Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: An Alliance of Black and Red
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Sometime later, at the Imperial Academy.
In the lecture hall for the highest division of the 3rd Circle. The one waiting for the students on the platform was not the usual 4th-Circle professor.
“Ah, it is a true honor to see you all.”
A handsome, red-haired man of such beauty that even other men would be captivated. The greatest red mage on the continent, who had reached the realm of the 8th Circle, and the pinnacle of the Red Magic Tower.
“……!”
The Master of the Red Magic Tower, Lord Crimson, Marquis Yuriseu, was there.
“For today, in place of your usual professor, ‘my lesson’ will be held.”
At the sight of him, the students bowed their heads in unison, their faces filled with astonishment. The renowned Master of the Red Magic Tower himself was going to teach them! What greater honor could there be?
“Just a short while ago…”
Lord Crimson continued impassively.
“Right here, a most unfortunate incident occurred.”
He was speaking to the students of the ‘highest division of the 3rd Circle,’ who knew the truth of what had happened to Leonard Walter that day.
“……”
Dale’s expression turned cold.
‘Is he finally going to show his true colors?’
Why this man had summoned him here. Why he had sent twelve Purifiers to attack him.
“Leonard Walter was a student who held great promise. Everyone here was busy trembling and bowing their heads before him.”
Lord Crimson continued, his shoulders spread in an exaggerated gesture.
“To a mere vermin who doesn't even possess a scrap of talent.”
An inscrutable smile spread across his face, and for a moment, the air grew frigid.
“Well, let’s stop talking about insignificant insects. What I will be teaching you here today is…”
Lord Crimson continued without a care.
“History.”
He smiled like a characteristically dramatic actor.
“Is there anyone among you who knows of the Black-Red Brigade?”
An unofficial unit established during the Unification War between the Black and Red Magic Towers for the purpose of ‘academic inquiry and cooperation.’
“During the empire’s Unification War… it was a symbol of the bond between the two towers of Black and Red, who joined forces for a ‘single purpose.’”
The terrible, unvarnished truth of the Black-Red Brigade flowed from Lord Crimson’s lips.
—The cruel reality of those who had abandoned all human decency under the pretext and cause of pursuing power and truth.
As the unspeakable secrets of the Black-Red Brigade were laid bare, the students’ expressions filled with horror at deeds that would make even a demon weep.
“Why do you all look so displeased?”
Lord Crimson tilted his head as if he couldn't understand.
“Are those who wish to become mages of the Red Magic Tower feeling guilty over such trivial things as morality?”
He spoke as if he genuinely couldn't comprehend it.
“The Lord Black was just like you.”
“……!”
Lord Crimson continued.
“He was bound by petty morality and abandoned the path of seeking the truth.”
It was a story Dale already knew.
After the war ended, the empire had secretly tried to keep the organization active. Even if they were a demonic unit, the ‘academic achievements’ gained through their evil deeds were valuable enough to justify the risk.
But Dale’s father had disbanded the Black-Red Brigade on his own authority.
The ‘bond between Black and Red’ had come to an end, and the records of the brigade vanished into history.
“But you, Lord Dale, are different.”
Lord Crimson turned his head.
“In your talent and your deeds, Lord Dale, I have seen the true ‘image of a Master of the Black Magic Tower.’”
“……”
“Is it not so? In truth, the trash here are but vermin who lack even a scrap of talent.”
He paid no mind to the shocked students around him.
“Compared to them, a demonic talent that cannot be compared to the insects of this place…!”
Lord Crimson continued.
“The infamy and cruelty of the ‘Black Prince’ that people speak of have left a great impression on me.”
He spread his arms in a deliberately exaggerated gesture.
“You, my lord, will one day stand at the pinnacle of the Black Magic Tower. And you will lead its system according to your will.”
Lord Crimson asked.
“Will you not join forces for a new bond between Black and Red?”
Lord Crimson continued.
“Will you not seize ‘ultimate power and truth’ with me?”
Only then did he understand.
