What the Hell Is This?
“How much time do you think has passed outside?”
As he passed through the dimensional rift and headed out, Kim Sung-tae wondered. He had no idea how many days he'd spent in the secret training room. Still, since it had been quite a while, at least an hour must have gone by out there.
“My lord, what magic do you plan to learn?”
“Offensive magic, obviously.”
The quintessential spell that came to mind when one thought of magic. The one he hadn't been able to properly manifest with his physical strength alone.
'Gotta ask them to teach me Fireball.'
Fireball, of course. Wasn't it the representative spell that popped into everyone's head when they thought of wizards? He wasn't into playing with fire or anything, but he really wanted to learn that pinnacle of magical fantasy.
“But first, I need to grab some food.”
“I-I'm sorry, my lord.”
Garba flushed red. She bowed her head in guilt for interrupting her lord's precious training.
“It's fine. Ah, we're here.”
The door to the secret training room came into view in the distance. Sung-tae and his group let the flow carry them toward it. He pictured Aurelie waiting for them and opened the door—but the scene outside was utterly unexpected.
“......We did come out in the right place, right?”
“There's only one exit, so this must be Yuglatsil.”
“You don't think the storm carried us to a battlefield, do you? Like some other world's warzone.”
No matter how many times he blinked, the world didn't change. Accepting reality, Sung-tae began examining what had happened, one thing at a time.
He first looked at the door they'd just exited. The door that had been installed in Aurelie's lab was now buried in ruins amid chunks of white marble.
“Did a war break out or something?”
The world was red. He wondered if blood was coming from his eyes and rubbed them repeatedly, but the crimson world remained unchanged. Fox rain like blood poured down relentlessly, staining the untouched ground and world, filling the air with a foul stench that wrinkled his nose.
“Ehehehe!”
“Hehehe!”
“Kuhuhuk!”
And the sounds? Against the backdrop of soft rain patter, mad laughter from people and wails that seemed to rip out their very souls filled the quiet world. As if silence was a luxury in this red realm, as if hellish screams and groans of agony were what suited it.
“These people...... are they all White Tower mages?”
Their scarlet robes, soaked up the red rain like cotton, still held a faint fresh white, barely identifying them as White Tower mages. But upon closer inspection, it wasn't just White Tower mages. Mages from all over the city were rolling through the ruins, laughing maniacally, crying, raging, despairing, or staring blankly.
In this scene capturing every joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure at once, Sung-tae couldn't help but doubt how long he'd trained.
“How long...... were we in there?”
“About three days.”
“Three days. So roughly an hour out here.”
An hour wasn't short—it was enough time to do a lot. Enough for a meal, a nap to soothe a tired body all morning, commuting to the canyon for pleasant chit-chat with others, or reading a bit more of yesterday's book.
“Yeah. Plenty of time to do a lot. You can do a lot in an hour, but......”
You could do a ton, but not start a war. Magic might make it possible, but for a war to erupt out of nowhere like this? The city lay in ruins like it'd been carpet-bombed in that single hour—what the hell had happened? Sung-tae's curiosity was piqued.
And the final boss of that curiosity floated in the sky.
“What the hell is that?”
It was a moon. Not the ordinary yellow-glowing one, but a red moon. Like they'd dragged Mars in to replace it, covered in red sand and glowing crimson. The red moon hung not in distant space, but right over the city, asserting its overwhelming presence.
“Whoa.”
The red moon's surface was even more grotesque. Black tentacles sprouted like blackheads, wriggling wildly like seaweed tossed by ocean currents. The shaking tentacles tangled together, turning into black spots covering the surface.
Sung-tae grimaced at the sight.
“Gross. Is that thing why everyone's gone nuts?”
Then, two figures caught his eye. White and black lights darted around the red moon, firing blasts. Focusing on them, he recognized them.
“One's Aurelie. Who's the other?”
Sung-tae had never seen the Black Tower lord's face, but since he was with Aurelie, he figured an ally. The enemy to smash was the red moon. The two were hurling magic wildly to destroy it, but the black tentacles swatted it all away.
Swatted? The moment magic touched the tentacles, it vanished, absorbed like energy.
“Hmm. That moon's definitely the enemy.”
“My lord. What shall we do?”
“Why ask the obvious?”
Golden threads poured from his black gauntlets.
“We help.”
＊＊＊
“Our attacks aren't landing at all!”
Huwiger bellowed, nearly a sigh, as he poured magic onto the red moon. He still had plenty of mana left, but hammering an opponent immune to magic was driving him to despair.
“Just a bit more. We can't give up now!”
“It depends on the foe. And this ain't normal.”
[From the depths of the abyss where He crouched, He awakens. All mortals who behold Him in their eyes shall be swallowed by their own madness.]
“......Hear that? Called us madmen.”
The monster amid the black tentacles. That bizarre book floated above its head, a black hole spreading across the moon centered on it. With the monster's roar, the red moon appeared—and the moment it did, every mage in the city went insane. The two tower lords knew they'd have to handle the enemy with their own power.
“Where the hell's that Red Tower bastard at a time like this!”
“Probably wandering the world again. Enough about absentees—think of a way to take that thing down.”
“What's the point? It's absorbing our magic and the hole's growing faster.”
The hole widened on its own, but magic accelerated it. An ominous premonition gripped Aurelie. If the hole grew more, something irreversible would happen.
“What if we hit it with magic too powerful to absorb?”
“Fuse our mana again?”
“Yes. No gaps—blow away the moon and it in one shot.”
“Think it'll work? Can we even destroy a moon that size?”
Their fusion magic was mighty, enough to level a city. But a massive moon over the city? Doubtful.
