Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 074
Chapter Title: Friend or Foe
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*
"Faction system?"
Kyle blinked both eyes at the unfamiliar system.
As if answering him, another message appeared.
"...!"
Kyle let out a small groan as he read the content.
What caught his attention more than anything was the part about 'regular factions'.
'They'll actively help me whenever I need it...'
It sounded pretty good, from what he'd heard.
Now that he'd entered the 'Lost Past' route, no one knew what might happen next.
'But an organization that follows me semi-permanently?'
Kyle tilted his head.
'Isn't that hurdle a bit too high, no matter how you look at it?'
It was right then, as he thought that.
"????"
Kyle's face filled with confusion at the message.
'What?'
The Magic Tower being incorporated as a regular faction?
That meant the Magic Tower would follow him, in other words.
'Is that even possible?'
It seemed impossible unless he became the Magic Tower Lord or something.
Right then, a bizarre wailing echoed through the hole in the roof.
"...!"
Kyle snapped back to reality, remembering this wasn't the time.
'No time to waste.'
As he reached for the holy relic,
the Magic Tower wizards were stunned once more, for a different reason.
"The, the Archangel's holy relic..."
One wizard muttered at its unprecedented glow.
"...That's the relic acknowledging him. Recognizing that man as its new master."
"No way."
To receive the holy relic's acknowledgment.
It had probably been centuries since the last time.
Elder Kempton, collapsed and breathing raggedly, rasped out in a cracked voice.
"Everyone, lis... ten well."
His gaze turned to Kyle standing before the relic.
"The legend of the Origin Mage... is not mere legend."
"...!!"
The stone door on the top floor, openable only by the Origin Mage's successor, was proof.
To the elders, it was a clear prophecy.
A shred of mercy left by the Origin Mage foreseeing the Magic Tower's crisis.
"The successor exists... We knew that long ago, cough...!"
"Grandfather...!"
As Rebecca supported the elder, he looked up at his granddaughter.
"Child, help that man. Even if he has no awareness... If the prophecy comes true, he will be the one to save this tower..."
With that, he closed his eyes.
Rebecca's eyes widened in shock.
"Gr-Grandfather...! Grandfather!!"
"Elder...!!"
Biting her lip hard, Rebecca hugged the elder tightly and swallowed her tears.
"Grandfather...!"
Kyle's voice cut through from among them.
"It's not too late yet."
"...! What?!"
Having activated [Heavenly Eye], he continued.
"He's just extremely weakened by the curse and fallen into a comatose state."
"R-Really?!"
Kyle nodded.
He didn't even need [Super Sense].
When it came to death, no one was more sensitive than him.
Kneeling on one knee before the elder, Kyle murmured.
"But if he stays like this, he really will die."
True to being an elder-level wizard,
his powerful soul was visibly resisting the black curse clinging to him.
Kyle channeled the power of the relic in his hand.
Holy power rapidly spread, enveloping everyone inside the barrier.
"Oh, ooh...!!"
Everyone was entranced by the indescribable miracle.
Then,
"Cough...!"
The elder's breathing, halted for a while, resumed laboriously.
"Grandfather?!"
"Elder! Are you conscious?!"
But he still hadn't regained awareness.
Confirming via [Heavenly Eye] that the curse's power had weakened considerably, Kyle stood.
"This is just a stopgap. He's too weakened to begin with, so to recover, we need to address the root problem."
"The root problem..."
It was nothing else.
Kyle looked up through the broken roof at the pure white tower.
"......"
"......"
In the solemn atmosphere, Rebecca stood and bowed to him.
"First, I want to thank you, Mr. Clark. Not just for helping my grandfather, but for saving all of us."
Placing her hand on her chest, she said,
"Thus, as the next head of the Kempton Family—one of the Five Founding Families and a magical dynasty—I, Rebecca Kempton, pledge."
Rebecca gazed at Kyle with resolute eyes.
"The Kempton Family will never forget this grace we received today."
One by one, the other wizards stepped forward and swore.
"The Tomerson Family will not forget this night."
"The Satein Family will not forget this moment."
"Westcoat will not forget either!"
"The Bowen Family will not forget!"
"It's not just the representatives of the families."
Rebecca slightly lifted her skirt hem and bowed politely to Kyle.
"Every wizard here... will not forget this night, this moment."
And simultaneously,
"We swear to cooperate fully with Mr. Clark to resolve this crisis."
"We swear."
"We swear...!"
With those words, the wizards bowed in unison after her.
