◈ Chapter 343. In the World I Am In (2)
The top floor of the Magic Tower.
“I’m back!”
The place where this quest had taken place was one of the Hundred Thousand Caves of the Zero Mountains.
It had not been easy.
Near the end of the quest, the cave itself had suddenly collapsed, forcing them to return to the Magic Tower through a portal. More than anything, Jesse’s grimy cheeks seemed to speak for the difficulty.
“It’s awfully quiet today……?”
At the edge of Mary’s vision.
Jesse’s round head turned this way and that.
It was as Jesse said.
“That is unusual.”
It would not be strange if the elder mage Yugweed or Chief Marcelo were absent at any time due to the Magic Tower’s affairs. No, in the first place, they rarely showed their faces on the top floor of the Magic Tower.
But.
“They’re not here. Not even the cat.”
Jesse trailed off with an, “Hmm,” for only a moment.
Wooooong—“!!”
All of a sudden, mana rippled across the top floor.
Mary flinched.
This spell—its difficulty of manifestation was no joke.‘……
Had he planted a portal here?’Like a trap spell.
It was a portal that manifested when certain conditions were met.
To think someone could plant a high-level spell on the level of a portal so covertly that even she could not notice it. In Mary’s knowledge, there was only one person in the Magic Tower with that level of manifestation power.
The Chief of the Magic Tower.
And, at the same time, the head of Claudi.
The man called Grandfell, or Lee Hoyeol.
Mary spoke calmly.
“It seems Chief Lee Hoyeol has returned.”
“Ah, I see……!”
“……?”
Mary was somewhat surprised by the calm response.‘I thought she would be a little happier.’He was not someone who would leave his post for an entire week without a word.
It surely meant that some incident had occurred.
Separate from their faith in him, both she and Jesse had been worried.
As proof, during class, Jesse had never once let go of that strange artifact
—her smartphone—
during every break.
Jesse herself found it strange.
“……
I have a bad feeling about this.”
She should have been happier.
But a greater concern had risen up and was devouring her joy.
Mary did not ask Jesse for the reason.
They were not close enough for that.
She simply conveyed what needed to be said.
“In that case, we have no choice but to step into the arrangement. It seems Chief Lee Hoyeol wants something from us. Will that be all right, Miss Jesse Hainnes?”
As Mary spoke, she released the mana of twilight.
She checked the mana response of the Magic Tower.
But there was no response.
What that meant was simple.
There was not a single mage in the Magic Tower.
“Yes, I’m fine with that.”
Step—
Jesse nodded and immediately followed Mary into the portal.
Soon, the scenery changed, and what entered their vision was the Zero Mountains.
For some reason, the Zero Mountains had been reduced to a wasteland.
And.
“!”
A splendid uniform that could not be forgotten after seeing it once.
A single blood-soaked cat wrapped in a Dawn jacket. Before Mary could recognize the cat, Jesse rushed forward and took the cat, bundled up in the jacket, into her arms.
Sensing the warmth, the cat spoke softly.
“……
Meow.”
No, it let out a cry.
It was brazen acting in the cat’s, the Tower Master’s, own way.
Because he did not want Jesse, of all people, to learn his true identity.
But since when had it been?
“……
Please don’t say anything.”
So you had known everything from the very beginning, my disciple.
Rather, you were the one pretending not to know.
Only then did the Tower Master speak properly.
“To deceive your master. What an impudent disciple you are.”
“Don’t speak.”
“Was it so amusing to watch your master perform tricks? What poor taste. I am ashamed of myself, fooled by your acting, waving my front paws here and there. At this rate, I, who performed tricks to receive snacks…….”
“I said, please don’t speak……!”
A violet aura.
The mana of twilight flowed from Jesse.
Healing magic imbued with the mana of twilight wrapped around the Tower Master’s body.
However, the healing magic did not seep into the Tower Master’s flesh.
The Tower Master looked at the mana of twilight.
“It is dazzling.”
“…….”
“In the end, as expected of my disciple, you have achieved something astonishing.”
The manifestation power of magic imbued with the mana of twilight differed by more than tenfold compared to magic that was not. It meant that Jesse’s healing magic, which remained at a beginner level because it was not her major, was producing an effect comparable to the magic of Bellier, the greatest healing mage in the Magic Tower.
“……
Why?”
But it had no effect on the Tower Master.
With trembling eyes, Jesse looked up at Mary.
Mary knew.
She knew that the Tower Master had already breathed his last.
No healing magic could bring the dead back to life.
However, what even Mary could not explain was.
The Tower Master, who continued speaking even after death.
“Praise is poison to a mage. That is why I held it back so desperately. Yet in the end, you make me say it in this cat’s form. You suffered greatly because of your inadequate master, Jesse.”
Was it because of an intense lingering will?
