Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 34
FLICKER-.
The Eye of Insight revealed itself at Seo-jin's call.
Lubal swallowed nervously as he stared at the grotesque eyeball summoned in mid-air.
"What, what is that ominous thing? It's like a demon's..."
Having lived as a grave keeper and seen all sorts of corpses and undead, this was the first time he'd seen something so ominous.
It wasn't the first time someone had been frightened by the Eye of Insight, so Seo-jin shrugged as if it were nothing.
"It may look like this, but it's not dangerous, so don't worry. It's actually a very useful item."
Having reassured Lubal, Seo-jin closed his eyes and infused mana to activate the Eye of Insight.
FLASH-.
The Eye of Insight connected to Seo-jin's vision.
The flow of mana around him, usually invisible, spread out before his eyes like an X-ray.
Through that vision, Seo-jin carefully examined Lea's affected area.
'Indeed.'
The mana circuits intricately gathered around Lea's head area.
Lea's upper dantian was excessively developed compared to ordinary people.
The development of the upper dantian was a talent optimized for professions like priests, spirit mages, and onmyoji.
But there were side effects to this as well.
'She reacts too sensitively to external mana influences.'
The 4th floor, where the entire level was filled with the Lich King's lingering thoughts, could be considered a dangerous environment for such a girl.
Lea's injury was a kind of divine illness caused by the Lich King's lingering thoughts.
Seo-jin examined Lea's affected area and asked Lubal.
"Has the child ever suffered from fever or anything like that? And then started seeing ghosts afterward?"
Lubal's eyes widened as he stammered.
"H-how did you know that?"
"Aha. My guess was right. Then I can treat it."
CRACKLE-.
The Eye's vision gradually dimmed due to insufficient mana.
But he had gathered enough information.
[The proficiency of the Eye has increased.]
Seo-jin put away the Eye of Insight and reached out to touch Lea's affected area.
TWITCH-.
"......"
When Seo-jin's hand touched her, Lea trembled slightly in fear and closed her eyes.
"Don't worry. You won't have to hide that pretty forehead anymore."
Seo-jin reassured Lea and began operating his mana.
HISS-.
The Lich King's lingering thoughts that had eroded Lea's upper dantian over a long period.
Fortunately, instinctive defense mechanisms had protected her brain so there were no mental issues, but the thoughts that couldn't penetrate had adversely affected the skin on her face.
Scraping away malignant mana that had clung to the body over several years without side effects was an extremely difficult task.
However.
'Not for me.'
Seo-jin was a specialist in that field.
There were few beings in the Tower who could perform this role better than Seo-jin.
HISS-.
The flow of Lea's mana circuits transmitted through his hand.
Having already grasped the circuit structure with the Eye of Insight, he could treat her as clearly as if he could see it.
TWITCH-.
The Lich King's lingering thoughts, which possessed mana of a completely different dimension from what had tried to erode the skeleton's will before.
He could feel the condensed malice that had tormented a single girl for years.
Seo-jin slowly extracted that mana and transferred it to his right arm where his own mana circuits were engraved.
SIZZLE- CRACKLE-.
The Lich King's mana sparked red lightning over Seo-jin's arm, causing a rejection reaction.
Seo-jin gritted his teeth and held that mana within his body.
'Originally, absorbing another's mana into one's body is taboo.'
This was because the rejection reaction could burn out one's mana circuits if one wasn't careful.
Therefore, only an extremely small number of climbers learned mana techniques like Absorption or Mana Drain.
CRACKLE-.
"Kugh."
Seo-jin endured the pain and carefully analyzed the convulsing Lich King's mana.
'So this is how it worked.'
Through the high-concentration mana extracted from Lea, Seo-jin learned the principle by which the Lich King wielded power over this land and controlled corpses.
If he could reverse-engineer this, it would be of great help in subjugating the creature.
While calmly analyzing the mana.
SPARK-.
The Lich King's mana suddenly convulsed and tried to invade Seo-jin's brain like lightning through his mana circuits.
"Kugh."
Before the mana could penetrate his brain, Seo-jin quickly extracted it and threw it to the ground.
SCREECH-!
