Noble Lady Reformation Guide - Chapter 259

-'Never abandon anything.'

I think I heard those words somewhere before.

Though I can't recall exactly when or who said them...

Derek had carried that message in his steadfast heart throughout his life.

No one knows what lies at the end of the spiral staircase rising into the night sky.

Those who've reached magic's pinnacle merely speculate they might glimpse traces of Adelbert, the Grand Mage said to be the origin of all magic, at that radiant summit.

Kochella ascended along the magical currents as if swimming through air toward that peak, leaving all worldly things below as she reached alone for the stars.

- Whoosh!

Melberot and Derek could be seen below, sprinting up the spiral steps.

Yet Kochella merely smirked and waved her hand, releasing an immense surge of magical power.

- Fwoosh!

- Crash!

Countless luminous streams extended from the"Branch of Truth,"manifesting hordes of spirits.

The spirit army took various animal forms. While individually no stronger than ordinary summoned magic, Kochella's transformation magic formulas amplified their power severalfold.

Spirits wielding at least 2nd-Class magic filled the night sky.

Combat spells rained down to strike Melberot and Derek climbing the staircase, who countered with continuous high-level magic as they ascended.

- Boom! Crash! Kaboom!

"Marilyn... Marilyn..."

Barely maintaining his footing beneath the luminous sky, Damon struggled to speak.

"...Get up. We can still escape Gremfort Palace now."

"Hah... hah... You came... for me after all... Marilyn..."

"..."

As Marilyn grabbed Damon's arm to help him up, she noticed his wounds.

The sight made her gasp. Melberot had shown no intention of letting Damon live.

His shoulder bore the mark of a deadly curse, etched into the blade that struck him.

Without immediate treatment, this cursed magic would consume his body and claim his life.

But in her current state, Marilyn couldn't dispel such powerful curse magic.

- Gnash

Marilyn clenched her teeth.

Summoned solely to save Damon, she'd done everything possible—yet her actions might ultimately cause his death.

"We must pursue Lord Melberot up the staircase now. Even if we escape the palace, you'll die otherwise."

"No... it's fine... enough..."

Voice fading, Damon's unfocused eyes held Marilyn's hand as he lay bleeding.

Blood pooled around him as consciousness dimmed. Closing his eyes now might mean never opening them again.

Gazing at the luminous tree, spirit magic, and golden staircase lighting the night, Damon's expression grew distant.

The scene resembled a landscape painting—one that felt like his last.

"A life spent desperately struggling to survive... At the end, I should show some composure..."

"..."

"How strange. After clinging to life so fiercely, letting go feels... relieving."

Marilyn examined his wounds, applying pressure—a futile attempt to prolong his life.

"I lived like a dead man. Only facing true death do I feel alive."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. To survive, I abandoned everything discardable. I thought life was sacred—that endurance itself had meaning. But... some things should never have been abandoned. I think... I discarded what mattered most."

Marilyn's expression grew sorrowful.

Seeing this, Damon closed his eyes and continued.

"Strange, isn't it? Even when outmatched by Melberot, low on magic, on the defensive... I never dismissed the summoning spell keeping you here. Despite the enormous magic drain of a 6th-Class spell... I... wanted to leave you in this world."

"..."

"Kochella took your true power, left you with no usefulness... Why keep you? Perhaps your very existence formed my foundation. No other explanation fits."

Marilyn bowed her head deeply.

Though night hid her face, Damon didn't need to see.

Gazing at the sky, he smiled faintly.

Countless mages reach for those stars, seeking 7th-Class attainment.

If finding something there gives life meaning, how fortunate. If only my life had such purpose.

What value has a life spent merely struggling to survive? Some things should never be abandoned—more precious than life itself.

As if proving this, regret weighed heavily on Damon's heart.

Fortunately, he couldn't recall exactly what he'd lost.

"Was erasing my memories... the right choice?"

Damon whispered to Marilyn.

