◈ Episode 395. The Warlord’s Library (1)
Magic.
The fences erected by modern technology were useless in front of the Magic Tower. The suspects of the incident, who had been brought to the Magic Tower by the senior mages, were housed in the Obsidian Hall.
“What the……?”
Obsidian Hall, the prison of Obsidian.
As a non-player, all you could see and feel in Obsidian Hall was its beauty. Ignorance is bliss. That’s what they say in situations like this.
Bensch, a senior in fire mages, snorted.
“Heh. I don’t think those worms know the pressures of Obsidian, when even I, Bensch William, didn’t learn of the existence of Obsidian Hall until I became a senior mage!”
Magic Hall, even the majority of mages didn’t know about it.
It was natural.
What happens here is not known to the outside world.
Because of the special properties of Obsidian.
Flames.
Bensch lightly stirs the flames.
The strict discipline of the Magic Tower.
Practical magic was forbidden in the Magic Tower.
Except in the Obsidian Hall.
Vangrit, a senior in pure magic, speaks cautiously.
“Obsidian has the ability to absorb and digest magic, and I’ve heard rumours of it being forged into equipment to combat mages like us…….”
Magic Tower had studied the weaknesses of magic early on. Truth must not be underestimated. As a result, Magic Tower had mastered Obsidian’s nature and used it to their advantage.
Bensch’s shoulders danced with a shrug.
“Acha, it’s the first time our senior Vangrit has been to Obsidian Hall, isn’t it, and you’re a sunshine chick senior compared to me, Bensch. Ahem. I’ll be happy to walk you through the motions, so let’s see. Hot from the start…….”
Grumbling.
The flames leap from Bensch’s fingers more fiercely. Those dragged into the Obsidian Hall were dying. Someone muttered in horror.
“Is it pitch black everywhere, an incinerator? Aren’t those monsters trying to burn us without a trace using magic?! How else could they do that to weak civilians like us……!”
Bensch stepped forward, unperturbed by the outcry.
“Obsidian absorbs magic, but it doesn’t absorb the pain it causes. It has many uses, but its most obvious use is interrogation, and for that, it’s time for this Bensch William, to step up.”
Bensh William of the William family.
“Because burning pain is the best kind of pain.”
Bensch stared at the flames through his tousled golden hair. Senior mage of the Magic Tower. A position only earned by those who have walked the path towards magic, towards truth.
Yes.
This moment.
Bensch did not look at the fearful faces.
“This is the vision of the William family.”
He only stared into his own roiling flames.
Unfortunately, Bensch could not channel the visionary magic.
For he heard voices.
No, more accurately, footsteps.
ttogag─
“……!!!”
Including Bensch.
An exclamation point appeared on the faces of the audience.
Some of them, especially the ones who had been trembling in fear in front of him, opened their mouths.
“What the hell are you doing, player Lee Hoyeol!”
“What, what did we do to deserve this……!”
“The South Korean government should lodge a formal complaint with the AAU……!!!”
There’s a reason they could rant like that.
Lee Hoyeol’s attitude so far had a great influence.
Players are superhuman.
Players are dangerous.
Analysing their personalities and behaviour has been a challenge for the ruling class of each country.
An attitude that values formality, a harsh tone of voice, and a stubborn personality.
However, the emotion exists above that.
Lee Hoyeol is merciful.
It was an obvious guess. The world would be a much more chaotic place if the immensely powerful Lee Hoyeol wasn’t merciful, but he was clearly mistaken.
“Bensch William Senior.”
“……Yes!”
“You were right to manifest fire magic.”
Demons.
Or rather, in the presence of the demons.
Because Lee Hoyeol was never merciful.
“However, even the Obsidian Hall leaves pain in the target’s mind. With the power of arcane magic, it wouldn’t be strange if they were crippled by excruciating pain.”
Equally impatient, the man interrupts the conversation.
“What, what, what?!”
“You were planning to do such a terrible thing to us!”
Perhaps Lee Ho-eol, thinking of their safety.
He must have thought that he had spoken those words.
But as I said, he was mistaken.
“They still have a use.”
“……?”
“Save your magic for last.”
“Yes, I will take your advice to heart!”
Bensch bowed his head, and the others who had been dragged in understood the situation.
It was true.
Lee Hoyeol was not thinking of their lives.
“I have heard of your deeds, all of them.”
The coldness of his words was a hunch.
Someone had spoken the truth, first.
Lee Hoyeol as he spoke, coldly.
“I made it clear.”
“W-what are you talking about……?”
“Wealth and fame are like bubbles.”
.
.
.
The Obsidian Hall plays a similar role to Mugan.
Still, the people in the Obsidian Hall could still say they were doing well. I can’t feel it because of his equanimity, but Mugan was in worse shape than I could have imagined.
-“Senior Matisse, you have done well.”
-“No, sir.”
Matisse Dean Karl, Senior in Black Mage.
He was considered Marcelo’s equal in terms of skill.
Considering the nature of black magic, where the manifestor must not be easily agitated……. Aside from me, Matisse is probably the most free-spirited mage in the Magic Tower.
-“……But the dizziness doesn’t go away.”
It was enough to make him shake.
As for the Japanese government representative who was interrogated by Matisse in Mugan?
I don’t know.
He’s probably a cripple and will never be able to live the rest of his life the way he did before.
Isn’t that harsh?
No, even that was a mild punishment.
-“You commit atrocities just in pursuit of material possessions.”
Marcelo bit his lip.
To cut a long story short, they gave Raymon Sean information.
Through AAU, they relayed the player’s stats, skills, and item levels.
From there, the guess became a certainty.
Not even Raymon Sean has complete control over the system.
Meanwhile, my embarrassing full name.
