Chapter 685: The World is Built on Someone's Consideration
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 685: The World is Built on Someone's Consideration
The battle between the Red and Green Tower Masters was happening far in the distance. I couldn't read their thoughts, but their expressions, their auras, and their Unique Magic had already decided the victor. The Green Tower Master's Unique Magic was a One-Way Street—a power focused more on defense than offense.
"Kuh…!"
He couldn't retract his Unique Magic. He erected a one-way wall to block the incoming explosion, but in doing so, the air on his side was being siphoned away. The air consumed by that tremendous explosion was being pulled unilaterally from his side. His breathing grew ragged, and his body became unbearably hot.
Of course, her opponent had to be just as hot and overwhelmed. The Green Tower Master held on out of sheer stubbornness.
"How… how can she breathe in that explosion…!"
It should have been easier for the Green Tower Master to endure, protected as she was by her one-way barrier and wind magic. That was what made sense.
But the Red Tower Master, wreathed in flames, was still pouring out power.
"I told you it was lukewarm, Eliot."
A red aura, the color of blood, rose from the Red Tower Master's entire body. Realizing what it was, the Green Tower Master cried out.
"You! You're using your Unique Magic on your own body…!"
"The body is no different. It's a machine that burns food as fuel. We burn our bodies and our lives in a race to see how far we can go. To choose stagnation in lukewarmth is an insult to life."
The Fahrenheit domain was located far to the north of here. The Fahrenheit clan had chosen that land because only they, the wielders of flame, could survive there. In one sense, it was a consideration for others; in another, it was arrogance.
Surviving in such a cold land required an immense amount of fuel. While the nature of the Fahrenheit clan greatly expanded the definition of what could be used as fuel, the cold was far harsher. Bone, moss, oil, mana—they burned anything and everything, but they eventually reached their limit.
Looked at dispassionately, they should have abandoned their domain. But no other land would accept a great mage family with powerful Unique Magic and as many members as Fahrenheit. They could have disbanded the family, but the arrogant mages of Fahrenheit were not the type to bow their heads and enter another's land.
So they researched and pushed themselves even harder. They coveted the sea where the Leviathans swam, shattered glaciers to mine the black water hidden beneath, and even drew mana from the aurora to warm their domain.
The Fahrenheit domain was a ravenous maw that constantly devoured. If they didn't burn, they would freeze to death. If they didn't devour, they would starve. In that endless combustion for survival, the Fahrenheit domain evolved into something akin to the Floating Castle.
But in the end, they reached their limit. The rules of Fahrenheit were no longer sustainable. A decision had to be made. And Fahrenheit does not extinguish a fire once it is lit.
The last head of the family, Hwaran Fahrenheit, invited mages from other domains to combine their different rules.
The rules of Fahrenheit were dangerous to begin with. Combining them with other rules made them uncontrollable.
The domain went up in flames. The fire, unable to distinguish between what should and should not burn, swallowed the entire land. A barbaric red flame, not the aurora, stained the sky of the white night crimson.
Countless people died, and the knowledge and wealth that burned away were immeasurable. The brilliant and tragic fate of Fahrenheit sank into a pile of ashes.
To the very end, Fahrenheit chose to burn.
Even its last embers.
"You gain nothing if you don't burn. I didn't fail because I set the fire. Without fire, both life and the domain die. I didn't fail because I burned. The real reason was that my ability was lacking."
Her Unique Magic, Crucible of Fire.
She did not breathe. She drew low-reactivity oxygen into her body and burned it with delicate precision, reproducing the body's suppressed process of combustion with her Unique Magic. She was now a machine, moved by the flame of her heart.
Holding an unquenchable flame within, she was no longer even a mage. She was like a machine with a heart of fire. Her scorched body was faster, more agile, and hotter than most Qi Practitioners.
One-Way Street was effective within the bounds of its Unique Magic, but the flames ignited by Crucible of Fire spread continuously. The battle of domains was the Red Tower Master's victory.
"I'm sorry, Master…!"
The Green Tower Master had already lost her will to fight. Only stubbornness remained, but even that was beginning to break. The domain of One-Way Street grew increasingly passive. She was struggling just to stay alive.
The balance of power shattered, and the one-way wall was buried in flames. The heat it could no longer block radiated beyond the space. It was a fire that would have incinerated a mere human, leaving not even ashes behind.
"Other-Vanish. Vanishing Line…"
Thanks to the Black Tower Master, who intervened at the last moment, the Green Tower Master's life was spared.
The Black Tower Master's Unique Magic, Vanishing Point, caused an object's energy to dissipate. The heat that sought to burn everything subsided gently as it reached the Vanishing Line. The heat was so widespread that she couldn't protect the Green Tower Master completely, but she had saved her life nonetheless. The Black Tower Master hastily used a condensation spell to douse the Green Tower Master, whose clothes had been burned away and whose skin was scorched red.
The Red Tower Master asked the Black Tower Master.
"Lwine. Are you going to stop me, too?"
"Ugh…"
The Black Tower Master trembled in fear, creating Vanishing Points all around her. But the Red Tower Master paid her little mind and turned away.
"If you're not going to fight, take Eliot and go. I will climb Babel. To reach our Master and take hold of space."