He didn't know exactly what memories were gone—only that they likely concerned a past lover and child.

Marilyn had erased them, surely for good reason as she acted solely for Damon.

Trusting this, Damon smiled gently at her.

Perhaps Marilyn was merely summoned to remember Rasa, Damon's former lover.

Yet this cold-blooded villain had kept her by his side until the end.

Against the starry backdrop, Marilyn looked down at Damon... and slowly nodded.

If she said so, what could he do?

Damon could only trust. One can't know everything—so with a final effort to suppress tears and smile at Marilyn's face, he closed his eyes.

As his journey ended, no regrets remained in his heart.

Only a vague memory of praying before a statue in someone's warm embrace.

- Thud

Releasing Damon's arm, Marilyn looked up at the night sky.

With her summoner gone, her form began dissipating like mist. Her final sight was the white-haired noble gritting his teeth as he raced up the staircase.

As her vision faded, she finally understood the difference between that man and Damon.

Closing her eyes, she could only wish him luck.

-'No mentor exists who can teach 6th-Class magic. You must reach that realm through self-enlightenment.'

So said the worldly necromancer Phee while munching Mont Blanc in her office.

Still below 4th-Class, it seemed impossibly distant. Yet Derek listened intently.

-'I reached 6th-Class quite young, but consider myself exceptionally lucky. Only those like Melberot or Kalimford—born with genius and matching fortune—achieve such feats.'

-'Hm? Want more details about reaching 6th-Class? Already chasing clouds? Well, as your only apprentice, I'll advise you. But 6th-Class is so distant even for me that summarizing it isn't easy.'

The violet-haired mage, pinnacle of necromancy, giggled like a mischievous demon.

-'Challenge providence.'

That defined a 6th-Class mage's qualification to her.

-'Upon reaching 5th-Class, you must resolve to shatter all accumulated common sense, laws, and truths you've known.'

-'Light brings brightness, collisions cause pain, spilled water flows... Deny all such assumed natural principles. Destroy every magical law you've built and reform them.'

-'Kalimford created cold flames. Kochella forged the Empire's Light. I mastered reincarnation's concept. Yes... you must learn to ignore worldly principles and reshape reality according to your worldview.'

-'That arrogant mage Adelbert of old said 7th-Class magic belongs to gods—beyond human reach. There's a hint there. To become 6th-Class, you must challenge the divine laws governing this world. Starting to understand?'

Phee spoke conclusively.

-'We call them those who carry the qualifications to become gods.'

- CRACK! BOOM!

The night sky split apart.

An enormous shape appeared above—a meteor large enough to blanket the heavens.

6th-Class Combat Magic:"Meteor Summoning."

The terrifying sight forced capital citizens to stare in awe.

A secret technique of the late Grand Mage Kalimford, last seen during the northern Dawn War.

Only one person could recreate it—6th-Class combat mage Melberot.

Magic gathered during his ascent now illuminated the night. One strike could obliterate Gremfort Palace entirely.

Such reckless magic in the capital's heart amounted to mass slaughter. Even Melberot knew some lines shouldn't be crossed.

Yet he knew Kochella wouldn't ignore this.

- WHOOSH!

6th-Class mages'battles reshape continents and overturn worlds.

Witnesses of Elvester County's battle knew this. Kochella's transformation magic now enveloped Gremfort Palace, rejecting all external interference.

Floating up the spiral staircase, Kochella clenched her fist at the meteor.

Then—with terrifying magical power that forced dry swallows—she unleashed her spell.

6th-Class Transformation Magic:"Phase Shift."

Simple spatial relocation spells were common.

But Kochella's magic operated on another scale entirely.

Merely gathering and clenching magic erased the massive meteor from existence.

- WHOOSH!

- CRASH!

Only explosive winds remained as the night sky returned.

The continent-splitting meteor had vanished.

"Hah... hah... Quite the entrance, Lord Melberot."

