It Wasn't a Bad Plan At All
The colliding golem and black dark dragon.
Guuuuung……─!
“Didn’t the whole place just shake……?”
“I-It’s not just my imagination, it really is shaking!”
“Those two are way too strong!!”
Even surpassing the special structure of Sapphire Hall, the shockwave from their clash transmitted straight to the audience seats.
The players' fussing lasted only a moment.
The Mage Tower's senior mages had caught on to something ominous.
“B-Banggrit Senior, am I seeing this wrong? Tell me! Why are those two going at it so seriously? You went to the Arcana Continent, so as a senior, shouldn’t you know the reason?”
Bensy grabbed Banggrit’s sleeve and asked.
“Even if you ask me, I have no idea what’s going on……!”
But not just Banggrit. None of the senior mages who had set foot on the Arcana Continent could comprehend the current situation.
Enchantment magic senior Kiko muttered in disbelief.
“……Maybe Bellie Senior knows?”
Healing magic senior Bellie was absent, busy researching a way to purify the evil fruit swallowed by the dragon.
But Marcelo shook his head.
If Bellie knew,
she surely would have confided in him somehow.
This was a conflict between no less than the Chief Mage and Elder Yugweed, after all.
Marcelo spoke up.
“Bellie Senior knows nothing about this either.”
“Chief Marcelo, then what the hell is……?”
Boom!
Another clash at the same time. Bensy readjusted his posture from the transmitted shock and spoke again.
Now it wasn’t fussing—it was calm assessment of the situation.
“According to the rules, mid-tier or higher magic manifestation is prohibited in Proof Duels, right? This is the Mage Tower. They know full well how dangerous each other’s magic can be……!”
The Mage Tower was where the most renowned geniuses from the Arcana Continent gathered.
Even exchanging “moderate” magic could be plenty threatening to each other.
One could tell just from the remaining Proof Duel records.
Illusion magic senior Nasrow opened the book he held.
“Just looking at the most recent duel between Senior Senios and Karimjeva…… It’s recorded that Senior Senios suffered considerable injuries.”
Which made this all the more worrisome.
At this moment, the golem manifested by Yugweed was none other than one of the highest-tier earth magics.
If the opponent had been an ordinary mage……
Banggrit shook his head.
“……It would’ve ended with the first kick.”
Not just the duel ending, but possibly their life.
Of course, fortunately, the opponent was Hoyeol.
The massive black dark dragon not only withstood the highest-tier magic but was even pressing the attack.
Some seniors asked spirit magic senior Payan.
“By the way, what the hell is that dragon, Payan Senior? Surely only spirit magic could summon something like that, right? So what’s the name of that dragon-like spirit? Spirit King level, I bet?”
“Munch munch. (Shake shake)”
“……No, even in this situation, you’re choking on bread?”
“Munch munch. (Nod nod)”
Gulp.
“I don’t know the details, but it’s definitely not spirit magic.”
Payan swallowed his bread with a tense expression and finished his answer.
Naturally, the seniors’ attention turned to Banggrit.
With Banggrit Senior’s mana affinity……?
“Was that even magic to begin with, Banggrit Senior?”
“No. No mana is detectable.”
“W-What? For real?!”
Banggrit nodded.
“Phew. It’s true.”
It was a fact.
No matter how much they focused their senses, no mana could be felt from the black dark dragon.
Now the questions turned to Marcelo.
“Chief, what the hell is going on?”
Marcelo couldn’t answer.
He was deep in thought, trying to deduce the reason.
In truth, the situation was simple enough.
There’s something between those two that I don’t know about.
For some reason, they were clashing fiercely beyond a mere duel.
In the process, Elder Yugweed had violated the extremely strict Proof Duel rules.
This is utterly confusing for me.
Had it been a mistake to hastily proceed with the next Tower Lord election without consulting Elder Yugweed?
No.
Given Elder Yugweed’s personality, whether consulted or not, this incident couldn’t have been avoided.
Starting with a highest-tier magic, of all things.
Facing such highest-tier magic head-on would inevitably force a violation of the Proof Duel rules…….
“……!”
Marcelo’s gaze suddenly turned to Banggrit as a thought struck him.
“Banggrit Senior, what did you just say?”
“Yes? What do you mean……?”
“You said no mana could be felt, right?”
