Chapter 132
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: The Vermilion Bird Awakens
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Right after Lee Se-hun's mass-produced sword aura gear was unveiled.
Bell chimes and vibrations began echoing through the depths of the magic engineering expo hall, which had only just started to heat up in earnest.
"Yes, Department Head. Yes... What?"
"Sword aura mass production? What the hell..."
A game-changer had appeared in the neighboring exhibition hall. The news spread like wildfire among the major companies attending the expo, and they quickly came to a decision.
"You lot stay right here!"
"Head to Lee Se-hun... no, the Forging Department first!"
Leaving just one or two people to man the booths, the representatives bolted. All that remained in the expo hall were low-level staff, cadets with little ties to the industry, and ordinary visitors.
The staff stared in disbelief as the once-crowded interior emptied in an instant.
"What the hell is going on..."
"They say that kid Lee Se-hun pulled off sword aura mass production."
"...Can't blame 'em."
The expo and exhibition had been held simultaneously to draw crowds to the less popular one, but Lee Se-hun's display had flipped the script entirely.
Louise Valente, waiting at the center amid the expo's desolate scene of abandonment, wore an incredulous expression.
"This actually happened..."
She'd bragged confidently that the crowds would thin out midway, but she hadn't expected it to play out exactly like this.
'Impressive, though.'
Mass-producing sword aura gear—one of the holy grails of the gear industry.
Even she, a total outsider to that world, had heard about it countless times. The fact that someone she knew had achieved it filled her with both shock and a strange sense of pride, like it was her own accomplishment.
'...Why am I proud?'
As Louise frowned and shook off the sudden flush of embarrassment.
"Louise?"
A familiar yet repulsive voice called from the side. Suppressing the disgust rising on her face, she turned.
"Well. I never imagined you'd be helping out here... What a surprise."
Louise's fist clenched involuntarily at the sight of the approaching old man—Charles, professor in the Elemental Department and a member of Dawn.
How could he so shamelessly approach the man who'd tried to cripple her mana?
She desperately wanted to unleash a speech spell and rip his throat out, but she held back.
'Not yet.'
If Lee Se-hun's prediction was right, her chance would come soon. Forcing her anger down, she unclenched her fist and replied calmly.
"I haven't decided on a career path yet, so I asked Professor Lan Fay to let me check out magic engineering."
"I see. Still no interest in the Elemental Department?"
Even after her prior refusal, Charles pressed again. Louise answered flatly.
"Right now, I need someone to guide me on speech magic. The Elemental Department doesn't quite fit."
There was no one in Elemental who could teach her. It was a pointed response, but rather than taking offense, Charles's eyes gleamed as he asked,
"What if there was such a person?"
"In Elemental?"
"Maybe there, or maybe elsewhere."
His tone seemed the same as usual, but the look in his eyes and his aura felt entirely different—like he was gradually unleashing his true nature.
Feeling the scar on her throat itch, Louise suppressed the urge to blast him with a speech spell and replied.
"I'd be thrilled to learn all sorts of magic."
"Then..."
"But I don't need it."
Louise smirked coolly.
"I've already got a great teacher and friend."
She had no intention of learning from anyone but Lee Se-hun. Charles's expression stiffened briefly before melting into a smile as if nothing had happened.
"Lucky you. Keep at it."
"Thank you, Professor."
"Well then..."
Charles nodded and slowly turned away.
KABOOM──!
A terrifying explosion rocked the hall from outside, sending vibrations through everything.
The massive expo hall shook violently for a moment. The ominous shock triggered the internal defenses instantly.
Whirr!
Mana supply to all booth devices cut off to shield against external impacts, and incantation cutoff mechanisms activated to prevent any potential overloads.
The expo stabilized in the blink of an eye. Amid the chaos, a frantic voice blared from the communicator in Louise's ear.
Unknown explosions occurring near exhibition hall! Suppression underway, but flames intensifying!
All staff: Evacuate visitors via emergency exits to basement. Beware hidden terrorists inside...
Lan Fay's orders cut off mid-sentence with static, and silence fell as if the explosion had been a lie.
It felt like this central area had been isolated. As Louise stood silently in the eerie quiet, Charles rushed over.