What Lord Crimson desired was Dale’s talent, and at the same time, a new bond between Black and Red.
“……”
Dale remained silent. If he were to refuse the offer here, what decision would Lord Crimson make?
“Regrettably.”
After a moment of thought, he let out an inward laugh.
“My father is still far too healthy to be discussing the future.”
“Ah, you need not worry about that.”
All emotion vanished from Lord Crimson’s face. At the same time, he snapped his fingers.
The world around them distorted.
With Lord Crimson as the epicenter… ‘Lord Crimson’s world’ unfolded, just as Leonard’s had. But this was no catastrophe born of a runaway ego. This was a mental barrier, manifested by a high mage, entirely under his own will and control.
The world of the mage who stood at the pinnacle of the Red Magic Tower revealed itself.
The other students were nowhere to be seen. Lord Crimson’s world permitted only Dale’s presence.
It was then.
Snowflakes began to fall.
In the mental world of the man called the greatest red mage on the continent, snowflakes were scattering? Dale watched the flakes land on his palm, unable to hide his bewilderment. Then he realized.
They were not symbols of winter, carrying a chill.
They were ash.
Ominous ash filled the sky, scattering down.
A sky dyed gray. He turned his head. And then, he caught his breath. It was an incredibly familiar scene. How could he ever forget?
Ruins and ash lay before him.
The wreckage of shattered skyscrapers. Crushed cars. Like a landscape after a nuclear winter—
The ruins of a city turned to ash stretched out before him.
“……!”
“A truly wondrous and magnificent world, is it not?”
Lord Crimson spoke, the ruins of another world behind him. Dale, not knowing his intentions, feigned ignorance and remained silent.
“In this world, they erected steel towers in every street that no stone guild on the continent could imitate, and steel dragons unleashed flame magic of a level that even I dare not approach.”
Lord Crimson turned his head, and several fighter-bombers tore through the sky. Soon, a flash of light erupted beyond the horizon.
A nuclear strike.
Flames of annihilation engulfed the area, and a mushroom cloud rose into the air.
To call that the flame magic of a steel dragon. It was a misconception so absurd he couldn't even laugh.
As the nuclear explosion raged, a world-tearing shriek echoed out. A colossal form, visible even from across the horizon, rose to its feet. Tentacles, each several kilometers in diameter, thrashed wildly before finally falling silent.
“Behold this great empire of fire and steel that subdues even those titans.”
At Lord Crimson’s words, Dale struggled to suppress the laughter that threatened to burst forth.
“That is the ultimate power and truth we mages have so desperately sought.”
“Is that why you summoned the Hero from Another World?”
“That being was a complete failure.”
Dale asked cautiously, and Lord Crimson replied coldly.
“He was somewhat useful as a soldier, but he was nothing more than a grunt who couldn't comprehend a single truth of the great empire of fire and steel. There was no truth to be gained from him.”
Laughter threatened to erupt again. The one who understood nothing wasn't the Hero from Another World, but the greatest red mage in the empire standing right before him.
‘Good. This is for the best.’
And yet, amidst the indescribable hatred, a single conviction and a sense of elation filled Dale’s heart.
This man truly knew nothing.
That the one standing before him, Dale, was the very being who had inherited the truth of that empire of fire and steel.
Lord Crimson believed there was no truth to be gained from the Hero from Another World. In a way, that was true. Dragged to an unknown world and suddenly pressed to chant the ‘flame magic shown by the steel dragons,’ there was no answer he could have given them.
But upon realizing that magic existed in this world, and that it was the power to give substance to the mind’s image…
For Dale, who had attained enlightenment as a mage, projecting the concept of a nuclear weapon was by no means impossible.
Therefore, suppressing the laughter that threatened to burst forth once more, Dale replied coldly.
“…Is that why you summoned me here? To once again attain ultimate power and truth through a bond between Black and Red?”
“Indeed.”
At Dale’s words, Lord Crimson nodded and smiled.
