Chapter 120

“Society’s joint caravan has been absorbed… and Magic Tower’s remaining forces have been absorbed too…?”

A hologram floated before Evan.

The hologram was a three-dimensional map reflecting the 1st to 19th floors of the Tower in real-time.

Within it were dots representing the mages of each faction.

Silver dots symbolizing the Academy occupied three routes stretching from the 1st to the 13th floor.

Yellow dots symbolizing Society followed the silver dots like subordinates, and some of the black dots representing Magic Tower were also captured under the silver dots’ control.

Red dots symbolizing Ragnarok circled around the routes dominated by the silver dots.

“How annoying. Originally, I wanted the mages to fight among themselves… but Pan-Dalus keeps absorbing them all… so no fights are breaking out.”

Evan stroked his stubbly chin, lost in thought.

His loyal servant, Rain, carefully offered his opinion.

“That’s true… but they’re likely to clash with Ragnarok soon. I think we should aim for that moment.”

“Is that really our only option…?”

“Yes. Unlike other groups, Ragnarok would never submit. They will certainly engage in all-out war with the Great Cataclysm Emergency Committee. Watching that battle and reaping the benefits is currently our best option.”

“Hmm…”

Evan rubbed his eyes once and stared at the purple dots flickering in the three-dimensional hologram. Purple dots that continuously changed position. Unlike other dots, their locations couldn’t be pinpointed.

Evan’s eyes narrowed.

“While we’re waiting to reap the benefits… Truth Tower’s fanatics will target us instead, right?”

“That’s likely. They harbor deep resentment toward our Knight Order.”

At those words, Evan revealed his teeth in a smile.

“Good. Let’s go with that plan. We’ll wait for the moment when Ragnarok and the Academy clash. Then the Magic Battalion of Truth Tower will rush in, right? I’ve been irritated because their positions are hard to pinpoint… this will be a chance to deal with them too.”

Ping!

As Evan flicked his golden coin, the three-dimensional hologram was sucked into it. The coin glowed red as if heated in a furnace.

“Fortunately, I’ve gathered enough points.”

Snap!

The coin Evan caught had an embossed image of a person glaring at the sky while drawing a sword. The sword was completely drawn from its scabbard, though not yet swung or aimed.

* * *

Tower of Covenant, 13th floor. Great Water Plains.

Splash.

Splash.

About fifty mages were walking across the bright blue plains.

The sky here was filled with clouds, making it completely white, and the flat land stretched endlessly until it met the clouds at the horizon.

No. In fact, there was no land here. The endless expanse of bright blue was all water. A world filled only with water. However, the water here was overwhelmingly heavy, allowing one to walk on it without using any magic.

With each step, circular ripples spread outward.

Flap flap flap!

What blocked the silent water-walking mages was thousands of papers fluttering with the sound of wind. Like birds performing a group dance, they blocked the path forward, flying around and creating all sorts of shapes.

A small girl standing at the front caught one of the fluttering papers, read it, then tossed it away with a flick! The paper fluttered like a butterfly and flew back to join its formation.

“This is really annoying. Divine Mage or Great Cataclysm Emergency Committee… they’re claiming territory everywhere we go now? Doesn’t that irritate you, Sister Kaisel?”

The girl, clutching a teddy bear, spoke to the beautiful woman standing beside her. She was tall with black hair and ruby-red eyes.

“So… that little brat called the Divine Mage was the one who injured me?”

“Yes. That’s right. Quite an interesting mage. Interesting enough to make me want to dissect him.”

“Then why not just dissect him?”

The little girl frowned. Only half of her green eyes were visible.

“I do plan to… but Pan-Dalus is a more troublesome figure than other 6th Circle mages. And we don’t know what variables the Divine Mage might introduce… Plus, Truth Tower and the Knight Order are here too… I was hoping to minimize casualties while achieving results…”

As the girl muttered to herself, Kaisel responded indifferently,

“But if they’re claiming territory everywhere we go… doesn’t that mean conflict is unavoidable?”

Their eyes met. Kaisel thought she saw a black shadow falling across the girl’s clear green eyes.

Finally, the girl nodded.

“That’s right. Given the situation, we can’t delay any longer.”

The girl took a step forward.

“Everyone?”

As she murmured, her shadow stirred and rose up, then opened its mouth wide and spewed dark red flames.

Whoosh!

The thousands of papers blocking their path all burned to ashes simultaneously.

Gray ashes scattered like snow over the blue water, and the girl walked through them nonchalantly. Sparks clung to her white hair.

“I’ve seen enough of their boldness… shall we have a proper fight now?”

The girl spoke with a sinister tone.

Looking at her back, a deep smile formed on Kaisel’s lips. She hurried to catch up beside the girl.

“The Divine Mage is mine, right? Don’t touch him?”

“Yes, yes. Just don’t cry for help after getting hit.”

“What? I would never!”

Splash.

Splash.

Fifty mages with expressionless faces followed the bickering pair.

Before them stood the ‘Waiting Stairs,’ one of the five staircases on the 13th floor.

