Chapter 171
Chapter 171
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 171
Chapter Title: Resonance
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Countless scenarios began to flash rapidly through Loan's vision.
A mage chanting a spell at a group of fallen monks. A Nostra soldato charging to attack him. The mage, noticing this, changing the direction of his blades of wind. A warlock above his head, conjuring black clouds to rain down a torrent of snakes, and Uli approaching her, attempting to create a flame large enough to swallow the darkness…
The present and the future were painted in a chaotic mix.
Weaving through their complex entanglements.
Loan used Convection to interfere, turning the dangers he foresaw in a brief moment to his allies' advantage.
“Kuaaargh!”
The man who was about to throw a dagger at Uli let out a short scream and collapsed.
Seeing his small intervention lead to a positive turn of events, Loan headed for the next block.
The closer he got, the more immense the Mage Tower's grandeur felt.
‘At this rate, there shouldn't be any major problems, but…’
That was assuming the real danger had yet to arrive.
From a broader perspective, it appeared Schwerin's side was overwhelming the invaders.
With so many individuals capable of supernatural feats gathered together, there was no need to worry about mana efficiency.
Moreover, there were two mages on this battlefield who were always treated as exceptions when discussing the "limits of a mage."
Far ahead, they stood out conspicuously among the crowded masses.
Werner and Magda.
The two mages, said to be the most powerful on the continent, were a disaster for their enemies by their very existence.
The two were perfectly in sync, as if they had been working together for a long time.
Werner would weave through the ghouls, binding and herding them into one spot as if capturing them, and without fail, a massive torrent of fire would pour down from the sky.
The targets were swiftly reduced to ash.
A ruthlessness without a speck of hesitation.
But they were not intoxicated by their own strength.
Rather, they were questioning why the enemy's offensive was weaker than expected.
After defeating an executive from Brien and another from Fervere on their way here, they hadn't encountered any opponents they considered particularly strong.
Most attacks were tactless, relying on demonic beasts, fallen monks, or low-ranking members of Nostra.
At a glance, it looked like they were just trying to overwhelm with numbers.
It was remarkably similar to how Brien's production manager had used demonic beasts to buy time at the shipping yard.
-They're definitely plotting something.
-It seems Loan and Anke noticed something.
Werner and Magda exchanged thoughts via telepathy.
Just as their minds met and they looked at each other, wondering if they should take different action.
Rumble—
The ground vibrated violently.
Like an earthquake.
In that instant, friend and foe alike abruptly stopped their actions at the sign of a sudden cataclysm.
*Swoooosh-*
Loan extended a Narrow Path, glistening with night dew, above their heads and slid forward, dashing toward the Mage Tower.
Simultaneously, his mental message reached Werner and Magda.
-I need to see the Guardian of Implementation.
He was in such a hurry that he stated only the reason for his departure, cutting out all context.
It felt like he was asking for permission, but he was already long gone.
What connection could there be between the abnormal trembling of the ground and his declaration to meet the Guardian of Implementation?
Just then, the Master of the Recognition Tower passed them, easing their worries.
“I will guard him!”
Anke had already been reflexively chasing after Loan the moment he dashed toward the Mage Tower.
It was clear Loan had realized something, but she didn't know what he was trying to do.
But a powerful premonition seized Anke, telling her she had to help him no matter what.
Confirming again that Loan's gaze was fixed on the Tower of Implementation, she made her mana surge in an effort to get closer to him.
‘He'll have to stop eventually, though…’
There were steps one had to take.
The four pillars, the gateways required to ascend the Tower of Implementation.
Among them, the South Gate Bridge connected to the Tower of Recognition.
If the bridge to the Tower of Phenomena was a public one protected by a magical barrier, this was a submersible bridge that rose only when needed for those who were worthy.
Moreover, it wasn't an ordinary lake. A powerful barrier to repel intruders was spread across it. It was more like a moat imbued with magic.
Crossing the lake before the South Gate without a bridge was like stepping into a wave of blades.
It was uncertain if the tower's gate would even open.
The ones who could control all of this were the tower's guardians. They weren't called that for nothing.
“Loan, wait!”
Anke shouted urgently from behind Loan, worried he would invite unnecessary danger.
Did he not hear her? Loan threw himself toward the lake. And yet.
“Huh…?”
The submersible bridge suddenly rose, gently supporting Loan's feet as he stepped onto thin air.
It was as if the tower's guardian had recognized Loan as having the same qualifications as Anke, the Tower Master. At least, that was how it seemed at first.
“Huuuh?”
Anke, who had followed him onto the bridge, let out another undignified sound in her bewilderment.
The bridge was tilting.
As if to say there was no need to even enter the Tower of Recognition.
As if telling him to go straight to his destination.
It was creating a staircase, somewhat steep, but one a mage could ascend without much difficulty—
‘How is this possible…’
It was creating a path for Loan to reach the Tower of Implementation.
It was personally providing him convenience. Like a stairway to heaven.
Feeling a small pang of jealousy that it seemed to value Loan more than her, the Tower Master.
Anke hurriedly followed Loan up the stairs.
Then, a cool night wind that suddenly blew.
“Hm?”
It made her realize she was ascending toward the Tower of Implementation faster than her own steps.
The bridge's pillars were rising higher to match Loan's pace as he advanced.
‘My goodness. To this extent?’
Was this even possible?
Startled multiple times in a short span, Anke was taken aback by the unexpected altitude and glanced down, then back.
Far below now.
The events unfolding in the capital, Schwerin, came into view at a glance.
Fireballs raining down on inhuman creatures.
A whirlwind of ice blades swirling around swordsmen in sleek suits.
