Wintersield Magic Academy (2)
"Haa, ha..."
The young man pulled the wet, cold rags closer, wrapping them around his shivering body.
The dampness of the dungeon seeped into his very bones, and the biting cold cut through his flesh like a blade.
'There isn't much time left.'
Even in this extreme situation, his mind remained clear.
It was thanks to the trait Cold-Headed Mind that he had selected during character creation.
This trait allowed him to maintain rational judgment even under extreme fear and pressure.
"..."
Ah, of course.
In a situation like this, however, it was practically a curse.
Middle Finger.
The young man knew that player all too well.
A user who had never once lost the number one spot in the Hall of Fame.
And in reality, his older brother, three years his senior.
When he first opened his eyes in this wretched world, the message his brother had sent was a source of immense comfort.
But...
'...How on earth is he going to save me?'
As time passed, his Cold-Headed Mind did the opposite—it erased even the slightest shred of hope.
'According to Hyung, it's only been about a month and a half since the main story began...'
At this point, there was absolutely nothing a player could do.
'Isn't he supposed to have just finished resurrecting and crawled out of the corpse pit?'
To reach the magic city of Wintersield under these conditions would take at least a year.
In the early stages, with low levels and no proper means of transportation, crossing the continent took a massive amount of time.
On top of that, entering the inner tower district of Wintersield, infiltrating the main building of the magic academy, and rescuing him from the dungeon...
'...It's practically impossible.'
Therefore, the young man had reached a logical conclusion.
Those messages were nothing more than empty words meant to reassure him.
No.
Perhaps even these messages were just a hallucination.
A mere illusion conjured by his desperate desire to escape this harsh reality.
'Damn it.'
Having reached the end of his thoughts, the young man covered his face with trembling hands.
His cold, rational mind only forced him to accept this bleak situation with brutal realism.
Ding, ding!
"...?"
At that exact moment, a succession of notification chimes rang in his ears.
"...?"
The young man's eyes widened. He stared at the messages again, his expression filled with utter disbelief.
'Could it be... for real?'
Right before entering the professor's office, I sent a message to Strawberry Latte. I wanted to let him know the current situation, one way or another.
'He must be tearing his hair out.'
Being suddenly transmigrated into this world was bad enough.
But on top of that, he was locked in a dungeon, destined to become a sacrifice for some ritual.
With the daily message limit preventing him from receiving detailed information, he had to be feeling incredibly frustrated.
Ding!
Yet, Strawberry Latte didn't show even a hint of despair.
Instead, he simply replied with his usual cheerful emoticon every single time.
'Just like him.'
I let out a soft chuckle.
Checking the reply, I smiled inwardly and cleared my thoughts.
Right.
Now, it was time to resume negotiations with the Blood-Red Empress.
"..."
The atmosphere in the professor's office was frozen solid.
The Blood-Red Empress stared at me with wide eyes, her mouth slightly agape.
Her reaction was one of sheer disbelief at my demand for her to hand over the leadership of the Shadow Society.
It was exactly as I had intended.
Negotiations, by nature, always tilted in your favor when the other party lost their composure.
'That's why I dropped that bombshell right off the bat.'
I hadn't given her a single second to mentally prepare herself.
"Berylof."
Having barely regained her composure, the Blood-Red Empress muttered in a low voice.
Taking the cue, Isaac Berylof quickly stood up and began channeling his magic.
Hummmmm—!
It was the same spell he had cast when we visited Durdamel's Golden Merchant Guild a few weeks ago.
The spell was Silence Veil, which prevented any sound from escaping to the outside.
After a suffocating silence that felt like an eternity, the Blood-Red Empress suddenly let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"Tell me, Mr. Sword Master."
The look in her eyes as she stared at me shifted instantly.
The gentle, elegant professor was gone.
In her place stood only the cold-blooded leader of a secret society.
"Is this really the only reason you sought out our society?"
I smirked.
Her confident attitude brought a faint smile to my lips.
At least she wasn't trying to deny it. Her straightforward admission of being the Blood-Red Empress was quite refreshing.
I hoped our conversation would continue to flow just as smoothly.
"I don't understand. According to what I heard from Berylof, you claimed you would help us achieve what our society 'truly desires'..."
"I did,"
I nodded calmly.
"And taking over the leadership of the Shadow Society is the first step."
"Ha."
The Blood-Red Empress scoffed, immediately pushing back.
"How absurd. Do you even know what our society pursues to make such a claim—"
"The Ascendant."
"...!"
She froze.
Hearing my words, the Blood-Red Empress's eyes widened in shock.
Regardless of her reaction, I pressed on.
"Is that not the ultimate goal of your society?"
The Ascendant.
It referred to those who cast off their mortal destiny and rose to the rank of godhood.
Midtemple worshipped the Elders and followed their will. But the Shadow Society was not satisfied with merely that.
They went beyond admiring the Elders; they sought to stand on equal footing with them.
