Chapter 31
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 31
“Demonic energy…”
It was the aura of a monster—a thick, dark one at that.
Why is a monster here?
Suspicious, Hansenner hurriedly snatched up his staff. For a scholar of magic, he had a robust build, and the large staff suited to his physique began to glow faintly the moment his hand touched it.
The Magic Tower Wing was located near the grand plaza, right in the heart of Hastin. If a monster had invaded the Wing, did that mean all of Hastin was being overrun? Or had a monster somehow infiltrated the magic tower itself? But why?
“How many enemies?”
“O-one…”
“What kind of monster is it?”
“A human! It’s a human! It’s human!”
“A human?”
The demonic energy was undeniably a monster’s. If its species was human, did that mean it was a humanoid monster?
No. Humanoid monsters looked distinctly different from humans. The trainee’s words meant it had the form of a real human. Polymorph? If it was a monster capable of using Polymorph, then it was an incredibly powerful one.
“Calm down. There are nine trainees on the sixth floor who can use intermediate magic. They won’t be breached so easily. You can afford to be more composed. First, take a deep breath. Once you’ve calmed down, tell me everything in detail. Depending on the situation, we may have to request reinforcements from Count Etarque…”
At Hansenner’s words, the trainee took several sharp, ragged breaths. He was so terrified that even breathing seemed difficult. Despite his efforts, his trembling didn’t stop. Still, having calmed down a fraction, he spoke again.
“It came so suddenly… so suddenly! There wasn’t even any strange noise from the lower floors. I mean, you always hear casting sounds, but… Ah. Ah? …Ugh, cough.”
Before he could finish, the trainee collapsed.
A silhouette walking up from behind him came into view.
Hansenner gripped his staff tightly. How many seconds had passed since he’d declared the sixth floor wouldn’t be breached so easily? Her arrival seemed to mock his very words.
The silhouette was a woman, a small and delicate one at that. She wore a heavily stained, light pink dress, but she was undeniably beautiful. There was no need to wonder if a woman of such a slight build could truly be a monster.
The blood splattered all over her body must have belonged to the trainees.
Hansenner’s grip on his staff tightened. His attempt to remain composed had been a grave miscalculation. He didn’t have the slightest confidence he could win against this entity. No matter how skilled he was, there was no way he could defeat a being that had torn through the sixth floor in an instant.
He had no magic prepared, and with the tower’s anti-teleportation field active, magical escape was impossible.
First, buy time. Lady Amer is right above, on the eighth floor. If I can send a message, we can fight her together. We can win.
“Human.”
As he was lost in thought, the female monster, who had been walking slowly, spoke to him. A ray of hope flickered in Hansenner’s heart.
If she could speak, she could be reasoned with. He could certainly buy enough time just by talking. He would treat her with the utmost respect, humor her every whim. If he could just buy a little more time, even a few seconds, it would be a success.
“H-hello. A pleasure to meet you. I am Hansenner Graumitz, sub-leader of this magic tower and a vassal to Lady Amer Graumitz. You could say I’m in charge of all practical operations here.”
“…Sub-leader.”
“Yes, that is correct. Please, feel free to call me Hansenner…”
“Where is the leader?”
“Ah, Lady Amer is… well…”
Hansenner stammered at the abrupt question. It was too direct, a difficult question to answer. If he said she wasn’t in the tower, the monster might kill him for being useless. If he said she was, she might cut him down, her business with him concluded.
“…Human.”
“Y-yes?”
“Never mind.”
After speaking, the female monster raised her head and looked at the ceiling.
Hansenner immediately understood what she meant.
She figured it out.
“Dammit!”
Screaming, Hansenner raised his staff, intending to fire off anything he could. The staff glowed as he unleashed his fastest spell, the one he could cast in an instant. And then…
And then.
“Damn it.”
He gave up, his eyes fixed on the sharp iron needle that had already appeared right before his nose.
He closed his eyes.
Splat.
