◈ Episode 489. Foundation (5)
Flame Emperor.
The one in the Magic Tower who knew the man named Bensch William better than anyone else
was, as a fellow senior mage,
Bangrit, senior of Pure Mana Studies, who had watched him from an equal standpoint.
Yet even Bangrit was in anguish.
“Senior Bensch, just how far am I supposed to trust you?”
A sigh slipped out on its own.
Bangrit had been tormented by Bensch no less than Hoyeol had.
Was this neurosis he had gained thanks to that?
There was no way it would happen.
And yet, he had the illusion that at any moment, the door to his office would burst open
and Bensch would come barging in, scattering parchment everywhere.
—“Senior Bangrit, could you possibly write this for me today?”……
He shook his head again.
With Chief Lee here, who sees through everything, you want me to ghostwrite? He had no desire to be caught in some needless crossfire. Thanks to that, Bangrit had never once taken up a quill in Bensch’s place.
In that sense.
“Really, Senior Bensch is the acting interim chief……?”
Of course, he knew the Flame Emperor’s true worth better than anyone. Among the twenty senior mages of the Magic Tower, Senior Bensch stood out alongside the senior of Black Magic Studies, Lord Matisse.
Considering that Senior Matisse was a mage of the previous generation……
Senior Bensch’s potential
was as good as saying it surpassed even that.
However.
Slowly.
Bangrit’s gaze traced the traces of Bensch scattered all over
his own office.
It seemed none other than Chief Lee himself had once said……
“A person of propriety should leave propriety even in the place where they stayed.”
Senior Bensch William, who had not only torn at his hair but even plucked the feathers from the quill. Senior Bensch William, who had dripped ink everywhere. And finally, Senior Bensch William, who had flung parchment onto the floor……!
Looking at the mess he had made, Bangrit had a thought.
“……
Is this why he entrusted it to him?”
Perhaps Chief Lee intended, through the grueling duties of the chief,
to teach Senior Bensch a lesson.
Of course, Bangrit shook his head.
“No way. Chief Lee would never do something like that.”
He was not someone who would judge things with the thoughts of a petty man like me.
Bangrit shook off the thought.
Perhaps the messy office was making all sorts of thoughts occur to him.
Soon, he shrugged.
“Should I finish cleaning up?”
And so, Bangrit erased Bensch’s traces one by one.
But this time, he really had gone especially far.
Somehow, there were more feathers and parchments scattered about than usual……
“You must have been more desperate to leave the tower than ever……”
Bangrit had thought nothing of it.
“……!”
He froze.
His hand suddenly twitched. It had abruptly come to mind. The times when Senior Bensch had submitted an unusually large number of applications to leave the tower. What had happened outside the Magic Tower then. ‘Didn’t a major incident always happen at times like this……?’ That was right.
Each time, an incident serious enough for the senior mages to leave the tower had occurred. Of course, since someone had to guard the Magic Tower, Senior Bensch had been unable to accompany them in most cases.
Even so, Bangrit did not overlook it.
“Don’t tell me, Senior Bensch, you……?”
Did you instinctively sense what was going to happen and write this many applications to leave the tower each time? If so, Bangrit had no choice but to worry.
Unprecedentedly so.
His office, thrown into disarray by Bensch’s own hands.
Gulp. Bangrit swallowed dryly.
“Just what kind of incident is going to break out……?”*
Even among great magical talents, their direction is bound to differ.
If the talent of Marcelo, founder of Theoretical Magic, was specialized in observation, allowing him to judge all things, including mana particles, rationally and objectively,
then in the case of Bensch William, senior of Flame Magic,
“……
Anyway, I’ll take responsibility!”
it was focused on intuition that surpassed logic and reason.
“To grant full permission to use decisive-battle magic tools, not just to seniors but even to skilled mages? That won’t be brushed aside with an ordinary level of responsibility. Depending on the situation, you might be imprisoned in Mugan for a few days.”
Kiko Armin, senior of Enchantment Magic.
Equipped with a decisive-battle magic tool, she walked down the Magic Tower stairs with Bensch. Sweat seeped into the hand gripping the magic tool. It was not only because of the unidentified golem blocking the sunlight that shone upon the Magic Tower.
“They’re not called decisive-battle tools for nothing!”
It was because she knew better than anyone the power contained within decisive-battle magic tools.
