◈ Episode 249. Something Happened (2)
The absence of just one person.
He had never imagined it would be this great.
Not until Lee Hoyeol disappeared without a trace.
Rather, those who did not know the full circumstances were not worried.
“Is the Commander-in-Chief really in a position to be worried about by anyone?”
“Exactly. If you’ve got time to worry, worry about us instead.”
“What the hell is with our levels, seriously?”
Just as they said.
Hoyeol was not someone who needed the concern of others.
There was no need for proof; his actions thus far made it clear enough.
How many times had his feats turned worry into needless anxiety?
Too many to count.
Furthermore.
No matter the situation.
Hoyeol’s upright bearing had never once been broken.
“Yes, no one seems all that worried. Chief Lee.”
Swish—the top floor of the Magic Tower.
The Tower Master lay sprawled on the floor, wagging his tail. However, unlike usual, the movement of his tail was subtly bristling, and the reason was, of course, Hoyeol.
“The price of sightseeing is rather steep.”
Fifteen days ago.
The day Hoyeol headed for the Arcana Continent.
He should have just lazed around taking naps like usual…….
No, he should have focused solely on recuperating.
“A portal leading to the Arcana Continent. How could I possibly ignore that, nya…….”
The problem was that his instincts as a mage had been stirred.
He could pretend not to know for a day or two.
But by the time a week had passed.
It bothered him so much that he could not even properly stamp his pawprint on the parchment.
Suddenly, Marcelo’s voice rang out.
“Have you abandoned your duties and lain down again?”
“Little Chief. I am in a grave situation right now.”
“Being grave and doing your work are separate matters.”
“Insolent. Do not talk back to me.”
“Be quiet. Stay still.”
Swoop—Marcelo grabbed the Tower Master by the scruff of his neck as he lay on the floor and lifted him.
Then he placed the Tower Master on a suitably high seat.
As if he were an object.
A deeply displeased gaze followed the Tower Master.
“The seniors will soon be visiting the top floor.”
“The seniors? To the top floor? Why?”
“What do you think the reason is?”
The Tower Master flinched.……
Could it be that they had noticed he had stamped his pawprint halfheartedly?
Had they all come to raise objections together?
His cat-science……. No, his conscience pricked at him.
But fortunately, there was another reason.
“It must be because of their concerns regarding Chief Lee.”
The Magic Tower.
The senior mages, including the leadership, knew what resolve Hoyeol had entered the Arcana Continent with.
It was not that Hoyeol had spoken of his resolve with his own mouth, but they could tell from his actions.
The Tower Master grumbled for no reason.
“That is why he should not have taken the magic tools for the decisive battle…….”
His complaints ended there.
Soon, twenty senior mages.
Every one of them set foot on the top floor of the Magic Tower.
Behind them, an elder mage.
Yugwid slipped out awkwardly.
“I explained things sufficiently to the seniors, Tower Master. That we are hiding nothing from them. That even we do not know all of Chief Lee’s intentions.”
The representative of the senior mages.
The senior of black magic studies, Matis Dean Karl.
He opened his mouth.
“We did not come to ask about Chief Lee’s intentions.”
Yugwid turned her head and asked back.
“Then what is your business, Senior Matis?”
Their business.
It was simple and clear.
They could not simply wait forever.
That was their business.
“Please permit the use of the magic tool, the connector.”
The meaning behind borrowing twelve whole magic tools for the decisive battle was clear.
Chief Lee had finished preparing himself to face an enemy they could not even imagine and entered the Arcana Continent.
And the fact that Chief Lee had not returned to the Magic Tower even after fifteen days meant…….
“Chief Lee is undoubtedly in a situation where he needs help.”
A solemn air drifted across the top floor of the Magic Tower.
The Tower Master’s tail swayed.
But as expected, the fur was standing on end.
“If such a thing were possible.”
“……?”
“Before I permitted you to use that magic tool, I would have used that strange magic tool called a connector first. Even if not me…….”
The Tower Master looked at Marcelo.
Marcelo nodded as if he would not refute him.
Because he thought the same.
The same as the Tower Master, and the same as the seniors.
“But regrettably, Matis. That cannot be allowed.”
Beyond fifteen days.
Even if Chief Lee Hoyeol did not return to the Magic Tower for several months.
Entering Arcana through the connector could not be permitted.
The reason was simple.
“Did Chief Lee, that stickler for principles, not declare it?”
“……!!!”
“That he would use it without fail according to that procedure.”
It was not that the leadership had never thought of entering the Arcana Continent. It was simply because Hoyeol had left those words behind. They had erased the option called the connector from their minds. ‘If it were you, Sir, you would not want help that violated procedure.’ Marcelo added.