Blood soaked the floor.
*
Four blades remaining.
No, five.
Squelch. Pulling the iron needle from Hansenner’s head with both hands, Rene looked up at the ceiling again.
The tower had nine floors. She was currently on the seventh, having come all the way from the first.
She had killed every human she saw on her way up. In her memory, the ninth floor was just a storeroom, which meant only the eighth floor right above her truly remained.
She tapped the floor with her shoe. The low, echoing sound suggested it was quite thick. If she had Guillotine's Tooth, she could have collapsed the ceiling and brought the entire floor down, but that was impossible with only the four blades she possessed. Besides, she was so exhausted it wouldn’t be surprising if she collapsed at any moment.
Even though she hadn't allowed a single attack to land, Rene's thin legs were trembling.
One person left upstairs.
Now, only one human remained.
For the leader on the eighth floor to escape, she would have to either take the stairs down or use <Flight> to flee through a window. The latter was practically suicide, as she would be completely defenseless until just before landing. If the leader had any sense, she wouldn’t choose that option. Either way, she was a rat in a trap. The leader had no choice but to come down these stairs.
Two choices.
It was simple. Go up, or wait.
But Rene didn’t have to be the first to choose.
Not anymore.
“……You must be pretty confident.”
Rene muttered to herself as the sound of clicking heels echoed from the floor above.
How unexpected.
“Oh my, you've made quite a mess, haven't you? More importantly, who are you? Judging by the demonic energy you're giving off, you're definitely a monster…”
Following the pointed heels, a pair of long legs came into view.
Her attire was unusual for a female mage. She wore a thin plate skirt over trousers a man would typically wear. In contrast to her lower garments, her top was a crisp, light-red dress shirt that looked almost like an Imperial military uniform. Her fiery red hair, twisted like a whirlwind, cascaded down to her chest, and the clinking of medals dangling from her shirt grated on the ears.
There was no mistake. Though Rene had been secretly anxious that her memory of the leader’s appearance was hazy, that worry vanished completely. Amer Graumitz—even the name came back to her with perfect clarity.
She was the one who had sold the ‘red mana stone’ to Rene.
The leader of the Magic Tower Wing, Amer Graumitz, smiled. As if she had already grasped the situation, she was shrouded in several layers of protective magic. Her feigned composure was smeared with hypocrisy.
“Oh? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before. Are you… no way. Is it really you? The little peddler who came by a few days ago… It is you, isn’t it?”
“…”
“How surprising. Really. I almost didn't recognize you with the change of clothes. You were a monster all along? Right, I did think you were far too stupid for a human.”
Rene gripped the blades in her hands. Her body trembled with the urge to tear the woman apart right then and there. But not yet. There was still something she had to find out. Something she had to bring to an end.
“……Where is it?” Rene asked, her voice tight as she suppressed the malice-tainted impulse. Her teeth were gritted.
“Guillotine's Tooth. Where is it?”
“Hmm? What? Did you just now find out that what you sold me was Guillotine's Tooth? Or did you know all along? How can you ask for something back that you already sold me? Ah, don’t tell me you came here to get it back? You really are a complete idiot, aren’t you?”
“Tell me. Now.”
“My, what a terrifying expression. But that’s my property now, isn’t it? Do I have any obligation to tell you? Right? By the way, there’s something I’m curious about, too.”
A thick, sticky voice dripped from between Amer’s red lips.
“Hey, you. How are you still alive?”
The moment she finished speaking, something sliced through the air and brushed past her.
At the sound of shattering glass, Amer’s expression stiffened.
Only after hearing the sound did she realize the colorless barrier surrounding her, <Exclusion Wall>, had been destroyed. Her eyes widened. She forced a smile, but the corners of her mouth twitched, unable to completely hide her bewilderment.
An attack I couldn't even follow with my eyes?
That was supposed to be a protective magic sturdier than any shield.
