Chapter 164: Civil War at the Magic University
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 164: Civil War at the Magic University
The toll of the Bell of Vigilance is the simplest, yet most effective weapon of war.
That Tier 8 magic unites wizards with an information-sharing capability far beyond that of a simple message transmission.
Dong—
When the bell rang, the wizards, buffed by its vigilance, received a telepathic message in their minds.
[University Professor Elaine is the Assembly's Growling Chihuahua.]
The message was short but effective.
The university had become a battlefield. The Assembly's wizards had wanted to slip out quietly and attack the Public Security Headquarters, but it was proving to be far from easy.
‘Watcher.’
‘Wizard’s Eye.’
‘Tower of Arcane Sight.’
All of the university's most valuable assets were being brought to bear.
"Let's go!"
The professors and graduate students, who had been waiting for the operation to begin, started searching the research labs and studies of their suspicious colleagues.
"Psychometry."
Jacob, known as the cold-hearted Judge of the Scales (?) in the University's Slave Management Department, was an authority on Psychometry.
"Found them."
The individuals suspected by key professors like Meldini were, for the most part, correct.
Unlike twelve years ago, the university no longer had as many professors.
"Professor Bennett is ‘Broccoli Dipped in Red Chili Paste.’"
The message from Jacob was relayed to Meldini.
[University Professor Bennett is the Assembly's Broccoli Dipped in Red Chili Paste.]
The Dagger Raptor's command tower had been taken down by Caleb and collapsed in an instant, but the university's chain of command remained solid.
Dong—
The bell tolled again.
Scarlett, the red-haired, third-year graduate assistant who had greeted Caleb when he first emerged from the Labyrinth as a slave, had discovered the identity of the Yeti.
[University Professor Clay is an Assembly member, the balding Yeti.]
Naturally, a chilling atmosphere spread among the graduate assistants.
"Jacob! Watch your back!"
Behind Jacob stood Kaal, an assistant who worked in Clay's lab. The tension on his face was palpable.
"Humanoid Bind!"
"Superconductivity!"
Scarlett's and Jacob's spells erupted simultaneously.
After a simple takedown, Jacob cast a spell his mentor, Meldini, absolutely adored.
"Lie Detection Magic."
"Ugh..."
"Prove you're not a member of the Assembly."
"..."
"If you can't, then tell me the Assembly's name. If you don't answer, I'll kill you."
The university was in an uproar, hunting down the Possessors.
"Tell me the name!"
The moment Jacob pressed him again.
"Molar—!"
The answer came not from Kaal's mouth, but from the direction of the main building's front gate.
Professor Bennett was running toward them, wand aimed. He was the Assembly's Broccoli, just identified in Meldini's message.
"Wizard's Shield!"
Scarlett shouted a defensive spell, while Professor Bennett used a disruption spell.
"Field of Disturbance!"
The Humanoid Bind restraining Kaal vanished. The Wizard's Shield shattered.
And...
"Brain Terror."
A confusion spell erupted from Kaal's wand. It was a magic that neither Jacob nor Scarlett had ever seen before.
‘Tier 7.’
It was safe to assume no graduate student could use Tier 7 magic, but Kaal was no ordinary graduate student.
"You! You were hiding your magic..."
Jacob's mind grew hazy, and he collapsed to the ground.
His body wouldn't move, as if his soul had been ripped out, as if he'd been anesthetized.
"What are you doing! You have to kill them!" Professor Bennett shouted as he ran over.
"N-No!" Kaal screamed.
The Assembly's youngest member, Broken Molar.
He was still only seventeen.
"I still don't want to kill people..."
Tears streamed down Kaal's face.
"Let's go!"
Professor Bennett grabbed his arm and pulled.
The moment they burst out of the building.
CRASH!
A monster dropped in front of the two.
The Lord of the Spirit Tower.
"Shit..."
Isilof had arrived.
*
Ironically, the wizard at the Magic University whose magic synergized best with Meldini's was none other than Meldini's greatest rival, Isilof.
A Tier 8 spell that only Isilof could use at the university: Lord of the Spirit Tower.
The demigod-like summon boasted incredible combat power just by being on the field, thanks to its tenacious vitality, high attack power, and mobility. But it lacked one thing.
