-Only I
“Ha…….”
It was beautiful. Admiration came unbidden.
It was magic I had brought about, but thanks to this cave, its range, speed, and results were so remarkable they could only be called beautiful.
It was different even from the time I had frozen the tentacle monster.
Back then, the road had first sucked up all of the tentacle monster’s mana, and all I did was freeze it. And it had only been a single tentacle monster.
But now, I had frozen dozens—hundreds—of living creatures inhabiting this vast cave all at once. And the space itself, down to every inch of it.
“No! Wh-what is this? How is this even……?”
Kim Seonho stuck his head out of the elevator and shouted.
No, rather than shouting, he was muttering. He was even stammering.
He could not readily step out of the elevator. I understood why he was afraid. The entire space had frozen solid.
Of course, even as I froze the entire underground cave, I did not forget to exclude the area where the elevator stood. It wasn’t as though I could afford to be frozen here too.
“What do you think?”
“Th-this is possible? Ah, what an incredible spell.”
For the moment, Kim Seonho could only marvel as well. Anyone who saw the sight before them would naturally have no other reaction.
But after he stepped out of the elevator and examined the scenery inside the barrier in detail, his mind seemed to change.
“But if you freeze this entire place, what happens to the golden apples and the test subjects? I told you to protect them, not destroy them.”
He seemed to have already forgotten the orcs that had been charging at us like mad just moments ago. Save a drowning man, and he asks you for your bundle.
“Well, think of it as putting them into flash-freeze storage.”
“What?”
“I did what I was commissioned to do. You told me to protect all those test subjects from Yashin, didn’t you?”
“Well, yes, but……. Ah! Then does that mean you can restore them later? Once the ice melts?”
“You know how flash-freezing works. Once they thaw, they return to normal.”
I even gave him a wink as I said it.
“Ah. If that’s the case…….”
Only then did Kim Seonho nod. He seemed to accept it reluctantly.
What I said was not a lie.
Because I had frozen them rapidly with an enormous amount of mana, if the freezing magic was dispelled, they could all return to their original state.
Only, I would make it so that I alone could restore them. So that it would be undone only when I wanted to undo it, and only by my spell.
“Please stay inside the elevator. I’ll do a bit of finishing work, and then we’ll leave.”
When I gestured, Kim Seonho quietly obeyed. He would not even dare think of objecting to me.
Whatever his social standing might be outside, here in this underground cave, I was the one holding the upper hand.
It would be difficult to find anyone with a heart bold enough to resist me after seeing the magic I had just unleashed.
I immediately turned around and carried out the magic seal.
I set up multiple layers of sealing magic so that the mana waves inside the cave, which flowed out from the golden apple tree, would intertwine with my own waves and bind them tightly, then sealed it with magic.
After that, I placed complex restrictions so that only I could release the seal.
With this in place, even if Yashin somehow made it down to the underground cave, he would not be able to undo the freezing magic, and even if he tried to tear away the entire space that had become one massive block of ice, it would be impossible.
That was not my only purpose.
The underground cave was sealed in layer upon layer, so Kim Seonho and the magicians of Vanaheim would be unable to meddle with it either.
They would no longer be able to continue experimenting on the test subjects, nor would they be able to release the test subjects into the world, whether deliberately or by mistake.
‘This should be enough.’
I did feel a little sorry for sealing away the orcs and the other living beings who had ended up as test subjects so that they could not move at all, but for now, this was the best option.
At a time when I did not know where the chain of corruption began or how far it stretched, I was in no position to confront Vanaheim, the Hall, and the government all by myself while trying to save the orcs.
“It’s done. Let’s go up now.”
At last, I stepped into the elevator and spoke.
“It’s all finished now?”
“Yes. It’s over.”
When Kim Seonho blinked both eyes, the doors closed automatically and the elevator began to move.
Kim Seonho wore a slightly dazed expression. It seemed that even with his clever mind, he could not quite understand the present situation.
He appeared unable to calculate whether things had gone according to his will or whether he had been swept along by me.
I enjoyed the brief silence.
My heart was still pounding.
The synergy created by utilizing the mana waves of the space had been tremendous.
I felt as if I had found a way to defeat a dark magician as skilled as Yashin.
‘I can develop my magic with this.’
I wanted to return home as soon as possible.
In my home, there was a magical space that contained far more mana than this underground cave. I wanted to go in there and test the magical operation I had just realized, then train it.
A method of operation that combined magic by utilizing the characteristics of space. That could also be pursued in another direction.
It would be a way of combining spatial magic with other types of magic, advancing two branches of magic at the same time.
Of course, spatial magic was not easy. Only master-level magicians could properly handle spatial magic.
But I would be able to do it. I had already gotten a feel for it here. With just a little training, it felt as though the path would open.
While I was lost in thought, the elevator arrived on the surface.
The doors opened and we stepped into the corridor of the annex, when the Hall communication device sounded an alarm again. Unlike before, it was making a moderate amount of noise.
