Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 066
Chapter Title: Demonic Tower
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And with those words, the specter began crumbling in half as if it had been waiting for the cue.
The onlookers stared in disbelief, blurting out whatever came to mind.
"What the hell was that? What did I just see?"
"No way... Did he just slice that massive specter clean in half?"
"Holy shit, what the fuck."
"W-Was that magic?"
"Since when was there magic like that?"
"Hell if I know!"
George Brocket muttered blankly amid the chaos.
"That wasn't ordinary magic."
"What?"
The crowd turned to him. One man asked,
"Then what the hell was it?"
"No idea. But if that's magic, it's definitely not from any standard category."
What the hell do you even call something like that?
Not light, not darkness. Not even wind.
"How do you know that?"
"I've been in the brokerage and info business for over ten years."
"!!"
His words carried instant credibility, and the crowd exchanged glances.
"Th-Then what the hell was it?"
"It doesn't follow the rules of existing magic..."
Someone murmured,
"No way... Did the Butcher invent a whole new magic system?"
"A new magic system?"
"What the hell does that even..."
"You think someone who's not from the Mage Tower could pull that off?"
George felt an inexplicable chill at the words.
'Even the Mage Tower folks couldn't whip something like that up easily.'
His gut said no.
'The Butcher really is...'
Different.
Unlike anyone he'd ever seen.
George slipped through the crowd and called Mickey, who had fallen back.
"Where are you right now?!"
[Holy shit, this is insane! I just got the footage of a lifetime! No joke—this crazy mana? Wind? No clue, but the Butcher just blasts it out of nowhere!]
"Got it! Meet me in front of the bar!"
He glanced up at the shantytown.
"Hurry, or we might not make it in time!"
*
Marie and Liz stared at the sight before them, eyes trembling.
The massive specter crumbling like scattered snowflakes.
They had arrived just before it could engulf Kyle, mana surging to help him—but it wasn't needed.
Kyle had gripped something bizarre in his hand, shaped like a sword, and cleaved it in one stroke.
'What the hell was that just now?'
Some technique? Magic?
Whatever it was, facing a monstrous specter head-on without flinching.
No—welcoming it outright. The overwhelming scene left Marie trembling her long lashes.
Then, with a sharp paaaang! the spirit-exorcising blade lost its form and vanished.
The specter murmured down at him.
Its blue-glowing eyes flickered.
That was it.
As the specter dissipated, the short-haired woman it possessed collapsed with a thud.
Kyle approached her and clicked his tongue without thinking.
He didn't need to check her pulse.
'Dead.'
The specter had possessed a body whose soul was already gone.
Kneeling on one knee, he closed her staring eyes and scratched his head.
"What curse is on this house?"
He sighed at the house, now without even a trace of its form.
'Ever since Sis died, every time I come here, something bad happens...'
With that thought, Kyle sighed again—for a different reason.
A prickling gaze had been boring into his back from moments ago.
"Sorry, but you're making me super uncomfortable. Mind keeping some social distance?"
"Ah, y-yes!"
The moment he turned, Marie shoved her head closer again, eyes sparkling as words poured out like machine-gun fire.
"That was amazing! What the hell was that? How'd you one-shot a specter that size...? Was it magic? Some new kind of magic?!"
Forget sage's granddaughter—Kyle grabbed her head and pushed her back.
"Did you conveniently swallow my 'social distance' comment with your dinner or what?"
"Ah."
Marie finally stepped back a couple paces, scratching her head sheepishly.
"Haha... Sorry. I got too excited again. It just happens."
"Miss, please..."
Liz sighed at her lady's antics.
Kyle exchanged a nod with her, and the freckled Liz politely clasped her hands and bowed.
His gaze shifted to Marie, whose beauty still shone through, and he tsked softly.
'Tch. Can't tell if this mess is the house's fault or just my bad luck.'
"Or both?"
"Pardon?"
"Nah, whatever. To answer your question..."
"Yes!!"
"Not magic."
"Oh."
Marie's energy deflated like a golden retriever kicked to the curb.
Then she tilted her head.
"So what was it?"
"It's a thing."
"Aha!"
"Anyway, down to business..."
"Ah, yes! The magic artifact, right?"
As Marie excitedly rummaged in her bag, Kyle stopped her.
"That's one thing. But first, something to say."
"...Pardon?"
He faced Marie seriously.
"You know Leberk, right?"
"Leberk?"
Liz and Marie exchanged glances, blinked, then nodded.
"Of course..."
