-The Overnight Raid
At last, at Odin’s signal from the center, all the mages simultaneously executed wind magic.
Samir had expected as much.
Responding to the sandstorm with wind magic. It was an extremely common and ordinary method. Nothing more than boring.
However, watching the mages exerting themselves, struggling to push Samir’s sandstorm upward with wind, was somewhat amusing.
He couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of them suffering over something so trivial.
Samir deliberately wrapped mana around his vision, meticulously adjusting it to observe the mages in detail.
Observing the pain etched into every furrowed wrinkle of their scowling faces was a delight.
“Such insignificant humans, putting up quite the struggle.”
But then, in an instant, the sand dust began to shoot into the sky.
Samir’s sandstorm moved.
Odin had gathered the waves of wind magic activated by the mages into one place, creating a massive whirlwind.
All the sand dust was sucked into the whirlwind, forming a pure white pillar that stretched up toward the heavens.
It was quite a spectacle.
A white waterspout was rising into the black night sky.
“Well. Not bad? It’s worth watching. Though who knows how far that waterspout can stretch or how long it can last.”
Samir nodded but scoffed.
It might look convincing for the moment, but once their mana ran out, it would eventually come crashing back down. It was impossible to raise it to the ends of the sky, to the ends of the universe.
To those who could not command space, only limits ever awaited.
Moreover, the amount of mana a single mage possessed was finite and trifling.
But Samir’s guess was wrong.
It seemed Odin’s spell was not merely that.
As he watched, a change gradually began at the very top of the waterspout.
The tip of the vortex seemed to dance, and finally, a bluish rift opened. A fissure created by a tear in space.
Odin had activated spatial magic.
But that rift was different from an ordinary portal. It was not a door leading to another dimension.
It was a tear made by rupturing space itself. Odin had opened a rift leading into the abyss, connecting to nowhere.
Soon, the sand dust was swept into that bluish spatial rift. Not just the sand dust, but the sandstorm itself was rapidly sucked in.
A spectacle devouring everything like a black hole.
No, not everything. It was devouring only the sandstorm and sand dust that Samir had created.
“Hoo…”
Deep wrinkles formed on Samir’s forehead as he quietly watched the scene, but they soon smoothed out again.
Samir was impressed, and soon hid that impression.
However, with his head still raised, he could not stop silently watching the spectacle for some time.
It was endlessly swept away.
The tangible and intangible creations Samir had made were being devoured without end into the abyss opened by Odin’s spatial magic.
They were disappearing without even leaving a trace.
“Good. Quite a good idea. As expected, Odin is a remarkable mage. I’m glad I didn’t kill him off at once.”
Eventually, Samir muttered, forming a smile that was not quite a smile.
He was feeling a certain interest and slight fondness.
From the moment the mage called Odin first caught his eye, Samir had ordered his subordinate black mages not to kill him.
He didn’t know why, but he had felt the man was worth watching.
A distant feeling, whose cause even he could not fathom, had told Samir to leave Odin be.
Only now did he think he understood its meaning. It had indeed been wise to let him live.
Odin had reached a realm of spatial magic that even his subordinate black mages could not attain.
No, he was demonstrating spatial magic that could pique even Samir’s interest.
“A battlefield grows rich only when there is a worthy opponent. Simply doling out disaster mechanically could never be fun. I sought to bring calamity upon the world in the first place because it was too lax and boring. With mages busy playing their petty power games, the world was bound to become tasteless.”
Samir sought to overturn this tasteless world and rule it himself, wielding true power.
Infinitely insignificant humans. Mages utterly devoid of shame.
Were humans who could not even live a hundred years not too futile and dull?
Without eternal power, eternal dominion, there was no meaning.
After sweeping away all the trash-like mages, he would stand tall upon the throne of absolute power. From that summit, he would enjoy eternal life.
Humans who had to borrow even the strength of other races were worthless.
It would be better if Earth became a world of demons.
But he had thought the process of getting there would be nothing but boring, monotonous destruction. Now, a worthy adversary had appeared.
How could this not be intriguing?
The greater the suffering of a more excellent mage, the greater the joy it would bring Samir.
“So you tore open space itself to create a rift. Not bad.”
It was an idea worth trying.
Of course, creating a tear in space was far easier for Samir. He possessed countless paths and doors leading to other dimensions.
But those numerous paths were not accomplished by Samir’s power alone. They were paths opened through pacts with other dimensions, borrowing the power of the demon realm.
But Odin had created that rift by himself, without any such contract?
Suddenly, his heart blazed into flame.
It felt as if something sharp was piercing his heart.
Samir would desperately deny it, but that heat and burning sensation resembled anger and jealousy.
