Chapter 93

“C-calm down. If you’re truly from the Black Tower, surely you understand,” Jeres stammered.

“Understand what?”

“That making contracts with such lowly demons won’t lead us to the ultimate goal we desire.”

What an individual mage sought was the mastery of Black Magic.

And their ultimate objective was the reconstruction of their Magic Tower.

Jeres attempted to persuade Patel by appealing to the shared ambition of all black mages.

Meanwhile, he did not forget to secretly gather mana behind his back, preparing to summon a massive swarm of monsters.

“Think back. Who was it that led us down the path of ruin in the past?”

“Wasn’t it the other Magic Towers and the Awakened from across the globe?”

“The fundamental reason they attacked us was because we summoned demons.”

Gaining power through demonic contracts to raise the rank of one’s magic—that had been the most basic process through which Black Magic evolved.

However, as instances of mages failing to properly control their contracted demons increased, global public opinion soured rapidly.

Once a Seed of Calamity was created during a failed attempt to summon an Archduke, the Black Tower was ultimately forced to vanish from history.

“But why are you telling me all this?”

“We have a plan. A plan to rebuild the Magic Tower and, this time, create a world for mages alone.”

“Oh? And how exactly do you plan to do that?”

Seeing Patel withdraw his mana with a look of interest, Jeres sneered inwardly.

As expected, the brat was nothing more than a novice who had merely gotten lucky enough to be invited to the Council.

The demons had likely only accepted him because black mages were so rare.

Jeres felt he knew exactly how that Nightmare Demon princess next to him had managed to bring Patel over to her side.

‘If that bitch could do it, there’s no reason I can’t.’

Jeres reached out with the hand holding the Handkerchief of Bewitchment.

To deceive an opponent, one had to hide a lie within the truth.

The words he was about to speak were a secret known to no one outside the Hand of Oblivion.

“I cannot give you the details. However, I will tell you one thing you don’t know.”

“What is it?”

“The Tower Master is alive.”

The Master of the Black Tower.

He was a mage whose soul was supposedly obliterated nearly a hundred years ago by the Self-Made Immortal and other Awakened.

In the modern era, Baek-seon was known as the leading authority on Black Magic among the Seven Immortals, but she—who specialized only in Spirit-Calling and Necromancy—couldn’t compare to the Tower Master.

Furthermore, as far as Jeres knew, Lruyeh was someone who only wanted to resurrect her dead younger brother.

She had absolutely no interest in spreading the influence of Black Magic or building a faction for mages.

“When he descends to this land once more, we will be able to see the end of the magical path as much as we wish, without ever needing to contract with the likes of demons. Once our Tower is rebuilt, even the Outer Gods in the sky will have no choice but to tremble.”

“How are you making him descend?”

“It isn’t difficult. The principle is similar to summoning an Archduke.”

Just a little more.

If he could drag this out for just a bit longer, the summoning circle would be complete.

It took a while because he was forming the hand seals with only one hand, but the effect would be certain.

Summoning a monster capable of devouring a Nightmare Demon who was nothing in reality and a mediocre black mage would be trivial.

“If you help us, we can hasten that time. With your status in the Council, you’ll be able to ascend straight to the Astronomical Observation Wing!”

“Hmm…”

“Won’t you join us?”

Ten seconds.

No, just five more.

At the exact moment the summoning circle constructed behind his back was about to vomit forth a monster that would consume the entire space.

The hesitating Patel shook his head and spoke.

“Regrettably, that’s going to be a bit difficult.”

“And why is that?”

“I mean, as a fellow alumnus of the Black Tower, I’d love to lend a hand in achieving your grand ambition, senior, but…”

His finger pointed toward the space behind Jeres’s back.

“You don’t have any hands, senior.”

What?

Stunned by the sudden remark, he instinctively looked down at his own hands.

Beneath his loose robes, instead of five fingers made of bone and muscle, there were writhing tentacles.

“Hgyaaah!”

“If you want to play tricks on me with magic, you’re a hundred years too early.”

He rolled up his sleeves, but the tentacles continued without end. It was as if his entire arms had been transformed into appendages.

Frantic and terrified, Jeres tried to bolt, only to hit the factory floor with a wet thud.

When he looked back, his shoes had slipped off his feet. In place of what had been his legs just moments ago were tentacles slightly thicker than the ones on his arms.

Only then did he realize that his entire body was being converted into tentacles.

“Kugh, cough…! Please…!”

Eventually, as he began to vomit tentacles from his throat, his vision sank toward the floor following the pull of gravity.

The last thing reflected in Jeres’s fading sight was Patel, who had removed his mask and was approaching him.

“Well then, sweet dreams, senior.”

His face was identical to the Special Unit agent who had just been running away from them.

When I opened my eyes, Norkel was kneeling beside me, keeping watch.

A Nightmare Demon’s dream, huh?

It would certainly be difficult to escape once caught, much like a witch’s curse.

After confirming I was still wearing my mask, I immediately straightened my clothes.

“You worked hard, Sir Patel… I mean, Lord Patel,” Norkel said.

“Is this enough?”

“Yes, we will take care of… of the remaining stragglers.”

“You can use whatever titles or speech style you’re comfortable with. It’s annoying when you keep changing it.”

“Ah, got it.”

I stood up and scanned my surroundings.

The black mages were all collapsed throughout the abandoned factory. Just like the other lackeys, Jeres had been trapped in the Nightmare Demon’s dream from the very beginning.

He had simply believed he was awake.

