Chapter 170: Meldini
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 170: Meldini
It’s something I’ve felt for a while now.
For a wizard, I have an uncanny knack for getting separated from my party.
Whether it’s the labyrinth being unfair or not.
Like when I was hit by Yernil’s staircase magic tentacle during a monster wave and sent flying off on my own.
Or during my meeting with the Spider Doctor.
Or when I dueled the blacksmith at the steel mill.
Or when I hid alone in the air vents of the Public Security Headquarters annex.
This time is no different.
“First, I need to check my surroundings.”
Being alone is dangerous for any position, of course, but it’s especially fatal for a squishy wizard.
I don’t have a detection specialist like Yernil, nor do I have rear support like Back Attack.
And there’s no Aimus to block for me up front.
It’s the perfect way to get killed.
“Lightning Shock.”
I fired the spell down the dark corridor of the West Tower’s first floor.
I couldn’t see a thing.
No reaction.
The West Tower itself is a building the university rarely uses. There’s a reason the Assembly chose this place as their hideout.
“Wands…”
I held the Superconductor/Lightning Shock Wand in my right hand.
The Psychokinesis Wand was in my left.
The Dagger Raptor had stomped on and shattered my Message Transmission Wand.
So I couldn’t contact Yernil’s group and have them come get me.
‘But I shouted ‘West Tower’ before I came over, so they must have heard, right?’
Right, Yernil?
I’m counting on you. Can I count on you?
Yernil probably heard my entire conversation with Kim Min-ha.
At the very end, Kim Min-ha realized I was a possessor.
When she asked in shock if I was a possessor, I neither confirmed nor denied it.
How should I answer when Yernil asks me about it later?
Yernil is naive, so she’ll believe whatever I tell her, but I’m getting tired of hiding my identity and lying.
Click.
I opened a window.
Time to clear my head and focus on the tasks at hand.
First, locate the Dagger Raptor and Meldini.
This is the most important task. Meldini is a formidable wizard, and an ascended one at that, which makes his magic especially powerful. Still, he probably isn’t strong enough to defeat the Dagger Raptor in a one-on-one fight. It seems Isilof headed that way too, so I need to back them up to ensure they win.
Second, find the remaining members of the Assembly. Since the West Tower is their hideout, there’s a good chance more of them will gather nearby. Just protecting Sohen would be a win, but the cost-benefit doesn’t add up. I need to wipe out the Assembly here and squeeze every last bit of information they have about the exit room out of them.
Third, I need to get back my Message Transmission Wand. There should be plenty lying around the university. I could just go to the lab of one of the now-dead possessor professors and grab a spare. Why do I need it?
To communicate with Blackdog.
‘There’s the Dagger Raptor.’
The monster was gliding through the sky, hovering like a hummingbird.
Just below the rain clouds, its gleaming eyes were scanning the ground below.
‘I don’t see Meldini.’
The Dagger Raptor must be looking for Meldini right now. And Meldini, realizing a direct confrontation would be difficult, must have moved to a different location. A wise choice.
What kind of wizard gets into a straight-up brawl with a fighter-type monster like that?
Meldini is probably hiding somewhere on campus, looking for an angle to take the Dagger Raptor down.
There was also a reason the Dagger Raptor wasn’t flying toward the Public Security Headquarters.
‘The Birdcage.’
It was a spell from the 8th-tier binding magic, the Book of Great Imprisonment. It surrounded a target area with a steel barbed-wire fence coursing with an immense amount of electricity.
That magic hadn’t just formed a fence along the university’s outer perimeter; it had now risen along the z-axis to form a ceiling.
The dome-shaped electric fence completely enclosed the university. Just as the ‘Faithful Iron Gate’ was hard to destroy, that birdcage would be difficult to break through.
‘First, I have to find Meldini.’
Just as I had that thought.
Thump, thump.
The sound of footsteps from the West Tower entrance made me tense up and turn around.
“Universal Camouflage: Chameleon.”
I cast the stealth spell.
Thump, thump.
I watched as an utterly exhausted wizard entered through the main doors of the West Tower.
*
Among the university professors, those capable of creating an 8th-tier grimoire could be counted on one hand.
Only the finest wizards, blessed with both luck and skill, could reach that level.
Wizards like Meldini or Isilof.
Or.
“Done.”
A wizard like Isel.
“Birdcage.”
