The Regressed Magic Swordsman Devours the North - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 4. Ruins of the Dead God (1)
Crunch. Crunch.

I climbed to the back of the Karlsen Family Estate. The Northern Region was gripped by brutal cold, yet the great house maintained perpetual spring warmth—a gift entirely from my mother, who was a Grand Mage.

In any case, the ascent proved far easier than it might have been.

“Here it is.”

Back Mountain was shrouded in a blood-binding mist barrier that only those of Karlsen blood could cross. Rumor had it that anyone else who entered the mist came out as nothing but bone—so formidable was the enchantment.

Of course, I was the third son of House Karlsen. The mist parted willingly before me.

Whoooosh.

I followed the mist’s guidance up the mountainside. After walking for some time, I reached a point halfway up the slope where no human footfall had disturbed the earth.

“Here it is.”

I stopped before a stone door inscribed with mysterious runes—my destination. I grasped both edges of the door and pushed with all my strength.

Grrreeeeak.

The stone door swung open.
A staircase descended into darkness below.

Flicker.

I descended for a long while, lighting the dim stairs with my torch. The passage ran deeper than I would have guessed possible, far below the mansion itself.

‘I had no idea this place even existed before now.’

The Ruins of Ancient God Lumen. I had known of their existence, but not their purpose. Father probably didn’t know either. I owed my knowledge entirely to one peculiar man.

Before the Regression, I had joined the Resistance and met countless eccentrics. The Resistance seemed to attract them—as if the world had ended and left behind only the strange and twisted to band together. That was how it felt.

Perhaps all the heroes on the front lines had fallen, and the contorted, aberrant things that lurked in shadow had drawn each other forth in their absence.

In any case, among them was an antiquarian scholar notorious for being utterly unhinged—a relic fanatic named Lorenzo. Without him, I would never have known of this place, nor of the Regression through the pillar.

‘I wonder where he is now, and what he’s doing.’

Cutting through the darkness and silence, I pressed deeper until the passage opened into a maze of corridors.
I walked for a long time, following the winding paths. The subterranean ruins seemed to stretch on without limit.
As I walked, I thought: ‘Is this a ruin, or is it an anthill?’
Following the twisting passages, I eventually arrived at an enormous cavern. My torch illuminated only the immediate surroundings, but the echo of my footsteps told me the chamber was vast beyond measure.

I swept my torch along the walls and walked for a long time until I found a small crevice in the stone. There it was.

“Where the Dragon Vein sleeps.”

‘The Fire-Ice Dragon’s Dungeon must be here too.’

I steadied my racing heart. Excitement would ruin everything. I pushed aside my wandering thoughts, centered myself, and withdrew oil and sulfur from my pack.

A breath.

I placed sulfur into the crevice and poured oil over it in a cascading stream. Stepping back at a safe distance, I hurled the torch.

Kaboom!

Sulfur, oil, and fire met—and the massive blaze erupted with a thunderous roar.

Whoosh—

The light and heat intensified far beyond what any torch could produce. He felt it all through his entire body and collapsed to his knees. If the Pillar’s myth was true, then this would be too. Don’t doubt. Believe it all, or believe nothing at all.

The flames drank the oil and continued to rise. Crackling and crackling. But then, in a moment—

Whoosh—hiss—snap.

The fire went out.
Complete darkness descended on the chamber.
I closed my eyes and spoke each word with care.

《Being that flows against time.
Dig deep into the earth below.
Raise a chalice with the Dragon Vein of flame.
Fill your vessel with endlessly expanding fire.
Follow the footsteps of the Grand Mage.
Glimpse the world’s memory.
Become the light of all things.》

The incantation echoed through the chamber.
And sure enough—
A crimson magic circle bloomed on the floor.

Zing—

Scarlet light burst through the darkness.
The ground began to bubble and boil.

I didn’t think ‘I knew it.’ I had believed it would happen this way. And yet—

‘—gnh.’

It was scorching. Unbearably so. It wasn’t actual flame, only Fire Realm Mana, yet the heat felt like a real blaze. My skin shriveled and dried.

‘One slip, and I burn to ash.’

Thump—thump—

My heart hammered like it was coming loose.
But.

“Aura.”

I didn’t resist.
Instead, I embraced it fully.

