Chapter 192
Chapter 192
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: Altering the Formula
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Loan reconstructed the building three-dimensionally in his mind based on the concentration and location of the mana within.
There were four people on the same floor, two each on the second and third floors, and no one in what appeared to be the attic.
‘The first floor is the only one heavily guarded.’
Among them, the one standing right in front of the door and the one sitting diagonally from him had particularly dense mana concentrations.
It was only relative to the others; they weren't individuals Loan would need to spend much time fighting.
However, Loan avoided a direct confrontation and quietly headed to the back of the building.
It would have been easiest to just break in and subdue anyone who resisted, but he had to remain stealthy until he had a firm grasp of their plot.
Slipping into the darkness between the alleys, Loan used the silently extended Narrow Path and Convection to land softly on the roof.
Getting inside through the attic window wasn't difficult at all.
The real infiltration began now.
Loan recalled the time he had secretly conversed with the modernist mages in Schwerin.
He had used the Sphere of the Void to block sound waves from escaping, and it seemed like it would be effective in this situation as well.
*Whoooosh—*
Having materialized Convection to create his own domain, Loan finely controlled the sphere to prevent any physical collisions with the external environment as he slowly descended the stairs.
The creaking sound left a faint echo within Loan's domain before vanishing.
Now, the third floor.
It was a narrow corridor with two open doors. Two people were in one of the rooms, and the color and concentration of their mana indicated they were not ordinary individuals.
Still, they weren't opponents he needed to worry about, so Loan extended the Narrow Path into the room without hesitation.
It was so fast that the men in the room only reacted after Loan was standing before them, meeting their eyes.
“Huh?”
Their voices were blocked by the intangible sphere, unable to escape.
Loan instantly assessed their appearance and decided it would be better to get to the basement quickly rather than try to extract information from them. He extended Convection and pierced the hearts of the two men as they tried to draw their swords.
Completely trapping even the sound of them slumping to the floor within his domain, Loan descended to the second floor and dispatched the two men there in the same manner.
Suddenly, he heard voices from the floor below.
“Isn't this too much? They want us to stand guard all night. Do we really have to go this far?”
It seemed they had been ordered by someone to guard something.
From their hoarse voices, heavy with fatigue, he could faintly understand their dissatisfaction.
The conversation continued.
“Stop your pointless whining. We haven't heard anything from Basini's side, so it's only natural to heighten security.”
“I heard those guys are only coming over after things here are sorted out. They're probably off drinking somewhere without a care in the world.”
“All of them? At a time like this?”
“Damn it. Is it important to *us*? I'm just saying, we could be making a real fortune, but it feels like we're just being dragged around.”
“Both of you, shut up. We just have to hold out until that magic, or whatever it is, activates today.”
“You said it. They told us that even the greatest mage in the world couldn't do anything about what's already been set up. If we can just leave it be, why do we have to stand around like this?”
Just then, a slightly deeper voice interjected.
“That's enough. If you're just going to keep bickering about the same thing, why don't you both just go upstairs and take over the watch?”
“Hey, now that's an idea I can get behind.”
“I agree.”
“Idiots...”
At last, the two who had been arguing found common ground and started up the stairs.
They walked right into Loan's domain, who was standing naturally in a blind spot next to the staircase.
“Hmm?”
“What the—!”
For men who had been quite talkative, their last words were remarkably brief and heard by no one.
Loan then went downstairs, maintaining his focus. He carefully enveloped the entire room with a barrier of sound before completely subduing the last two men.
And so, Loan was the only living person left on the ground floors.
“...”
When he finally reached the first floor, he found it to be an ordinary tailor shop that sold custom and ready-made clothing.
Rather than rummaging around for information, it seemed better to head down to the basement, which felt even more suspicious now that he was closer.
The feeling emanating from the basement was decidedly ominous.
The reason he had felt such particularly turbid mana was likely due to the ‘something’ that lay somewhere below.
The premonition it gave him made Loan quite uncomfortable.
It brought back a memory from the past.
The annex of the relief shelter.
The feeling was not so different from when he had faced the human tree there.
*Creeaak—*
Loan found a door hidden under a carpet, opened it immediately, and descended without hesitation.
If, as a child, he had descended the annex stairs filled with curiosity and fear, today was different.
There was anger, the confidence that he could resolve this by his own will, and yet, the composure to not grow complacent.
Loan activated his synesthesia, sharpening his foresight as he went further and further down.
The air grew damp as he neared the bottom of the stairs.
When he finally stepped onto the floor...
*Drip— Drip— Drip.*
Drops of water forming overhead fell one by one, scattering against Loan's Convection.
Loan stood for a moment and looked around.
The large basement was a passageway for a waterway.
It appeared to be a sewer carrying the city's waste, and its original atmosphere would not have been pleasant. Now, with the air thick with turbid mana, it exuded a dangerous aura.
It wasn't on the level of the wheat fields of Rhodos, but with mana this turbid, any ordinary person would surely lose their mind.
Perhaps that was why there was no one around.
