Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Judgment (3)
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At the spire in the heart of the Black Sector, in the conference hall.
"…!"
Everyone was still reeling from the shock.
They stared in astonishment at the staircase extending down from thin air and the massive bear doll frozen like a star in the sky. It felt like the realm of a distant master.
A technique that even carried a hint of beauty.
Soon, all eyes turned to the Yellow Tower's Inspector.
Even with thousands of eyes fixed on him, the Inspector showed no sign of intimidation. He simply chewed calmly on the Sunweed clenched in his mouth.
The Imperial Magic Tower attending the exchange meet?
That was the Imperial Magic Tower's Inspector?
The Inspector possessing such a realm?
What in the world was happening?
The mages' minds swirled with questions.
"Mages, confirm the Black Tower's sins."
With those words from the Inspector, the flood of doubts was temporarily suppressed. Right, the priority was the Black Tower's crimes first.
At the same time, Anes unleashed her telekinesis.
Whoosh—! Whoosh—!
From the spectator seats and the representatives' feet... scrolls prepared in great quantities scattered throughout the conference hall, naturally falling into the hands of nearby mages.
"What?"
"No way…!"
And soon, everyone gasped in horror.
"This is insane…!"
Even one alone was grave enough, but there were endlessly many crimes of similar severity.
"Black Tower Lord—!"
The first to shout was the Red Tower Lord. His wide, bulging eyes were strikingly passionate, as if proving his fervor.
"To dabble in corpse research banned by the Empire—what madness is this! Have you abandoned the Magic Tower's path?"
Teddy Divine, however, wore a cold, expressionless mask. She clicked her tongue in response.
"The Red Tower's as consistent as ever~ It's hurting my ears."
"Didn't the Black Tower always complain of being oppressed by the Yellow Tower? Yet to think you'd secretly touch taboos behind the scenes! How dare you!"
"Taboo?"
Teddy Divine scoffed.
"The Red Tower Lord's words are full of holes, aren't they? What is the Black Tower's job? To research black magic as deeply as possible. So why make a fuss over tinkering with a few corpses?"
"You…!"
The Red Tower Lord's face flushed red, as if he might explode at any moment.
"To create those corpses, you mobilized bandits and even killed innocents! Might as well cover the sky with your palm! I thought the Black Tower harbored great ambitions and upheld justice!"
"We love the word 'justice' too~"
Teddy Divine smiled leisurely.
"Once the Black Tower stands tall, we'll uphold that paltry justice to our heart's content. If we advance solely for that goal, isn't that a greater cause? Right?"
"Can you say the same to those who died innocently and became the Black Tower's test subjects?"
"Of course~ Isn't it obvious? Mere ordinary lives were used for the great Black Tower~ I think it's something they'd see as an honor to their lineage."
"You're utterly mad! Divine punishment will surely fall upon you!"
Teddy shrugged her shoulders.
"I thought you'd praise us for working so hard~ But the reaction's weird? Maybe the other towers lack the ambition to rise tall?"
"We have no greed to grow strong by piling up innocent lives. We only burn ourselves!"
The Red Tower Lord ground his teeth with a grinding sound.
"Black Magic Tower, you are no longer a collective of mages! You're a den of vile demons and criminals!"
"Ah~ Really, it's been earache central…."
Teddy fiddled with her ear.
"Other towers get worshipped no matter what they do~ They get praise and support just for focusing on magic research... But us? We get sins slapped on us for breathing?"
Teddy let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
"Discriminated against just for having demons mixed in, suspected just for researching magic? Do you know how harsh our lives have been?"
"Sophistry! You still don't grasp it's karma! That's why you're always suspected and discriminated against for pulling stunts like this! Today, we will judge you!"
"Who gets judged…."
Teddy's eyes slowly turned pitch black.
"…is something I'll decide, you insolent old fart."
Thump— Thump—
Suddenly, the sound of a heartbeat echoed loudly through the space.
Thump— Thump—
The vibrations rippled across the floor and walls— a sound no mage's body could produce. The mages who realized its source widened their eyes.
"Black Tower Lord…! Finally showing your true colors…!"
"That's right~ This entire Black Tower is one massive corpse?"
Teddy giggled.
"What, did you think we made no preparations?"
Her soft laughter soon erupted into mad cackles.
"We finished corpse explosion research ages ago and stuffed the walls with countless bodies. Just imagine how many corpses exploding it all would create!"
The Red Tower Lord felt chills.
Pure malice.
That was all Teddy harbored now— nothing but pure malice.
"…Black Tower Lord, what reason do you have for this madness?"
