“Are you saying today’s shipnt still hasn’t arrived?” Seojin asked into his phone, his face still heavy with sleep.
“Yes,” the store manager replied. “We open in thirty minutes, and there’s a long line, but we have no products. I’m getting anxious...”
“I’ll look into it right away and call you back.”
Seojin imdiately called Bora.
"The phone you have called is turned off. You will be connected to voicemail."
Her phone was off.
Seojin’s expression hardened as he called the Alchemia office and connected to the driver in charge.
“I’m at the factory now, but there was no shipnt today,” the driver said. “The ingredients are still in the warehouse. I was just waiting, thinking the work was delayed.”
His face now terrifyingly serious, Seojin called the security manager of the association’s research site. Just then, Eunsol ca down to the lobby on the magic circle elevator.
“Mr. Glasses! Is sothing wrong?”
“It’s nothing, Eunsol.”
Seojin tried his best to maintain his composure, but the perceptive girl could tell imdiately that sothing was wrong.
“There’s no record of her entering? Hmm, I understand.” After ending the call, Seojin ground his teeth and swept his bangs back.
“Is Bora gone?” Eunsol asked.
Seojin looked at her for a mont, then sighed lightly. “...It’s too early to jump to conclusions, but it seems that way. For this to happen right when the Tower Master has gone into the trial...”
He shouted into the air, “Ms. Ea! Are you there? If you are, please answer!”
Eunsol called out as well. “Ea! Ea, are you there?”
No answer ca. When Yusin began a trial, Ea focused all her attention on him. She wouldn’t appear on standby in the Magic Tower as she usually did.
’...Stay calm.’
He had to take every possible asure before I returned. First, he assud the worst-case scenario.
’The cornered Healer’s Union could be behind this.’
Seojin grabbed his coat and handed his second phone to Eunsol. “I’m going to look for Bora outside. You wait here and call for Ms. Ea from ti to ti. If she responds or the Tower Master returns, call imdiately.”
“Okay! I will!”
Seojin ran out of the Magic Tower. The situation was taking a grim turn.
* * *
Fourth Floor Trial. Twenty-second attempt.
Let’s organize what I’ve figured out through trial and error.
First, Anton has no mory of our previous battles.
Second, though he has no mory, he can roughly guess which attempt this is based on my actions.
Third, Anton adheres to his own set of phases. He wears two necklaces, each providing a one-ti absolute defense or nullifying magic within a 500-ter radius. They break after one use.
In the first phase, with both necklaces intact, Anton counters my magic with superior versions of my own spells, focusing more on teaching than fighting. The strategy here is a battle of attrition using Rapid Arrow. I can overwhelm him with sheer numbers regardless of what he throws at .
After he uses the first necklace, he switches to his specialty, water magic. At this point, he seems to think my skills have improved and focuses on practical combat. The strategy for this second phase is Devastar. Since he has no mory, if I ti it right, I can close the distance and break the second necklace.
But the problem is the third phase, after both necklaces are destroyed.
At that point, Anton forgets all about educating his successor and tries to kill with a murderous look on his face, using his full power. Approaching with Devastar to break the second necklace is fine, but it leaves at close range for phase three, where I’m usually swept away by a torrent of water imdiately.
’...Isn’t there so other way?’
“Ahahaha! What are you thinking so hard about, Fourteen!” Anton yelled, riding a tidal wave as he unleashed a torrent of water projectiles. I was desperately running, stepping on shields in mid-air to escape.
“Seeing you rack your brain like that, you must have broken the second necklace but gotten stuck after that, right?”
Tsk. Perceptive old man. It was a mistake to let him read my hand.
“So what are you hesitating for? Co on!”
Anton spread his arms, and the tidal wave surged upward, the water churning and beginning to take shape.
-Tower Master! Evasion impossible! Guarding impossible! A super-high-risk spell is activating!
I crouched, facing the tidal wave as it transford into a giant cannon. I didn’t want to die. There was no other choice. I brought both hands to the soles of my shoes.
’Fwoooosh!’
Faster than the high-pressure jet of water could fire, my body shot forward, appearing right in front of Anton. The Aqua Cannon fired, annihilating the spot where I had just been.
He was too stunned to speak.
Seeing Anton’s surprised face, I rotated my torso.
’Thwack!’
A perfectly executed roundhouse kick attacked his face. A black wave of energy exploded, shaking the air, but Anton only tilted his head back slightly, looking at without a single scratch.
’Crack.’
The second necklace fell to the floor.
“Dark magic? So you had a trick like that.”
Fortunately, since he had used an entire tidal wave as ammunition, he couldn’t grab imdiately. I created distance and prepared for his next attack.
“Then it’s ti for the final lesson!”
Anton flew into the sky, imnse magic power swirling around him.
-Tower Master. The thirteenth Tower Master is activating a forced Rampage spell! A large-scale offensive is expected!
