Outer God (7)
They called it the Taboo Repository. That mysterious space in the basement of Ma Tower apparently lived up to its name to a tee.
"It's a place where they seal away anomalies too dangerous to handle."
"..."
Ma Tower was a seriously powerful organization. Sure, they'd been robbed twice in a single month—once by me, once by the magic hunter bastards—and shown a pathetic side, but that wasn't the norm. They'd fended off a few invasions and even been breached before, but they'd never been fully conquered.
"No idea. Everything just keeps going wrong and getting tangled up."
"Hmph."
This could be that land dog bastard's doing too. If it could manipulate prophecies, who knew if it could mess with fate itself?
Anyway.
Ma Tower was a powerhouse, so they had to have tons of sealed anomalies down there. Immortal freaks, indestructible foreign objects, incomprehensible oddities. If even one got loose, it'd cause massive chaos, so they'd layered on the seals thick.
"...What happens if those things break free?"
"Each one's more dangerous than a nuke, for sure."
"Haha."
Obviously, if they escaped, society would descend into total pandemonium. Ansan would go to hell, and if things went really south, the whole country could be in trouble.
No way it'd come to that.
Of course, I didn't think a single break-in would unseal everything. They weren't idiots; their defenses wouldn't be that sloppy.
A few might get nabbed, though.
But the monster that wiped out most of the Ma Tower wizards? A guy like that could probably snag several taboos no problem.
"Gotta hurry."
No time to hesitate, then. If nothing had been stolen yet, I had to stop it. If it had, I needed to interfere before they could do anything with it.
"Get out of here on your own."
"Sticking around would just get in the way. Got it. I'll evacuate the remaining wizards to the grand hall. The zombies on the lower floors are all cleared out by me, so it should be safe. Oh, and one more."
I called over Kim Gwa-jang, who was grinning slyly with his scythe in hand.
"If you don't wanna get chewed out, head down now."
"Hmm... What to do...?"
A massive battle was about to go down here soon. The whole Ma Tower could take damage, and if it went really wrong, the tower itself might be done for. It was that serious, so leaving Kim Gwa-jang behind felt off.
"Not joking—get the hell out."
"Nue..."
Kim Gwa-jang flashed a sleazy smile, but he deflated when I shoved a magic circle in his face. That should do it. He pulled pranks all the time, but he knew when to bail.
"Let's go."
With all preparations done, I headed underground. I'd smashed every obstacle on the way up, so going down was a breeze.
"Lady Witch! You're back!"
"I knew you'd make it."
[Grind.]
I ran into my waiting companions on the first floor. Sweet of them to stick around, but a huge fight was about to erupt here any minute. I summed up the urgent situation for them.
"So, you all need to scram."
"Not my fight. Understood."
[Grind grind.]
The three nodded without protest. They knew they couldn't help. They prepped to leave right away, and just in case, I cast defensive spells on them.
Then Yi Min-yeong approached and handed me something.
'This is from the chairman for you.'
'?'
'And my contact info. Call if you need me—I'll come running.'
A small wooden box and a note. The box held something like a black calming pill, and the note had her number. No clue why, but I nodded anyway. Better to heed the words of schemers and prophets—it kept you alive.
"See you all on the other side."
"...Sounds like a curse."
"Take care of yourself, Jin-seok."
[Grind grind grind.]
And with that, I parted ways with the three. Ma Tower was now completely empty of survivors. There might be a few hiding if you looked hard, but handling the crisis at hand was way more important than hunting them down.
"..."
I headed in the direction Yu Hana had mentioned. About five minutes in, I reached stairs that looked bombed out—totally different from the assaulted hallway.
Countless security spells, and wreckage from brute-forcing through them. Even I would've struggled; I was dying to know how they'd punched through.
"Deep as hell."
The stairs down were endless. No lights, pitch black, and with every step, the mana density thickened. The vibe screamed danger below.
"Ho."
At the bottom, an underground labyrinth unfolded. Stone caverns lined with massive stone doors. Beyond them lurked all sorts of horrific traps—some rooms gave off seriously creepy vibes.
But that wasn't the priority now.
"That one?"
I eyed a corner of the circular chamber. A stone door should've been there, but now it was just a round hole. Someone had ripped the whole thing off and gone in.
From beyond came a torrent of mana and a faint bloody scent.
"..."
I slipped through the hole—slowly, but not too slow. Beyond was a long corridor, bombed-out like the stairs. Traps shattered, guard monsters slaughtered.
"Interesting."
The path the intruder took was fascinating. Clearly one person, but dozens of spells used. Some I even recognized—like the hunter's slashing magic and body transformation spells.
"What the hell is this guy?"
People could barely master one thing well. Magic, the pinnacle of mystery? Forget it.
I could only snap off spells thanks to Go-seo; otherwise, it'd take decades of training. Yet this bastard wielded dozens?
"Hmph."
Two possibilities came to mind. Either the intruder had some special ability, or they were a divine being.
Unlikely, though. Not like stray cats—two mythics storming Ma Tower?
'If things go south, I leave it to you.'
[Finally, my time to shine!]
But 'never say never.' I entrusted my back to Shin-nim just in case, feeling her warmth as I advanced down the corridor.
"..."
How far did I go? The destruction grew wilder, twisting space itself. Thick barriers shattered, powerful traps halted mid-activation. Like admiring fourth-dimensional art.
"Insane."
Even crazier: this wasn't temporary. Not a spell warping space briefly—it had rewritten the fundamentals. Like turning an apple into a strawberry forever. Still an apple at core, but eternally strawberry.
[Just super-strong space magic, right?]
'Pretty much.'
To a wizard who'd reverse-engineered it, space was like clay. Mold it at will, smash if unsatisfied. Not fun for the humans living in it.
"We're here."
[Thump thump.]
After the long corridor, I finally reached the massive warehouse holding the taboos. Spacious, but not endlessly so. The attacker had to be somewhere inside.
"Hm?"
As I scanned for the intruder, something weird caught my eye. Space crumpled like wadded paper. In the center: a middle-aged man.
"Not the attacker."
I recognized the face. When I'd faced off against the land dog bastard, Ma Tower's chancellor and professors had interfered. This was one of them.
"Got wrecked by the attacker, huh?"
The professor was crushed in the warped space. Upper body free, but lower half shredded to bloody pulp. Mana depleted—survival odds slim.
"Urk... You...?"
"You with us?"
Even half-dead, the saga-rank wizard clung to consciousness. Pupils shaky, sweat beading, but he focused on me and spoke clearly.
"The outer god I saw before..."
"I'm not a god."
"Did you come because you foresaw our failure?"
"Not a god, I said."
Hanging by a thread, he ignored me, rambling on. But I wasn't annoyed. No point lecturing a dying man.
More importantly, I committed every word to memory.
"No time—quick rundown. The intruder's a priest who worships the 'Key and the Door.'"
"..."
"Definitely after something sealed here, but I don't know what."
The professor faded as he spoke—coughing blood, blacking out briefly. Each word burned his life force, yet he shared enemy intel.
"Wields countless spells. No point strategizing."
"..."
"Watch for space manipulation. Instant kill, no prep."
With that, he lay back, head on arm, eyes closed, ragged breaths. I watched in silence, then spoke.
"You did good. No more tragedy here."
"A god's oracle... feels damn satisfying..."
He died with those words. I didn't know his life, his magic, or why he'd come. Just one resolution.
"God or whatever—I'll kill it."
Kill the freak disrupting my peace. That was all I thought as I headed deeper into the warehouse.