The First Gate (7)
·····!!
The secret chamber on the top floor of Hwachungryu heated up intensely.
Merely by the Tower Master’s presence, the temperature of the air rapidly soared.
Bernard and Angel broke into cold sweats while the Tower Master leisurely observed them.
“A scout of the Pioneers and a frost-type ability user. Either way, they are merely innate ability users bound to inferior talents.”
Sizzle!!
The moment he dipped his finger into the teacup, the tea in the Tower Master’s hand heated up instantly.
Steam rose from it before it began boiling violently, yet the Tower Master casually drank it down in one gulp and asked Lennok:
“Do you understand why high-ranking sorcerers despise innate abilities?”
“Power and laws that have not been properly elucidated hold no meaning. There is a clear difference between relying on an inborn talent and being forced to rely on one.”
Fwoooooosh……!!
The air inside the room continued growing hotter, and parts of Angel’s body gradually melted and dripped like liquid.
For a moment, a sadistic glint flashed through the Tower Master’s eyes as he looked at Angel.
“There is no lower limit to the talents of those creatures. They are failures destined to one day crash through rock bottom and fall endlessly.”
“Well. There are also abilities that reach essences difficult to approach through theory.”
Lennok set down his teacup and replied.
“You should know that there are abilities in this world capable of reaching transcendence through methods different from sorcery.”
If sorcery were only superior to innate abilities, then that very Olivera Ron Maize would never have abandoned magic to choose the Mystic Eye.
It was undeniably true that innate abilities possessed potential comparable to sorcery.
Moreover, Lennok himself used the Mystic Eye directly, so he did not agree with the Tower Master’s words.
The reason Angel had left the brigade and worked under Olivera was likely because he agreed with the answer Olivera had chosen.
The Tower Master also snorted as though reminded of someone by Lennok’s words.
“I have no intention of arguing over a tiny handful of exceptions. Such a discussion would be meaningless here.”
“Still, the fact that the Conjoining Sorcerer shares views similar to mine serves as a useful basis.”
The smile hanging on the Tower Master’s lips twisted strangely for a moment.
“That lunatic truly is the ideal embodiment of the power of the Spell Federation, is he not?”
“The Conjoining Sorcerer, hm. Let’s talk about that.”
Lennok adjusted his posture.
“If the brigade did not make a mistake, then it’s true that a Watcher of the Eyes of the Blue was supposed to come to Hwachungryu today. But isn’t it strange that you’re here instead?”
“……”
“Why you replaced the Watcher, or whether you had some sort of deal with the Eyes of the Blue.”
Lennok’s gaze sank deeply as he looked at the Tower Master.
“I think you need to explain that first.”
The moment they failed to meet the Watcher, it became obvious that the plan discussed with Bernard had gone awry.
Still, in order to understand where the plan had begun to derail, he needed answers from the Tower Master.
How had he come here in place of the Watcher?
And why had he known Lennok would come?
“You seem quite desperate. Understandably so.”
But even while looking at Lennok, the Tower Master merely wore a mocking smile and did not answer carelessly.
“If one could remain at ease before the Conjoining Sorcerer’s Domain of Life, then that person would not qualify as a mage. Though he may be a sorcerer of the Federation, even I keenly understand how extraordinary his talent is…”
A faint trace of complicated emotion mixed into the Tower Master’s muttering voice.
Even the master of one of the greatest magic towers on the continent felt inferiority before the Conjoining Sorcerer?
Knowing that the Tower Master could even wield Old World combustion magic, Lennok found that difficult to believe.
But without revealing any of those thoughts, Lennok quietly raised his mana.
“Tower Master. I know you have business with me.”
Fwoosh……!!
Flames quietly rose within Lennok’s clenched fist.
“We both wield flame-heat magic originating from the same source, so it’s natural for you to feel curiosity.”
Toward the Tower Master silently watching Lennok’s flames, Lennok spoke softly.
“However, I have matters to handle at the gate. If there’s something you want, why not discuss it immediately and reach a conclusion?”
“Huhu……”
The Tower Master smiled bitterly, set down his teacup, and slowly rose from his seat.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he walked toward the top-floor balcony and looked down at the stage installed below the tiers.
