Chapter 287: The Secret Magic Tower
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 287: The Secret Magic Tower
“Get ooooout!!!”
The change in his demeanor was so drastic compared to what we’d seen before that it was utterly bewildering. At the sound of his voice, Goff slowly lowered his fists. The deafening roars that had been shaking the magic tower moments ago naturally began to fade, and a strange silence settled over the area.
“Hmm… What’s going on…”
“Don’t give up, Goff! You have to forge a path!” Broken Bow shouted at Goff as he lowered his hands.
Something about the atmosphere was shifting. It was because of Isaac’s continuous tirade and his agitated voice.
“I will not forgive you bastards!”
“How… How dare you! What do you think this tower is!”
“I will curse you all!”
The mood of the group, now shrouded in silence, was incredibly strange. Their perception of Isaac as a respectable human Archmage was beginning to change.
This is dangerous.
I had no choice but to think this was extremely dangerous. Until now, this dungeon expedition had been a joyous affair, with the Green Skins forcing their own grand meaning onto it. If Isaac’s image crumbled like this, it could create problems for our objective.
“Get… Get out of my house right now!”
To be honest, I could understand why his spectral remnant was saying that. Isaac’s Secret Magic Tower was a dungeon, but it was also his tomb and his home. I didn’t know its exact purpose, but his use of the word “challengers” implied he meant to pass on his legacy or had some other goal in mind. To exaggerate a little, he could have been searching for a successor, or perhaps an item of supreme power awaited us.
He was looking for a master he could acknowledge, one who passed all his trials.
From his perspective, it was as if a bunch of bizarre freaks had barged in and were wrecking his dungeon. It was no wonder he was angry.
First, we had completely shattered the gate on the first floor.
The chimeras on the second floor were no more.
The magic soldiers on the third floor could no longer function.
The outer walls of the fourth floor were also completely collapsing.
The trials of wisdom he had created were being bypassed in the most absurd ways.
But none of that was important right now. It might have been a crucial problem for Isaac, but from my standpoint, I couldn’t care less what happened to his dungeon-tomb-home. My first priority was to calm down the wide-eyed Green Skins.
Goff had stopped his assault, and Storm Shadow naturally turned to look at Park Ah-jung.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“I… I’m not sure. I don’t have much experience with this sort of thing… This is the first time I’ve ever encountered a spectral remnant. And to see one react like this…”
Of course, she had never seen or heard of such a case.
Even I had never heard of a precedent where a dungeon master screamed at challengers to get out. As the situation unfolded, Choi Seulgi also looked at me and spoke.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. I think he’s angry…”
“Well… I’d be angry too. He probably thought of this place as his home… We’ve smashed his house to bits and made a total mess of his trials…”
The atmosphere was growing more and more tense. I had no choice but to offer a vague explanation.
“If you do not leave this instant! I will bring down a great punishment! I will stake my very being on it!”
He talked big, but as a spectral remnant, he couldn’t take any other action. A spectral remnant was similar to a soul. It couldn’t act outside the parameters set by its master before death. He had probably never imagined a situation like this, so his reaction was only natural. In any case, his incessant screaming prompted the Green Skins to suddenly hold an emergency meeting, and one by one, they began to voice their opinions.
“Isaac’s condition is strange… Is this also part of the trial?”
“One could think so… but I have no idea what kind of trial this could be.”
It wasn’t a trial to begin with, so of course they couldn’t grasp it.
A seed of doubt was sprouting in the expressions of the chieftains, including Storm Shadow. In the end, I had no choice but to take a step forward and speak. I felt it was right to make a preemptive move before the problem grew any larger.
“He’s been corrupted.”
“Hmm…”
“Huh?”
“Corrupted, you say…”
“What…”
All eyes focused on me. Even the Archmage Isaac let out a groan.
“It seems the Archmage Isaac has been corrupted. He must have been alone in this place for an unfathomably long time. No matter how outstanding and great a mage he was, it would have been difficult to maintain his sanity for so long. This… must have been his limit…”
I had never heard of a spectral remnant being corrupted, but it didn’t matter since none of them knew any better. Mages powerful enough to leave behind a spectral remnant after death were not common. It was impossible for Park Ah-jung’s clan members, and difficult for even the most high-level mages on the continent to achieve. I thought Choi Eunju might be able to, so I glanced at her, but her pupils were shaking violently.
Seeing her expression, I realized it immediately.
Spectral remnants don’t get corrupted.
But I had to push forward.
“Hmm… Is that so…”
“Yes. Perhaps this dungeon is a prison Isaac built for himself, to contain his corrupted form. Or there might be some other reason…”
“Nonsense! No spectral remnant can be corrupted! The only reason I am reacting this way is because you bastards are not worthy of being challengers!”
