Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 111
Nam-gung Cheon became a single streak of shadow as he tailed the Watersnake Folk.
The place Nam-gung Cheon arrived at after following the creature was the industrial district on the outskirts of Atlantis.
On the surface, it appeared to be a factory processing seafood or minerals, but Nam-gung Cheon immediately recognized that this factory was a den of crime.
He could tell what was inside without even looking.
'An hideout in such a shabby place. They've put quite a bit of thought into this.'
"......"
The Watersnake Folk cautiously looked around to see if anyone was following.
CLANG-.
Eventually, the sound of him closing the old iron door and entering echoed low in the alley.
Nam-gung Cheon confirmed which factory building the creature had entered, then with swift movements climbed up the wall and entered through a ventilation shaft on the roof.
The interior of the factory, entered through the ventilation shaft, was as expected - complexly intertwined like a maze.
After passing through deceptive warehouses and processing workshops visible through the wire mesh below his feet, he soon began to hear faint groaning sounds.
"Uuugh."
Eventually, he faced a horrific scene at the end of a passage reeking with musty mold.
Beyond the creaking iron bars, in each cramped prison cell, Sea Folk stared into space with unfocused eyes, drugged.
That wasn't all.
He could also see slaves of minor races huddled together, trembling finely in terror.
Rusty iron chains were wrapped around their skeletal wrists and ankles, and filth and vomit were scattered here and there nearby.
Just from this treatment alone, one could clearly predict what kind of things happened here.
'These damn bastards......'
As Nam-gung Cheon was gritting his teeth at the scene visible through the wire mesh below his feet.
The voice of that Watersnake Folk came from below.
"These are the newly arrived goods. Brainwash them well and have them ready by tomorrow morning."
"Yes, master."
Led by the hands of subordinates, Sea Folk women who seemed to have been captured and slaves of various races entered the prison cells one by one.
Then followed the work of stripping away reason and resistance with drugs and magic, and turning them into playthings or labor through brainwashing.
Nam-gung Cheon's fists trembled with rage.
As he had expected, this place was not simply a drug den.
It was a living hell that trampled on human dignity and exploited even souls.
He had been wandering the world as if fleeing because he couldn't bear to see such sights, yet the same things were happening everywhere after all.
"......"
Nam-gung Cheon suppressed his anger and waited for the watching eyes to disappear.
Eventually, after the subordinates left the prison.
PAT-.
He opened the ventilation shaft and landed on the floor, choosing as his first rescue target a Sea Folk woman who was curled up in a corner, breathing laboriously.
He approached the iron bars of the prison where the woman was confined and cut the rusty lock with a dagger he drew from his chest.
PING-.
The lock broke with a blue flash of light.
PIBIBING-.
Nam-gung Cheon continued to swing his dagger, cutting all the locks of the prisons in the room.
"......"
The victims sat blankly on the floor without even thinking to leave despite the doors being opened.
They seemed unable to think normally.
At this rate, he couldn't take them out.
Nam-gung Cheon gritted his teeth.
'Damn it, if only Rin were here.'
If it were Rin, she could use Taoist arts to help them regain their reason, or somehow get them out through hypnosis.
She shouldn't have followed that guy.
'There's no choice.'
He had no option but to support them one by one and take them outside, or find other sane people to help.
If anyone got in the way during the process, he'd eliminate them all.
"HEUP-CHA."
Just as Nam-gung Cheon, having made his decision, was about to break the woman's chains and support her to escape the prison.
PAT-. PABAT-.
The magical detection barrier installed on the wall suddenly emitted blue light, and simultaneously the entire corridor became as bright as broad daylight.
Nam-gung Cheon reflexively hid the woman behind his back.
Soon what blocked his path were Watersnake Folk emanating a murderous aura, different from the one he had followed.
And in front of them stood a Seadragon Folk with a pair of bizarrely curved curved swords at his waist.
The creature licked his lips with his long tongue and flashed his eyes sharply.
"Well, well. A little rat has been following us."
'Seadragon Folk.'
Similar in appearance to the Sea Folk but twice as large in build, with a large tail resembling a sea dragon and elaborately raised gills like helmet decorations that caught the eye.
Nam-gung Cheon looked at the creature and tilted his head as if puzzled.
"How?"
The 20th floor wasn't such a low floor, but there weren't many skilled enough to notice Nam-gung Cheon's infiltration techniques.
Yet in this backwater suspicious human factory, there was someone who noticed his infiltration?