The same was true for Bensch.
Bensch continued as if making an excuse.
“Now, look. I don’t know what that thing is, but isn’t this practically the same as our Magic Tower being surrounded? With Tower Master Marcelo and Chief Lee both absent, the Magic Tower has no room to spare. That means we have to seize the initiative from the very beginning.”
“……
You talk well.”
“Hm?”
“I don’t know. Just make sure you receive your punishment properly later.”
At the word punishment, Bensch flinched.
“Ahem. Still, punishment might be a bit……”
No matter how uneasy he had felt,
had granting full permission to use the decisive-battle magic tools been too much……?
It was because he belatedly looked back on his own choice.
However, Bensch’s reflection did not last long.
“What did you just say?”
Apprentice mage players had been talking.
And from their conversation, he had heard it.
The former elder mage of the Magic Tower.
“The golem surrounding this Magic Tower is…… Elder Yugweed?”
The name of Yugweed Lupeng.
It was from that moment
that Bensch’s momentum began to heat up.
“Fusion Intelligence Entity Yugweed Lupeng……”
To Lord Yugweed, who had left the Magic Tower.
Just what had happened to bring about such a situation……
Kiko, who had been worried, belatedly understood Bensch’s judgment. ‘If that really is Lord Yugweed’s golem.’ If it was Lord Yugweed’s summoned creature running amok for some reason.
Then granting permission to use the decisive-battle magic tools was by no means an excessive response.
All the more so now, with the Magic Tower’s core forces absent.
Kiko’s judgment was absolutely correct....
An urgent call rang out.
“Senior Kiko!”
A member of the Enchantment School, unaccustomed to actual combat.
On this battlefield, I must be a bundle of worries.
But Kiko was fulfilling her role on the battlefield.
The decisive-battle magic tool that shone with light, [Pendant of Interference].
Vooooom.
Using a magic tool that could store and manifest the witnessed process of magical 『Interference』, Kiko was doing her part.
As the pendant shone, the collapsing building began to restore itself.
“Reversal Magic.”
She was manifesting it by borrowing the power of a decisive-battle magic tool, but…… even as she manifested it, she could not understand. Just how could Chief Lee freely manifest such absurd magic?
Ssssss.
It was an interference process so complex and abstruse that the pendant vibrated under overload. The amount of mana consumed in the process went without saying. Signs of mana exhaustion were already beginning to appear.
Of course.
“You overdid it, Kiko.”
“Ah. Senior Bellier……!”
“It’s all right. Take a deep breath.”
Likewise using the decisive-battle magic tool, [Branch of Rest],
Bellier quickly recovered Kiko from her state of mana exhaustion.
Then she looked at the state of the battle.
“Still, wouldn’t you say this is a passing grade?”
The Magic Tower was responding to the Fusion Intelligence Entity while minimizing the damage being caused. It was all thanks to the acting interim chief, Bensch William, who had not overlooked the threat before them and had responded proactively, even granting full permission to use decisive-battle magic tools.
Kiko spoke as if reflecting.
“……
To be honest, I doubted Senior Bensch’s judgment. But I think it had to be Senior Bensch. None of the other seniors would have been able to make such a bold decision.”
Bellier nodded.
“Chief Lee must have foreseen even that.”
It seemed Chief Lee had properly assessed even Bensch’s potential, which they themselves had overlooked. At this moment, Bensch’s performance was such that even the nickname Flame Emperor felt insufficient.
So much so
that even Bangrit’s eyes held a hint of respect.
“This feels unfamiliar, Senior Bensch!”
Bensch William, whose intuition had developed to an extreme.
Even his longing to use decisive-battle magic tools all this time
was as if it had been due to a legitimate necessity.
Fwoooosh.
[Anatosh’s Flame]
The firepower of Bensch, who handled it freely, was beyond imagination. Nasrow, senior of Illusion Magic, shouted urgently to Bangrit, who had been staring blankly.
“Bangrit, the aftermath is coming!”
“Yes, sir!”
“To think I would live to clean up after Senior Bensch.”
Soon, the fingers of the Fusion Intelligence Entity glowed red-hot and then completely melted away. Bensch took on the Fusion Intelligence Entity alone, while the remaining senior mages and skilled mages focused on minimizing the damage caused by him.
Of course.