“Yes, exactly! Unless there’s something wrong with my mana affinity…… That black dark dragon isn’t magic manifested from mana. Moreover, right before the black dark dragon spread its wings, Chief Hoyeol actually withdrew his mana!”
“As expected.”
After hearing Banggrit’s detailed explanation, Marcelo’s expression brightened dramatically.
Yes, even if Yugweed had violated the rules, Hoyeol was still strictly adhering to them.
“The Proof Duel rules only restrict the manifestation of magic. Naturally so. Mages wouldn’t resort to fisticuffs when they have magic.”
Hadn’t he said it earlier?
The Mage Tower was a gathering of mages with exceptional talent among mages.
In a place of only mages, it was common sense that duels would involve only magic.
It was so obvious there was no need to even codify it in rules!
“Thus, there is no rule in Proof Duels mandating the use only of magic.”
“……!!!”
“Exactly. Chief Hoyeol is strictly following the rules even now.”
The senior mages let out sighs of relief.
They didn’t know what was happening, but as long as Hoyeol was strictly complying with the rules, there was no need for unnecessary worry.
However, doubts lingered.
And those doubts soon turned to shock.
Bensy, realizing the truth, stammered.
“Th-Then Chief Hoyeol blocked Elder Yugweed’s highest-tier magic—without manifesting any magic of his own—and is even overwhelming her? G-Good lord……!!”
*
Elder mages. I’d long witnessed their prowess with my own eyes.
Not one, but two of them. Even in a life-or-death struggle, no less.
Senior Senios and Karimjeva. I’d likened those two elders’ battle to a semi-divine war.
Yugweed’s magic, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with theirs, was anything but light.
Weeeeeing─!
The golem’s mana heart glowed, its vast mana fueling immense strength that ignored the black dark dragon’s wingbeats, propelling the golem forward.
Then, a thrusting punch.
Kaboom!!
It was closer to an explosion than crumbling or shattering.
A massive crater formed where the golem’s fist struck, as if a meteor strike had landed.
Flap!
Of course, the black dark dragon spread its enormous wings and soared into the sky.
It had effortlessly evaded the attack.
Flying high, the full view of Sapphire Hall came into sight.
For one, there was no worry of the clash’s shock leaking outside.
The Mage Tower’s mystical structure seemed to apply to Sapphire Hall as well.
The battlefield has expanded.
As if to prove it.
Shooooook!
The golem leaped toward the sky.
Fast.
Soon, my eyes met Yugweed’s.
“Still so composed, Chief Hoyeol?”
Grip─!
Experience truly matters.
Thanks to my Zero Mountains experience, I could grasp the situation without even turning my head.
So that’s the ankle grabber that downed Yunak Seus?
Thinking downing Yunak Seus meant it could down the black dark dragon too?
Regrettably, no.
Yunak Seus had no wings when pulled down.
Moreover, this black dark dragon, thanks to resembling someone so perfectly.
Detests it immensely.
Having its form disrupted, that is.
Flap!
Shaking off the foot isn’t elegant, you say?
The black dark dragon, with Yugweed and the golem clinging to its ankle.
Soared even higher into the sky.
Yugweed’s flustered voice came.
“……How can it fly?”
How can it fly……!
Look at these excessively massive, billowing wings.
Even wingbeats barely break even.
And if I must add.
Black Dark Dragon Lee Hoyeol
At this moment, resounding ceaselessly in reality and on the Arcana Continent alike.
Meaning it wasn’t an exaggeration to say it grew stronger in real-time with every manifestation.
High-speed flight.
My neck remained rigidly upright amid it all.
Thus, I looked down at Yugweed and declared.
“Now, it reaches no one’s eyes or ears, Yugweed.”
Indeed.
We’d distanced ourselves from all gazes and ears.
Now was the time to hear the truth.
As I’d said.
I had surmised why Yugweed violated the Proof Duel rules.
Thus, I asked.
“Whither dost thou intend to depart from the Mage Tower?”
Yugweed let out a laugh at my question.
“Haha, you’ve seen right through this old fool.”
Seen right through?
Well, after all the years we’d shared.
And the bonds we’d built?
They say you can know the depths of water but not a person’s heart, and while I knew mages’ temperaments through Senior Senios and couldn’t fully let go of suspicion…….
I believed Yugweed would never truly turn hostile toward me.
