The fight between the Red Tower Lord and the Green Tower Lord is happening far away. Thoughts are not read. However, from their expressions, from their momentum, and from their unique magic paths, the match was already decided. The Green Tower Lord's unique magic path is One-Way Traffic. That is a power focused more on defense than attack.
"Keugh...!"
She cannot withdraw her unique magic path. She builds a one-way wall to block the explosions coming from over there. Then, the air on this side leaks out. The air consumed by that tremendous explosion leaks out one-sidedly from this side. Gradually, her breathing becomes rapid, and her body becomes unbearably hot.
Of course, it must be the same for the opponent, hot and overwhelming. The Green Tower Lord held on with sheer stubbornness, but.
"How, how can she breathe in that explosion...!"
Having the barrier of One-Way Traffic, and protecting herself with wind magic, the Green Tower Lord should have an easier time holding on; that makes sense.
The Red Tower Lord was still pouring out power even while engulfed in flames.
"I told you it was lukewarm, Eliot."
A red aura was rising from the entire body of the speaking Red Tower Lord. Like the color of blood.... Discovering that, the Green Tower Lord shouted.
"You! Your unique magic path on your body...!"
"The flesh is the same. It's a machine that burns by using food as fuel. We burn our bodies and lives to race to see how far we can go. Choosing a lukewarm standstill is an insult to life."
Fahrenheit's territory was much further north than this. The reason Fahrenheit chose that land was because only they, who handled flames, could survive on that land. In a way, it was consideration; in another way, it was arrogance.
To survive in such a cold land, an enormous amount of fuel was needed. Due to Fahrenheit's characteristics, the range of fuel was much wider, but the cold was even harsher. Bones, moss, oil, magic power. They burned anything without discrimination, and eventually reached their limit.
Coldly speaking, they should have left the territory. However, there was no land that would accept a magical noble family with a powerful unique magic path like Fahrenheit and numerous personnel. They could have dismantled the family, but the arrogant mages of Fahrenheit were not the type to bow down and enter someone else's land in the first place.
So they researched and pushed forward even more. They even attempted to cross the sea where sea fiends swam, and smashed glaciers to extract the black water hidden beneath. There were times they extracted magic power from the auroras to heat the territory.
The Fahrenheit territory was a hungry ghost that constantly devoured anything it could eat. If they didn't burn, they froze to death. If they didn't devour, they starved to death. In the endless combustion where survival was at stake, the Fahrenheit territory developed close to the Floating Castle.
But eventually, they reached the end. With Fahrenheit's rule, it was no longer sustainable. A decision was needed. And Fahrenheit does not extinguish a fire once it is lit.
The last family head, Hwaran Fahrenheit, invited sorcerers from other territories to combine different rules.
Fahrenheit's rule was originally dangerous. Combining it with other rules made it uncontrollable.
The territory burned. Unable to distinguish what should burn and what shouldn't, the flames swallowed the entire land. Not the aurora, but barbaric red flames dyed the white night sky red.
Countless people died, and the knowledge and assets burned away are immeasurable. The brilliant and tragic fate of Fahrenheit sank into the ashes.
Fahrenheit chose to burn itself until the very end.
Even its dying embers.
"Anyway, if you don't burn, you gain nothing. My failure wasn't because I set the fire. Without flames, life and the territory die. The reason I failed wasn't because I burned. The real reason was that my ability was lacking."
Unique Magic Path, Dohwawon.
She does not breathe. She takes in oxygen with lowered reactivity into her body and then delicately burns it. She recreates the suppressed combustion process that the flesh must undergo with her unique magic path. Right now, she is a machine driven by the flame of her mind.
Embracing a flame that will never go out, she is not even a mage. She was like a machine with a heart of flame. Her scorched flesh is faster, more agile, and hotter than any ordinary artificer.
One-Way Traffic is effective within the range of the unique magic path, but the flame once ignited by Dohwawon continues to spread. The domain battle is the Red Tower Lord's victory.
"I'm sorry, Master...!"
The Green Tower Lord had already lost her fighting spirit. Only stubbornness remained, but even that was gradually breaking. The domain of One-Way Traffic gradually became passive. It was hard enough just to save her life.
The balance of power collapsed, and the wall of One-Way Traffic was buried in the flames. The heat that couldn't be blocked by One-Way Traffic radiated beyond space. It was a flame that would burn a mere human without leaving even ashes, but.
"Type Erasure. Vanishing Line...."
Thanks to the Black Tower Lord who intervened at the last moment, the Green Tower Lord kept her life.
The Black Tower Lord's unique magic path, Vanishing Point, causes the energy of objects to vanish. The heat that tried to burn everything reached the vanishing line and calmed down quietly. Because the heat was so widespread, she couldn't perfectly protect the Green Tower Lord. Anyway, the Black Tower Lord saved the Green Tower Lord's life. The Black Tower Lord hurriedly poured water on the Green Tower Lord, whose clothes were burned and skin was scorched red, using condensation magic.
The Red Tower Lord asked the Black Tower Lord.
"Lyune. Will you block me too?"
"Ugh...."
The Black Tower Lord trembled with fear and created vanishing points wildly. However, the Red Tower Lord didn't pay much attention and turned around.
"If you're not going to fight, take Eliot. I will climb the Babel. To reach the Master, to put space in my hands."
