"Sir, you're back!"

Ronald, with two companions in tow, returned to the sunlight.

Immediately, Costate, stationed above as per orders, came forward to greet them.

The maid perfectly executed Ronald's orders and kept guard here, ensuring nothing escaped from the ruins.

"Costate, you've worked hard."

Ronald nodded slightly at Costate and then shifted his gaze downward to take a look.

Having left the underground space, the illusion's deceitful effect reappeared, leaving Ronald unable to see the condition of the ground below with just his vision.

But according to the feedback from the magic fluctuations.

The spell that this caster in his hand had last activated seemed to have entered some sort of pre-set state. Even though the caster was unconscious, it relentlessly pressed towards the center, as if trying to completely bury everything in the underground cavity.

Simultaneously using the [Star Map] to capture the real-time terrain.

Ronald also confirmed that the path he had just opened by reversing time with [Precession] had once again vanished without a trace, under the pressure of earth and rock.

The space that had nearly trapped him moments ago.

Now it had turned into a truly perfect cage, burying light and everything else deep underground, enhanced by the property granted by [Immortal Material], making it difficult for anyone to destroy.

Only the last flicker of life from the holder of "Essence Theory"

like a flickering candle, still shone below.

The spell that corrected the concept of death had maintained his lingering state, and the ruins reinforced by [Immortal Material] formed a barrier around him that wouldn't be destroyed by the pressing earth and ruins.

But even so.

Without aid, this fellow would still find it hard to escape death.

After all, given his shattered physical state, once the spell's duration ran out, death would inevitably arrive.

"Hoo—"

Ronald let out a long breath.

In just under an hour, the battle on the island was declared over.

Although he hadn't encountered any life-threatening emergencies, recalling the battle earlier still left an oppressive feeling in his heart.

Now that he was finally relaxing, his body felt comfortable once again.

"..."

"Costate, let's go down to talk."

After giving this order, Ronald planned to toss the [Nine Commandments] caster in his hand to the maid and then lead the rescued nun from the ruins, descending to the ground one after the other.

But just then, he saw the panic-stricken expression on the nun's face in his hand.

Ronald hesitated for just a moment, then, without hesitation, tossed the special nun to Costate and descended with the large man.

...

Returning to the island surface.

The place was dramatically different from when they had first arrived.

In defeating her opponent, Costate easily destroyed a large number of the island's plants and even its terrain, and the final decisive blow even triggered an overwhelming explosion.

Thus, amidst the previously flat woodland in the east of the island, there now lay a massive crater in a newly barren central area.

As for Ronald...

His encounter with the [Nine Commandments] caster indeed wasn't too destructive. But just the early pursuit and the subsequent exchanges were enough to plow entire swathes of the ground.

Especially the collapse triggered by the [Nine Commandments] caster at the end.

This directly resulted in the island's center being destroyed beyond recognition, even losing its original island shape, like a boiled egg with its top cracked open.

Now standing on this island, which was starkly different from before and after.

Ronald's heart was awash with mixed emotions, unable to pinpoint exactly what he was feeling.

But in the end, he decided not to dwell on it and instead focused his attention on the [Nine Commandments] caster in his hand. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Its name is Styx,

the black waters flow downward to the dark and perilous foot of the cliff."

Ronald recited an incantation from the "Divine Comedy" again.

Sure enough, the spell in "Essence Theory" that had locked the "Divine Comedy" powers had dissipated, allowing Ronald to smoothly summon the Hell's black mist once more.

Next, skillfully wrapping the mist around the enemy in front of him.

Ronald didn't speak further, simply pressing his palm against the opponent's chest, injecting magic power crisply and directly, and began extracting the opponent's original text.

"..."

"Uh... argh, ah!"

Forcibly extracting an original text from a living body is by no means a pleasant experience.

In just a few seconds of Ronald's operation, the caster bound by the Hell's black mist awoke with a start and cried out in pain.

But before he could react further.

The power of Hell entangling him already took effect.

At just the slightest hint of struggle, the fellow rolled his eyes back, utterly stripped of will by the spell's power.

In front of Ronald, the now-unconscious body lay like a corpse.

Apart from the body's natural reactions to pain, this guy didn't move at all, allowing Ronald to very smoothly extract the original text.

Swish—

What appeared in Ronald's hand was a neatly bound, clearly inscribed published book. Only a simply designed yellow cover and a title, with a certain unique charm, spoke of its origins.

"—'Earth's Face.'"

Ronald slowly read the title on the cover.

This book, he realized, he had never actually read before and it lay in his blind spot of knowledge.

Thus, opening the cover and flipping through it, he discovered that this was an authentic book written at the end of the 19th century, mainly containing geological content and passages focused on Earth's studies.

Relying on his linguistic comprehension ability, Ronald easily recited a sentence from the original text:

"We came down from the mountains, standing by the sea. The eyes wandered unimpeded across the vast sea surface."

This was precisely the incantation the enemy had recited earlier.

Having already activated several original texts, Ronald found this quite familiar.

While chanting, he probed with his magic into it, quickly obtaining the usage rights to the original text in his hand, and understood the relevant information about the spells in this book.

——[Geological Evolution]

This ability was the enemy's most frequently used spell, a technique for manipulating the earth to produce various changes.

——[Sea Level Rise and Fall]

This spell has two methods of use, capable of either creating floods or dispersing them, and the water could also possess an attribute of magic power with attack capabilities.

The sea that led to the demise of the [Nine Commandments] caster came from this effect.

——[Land Shrinkage]

This spell achieves a teleportation-like effect by shortening the distance of the ground. Apart from the usage interval, the only limitation is the user must be standing on solid ground.

——[Biosphere]

This spell can control elements within the biosphere to some extent.

Due to unsuitable usage conditions underground on the island, the opponent hadn't employed this spell.

——[Fossil Trace]

Can recreate the appearance of the deceased through bone fossils.

This spell has a significant downside: it cannot control the awareness of the resurrected subject.

Finally, the complete technique of this original text.

——[Geological Changes]

This complete technique allows one property of geological evolution to impart onto the surrounding environment, leading to various peculiar effects based on the specific nature and target.

The spell that ultimately sealed beneath the island.

originated from this.