◈ Episode 355. It Wasn't a Bad Plan, However
A golem and a Black Dark Dragon clashed.
Guuuuung……—!
“Didn’t the whole place just lurch……?”
“I-It’s not just my imagination, it really is shaking!”
“Those two are way too strong!!”
It went beyond even the special structure of Sapphire Hall.
The aftershock of the collision was being transmitted straight into the audience seats.
The players made a fuss for only a moment.
The seniors of the Magic Tower had detected that something was not right.
“S-Senior Bangrit, am I seeing this wrong? Say something! Why are those two going at each other so seriously? Shouldn’t you, Senior Bangrit, who went to the Arcana Continent, know the reason?”
Bensch grabbed Bangrit by the hem of his clothes and asked.
“Even if you ask me, I don’t know what’s going on either……!”
But not only Bangrit.
The senior mages who had set foot on the Arcana Continent with him.
None of them could understand the current situation.
Kiko, the senior of Enchantment, muttered, wondering if perhaps.
“……Would Senior Belliere know?”
Belliere, the senior of Healing Magic, had been too busy researching a method to purify the evil fruit swallowed by the dragon and had been unable to attend. However, Marcelo shook his head. ‘If Belliere had known.’ She would certainly have confided her worries to him in some way. After all, this was not just anyone, but a conflict between the Chief and Elder Yugwid. Marcelo opened his mouth.
“Senior Belliere likely knows nothing either.”
“Chief Marcelo, then what exactly is that……?”
Boom!
At that very moment, another collision.
Bensch, who had corrected his posture from the transmitted shock, spoke again.
From now on, this was not a fuss, but a cold assessment of the situation.
“According to the rules, wasn’t the manifestation of magic above the mid-rank forbidden in a Proof Duel? This is the Magic Tower. We know how dangerous each other’s magic can be……!”
The Magic Tower was where the greatest geniuses of the Arcana Continent gathered.
Meaning that even if they exchanged only moderately powerful spells, they could still be sufficiently threatening to each other. One could tell just by looking at the remaining records of past Proof Duels.
Nasrow, the senior of Illusion Magic, opened the book he was holding.
“Even if we look at the record of the most recent duel between Lord Senios and Karimzeba…… It is recorded that Lord Senios suffered considerable injuries.”
That was why they could not help but be even more concerned.
At this moment, the golem Yugwid had manifested was none other than.
One of the highest-level earth spells. ‘If the opponent had been an ordinary mage……’ Bangrit shook his head.
“……It would have ended with the first kick.”
Not the duel, but his life might have ended. Of course, fortunately, the opponent was Hoyeol. The gigantic Black Dark Dragon was not merely fending off a highest-level spell, but was instead pressing forward.
Several seniors asked Feiyan, the senior of Spirit Magic.
“By the way, what exactly is that dragon, Senior Feiyan? Surely the only thing that can summon something like that is spirit magic, right? So what is the name of that dragon-like spirit? It must be at the level of a Spirit King, yes?”
“Munch, munch. (Shakes head)”
“……No, in this situation, you can still get bread down your throat?”
“Munch, munch. (Nods)”
Gulp.
“I don’t know for sure, but it definitely isn’t spirit magic.”
Feiyan swallowed her bread with a tense expression and finished her answer.
Then naturally, the seniors’ attention turned toward Bangrit.
With Senior Bangrit’s mana affinity……?
“Was that even magic to begin with, Senior Bangrit?”
“No. I can’t sense any mana from it.”
“Wh-What? Is that really true?!”
Bangrit nodded.
“Whew. It is true.”
It was a fact. Even when he focused his senses and tried his hardest to feel it, he could not sense any mana from that Black Dark Dragon. This time, the question was directed at Marcelo.
“Chief, what on earth is going on?”
Marcelo could not answer.
Because he was thinking through the answer in his head.
In truth, the situation given to him was exceedingly simple. ‘There is something between the two of them that I do not know.’ For some reason, they were pushing each other fiercely beyond the bounds of a duel. In that process, Elder Yugwid had violated the strict rules of the Proof Duel. ‘This is nothing but confusion for me.’ Had it been a mistake to hastily proceed with the election for the next Tower Master without asking Lord Yugwid’s opinion? No. With Elder Yugwid’s personality, whether they had asked his opinion or not.
They would not have been able to avoid this situation. ‘To use highest-level magic right from the start.’ His Lordship, who was faced with such highest-level magic, as well.
Would inevitably.
Have no choice but to violate the rules of the Proof Duel……
“……!”
Marcelo, who had been following that line of thought, suddenly turned his gaze.
Toward Bangrit.
“Senior Bangrit, what did you say just now?”
“Yes? What do you mean……?”
“You said you could not sense any mana, correct?”