“Listen closely to his voice… It’s truly tragic. No corrupted being ever admits to their own corruption. They inherently wish to hide it. That is surely not what he truly means.”
“You… You…!”
Before the flustered Isaac could even speak, everyone was nodding. It had definitely worked.
“Hmm… I see… If I imagine being trapped alone for so long… I think it would have been incredibly difficult for me as well. Hundreds of years… no, thousands?” Earth Wave muttered, and Silver Fang continued.
“He’s gone mad… How heartbreaking… Occasionally, even among Green Skins, there are those who are completely consumed by their feral nature… It seems the Archmage Isaac is such a case… You can tell by how agitated he is. I can say with certainty. That man is not in his right mind…”
“The Archmage Isaac was likely unable to overcome his own greed. I don’t know the reason, but… it seems we need to approach this trial with more gravity.”
Watching them debate amongst themselves, I couldn’t help but nod.
I felt a little sorry for Isaac, but I had succeeded in giving them a new objective. I looked around and saw them nodding with grim determination. Just then, Goff posed a rather sharp question.
“If he knew he would be corrupted, I’m curious why he created a spectral remnant in the first place.”
“There must have been some special reason. For Isaac, this must have been a gamble… His race is different from ours, but he was still a great man hailed as an Archmage. There’s no way he did it without a reason.”
“Is that so…”
Thankfully, Black Spear shut down Goff’s question at its source. I nodded as I watched them.
“Black Spear is right. He may have been overconfident in himself, or perhaps it was meant as a check against a greater threat… Isaac did not trust the future generations of humans.”
“Hmm…”
“You can tell just by looking at the state of the continent now. We are surrounded on all sides, and new threats approach us with every passing moment. Isaac…”
“…”
“The Archmage Isaac knew he would be corrupted, yet he left behind his spectral remnant with tears in his eyes. He must have made a gamble to pass on his beliefs, his thoughts, and everything he had achieved to a future generation. Humans have always brought about their own ruin, so it’s no wonder he was so worried…”
“Blood Dagger is right. If Isaac had trusted the future generations of humans, there would have been no reason to create such a trial. Humans destroy one another. This trial is a selection process to bestow his power upon a true warrior he acknowledges. Even while suffering such humiliation… Isaac was thinking of the future generations of humans until the very end.”
Earth Wave also began to back me up. I nodded my head roughly.
Everything was flowing perfectly.
“…”
Isaac was completely silent. I didn’t know if it was because he was dumbfounded or utterly baffled, but in any case, he said nothing. For some reason, I started to think that Earth Wave might have actually hit upon the right answer.
“What an honorable human…” Storm Shadow added his support.
“Get out now… Spectral remnants do not get corrupted, and not a single thing you are saying is true!”
He kept repeating his demand to get out, to the point where it was starting to get on my nerves.
“From now on, let us pay no mind to Isaac’s words. It seems he is begging us to free him quickly. I can hardly bear it…”
The mood was a bit somber.
It was complete nonsense, but it was a surprisingly novel and passionate backstory. An Archmage who, knowing he would be corrupted, left behind his legacy for the sake of future generations. And the story of those future generations passing his trials to finally accept that legacy… even I had to admit it sounded pretty good.
“That’s not it!”
As Isaac continued to deny it, Goff raised his voice.
“Rest easy now, Archmage Isaac! I, Goff, will do my utmost to free you from your suffering!”
Nodding, Goff raised his fists once more, and a thunderous roar echoed through the tower again.
BOOM!!!
BOOOOOOOOM!!
“Take… Take your hands off my dungeon this instant!”
“Don’t listen, Goff! Forge the path! We must free Isaac quickly! He is crying out in agony!”
I had no idea when they had started caring so much about Isaac, but things had gotten heated. The Minotaur Earth Wave and a nameless Ogre from the South also rolled up their sleeves. Even some of the humans seemed to have been taken in, as they began striking the wall with their own weapons.
“For the Archmage Isaac…”
“Hmm… He is a great man worthy of our respect. I must give this dungeon expedition my all.”
Amidst the quiet silence, the deafening booms continued to echo. Watching the scene, Choi Seulgi spoke to me.
“Damn, Kim Taesung, you’re a smooth talker…”
“Hmph…”
No more words were necessary. A strange sense of guilt washed over me, so I deliberately turned my head away. All the while, the group continued their efforts to break through the door.
“Kuwwoooooooooooar!”
BOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Not long after, the door to the fifth floor opened, and a cheer erupted. The humans, no longer afraid of Goff, rushed toward him, and Goff gave them a thumbs-up.
“Uwooooooooooaaaaaaah!”
They had achieved something by joining forces. It might not have been the outcome the Archmage Isaac wanted, but I nodded and smiled.
This expedition… has found new vigor.
I felt like we had gained something quite significant from Isaac’s sacrifice.