Her eyes still wide, Amer shifted her gaze back to Rene. The girl’s expression hadn’t changed. As if it were nothing, she pulled another blade from her garter and toyed with its edge. Only her gaze, filled with pure, chillingly cold murderous intent, remained fixed on her.
Ah, what a wonderful look in her eyes.
This was a monster capable of shattering an intermediate protective magic with a simple throw.
Amer knew she couldn’t be underestimated.
Come to think of it, she had climbed all the way up here alone and had even defeated Hansenner in a single blow. Judging by the circumstances, this might be the strongest monster Amer had ever encountered. She wiped her lips with a gloved hand. If she had met such a monster in a dungeon, she would have been torn to shreds without lifting a finger.
“Speak.”
“Ah, you really are amazing. But there’s no need to be so angry, is there? Fine. I’ll tell you.”
But no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t imagine losing.
“As for Guillotine's Tooth…”
Amer raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. But the smile that remained on her lips completely contradicted the gesture, and Rene only frowned.
“It’s not here. I sent it off to Riaze quite a while ago. What a pity.”
Amer smirked.
A mad grin spreading across her face, she threw her raised arms wide.
<The Magic Realm>.
A blinding glare enveloped their vision.
The light emanated from mana—the mana filling the seventh floor, the mana that composed the seventh floor. She had awakened all of it.
A magic tower was an artificial structure built over a ‘Mana Spring,’ an area where mana was heavily condensed underground. The tower claimed that power for human use, like a tree drawing nutrients from its roots.
Because of this, the mana drifting inside a magic tower was always more than necessary. For magic researchers, it was a small utopia, but it was also a place that starkly revealed their limitations. Overflowing mana was useless if it was beyond a mage’s capacity. Conversely, if one could utilize all of that mana—
I can do it. I can!
It was possible because she was Amer Graumitz, and because she possessed a staff embedded with an A-rank mana stone.
Of course, Amer couldn’t utilize all of the tower’s mana. Was there even a human alive who could use a quarter of a quarter of it? A mage who could draw and use a mere one percent could proudly boast of their dedication anywhere. At three percent, one could put on airs among their peers. She’d heard that if one exceeded eight percent, they were called a Sage.
With her current talent, Amer could harness just around five percent. And that five percent was more than enough. She could completely control the mana filling the entire seventh floor.
“You see… you look quite strong.”
Yes, the silver-haired monster was strong. Under normal circumstances, Amer could never win.
But this was the Magic Tower Wing. A stage built for mages.
And I am the protagonist of this stage.
“I’ll go all out from the very beginning.”
The spell Amer immediately cast was the high-tier magic, <Lance of Longinus>.
Light gathered. A heavy lance, a mixture of light and mana, materialized before Amer, its divine majesty and sharp point poised to strike.
Of course, Rene didn't just stand by and watch. Crouching low, she rushed toward Amer and threw two blades. The knives flew on a straight trajectory but were neutralized by two layers of magic barriers, falling powerlessly to the ground.
Soon, the completed lance of light pointed toward Rene. Additional magic was layered onto the giant weapon.
<Divide>. <Chase>. <Accelerate>. <Changing Properties—Depravity of Holy Light>.
The lance of light, which had been flying straight, split into dozens of corrupted black fragments. The black shards rained down simultaneously, all aimed at the single target that was Rene.
Now, block it! Try blocking it, you stupid bitch!
This was high-tier magic, a top-class spell that even most dungeon bosses couldn’t withstand. Normally, it was the kind of magic she could barely cast twice by squeezing out every drop of mana in her body.
Who would ever use such a spell just to buy time?
It was an act only possible because the stage was a magic tower.
There were no blind spots to a <Lance of Longinus> imbued with <Divide> and <Chase>. To escape the downpour of blades, the monster would have to deflect the fragments to create an opening. Though it seemed like a feat possible only in theory, that monster would undoubtedly manage it.
If so, all Amer had to do was prepare her real attack in the meantime. Two magic circles rose simultaneously in front of her.