An alien, massive magic circle appeared behind him. Through my Sage’s Eye, I could see its peculiar structure. Just as Ea said, it was a magic circle for a Rampage—a secret technique that activated mana by 300%, pushing casting speed and control beyond one’s normal capabilities.
This was the real beginning.
My tension heightened, I equipped Light Devastar to both feet.
“shara. shara.”
-...Huh?
A strange voice echoed in my ear.
-What is it, Tower Master?
“It’s nothing.”
’Rumble!’
In his rampage mode, both of Anton’s pupils glowed blue.
“No ti to think, Fourteen,” he said. “If you want to live, run.”
Large magic circles unfolded one after another around him.
< Aqua Cannon>
’Swoooosh!’
Water bombs rained from the sky. They were all original spells of 3rd or fourth-order, impossible to block with a normal Shield. I used the Devastar on one foot to leap to the opposite wall. The several-hundred-ter radius where I had been standing was completely annihilated.
It was dizzying. Chills ran down my spine—the primal fear all living things feel in the face of overwhelming power. My body moved on instinct, trying to survive. To replenish the spent Devastar, I prepared magic circles on my arms and under my feet.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Sparks flew from Anton’s head as if he were processing an imnse number of formulas. The sky was a chaotic ss of magic circles as water bombs fell in succession.
’Booooom! Swoooooosh!’
With each spell, the trial space began to fill with water. When I landed, it was already up to my knees. As I dodged the next attacks, I saw the water level had risen to my chest. My room to maneuver was vanishing.
My feelings could be sumd up in one sentence.
’There’s no way I can win this!’
I didn’t dare approach with Devastar. Even if I got incredibly lucky and dodged every water bomb, his body was protected by a veil of water. Using one Devastar to get close and a second to break the veil would be the extent of my attack. All I could do was run and hope he made a mistake.
-Tower Master! In three seconds, a volley of Aqua Cannons will co from the 12 o’clock direction!
I gritted my teeth, equipped a Light Devastar on my right foot, and activated it. The mont my body launched, the cannons exploded behind . The spells crashing into the water sent up continuous splashes, raising the level ever higher. The entire space had beco a sea.
“Hah! Hah!”
After traveling the maximum distance, my montum died, and I fell. I landed on a shield I’d placed on the water’s surface. Above , the sky was a maelstrom of water bombs, leaving no room to escape. I used Devastar again.
This was the first ti I had used Devastar purely for evasion. It was frustrating that this was all I could do.
’Booooooom!’
“Ugh!”
-Tower Master!
The instant I moved, a spell exploded from the wall right next to . The wall caved in, debris plunging into the water below. It was a dizzying sight.
’That old man...!’
I gritted my teeth and looked up. Anton was floating there with a triumphant smile. He was in rampage mode, yet still managed to use predictive shots! Isn’t a Rampage supposed to an you lose control? How can he have increased casting speed and still maintain precise control?!
“Fourteen, didn’t your homunculus tell you? It’s fine in here, but in a real fight, overusing dark magic will have side effects!”
Still nagging, even in a Rampage. Who ’is’ this guy?
-Water Blast detected ahead!
-Water Bomb detected ahead!
Without a mont to complain, I used Devastar again and again to dodge. I knew firing off spells like that wasn’t normal. He would surely hit a limit. If I could just aim for the backlash after this ridiculous rampage ended, I had a chance.
’Thud!’
Just then, as I was moving, my body was crushed by an imnse pressure, and I fell straight into the water. A predictive shot had found its mark.
’Gurgle!’
The world was a mass of bubbles. I covered my mouth, holding my breath. The exploding magic had raised the water depth to over ten ters. My body slowly sank. Through the churning surface, I could see Anton floating in the air, pouring down more spells.
’...Haa. This is all so tireso.’
Subrged in the water, it felt as peaceful as another world. Was this what they called a mont of tranquility?
“shara. shara.”
The phantom voices returned, accompanied by a headache.
Imrsed in that brief peace, my body sank almost to the bottom. Above, the spells continued to rain down.
’Should I just stay here? I don’t think I’ll get hit by all of that if I stay here.’
In movies, soldiers jump into water to dodge bullets. I’d heard that water is over 800 tis denser than air, so you can dodge a bullet by diving just two ters deep. So I should be safe, right?
...I wanted to smash my own head for thinking that.
As a Water Blast entered the water, it absorbed the surrounding liquid, its size and scale growing exponentially. In an instant, a torrent that filled my entire vision rushed toward . Anton’s water magic was designed to have its attack range expand underwater.
’Of course, a cheap trick wouldn’t work against a grand mage.’
Resigned, I lifted my right foot toward my chest. I placed both hands on the ongoing Devastar magic circle, added to the formula, and completed it.
Devastar
’Swooooooosh!’
The jet-black wave shattered the Water Blast, tearing a massive hole in the aquatic world. The sight of the water parting to reveal the sky was spectacular. I brought down my leg, stepped on the ‘Leap Boots’ Ea had set up, and launched myself into the air.
’Think. Think. How in the world can I win?’
* * *
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