At this, the Seadragon Folk bared his sharp teeth and laughed.
"KEKEKE, your infiltration skills seem quite good, but this is Atlantis. Do you really think a foreigner crawling on land could fool us?"
"......Ah, right."
At the creature's words, Nam-gung Cheon recalled one fact.
'Come to think of it, the magical properties of this place were different from other floors.'
Although Atlantis was underwater, it was protected by barriers, allowing climbers to breathe and move easily without difficulty.
So naturally that they didn't even realize they were underwater.
But that didn't mean this place wasn't underwater.
As such, ordinary movement techniques or infiltration arts found it difficult to erase their traces.
When you swim underwater, that movement spreads as waves, so wouldn't movement techniques and infiltration arts naturally spread waves too?
'Moreover, this is their field.'
He had heard that within the barrier, the Fish Folk had fewer movement restrictions compared to ordinary seawater and could move quickly as if riding currents.
They wouldn't be such easy opponents.
'If I struggle here, my nickname would cry.'
This worked out well.
These bastards' actions were so disgusting he was about to vomit, so if they were crawling out to die of their own accord.
'If you want it, I'll kill you. I'll kill them all here and proudly rescue the innocent and leave.'
Nam-gung Cheon's eyes flashed with killing intent.
BINGLE-.
Eventually, the dagger that rotated once around Nam-gung Cheon's finger.
PUEOK-.
"......!"
Embedded itself in the forehead of the overconfident Seadragon Folk.
"Attack!"
The battle began with the Watersnake Folk's shouts.
***
Atlantis harbor. Foreigner lodgings.
Nam-gung Cheon, who didn't return even long after the promised time.
Nam-gung Rin glanced out the window repeatedly, then gave up completely and let out a deep sigh.
"......Why isn't he coming back?"
To her question that was almost a soliloquy, Seo-jin answered calmly while reading a book.
PALLANG-.
"He's probably meddling somewhere again."
Given his personality, if he saw some injustice, there was a high probability he couldn't stand it and intervened.
Since he was exploring the underworld of Atlantis where all sorts of things happened, it was sufficiently predictable.
He was probably stirring up trouble here and there, playing the chivalrous hero.
But Seo-jin didn't think that was a bad thing, nor was he particularly worried about Nam-gung Cheon's safety.
He had sent him out to rampage to his heart's content in the first place, and he trusted his skills.
Besides, if he struggled against the 20th floor natives with that much power?
That would be his limit.
Even if he died, it would be a natural death.
Since Seo-jin wasn't particularly worried, Nam-gung Rin also felt at ease.
"HAAH."
'Right. It's not like brother stirring up trouble here and there is a new thing, so what's there to worry about now.'
If she stopped worrying, he would return grumbling as always.
But while she as his younger sister might think that way, she couldn't understand how Supernova...... Lee Seo-jin could be so calm knowing something about her brother.
Nam-gung Rin swallowed such questions and looked at the book Seo-jin was reading.
"What's this?"
"A book I received from Leila. It's literature related to the Tears of the Sea God."
The legacy that Sea God Pontos left in Atlantis, the Tears of the Sea God.
It was said that hoping for the unification of the oceans, he mixed the blood of twelve races with his own tears and refined them into one.
What was created this way was the Tears of the Sea God, and to protect that artifact, to carry on Pontos' will of oceanic unification, the city established was this Atlantis.
But the current Atlantis had become a symbol of broken covenants.
Only the appearance was a city of unification; its interior had festered like pus.
"Then looking at that literature, is there something that comes to mind? Like a solution?"
Seo-jin shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know about a solution...... but if by any chance we can't find the Tears of the Sea God, I'm thinking of making a new one."
"What?"
Nam-gung Rin tilted her head as if she had heard wrong.
Seo-jin continued speaking calmly as if there was nothing strange to think about.
"Why? Is there something that can't be made if we have the materials? Looking into it, most of the materials for the Tears of the Sea God can be obtained in Atlantis. Even the main ingredient [Pontos' Tears] is stored in the temple, according to Leila."
It's just that the Sea Folk lack the ability to make it; the conditions for making it are actually met.
TEOP-.
As Seo-jin closed the book, Nam-gung Rin asked, stammering.
"Th, th, then wouldn't everything be solved? Right?"
Nam-gung Rin asked if everything wouldn't be solved if they re-manufactured the stolen Tears of the Sea God.
Seo-jin nodded.