The lump of mana, like a blackened, rotting mass of blood, writhed for a moment before evaporating and disappearing.
Seo-jin narrowed his eyes as he watched.
'This isn't... just simple lingering thoughts.'
The common analysis was that after the Lich King's subjugation, his lingering thoughts remained and continued to affect this floor.
But this was incorrect information.
'He's still alive.'
He had merely shed his physical form.
He was clearly alive, dwelling in the ley lines of this floor.
Perhaps this was an even more threatening and powerful state than when he had a physical body.
Having finished his thoughts, Seo-jin checked Lea's condition.
"How is it?"
Lea touched her head area with a somewhat bewildered expression.
"My, my head doesn't hurt."
Indeed, just removing his mana had caused the festering skin to gradually heal.
Not only that, but the blackened blood vessels had also returned to normal.
This hadn't been a physical disease to begin with.
Though scars still remained, they would heal completely in a few months.
Lubal knelt down, embraced Lea tightly, and expressed his gratitude to Seo-jin.
"H-how can I ever thank you..."
"Thanks aren't necessary."
It hadn't been purely out of goodwill that he'd treated her.
Moreover, while treating Lea, he'd gained clues about the structure of the Lich King's necromancy and the creature's true identity.
DING-.
[You have achieved the 'Quack Healer' achievement.]
On top of that, an achievement he'd unintentionally earned.
Seo-jin spoke with a wry expression.
"Now that I've treated Lea, let's go to the village inside the castle together."
"Y-you don't need to go that far. The village people's affairs..."
"I'm not doing this for that reason. I have business with the village's ley lines. Guide me."
***
Under the gloomy sky, the village square where he'd arrived with the Lubal father and daughter.
Though it was a village where hundreds lived, the atmosphere was utterly desolate.
Even the ticking of the large clock tower in the center of the square could be heard.
[71:04:57]
Seo-jin looked at the clock tower's second hand moving moment by moment and the status window visible below it.
'This clock tower is a system that indicates when the undead waves will appear.'
The test proceeded by having climbers dispatched by the Climber Association teleported to each village according to the wave timing.
But climbers taking the test didn't always arrive at the same time as the waves.
Even if there were no test participants, the waves would still strike the villages as scheduled.
When that happened, the natives had to join forces to fend off the undead attacks.
The number of villages that had collapsed fighting this way was countless.
Though it was heartbreaking, the Climber Association lacked the personnel to solve this, and there was no reason for private individuals or corporations to help.
This desolate 4th floor, filled only with death, had no utility value.
'A blind spot protected by no one.'
But sometimes someone would help them out of pure goodwill.
"Mr. Lubal, you've come. Is that Lea next to you? How long has it been?"
When he stood in the square with the grave keeper father and daughter, someone warmly welcomed them.
A pleasant-looking black-haired Western man. Judging by his attire, he appeared to be a climber.
The man also extended his hand to Seo-jin in greeting.
"Nice to meet you. You're a climber, aren't you?"
Seo-jin nodded instead of shaking hands, and the man continued to ask.
"Are you perhaps participating in this wave defense? That would be a great help."
"That's the plan. Are you staying here permanently?"
The man scratched his head and smiled brightly.
"Yes, well. I couldn't help but worry, so I kept staying."
A man who continued to remain in the village even after clearing the test, fending off undead waves.
To Seo-jin, it seemed like the most irrational behavior, but it was because of people like this that the natives had survived until now.
"You're working hard."
Then Lea, who had been standing next to Lubal, ran up to the man and said.
"Big brother, that person healed me."
"Oh, really?"
The man patted Lea's head and examined her affected area.
Her condition had clearly improved compared to before.
The man's eyes widened as he asked Seo-jin.
"That's amazing. Are you perhaps from a priest class? Other healers who came to the 4th floor couldn't even dare to cure this disease."
"I'm not a priest, and what Lea suffered from wasn't a disease. It was a kind of symptom."
"I see. Anyway, this is really wonderful news. Now Lea can live inside the castle walls too."
"Hehe."
The Lubal father and daughter and the man expected that Lea would be able to live in the village from now on, but Seo-jin's thoughts were a bit different.