Instead, various tools that seemed to have been used until recently were piled up in a corner.
Most of them were tools and miscellaneous items used for constructing, repairing buildings, or digging.
Loan tilted his head and approached the ‘thing’ that was likely raising the danger level of this place.
It rose from the middle of the sewer channel.
“...”
Its shape was reminiscent of the human tree, but it was slightly different.
He couldn't tell how much of it was submerged in the water, but for now, it looked like a tower about Loan's height.
Its surface was covered in marks that looked like they had been scratched by a knife, but he didn't feel any particular magical effect from them.
It was more reasonable to assume that the material composing the tower, its very nature, was emitting dark mana.
A manastone of darkness, perhaps.
In any case, the important thing now was what the enemy had plotted using this.
Loan mulled over the men's words again: ‘even the greatest mage in the world couldn't do anything about it.’
Then, standing before the channel, he created a domain, completely diverting the flow of water to his side, and stepped onto the damp ground, approaching the tower.
The moment Loan's domain expanded to include the tower, completely isolating the water within its radius...
Loan realized that the marks engraved on the tower were nothing more than scribbles; the real thing was hidden on the floor.
A magic circle, drawn with the tower at its center.
It was an exceedingly complex design, but if he had to compare it, it was similar to a mix of the ‘human tree’ and the ‘Stone of Goetia.’
‘One draws in and absorbs, the other traps what has been drawn in.’
But this, too, could be a preconception.
If he tried to work backward from a presumed result, he might end up forgetting or denying that the result itself was flawed.
Loan meticulously examined the magic circle, from the minutest details of its curves and lines to the metaphors derived from them and the meaning they sought to achieve, trying not to miss a single thing.
One by one, truths began to accumulate in his mind.
‘This is definitely the work of Le Tell.’
And there was one other thing he could be sure of.
‘This magic circle... it's incomplete.’
That didn't mean it was unfinished.
It meant that while the necessary foundation for the magic to manifest was in place, nothing would happen without something to trigger it.
‘Probably when the council convenes. The activation of the Festival of Slaughter must refer to the chain activation of this magic circle.’
He could be so sure because the magic circle didn't end around the tower; it continued into the darkness, following a long groove carved into the bottom of the sewer channel.
He surmised that this sewer likely flowed throughout the underground of Felsina, and the groove connected to the tower would reach the central council hall and the civilian areas in the south, west, and north.
It was also reasonable to expect that there would be towers in the basements there as well.
*Thud—*
Loan lightly extended Convection like a fist and tapped the tower.
It felt remarkably hard.
Breaking this wouldn't solve the problem. The real issue was getting rid of the magic circle.
The claim that ‘even the greatest mage’ couldn't do anything about it meant that the magic would manifest even if the grooves were filled in or erased.
That was possible.
It wasn't a simple drawing or groove, but something drawn with intent and magical power, so it couldn't be stopped by physical damage.
Therefore, to solve this, one would need someone with abilities comparable to the creator of the formula to dismantle it.
Even to Loan's eyes, it was exceedingly complex, so it was understandable why the enemy was so confident.
‘Tch.’
He felt a surge of frustration, having studied it for a while without a perfect method of dismantlement coming to mind.
In truth, if he could see all the other magic circles at once and had a little more time, it might be possible, but it was vexing that he didn't have that luxury right now.
Loan pondered what to do for a moment, then isolated the parts he currently understood perfectly.
He could decipher parts of the formula that controlled and manipulated the flow of liquids like water and blood, and he also identified a section that generated heat.
After identifying a few more such components, Loan concluded that it would be far better to add to the formula and cause an unexpected result rather than trying to prevent its activation.
As subtly, and as complexly, as possible.
This method had another advantage.
‘It's only a matter of time before they discover the dead men upstairs and re-check this place.’
Even if the enemy came to check whether the magic circle had been dismantled, it would be difficult for them to grasp the meaning Loan had fabricated.
And even if they did discover it, restoring it to its original state would require considerable time and intellect.
If he could start here and modify the rest of the locations in time, Loan, having started first, would be in an absolutely advantageous position.
Having formulated a plan to turn the enemy's confidence against them, Loan immediately began adding lines and dots to the magic circle.
The condition was that even if the magic were to manifest, it had to be something that would not harm anyone.
It couldn't be a magic of destruction or death.
Fortunately, he had received plenty of inspiration for such magic in Schwerin.
The trivial magics that the mages of the Tower of Concepts had been researching, the kind that might be dismissed as useless.
*Scrape— Scrape—*
A moment later.
After completing the process of reducing what was excessive and adding what was necessary, Loan...
...reverse-engineered the magic circle he had reconstructed to double-check his work and smiled faintly without realizing it.
‘This should make things quite clean and tidy.’
He himself was curious to see what result would occur when the final magic was manifested.
But it was too early to be relieved.
There were still four more locations presumed to be similar to this one.
*Whoooosh—*
Loan immediately extended the Narrow Path along the waterway.
The water parted, revealing the long, extended groove.
Without hesitation, he ran into the darkness.
The wet ground made no sound.