The ordinary citizens of Schwerin steadily gathering around the Mage Tower.
The mages from outside helping them evacuate, and the tower's mages embracing even them, trying to create a protective perimeter.
And the violent tremor of the earth that brought all movement to a halt. The ground cracking apart.
Feeling the trembling of the crisis-filled air, Anke looked up again.
Still.
Loan was soaring toward the Tower of Implementation, climbing the stairs that raised themselves.
Though a bit different in nature.
In a way, events that had never been recorded in the tower's history were unfolding right here.
However.
The person at the center of it all was unaware of how incredible the treatment he was receiving was.
He simply thought it was something the Master of the Recognition Tower, following behind him, had arranged.
And finally, he reached the first floor of the Tower of Implementation.
The mages of Implementation, who had been watching the outside from the railing, were astonished by Loan's appearance.
“Ooh… Is it possible to come up this way? How did you do it?”
“Child, we meet again.”
Facing their collective gazes, Loan's mind was a complex mix of emotions.
Doubt. Curiosity. Annoyance. Anger. Frustration.
How could the strongest people in Schwerin still be here in the tower, merely observing the situation?
Loan soon heard the answer to his unspoken question from Anke, who had followed him.
-Their purpose is different from ours. Not even a Tower Master can move them. They act only according to the will of the Guardian of Implementation. They are, in a sense, Schwerin's last bastion.
A sense of breathlessness could be felt in her urgent telepathic message.
Loan understood what Anke meant.
He also felt he shouldn't be quick to judge.
-In any case, I need to speak with the Guardian.
-So that was your intention. But communicating with the Guardian of Implementation will be different from the other guardians, and even from the blackboard.
Loan had thought so as well.
Since the Guardian of Implementation was the tower itself, he hadn't known how to communicate with it.
But it didn't seem like it would be that difficult.
He had a strange confidence, a conviction that it would go well.
Because he had felt a calling from that high place.
Loan readily moved toward the lift that would guide him to the top of the Tower of Implementation.
The lift was just like the bridge at the South Gate.
It allowed passage only to those recognized by the Guardian, according to the Tower Master's will.
Step into the open shaft, and you either ascend or fall.
It was a test of sorts.
The watching mages of Implementation were doubtful, but Anke, following behind, was optimistic.
Just as she thought, the moment Loan stepped into the lift, he shot up to the top.
Anke blinked, shaking off the afterimage of Loan.
There was no room for her to intervene in what came next. She had come this far declaring she would guard him, but in reality, she had done nothing.
Of course, that was only what she thought.
Thanking her for having his back, Loan reached the very top of the Tower of Implementation.
The moment he set foot in that dizzyingly high place with a view in all directions.
Loan encountered someone's thoughts.
It was different from telepathy.
It was as if he had read an open book at a glance; he could feel someone's thoughts in their entirety.
It was, of course, the Guardian of Implementation. The thoughts of a he, a she, or a something.
Loan thought in return.
*-It's fascinating. I didn't know this was possible.*
*-This is not telepathy. It is thinking together, understanding together. It is simply knowing each other's will.*
*-I don't understand how that's possible.*
*-Because this is my Domain.*
*-Domain…*
*-What is it?*
*-Because that word is a welcome one.*
*-Yes. Within my Domain, earnest thoughts bloom and are seen, heard, and felt by me. That is will-thought.*
*-So that's why you called me and allowed me to come here.*
*-I was curious. Why do you strive so desperately to ascend here? Is it to protect those outside? Why does a life they could not protect themselves have meaning to you? Is it arrogance, or is it pity?*
*-I want to protect all that has made me who I am, all that will shape who I become, and the opportunities for those people to simply be themselves.*
*-Refine your thoughts.*
*-I will. Can you convey my thoughts to the world?*
*-I will.*
*-Can you implement my will-thought?*
*-If your thoughts are understood and your will-thought connects, I will resonate with you, and it shall be so.*
At the Guardian's declaration, Loan recalled all the things that had made him who he was.
Beyond the grand events and great awakenings, beyond the connections and rivalries that had lifted him up or plunged him into despair, that had defeated him or encouraged him.
The weeds and fallen leaves that entered his sight but left no meaning, the snippets of someone's chatter or the chirping of insects he briefly heard, the scents that wafted on the wind and stimulated his nose without his awareness.
Even the people he had never spoken to, those he had passed by without a second thought, people he didn't even know.
He recalled the feeling that all sorts of trivial things had flowed and mingled together to create the being that was his present self.
And when Loan's thoughts were conveyed in their entirety as a mental message to the hearts of those outside the tower.
CRACK—CRUMBLE!
The fractured ground erupted with a deafening roar, and from the chasms, colossal bones shot up like pillars, connecting and combining to create something.
The shockwave was enough to kill those caught in it instantly, but this was only the beginning.
Then came horrifying shrieks that would make one drop to their knees.
At that moment, when beings that should not exist awakened.
Loan focused on his desperate desire to ‘protect.’
That desperate thought, using the newly opened path of circulation as a foothold, swirled violently within Loan's body.
*Giiiiiiiiiiing—.*
Thus blossomed the third Circle.
With this powerful force wrapping around his heart and spinning fiercely on a diagonal axis, Loan forcibly resonated his will-thought with the Tower of Implementation.
*Woooooong—*
Using the Tower of Implementation as an amplifier for his ability—
Taking the Domain proclaimed by the Guardian as his own—
He finally manifested a giant sphere of mana centered on the Mage Tower.
A massive Sphere of the Void.
An Ark of Mana, meant to protect people from a sea of death, it shone resplendent in the moonlight.