Or was it because of some magic even she did not know?
Mary could not tell.
She could only watch.
Perhaps she sensed the Tower Master’s end.
Jesse Hainnes hugged the Tower Master even tighter.
And for some reason, the Tower Master smiled bitterly.
In the silence, the cat spoke.
“……
As expected, you bear many sins, Chief Lee.”*Sword energy (劍氣).
It was cruel.
The light, which was normally so faint, shone more brilliantly than anything else in this moment. They could sense it. This was the true boundary between life and death.
Nam Taemin.[Warning: Excessive strength is causing bodily damage.]
Hisagi.[Warning: Mana that cannot be controlled by strength is flowing backward.]
And Leonie.[Warning: Vitality is too low.]
Barbarian, Spear Mage, Berserker.
Different messages appeared before the three of them.
They were warning messages as varied as their classes.
But there was one thing they had in common.
All of them were candles that could go out at any moment.
Pa-ba-bak—!
But now that they had kicked off the ground and leapt onto the back of the dragon’s head, even if they regretted it, there was no turning back. Of course, not a single one of them had any regrets.
Because they knew.
They knew Hoyeol’s sword energy, which had always shone so vividly.
Just what kind of battles has he been fighting all this time?
Only when the shadow of death fell over them did they truly understand.
On the sword path (劍路),
there were no shortcuts.
Only by truly walking the boundary between life and death did sword energy become clear.
That was why the thought could not help but reach them.
What kind of path had Hoyeol been walking alone all this time?
And at this moment, when his whereabouts were unknown.
What kind of path was he walking alone now?
Squeeze!
That was by no means an idle thought.
Yes, it was a kind of motivation, more intense than anything else.
Because it became the driving force that made each of them grip their weapons even tighter.
Boom—!
Because of the dragon’s enormous body.
They could not see anything at all of the situation in front, where the thunderous roar had come from.
Even now, when the Tower Master had thrown himself forward to draw its attention.
Harkon, Nam Taemin, Hisagi, and Leonie could not know the exact situation.
They could only estimate.‘It will reach. It will reach the dragon.’No matter how quickly it reacted, this strike would surely land. The boundary between life and death. Their instincts, sharper than usual, were not wrong.
Puk!
Pu-puk!
Puk!
From four directions.
A sword, a greatsword, twin swords, and a spear.
Four kinds of weapons pierced Yunaxus’s scales and embedded themselves in its flesh.
Dragon Skin, said to repel any attack, had been cut by mere sword energy?
No, it was not mere sword energy.‘……
It cut more easily than I thought?’‘Was it weakened?’‘No, that’s not it……!!’‘Magic. It was magic.’It was thanks to the magic bombardment of the senior mages, which had seemed to have no effect at all, driving Dragon Skin’s defensive power down to the very bottom.
Of course, compared to its enormous body, which had been emphasized again and again, the current wounds were nothing more than utterly trivial scratches.
But that did not mean the damage could be ignored.
After all, it was the first effective blow the Holy War Alliance had landed on Yunaxus.
Kraaaaaa!
As proof, Yunaxus began to twist its body.
Harkon shouted.
“Gentlemen. From this point on, I have nothing to say to you.”
A battlefield where one had to risk one’s life in an instant.
At the boundary between life and death, what one had to trust was.
Only the judgment handed down by one’s own sixth sense.
Waiting for another’s orders was no different from suicide.
“However.”
Harkon wanted to add this one thing.
“You have all truly worked hard until now. Thank you, sincerely, for following me.”
The three of them recoiled as soon as they heard it.
“Please don’t raise that kind of flag, Master……!!”
They had resolved themselves for death, but that did not mean they intended to die.
If they could live, then of course they had to live.
Of course, Harkon had not meant it that way either.
“Flag……? What is that?”
Because he had spoken from truly pure intentions.
It was respect toward those who, even covered in blood, had not fallen, had climbed the mountains.
And in the end, had landed a blow on the dragon.
The problem was simply the situation.
No matter what words were spoken.
They became a flag in this hopeless situation.
Nam Taemin chuckled.
“What a flag is……. I’ll tell you if we survive!”
“Mr. Nam Taemin, isn’t that also a flag?”
“Ptooey, ptooey. Then I take it back.”
“Honestly, you’d be better off not speaking.”
Then.
Ssssssssss—!
A fierce wind sounded as if it would tear their eardrums apart.
Yunaxus’s tail came flying like a whip.
The first to move was Nam Taemin.
A knight, a spear mage, and a berserker.
A party that had thrown tank-DPS-healer balance to the dogs.
The only one who could perform the role of a tank, if only barely, was the barbarian.[Berserk] activated.
