Chapter 148

Tower of Covenant 7th floor. Fortress Plateau.

It was a highland where the sky felt close enough to touch.

Actually, should this be called a plateau?

The nomads of the wilderness, when building graves or making wishes, stack stone upon stone to create towers. Such stone cairns stood in all directions.

The difference was that they were made of massive boulders, as if assembled by giants.

They lacked refinement but possessed ample grandeur.

Rather than feeling like a plateau, the entire area felt like a single altar.

The trees standing here and there had not a single leaf, their thick trunks twisted and branches spreading wide, exuding an eerie presence.

In that highland, fifteen mages huddled together.

“Hehe. So we’re finally going to have a fight?”

Magiro walked closely beside Yuria today as well.

“Ah, stop sticking to me. We need to assess the situation first. Didn’t you see how the Alpine City mages were trembling? The mages here are no ordinary opponents.”

“Hehe. Mage of Penetration. As an experienced mage, let me say one thing. No matter how great they are, we’re no pushovers either. Why don’t we just scout a bit and head in?”

Magiro sneakily slipped informal speech into his words. Yuria looked disgusted.

“Wow, seriously, this old man. I get that you want to try out the new spells you learned, but stop pushing me around. Whether we fight or not, when to approach—that’s all under my authority, you know? Mage of Deadly Poison. Do you know that Jun-woo would find out if you treated me like this, grandpa?”

“Hehehe. No way. That would be big trouble.”

Magiro chuckled and stepped back. Whether he was laughing or crying, or perhaps threatening—with that uniquely twisted face of his, it was impossible to tell.

Recently, Magiro had been learning Ki-blood magic applications from Yuria and was burning with desire to test that power. His specialty poison magic and Ki-blood magic seemed to have good compatibility, and he blazed with competitive spirit daily. Competitive spirit was fine, but his way of expressing it stressed Yuria out.

‘Seriously, I can’t handle this. A prowling tiger and a scheming wolf on top of that.’

Yuria’s gaze landed on Evan Petrov before drifting away. He wore his perpetually displeased frown. Like a boulder, he stood motionless in his position, creating such an oppressive atmosphere that even the seasoned 5th Circle mage Magiro subtly avoided him.

Evan alone was already heavy to deal with, and on top of that, Magiro kept trying to climb on her head whenever he got the chance… Yuria could only sigh.

Baek Jun-woo’s nomad and part of the Alpine City delegation had combined, bringing the expedition to a total of fifteen members. Among them was one 4th Circle mage, two 5th Circle mages, and one knight equivalent to a wizard. In contrast, Yuria was still only 3rd Circle 3-Star, so her authority wasn’t well established. The biggest problems among them were Evan and Magiro.

While they had shown appropriate recognition of Yuria, it was only ‘appropriate by their standards,’ which was the issue. Evan consistently ignored whatever instructions were given, and Magiro kept making snide remarks.

‘My head feels like it’s going to fall off.’

Yuria threw the sky-blue strands of hair caught between her fingers into the air and sighed with a “phew.”

————————

<Message to Lanciel City>

The Yuria expedition team completed the mission of conquering and controlling Alpine City yesterday and has entered the 7th floor Fortress Plateau.

We are currently gathering information about the 7th floor situation and conducting reconnaissance on the mage group that was behind Alpine City.

As a notable point, we confirmed that the mage group behind Alpine City exercises influence not just over the 7th floor, but across multiple continents.

Multiple instances were captured of them brutally eliminating mages or civilians who don’t submit to their control.

However, on the other hand, we were also able to confirm that despite stairs collapsing and cities being destroyed, mage society’s order hasn’t greatly collapsed.

The Yuria expedition team evaluates their leader as someone who is quite cruel, but possesses excellent capabilities.

We haven’t yet uncovered the enemy’s strength or their affiliated organization.

Currently, we’re searching for this group’s leader. After conducting more reconnaissance, we plan to attempt contact within 2-3 days.

Look forward to it.

We’ll completely succeed here, establish the foundation for Pathfinder, and return!

————————

Still, she wrote the message with vigor.

This level of stress—it wasn’t something she hadn’t anticipated. Both Baek Jun-woo and Yuria herself had judged they could handle it sufficiently before starting.

‘Phew… My first solo mission. Just wait and see. I’ll finish this magnificently!’

Yuria cast the message magic like a prayer. A brilliantly glowing dove flew across the sky bluer than watercolors.

That was the last message magic Yuria sent.

* * *

“Are you hungry?”

“Huh? Ah… Sir Mage. Well…”

“Eat this.”

The mage threw an apple to the ragged wilderness child. It was a kind act, but his expression was as indifferent as throwing a stone.

“Th-thank you, Sir Mage!”

The child bowed his small head repeatedly, then clutched the apple as if it were a massive ruby and ran off. He was probably going to share it with his family.

The mage watched this scene with emotionless eyes and spoke casually.

