Chapter 116: Telekinetic Teleporter
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 116: Telekinetic Teleporter
In the annex of the Public Security Headquarters, five Deep Layer adventurers and the Public Security forces were confronting the Inter-floor Lord.
One of them was a three-meter-tall giant orc. Krom, enlarged by his Giant War Machine skill, checked its duration as he assessed the situation.
With more people around, he had become less aggressive.
When it was a one-on-one fight, getting tangled up and trading blows was the best option, but now there had to be a safer way to take him down.
“Anyone below the 10th Floor, get out. You’re just in the way.”
Krom sent the Public Security forces away. Now, only a single Magistrate remained.
“Magistrate, you will guard the professors.”
The Consul stepped up beside Krom and aimed his greatsword.
“Krom and I will be the vanguard. The three professors and the Magistrate will be the rearguard.”
“Be especially careful. He’s a Rogue class,” Krom added.
Meldini and Isilof, who had yet to properly observe the White Lion in combat, were startled.
“I thought he was a wizard, since he used the Ethereal Lake.”
“Dammit.”
Krom cursed at their words.
“You two don’t know who that bastard is, do you? He’s a professor at your damn university!”
“What!”
“A professor!?”
“That’s right, you idiots! Consul, I told you, didn’t I? That there was a monster living at the university.”
“But we couldn’t search the university without any evidence…” the Consul replied, looking troubled.
Isilof was still confused.
“A professor? Then is he a wizard? But you said he’s a Rogue class? Don’t tell me he’s both…?”
“He pulls scrolls out of his palm.”
Dalstream quickly cleared up the confusion.
“He can even produce Tier 8 magic scrolls.”
“What did you say!”
“So that’s how the Ethereal Lake appeared.”
“Everyone, focus. Concentrate on the battle,” the Consul said, bringing their attention back.
“…”
The White Lion and his clone silently watched the five Deep Layer adventurers.
“What are you thinking about?” Dalstream asked.
“How to kill you and Caleb.”
“Still haven’t learned your lesson, have you?” Krom scoffed.
“Your chance to murder the professors is long gone. You should be figuring out how to survive.”
“You think so?”
The White Lion pulled several scrolls from his palm.
*
In a battle between top-tier adventurers, high-tier magic and skills fly freely, but one doesn’t necessarily have to stake their life on them.
Every technique has its right time and place.
A Tier 1 spell like ‘Peaceful Mind’ can break the trance of a Dark Fragrance Shadow.
A Tier 1 spell like ‘Frost Ray’ can bind the Magic Tower Lord’s ankle, setting him up for a Wave Whip.
The most important thing isn’t the tier of magic one possesses, nor their strength or agility.
It is the ability to make tactical judgments in the heat of the moment.
The improvisation to shape the battlefield, escape a crisis, and overturn the odds. The design skill to combine the cards in one’s hand to find an advantageous position.
In the end, that is what matters most.
The Deep Layer adventurers were second to none in that field, but the White Lion, who had lived for countless years, far surpassed the five of them.
Even if a simple calculation of power showed he could never win.
[Earth Rampart]
The White Lion was still certain he would win this war.
As he tore the Tier 1 scroll, the floor surged upward.
Rumble!
A wall of earth erupted between the Deep Layer party and the White Lion, instantly shooting up to the ceiling.
It was similar to how the blacksmith in the steel mill had created a sealed room with a cylindrical wall.
“What a pathetic trick!”
“Let’s smash it!” shouted Meldini and Isilof.
Krom began to charge forward. To a Giant War Machine, an earthen wall like this was laughably weak…
[Structure Conversion]
The White Lion immediately tore a Tier 6 scroll.
“What!”
The entire annex building began to turn inside out.
“What is this!”
“It’s Structure Conversion!”
The panicked shouts of the wizards echoed through the space.
When outnumbered, the best way to break the game is to change the battlefield to your advantage.
*
Urgash carried Yernil on his back. He then fled with Neko and Mikhail.
And as for those of us left on the annex roof…
“It’s Structure Conversion!”
As the building suddenly underwent a cataclysm, we desperately held onto each other.
It reminded me of the steel mill.
Why did the blacksmith use Structure Conversion back then?
The first objective was to trap us, and the second was to scatter the gathered adventurers to pick them off one by one.
The White Lion was probably trying to separate the five Deep Layer adventurers.
‘And then he’ll assassinate Dalstream and escape.’
Crash! Boom!
Bricks rained down from a pillar that had shot up during the conversion.
Right above our heads.
‘Steel Parasol.’
Fortunately, the Monk’s iron staff, though dented, still did its job.
A thick cloud of dust rose.
“We have to find the White Lion. Or Professor Dalstream.”
Without Yernil’s ears, pinpointing and tracking their location was definitely tricky.
I didn’t have any area-of-effect detection magic.
But I had something similar.
