-The Red Spatial Rift-
A gaze like a sharp knife stabbing at the heart.
Someone was unmistakably looking down at me from above. The moment I realized it, it felt as if high-voltage electricity was surging through my entire body.
‘Samir!’
So he had been watching after all.
A blaze erupted in my chest. The fury that had been left to stew for so long it seemed ready to ferment now roared back to life the instant I felt that gaze.
I was certain it was Samir, but unfortunately, all that reflected in my eyes now was nothing more than a blurry silhouette.
Among the buildings forming the Magic Tower, stacked in dizzying layers of all shapes and colors, in the very center a structure jutted out prominently, and on the balcony beneath the outer wall engraved with an infinite pentagonal shape, a silhouette stood.
Even with my Golden Vision activated, I could not see it clearly.
I could roughly discern the shapes of the buildings comprising the Magic Tower, but even that lacked clarity.
It was not much different from when I had tried at dawn.
Now I understood. It was not that my vision was hazy because my mana had yet to fully recover; the Magic Tower had simply tightened its security even further.
My sight was blurry as if a veil had been draped over my eyes, yet the gaze watching me from there felt as sharp as a knife.
‘What the hell are you trying to do? Without even showing yourself.’
These were words I wanted to hurl at Samir face-to-face, but I did not voice them aloud.
Even without speaking, he would surely feel it. The meaning of my gaze.
After all, I too was staring holes into that silhouette with a gaze as sharp as a knife.
Why was he holding his breath and staying still?
Now that the day had fully brightened, the glowing message cast upon the Eternal Life Building did not stand out as starkly as it had the night before, yet it was still shining.
Had it not boldly declared that ‘From now on, the era of the Magic Tower begins’?
I had taken it as a declaration of all-out war, and a sign that Samir would reveal himself. So why was he still hiding in the shadows?
‘What should I do? I want to rush into the Magic Tower right this instant, but…’
That was surely not a wise idea.
The Magic Tower, impervious even to my Golden Vision, was no loosely guarded space. It was surely crawling with countless traps.
Samir was an opponent who absolutely must not be underestimated.
Even though we had wiped out all the sandstorms and sand worms he had unleashed last night, I must not grow arrogant from that.
The very fact that he could unleash a wide-area terror encompassing all of Seoul showed that Samir’s magical prowess was at a level that could not be ignored.
Of course, that did not mean I would simply leave Samir and the Magic Tower as they were.
But I could not charge in rashly. I had to strike only after planning thoroughly to ensure I could bring it down.
I could not let my guard down, not even for a moment.
Rather than recklessly storming the Magic Tower, it would be better to make Samir reveal himself on his own.
I had to bide my time.
“Mage-nim, let’s go!”
Gil’s voice came from beside me.
When I turned around, Cheon Danbi and Ren were already walking ahead. It was the road leading north from the intersection.
I heard them talking about how cars still weren’t running in this area, so we would have to walk a bit before catching a taxi or bus.
“Right. Let’s go.”
I pulled myself together and started walking.
When I looked back at the Magic Tower one last time, I no longer felt the gaze. The faint silhouette was still there, so it seemed he was now looking elsewhere.
I looked around the scene as I walked.
Before I knew it, the mages and other races had nearly all evacuated. Police had appeared from somewhere and started directing traffic.
It was just as we were about to exit the Samseong Station crossroads. Gil, who had been walking a bit ahead of me, suddenly turned around.
“What?”
“Huh? As I thought… Mage-nim, what is that?”
Gil, who had been looking all around, said, pointing toward the sky.
It was not the direction we were heading. It was toward Teheran-ro.
I quickly looked up in that direction and saw a red light flickering in the air. There was a crack in space, and red light was flowing out through that fissure.
“Isn’t that a spatial rift?”
“Seems like it.”
“It looks very similar to the spatial rift you opened earlier to sweep away the sandstorm? Who on earth made it?”
Gil was right.
At first glance, I had thought a portal had opened. I had assumed Samir was trying to summon grotesque lifeforms from another dimension for another act of terror.
Seeing a portal opened high in the air, my thoughts had instantly jumped to wondering if he might be trying to bring in flying creatures like birds.
But looking properly, it was no simple portal.
It was a phenomenon different from a portal. Just as Gil said, it was very similar to the spatial rift I had opened by fracturing space with spatial magic earlier. Only the color of the fissure was different.
Gil had detected it quickly and seen it accurately. He had not been caught up in preconceptions.
The thought crossed my mind once again that Gil’s abilities as a mage were extraordinary.
The spatial rift flickering with red light exuded an ominous feeling.
Moreover, it was not the only rift. Five spatial rifts were open in a row at intervals.
They were undoubtedly spatial rifts deliberately created by someone using spatial magic, and I thought I knew who.
‘Samir. Did you copy my spatial magic?’
To confirm my suspicions, I activated detection magic toward the Magic Tower.
