Chapter 38
Chapter 38
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 38
KWANG-!
A massive explosion and eerie screams that spread throughout the village in the middle of the night.
Hearing this, the priests of The Torch Order and the village guards rushed helter-skelter toward the Ley Lines' seal.
And what awaited them was
"P-Priest Mattie! The seal stone!"
The stone gate shattered to pieces and the upper layer of the Ley Lines completely exposed.
GLUG-.
The Ley Lines' mana spouted out like a fountain over the broken stone gate.
The mana scattered into the air like a blue mirage and disappeared.
To think that the Ley Lines' mana that maintained the village's barrier and gave life force to the farmland would vanish so futilely like this.
Literally blood-like mana was continuing to be lost even at this very moment.
"……."
Mattie and the other priests stared at the scene with dumbfounded expressions, then came to their senses at one priest's cry.
"P-Priest! Here, please look at this!"
Piles of bones scattered here and there around the stone gate.
Shattered bone fragments and charred black ash were strewn everywhere.
These were traces of failed undead resurrection, so surely all of this was the work of a black mage.
Mattie gritted her teeth and hardened her gaze.
"Tch, it's definitely that foreigner bastard who came during the day."
That foreigner bastard who charged in like a thunderbolt.
He had used evil arts to lift robes and expose wounds, and even thrown the priests into confusion with his blasphemous claims.
Surely that bastard had joined with that cursed little girl to destroy this village.
Mattie shouted at the top of her lungs at the other priests while waving her staff.
"Go catch that bastard right now! He'll be staying in Lubal's hut!"
"But Priest, we don't have time for that. Now that the barrier is broken, the Army of the Dead will come charging!"
"Tch."
That was also true.
Now that the barrier protecting the village had disappeared, the undead who caught the scent of life would swarm in like a pack of dogs.
If they couldn't deal with this, the village would be finished.
In the end, Mattie decided to lead only the priests who followed her to find the grave keeper's hut.
"Alright. You all go to the square, check the remaining time, and prepare for battle. I'll go catch that bastard myself."
Priest Mattie's hand holding the staff trembled violently.
If she couldn't execute that bastard, there would be no future even if they overcame this crisis.
The priests who heard that bastard's words and began to doubt the 'epidemic' were increasing one by one.
She had to execute that bastard and reveal that everything that bastard said was lies.
For the village's peace and... for his own position as well.
***
Seo-jin, who had caused a ruckus at the Ley Lines' seal and returned to grave keeper Lubal's house.
When he opened the door with Leon, an unexpected person was waiting for Seo-jin.
"Ah."
Se-yeon, who jumped up from her seat in surprise at Seo-jin's appearance.
Seo-jin looked at Se-yeon indifferently and opened his mouth.
"You came faster than expected."
He thought it would take a few more days, but to think she would chase after him this quickly.
'Actually, this worked out well.'
With Kim Se-yeon's strength, she would be quite helpful in this Wave Defense.
Se-yeon fumbled through her inventory and took out the Fire Grass that Circe had asked her to deliver.
"H-here. The item you requested……."
Seo-jin stared at the paper bag Se-yeon held out and asked.
"Didn't you receive etiquette education from our master?"
"……The item you requested."
When Se-yeon corrected her speech, Seo-jin finally nodded and accepted the Fire Grass.
"That's right. Always develop the habit of respecting your elders and using honorifics."
[……Are you one to talk?]
Hyeon-wol glared at him as if dumbfounded, but Seo-jin pretended not to hear and handed Se-yeon a few stalks of Fire Grass.
"You should keep a few stalks too. You'll need them when you go to the 10th floor. It's extremely cold there."
"Okay."
As the two were conversing, Leon carefully pointed to Se-yeon and asked.
"Who might this person be?"
At Leon's question, Seo-jin looked at Se-yeon and crossed his arms.
'How should I introduce this kid?'
The Blood-mad Sword Demon Kim Se-yeon was a colleague from his previous life, but they weren't particularly close.