Detection ability.
Dong—
The Bell of Vigilance filled that gap. The detection ability the Tower Lord acquired wasn't random; it was fixed.
‘Eye of Aether.’
A golden eye opened on the ethereal monster's forehead.
It was the pinnacle of all detection abilities. Not only could it detect invisibility and stealth like a Watcher, but it could also read magic power like a Glutton.
The Tower Lord had tracked Professor Bennett's magic power with its Eye of Aether, like a bloodhound following a scent.
"Aaaargh!"
In the face of the descending greatsword, a wizard is powerless.
The professor's arm was severed in a single blow.
"Uncle!"
They weren't related by blood, of course, but that's what Kaal often called Bennett in the Assembly.
"Stay back! You idiot!"
Bennett pulled Kaal with his remaining arm. The Tower Lord's greatsword sliced through empty air, narrowly missing.
A few seconds later, and Kaal's head would have been lopped off.
But.
"Positive Charge Bullet."
The same bullet of immense destructive power that had pierced through Meldini's dormitory structural transformation was fired from beyond the Tower Lord.
It was impossible to read the direction of the shot.
Because Isilof was the foremost authority on long-range marksmanship, and that bullet...
BANG!
...had burst out from behind the Tower Lord's body.
The ethereal body merely flickered; it couldn't be destroyed by something like this.
"Hah..."
The only one to die was Bennett.
"Ugh..."
The bullet had pierced the professor squarely between the eyes. The Assembly's Broccoli died instantly.
Click.
And the Tower Lord's next target was Molar.
"B-Brain Terror..."
Kaal fired the spell at Isilof, but the distance was too great. Isilof, sniping with a Positive Charge Bullet from that range, was an absurdly skilled wizard.
Isilof didn't attack Kaal himself. He was conserving his magic. And besides, the Tower Lord's greatsword was already falling like the blade of a guillotine.
"Breakwater of Wisdom."
But just before Kaal's head was split open, a magical tetrapod materialized between them.
CLANG!
The one who had barely blocked the greatsword was Chihuahua.
"Damn it... Damn it...!"
She bit her lip as she looked at the dead Bennett. Then she reached a hand out to Kaal.
"Seong-hyun! Come here!"
Lee Seong-hyun, who had ruined his life playing games after graduating middle school and before starting high school, crawled out from under the tetrapod.
He was terrified.
"Ethereal Mire."
But he couldn't get to Chihuahua. Isilof had summoned a mire beneath her feet.
"!"
The ground suddenly turned sapphire-blue and began to churn like a swamp. Chihuahua's ankles sank into it.
"Kuh..."
Isilof had his wand aimed at her.
He didn't try to recklessly close the distance. The Tower Lord was here, and he could snipe from afar with his Positive Charge Bullet.
The cooldown for the bullet must have been over by now. The reason he wasn't using it was...
‘In case I use Ethereal Blink to dodge.’
When the Tower Lord approached, Chihuahua would have no choice but to use an evasion skill. Isilof was waiting to fire then.
He was a cruel man.
The public saw Meldini as cold-blooded and Isilof as a benevolent wizard, but that wasn't the truth.
The benevolent wizard was Dalstream.
Isilof was a calculating man.
The reason he had been supportive of Possessors wasn't out of humanity or sympathy, but simply because they were useful for Labyrinth expeditions.
It was like how Isilof tended to his favorite flowers, the Isaac Berries.
He thought that if he managed them well, they would produce beautiful blossoms.
When it was revealed that this was not the case, Meldini was the one more likely to be swayed by twelve years of affection.
Isilof was the type to rip it out by the roots without a moment's hesitation.
"Can't you just... just let us go...?"
Tears streamed down Chihuahua's cheeks.
"If I let you go, you'll just head to the Public Security Headquarters and join the effort to retake the White Lion."
"We have no other choice."
"The same goes for us."
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Tower Lord was now charging toward her.
‘Ethereal Blink!’
As Chihuahua was forced to move, Isilof's wand shifted.
But.
"!"
Having spotted something, Isilof couldn't fire the Positive Charge Bullet.
Something was rushing over from the direction of the clock tower.
