The Underworld's Declaration
The sudden surprise terror attack on the church had occurred without any warning whatsoever. Based on that incident, the winds of war once again began to blow across the continent.
While the Fan Empire and Yggdrasil fiercely condemned the underworld, the underworld calmly pushed back, insisting they had done nothing wrong. Each nation expressed its position in the most efficient way possible. In the Ellemental Kingdom, that method involved spreading their stance across the network via the internet.
On top of that, the underworld—knowing full well that their own words lacked credibility—cunningly put forward the Magic Sovereign as their witness. They submitted evidence of the underworld's activities within the Ellemental Kingdom up to now and named a third party, the Immortal, as the true culprit behind the incident.
The underworld claimed that the immutable law stating the dead can never rise again had been broken. In response, the Fan Empire issued a harsh rebuttal, telling them to stop spouting nonsense to cover up their crimes. The Magic Sovereign then stepped in, asking if they truly didn't believe his words, thereby lending strength to the underworld's claims.
The Death King and the Magic Sovereign, along with the Empress and the Tugwi. The absolute beings capable of deciding the fate of the continent had split two against two. The atmosphere of war swelled at an exponential rate.
'They probably can't start a war so easily either.'
The Tugwi and the Empress both had bad blood with the master of the underworld, Sawang Heokcheon. They had likely seen this incident as an opportunity to partially uproot the underworld's influence that had spread into their own nations.
However, the unexpected intervention of the Magic Sovereign brought the war that had seemed imminent to a temporary standstill. The scale had already been inflated to the point where once it erupted, it would spiral completely out of control.
'Until the truth is revealed.'
Zeon's eyes grew deeper as he listened to the announcer's voice through his wireless earphones, lost in thought. It seemed both sides found direct conflict too burdensome, so they continued trading verbal blows.
The church, along with the Fan Empire and Yggdrasil, kept pressuring the underworld, while the underworld openly revealed the names of the resurrected individuals as evidence. Among them were the culprits of incidents that had once shaken the capital, so public interest had skyrocketed. The evidence was simply too solid to dismiss their claims as outright lies.
'Even the Dark Wave from ten years ago...'
If their words were true, it was an incredibly welcome development for Zeon. In a situation where he had no choice but to resent all dark mages as one, a clear target to point at and resent had finally appeared. Moreover, since the Magic Sovereign had personally vouched for them, the credibility was extremely high.
The fact that the Magic Sovereign would stake his own name like this essentially meant he had already received royal approval.
"......"
The underworld was the undeniable evil of this era. But with the emergence of an even greater evil that surpassed it, the world's attention on this incident grew even more intense.
Furthermore, within the Ellemental Kingdom, the underworld was secretly undergoing an image change, being portrayed as dark heroes who fought against such greater evils from the shadows.
However, Zeon had no intention of agreeing with that narrative. Having dreamed of becoming a special police officer and spent a long time watching the news and organizing cases, he had indirectly confirmed just how vicious their deeds were in the shadows.
Who was right and who was wrong didn't matter. What Zeon needed to do now was prepare. The moment the existence of the Immortal was proven true and all their evil deeds were exposed, he had to be at the very forefront of capturing them. He had to continue his grueling preparations for that.
Beyond justice or values, it was purely for his personal vendetta against those who had driven his family to the brink of ruin and killed his father.
"Uwaaaaaaaaagh!"
Even as expert opinions on the current situation continued to play on the news desk, a furious roar pierced through the wireless earphones and pounded against Zeon's eardrums.
Frowning, Zeon turned off the treadmill he had been running on and pulled out the wireless earphone from his ear.
"Uryaaaaaaaah!"
When he turned his head, he saw a boy screaming on the bench press. On the surface—and in reality—he looked several years younger than Zeon. Yet the weight he was lifting was so enormous that even Zeon, who exercised regularly, wouldn't be able to budge it without using reinforcement magic.
And Zeon knew exactly who that boy was. Not only that, they had even spent several days living and training together.
"Daaaaaaaaaamn it!"
Togun Masao. A freshman who had enrolled in the continent's premier magic academy, Benedict Academy, despite possessing a constitution completely incompatible with mages. In a corner of the academy's gym facilities—where normally no first-years except Zeon ever came—he was throwing his entire body into intense training.
The veins bulging over his muscles as he vented his frustration. It was a physique so perfectly developed that it was hard to believe he was only twelve years old and hadn't even properly entered his growth spurt yet.
'What a nuisance.'
Still, impressions were one thing, and this was another. Zeon knew there were people who shouted like that during workouts, but he could never shake the feeling that it was incredibly bothersome no matter how many times he saw it.
Thinking that, Zeon glanced around. Since this was a magic academy, there weren't many visitors to begin with, but today in particular, not a single person was in sight. In fact, to put it bluntly, there was no one else in this vast gym facility except for Zeon and Togun.
