Chapter 96
Chapter 96
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 96
RUMBLE-.
When Talis stretched his hand toward the sky, lightning struck from the clear sky.
Seo-jin pondered the meaning of that name and opened his mouth.
"Reverse Heaven Divine Technique. What an arrogant name."
A rebellion against heaven. Could there be a more arrogant naming than this?
At Seo-jin's comment, Talis brushed off his fist that had been slightly charred by the lightning and smiled.
"Right, it's as arrogant as you are."
Talis's gaze swept over Seo-jin.
One who pursues the essence of black magic yet refuses to submit to contracts with great beings, instead subduing a demon's heart to make it his subordinate, and walks the path of martial arts with only talent and no intention.
And at the end of that path, a mere mortal who insists on reaching the end of Tower.
Trying to reach heaven through his own power alone without borrowing heaven's strength.
That truly is Reverse Heaven.
This would be the martial art that suits him best.
"What, don't you like it?"
At Talis's question, Seo-jin let out a small snort and shook his head.
"No. It's a name I quite like. There probably aren't many names this good."
"I thought so. Then I'll transmit the formula."
***
After receiving the formula and chanting it for a while, Seo-jin unfolded his cross-legged position and let out a sigh.
"...It's not easy."
"Right, it's not easy."
With this, he understood what kind of martial art the Reverse Heaven Divine Technique was.
This was definitely a martial art created by a madman whose qi and blood, as well as mind and character, were all twisted.
Otherwise, there's no way they could have come up with such an idea.
Seo-jin, who had grasped the meaning contained in the martial art, asked in dismay.
"Who created this?"
"That's a secret. Don't you know the rules of this place?"
"That's true."
The great beings who visit the 12th floor at regular intervals for the education of Tower climbers can only give direct teachings.
Other than that, they cannot reveal any secrets or mysteries.
Then the creator of this martial art might be connected to the Tower's secrets.
Judging that there was no more information to obtain, Seo-jin explained what he understood based on the information he had gathered so far.
"Reverse Heaven. Literally."
The power of Reverse Heaven that Seo-jin usually accumulates by circulating qi in the reverse direction of blood vessels to use black magic.
The power of the Reverse Heaven Divine Technique is not much different from that power.
Normally, he would have to learn a new mental method like the Primordial Unity Technique, but the formula of the Reverse Heaven Divine Technique is not different from the crazy things Seo-jin usually does.
'This is probably a demonic art created by a being from the demonic path.'
As Talis said, releasing the burden of black magic to reduce the body's strain would be one of the most basic functions.
The creator of this martial art must have suffered the same side effects as Seo-jin, so this would be a technique devised to resolve that.
"But is it okay to teach such a dangerous thing so freely?"
Demonic path techniques should be taboo to teach.
Talis laughed heartily and shrugged his shoulders.
"Haha, who would dare to criticize me? I simply transmitted a suitable technique to a talented person."
Well, if Seo-jin doesn't learn this, who would?
Talis stopped laughing and hardened his face.
"You understand the side effects, right?"
"Yes."
The Reverse Heaven Divine Technique is ultimately a demonic art.
While it reduces the body's burden for now, if one becomes deeply absorbed in even this, powerful consequences that offset such functions will eventually come.
"Of course, if you surpass the realm of Extreme Demon and reach Transcendent Demon, you can almost eliminate those side effects. That's the difference between demonic arts and black magic. How about it? Do you have confidence in that?"
"Hmm."
Well, actually, black magic can also eliminate that burden if it reaches the extreme.
Like Circe, who left her consciousness and transferred to a puppet body, or as Rosaria mentioned, killing the demon who is the subject of the contract.
...Neither are normal methods though.
Anyway, having learned a good martial art, Seo-jin expressed his gratitude to Talis.
"I'm grateful for the teaching."
"It's nothing. It was a martial art that was rotting away anyway since there was no one to transmit it to."
Talis, who laughed once, added one last piece of advice.
"You know it's not an easy martial art to learn. Your comprehension is strangely excellent, but what's important is embodiment."
Seo-jin nodded.
What's more important than learning is mastering.
Repeating training infinitely until perfect embodiment.
That is one of the two pillars that led Seo-jin to this position.
He said to Seo-jin, who was about to leave.
"Come often from now on. I'll give you teachings. Since you passed the test, I should do at least that much."
With that, Talis pointed to Se-yeon, who was receiving water under the waterfall far away.
"Will you take a look before you go?"
"No thanks. It would only be disturbing."
Showing his face would only interfere with Se-yeon's training. Let's just go back.
CHIRP CHIRP-,
It was already morning.
Talis got up from his seat and summoned a cloud.
"Since it's late, I'll take you to the witch."
***
A moment later. The territory of Pandemonium.
"Huhu, you came on time?"
Thanks to Talis's consideration, Seo-jin arrived in the Pandemonium area on time.
Seo-jin let out a deep sigh, recalling the events of last night.
"Yes, I had some trouble."
Around evening, he was wandering around other areas when he met Talis, and fell onto a remote island where he suffered all kinds of hardships.
Moreover, he had gone through several hours of training. He hadn't slept a wink until now.
"I know. I watched all of your activities."
TAP TAP-.
Rosaria smiled while tapping around her eyes with her hand.
It seems she saw how Seo-jin passed the test and what happened with Talis through Clairvoyance.
She said generously.