“The 13th Continent is much more of a mess than the 7th Continent. Even at a crossroads of this scale, people are starving to death?”

It seemed like a monologue, but the elderly mage standing attendantly beside him quickly responded.

“Here, calamities swarm in numbers incomparable to the 7th Continent. The fact that they rely more on hunting than gathering and nomadism for food procurement also seems to play a part.”

“I see… Then let’s do this. We’ll pressure the markets of nearby cities to organize large-scale hunts. We’ll spread rumors that food will be guaranteed for those who participate in the hunts, getting the nomads to join as much as possible. We don’t have much time, so we’ll drain them big in one go and leave immediately. Don’t worry about how many die or how much resentment builds up. Ah, of course. Don’t actually distribute food to those who participate in the hunts either.”

A man who appeared to be in his forties. His cleanly shaved chin, the sharp lines of his clothing, the heavy wealth emanating from small accessories like buttons. His eyes drooped languidly.

At his emotionless instructions, the elderly mage showed a puzzled expression. He glanced at the child running away with the apple. If they followed those orders, that child’s life would surely plummet into even more miserable depths. He would certainly die.

“Hmm—this is my first time serving you, sir, so I’m confused. Just a moment ago, I thought you were quite benevolent.”

At the elderly mage’s words, the man in his forties looked at him languidly.

“Huh? Ah… the apple? That was just giving it away. Their lives aren’t my concern. This is a high-risk period. We need to discard the incompetent and drain as many resources as possible before heading up. Once we reach the 20th floor, we’ll feel secure… It would be good if we could contact our main force from there.”

At that answer, the elderly mage was greatly impressed.

‘Indeed, he’s a man worthy of the Chairman calling him his left arm.’

They were both 6th Circle wizards. The elderly mage was actually much older. However, this man was on a different level.

His magic was remarkable, but his unwavering judgment and forward-thinking action were even more astonishing. Despite everyone falling into chaos during the great upheaval, he had decided on the next destination and goals without wavering, as if handling anticipated business.

A heaven-sent manager.

He was none other than one of Society’s five bosses, among the top contenders—Shilo de Medissa, the Wizard of Debt.

“Yes. I understand your intentions well, sir.”

The elderly mage bowed respectfully. Wizard of Debt Shilo nodded once and walked out of the crossroads, asking,

“By the way, what happened to the 7th Continent? I heard reports up to Alpine City being conquered.”

“Yes. Upon investigation, Pathfinder was behind it.”

“Pathfinder? Interesting. We followed their trail and came down here… things got twisted and twisted, and we finally meet. Yeah. What are they doing there?”

“Yes. Pathfinder seems to intend to establish a foundation completely outside the tower. They appear to be attempting to revitalize even the wilderness by constructing more efficient production systems and trade routes than before.”

“Too idealistic, isn’t it? Outside the tower? Hmm… whatever their approach, if that’s their course, they can’t avoid conflict with our side. As expected… we need to go up quickly. What’s their movement since conquering Alpine City?”

“Well… there are reports that about ten Pathfinder mages have crossed to the 7th floor.”

“Really?”

Shilo’s steps stopped. For the first time, a thin smile appeared on his face.

“Hmm… The Chairman has been taking interest in Pan-Dalus’s movements… This could make a nice gift.”

“Yes. There were also reports that they’re associates of the Divine Mage.”

“At worst, they’d make decent hostages.”

Shilo’s smile deepened.

Step.

He began walking again.

“Bring in everyone except those working here. We’re returning to the 7th floor.”

“Yes.”

This happened one day before Yuria’s regular messages stopped.

* * *

Tower of Covenant 7th floor, Fortress Plateau region, near the Seonang Stairs.

Massive trees with no leaves stood in rows, each branch draped with colorful fabric.

About thirty mages were flying toward the Seonang Stairs. Their feet hovered about a span above the ground, and the fluttering fabric that blocked their path was pushed aside left and right before it could even touch their bodies. After flying for a while, they stopped abruptly in place. Excellent flight magic with no perceptible inertia.

“…This wasn’t expected.”

The Wizard of Debt Shilo scratched his chin. His subordinates were flustered by this sight. It was rare to see Shilo troubled. Even when the great upheaval began, Shilo had maintained an indifferent attitude, saying, “It seems to be raining.” Such was his character. Yet now he showed bewilderment.

“…We were planning to seek them out ourselves.”

Flutter. Flutter.

Flapping eerily among the colorful fabric, fifteen mages revealed themselves. They were all riding black metallic vehicles. Heavy like horses and floating stably in the air. They emitted a deep “vroom-vroom” humming sound.

“Interesting devices.”

Shilo addressed the wrinkled-faced, white-eyed mage. But it was actually the sky-blue haired girl mage who answered.

“Yes. They’re called Stealth Bikes. Ordinarily, they wouldn’t be worth a mage’s attention.”

Shilo’s eyebrow twitched once more.

Filled with displeasure, he asked,

“So. What’s your reason for not fleeing?”