Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Chapter 4 Eyelids (20)
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***
Thud— thud—
It was heavy. Fucking heavy. Pulling it out had been a chore, but moving it was an even bigger pain in the ass.
Every time Professor took a step forward, the purple waves pouring out from the mana backlash crystal made the city's mana lamps flicker and die off one by one, blanketing his path in darkness.
‘I need to hurry... but approaching this conspicuously, there's no way the magic tower hasn't noticed...’
It wasn't a lack of strength. He had more than enough muscle to sprint while carrying this thing right now. The problem was his joints.
So there he was, Professor, gingerly walking while hoisting a load on the scale of a massive six-meter steel structure, careful not to jar his knees.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Multiple threat signals pinged from ahead at once. He looked up to see several blobs of water gathering in the magic tower's windows.
"Damn, too much attention after all?"
He was only running a bit behind schedule, but this was way too eye-catching. A massive crystal radiating ominous vibes and spewing purple light from afar, plunging the city into darkness—who wouldn't notice? Even a blind mage sensitive to mana would clock the danger.
Splash!
The blobs, which had looked like mere dots, ballooned in size in an instant. The first one split into seven streams, aiming for Professor's vital spots—
Splat—
They collided with the purple waves and fell as harmless water.
"Heh heh heh... Roman, you're a genius after all..."
Truth be told, the first to discover the value of these mana backlash stones wasn't a player. A mage who researched a substance all other mages shunned. Holding onto the belief that magitech would bring new power to humanity even as he lost the mana he'd painstakingly gathered over years, he carved and refined discarded mana backlash stones. In the end, he invented a device that used their mana backlash field to recharge spent mana stones and even overcompress mana beyond limits to fire it out.
Roman Gacia Manson would become the pioneer of mana backlash stone research in a few years' time.
‘That's what happens when you research a new material all on your own—too many accidents. Like how Marie Curie died studying radioactive elements.’
Splat, splat splat!
Spells rained endlessly from the tower, but everything that entered the mana backlash crystal's range lost its power and dropped. It wasn't blocking them. It was scattering the mana composing the spells entirely.
‘Among the jackpot items Roman makes, there's something called the Dispel Machine. This is like its primitive version, right?’
Thud—
Before he knew it, the magic tower loomed close enough to crane his neck up. At this distance, it should work.
"Huuuuh—"
Looking through the windows at the mages' faces brought back those agonizing days at the Mandalius estate. Days of being helplessly imprisoned, treated like livestock, forced to donate parts of his body.
Finally, the time for revenge had come.
"Heh heh heh... Let's see if you can keep holding up that smug nose of yours without your precious magic!"
Thud, thud, thud, thud thud thud thud!
Acceleration built as Professor pushed forward. He'd been holding back his impatience, babying his legs all the way here. Even if his knees regenerated, he couldn't move carrying this mana backlash pillar during that time.
‘But with the target right in front of me... no need to worry about that anymore!’
As Professor charged, every mana lamp around him winked out, drowning the surroundings in darkness. That darkness swept across the city toward the tower, and the moment its edge touched the tower's rim—
Boom!
Professor kicked off the ground with all his might, his body arcing through the sky with the mana backlash pillar on his shoulder.
The tower's wall rushed closer, revealing the mages' panicked faces in disbelief. This was it. This was what he'd wanted to see. The looks on those mages who strutted around like the world was beneath their feet!
Gripping the mana backlash pillar tight with his shoulder arm, Professor bellowed in ecstatic glee he couldn't contain.
"Fucking Bastard Incoming! Open the damn door, you bastards!!!!!"
KABOOM!
Professor hurtled through the air with tremendous force alongside the mana backlash crystal, then slammed the crystal straight into the magic tower.
***
Even in the city of eternal lights, the mage city of Tovrun, the Leadflow Magic Tower—which shone the brightest—went pitch black.
The eight streams of water still swirled around the tower's surface, but any mage could tell at a glance that its vitality was no longer the same.
Professor, who had ridden the deeply embedded mana backlash pillar into the tower's side, checked his mangled legs and scanned his surroundings.
‘Legs... and waist took a hit too. Regeneration in 3 minutes—no, 4...’
He'd gotten hurt so much lately that he could estimate regen times without checking his status window.
Four minutes. An eternity in this situation, with dozens of mages scattered around him. But he wasn't worried.
"This can't be happening—!"
"Why! Why can't I use magic?!"
"No! Come back! Please! My mana, my mana!!!!"
"Uweeeek! Uwek! Uwweeeek!"
Because every mage in the tower was in exactly this state.
Just then, a soft tea scent wafted over to Professor as he crawled on the floor.
"...Raksha."
"Has the word 'discreet' secretly changed meaning on me? And what's with that weird mask?"
"Yeah, yeah, it turned out that way. It's a tradition from my homeland. People wear these three-hole balaclavas before big jobs. Here, take it. Knew you'd want one, so I got one for you too, sis."
Wriggling out of his tattered pants, Professor pulled out a balaclava soaked in his own blood and made a troubled face.
"Oops. Want mine instead?"
Even gritting his teeth against the pain to crack a joke, Raksha couldn't help laughing despite the situation.
"You're... really impossible to predict, Professor."
"Heh heh. That's my charm, right, sis?"
"Kuku ku. Cocky, but I can't deny it this time."