Considering his personality that hated causing trouble for others, he was probably shouting like that because he thought no one was around. The treadmill area was tucked away in a rather secluded spot, unlike Zeon's position which offered a full view of the gym, so it was entirely possible he hadn't noticed anyone entering.
"Haa... haa... whew."
Togun roughly caught his breath, racked the barbell, stood up, and sat on the edge of the bench press. Only then did he seem to notice the gaze on him and turned his head toward Zeon.
"Huh? Hyung, when did you get here?"
It was Zeon who had told Togun about the gym facilities inside the academy. So Togun didn't find it strange at all that he was there and greeted him with a bright smile. Zeon approached with an indifferent expression and answered.
"Before you."
"Ah."
An awkward look crossed Togun's face at those words. So he really hadn't known anyone was here. If it wasn't intentional, that was fine. As the one who had introduced him to this place, Zeon had only been worried that he might train like that even when other people were around.
Thinking that, Zeon casually glanced at the barbell Togun had been lifting.
"You're training with quite a heavy load."
It was a magic tool as well. An exercise device engraved with gravity amplification spells that allowed the weight to be freely adjusted. Originally it had only that function, but after the muscleheads insisted on showing off exactly how much they were lifting, a feature that changed color according to the weight had been added. The lighter it was, the more it shifted from red to pure white. The heavier, the more it shifted from blue to pitch black.
The barbell Togun had been lifting was currently a deep, concentrated blue. It was a weight that far exceeded an ordinary person's limits—something only a near-martial master could handle.
"Really? I've been taking a long break from training, so I thought I was going pretty light compared to before."
As mentioned earlier, even this weight was already beyond what an ordinary person could lift. Yet he was complaining that it still wasn't enough. It was an answer that completely defied common sense, just as expected from the Masao family—rumored to have defeated an 8-star transcendent despite being powerless.
'I thought it was just an exaggerated rumor, but...'
Seeing that monstrous physique, Zeon thought it might actually have been possible.
"Do you usually shout like that while working out?"
"No, not usually."
Today he had only shouted to vent his frustration. And for good reason—he had completely botched Professor Karlsen's assignment that morning. Perhaps it was because he had forgotten about it, only for it to pop back into his mind. A bitter smile unconsciously formed on Togun's lips.
'No need to ask this hyung if he did well on it.'
It was obvious he had aced it. Although he had taken second place due to talent scores, every first-year knew there wasn't a single student better than Zeon among the current freshmen. It was only natural that the top spot would change as the semester progressed. Of course, since it was absolute grading with only scores released and no official rankings, the title of top student was meaningless except during the entrance and graduation ceremonies.
"Speaking of which, summer break is coming up soon."
During the brief rest that followed, Togun suddenly checked the calendar on his smartphone and asked Zeon.
"Are you going back to your hometown, hyung?"
The academy's summer break started in early July. There was about a month left until then. It was the time when children started talking about their vacation plans, but unfortunately, Togun had no options. Even if he returned to his family, he would only be met with pressure to drop out of the academy. In that case, it would be far better to stay in the capital and eat at Uncle Hemming's restaurant.
"No."
Unlike himself, Zeon had naturally assumed he would return to his family. When Zeon gave an unexpected answer, Togun widened his eyes slightly. Zeon continued speaking as if it were no big deal.
"I have somewhere to go."
As he had mentioned before, the special police force was an elite unit even within the police department. To get in, one naturally needed a multitude of specs to package oneself as attractively as possible.
"I heard they're running a police career experience program for academy students in the Vivaldi Territory."
Nominally it was career experience, but it was a social activity meant to spark children's interest in the police force. While the children probably wouldn't do much actual work, simply having participated would become a valuable spec in itself.
'Of course, it's not all good.'
Suddenly, a memory from the past came to mind. Professor Karlsen, who had somehow heard that Zeon was going to Vivaldi, had excitedly shown up and shoved a concert invitation in his face, bragging about it.
"Wow, what a coincidence. I also received an invitation from a friend and will be heading to the Vivaldi Territory."
"......"
"It would be nice if we could meet up for a meal."
No way. Meeting at the academy was already horrible—did he really have to meet him outside during break too? Was he crazy?
Anyway, while the Vivaldi Territory wasn't as big as the capital Raymond, it was still a massive city. Zeon told himself there was no way they would actually run into each other, but if they did by some chance, he would avoid him with all his might.
"If you have time, want to go together?"
Since Vivaldi was called the city of art, there were plenty of things to see. It would probably be better for getting some fresh air than spending all day cooped up in the academy dormitory.
"Really?"
"There's still some time left before the application deadline. Applying now should be fine."
"Where do I apply?"
"I'll send you the text. The entire application procedure."
He had been planning to spend the entire break training in the academy dormitory. At the unexpected offer of a trip, Togun felt his heart pounding with excitement.