"Just a hunch, but that specter? Leberk's handiwork."
"Whaaat?"
As Marie gaped in confusion, Kyle—who'd been using [Nebra's Heightened Senses]—glanced at a nearby rooftop.
"Right?"
"!!"
In the blink of an eye, he was on the roof, swinging a fierce punch at empty air.
A ferocious shockwave erupted on cue.
Kwaaaaaang-!!
"Gaaack?!"
Incredibly, a robed man tumbled out from what had been empty space.
Caught completely off-guard, he hadn't even raised a barrier—smashing pathetically into the ground.
Kwaaaang-!
"?!"
Marie and Liz froze in shock at the sudden turn.
Kyle dusted his hands lightly toward the fallen man.
"What, thought I wouldn't notice you hiding?"
"Guh, ugh..."
He grabbed the foaming man's collar, revealing his hooded face.
Marie swallowed hard.
It was a face she knew.
"...Uncle Ulrich?"
Her gaze trembled.
"U-Uncle Ulrich, why are you..."
Kyle asked,
"Last name?"
"......"
"...Leberk."
Liz answered for the stunned Marie.
"Ulrich Leberk."
"...Figured."
Kyle turned to them.
"So, getting why I've been saying all this now?"
"...!!"
Marie's face hardened like never before as she asked,
"...Mr. Clark. What the hell's been going on?"
Her eyes swirled with indescribable emotion.
"I'm the sage's granddaughter, a Fleetwood. Tell me everything."
*
In the deepest chamber of Sapientia's pinnacle—the Hall of Wisdom, accessible only to the tower's elders.
There stood an ancient stone door, said to have been left by the Founding Mage centuries ago.
Countless tower mages had tried to open it, all failed. Walter Leberk stared at it silently.
His body gaunt, eyes sunken deep.
Leaning on a weathered staff, he gazed blankly.
Hard to believe he was a hale mage just hours ago.
Then, the hall's great doors creaked open.
A faint light seeped in with the grinding sound.
The Sage entered.
But not alone.
Clank! Heavy plate armor followed.
Flanked by two tower knights, the Sage's gaze settled on Walter.
A corpse-like figure.
All prior vitality gone. The Sage's eyes darkened.
He murmured his old friend's name lowly.
"Leberk."
Walter turned slowly, as if responding to the voice. Spotting the Sage, he chuckled lowly.
"Oh, Sage. You've come."
"...Yes."
Leberk looked back at the stone door.
"Isn't it strange?"
"...What is?"
"This stone door."
He chuckled again.
"The secret door granted only to the Founding Mage's descendants... I didn't even know it existed until Father tipped me off recently."
Proof of the prophecy about the Founding Mage's heirs. He sighed deeply.
"Makes you miss the old days. Back when we knew nothing, believed the romantic tales of the Founding Mage, and just pursuing magic was joy enough."
The Sage smirked faintly.
"It was."
But time flowed mercilessly, changing them with the era.
Youthful ideals faded, replaced by stubborn obsessions and aged greed.
The Sage muttered,
"How'd we end up such hollow shells? You and me."
"...Heh, indeed."
Leberk's eyes sank.
"Brought knights, Sage?"
"Had to."
"So, why'd you want to meet?"
Bam! The knights slammed their spears down.
The Sage, speaking for the tower, opened gravely.
"Patriarch of Great Leberk, Walter Leberk. As this tower's Sage, I ask one thing."
"Ask."
"Where has your mana gone?"
"......"
An eerie silence blanketed the hall.
But briefly.
Gripping his staff like it might snap, Walter stared straight at the Sage atop the stairs.
"Where my mana went?"
He laughed.
"Where do you think it went, Sage?"
"Leberk."
"Stolen."
"Stolen?"
"Hahahahahahaha!!!"
Walter bellowed deeply, amused.
"I pledged it as collateral to the Princess of Specters to kill the Butcher."
"......"
Unwilling to believe, the Sage squeezed his eyes shut.
"Heh, that reaction—you already knew?"
He'd heard the full story from Marie hours ago, after she went to the 8th District to meet Kyle.
"Leberk—no, Walter, why..."
"Why? Heh heh."
Walter's face hardened suddenly.
"Because he's in the way."
"!!"
His existence.
His talent.
His potential.
"All of it, all of it, all of it, all of it, all...!!"
His face twisted as he screamed.
"He's in the way of Leberk's secret wish!!"
"Secret wish...? What the—"
"And crucially!"
Walter's eyes rolled.
