In Buyuseong, magic is an everyday occurrence, and the Magic Towers and Tower Masters are close to the chosen people of Buyuseong. Because of this, those who happen to visit this place easily forget.
That in the lower realms, magic is not this common, and the existence of a Tower Master is not something to be trifled with.
The Black Tower Master, Ryune, was a mage with a small stature and an unconfident face. Her appearance—covering her body with a thick robe and pressing a conical hat deep down her head—reminded one more of a witch than a mage, but the magic she wielded was entirely different.
Black spheres rose. Light, heat, wind. The small black marbles that devoured all energy swirled around as if protecting the Black Tower Master. After a brief moment, one of the marbles flashed and shot out a red heat ray.
"Tch!"
Sensing the threat, Shei held Jizan at an angle. The heat ray scattered as it struck Jizan's pitch-black blade. The sparks flying backward proved that the heat ray had physical substance.
The Black Tower Master muttered toward Shei.
"...Stop the meaningless resistance... It's just a hassle for both of us."
"If you hadn't come looking for me, there wouldn't have been any need to resist!"
Sigh. Getting into another fight again. Can't they just quietly escape and lay low like me?
Just as I, watching from afar, was blaming Shei's lack of tact,
"They say the black mage who escaped from my prison came with you... Of course I have to question you."
Oh my. Did Shei end up in trouble because of my escape?
I mean, who told them to enjoy freedom while leaving me behind? It's the price for abandoning a comrade. She should accept it gracefully.
Fleeing from the heat ray, Shei demanded sharply.
"You're the ones who imprisoned Huez! I didn't help him, and you guys are the ones who lost him, so why are you questioning me?! I was also trying to look for him because I didn't know where he was!"
At Shei's outcry, the Black Tower Master stopped her attack and fell into agony.
"Uh... Is, is that so?"
When the offensive momentarily halted, the Green Tower Master's voice flowed from a resonance crystal hanging near the Black Tower Master's shoulder.
[Is that so? The black mage who came with you escaped from prison, so it's only natural to suspect you aided the escape. Just hurry up and arrest them.]
"B-but... if they resist with full power like that, it's hard to capture them alive..."
[I'm on my way to help too. If you and I are there, it'll be easy to restrain them.]
"Huh? What's the occasion...?"
[What do you mean?]
"You, who are unreasonable and stubborn, helping with my work...? Do you have a terminal illness, or is that black mage such a dangerous existence...?"
[The latter. I'll explain when I get there, just capture them for now!]
At that point, Shei was flying through the sky, fleeing. The Black Tower Master, quietly watching her retreating figure, raised her brush-shaped staff and drew a black dot in front of Shei, transcending space.
Intrinsic Mado, Vanishing Point.
Unlike the White Tower that handles light, the Black Tower handles color. Color is a property belonging to matter that absorbs and emits light. White and Black started from the single branch of "light" and advanced in different directions.
The Black Tower is a faction that explores the space where light resides rather than light itself. Simply because they happened to choose the color black, a negative image was painted over them, but it is truly white magic in name and reality. The mages of the Black Tower also cared so much about this perception that a motion to change their symbolic color to another came up at their weekly meetings, but it always fizzled out due to the opposition of traditionalists.
And the strongest traditionalist of the Black Tower drew a vanishing point in front of Shei.
"Ugh...!"
A vanishing point is a virtual dot drawn to express perspective. As one approaches the vanishing point, the amplitude of the drawing must decrease.
The Black Tower Master's Intrinsic Mado was the same.
Everything slows down. Sound, speed, and energy. They all converge to the single point drawn by the Black Tower Master.
It doesn't disappear, but is trapped forever, never able to reach the vanishing point. The vanishing point, which devours even light so it cannot escape, looked exactly like a black monster that ate everything up.
Shei abruptly changed direction while flying. However, as the vanishing point devoured even the space of Cheoneum, she tumbled down in a spiral like a butterfly that had lost one wing.