Breathe in—
Breathe out—

I drew the flaming mana deep into my lungs, then exhaled it slowly. Like a master blacksmith tempering pure steel through quenching, I combined each breath to build pure mana. The Dragon Vein of flame was naturally composed of pure mana, so it accumulated enormously with every breath.

Shhhh—

The flaming mana that gathered with each breath moved from my lungs to my heart. Thump, thump. Following the pulse, it flowed through the blood vessels and spread throughout my entire body.

Fire Realm Mana began pouring in, from the largest arteries down to the capillaries, filling every cell from fingertips to toes.

It no longer burned. There were no scars, no charring—the Fire Realm Mana approached with the gentleness of a mother cradling her child, warm as spring sunlight, flooding the body with vitality.

A being cherished by the Fire Realm Mana.

Before the Regression, I hadn’t known this. That’s why I’d tried to force the harsh Northern Region’s mana into myself—but not anymore.
I know clearly what I possess.
A great Northern clan.
The blessing of Fire Realm Mana.
The talent of a mage.
I will harness all of these.
I will become an unparalleled Grand Fire Mage.
No—I must become one.

‘Now.’

To become a mage, I began to control the mana raging like a wild bull. The controlled mana was refined into Magical Power. Now I would gather it near my heart, ready to call upon it at any moment.

‘Spin!’

I projected my will onto the Magical Power, which felt like an extension of my limbs.

Whirl—whirl—

Scarlet mana began rotating around my heart. One mistake and my heart could incinerate, so I poured every ounce of concentration into the task. Spin. Coalesce. No loss of power. Become whole.

Time is scarce for me. I cannot afford the long cultivation that others enjoy. I will accept a vast quantity at once and perfect it immediately. It’s a reckless method that could kill me, but for me—it’s possible.

How much time had passed?

Beads of sweat formed on my brow. Cold sweat ran down my back. But then—at last—the spinning mana linked tail to head, forming a perfect circle. And above it, a star emerged.

—Ding!

A star floating above the ring.
Now I had a true Star Wheel.

“Hah—hah—hah.”

At last.
I had become a One-Star Mage.

“I did it. I did it.”

I clenched my fist. A Star Wheel formed far faster than in my previous life—the electric thrill of it sent my lips curling upward.

Of course, there was no time to savor the achievement.

Before the Regression, I had confirmed that I was better suited to being a mage than a swordmaster. The third son of a Northern Swordsmanship noble house with mage talent—it was ironic indeed, but it would not be revealed.
After all, I had no intention of abandoning the blade simply because I wielded magic.

This time, I focused on the Core below my navel.

This was not the old Core, formed by forcibly cramming in the Northern Region’s harsh mana.
I expelled the cold air and injected searing heat in its place.

In a frozen land, I would become a Flame Bladeperson.

Like a single flame blooming in the frozen North.
Ignite! My talent!
***

For several hours in the massive underground cavern, I’d been absorbing the Dragon Vein of flame—forged a Star Wheel in my heart, filled the Core with Fire Realm Mana to a decent degree.
If only I could continue like this, but······

“Ugh!”

A stench that pierced the nostrils made me retch. I felt like I might actually vomit. It smelled almost like I’d fallen into a cesspit. Magical power circulating through my blood vessels was flushing out waste, expelling it from my body.

‘Damn. This happened before the Regression too.’

But not like this. Back then, wandering hungry and starving, I hadn’t eaten properly, so it wasn’t nearly this bad—yet in this time period, I’ve done nothing but consume filthy things, and the stench is utterly indescribable.

“······Urgh!”

Even the slightest whiff of this sickening reek made me dizzy.
Another moment of it and I’d pass out.

“Guess I should head back.”

I need to go wash. It came from my own body, but tolerating a nauseating stench like this is impossible. I brushed off my clothes and stood.
At that, the roiling Dragon Vein of flame gradually subsided as well, and the underground cavern sank back into darkness.

A pitch-black darkness that no sunlight ever touched. I couldn’t see even an inch ahead, yet it posed no problem whatsoever. I was a flame mage now. The me from a few hours ago and the me now were completely different creatures.

Swish-swish-swish.

I drew Magical Power from the Star Wheel encasing my heart. The power flowing out of my body coalesced in the empty space before me. When the suppressed power reached critical mass, I murmured softly.

“Ignition.”

Crackle-crackle-crackle—

Flames bloomed in the void.
Formalized Magic: Fireball.

