◈ Episode 526. A True Disaster (4)
I couldn’t resist.
“Shit, what the hell is going on?”
The helicopter swayed precariously.
Nam Cheolmin gripped his tablet tightly and looked down at Jeju Island.
From the moment Paimon appeared, he’d been distancing himself from Jeju Island.
Click.
The analyst who had been operating the camera tirelessly shouted.
“I can’t see anything, even with the infrared mode, even with the hawk-eye lens! That black energy must be completely blocking all observations, Analyst……!”
ppadeug.
Nam Cheolmin gritted his teeth.
The black energy?
‘……Everyone’s been watching.’
They knew it was coming from the commander-in-chief.
Until Paimon appeared.
Just like himself.
The helicopters and observation drones flying over Jeju Island.
Naturally, the whole thing would have been relayed to the world via broadcast.
Nam Cheolmin thought realistically.
‘…… He’s the commander-in-chief like no other.’
He suppressed the concern that rose in the back of his mind and continued to think. Yes, he would overcome the current crisis, even if he was shaken.
‘But then comes the problem.’
Seoul has become a land of anomalies.
And countless guild branches.
Guild Houses are crammed into a small area of Seoul.
The siege system was always active.
What were the effects of this change?
-The Land of Anomaly belong only to South Korea? Controversial…….
-U.S. Senator, “Seoul belongs to the whole world.” Claimed.
-AAU official, “The player who becomes the lord of Seoul will have enormous power……. It’s only right that the election be transparent, or something terrible will happen.”
Seoul has become the center of attention for players and the world. It’s a problem that the commander-in-chief, and even he, realized early on.
‘He declared that he would bear the burden once again.’
You will be the master of Seoul.
Nam Cheolmin after the dumpling meeting that day.
He did not neglect the ‘Master of Seoul’ plan.
In the process, he realized.
This rotten country is overflowing with non-recyclable trash.
‘You can tell just by looking at the beginning of checks in the media.’
At this point, the media was insidiously biting the commander-in-chief.
Ignoring everything he had accomplished so far.
After assuming that the commander-in-chief is already the owner of Seoul.
A novel was being written.
‘I guess they were planning to induce public opposition.’
Of course, the majority of the public had sense.
They didn’t pay attention to garbage articles.
But this might change public opinion.
‘……It’s something to bite off.’
It was a high-ranking Demon King Paimon raid.
A new update with different rules than Rift.
Common sense dictated that there would be damage in the process.
Nam Cheolmin muttered.
“……Because you have shown extraordinary performance so far.”
He never forgot his steadfastness in any battle.
He was the commander-in-chief who never wavered.
But this time was different.
This meant that he was a difficult enemy who had no choice but to use new abilities that even the commander-in-chief could not control. A snap. Nam Cheolmin slapped his cheeks with both hands.
shaking head.
As if that wasn’t enough, he shook his head.
“Get a grip, Nam Cheolmin.”
Yes, the whole world might criticize him.
It was his sacrifice, too.
They don’t realize that he saved them from certain destruction.
There was a good chance they would talk without knowing the subject.
But.
‘Even if the commander-in-chief says it’s okay…….’
Nam Cheolmin, couldn’t leave it to himself.
‘For that, we have to wait and see.’
Everything that happens on Jeju Island.
It was at this moment that Nam Cheolmin shifted his gaze to Jeju Island once again.
His face turned pale.
“!”
It couldn’t be helped.
Sssssssssssssssssssss.
A fierce new arrival that plummets at breakneck speed..
The flowing robes were all too familiar.
That was the senior mage of the Magic Tower.
It was Bensch William.
Creeping.
Nam Cheolmin doubted his senses.
He could feel Bensch’s body crackling with energy.
Black energy.
The right kind of energy, the kind that the commander-in-chief must have manifested.
Then, the Commander-in-Chief attacked the senior mage of the Magic Tower
“……Mah, that’s ridiculous.”
*
Vangrit, Senior Pure Magic, shouted.
“Senior Bensch!”
Chief Lee is in a bad shape.
Bensch and Vangrit, the two seniors, noticed something.
It was shortly after Chief Lee appeared on Jeju Island.
-“Why doesn’t he use magic?”
-“Because he doesn’t need to?”
-“Of course not. You know that, don’t you, Vangrit? His magic is of a different caliber. I mean, sure, you have a high level of magic affinity, but……. I mean, it’s literally on another level.”
Bensch was not wrong. Chief Lee’s magic power was even more efficient than Twilight’s, so the two seniors couldn’t let their guard down.
-“I know Chief Lee is a person who uses a knife to kill cows and does not use a knife to kill chickens, especially when it comes to hunting demons.”
-“……And yet you didn’t mean it with all your sincerity?”
-“Uh-huh, that sounds like trouble. It’s not that, Vangrit.”
Bensch said, without the slightest hint of mischief.
-“There is no reason to use the black magic power, which carries a lot of risk, given the different levels of magic power. Don’t you know that thanks to Senior Matisse, Vangrit? The dangers of 『Blackening』.”
Yes, the two senior mages did know.
-“If he’s in a condition where he can only use the black magic, then……. That’s right. It’s only the variables of black magic, the Blackening that Senior Matisse warned us about.”
I’m pretty sure that’s how Chief Lee fell into the ‘Blackening’.
To help him, Bensch raised his magic power.
Bensch, in particular, manifested the arcane magic of House William.
He had awakened as Flame Emperor.
Vangrit once said to Bensch.
