◈ Episode 102. A Frigid Victory. The Eternal Snow Melts.
The cold was fading.
Agony slowly began to make itself known.
Senios could sense it by instinct.
‘So in the end, I cannot overcome it.’
What was the purpose of life?
If someone were to ask,
Senios could answer: to prove strength.
Looking back on it himself, it had truly been a simple, ignorant life.
Even after becoming an old man,
to think he would be unable to let go of his regrets and meet an end like this.
‘Still, it wasn’t so bad. Yes.’
The worst possible matchup.
The fire dragon, Karimzeba, and his ice magic were in the most atrocious of relationships.
Just as he was seeing in this very moment.
Craaaaaack—!
Senios’s secret magic manifested.
Countless icicles rained down from the sky.
Everything touched by each and every icicle froze in an instant.
Among the spells Senios could manifest,
it was the magic with the greatest killing power.
“A pointless effort.”
Fwoooooosh—!
However, the icicles never reached Karimzeba.
Even eternal snow could not freeze flame, it seemed.
The icicles that came into contact with Karimzeba’s flames scattered their mana and dispersed into thin air.
“Hahaha……”
Suddenly, Senios let out a laugh.
Karimzeba grew puzzled.
Even the mana that had been overflowing beyond control had calmed.
He must have realized by now that he had no chance of victory.
“Have you finally lost your mind, Senios?”
Why, exactly, are you laughing?
“Even so, for the worst possible matchup, was it not fairly decent?”
“What?”
“I never intended to defeat you in the first place, Karimzeba.”
Suddenly, Senios recalled the past.
Before his eyes had been opened.
That is, after he entered the Magic Tower,
and even up until he had served as a senior mage.
—“My goal? To freeze flame.”
Senios had believed in ice magic without a shred of doubt.
Like the senior mages of the present, he had thought his own magic was the greatest. But as the years passed. As his eyes properly opened. As he became able to look upon the realm of magic.
—“There is no helping limits, it seems.”
Senios had been forced to acknowledge it.
All magic had limits,
and his ice magic was no exception.
However.
“Is overcoming those limits not also the task of life?”
Because he knew those limits,
he had never thought he could defeat Karimzeba to begin with.
Though he had thought of dying together with him.
Senios sneered.
“Flame and ice. If I overcome the worst compatibility and achieve a draw, would later generations not evaluate me more highly instead, Karimzeba? What do you think? Even you must agree, no?”
A draw, he says.
“You have lost your mind.”
Karimzeba felt madness from Senios.
Then he clicked his tongue.
“What can you possibly do when even your heart is coming to a stop?”
“Hahaha. My heart is not coming to a stop. I am controlling the speed at which it beats. You did not even know that? Research into magic is important, Karimzeba. It seems you were so absorbed in truth that you neglected it.”
“……!”
His heart had not been stopping.
He had been controlling the speed at which it beat?
At those meaningful words, Karimzeba looked around.
……
No, he saw nothing strange.
Drip, drip—
The ice wings that had enveloped Senios had melted long ago.
The streams of water surging up from the ground were being turned into steam by his hellfire. Yes, if he had to point out one thing, it would be the slight chill he could feel……
‘Wait, I can feel a chill?’
That made no sense.
After all, was he not wrapping his body in flame?
Was it his body’s illusion?
That was what he thought.
“!”
But it was not.
Hoooh—!
White breath was truly spilling from his mouth.
Karimzeba furrowed his brow.
“Trickery until the very end, Senios.”
That is a bit disappointing.
Senios chuckled.
Hoo—
White breath also spilled from the mouth of Senios as he laughed.
“How merciless. Trickery, you say. This is magic that I, Senios of the Eternal Snow, manifested solely for the fire dragon, Karimzeba. For you alone. Can you not spare a thought for my sincerity?”
After reaching that realm,
when he devised this magic,
—“I really am hopeless.”
Senios had thought that and clicked his tongue.
—“Will the day ever come when I can make use of something like this?”
He had entered the Magic Tower in pursuit of Karimzeba.
Yet at some point, he himself had risen to the position of an elder mage, just like Karimzeba.
Even while knowing they could not settle things between them, to think he had gone and created such meaningless magic.
“But who could have known? That a day like this would come.”
And so he had not even given the magic a name.
“If I had known this would happen, I would at least have given it a respectable name.”
Karimzeba.
Because he had learned that you
had been deceiving me,
the Magic Tower,
and the Tower Master.
That was why there had been no hesitation.
Senios was able to manifest his final magic.
“What do you think is the essence of ice magic?”
Hoooh—!
The chill would not leave.
Displeased, Karimzeba did not answer.
But Senios immediately continued.
“Some say it is beauty. The form of ice reflecting light can indeed be as brilliant as a jewel. But that is wrong. The essence of ice magic lies in coldness.”
Hoooh—!
Hooooooh—!
Karimzeba clenched and unclenched his stiffening hand.
His movements and breathing were both growing increasingly strained.
‘I have listened long enough.’
Karimzeba no longer remained still.