“So please, take your time and think it over. Ah, I do not mind if it is even after the Lord Black’s passing.”
“……”
“To me, time is a truly fleeting thing.”
With those words, Lord Crimson snapped his fingers. No, he was about to.
“Oh, and by the way.”
Lord Crimson turned his head as if he had just remembered something.
“It seems Lord Walter of the Burning Blood is grinding his teeth in fury at you.”
“……!”
“He, too, was once one of the commanders of the Black-Red Brigade.”
He said it as if it were of no consequence.
“Furthermore, His Majesty wishes for the number of those who know the ‘real truth’ of the Black-Red Brigade to be reduced by at least one.”
His Majesty. At that name, Dale’s expression froze once more. But the emotional turmoil lasted only a moment.
The real truth of the Black-Red Brigade.
The story Lord Crimson had told the students was merely a fraction of it. The empire was not one to be so flustered over mere ‘cruel biological experiments’ as to silence people.
“But even so… it would look quite bad to dispose of a Tower Elder directly.”
For an elder of the Red Magic Tower to attack the heir of the Black, who was staying in the imperial capital for the sake of exchange between the towers.
He was not a man who would fail to understand the weight of such an act.
“This is, in the end, a deal.”
“……”
“I do not mind if you refuse this deal and leave the capital. However, if you accept.”
And so, Lord Crimson spoke with a quiet smile.
“I promise to pay a fitting reward.”
With those final words, Lord Crimson snapped his fingers. The landscape of the ashen city vanished.
Lord Crimson’s world disappeared, and he was once again in the academy lecture hall with the students.
“Well then, until we meet again.”
Lord Crimson turned his back. Dale, left behind in the hall, quietly held his breath.
“……”
A silence fell. A very long and desolate silence.
***
That night, at the Lord Black’s mansion on the outskirts of the imperial capital.
Having already dismissed his escort knights, Dale was there to fulfill his part of the deal with Lord Crimson.
There, he recalled the world Lord Crimson had shown him.
The ruins of a city, turned to ash and crumbled to dust. A post-apocalyptic world, like a scene after a nuclear winter.
“……”
Dale bit his lip so hard it could have bled. It was then.
*CRASH!*
A sudden explosion rang out. But even that blast couldn't erase Dale’s thoughts. He simply rose quietly from his bed.
As if he had been waiting for this very moment.
“Dale!”
Simultaneously, the voice of the 6th-Circle elf mage, Sephia, was heard.
“Lady Sephia…”
Dale quietly called her name.
“So you were here, you damned brat from Sachsen.”
And then there was a man blocking their path. Dale turned his head. Just as Marquis Yuriseu had foretold, he saw the man grinding his teeth.
“The Sachsen brat who dared to ruin my son…”
With the chaotic wreckage of the mansion behind him, the elder of the Red Magic Tower and 6th-Circle red mage spoke.
Walter of the Burning Blood.
He, unable to contain his rage, let his red mana flare. Seeing this, Dale let out a dry laugh.
It was amusing that he didn't even realize he was a butterfly caught in a spider’s web.
The butterfly was caught in the web, and just as the spider was about to rise and devour its prey.
“Stand back.”
Sephia stepped in front of Dale.
Her crystal-colored hair scattered as the 6th-Circle elf mage and elder of the Blue Magic Tower.
“Did I not promise you?”
Sephia said, her back to Dale.
“That I would protect you.”
Sephia replied, accelerating her six circles, finally unleashing her full power to protect Dale.
“So the stories were true, that an elder of the Blue Magic Tower had taken refuge with House Sachsen.”
Walter of the Burning Blood replied coldly at the sight.
“It matters not. Since Lord Crimson has given his permission, no one will stand in my way.”
Hearing those words, Dale couldn't hold back his laughter. The man’s predicament was just too amusing—he didn't even realize he was nothing more than a discarded pawn.
“Don’t worry, Dale.”
“…Thank you.”
Sephia spoke, and Dale simply smiled.
The two high mages of red and blue finally began to unfold their worlds.