Chapter 183

From now on, it’s like walking on a blade’s edge. I can’t give them even a moment’s opening. Without time for stray thoughts, with an all-or-nothing momentum—it’s a decisive battle.

“I’m going to capture the Outer God’s fifth apostle.”

It was quiet. They simply crossed their arms and glared at me.

I saw the distrust and mockery dwelling in their eyes. The Magic Emperor died trying to capture the sixth apostle, so what makes someone like you think you can capture an apostle?

The Wizard of Soul Severance and the Wizard of Rebirth. And the wizard from Arrogance.

They all seemed to be itching to mock me. The only reason they weren’t saying anything was their caution as wizards.

“Right now, the frontline is the 67th floor. Humanity, who just three years ago went to conquer the 91st floor, has been pushed back this far. Back then, you probably didn’t even know why such things were happening.”

But I mock them without hesitation.

“It’s the same this time too. If the Magic Emperor hadn’t stepped forward, you would have continued retreating to the end without ever knowing what the problem was. It’s even worse now. Wizard of Soul Severance, you’re thinking of moving your base to the 30th floors, right? I know Society is planning to hide in the Great Labyrinth. Good luck with that. The Outer God’s minions will probably find and kill you all within two years. The Magic Emperor at least killed the sixth apostle. Can you do the same? Before long, the entire tower will be taken, and you’ll hide among the shattered worlds to meet your doom.”

Having said this much, there was a reaction.

Because I had accurately grasped their intentions. Of course. I’ve been running [Simulation] at full power since earlier. They might be seeing me for the first time, but I’ve already had this conversation with them dozens of times.

The faces of those who had been crossing their arms with expressions saying ‘go ahead and talk’ turned red. Their lips, which had been holding mocking smiles, opened to show anger.

“How dare…!”

“Insolent…”

“What a mouthy brat!”

Regardless,

I continued speaking with the same mocking smile.

“But there’s one very fortunate fact for you.”

I looked each of them directly in the eye.

“I’m here. I’m going to capture the fifth apostle tonight. I’ll capture the apostle and recover the lost floors. The expedition departs at midnight tonight.”

The three frowned in unison. They seemed to be thinking, ‘So what do you want us to do about it?’

Really pathetic. These so-called wizards can’t even grasp the situation.

Seeing their pathetic state somehow gave me confidence that my judgment was correct. If I wasn’t careful, I might have tucked tail and run like these bastards, right?

But anyway, I needed to turn the atmosphere around. I stared at the Wizard of Rebirth, Walrot.

His Gift is [Great Fortune].

A Gift that lets him read the ‘flow’ and follow it. Furthermore, it’s a special insight Gift that even adjusts the ‘flow’ to his advantage. ‘Flow’ included not only physical phenomena like water and wind, but also abstract things like momentum and trends. Thanks to this Gift, he had survived countless crises and risen to the position of Society’s chairman.

That [Great Fortune] would be warning him right now. A fierce headwind is blowing, so take cover. But I made it clear to him.

“Wizard of Rebirth. You probably trust your precious Gift. That Gift will warn you. That the Outer God’s momentum is unusual. And you’ll think, ‘Now is the time to avoid confrontation. I should gather strength and wait for the day to make a comeback…’ What utter nonsense.”

“Such… such impudent babbling…!”

His pride greatly wounded, Walrot’s voice rose much higher than before.

But my story wasn’t finished yet.

“The reason you make such foolish judgments is because you don’t know jack shit about what the Outer God is or what destruction means. You don’t even know why the Magic Emperor died or how he died, do you? You don’t know what spell the Magic Emperor used to try to escape the Outer God’s grasp, or what the Outer God did to stop it. If you knew that, you couldn’t say such carefree things about stepping back and looking for opportunities.”

I started using informal speech.

My emotions were running high.

The facts I learned through the Magic Emperor’s knowledge came flooding over me like a tsunami, as if trying to suffocate me.

Stupid humans. They don’t properly know anything, yet they all make their own hasty judgments and head straight for ruin. Struggling with insufficient information—sometimes that’s admirable, but ultimately it becomes frustrating at some point.

The Magic Emperor was the same.

He didn’t expect the Outer God to come out this far.

What the Magic Emperor learned with his 8th Circle cognitive abilities and information accumulated over 600 years was that it would be difficult for the Outer God to directly intervene in this world. Our world looks tattered and ready to collapse at any moment, but that’s not actually the case. This place was designed by countless gods together, and their will remains in fragments, still supporting the world. The Outer God’s clumsy direct intervention would only strengthen our world’s immunity, like a vaccination.

So the Magic Emperor’s goal was different from mine. Unlike me, who from the beginning thought we should fight the Outer God and drive it away, he wanted to weaken the Outer God by eliminating the apostles and then seek coexistence through favorable negotiations. That’s why… he wasn’t particularly afraid of fighting apostles and didn’t shrink back even at the Outer God’s appearance. He thought the Outer God wouldn’t be able to use its full power.

But the Outer God?

In the end, it exceeded the expectations of the Magic Emperor, who was merely mortal. It wasn’t afraid of taking losses. It willingly overexerted itself to kill the Magic Emperor and firmly demonstrated its will.

Negotiation? Coexistence? None of that. It didn’t hesitate to risk everything on a decisive battle. Even if forcibly interfering with the world would make it difficult to maintain its position at the dimensional boundary, it judged it better to settle things more quickly.

It was confident it could naturally win no matter what risks it took in the fight.

So it comes down to mutual preference.

The Outer God rushed the battle and saw results. In gaming terms popular on Earth, the Outer God had already destroyed our multi and was preparing expansion while catching its breath.