The fight was over. The Demon King, who watched the Tower Lords' duel to the end, clapped as if very satisfied.
"This is the reason I cannot forsake the lower realm."
There was no sign of particular worry even though the Green Tower Lord had suffered a harsh ordeal. The Green Tower Lord had fought to protect the master she respected. That heart seemed unnecessary to the Demon King.
"Geniuses born down there, in the miserable and harsh world, always give a fresh shock to the Floating Castle. Floating Castle mages may have superior abilities, but they lack that desperation and urgency. So, in the final moment, they are caught up."
"Green Tower Lord and Black Tower Lord were your disciples, right?"
"Right! I taught them myself and they studied space studies under me. Judging by pure academic realm, there is no one in the Floating Castle who can compare. They even awakened their unique magic paths."
"If you mean the two's unique magic paths."
The Green Tower Lord's unique magic path is One-Way Traffic. The power to force a direction in space. They said the Pascal territory has winds blowing in one direction, so she probably took the motif from there.
The Black Tower Lord's unique magic path is Vanishing Point. It is a concept used in drawing implemented as a unique magic path.
"They interpreted space from their respective perspectives of wind and drawing. That's a common thing."
"To some extent, it touches the truth. But it is just one way of interpreting the truth, it is not the truth itself."
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The Demon King snapped his fingers. Two spaces swelled up like foam. One space created a thin wall and blocked the light, and the other space began to suck in everything around it.
One is One-Way Traffic. The other is Vanishing Point.
The Demon King was simply reproducing the unique magic paths that someone had dedicated their entire life to obtain.
"It is good that they understood my space magic in their own way, but that method has its limits. It becomes an obstacle to understanding higher concepts. The wall of One-Way Traffic is emanation, and Vanishing Point is convergence. It is difficult to expand into other concepts. Unless they break their own framework, they cannot achieve greatness."
"...No. The problem isn't concept expansion. Your unique magic path is just too high-dimensional, isn't it?"
"That is only natural. But 'have not yet done' and 'cannot do' are different words. Green Tower Lord and Black Tower Lord are disciples I cherish, but it's hard to expect development from them. Should I say they lack diversity. Without the fresh stimulation brought from the lower realm, the Floating Castle stagnates."
The Demon King simply flicked his finger and erased One-Way Traffic and Vanishing Point. To be able to create and annihilate a power comparable to a unique magic path in a single moment. The level is different. There is a reason the Green Tower Lord and the Black Tower Lord were submissive to the Demon King.
The Demon King spoke with a bored expression.
"That is the reason I have not destroyed the lower realm."
"Aha. I see."
I, who had casually agreed, suddenly recalled what the Demon King had said.
...Huh? I just heard something like world destruction. What was that?
"Wait a minute. I think I heard something wrong. World destruction?"
"World destruction? You say strange things. Why would I destroy the world? I was talking about the destruction of the lower realm."
"If you mean the lower realm...?"
"Below here. The land where the foolish masses live."
The Demon King pointed down with his finger. At the same time, light shone from below, and the landscape of the lower realm that I had once seen with Avant-garde unfolded.
An ordinary land mixed with earth colors, grass colors, snow colors, and water colors. Looking down from the Floating Castle, it only looks as small as an anthill. That land where countless people have lived, and will live....
"They are foolish and don't know their place, but those heterogeneous beings become good inspiration. Occasionally, outstanding talents like Rankart or you emerge, better than anyone else in the Floating Castle."
"Uh, that's, an honor?"
"They might say you're outstanding because you're the King of Humans, but so what? Whether you're the King of Humans or whatever, it's not important at all. What's important is intellect."
The Demon King tapped his own head.
"But you see. There are far too many people in this world who lack intellect. And those who lack intellect are mostly arrogant. They think everyone else is just as foolish as they are."
"Ah.... There is quite a tendency for that."
"The bigger problem is that status is not determined by intellect. Outside the Sorcerer's Federation, a bizarre power structure has formed where the more foolish and louder you are, the higher you rise. It's absurd. Even though I have the power to destroy everything they believe in an instant, I deliberately ignore it."
The Demon King brought up the view of the space where the Red Tower Lord and the Green Tower Lord had fought. In the vast space inside the Babel Tower, a storm of flames was still raging.
Even though it is only an aftermath, it is still destructive. If this weren't the Floating Castle, if it weren't the Babel Tower with spatial anomalies, many would have been caught up in it.
"Look at the five Tower Lords. If they use their unique magic paths to the extreme, they can easily erase a city on the ground. The lower realm cannot handle the power of such outstanding Tower Lords. The reason the lower realm is still intact is because the outstanding ones 'consider' them and control their power. It's because they suppressed their emotions with lofty reason."
His words seem to be getting more and more extreme. Since minds cannot be read, I have no idea what words will come out. I have a vague prediction, but surely not.
"However, the foolish masses fail to realize that they survive thanks to the sacrifice and consideration of the chosen people, and live taking it for granted. Their thoughts are so firmly hardened that there is no way to even touch them, let alone know where to start fixing them. So I reached a conclusion."
The Demon King said, snapping his fingers precisely.
"Wouldn't it be better to tear it down completely and rebuild it, rather than annoyingly fixing it one by one?"