It was an utterly bizarre sight—the prideful humans of the Magic Tower bowing to an outsider heretical wizard.
But high as their pride in magic was, they knew right from wrong.
As if pledging total loyalty, Kyle swallowed softly while looking at the properly courteous group.
But only for a moment.
Steeling himself, he stepped forward.
"Good."
The Magic Tower was a place tied to him anyway, a site he had to reclaim to uncover the city's secrets.
Looking at Rebecca, Kyle said,
"First, tell me everything you know. The layout of the town and the tower, the situation at the time, anything related to the demons you witnessed—doesn't matter."
With time marching toward the two-hour mark,
"We have no more leeway to dawdle."
Rebecca and the wizards nodded with determined faces.
"The councilors?"
As Rockton quickly strode down the corridor, his aides followed and replied.
"All the councilors you summoned have arrived, except for Councilor Koster and a few others."
No sooner had they stepped onto the red carpet before the door than the waiting guards flung it open.
"VVIP has arrived. Repeat, VVIP has arrived."
Following the gaudy hotel corridor, the manager rushed over and bowed.
"Th-the room you requested is right there, sir."
"Lead the way."
"Yes."
As they followed the manager, the chief aide quietly asked,
"But is this really okay? Telling the councilors everything we know like this..."
"It's certainly a risky choice."
Especially without solid evidence yet.
But now wasn't the time to be picky.
'If the Magic Tower falls into Leverk's hands like this, that'll be the real catastrophe.'
The Magic Tower was a powerhouse in its own right.
And if demonic power was added to it?
He couldn't even imagine what Marshall, allied with Leverk, might unleash on the city.
'Especially with most of the military deployed to the front lines...!'
Even central forces that wouldn't normally move had been mobilized in numbers.
Then no one in this central administrative district could stop Marshall with the Magic Tower's demonic power.
"This is the room."
At the manager's guidance, the aide opened the door.
Inside, a dozen councilors sat around a large table.
"Oh, Martin."
A few greeted him warmly.
"What brings you here right after the assembly's emergency recess?"
"I heard from your aide you had something urgent."
"Martin saying that? Must be something big."
"Is it something serious?"
Passing them, Rockton stood at the head of the table.
"Peter, Miles, Walton... and the rest of you friends. Sorry to drag you here so suddenly when you're probably exhausted. Thanks for coming."
Councilor Miles Norman at the front raised both hands dramatically with a laugh.
"When Martin calls, of course we come. Right?"
"Hahaha!"
"Yeah, we've owed him a few over the years."
"Don't sweat it."
"That eases my mind."
Seated, Rockton spoke.
"The reason I called you all here urgently, even in this situation... is because I have something to say regarding Councilor Marshall."
"...Councilor Marshall?"
"Yes."
As he nodded and was about to continue in earnest,
"Councilor."
His chief aide suddenly approached and handed him a phone.
"It's from Kash at Intelligence."
"...!"
Excusing himself briefly, Rockton stood and walked to a corner of the room.
"What is it?"
[Councilor. About those servers found in the contact's hideout we discussed last time.]
He glanced back at the smiling councilors and asked,
"Yeah, anything turn up?"
[Well... We overlooked something until now.]
Kash continued as if caught off guard.
[The location of that hideout. On the map, it was right in the dead center.]
"Dead center?"
[Yes.]
She took a small breath and explained in more detail.
[Secret Surveillance Bureau, Central Investigation Bureau, Central Defense Headquarters, and even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.]
"...!!"
[The contact's hideout was at exactly the same distance from all government agencies in the 2nd Administrative District except Intelligence—the center point.]
"What?"
[And that's suspicious enough, but I just got the analysis from the intel team?]
Kash swallowed hard.
[...That server wasn't just a database. It was a massive router.]
"Router... you mean..."
[A relay.]
Rockton's eyes widened at her words.
[Turns out that hideout was directly wired to every government agency. And up to now, the server's AI has been illegally scraping each department's security data via those lines and forwarding it somewhere...!]
"Forwarding to where, exactly...!"
[According to the intel team...]
Her voice slithered into Rockton's ear like a snake.
[They suspect the City Council.]
Rockton unconsciously swallowed at that.
"......"
Soon, forcing calm, he spoke again.
"Is there a chance it leads to Councilor Marshall's office?"
[You know better than that, Councilor.]
Kash drove the nail in.
[Councilor Marshall's office... isn't in the assembly building. It's in City Hall.]
That instant,
Rockton felt as if the air in the room had frozen solid.
"......"
His gaze with the phone slowly shifted sideways.