“Hoo.”
They could not overlook the players’ presence either.
To be precise, they should be called the Great Alliance.
The most influential guild in South Korea without Gaon?
It was unquestionably the Shinhwa Guild.
With Guild Master Baek Iseol at the head,
the Shinhwa Guild focused on rescuing civilians.
Baek Iseol caught her breath and surveyed the battle. ‘So phase one has only just ended.’ It was then.
The mages who had been flying through the air landed around Baek Iseol.
Unlike their usual appearance in plain robes,
the mages were equipped with proper items. ‘As expected, the Magic Tower has never once shown its full strength.’ Certainly, one had to be at that level to advance on the same plane as Hoyeol. Compared to that, I…… Just as Baek Iseol bit her lip at her own inadequacy.
Bow.
Along with a bowed greeting came an introduction.
“I am Cle Odia, a skilled mage of the Healing School! Um, if it would not be rude, may I ask a favor of you, Adventurer?”
“A favor?”
“Yes, please lend them to us!”
All of a sudden? Lend? Lend what?
Aside from Jesse Heinness, there were no skilled mages of the Magic Tower even among the most outstanding rankers. It was surprising enough that a skilled mage was asking her a favor, but to ask her out of nowhere to lend something.
“……”
A leading conglomerate.
The Shinhwa Guild under the Shinhwa Group.
Did the Magic Tower have information about the business world as well?
“How much do you need? Ten billion? A hundred billion?”
When Baek Iseol asked back, Cle shook her head vigorously.
“No! Not that. Your eyes.”
“My eyes…… You mean a ski resort owned by Shinhwa Group?”
“A ski resort? I don’t know what that is, but no! These eyes!”
Tap.
When Cle pointed at her own eyes with a finger, Baek Iseol finally understood. She needed a player’s vision, in other words, system messages.
Baek Iseol answered readily.
“Of course. I will.”
The evacuation guidance for the civilians was nearly finished.
Even without me, they should be able to wrap up the situation.
At her immediate answer, Cle instead asked in surprise.
“Thank you for your cooperation, but…… to be honest, I cannot guarantee your safety, Adventurer. As you can see, we are not in a situation where we can simply be confident either.”
“I’m prepared.”
“……!”
Baek Iseol continued sincerely.
“I should have died at least twice already anyway.”
Wasn’t I the only human in this world who had been possessed by a demon not once, but twice? Perhaps thanks to that, Baek Iseol was not particularly afraid of death.
No, rather, she welcomed this opportunity. ‘If I help a mage of the Magic Tower……’ Then won’t I be repaying at least a little of my debt?
Baek Iseol ran through the forest of buildings, following Cle.
At the same time, she relayed the information conveyed through system messages to Cle.
“The fingers, and next seems to be the arm.”
“The arm?”
“Yes, according to the message, the left arm.”
At that point, Baek Iseol had joined the mages of the Magic Tower.
Thanks to that, Baek Iseol’s words reached the ears of the senior mages clearly as well.
Was that why?
“Wait, what is that light?”
The mages of the Magic Tower were able to grasp early on an abnormal phenomenon that had not occurred on the Arcana Continent. The light flickering from the left hand of the Fusion Intelligence Entity Yugweed.
“Left arm…… Left-handed……!”
Bellier shouted.
“It’s the manifestation of magic!”
That was right.
In life, Yugweed had been left-handed, manifesting magic by moving only his left hand. Unlike the right hand on the Arcana Continent, which had merely flailed about,
the left hand that appeared in reality could manifest magic.
The Magic Tower.
Every member moved to respond immediately.
“Can you determine even roughly how much mana that is, Bangrit?”
“I cannot. It is too vast……!”
“Then for now, we have no choice but to meet it head-on.”
“Is it difficult to manifest Reversal Magic with the pendant, Kiko?”
“For me, reversing a collapsing building is the limit……!!”
However, amid that urgent situation.
“……
Don’t say something insane.”
Baek Iseol’s pupils were trembling dangerously.
Because of the confidential information that had been conveyed through AAU.
No, to be precise,
through the Shinhwa Group’s informant.
“Who, who, who……!!”
Of course.
“Who did you say died on the Arcana Continent……?”
It was nothing more than a misunderstanding that had very nearly turned the world upside down.
Click—
“????!!!!”