Come to think of it, this alarm sound had excited the test subjects and brought about that disaster, yet I still had not checked the message.
Only then did I open the communication device and check the message.
[Magician incident occurred in Daejeon.]
The first message sent by the Hall was somewhat ambiguous.
I could not understand it. I even wondered if they had meant to write “dark magician incident” and made a mistake.
‘What the hell is this? A magician incident?’
To find out the details, I entered the Hall bulletin board. Even after reading the posts there, it was just as confusing.
[People suddenly claiming to have awakened as magicians are rapidly increasing in Daejeon. As large numbers of minor spells are being cast, the city is in chaos.]
[Among the Hall magicians who currently have time to spare, please head down to Daejeon and help the local magicians maintain order.]
‘Hmm? People who suddenly awakened as magicians are rapidly increasing?’
It was by no means a common occurrence. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that nothing like this had ever happened before.
Awakening as a magician did not occur that often. From the Hall’s standpoint, it was only natural that they would want to investigate.
But I wondered whether it was urgent enough to sound an alarm. I did not feel any reason to rush out.
For one thing, I was not a magician affiliated with the Hall, and unless it was a dark magician terror attack, I had no desire to be dispatched.
‘Wait, but the place where this happened is Daejeon?’
A sudden increase in awakenings meant, in other words, that mana had rapidly increased in that region.
There had to be a reason for such a strange phenomenon.
The fact that it was Daejeon bothered me. Wasn’t that where the jellyfish incident had happened just yesterday?
The mental magic that the mother jellyfish had been extending was suspicious.
Perhaps what they were calling awakenings as magicians was actually the delayed manifestation of the mental magic spread by the jellyfish.
‘I should go down to Daejeon again, shouldn’t I?’
The second message sent by the Hall concerned the dwarves.
[Update regarding the escaped dwarves. Reports of dwarf captures are pouring in from various locations in Seoul and Incheon. In particular, the reports from Itaewon and Incheon Chinatown need to be confirmed. Hall magicians nearby, please respond.]
The word “capture” itself grated on me.
In any case, after a day had passed, it seemed people had finally appeared who had found the escaped dwarves.
‘But how did they identify them as escaped dwarves? There should be plenty of dwarves in Incheon who live in the Wolmido dwarf district.’
It was the same with Seoul. The dwarf districts only restricted where they lived, not their movement.
There were many dwarves whose workplaces were in Seoul, so it wasn’t as though they could capture every dwarf walking around on the street.
‘Itaewon and Chinatown?’
I had already been thinking of visiting Chinatown again to meet the Hwang family, but that would be difficult right now.
With incidents breaking out everywhere, even ten bodies would not be enough.
For now, I could at least take a look around Itaewon on my way home.
“Magician, shall we sit over there for a moment?”
We had walked down the corridor and were now in front of the annex living room. Kim Seonho was pointing with his hand toward the living room sofa.
I closed the communication device and went to sit on the sofa.
“Did the security work finish properly?”
Kim Seonho looked straight at me and asked. It seemed he had finally regained his senses somewhat.
Perhaps, now that we had left the cave and come up to the surface, he had reminded himself that he was the one who had commissioned me.
“Yes. I sealed it securely. Even if Yashin goes down underground, he won’t be able to approach the test subjects or do anything.”
“That’s good. Truly, I was astonished. How such magic is possible… You are remarkable beyond my expectations.”
Kim Seonho paused briefly, then spoke again.
“But you can definitely restore them later, correct?”
“As I said, restoration is possible. However, only I can undo the sealing magic and release the freezing. I placed that restriction on it.”
At that, a faint look of displeasure appeared on Kim Seonho’s face.
He would not be pleased to hear that only I could restore them.
But what could he do? He was the one who entrusted the security of this place to me.
He wanted me to protect it with magic, and I did just that.
“Then how long will the duration be……?”
“Are you asking how long the freezing will be maintained?”
“No, not that. I’m asking how long we have to leave the test subjects like that.”
“Of course, until the threat called Yashin is gone, wouldn’t you say?”
“Ah! Are you saying you intend to eliminate Yashin?”
Kim Seonho asked back in alarm.
That was not exactly what I had meant. I didn’t think my wording had been strange.
Of course, if possible, I would eliminate Yashin. But that was not the point of what I had just said.
“You asked me to protect the test subjects from Yashin, didn’t you? Then in any case, I must protect them until the threat disappears. Whether Yashin gives up, vanishes, or dies, until he no longer targets the test subjects.”
At my words, Kim Seonho let out a shallow sigh.
I was confused about Kim Seonho’s intentions. Did he want me to eliminate Yashin, or was it the opposite?
“I see. I have a feeling this will take quite a long time.”
Now I understood. Kim Seonho was not interested in whether Yashin lived or died.
The only thing that mattered to him was quickly thawing the test subjects and resuming the experiments.
He was thoroughly insane. A man as dangerous as Yashin.