There, a dozen councilors stared piercingly at him.
"...? Hey, Martin. Something wrong?"
Councilor Miles stood, face worried.
"You look pale all of a sudden."
Their gazes now utterly different from before.
[Councilor. Maybe besides Marshall, there are more enemies in the assembly we don't know about...!]
Rockton cut the call abruptly as the councilors asked again.
"Martin."
Their eyes curved suspiciously.
"You okay?"
Meanwhile, at the Fleetwood mansion.
"So, there's another barrier around the tower?"
"Yes, and not just that."
Rebecca pointed around the tall stone she'd placed at the center of the rough map of Sapientia she'd scratched out with stone fragments.
"There are probably a large number of minions guarding the tower near the barrier."
Another wizard chimed in.
"Plus, many Magic Tower knights have likely fallen to become minions..."
Kyle let out a small groan.
"Forcing through would take a lot of time?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Yes."
"No other way into the tower?"
"That's what I was about to explain."
She picked up another stone and placed it at a mansion a bit away from the Fleetwood one.
"...The Five Founding Families form the Five Elements around the Magic Tower. Each family represents one sector."
For example, Leverk in the north sector.
Fleetwood in the northeast sector.
"Among them, heading to my family, Kempton, in the southeast sector is best. There's a hidden secret room there that allows instant spatial transfer to the Magic Tower."
'Spatial transfer to the Magic Tower.'
It seemed like a privilege exclusive to the Five Founding Families,
but the Magic Tower's achievement in spatial magic was astounding.
She looked up.
"Fleetwood mansion probably has one too... but we don't know where, and even if we found it, only direct descendants can open it."
"So, to the nearest Kempton Family?"
"Yes."
Showing the ruby ring on her finger, Rebecca said,
"I'm a direct descendant of the Kempton Family."
Of course, she knew the room's location and had authority to activate the transfer.
"...If we can use that room, we can save a ton of time."
"Yes, so..."
Suddenly, Kyle raised his hand, cutting her off.
The wizards looked puzzled.
"...?"
"Mr. Clark?"
Having been using [Nebras's Super Sense] for a while, he said,
"They're coming."
"?!"
Kyle kicked off the floor and leaped onto the roof, quickly scanning the Fleetwood mansion's surroundings.
At the same time, another monstrous roar echoed.
"■■■■■■■■■■■...!!"
A massive crocodile surged up, smashing the street, followed by red-skinned grotesque monsters swarming into the northeast sector.
Kyle shouted down.
"They're here! Battle stations!!"
"B-But our magic against them..."
"It's different now! The relic's blessing is in effect!"
"!!"
Hearing that, Rebecca quickly yelled,
"Everyone except the minimum needed to maintain the barrier—prepare to fight as Mr. Clark says!!"
Turning his eyes away, Kyle thought,
'...Even Magic Tower wizards can't perform at full strength due to the curse's lingering effects.'
And with maintaining the relic's barrier, their remaining mana would be low.
'The blessing helps more than before, but...'
They still needed a swift resolution.
As Kyle reached into his pocket for the light-attribute magic artifact Marie had given him,
His mind pierced by [Super Sense], Kyle swiftly twisted his torso.
A blade barely grazed past where he'd stood.
'No, this is...'
Narrowing his eyes at the massive greatsword-like thing,
'...A claw?'
Boom!
Something pierced the roof again, and he quickly put distance.
Bang!!
But claws erupted wildly from beneath his feet, pursuing him.
Clang! Clangclangclangclang!!
"?!"
No place to land amid the thorny pursuit, as he kicked upward again,
a beast's blade suddenly appeared in midair, stabbing for his throat.
"...!"
He twisted his head to dodge it—that instant.
Like a cage, claws surged from all 360 degrees, piercing his body at once.
Stab! Stabstabstab! Crunch!
A short distance from the mansion,
the goat-headed Capra, who had inserted his hand into his ability 'Nether Subspace', laughed scornfully.
Shaking his head at the mansion roof dripping with blood,
His gaze turned to the mansion's wizards.
'Fools.'
They must have seen that man's arrival as their salvation and hope.
'In the end, even greater despair will swallow you all.'
As Capra withdrew his hand from the subspace and turned,
"So."
A sudden presence from behind.
"That's all you got?"
He hastily twisted around, but too late.
Crunch!
No time to be shocked at his right hand effortlessly piercing Capra's shoulder.
"My turn now?"
Before the wide-eyed goat head, black-and-white flames swirled as if waiting.
KABOOM-!!