'Will that really be the case...'
The stigma of prejudice already branded tends to last longer than physical wounds.
It wouldn't be easy for Lea to live in this village.
Just as Seo-jin and his group were having a warm conversation.
STOMP STOMP-.
From somewhere, a group wearing black priest robes marched orderly into the square.
The group of priests formed ranks and surrounded Seo-jin's party in a circle.
"Eek."
Lubal and the man protectively embraced Lea, who was startled by their threatening presence.
Soon, an old woman emerged through the group of priests.
She pointed at Lea with her staff and shouted loudly.
"Who is it! Who brought that cursed girl into the village!"
***
Late dawn.
BEEP-.
With the sound of the smart door opening, someone tiptoed into the house, standing on their toes.
Though they seemed to intend a stealthy entry, this was meaningless.
Han Seo-hee, who had been dozing on the sofa, opened her eyes wide and asked.
"...What were you doing to come home only now?"
So-yul, who had been caught trying to sneak into her room, asked in confusion.
"Uh, sister? You're awake?"
"What have you been doing all this time without even contacting me? Don't tell me you've been looking for that person until now?"
A voice mixed with some anger.
Even after the investigation ended, she'd said she wanted to look around the 3rd floor to find the rumored supernova.
After that, there hadn't been a single contact, and nearly two weeks had passed before her younger sister showed up.
It wasn't strange for an older sister to be angry about this.
At her sister's question, So-yul panicked but tried hard to play dumb.
"N-no, it's not like that. I gave up after a few days and conducted separate magic research. I made quite a bit of progress too."
"Be quiet. Why couldn't I contact you?"
"That... my terminal broke!"
Actually, it was because external communication had been blocked due to Circe's barrier, but she couldn't tell the truth, so she made up an excuse.
"...Alright. Don't let this happen again. And the Thousand-Eyed Demon Tree subjugation, did you do that by chance?"
News of the subjugation of the Thousand-Eyed Demon Tree, the territorial monster of the 3rd floor, had apparently reached Han Seo-hee's ears.
So-yul didn't deny it while avoiding mention of Seo-jin.
"Uh, yeah. I took care of it while going around the 3rd floor. I had a hard time finding the spawn conditions."
"Good job. I heard you completely subjugated it so it won't respawn. Thanks to that, they're starting to develop the 3rd floor."
Thanks to completely subjugating the Thousand-Eyed Demon Tree, the frequency of monster appearances had greatly decreased.
Moreover, the rough mana concentration of the land had also significantly decreased, making it economically viable and facilitating private sector entry.
If they cleared the forest, it could be used for various purposes like farmland or livestock.
Though mana stone income from monster subjugation would decrease, that much wasn't a concern since higher floors produced more.
"Hehe. Then will you give me a bonus?"
"When the contract is finalized."
"Yes!"
So-yul clenched her fist, wondering what to do first when she received the reward money.
First, she'd buy the staff-making materials she'd been eyeing, put the rest toward research funds for the mage tower, ah... but before that, she should set aside a certain percentage to give to that person. Since they caught it together.
While briefly thinking about various things, So-yul's thoughts suddenly drifted somewhere.
"Oh, speaking of which, sister, do you happen to know about demons?"
Talking about the Thousand-Eyed Demon Tree reminded her of the strange tentacles that had appeared then.
"Demons? What demons? Lesser Demons or something?"
"Not those weak monsters. Real demons. Really ominous and disgusting..."
If her sister, who had dealt with black magic in the past, might know about demons.
So-yul asked with a light heart, but Han Seo-hee's reaction was on a different level.
She suddenly stood up, grabbed So-yul's shoulders firmly, and asked in a trembling voice.
"Where did you see that! Did you make a contract with it? Huh?"
"Ow, it hurts."
RING RING RING-.
Just then, a bell rang suddenly.
Han Seo-hee arranged her disheveled hair and answered the phone.
"What is it at this hour?"
An urgent voice came through the receiver.
"Association President, the raid team that entered the 30th floor has returned. And they say they have something to tell you about the Tower's administrator and demons..."