Chapter 158

Even though he hadn’t yet obtained the power of an Outer God, the opponent was a monster with power comparable to an Archduke.

Furthermore, he was one of the five former Tower Masters, once called the progenitors of magic.

Excluding the reclusive Heavenly Immortal, there was no one in the modern era who still held a Tower Master position while being a Transcendent-level Awakened.

However, the figures from the Magic Towers gathered here were not easily intimidated individuals, either.

Among the mages suppressed by the overwhelming amount of mana and level, there were those who regained their composure first.

『Everyone, maintain the channel! Stay calm and follow my instructions!』

The ‘Observer,’ Esma Miller.

A Transcendent-level mage residing in the circumpolar layer of the Blue Tower who could read the heavens, he immediately deployed a large-scale magic circle.

He increased the purity of the mana to heighten the power of all attacks while simultaneously opening a multi-band channel.

Projecting his mana toward the Archduke of Darkness, he shared all the information he had gathered through his observation magic with the other mages.

He concluded that the opponent was currently possessed by the body of an ‘Elder Lich,’ and that a strategy must be formulated based on that.

『An Elder Lich? That thing?』

『It is incomparably stronger than that, but the core principles are the same. I have thoroughly analyzed the individual that appeared during the irregular Gate incident in Korea last year, so we have a chance.』

The robe the creature had been wearing was recovered by the Bureau as loot, but the contents of the ancient tome the creature had used at the time remained.

What the Archduke of Darkness was currently holding must be the same kind.

Information about the Elder Lich spread in an instant.

As soon as they heard that, Hans, the ‘Seeder’ of the Yellow Magic Tower, stepped forward.

“A corpse that doesn’t die even when killed… it’s just like my wife.”

As he performed the hand seals, his wedding ring—the only keepsake left behind by his runaway wife—glittered.

The light emitted from the yellow-green gemstone gathered the tetrapods scattered across the pier and formed the shape of a massive pillar.

He applied polishing and property changes to the light-wrapped pillar to compress it completely, and when he snapped his fingers, the pillar vanished in an instant.

And a moment later, it began falling from the sky toward the Archduke of Darkness, harboring intense heat.

『Hoo.』

The moment the pillar, falling with a roar like a missile, tore through the atmosphere, Robert of the Red Magic Tower completed his magic as well.

Because he had more combat experience against monsters than anyone else while active in the Special Unit, he knew he must never lower his guard.

“Burn!”

The Flames of Avici.

It was a black flame that burned continuously, using every kind of mana as fuel.

It caused absolutely no damage to ordinary living beings or objects, but its power increased exponentially against targets possessing vast amounts of mana.

It was self-evident that this attack would work on the Archduke of Darkness, one of the strongest mages in history.

The flames passed right through the handful of seawater remaining on the ground and swallowed the tower of flesh whole.

Soon, the heat increased explosively.

The power was so formidable that even the mages watching from beside Robert had to hurriedly extinguish the fire that caught on their robes.

“Everyone, contain your mana! If we aren’t careful, we’ll get caught up in it too!”

“Hey, I told you to step back!”

“Wait, he looks fine?”

“So he does?”

While everyone was retreating, a mage wearing a white pointy hat walked out with a pattering gait.

It was the woman from the White Magic Tower, whom no one had expected anything from since the gathering.

“Th-the others from the Magic Towers are working so hard, I can’t lose either! Light of the Blue Sky!”

As she hoisted her oak staff into the air, a thin beam of light fell from the sky.

Fwoosh!

Other than being blinding, it had no particular effect.

“Whew, how is it? My magic.”

“…”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me with those eyes! To begin with, the White Magic Tower specializes in rear support!”

The mages watched her with complex expressions as she got angry at them, despite having stepped forward without being asked.

It seemed she had stepped forward because she didn’t want to be judged as having failed to contribute even a spoonful to catching the Archduke of Darkness… but it felt like staying still would have been more helpful.

“Ah, if only the Saint of Salvation were here, we could have crushed those high-nosed mages and regained the glory of the White Magic Tower…!”

“Huh? That is…”

“Hey, don’t interrupt me! What is it again!”

“Evade!”

“It’s really coming this time!!”

The beam of light shot by the mage of the White Magic Tower served as the coordinates for the pillar Hans had created with alchemy to fall.

Of course, Witherman could have sufficiently guided the magic even without her, but… that wasn’t a very important element in the current battle.

Boom!!

“Kyaaaak!!”

Amidst the flash and heat that made it difficult to even open one’s eyes, the mages each cast mana barriers.

As a joint effort created by three Transcendent-level mages who were the pillars of their respective Towers, the power was immense.

Even if there had been a special-grade Gate in that spot, it would surely have been annihilated.

Expectations rose that even an Archduke could not be unscathed.

However, when the dust cloud finally cleared.

They saw the Archduke of Darkness looking at them in the same posture as before.

Nothing had changed, except that his robe was torn and his hideous body was exposed.

Only the ground pitted around where he stood indirectly showed how much of a shock had been applied to the surroundings.

『Absurd, you mean to say he took zero damage?』

『That won’t be the case. The magic certainly hit the target.』

Esma explained the characteristics of the Elder Lich to the horrified mages.

Soul restoration occurring three times.

He had used one of them, allowing him to survive the high-level magic from a moment ago.

『Does that mean we just need to attack two more times?』

『If that’s all…』

『What truly hopeful observation you have there.』

“Ugh!”