“Also, if it is the Chief Lee I know, he will return to the Magic Tower without fail, if only to uphold that procedure. No, I do not doubt that he will.”
All the seniors.
“That is right. Of course.”
Among them, Bensch William, who had been thoroughly burned by procedure, nodded particularly fiercely. The sudden meeting was just about to conclude like that.
Bristle—the Tower Master’s fur stood on end in an instant.
It was not only the Tower Master who sensed the presence.
The elder, the chief, the seniors.
Even the adept and apprentice mages below the top floor.
“……What is this?”
They instinctively realized it from the immeasurably vast presence.
Rumble—!
The sky darkened in an instant.
Pouring rain.
Lightning.
Records of the Dragon-Magic War rose in their minds, overlapping with that sight.
That was right.
No matter how one looked at it, these were the warning signs that heralded the appearance of dragons.
Though he did not know their purpose, the Tower Master responded swiftly.
“As of this moment, I permit every member of the Magic Tower to leave the tower.”
The lesson of the Dragon-Magic War?
It was simple, so it was not forgotten.
Do not dare try to stand against dragons.
“Tsk.”
However, if they did not stand against them.
What would happen to the adventurers’ world?
The Magic Tower knew very well the level of players, of adventurers.
Aside from a few, including Hoyeol, they were beings weaker than even apprentice mages.
And yet they were worshiped as heroes in that world.
“A second Dragon-Magic War with incomplete strength.”
That was why, even knowing they could not stand against them, they had no choice but to step forward.
The Magic Tower preparing to sacrifice itself for others.
Even looking back on it himself, it was laughable.
But at the same time, it could not be helped.
“Somehow, Chief Lee’s absence feels greater than the vacant seat of the Tower Master.”
Now that Chief Hoyeol was away.
The ones who had to shoulder the great burden he had carried.
Were the Magic Tower, himself included.
Because that was the Magic Tower’s procedure.
“How did you bear such a heavy burden alone, Chief Lee?”...
The Magic Tower was not the only one to move swiftly.
The Zero Mountains.
The players who were in the middle of hunting also sensed the change.
“Everyone, stop.”
“What is going on……?”
“The sun was blazing just a moment ago, so why is it suddenly raining?”
It was too much to dismiss as a mere shower.
As if a hole had opened in the sky.
Rain began pouring down from above.
“Why the hell is the weather forecast never right, seriously?”
“……Wait a moment.”
“What? Did the rainy season start? Or is it a typhoon?”
“No, that is not it…….”
Something incomprehensible by common sense began to happen.
“Um, I was a liberal arts major, so I’m asking, but is it possible for rain to fall all over the world at the same time? Scientifically……?!”
It was exactly as he said.
Swaaaaa—deserts where not a single drop of rain fell all year round.
Even in the polar regions, where snow should have been falling, rain came down.
It was so strange that they were left speechless.
But as expected, the question did not last long.
Because they heard it.
Kroaaaa—!
“……!!!”
Because it surfaced.
[Warning: Your mental strength is too low.]
The terrifying aftershock of Dragon Fear.
“D-Dragon……!!”
Even the top players called rankers could not dare resist the status abnormality. Needless to say, ordinary players and regular people were helpless before the Fear.
However, until now, it had been nothing more than a prelude.
“It’s not one. Three, no, five……. Six!”
Seven, eight, nine…….
A total of around ten dragons tore through dimensions and appeared.
And began gliding all across Earth.
The ones most shocked of all were AAU.
The Korean branch.
“Haha…….”
Park Minjae let out a hollow laugh.
Because they knew very well what kind of race dragons were.
They could immediately grasp.
Just how hopeless the current situation was.
A trembling voice reached him.
“……That’s right! Senior, we have Skal!”
Perhaps ignorance truly was bliss.
In a situation where it would not have been strange to fall into a panic.
Seong Hyeonjun grabbed Yun Sugyeom and continued speaking.
“If he’s the hidden class Dragon Knight, wouldn’t there be some way to break through this situation? No, if it’s Skal……. He might already have started taking action!”
If this were an ordinary situation.
He might have patted him on the shoulder and said it was good thinking for someone with his amount of experience.
But the problem was the status of the dragons displayed on the monitor.
Park Minjae opened his mouth quietly.
“Skal or whatever, no one will be able to approach them.”
The torrential rain pouring down all over Earth.
To put it in a single phrase, those were a dragon’s tears.
It was not a metaphor.
For some reason, the dragons flying through the sky were truly shedding tears. Were they not saying so with the Dragon Tongue, the Dragon Fear, they let out?
“They will not try to listen to anyone, nor will they stop.”
“……Branch Manager.”
“Not until they find that Black Dark Dragon.”
