Operation Sweep The Magic Tower (3)

It was truly ridiculous to see the patterns sculpted all over the walls, intended for engraving magic, completely ruined.

“Quite a sight.”

“You damned bastards, do you have any idea how much effort and capital I spent producing this?”

“You should have thought of engraving restoration magic too, you fool.”

Pi Jin-hyeok was trembling violently. At that, Go Yu-jin began to manifest her influence again on the fragments scattered around, and despite the small amount, she recreated a moderately-sized Iron Golem, causing Pi Jin-hyeok to grind his teeth before speaking.

“Even now… I’d like to recommend that you join hands with us.”

“An amusing joke becomes unpleasant if heard too many times. Let’s end the proposals there.”

At that moment, Pi Jin-hyeok unleashed his mana and began to attack us, further pushing Bak Hyeok forward as he spoke.

“Kill all those damned bastards!”

It was Bak Hyeok who rushed forward upon receiving the command, and watching him, I spoke to Pi Jin-hyeok.

“It seems you’ve completely forgotten both respect for your teacher and the duty of a human being.”

“He is my enemy. He’s no teacher of mine!”

It was an enraged Pi Jin-hyeok, and Bak Hyeok who approached with a contrastingly calm expression while unleashing mana.

‘As expected, it seems he cannot use magic properly.’

However, an unbelievable level of mana poured out and pressured me. But Go Yu-jin, who quickly cut off the flow of mana, spoke.

“Will you hand over the role of giving this person peace to me?”

Then, Bak Hyeok transformed his body to easily block a swung fist, while I spoke as I scattered Pi Jin-hyeok’s countless attacks.

“You just need to hold out until I deal with Pi Jin-hyeok.”

“I can do it. Trust me.”

Instead of an answer acknowledging Go Yu-jin’s words, I used Blink toward Pi Jin-hyeok to close the distance.

“I know that you are remarkable. However, I too am the head of a group; do you know how much effort I put in to transcend my boundaries for so long?”

“Do I need to know?”

It was Pi Jin-hyeok who began to tremble at my reply, eventually operating his mana while maintaining a cold expression.

I knew immediately that he was preparing a spell, but a duel between mages did not take the form of pouring out large spells one after another.

I lightly created and fired an Energy Bolt, and Pi Jin-hyeok also swatted it away as if it were nothing.

However, thanks to the superiority of my mana attribute, Pi Jin-hyeok had to suffer losses every time, and I could feel him separately drawing out mana to prepare a medium-scale spell while responding to my magic and widening the distance.

“Double casting?”

Pi Jin-hyeok’s veins bulged on his forehead at my impressed tone.

“For a mage to get excited so easily. How about you refine your reason a bit?”

As I let out a smirk and ridiculed him with a curl of my lips, Pi Jin-hyeok began to grind his teeth. However, as if the potential of the 8th Circle could not be ignored, he reached out his hand and shouted an activation word.

“Explosion.”

It was the 6th Circle explosion magic, the same spell that had attacked Go Yu-jin when we entered the Magic Tower.

Even for the same magic, because the pattern traces and directions are different for every mage, it was difficult to penetrate those traces, which were like unique fingerprints, from the start.

However, since a certain amount of time had passed since Pi Jin-hyeok showed it once, I was not a clumsy person who would fail to grasp it.

I intervened immediately before Explosion could manifest, and in an instant, I shifted the mana direction and canceled Explosion—a medium-scale spell—with a small amount of mana.

Pi Jin-hyeok was astonished by the magic scattering vainly into the air, but on the contrary, I used Blink to close the distance and, after moving to point-blank range, I placed my hand on Pi Jin-hyeok’s body.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Pi Jin-hyeok hurriedly retreated, but just touching him with a fingertip was enough; the moment contact was made, Pi Jin-hyeok flinched and fell into a panic.

“Decrepify, it’s a fairly decent curse.”

I knew how to use it, but the operation was complex and the failure rate was high. However, because his mana patterns and flows were at a level that I could grasp so easily, I simply penetrated that boundary and planted the curse.

“C-crazy… Is it a high-level curse?! How…?!”

He must have been feeling despair at his rapidly dulling body and senses.

Because I too knew what that sensation was like, I momentarily emitted mana comparable to my total magic capacity and pressured Pi Jin-hyeok as if binding him.

After that, I further reduced his resistance capabilities to the limit with Paralyze and Lower Resist, and then cast a Deadly Curse to inflict a random curse on the target.

I didn’t know which curse would be applied. This was because Deadly Curse had a high probability of eroding the target with anything ranging from ‘Death’ to curses that caused light symptoms of paralysis.

Although the disadvantage was that it required an immense amount of mana, it was a curse magic preferred by many black mages because it could guarantee a curse was placed.

‘I wonder what his fate will be?’

I was curious. Which curse would swallow him up? And a moment later, I saw his body slowly hardening into a grey color.

‘Is it petrification?’

Petrification was a quite high-level curse.

It was among the well-known curses, but once one was afflicted by it, unless there was a holy spell, it was literally impossible to dispel unless the caster removed the curse.

And if one was perfectly petrified, they would shatter even from a small impact, so it was effectively a curse where being hit with it on the battlefield meant death.

“I-I can’t believe it!”

It was Pi Jin-hyeok, who was in a state of confusion, trembling as he watched his own body turning to stone in bewilderment.