"Wh-what the hell is going on...?"
"......"
"Something's off. We should evacuate together—"
"Left hand."
As he drew closer, Louise eyed his left hand, subtly hidden behind his back.
"I can see you casting, you bastard."
"...Tch."
Whoosh!
Charles thrust his left hand forward, unleashing the prepared spell in one go.
Clatter!
Gray iron chains erupted from his palm.
"⟨ Mind Bind ⟩"
Mind Bind—a spell to dominate the target's consciousness.
It had no connection to an Elemental professor like Charles, but Louise didn't panic. She reacted swiftly.
Crackle!
Her throat choker, Hati, morphed into a mask covering her mouth in an instant. The stored gear skill 'Memorize' triggered a speech spell.
【Spell Break】
⟨ Spell Break ⟩
Bang!
A shockwave from the speech spell disrupted the surrounding mana, shattering the gray chains entirely.
A flawless counter. Charles's eyes widened in shock.
'She broke my spell head-on?'
He'd toned it down for stealth, but it wasn't some amateur spell a cadet could shatter so easily.
Besides, Louise was barely scraping B-rank at best. Staring in astonishment, Charles murmured,
"Impressive. I expected a counterattack, not a full dispel..."
"If I'd done that, I'd be the only one subdued."
Mind Bind looked physical, but it was ultimately mental magic.
A standard elemental counter would have passed right through and neutralized her.
'His advice was spot on.'
Initially, Louise had wanted to store an instant-kill spell in Memorize, but Lee Se-hun advised the opposite.
'Those guys treat their lives as tools. Unless it's a total surprise kill, prep defense instead.'
They'd sacrifice themselves if it meant their comrades succeeded—fanatical, and a blind spot for the inexperienced.
"Figuring that out in seconds... Excellent."
Smiling like he'd spotted a promising student, Charles eyed her anew.
"Might be awkward to say in this situation, but... care to join me?"
"......"
"Think about it. In the infinite realm of magic, what can you learn from fools arrogantly clinging to one petty field and its shallow insights?"
For the first time, Charles's true feelings shone vividly in his eyes as he gazed at Louise.
"Modern mages are rotten. They don't learn magic to expand their power—they chase S-rank, A-rank frames they've boxed themselves into."
Learning not magic itself, but spells to become high-rank heroes.
What meaning did magic born from such rigid thinking hold?
"That's why we must break free from this nauseating mold. Free magic unbound by anything—we have to show those idiots its true essence!!"
His persuasion turned to ranting, unleashing raw anger and contempt.
An elitist ideology despising all mages but themselves. Facing Charles's—and Dawn's—true face for the first time, Louise asked coldly,
"And you're different?"
"I'm not yet. But 'He' is."
Calm as if his outburst had been a lie, Charles met her gaze.
"On the Dawn, when He descends to us again, true magic will grace this world. For that, we need your talent to convey His voice."
"......"
"Come with me. You'll grasp magic's pinnacle and ascend to higher realms..."
"Voice, huh."
Cutting him off, Louise scoffed, then fixed him with icy eyes.
"So, turning my throat into this ragged mess—was that just to shove His holy dick down it?"
"......"
Charles's eyes bulged at her words. He hesitated, sighed, and lamented,
"You'd have been better off ignorant..."
"Even ignorant, I wouldn't learn magic from cultist scum like you."
"Fine. No more pointless invitations."
Bitter, Charles gathered mana and stared her down.
"I was just killing time waiting for backup... but I misjudged. Things wouldn't have dragged this long otherwise."
Despite the explosions and overt spellcasting, no one came.
In this blatantly unnatural situation, Charles explained leisurely.
"Professor Lan Fay's incantation cutoff is active across the whole hall. Plus, we've twisted the defenses and spatial devices into a maze."
A setup using every Dawn infiltrator in Babel.
Lan Fay was sharp, but she'd never suspect traitors among her assistants or hall managers.
"No one's coming to help. Surrender quietly, and I promise no harm."
"Don't want to hurt me..."
Muttering his words, Louise smirked coldly, eyes blazing with chill light.
"Bullshit, you psycho fuck."
Hummm──!!