The Black Tower Master strolled leisurely along Shei's trajectory and muttered.
"...How did a mere black mage break through my gravity barrier? I made the barrier by applying the vanishing point. I'd like to ask if we meet."
"Then...! Ask Huez directly yourself!"
Shei, spinning and falling, stored her rotation in Cheoneum. She shook off the swirling wind inside Cheoneum in an instant and unleashed it towards the Black Tower Master.
Cheongeomgi, Dragon Ascension.
A single streak of a storm stretched out towards the Black Tower Master. The Dragon Ascension, which gradually sharpened as it approached, looked like a sharp spear. Then, at some point, the storm, which had become so sharp that it thinned out, finally...
was trapped in the vanishing point.
Seeing the storm disappearing into the vanishing point before her eyes, the Black Tower Master spoke without surprise.
"A sword-shaped Rene's pocket...? That's a unique shape. But your wind doesn't blow through... because it's in the form of vibrations. It's just prey for my vanishing point..."
And the storm absorbed by the vanishing point now became the Black Tower Master's power, baring its fangs at Shei. Looking at Shei, who showed signs of dismay, the Black Tower Master mentioned Jizan.
"Well, unless it's that heavy sword..."
If it were Jizan, it would be able to break the vanishing point. Jizan's form, with its overwhelming mass, would not vanish.
However, Shei, finishing her brief assessment, simply ran away.
'Jizan could break that Intrinsic Mado...! Don't be fooled! It's a trap! A mage wouldn't blatantly reveal their weakness!'
The true power of a Madosa had not yet been unleashed. It was the synergy between white magic and the Intrinsic Mado that made a Madosa a Madosa. As Shei noticed this and fled, the Black Tower Master, who had dug a trap and was waiting, lamented in regret.
"Good intuition... Full of energy. Seeing that makes me a bit envious..."
Despite the overwhelming difference in power, the sight of her not giving up and running away was tiresome. Still, the difference in power was too overwhelming.
"That way... is a dead end."
"Kyaa!"
A headwind wrapped around the fleeing Shei. She tried to respond with Cheoneum, but the wind of One-Way Traffic did not tolerate flow in the opposite direction. Shei plummeted to the ground like a fly.
What appeared in front of her after she regained her senses and stood up was the Green Tower Master, aiming her umbrella. The Green Tower Master, who had suppressed Shei with One-Way Traffic, spoke in a cracked voice.
"I was drawn to you and overlooked it. That black mage. What is their identity?"
She could have revealed herself as the King of Humans, but Shei, with her rebellious nature, clenched her teeth and retorted.
"Why do you ask? You judged me as a black mage and imprisoned me, didn't you?"
"...That's."
I'm also curious. Why they are so desperately looking for me all of a sudden. Taking advantage of the opportunity Shei created, I read the Green Tower Master's thoughts.
'...If it wasn't a misunderstanding. When I first encountered him. I felt as if my Intrinsic Mado had been analyzed. Just like... when I faced the Demon King...'
Well, I have telepathy. Because I can read thoughts, it must have felt like it was analyzed. What's so great about that?
'Analysis...? No. That's not entirely clear either. There was definitely a problem with One-Way Traffic back then. The blind spot of my Intrinsic Mado. If I can't figure that out. I won't be able to proceed with other research either...'
The Green Tower Master organized her thoughts and spoke.
"I felt an unknown power from that black mage. My analysis is that if it is not clearly identified, it will become a great threat to Buyuseong."
"Is the conclusion of your analysis to capture and imprison Huez, and chase him with dozens of people? If Huez becomes a threat to you, that's because of your extreme actions!"
"That might be true. But, if we dispose of him, at least we won't have to feel threatened anymore."
Shei glared.
"You're going to kill Huez?!"
"If necessary."
"Are you out of your mind? Do you think I'll just stand by and watch?!"
"You are no exception either. Know your place."
