Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 39
BANG BANG BANG-.
"You bastard! Come out right now!"
Rough knocking sounds accompanied by shouting from outside.
Min-ho, who was holding the door handle, was startled and asked Seo-jin.
"Wh-who is it?"
"Didn't I tell you earlier? The priests of The Torch Order might come looking."
I thought they wouldn't come because they were busy preparing for the wave, but to think they'd personally visit like this.
"Ugh."
Seo-jin stroked Lea's head, who was frightened by the priest's visit, and calmed her not to be scared.
"There's nothing to worry about."
Lea nodded silently.
"...Hmm?"
Seo-jin suddenly felt a strange power while stroking Lea's head, but thinking it was trivial, he dismissed it.
Getting up from his seat, Seo-jin pushed aside Min-ho who was standing awkwardly and opened the door to greet the uninvited guest.
As the door swung open and Seo-jin revealed himself, the familiar old woman screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Y-you're definitely the one who broke the Ley Lines' seal!"
Mattie the priest pointed her finger at Seo-jin and passionately argued.
She was certain that Seo-jin was the culprit.
'This bastard wanted to make contact with the village's Ley Lines from daytime, making all sorts of excuses.'
The bastard who wanted to go to the Ley Lines, spouting nonsense about healing diseases and being able to fix them.
Moreover, the sorcery this bastard used during the day was black magic that foreigners use, which must be connected to the bone fragments scattered near the Ley Lines.
This bastard had both the motive and evidence to destroy the Ley Lines.
He wouldn't be able to make excuses here.
But Seo-jin picked his ear casually and replied calmly.
"Whether I'm the culprit or not, is that important?"
"What?"
Seo-jin shrugged his shoulders and spoke with a shameless face.
"The barrier is already broken, and an undead wave will soon strike. What's important now isn't finding the culprit. Shouldn't the priority be somehow persuading us to lend our strength in protecting the village?"
Seo-jin reminded her of the harsh reality she had been trying to avoid.
Seo-jin glared at the old woman and continued.
"If you're thinking about your position after somehow stopping the undead wave, that's a big mistake. Without our help, this village will disappear from the map. Not even a single blade of grass will remain on this land."
Seo-jin's cold words that pierced through the current situation.
Mattie, who was taken aback, was at a loss for words.
"Wh-what nonsense..."
Seo-jin paid no attention and continued as if shooting back.
"As I said before, I can treat the divine illness you're all suffering from. Not only that, I can completely end the long battle with the undead army. Whether you'll drive the villagers to their deaths because of petty pride and self-interest, or completely drive away the old curse that has fallen upon this land. The choice is yours.
When Seo-jin finished speaking, Mattie shouted as if she couldn't believe it.
"Stop talking nonsense! Who the hell are you to be able to treat us and end the suffering of this cursed world!"
The old woman glared at Seo-jin and asked who he was.
From the old woman's perspective, Seo-jin was merely a suspect who had brought turmoil to the village and was suspected of breaking the Ley Lines' seal.
Of course, such evaluation from the old woman meant nothing to Seo-jin.
"Who am I? Hah, if you're talking about me."
Seo-jin was about to answer confidently, but then smiled bitterly and muttered.
"...I'm not particularly a great person. Just an ordinary Black Mage."
That's right.
Seo-jin wasn't particularly a great person.
He couldn't climb the Tower to the end nor save humanity.
He couldn't protect his precious ones, and in the end, he was betrayed and killed by those he trusted - just an ordinary Black Mage.
But
"At least I have the ability to save this world. You can see my treatment skills by looking at Lea, and ask this person about the rest."
When Seo-jin pointed to Leon, Leon slowly explained what had happened.
About the Doppelganger that was a subordinate of the Lich King and had borrowed Emma's appearance.
And about the battle at the Ley Lines against the undead horde it had raised.
If Seo-jin had said it, she wouldn't have listened with even one ear.
But since it was Leon's words, who had built trust over time, Mattie seemed to believe him in the end.
"Is that really true?"
"Yes, Mattie the priest. The explosive sounds heard in the middle of the night and the bone fragments near the Ley Lines are evidence of that. I saw it with my own two eyes. Emma must surely be imprisoned somewhere in the village."
