The First Dimensional Rift (1)
When the tower lord said he would abandon the tower, the mage who heard him went pale.
“Lord of the Tower... what do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said. I’m abandoning the tower.”
“But if you do that, your heart...!”
“I know!”
It was one of the rules built into the Magic Tower management game.
The lord of the tower was a special existence; the heart of the Magic Tower and the tower lord’s heart were linked as one. If the tower were completely destroyed, the lord would die with it.
In the game, it simply ended with a Game Over, but in this world, it meant actual death.
“Even so, you mean to abandon the tower?!”
The mage shouted in urgency.
“There’s no other way.”
The Blue Rose Magic Tower lord’s voice was calm, but deep resignation lay beneath it.
“There’s no way to stop that Crystal Golem. Even if we defend the tower, all we’ll buy is a little time before it eventually falls. In that case...”
He looked toward the Vilheim Magic Tower.
“We’d be better off at least saving the mages. It’s wiser to retreat to Vilheim Magic Tower and strengthen its defenses there.”
“But, Lord—!”
“I...”
The tower lord placed a hand over his chest.
“I’ve already made my peace with it. A Magic Tower lord is meant to be that way. To live with the tower, and die with the tower.”
“Lord! We’ll fight with you, too. Even if it means dying, we can’t leave you behind.”
“No. You must live.”
The tower lord shook his head with finality.
“I, as the lord of the tower, have no choice but to share its fate. But you’re different. You must survive and help the Vilheim Magic Tower. If we can’t stop this dimensional rift, the entire empire will fall.”
“But...!”
“That is an order. Everyone retreat to the Vilheim Magic Tower immediately.”
The authority in his voice left no room for objection.
The mages bowed their heads, tears in their eyes.
“...Understood, Lord of the Tower.”
“Go. And... survive.”
One by one, the mages of Blue Rose Magic Tower began to withdraw. Alone, the tower lord remained behind, staring at the Crystal Golem slowly approaching through the distance.
Thud—. Thud—.
The golem was still slow, but it was coming steadily, unmistakably, toward Blue Rose Magic Tower.
“Hah...”
The tower lord let out a long breath.
“I have no regrets about the life I’ve lived as a tower lord.”
He turned to look back at his tower. The tower he had tended for decades—his entire world, poured into stone and mana.
“I’m sorry. That it has to end here because of me.”
***
I watched the situation at Blue Rose Magic Tower through remote viewing magic.
I could see the Blue Rose mages retreating to Vilheim Magic Tower, and their tower lord remaining alone behind them.
So he really did abandon the tower.
Because I knew the game’s rules, I understood exactly what that meant.
The lord of the tower shared his fate with the tower. When the tower was destroyed, he died with it.
“Lord of the Tower, that Blue Rose tower lord...”
Alberte’s face darkened as he seemed to grasp the situation.
“He’s going to die.”
“......”
At my words, Alberte fell silent.
“And that Crystal Golem will come straight for our tower next.”
“Then...”
“That’s right. If that happens, I’ll meet the same fate as the Blue Rose tower lord.”
“Lord of the Tower!”
I spoke calmly to Alberte, but the truth was, my mind was a storm.
How... how am I supposed to deal with this?
I had to destroy that Crystal Golem somehow, or at the very least make it pass us by.
But neither option looked easy.
Could I destroy it with Flame Convergence Cannon?
Probably not.
Blue Rose’s 5th-circle fusion spell, Thunderfall of the Flame Emperor, hadn’t left so much as a scratch.
Would my spell really work where that one had failed?
While I was still thinking, the Crystal Golem continued its slow advance toward Blue Rose Magic Tower.
Thud—. Thud—.
Meanwhile, the tower lord who had been left behind drew out his magic wand.
At once, mana burst violently from his body.
...A final strike.
When the tower lord shouted something, a colossal flame and lightning fused together in the sky and came crashing down.
KWA-KWAKWAKWAKWAAANG—!
When Thunderfall of the Flame Emperor struck, a monstrous explosion erupted. A radius of a hundred meters around the Crystal Golem was swallowed in fire and lightning.
It was far more powerful than the Thunderfall of the Flame Emperor I had seen used before.
...Did it work?
I watched through remote viewing magic, holding my breath.
But when the smoke cleared from the explosion, the truth was even more desperate than I had feared.
The Crystal Golem was still standing in the same place. Without even a scratch.
The tower lord, who looked as though he had spent every last drop of mana, sank to his knees. He no longer had the strength to hold up even his wand.
The Crystal Golem took another step forward, and now it stood right before the tower lord.
The giant crystal arm slowly rose into the air.
The tower lord closed his eyes.
CRACK—!
The Crystal Golem’s fist slammed into the ground.
Dust and fragments scattered in every direction. And where the tower lord had stood... there was no longer any sign of him.
“......”
“......”
Alberte and I watched in silence.
A 5th-circle mage, the lord who had led his tower for decades, was shattered to pieces by a single blow.