Claiming now that she’d only applied for the Proof Duel out of greed for the next Tower Lord seat wouldn’t fly.
We’ve weathered countless storms together, haven’t we?
From the Mage Tower’s reconstruction.
To Senior Senios, the Tower Lord’s funeral.
Yugweed continued.
“What would the Tower Lord say seeing this? ‘Well done’? ‘Knew you’d lose’? Or ‘What scheme is this, Yugweed?’”
……If that cat had any conscience, she wouldn’t say such things.
As I thought indifferently.
Yugweed whispered softly.
“If time permits, ask the Tower Lord for me, Chief Hoyeol.”
……What? Yugweed had an inkling of the Tower Lord’s whereabouts too?
Well, more than Marcelo.
She’d spent ages with the Tower Lord.
She might have guessed.
Yugweed shrugged.
“Isn’t Chief Marcelo rather naive in that regard? Maybe that’s why the Tower Lord still calls him ‘little chief.’ By the way, this is a nickname I’m telling you on purpose because Marcelo irks me.”
Irks her, huh.
Even if he’d followed the Tower Lord’s will, he did have that side this time.
Little chief, eh? I’d learned an unexpected moniker for Marcelo.
Soon, Yugweed got to the point.
“I trust you know this, Chief Hoyeol. New wine must be put into new wineskins. A new era where your world connects to the Arcana Continent. An old-fashioned mage like me as Tower Lord? A mere titular elder? Preposterous.”
As I’d surmised.
“As you said, Chief Hoyeol, I planned to leave the Mage Tower. Then I set foot on the Arcana Continent and witnessed my path forward. Returning to the Mage Tower…… I saw a splendid, fitting way to make my exit.”
Not wrong.
A duel between an elder mage candidate for next Tower Lord and the chief mage—violating rules mid-duel drew even more attention…….
At least, I couldn’t have thought of it.
Yugweed then released her mana emission.
“Then shall we agree our bout ends with your victory, Chief Hoyeol, after a fierce aerial battle? Sorry for accommodating this old coot’s whim.”
Yugweed smirked and added.
“No—our next Tower Lord.”
At the same time.
Shatter─
The mana heart extinguished, and the golem began to disperse.
Shoooo kaboom!
The golem’s debris scattered everywhere, booming thunderously.
Through it, Yugweed plummeted helplessly.
Just from the sight, one might think I’d truly thrashed her.
Soon, messages appeared.
You have won the Proof Duel.
Your relationship with the Mage Tower increases.
Your influence in the Mage Tower increases.
Clack─
I landed firmly on both feet in Sapphire Hall.
As the duel ended and Sapphire Hall returned to normal, the fallen Yugweed rose nonchalantly from the center.
“What a utter defeat, Chief Hoyeol. Even violating the rules, I couldn’t touch you. What on earth is that massive dragon? Anyway, impressive. You surprised me in every way. Sincerely.”
Her thrilled tone was just like a mage who’d achieved a shady goal, that Yugweed.
Yes, that’s why I said even if you know people’s hearts, you can’t fathom a mage’s.
Two birds with one stone, eh?
Her retirement, and through the Proof Duel, elevating me.
Making me the acknowledged next Tower Lord, inside the Mage Tower and out.
However, betrayal feelings aside, I spoke.
“Yugweed, thou hast violated the strict Proof Duel rules. Moreover, manifestation of decisive magic is forbidden within the Mage Tower. Henceforth.”
All eyes focused on my words.
“Yugweed Lüpeng, thy status as elder mage is stripped.”
The senior mages, including Marcelo, seemed to have anticipated it.
They still looked puzzled but weren’t shocked.
But the players were different.
“!!!”
I gazed at the players’ widened pupils and thought.
This’ll unintentionally boost the legend again.
“Yugweed Lüpeng, I accept the judgment.”
Yugweed bowed with a satisfied expression.
You thought that was the end, Yugweed?
But a miscalculation.
You’re still overlooking me—Grandfell.
Why would I play along knowing everything?
Because I had my own scheme.
Before the shock rocking Sapphire Hall fully subsided.
I declared further.
“Furthermore, I, the black dark dragon.”
“……?”
“Shall withdraw from the next Tower Lord election.”
“……!!!”
……No. Charismatic, full of twists, all good.
But why of all things is the title ‘I, the black dark dragon’……!!