She always had a loner disposition, moving alone.
This was the same in this life too, making their relationship hard to define.
If he had to make a comparison.
"She feels like a kitten I picked up."
"Excuse me?"
"Kitten……."
Se-yeon muttered the word kitten blankly.
From Seo-jin's perspective, there was no more fitting expression than this.
Soon, Seo-jin looked at the unfamiliar face sitting across from Se-yeon and asked.
"But what's with that frivolous bastard?"
Blue-dyed hair and flashy clothing.
Lightning-shaped scratches above his eyebrows and flashy tattoos on the back of his neck.
He looked like his whole body was screaming that he wanted to stand out.
"I don't know who he is."
"Really?"
Seo-jin examined his appearance carefully.
Seeing him clutching a terminal and a small handy camera, he could roughly guess what kind of person he was.
'A streamer, huh.'
If you got approval from the artificial intelligence BABEL, you could broadcast personally outside the Tower.
This was one of the representative policies to attract climbers, and even now many people were flowing into the Tower after watching broadcasts.
Seo-jin looked at him and chuckled.
'If I use this bastard, I could increase the buzz even more.'
As long as his name and face weren't revealed, spreading his activities through video would be quite efficient.
"So you're a broadcaster. What's your name?"
Seo-jin's rough speech.
Min-ho, offended by this, asked irritably.
"Who are you to call people 'this bastard' and 'that bastard'? Huh?"
Not only the rough speech. He also didn't like seeing him chat familiarly with the woman who had been cold and indifferent the whole time.
Min-ho came on strong for various reasons, but Seo-jin wasn't someone who would be swayed by such things.
"If you don't want to answer, get lost."
"What, what's with you? Is this your house?"
When Seo-jin silently gestured with his chin, Lubal nodded.
"Understood."
Lubal, who would do anything Seo-jin said after he solved his daughter's problem.
As he got up to kick Min-ho out, Min-ho desperately shouted.
"Wait, wait! Kicking me out in the middle of the night is too much! The gates are closed, so where am I supposed to sleep? I was wrong, so just call me 'this bastard' and 'that bastard'!"
"……."
Lubal asked with his eyes what he should do, and Seo-jin shrugged.
"Leave him be."
"Th-thank you, hyung-nim."
After the commotion ended, the group sat around the table.
The group chewed on the hard stone bread Lubal had prepared and discussed future matters.
"By the way, Seo-jin-nim, won't the priests come after us for breaking the seal?"
"They'll be too busy to spare the effort. At most four of them will come."
Finding the culprit who broke the Ley Lines' seal would be important, but they'd have to prepare for the Undead Wave first.
"Then what will you do now? Since the barrier is broken, the Undead Wave's timing will be greatly advanced. Its momentum will be much fiercer too."
Seo-jin leaned back in his chair as if lying down and chewed on the black bread.
"Is that all? Probably the Lich King will personally lead his guards here."
He would personally march to steal the power of the unsealed Ley Lines and conquer the village. Moreover,
'That bastard has already been humiliated by me several times.'
First, he had his ownership of skeletons stolen at the cemetery, then the Lea he tried to make his host was healed, and now even his direct subordinate Doppelganger was dealt with.
This went beyond simple humiliation - it meant an unknown threat beyond his power's reach.
He wouldn't be able to stand it without coming personally to deal with him. That bastard would definitely come to the village.
Meanwhile, Min-ho blinked at the mention of the Lich King and asked back.
"Huh? The Lich King? Wasn't that defeated long ago?"
"The Lich King's main body was defeated, but his lingering thoughts still remain and exert influence. Don't you know that as a climber?"
When Leon asked as if pathetic, Min-ho covered his ears and said.
"Ah, I don't know! The 4th floor is just a place to pass through briefly, so why do I need to know such things?"
Seo-jin looked at Min-ho and asked.
"Looking at you, you don't seem like someone who was originally climbing the Tower either. What reason brought you this far?"
