Chapter 163
Chapter 163
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: The Ancient Librarian
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* * *
Overseeing the Tower's test as the proxy for the Master of the Black Magic Tower was one thing, but this was a trial he had to face regardless.
Having turned fifteen, and with the powers of black, red, and blue mana as his foundation, he had even acquired the ability of Thermal Engine Projection for the Shadow Lord's avatar. Dale's current rate of growth was at a level where even the title 'greatest genius in the Empire' felt insufficient. Nevertheless, watching the battle between the Immortal Duke and the Black Duke that day, he had come to a bitter realization.
He was woefully insufficient.
He had to become stronger.
Even if he somehow managed to obtain the power to stand on equal footing with a transcendent powerhouse, what they had displayed that day was a marvel in itself, making even such powerhouses look like children fighting.
The sovereigns who ruled this empire, and the true power they wielded.
No, what the two Sachsens had displayed that day was by no means their full power. Yet even that clash of wills was a domain far beyond his reach.
Officially, the masters of the five Magic Towers stood at the continent's apex. But beyond them, how many more unknown powerhouses existed, like Frederick, the Immortal Duke of the 'Shadow Magic Tower'?
Just like the former masters of the Black Magic Tower and heads of House Sachsen who now served under the Immortal Duke—the Eldritch.
How many other sovereigns remained silent within the empire?
He didn't know. He remembered the countless powerful foes he had defeated as a hero, but even they were merely the tip of the iceberg.
Therefore, there was only one thing Dale could do. Become stronger. The Tower's test was the most direct path to obtaining that strength.
Though Dale was mastering and wielding various abilities, the ultimate foundation of his power was the mana circle etched upon his heart.
A genius mage who had reached the 4th Circle at the age of twelve.
Now, the time had come to test the fruits of the training he had steadily accumulated through countless battles and experiences.
The time had finally come to break through the barrier before him.
The barrier of the 5th Circle.
* * *
The top floor of the Black Magic Tower.
“Lady Eris.”
As Dale arrived to undertake the Tower's test, the one who greeted him was the secretary of the Master of the Black Magic Tower, the Agent Eris.
“Ah, Lord Dale.”
Eris smiled professionally, her monocle glinting as usual, as Dale gazed at the throne on the highest floor, a seat reserved only for the Master of the Black Magic Tower.
The throne of the Master of the Black Magic Tower.
“Would you like to sit?”
As Dale stared at the seat, Eris asked.
“How could I dare sit in such a place?”
“Officially, Lord Dale, you are the Master's proxy. Furthermore, as the heir to the Master of the Black Magic Tower, you are more than qualified to sit there.”
“...”
After a moment of silence, Dale cautiously stepped forward as she suggested. As she said, it was true that apart from taking the test, he was also acting on behalf of the Master of the Black Magic Tower in his duties...
‘I suppose there's no harm in sitting down.’
Sitting on the throne of the Master of the Black Magic Tower, Dale looked up.
It didn't feel much different from when he had sat on the throne in Duke Sachsen's castle.
Simply by sitting there, as if he were watching through a hundred eyes, scenes from all across the Black Magic Tower's domain came into view.
“Lord Dale, it won't be long before you officially take that seat for yourself.”
Seeing Dale on the Master's throne, the Agent of Black, Eris, spoke.
“I hope so too.”
Dale smiled, looking slightly embarrassed.
“No, it is not a matter of your hopes, my lord.”
But Eris coolly shook her head.
“It is the destiny you must bear as the heir of House Sachsen.”
“...”
“Furthermore, please leave the task of supervising the test to me. It is my duty as secretary to handle such matters in the Master's stead.”
Eris continued.
“I hope you will simply focus on proving your own achievements.”
“Thank you, Lady Eris.”
Hearing her words, Dale quietly nodded his head.
His father, the Black Duke's, secretary, and at the same time, a 7th-Circle black mage with the rather embarrassing nickname, 'Princess of Darkness'.
Officially, she was a high elder who held the second-highest rank within the Black Magic Tower, after the Black Duke. Though she appeared to be an intelligent and cold woman in her early twenties, her prowess was surely not something that could be achieved in so few years.
“In your opinion, Lady Eris, do you think I can reach the 5th Circle in this test?”
Dale asked, as if seeking guidance from another master of black magic.
“Well.”
Eris tilted her head, her monocle glinting.
“That is something I cannot know.”
Her voice was as businesslike as ever.
“Then, shall we test it?”
It was then.
The Agent of Black, Eris, asked a question of her own.
“Is that as the 《Princess of Darkness》?”
Dale asked in return, deliberately using the name she held as a '7th-Circle black mage' rather than her title as the Agent of Black, the Black Duke's secretary.
“...”
But at that moment, Eris's expression behind her cold monocle twitched slightly.
“To be frank, I do not care for that name.”
“Ah.”
Hearing that, Dale fell silent, realizing his mistake. To be honest, even he found the name a little embarrassing to say out loud.
“I, for one, don't think it's that bad.”
“Is that so?”
As Dale tried his best to humor her, Eris asked back icily.
“...To be honest, I suppose it does sound a little embarrassing.”
“...”
Eris replied with a frigid silence.