Panting, Kochella smiled wryly. Only anticipating her counterattack would justify such reckless magic.

- KABOOM!

The meteor struck a distant mountain lake beyond the horizon.

The distant explosion echoed clearly through the capital.

"Unless... you could control the aftermath with your own magic even if I didn't intervene..."

The effort exhausted Kochella.

Matching Melberot's magic reserves might be arrogance—yet she still held advantage.

Reaching the luminous staircase's end would deliver everything into her hands.

Though stopping Melberot and Derek completely would be difficult, hindering them was possible.

- Tap! Tap! Tap!

Derek, climbing the staircase, shut his eyes against the blast.

Breaking through the spirit barrage, he fixed his gaze on Kochella above.

"A bit higher and she'll be in range. She's distracted handling the meteor."

"Yes... hah... hah... Before she... reaches the top..."

Melberot sweated from the immense magic expenditure, yet maintained his pace.

Advancing steadily, he obliterated surrounding spirits.

Yet more kept emerging from the luminous Branch of Truth endlessly—as if her magic had no limit.

Undoubtedly aided by the 6th-Class artifact"Light of the Empire."

"Listen... hah... hah..."

Gasping, Melberot addressed Derek directly.

"Only I can engage Kochella in attrition now. If I commit fully, she must respond. So... you deliver the finishing blow."

"You're staying here?"

"Yes. My 6th-Class magic can reach her. Though handling the spirits below won't be easy, I can pin her down. Meanwhile, you strike her heart."

Melberot gritted his teeth as he prepared.

"When it's over... come back down."

"..."

"Still want to glimpse 7th-Class magic? At the staircase's end?"

"I'm unsure. One thing's certain—if the cost is too great, I won't take it."

"Good, that's enough."

Melberot gazed beyond the staircase at the sky.

The capital's occasional lights resembled stars below.

Stars above, stars below—such was the world to those who pursued magic.

"Too many spirits. Never knew Kochella's magic reached this scale."

"Should we switch roles? I'll handle the spirits here."

"You can't fully restrain Kochella. Your role is the dagger's point—not overwhelming force."

6th-Class mages have their roles.

Derek raised his eyebrows at Melberot.

"If I reach for 6th-Class magic, might that role change?"

No arrogance colored his words.

Melberot studied Derek before smirking and gathering magic.

"We'll see when the time comes."

World-enveloping magic took shape again—aimed at blocking Kochella's divine ascent.

This madwoman willing to sacrifice even the empire couldn't be allowed godlike power.

With this resolve, Melberot's magic expanded outward.

Without hesitation, Derek sprinted madly up the staircase.

Spirit hordes again sought to blanket the world.

Steeling himself, Melberot surveyed the land. As he prepared to control Kochella's magic and pin her down—

- WHOOSH!

- CRASH!

Familiar magic.

Where had he felt this before? At Elvester County's tragedy.

Yes. This was necromancy.

Magic embodying darkness so profound it surpassed mere ominousness.

Recognizing it, Melberot's eyes widened.

At Gremfort Palace's highest spire—Lily Palace's peak—a girl in crimson stood watching.

Her scarlet magic coiled around the Branch of Truth, crushing spirits one by one.

If his eyes didn't deceive him, this was... one who claimed imperial title.

All continent's 6th-Class mages had gathered.

The legendary necromancer from Elvester County was no exception.

She was the mightiest among Derek's allies.

Naturally, she intended to clear all obstacles from the spiral staircase at once.

Go, Derek.

Her lips seemed to whisper.

-'Never abandon anything, Derek.'

As Derek ascended through the night, the words echoed behind him.

Where had he heard them?

Though the memory was vague, Derek pressed onward toward Kochella in the heights.

Finally, she came into view.

The madwoman who devoted her life to magic now reached for its ultimate fruit.

Sadly, she wouldn't reach it.

Derek would drag her down himself.