Chapter 136

The “Purple Magic Tower Assault Team” was finally formed.

The leader of the team was decided to be Moon Ah-rin, the Deputy Commander of Division 4 and the current interim Tower Master of the White Magic Tower. Her vast and pure mana had remained untainted by even a speck of corruption, even while all the high-ranking Awakened in Seoul were struggling to use their supernatural abilities properly.

In reality, she simply hadn’t been affected because she was at an ordinary Middle-rank level, but aside from her and me, no one else knew that fact.

“You promised! You said you’d liberate me from the Tower Master position…!”

“That was the deal if you helped me find my tentacle. Give up and accept reality.”

And so, feeling a twinge of envy toward her for once again shouldering the hopes of humanity on her shoulders, we stepped into Ground Zero.

The atmosphere inside the barriers was markedly different than before. There were no visible anomalies; instead, tentacles sprouted everywhere as if monitoring our every move. Abnormalities began to manifest even among the agents who had followed us to escort the team safely to the tower entrance.

Kim Seong-gon, the Commander of Division 5, was the first to halt.

“This seems to be as far as I go. It will be difficult to head in any further.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The wounds on my body are reopening. These healed a long time ago… Is this also due to the Mana Corruption?”

The bandages wrapped around his lower face were stained crimson. It seemed that the higher an Awakened’s rank, the more the side effects accelerated as they drew closer to the tower. I could see other agents suppressing various reactions, such as a drop in supernatural output or a distorted sense of direction.

I spoke to Moon Ah-rin via our channel.

『Ah-rin, tell them we can go the rest of the way on our own.』

『What? Why?』

『We need to maintain public order outside. We can’t have the other Commanders becoming combat-ineffective. I know Ground Zero like the back of my hand, so nothing dangerous will happen on the way to the tower.』

『If you say so, Hayan…』

“Um, I think this is enough for the escort. The tower is starting to come into view now.”

As Moon Ah-rin, following my lead, began sending the escort personnel back, I felt a soft tug on my sleeve.

Because of the familiar sensation, I reflexively turned my head thinking it was Mala-nim, but it wasn’t her. It was the other Commander who had been deployed as an escort alongside Kim Seong-gon.

Cheon So-baek.

“Hey, listen.”

“What is it, Commander Cheon So-baek?”

“I think I’m also experiencing side effects from the Mana Corruption.”

“Really? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, but… I feel dizzy.”

As a powerful Awakened, it was possible for Cheon So-baek to experience physical or mental anomalies even before Kim Seong-gon. She had been quiet until now, so I thought she was fine—had she been hiding her pain?

Worried, I stepped out of the formation for a moment and took her to a secluded spot. When I asked her in a cautious voice, a playful smile spread across her lips.

“What kind of side effects are they?”

“Hmm~ What should I pick?”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing. A kiss might be a bit much, but how about hugging me and letting me sit on your lap like Yeon-hwa? I was a bit jealous during the meeting.”

“This is no time for jokes.”

It seemed her physical condition was perfectly fine. Cheon So-baek loved to tease me, but she wasn’t the kind of woman to misread the room in a situation like this. After confirming the positions of the other agents, she pulled something out from inside her robe.

It was a thick, bulging envelope.

“Take this.”

“What is it?”

“Commander Ha Yeri told me to deliver this to you. She said to give it to you away from the other agents.”

Ha Yeri sent something to me? I took the envelope and pulled out the contents.

The object was smaller than expected, wrapped in a pure white cloth like Commander Kim Seong-gon’s bandages. It was a finger, shriveled and dried up like a mummy’s.

Though I couldn’t feel anything from it now that Mala-nim was gone, I knew exactly what this was. It was a part of the true body of Trishy, which had been blown away by Flauros during the Great Invasion.

In other words, it was the corpse of an Archduke harboring a Star Scar.

“They say that tower isn’t just a structure that failed to be demolished. It’s supposedly related to the Cult rooted in Sector 4, and a terrifying being called an Apostle of an Outer God might be waiting inside.”

Well, they probably are, right? If not now, then very soon.

“She said you’d need this to speak with that being on equal terms.”

In the past, Cheon So-baek had not participated in the assault on the Thirteen Palaces of the Void.

Neither had I, officially, but we all knew just how terrifying an Apostle of an Outer God could be.

“If anything happens, hand this over and run away. They say that even if Ah-rin is strong, she won’t be able to defeat that being.”

“Did you follow me all the way here just to tell me that?”

“Do you think I’d volunteer for no reason when I’m busy enough to die? If you don’t make it back safely, you’ll answer to me.”

If I really encountered such a terrifying existence inside there, I’d surely be annihilated like a doppelganger facing its original—so how exactly did she plan to kill me herself? Behind her thorny words, I could feel a heart full of worry for me.

“If you really die, I’ll retrieve your corpse no matter what, take it to Baek-seon, and resurrect you as one of the dead.”

“Pardon?”

“Then I can make you my familiar and have you sit on my lap… no, I could just use you as a chair for the rest of your life. Come to think of it, that’s not bad at all. A chair. Yeah. You already give me massages, so I wouldn’t need to spend a fortune renting a massage chair.”

Maybe it wasn’t worry I was feeling, but obsession. It seemed the side effects of the Mana Corruption had already begun to gnaw at Cheon So-baek’s mind.