“Y-Yes! That is correct. Unless there is something wrong with my mana affinity…… That Black Dark Dragon is not magic manifested through mana. Above all, right before the Black Dark Dragon spread its wings and revealed itself, the Chief actually withdrew his mana!”
“As expected.”
After hearing Bangrit’s detailed explanation.
Marcelo’s complexion began to brighten rapidly.
That was right. Even if Lord Yugwid had violated the rules.
His Lordship was still strictly abiding by them.
“What is specified in the rules of a Proof Duel are only restrictions regarding manifested 『magic』. Naturally so. After all, the kind known as mages would not set magic aside and engage in a fistfight.”
Had he not said it earlier?
The Magic Tower was an organization where only mages with outstanding talent among mages gathered. Since it was a place where only mages gathered, it was common sense that only magic would be exchanged in a duel.
So obvious that there was no need to leave it as a rule!
“That is why there is no separate rule stating that one must participate in a Proof Duel using only 『magic』.”
“……!!!”
“That is correct. The Chief is still strictly following the rules.”
At those words, the senior mages let out sighs of relief.
No matter what was going on.
As long as Hoyeol was strictly complying with the rules.
It seemed they would not have to worry unnecessarily.
However, questions still remained.
And those questions soon turned into astonishment.
Bensch, realizing that fact, stammered.
“Th-Then you mean Chief Lee blocked Lord Yugwid’s highest-level magic. Without manifesting magic, and not only that, he is overwhelming him? G-Good heavens……!!”
*
Elder mages.
I had already witnessed their true power with my own eyes.
Not one, but two of them.
And through a life-and-death battle, at that.
Senios and Karimzeba.
I had compared the battle between those two elder mages to a Battle of Demigods (半神戰).
Indeed, the magic of Yugwid, who stood shoulder to shoulder with them, was by no means light.
Wiiiiing—!
The golem’s mana heart blazed. The brute strength pouring out from that vast mana ignored even the wingbeats of the Black Dark Dragon and drove the golem forward. Then, it thrust out its fist.
Kwaang!!
It was closer to the sound of an explosion than something collapsing or breaking. Where the golem’s fist was aimed, a huge hole appeared as though a Meteor Strike had fallen there.
Flutter!
Of course, the Black Dark Dragon spread its enormous wings and soared into the sky.
It had easily evaded the attack.
But since it was flying in the sky, the whole view of Sapphire Hall came into sight.
For the time being, it seemed I did not have to worry about the shock of the collisions leaking outside. The Magic Tower’s mysterious structure seemed to apply to Sapphire Hall as well. ‘The battlefield has become vast.’ As if proving that fact.
Shoooooook!
The golem shot up toward the sky.
Fast.
Thanks to that, my eyes immediately met Yugwid’s.
“Are you still completely at ease, Chief Lee?”
Grip—!
Experience was certainly important.
Thanks to my experience in the Zero Mountains, I could grasp the situation without even turning my head. So this was that ankle-grabbing that had brought Eunaxus down?
Since it had brought Eunaxus down, did he think it could bring down the Black Dark Dragon as well? If so, unfortunately for him. The Eunaxus the golem had dragged down had no wings.
And besides, this Black Dark Dragon resembled ‘someone’ to a tee. ‘It hates that to an extreme.’
Losing its form, that is.
Flutter!
Was shaking off its foot considered inelegant?
With Yugwid and the golem hanging from its ankle.
The Black Dark Dragon soared even higher into the sky.
Yugwid’s flustered voice reached me.
“……How can it fly?”
What do you mean, how can it fly……!
Look at these excessively huge, dangling wings.
It would be unfair if it could not at least flap them properly. ‘And if I must add to that.’
[Legend, Black Dark Dragon Lee Hoyeol]
At this moment.
Was resounding endlessly both in reality and on the Arcana Continent. In other words, it would not be an exaggeration to say it was getting stronger in real time each time it manifested.
High-speed flight.
Even in the midst of it, its neck remained utterly upright.
Thanks to that, I looked down at Yugwid and said.
“No one can hear us now, Yugwid.”
That was right.
Now that we were far from watching eyes and listening ears.
It was time to hear his true intentions.
As I said.
I had guessed the reason Yugwid had broken the rules of the Proof Duel.
That was why I asked.
“Where do you intend to go after leaving the Magic Tower?”
At my question, Yugwid let out a laugh.
“Haha, you saw right through this old man.”
Saw through, my foot.
In any case, how many years had we known each other?
How much relationship had we built?
There was a saying that one could know the depths of water but not the depths of a person’s heart, and thanks to Senios, I also knew a thing or two about the temperaments of mages, so I could not let go of suspicion until the very end……
But I believed that Yugwid would never truly reveal hostility toward me. To say he had applied for a Proof Duel now merely because he coveted the position of the next Tower Master. ‘We’ve gone through far too many storms together for that, haven’t we?’