Because of that, every AAU branch had gone into emergency mode. An emergency order to identify, by any means necessary, the true identity of the Black Dark Dragon the dragons were searching for.
However, no matter which database they searched.
“……We could not find anything.”
There was no information related to the Black Dark Dragon.
“Really? I thought that would be the case.”
Park Minjae let out a rotten smile.
“Black Dark Dragon. There’s no way I would hear a name like that and forget it.”
Then as expected, the one who knew about this situation was Raymon Sean.
Only that bastard.
No, Hoyeol might know something, but……. ‘……We cannot rely on the General Manager.’ Hoyeol was absent.
Besides, they could not keep only receiving forever.
Find your conscience, Park Minjae.
Scrub, scrub—Park Minjae gathered his wits by rubbing his dry face.
Then he opened his mouth heavily.
“As expected, the best course is to provide information to the Magic Tower.”
With Hoyeol absent.
The strongest force humanity possessed was undoubtedly the Magic Tower.
Above all, the moment dragons appeared.
Every member of the Magic Tower had stepped outside to respond to them.
It meant they were certain allies.
“Of course, we should relay the information to the Holy War Alliance as well.”
The Holy War Alliance, connecting Yusra, Frost, and the Holy Land Muon, was also a force that could not be overlooked. However, the problem was that their opponent for comparison was dragons. And not just one or two of them……. ‘I do not expect them to win.’ He only hoped they would not clash.
Because regardless of victory or defeat, the damage that would follow.
Would be incomparable to before.
And so.
“I’m sorry…….”
Park Minjae clenched his fists and could only pray desperately.
Not to God, Buddha, or Allah.
To the one existence he should never pray to most of all.
Shamelessly, he prayed once again.
“……General Manager.”...
The mages of the Magic Tower.
The Holy War Alliance.
And the players looked up at the sky.
“Our resolve is rendered meaningless.”
Harkon murmured calmly.
The dragons of legend.
A situation in which as many as around ten of those living legends had revealed themselves.
He had resolved to throw away his life.
But it seemed this place could not be called a battlefield.
“What is this? Why are they crying like that?”
“Indeed.”
“Damn, now I’m getting depressed too…….”
Nam Taemin and Leoni trailed off.
Hisagi wiped the rainwater from his chin and said.
“I can feel their emotions coming through.”
There was no need to put into words what those emotions were.
The falling rain spoke for their feelings.
The Magic Tower was equally astonished.
Bensch whispered to Bangrit.
“Somehow, they seem a bit different from the dragons of the Dragon-Magic War I know.”
“They do. It was written that they were extremely violent.”
“Right? I did not read it wrong, did I, Senior Bangrit! It was definitely written that they smiled as if enjoying themselves even at the sight of high-level magic pouring down on them……!”
Were those truly the arrogant dragons recorded in the Dragon-Magic War?
Even while seeing them, doubts arose.
At the same time, a question occurred.
“Just what sort of being is this Black Dark Dragon to them……?”
The kings of all creation.
For dragons to grieve, long, and cry out helplessly.
Searching for him?
Of course, that question did not last long.
Because soon, the person in question appeared.
Click—...
Damn it.
The sound of these shoes always draws attention.
I meet the gazes of those turning back.
Marcelo, Harkon, Nam Taemin……. Even that obnoxious cat.
It feels like I saw them only a few hours ago at most.
But in real time, fifteen days have passed?
In that case, I can understand those brightening expressions.……
But not you guys.
I looked up at the sky.
And our eyes met.
A dragon shining especially brightly.
“……!”
The Ice Dragon, Froznax. ‘This is just my guess…….’ Extreme cold definitely has a bad effect on one’s temper, whether human or dragon. Otherwise, there is no way to explain Senios and Froznax’s wildly fluctuating emotions. ‘After charging at me like they were going to kill me, now they’re crying……?’ It was absurd.
But I could not show it.
I simply opened my mouth as I always did.
“Did I not say so?”
“……!”
“You as well.”
I shifted my gaze once and continued.
“And you as well, have nothing to worry about.”
Yes, you’ve seen that I’m alive like this.
That’s enough now, right?
I’m talking to you in particular, dragons……! ‘Seriously……!’ Since I, whom you thought dead, am alive.
I suppose it is only natural to be shocked.
I will generously understand that feeling.
But by any chance.
Do not even think about calling my name because you are happy.
And do not think about calling my alias either. ‘Lee Hoyeol Claudi, Black Dark Dragon……. Anyway, none of it is allowed!’ If my dark history is going to be broadcast to the entire world.
It would be better to be mistaken for having a moving reunion instead.
It can’t be helped. Just keep crying like this……!!