lives at 6-Star attainment.'

-'Can humans never reach 7-Star? Why did Grand Mage Adelbert—said to be humanity's greatest—remain silent after reaching such heights before ending his life?'

-'What exactly is 7-Star magic?'

In her youth, Kochella lifted her head from prayers in the capital's church.

The stained glass depicted angelic figures embodying divinity.

-'At least God doesn't answer.'

-'They say Adelbert became a star ascending to the night sky. If no answer comes... we must go ask him ourselves...'

Young Kochella quietly pulled her robe's hood up and slipped into the capital's luminous streets.

A memory now ancient.

- CRUMBLE, BOOM...!

- RUSTLE!

"What future did you see, Drest Wolftail?"

In the trembling underground waterway threatening to collapse.

Rozelyn spoke with an icy voice.

"Are you... trying to make Kochella ascend? Why?"

The night of heaven and earth's recreation.

By dawn, much would change across the empire.

As if already knowing this, the old detection mage remained silently reticent.