Chapter 120: The Archmage's Legacy
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 120: The Archmage's Legacy
In the moment of his death.
The Archmage thought of his torn thesis.
The truth about the inter-floor towns and their lords, the conspiracies and secrets they were plotting on the surface, the Labyrinth's predetermined predatory eruption, and the resulting predicted doom of the surface and the fall of the Ethereal Galaxy.
The collection of data detailing all of it was gone.
He had summarized a few of the most important points just now, but he didn't know if Caleb had heard.
Dalstream desperately hoped he wouldn't confront the Dagger Raptor.
If he acted on emotion and tried to fight the Dagger Raptor, the Archmage's wisdom could not be passed on to anyone.
‘Well done.’
That student was indeed clever enough not to act rashly.
Caleb.
He had never seen Meldini and Isilof cherish a student so much.
He remembered when he first met him.
It was when they were making the memory book.
Caleb had deftly selected Dust, Hot Wind, and Humidification, all Tier 1 spells, and used them to achieve a Two Pair with a triple binding.
He had reported three new types of bound magic tomes that had never existed before.
This kind of knowledge was usually a trait of possessors from outside the Ethereal Galaxy.
So at first, he thought Caleb was a possessor.
Until he proved himself under Meldini's lie detection magic.
It seemed he had recently proven himself again before the Wyndham duo, Meldini, and Isilof.
Was he really not a possessor?
Did all his knowledge truly come from the possessor fox, Hyedam?
Perhaps.
"Keuk..."
Clutching his bleeding throat, Dalstream collapsed.
His consciousness began to fade. The Dagger Raptor standing before him blurred.
In truth, from the moment the White Lion appeared, he had considered that he might meet such an end.
‘Once you become a target of the Labyrinth, you cannot survive.’
How could a finite being, living for a fleeting moment, defy a cosmic current?
He had been prepared, so he could accept death.
What he regretted were the things he had yet to uncover.
The powers of the gods held by the Inter-floor Lords.
The reason the powers of the gods devoured by the Labyrinth were leaking from the Fountain of Blessings.
Wizus's grand design to counter the Labyrinth Master.
Perhaps everything, inside and outside the Labyrinth's borders, was merely a piece on a chessboard.
In this game between the gods and the Labyrinth Master, played with thousand-year turns, what piece had the Archmage of Sohen been?
Perhaps a knight, perhaps a bishop.
Maybe even a rook.
He had not seen the whole picture of this grand game, nor its end. To be honest, that was what he regretted.
But there was also a point of joy.
The possibility that he might have met him before he died.
‘The Turn-Based Wizard.’
Of course, it might just be a hopeful fantasy spun in his dying moments.
There was no evidence.
But chantless casting, high-speed casting, and even psychokinetic teleportation.
Rumor had it he even possessed a 'Transcendent Cognitive Ability' that instantly ended the Gilding and Suffocation effects on the 4th floor.
He had never even heard of a wizard equipped with such a wide range of talents.
Attaching fifteen scrolls to a knife fragment in the blink of an eye wasn't a matter of magical skill.
That miracle involved not only psychokinetic teleportation but also high-speed casting and chantless casting.
And seeing as it all happened simultaneously when the knife fragment was thrown, Caleb wasn't just unconsciously displaying such talent; he could control it.
Dalstream had never heard of such a wizard.
Could he be the Turn-Based Wizard?
The timing was right for his appearance.
Now that the Labyrinth's fangs had reached the throat of the Ethereal Galaxy.
‘Caleb.’
You are still a small, weak pawn.
Go to the end of this chessboard.
Do not get captured before then.
Do not die.
Then, at the end of the board, whether it be a knight, a bishop, or a queen...
You can promote to any piece you desire.
CRUNCH!
A dagger severed the Archmage's neck.
*
The raptor burst into a fit of laughter.
"Hehe..."
I recall the Spider Doctor's words.
"Hehehe!"
When he spoke to me alone in the 3rd floor exit room, he'd said, 'Isn't it a relief that the master here isn't a whale that does nothing but eat all day, or a completely deranged raptor?'
"Hahaha!"
He's definitely got issues.
Murder is euphoric for him.
The Dagger Raptor tossed Dalstream's body into the air.
It was like a 'blender.'
Wings lined with tens of thousands of daggers shredded the frail old elf's body to pieces.
Of course, there was a reason for it.
It was probably similar to how plunderers make an adventurer's corpse explode after killing them.
Dalstream didn't have Soul Preservation cast on him.
So using a resurrection scroll would be useless.
Therefore, he wasn't grinding up the body to remove Soul Preservation.
This was...
‘To prevent anyone from speaking with the dead.’
If the Public Security Headquarters or the university's mages secured Dalstream's body, they could use the Speak with Dead spell.
The time limit is short and the level of consciousness is low, so he wouldn't be able to explain everything clearly, but a few important pieces of information might leak out.
That's why he was destroying the body.
"Hahahaha!"
Of course, that was the practical purpose. There was another, truer reason for the monster's grotesque act.
That bastard...
"Haha!"
He's just enjoying it.
"Hahahaha!"
It's hard to believe so much blood can come out of a human body.
The walls and floor were soaked in it.
Torn scraps of clothing and flesh were splattered everywhere.
Something flew up and hit the bottom of the air vent with a soft thud.
It was a half-severed eyeball.
SHIIIIING!
Now, the Dagger Raptor scattered the blades of its wings in every direction.
