Episode 954
Episode 954
"The Conversation Was Enjoyable. Thank You."
"It seems Gonadaltes also found it enjoyable."
"Hahaha! Thank you!"
The mages left the side room in high spirits.
Who would have thought they'd get to converse directly with such a great archmage?
Moreover, he was far kinder than they had expected.
"......"
"......"
Once the noisy mages had left, the room suddenly fell silent.
The Crazy Doppelganger remained wordless, maintaining his silence.
Though he was called 'crazy,' his sharp intellect—befitting a doppelganger split from an archmage—remained intact.
He had ultimately realized that scolding or reprimanding his stubborn disciple would be pointless.
Instead, the Crazy Doppelganger quietly resumed his magical explanation.
"Let us return to the topic of the Black Emperor's Crown."
"Yes."
"......"
Ilendil had now moved beyond fear and shock into sheer awe.
Did his junior perhaps possess some sacred relic of the Crazy Doppelganger?
Otherwise, there was no reason for the doppelganger to act so kindly.
"The previous casting was conducted with the aid of royalty."
To welcome their malicious rivals—no, the Baldrogard students—Lee Han had once been semi-forced to cast the Black Emperor's Crown.
"...Whaaat?!"
Of course, this was the first Ilendil had heard of it. The revelation that his second-year junior had cast the Black Emperor's Crown made him scream involuntarily.
"When?!"
"Quiet. Have you no manners?"
"I-I-I'm sorry..."
Ilendil immediately shrank back.
Though he logically knew the Crazy Doppelganger was more lenient than expected, facing him directly still brought a wave of fear.
"I used it when the Baldrogard students visited last time."
"...I think this is the first I'm hearing of it."
"I mentioned it in the Watcher Club, didn't I? When we talked about forbidden ancient magic."
"...?"
Tilting his head in confusion, Ilendil finally managed to recall the memory.
-Hey, I heard someone cast forbidden ancient magic on those guys from the other magic academy.
-Hmph. I know exactly who it was. None other than Yukveltire, fifth-year of the Blue Dragon Tower, top of the Enchantment Magic school, descendant of a great bloodline.
"...You!!"
Along with that memory, Ilendil also recalled something entirely unnecessary—and was shocked all over again.
When the Watcher Club members had wondered, 'Who cast forbidden ancient magic?', this junior—under Gonadaltes' alias—had pinned the blame on Yukveltire.
All the Watcher Club members had nodded along, thinking, 'Well, if it's Yukveltire, that makes sense...'
But the real culprit had been someone else entirely. Ilendil felt a chill run down his spine.
"H-How could you lie like that...?"
"Hm? I don't know what you're talking about."
"You framed her...! You framed Senior Yukveltire...!"
"I don't recall that."
Lee Han blinked innocently, as if he genuinely had no idea.
Ilendil grew even more confused, wondering if his junior truly didn't remember. 'D-Did he forget? Seriously?'
"Enough. This idle chatter has gone too far."
The Crazy Doppelganger cut off their banter.
The fact that he had waited this long for a conversation unrelated to magic was already highly unusual.
"How much do you remember?"
"I remember the general structure, but beyond that..."
Lee Han cautiously gauged the reaction.
Back then, the Crazy Doppelganger had guided him through nearly every element—from the spell's structure to the staff's movements, the inscriptions in Three Kingdoms-era script, the directional alignments, and the flames.
All Lee Han had really done was supply the mana.
It couldn't be helped—summoning the Black Emperor's Crown was far beyond his current skill level.
Even if he had wanted to take charge, there was nothing he could have done.
The fact that he remembered even the general structure was proof of Lee Han's growth. 'I did my best to memorize it—surely he won't get mad.'
"You remember the structure? Good."
"!"
Lee Han immediately regretted his answer upon seeing the Crazy Doppelganger's reaction.
Judging by the response, it seemed the doppelganger wouldn't have been angry even if he had admitted to knowing nothing. 'Ugh. I should've just said I'd start over from the beginning.'
