Chapter 194

That day, an unusually large number of mages gathered at the city’s central office.

It was all because of an official document sent by a group called Pathfinder from the distant Tower of Covenant.

After spending considerable time debating the contents of that document, the mages dispersed with stern faces.

Some immediately liquidated their assets, loaded their carts with magical materials, and left the city, while others remained at the central office with furious expressions.

1st Circle mage Hans was among the angry mages. He joined in with the other mages shouting at the top of their lungs, raising his voice alongside them.

“Does this make any sense? Do they think we’re fools? Everyone knows the movements of the constellations are ominous! Disaster is right at our doorstep! Even the caravans wandering the wilderness are coming to the city begging to be taken in, and yet they’re telling us to leave the city? And to liquidate all our assets to secure materials for new protective amulets? Do you really think this makes sense?”

It was intense complaining that had forgotten even basic principles—that mages shouldn’t show weakness, and that mages shouldn’t be too stubborn about any one position. That’s how serious the situation was. Hans thought he had nothing left to lose at this point.

Jin Sihui, the 2nd Circle mage serving as the city’s vice-mayor, smoothed her neatly combed white hair and adjusted her skirt and jacket. It was her habit when deep in thought. Seeing this, Hans inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Phew. As expected. Vice-Mayor Jin has a soft heart. She’ll give in appropriately this time too.’

With her naturally tender heart, she tended to accommodate people when they made a fuss. City policies on population control and magical item purchase prices often found loopholes when people complained to her. This was unusual on the Star Continent where hierarchical obedience was basic—someone who was praised as compassionate on the good side, but criticized as unfair on the bad side. The mages who had stayed knew Jin Sihui’s usual attitude well, so they were all people hoping to benefit from it this time.

“I understand your hardships. But I’ve already explained the current situation sufficiently. Didn’t I tell you that I myself plan to participate in this expedition? As for liquidating assets, if we proceed in the form of selling new protective amulets, I believe the shortfall can be made up to some degree. As I’ve repeatedly said, time is of the essence. Even the time we’re spending like this is precious. Please understand.”

That’s why when Jin Sihui spoke with an anxious voice like this, Hans inwardly cheered.

‘Got it! She’s almost giving in! If I pretend to compromise here while saying I’ll serve the city, I can reduce both the expedition schedule and the protective amulet sales quota.’

Just then, 1st Circle mage Alessandro raised his voice. He was a mage Hans knew.

“It’s not that we don’t understand Vice-Mayor Jin’s feelings. But we have to survive too! Telling us to go outside under these conditions is the same as telling us all to die!”

“As I told you, we’re not telling you to go without any measures. Pathfinder is preparing follow-up measures to reduce the impact of the disaster.”

“Pathfinder! A new organization in the Tower of Covenant? How can you trust them so much? You’re trying to kill us all based on a single word from them? We can’t go out under these conditions! If we’re going to die anyway, we’d rather die here!”

Hans didn’t even need to step forward. Several mages joined together to pressure Jin Sihui. Though they were merely 1st Circle, they were still mages. When such mages declared they’d rather die than leave, it was an extreme measure among extreme measures. It was enough to make the soft-hearted Jin Sihui flustered.

‘That’s right. Well done!’

While Hans was inwardly cheering them on, Vice-Mayor Jin Sihui’s expression suddenly hardened.

“Do you truly think so?”

At her voice that somehow sounded ominous, the mages flinched, but they were already committed. Several more stepped forward to strongly pressure Jin Sihui.

“Of course! Telling us to go out like this is the same as telling us to die! We won’t go!”

“That’s right!”

“Please change the conditions!”

Finally, Vice-Mayor Jin Sihui nodded.

“I see.”

She closed her eyes. She muttered. A protective amulet floated up from her chest, 15-shine worth of mana pills—worth 1.5 million Earth currency—poured out from her sleeves and burst into flames, and the blessing inscriptions sewn into her garment’s hem glowed softly.

The mages who had been voicing complaints screamed.

“W-wait!”

“Wh-what is this!”

But Jin Sihui did not stop her incantation.

“…Therefore, following that promise, I call upon Prometheus’ eternal thirst. May unquenchable flames burn in their throats…!”

Finally, as her incantation was completed and she opened her eyes, Jin Sihui spoke the activation word.

“Prometheus’ Thirst.”

“W-wai— Gaaah!”

The mages who had been screaming grabbed their throats. Their screams died down as if they were being strangled, then they made sounds like air escaping from their throats like asthma patients, before finally collapsing while exhaling black smoke from their noses.

Silence fell. Exactly three mages had died. They were the mages who had taken the lead in pressuring Jin Sihui while declaring they’d rather die than leave.

The surviving mages each clutched their own necks, busy checking if they were still alive. In the bustling but awkward silence where no one dared speak, Jin Sihui’s frost-sharp voice pierced through.

“It was my mistake. I wasn’t harsh enough. I killed you.”

Though she seemed to blame herself, what dwelt in that voice was chilling determination.

The bone-chillingly cold voice of someone who had been called kind, or rather a pushover.

“What do you think mages are? What kind of era do you think this is? Does Pathfinder’s current work look like some trivial righteous crusade to you? No. Actually, your thoughts don’t matter—I’m not even curious about them. You see, I made a vow. To carry out Pathfinder’s request no matter what.”

Her gaze swept across the room.

“Swear your oath right now and depart! Like the other mages who left first. If you don’t… I’ll make my own vow. That I’ll deal with useless mages like you right here.”

Hans froze on the spot.

