Chapter 80
Chapter 80
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 80
Lee Seo-mun's request to know his name.
However, Seo-jin slowly shook his head.
"I cannot tell you now. But when the time comes, you will naturally come to know."
Since they were both climbers ascending The Tower together, the two would eventually meet at the top.
Lee Seo-mun narrowed his brow at Seo-jin's answer but soon wore a faint smile.
"You don't lose your composure until the very end. Good. I shall wait and see what this 'time' brings. And."
Then he declared as if making an announcement.
"I will no longer pursue you. I will also tell my immature disciples not to bother you."
'That works out well.'
If it was Lee Seo-mun's command, even the Nam-gung siblings would have no choice but to comply.
The bounty issued by The Thief Guild would also be withdrawn, so there would be no more annoying tails following him around.
Following that, Lee Seo-mun rummaged through his chest and pulled out a small, antique wooden plaque, extending it toward Seo-jin.
The wooden plaque had an intricately carved pattern of a writhing dark red dragon.
"Take this. No matter how strong an opponent you may be, I feel uncomfortable having shown excessive force to a much younger junior. This is my apology and a small token of sincerity."
Seo-jin slowly reached out and received the wooden plaque.
"What is this?"
"It's a Gratitude Plaque from Hyeonryongmun (Dark Dragon Gate). It's something we only give to those who have rendered great service to help our sect. If you show this, our sect will definitely repay that debt once. Though I'm not sure if someone of your skill level would need such a thing."
Lee Seo-mun chuckled.
Seo-jin received the wooden plaque while lost in thought.
'Hyeonryongmun.'
A massive alliance of martial arts sects where Lee Seo-mun served as an elder.
Just as countless small and medium sects like the Black Snake Gang existed under The Thief Guild, Hyeonryongmun also served as a leadership body for various sects.
However, while The Thief Guild was a loose collective focused mainly on livelihood, Hyeonryongmun was a sect where practical climbers who pursued the ultimate limits of martial arts gathered.
It would be convenient to think of it as the Murim Alliance from martial arts novels.
As such, this Gratitude Plaque would be of great use.
Seo-jin briefly bowed his head to express his gratitude.
Having pocketed the Gratitude Plaque, Seo-jin voiced a piece of advice that came to mind.
"Then I too shall offer some advice out of goodwill. Right about now, the investigation team from China's Yellow Dragon Mage Tower exploring The Great Cavity should be in a difficult situation."
At Seo-jin's explanation, Lee Seo-mun's eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Yellow Dragon?"
Yellow Dragon Mage Tower was a mage tower with full support from the Chinese government and one of the leading figures in current magical research.
But it was also a place that drew the ire of other factions due to its arrogant and self-righteous behavior.
Seo-jin continued.
"Someone of your stature should be able to appropriately 'handle' that situation."
Lee Seo-mun was one of the top-tier strategy team members, a strong warrior and elder respected by many climbers.
He was also an elder of Hyeonryongmun with strong influence while being an irregular free from Chinese government control.
If he intervened, he could both keep Yellow Dragon in check and appropriately resolve the situation.
"Handle it, you say."
Lee Seo-mun fell silent for a moment.
Actually, from his position, there was no reason to help resolve Yellow Dragon's problems.
He didn't particularly like the government-led tower strategy approach or the arrogant mages of Yellow Dragon Mage Tower.
No matter how much one wanted to become stronger, he believed there were lines that martial artists should not cross, just as there should be such lines in the magical world as well.
However, they were fools who would commit any act without hesitation for the sake of results.
They were people he didn't want to get involved with at all.
'Perhaps this could be an opportunity to humble those Yellow Dragon bastards a bit.'
Gwanmubulgachim (Officials and Martial Artists Shall Not Invade Each Other).
The right obtained through negotiations with the administrator by Lee Seo-mun and other martial arts climbers in the early days of The Tower, allowing them to act freely within The Tower without government interference.
However, the Chinese government always viewed this unfavorably and constantly tried to exert influence using Yellow Dragon.
Therefore, this incident was also an opportunity to teach those Yellow Dragon bastards a lesson.
Lee Seo-mun quietly nodded.
"There's no reason for this old man to actively step forward to solve the mages' problems, but I'll keep it in mind for now. Since it's on the way back anyway, it wouldn't be bad to stop by briefly."
He smiled as he gave Seo-jin a quick once-over.