The silhouette was even hazier than before now. But it was not a problem with my vision.
It was because a mass of ashen energy was surging out from that very silhouette.
The ashen energy, billowing up like clouds, crossed the sky and connected to the red spatial rifts, just as I had expected.
“It seems the Magic Tower analyzed and copied my spatial magic in the meantime.”
“Then while we were dealing with the sand worms, the Magic Tower was preparing another act of terror? But what are they trying to do with the spatial rifts?”
“For now, let’s hurry over there. Bring Cheon Danbi and Ren. I’ll keep watching the rift.”
“Yes!”
While Gil went to fetch Cheon Danbi and Ren, I extended detection magic toward the red spatial rift and began examining it closely.
Even if the circuits of spatial magic had been copied exactly, since the material used was ashen energy, there might be aspects with different properties.
‘Is it really exactly the same as the spatial rift I created?’
The rift I had created was something like a black hole, temporarily generated by fracturing space.
Different from a portal. It did not lead anywhere, nor was it connected to another dimension. There was not even a subspace beyond the rift.
Beyond the rift was simply a boundless void. No, it should be called nothingness.
Anything passing through that spatial rift would be annihilated instantly.
I had created it to completely eliminate the sandstorm and sand dust, so a merciless void had been appropriate and sufficient.
But seeing Samir copy it and brazenly create spatial rifts, five no less, sent a sudden chill down my spine.
‘What on earth is he trying to sweep into those rifts?’
For now, the ashen energy did not seem to be manifesting anything unusual.
The spatial rifts were merely flickering red.
“What? What’s going on now? A rift really did open in the sky?”
“That is an ominous red light. What kind of act are they trying to pull with that?”
Cheon Danbi and Ren, who had followed Gil, said tensely.
“Let’s head over there. Barriers up first.”
I looked after my teammates first. I quickly cast a very powerful barrier around my team and myself.
Something bad was undoubtedly about to happen, whatever it was. Moreover, I had a rough idea of what it was.
I had to warn the others as well.
There were not many people out on the streets yet, but there were mages and other races returning home.
A fair number of them were heading in the direction of Teheran-ro.
I hurriedly pulled out the communication device from the Management Bureau and warned the mages to be on high alert for the spatial rifts and to erect their own barriers.
But there was no way to inform the elves and dwarves.
The moment I thought I should try using voice-amplifying magic, Gil, who had been watching me send the communication from beside me, spoke as if reading my mind.
“Shall I inform the elves and dwarves?”
“Ah, would you? Yeah. Hurry and warn them.”
“Understood.”
Gil intended to deliver the message using concentric mana waves, the same method he used to communicate with zombies.
Soon, concentric mana waves began spreading out from Gil, drawing circles quickly and powerfully.
Perhaps because of the urgency, he had sent the message without specifically limiting the recipients, so I too could receive and understand Gil’s message.
‘Be wary of the spatial rifts! Get away from here quickly!’
Just then, sharp noise vibrations that disrupted the message rang out from all directions.
It was sabotage from the Magic Tower, which had noticed the message being sent.
Immediately, people clutched their ears and hunched over.
But because of the painful noise vibrations, people instead began suffering and fleeing, or taking refuge inside buildings.
In the end, one way or another, Gil’s message had been delivered.
‘That’s right. They just need to get away. Everyone, run away from here!’
While shouting so inwardly, I too was unable to speak aloud because of the ear-piercing noise vibrations.
I could only signal with my hand for the team members to move toward Teheran-ro. The team members all followed me, gritting their teeth and scrunching up their faces.
Right at that moment, changes began to occur in the red spatial rifts.
The surrounding atmosphere shook unstably, and the flickering red rifts opened wide. Then red wind poured out from those rifts.
It was wind concentrated with ashen energy.
The wind soon whipped up a whirlwind, swirling in the air before beginning to crash down toward the ground like a hammer blow.
Inverted updrafts striking downward were forming.
‘He even copied the whirlwind and the updraft? Is this mockery or praise?’
But now was not the time to be curious about such things.
The updrafts of red wind descending from the five spatial rifts began sucking in the people on the ground.
“Ah! People are being sucked in!”
“Watch out for the whirlwind!”
“They must be trying to kidnap the mages!”
By this time, the noise vibrations were fading, so everyone could open their mouths and shout. Screams rang out from all directions.
We halted. We could not rush toward the whirlwind.
Standing still, we looked in horror at the people being sucked into the red wind.
There was no time to delay.
If people were sucked up the updraft all the way to the spatial rift, they would be obliterated on the spot.
It was not an attempt to kidnap the mages. It was an attempt to annihilate them all.
‘I have to sever those updrafts quickly!’
The mages already caught in the whirlwind had lost consciousness. Whether they had failed to erect barriers in time or whether even barriers were useless, I could not tell.
I hurriedly drew up my mana.