Helping Professor lean against the wall, Raksha leaned in close, eyes sparkling right in front of his nose.
"Anyway, things got more complicated than planned, so I deserve extra pay, right?"
"Oh come on, can't we settle up after everything's done?"
"Fine by me. I'll take it now."
Smack—
Raksha lifted Professor's balaclava and planted a quick kiss on his ugly lips. Like a light Western greeting, but loaded with meaning.
- Holy : KYAAAAA!!!
- Deer Drug Please : Possible! Gaaaaah! Kaaaaak! Nyaaaaah!
- Take a Look : They say treasure hides in the most dangerous seas! Professor slayed the peril of lovesickness and found the treasure!!!
- Soy Sauce Gaybar : Best work-life balance of the era! Best work-life balance of the era!
- Gunpowder and Blood : Ahem! Uh, how do you do screenshots again?
Professor's mind went blank. What? What just happened? Something soft? A flower? What?
“Wha... whawhawha...”
"Oh my, don't look at me like that with such a cute face. It's making my heart flutter."
"Th-this... what..."
"Hmm, call it a down payment?"
"...Down payment?"
"Yeah, down payment! Planning to collect a lo~ot more extra pay, but the situation and place aren't right now?"
Raksha covered her mouth with her hand, flashing that signature crescent-moon smile.
"Stay put there? We'll pick this up after the job's done?"
With that, Raksha left a massive shock in Professor's mind and vanished like smoke.
***
A few minutes later.
*bonk*
- Soy Sauce Gaybar : Professor, your leg's almost fully regenerated.
*meow*
- Soy Sauce Gaybar : Professor, leg's all good now? Time to work? Ain't over yet?
"Uh... yeah... work... gotta work..."
- Jokass : That's why cherries are trouble. Hey! Professor! No thinking—just stick your head out the window!
"Uh, uh..."
Following the viewer's words without a thought, Professor stuck his head out the window.
Splash!
Outside, the streams climbing the tower shook unstably, sloshing back and forth across the wall. The cold water sensation snapped Professor back to reality.
"Puhahak! U-uh! Sorry! Passed out for a sec!"
- Jokass : Works like a charm.
- Take a Look : 'Passed out' my ass lololol well played, you cherry bastard.
The viewers teased him, but this time Professor couldn't fire back. Damn. First kiss with a game character. But that sensation felt as real as it gets. The warm, soft touch and scent, the hot breath, and...
.
.
.
.
Splash!
"Puhahak! Uwaaa! Focus! Can't focus!"
- Gunpowder and Blood : Sorry, but that memory's sticking with you till the moment you die.
- Jokass : Gorum gorum. They say a man's first love and first kiss are etched into the soul.
Finally, after dunking his head in the water three times in a row, Professor came to his senses.
"Ugh, let's work. Gotta do something to survive."
Shaking his head as he stood, the first thing he saw was the mages tied up in a neat row like dried herrings. Looked like Raksha had subdued the panicking ones as she passed.
"Time for the aggro-pulling troops from the west gate to return, so I should secure the tower lord and prep for negotiations..."
As Professor ambled toward the upward stairs,
Crackle! Kra-kra-crack!
A noise that shouldn't come from above echoed down.
He could tell just from the sound. Water magic, for sure—something unknown, but definitely hydro spells.
Magic being cast meant someone strong enough to overcome this massive backlash field and still cast. And up there...
"Damn, Raksha!"
Crack!
Panicking, Professor gave up on the stairs, squeezed out the window, and started climbing the tower. Hanging from the outer wall at the top floor, he sensed magic aura just beyond. Gripping the wall firm with his right hand, he smashed his left into it with full power.
Krrrack!
The magic tower, stripped of all defensive spells, was just a crumbling old building. The wall shattered under Professor's fist, revealing a gasping Raksha, Count Mandalius, and his disciples.
***
Crackle!
As soon as Professor poked his face through the hole in the wall, a blue whip tore through the air toward him.
Slash!
"Urk!"
Defying inertia like it didn't exist, the whip turned a perfect right angle midair, sliced off Professor's wrecked left arm in a flash, then snapped back to its owner.
Something yanked the stumbling Professor—who nearly fell outside—back inside. Thin silver threads like spider silk wound around his body.
Elder Spider silk. No need to guess the owner.
"You're better already? Quick."
It looked like a fierce exchange in the short time; Raksha's complexion wasn't great.
"All I got is brute strength and that. Situation?"
"Hmm, sorry, but it's pretty bad. The small fry below are all neutralized by the mana backlash crystal, but the biggest pain in the ass is still kicking."
Professor eyed the mages while sidelong-checking Raksha's condition. No visible wounds, but blood spots mottled her exposed arms, legs, and skin.
"So you're the infamous one. Red Mutant."
Isaac stepped forward amid the chanting mages. No trace of urgency on his face.
"When I heard rumors of a talking mutant, two thoughts hit me: pity, and disbelief. Couldn't believe a mutant could act so intelligently. Never seeing it myself was a lifelong regret."
Looking at Professor standing beside Raksha, now missing an arm, Isaac's cold face bloomed into a smile.
"But you walked right into my lair."
Crackle! Crackle crackle!
Behind the count, dozens of thin water streams rose. The whip-like stream that had severed his arm upon entry—no, dozens of them—writhed behind Isaac's back.
***