The Book of Great Imprisonment was Isel’s only original magic. She had developed it on her own, without any help from the Assembly.
“Follow me.”
Now that she had prevented the Dagger Raptor’s escape, she had to find Meldini, Isilof, and Caleb.
“I’m worried about Caleb, and I’m worried about Professor Meldini.”
Unlike the other adventurers here, Isel had personally experienced the Labyrinth Eruption 12 years ago.
She knew the pain Meldini had suffered back then.
She knew how he, a dwarf barely half the height of a human, had fought to protect the university, and how deeply he cared for his students.
And how much he had cherished his youngest daughter, Brillin.
Isel had known her, too.
She was an older girl who often visited the Berten estate with Meldini. She had once boasted to Isel about a gift she’d received from Professor Meldini for her university admission.
It was Meldini’s most prized treasure, something he had never given to any other student.
‘The Compass of Greed.’
A legendary-grade tool for wizards that could locate treasure rooms in the labyrinth.
It seemed Caleb had it now.
It was Brillin’s keepsake.
*
Her name was Yoon Se-hee.
Age 34.
A full-time housewife raising a three-year-old son.
In the Abyss of the Labyrinth, she possessed the wizard Clay. With skills based on possessor knowledge, she became a professor and secured a high-ranking position in the Assembly.
The mascot costume she used there was a balding yeti.
It was her husband’s nickname.
After being possessed, the face she missed the most was, surprisingly, her husband’s more than her son’s.
Because she, too, wanted to be protected by someone.
“Pant… pant…”
The wizard Clay entered the West Tower corridor with three corpses and collapsed onto the floor.
She had tried casting a mana detection spell before entering. The accumulated status effects from her battle with Hailey made an accurate reading impossible, but it was clear that a wizard of considerable skill was inside the West Tower.
“I’m not going to attack. Can you come out? Let’s talk.”
She called out into the empty space, hoping the other person was willing to talk.
“Deactivate Chameleon.”
The wizard who emerged from the darkness was Caleb.
She’d thought it was a professor-level wizard just from the mana signature.
Then again, Caleb was a high-floor wizard now.
He’s grown so strong in such a short time.
And he wasn’t even a possessor.
*
“That barbed-wire magic outside, was that you?” Professor Clay asked.
“No.”
“If it was, I would have felt seriously wronged. No matter how much of a genius you are, 8th-tier magic already would be ridiculous.”
Clay let out a short laugh.
“Do you know who did it?”
“It was Isel.”
“I see. Did you teach her?”
“No. Isel developed it on her own.”
“That’s amazing.”
I thought so, too. Isel was truly an incredible talent.
“She wasn’t on the Assembly’s side for this operation, was she?”
“No.”
“I knew it. I thought something was strange. I didn’t think Isel would help us, even for a chance to meet the Labyrinth Master. The Lie Detection Magic… she must have bypassed it.”
Clay stared down at the corpses on the floor.
I recognized their faces from seeing them around the university.
Their official status was graduate students, but in the Assembly, they were probably known by names like Flowering Goblin, Old Tree Ghost, and Eyelash Frog.
“Last I saw, they were with Isel and Professor Robin. Did Isel kill them?”
Probably not.
Isel had run to the scroll warehouse with Professor Robin.
If Isel had killed these three, they wouldn’t have come together so amicably.
The three bodies here were killed after they separated from Isel and Robin.
Isilof never left the faculty building.
If Hailey had killed them, she would have resurrected them as undead.
So, the one who killed these three was most likely…
‘Meldini.’
But I didn’t feel the need to tell Clay that.
“Do you happen to know what happened to Professor Robin?”
“He was killed by the Dagger Raptor.”
“Ah…”
Clay slowly nodded.
“How did that happen…?”
“He was killed while trying to tell me why the Labyrinth Master wants possessors.”
Clay flinched, startled and flustered.
“Professor.”
I moved right up to Clay and whispered.
“Please tell me what you know. What exactly did the Labyrinth Master want from the Assembly, and is it true that possessors can use the exit room on the surface to return to their original world? And how were you made to believe that?”
“…”
Professor Clay’s lips trembled as she sank into thought.
“Ask Chihuahua. He’s the leader of the Assembly now.”
“He’s dead.”
“Dead?”
That seemed to shock her even more than the news of Professor Robin’s death.
Clay’s jaw dropped.
“Chihuahua? H-how?”