Nam Taemin roared with wildness.[Yunaxus, the Elder Dragon Who Swallowed the Evil Fruit, resists ‘Taunt’.]Level 2,500 vs. Level 600As a matter of course, he had not expected a status effect to work.
He had to focus the creature’s aggro on himself in another way.
“Grrrr.”
The boiling wildness instinctively found the answer and moved.
Puuuuk!!
At an instant when even dodging would be difficult.
Instead, he drove his greatsword even deeper into the creature’s flesh.
At that action, even Harkon, who had been evading, could not help but flinch.
“At this rate……!”
Wasn’t it as if he had driven the greatsword in like a stake?
Of course, the effect was outstanding.
The Dragon Fear changed ever so slightly.
Kwakwaa!
Even if it was not the reverse scale, it seemed he had touched a nerve.
However, a weapon was as precious as life to a warrior.
Especially a greatsword of that size, which could even serve as a shield.‘How could he make such a decision……?’Harkon’s question did not last long.
Because he heard sighs from beside him.
Hisagi and Leonie spoke, as if neither could say who went first.
“That musclehead is planning to wreck another weapon again.”
“Indeed, as expected of the one in charge of the Great Alliance’s deficit.”
“……!”
That was right.
[Berserk] made him closer to beast than man.
To Nam Taemin, who had activated [Berserk],
what was a greatsword?
In truth, it was no different from a heavy shackle.
Pa-ba-ba-bak!
As if proving that fact, Nam Taemin accelerated on all fours.
Tap—!
To avoid the tail, he leapt like a beast.
His jumping power was terrifying.
His muscles, strengthened by wildness, made that fully possible.
Of course, Nam Taemin did not stop at merely avoiding it.
The moment he landed, he grabbed the scales with hands bulging with muscle and veins.
Kudeudeuk—!
He tore the scales off just like that.
Their cross sections were no different from sharp blades, as hard as they were.
Because of that, blood burst from Nam Taemin’s upper body, but he did not stop.
“Grrrrrr!!”
With dreadful persistence, he kept tearing off the scales.
Harkon swallowed a groan.‘I was……. I was looking down on them without realizing it.’The virtual reality game, Arcana Continent Chronicles.
Before the Cataclysm, Harkon had nodded at the truth that the Arcana Continent had been nothing more than entertainment to adventurers. That was why, he had thought, they had shown such frivolous attitudes.
But these people were different.
Who could possibly doubt their sincerity any longer?
It must have been a change that had come at some point.
Harkon, who had instructed countless knights in the Lionheart Knights, knew this. One could train another’s body, but one could not train another’s mind.
In that sense…….
“As expected, you are remarkable.”
He could not help but feel admiration for Hoyeol, for his pride, once again.
Sreung!
Of course, even amid that, he did not stop moving.
At this moment, everyone was testing their limits.
That meant he could not waste the golden opportunity they had gained.
Pabat!
Harkon, Hisagi, and Leonie ran across Yunaxus’s enormous body, using it as a battlefield. As stated, there was no strategy. They simply dodged and cut as their senses led them!
There was nothing flashy about that sight.
It was only desperate.
So desperate that it made those watching cover their mouths.
So desperate that it drew a lament from Nam Cheolmin’s lips.
“Please, stop already……!”
There was no need to draw upon the knowledge of an analyst.
Because what stood out far more than the damage accumulating on Yunaxus was Taemin, whose movements were rapidly slowing.
And the worsening conditions of the other three as well.
“……
There’s no way we can defeat a monster like that.”
That was what everyone watching thought.
The same sight as everyone else.
“From this moment on, I will begin the evaluation.”
The one who had been watching it from a different perspective revealed himself.
“Nam Taemin, I shall highly evaluate your movements based on instinct. However, whether that instinct can be displayed in ordinary times remains to be seen. Even so, your performance was sufficient. Above all, I shall value your adaptability.”
“……!”
In a state of facing a dragon.
And amid all that, the top rankers.
“Hisagi, Leonie. Your performance, faithful to your roles, was not bad. The fact that you overcame the disadvantage of compatibility and reached this place alone is worthy of praise.”
The only person who could harshly evaluate Nam Taemin, Hisagi, and Leonie.
Both in reality and on the Arcana Continent.
“……!!”
That was right, it was Lee Hoyeol.
“Lastly, Harkon.”
“……
Sir.”
“You would not need any evaluation.”
“Haha……. Is that so?”
“Lastly.”
Hoyeol’s gaze slowly shifted.
Toward the dragon, who did not recognize him.
Who was grinding its teeth, he spoke.
“You are noisy, Yunaxus.”
With a generous voice, he admonished it.
“Why not stop that crying first?”
Then a message appeared.[‘Calm’ occurs in Yunaxus, the Elder Dragon Who Swallowed the Evil Fruit.]
“……!!!”
Before everyone’s eyes.