Samir gazed once more at the sight of the spatial rift Odin had created swallowing all the sand dust, then lowered his gaze to look at Odin, who was sending out waves of mana nearing infinity from his fingertips.
Watching Odin thus, Samir planned his next act of terror.
“Next time, I shall do the same. I shall torment you with the very skill you showed me. Odin, look forward to it.”
* * *
At last, dawn broke.
The darkness of midnight cleared, and true dawn was breaking—not the false dawn caused by the white clouds of sand dust.
The bluish eastern sky held the same hue as the spatial rift I had opened. It was the color of hope.
The scenery of the Samseong Station intersection reflected in the dawn had returned to its former appearance.
*That’s enough. This should be sufficient.*
No more sandstorms were being sucked into the spatial rift.
After carefully surveying the surroundings, I activated a new spatial magic.
It was a reversed spatial magic that healed and closed the tear and spatial rift I had maintained until now.
Raising both arms, I poured out all the remaining mana within me.
Soon, accompanied by the vibration of space grinding against itself, the blue rift closed and the tear healed.
Only then did I lower my hands. A long breath escaped me involuntarily.
I slowly looked around.
From here and there, I heard the sounds of people collapsing heavily.
The mages who had worked hard all night executing wind magic and sending me mana, realizing it was now over, sat down right where they were.
The elves were the same.
The raid had ended successfully, but there were no cheers.
Unlike usual, there were no onlookers, and those who had participated in the raid didn’t even have the strength left to cheer.
But it was no different from having already heard cheers.
Earlier, when the waterspout first rose, and when the blue rift opened and the sand dust began to be swept into it, the mages and other races had cheered with their eyes, their mouths, their whole bodies.
Though they couldn’t shout because they were channeling magic and moving life force together, everyone had cheered. That was enough.
The dawn air was still.
The sandstorm had now completely vanished. While most of the sand dust had been sucked into the spatial rift, the dwarves were using magic tools to clean up the remnants left on the ground.
They were among the few who still had strength remaining.
I was glad the other races had joined the raid.
Even though I had to sustain spatial magic for a long time to eliminate the sandstorms spread throughout Seoul, I didn’t feel much exhaustion.
It was partly thanks to the mana the mages had sent me, but more than anything, it was thanks to the life force the elves had sent me.
Cheon Danbi and Ren had done well serving as the medium to gather and send that life force to me.
Everyone had fulfilled their respective roles well.
“Mage, is it all over now?”
Yu Jaeseon approached and asked.
The sand dust that had covered his body had almost disappeared now, so he looked much cleaner than before.
“It would seem so. From what I can sense, the sandstorm feels like it has completely vanished, but please check the actual situation in the other districts of Seoul.”
“I will check right away.”
Yu Jaeseon immediately took out his phone and communication equipment.
An Guk-tae, who had been nearby, also came up beside Yu Jaeseon and began making calls here and there.
In the meantime, I examined the spot where I had closed the rift once more.
Not even a bluish trace of the spatial rift remained now. It was tightly sealed.
It was anything but simple, but the spatial magic had worked as I intended, and even the finish was successful.
To this extent, it could be said the raid had gone very smoothly.
However, what I couldn’t understand was why the Magic Tower had shown no reaction whatsoever, even though we had conducted the raid right under its nose.
Even during the raid, I hadn’t neglected to keep watch on the surroundings. Because I had naturally expected the Magic Tower to react.
If an explosion had occurred in this place where most of our country’s mages were gathered, it could have caused tremendous losses to our forces.
In other words, from the enemy’s standpoint, could there be a better opportunity than this?
Yet nothing happened, and we were all able to finish the raid unharmed.
*What is he scheming? Why is he quiet? He wouldn’t end his terror with just the sandstorm, so what else is he plotting?*
No matter how great Samir might be, raising sandstorms throughout all of Seoul couldn’t have been an easy feat. Perhaps his mana consumption was too great and he needed time to recharge?
That was merely what I wished to be the case.
But it didn’t seem likely. There was no way Samir, who could borrow the power of the demon realm as much as he wanted, had stopped for such a reason.
I looked up at where the Magic Tower stood.
Only the light message was shining brightly as ever; there was no movement at all.
Feeling that my mana had recovered somewhat, I quietly activated my golden sight.
I wanted to examine the Magic Tower’s space properly.
But unfortunately, there was a limit to my concentration. My mana was still insufficient.
The space overlaid upon the Eternal Life Building appeared blurry. Since I had seen it before, there was no problem discerning its outline again.
But it was difficult to tell whether this was a picture drawn by my brain from memory or something I was actually seeing presently.
Moreover, I couldn’t see the details. In my current state, I couldn’t be certain of anything.
It was disappointing, but there was nothing to be done for now.
“Mage, the terror is not yet over.”
Yu Jaeseon said in an agitated voice after finishing his call.