It was similar to a rogue's dagger throw.
The only difference was that instead of one dagger, tens of thousands flew in all directions at once.
It was also like a grenade.
The monster was now grinding the walls and floor.
I understood this, too.
A kind of object memory erasure.
So that if someone later cast a psychometry spell, all they would see were the blades grinding the walls.
Clang!
But none of the blades reached the air vent.
The vent, well-hidden in a corner of the ceiling, was hard to spot from below.
The randomly flying blades couldn't reach it.
So I was safe.
[Turn-Based Hourglass is available for use]
But I was powerless.
Even with the hourglass, I couldn't do anything.
Except survive.
There was nothing I could do but hold out with what Dalstream had left me.
I...
I'm too weak.
"Hoo..."
The demon, covered head to toe in blood, wiped the gore from its face.
"Feels good."
Then the demon picked up Dalstream's wand.
"But just in case. Shall we check? See if any little rats are hiding."
There was one thing I had miscalculated.
‘Even surviving isn't easy.’
The monster aimed the wand at the empty air.
"Life Detection."
*
[Your turn. Time remaining: 60 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■■]
The moment the Dagger Raptor began casting the spell, as I heard the incantation, I unconsciously took it out and put it in my mouth.
‘The poison capsule.’
The same one Maria had put in my mouth when she held me and threatened a suicide bombing.
She said if I bit down, I'd die instantly.
"Hoo..."
This is so, so difficult.
And so hard.
To think I have to use the insane method of giving up my life just to avoid life detection.
Is this really the only way?
It is.
I have Soul Preservation cast on me. It was a procedure the Public Security Headquarters went to great lengths to get for me at Nathaniel's Temple when they were setting up the Caleb-as-bait operation.
A one-week duration, worth a million gold.
There was only a day left.
No.
It was already late at night when Maria staged the hostage crisis, and the sun had risen while I was running through the war between the monster and the Deep Layer adventurers.
‘Six days have passed.’
The remaining duration of my Soul Preservation was now measured in hours.
Can I be resurrected after taking this?
Will they be able to find my body quickly?
Since Back Attack and Aimus had already left via Ethereal Shift, people might assume I'm somewhere outside too.
They'll be searching for the missing Caleb.
While my cold corpse lies inside the annex's air vent.
"..."
I'm scared.
Honestly, I'm scared. Even knowing about Soul Preservation and everything, the act of chewing this capsule is psychologically terrifying.
What if something is different from what I know?
What if there's another bullshit rule, like possessors can't have Soul Preservation?
Can I really be resurrected?
Will they find my body right away?
Should I not chew this and try to buy time, waiting for the Consul, the Magistrate, Krom, Meldini, and Isilof?
"Why the hell are they taking so long?"
Maybe my very first fear has come true.
The Deep Layer adventurers might have encountered other enemies. All three members of Krom's party from Blackdog joined the fight, and their lower-ranking members are fighting all over Sohen.
It wouldn't be strange if the Assembly had joined the battle as well.
Even if a low-level member like Isel didn't know, the higher-ups might be cooperating with the White Lion, knowing its true identity.
I don't know.
Everything is an unknown.
In the end, all I can do is choose the most certain option, the one with the highest probability based on my knowledge.
The one I would have chosen if this were a game.
"Yernil."
Let me set up one failsafe.
"I'm in the annex air vent."
I bite down on the capsule.
"Come and resurrect me within 24 hours."
[First Death]
As my vision went black, I saw words appear next to the hourglass.
*
Yernil waited for Priestess Emma to leave. The time for Mikhail's rounds had also passed.
She had perfectly analyzed the patterns of the priests tending to the ward!
Fwump!
Yernil threw off her blanket and got out of bed. She tiptoed down the temple corridor.
"KHHHUUUURRR!"
"Eek!"
An orc in the opposite room snored loudly.
‘As long as it's not Mikhail!’
His voice felt like it was haunting her.
Yernil. Where are you going? You still need to be lying down. The wound in your side is healed, but you shouldn't overexert yourself yet. You're fine and want to be discharged? Haha. What do you take Nathaniel's Temple for? Since we've received payment, we must complete the treatment. Stopping halfway is unacceptable. Doing so would mean I am defying the will of the god. Let's return to your bed quietly.
Ugh!
His nagging is horrible!
‘I wonder if everyone's okay?’
Yernil was worried about her comrades.
She felt an immense sense of responsibility for being taken out so early in such a dangerous battle and having to leave on her own.
‘Are they safe?’
Aimus, and Back Attack.
And she was worried about Caleb.
Yernil climbed over the windowsill at the end of the temple corridor.
It had been dawn when she passed out, but now the sun was high in the sky.
Yernil tiptoed back to the 1st-floor storage room and found the box for Yernil of Ward 105.
She opened the box with the key that had been hanging by her bed. All her equipment was inside.
Her magic-tipped bow, the Sentry Relocation Bracers, her armor, her new boots, and more.
"Ready to go!"
Her side still throbbed, but Yernil was in full combat gear.
"Just you wait."
The command tower's Yernil is back!
Her eyes gleamed.
"I won't get taken down like that ever again."
Shoulders squared with determination, Yernil ran straight for the Public Security Annex, and the scene that greeted her there was...
"Find Caleb!"
...the people from the Public Security Headquarters and the Magic University conducting a massive search in the chaotic annex building.
Caleb was missing