◈ Chapter 97. An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth (2)
Round and round.
The magic power fluctuates.
Jang Hyundo’s body floated in the air like a feather.
“Kukkuk.”
The space was so dense with magic power that even oxygen became thin.
Jang Hyundo gasped, but Karimzeva didn’t move.
He just explored Jang Hyundo’s body.
“I don’t feel any magic marks.”
Marcelo’s work is thorough.
He didn’t leave any traces of magic that could be a clue.
Even Karimzeva didn’t have the skill to track down the remaining magic traces.
Snap.
Karimzeva’s brow crumpled in disbelief.
“You dare deceive me, Akampatam.”
Akampatam fled.
Karimzeva couldn’t help but think.
Wudangtang!
“You lowly human.”
Jang Hyun-do fell from the sky.
“Ughhhhh…….”
A stunned Jang Hyundo was thrown to the ground.
How dare he talk back to himself.
He can’t remember a single thing.
“Was this your plan all along?”
How come.
Had Akampatam suddenly disappeared?
Karimzeva tamped down his rage like lava.
In the end, there was only one conclusion to draw.
“Are you saying that demons are nothing but demons?
Demons are deceitful creatures.
Even if it is their King.
they can’t abandon their true nature.
I didn’t want to be bothered by a mere named demon.
Akampatam knew too much.
“Is that why you were talking about a specific plan?”
As if that wasn’t enough.
As for getting things done.
It was Akampatam who had asked him to keep his hands off.
Karimzeva was just waiting.
“How foolish of me to trust the demon.”
And now he knew.
There was no Akampatam in Jang Hyundo’s body.
“It was a mistake.”
Trusting the demon was my mistake.
Karimzeva admitted.
But he didn’t dwell on it for long.
“The time I spent in vain has taught me a lesson.”
He realized that he no longer had an ally.
With Akampatam gone.
There was no way to get information from Magic Tower.
“I am deeply sorry.”
The telepathy was still numb.
That was what convinced me.
Whether it was their will or not.
Two elder mages.
That I would no longer be able to work with them.
Ew-
Karimzeva swiped at his face with his hand.
Then he spoke.
“I suppose our chances of success have been greatly diminished.”
It was almost enough to make me want to give up.
A flash.
But Karimzeva’s eyes still burned brightly.
Like a burning flame.
Yeah, that’s the look of a mage gone mad.
“But it would be just as strange if it were easy.”
The eyes of a mage hungry for truth.
“How can it be easy to contemplate the real truth?”
The path to the ‘real truth’.
Even if that plan was disrupted.
Even if Akampatam knew all his plans.
Even if this is the last thing he wants to do.
“Very well. I can’t think of a more colorful funeral.”
The Magic Tower had no intention of backing down from Karimzeva.
Not for the sake of truth.
“I can burn this flesh as many times as I want.”
That’s what mages were, gluttonous people.
So Karimzeva warned.
“Once a fire is lit, it is not easily extinguished.”
Magic Tower?
Demon?
Adventurers?
It didn’t matter.
The path to the real truth.
Anything that got in his way was to be burned to the ground.
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Karimzeva, the Fire Dragon.
He was a great mage, living up to his lofty title.
Well, you don’t have to look far to find it.
Bensh William, Senior Mage of Fire Magic.
I could tell by his bravado.
“To be honest, I’d prefer to stay out of it.”
Crystal Hall.
Me and Marcelo.
In the presence of all the senior mages.
Bensh announced with a flourish.
“‘Mr. Karimzeva. I mean, Karimzeva, that bastard isn’t called the Fire Dragon for nothing! His achievements in fire magic are truly beyond imagination. His power is something that even that Bensh William could never match……!”
I know, I know.
I was the one who read all sorts of magical texts in order to dig many wells.
Naturally, I also gained some knowledge of fire magic.
“The name Karimzeva came up a lot.”
I’m not lying.
