Chapter 59 : Chapter 59
Chapter 59: Kua Holy See (3)
“But will you be alright?”
Deban, covered in blood, asked.
It was just as they finished cleaning up the research lab and were about to climb the stairs.
“What?”
On the other hand, Simurtr was clean.
Bloodstains were splattered here and there, but compared to Deban, it was no different from new clothes.
Simurtr had wanted the research lab to be quiet, and his sword had not made a single sound. All the splattering blood had missed Simurtr.
‘I can feel it even with things like this.’
Deban looked at the head-tilting Simurtr and gave a bitter smile. The difference in magic was a given, but even his swordsmanship.
Simurtr’s sword was violent and clean. It was also messy and simple. In other words, it could match the taste of any situation.
The Mectera itself, called the suzerain of the sword.
Simurtr, who was only 16, had mastered all sorts of swordsmanship.
‘This is why even the Head of the Senate of Elders had no choice but to embrace him.’
Deban empathized with Medeoban’s feelings once again.
With that talent and skill, shouldn't one embrace even the world's greatest murderer?
“You’ve never faced a magician before, have you?”
If one were to pick out Simurtr’s weaknesses, experience would be one of them.
Only sixteen. That's why his talent felt more terrifying, but the lack of experience due to his age and circumstances was inevitable.
He was already young, and his entry was late due to the time he wasted in the exile mansion. The number of real battles he had experienced could be counted on one hand.
Though he had sparred a lot, most were with swordsmen.
Meram, who stood by his side, was a 6th Circle mage, but she had a trauma of her face turning pale at the sight of a single drop of blood.
Though he had experienced and learned Phantasmal Ability, it was ultimately not magic. As far as Deban knew, today was the first time Simurtr was facing a magician.
“On top of that, they’re necromancers. Will you be alright?”
Sharing Kua with Simurtr was a big decision, but it seemed he was about to lose it to others.
“Should we just get out and call for support? I’m fine.”
But Deban, while feeling disappointed, asked.
The Kua branches would remain, and he could satisfy himself with that to some extent… but a human life was singular.
“Ah. So?”
Contrary to Deban’s worries, Simurtr snickered.
“Spellcaster bastards are all the same. What’s so great about them?”
***
A Sword Master is the natural enemy of a magician.
It was a saying that was always talked about and debated in the world. Especially in the Magic Tower, it was an adage that was openly denied.
Exa of his past life was one of the Sword Masters who fully agreed with that saying.
“Ah, Deban. There’s one right next to the entrance. Left, making a skull.”
His innate sense of magic lent conviction to what he asserted. Sword Net. Everything the magicians tried to do would be detected by Simurtr’s senses.
“Poison is coming.”
His numerous experiences from his past life allowed him to deduce the formula and its product just from the premonition of the magic flow caught in the Sword Net.
As expected, as soon as he set foot on the ground floor, a huge cloud of poison struck the entrance of the staircase.
At the same time, no, even before that, Simurtr grabbed the scruff of Deban’s neck and pulled him. As Deban rolled down the stairs, Simurtr’s body scattered like smoke.
An evasive maneuver using Phantasmal Ability. Instead of Degrate’s green light, Simurtr’s unique phenomenon color, a white light, gathered next to the magician. Soon, the formed Simurtr lightly swung his sword.
“Ack!”
The swung sword bent smoothly, then knocked away the head that was falling to the floor. It hit the skull of the skeleton that had just been completed at the entrance of the stairs and sent it flying.
“It’s still moving.”
The skeleton with the swapped head charged without a care. As expected, magic had many strange aspects. He couldn't understand it, but it must be a movement determined by a set formula.
“But you have to move too.”
Simurtr looked behind the grotesque skeleton and swung his sword. A white sword aura grazed past the skeleton.
This time it wasn't an illusion. The slash bisected the necromancer who was holding a crystal orb and requesting support.
“Oh.”
At the precise control of power, Deban, who had just come up the stairs, marveled. The thin, short sword aura disappeared as soon as it cut the necromancer’s neck.
“You’re so consistent.”
In the 6th Sword Order, Simurtr was famous for being sensitive about the distribution of magic.
It was the same now. Even in the sudden engagement that occurred as soon as he came up the stairs, wasn't his distribution meticulous?
To Deban, his obsession was even more severe than that of the magicians who put forth meticulousness as their symbol.