He could not tell what kind of magic Senios had manifested,
but he could not continue playing along.
Fwoooooosh—!
Karimzeba manifested flames.
He flapped his wings of fire toward Senios.
And then he witnessed it.
‘……
What?!’
An unbelievable sight.
The flames stretching out looked far too slow.
‘What is this? Has the flow of time slowed?’
No, that was not it.
Because Senios’s sneering mouth remained unchanged.
“How does a chill that can even freeze your senses feel, Karimzeba? By the time you notice it, your body and internal organs will already be half frozen.”
Karimzeba did not believe him.
He had not given him the chance to manifest magic of that degree.
Hoooooooh—!
But as if proving it was no lie,
neither his body nor his flames obeyed him.
Karimzeba racked his brain.
‘When on earth did he cast such magic?’
Without even me noticing……?
And soon, like himself,
upon seeing Senios exhaling white breath, he realized.
‘……
It is the breath!’
He had cooled the air I was inhaling.
Because he had cooled all the air in the area indiscriminately,
the bastard’s body was freezing as well.
But then how can he speak at a normal speed?
“I told you, did I not? It is not stopping; I am controlling it.”
A chill that could freeze even the senses.
Thump—thump—thump……
Senios’s heart was beating in time with those frozen senses.
Looking at Karimzeba, who could not even answer, Senios counted the seconds.
‘Even if it is only one second.’
If he could endure longer than Karimzeba,
he could put the fire dragon to sleep beneath unmeltable eternal snow.
‘Of course, regardless of the result, I will freeze in this cold.’
Yes, just as he had expected.
At best, it would be a draw.
‘Well, if I can offer up the life of a hopeless old man and force a draw.’
Would that not still be a decent trade?
And that would be his atonement to the Magic Tower.
Senios smiled.
‘Even if I was hopeless, it was a fairly good life. Yes.’
However, the fire dragon was not so easily dealt with.
“To think you would stake your life. Unexpected.”
“……!”
Karimzeba was speaking perfectly fine.
His body should already have been more than half frozen.
Startled, Senios looked at Karimzeba.
Flames poured from his mouth.
“However, I have staked my life as well.”
……
He had swallowed fire.
That was how he melted his frozen body, his organs.
Senios let out a hollow laugh.
“Damn it.”
He had not been called the fire dragon for nothing.
To swallow fire in order to melt his frozen organs.
Even making such a judgment was astonishing enough,
yet he was speaking calmly after doing such a thing.
‘So he will not even allow a draw.’
Does that mean limits cannot be overcome no matter what?
‘Damn it.’
His eyes slowly began to close.
His senses dulled.
It was the moment Senios clenched his teeth.
Click—
There came the sound of shoes stepping onto the frozen ground.
“Senios. Your magic was excellent.”
There was a voice calling him.
“However, the interference process was lacking.”
And a voice pointing out his flaws.
Senios barely managed to answer.
“……
Is that so?”
He did not need to confirm it to know who it was.
Senios knew the owner of this bold voice.
Yes, it was Chief Lee Hoyeol.
“To overcome limits, a new concept is necessary.”
The sight of him confidently stepping before Karimzeba.
Yes, Senios remembered seeing that back as well.
At the regular conference, when he had criticized the presentation of Senior Mage Bangrit Tom.
Just like then, his posture was unwaveringly upright.
“Your exploration into the essence of ice magic lying in cooling was excellent. However, there were shortcomings in the interference process. If one is to cool a target, then how far must it be cooled? Abstract interference without limits, like this, can only be followed by inefficient manifestation.”
Karimzeba’s flames flickered.
‘How dare a whelp prattle on?’
Was this not as if he were lecturing right in front of him?
If he had his way, he would immediately burn that insolent brat to ash,
but his body’s senses had yet to fully recover.
A body that had repeatedly frozen and burned could not possibly be normal.
However.
‘Senios is effectively finished.’
Dealing with the adventurer brat left on his own
would be more than possible even with a body that was not fully intact.
Thinking that, Karimzeba opened his mouth.
“I will make certain to kill you.”
However, Hoyeol’s lecture continued.
It went on, entirely unconcerned by Karimzeba’s shout.
Senios could understand the reason.
‘He is being considerate of this old man. Yes.’
He knew that Senios had little breath left.
That must be why he was trying to finish speaking quickly.
Senios focused on Hoyeol’s words.
“If you had set a concrete target in the interference process, a more effective manifestation would have been possible. But even so, you would not have been able to overcome the compatibility of magic. However, if it is not magic but [『Anomaly』], the story changes.”
[『Anomaly』]
……?
To immediately understand that concept
was impossible even for the two elder mages.
Which meant a demonstration was needed.
Of course, Karimzeba was not about to obediently stand by and watch.
‘……
Good.’
His senses had returned.
Immediately, that brat……
“In the interference process, add a [concept] entirely different from 『magic』.”
Craaaaaack—!
“?!”
In that instant, Karimzeba’s body stopped in place.
Karimzeba could sense it instinctively.
This was on a completely different level from Senios’s magic.
‘I cannot resist……?!’
