Chapter 154

For two hours, I drove from Seoul to Busan with No Yeon-hwa sitting on my lap, persuaded by words that could have been a Word-Spirit or perhaps just a command.

I dozed off, bobbing my head to the faint scent of peaches drifting from the back of her hair.

Although I got beaten up after instinctively grabbing her waist when the car jolted, thankfully, no major incident occurred.

When we arrived at Busan Station, a guide sent by the Magic Tower was waiting for us.

When departing, I naturally expected it to be Robert from the Red Tower, but it was someone with a surprisingly more familiar face.

“Professor Sae Hayan!”

“Albireo!!”

“I really missed you.”

“I feel the same. I received the wine you sent from the winery last time. The quality was certainly excellent.”

My prized pupil, an outstanding mage favored by magic, had grown surprisingly mature in the time since I had last seen him.

According to reports I had read in the articles, his mana control and knowledge were remarkably advanced for his age, and his understanding of each field of magic was also at a substantial level.

“Your remarkable growth as my disciple—though our bodies were far apart, I never missed news of you.”

“It is all thanks to my teacher’s grace. During that one month I learned from you, I was reborn.”

“You are too generous. I merely gave fertilizer and water to a sprout with promise.”

An even more surprising fact was that Albireo could use both Black and White Magic up to the fourth rank.

This was a different issue from simply having talent.

Even mages who had awakened the secrets of magic were not versed in every type of magic.

In particular, Black and White Magic have opposing mana properties, so if you raise one side above the fourth rank, you cannot use the other above the third rank.

There was a reason Cheon So-baek—currently called the greatest genius in South Korea—kept bringing up the name of Baek-seon whenever she talked about resurrecting someone with Black Magic.

It was because she was already in a state where it was impossible to master Black Magic.

But Albireo was different.

Honestly, it was amazing that he achieved this level of growth after attending lectures I had given half in jest.

If he had been taught by a proper professor instead of me, the balance of power between humanity and demons might have been reshuffled.

“Specifically, what did you come to realize?”

“Well, it is the teacher’s teaching that ultimately, humans and tentacles are one.”

“Oh…”

Of course, this was only possible because it was me who awakened his true talent.

I wanted to share a drink and have a deep conversation all day about who the true hero was, but circumstances did not allow it.

Albireo saw No Yeon-hwa, who had reached the point where she could kill someone just with her gaze, and immediately brought up the main point.

Pointing to a woman who had been standing behind him for some time, he said:

“Actually, I am not the only one who came from the Magic Tower to welcome you and your party.”

“And who is this…?”

“The introduction is late. She is the Advisory Chair of the Alps Branch who hosted this gathering, and the founder who established an organization called the Demon Extermination Agency established in Europe.”

“I go by Fran. I hope you both stay comfortably.”

The woman who introduced herself as Fran bowed her waist gracefully.

Her appearance was so elegant that most of the people who had arrived at the station couldn’t leave and were lingering instead.

Her appearance seemed to condense the ultimate beauty from head to toe.

However, a familiar memory of having met her somewhere kept tickling my brain.

“You said your name is Fran.”

“That is so.”

“It’s a name similar to the Special-Class monster ‘Françoise’ who has recently been exerting her influence in Europe.”

“That is an unpleasant misunderstanding.”

“Haha, it’s too noisy here to talk. The first meeting will start soon, so let’s continue sharing our stories while we move.”

We rode a limousine waiting at Busan Station and moved to Gwangalli, where the Magic Towers were built.

Inside the vehicle, which was painted thickly with security magic, Albireo spoke about the purpose of this gathering—that is, the Master of the Black Magic Tower.

“Teacher, do you know the reason the Black Magic Tower collapsed?”

“Of course I know. Isn’t it because you kept summoning demons to master Black Magic?”

Among the summoned demons or magical creatures, there were existences that were too difficult for them to handle.

Even if one out of twenty attempts failed, humanity had to suffer devastating damage at the time.

However, the death of the Master of the Black Magic Tower occurred long before that, during the period when Gates began to open on Earth and Awakened began to emerge.

It was a matter that had happened much earlier than the fall of the Magic Tower in terms of time, so I didn’t understand why the Black Magic Tower was involved in his death, and Albireo said:

“The two are linked. As a teacher who only learned White Magic, you might not know well, but…”

“What? He came from the Black Magic Tower… ugh!”

“Please continue, Albireo.”

“Yes, Black Magic bases the restitution of compensation through sacrifices as the foundation of magic.”

If there was a strength of Black Magic, it was that the larger the scale of the sacrifice, the greater the magnitude of the power that could be obtained.

And just before his death, the Master of the Black Magic Tower projected his own existence into the system of magic he had created, as the backbone itself.

Simply put, that method was to use his followers as sacrifices even after his own death to prepare a stepping stone for resurrection.

“The cause of the collapse of the Black Magic Tower was that the Awakened society around the world decided to subjugate it due to repeated summon failures and the resulting damage that had accumulated bit by bit over several decades.”

There is no reason to keep a Magic Tower that pours out monsters alive.

But contrary to their thoughts, the Black Mages didn’t particularly intend to exterminate humanity.

It was just that the damage was immense every time a summoning failed.

Rather, it was that very failure that was intended.

“No matter how perfectly the variables were controlled, there were many experiments that failed. The cause was mostly that some of the formulas written on the pages were written incorrectly.”