“So you truly were not one of this tower’s former masters after all. If you still belonged to the tower, you would not speak in such a manner.”
“……”
“To think perhaps the master I personally sent away had returned. I feel foolish for harboring such hopes.”
Had he come here to personally verify whether Lennok was one of the previous Tower Masters of the magic tower?
And to cling obsessively to traces of the master he himself had killed in the process.
As expected, this man was no benevolent figure.
Listening expressionlessly to the Tower Master’s words, Lennok gave a small gesture toward Angel and Bernard.
Understanding the signal, Bernard and Angel quietly began moving toward the exit.
The Tower Master, who had been lost in thought with his eyes closed, grasped the balcony railing with both hands and spoke.
“I came here because the Eyes of the Blue Watcher entered the operating theater earlier than scheduled.”
“What?”
“As a result, I was handling the vacant schedule left behind after the Watcher departed. During that process, I merely learned that a flame-heat mage who had left the Eyes of the Blue had arrived in the gate city.”
The Tower Master looked at Lennok’s stiffened expression as though amused.
“What do you think I should have done after learning that?”
The news that a high-ranking Watcher of the Eyes of the Blue, scheduled to be hospitalized as a patient, had entered the operating theater earlier than expected.
And during that process, the Master of the Magic Tower had been handling the Watcher’s schedule in their stead.
Why?
There was one decisive cause missing from the answer explaining why the Tower Master had been doing such things.
“There’s something you want from me.”
Lennok stood and met the Tower Master’s gaze.
“What answer are you hoping to hear?”
“I see. What do I want…”
The Tower Master chuckled lightly and slowly walked forward.
“Do you know why the Flame Lords of the Blaiver Magic Tower remain at Level 7? The seventh is called completion. The eighth is called transcendence. But transcending hierarchy does not necessarily lead to good results.”
The Tower Master spoke gently toward Lennok.
“The eighth extreme rank is a realm reached by shattering an already completed hierarchy. Its instability cannot be compared to any other level.”
“So now you intend to explain what an archmage truly is?”
“What I wish to convey is that on the journey toward the Central City, the difference between Saint-tier and Extreme-tier is not actually that great.”
Turning around and sitting on the seat of honor, the Tower Master rested his chin on his hand.
“Domains are difficult powers to use on rapidly changing battlefields. Transcending hierarchy does not necessarily advance one’s sorcery. Sometimes a thoroughly trained and perfected Level 7 mage is more useful than a broken Level 8 mage.”
The Tower Master’s crimson eyes focused precisely on Lennok.
“Just as you surpassed the other Level 8 superhumans in the Ganges Sand Labyrinth and met Jindun.”
“……”
“That is why I have taken care to ensure the Flame Lords do not take unnecessary risks… yet your existence has made me acknowledge an exception.”
“An exception?”
“More than the dozens of disciples I personally taught, your flames reached my heart. I doubt another mage who satisfies my eyes as much as you ever will appear again.”
Looking down at Lennok with a lofty expression, the Tower Master declared:
“Therefore, I swear upon my hierarchy here and now. If you follow me and join the magic tower, the position of the Ninth Tower Master shall be yours.”
“……!!!”
Bernard and Angel, who had been quietly listening from one side of the room, unconsciously gasped.
Even veterans who had survived decades within the Ability Awakening Brigade could not conceal their agitation.
That alone showed just how unprecedented the Tower Master’s proposal to Lennok truly was.
They knew better than anyone that the Master of the Blaiver Magic Tower was not someone who would make such an offer to another person.
“It is a noble duty to inherit the history of a great magic tower, but you have already proven your qualifications through your achievements.”
The Tower Master stepped closer and extended another hand before Lennok’s eyes, bending his fingers.
“The task of inheriting embers that have not gone out for hundreds of years. And the dazzling, magnificent inspirations one may obtain in the process…”
Between the Tower Master’s fingers floated flames shining in different colors and forms.
Prrrlll……!!!
A warm pale-green flame.
A flame hardened like stone.
A sky-blue flame emitting razor-sharp energy.
Rare forms of flame Lennok had never once seen throughout his life as a flame-heat mage.