‘Dagger Raptor!’
*
The monster was a complete mess.
It looked exactly like a drowned rat.
It spread its wings but couldn't fly. Its body was soaked to the bone. After rising only a few meters, it could only splash and run across the rain-slicked ground like a swan landing on a lake.
Right up to the Tower Lord.
BOOM!
The Dagger Raptor swung its wing and tore the Tower Lord to shreds.
"D-Dagger Raptor..."
Overwhelmed by the demonic aura, Chihuahua instinctively flinched, even though it was on her side.
"Were you hit by a Moisture Absorption Curse...?"
Although it was raining, the Dagger Raptor's feathers had excellent water resistance. He was normally immune to being wet. To be this soaked, he must have been hit by moisture-absorbing magic.
But who, and how?
Due to the level difference, a long-range curse would almost never work, no one would be brave enough to use a touch-based curse, and if it was a magic circle trap, how had they lured the Dagger Raptor out from its postbox hideout?
"Can you dispel this magic?"
"I have a curse removal spell, but it's not registered in my memory book."
"Useless bitch."
The Dagger Raptor clicked its beak. Tak, tak.
It then yanked Chihuahua out of the mire and tossed her aside.
"Get away before it revives."
At the monster's feet, the fragments of the Tower Lord were writhing. The Tier 8 summon was not easy to kill.
"Flee to the front of the Labyrinth."
"And where do you think you're going?"
Isilof aimed his wand at the Dagger Raptor.
"None of you are escaping. That includes you, Dagger Raptor."
"Wizard."
The Dagger Raptor waved a hand in his direction, as if extremely annoyed.
"I don't want to fight you right now. I don't want to waste time here. There are some bastards I want to kill right this instant. Some real motherfuckers. It's been a long time since I've been this angry."
"What..."
"I'm not going to kill you, so don't bother me."
And with that, the Dagger Raptor left, sprinting toward the main building.
"You think I'll just let you..."
Isilof tried to fire a Positive Charge Bullet at the Dagger Raptor but failed.
"Magic Prism!"
Chihuahua had suddenly summoned a prism. The glittering octahedron was a Tier 6 summon that amplified the caster's magic and provided buffs.
In other words, Chihuahua had given up on escaping. She intended to fight Isilof to support the Dagger Raptor.
"Why are you going this far?"
"Because if the Labyrinth builds its tower, we can go back."
"Are you certain about that?"
"Yes. That's what 'Exit Rooms' are for."
"..."
On the day the Labyrinth swallows the Ethereal Galaxy.
The Exit Rooms of the ten floors, having become useless, would open a true escape route for ten Possessors.
That's why, if one chose to cooperate with the Labyrinth, they had to be among those ten. There were only ten tickets home.
"Fortunately, there are plenty to go around now..."
Chihuahua glanced at Professor Bennett with a bitter expression.
Just then.
"Professor!"
Another group of people was running toward Isilof.
It was Caleb's party.
"Caleb! Did you follow the Dagger Raptor?"
"Are you the one who received such high praise from the Dagger Raptor?"
Isilof and Chihuahua asked at the same time.
"What happened with that monster?"
"I hit it with a Moisture Absorption Curse and a few lightning bolts."
All within the span of two hourglass cooldowns.
He had hit it with ten Ball Lightnings. Two had missed because the Dagger Raptor dodged with its ridiculous reflexes.
In their place, Yernil had rained down a volley of arrows.
"How did you cast a Moisture Absorption Curse...?"
Leaving the confused Chihuahua behind, Caleb asked Isilof.
"Did it go into the main building?"
"Toward the professor's wing!"
"Thank you!"
After getting beaten up for two minutes, similar to what had happened at the west tower, the Dagger Raptor had changed its mind.
It had suddenly torn a Designated Coordinate Transfer Scroll and moved.
"Shorthand!"
Caleb scribbled a note as he ran.
"This is Caleb. The Dagger Raptor just entered the professor's wing. The White Lion's stash of scrolls is probably there."
Its plan was likely to dispel the curse and come out to kill everyone.
"We have to take the scrolls!"
The university's wizards had to use them to turn the tide of this battle.
"Message Transmission."