Pushing ahead and raising the difficulty of his studies—what a painful mistake.
"As I mentioned, this artifact operates on principles similar to those of the Black Emperor's Crown."
The Crazy Doppelganger continued his explanation impassively.
Though his voice remained flat and devoid of inflection, the content was impossibly complex and difficult.
Had the listeners not been a fourth-year genius and a second-year disciple, they might have collapsed from mental exhaustion immediately.
Lee Han strained to concentrate, desperately trying to organize and summarize the information in his head.
'So in essence...'
The artifact could independently replicate all the steps Lee Han had previously performed under the Crazy Doppelganger's guidance when preparing the Black Emperor's Crown summoning—just through its own power.
Though currently tainted by its connection to the Evil God, making purification and severance necessary, this was still an incredible feat.
'Honestly, I wouldn't have the confidence to cast this alone.'
"Um... I have a question."
Ilendil cautiously spoke up, eyeing the Crazy Doppelganger for any reaction. When none came, Lee Han reluctantly stepped in.
"You may ask."
"I-I can really ask...?"
"I'll relay your question."
"...Once the connection to the Evil God is severed, we'll need to establish contact with a new deity. Is there a way to connect to a god of my choosing?"
Ilendil spoke slowly, pausing after every few words to gauge the Crazy Doppelganger's mood. Lee Han relayed the question verbatim.
"Once the Evil God's connection is broken, is there a way to establish contact with a desired deity?"
'Parrot much?'
"It's not difficult. This artifact inherently possesses the power to amplify divinity for connecting with divine beings. A sufficiently symbolic marker imbued with divine power should suffice."
At this positive answer, Ilendil's face brightened.
Her original interest in the artifact had been to harness a deity's power suited for forest restoration and growth.
Naturally, she already had such markers prepared. And judging by the Crazy Doppelganger's words, the process didn't seem too difficult.
Lee Han's expression also brightened.
"That's great. We don't need to fixate on the Black Emperor's Crown—we can just use it as an artifact to borrow divine power."
Though the artifact's power shared principles with the Black Emperor's Crown, there was no rule forcing them to use it that way.
Compared to a difficult, dangerous, and sinister forbidden ancient spell, simply borrowing power from a benevolent deity seemed far preferable.
Besides, wasn't Lee Han somewhat proficient with divine magic?
'The Afha Order or Flemeng Order probably wouldn't reject me outright.'
"Prepare to connect the Artificial Demigod."
"...Master?"
As the saying goes—when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Just as Lee Han had adapted to dealing with the Crazy Doppelganger, the Crazy Doppelganger had likewise adapted to dealing with Lee Han.
He simply ignored whatever wasn't worth acknowledging!
"Master. We can just borrow divine power, can't we?"
"I'm aware. But as the disciple of royalty, you should aspire to methods beyond such mediocrity."
'I'd rather not aspire...'
Lee Han made a conflicted face at the instruction to connect the artifact to the evil Artificial Demigod crafted from dark element, when they could just link it to a benevolent deity for convenient use.
Ilendil, now suddenly deemed "mediocre," also felt displeased—though she was far too intimidated to let it show.
In the end, Lee Han gave up.
Though the Crazy Doppelganger had softened in some aspects, magical instruction remained non-negotiable.
"Understood. How do we connect the Artificial Demigod?"
"Normally you'd need to create one anew, but royalty's disciple has no such need."
"Ah. You already made some before, right?"
Lee Han grimaced as he recalled the recent continental conquest incident.
Come to think of it, the Crazy Doppelganger had attempted to summon an army of Artificial Demigods back then—there were probably plenty to spare.
The Crazy Doppelganger lifted the artifact and issued a quiet command. Immediately, the same alien order from the Black Emperor's Crown summoning swirled around them.
Clashing worlds, conflicting rules and orders. Massive dark element seeping through the cracks...
And then, a voice Lee Han recognized all too well flowed forth.
"Why didn't you conquer the continent?"