“I hope that battle finishes before your petrification is complete.”

The battle I pointed to was the one between Go Yu-jin and Bak Hyeok.

It was certain that Bak Hyeok had become completely useless as a mage, and it was also unknown whether he would ever be able to return to being human.

Looking around, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed by the shabby laboratory, but just then, something caught my eye.

It was Pi Jin-hyeok’s necklace.

‘It’s not an ordinary necklace; is it a sub-space?’

I caught a glimpse of the engraved magic, and while Pi Jin-hyeok struggled desperately to somehow slow down the petrification while his body was stiff and unable to move properly, I moved my feet to close the distance with him.

“I don’t know where the man who was so confident has gone.”

“W-why on earth are you doing this to me!! What did I do so wrong for this to happen!!”

“If I were to count your wrongs, there are so many it’s a problem. I want to kill you and get rid of you right now, but the government said they wanted you kept alive…. So I’m curious how your fate will conclude.”

“How wicked! If they wanted to save me, then shouldn’t you save me no matter what!!”

Now Pi Jin-hyeok was shouting at the top of his lungs for me to save him, in a case of the thief calling the victim a thief. So, I lightly tapped his head and spoke to the flinching Pi Jin-hyeok.

“What use is having a brain great enough to reach the 8th Circle if, in the end, you can’t even think of the simplest and fastest solution.”

“W-what is it? Just what is it!”

I spoke as I pointed with my chin toward Bak Hyeok, who was in a desperate state.

“A command. You can live with just one simple word.”

Only then did Pi Jin-hyeok shout hurriedly as if realizing something.

“Bak Hyeok!! Stop!! Right now!!”

Simultaneously with that shout, Bak Hyeok came to a dead stop, and Go Yu-jin, who was about to strike him down, hesitated and stepped back.

She had recognized that I was shaking my head.

‘It’s a relief. He was reduced to a test subject, and it’s a situation where recovery might be impossible, but still…. You are a person who shouldn’t die so vainly like that.’

It was Bak Hyeok who had cunningly driven the black mages to the battlefield.

He even scattered countless 8th Circle Master-class mages, who were in a competitive relationship, all over the country and then, for some reason, caused them to go missing one by one or drove them to their deaths.

It was a public murder by proxy committed under the pretext of having to protect the country, and even while the government knew this, they sided with Bak Hyeok and acted thoroughly, even calculating the situation after the war.

Because of that, I also didn’t look upon Kim Dae-san very favorably.

Eventually, in a situation where his body was entirely hardened and only his head remained intact, Pi Jin-hyeok spoke with a strained voice.

“You… m-must save me…. You must!”

“It would be difficult to promise that part.”

Then, after examining a few artifacts that hadn’t been petrified, I spoke to Pi Jin-hyeok, who was making “mmph-mmph” sounds since his mouth was hardened and he could no longer speak.

“A sub-space artifact kept close to your chest; it must contain many things. I’ll make good use of them.”

Pi Jin-hyeok’s eyes were shaking violently. At that, I went as far as to pull the artifact forcefully to retrieve it.

There were two sub-space artifacts in total.

One was a necklace, and the other was a ring. Thus, I pulled out the ring by breaking Pi Jin-hyeok’s finger, and after tucking the two of them away, I turned around and lightly brushed against Pi Jin-hyeok’s body.

At that moment, watching cracks form across Pi Jin-hyeok’s entire body with a ‘crack’ sound as it collapsed in an instant, I spoke.

“Oh dear, was the fight too fierce for you to even endure the curse?”

Go Yu-jin, who came to my side just then after emerging from the golem, spoke with an absurd expression.

“It feels like your acting is terrible.”

“Wiggle, wiggle. How is it?”

Go Yu-jin laughed at my sly behavior. In the end, we came to capture Bak Hyeok, who was left alone, and Wang Sun, who was barely maintaining life in a state that was more than half-ruined and shabby.

It was a short skirmish and a vain end for Pi Jin-hyeok, who had disregarded curses too much, but since the situation was one where there were still too many things to settle, Go Yu-jin and I sat side-by-side in the ruined laboratory looking at the entrance, waiting for An Sang-ik to arrive early.

“Bak Hyeok… Will we be able to bring that person back?”

“It will be difficult. If they touched his brain for the chimera research, in the end, nothing would have remained.”

Go Yu-jin watched with a regretful look.

“I hope that person lives for eternity in that state.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s punishment. Punishment for wringing out countless drops of blood.”

Almost every black mage harbored bad feelings toward Bak Hyeok, and in fact, Go Yu-jin would also know the truth that Bak Hyeok drove the black mages to the battlefield.

“Participation in a war that is not of one’s own will ultimately only gives birth to countless tragedies. And old man Han Sang-gil will also probably live his entire life with regret and remorse until he dies because of that. Just like now….”

It was Han Sang-gil who had said that every single day was a continuation of a nightmare. He used to say that his goal for the rest of his life was to give up everything he could enjoy, including his own advancement, and somehow live while atoning.

Although they could be called the worst victims created by the situation at the time and the government’s instigation, it was also the fate of all those thrown into that situation to be thankful for having survived and to endure and endure only the moment before their eyes.

“Now then, Captain An Sang-ik seems to be coming soon, so shall we get up?”

After standing up, I reached out my hand toward Go Yu-jin. As she took my hand with a tired smile, I was merely filled with an apologetic feeling for no reason.