One after another, Mystic Circles manifested around him until the storm itself looked illuminated by layers of glowing formations rotating endlessly around him.
Adelasta immediately recognized every single one because she had lived through some of the moments that created them, watching him obsessively work until exhaustion while refusing rest no matter how much everyone argued with him. Seeing them gathered together like this felt strangely heartbreaking because every Mystic Circle represented a chapter of his life, a moment of fear, hope, desperation or determination.
Healing.
Plasma.
Water.
Heat.
Control.
Sapphire.
Protection.
Flight.
Sapphire Array.
Enhancement.
The sight looked beautiful. It also looked devastating.
Veneri stared at them quietly. Without Rune Manipulation, the Xinoraci formulas inside every Mystic Circle no longer looked familiar to him because the symbols had become meaningless patterns he could no longer understand. He remembered creating them and remembered what they accomplished, but the formulas themselves felt distant. Watching someone lose familiarity with their life's work looked far crueler than Adelasta expected.
Eventually, his gaze landed on the Enhancement Mystic Circle. He stayed quiet for several moments before releasing a slow breath.
"I made this after leaving Nyramith Island. I remember constantly thinking about how weak I felt before entering the Hidden Citadel. I kept convincing myself that if I became stronger then maybe everyone would stop getting hurt. This was one of the few Mystic Circles I made entirely out of fear. I wanted something that could temporarily raise somebody's rank beyond their normal capability because every enemy somehow kept becoming stronger than the last."
Adelasta remembered. She remembered the sleepless nights, the endless calculations, the constant frustration and the way he barely rested because he feared being unprepared. She remembered how exhausted he looked during that period and how stubbornly he insisted that preparation mattered more than comfort.
Veneri slowly raised his hand and dispelled it.
The Enhancement Mystic Circle shattered apart into countless glowing fragments before vanishing permanently. Pain immediately surged through his body with brutal force.
His knees almost gave out beneath him while blood spilled from his mouth and nose at once. It felt less like losing power and more like having memories ripped out while fully conscious, leaving behind wounds too deep for normal healing to touch. Body Reconstruction immediately repaired physical strain but the deeper suffering lingered stubbornly beneath the surface.
Still, he refused to fall. He slowly steadied himself and lifted his gaze again. His eyes landed on Sapphire Array.
It was the first large-scale array he ever successfully created. It was the Mystic Circle that once made him unbelievably proud. He stared quietly at it for a long time.
"This one mattered to me. I created it because I wanted sapphire manipulation to work on a much larger scale. I remember spending days convincing myself that maybe I could push it further if I just kept trying."
He gave a pained smile.
"It was one of the first moments where I thought I might actually be talented. I kept failing over and over again until one day something finally clicked."
Now, he had to let it go. Veneri slowly closed his eyes and dispelled Sapphire Array.
The pain struck harder. His experience and knowledge of it split apart mercilessly until understanding itself collapsed, leaving behind only the hollow knowledge that something important used to exist. He remembered creating Sapphire Array but he no longer understood how or why it worked.
He nearly collapsed yet somehow, he forced himself to remain standing.
His gaze landed on Flight Mystic Circle. Everything stopped. Even Melody looked away after seeing his expression. Veneri stared at Flight Mystic Circle for a painfully long time before quietly laughing to himself.
"This one feels unfair."
Adelasta remembered everything perfectly. He made it during the five years they slept together rebuilding Dynasty Richinaria.
He created the Flight Mystic Circle because he wanted to fly. It wasn't because survival demanded it or because some terrifying enemy forced him to. He simply wanted to experience flying because he thought it sounded fun, which somehow made the entire thing even more ridiculous. He spent countless hours throwing himself from cliffs repeatedly, crashing painfully into the ground while insisting that every injury counted as useful information.
Adelasta remembered yelling at him endlessly. She remembered being furious because he kept returning injured while acting absurdly cheerful about almost dying. She remembered him apologizing and immediately continuing.
Then, on the day he succeeded, she saw happiness on his face. He immediately challenged Anamorsia to a flight duel despite clearly being nowhere near her level. He lost terribly. He promised her that one day he would win.
That promise would never happen.
"This was never necessary. I only made this because I liked the idea of flying."
His voice sounded fragile. This Mystic Circle was not born from suffering. It was born from happiness and a desire to fly just like Adela or any other person he knew could fly.
He raised his shaking hand and dispelled the Flight Mystic Circle. Pain hit him with horrifying force.
Blood immediately began flowing from his eyes while his body nearly collapsed onto the soaked cliffside. Body Reconstruction repaired physical damage instantly but the the pain refused to disappear.
He remembered flying but no longer remembered how. He remembered challenging Anamorsia but no longer remembered what made him so excited.
The dream itself was gone. Eventually, he forced himself upright again. Rain mixed endlessly with blood. His breathing sounded uneven as he looked at the Protection Mystic Circle and Sapphire Mystic Circle.
