Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 070
Chapter Title: Descent Ritual
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"That's... Code Red has been triggered."
Code Red meant that Team 3 had been wiped out—or was facing a crisis on that level.
"Immortal and Rocket have lost signal. We can still pick up Ret, Boomer, and Loki... but since Code Red was activated, we can't rule out the possibility that they've all been taken down too."
"What?"
At those words, Yakov Schnell widened his eyes in disbelief.
"Immortal lost signal?"
Immortal was no ordinary operative.
He was a master who handled the shock reflex system—which was notoriously hard to implant and often drove recipients insane from side effects—as if it were a natural part of his body.
This was thanks not only to his iron will but also to mana reserves so vast he could have been a mage.
That was why his codename was Immortal.
He had returned alive from any battlefield, any scene, like an undying force.
"You sure about that? Immortal's signal is really...?"
The Special Forces admin officer nodded.
"...Yes, confirmed."
"What the hell...?"
Yakov looked utterly flabbergasted.
It was supposed to be a simple mission: chase down and eliminate a mage who had fled the Mage Tower.
That mage was barely half-baked, hardly able to cast spells properly.
'And Team 3 pulls Code Red?'
Something had gone terribly wrong.
"Communications?"
"No response."
Yakov drummed his fingers on the table, eyes darting, then hardened his expression.
"Looks like our position's been exposed."
"...!"
He scowled.
'How the hell?'
Yakov had no idea.
All comms networks and direct lines from the Mage Tower to the outside had been cut off early.
No way they could have alerted anyone from inside.
"Tch, no choice then."
The Special Forces commander looked up and issued orders.
"Relay the current situation to the assemblyman's office right now. And for the remaining three teams..."
His eyes narrowed.
"Activate the insurance we planted in advance."
"...You're serious?"
"When the tail gets grabbed, what else can we do?"
Yakov said coldly.
"...If it's caught, we cut off the tail."
"What the hell does that mean?"
Austin Marshall's face hardened as he received the report from his aides.
"The Mage Tower situation's been exposed?"
Bam! He slammed his fist into the wall beside him and shouted.
"How the hell do you screw up like this?!"
[We're sorry. An unexpected variable popped up...]
"So who the hell did you let get away?"
[Well...]
A rustling sound came through the speaker, followed by the voice again.
[Suspected to be Marie Fleetwood.]
"What?"
Marie Fleetwood—none other than the Sage's granddaughter.
If someone like her had been captured as a sacrifice for the ritual, the demon's descent would accelerate dramatically.
He barely swallowed a curse.
"...No, that's not the real problem."
The issue was that the Mage Tower situation might have leaked to the outside.
"Exposure confirmed?"
[Yes. Special Team 3 triggered Code Red, so it's highly likely.]
"Special Team Code Red? Hard to believe..."
Because the Investigation Bureau's Special Forces were no pushovers.
For them to get hit with Code Red chasing just one half-baked mage?
"Status report?"
[Sorry, still assessing.]
"Ha, these useless idiots..."
Austin Marshall's face twitched with rage, but he took a deep breath and calmly pieced it together.
'No way Marie Fleetwood took down Team 3.'
Then someone outside must have helped her.
'Someone who could annihilate an Investigation Bureau team...'
A thought flashed through his mind, and Austin's eyes widened.
'No way...'
Faces of recent thorns in his side raced by.
And one stood out above the rest.
Black hair, black combat gear... a man of pure destruction.
His eyes widened further.
'...Kyle Clark?'
That realization darkened Austin's face.
'If he's really involved...'
The Rockton assemblyman would soon know too.
"This is..."
Austin muttered despite himself.
"Not good."
[Pardon?]
He continued quickly.
"Tell the Investigation Bureau Chief to prepare for a council summons immediately. Same for the Special Forces commander. Got it?"
[...! Yes! Contacting them now.]
The call cut off, and Austin dialed another number.
Ring... ring... The tone lasted only a moment before click, connection.
"Father."
Austin stared at the dimly lit checkpoint between levels in District 19 as he spoke.