“If you have built a school of flame-heat magic, then you should know how great the value of such [Embers] is.”
As though knowing Lennok would show interest in the Embers, the Tower Master naturally placed a hand on his shoulder.
“If you become the Tower Master, this is power you can obtain without difficulty. All that is needed is a simple test to confirm whether you are truly suited for the tower.”
“What kind of test?”
“Shall we begin by having you lead the Superheat Corps on the Central Front and earn military achievements? It won’t be burdensome. Just burn away everything obstructing your path as you have done until now.”
The Tower Master tilted his head slightly and whispered as though persuading him.
“Only this time, it will not be under the name of the Eyes of the Blue, but the name of the magic tower.”
Had the Master of the Blaiver Magic Tower, who lost his position as administrator of the gate after being pushed aside by the Conjoining Sorcerer, appeared here in order to recruit Lennok into the tower?
Evan Martinez was officially an 8th-level flame-heat archmage.
For the Tower Master himself to move personally in order to scout such a supreme sorcerer was not strange.
And it was certainly a gamble worth attempting even at the risk of offending the Conjoining Sorcerer.
“Sorry, but I’ve already received enough similar recruitment offers to grow sick of them.”
Massaging his neck as he turned away, Lennok smirked.
“Even if you handed over the Tower Master’s seat right now, I still wouldn’t be interested. Vague words like those are hardly satisfying.”
“Are you saying you would reject the honor of carrying the tower’s name across the battlefield?”
“The tower’s name, hm.”
But Lennok merely smiled bitterly at the Tower Master’s words and lifted his gaze.
Meeting those blazing crimson eyes, Lennok asked:
“Isn’t this really just you trying to dump onto me the work you used to force the Flame Lords to do?”
“……”
“You’ve dressed it up with all sorts of justifications, but in truth, the magic tower simply lacks manpower willing to work for it now.”
“Hah……”
The Tower Master sighed.
“I was relieved to hear you clashed fiercely with Chiglet in Vulcan, but it seems that child told you strange things.”
“……”
“What a disappointment. Even after becoming a Level 8 archmage, you still cannot properly distinguish lies?”
“Lies? You mean the reason you offered me the position of next Tower Master?”
Lennok’s eyes shone coldly as he stared at the silent Tower Master.
“You dressed it up grandly, but it’s because I’m a mage who survived fighting Bolt, isn’t it?”
“That is—”
“You were humiliated by Bolt and lost your position as administrator of the gate. Was there really any other reason you came to offer me this now?”
At Lennok’s direct strike at the heart of the matter, silence fell over the room.
“Hm. Even when advised with kind words, you fail to understand.”
The Tower Master replied coldly despite still smiling.
“When I said I would appoint you as the next Tower Master without questioning your origins or background, you should have understood that such implications were part of my consideration.”
“……”
“If we were to examine every procedure one by one, then would I not first have to interrogate where exactly you learned the tower’s flame-heat magic from?”
The Tower Master’s eyes no longer smiled as he looked at Lennok.
“A thief who stole and learned the tower’s magic dares… question my decision?”
“And yet you promised to appoint such a thief as the next Tower Master.”
Lennok grinned and shook his head.
“I know what scheme you were planning. You intended to appoint me as the next Tower Master, but never specify when you would hand over the position, didn’t you?”
“You never intended to step down from the Tower Master’s seat in the first place. You only meant to bind me somewhere suitable and use me.”
Slowly stepping backward, Lennok rubbed both wrists.
“Just like the other Flame Lords you used up and discarded like consumables.”
“Hahaha. It seems what you stole a glimpse of was not merely the tower’s magic.”
The Tower Master burst into hearty laughter.
“To know that much about the tower’s hidden history… does that mean you also know about the Solar System?”
“I see. So that was it. The reason your flames could not be contained within the Locking Flame Pearl was because of that after all.”
[Disaster Slave Garment]
The instant he stepped forward, mournful flames erupted beneath his feet.
Fwoooosh!!
In an instant, the Tower Master wrapped his entire body in a cloak of flames and slowly swept aside his robes as he muttered:
“You were a heretic who inherited magic directly from one of the former Tower Masters.”