[Watcher]
I unfurled the scroll, summoned the small detection tool, and slipped it through a gap in the building’s wreckage.
*
The five Deep Layer adventurers were instantly split into three groups.
First, Meldini and Isilof.
“How dare that son of a bitch. Does he know who we are?” Meldini fumed.
“Structure Conversion? With something like this?”
The professor also had the Structure Conversion spell. He immediately aimed his wand at a wall.
“Structure Conversion.”
He tried to return the annex to its original form, but the spell didn’t work.
“Th-this can’t be.”
It was quite a shock for Meldini.
The professor had lost a magical power struggle against a scroll.
Of course, that didn’t mean the White Lion’s wisdom was greater than Meldini’s. A scroll’s power is independent of the caster’s abilities.
“It might not be an ordinary scroll,” Isilof suggested.
“Hmm. I suppose we have no choice but to find him ourselves.”
“Detect Life.”
Isilof activated a wide-range detection spell. He sensed several people nearby.
About forty meters away were the Magistrate, Krom, and the Consul.
And in the opposite direction, about fifty meters away, was Dalstream. Alone.
No. To be precise…
“He’s with the White Lion!”
“What!” Meldini screamed.
The reason that monster had used ‘Earth Rampart’ first.
During the Structure Conversion, he had used that spell to envelop only Dalstream, isolating him.
He had divided the inside from the outside with the earthen wall, then used the annex’s Structure Conversion to scatter everyone else.
“We have to go save him, quickly!”
Meldini used the ‘Wall-Shattering Explosive’ spell in the direction Isilof pointed.
It was the same spell Clorence had used to blast down a door in the dormitory, mistaking Yernil for an intruder.
“W-wait a moment.”
Isilof, who was following him, turned pale.
“What is it?”
“Caleb!”
Three more people had been detected.
“Caleb is still here!”
“What!”
“I told him to get out, but he wouldn't listen!”
“Agh! That kid, seriously! Where is he!”
“Near Professor Dalstream!”
*
Scrolls were convenient items that anyone could use, but there weren’t many on the market.
Scrolls above Tier 4 or 5 were especially rare, something one might only encounter once in a lifetime.
The ability to pull out the exact type of scroll you wanted, at the exact moment you needed it, was truly a cheat.
How did he compare, wizard to wizard?
The White Lion had three major advantages.
First, he could use tens of thousands of different spells through his scrolls. The very concept of a mind game involving reading a memory book didn't apply to him.
Second, using a scroll required no incantation. In that sense, the White Lion could be called a silent caster.
Third, scrolls had no cooldowns. In that sense, the White Lion could also be called a super-fast caster.
And the biggest problem of all.
Despite having such broken abilities, the White Lion was a Rogue.
His unique agility, kinesthetic sense, and physical prowess were far superior to a wizard’s.
This led to the current result.
Even while surrounded by the five Deep Layer adventurers, he had given no one time to react, instantly pulling out two scrolls in succession and casting Structure Conversion in the gap created by the Earth Rampart.
In a battle between masters, a momentary mistake always leads to a fatal outcome.
“You are…”
Dalstream, once again left alone with the White Lion, gave a bitter smile.
“A wizard’s natural enemy.”
“I don’t need to fight all the Deep Layer adventurers. I just need to eliminate my target and leave.”
“But I won’t go down as easily as before.”
“Professor.”
The corners of the White Lion’s mouth crept up slightly.
“In all my long years, how many Deep Layer adventurers do you think I’ve faced?”
“…”
“And how many do you think I’ve assassinated?”
Sharp claws extended from the White Lion’s fingers.
“The very thought that you can stop my plans is a sign of an overinflated ego and a misjudgment. All of you.”
Dalstream tensed and raised his wand.
His wand was suffused with sapphire-colored magic. It was a highly compressed Ethereal Lake.
The moment he swung it, it would transform into a Wave Whip and strike whatever was in front of him.
But Dalstream didn’t move yet.
Because of the clone.
There were two White Lions before him.
To eliminate one of them, he would have to cast a detection spell, but that would break his concentration on the Ethereal Lake.
Step, step.
The two White Lions split to the left and right of the professor, slowly closing the distance.
“…”
Dalstream stumbled backward.
But the space they were in, created by the Structure Conversion, wasn’t very large. His back would eventually hit a wall. If he was going to fight, he had to make a decision now…
“Huh!?”
Suddenly, something shocking happened, startling both the White Lion and the professor.
“The clone is disappearing!”
The clone literally glowed and evaporated. The White Lion knew why.
“Watcher!”
He looked up in horror and saw the Watcher floating there.
And one more thing.
‘Why is he here?’
In the White Lion’s calculations, they were never part of the equation. Like weeds on the roadside.
Insignificant brats not even worth dealing with.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Back Attack was running across the ceiling using his Wall Step skill.
“I’m here to pay you back for that beating.”
He spread his hands wide.
