Episode 1210
Episode 1210
"Hmm. No. This might not be the clue after all."
True to his nature as a seasoned magic criminal, Hamster quickly regained his composure.
Even if there was hidden magic in the fortress, the likelihood of it being in this underground prison was slim.
Only naive youngsters who read old fairy tales would think 'Maybe there's treasure in the underground prison!'—normally, you wouldn't store anything valuable in an underground prison.
What you usually store in underground prisons are prisoners.
Truly precious items would be kept in secure locations like the upper levels of the fortress where only verified individuals could access, not some ambiguous place like an underground prison...
"No. Please trust my intuition. There's something in the underground prison!"
"R-really?"
Hamster wavered slightly.
It was rare for a mage of the Wardanaz family to speak with such confidence.
For someone who always maintained an infuriatingly cautious stance while chattering away, to show such certainty now...
There really might be something here.
Seeing that Hamster seemed convinced, Lee Han acted quickly. Given time, this hamster would regain his senses.
Fortunately, there were no other vampires near the underground entrance. Due to the nearby collapse, even the frenzied undead didn't seem to wander around this area.
"This is..."
Descending through the collapsed entrance, Lee Han was astonished by the gruesome traces along the corridor.
Vampire undead were embedded everywhere, almost like decorations hung on the walls and ceilings.
"He's escaping... Must stop him..."
"That cunning archmage played tricks... Enemies have invaded..."
These undead still couldn't grasp the situation, even though the battle had ended long ago and they themselves had fallen.
The undead in the upper fortress were similar, but at least they were in a better state—they could still move around.
Hamster sharply observed the traces, paying no mind to whether the undead were crawling pitifully or hanging limp.
There might be clues to hidden magic in the fortress.
"Must be enemies taken down by an assassin. Not your average speedster."
Even among combat mages, their schools varied widely. With no definitive answer to the approach, each mage's individuality shone through distinctly.
This combat mage's style prioritized speed.
They invested relatively high-level magic into speed and stealth, while combining lower-circle attack spells to achieve just enough destructive power—a style of magical combat.
To fight this way required keen insight to quickly identify an enemy's weak points and the skill to strike precisely at vital spots. Otherwise, the lack of destructive power would become a fatal flaw.
"Interesting, but far from powerful and extraordinary magic. Do you really think the clue is here?"
Hamster asked again, puzzled.
While the achievements demonstrated by this combat mage were impressive and unique, it wasn't the magic Hamster was looking for.
What Hamster wanted was an ancient magic powerful and extraordinary enough to catch Yama King's interest and for Sanguiros to hide—not this kind of skill that merely refines and combines ordinary magic to its limits.
"Of course. I'm even more convinced now. More importantly, look at this undead here."
Lee Han pointed to an undead missing its lower half and asked.
Unlike Hamster, his lack of experience made it impossible to identify the magic used at a glance.
The undead groaned at Lee Han.
"Assassin... escaped... Must pursue..."
"Got it. Got it. Be quiet."
"Assassin... escaped... So evil..."
When the frenzied undead refused to listen, Lee Han cast a curse to silence it.
Hamster squeaked and asked,
"What am I supposed to see? Their miserable state after being struck by an evil god?"
"Not that. Look at the severed traces here. What kind of magic does this resemble?"
Judging by the upper half of the undead's body, it seemed to have been first struck by an elemental magic in the form of a sphere, then momentarily immobilized before being cleanly sliced.
While the former was understandable, the latter wasn't as easy to deduce.
-Let's see... with that kind of cutting power, it'd be either wind or ice... No, neither. If it were wind, the cut surface would be more jagged, and if it were ice, there'd be frost marks. Most likely, dark element was used.
"Huh? Ba... You mean the assassin was proficient in dark element too?"
-Even if they weren't a master of the element, they could still use the magic. They only needed to learn as much as necessary. Like I said, this assassin creates destructive power through skill and combinations, so they wouldn't be too constrained by such limitations.
"I see. I see."
Having roughly figured out what needed to be figured out, Lee Han began reverse-engineering the magic based on the remaining clues.
'Dark element category, with cutting power—must be sword-shaped. Since the attacks happened simultaneously, they wouldn't have gone and swung it directly, so it must've been summoned... That means it was likely summoned behind the enemy and swung. Since they dislike waste, they wouldn't have maintained the sword but made it disappear immediately after striking.'
-...Aren't you going to look for more clues?
At Hamster's question, Lee Han answered firmly.
"This is the clue. Please trust me."
-O-oh, okay.
Hamster was gradually growing more confused.
It was good that Lee Han was reliable, but what on earth was he so confident about?
"Hmm... Would this <Dark Sword of Surprise> be around 3rd Circle?"
-It's 4th Circle. Can't you even count circles?
Hamster, forgetting his earlier confusion, was now utterly baffled.
The Empire's current magic classification system was clean and straightforward enough that even magic criminals who revered ancient magic acknowledged it.
For a mage who had graduated from Einrogard—someone who shouldn't be at a level where they'd mistake the circle of a spell—to be confused about this was absurd.
"I don't usually have to count magic circles, so I got mixed up. People can make mistakes, you know. No need to criticize so harshly."
Lee Han actually argued back.