* * *

The Waiting Stairs was a small relic site submerged in water.

This relic site, made entirely of white stone, was so spotless it was hard to believe it was an ancient relic site.

My favorite place there was the staircase lined with tall white stone pillars. After passing through a long, gloomy corridor, you arrive at a place where you can see stairs leading downward. Of course, those stairs are now submerged in clear blue water.

I gaze at the endlessly descending stairs shimmering beneath the water.

The Waiting Stairs, about the size of a three-story building, was quite small in scale, comparable to Solas Magic School. But people said that in ancient times, it might have been as tall and large as Ganda’s Stairs. It’s just that most of it is now submerged in water.

That’s why it’s considered a staircase that holds more secrets than any other.

If it were buried underground, we could at least try digging. But the water of the 13th floor’s Great Water Plains is heavier than boulders, making it difficult to remove. Even if removed, the surrounding water would immediately fill the empty space, preventing anyone from accessing the lower part of the submerged relic site.

The faint silhouette of the white relic site visible below the water. That scenery, visible but forever untouchable, somehow seemed to match perfectly with the name of this place—”Waiting.”

It’s beautiful.

But,

This place will soon be dyed red.

“Divine Mage! Are you insane?!”

The one shouting with an irritatingly cracked voice was the Mage of Illusion, Hedric.

What a troublesome man.

“We already finished discussing this.”

“But! To directly confront Ragnarok! And they even have the Saint of Traitors! A joint society from Magic Tower was completely annihilated! Even a Mage died!”

“I defeated a Mage easily too, you know?”

When I pointed at myself with a jerk of my chin, Hedric’s face turned bright red.

“Ah, no… that was because of compatibility…!”

I waited quietly, curious to hear what he would say. Hedric’s face reddened further. In any case, he had nothing to say since he had been thoroughly defeated by me.

“Eek…! Well, putting that aside!”

Hedric subtly changed the subject. He glared at me again with fierce eyes.

“If we clash with Ragnarok here, won’t Truth Tower and the Knight Order get involved too? Even if we win, it’ll obviously be a victory full of wounds! I don’t want to die like a dog! This is completely different from what I was told!”

It seems this old man is greatly misunderstanding something.

“Then, should I cast the fascination spell on you again?”

Flinch!

Hedric lowered his gaze slightly. He was sweating profusely. No wonder. I had ‘temporarily’ neutralized the mental magic I had cast on him. And we had made a contract. ‘Stand on my side and fight one war. Spare no support for the victory of that war.’ In return, I promised to set him free.

Not keeping the contract? Then I’ll just reactivate the mind control magic. I might not be able to expect much power from him as a Mage… but well, it’s better than nothing.

Realizing his position anew, Hedric finally spoke in a voice as small as an ant crawling.

“Really… isn’t there any other way?”

“This is the best option.”

I crossed my arms and looked at the horizon where the blue water met the clouds in the distance.

“At first, I also wanted to advance step by step. Up to the 20th floor. I planned to conquer the stairs one by one. But…”

Splash, splash. I walked on the water, appreciating the relic sites submerged below.

“I wondered if that was really necessary… The great cataclysm could come anytime, in any form… why should we take our time? Instead… let’s gather them all at once and deal with them. Then the path to the 20th floor will be secured… and my name and the name of the Great Cataclysm Emergency Committee will be known throughout the Tower. Isn’t that good all around?”

Hedric asked with a pale face.

“You’re insane… completely insane. So that was deliberate? You deliberately lured Ragnarok and the Knight Order’s forces to this 13th floor…? Was subduing me at the Ladder Stairs and conquering staircases through intricate routes all groundwork for this?”

Of course.

What I’m trying to do won’t be accomplished by merely defeating one Mage. I need to prove that I can gather and sweep away all the forces gathered below the 20th floor at once. I have enough power to do that. I won’t run or hide anymore. That’s what my enemies should do.

This Great Water Plain was the perfect place for a large-scale battle.

“Aren’t you afraid? The opponent is the Saint of Ragnarok. The princess of calamities! And the leader of the Knight Order… Evan, was it? The disciple of the Doom Knight? They are… opponents even mages avoid. Do you know why? Because they possess powers that cannot be explained by magic! They’re not beings that can be simply measured like ‘if you can beat a 6th Circle, you can beat a 5th Circle too’! And think about it. Even if you win, that creates its own problems. They are the successors of Ragnarok and the Knight Order… if you win this battle… only bigger wars await afterward!”

What is he worried about…

I gave a light answer to Hedric, whose face had hardened.

“Neither I nor Master Pan-Dalus care about such things. I told you, didn’t I? We fight against extinction. Do you think we would fear mere war?”

Whoosh-!

Suddenly, the wind blew. A sheet of paper carried by the wind landed in my hand.

Ari whispered.

-I was right. It’s the girl holding the teddy bear.

-That woman. The vampire woman we saw before is there too.

“So they’ve come.”

Finally… Ragnarok, which had been prowling around observing us, had ignored my warning notices and begun their advance.

This was the beginning of the greatest battle in a hundred years.