“No way to know without trying.”
“If we fail...... the hole opens fully.”
“Ugh! Then we gotta do it quick.”
Aurelie pressed her temples to soothe her pounding head. Resisting the red moon's mana driving the city's mages mad, but insanity was creeping into her mind. Her vision blurred, the world crumbling. The red world showed the apocalypse she feared, but her strong will and spirit barely pulled her out. Huwiger beside her staggered too.
“Kuh. You too? Hurry.”
“If we don't destroy it, we're done.”
[The Creator gazes upon the world, and all this is but His dream. Angels! Blow your trumpets! When He awakes from slumber, the world shall vanish like a soap bubble. Aid His deep sleep with majestic trumpet blasts.]
“Quick!”
Their mana fused, forming a gray sphere. Unlike the first, knowing this was their one shot, they drew every last drop for the final attack. No more words. Barely flying on fumes.
The sphere hurtled toward the red moon.
“This way!”
Aurelie, summoning her final strength, teleported them to the city with Huwiger. Just before escaping, she thrust her hand at the moon.
“Cough!”
“You......!”
A dimensional barrier enveloped the red moon. Unlike the ten layers before, one layer—but immense in size and thickness. Using such mana-intensive magic with reserves empty, she vomited red blood and collapsed upon landing.
“Why'd you do that?!”
“If we just...... destroy the moon alone...... it won't end there...... That wall...... can stop the city's destruction......”
“Kuh.”
Supporting each other, they looked up at the red moon to see their all-out gray sphere destroy it.
But......
“Ahh!”
“No good, huh.”
Black tentacles devoured the gray sphere. It should've exploded, blasting them—but the tentacles absorbed the explosion, even the tiniest vibration, feeding the hole.
[He has savored your fear deliciously—worship Him! Revere Him! Kneel!]
The book's voice echoed across the city. Not to ears, but straight to minds. The red moon fully engulfed in the hole, turning black.
And then......
“What the...... hell!”
From the black hole's abyss depths, red eyes peered down on the world.
Huwiger shuddered. Meeting those red eyes brought endless despair that could shatter souls. If gods existed, that was one—an evil god, or god of destruction.
“Ehehehehe!!!”
“Grrrk! I wanna die. Ahh!!!”
Mages' screams heightened, burying the two tower lords, crushed by despair without mana left, slowly dying.
“Is this...... the end?”
“There you are.”
A man's voice pierced the despair. Aurelie forced her eyes open with all her might. The one man who might resolve this crisis. Her last hope.
“What the hell happened here?”
“Kim...... Sung...... tae......”
“You look in bad shape. Hmm. Take this at least.”
Sung-tae, who'd spotted the white and black lights and rushed over, sprayed golden thread at Aurelie. Thin as spider silk, but it restored her depleted life force and mana.
“This is......”
“Heh. See? Now I can handle mana too.”
Checking her status, Sung-tae looked up at the black moon—and the emerging horrific entity of unknown origin—extending his hand.
“Wanted to learn magic, but no time now.”
His golden life force threads overlapped in midair, moving by his will and thoughts.
“Just think it, right?”
＊＊＊
Magic was a special skill requiring talent and effort. First, sense mana. Geniuses could do it alone or with minimal help; most ordinary folk couldn't, even with effort. If plain mana was hard, how much harder was life force mana, tough even for mages?
“First, sense the mana......”
Sensing that life force mana? Trivial for Sung-tae after visiting his inner world.
Second, draw out the mana. This effort-heavy stage dropped most aspiring adventurers or mages unless dead set on one or two spells.
“Then, move it.”
A water pillar surged skyward from Sung-tae's inner world. Without Mukkebi pinpointing the pillar and force application, or the White Tower's secret room, impossible short-term.
“Into the form I want. Strongly wish for that will......”
Finally, infuse mana with imagery and manifest it—the final step. Sound easy? Mana was a real substance; shaping it freely was hard. Hence incantations: chant matching spells to reinforce imagery and activate. Most mages used this, letting ordinary folk with the first two steps cast too. Spell-less magic? Only veteran masters or heaven-blessed geniuses.
“Magic activates.”
The golden threads in Sung-tae's palm coalesced and transformed. He knew: his mind transcended this world's standards, not just body. In the fight with Sloth, its weird attack induced only drowsiness thanks to his iron will—should've been eternal sleep. And the emotional broadcast at first meeting the demon kings: they caught his feelings, despairing like broken humans. So, magic should work too!
“Fireball...... Fireball!”
Muttering the image repeatedly, the thread ball of his golden life force began to blaze. Simultaneously, the horrific entity in the black moon opened its maw with the monster's book.
[I have come. The world has only annihilation left. Creation is the child of destruction; the old era fades, a new world dawns!]
“Man, shut up. I'm concentrating.”
“M-my lord. Just smash it......”
“Wait a sec. Almost there.”
Dangerous-looking foe, but Sung-tae was chill. Worst case, magic fails—punch it. He just wanted to see his secret room fruits.
Terrifying life force that could save lives. How strong would its magic be?
'Still, probably won't one-shot it, huh?'
Just a fireball. Wanted stronger, but unsure of power control, so fireball it was.
“Ooh! Got it!”
The golden thread ball fully ignited, becoming a flaming sphere—the Fireball he'd yearned for.
“Finally, magic for me too!”
“Hey! Whoever you are, you think a puny Fireball takes down that monster?!”
“Dunno who you are, but watch. It'll be awesome.”
The watching Black Tower lord scoffed incredulously, but Sung-tae trusted his power. Hopefully one-shot.
“Go! Fireball!”
From his hand, a small Fireball.
Flew toward the black moon in the sky.