“You don’t know my heart.”
Simurtr checked his body and heart and picked up the crystal orb that was rolling on the floor. It was what the necromancer had been holding just before.
Chiiik. When he connected his magic, a sound came from beyond the crystal orb. It was asking about the current situation.
“Ah, ah. Situation concluded. It was just a simple vagrant. Taken care of.”
The Pagna still had three lines. His original magic still had leeway.
His body was also still fine. As long as he didn't overuse the 4-star rotation, it would continue to be so.
‘It’s troublesome to get injured every time I fight.’
The body was a consumable. It could be healed, but it would eventually wear down. The road ahead was too far. He needed to save it.
The 4-star rotation, three times was the maximum. After returning from Huit, Simurtr had decided so.
No matter how many lines of Pagna were left, if he used it more than that, his body wouldn't be able to bear it. He would probably vomit blood even after just two times.
‘I need to solve this body issue soon too.’
He didn't want to just vaguely wait for his growth period to end.
Even if he did, he needed to prepare a countermeasure.
At this rate, even when he was fully grown, 5 or 6 stars would be his limit.
“This time, let’s catch one and get some information. Don’t get all excited about revenge and kill them all again.”
C-crack. Simurtr said as he crushed the crystal orb. It was supposed to break. The material was strangely new. It must be because it was the frigid north.
“…You’re the one who killed them all, young master.”
“I did it for you so you wouldn’t get excited.”
“…….”
***
The space called the Magic Tower came across as quite a difficult space for Simurtr, who knew nothing of the study called magic.
Just by standing there, the flow of magic caught in the Sword Net was incredibly messy. The division between floors was clear, but the interior of each floor had a disparity with what was caught by the senses.
‘It’s because they knead the space as they please. It wasn’t originally a space of this size.’
According to his senses, the original site was not very large. But the visible view was vast.
Due to that disparity, he was late in noticing the magicians located throughout the 1st floor.
It was a good thing he had been consistently hiding his form with an illusion; otherwise, he might have been discovered if he had made a mistake.
“Just by listening, it sounds like they didn’t parasitize, but just merged.”
Deban approached when Simurtr had killed an additional ten necromancers who handled bones.
When the cleanup of the 1st floor was almost finished. Deban was holding a corpse in each hand.
“This one is Kua, and this one is from the Black Tower.”
“But why did you kill them? We could have compared the answers.”
They had destroyed both the laboratory and the research lab and arrived at the 1st floor, but they hadn't gained any particular information or results.
The chimera, which were test subjects, couldn't speak, and the researchers were stupid.
They were people who were purely interested in research and experiments, without any information about the Black Tower or other Kua branches.
“These guys didn’t know much either.”
As most Holy Sees do, there was a hierarchy among the Kua believers. Simurtr examined the corpses’ attire.
‘A lay believer. That one… was it an apprentice? No. A 4th Circle would be a disciple.’
He had heard about Kua’s hierarchy from Deban.
If the Magic Tower’s system hadn't changed, the lines engraved on the robe signified achievement.
On the battlefield, it was perfect for becoming a target, but inside the Magic Tower, it was a measure of rank. A 4th Circle would be about the disciple of a high-ranking magician.
“Looks like they exist.”
Even in the ruined Black Tower, high-ranking magicians existed. Simurtr realized that fact.
“By any chance, up to what level are you capable of handling?”
“Magicians?”
“Yes.”
“Up to a careless grand mage is possible.”
“Would they be careless? We’ve already swept through the basement and the 1st floor.”
Deban tilted his head. To induce carelessness, they should have met from the beginning.
Who would be careless when their main base had been breached?
“No, a grand mage who just became an 8th Circle.”
“Why is that careless?”
“Because bastards like that always have blind faith in their own magic.”
The 8th Circle was a huge wall.
Just as the high-ranking knights of the 6th Sword Order couldn't cross the wall of Sword Master, just as the Heads and Deputies of the Sword Order were special.
The magic of a magician and a grand mage was different from its very quality. Those who had met the minimum standard for a Magic Tower Master were praised as strategic weapons on the battlefield.
“It’s when they’re drunk on their own achievements. That’s when they’re easiest to catch.”
“You know a lot.”
“Aran said so.”
“Then what about a regular grand mage?”
“We could probably die together.”
Of course, in his case, it would be suicide.