Kwooooo……!!
A ring of blazing flames swirled through the room.
Unable to withstand the heat, Bernard and Angel were driven backward out of the room, their faces pale.
Panting as she staggered backward, Angel hurriedly pulled a terminal from inside her coat.
“Th-this is insane…!! Don’t tell me right here…!!”
“Angel, move!!”
Kwaaah!!
The surging flames rose as though trying to seize Angel by the hair, and Lennok reacted simultaneously.
Pure white flames erupting from behind Lennok crushed down against the Tower Master’s fire and blocked it.
KWAANG!!
Red and white flames burst together beyond Hwachungryu’s windows, illuminating the black market night sky brightly.
“W-What is that?!”
“It’s a fight. At Hwachungryu…!!”
Merchants and pedestrians passing through the black market checked the location where the flames had erupted, their faces stiffening.
A disturbance occurring within Hwachungryu, a place frequently used for meetings between major powers.
Everyone realized that this incident was a disaster born from the clash of high-ranking superhumans.
“Everyone in the black market, run!!”
“Survive until the search unit arrives!!”
Fwhoooaaah!!
At that moment, the flames erupting from both sides of the golden tower rose into the night sky and revolved like miniature suns.
As though carrying the will of someone attempting to dispel the battlefield’s darkness before the fight even began.
Terrified people threw away whatever items and food they held and began fleeing at once.
“War has broken out in the gate city!!”
“No, no…!!”
“The Sorcerer Lord, the Conjoining Sorcerer is coming…!!!”
“How surprising.”
Looking down at the chaos spreading beneath the windows, Lennok spoke.
“Considering you once managed the gate, I thought you’d restrain your power to avoid drawing the Sorcerer Lord’s attention.”
“It is night, heretic. The power of the Curtain strengthens, and the environment shifts drastically.”
The Tower Master pointed toward the black market sky with a cold smile.
“Mana fluctuations beneath the Curtain cannot be observed from outside. Capturing a heretic who violated the tower’s laws and forcing out his secrets is hardly something worth hesitating over.”
“The Sorcerer Lord possessed greater sensory perception than any sorcerer I’ve ever seen. Can the Curtain truly conceal what’s happening here from him?”
“It’s fine. He’s currently busy handling a patient in the operating theater.”
Smiling leisurely, the Tower Master gradually altered the color of the flames he produced.
“Dissecting and extracting the body of a high-ranking superhuman requires immense concentration. No matter how skilled the Sorcerer Lord may be, there’s no way he could spare attention for this place as well.”
“I see. So the Sorcerer Lord has no room to focus his attention here…”
Slowly turning toward the Tower Master, Lennok’s eyes sank coldly.
“How do you know the Conjoining Sorcerer is operating on a patient right now?”
“……”
Operations required twenty-four hours.
But nobody knew exactly when the Conjoining Sorcerer began surgery after bringing a patient into the operating theater.
Even Bernard had recommended entering together with the Watcher rather than trying to estimate the timing.
If the Tower Master remained certain he could avoid the Sorcerer Lord’s attention regardless, then he must possess some sort of connection allowing him to know the Sorcerer Lord’s movements.
Was that possible because the Tower Master had once overseen the gate as the Sorcerer Lord’s predecessor administrator?
Now that the plan to contact the Watcher had collapsed, Lennok instinctively understood that this was precisely the matter he needed to uncover here and now.
“Well now. That is not an answer I can give a heretic.”
The Tower Master did not answer.
Instead, he merely raised a hand with a strange smile and wrapped it in mana.
Whoosh!!
Draped in a cloak of flames, he merged two extending streams of fire together and formed a blazing sphere.
A bizarre form, as though receiving an endless supply of flames directly from the sun itself.
Having assumed his stance in an instant, the Tower Master looked down at Lennok and asked:
“Are those your final words?”
“Facing the Tower Master wasn’t part of the plan, but if it must be done, then there’s no helping it.”
Smiling bitterly, Lennok slowly raised his mana.
“The secrets you know about the Sorcerer Lord. And even the [Embers] you possess.”
The figures of the two mages, backed by the night sky, burned fiercely within the flames.
“I’ll take everything here and now.”