His name popped up once a paragraph.
Apparently frustrated with himself, Bensh pounded his chest.
Puck-puck-puck.
“Of course, I can’t be the only one left out, but I’m here to tell you to consider the nature of fire magic.”
The nature of fire magic.
As expected, reading is my strength.
He knows without being told.
“Magic with a definite hierarchy.”
Flames are swallowed up by greater flames.
So it was with fire magic.
Imagine Karimzeva’s and Bensh’s fire magic clashed.
“It would become a bigger flame and swallow us whole.”
It’s a joint magic between an elder mage and a senior mage.
My mouth is already watering just thinking about it.
In that case, Bensh had a point.
“Even so, I had taken that into account in your formation.”
Square, square, square.
Marcelo was busy fiddling with his quill.
Like the word formation, how should he organize the senior mages.
He looked troubled.
They were the best mages in their fields.
They must have their strengths and weaknesses.
“Think like a player.”
Before entering the rift.
It was like organizing a party based on class.
Of course, it wasn’t that important.
The purpose of the Tower was to stop Karimzeva, not to capture the Rift.
“The moment Karimzeva’s location is confirmed.”
All the senior mages will gather there.
The distance between the rifts?
It’s like portal magic.
It won’t be a problem for the senior mages, who will use their magic like water.
‘Of course, it’s a bit much for my meager magic power…….’
Anyway, I’ll do my best to improve it with herbs.
While I was thinking, Marcelo spoke up.
“After all, only Senior Matisse Dean Karl can counter that risk factor.”
Matisse Dean Karl, Senior Mage of the Black Mage School.
In the past, Matisse had competed with Marcelo for the position.
Matisse nodded to show he respected Marcelo’s decision.
“……Yes, Senior Matisse, with me?”
Sure enough, Bensh looked like he was overwhelmed.
“No, it’s not really that serious, I mean, it’s not like I’m going to bother Senior Matisse again……. Besides, wouldn’t Senior Matisse be a bit burdened by me as well?”
Matisse’s influence among the senior mages was quite significant.
“Why, even in the Proof of Capability Quest.”
As soon as Mathis voted in favor, the rest of the senior mages would follow suit.
Bensh doesn’t feel comfortable acting alone with Mathis.
Of course, there’s no way I can just sit back and watch it.
“‘Fire it up’?!
It’s good to sell out, Bensh William.
It’s the pride of the Tower that’s on the line.
Petty feelings like discomfort cannot be allowed to take over.
I opened my mouth to speak.
I looked at Matisse.
“Does this decision burden you, Matisse?”
“No.”
“I see. Senior Bensh William.”
I gave it some serious thought.
. …… What would it be like to have a boss like him?
One thing was certain.
“He’s probably even more tired than our manager.”
Unlike the manager, who could at least be flattering.
No flattery or even bribery worked for me.
Bensh’s reaction was unexplained.
“Well, if you need to ask me that, I’m sure it’s not……!!!”
I accept the arrangement…….
With those crawling words, Bensh shut up.
Of course, not to be outdone by Bensh, the senior mages wore grim expressions.
Perhaps it’s the way I addressed Matisse. It could be misunderstood.
“The great Matisse Dean Karl.”
I was naturally calling him by his first name.
Of course, there’s a complicated story behind it.
“You’re a pain in the ass, really.”
Someone muttered.
Yeah, I know, the story is crazy.
For me, of course.
I wouldn’t dare ask Matisse.
“I’m never going to tell him either.”
To explain, I have to go all the way back to my first meeting with Matisse.
Naturally, I’ll mention my aptitude for the black magic.
The source of black magic.
My past as a source of appropriate magic.
Black history, because I couldn’t tell it to death.
Hmm.
In the midst of a small commotion.
Marcelo didn’t stop writing.
Apparently, he was done organizing.
“I’m going to observe the situation inside the rift and move in where support is needed, so……. All that’s left now is Chief Lee’s decision.”