"Then what about the Ley Lines? Why was the barrier broken?"
At the same time, Seo-jin gave a sharp look, and Leon reluctantly told a white lie.
"Th-that was also the Doppelganger's doing. It broke it. We quickly fled here because we were afraid of being misunderstood."
Actually, Seo-jin had broken it, but the Doppelganger had also tried to break the Ley Lines' barrier using Leon.
It would have been broken by someone's hand eventually.
"Anyway, this person might be rude and disagreeable, but he has the ability to stop this wave. I guarantee it."
"He-hey, could you skip the prefixes?"
[Nothing wrong with what he said, though.]
"..."
Mattie the priest, who had been pondering for a long time while gripping her staff tightly, quietly looked at Seo-jin.
There was no way to confirm if Leon's words were true.
But what was certain was that they needed these people's power for the village.
'I don't expect that foreigner to have the ability to save this cursed world and defeat the Lich King.'
If they could just endure this wave, that would be enough.
Now wasn't the time to show pointless pride.
Mattie eventually bowed her head to Seo-jin.
"...Please. Save the village."
Seo-jin silently looked at the old woman's hair that had turned completely white and the deep wrinkles carved into her face.
She was also a resident of this village.
She couldn't just let the villagers die because of her own greed and pride.
In a situation like this, she had to ask for help with the desperation of grasping at straws.
It wasn't that he didn't understand that feeling, but this much wasn't enough.
'If it were up to me, she should kneel before Lea and apologize for what happened.'
Seo-jin turned his head and looked at Lea, who was hiding behind her father with only her face peeking out.
"..."
However, Lea shook her head.
She probably knew that receiving an apology by having someone prostrate themselves would be meaningless.
Seo-jin sighed softly and said to Mattie.
"Raise your head. And prepare for the final battle."
"Fi-final? What does that mean?"
To Mattie's question, Seo-jin answered with a relaxed smile.
"It means that after today, the dead will never come to this land again."
***
After Mattie the priest left, Seo-jin, having finished the meeting, led his party toward the village square.
TICK- TOCK-.
The system time flowed endlessly from the clock tower in the center of the village.
Seo-jin looked at the numbers in the status window written in large red letters below the clock tower.
[02:07:44]
'Only two hours left until the wave.'
Considering there were about 70 hours of leeway when they arrived at the village, the wave's appearance had been greatly accelerated due to the barrier's destruction.
This meant that a special quest different from the regular Tower climbing test would appear.
Sure enough, when he touched the clock tower, a notification window announcing the quest appeared before his eyes.
TING-.
[World Quest: Lich King's Attack]
[You have attracted the Lich King's interest through a series of events. His obsession has targeted this village, so please stop his army.]
[Clear Rewards]
Additional Stats + 5
Achievement Points + 3
Ring of Ash and Death
Leon's eyes sparkled when he confirmed the quest.
"Additional stats are 5 points, and Achievement Points are 3 points each?"
"But the number of participants..."
[0/4]
As Se-yeon said, only four climbers could participate in the World Quest.
Even just to fill the numbers, Min-ho had to participate.
When the other three's gazes focused on him, Min-ho was horrified and stepped back.
"I-I want to opt out. I'll just watch from afar. Right? The Tower Entry Management Office will send additional personnel anyway."
"That won't happen. This isn't a regular wave of the Tower climbing test, but a World Quest opened by meeting conditions."
Meaning there would be no reinforcements.
"Ah, I don't want to, I said no!"
Min-ho refused, twisting his whole body like a cow being dragged to slaughter, but.
"Stop whining."
GRAB-.
"AHHH!"
Since Se-yeon forcibly grabbed his wrist and pressed the quest acceptance button, he had no choice but to participate.
Leon watched the two bickering as if it were entertaining, then asked Seo-jin.
"So what should we do now?"
Since Seo-jin was the main axis of this quest.
Everything would proceed according to his commands.
Seo-jin closed his eyes and waved his hand as if telling them to handle it themselves.
"Just buy time and keep the priests and guards from dying."
The villagers would be gathered in the central church anyway, so they'd be safe.
What was dangerous were the priests and guards fighting near the castle walls.
Leon, Se-yeon, and Min-ho would have to perform well until Seo-jin finished his preparations to minimize damage.