"I hate that little shit...!"
Staring at his withered hands, he muttered like a madman.
"Daring to insult Leberk wasn't enough—he took my father, loyal Anton, even our proud Franz...! That bastard! Took them all! So I tried to kill him!"
"...Then the dragonkin summoned in the 8th District was..."
"Yes! Offered up our founder's relic for that. For it!!"
Bam! He slammed his staff down, exhaling raggedly.
"Pledged my mana as collateral too!"
But even then.
"Know what happened?"
Walter's eyes twitched.
"That damn Butcher still wouldn't die. And the Princess's excuse is the kicker! What? Dragon aura messes with possession? Dragon aura? Why the hell does he have dragon aura? Why!"
He clawed his face.
"Right—he stole it. Everything, even Franz's. That monster...!"
"Walter! Stop there!"
"No! Sage! I'm not wrong!!"
Panting, Walter spat like chewing gravel.
"Sapientia! We must escape this tower! Then demand our due place in this world. We deserve it!"
"Enough!"
Kwaaaaaang! Mana surged, silence falling over the hall.
The Sage clenched his fist.
"Sapientia! Our power isn't for that! This strength is to avert the world's end...!"
"Avert the end?!"
Walter pointed at the stone door, roaring.
"Clinging to this pathetic door! For an end that might never come! How long will you chase illusions? How long tied to one Founding Mage? This tower...!!"
His eyes bloodshot.
"This tower must change!"
The Sage narrowed his eyes.
"...You're right. Maybe it must."
The knights advanced.
"But not in the way you mean. Because for all your words..."
The Sage's face hardened.
"It's all delusion born of your greed."
"......"
Hitting the mark, Walter let out hollow laughter.
"Yeah, sure. Heh."
All delusion. All greed.
Indeed.
Under the knights' shadows poised to arrest him, he raised his hands in surrender.
"One last question, Sage?"
"Ask."
"If I killed you here, could Leberk claim this tower?"
"Impossible."
Ulrich Leberk, a branch member, was already caught.
Clear rules violation— a full inquiry into House Leberk loomed.
Leberk was no longer a top candidate for next Mage Lord.
Walter nodded.
"...Thought so."
The knights' presence meant killing the Sage wouldn't end it.
Gazing at the stone door, he said,
"Sage. Maybe I foresaw this worst-case. That's why..."
Walter's lips curled.
"When my mana was fully drained, switching mindsets felt natural. Like I should've done this ages ago."
"!!"
Dizziness hit; the Sage clutched his nose.
Blood flowed.
"This is...!"
Cough! The knights spewed blood and collapsed.
Mana churning wildly inside—the Sage focused every nerve on controlling his.
"Heh, heh heh heh, hahaha!!"
Clutching his chest at the vile laugh, the Sage glared.
"Walter...! You bastard...!"
"How's it feel? Lose focus, and your mana runs rampant, right?"
Walter stepped forward, chuckling lowly.
"Odorless, colorless ultimate poison. Cubeq—from the 29th Ward underbelly of the 8th District? Rare toxic herb burned into gas. You didn't notice, but this hall's been filled with it from the start."
Harmless to him, mana-less.
"Don't worry. A Sage like you won't die if you hold focus. But..."
Leaning heavily on his staff to reach him, he whispered with a grin.
"You can't leave this hall till it's done."
"How... How'd you get underbelly poison...!"
"Old friend. Ever wonder something off?"
No matter Dun City's might.
"Why don't the 8th District's underbelly rulers ever crawl out?"
"...!"
"'Agreement' between rulers? That's the excuse. But I see different."
Leaning in, Walter whispered,
"Truth is, something stronger, more terrifying lurks in Dun City's heart."
"What...?"
"You didn't think Leberk pulled all this alone, did you?"
Patting the Sage's shoulder, he limped out.
"Keep focusing. Or your guts might burst."
"W-Walter...!"
To his departing old friend, he called,
"What...! What are you planning!"
"What else? Leberk can't have this tower as is. So..."
Walter glanced back with a mad gleam.
"We'll reshape it into something we can have."
Even if it meant crossing the uncrossable line.
The Sage saw it then.
Walter's shadow twisting into a grotesque monster, mocking him.
Sensing the dread, his eyes quivered.
"No way—you summoned a demon...!"
"So stay put, powerless, till the time comes. Sage."
The doors closed slowly.
Gazing at his old friend through the gap, he said,
"Watch a new Demonic Tower..."
"...be born into this world."