If Senios’s magic had merely broken the senses of his body, this truly felt as if his body itself had stopped. Even the flow of mana……!
“What have you done to me……!”
It was incomprehensible.
Magic that could even stop the flow of mana.
Once again, Karimzeba racked his brain.
‘There must be a clue in his words that will let me overcome this magic.’
Just as he had seen through Senios’s magic.
But no matter how much he replayed Hoyeol’s words,
there was only one conclusion.
“Yes. That is precisely [『Anomaly』].”
This was not magic, but [『Anomaly』].
“It is the manifestation of anomaly that cools the target of interference to a concrete goal: absolute zero.”
Absolute zero.
He could not know what that meant.
But one thing was certain.
Senios spoke in a low voice.
“Absolute Zero. Let that be the name of that magic. It has a fine ring to it.”
Within his blurring vision,
Senios raised his head.
‘I worried for nothing. Yes.’
Chief Lee Hoyeol.
Was he not the man Marcelo had acknowledged?
Senios knew with what feelings Marcelo had recommended Hoyeol.
So there were no longer any regrets.
‘What was lacking was not ice magic, but me.’
As one could see, was Karimzeba not helpless before the anomaly Hoyeol had manifested?
He had frozen not only flame, but the fire dragon himself.
Senios continued.
“I’m sure you will do better than I ever could.”
That was the first and last needless worry of a washed-up elder.
“Even so, I leave the Magic Tower in your hands. Chief Lee Hoyeol.”
He added one more line with a smile.
“My final lecture in this life was splendid beyond measure.”...
Senios was dead.
Karimjeva looked at Hoyeol. ‘……
How did he know?’ He still could not understand it.
The mana he sensed from him was pathetically low, not only compared to his own, but even compared to Senios’s.
His doubts would not fade. Thinking back, it had made no sense from the very beginning. ‘He was unharmed even by my flames.’ No, more than that, the man had clearly been facing a demon. Karimjeva knew very well what sort of beings demons were.
Leaving strength aside, anyone who came into contact with a demon would have their mind worn down. ‘He should not be able to remain whole.’ Just like the elder mages who had been manipulated by them all this time.
And yet Hoyeol was fine.
No, beyond that, he was composed.
Composed enough to prattle on endlessly about the structure of magic. ‘Wait.’ In that moment, Karimjeva felt a sense of incongruity. ‘How did he recognize the demon possessing Akampatam?’ Unless one was a demon worshipper like himself.
It was nearly impossible to detect a demon possessing something.
And on top of that, his mana was absurdly low for a mage……. An impossible thought flashed through his mind.
“……
Don’t tell me, are you a demon hunter?”
Click— At those words, Hoyeol turned to look at him.
Karimjeva was certain.
Yes, this man was a demon hunter.
Karimjeva’s mind raced. ‘Perhaps…….’ He might be able to escape.
From this damned magic. No, from this thing called Anomaly.
Karimjeva opened his mouth.
“Demon hunter. What I seek is to witness the true truth. Demons are nothing more than a means to that end. Surely you of all people know, do you not? That what the Arcana Continent needs is the true truth!”
Yes, if it was no one else but a demon hunter.
He had no choice but to understand the true truth.
Karimjeva thought so as he spoke.
And yet. ‘……
Why?’ There was not the slightest change in Hoyeol’s expression.
His cold gaze seemed frosted over with chill.
If he was a demon hunter.
If he knew of Akshan’s end.
He could never have reacted like that.
Karimjeva opened his mouth, wondering if it could be.
“……
Could it be that you do not know the truth behind the ‘Holy War (聖戰)’?”...
The Holy War.
What the hell is that?
Did it happen back when Arcana was still a game?
Whatever it was, naturally, it was an incident I didn’t know about.
Because there was a gap of more than ten years in my knowledge.
Karimjeva rambled on.
“If you release me, I will tell you everything. About the Holy War and about the true truth! If you are a demon hunter, you will surely understand my will. I swear it on the name of Karimjeva, the Fire Dragon!”
I could sense it instinctively.
The Holy War—it must be something related to demon hunters.
And to Akshan.
But I did not answer.
Because in this moment, to me.
To Granfell, Karimjeva was no different from a demon.
I told you, didn’t I?
I did not converse with prey.
True truth, my ass. What kind of truth requires not only turning the world into a wasteland, but reviving a Demon King on top of that? Of course, there was no reason to stop for some plot hook like the Holy War, either.
The Holy War.
The moment Karimjeva uttered that word.
A message appeared. [Class Quest: Akshan’s Annihilation]
Yes.
So I immediately manifested magic.
No, [『Anomaly』].
Absolute zero.
The ultimate temperature at which even molecules cease to move.
“I wiiiill……!!”
Soon, Karimjeva froze over with an ugly expression.
One in which no trace of dignity could be found.
At the same time, a message appeared. [You have cleared the Broken Dimensional Rift: ה Rift.] ─ Dispose of the escaped demon worshipper. (Success) ● Prevent the resurrection of a high-ranking Demon King. (Success)