'Come to think of it, this youngster isn't just strong in terms of power.'
He didn't know whether he had made this suggestion knowing about the power struggle between Yellow Dragon and Hyeonryongmun, but if this was as Lee Seo-mun thought...
He might possess not only extraordinary strength but also the insight to read the overall situation.
He was a promising talent to look forward to.
They would meet again at the top floors before long.
"I shall take my leave now."
Lee Seo-mun departed from the depths of The Great Cavity with leisurely steps, looking forward to that time.
***
Lee Seo-mun moved in a different direction from where he came, as if he had no more lingering attachments.
Soon after his presence completely disappeared into the darkness.
"KUHK."
Seo-jin's body, which had been standing like Mount Tai until just moments ago, collapsed forward helplessly.
All the backlash he had been desperately suppressing hit him at once.
"KUREUK..."
Seo-jin, who had fallen to the ground, groaned and writhed in agony.
It was the backlash from [Overclock].
The price for overloading all the Mana Circuits in his body was horrific.
"KREU."
Extreme headaches struck as if thousands, tens of thousands of needles were tearing through his brain, and amid that, mad hallucinations of unknown entities whispering echoed in his ears.
Moreover, as the Mana Circuits throughout his body boiled and ran wild, terrible pain spread as if bugs were crawling under his skin.
Would the pain of death be better than this?
[H-hey, snap out of it! Quickly circulate your Ki!]
Hyeon-wol's cry, pale with shock, faintly echoed in his ears.
Soon he felt a hard texture against his lips.
Hyeon-wol, who had entered a temporary body, had found an elixir crystal and put it in Seo-jin's mouth.
Seo-jin chewed and swallowed the crystal in his mouth.
KWAJAK-.
The consumed elixir slowly spread throughout his body, and with its analgesic effect, the rampaging Mana Circuits began to slowly calm down.
The terrible hallucinations and madness that had covered his mind also faded, and the pain subsided to a bearable level.
But this was only a temporary measure.
Having overcome one crisis, Seo-jin raised his trembling body and sat in lotus position.
[......]
Hyeon-wol stood guard over Seo-jin, going toward the passage leading to The Great Cavity to check if there were any more intruders.
Having temporarily calmed the pain, Seo-jin began to regulate his disturbed energy by arduously operating the Primordial Unity Technique.
***
A brief period of energy circulation and breathing regulation.
Seo-jin managed to succeed in calming the backflowing energy.
"PHEW."
The rampage of the Mana Circuits subsided, and the pain also decreased to a tolerable level.
He would need several more days of recuperation to return to normal, but at least he had put out the urgent fire.
[Are you alright?]
At Hyeon-wol's worried question, Seo-jin nodded.
"Thanks to you."
If Hyeon-wol hadn't put the elixir in his mouth at the right time, he might have been consumed by madness while writhing in pain.
He had barely escaped the crisis.
But there was no time to rest comfortably.
Having caught his breath, Seo-jin put the communication terminal from his pocket back to his ear.
He had to completely turn the investigation team's public opinion to Taebaek's side.
But he hadn't been able to pay attention due to the battle.
Though late, he had to somehow resolve the situation before Lee Seo-mun arrived.
Seo-jin called So-yul.
"Hey, is everything alright over there?"
***
The assembly point of The Great Cavity where investigation teams from various countries had gathered.
[Buy some time.]
Though he had succeeded in snatching the scroll as ordered, Seo-jin had only left the command to buy time before abruptly cutting off communication.
So-yul stamped her feet while holding the scroll in her hand.
'This person, really!'
Who does he trust to cause such trouble and be so irresponsible!
It's awkward to say anything since she's the one receiving help, but this is really troublesome.
"Guild Leader Han. Is there a problem?"
"When will you show us the evidence?"
"Is it taking some time?"
Having boldly declared that she would expose Kang Jin-tae's conspiracy but showing no particular evidence, the investigation teams from various countries began to murmur.
So-yul decided to buy time as an urgent measure after pondering.
"Ah, well, that is, just a moment please. It takes some time..."
Watching such So-yul, Kang Jin-tae was delighted.
He didn't know how that woman had found out about the scroll, but she seemed to lack the ability to actually activate it.
'I-if that's the case, there's still hope.'
He didn't know what would happen if she succeeded in proving it right now in front of everyone.
But since she couldn't actually prove it, she was nothing more than a ruffian who had robbed someone else's property.
