◈ Episode 409. Four Days, Time to Repay the Favor (1)
The seed of the World Tree.
The size of the sprout is as large as its size.
It could easily hold a little chick.
“I like it cool.”
Frostnax moves his beak.
The Dark Dragon’s orders must be carried out faithfully.
Frostnax has mercy on the humans.
“You may focus on watching over Antonium. Leave the World Tree’s sprouts to me and the impudent Dragon Knight to watch over it. Are you confident, Dragon Knight?”
“……Yes.”
Skal nodded grimly.
Nam Taemin was dumbfounded.
He glanced back and muttered.
“Skal, that’s another one of your whims. One minute you’re saying you’d die to meet a Dragon. What’s wrong with you now that you have a dragon right in front of you?”
Only he could answer that question.
Skal glanced at Frostnax.
He would have gladly obeyed his orders in the form of a dragon.
However.
Majestic.
Where are the dragons in the fantasy go, and a chick?
What even is this harsh tone of voice?
But it was an undeniable reality.
[Class Quest: Dragon Blood]
Dragon Knight, if you wish to ascend to the heights of dragons, you must smell like them, for only pure dragon blood can make that possible. Drink dragon blood and be recognized as one of their own.
-Acquire Dragon Blood. (Optional)
-Establish a relationship with an Ice Dragon, Frostnax. (Optional)
The system doesn’t lie.
A new quest objective has been added.
It says it’s Ice Dragon, Frostnax.
“First, massage this body’s shoulders.”
“……Yes.”
The King of All.
“That’s not cool. Forget it, tell me something interesting.”
“……Yes.”
A fantasy about dragons.
“Tsk. There’s still a long way to go before you can climb on my back.”
“……Yes.”
It was being crushed miserably.
Worst of all, the struggle was just beginning.
But what do they say about tragedy looking like comedy from a distance?
Nash William, the Imperial Mage, spoke to Nam Taemin.
“I’ve only heard rumors about you adventurers, but you really do seem to have unlimited potential. Dragon Knight. Sir Skal, I believe he will be in the history books of the Empire one day.”
Nam Taemin nodded.
‘He deserves it.’
The one and only Hidden Class, Dragon Knight, whose fraudulent nature was well known to Nam Taemin, who had known Skal since the days of the Arcana Continent. Nam Taemin smirked.
“I’ll have to work hard to make my mark on the Empire’s history books.”
Maybe Mr. Hoyeol would approve of this kind of good-natured competition?
He feels motivated.
Nam Taemin was just warming up.
Suddenly, Nash stopped walking.
“Why can’t barbarians be included in imperial history books?”
“No, that can’t be possible. It’s not like that…….”
Nash’s gaze fell on the walls of Antonium.
Shhh-
Nash held up a finger.
“Do you see that? What is that? I think it’s a plant. Since when do those things grow on the walls…….? I didn’t see anything like that yesterday.”
Senses more animal than human.
Nam Taemin stared at the wall with a wide-angle view.
Then he saw it.
“Does that look like a thorny vine?”
“What? A thorny vine?”
“The pointy ones are like rose thorns…….”
I wondered if they were putting up thorns instead of barbed wire to prevent anyone from climbing over the wall, but considering the height of Antonium’s walls, it didn’t seem to make much sense.
Nam Taemin rubbed his chin.
“Unless our Commander in Chief can magically lift the ground……. I don’t think we can climb over the walls with a ladder or anything, And no matter how sharp a thorn vine is, it’s impossible to pierce this armor, right?”
“Exactly. The Empire wouldn’t build such weak defenses.”
Nash nodded vigorously. He was an imperial mage, well aware of the state of the Empire. That was why the thorns on the walls were so puzzling.
“Could you wait a moment?”
If you, or any of the senior mages in the Magic Tower…….
You might be guessing something.
Nash telepathized.
“Keep an eye on the walls?”
Bensch accompanied Hisagi.