And yet, you want to be cautious and look for chances to counterattack? Idiots.

“Let me be clear. There’s no next opportunity. The Outer God’s ultimate goal is to completely dismantle our world and remake it in its own way. And this time it drew its sword and struck properly. We have nowhere left to retreat. A god has taken the high ground to finish us off and is looking down at us… and you think mere people like you can hide and wait for the next opportunity? Are you stupid? Now is the time to squeeze out everything we have and fight back. Wizard of Rebirth, the enemy’s momentum is too strong, the flow has shifted to the enemy, so you want to wait? Are you going to just keep waiting until the world is destroyed? Will you be miserably captured and killed before you even see destruction?”

The Wizard of Rebirth, Walrot, turned red-faced and couldn’t continue speaking. In his place, the wizard from Arrogance, Yeon Gae-bu-so, stepped forward.

“So… you’re saying that if we take one step back now, the enemy will chase us two steps forward… is that it?”

“Oh, as befitting a legendary warrior, you actually understand. That’s right. At the very least, we need to repay them for the loss of the Magic Emperor. Only then can we fight on equal terms.”

Then the Wizard of Soul Severance, Bram Skeleton, who had been quietly standing beside them, clicked his skeletal jaw and interjected.

“Hah! So in the end, you want our power. For such a person to act so arrogantly… are you insane?”

Insane.

I spoke to him without hiding my disgustingly foul mood.

“Who said I want your power?”

“Your bluffing is excessive.”

Bram Skeleton snorted.

“You’re the ones bluffing.”

After throwing that line, I slowly turned around.

The delegation was closest, and the sixty-some mages who had followed me were waiting in front of the tent. And surrounding them like an encirclement were the Truth Tower mages who had gathered. They were looking at me with eyes full of both rapture and sadness.

“What are you all doing! Show proper respect to His Majesty the Second Magic Emperor!”

Hwi Someong shouted. At the same time, she took out a bright blue chalice from her robes.

“The will of the previous Majesty is here! I officially proclaim before all the saints of Truth Tower. The Holy Grail containing truth now belongs to the Divine Wizard, His Majesty the Second Magic Emperor!”

Thud!

Thousands of Truth Tower mages knelt in unison.

After examining every single one of them without exception, Hwi Someong nodded and then she too lowered herself, approaching on her knees to offer me the Holy Grail.

Ah… so this was the scene you were setting up by holding onto it all this time?

I slowly accepted the Holy Grail and faced the wizards from Society, Magic Tower, and Arrogance again.

They looked somewhat intimidated but were still defiant.

“Did you want congratulations or something?”

The wizard from Arrogance, Yeon Gae-bu-so, was even sarcastic.

“No. It’s not over yet.”

I flicked the Coin of Rebellion high into the air with a flourish.

Ting-

A golden coin. It shone dazzlingly.

This is mine. A coin the Shadow Library made just for me after recognizing me as administrator, telling me to contact them anytime.

Zzzing-

The coin that had been spinning through the air stopped as if someone had caught it. I spoke to the coin.

“Did you relay it?”

-Yes. We relayed it. They seemed quite shocked by the Magic Emperor’s death as well. They promised active cooperation and are currently assembled at Floating Island Sion.

“Good. Did you also get a fix on our location?”

-Yes. Administrator, Nadia completed calculations for the warped dimensional curvature by tracking the signal you sent. Thanks to Pathfinder’s generous supply of Philosopher’s Stones, repairs to the power systems were completed safely, and we’re currently on standby for Hyperspace Leap. We can jump the moment you give the signal.

The Shadow Library’s voice wasn’t only audible to me. This time I had specially set it so everyone could hear.

“That’s…? Isn’t that something the knight order used? It’s similar but… a bit different. What is it?”

The Wizard of Rebirth, Walrot, was confused by the Coin of Rebellion I was using.

“Interesting magic…”

The Wizard of Soul Severance, Bram Skeleton, glared with sinister eyes as if he would snatch the coin away immediately.

“No doubt. That coin. It’s a treasure from the mythological era. It seems to be the prototype of what the knight order used. It contains… powerful magic from a different lineage than the present.”

The Wizard of Arrogance, Yeon Gae-bu-so, appraised the Coin of Rebellion with sharp eyes.

Regardless,

I gave an order to the Shadow Library.

“Already finished preparations? Good. Then there’s nothing to wait for. Come over.”

-…A message from Nadia: “Beginning Hyperspace Leap~ It’s been so long, so refreshing and wonderful! I love you, Administrator~~!” That is all.

Flash-!

First came light,

Whooooo-

Then came wind.

An island as massive as Jeju Island appeared in the sky above the 65th floor’s Abyssal Swampland.

Society, Magic Tower, and Arrogance—their mouths agape as they rushed out of the tent to stare up at Sky Island Zion.

And from atop the sky island, Pathfinder and the Knight Order looking down at them.

Thus, the forces of Ragnarok, the Knight Order, Pathfinder, and Truth Tower were united as one.

I said,

“Don’t mistake this. This isn’t persuasion—it’s notification. We’re going to capture the fifth apostle at midnight tonight. You can follow along, or you can flee down there and watch with your mouths hanging open as I recover the tower. The magical powers would quite enjoy seeing those dumbfounded faces.”

As I spoke, my mind became clearer and more organized.

Right. There’s nothing to worry about.

After all, there’s no Magic Emperor anymore. Now I’m standing at the very front of all the mages.

There’s no one who can make better judgments than me, and no one stronger than me now.

What I’m doing is the best course. So either shut up and follow, or get lost.