Generally, mages progressed by mastering 1st Circle Magic over a long period, then moving on to 2nd Circle Magic, and so on.
But Lee Han had learned magic in a chaotic manner—while he was still learning 1st Circle Magic, maniacs came and taught him 2nd Circle Magic, and while he was learning that, other maniacs came and taught him 3rd Circle Magic.
Because he had learned so rapidly and in such a compressed manner, his intuition didn't immediately tell him whether a spell was 3rd or 4th Circle.
Wasn't it enough to just know whether he could learn it or not?
'Is this guy not insane?'
Of course, Hamster only grew more bewildered by this rebuttal.
If someone who could reverse-engineer and deduce magic like this claimed they'd mistaken the circle, no one would believe it.
"Then let's examine the next clue. Do you happen to understand how this movement was done?"
The next question was even more perplexing.
There was one undead jailer who had wrapped chains around his body like prison bar mechanisms, and another undead collapsed inside the bars.
At first glance, it seemed unremarkable, but upon closer thought, something felt off.
The bars should have closed the moment this undead collapsed—so how had Professor Voladi entered inside without a trace and killed the opponent?
He hadn't attacked from the outside either. The undead inside the bars had clearly been killed by close-range magic.
He hadn't used spatial teleportation either. There was no way he'd do something so inefficient just to kill one undead inside the bars.
Similarly, there was no reason he would've killed the undead inside the bars first when the jailer was right in front...
-Your thinking is too narrow. It's time magic. He must've accelerated his speed.
Lee Han also possessed similar magic. Though he needed to borrow the power of his pocket watch, he could use <Limited Time Acceleration>.
"Of course...!"
The scenario immediately became clear in his mind.
As long as one could accelerate quickly and move behind the opponent, it didn't really matter what offensive magic was used.
Once his thoughts reached that point, Lee Han also realized that Professor Voladi wouldn't have so recklessly used time acceleration magic.
Wasting mana without restraint was Lee Han's style, not Professor Voladi's.
'He must have planned the route in advance and only accelerated time along that specific path. There'd be no need to waste magic beyond that.'
Just as he'd placed constraints earlier when summoning the dark-element sword—making it appear briefly behind the enemy—this time acceleration magic must have operated under similar principles.
As Lee Han excitedly scribbled down notes about the magic, Hamster asked in puzzlement:
-This doesn't seem like a clue about Ancient Magic though?
"One mustn't neglect any clue, no matter how small. You never know when it might come in handy."
After finishing his notes, Lee Han stepped further inside.
Interrogators and guards lay strewn about, as if struck down by the chains wielded by death knights. These undead were still muttering deliriously about needing to torture the assassin, unable to regain their senses.
-There's nothing here?
"Well, the assassin already escaped, so of course there's nothing."
-...?????
Hamster was baffled by Lee Han's sudden shift in attitude. Just moments ago, he'd been confidently insisting 'Trust me, the clue is here,' only to abruptly change his tune.
Had he truly lost his mind?
-You clearly said there was a clue...
Regardless, Lee Han surveyed the empty interrogation chamber. Beyond his interest in magic, he genuinely wanted to understand what had transpired here.
"!"
His gaze sharpened when he spotted a short scribble carved near the base of the wall.
It was so brief and simple that he might have missed it had he not been paying close attention.
'This is...'
The message was straightforward—an apology addressed to the Skeleton Principal for acting out of line.
There was no doubt about who had written it and what it meant.
"......"
After a moment's hesitation, Lee Han quickly erased the scribble.
As a student, this was the least he could do for his teacher.
-What did you just erase? Was it the clue?
"No. It was nothing important. If it had been the clue, I wouldn't have erased it. Let's head back up now."
-You said there was a clue here!
"I must have been mistaken. Haha. These things happen."
-......
While Hamster was left speechless in disbelief, Lee Han proceeded to eliminate all the remaining undead in the chamber.
Though there was little point in completely destroying these mindless wraiths, he did it anyway.
'This bastard... Is he threatening me or something?'
Hamster was taken aback.
If that was the case, this guy was truly despicable.
Magic lies above. There's nothing below...
As they emerged from the underground, Sanguiros's voice echoed once more.
It seemed this incomplete Evil God was growing impatient with their wandering through strange places.
Hamster glared fiercely at Lee Han.
'I distinctly told you we needed to go up!'
Lee Han nodded with shameless composure.
"Indeed. Quite unexpected. Who would've guessed it was in the upper levels all along?"
-......
Those up there will welcome you mages. Hurry. This fortress could collapse at any moment.
Sanguiros chuckled cheerfully before vanishing. His demeanor only heightened Hamster's anxiety.
Unlike the Material Plane, these unstable dimensions were prone to extreme fluctuations. A long-ruined fortress like this could crumble without warning.
-We need to hurry, just as he said. If the fortress collapses, all traces of the magic will vanish into the void beyond this dimension!
"Understood. Calm down. We're going now."
Though he agreed, Lee Han remained unhurried.
His attitude was almost indifferent—as if obtaining the magic would be nice, but no great loss if they failed.
Watching him, Hamster thought to himself:
'No way... He's a mage too—there's no chance he isn't interested in that magic. He must be putting on a calm front. I bet he's secretly panicking right now! He just doesn't want to show weakness in front of me. What a ruthless bastard!'