"It must have been hard, so go rest. You can sleep for a bit. I'll specially allow it."
"......"
He went through all that trouble to arrive on time, but now she's telling him to rest, which is deflating.
"What, don't you want to? If you don't want to, never mind."
"No."
This kind of consideration from Rosaria would be thanks to Seo-jin's effort to arrive on time.
Let's think of it as a gift for that effort and rest well.
***
After sleeping soundly and waking up, Seo-jin began full-scale creation of a magic system with Rosaria.
"Rather than creation, it's improvement. Since mana came into being, there's nothing completely new."
WHOOOOO-.
An eerie cold wind blowing through the valley.
Even though it's broad daylight, not a single ray of light enters, so the body trembles with cold.
This cold is not simply due to temperature. It's because of the sinister mana that has accumulated layer upon layer at the bottom of this deep valley where not a single ray of light reaches.
Rosaria leaned against one side of the cliff with a pipe in her mouth.
"I'd like to extract my mana to help if I could, but that's taboo."
There are several reasons for coming to such a sinister valley.
First, because creating a new magic system requires a considerable amount of mana.
It would be convenient if Rosaria provided mana, but that would violate the rules of the 12th floor.
So the plan is to supplement the insufficient amount with the mana accumulated in this valley.
Since mana itself can be brought in abundance from the Energy Core beyond dimensions, the mana in this valley will serve to protect the path connected to the Energy Core and prevent Seo-jin's body from bursting due to overload.
"It's fine. My mana is sufficient."
"Good, then shall we start?"
Rosaria, who licked her red lips once with her tongue, approached behind Seo-jin.
Then she slowly stroked down Seo-jin's chest.
STAB-.
She stood her hand up and pierced through his chest.
There was no particular pain. It was closer to conceptual penetration rather than physical penetration.
Rosaria kneaded Seo-jin's Mana Heart with her hand and nodded as if reading something.
"Mm, very fresh. Is it because you're young?"
"Stop joking around."
"Huhu. But apart from being young, it's diseased. It would be really nice to just throw this away and replace it with an Energy Core. Too bad you don't want to."
The Energy Core is ultimately a demon's true body.
Implanting it in the body is not much different from establishing a contract with that being.
When he hasn't even implanted the Eye of Insight, implanting a heart is out of the question.
"Alright, I understand."
Rosaria, who had been fondling the Mana Heart for a while, said.
"Your origin is Analysis and Combination. Based on this, I can grant characteristics to magic."
"Analysis and Combination."
Seo-jin narrowed his eyes.
Origin refers to the qualities or temperament-related attributes that a being is born with.
In magic, this relates to the quality or form of mana, and greatly contributes to the formation of a mage's unique mana pattern.
The fact that traces of magic use are like fingerprints also stems from such attributes.
Rosaria said.
"Actually, both are ambiguous origins to use directly in combat."
That's actually true.
There are as many types of origins as there are beings.
Starting from objects like swords, spears, and bows, to concepts like stillness, movement, and ascension, and even emotions like solitude, obsession, and anger.
Every being in the world has countless types of origins.
For example, in Won-jae's case, it would be sword or self-righteousness.
He is a master of the sword who approached the top of the Tower with one sword.
And self-righteousness. He has the talent to handle people, but that talent was only exercised to fulfill his own desires.
The temperament to place all humanity under his feet and control them would stem from the self-righteousness of thinking that only he knows the right path.
In Ha-yeon's case, she might have been born with origins like divinity or transformation.
Even if she doesn't believe in gods, she can receive divine love and utilize that power due to her innate origin.
Also, the talent of transformation that can dye any mana and... any person with her own color.
Even Seo-jin might have been drawn by that demonic talent.
From that perspective, the origins that Seo-jin was born with, 'Analysis' and 'Combination', are not suitable for use in combat.
Seo-jin's innate intelligence stems from 'Analysis', and his talent for creating new things using it would stem from 'Combination'.
However, these are somewhat ambiguous to utilize directly in combat.
But.
"It depends on how you use anything, doesn't it?"
At Seo-jin's answer, Rosaria smiled.
"Bingo. Actually, origin is like a nose ring if you hang it on the nose, an earring if you hang it on the ear."
She exhaled smoke and looked at the sky visible between the valleys.
"Innate temperament, that is, fate, leads a being toward that fate, but not all beings are slaves to fate. Among them, we are beings who pioneer new paths different from any existing path. Those who endlessly explore toward mysteries that didn't exist in the world. The demonic path of black mages is such a thing."
This is Rosaria's doctrine about the demonic path.
It was quite different from the definition of the demonic path that the pathetic guy Vernon had spewed out in the past - a demonic path paved with resentment and blood by sacrificing others.
This would be the difference between a mere vermin and an elder of Pandemonium.
"New mysteries that didn't exist in the world. Although it may not be creation, improvement is possible. And."
Rosaria's eyes gleamed.
"What's needed for this is Achievement Points."
The Achievement Points that Seo-jin has accumulated through climbing the Tower. This is essential for creating a new magic system.
Rosaria continued as if chanting.
"Achievement is karma. The footprints and results you've left on this land, the world's recognition praising those merits. Based on that recognition, you can engrave your own concepts on this world."
She looked at Seo-jin and smiled brightly.
"Creating a new magic system through this means gaining one of the qualifications to become an elder of Pandemonium."