"You're asking the obvious~ Are there better materials than mages' corpses? The more that die here today, the better for the Black Tower!"
The representatives of each tower groaned.
They were people who feared no battle. They had confidence in their own skills and were willing to welcome any necessary fight.
However….
The Red Tower Lord's gaze shifted to the spectator seats.
They were packed with mages.
These grateful souls who gathered to witness the magic world's progress in real time were now hostages. That was the real problem.
'If the entire spire explodes, the scale of casualties….'
Impossible to measure. No matter how he calculated, it was at minimum catastrophic.
The Red Tower Lord spat through gritted teeth.
"Black Tower Lord, you have defiled this sacred exchange meet."
"No? No one could be more devoted to the exchange meet than me."
"What?"
"The exchange meet exists to cull weak magic and let only the strong survive. Well, to put it simply…."
Teddy grinned with her black eyes.
"A purge of the magic world? Something like that!"
The Tower Lords were speechless.
'How do we handle malice like this…?'
Each tower had spent the last ten years diligently advancing.
But the Black Tower had prepared not progress, but revenge. A wild ambition and greed to turn all towers into corpses and absorb them entirely. Nothing more.
"Now then~"
Teddy raised one finger at that moment.
"Let me make a proposal to the Tower Lords? There's a chance to save the mages in the spectator seats!"
A chance to evacuate the spectator mages?
The representatives' eyes narrowed.
"While the Black Tower judges the arrogant Yellow Tower, stay out of it and just watch. That's it."
"…!"
"Watch the Black Tower crush the Yellow Tower flat. You'll end up licking our feet yourselves? Begging to join us!"
"…."
Shocking words, shocking proposal.
In simple terms, Teddy planned to seize the position the Yellow Tower had held through this exchange meet—the perch overlooking all other towers.
The other towers fell into thought.
The Black Tower's wrongs were clear, but with nearly a thousand mages held hostage, the situation was dire. As everyone pondered and gauged reactions….
"Absurd nonsense!"
The young elder of the Blue Tower stepped forward.
A woman with neatly braided snow-white hair draped over her shoulders— the freezing sorceress Seina.
"If we keep giving in to demands one by one, it'll never end. We can't just stand by and watch."
Teddy mocked her stance.
"Wow~ A Blue Tower elder, huh? There are plenty of Blue Tower mages in the seats too, right? With that judgment, not many mages might leave here alive today?"
"…Fear not death."
Seina replied stoically.
"It is the will of the Snow Ghost. At least today, no Blue mage will die in shame."
"Hmm~ So~ siding with the Yellow Tower means the Blue Tower's done for?"
Seina bit her lower lip hard.
'To think she'd make such a proposal.'
It was utterly petty, but the problem was how threatening it was. Objectively speaking, even Seina should act like the other Tower Lords.
Why, even the furiously outraged Red Tower Lord was groaning in hesitation? No matter the situation, their own mages came first.
'If the Black Tower gains the upper hand today, it won't end well. The Yellow Tower struggled just to gather evidence, so if the Blue Tower helps, we can win….'
As Seina's thoughts raced….
"Has the Black Tower Lord finished her last words?"
A voice like icicles stabbed sharply.
A voice laden with chill.
All gazes on the Black Tower Lord swiveled.
Zekiel.
The Yellow Tower's Inspector had finally reacted.
Anes, his secretary at his side, suddenly recalled what Zekiel had casually mentioned on the way here.
—Don't strike first.
—All towers must understand the justification.
—A supportive atmosphere for the Yellow Tower comes first.
And now.
It had truly come to pass.
All the Tower representatives were focused solely on the Yellow Tower.
Half curiosity about his stance, half demanding he resolve it… Anes could read the emotions on their faces.
It was finally time for the Inspector to step in.
Had he acted immediately, it would have been chaos—mages who hadn't fully grasped the situation would have turned it into pandemonium.
But Zekiel was exceedingly seasoned.
'…Did the Inspector know all this from the start?'
Anes felt anew just how impressive Zekiel was.
Meanwhile, Teddy grinned.
"Yellow Tower Inspector, brimming with confidence, I see?"
Zekiel didn't particularly respond to that.
He merely checked the chill he had subtly infused through his feet touching the ground. He had just frozen every corpse inside the walls.
It had been tough freezing only the insides without notice.
In other words, this spire would never explode.
Preparations for judgment were finally complete.
"You said the exchange meet is a place where weak magic is culled."
"…?"
"You're right."
Ice spears began to float around the man.
"Today."
Finally, Zekiel took one step forward.
"The Black Tower will be culled from the Empire's magic world."