"W-well, you know. The Supernova. The whole Tower is in chaos because of that person, so I wanted to try climbing up like that person too."
"That doesn't seem to be the only reason. Is it because of the 3rd floor development?"
At Seo-jin's direct question, Min-ho flinched and hung his head, answering in a small voice.
"Yes……."
The 3rd floor that began development after the complete subjugation of the Thousand-Eyed Demon Tree.
In the long term, it was a good thing.
Not only would agricultural output increase, but it would also forcibly motivate climbers staying on the lower floors.
If many people climbed the Tower, that many more talented individuals would be discovered, and the probability of reaching the Tower's end would increase accordingly.
'Well, people like this bastard who lose their livelihood and get pushed to higher floors also appear.'
Sadly, that was unavoidable.
Min-ho let out a deep sigh and raised his head again.
"But wanting to become like the Supernova isn't a lie. Who wouldn't want to break the Tower's records and surpass the Sword Star? The problem is lack of ability."
"The Supernova is, who?"
When Se-yeon tilted her head as if asking who they were talking about, Min-ho asked back instead.
"You don't know about the Supernova? Don't you even use the intranet? Marduk is in chaos with that topic every day."
Se-yeon slowly shook her head as if she didn't know.
Se-yeon had been wandering the 2nd floor like a savage to avoid potential pursuers.
There was no way such a Se-yeon would have a climber terminal.
She probably had never accessed the intranet Marduk either.
"Buy one. How much do those cost?"
"I don't need it."
Even when she was at the orphanage, she had no opportunity to handle electronic devices, so she wouldn't feel inconvenienced by it now.
"Anyway, the Lich King's army will soon attack the village. But this village's power alone cannot withstand the wave."
This was a village that barely managed to survive with Leon's help even when the barrier existed.
Now that the barrier was broken and the Lich King was personally marching, they couldn't think it would be safe.
"So I need your help. While I do the preparation work, you'll need to buy some time."
"What's good about helping?"
Min-ho's question.
"……."
When Seo-jin silently looked at Lubal, Min-ho hastily corrected himself.
"Ah, don't kick me out! I wasn't being sarcastic, I'm really curious."
"Wave Defense is one of the Tower climbing tests. If you pass this, you can go to the next floor. Is there any better reward than this? Plus, if you block the Lich King's army, you can get additional Achievement Points and rewards. And lastly."
Seo-jin pointed to Min-ho's camera.
"There's no better broadcast material than this. A battle against the undead army led by the Lich King. Isn't that cool?"
"……."
Min-ho swallowed and gripped his camera.
As Seo-jin said, if the right angles came out properly, it might record tremendous views.
4th floor videos were mostly just speedrun guides or defense footage.
Min-ho, who had been briefly dreaming, suddenly realized reality and asked Seo-jin.
"B-but it's not dangerous, right? Since it's a test, the Tower Climbing Management Office protects us. Right?"
What good would 1 million or 10 million views do if there was even the slightest chance of dying?
When Min-ho asked if safety could be guaranteed, Seo-jin picked his ear and tilted his head.
"No. If it were a regular Wave Defense conducted by the Tower Climbing Management Office, maybe, but now it's a special situation with a World Quest unfolding. If we're defeated, you'll also become bone fragments here and be buried together with the villagers."
"Ah. I see."
Min-ho jumped up from his seat.
He packed his belongings and grabbed the hut's door handle.
"Then I'll be going. It was nice meeting you. Let's hope to meet again alive."
Seo-jin leaned back carelessly in his chair and pointed to the door.
"It's already too late. Those bastards might be right outside the door."
At the same time.
BANG BANG BANG-!
Someone pounded the door violently.
"EEEEK! E-enemies!"
Min-ho, who was holding the door handle, had a fit and jumped up, but fortunately, it wasn't the Lich King's great army that had found the hut.
What found Lubal's hut was none other than the priests of The Torch Order.
An unpleasant old woman's voice was heard from outside the door.
"Open the door right now! I must kill that foreigner bastard!"