And at the same moment, the tower he had left behind began to collapse.
RUMBLE—. GOOOON—.
Blue Rose Magic Tower, proud of centuries of history, slowly crumbled to the ground.
With the tower lord’s death, the heart of the tower had stopped as well.
A massive structure no longer sustained by mana could not withstand gravity forever, and it came apart completely.
Thud—. Thud—.
The Crystal Golem paid the collapsing tower no mind and kept walking. Each time its enormous foot came down, more debris flew everywhere.
“Lord of the Tower... if that thing comes to us...”
Alberte’s voice trembled.
He couldn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to. We both knew what it meant. We would meet the same end as Blue Rose.
Still, we had gained something.
“Alberte... did you see it just now? When the Blue Rose tower lord used his final spell. The Crystal Golem’s chest—its heart, I guess you could call it? That place was glowing.”
“...Yes. I saw it.”
“And even now, it’s still glowing faintly.”
At my words, Alberte looked more closely at the golem through the remote viewing spell and then continued.
“...You’re right.”
That was when it happened.
Thud—. Thud—.
The Crystal Golem started moving again.
“Lord of the Tower...! The Crystal Golem has changed direction! It’s heading for our tower!”
“...I can see that.”
“What should we do? At least the good news is that it’s slow. Three hours... no, maybe two.”
“We need to make a Mana Block formation.”
“What? A Mana Block formation, all of a sudden?”
“Yes... hear me out. That golem tore down Blue Rose Magic Tower and immediately turned toward us, didn’t it? How on earth does it know we’re here?”
“That...”
“Mana. I think it’s reacting to mana.”
I was almost certain.
The Crystal Golem’s heart had glowed when the Blue Rose tower lord used his final spell.
Up until then, I had only suspected that it might be reacting to mana. But now, seeing it lock onto our position and change direction, it seemed clear that it was tracking magical energy to find its target.
“Lord of the Tower. What if your hypothesis is wrong?”
“......”
If I was wrong... there was no real answer to that.
“And even if your hypothesis is correct, how are we supposed to make a Mana Block formation right now? We don’t even have one. A formation itself produces mana; how are we supposed to block it? To fully suppress mana, we’d need antimagic stone, something with no mana conductivity at all. And even if we wanted to, we couldn’t gather enough antimagic stone to seal off all the mana in the tower this instant.”
Alberte was right.
A magic formation was, by nature, a device that used mana.
Trying to create a formation that blocked mana was like trying to use water to stop water.
It seemed impossible.
“Alberte, you know how magic formations are made, don’t you?”
“Yes. Of course I do. You implant Magic Beads into the formation. Though the process is by no means simple.”
“Right. Fusion magic works the same way.”
“...What are you trying to say?”
“What if there were a fusion spell called Mana Block?”
“...Pardon?”
“And at the same time, every magical barrier, every formation, even the magic tools in the tower—everything. We shut it all down, leaving only the minimum mana needed to keep the tower’s heart running.”
“But then the tower’s defenses would drop to almost zero. If the golem attacked in that state...”
Alberte looked alarmed.
“Even with the barrier up, it’ll still get through. Why do you think the Blue Rose tower lord made that choice?”
“......”
“What matters more than anything is getting that golem to lose sight of us. If the mana signal gets weaker, it might go looking for another target. One with a stronger mana response. The next target will probably be Vilheim Magic Tower. We’ll regroup there.”
“...Will that work?”
“If my hypothesis is correct.”
“And if it isn’t?”
“Well, then I’ll share the same fate as the Blue Rose tower lord.”
“......”
“Start now. Switch the tower’s entire mana system to minimum output.”
“...Understood.”
I had no other options.
All I could do was hope my theory was right.
Alberte went out to adjust the output of the tower’s mana systems, and I called for Lia.
“Lia!”
“Yes, Lord of the Tower!”
Soon, Lia hurried into the office.
“I need to create the Mana Block fusion spell.”
“Pardon? Mana Block?”
“Yes. It’s a 4th-circle fusion spell. The materials we need are high-grade flame stone, a droplet from the abyss, a crystal of light, and the essence of darkness.”
I recalled the information from the fusion spell list.
“Mana Block - Incomplete”
“Fire + Water + Light + Dark”
“Rank: 4”
“Effect: Sever mana signals within a certain range”
“But Lord of the Tower, do we really have time to make something like that now? You said the golem would arrive in two hours.”
“That’s why we have to move fast. The materials?”
Lia thought for a moment before answering.
“High-grade flame stone, a droplet from the abyss, a crystal of light, and the essence of darkness... they’re all rare materials, but fortunately we do have them. They were sent from Vilheim Magic Tower.”
“Good. Bring them to me immediately.”
“Yes!”
Lia hurried out.
I stood by the window and looked out at the Crystal Golem slowly advancing in the distance.
It was still moving at that infuriatingly slow pace, but it was definitely coming for us.
If this doesn’t work...
I didn’t even want to finish the thought. For now, this was the only bet I had left.