Chapter 185
Chapter 185
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 185
Chapter Title: Omen (4)
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After a commotion broke out in the lobby, it wasn't long before an elderly man set foot on the top floor of the Mage Tower.
"H-Here it is!"
"Good work."
"Y-Yes, sir. Have a pleasant time...!"
The mage who had escorted the old man to the top floor bowed at a perfect ninety degrees, stealing glances at him. For the Lord of the Black Mage Tower, this was an incredibly disconcerting sight.
'What in the world...?'
Just moments ago, when he'd sent the communication from the lobby, the mage had spat out something like, "What should I do with this rambling old hag spouting nonsense?" Yet now, in the blink of an eye, that same mage was bowing his head before the old man, looking positively terrified.
...What kind of sorcery had this guy worked?
As Yetwal stared at the old man with puzzled eyes, the elder spoke indifferently.
"The brat who hasn't even swallowed fifty years of experience was spewing drivel without knowing his place. Looked like he needed some etiquette training, so I handled it. Got a problem with that?"
His tone was as if stating the obvious.
Yetwal instantly intuited from that voice.
'A crazy old coot.'
Fitting for an acquaintance of the Ashen Mage. Yetwal shook his head. No point in conversing long with lunatics—it would only cost him.
"...Thanks. So, you're the Ashen Mage's guest?"
"If you call it an invitation, then sure. She was so damn noisy I couldn't ignore her."
As he answered, the old man took a step forward, his gait anything but ordinary. He looked well over sixty at first glance, but his movements were those of a young man.
Thud.
The moment the old man took another step, Yetwal doubted his own eyes. The figure who had been an elder just now stood before him as a middle-aged man.
"Cardi. This form's probably more familiar to you."
The wrinkles smoothed out.
His snow-white hair began darkening in patches. The middle-aged man who emerged was someone Yetwal knew.
"...Aren't you the owner of that back-alley magic shop?"
"That's right. We meet again."
The middle-aged man who sold high-quality magic tools in the back alleys.
The one who had told him about a 'certain location' and arranged his meeting with Belnoa.
"Looking for a disciple, were you?"
"Then head to where the remnants of the Twilight faction are holed up. You'll find a promising young punk causing a ruckus."
That's where Yetwal had found Belnoa and Chloe.
He'd thought it pure coincidence back then... but looking back now, there were too many suspicious bits. Yetwal's eyes narrowed.
"Who the hell are you, really?"
"Doesn't seem important right now."
Ignoring Yetwal's question, the middle-aged man stepped forward again. As he brushed past the wary Kalt, his form shifted once more—this time into an even younger man, a youth.
Ashen hair and long ears.
Beast-like yellow-golden eyes.
Was this his true form? Still impossible to tell. From elder to middle-aged, middle-aged to youth, now even his race had changed to elf. Yetwal let out a hollow laugh.
"...Hah."
One hell of a peculiar fellow.
No better way to describe this elf than the Ashen Mage's one-liner. Yetwal gave up trying to understand him.
"Whatever... if you need any tools, just say the word. I can prep most materials."
What could he do, stuck between monsters?
He just hoped this storm would pass quietly.
Yetwal sincerely wished it.
2.
"...Worthy of a hasty summons."
Cardi muttered after checking Lania's condition on the bed. He turned to Kalt standing beside him.
"Looks like you brought her here. First things first—answer me."
Cardi crossed his arms and continued.
"■■. ■■. ■■. The ■■ who lost ■■ of ■■. Any languages you can understand?"
"...None."
"Then it didn't manifest in front of you. Anything nearby? Like an altar or medium."
Kalt shook his head and pulled something from his pocket.
"Only this black crystal orb like this. I thought the magic tool had vanished in the expansion circuit, but Senior pulled it out somehow..."
"Something must've jumped between her heart and the tool."
"...Yes, just as you say."
"Hand it over."
Kalt passed the crystal orb to Cardi.
Cardi turned it this way and that, then clicked his tongue sharply. His face twisted into a scowl.
"They fucked it up good. It was a trap from the start."