Naturally.
In the midst of the gazes directed at me.
I thought honestly.
” ……I don’t know if I feel the same way.”
I wanted to tour the rift, every single one of them.
I wanted to scoop up all the loot the senior mages would drop.
But there would be no time for that, for there was no telling what demons or Karimzeva might lurk in any given rift.
So I made up my mind and declared.
“I will accompany Senios.”
Silence.
As if I had poured ice water over my words.
“……?”
The Crystal Hall fell silent.
Then someone spoke up, barely audibly.
… … What about Senios? no way?”
Yes, that’s probably right.
The Senios I was referring to was Senios, the elder mage of the Magic Tower.
At a loss for words, Marcelo regained his composure and asked.
“Sir, if I may ask, do you mean Senios……?”
“Yes, it is. Senios, the elder mage.”
“Accompanying you means that Senios is also leaving the tower. So you’re saying you’re headed to the Rift?”
The Chief of the Tower.
The one who had the most interaction with the elder mages.
Marcelo didn’t seem to understand the decision.
I thought so myself.
If only I could have gotten away with it.
I wish I’d been better prepared.
-“You wouldn’t know it, but mages are a selfish and arrogant people. It’s a trait that doesn’t change with age, not even when you reach these heights.”
Senios’s reaction, however, was unexpected.
He simply admitted that he had been gluttonous.
He then went into detail.
“To talk about someone’s personal life in public like this.”
It’s not polite.
So I had no choice but to tell the truth.
It was all I could do to remain nonchalant.
“Senios has also asked me for permission to leave the Tower. The purpose of the trip is to dispose of the high sinner, Karimzeva, with his own hands. I did not consider Senios’s position, but judged his purpose and granted him permission.”
At my words, there was a murmur in the Crystal Hall.
“Senios has been granted permission by Chief Lee Ho-Yeol?”
“Although Chief Lee Hoyeol has full authority over the tower…….”
“Even if you said you don’t care about the position. This is…….”
I didn’t realize he was so procedural.
I’m sure everyone is freaking out.
Of course, I’d have nothing to say if I got fired, too.
I’d rather stick my tongue in my cheek.
It’s the rantings of a senior mage.
I was graciously understanding.
“Surprising, but good news.”
Indeed, Marcelo had made a quick judgment call.
He turned to me.
“But it would not have been possible without you.”
Not again.
“Senios, that’s not what he looks like.”
But whatever I thought.
Marcelo seemed to genuinely think so.
Clearly, Marcelo overestimates me.
But I don’t deny it.
“For Grandfell, there was no such thing as humility. Underestimations required proof, and overestimations had to be made real.”
Me too.
That’s how I was made.
Of course, that wasn’t an explanation.
The shock slowly wore off.
Someone raised a fundamental question.
“Yes, I can understand that, since it’s procedure, but I’m sure Chief Lee is referring to the elder mage, Senios, as …….. Didn’t he just call him Senios?”
Pride cannot recognize Senios.
To explain the complexity of his story.
As with Matisse.
It can only go back to the past.
In the end, I had no choice but to tell him the hard truth.
I rose from my seat.
I blurted out.
“The position is not considered in the tower I supervise.”
I realized again.
If you’re going to go crazy, then go crazy.
No one can touch me.
Better to be properly insane.
“If you have a complaint, please follow the procedure to appeal.”
Again.
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A new post was posted on the official Arcana website.
-Wednesday.
Today was not Thursday.
An emergency update, not a new scheduled update.
What that meant.
I knew better than anyone.
So there was no hesitation.
The angle of a brooch to align.
The way I smooth out my clothes.
The calm way I set my teacup down.
I scribbled on the parchment with a feather pen.
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From this hour, I will begin the execution of the high sinner, Karimzeva.
──────
Elder, Senios. Chief, Marcelo. All senior mages.
──────
Gathering.
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