Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Mage Heroine (1)
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A few days had passed since Is vanished.
The fact that the Reverser had taken him was enough to enrage Ariana, Prelia, and even Ruin. Blind and Belinda had their hands full holding them back from charging out right then and there.
Ilunite, the city of mages, had been completely flipped over by the Reverser—everything except the Mage Tower.
In a situation like this, heading out recklessly would only create more victims. So Blind and Belinda desperately persuaded them otherwise, eventually convincing them to make a plan first instead of rushing off to find Is.
"I've studied the Reverser's black magic for nearly a century now. I've been researching countermeasures against his spells all this time."
Prelia flashed a confident smile.
Ariana asked her with a serious expression.
"Have you found a way to counter it?"
"...It's still incomplete!"
"Didn't you just declare it so confidently?"
"But it's really just a tiny bit away! If I can use someone under the Reverser's spell as a sample to continue the research..."
Prelia trailed off, averting her gaze.
Ariana did the same.
Their eyes slowly turned, soon landing on the same target with meaningful looks.
"...Why?"
"Perfect timing. There's one right here."
"Yeah, looks like it."
"What?"
"Ruin!"
"Argh!"
Ruin, who had resisted for a good while, finally gave in when they insisted he was the only one who could do it and let Prelia drag him off.
"Next up... we need to figure out how to track them down."
"We do have a few people in our Mage Tower who can perform tracking spells... but I doubt it'll be much help. The Reverser is a monster who's survived over a century while evading tracking magic."
"What about tracking Is?"
"Hm, he probably has countermeasures in place... but we should at least try. Belinda?"
"Yes, I'll assemble a team and give it a shot right away."
"I'll search for Is's holy power too..."
And so, preparations to confront the Reverser began.
"Ow, that stings, fuck!"
"Whoa, even swearing sounds cute 'cause you look so pretty now!"
"Don't think flattery like that makes me happy at all...!"
"Really? Well, yeah, getting hit by the Reverser does make you feel like total shit—super awful!"
"...Do you have split personality or something?"
"Nope!"
Ruin and Prelia worked on finding a counter to the Reverser's magic.
"Ellen, Robin, Seloc? Reinforce that magic circle over there."
"Yep!"
"Yes!"
"Got it!"
"Haha, sorry for working you all so hard."
"No problem!"
"The Vice Tower Master treats us great, so it's no hardship at all!"
"Prelia, our senior mage, looks like she has some history with this. We owe it to her to work as hard as she's always worked for us."
Blind and Belinda completed a tracking magic circle for Is more meticulously than ever before.
And so, a week passed.
"...No changes at all?"
"Is this... not it?"
"Hey, fuck, why isn't there any progress? You messing with me?"
"B-But I was sure having a sample would fill in the gaps? Uh...?"
No progress had been made on countering the Reverser.
Of course, everyone knew magic was a time-consuming and difficult discipline. But with Is potentially devoured by a magical beast or even modified beyond recognition in that week, Ruin couldn't help reaching the limit of his patience watching the mages continue their research without any advancement.
"Hey, fuck, at this rate, Is's species probably got changed too. You kidding me?"
"Sorry... I calculated the magic circle and mana flow perfectly..."
Prelia hung her head, looking utterly dejected and ashamed before Ruin.
Just as Ruin felt a pang of guilt at her wilted expression and opened his mouth to say something—
"Huh?"
His body shot upward, slamming into the ceiling.
Then, magical reagents and furniture rained down on him from above.
He hadn't risen up.
The Mage Tower had been flipped upside down, literally.
💥 TOWER FLIPPED! 💥 -Thud! -Crunch! -Crash! "Hey!"
Even with his gender reversed, Ruin's heroic physique remained intact. He scooped up the physically frail mage Prelia and dodged every falling object.
Even rotten, a hero doesn't allow a single injury. Once he confirmed Prelia was unharmed, Ruin kicked open the door and bolted out.
He then clambered up the now-inverted stairs with grim determination.
Trailing a step behind, Prelia checked the Mage Tower's interior.
The culprit behind this phenomenon in the Mage Tower was, naturally...
'The Reverser.'
Only that black mage, the Reverser.
She hurriedly flung open a nearby window and peered outside—then froze solid.
"...We're too late."
She murmured in a trembling voice.
Beyond the window, in front of the Violet Mage Tower...
-Step. Step. Step.
There stood a 'Black Knight' clad in black armor, red cape billowing.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
In front of the completely upended Violet Mage Tower.
-Clack. Clack. Clack.
An elegant woman in pristine white robes—unbefitting a black mage—stepped out with graceful strides.
Following her was a man in stark contrast: black armor.
-Step. Step. Step.
His helmet gleamed with red eyes. One arm bore a jagged shield, the other gripped a shotel radiating the aura of a demonic sword.
The Reverser and the reversed Is.
The two appeared before any countermeasures could be prepared.
"Hoo..."
The Reverser paused in front of the Violet Mage Tower to catch her breath.
Is, sticking close behind her, asked,
"Shall I bear them?"
"No, regrettably we can't. The final ingredient for the new world is diligently stirring inside there."
Is nodded at her words, then fell back again.
The Reverser gave him a soft-eyed smile before turning to gaze up at the Violet Mage Tower.
Her eyes bored into it with near-maniacal obsession.
"Reverse." The Mage Tower flipped once more at her unique incantation.
"Reverse." The tower flipped again.
"Reverse." It flipped a third time, returning to its original state.
Satisfied, the Reverser smiled and slowly approached the entrance of the Violet Mage Tower.
With Is in tow behind her.
-Creak...
The Reverser gently opened the Mage Tower's door.
"Urk... my stomach..."
"Mellin! There's a fork in your gut...!"
"Wh-where are my glasses?"
"Watch your step—there's broken flask glass everywhere!"
"Prioritize the children..."
The interior revealed by the open door was pure chaos.
Classrooms for teaching children, lounges, kitchens, training rooms—every facility imaginable meant an unimaginable cascade of falling objects when the tower flipped.
Some children in classrooms had scrapes from desks and chairs.
Some in the kitchen were pricked by forks or nicked by knives.
Someone in the training room was buried under wooden swords and couldn't escape.
The Reverser stepped into this scene of utter pandemonium.
-Clack.
"...?"
"!!"
"Wha...?"
In that instant, every mage engulfed in the chaos turned to stare at the intruder who had entered the Mage Tower.
"Hello, brothers and sisters."
"!! Intruder!"
"Showing up now of all times means it's them—"
"Evacuate the children!"
"Activate the magic circles!"
"Front line, hold the entrance!"
The mages reacted fiercely to her single greeting.
Their eyes, filled with fear, anger, and wariness, fixed on the Reverser.
"The kids are hurt!"
"My friend has a fork stuck in his belly."
"Why the hell would you do this to us when we were just living peacefully...!"
Soon, the mages began preparing their spells, and the Reverser didn't sit idle either.
"Everyone, you're far too worked up."
As Is stepped forward at her words, the Reverser held him back.
He gave a short nod and retreated again.
The Reverser clasped her hands together and spoke as if praying to a goddess.
"A chance to become black sheep for the black sheep." ⟨ Black Sheep Transformation ⟩
It resembled a prayer, but the content was entirely different.
As she intoned the spell, something unnatural occurred.
-Thud.
-Thud.
"U-Ugh..."
-Thud.
The mages collapsed one by one.
They still breathed, but they had lost consciousness entirely—not merely fallen asleep.
"Now, shall we harvest the crop I've been so patiently waiting for?"
The Reverser's gaze turned upward, toward where someone surely waited.