"...Pardon?"
"Where'd this orb come from? You bring it? Did you shove it in her face?"
Crack. Cardi's fingers popped loudly. Kalt instinctively reached for his waist. He felt the elf's restrained killing intent in his gaze.
"Speak. Before I suspect you further."
"...The hound brought it. Said he found it in the underground waterway. It appeared overnight."
"That guy's the culprit, then."
...Culprit?
"This was a magic tool made to target her from the beginning. The purpose is crystal clear."
Cardi tapped the crystal orb casually as he spoke.
"It's got properties that stimulate nearby ■■. It triggered the contaminant embedded in her heart, overloading the circuits temporarily."
Creak, crick-creak.
The circuits still whirring noisily. Glancing at the ones carved into Lania's chest, Cardi continued his explanation.
"But that's not its main function. With this structure... it's not just stimulation—it's attraction. Pulling in and collecting."
"...You mean."
"Someone modified it for attacking her."
Kalt fell silent.
So he'd delivered a trap meant to kill his senior right to her doorstep?
"Your face says you get it."
"Then what do we do?"
"She'll be fine, actually. No major issues."
Cardi flung open his robe.
He pulled six test tubes from the pouch at his waist, slipping them between his fingers.
"Even with her internals wrecked, someone's done basic emergency measures. Overloaded the circuits to speed things up. It'll strain her body, but leave her be and she'll wake in about ten days."
Not fit for sane work.
He muttered, shaking his head.
"Best I can do is..."
Pop. He uncorked one.
Then, deftly mixing reagents with tubes gripped in both hands, he continued while shaking one between index and middle finger.
"Feed her a neutralizer and aid recovery of her smashed flesh. That's about it."
A state even the Tower Lord rushing in wouldn't grasp.
"Plus, prolonged overload could cook her organs... so countermeasures for that too. Neutralizer alone won't shorten it enough."
Kalt swallowed hard at the elf who diagnosed precisely and proposed solutions. An extraordinary figure. Maybe even more than his senior.
"You, Tower Lord."
The elf mixing reagents turned. His beastly yellow eyes fixed on the Black Tower Lord. The lord, mesmerized by the sight, flinched with a shudder.
"...What?"
"Coolant. Heat-resistance stones. Mid-grade or higher resistance stones. Potions good for mana replenishment. Bring whatever you've got."
Cardi nodded toward Lania.
"She'll foot the bill. Save her first, yeah?"
"...Understood."
Yetwal couldn't bring himself to say, "Who are you to order me around?" He nodded meekly and began contacting each floor of the tower.
"And, hound."
"Listening."
"Her condition will improve with time. The real issue is what incident they had to shove her into this trap for."
Cardi's eyes sharpened.
"They know the Ashen Mage's true identity—known to only a scant few. They even know her ■■. But killing the Ashen Mage isn't the main goal."
"...Pardon?"
"They're aiming elsewhere."
He stated flatly.
"Excluding the Ashen Mage. That's just a prerequisite. And it's been fulfilled now."
Which means.
"Something's happening. Don't know what, but something with higher priority than sidelining the Ashen Mage."
Kalt grasped the implication.
He drew a magic tool from his waist. Cardi's eyes narrowed at the sight—all the tools were wrecked.
"...Too late, it seems."
The moment Cardi muttered that.
Ruuuumble!
The Mage Tower shook. Windows rattled, and the capital's skyline visible outside swayed massively for an instant. A shockwave swept through the city.
Not aimed at the tower.
Nor originating from it.
Cardi shaking his test tube, Kalt clutching his tool to connect comms, Yetwal relaying orders for supplies—all froze in place.
Frozen, they turned to the window.
"...What the hell?"
Yetwal in bewilderment.
-Grind.
Kalt ground his teeth.
"......"
Cardi frowned silently.
Their gazes converged on one spot.
Screech, scree-screech, screeech, screech.
A massive distortion.
Visible even from afar, it looked like space itself warping. Filth oozed from the twisted space.
At the center of the distortion.
Not hard to guess the location.
"...Aphria Academy."