-“Don’t you think that’s too much?”
-“My head says it’s too much, Vangrit. But my gut is telling me. It’s warning me.”
-“……?”
Bensch said, unsure even as he spoke.
-“Maybe that’s not Chief Lee I know……. No. I’ve been talking out of my ass, Vangrit.”
Vangrit understood in hindsight what he meant.
Senior Bensch had walked away without even approaching Chief Lee.
Only now did he realize.
“……As expected, something is different.”
Vangrit gathered himself and took in his surroundings.
There were no more big demons in this place. Although the demons that poured out from the curse were rampaging everywhere, they were not a threat because they had lost their masters.
No primordial Satan.
No noble Paimon.
No giant, unidentifiable grasp.
They no longer existed on Jeju Island.
This uncontrollable fear and chaos.
This uncontrollable fear and chaos was coming from you, Chief Lee.
Vangrit gritted his teeth.
“…… This cannot be, Chief Lee.”
He summoned all the magic in his body.
The content of the interference was simple enough.
Nothing but release.
You’re not even from the Magic House.
Vangrit’s transcendent talent that earned him a senior position in the Magic Tower.
That brilliant talent begins to glow with magic power.
Gooooooo.
His curly hair stands on end.
A vast, pure magic power emanated from his body.
With that, he moved towards Chief Lee.
Creeping.
The black magic power that knocked Senior Bensch off his feet.
But Vangrit unleashed an even more massive blast of magic.
……crash.
The unformed circle throbbed in the aftermath, but that was okay.
If only I could get to Chief Lee.
Approach him.
There was something I had to ask.
Suddenly, Chief Lee’s advice flashed through my mind.
-“You don’t have to make up for your weaknesses. You need to maximize your strengths so that your strengths can offset your weaknesses. You just need to maximize your strengths, and you have those strengths, Senior Mage Vangrit.”
As it turns out, Chief Lee was right.
As it turned out, Chief Lee’s advice was correct, for thanks to his teachings, I am able to release pure magic that, while less efficient, is able to resist your black magic. Vangrit spoke with difficulty.
” ……, Chief Lee, do you remember?”
You did it for me, a worthless person.
“Even if you don’t, I will never forget, not even in my lifetime, the day you and Master Marcelo risked your lives for me…….”
Vangrit laughed bitterly.
“What can I say? I had nothing but potential. You risked that for me. Until the moment we entered the top floor of the Magic Tower together to slay the demon worshipper. I didn’t know why, but…….”
Still.
“As I watched your actions, I came to realize.”
Vangrit’s eyes shone brightly.
“It wasn’t that I was special, it was just the way Chief Lee was. He was always the kind of person who would never let anyone’s problems go unnoticed…….”
That’s why I didn’t understand.
“But why, why, why?”
Vangrit choked back a rush of emotion.
Lightly.
The long silver hair began to move.
The head that had been turned away from him began to turn with it.
And then, the eyes revealed themselves.
Faced with that heartless gaze, Vangrit recognized it.
“As expected.”
He was relieved.
“It wasn’t……?”
Of course not.
Even if the appearance was the same.
That wasn’t Chief Lee I knew.
…….dump.
Confirmed, Vangrit had no more doubts.
As soon as he finished releasing the magic he had been holding onto.
Vangrit lost consciousness.
Creeping.
Toward such Vangrit.
It spread out to the black magic power in the area.
The sight was watched by those stranded on Jeju Island.
“Vangrit Senior……!”
Jesse blurted out.
The Tower Master in the cone hat, even with his knowledge.
What was happening now was beyond his comprehension.
All he could do was warn her.
-Don’t even think about stopping him, Jesse.
“But…….”
-That’s not Chief Lee you know, and it’s not Chief Lee I know. If you need me to be more direct, then that’s the “something” that’s wearing his mask.
To break Jesse’s stubbornness, the cone hat added.
-You think you’re any different from Bensch and Vangrit?
Tower Master’s heart sank.
Because Bensch is out and Vangrit is in trouble?
No. That’s the kind of people the mages of Magic Tower are.
No one can say for sure when or where they will die.
Bensch and Vangrit know that.
They know that better than anyone.
It’s a position you can’t ascend without that kind of determination.
The position of a Senior.
So at this moment.
The reason for my now non-existent heartburn is all because of you, you non-senior something. Tower Master looked around from behind the cone hat.
-The black magic formed its own realm.
It’s like the basement of a Magic Tower, Mugan.
What that means is simple.
No interference from the outside in.
There is no way to escape from the inside.
The lives of those trapped here depend on Chief Lee.
No, it means that the lives of those trapped here depend on something that wears his mask.
It was at this moment that Tower Master made a cold judgment.
Gooooo.
A violet glow emanated from Jesse’s body.
-Jesse…….
The power of the twilight spread.
It was a manifestation to save the falling Vangrit.
But even that was an eyesore.
Something’s gaze was fixed squarely on Jesse.
Creeping.
Immediately, the black magic began to stretch toward Jesse.
It was then.
The thing that no one would ever believe happened.
In an instant.
paaas.
The black magic scattered into thin air.
Grandfell had stopped.
Or, more accurately.
The ‘ray of light’ inside Grandfell had awakened.
In that moment.
Humanity was deflected from Paimon’s prophecy.
It was no powerful skill, no magic, no spell.
It came from the palm of his hand, the inside pocket of his jacket.
It was a small ringing sound.
Ziiiiiiiing.
[Caller: Eldest Sister]
“……!”