“Is that true? I never read books by Black Mages, so I didn’t know.”

“It is certain. I actually searched through the records and found many suspected cases.”

Sacrificing the tower he built and being reborn by using blood as a sacrifice.

That was the reason the Master of the Black Magic Tower could reveal their presence to the world.

No Yeon-hwa, who had been listening to the story from the side, asked bluntly.

“But why now? The Black Magic Tower disappeared over ten years ago, so why come out now?”

“That is…”

“It’s a trivial discrepancy.”

The one who answered was Digestion… or rather, Fran.

Unlike her appearance, she gazed out the window as indifferently as a magical creature that had lived for hundreds of years and opened her mouth.

“To beings of far higher status, including the Outer Gods or the Archdukes, time does not have much meaning. Whether it’s right now or ten years from now, it does not matter. They act because they are prepared—that is all.”

“Acting? Doing what?”

“What purpose would a human who wanted to touch the heavens enough to build a tower have? There has only been one, then and now, right? It is to consume the Star Scar and take the seat of an Outer God.”

So that was why the Magic Towers had urgently convened a meeting.

It was unknown which Outer God would be targeted, but if one more star fell as it was, the chaos would only grow greater.

I felt a squirming sensation inside my sleeve.

I asked Fran, who for some reason made me want to use informal language despite it being our first meeting.

“You said they were prepared. What does that mean?”

“Yes, they have already finished their preparations. In terms of timing, it was approximately three years ago—prepared to become an Outer God.”

“What is it, specifically?”

“It is this.”

She turned her head toward the window and coughed slightly.

Then, covering her mouth with a fan, she showed me what she held in her hand.

It was a bizarre lump of meat, mixed with monster corpses and slime.

Something glittered in the vomit, which was still steaming as if it had just been pulled from the stomach.

“This came into my hands accidentally… or rather, it came into my hands by chance in the Alps a while ago.”

“This is?”

“Wait!”

No Yeon-hwa, who had been glancing at it from my side, suddenly opened her eyes wide and leaned in.

Mixed inside the lump of meat was a large feather with a faint, five-colored hue.

“To speak frankly, it is already too late.”

According to Fran’s explanation, it was already an established fact that one of the Outer Gods had been murdered by the Master.

It was only peaceful on the surface.

Since the blow, which was like a direct punch from Flauros, had already flown into the future, there was no way to stop it.

The gathering in Busan was held to discuss how to deal with the situation afterward.

“The first thing we must build is an alliance of the four Towers.”

Robert, attending as the representative of the Red Magic Tower, put forward an alternative.

“Immediately after the fall of the Outer God of Salvation, the Yellow Magic Tower suffered great damage. This is because the level of the mages belonging to it was stripped away, and mana supply was not facilitated smoothly.”

“If the power of one Tower weakens, a vacuum in security is created accordingly.”

“To prevent additional chaos, it seems best to set aside immediate antagonism for now.”

“Our White Magic Tower is fine because we have the Saint of Salvation! We will send all the necessary support!”

To quell the chaos, they would temporarily integrate the zones under each faction’s jurisdiction and strengthen defenses.

It was a highly common-sense response, as one never knew which demons might invade if the light of one Tower were extinguished.

The next thing to do was how to deal with the Master of the Black Magic Tower, who would soon obtain the power of an Outer God.

Since nothing had been finalized yet, even the most prominent mages could only shake their heads.

“Nothing is known about a man who died over a hundred years ago—not his name, nor his characteristics.”

“Isn’t there a possibility that there won’t be a big change even if he becomes a new Outer God?”

“That cannot be. Considering the nature of the Black Magic Tower, it is obvious that it will at least be an environment where demons can run wild even more.”

“Furthermore, if the Black Magic Tower is rebuilt, the world will fall into even greater confusion.”

“It’s fine because the Saint of Salvation will take care of it! If we leave everything to the Saint of Salvation, it will be solved!”

A world where Black Mages run wild again.

A world where a new order has settled in, where one can enter a prayer house in the slums, absorb the blood of all the believers through a magic circle, and summon an Archduke without being condemned.

The expressions of the mages were heavy as the reality approached that Patel, who was in the underworld, would clap his hands and rejoice if he heard this.

This was because none of them knew how to fight an Outer God or an existence of equivalent stature.

While silence lingered for a while, someone spoke as if they had a good idea.

“The Saint of…”

“How about asking for the opinion of the Commander-in-Chief of the Special Unit?”

“Do you mean the Self-Made Immortal?”

“Yes, she can communicate with Outer Gods through an Oath. She is the only one in the whole world who can do that, too.”

“Certainly…!”

The Self-Made Immortal would know the countermeasures.

No, the other Outer Gods would also have to put forth countermeasures to survive and convey them through her lips.

The eyes of the attendees were drawn to our side, as we were participating in the capacity of observers.

Regrettably, they were drawn not to the Light Mage in front of them, but to No Yeon-hwa, a direct subordinate of Seona.

“I heard her health had recovered enough to participate in the festival held a while ago…”

“The Word-Spirit user, could you contact her for us?”

“…”

“Word-Spirit user?”

Usually, it was my role to doze off during meetings, but for some reason, she was quiet.

I glanced over at No Yeon-hwa, who was slumped over with her head bowed and showing no reaction.

“Yeon-hwa?”

“…”

“Wait, are you okay?”

She was gripping the feather she had received from Fran a moment ago so tightly that her hand was bleeding.