Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 328

“This magic circle is like a super scanner,” Victoria began, pointing to the glowing lines on the floor. “It looks at everything in its area and figures out what it is made of. Then, it sends this information to other magic circles. It’s very detailed,” she admitted, “maybe too detailed for just a support magic circle.”

Victoria started explaining, but her words were still a bit complicated. Logan frowned slightly.

“Ria,” he said gently, “keep it simple for me.”

Victoria nodded. “Okay… It means there are many extra parts in this magic circle. It’s like when really smart people want to make things perfect, even when they don’t need to be.”

“Yes! Exactly!” Logan agreed, relieved he understood. “You *can* explain it easily!”

Victoria’s eyes narrowed slightly at Logan’s enthusiastic agreement. Around them, some of the wizards suddenly found the ceiling or the stone walls very interesting to look at. Logan felt a strange silence, like everyone was trying not to laugh.

Slightly red-faced, Logan cleared his throat loudly. He nodded seriously, telling Victoria to go on. Victoria sighed softly before continuing.

“If we drastically lower the criteria for distinguishing between enemy and ally, we can also omit the magic that scans and analyzes the entire target life form.”

“Isn’t this a magic circle created to properly distinguish between enemy and ally? Is it possible to reduce that?”

Luckily, Victoria smiled. She understood what Logan meant now.

“As I said, it’s a case where really smart people are wasting their talents unnecessarily. There’s no need to scan all the biological information to distinguish between enemy and ally. And compared to ancient times, there are too many people residing in Gran now. There’s no need to distribute the power of the magic circle to all of them.”

“Then?”

“We should utilize emblems. Equipment engraved with a ‘Flame Emblem’ of a certain size or larger. The vitality magic circle can be altered so that the magic is activated only for those who possess it. Conversely, the weakening magic circle…….”

“We can target the Golden Dragon’s emblem, then.”

Logan clapped his hands in admiration.

The Golden Dragon’s emblem, the symbol of the Empire. The knights and soldiers of the enemy would never abandon their weapons or gear engraved with their symbol.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But the shape and size of those emblems might vary? Then the classification…….”

Engraving emblems on armor is ultimately up to the artisan’s discretion. Even the same artisan would find it difficult to draw them exactly the same.

However, Victoria’s answer to this was simple.

“Even if we add analysis code for variations in shape, considering such things, it will still be much simpler than analyzing the entire body. It means there will be more room in the magic circle.”

“Does that mean?”

“It means it’s also possible to utilize this support magic circle in other ways.”

“What?”

Logan stared at Victoria with surprised eyes.

Not only had she restored the great magic circle created by the ancient archmages, but she could also modify it?

Clayton interjected, boasting about his disciple at Logan’s surprised expression.

“It’s true. The ability to see mana, combined with Ria’s genius, has made the unthinkable possible.”

“Master, if you say that, His Majesty will have too high expectations.”

“I think it’s okay to have high expectations?”

Victoria waved her hand at Logan’s agreement with Clayton’s boast, smiling.

“No, Your Majesty. It’s really just… changing what the magic circle already does a little bit.”

Victoria’s childhood self seemed to overlap with her face as she bowed her head in embarrassment.

Logan was smiling proudly. He asked directly, without wasting time.

“Hmm. How exactly do you mean?”

“The vitality magic circle is already at maximum efficiency in my current understanding. Concentrating the power on a small number of people will only put a strain on their bodies, so there’s no reason to modify it. But…….”

Victoria continued with a confident tone, receiving Logan’s curious gaze.

“……The weakening magic circle is different. A magic that weakens a large number of troops by a certain percentage is unlikely to have more than a slight effect on those above a certain level of strength. Of course, it would still be useful on its own, but with a little more work, it can be modified to restrict the strongest among the enemy first.”

“……What do you mean?”

“It will be possible to weaken even superhuman-level forces by more than 10%. The power to restrict ordinary soldiers will weaken by that much, though.”

Logan felt goosebumps all over his body at those words.

Someone who plans battles but has never fought might say, ‘Only 10%?’, but 10% is actually a lot.

Strength reduced by 10%, speed slowed by 10%, and senses dulled by that much as well. In the fierce battles of masters, that was a huge advantage that could create a difference of one or even two moves.

“Wow! That’s incredible! So, we can trick the Imperial Army to come here? Ha! This is perfect!”

Logan clapped his hands and rejoiced like a child, unknowingly, at the truly amazing achievement.

“You’ve worked so hard, Ria.”

“No, Your Majesty. It was all possible because Master and my senior apprentices helped me.”

Clayton, who was smiling proudly next to her at the modest words, immediately interjected.

“It’s not good to be too modest, Ria. 80% is thanks to you, and we only helped with the rest.”

“No, Master…….”

Clap.

“Anything is fine. The important thing is that we’ve achieved results like this. Thank you all for your hard work.”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“If you suddenly do this…….”

The wizards were flustered by Logan’s sudden bow and bowed back in unison.

Logan, wearing a satisfied expression at the sight, looked again at the magic circle that was constantly emitting light.

“But…….”

The underground plaza, where the blue and white lights from the five magic circles mixed to create a magical atmosphere, like a dream.

However, the eye that sees mana had been telling him from the beginning that the energy contained within was not as great as it looked.

“But what about this current state? What’s the situation?”

“We are inspecting it once more before installing the magic stones and fully activating the formation. We are only checking with our mana to see if there are any problems.”