Just like when he had sprayed the sleeping gas.
But Back Attack had to know that wouldn’t work.
What fell from his hands wasn’t sleeping gas.
‘Corpse Explosion Scrolls.’
Fifteen explosive parchments fluttered down.
Fwip!
Then, Back Attack moved behind Dalstream, grabbed the professor, and used Shadow Leap.
‘What?’
Even the White Lion, with his vast experience, was so confused by the situation that he couldn’t make sense of it.
‘Why the Corpse Explosion Scrolls?’
Those scrolls literally explode upon contact with a corpse.
But there were no corpses here…
Whoosh!
Something came flying from the front.
The White Lion, and Dalstream, had heard the story.
That when that wizard was chasing Bipa and Mugol, he had thrown an object with perfect timing.
‘A shard of the Magic Tower Lord’s sword.’
It was flying straight toward the White Lion.
*
[Your turn. Time remaining: 60 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■■]
Let’s revisit the strange judgment rules of the Magic Tower Lord.
That summon is a demigod-like being with a peculiar concept of a body.
Its ‘sword’ is not a weapon but a part of its body. When it dies, it is transported beyond the Ethereal Galaxy and then resurrects using something like a sword shard left on the ground as a respawn point.
What does that mean?
The sword shard counts as a corpse.
“Move.”
I manipulate the Corpse Explosion Scrolls scattered nearby, one by one.
Like a clay artist adding clay to a frame.
Thwip.
Slowly, one by one.
Using psychokinesis, I move the fluttering scrolls and attach them to the shard of the Magic Tower Lord’s sword.
Psychokinesis costs no Action Points to cast.
Instead, AP is consumed based on the target’s weight, the distance it moves, and the duration the psychokinesis is maintained.
Based on my experience with this spell, six AP should be more than enough to attach fifteen scrolls to the sword shard.
There’s no need to rush. Slowly and carefully.
Attach the scrolls.
“Move.”
The White Lion is smiling slyly.
And his hand is just about to catch the sword shard.
He probably thought this:
That I threw the sword shard through the scrolls, intending to detonate one upon contact.
In that case, the blast wave from the explosion would blow the other scrolls away, and the sword shard would be destroyed, preventing the other scrolls from touching a corpse.
So, at most, only one or two could be detonated.
Despite this, the White Lion reached out to catch the shard, trying to prevent even a single scroll from exploding.
Why?
Because in time, the Magic Tower Lord would resurrect using the shard as a focal point, and it would become an important asset for the White Lion.
He probably thought it was a windfall.
Right?
White Lion.
You get an infinite variety of scrolls from the Labyrinth, but even you find Tier 8 magic precious, don’t you?
Because the limits of the treasure room prevent you from using any more Tier 8 magic.
There must be a cooldown, a certain amount of time that has to pass before you can pull scrolls from the 8th or 9th floor treasure rooms again.
“Move.”
But I plan on detonating all of these scrolls.
I won’t give you a chance to catch it.
You made a fatal mistake.
The moment I threw the sword shard, you should have used Shadow Leap to escape.
In a battle between masters, a momentary misjudgment is fatal.
“Move.”
White Lion.
I know you have an infinite number of spells.
I know your scroll-based ability is as good as silent casting.
And I know that when you tear scrolls in succession, your casting speed is on par with a super-fast caster.
But you know what?
I have other abilities besides that.
“Move.”
Remus called me something.
A Telekinetic Teleporter.
“Move.”
You didn’t expect this, did you?
You never dreamed that in that fleeting moment, the fifteen scrolls fluttering nearby would teleport and stick to the sword shard.
[Your turn. Time remaining: 7 seconds]
[Action Points: ■□□□□□]
“Move.”
I attach the last scroll to the sword shard.
[All Action Points have been consumed.]
[Ending turn.]
You should have never laid a hand on Yernil.
*
The explosive that had nearly blown up a club when it was in Maria’s hands.
The explosive that had saved Dalstream through a suicide bluff when it was in Caleb’s hands.
That explosive, which had been passed around, finally went off.
Right in the White Lion’s face.
BOOM! KABOOM!
The explosion was so immense that the entire structurally altered annex rang with the sound.
Isilof, Meldini, the Consul, the Magistrate, and Krom, all heading toward Dalstream, froze for a moment at the unexpected blast and the shaking of the ground.
And Caleb.
‘Steel Parasol.’
He quickly dove under Aimus’s parasol. Back Attack, who had brought Dalstream, joined him.
There was a considerable distance between the explosion and the parasol, but the force of the blast still sent the parasol flying, shattering part of the annex’s altered wall in the process.
Clang! Thud!
The parasol was destroyed, and the four of them were sent tumbling by the shockwave.
“Hydraulic Shield.”
In the midst of it all, Dalstream transformed his Wave Whip into a shield, enveloping everyone.
It was a reaction speed truly befitting an Archmage.