The Green Tower Master lifted a cube containing lightning and a storm.
The cube, composed of hexahedrons of One-Way Traffic, was a prison of wind. The trapped and compressed air, unable to escape, was generating lightning and sparks, waiting only to be released.
If that cube were released at this close range, Shei wouldn't be safe either. While Shei clenched her teeth, the Green Tower Master looked down at her indifferently.
"You're ambiguously strong. It would be easy to kill you, but hard to capture you alive. So, if you resist to the end, I can't guarantee your safety."
"You're acting so high and mighty...!"
"As I please? That is precisely the right of the chosen. Therefore."
The Black Tower Master, hovering the vanishing point, had also approached Shei by now.
One-Way Traffic in front, Vanishing Point behind. Nowhere to run, no way to escape. To resist further would mean risking her life, and it would most likely end in Shei's death.
'Dying is fine! But I can't end the cycle here without even properly conveying my words to Huez...!'
"Drop your weapons before I count to three. One, two..."
The Green Tower Master was counting down, folding her fingers.
"Everyone."
The Blue Tower Master stood between the Green Tower Master and Shei.
Squeezing into the space oppressed by two absolute domains—Vanishing Point and One-Way Traffic—the Blue Tower Master finished her calculations with calmly sunken eyes. White breath drifted from her mouth.
"Stop."
The world froze.
In an instant, the wind stopped, and the atmosphere froze calmly, blooming into ice flowers. The air to transmit vibrations disappeared, and all noise ceased. A massive silence brought everything to a halt. The wind, the noise, and this battle too.
"Haaa..."
Within that, the Blue Tower Master crouched down like a butterfly. A thin frost covered her clothes and skin. The frost flakes scattering over her shoulders made her look exactly like a butterfly.
Intrinsic Mado, Determinism.
The Intrinsic Mado of the Absolute Freezing Point that could freeze even the air.
This shimmering powder, created not from water vapor but from frozen air, was a substance that could never be born on the ground. Solidified air, which should only exist in the far reaches of the universe, encircled her like a ring.
A supernatural power that shouldn't exist. What kind of shock would strike the world the moment this Intrinsic Mado was released?
They say ignorance is bravery. Conversely, knowledge is fear. The Green Tower Master and the Black Tower Master, who knew the Blue Tower Master's power better than anyone, cried out simultaneously.
"You crazy bitch!"
"...Are you out of your mind...?"
Intrinsic Mado, One-Way Traffic. Triple Pane.
A domain of Intrinsic Mado that enforces One-Way Traffic. The Green Tower Master overlapped the domain of One-Way Traffic three times to surround herself. The magical power flowing through the gaps she created formed a magic circle.
Intrinsic Mado, Vanishing Point. 3-Point Perspective.
A solid formed by three vanishing points rose up. A falling drop of water drew a star shape with the three vanishing points as its vertices. The Black Tower Master also raised her power to counter the supernatural ability.
Madosas are strong. And dangerous. The power of Intrinsic Mado, which overlays the rules of the world, can easily ruin the world if mishandled.
And if different rules collide, their power amplifies uncontrollably. No matter how full Buyuseong is of great and powerful magic, it cannot withstand the full power of the three Tower Masters.
A hair-trigger situation where Buyuseong would collapse if even a single person broke the balance.
"Young and brilliant minds of the Mado Federation! You are passionately interacting day and night again today!"
At that moment, light moved.
The center of Buyuseong. Babylon. Dazzling light stretched out from the city's core that penetrated the round Buyuseong up and down. After briefly blinking at the glare. I found 'him' standing with his arm around the Black Tower Master's shoulder.
A man who willingly smiled and shouted as if he was happy about this fight itself, even in a situation that needed to be stopped.
"Yes. Interacting, competing, and arguing with each other is the first step toward progress. Explore! Clash! Advance further! That, indeed, will be a new step toward progress!"
The being known as the Demon King.