“Then does that mean we can activate this magic circle right away?”

“Yes. That’s why we reported it to Your Majesty.”

“Good. Then let’s execute it.”

“Yes.”

Clayton nodded, and Victoria, with a slightly excited face, ran towards the center of the magic circle. In her hand, she held a fist-sized magic stone emitting a bluish light, from who knows where.

All eyes were focused and tense, and the underground plaza became silent for a moment.

Soon, the moment Victoria embedded the magic stone in the center of the great magic circle.

Click.

Oooooooh.

Flash!

“Ugh!?”

A soft hum started, then grew louder. From the magic circle, a light appeared. It was brighter than anything they had ever seen.

“My eyes!” someone yelled, shielding their face.

“A warning would have been nice!” another voice complained.

“Hold on!” someone shouted back. “You’ll get used to it!”

Suddenly, the dark underground plaza became as bright as daytime. People blinked and gasped. Then, slowly, surprise turned into wonder.

“Ooh,” someone breathed. “This is… amazing.”

“Wow!”

Cheers and excited shouts filled the plaza. “It’s really working!” someone yelled happily. “The ancient magic is back!”

“We did it!”

Only a few people cheered loudly. It was sad that not many were there to celebrate, but those who were, were truly happy.

“Finally, we can go home!” one person cried out.

But then, Grik spoke, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Don’t get too excited. It probably won’t last.”

Clayton’s smile vanished. His eyes narrowed at Grik.

Before anyone could react, Clayton grabbed Grik in a headlock. Grik yelped, but the others just laughed. They knew Grik was often negative.

Logan smiled, listening to the happy sounds around him. He turned to Viktor, who stood beside him.

“Amazing,” Logan said. “It’s powerful, but not too strong. I feel full of energy. What about you?”

Viktor nodded, his eyes bright. “I feel it too, Your Majesty. Like I could work all day and night.” Viktor was known for his incredible energy, even without magic, so this was saying something.

And there was something else.

“This is incredible!” Dwayne exclaimed, looking at his hands in amazement. “I feel… ten years younger, maybe even more!” Dwayne was just a normal person, not a mage, so this effect was very noticeable for him.

Logan grinned, pleased with Dwayne’s reaction. “Expensive magic stones and a whole month of work. Do you understand now?”

The Minister of Finance, who always worried about money, nodded slowly, his eyes wide with wonder. “Yes, I see it now. But remember, we can’t put these everywhere. They are very expensive for each one.”

“I know,” Logan replied.

*There’s something else happening here,* Logan thought. He noticed Victoria. She had been staring at the bright white magic circle since it lit up, her eyes wide and thoughtful. This magic circle was still new, not fully understood. Logan didn’t know much about magic himself, but even he could sense there was more to it than just energy. Victoria, who understood magic deeply, must already be figuring it out.

*She’ll tell me when she’s ready,* he thought, trusting her completely. Logan turned back to Clayton, a satisfied smile on his face.

“This is fantastic,” Logan said. “So, can we use these magic circles in other places, not just in Gran?”

“Yes,” Clayton replied confidently. “With enough time and materials, we can.”

Hearing this, Logan felt a surge of excitement. *This is it. The final piece.* He had been planning for so long to defend against the Empire, and now it was almost ready. *But I can’t relax yet. So much can still go wrong.* Logan took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He looked at Clayton and said calmly, “You have done excellent work, Duke Clayton.”

“It was nothing,” Clayton said. “Lia – Victoria – she did most of the work…” Clayton stopped, noticing Victoria still staring at the magic circle, lost in thought. He lowered his hand, which he had raised to point at her.

Logan chuckled and patted Clayton’s shoulder. “You both worked hard. As soon as we are ready, we will put these magic circles in important places near the border. At least five places, maybe even ten if we push ourselves. Can you keep working for another year or so?”

Clayton turned back to Logan, a slightly worried look on his face. “Ten places in a year?” he asked.

“Is that too much?” Logan asked.

“No,” Clayton said quickly. He took a breath and asked seriously, “If we can do that, will it really help us stop the Empire’s attack, like you said?”

“Yes,” Logan said. “It will be a huge help.”

“Then I will do it,” Clayton said firmly, clenching his fist. Logan smiled, seeing Clayton’s determination.

Just then, Victoria came running towards them, her face bright. “Your Majesty! I know what else it does!” she called out.

“It’s about this?” Logan asked, tapping his head, hinting at their shared connection.

Victoria nodded quickly. “Yes! This magic circle… it clears your mind and stops magic that tries to control you. This kind of magic is brand new, no one uses it now. I just figured it out… How did you know?”

“Have you forgotten?” Logan chuckled, gently touching her head. “I see what you see, remember? And my senses are very strong.”

“Oh, right!” Victoria said, smiling. “But there’s something really interesting. The mage who made this magic circle… they must have known about groups like the Kassel Magic Tower.”

“Hmm?” Logan’s attention sharpened.

“When I thought about that strange magic we saw before, it made sense. This magic circle… it’s like a defense against that dark, controlling magic. It seems like magic from the Wizard School, though…”

Logan’s eyes widened. “Really? Could it… block that kind of magic?”

“Not completely block it,” Victoria explained. “But if someone is under that mind control magic, being near this circle will break it, eventually.”

This was unexpected and wonderful news. Logan’s smile grew even wider. A big worry in his heart disappeared.

From that day on, things started to change again in the royal castle of McLaine.