"These were made in Erna Isles. I remember making these because First Phase Ascender Rank felt too weak and I hated feeling powerless."
His voice sounded exhausted now.
"These were the final Mystic Circles I made before Divine Rank. I wanted greater output and stronger defense because I kept convincing myself that surviving meant becoming stronger no matter what."
Both circles mattered deeply to him. Both represented survival. Veneri slowly lifted his trembling hands and he dispelled them.
Pain surged violently once more while blood spilled harder across soaked stone beneath him. Every sacrifice tore deeper into him while every disappearing Mystic Circle left behind emptiness that healing could never repair.
Yet, he kept going.
Adela stood quietly nearby with worry. Watching him suffer like this felt unbearable, especially when she could do absolutely nothing to stop it.
His gaze settled on the next Mystic Circle, the Control Mystic Circle.
The storm somehow felt quieter.
Out of every Mystic Circle Veneri had ever made, this one stood above the rest without comparison. If the others represented growth, preparation, fear or joy, then Control represented survival itself because without it, the Veneri standing here should not even exist.
It was his masterpiece, his greatest achievement and the one thing that carried him through countless impossible situations. Destroying it felt less like sacrificing power and more like tearing away a fundamental piece of his soul. Veneri stared quietly at the glowing formation while layers of sapphire-colored formulas rotated endlessly inside it.
"This one almost killed me to create. When I was trapped inside the Obsidian Runic Spire in Erna Isles, I thought I was going to die there because nothing I had worked anymore. I was desperate. Every path forward looked impossible, every enemy felt overwhelming and for the first time in my life, I believed I had reached a dead end."
Adelasta remembered the Obsidian Runic Spire memories he revealed to her. Even hearing the name made her uncomfortable. The place had been horrific. It felt like it was designed to break people mentally and physically until survival itself felt impossible. Veneri entered that place without fully understanding its dangers and by the time he realized how terrifying it actually was, escaping had already become nearly impossible.
Then, he created Control Mystic Circle in the blacksmith floor because he had no other choice. He built it with suffering, pain, fear and pure desperation.
The Mystic Circle allowed him to stabilize forces too dangerous for ordinary people, manipulate overwhelming energy and eventually separate himself into Pentarchs. It became the reason his Divinities did not spiral out of control, the reason his Base and Pinnacle Tethers became stronger and the reason he could survive situations that should have killed him countless times.
Without the Control Mystic Circle, he would not be here. Destroying it should have been catastrophic yet he already knew which Mystic Circle would remain. He had already chosen.
Slowly, he lifted his hand.
"You carried me farther than I deserved. You kept me alive when I had no right surviving. I really did love making you, even though I was halfway insane by then. Thank you for keeping me alive all this time."
He dispelled it. Adela immediately braced herself. She expected screaming and agony violent enough to make him seriously injured.
Nothing happened. The Control Mystic Circle disappeared quietly.
No backlash came. No pain emerged from him. Instead, Veneri simply stood there. His expression changed immediately.
Something disappeared from his eyes so suddenly that Adelasta almost stepped forward in alarm. The sharpness she always associated with him dimmed for a brief moment, replaced by something distant and strangely hollow. He slowly looked at his own hands and quietly frowned.
"I don't remember it."
Adelasta immediately felt uneasy. Pain at least felt understandable but this looked horrifying. Veneri slowly exhaled and turned towards the next Mystic Circle.
Heat.
The glowing structure rotated quietly while warm energy pulsed gently through it despite the cold storm around them. This time, there was actual warmth.
"This one came from Frozen Ruins. Back then, Riene, Taryenne and I were freezing constantly because the environment made survival miserable."
Adelasta didn't know this one.
"Runes didn't work there so I improvised. I built a sapphire igloo and created the Heat Mystic Circle. It was a solution born from stubbornness."
He chuckled as he touched it.
"We spent so much time inside that shelter. We cooked food together, argued about stupid things, laughed at ridiculous problems and spent hours pretending the outside world did not exist. The heat worked a little too well. Between my Boon and the temperature, things almost became complicated. They almost made love to me. Thank goodness I was able to make them sleep."
Adelasta narrowed her eyes immediately. Even during emotional suffering, he still remembered embarrassing details. Veneri awkwardly coughed.
"That part is not important."
His softness became sadness.
"I think that was the last time Riene and Taryenne ever got together. After taking over the ORS, we barely had time to talk because they led the people who were frozen there. They died alongside the others when I used their Soul Energy to force Narisva's Ascension."
He looked at Heat Mystic Circle.
"You were warm when everything else felt terrible. Even though I barely used you that much, you were important to me. I'll remember you. Too bad I won't know how I made you."
He dispelled it and nothing happened. No pain came. No blood was spilled. No violent backlash arrived. Only silence remained.
Veneri quietly released a long breath while staring at empty space where the Heat Mystic Circle once existed.