This Is Too Much For Me
The Academy Tournament organizing committee, after an exhaustive investigation, finally realized that the virtual world had been transformed into someone’s Inner World. That was why they had sought help from Karlsen, a specialist in the field and one of the few 7-star dark mages on the continent. Yet what flowed from his lips was an unexpectedly negative remark.
This is the work of a dark mage far superior to me. If I carelessly collide with it and try to break it, I’ll be the one who ends up devoured.
Anyone who reaches the highest levels of any discipline tends to possess a certain pride in their own abilities. A 7-star dark mage was a powerhouse capable of effortlessly reducing a small city to rubble if he so desired. The fact that such a man was shaking his head before even attempting anything made the expressions of every mage present harden at once.
“Then you’re saying this is the Inner World of a superhuman-class dark mage?”
“No. Strictly speaking, it’s closer to the concept of a curse. It appears a dark mage of at least superhuman rank left behind his Inner World as a posthumous curse.”
Because Professor Karlsen specialized in curse magic among all branches of dark magic, he had managed to decipher part of the true nature of the Inner World left by the Undying King with only a brief examination.
“This is truly remarkable. If possible, I’d love to begin researching this Inner World right here and now.”
“I understand the feeling, but please restrain yourself for the moment. The students’ safety is at stake.”
Any scholar would likely feel the same as Professor Karlsen. If what lay before them had been some ultra-advanced new magic formula rather than dark magic, every mage gathered here would have had their eyes sparkling. So while they understood his heart, there simply wasn’t time for that now. Even a single minute, a single second of delay could mean children dying.
“Yes, I’m aware.”
At Professor Frankhorn’s words, Professor Karlsen flashed a bright smile. Then he looked back at the Inner World before him and answered.
“I have no intention of satisfying my curiosity at the cost of the students’ lives either.”
Well, to be completely honest, he wasn’t all that worried about the children’s lives. It wasn’t that Professor Karlsen secretly hated children or was still sulking because everyone except him had gone down to the cafeteria for breakfast that morning. He was simply certain. No matter what happened, the children would return alive.
And that was because the absolute pinnacle of dark magic, the Death King, was standing right here.
‘No dark magic can be anything more than a trivial trick in front of the Death King.’
There was no other field where the hierarchy was as clearly defined as in dark magic. No matter what kind of Inner World it was, it could not properly exert its will in the presence of the Death King.
“Anyway, rather than clashing with it, it would be far better to interpret it in the way of mages and create a passage. I’ll handle deciphering the dark magic formulas first.”
That was what he thought, but Professor Karlsen had no intention of simply leaving everything to Kain and pretending he had nothing to do with it. For one thing, he knew that Kain liked people who took the initiative and moved on their own instead of waiting for orders. And more importantly, he knew very well that Kain would not lift a finger for anyone except Arina and those connected to her. Even if they were students from other academies, as a professor it was impossible for him to simply let them die.
“I’ll be counting on you.”
At Professor Karlsen’s words, the faces of the mages from the Magic Tower brightened considerably. In this situation, the assistance of a high-ranking dark mage like Professor Karlsen would certainly be a tremendous help.
“I’ll help too.”
At that moment, someone approached from behind Professor Karlsen. Vivid, lemon-yellow hair that shone brightly. A girl with blue, shimmering eyes who stared intently at the virtual world’s formula. It was Marily Raymond, the current princess of the Ellemental Kingdom and a figure renowned among scholars as a genius.
However, most of the mages remained skeptical even at her declaration. They had heard the rumors about her, and they had witnessed her performance throughout the tournament with their own eyes. Nevertheless, they still thought of her as merely an exceptionally outstanding student.
“Oh, you’ll help us?”
On the other hand, the few who knew her true abilities reacted differently. Professor Karlsen welcomed her enthusiastically with a bright expression, and even the strict Professor Frankhorn quietly stepped aside to make room for her.
“Report to me the moment you finish any interpretation. The student has outstanding formula analysis ability, but she’s still clumsy at handling mana.”
“Understood.”
At Professor Frankhorn’s words, Marily nodded and took her place beside him.
Parallel computation began. Numerous mages lined up and formed a circle inside the indoor gymnasium, each starting to decipher the formulas in their assigned sections. It was a cooperative division of labor that perfectly suited the notoriously individualistic nature of mages. No one had given specific orders, yet they found their positions and performed their roles as naturally as puzzle pieces fitting together. Even though most of them were meeting each other for the first time here.
‘Impressive.’
This was the way of mages who had built society. Thinking that this was the driving force that had elevated the Ellemental Kingdom to its current position, Professor Karlsen smiled with satisfaction.
“What are you doing? Stop spacing out back there and come help already.”
“Ah, yes! Sorry!”
At Professor Frankhorn’s sharp rebuke, he hurriedly joined the line of mages.
There were countless mages present, but only one dark mage—Karlsen. As a result, anything that looked like it might be related to dark magic formulas was all dumped onto Professor Karlsen, and he soon became frantically busy.
“…….”
As a result, the formulas were deciphered at an astonishing speed. Perhaps because although it had been transformed into an Inner World, its fundamental foundation was still based on virtual reality. Even though it was the Undying King’s Inner World, it began to be broken through at an exponentially accelerating rate.