The fight was over. The Mage King, who had watched the Tower Masters' duel to the very end, clapped his hands in satisfaction.
"This is why I can't forsake the Lower World."
He showed no sign of concern, even though the Green Tower Master was in a terrible state. The Green Tower Master had fought to protect her respected master, but it seemed her sentiment was of no use to the Mage King.
"The geniuses born in that miserable, harsh world below always bring a fresh shock to the Floating Castle. The mages of the Floating Castle may be more skilled, but they lack that desperation, that urgency. And so, in the final moments, they are overtaken."
"Weren't the Green and Black Tower Masters your disciples?"
"They were! I taught them myself, and they studied spatial magic under me. In terms of pure academic achievement, there is no one in the Floating Castle who can compare. They even awakened their Unique Magic."
"Speaking of their Unique Magic."
The Green Tower Master's Unique Magic was One-Way Street, the power to impose direction upon space. The Pascal domain was said to have winds that blew in only one direction, so she likely drew her inspiration from there.
The Black Tower Master's Unique Magic was Vanishing Point, the manifestation of an artistic concept as a Unique Magic.
"So they interpreted space from the perspectives of wind and art, respectively. That's common enough."
"They have touched upon the truth, to some extent. But it is merely one way of interpreting the truth, not the truth itself."
The Mage King snapped his fingers. Two bubbles of space swelled up. One created a thin wall that blocked light, while the other began to suck in everything around it.
One was One-Way Street. The other was Vanishing Point.
The Mage King was effortlessly replicating the Unique Magic that others had dedicated their entire lives to obtaining.
"It is good that they understood my spatial magic in their own way, but those ways have their limits. They become obstacles to understanding higher concepts. The wall of One-Way Street is divergence, and the Vanishing Point is convergence. It's difficult to expand to other concepts. They cannot achieve greatness unless they shatter their own molds."
"…No. The problem isn't conceptual expansion. Your Unique Magic is just on a completely different level, isn't it?"
"Of course it is. But 'haven't done it yet' and 'cannot do it' are two different things. The Green and Black Tower Masters are my cherished disciples, but it is difficult to expect them to develop further. They lack diversity, I suppose. The Floating Castle stagnates without fresh stimuli from the Lower World."
The Mage King flicked his finger, and the One-Way Street and Vanishing Point disappeared. To be able to create and destroy powers comparable to a Unique Magic in a single instant… he was on another level. There was a reason the Green and Black Tower Masters were so obedient to him.
The Mage King spoke with a bored expression.
"That is why I have not destroyed the Lower World."
"Ah. I see."
As I nodded along, I suddenly replayed what the Mage King had just said.
…Wait. Did I just hear something about destroying the world? What?
"Hold on. I think I must have misheard something. Did you say destroy the world?"
"Destroy the world? What a strange thing to say. Why would I destroy the world? I said the Lower World."
"The Lower World being…?"
"The one down there. The land where the ignorant masses live."
The Mage King pointed down with his finger. At the same time, a light shone from below, and the landscape of the Lower World, which I had once seen with Avant-garde, unfolded before me.
An ordinary land mixed with the colors of earth, grass, snow, and water. From the Floating Castle, it looked as small as an anthill. That land, where countless people had lived and would continue to live…
"Uh, even so, destruction is a bit much. That's impossible, isn't it?"
"And why is that? There are no absolutes in this world. There is merely a reason not to destroy it yet."
The Mage King tapped his head.
"They are stupid and don't know their place, but their heterogeneity provides good inspiration. And sometimes, talents like Lankart or you appear, who are more brilliant than anyone in the Floating Castle."
"Uh, th-that's an honor?"
"Some might say you're brilliant because you're the King of Humans, but what does it matter? Whether you're the King of Humans or not is completely unimportant. What's important is intellect."
The Mage King tapped his own head.
"But, you see, there are far too many in this world who lack intellect. And most of those who lack intellect are arrogant. They believe everyone else is as stupid as they are."
"Ah… There is a certain tendency for that."
"The bigger problem is that status is not determined by intellect. Outside the Mage Federation, a bizarre power structure has formed where the more foolish and louder you are, the higher you climb. It's absurd. They willfully ignore the fact that I have the power to destroy everything they believe in in an instant."
The Mage King summoned an image of the space where the Red and Green Tower Masters had fought. A firestorm was still raging within the vast space inside the Tower of Babel.
Even as a mere aftereffect, it was still destructive. If this weren't the Floating Castle, if this weren't the spatially anomalous Tower of Babel, many would have been caught up in it.
"Look at the five Tower Masters. If they were to use their Unique Magic to their limits, a city on the surface would vanish with laughable ease. The Lower World cannot handle the immense power of the Tower Masters. The only reason the Lower World is still intact is because these superior beings 'considerately' control their power. Because they suppress their emotions with their lofty reason."
His words are getting more and more extreme. I can't read his mind, so I have no idea what he'll say next. I have a vague guess, but surely not…
"However, the ignorant masses live on, unaware that they survive thanks to the sacrifice and consideration of the chosen, thinking it's all a matter of course. Their minds are so firmly set, I can't even begin to fathom where to start fixing them. So I came to a conclusion."
The Mage King snapped his fingers and said.
"Wouldn't it be better to tear it all down and build anew, rather than painstakingly fixing them one by one?"