Hisagi was unwilling, but the pairing was unavoidable.
What if Nam Taemin or Leonie accompanied Bensch?
“It’s true, my brother. So what is that vine? I want to burn it.”
……I felt like something was going to happen.
Calm down.
Hisagi looked at the situation without being swayed by Bensch’s reaction.
“Senior Mage Bensch, do you have any idea what’s going on?”
“Hmm, I don’t know.”
The eldest son of the William family, a master of magic.
Bensch had no history of failing to live up to even the most demanding standards of his lineage. When Hisagi asked with formality, Bensch answered with the formality of his seniority.
“Even I, Bensch William, have difficulty understanding the thorns of that Antonium, and from the sound of the returning telepaths, Senior Matisse, Bellier, I suspect you are not unlike me.”
Hisagi bit his lip hard.
Is it an unusual thorn vine?
Not even a day had passed.
Already he was beginning to feel the gap in their ranks.
“Wait, who’s there?”
But even the gap seemed to be anticipated.
Soon, Hoyeol’s arrangement began to reveal its presence.
Without anyone looking at him.
Not even a glance.
From the low, low sewers.
“Emilio, King of the Scavengers.”
“If it’s Emilio……?”
“Our king sends word to the Holy War Alliance of the situation in Antonium.”
“!”
The Scavengers had come to the scattered Holy War Alliance to deliver Emilio’s message. It shouldn’t be hard to find information about those thorns inside Antonium.
Soon, the expected news arrived.
“Everyone and everything in Antonium has been eaten by that thorny vine.”
“……!!!”
The first words came out unexpectedly.
Without urgency.
In disbelief, he continued.
“Humans who come into contact with the thorns are transformed into roses. It means that their skin will sprout a layer or two of petals, covering their body, and they will eventually turn into a rosebud.”
“Shit.”
Leonie said reflexively. Bellier, who was accompanying Leonie, agreed with her.
It didn’t make sense, even from her perspective.
“Even the highest level of magic can’t turn humans into roses, and even if it could, it would take an enormous amount of magic, and yet everyone in Antonium looks like that?”
walag!
Meanwhile, Nash grabbed Scavenger roughly by the hem of his shirt.
“I am serious now, Scavenger. I mean, the Merciful One may have trusted even you completely, but not me. So where is Emilio now?”
Scavenger, who had been caught in the crossfire, pouted.
“You don’t trust us?”
“Yeah, how can someone from the bottom…….”
“This is why Imperial assholes.”
“What?”
twes!
Scavenger spat on the dirt floor.
“This is why I should have left you alone. Emilio risked his life to enter the Imperial Palace! Do you even know where that thorny vine came from, you pompous Imperial Mage? That thorny vine came from the bottom of the Imperial Palace!”
Skavenger’s eyes narrowed.
There was no wonder.
They’d only escaped the wrath by hiding in the sewers.
They watched the people of Antonium get eaten by the thorns.
They watched as the inhabitants of Antonium were eaten by the thorns.
“…… The thorny vines grew out of the imperial palace?”
seuleug.
Nash’s grip on the hem of his robe loosened. Nash lifted his head and looked up at the city walls. If the story was true, the thorns had risen above the city walls.
All of Antonium would be……?
“If you still don’t believe me, listen to me.”
“!”
“What sounds are coming from beyond the walls.”
Nam Taemin, who had been silently watching Nash’s back, was stunned.
He realized it in hindsight.
Even with his ears as keen as a beast’s.
He didn’t hear a sound, not even a whisper.
“What the hell……?”
Nash and Nam Taemin.
Bellier and Leonie.
The short stature of Matisse.
It was a moment where everyone was at a loss.
Only.
“It’s a simple task, Apprentice Mage Hisagi!”
Only Bensch spoke with confidence.
Hisagi was stunned by Bensch’s words.
Was that confidence based on reason?