‘D-did we commit such a mortal sin?’

No matter how he thought about it, that wasn’t the case. They were being a bit selfish, but… wasn’t that natural? But the moment he saw Jin Sihui’s eyes, he couldn’t harbor such doubts any longer. Her eyes weren’t looking at this place. They were looking at something farther away, eyes filled with religious fanaticism. What on earth had made her like this? No, there was no time to think about such things.

Hans hurriedly opened his mouth. Just like the other mages who had heard Jin Sihui’s request and immediately sworn their oaths before departing.

“I-I swear. I will depart for the wilderness. I will spread barriers throughout to block the disaster of water and do everything I can against the coming calamity.”

Following Hans, the other mages’ oaths continued.

Just moments before, they had been boldly pressuring Jin Sihui, but now they were making pitiful surrender declarations. But the emotion they actually felt wasn’t resentment—it was relief.

That’s when Hans suddenly felt hollow.

‘When did it become like this? I used to be full of spirit…’

Even as a 1st Circle, a mage was still a mage. He too was one of those exceptional talents born with outstanding will and ability, perhaps one in a hundred. But at some point, he began pursuing personal comfort, and his former spirit and determination disappeared.

Even now it was the same. Without even the confidence to truly risk his life and fight back, he had just pressured a 2nd Circle mage with words before immediately backing down. Yet all he felt was relief…

‘This is why I couldn’t escape 1st Circle…’

His feelings of resentment and fear suddenly vanished.

Hans left the central office with deep feelings of defeat.

* * *

Several days later.

A clearing in a verdant plain.

In the wide clearing that seemed about 200 meters in radius, not a single blade of grass grew, leaving the red earth exposed, and stones were placed here and there. The positions of the stones were as complex as constellations.

This place called the ‘Constellation Crossroads’ was located in the Waterbug Plains, and unlike usual times when about a hundred households would stay here, now over a thousand households were crowded together in complete chaos. Half of them couldn’t even enter the crossroads barrier and were living in tents clustered right outside the barrier.

Hum-hum-

With too many people crowded in, the crossroads barrier and the portable barriers each nomad possessed became overloaded. The barriers continuously vibrated warnings and occasionally emitted ominous ‘grrrr’ sounds.

“Haah… Disaster or whatever… At this rate, if calamity comes, we’ll all just die anyway…”

Adults looked worriedly at the barriers and sighed.

Only the very young children who hadn’t started magical training yet failed to read the atmosphere and ran around playfully.

“Hey! Look at this! My new protective amulet! Isn’t it pretty?”

“Hmph! I already got mine three days ago! Mine’s prettier!”

“Wow… it’s true! Huijin’s is bluer!”

“You always take Huijin’s side…!”

What the naive children were fighting over were the newly distributed protective amulets. The protective amulets with a pale blue tint had newly added spells to block the disaster of water. With Baek Jun-woo’s promised year with Designer Cheonmun nearly complete, these were essential magical devices for humanity’s survival. Without them, the water in their bodies would go wild and all mages who hadn’t achieved 3rd Circle would die on the spot.

Clang! Clang! Thunk!

1st Circle mage Hans, who had left the city with feelings of defeat, was also there. He spent over 15 hours a day using magical materials gathered by the nomads to make protective amulets, strengthen barriers, and create various magical devices to ensure safety. But when he looked at the stars in the sky drawing ever closer each day, he felt anxious.

‘Phew… Damn. I’m distributing protective amulets as ordered, but… does this even mean anything? If we collide with just one of those stars… what good would protective amulets do?’

Even now, he couldn’t understand the fanaticism Jin Sihui had shown that day.

What are mages? What kind of era is this?

Mages are the privileged class. This is an era of destruction. Shouldn’t we gather all available resources and have at least the mages survive? Yet she drove out all the mages and came to the wilderness herself?

‘If this isn’t some righteous crusade, then what is it?’

Hans ground his teeth but didn’t stop working. After all, the deed was already done and he had made his oath. He couldn’t stop doing what needed to be done.

Just then,

Rumble—

The earth shook.

The children who had been running around playfully suddenly floated up into the sky. Belatedly, Hans realized he too had floated into the air.

Thud thud thud thud—

The whole world vibrated.

Crash crash crash crash—

In the distance, mountains collapsed, and with rumbling sounds, a dust cloud rolled toward them like a tsunami. The red clearing where the crossroads was located shook and cracked apart. The stones forming the crossroads barrier shattered to pieces. People were crushed to death under collapsing tents. They were killed by flying debris.

‘Earthquake Calamity?’

Could it be the ultra-high-grade calamity he’d only heard about in stories? No. This wasn’t that. This was a natural phenomenon.

‘Disaster! We’ve collided with a star!’

He had been watching only the ominous movements in the sky… but the star had actually come flying from underground to strike them.

‘Dear god…’

Hans called upon a god he’d never invoked in his life. Even the superstitions that he’d usually mocked as things only the wilderness ignoramuses believed in seemed believable now.

When the whole world was shaking and trying to devour them, when barriers at crossroads or cities were no different from paper…

‘Magic is so powerless.’

Hans gave up on everything and closed his eyes.

That’s when Hans heard the voice of god.

-Mages. Get a grip. It’s not time to die yet.

Some kind of magic took effect? Against his will, his eyes opened automatically, his mind awakened. That’s when Hans discovered the tombstones filling the sky.

-I am the Wizard of Refinement. Stay alert and follow my words. We need to save as many as possible.

A sacred being blazing white in the heavens, surrounded by mysterious tombstones, was looking down at the earth.