It would be more accurate to say they worshipped the sheer power of the Elders rather than any holy will or doctrine.
'That's also why Midtemple treats the Shadow Society as absolute heretics.'
After all, the goal of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the gods was an unforgivable blasphemy to any believer.
Anyway.
Organizing my thoughts, I continued speaking.
"As things stand, you will never be able to achieve what you truly desire."
"..."
"So, let me help you. I will make sure you achieve that great work."
After a long silence, the Blood-Red Empress finally spoke.
"Help? We would welcome that anytime."
"..."
"But the price for that help is handing over the leadership of our society? And to someone I've met for the first time today?"
When I remained silent, she took it as confirmation and shook her head.
"It's an absurd proposal. Does it make any logical sense for a Seeker who follows the will of the Great Ones to teach us how to stand equal to the Elders?"
Indeed.
The Blood-Red Empress was entirely correct.
A Sword Master was a contradictory existence—closest to the Ascendant, yet furthest from it.
Those who moved according to the dictates of the Elders could never rise to the same level as their masters.
But...
'I am an exception.'
Unlike other Seekers chosen by the Great Ones, I was someone who had chosen to become a Sword Master of my own accord.
Binding myself to the Elders through a sacred covenant was entirely my own choice as well.
Therefore, I possessed a different set of Rules compared to other Sword Masters. The common restrictions they faced did not apply to me.
But that wasn't important right now, so I brushed it aside.
"You've misunderstood me."
"...?"
I cut off the Blood-Red Empress's words cleanly.
"I clearly said I would help you achieve what your society 'truly' desires."
"..."
"And yet, becoming an Ascendant isn't the urgent goal you need to achieve right now, is it?"
She flinched.
A crack appeared in the Blood-Red Empress's expressionless facade.
"W-what on earth are you talking about..."
"The Transgressor."
"...!"
Staring into her wildly trembling pupils, I finished speaking in a calm, measured tone.
"Was it not the true, desperate wish of your society to kill that 'monster'?"
"Follow me! Defy the destiny given to us, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Great Ones!"
The Transgressor.
One who met a tragic failure during the process of ascension.
As the first leader of the Shadow Society, he had defied everyone's expectations and advanced to the very brink of attaining godhood.
But at the final moment, the price for a mortal daring to trespass into the heavenly realm was catastrophic.
"Aaaaargh...!"
The failed ascension ritual grotesquely twisted his body and soul.
Though he stepped into the realm of immortality beyond mortal limits, he was simultaneously left as an eternally incomplete being.
He was no longer human.
Yet, he was not a god either.
A monster tormented by endless hunger and agony.
The physical manifestation of frustration and rage from a failed ascension.
Ultimately, the Transgressor, who had hidden himself within the underground labyrinth known as the Abyss, conducted regular rituals to soothe his unbearable torment.
He required sacrifices of fresh blood. And a massive amount of it, at that.
'Although the Blood-Red Empress is the leader of the Shadow Society...'
In truth, she was nothing more than the Transgressor's puppet.
She was forced to regularly offer human sacrifices to the Transgressor, and to do so, she had carried out endless rituals in the depths of the Wintersield Magic Academy.
This bizarre phenomenon had persisted for decades, and at some point, the Shadow Society had degenerated into a cult that worshipped the Transgressor.
'And...'
The Blood-Red Empress wanted to correct this twisted state of affairs.
To explore the truths of magic, surpass the 9th Circle, and reach the legendary 10th Circle. To achieve transcendence and attain divinity.
She wanted to reclaim the original purpose the Shadow Society had once pursued. To do that, she had to eliminate the Transgressor, the root cause of their corruption, by any means necessary.
'But the Transgressor is a monster that even the Blood-Red Empress, a 9th Circle Archmage, wouldn't dare to face.'
The Transgressor was not merely powerful.
Bearing a twisted fate, he was the only entity who possessed true immortality without having to sign a contract with an evil god.
Therefore, completely killing the Transgressor was practically impossible.
However.
"I will kill him for you."
"...!"
There was exactly one person who was an exception to that rule—me.
Because...
Eternal Slayer Jin (眞)
[Available]
...Because no immortal, no matter who they were, could escape death before my blade.
"Wait a moment."
Of course, the Blood-Red Empress still looked at me with deeply skeptical eyes.
"You? You're going to kill the Transgressor...?"
She let out a hollow laugh, completely dumbfounded.
In a way, this was the only natural reaction.
After all, how could she blindly trust the grand boasts of a Sword Master she had just met today?
But that was fine.
I had an excellent card to play to break through this impasse.
"Empress."
Right on cue, another voice echoed in the room.
A member who enjoyed the deep trust of the Blood-Red Empress.
And someone who had personally witnessed the 'miracle' I had performed during his mission...
"If it's anyone else, I would doubt it. But if it is Lord Gaon, it will be possible."
"...?"
Isaac Berylof.
He began to speak up in my defense.