"Yes. The situation's exposed. Yes. Yes. I'm sorry."
[This is a pain.]
Assemblyman Marshall let out a small groan.
[No helping it. We'll have to take the lead now.]
"Yes, I agree."
Austin looked up.
"Father. Summon the assemblymen immediately."
"What the...?"
Lane from the Intelligence response team stared at the man sprawled dead before her.
Given the massive sniper implant, he was likely the one who wrecked the helicopter's tail rotor.
But now he lay drenched in his own blood, lifeless.
His face was frozen in horror, fear, and shock—as if he hadn't seen it coming.
Mitt pulled the neural data chip from the back of his neck and frowned.
"Damn, they physically shredded it clean."
"Tail-cutting measure, huh."
Apparently, a self-destruct sequence had been embedded in the implant for emergencies.
The difference with Viper Guild was they knew about theirs and triggered it themselves—these guys hadn't even known.
Cache's voice crackled over comms.
[The others too?]
Mask, dragging Boomer's corpse with its shoulder-mounted heavy weapons pod, nodded.
"Yeah, same deal."
"Ruthless bastards."
Lane clicked her tongue briefly.
"So, what now? Still haul 'em?"
[Yeah. Might get some evidence.]
"Roger that."
Gordon, inspecting the sudden glacier in the nearby clearing with disbelief, muttered.
"...Had a hunch, but it's real."
Frozen solid inside was a man's corpse, literally iced to death.
His occiput was a mangled mess—likely a security program activating on signal loss—but his face was unmistakable.
"Investigation Bureau Special Forces Team 3 leader. Codename: Immortal."
"Special Forces?"
Kyle's question got a nod from Gordon.
"Bureau's elite special ops, cherry-picked. Leaders are mostly military vets."
Immortal among them wielded that burdensome shock reflex system like a pro.
A monster who could wipe a unit solo in the right scenario.
'But freezing him solid? Who'd have thought.'
No, ice magic to begin with.
Gordon eyed Kyle anew, incredulous.
'The Butcher handles water magic too?'
Endless talents, no matter how deep you dug.
At this point, the man himself was more mysterious than the situation.
Cache's voice came over in-ear comms.
[This is confusing. Special Forces, really?]
Kyle glanced at Marie receiving emergency care.
"She said she was heading back to the Mage Tower."
No sign of Ridge, her companion, and she was chased alone, bloodied.
"Something serious happened when she returned."
"And in that mess, Special Forces try to kill her."
Only one conclusion.
Kyle turned to Sapientia.
"Whatever's going down at the Mage Tower, the Bureau's Special Forces are involved."
Cache involuntarily swallowed.
[Wait. You mean...]
Gordon nodded.
"Can't rule out the Bureau brass being in Marshall's pocket."
[Th-that...!!]
Kyle said.
"...One thing's clear: Special Forces aren't on our side."
The Bureau had publicly backed the Security Stabilization Project, so this was unexpected even for them.
Rockton, rubbing his brow, spoke.
"Connect me to Assemblyman Rockton first. Notify the director too."
[...Yes, on it.]
Kyle approached the medic treating Marie.
"How's she doing?"
"Emergency care's good. But... something's off."
"Off?"
The medic nodded, checking vitals.
"No more bleeding, no major injuries, but signals aren't recovering. Feels like they're worsening slowly..."
"Cause?"
"No idea... Has to be something else."
The medic clicked her tongue.
"Needs full scan at a proper facility."
"Hold on."
"Pardon?"
Kyle crouched before the deathly pale Marie and silently activated [Spirit Eye].
'If it's not physical...'
Maybe the soul held the cause.
Suddenly, golden will-o'-the-wisps flared before his eyes.
Startled by their pure glow, but then Kyle's face hardened.
'This...'
Because atop her soul—which should have shone brilliantly—something ominous was growing.
And it wasn't just that.
Through Spirit Eye, Kyle saw it devouring the murky black taint corrupting her soul and even the leaking mana.
He realized.