"......"
Lee Han pretended not to hear and ignored it. However, the voice from the artifact called out to him again.
Why didn't you conquer the continent?
"My disciple, it's calling for you. Why are you ignoring it?"
"That's what I'm wondering... Hmm. Well, back then wasn't the right time to conquer the continent..."
Ilendil stared at his junior with his mouth slightly agape.
So there's a right time to conquer the continent?
"You don't happen to hold a grudge over what happened last time, do you?"
To prevent the descent of the Demigod army, Lee Han had fought quite fiercely.
Turning opponents into hamsters, piercing through with Lightning Transformation, scorching them with Jowurin's breath... 'They probably hold a grudge.' No matter how he thought about it, it was hard to imagine they wouldn't harbor resentment.
But surprisingly, the Demigod spoke calmly.
If the commander thinks so, then it must be so. 'Huh?' Contrary to expectations, the Artificial Demigod was rather amiable.
Instead of swearing vengeance or holding a grudge, it respected and accepted the authority of Lee Han, the Crazy Doppelganger's disciple.
He had assumed it would be a bloodthirsty, wrathful Evil God...
"From now on, tame this Demigod."
Though calling it a god might make it seem grand, it actually had surprisingly childlike aspects.
Especially in the case of artificially created Demigods, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were more like newborns than mere children.
The Artificial Demigod summoned by the Crazy Doppelganger was originally meant to learn efficient destruction as quickly as possible for continental conquest, but due to the change in plans, its learning had been reset.
A mage's duty isn't just summoning an Artificial Demigod but taming and meticulously utilizing its power.
Taming and mastering the power of this raw, untamed Artificial Demigod was now the disciple's foremost task.
Of course, to Lee Han, it all sounded like nonsense. To be precise, everything from 'tame it onward' felt like pure nonsense.
"Is something like that even possible?"
"It is. Refrain from asking foolish questions from now on."
Controlling or reverse-summoning all nearby undead, nullifying attacks or enforcing obedience—all were results of meticulously gathering and refining the near-omnipotent power of the Demigod.
Precisely and methodically.
Otherwise, even divine power would simply scatter and be wasted in vagueness.
"Once you tame it and grow accustomed to wielding its power, you'll eventually be able to summon the Black Emperor's Crown yourself."
"Wow. How utterly thrilling."
"Expressing joy in the presence of discerning eyes is vulgar. Refrain."
Admittedly, hands-on experience would indeed be faster than theoretical learning and study.
Assuming, of course, that the difficulty of the magic in question didn't defy all imagination.
Frankly, Lee Han was skeptical about how much difference there really was between repeatedly practicing the Black Emperor's Crown summoning under the Crazy Doppelganger's guidance and experiencing it firsthand through the artifact.
Both just seemed like they'd take forever...
Suppressing a sigh, Lee Han glanced at the Ancient Artifact. Then, a faint and indistinct voice reached his ears.
Denying my Authority won't set you free.
"...Master. I think this purification wasn't done properly??"
Startled by the completely unexpected voice of the Evil God, Lee Han froze.
"Correct."
"...I thought you purified and severed it before giving it to me."
"Why would I need to? It can't influence you anyway."
"Well, I suppose that's true too." 'What do you mean "that's true too"...' Ilendil swallowed his comment.
Though not one to enjoy conversations in the first place, the exchange between these two was particularly exhausting for Ilendil. He missed the forest so much it brought tears to his eyes.
Ilendil made a resolution.
Once this was over, he'd hole up in the forest for a long time and avoid dealing with anyone...
"Still, Senior, since you'll be keeping this in the forest, please purify it properly. Just taming the Artificial Demigod is stressful enough—I can't possibly bring an Evil God along too."
"...Huh?"
Ilendil, mid-resolution, looked up in surprise at the unexpected remark.
Perhaps he'd misheard, but his junior's words sounded like he intended to come to Ilendil's forest and practice forbidden dark magic...
Surely he must have misheard, right?