From the reconstruction of the Magic Tower.
To the funeral of Senios, the Tower Master.
Yugwid continued.
“What would the Tower Master say if he saw this? Well done? I knew you would lose? Or perhaps, what kind of trick are you pulling, Yugwid?”……If that cat had a conscience, wouldn’t he be unable to say such a thing?
I thought so indifferently.
When Yugwid whispered softly.
“If you have time, please ask the Tower Master, Chief Lee.”……What, had Yugwid also guessed the Tower Master’s whereabouts?
Well, more than even Marcelo.
Yugwid had spent a long time watching the Tower Master. ‘He might have guessed.’
Yugwid shrugged his shoulders.
“Chief Marcelo, in that regard, is rather innocent, is he not? Perhaps that is why the Tower Master still calls him Little Chief. For reference, I am deliberately telling you this nickname because Marcelo has been vexing.”
Vexing, huh.
Even if he had followed the Tower Master’s will, this time there had indeed been aspects of that. Little Chief, thanks to that, I had unexpectedly learned one of Marcelo’s nicknames.
Soon, Yugwid brought up the main point.
“I believe that Chief Lee must know. New wine must be put into new wineskins. This is a new era in which your world and the Arcana Continent are connected. A relic mage like me becoming Tower Master? A hollow elder mage? Not even remotely possible.”
As expected, it was just as I had guessed.
“As Chief Lee said, I intended to leave the Magic Tower. In the midst of that, I set foot on the Arcana Continent, and there I witnessed the path I must take. And when I returned to the Magic Tower…… I saw a method of making my exit in a suitably splendid and fitting way.”
It was not wrong.
An elder mage and a chief mage, both candidates for the next Tower Master, holding a duel, and not only that, drawing even more attention by breaking the rules during that duel……
At least, with my mind, I could not have thought of such a method.
At last, Yugwid released the emission of his mana.
“Then shall we agree that after an intense aerial battle, our match ended in victory for you, Chief Lee? I apologize for making you indulge this old man’s whim, Chief Lee.”
Yugwid raised the corners of his mouth and added.
“No, our next Tower Master.”
At the same time.
Psssss—the mana heart went out, and the golem began to scatter.
Shuuuuuuukwakwaang!
The golem’s remains fell in all directions, creating a thunderous roar. Between them, Yugwid fell helplessly. If one only looked at that scene, it would seem as if I had truly beaten Yugwid to a pulp.
Soon, messages appeared.
[You have won the Proof Duel.]
[Your relationship with the Magic Tower has increased.]
[Your influence in the Magic Tower has increased.]
Click—
I stood upright on my two feet in Sapphire Hall. In the center of Sapphire Hall, which had returned to its original form after the duel ended, Yugwid, who had collapsed, shamelessly got to his feet.
“What a complete defeat, Chief Lee. Even though I broke the rules, I could not reach you. What on earth was that enormous dragon? In any case, it was remarkable. I was surprised in many ways. I truly mean that.”
That strangely excited tone was unmistakably like a mage who had accomplished some sinister goal, Yugwid. Yes, this was why I had said that even if one could know the depths of a person’s heart, one could not guess the depths of a mage’s heart. ‘Two birds with one stone, was it?’
Along with his own retirement.
By elevating me through the Proof Duel.
He intended to have me chosen as the next Tower Master.
Recognized both inside and outside the Magic Tower.
However, regardless of the sense of betrayal I felt, I opened my mouth.
“Yugwid, you violated the strict rules of the Proof Duel. Furthermore, the manifestation of decisive magic within the Magic Tower is forbidden. As of this moment.”
The eyes of everyone present focused on my words.
“Yugwid Lupeng, you are stripped of your position as elder mage.”
The senior mages, including Marcelo, seemed to have expected it. They still wore expressions that said they could not understand, but it meant they were not surprised.
The players, however, were different.
“!!!”
Looking at the players’ wide eyes, I thought.
This will unintentionally spur on another legend, won’t it.
“Yugwid Lupeng, I shall accept that punishment gladly.”
Yugwid lowered his head with a satisfied expression.
You thought that was the end of everything, didn’t you, Yugwid?
But you miscalculated.
You still underestimate me, underestimate Grandfell. ‘Why do you think I played along when I knew everything?’
Because I had an ulterior motive of my own.
Before the shock that had struck Sapphire Hall had even faded.
I continued my declaration.
“Furthermore, I, the Black Dark Dragon.”
“……?”
“Shall withdraw my candidacy from the election for the next Tower Master.”
“……!!!”……No.
It was charismatic, it was full of reversal, and all of that was fine.
But why did the title have to be “I, the Black Dark Dragon,” of all things……!!