My embarrassing full name, splashed all over the place in system messages.
It wasn’t Raymon Sean’s doing, was it?
‘In the old days, I would have given you some consideration.’
But I couldn’t be so forgiving now.
‘What felt like an unreasonable regular update was planned.’
I think back to the past, to the history of regular updates.
Why, the real start was when Count Ascura, Rift of the Vampire Citadel, appeared in Russia, and at that point, the vast majority of players, let alone me, lacked the ability to defeat him.
My gaze flickers to the government figures in Obsidian Hall.
‘These bastards knew that, and yet they collaborated with Raymon Sean.’
The deal they made with him was that he had full knowledge of the players’ levels and was pushing out regular updates that were too much for them to handle. Raymond Sean, that guy.
‘I must have been a thorn in your side in that sense, right?’
Level unknown.
No information.
Just popping up out of nowhere and killing all the things that are called demons. It must have been quite a headache. I’m sure they were trying desperately to dig up my information.
But was it possible?
AAU Korea Branch Leader.
Not to mention Park Minjae’s crazy dog personality. I was a lot tougher back then than I am now. Nowadays, everyone is so polite in front of me, but back then, I was like.
-“There is no formality to be found.”
-“I’m not taking any questions.”
-“Don’t you dare block my path.”
……I had some really bad luck.
But that’s all in the past.
Raymon Sean, that’s about as bad as you can get for humanity.
I mean, that’s as far as you can go.
I opened my mouth.
“The limbs of Raymon Sean.”
“……!”
Despair flashed across their faces as I spoke.
Is it because they’re so low down in society?
You’re quick-witted.
You realise that someone beat you to the punch.
Of course, I didn’t let that stop me.
“I will cut off his hands and feet.”
Grumbling.
As if on cue, Bensch unleashes his fire magic. I’m sure he’s got it in him, but I’m afraid not. Now is not the time for you to step up, Bensch William.
“So now you’ll have to struggle.”
” ……What do you mean, struggle?”
“I mean prove to me the value of his hands and feet.”
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
I was going to give it back.
Raymon Sean, if the bastards have deceived mankind through these men.
I will use them to deceive you, too, Raymon Sean.
“Tell him, now, immediately.”
To do so, I’ll need information that will confuse him, Raymon Sean, just as humanity was shocked into despair by the contents of his regular updates.
‘Even you, the self-proclaimed creator of the Arcana continent.’
I’ll tell you something you don’t know.
Of course, Grandfell’s temperament cannot let out false information. I had to reveal one moderately shocking truth among the truths I was hiding.
Yes, a truth that would shock even Raymon Sean.
‘Shit.’
The thought makes my head spin.
I should have known there was so much I was hiding……!
From the fact that I’m the last survivor of Akshan.
Even my fucking full name.
After a moment of agony, I opened my mouth.
In real life, and on the Arcana continent, Raymon Sean can’t see every detail of a player’s life. He can only interpret a situation or outcome for himself, but not the cause.
In that sense.
I’m going to let you in on a truth that may be most frustrating to you.
“I am the one holding the breath of Bad Omen.”
No, not exactly.
It’s our senior Akshans who are in the belly of the Bad Omen, but whatever.
You don’t know why the Bad Omen is stuck in the southern seas, do you?
High aesthetic sense.
In fact, it’s like a lump of tentacles or something like a bad omen.
It’s Grandfell who wouldn’t care if you gave it to the dogs.
So, if you’re willing to co-operate?
I can give it back, I’m telling you.
Of course.
‘Please come to an agreement with our seniors in the belly.’
*
The Emperor could not overlook the report.
“You must be strict, Your Majesty!”
The name of royal family, Seric Rose, is not to be uttered lightly. A stranger would not even know the name. But the man had taken the name of the royal family into his own mouth.
Not only that.
‘Claudi.’
The emperor knew another name for the empire’s savior Lee Hoyeol.
He knew another name for him.
‘Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo.’
So he couldn’t ignore it.
“I will grant you access.”
The emperor had doubts about Seric Rose’s prestige.
A puppet emperor, set up by agreement of the Four Families.
That was the truth of the Seric Rose family, but Claudi had brought the Four Families, the true owners of the Empire, to heel. No force was needed in the process.
Simply by speaking his name.
The Four Families knelt before Claudi.
The Emperor was anguished.
Where the hell was Claudi, and what was the identity of the Dark Dragon?
The basement of the imperial palace.
So much so that he want to ask about the truth about Claudi in 『Warlord’s Library』.
At that moment.
“I salute Your Majesty’s mercy.”
The symbol of Claudi.
A man with the same silver hair as Hoyeol had come to Antonium. The emperor looked into the man’s face. How could blood relatives of the same age be so different?
Lee Hoyeol, if his every move exuded dignity and grace……. The man who claimed to be Claudi’s prodigal son exuded an air of uncontrollable decadence.
‘You can’t be trusted with anything.’
The Emperor made his decision from that impression.
But something unexpected came out of the man’s mouth.
Seric Rose, the imperial family’s top secret for lack of a better name.
“There will be no need for much dialogue between us.”
“Watch your language in front of His Majesty……!!!”
“There is truth in 『Warlord’s Library』, young Seric Rose.”
The presence of the Warlord’s Library burst forth.
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed.
How this man knew of the Warlord’s Library is beyond him, but what he knew of it was enough to make him a danger to the Empire.
But the man continued.
And the Emperor’s thoughts stopped.
A telepath, whispering with magic.
Only the Emperor heard the truth.
“Emperor, why did Seric Rose join in the destruction of Claudi? The reason is recorded in the Warlord’s Library. You foolish Seric Rose who knows nothing.”
“……!”
The Empire and Seric Rose participated in the destruction of Claudi……?