Originally, Formalized Magic was the product of a contract that mages made with the world in the distant past. By channeling Magical Power according to set formulas, anyone could wield identical power—a “standardized force.”

And Formalized Magic grades by star count; Fireball is a one-star spell.

Typically, Fireball means condensing flame in your hand and firing it in one direction, but I’d modified it to suit my own style.

Like hovering it in mid-air now, or tethering it to the Star Wheel to keep it floating like a will-o’-the-wisp····· my old comrades gasped in disbelief when they saw that.

I wasn’t holding a Torch, yet my surroundings blazed with light. Better still, both my hands stayed free. I’d exhausted every drop of Sulfur and Oil, leaving nothing but an empty bag slung over my shoulder.

“Before I go.”

Crackle-crackle-crackle—

I incinerated every trace of waste pooling on the cavern floor. I left the ruins and returned to my room, stripped off my clothes and washed them, hung them to dry, then bathed myself.
Once I’d scrubbed away the revolting stench, I felt almost human again. I dried off, changed into comfortable clothes, and sat on the bed.

I focused all my awareness on the Star Wheel rotating in my heart.

‘Mm.’

The Magical Power contained in the Star Wheel was purer than ever before. During my training in the Southern Region before the Regression, even after considerable refinement, it hadn’t reached this level.

‘Remarkable.’

The star hovering in the ring as well.
It seemed to shine even more brightly than before the Regression.

But still.

Knowledge of the future.
Hundreds of billions of monsters.
An overwhelming Demon King’s army.
The strength of the Dragon Slayer.
They kept sowing anxiety in me.
Thinking of them left my mouth parched.

Even though I’d accumulated extremely pure Magical Power at a point far earlier than before the Regression, my heart found no peace.
This unease won’t fade unless I kill the Demon King with my own hands.

Thump.

I lay back on the bed.
I forced myself to sleep.

***

The next dawn, before the sun had even risen, I woke earlier than anyone else, changed my clothes, and climbed the Back Mountain behind the estate. I found the ruins and opened them, then descended the stairs.
There were no torches.
I could simply conjure flame when needed.

Whoosh—

I summoned fire into the air and walked forward. Once I reached the underground cavity, I found a gap and poured flame into it. After spending a certain amount of Magical Power, I sat down in a cross-legged position.
Hiss and crackle. The magic circle appeared again, and the Dragon Vein of flame surged upward.

Inhale—
Exhale—

I steadied my breath and focused on the Star Wheel and Core.

The Fire Realm Mana I’d absorbed from the flame Dragon Vein was pure and vigorous. Thanks to it, the Core came alive, and the Magical Power refined in the Core strengthened my body.
That creature which had once shriveled and writhed when it accepted the icy mana was now dancing with joy.

I rose from my seat and kicked at the ground.

With a thud, my body shot upward.

“…Oh.”

It seemed I’d leaped some three meters off the ground. I reinforced my legs with Magical Power, landed lightly, and surged forward.

Thud-thud-thud!

I was moving so fast it felt like riding a galloping horse. And with the Fireball trailing beside me, lighting my path, I felt like a sun chariot tearing through the darkness.

“Hah.”

Sweat poured from me like rain.
But it was endlessly satisfying.

A warrior’s Core strengthens the body. To be precise, the Magical Power contained in the Core elevates physical ability, and once the refining of Magical Power surpasses a certain threshold, one can enhance not just the body but weapons as well.

From there, one more step forward, and you could wrap “Aura” around your weapon.

“No wonder the minimum requirement for a knight is being an Aura user.”

Once you reached the level of handling Aura, your physical abilities were already on a different scale from ordinary soldiers.

Two months remained until the Gold Star Tournament.
My opponents would be knights.

At this point, they were all monsters.

That said.

“Was the Gold Star Tournament what they were scheming about?”

Traitors who had abandoned humanity and joined the Demon Race were spread throughout human society like a plague.
And.
Because of them, she—who should have won originally—had been eliminated, and one of their puppets had made it into the Platinum Knights.

“This time, that won’t happen.”
The Returned Demon Swordmaster Devours the Northern Region
Author
: Bang Sim
Date of Production
: June 16, 2026
Publisher
: ACES Media Co., Ltd.
Editor
: ACES Media Editorial Team
Address
: 10F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by ACES Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder,
and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
This e-book is protected by copyright law, and any unauthorized reproduction or copying may result in legal liability.
UCI
: G720:N+A129-20260615032

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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