Or was it the habit of a senior mage who wanted to show off in front of an apprentice mage.
But he couldn’t bring himself to question it.
jeobeogjeobeog.
A confident step.
Bensch approached the walls of Antonium.
“The exact cause is unknown, but Antonium has been overrun by thorns that turn humans into rosebuds. And Emilio, King of the Scavengers, has entered the palace to find the cause. That being said…….”
Blue eyes sparkled.
“I expect you’ve seen this coming, Chief! Indeed, the Chief of the Magic Tower. So you have to see this far into the future in order to rise to the position of chief? I see, the position of chief is not easy.”
His eyes were clear as day.
“Then I understand your orders: do not enter Antonium for four days, no matter what happens. We have no means of turning back the men who have been turned into roses. So……. Here’s the question. Hisagi Apprentice.”
“……I’m listening.”
“Does Chief Lee have a solution?”
Hisagi asked, dumbfounded.
“No way…….”
Bensch flashed a satisfied smile.
“Yes, the Reversal Magic that Chief Lee created and that only Chief Lee can manifest? That should be enough to solve the crisis. Then I have another question for you. This time, you may answer, Mr. Scavenger.”
“…… Me too?”
“Contemplate Antonium. What is the hidden meaning behind the concise order given by Chief Lee? For your information, I am very familiar with the chief’s metaphors like this.”
Shrugging shoulders.
Bensch was not discouraged.
Bensch’s positivity shone through as he added his own excuses to every rejected application.
After a moment of silence.
Bensch spoke up.
“Those thorns are crawling out of the Antonium. That’s what we’ve been tasked to do for the last four days of Chief Lee’s absence.”
“……!”
“It all makes sense?”
Bensch questioned.
“Indeed, Nash was only part of the surface reason.”
Just that my brother is an Imperial Palace mage.
Was that the reason he’d denied me permission to go out?
Certainly not.
Though Master Marcelo might have thought so.
“He’s seen my use for you this far.”
He finally realized why Chief Lee asked me the reason for going out of the Magic Tower.
My time has come.
Bensch began to slowly draw on his magic power.
Hisagi paused.
‘Even if you’re a senior mage, your opponent is…….’
It was the mysterious thorny vine that had consumed Antonium.
If Frostnax, a being beyond the standard, joined them.
It would be a different story.
But.
‘We won’t have enough energy for the World Tree Seed.’
That means we’ll just have to use our current strength to stop the flood of thorns. Hisagi wondered. Is it possible? Even with all the senior mages in the tower…….
“Apprentice Hisagi, and Mr. Scavenger, consider yourself lucky.”
” ……What do you mean, lucky?”
“You will be the first to witness my arcane magic.”
But Hisagi had underestimated him.
The Magic Tower, the most powerful military organization on the Arcana continent.
The senior mages at the top have been there since the Cataclysm.
They hadn’t shown their full power to the world since the Cataclysm.
As powerful as they are.
they were well aware of the weight of their power.
But now, things were different.
Bensch William, Senior Mage of Flame Magic.
What greater cause could he have now?
Flames erupted from Bensch’s body.
“You said four days.”
Each uttered word a scorching heat.
Uncontrollable flames spread across the land.
The thorny vines that had been climbing the walls stopped growing.
It begins to dry up.
No, it begins to burn itself.
A tone that does not feel light.
“For your trust in me, Chief, for your complete faith in me.”
Lord of Flame.
Flame Emperor.
Bensch William finished speaking.
“It’s enough time to repay the favor.”
.
.
.
Ice Dragon, Frostnax.
The chick ruffled its feathers.
This must be the blond-haired brat from Magic Tower.
“There was a very nice person.”
” …… Are you talking about me?”
“Don’t you dare interrupt my monologue. A self-proclaimed Dragon Knight.”
“……Yes.”
“Compared to that, you are a long way off.”
How dare you make this body feel the heat.
That brat.
Not quite as bad as he looks, is he?