Or rather, it had to be that. Given the serious expression she wore as she gulped while eyeing my thighs and shoulders, she looked ready to execute the plan the moment she deemed my injuries severe enough.

“If you have any important belongings, do you want to leave them here? I’ll keep them safe for you.”

“I will make sure to return with all four limbs intact.”

After somehow convincing her—who insisted she was perfectly fine—to head back with the escort party, the assault team continued exploring the depths of Ground Zero under my guidance. Finally, we arrived in front of the Magic Tower.

A massive door stood wide open, as if welcoming challengers. Beside it, a single strand of tentacle with an eye had sprouted like a weed.

I knelt before the tentacle, which shone with a purple pupil just like Mala-nim’s, and spoke in a grim tone.

“To Mala-nim, this may have been a simple whim, but we have suffered far too many sacrifices because of it.”

No Yeon-hwa, who had become a child.

Moon Ah-rin, who had failed to step down from the Tower Master position.

Cheon So-baek, who was about to dabble in Black Magic just to secure a new massage chair.

And even me, who could no longer tease Commander Ha Yeri about her height.

“Wait for me there. I’ll be up shortly.”

To reclaim our horribly altered daily lives, there was only one thing to do: catch Mala-nim and put her back in my sleeve. With that vow, I stepped into the tower.

Originally, a Magic Tower is divided into three sections, named after the classifications of the diurnal motion of stars: the ‘Never-set Layer’ (Circumpolar), the ‘Rise-and-Set Layer,’ and the ‘Never-rise Layer.’

The ‘Never-rise’ section houses research facilities, the ‘Rise-and-Set’ section contains living quarters and lecture halls for mages, and the ‘Circumpolar’ section is equipped with devices for observing the movements of Outer Gods.

There are exceptions, but almost every Magic Tower I’ve visited followed this structure. This meant that Mala-nim’s perception of a Magic Tower—accumulated while watching from my sleeve whenever I got permission to use Cheon So-baek’s lab or went down to Busan to give lectures—had been shaped accordingly.

We entered a massive hollow that looked like a carbon copy of the Red Magic Tower’s ‘Never-rise’ layer. Inside, a man draped in a black robe greeted us.

“Ooh, new challengers have arrived.”

“Is… is that guy the Apostle of the Outer God?”

“Are you the one responsible for all of this!”

The agents were on guard, assuming he was the Apostle, but his identity was actually obvious. The Cult’s headquarters, which I had briefly stopped by before coming here, had been empty. Seeing the hair peeking out from under his robe wriggling as if it had a mind of its own, I knew the man’s identity: it was Sebas, who used to run the Prayer House.

Moreover, I could sense numerous presences behind the doors of the various research labs lining the hall. The light footsteps and quick breathing characteristic of children, mixed with the distinct stench of Ground Zero, tickled my nose.

“I am merely grateful to be called the first believer of the Great One by such a primitive servant, but that Being is actually much closer to you than you think. Unlike me, whom you are meeting for the first time today.”

“Wh-what on earth does that mean?!”

“My unnecessary explanation has gone on too long. You wish to reach the top of this tower, don’t you? You are free to go as you please!”

Stretching his hands toward the sky like the conductor of an orchestra, every door opened simultaneously.

“Though there is only one path leading upward.”

With those final words, Sebas vanished in an instant. Before the assault team lay only an endless darkness.

“Do we have to check every single one of these rooms?”

“If this is the research layer, there should be a staircase leading up.”

“Let’s start by checking the rooms closest to the exit one by one.”

“Yeah, if we search inside, we’ll find some—Gahhhk!”

“Min-cheol!!!”

One of the assault team members, who had cautiously stepped into the nearest research lab, was sent flying in a single blow. The thing that had blasted him toward the exit was none other than a massive train car. A train that had been inside the lab smashed through the door and crashed straight into him.

Soon, trains began bursting out from other doors as well. Looking at the numbers engraved on the chassis, they were all cars that had disappeared due to the persistent train robberies since the Gyeongbu Line opened. I thought they’d been sold for scrap or dumped in a junkyard, but to think they’d been collected so thriftily.

“W-what are they!”

“Ordinary people… are they orphans?”

“They might be brainwashed! Don’t let your guard down!”

A swarm of children holding daggers and bats embedded with iron nails poured out from the inside. Every single one of them was a familiar face.

“These brats… how dare they hit Min-cheol?”

“Looks like they’re just some street rats from around here. I’ll make you regret this.”

“Wait a moment, let’s try talking to them first—”

“Ah-rin, please stay back. We’ll handle this.”

Though they were caught by a surprise attack, this side was the elite Special Unit. The agents immediately took their formations and channeled their mana. Most were junior members and their rank wasn’t that high, but the gap between an Awakened and an ordinary person couldn’t be closed by mere numbers. Furthermore, since the opponents were young kids, the outcome of the battle seemed obvious.

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.
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“Boss, what should we do with these guys?”

“Finish off the ones still breathing and feed the rest to the tentacles.”

“Hehehe, understood.”

“And hey, I told you not to call me ‘Boss’ here.”

“Understood, Believer Yeon Parang!”

Five minutes.

That was the time it took for us to be annihilated.

Man, these kids are scary strong.