'No wonder a mage like Marie Fleetwood was so helpless.'
He focused Spirit Eye harder.
'This... some kind of curse?'
Then Gordon's shocked voice pierced his ear.
"W-wait. Assemblyman. What did you just say!?"
Rockton replied urgently.
[The Chairman's called an emergency council session!]
Gordon raised his voice.
"What?! Now?!"
[Reason: Demon descent confirmed at Mage Tower. Emergency meeting for countermeasures.]
"...!!"
Kyle and Gordon exchanged glances.
The deep woods encircling Sapientia.
Cache's panicked voice reached Kyle as he sped through the darkness.
[Demon descending at the Mage Tower? What the...]
She sounded lost.
[So Reberk made a deal with a demon out of desperation?]
[If the descent's real, that's the likely scenario.]
[They're insane. They know better than us how dangerous demons are...!]
[Not just that.]
Gordon said.
[Problem is, per Assemblyman Rockton, Marshall tipped off the Chairman and called the session.]
[...Aren't Reberk and Marshall allies?]
[Beats me. No clue what they're thinking.]
Kyle, now atop the tallest ancient tree, narrowed his eyes.
[Clark, there yet?]
"Just arrived."
He surveyed the Mage Tower.
[See anything?]
"Yeah, but..."
For a demon descent, the tower looked perfectly normal.
The night sky over the tower was serene, the lower village aglow with lights, the white spire shining beautifully.
[Can you turn on body cam?]
Kyle raised the cam; Cache groaned.
[...Looks fine to me.]
[Same here, but...]
"Hold on."
Recalling Marie's soul, Kyle activated [Spirit Eye] again.
"?!"
He had to swallow hard.
'Shit.'
The once-serene Mage Tower landscape had transformed in an instant.
Unlike before, Spirit Eye revealed the tower and village shrouded in a black, ominous barrier.
The peaceful streets overflowed with unidentified black sludge.
Emotions of terror, agony, fear swirled from it.
But more than that.
"That's..."
Kyle's eyes clearly saw it.
Something at the tower's pinnacle was sucking in massive mana from all over Sapientia.
He grabbed his in-ear comm.
"...Definitely looks off."
[What?]
"Barrier around the tower, and all mana from it is flowing to the top."
[...! For real?]
"Yes, at least to my 'eyes'."
No reason for such mana unless a massive ritual or ceremony.
Support team's view was still peaceful.
But Cache and Gordon trusted him implicitly—especially after Marie.
Gordon scowled.
[...Crazy bastards. What the hell are they planning?]
[Wh-what now?]
"What do you mean?"
Kyle replied.
"Stop it before the descent completes."
Once the ritual finished, the tower was done for.
[...! But!]
Cache faltered, about to say they couldn't.
Because a thought struck from the ritual's edge.
'Maybe the Butcher...'
The Butcher might pull it off.
Of course, a renowned magic family-led demon descent.
A massive ritual sacrificing the entire tower.
Stopping it? No easy feat.
Magic family aside, a demon seizing this chance wouldn't hold back.
They'd probably turned the tower into hell long ago for full summoning.
'Still.'
Cache swallowed dryly.
'If it's this guy...'
The man who once survived a demon.
Gordon voiced the same thought.
[...First, ID the descending demon. Weaknesses and counters depend on it.]
"Got a good idea for that."
'Not thrilled, but...'
No time to be picky.
[Good idea?]
"Yeah. One nearby."
Kyle's expression was subtle.
"An expert who knows demons better than anyone."
Meanwhile, in the Block 2, Level 3 rec room.
"Aaah!!"
"Ah, shit, you scared me!"
Walter, enjoying a dignified read, blinked at the suddenly leaping dark elf.
"Wh-what the hell?"
"I feel it...!"
"F-feel?"
"Yes!!"
Lumia clasped her hands, face flushed.
"Proxy—no, Mr. Clark is calling for me...!"
She trembled in glory.
"Aaah, Mr. Clark!"
"......"
Walter stared blankly upward, then reopened his book and muttered.
"Sigh, shit."