He would explode, unable to handle the magic of Star Breaker.
“Or maybe not. A necromancer is ambiguous. It depends on the school of magic… but the grand mage here might be fine?”
Simurtr thought of the magicians he had killed so far and held a strange conviction.
“Why, is there a grand mage?”
“Yes, one. They say he’s the de facto head of the Black Tower. I should have asked about his school of magic too.”
“It’s fine. Let’s just try it, and if it doesn’t work, we can just run.”
Running away was the easiest choice for a Phantasm user.
“…You’re not going to run, are you?”
“I said I’m going to run.”
“Lies.”
“No. I said I’m going to run, why are you saying no?”
“You’ll just go crazy and rampage again if a fight breaks out.”
Long ago, Deban had already finished his assessment of the human named Simurtr.
***
Deban’s prediction was only half right.
He thought that since it was parasitizing the Black Tower, the Kua facilities would only be in the basement.
‘They merged.’
Perhaps the Black Tower had eaten Kua. Chimeras. Necromancers also had a knack for playing with life.
‘Or it could be the other way around.’
It wasn't a particularly important issue. Priority. Now that they had cleared half of the 1st floor, Simurtr corrected it.
“Beden, Kua, the grand mage, Janya’s body.”
There must be successful test subjects.
He didn't know how many there were, but Beden would be there too. And the higher-ups of Kua and the Black Tower, soon.
‘I don’t know how many floors of the ruined Black Tower are operational. But it won’t be high.’
He remembered the time he had followed Barote. 2 AM. The sun would probably rise soon.
Or maybe it had already risen. It had taken a considerable amount of time to come up to the ground floor.
‘Necromancers may be nocturnal, but Kua and the test subjects live with them. They would have matched their daily routine to the daytime.’
This meant it would get noisy soon, and they needed to prepare.
Kua was not a group with strong military power, and there was no opponent as easy as a magician, but there was still a grand mage in the Black Tower.
Seeing as no support forces were coming down from the upper floors, it seemed they hadn't been discovered yet, but that was also a matter of time.
“Are you saying them starting from the last place?”
“No, from the 1st.”
“My revenge is in 2nd place?”
“If you think about it, the grand mage is also revenge. They would be researching together.”
“Shouldn’t Lady Janya’s body be first?”
“What meaning does a corpse have? Revenge is so important.”
And he placed Beden even higher than that important revenge. Deban looked at Simurtr’s back with widened eyes.
Janya was last. Of course, the reason Janya was last was probably because she was already a disposed corpse.
But for Beden to be the top priority was surprising for Deban. They were on bad terms.
He had already fallen out with her mother, Janya, and Beden was the culprit who had dragged Simurtr to the execution chamber and was Janya’s son.
‘But he’s 16.’
He’s only 16. Suddenly, Simurtr’s words came to Deban’s mind. It was the same when dealing with Ael, he was incredibly lenient with minors.
“What if we have to stop in the middle because we’re running out of time?”
“Then we’ll have to stop.”
While worrying about Beden, he didn't think about his mother, Janya. Even when he heard she had been disposed of, Simurtr had been calm.
Something was seriously twisted. Deban couldn't understand that disparity…….
“It must be over there.”
Simurtr pointed forward with his chin.
Though the expansion of space was the foundation of a Magic Tower, it was an exiled and ruined Black Tower. There must have been restrictions on the space, and the interior of the Black Tower had no corners.
A perfect circle. In fact, the floors of the basement, which were larger than their original size, had a circular shape. It was just that the structure was so complex that it was difficult to notice.
“It looks suspicious just by looking at it.”
The structure of the 1st floor was very different from the floors of the basement they had passed through. The huge circular space was divided exactly in half.
“It’s solid steel.”
Deban said after lightly tapping the wall that divided that half.
“It’s for confinement.”
A huge steel wall.
And a small steel door located in its center.
Simurtr was certain. The purpose of each floor that Deban had talked about. And the steel for confinement in front of him.
It was a place for the successful test subjects. And probably Beden too. It must be a defense to prevent their escape.
“Open it.”
“Where does a kidnapped woman get off giving orders?”
Deban was wearing Kua’s attire.
“Ah, right. Then should I open it for you?”
“Please.”
“Sssip.”
“I’m sorry, Lady Haryun Bahab.”
Deban said to the red-haired Simurtr.