Just as the other mages were beginning to harbor a faint hope.

The voice of the Archduke of Darkness was heard from within the channel.

『If you truly hoped for salvation, you should have prayed to the heavens. What you just did was a sort of tribute for making me stand at the same eye level as you.』

Saying so, he scanned his surroundings.

He was searching for the mage who had dragged him down to the ground.

With his already rotted eyeballs, seeing forward would be impossible, but as his head shifted, a gale of wind laden with blood swept through the audience.

To someone who had mastered the magical path, mana was a means to replace their five senses with ease.

『I cannot feel it. Well, that will do.』

Unable to feel the trace of the one who had summoned him from among those stationed at the pier, he withdrew his gaze in an instant.

And a moment later, the sea breeze that had been brushing past the nape of their necks with a chill until just a moment ago was now tearing through the barriers and engulfing everyone.

『From now on, all I will show is rage. How dare you make me stand at the same eye level as you.』

『Go to your graves buried in despair, you weak mortals.』

An arrogant remark, as if he considered the world’s self-proclaimed geniuses to be trivial.

However, the founder of Black Magic, who had once established a Magic Tower by himself, had the power to turn those words into reality.

As the Archduke of Darkness performed hand seals, monsters poured out from the tower.

At the same time, the nearby sky was dyed black, and screams were heard from all directions.

“That is…!”

“It’s the Thundering Lament.”

“It’s clearly a sixth-rank magic… but it’s definitely not that level of power!”

“Stop it by any means necessary, if that lightning strikes, it’s the end for everyone!”

All the mages inside Esma’s magic circle rushed to dispel the Archduke’s magic, but the situation did not improve in the slightest.

The parts they touched were restored as soon as they were destroyed.

The massive electrical current gathering overhead was so destructive that even if the Confinement Immortal had returned to life, they wouldn’t have been able to stop it.

“It’s not working at all.”

“This makes no sense. How…!”

“Hey, you! Try defending at least!”

“How am I supposed to block something like that!!!”

『Do you wish to know the reason?』

Approaching death.

An unavoidable future.

Looking down at the despair-stricken mages, he rolled up his sleeve.

『It is because, from a hundred years ago until now, the caliber between you and me has been different.』

There, a body of a different form was embedded.

Under the dark earth.

I opened my eyes at the damp sensation I felt on my cheek.

When I came to my senses, countless living, moving tentacle corpses were surrounding me.

At first, I thought they had saved me, but looking closely, I could see that wasn’t their intention.

“Kiiieeek!”

“Kieeeek!”

“Kieek!?”

“Kiiieeeek!!”

The wretches were debating where to eat first, as if I were a feast served on a dining table.

How hateful their every action was, even in death.

In the midst of that, there was one wiggling its body near my lower half.

When I grabbed it with my hand and brought it close, it was uniquely pink.

“Kkyaaaak, kkiyak~.”

It was Digestion.

So, it had naturally been mixed in with them.

The powerless tentacle corpses fell away in droves as I rose to my feet.

The fact that they followed behind at a certain distance seemed to show they were ready to pounce if I showed any opening.

As a bitter relationship that had continued since the Sea of Decay, how incredibly persistent they were.

I wanted to clear them away from my sight right now, but since grasping the situation was more urgent, I decided to move.

‘I clearly remember ripping the Star Scar from Digestion and using the Abyssal Tentacle…’

Did I get buried by something that fell after that?

The surroundings consisted of several types of bricks, as if they had been torn from bedrock, forming stairs.

According to my experience of having visited many places since joining the Special Unit, this was a structure similar to a Magic Tower.

Although there were pieces of unknown creatures’ flesh or blood stains here and there, I must have been buried near the basement of a Magic Tower and awakened.

If so, I had to get out.

As I climbed the slippery stairs, I asked Mala-nim.

『Come to think of it, is Yeon-hwa coming?』

『Fear not?』

『I took out insurance in case I got caught. I couldn’t leave her in the hospital ward forever, after all.』

『Fear?』

Mala-nim asked if I intended to give her a chance at revenge.

『Well… looking at this state, I don’t think that will be easy.』

The Archduke of Darkness was more powerful than I had thought, so I had to step forward myself to finish him off.

The moment I showed No Yeon-hwa that appearance, it would be the same as revealing my identity.

『Let’s look at the situation outside first and think about it. If we go a little further, the exit is…』

『Who are you talking to?』

Suddenly, someone cut into my channel with Mala-nim.

When I raised my head, a half-dead corpse was looking down at me from the end of the stairs.

『You survived quite well. To think there would be a bug crawling into the tower while my attention was diverted.』

“That’s not it, I am…”

『I will show my respects for that recklessness. This is the answer to the question you lot couldn’t hear earlier.』

A question? An answer?

What is he talking about?

The shriveled corpse, presumed to be the Archduke of Darkness, rolled up his sleeve and showed me his hand.

On his hands were five fingers… no, six fingers in total.

『Can you see? This is evolution.』

“Evolution?”

『To those who handle magic, hand seals are essential. This is the ultimate reason why vermin like you haven’t been able to cancel my magic for the last hundred years.』

Because he had six fingers, he could form hand seals much faster and in greater numbers than other mages.

To him, who spoke of that fact proudly as if he were some goblin who had overcome the sun.

“Um…”

『Hm?』

“I can do that too. That thing.”

I carefully raised my hand and pulled out a tentacle to show him.