Watching from behind, Amy Pewter clenched her fists in frustration. Unlike Marily, who had slipped into their ranks and was performing her role admirably, Amy simply didn’t have the skill to join them. She was certainly an outstanding scholar, but only compared to students her own age. In contrast, everyone gathered there—except for Marily Raymond—was at least at the expert level.
‘Student Council President…….’
Even though her seniors were in danger, she couldn’t help them. Overwhelmed with self-reproach, Amy held back her resentment and tightened her fists.
‘Please come back safely.’
She thought of Aaron Dice’s smile as he had stroked her head before leaving and comforted her when she had been feeling down.
The Inner World handled by the Pope was a kind of posthumous curse created by the Undying King at the cost of his own body. If the Pope’s main body served as the source of the Church’s faith and belief to create a vessel for the Undying King’s future resurrection, then the role of the Inner World was that of a destroyer—punching a passage between hell and the mortal realm so the Undying King could be reborn. And deep within that Inner World lurked a monster that would carry out that act of destruction: a predator that grew by devouring people’s karma.
“Ugh. No matter how many times I see it, this place is disgustingly unpleasant.”
The Inner World that Jealousy had glimpsed for the briefest instant when Kindness had fled from him. Having followed Kain inside, Jealousy frowned as if he had seen something filthy.
It was a place he really didn’t want to stay in for long. The air quality was so terrible that just being here seemed like it would ruin his skin endlessly.
“I need to finish this quickly and get out. Otherwise the nasty smell is going to soak into my skin.”
The virtual world where the final boss hunt had taken place had been split into two dimensions by the Pope’s Inner World. There was the outer surface of the Inner World—the surface space where those who hadn’t been eliminated yet remained. And there was the inner surface—the deep space where the eliminated had been devoured and where the ego of this Inner World resided.
The moment they had been completely divided had been right after Arina was eliminated. In other words, the Pope had done this to drop Arina into the deep space and delay as much as possible the time until the Death King could rescue her.
‘Trying to screw over Master until the very last moment. What a brave bastard.’
Did he not yet know how vicious Master’s grudges could be? Even though the guy possessed only limited immortality, he truly didn’t seem to value his own life. Having caused such a big commotion, he probably wouldn’t be allowed to die easily. Ever since Jealousy had entered under Master’s command, from the time of conquering the underworld until now, not a single person who had earned Master’s resentment had survived.
‘Well, that’s none of my business.’
All he had to do was carry out Master’s orders to the best of his ability. Currently, Master had already moved beyond the deep space to rescue the young lady. Unlike Kain, Jealousy—who had drifted into the surface space to rescue Jeon and Togun—looked up at the blue sky that didn’t suit an Inner World at all and let out a small chuckle.
The Undying King’s Inner World was the proof of all the history he had lived through. Birth and death, and everything that came after. It was a library he had newly accumulated and built. It was a place worthy of being called a personal Akashic Record, and just as proof of that, the virtual world mixed with this Inner World was twisted in a very interesting and bizarre way.
KWAAAANG!
For example, that. An ancient monster species known to have gone extinct long ago was freely roaming a volcanic region.
‘Not bad.’
If the Death King Dark Heaven’s Inner World was an absolute domain that killed everything, then the Undying King’s Inner World could be called a perfect domain where everything lived eternally in memory. Because it was currently incomplete, only traces like these ancient monsters that should have been nothing more than fossils were wandering about. If the Church used it properly, it might even be possible to recreate historical events from the past to some extent. For instance, manifesting the legendary hero who had once severed the neck of a supreme dragon species into reality.
‘Maybe he didn’t create this whole thing just to screw with Master.’
There was no way he would have used an Inner World like this with the sole purpose of messing with Master. That was probably only a secondary goal. His real intention had likely been to devour all the karma of the students participating in the tournament.
‘Karma is essentially a person’s talent as an ability user.’
The talent to handle mana was, in other words, an indicator of how much karma had accumulated in one’s soul. In that sense, the Academy Tournament would have been the ultimate feast for the Undying King. Until now, because it was an event that drew so much public attention, he had left it untouched while moving in secret. But with his resurrection approaching and wanting to screw over Master at the same time, perhaps he had decided to kill two birds with one stone. Especially since this tournament had drawn an unprecedented number of prodigies like Chris and Aaron Dice.
From the Pope’s perspective, who sought to resurrect his main body, it must have made his mouth water.
‘Of course, the young lady would be included among them.’
Swoosh. Jealousy lightly waved his hand through the air. The ancient monster that had been charging toward him was instantly sliced into six pieces and collapsed to the ground. But as if it had been an illusion from the start, the ancient monster scattered like mist without spilling a single drop of blood.
Even so, Jealousy didn’t spare it the slightest glance, as if he had no interest whatsoever.
“Who the hell do you think you are, drooling that stinking saliva all over the young lady?”
He already held a massive grudge against the Church because of that bitch Kindness. Now he wanted to slaughter every single Church member even more.
The smile on Jealousy’s lips grew thick with murderous intent.
A gentle breeze blew around him. The spirits he had scattered in all directions for reconnaissance delivered their reports, and Jealousy’s gaze turned to the right.
“So that’s where they are.”
He had found them. Pinpointing the children’s locations in an instant with his spirits, Jealousy’s figure vanished from the spot.