Aphria was engulfed in darkness.
3.
The stars shine brilliantly.
Shining so, they cast shadows.
The greater the light, the vaster the shadow.
"Aphria is the cradle of stars." The phrase used to adorn the kingdom's premier academy of magic wasn't mere flattery. Indeed, Aphria teemed with those tied to the stars—talents that emerged once every few centuries.
"Where stars gather." Starlight resonates with starlight.
Resonance births even greater light.
"『Thus.』"
If there's a place that must be shrouded in shadow.
"『It must be here.』"
A mage who had craved shadow his entire life stood at the cradle's heart. He reached for the sky. Gazing where stars should be, he revealed his true form.
Crunch, cruuunch.
The bones of the human medium twisted.
Flesh crumbled, skin tore.
Shredding the human shell, an ancient lich shrouded in black mist emerged.
『Ah.』
Arms spread wide, he gazed heavenward.
A black crystal orb floated up between his bony ribs—the fruit of a lifetime's research. Beholding it, the ancient lich chanted.
『Resonate.』 ⟨ Resonance Ritual ⟩
Crystal orb resonated with crystal orb.
The orbs placed across Aphria began resonating. At their center: three orbs.
One, to the child loved by the stars.
Two, to the child chosen by the stars.
Three, to the one who reads the stars' context.
Orbs near the star-blessed shone brilliantly, stimulating their starlight. Vast starlight to devour the black crystal orbs overflowed.
『More.』
The beloved.
『More, more!』
The chosen.
『More brilliant light!』
The beholder.
『Light, more brilliant light!』
Three starlights resonated.
A wave of light surged. Platinum starlight geysered endlessly. The providence forming this world's foundation began to reveal itself.
And.
Where light gathers, shadows inevitably follow.
Screech, scree-screech.
Shadows draped beneath the light.
『Come.』
A being beyond providence.
A being not to be comprehended.
A being incomprehensible.
A being that should not exist.
A foundation denying providence.
『My king.』
It was a fragment of the demon who lost kingship.
Shadow as filth, filth as hand, hand reaching for light. Born to devour light, it craved it.
Grip.
Seizing starlight, devouring, dragging down. Into the mire, to depths darker than darkness. Pulling stars to its own realm.
Thud, thoom. Roooar!
Light exploded. Shadow swallowed the blast.
Light leaked from the shadow anew.
Light and shadow began entangling.
『Ah, aaaaaah!』
The ancient lich exulted at his king's advent. Laughter soaked in ecstasy echoed. Truth lay where shadow and light mixed.
Shadow would devour light's medium.
Light's medium would become shadow's medium.
Reenacting what history repeated endlessly here once more. Turning history's repeated failures into success. That was his role.
Groan, grrrind.
Ancient lich Skeval moved his fingers.
In an instant, crystal orbs rose one by one over darkness-wreathed Aphria, forming a barrier caging it with shadow as medium.
No interferers allowed.
Even the Ashen Mage sidelined successfully.
Plan flawless, no variables.
"Not a heretic this time."
Or perhaps one.
"A pity."
Darkness descended on Aphria.
One man traversed the nightmare-silent academy. Straight toward the calamity. Without hesitation.
One step, another.
Skeval turned at the approaching footsteps.
『Human.』
A mere human stood there.
Straight-backed, head raised to the king. At that arrogant sight, Skeval's black eyes gleamed.
『Bow your head. Before that one.』
"Can't do that."
『A mere human...』
"Because I'm a mere human."
He halted.
"Because I chose to live as one, swore on my hometown reduced to ashes a century ago."
He rubbed his nape.
Click, something unlocked.
"To keep that vow, enduring immortal life."
A human who lived a century in madness.
"I judge now."
The madman, Kelrhalhm.
"This is the moment to uphold it."
Madman and ancient lich faced off.
Brief silence.
Then, shattering it—dozens of circuits ignited simultaneously.
Instantly completed circuits blazed. Blue mana tangled with viscous black mana.
KABOOOOOM!
The roar struck Aphria.
Author's Note: Packed it generously!