He could even use this incident as justification to pressure her even more.
Crisis is opportunity. He couldn't miss this moment.
Just as Kang Jin-tae was about to step forward.
STEP-.
Kusanagi stepped forward again to buy time.
"Guild Leader Han was eager and said she would prove it immediately, but it's difficult to instantly see through the structure of a magical artifact and activate it. Please wait a moment until she's ready."
"Hah, nonsense! Who knows what schemes you'll concoct in the meantime? Hand that over right now!"
At Kang Jin-tae's shout, So-yul showed the scroll as if she had been waiting for this and asked back.
"You're the one who stole it, right? Where did you get this scroll?"
After briefly closing his mouth, Kang Jin-tae hastily made excuses.
"...Th-that's classified."
"Of course you can't reveal it. It's something you sneaked into our Taebaek Mage Tower's underground ruins and secretly stole."
"Wh-what nonsense!"
Though Kang Jin-tae, hit right on target, shouted loudly, his voice was drowned out by So-yul's logical opinion.
"The fact that you were affiliated with Taebaek is something everyone knows. You used the information you obtained then to secretly enter the underground ruins and steal this item. Isn't that right?"
At So-yul's statement, investigation team members from other countries began to murmur.
"Is that true?"
"It's true that he was affiliated with Taebaek and then moved to Yellow Dragon."
"How shameless."
Cold sweat broke out on Kang Jin-tae as the atmosphere gradually turned strange.
So-yul continued as if driving in the final nail.
"The reason he advocated sending a fact-finding mission to the underground ruins of Taebaek Mage Tower was also because of this. They stole it themselves and then tried to frame our Taebaek. And to lend weight to that public opinion, they brought protective artifacts at the guild level. They planned to cause disaster in The Great Cavity with this scroll, and while protecting investigation teams from other countries, they intended to win favor."
"Shut up, shut up!"
Kang Jin-tae screamed as if having a fit, and Shelly, the European Union's guild leader who judged So-yul's claims had merit, stepped in to mediate.
"I understand what you're saying. Guild Leader Han So-yul, do you have solid evidence to support this?"
So-yul's claims fit together perfectly.
She had actually confirmed the unknown scroll in Kang Jin-tae's chest and even managed to steal it.
That scroll could be considered evidence, but it felt insufficient to be certain.
There was still one last doubt remaining.
Does that scroll really have the power to shake The Great Cavity and cause disaster?
If only that could be proven, there would be justification to investigate how Kang Jin-tae obtained it and whether there were traces of Yellow Dragon's infiltration into Taebaek Mage Tower through subsequent fact-finding investigations.
"Just wait, please wait a moment."
Just as So-yul was buying time like that.
CHIJIK-.
[Hey, is everything alright over there?]
The voice she had been waiting for flowed from the small communication terminal plugged into her ear.
So-yul brightened and whispered accusingly into the terminal.
"Geez, why couldn't I reach you suddenly?"
[There were some circumstances. How's the situation?]
"...It's okay so far, but this scroll, does it really work properly?"
She had boldly declared in front of investigation teams from various countries that she would expose Kang Jin-tae and Yellow Dragon Mage Tower's conspiracy.
But despite injecting mana into it, the scroll wouldn't budge at all.
Because of that, she had been in quite a predicament.
Seo-jin's words reached So-yul's ears.
[That thing... is actually fake.]
"...?"
[No matter how much mana you inject, it won't work.]
"......"
As the shocked So-yul blankly pressed the communicator to her ear, Seo-jin's voice continued.
[But I can make it seem like it's working. When I give you the signal, inject mana in front of everyone. I'll take care of the rest.]
She hesitated a bit since she had to do again what had embarrassed her earlier.
'I can't turn back now.'
The die was cast.
Since things had come to this point, she had no choice but to trust and move forward.
Han So-yul moved calmly according to his instructions.
"Then, I'll show you the evidence."
With investigation teams and guild leaders from various countries holding their breath and watching.
So-yul spread the Spatial Coordination Scroll wide for everyone to see clearly.
And at the same time, Seo-jin's brief signal reached her ears.
[Now.]
"This is how he caused the disaster."
Han So-yul took a deep breath and very carefully sent a stream of her mana.
The moment the weak mana rising from her fingertips touched the scroll.
DRR-.
DRR DRR-.
DRR DRR DRR-.
The entire Great Cavity began to slowly vibrate according to Seo-jin's will.