With Norkel’s help, I had been invited into that dream to neutralize him.

“But didn’t you say you couldn’t put someone holding the handkerchief to sleep?” I asked.

“Strictly speaking, it’s not that they can’t be taken into a dream. It’s just that if you go in with them, there’s a high probability of being seduced yourself, so we usually don’t do it.”

Then why did she send me into that guy’s dream?

When I stared at her intently without saying a word, she avoided my gaze.

“I-I knew someone like you, Lord Patel, wouldn’t fall for such cheap tricks.”

“…”

By the look of it, she had at least considered the possibility of stabbing me in the back if the opportunity arose.

On the flip side, now that she realized even the Handkerchief of Bewitchment didn’t work on me, Norkel didn’t even dare to think about defying my words.

In reality, no matter how great an Archduke’s relic it was, it didn’t have much of an effect on me. It wouldn’t be enough to break the mental fortitude of the only human who deals face-to-face with an Outer God.

“Then I’ll be going.”

“What should we do with the Light Mage?”

Norkel asked, pointing toward the clone tentacle disguised as Sae Hayan, who was currently enjoying a happy dream.

“I took a quick peek into his dreams, but he doesn’t seem to be thinking much. He was just holding hands with a bunch of tentacles and playing at the beach.”

“Is that so?”

“However, since he’s a human you’re wary of, Lord Patel, it goes without saying that we shouldn’t let him leave alive. If you’re going to kill him now, we could do it on our end…”

“I’ll handle it myself. Just take care of the black mages.”

“Understood.”

I wrapped things up moderately like that because I couldn’t let her find out the guy’s true identity was actually a tentacle.

Now, if I could just find Digestion, pay the witches, and hand the handkerchief over to the Special Unit to claim the merit, everything would be perfect.

If, by some slim chance, it didn’t show up until the very end, I would have no choice but to use the Mana Points accumulated in Norkel’s account.

If that happened, the aftermath was as clear as day.

The Nightmare Demon’s trust would hit rock bottom, and it would be difficult to continue acting as Patel.

But it was fine.

Even if every plan I had built up until now collapsed, I still had Mala-nim.

『Digestion ran away, but Mala-nim, you’ll stay with me until the very end of hell, right?』

『FearFearFearFear.』

Just as I was tightly cinching my sleeves, vowing never to let go of Mala-nim who was trying to escape alone—a pained groan echoed from one side.

“Ugh. You bastards…!”

It was Jeres.

Perhaps because his rank as a mage was high, he seemed to have woken up faster than expected.

He immediately resumed and completed the summoning circle he had been preparing while trapped in the dream. The speed was faster than anticipated; before I could even intervene, mana swirled around the factory site.

“If I’m going to be captured by the likes of you, I’ll just wipe out this entire area!”

“Ugh, get back…!”

Unlike the panicked Norkel, I wasn’t wary of him at all.

This was because I had already experienced a similar situation once before.

The final moments of my respected senior, Patel—the original owner of this mask and my current role model—had been exactly like this.

That image of him struggling with all his might to save me once he sensed his end, even while we were working together to prepare an Archduke’s summoning.

Jeres’s final act of desperation bore a striking resemblance to Patel.

“Prepare yourselves! This is the strongest, most wicked monster I have ever tamed!”

“Oh…”

“Disappear without a trace before this being, whose power rivals an Archduke!”

“Ooh…!”

Is he finally going to show me something this time?

Whatever was summoned, I was confident I could catch it.

It was a ridiculous probability, but if it was a powerful monster like Velada’s true form, it might even possess a Star Scar.

Just as I was preparing a Black Magic spell I could use in front of Norkel, my heart fluttering with anticipation—

Flash!

The center of the summoning circle glowed, and mana scattered as if exploding.

The dust piled in the factory swirled, and nothing remained in its place.

“What? The summoning was definitely…”

Jeres wondered if he was still trapped inside a dream.

It wasn’t because the monster hadn’t been summoned despite the magic activating properly.

It was because when he opened his eyes, he had been transported to an unknown space.

A place like a dark, sealed room where the floor, walls, and ceiling couldn’t be properly distinguished.

The humid, hot, and foul-smelling environment, which invoked a primal sense of discomfort, was similar to the Demon Realm.

Lighting a flame with magic, he realized the floor he was stepping on wasn’t as solid as he thought. He also noticed numerous objects rolling around and hitting his feet.

“Ugh, what the hell is this place?”

Dented armor, rocks and gravel, charred flesh, and even rotten fruit.

He couldn’t begin to guess where this place, filled with all sorts of junk, was.

Recalling his knowledge of Black Magic as much as possible, he analyzed his current situation.

If this space where he could feel such vivid sensations wasn’t a Nightmare Demon’s dream, there was only one likely possibility.

‘A failed summoning… no, rather, it’s a reverse-summoning.’

While trying to pull a monster out, he had been moved by a much stronger existence nearby.

For now, he had escaped the Nightmare Demon and the black mage, so he could say his life was saved, but it was too early to feel relieved.

Because there was no guarantee that the being who had summoned Jeres into this space would be any friendlier than those two.

“Wh-who’s there?!”

As the sound of rustling reached him from afar, he instinctively prepared his magic.

He was still clutching the Handkerchief of Bewitchment he had stolen from the Special Unit agent.

Inside the pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen beyond the small light source created by his black flames—

—KIEEEEKKKK!!!!

Before he could even realize what kind of being had summoned him, an ear-piercing shriek tore through the air.