"Not everything would be solved, but most of it would be. The barrier would return to normal, and the isolation decree would be lifted too."
Seo-jin's group could lift the isolation decree as originally intended and easily climb by clearing the world quest.
However.
"Even so, the conflicts between the races remaining in this city would stay the same."
Seo-jin's eyes sank coldly.
Even if they made new Tears of the Sea God and placed them in the temple, not everything would be solved.
Rather, it wouldn't be strange if another theft incident occurred at any time.
'No, the theft incident is just a kind of trigger.'
The Seadragon Folk might already be preparing for war against the royal family.
That civil war would occur in this city was proven by past history.
Climbing without solving this problem couldn't be considered true climbing in the real sense.
As Seo-jin revealed such aspirations, Nam-gung Rin asked cautiously with half expectation, half doubt.
"Does Supernova...... intend to solve that?"
What created the current fame of Supernova was his fast climbing speed, but more importantly, his excellent track record.
The long-troublesome Demon Tree was subjugated, darkness was driven out from lands of only death and ashes, and spring was brought to lands of only winter.
Each of these was an achievement difficult for anyone to easily accomplish, yet he worked miracles wherever he went.
Perhaps such a miracle could happen in this underwater city too.
To Nam-gung Rin's question about whether he could solve the conflicts between races, Seo-jin slowly shook his head.
"I can't guarantee it. But I can try."
He couldn't be confident that he could achieve true unification or harmony.
Being confident he could do that would be arrogance.
However, he could cut out the rotting parts and drain the pus.
That was Seo-jin's way, and the Black Mage's way.
Furthermore.
'If you're a climber, then in a climber's way.'
That was the method to solve problems.
***
Outside Atlantis' barrier.
GOOOOO-.
The black strait where massive marine monsters roamed freely.
A massive fortress located in those deep depths. The Seadragon Folk's city, Abyss Hall.
The ruler of this city and chieftain of the Seadragon Folk, president of the Black Scale Trading Company, Lunaria.
She leaned against the armrest of her chair and smiled at the foreigner standing before her.
"The preparation of the Dragon Soldiers is going smoothly. Just supply the drugs without disruption. There's nothing better for keeping the underlings quiet."
A foreigner man who appeared to be from a corporation bowed his head.
"Of course. Submarines are arriving one after another even now, so don't worry about the supply quantity. But when do you estimate the timing of the great undertaking?"
At his question, Lunaria's eyes hardened.
The great undertaking referred to the rebellion against Atlantis' royal family.
The foreign corporation's purpose was to drive out the existing royal family, conservative about reform and opening, and use the Fish Folk's labor to mine Neptune from underwater mines.
But her purpose was not such a lukewarm thing.
'Hah. Atlantis and such.'
A symbol of oppression built upon the blood and death of other races. She had no intention of ruling it, and it didn't matter if it was destroyed.
The Seadragon Folk had already learned how to live in harmony with marine monsters.
But separately from that, the item called 'Tears of the Sea God' was quite useful for achieving Lunaria's purpose.
KWAAK-.
The blue crystal in her hands.
The purpose that could be achieved through this was naturally.
'The revival of Lord Leviathan.'
In ancient times, the true ruler of the seas who disappeared from this world due to Pontos' disgusting surprise attack.
She eagerly awaited the day when the Seadragon clan would once again become masters of these oceans together with that being.
That was all she desired.
'This Tears of the Sea God is a seal preventing that being's return.'
To completely release this seal, she needed the blood essence made by melting the upper altar of the highest priest among the royal bloodline, the most excellent one.
Her alliance with the foreigners would last only until then.
As the conversation between Lunaria and the foreign businessman continued.
Several of Lunaria's guards moved busily.
"What's the matter?"
At Lunaria's question, the guard bowed and answered.
"Nothing major to concern yourself with. There was just a small commotion at the outer 'farm' we manage."
"A commotion."
Lunaria's eyes narrowed.
Had the temple knights moved perhaps?
No. They would be busy maintaining the barrier.
Then the only ones who could cause a commotion would be foreigners.
To brazenly enter the city and cause a commotion even during the isolation decree, they must be no ordinary people.
At such an important time as now, there must be no variables. They needed to be quickly eliminated or made into allies.
Lunaria quickly finished thinking and gave her orders.
"Nereus. Lead the action squad to find the cause of that commotion, subdue them and bring them here. And contact the gatekeeper at the harbor. We need to examine the list of foreigners who recently entered Atlantis through submarines."