Simultaneously, the seven mana circles around her heart began to accelerate.
“Be consumed by the darkness.”
As a torrent of pitch-black mana swirled, Eris murmured lowly.
At the same time, the surrounding scenery began to sink into darkness.
‘A mental landscape...!’
The mental landscape manifested by a 7th-Circle archmage.
It was a forest of thorns.
A world of thorns, where sharp branches stretched out in all directions, swallowing the area like vines.
Within that forest of thorns stood the 'Princess of Darkness'.
“Facing powerful opponents in the Tower's test will certainly be helpful. But frankly, the chances of you, Lord Dale, achieving the '5th Circle' that way are slim.”
Dale held his breath at Eris's words.
“Your mastery of the 4th Circle is so refined that you could face the Tower's elders without being at a disadvantage. Furthermore, considering the power of your grimoire and your avatar, this is even more true.”
“...Then what should I do?”
When he first reached the 3rd Circle, Dale had made the impossible possible by forcibly prying open his inner world.
After that, he achieved the 4th Circle by borrowing the power of his father, the Black Duke's, grimoire, Death.
Dale's method of expanding his circles was nothing like that of an ordinary mage. Eris understood his situation perfectly.
“As one who assists the Master of the Black Magic Tower, it is also a secretary's duty to guide his heir.”
Eris stated calmly, adjusting her monocle. The forest of thorns stretching in all directions began to squirm as if it were a living creature.
“The 'Tower's test' is worth taking, if only to establish your position within the Black Magic Tower. However, to truly unlock the next circle, a more... special test will be required.”
“A special test?”
Eris nodded silently.
“I heard that you encountered the Immortal Duke, Frederick, in the lands of the Demon King's Territory.”
At her words, Dale drew a sharp breath.
“Then you must also know the secrets of the old heads of House Sachsen and the Eldritch... and the truth beyond that. Is that not so, Shadow Lord?”
“...!”
“For generations, I have watched countless heads of House Sachsen, and I have seen them grow into the Masters of the Black Magic Tower.”
Dale could only hold his breath at Eris's continuing words.
“Among them were those who accepted death of their own will, and there were also those who rejected death and left for the land beyond, where the Immortal Duke resides.”
“Lady Eris, you can't mean...”
“When the Immortal Duke, Frederick, left for the demon world following the 'strangers from beyond,' his son and a small number of the Black Faction resolved to remain here in the Sachsen territory.”
Eris said.
“I, too, was one of the Black Faction who resolved to stay.”
An identity Dale could not have possibly imagined.
A black mage who had survived from time immemorial.
“And I carry out the duty of a librarian, organizing and accumulating the wisdom of darkness built up by the heads of House Sachsen over generations, and preserving it so that their legacy may be passed on to the next.”
The Ancient Librarian.
“You don't mean to say, Lady Eris, that you taught my father?”
“Becoming the Master of the Magic Tower is not something that can be achieved with the knowledge or wisdom accumulated in a single generation.”
Eris said.
“For a being that cannot be called human, like the Lord of Fire and Blood who rules the Red Magic Tower, such things are meaningless. But as long as you and the Black Duke remain 'human,' bridging that gap would be nigh impossible.”
“But my father...”
He possesses enough power to stand against the Lord of Fire and Blood, and even the Immortal Duke, without falling behind. Wasn't he, too, one of the sovereigns who ruled the empire?
“Don't tell me my father is also—”
“He is an ordinary man who has just reached the age of forty.”
But Eris quietly shook her head.
How, then, could a mage barely in his forties stand at the pinnacle of the Black Magic Tower and possess power rivaling ancient beings?
“As I said, that is my role.”
The key to that answer stood before Dale.
“To the heads of House Sachsen, who in their own lifetimes could only gather the knowledge of a single era, I transmit the knowledge that has been accumulated and organized across generations.”
As a mage from the era of the ancient Black and White Magic Towers, who sided with the Black Faction alongside the Immortal Duke, Frederick.
Another immortal, who remained in the frozen lands of Sachsen to pass on that legacy to the heads of the house for generations.
“Is that the will of the other Sachsen, the Immortal Duke, Frederick?”
Dale asked coldly.
“To turn the heads of House Sachsen into his Eldritch subordinates, so that he can one day overthrow the Golden Empire and establish an Empire of Shadows?”
Was the Duchy of Sachsen nothing more than a training ground for raising the Immortal Duke's forces from the very beginning?
When his thoughts reached that point, all he could do was let out a hollow laugh.
“Have you seen the heads of House Sachsen who became Eldritch, obtained immortal lives, and now train in the darkness of the demon world?”
At Eris's question, Dale shook his head.
“Among them, only about three, including the Immortal Duke himself, could possibly defeat your father. No, even they could not guarantee victory.”
“...!”
“Isn't it strange? That beings who can endlessly refine their magic through an immortal life would be defeated by a mere human.”
Dale could not answer.
“But that is the power of a human.”
Eris continued without pause.
“And I believe in your resolve 'not to abandon your humanity'.”
“...!”
“The decision is ultimately yours to make, my lord.”
Eris asked.
“As the heir to the Black Magic Tower, are you prepared to inherit its darkness without forsaking your humanity?”
It was a question not even worth answering.