"I see. But Seo-jin, do you really have confidence in defeating the Lich King?"
"Are you asking that now?"
"Well, I couldn't ask when Mattie the priest and others were listening."
Leon, who asked the question only when he was alone with Seo-jin to avoid unnecessary disputes.
Instead of answering one way or another, Seo-jin picked up a tree branch and began explaining while drawing something on the ground.
"The Lich King's obsession is ultimately a spiritual entity. It has no body and no Life Vessel as a lifeline. Instead, it's manifesting using the Ley Lines of this land."
SCRATCH SCRATCH-.
"The Ley Lines allowed the bastard defeated by the expedition team long ago to survive and continue to influence this land, but the limitations are also clear."
"What kind of..."
"Without the Ley Lines' magic power, that bastard is just an ordinary ghost. Like someone I know."
As Seo-jin quietly looked at Hyeon-wol floating in the air, Hyeon-wol frowned as if displeased.
[Who are you looking at right now?]
"Anyway, the key point to conquering that bastard is the Ley Lines. Do you understand?"
"Yes. But how do you plan to deplete the Ley Lines' magic power?"
"There's no need to necessarily deplete it. The important thing is to make that bastard use the Ley Lines' magic power extravagantly."
Seo-jin drew the skeleton army on the ground.
"Let's have a grand show."
***
TICK- TOCK-.
The wave time approaching relentlessly.
Now only 3 minutes remained.
Min-ho stood on the watchtower above the castle wall and pressed the live start button with trembling hands.
Then he recalled the conversation he had with Seo-jin earlier.
'I-is it really okay to turn on the broadcast?'
This quest wasn't simple content, so it might be a life-threatening situation.
Not only the natives but also the participating climbers couldn't guarantee their lives.
He wondered if it was really okay to turn on the broadcast at such a time, but.
'Is there anything else you can do besides that? Just turn it on.'
'...'
He agreed without much thought and added a word.
'Think of it as compensation since I destroyed your workplace.'
'Excuse me? Workplace?'
How had Seo-jin destroyed Min-ho's workplace?
It was completely incomprehensible, but Seo-jin didn't explain further.
DING-.
Min-ho's broadcast turned on and notifications went to subscribers.
[MinoMino's Tower Strategy Broadcast LIVE - 4th Floor Live Coverage. Defeating the Lich King.]
With a tasteless broadcast title, people gradually entered as the broadcast started.
Hi Min-ho
Hello
Min-ho finally crawled out
What floor are you on now?
Live viewership that didn't even exceed 50 people, same as usual.
But since they were loyal viewers, the chat was quite active.
Says he's doing 4th floor wave strategy?
It's a Lich King subjugation battle.
Wasn't the Lich King already defeated before?
While viewers were each typing in chat, Min-ho turned the camera toward his face and opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
"Ah, um, this is the 4th floor. A wave will come soon. I-I might die."
Min-ho's face had turned pale with fear.
Why does this guy's face look like this? Did he eat something wrong?
?
LOLOLOL.
Such exaggeration on just the 4th floor.
The viewers were busy mocking Min-ho's reaction, but anyone standing in this position would show the same reaction.
Min-ho swallowed his saliva and turned the camera the other way.
CLATTER- CLATTER- CLATTER- CLATTER-.
The friction sound of bone hitting bone, ringing noisily as if filling heaven and earth.
As that sound grew closer, something whitish gradually revealed itself from beyond the desolate wasteland of only ash and death.
Cracked swords and shields here and there.
There were skeletons wearing corroded armor, and mixed among them were skeletons dressed in noble attire as if they vaguely remembered their appearance in life.
What appeared swarming beyond the distant horizon was an army of the dead.
Their breath had been buried and forgotten in long years, but their rotting flesh was caught in the curse of regression and still moved alive.
Eventually, the being that could make such undead sway with a single gesture slowly revealed itself.
Curse spells spreading like low whispers under the empty ashen sky.
A being wearing a crown engraved with blasphemous magic circles that insulted the gods.
The hazy form of a soul that was chilling just to look at flickered in the sky like a dark blue cloak.
This world that once embraced verdant life was left with only ash and death under his curse.
It was the appearance of the 4th floor's final boss, the Lich King.