“I killed him.”
This time, the shock was even greater.
“You… Even if you’re a genius wizard, there’s no way you could kill Chihuahua… He was the most skilled wizard among us. He even had 8th-tier magic, how…”
And it was only natural for her suspicion to follow.
“You… Are you really not a possessor?”
“…”
“Answer me!” Clay shouted.
“Isel already broke through the Lie Detection Magic. We can’t be sure you’re not a possessor, can we? I’m not trying to blame you! Just answer me! If the Assembly is wiped out, I’m all alone now. So please, tell me there’s at least one more person from my world I can trust. Tell me you’re a possessor…”
It wasn’t an interrogation, but closer to a plea. For her, being left alone was the most terrifying thing.
“I am…”
Just as I was choosing my answer—whether to give her hope and win her over, or to remain in the safer zone—
“The Lie Detection Magic can be bypassed?”
Meldini’s voice came from behind me.
“Is that true?”
“Ha…”
Clay let out a laugh of disbelief.
“No wonder my mana detection picked up a professor-level signature.”
*
“I stopped by the West Tower to pick up a weapon.”
Meldini was holding a staff.
“To kill that Dagger Raptor. But it seems there’s another bastard I need to kill first.”
The professor said, staring intently at Clay.
“So, what’s the answer to her question, Caleb?”
He pressed me.
“Can the Lie Detection Magic be bypassed?”
“…”
“And why.”
This was awkward.
“Why aren’t you telling Clay that you’re not a possessor?”
This was really awkward.
It would be simple to lie and deceive them.
Professor. I hesitated to answer in order to calm Professor Clay down.
I am not a possessor.
The way Isel bypassed the Lie Detection Magic was by using shapeshifting Taoist Arts.
Cast a dispel on me and check again. I am not a possessor.
Answering like that would be simple.
But I…
“Professor.”
I just can’t lie to this man anymore.
“I am a possessor.”
The Dagger Raptor said the White Lion had chided it for eating Brillin.
For swallowing the treasure Meldini had given her.
What kind of treasure would the master of the treasure room, the White Lion, covet? What kind of small artifact could the Dagger Raptor have swallowed without realizing it? What was it that Meldini had?
It was the compass.
The Dagger Raptor hadn’t eaten it. Meldini must have recovered it, bloodstained, from his daughter’s body.
And he gave that keepsake to me.
“The Lie Detection Magic can be bypassed.”
How could I keep deceiving a man like this?
“I lied back then. I’m sorry. I am a posses—”
“Ethereal Explosion.”
Meldini, his face flushed red, lunged forward and chanted the spell.
Not at me, but at Clay.
“Gasp…”
I was so shocked I clapped a hand over my mouth. Clay didn’t even have time to scream.
Her head simply exploded, gone.
SPLOOSH!
Blood gushed from her severed neck.
“Anyone else…”
Drenched in her blood, Meldini’s body trembled as he asked.
“Does anyone else besides Clay know?”
“…Professor…”
“If not, then that’s fine.”
As the old professor turned away, his shoulders looked so small and frail.
“I told you, didn’t I? Even if possessors aren’t the cause of the Labyrinth Eruption, we can’t get rid of the two-week rule just yet.”
“…”
“Possessors are still in a precarious position. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Professor…”
To be honest, there was a time when I thought the Assembly’s possessors might have a point.
Why should I care what happens to this otherworld, Sohen?
From a purely selfish perspective, wasn’t it more normal to do whatever it takes to get back home?
But no. The Assembly was wrong. I’m sure of it.
“That compass… was it your daughter’s keepsake?”
Because I could never let people like this die.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m someone who clearly separates public and private matters.”
That’s right.
That’s why Meldini gave Kim Min-ha one last chance out of personal connection, and when negotiations broke down, he annihilated them all out of public duty.
“The reason I gave the compass to Brillin, and then to you…”
The professor took a lonely step toward the main entrance of the West Tower.
“Was simply because I saw a promising future in you.”
Having lost all his family, betrayed by the Caleb he had trusted, the old professor stepped out of the West Tower alone.
The Dagger Raptor hovered in the sky.
For a wizard to face a fighter-type like that head-on was madness.
But Meldini did not hide.
“Dagger Raptor—!”
Because he was the shield of the university, the one who protected all its students.
“Get the hell down here! I’ll smash you to pieces right now!”