Her irises ignited blue. All mana permeating the expo hall's center roared wildly.
Rumble─
An immense mana resonance shook even the spatial isolation. Sensing the overwhelming rage and killing intent from within, Charles instinctively staggered back.
At his pathetic retreat, Louise unleashed all her pent-up emotions in a growl.
"Shut up and come at me. I'll shred your throat to ribbons like you did mine."
"Ahh..."
Overwhelmed by the killing intent constricting him, Charles revised his recent assessment of her.
'Power amplified by emotion... So this is the Voice's talent.'
He'd seen her as a Legion candidate at first, but this changed everything.
'It's her—no one else.'
The only body to fully convey His will to the world was Louise's.
With that certainty, Charles snapped his fingers.
Snap!
A sound without mana.
As Louise's eyes narrowed at the meaningless gesture, nearby booths reacted.
Humm!
Numerous magic engineering devices in the hall.
Hidden voice-recognition triggers partially disabled the cutoff, activating them one by one.
Mana flooded back in, concentrating on a central booth.
Whirr!
MT Industry's 'Inferno Furnace' guzzled endless mana.
Meant to control flames, but infused with mana, its surface glowed crimson-hot, radiating ferocious heat.
Thud─!
A massive thrum from within.
Seemed like overload shockwaves at first, but as it pulsed rhythmically, Louise's eyes narrowed.
'...Heartbeat?'
Thud─ Thud─
Something inside the furnace, birthing the heat, began pounding faster, like it was reviving.
Gaps cracked open, crimson flames leaking outward.
Fwoosh.
Not devouring wildly, but flames with purpose, lancing in all directions.
They ensnared devices from other booths, dragging and fusing them forcibly to the central machine.
Sizzle! Rumble!
Flame control units, mana distributors—various gear welded together, soon engulfed in crimson blaze.
The flames then sculpted a new form around the fused core.
"......"
Vast wings blotting the ceiling, tail feathers blending red and crimson exquisitely.
A sleek beak, one empty socket amid pupils of flame. A bird spanning dozens of meters, formed of fire—Louise muttered grimly.
"Vermilion Bird..."
The S-rank beast once subjugated, now resurrected in Babel.
────!
It screeched as if to incinerate everything. As Louise prepared a speech spell against the uncontrollable monster,
Humm!
An eerie resonance filled the air.
A red magic circle bloomed beneath it, summoning dozens of black stakes.
Clang!
Stakes lanced from all sides, piercing and crossing its neck, twisting into a rigid collar.
────!
The Vermilion Bird wailed in agony but soon grew docile.
From rampaging beast to obedient in seconds. Louise grasped it instantly.
'Prepped control incantations.'
Reviving it via hall devices while secretly crafting external controls.
How meticulously planned. She'd heard something might happen to Lee Se-hun, but this scale was beyond imagination.
'Can we really handle this?'
She trusted him, but calming down with that monster here was tough.
Tensing for a speech spell, Louise steadied herself as Charles spoke calmly.
"No need to worry. I'll just burn away your memories without touching your ego."
Charles extended his hand. The bird ignited its flames fiercely, fueled by hall mana.
Flames that could torch even human minds headed her way. Gritting her teeth for a counter,
"...?"
She locked eyes with its sole white-glowing pupil among the three pairs.
KABOOM!!
The Vermilion Bird spun like a top midair, raining fiery feathers like a meteor shower into the hall.
Charles smiled at the apocalyptic sight.
'Going smoothly.'
Subdue everyone inside, secure Louise and Lee Se-hun. Hand control to Worship, then slip away clean.
Perfect. He smirked—
Whoosh!
A feather plunged toward his head.
BOOM!
"───!"
-[Unknown] HP
Flames invade body and mind
Ferocious flames bored into flesh and spirit. Charles's guttural scream echoed as Louise stared blankly at the bird.
────!!
Still rampaging viciously, spewing fire and feathers everywhere—not quite aiding her, but that lone white eye met hers again, winking deliberately.
As if two egos shared one body. Louise's eyes widened.
"...You crazy bastard!"
Realizing Lee Se-hun had hijacked partial control, she grinned and gave him highest praise.