The screams continued for 30 minutes, echoing through the medical chamber with enough intensity to make even seasoned sages uncomfortable. The sound carried raw agony within it, as though Victor’s entire body was being torn apart and reconstructed repeatedly. Every few seconds, the healing pod trembled violently, and the glowing runes carved into its surface flickered under the pressure of the immense energy raging inside.

Diana stood motionless before the pod the entire time. Both of her hands remained pressed firmly against the glass, as though she believed she could somehow share Victor’s suffering through sheer determination alone. Her knuckles had turned pale from the pressure, yet she refused to loosen her grip or step away even for a moment. Her ocean blue eyes remained fixed on Victor’s distorted expression, and every scream caused her fingers to tighten further.

Behind her, Arthur paced back and forth like a caged beast. The calm and composed demeanor that usually defined him had completely disappeared. His footsteps echoed sharply across the metallic floor as he repeatedly glanced between the pod and the floating system interface beside it.

"How much longer?" he finally growled, unable to suppress his impatience any further.

The glowing interface responded immediately.

[Ding! Current construction progress: 67%. Estimated time remaining: 15 minutes and 32 seconds.]

Arthur cursed quietly under his breath and ran a hand through his hair. Even after centuries of experience, he had never witnessed anything like this before. Mana circuit reconstruction itself was already an absurd theory. What Victor was attempting had surpassed all known logic.

Lyria slowly approached the glass chamber and stopped beside Diana. She gently placed her palm against the opposite side of the pod while observing the rapidly shifting readings displayed above it. Her expression softened slightly after several seconds.

"His vital signs are stabilizing," she said quietly. "The worst phase has likely passed."

Diana did not answer. She continued staring at Victor without blinking, watching as his expression slowly shifted from unbearable agony to exhausted endurance. The violent spasms that had shaken his body earlier had weakened considerably, although his muscles still twitched occasionally under the immense pressure flowing through him.

Inside the pod, Victor could barely remain conscious.

His screams had gradually faded into rough gasps as exhaustion consumed him. Every breath felt painfully heavy, as though molten metal had been poured directly into his lungs. His body still trembled uncontrollably, but the earlier sensation of complete destruction had finally begun to lessen.

Through half closed eyes, he vaguely recognized the blurred figures standing around him.

"Did I really cause this much trouble again?" he thought weakly.

Another system notification appeared before his eyes.

[Ding! Construction progress: 89%.]

Victor bit down hard on his lower lip until he tasted blood. The pain had not vanished completely, but it had transformed into something more manageable. Instead of the earlier explosive torment, it now resembled a relentless fire spreading slowly through every vein in his body.

Just a little more, he told himself.

The seconds dragged endlessly forward.

Then everything suddenly stopped.

The pain vanished so abruptly that Victor almost failed to process it. One moment, his body felt like it was burning apart. The next, an overwhelming sense of calm spread through him.

[Ding! Construction complete.]

[Ding! Congratulations! You have successfully constructed the "Primordial Chaos Mana Circuit".]

[Ding! Due to the unique nature of your new mana circuit, your unknown element has been identified and integrated.]

[Ding! Your element is now registered as: Primordial Chaos.]

Victor’s eyes widened instantly.

The moment the final notification appeared, an overwhelming surge of power erupted from deep within his chest. The sensation resembled a volcanic eruption, yet it brought no pain whatsoever. Instead, Victor felt as though he had spent his entire life drowning beneath an endless ocean and had only now broken through the surface to breathe freely for the first time.

An invisible wave of pressure exploded outward from his body.

Boom!

The healing pod shattered instantly.

Glass fragments burst across the chamber like a storm of crystal blades, forcing the sages to raise barriers and shield themselves reflexively. Sparks erupted from the surrounding medical equipment as every connected device overloaded simultaneously. The entire room trembled violently beneath the invisible pressure flooding outward from Victor’s body.

Diana remained exactly where she stood.

Sharp fragments of shattered glass struck her body and bounced harmlessly away, yet she did not even flinch. Her eyes remained completely focused on Victor as he slowly rose from the destroyed pod.

He floated several inches above the ground.

A strange aura distorted the air around him like waves of heat rising from scorched earth. His eyes glowed with constantly shifting colors as black and white swirled together with flashes of silver and gold. For one brief moment, everyone present felt an indescribable pressure descend upon their souls.

Even Arthur unconsciously took a step backward.

The phenomenon lasted only a few seconds before fading completely.

Victor slowly descended until his feet touched the ground once more. The glow vanished from his eyes, and the oppressive aura surrounding him disappeared as though it had never existed. He swayed slightly from exhaustion before steadying himself against the broken remains of the healing pod.

"Well," Victor said weakly with a tired laugh, "that was certainly an experience."

Diana instinctively stepped forward as though she intended to embrace him, but she stopped herself halfway. Her expression shifted rapidly between relief, disbelief, and happiness.

"You rebuilt your mana circuits?" she asked carefully.

Victor gave her a faint smile.

"Obviously."

Her eyes narrowed immediately.

"Which grade?"

The smile on Victor’s face widened slightly.

For a brief moment, he considered lying. The truth sounded too absurd even to him. However, the expressions surrounding him made it clear that none of the sages would accept vague answers now.

"The five billion point one," he replied calmly.

Silence filled the chamber instantly.

Complete and absolute silence.

Merlin’s wand slipped from his fingers and struck the floor with a loud metallic clatter. Arthur stopped moving entirely, frozen mid step as his mind struggled to process what he had just heard. Elyndros’s eyes wide opened.

Lyria covered her mouth with both hands in shock.

Diana simply stared at Victor without speaking.

Arthur was the first to recover.

"Five billion?" he repeated slowly, as though he could not trust his own hearing. "Did the system not state that the highest possible grade required only five hundred million points? How did you even create something worth five billion? More importantly, how the hell did you get so much points?"

Victor rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Technically, I only earned five hundred million points," he explained. "The system multiplied it afterward."

Another wave of silence swept through the room.

Merlin bent down to retrieve his fallen wand, although his trembling fingers made the task unusually difficult. Countless calculations raced through his mind simultaneously. Five hundred million points from a single achievement was already enough to overturn common sense entirely.

A five billion point mana circuit was simply unimaginable.

"And regarding the highest grade," Victor continued, "I honestly have no idea. The system gave me the option, so I accepted it."

Arthur slowly exhaled and looked directly into Victor’s eyes.

The atmosphere inside the chamber shifted once more, becoming far heavier than before.