C549
The Wizard of the Magic Tower has been murdered. Evidence and the situation revealed it was impossible for it to be a suicide.
...Of course, a murder cannot be the work of just one person.
And Lucas had only detected one trace of life in this vast expanse of snow.
"Are you sure this man is a wizard of Tower 77?"
Residue mentioned another possibility first.
"Without a doubt."
"How can you be sure?"
"This robe."
Lucas struck the rigid robe with the palm of his hand due to the cold.
"Not all administrators wore robes, but those who did had one thing in common."
"A commonality?"
"Yes. They had something special blended in."
He snorted and continued.
"...To be honest, I can't even imagine what that 'something' blended into the robe is. It feels similar to when I saw the Beginning Wizard's mask."
"Oh..."
"...It doesn't seem to be the same material as the one that composed the mask, but anyway, if this wizard is a being from the outside world, the probability of him possessing something only figures from the Magic Tower have is extremely low."
"I see."
Residue finally understood, and Lucas looked up at the sky. In this area where the snowstorm didn’t rage, the view of the black night sky was easily visible.
...What kind of place is this universe?
It's one of the Three Thousand Worlds connected to the Magic Tower, but that's all Lucas knows. He has no idea about the characteristics of this universe, nor of this planet he finds himself on.
Perhaps it's a frozen planet where the entire region is frozen.
...What was Min Harin doing in a place like this?
Looking for the "Hope Flower"? No. That's just a preparation for "something" Min Harin wants to do.
Min Harin, she, hasn’t revealed her purpose. Lucas wanted to know what she was planning to do. He had a strong feeling that it was important to find out.
A certain chaos that has infiltrated the Magic Tower,
Could it be related to Min Harin?
If what she wants to do is cause chaos in the Magic Tower, or even go further and destroy it...
"You'll have to make a decision."
Residue murmured.
'...That's after hearing her story.'
Lucas sighed again.
"You're not just going to limit yourself in this situation, are you?"
"..."
He turned around.
The snowstorm still raging on the other side of the thin wall was visible. It had taken him a little over 30 minutes to get here.
Lucas took another step into the cold snow.
There was something different. The snowstorm began to dissipate like mist the moment it touched Lucas's body. To be precise, it instantly liquefied and evaporated before even touching the ground.
Fssshhh! A large amount of water vapor exploded around Lucas. The heat emanating from him began to change not only the immediate environment but also the weather.
"How insolent!"
A voice as rough as thunder resonated in his ears. Lucas stopped and raised his head slightly.
Fwooooosh!
The snowstorm that had disappeared returned, and a strangely shaped entity was revealed. Now that he had released his power, it was easy to discern what it was.
An 'Ice Spirit,' with quite considerable potential. At least at the level of a Spirit King.
...Maybe he not only rules this area but could also be the lord of this planet.
"Who dares to flaunt their warmth in my abode? Do you not understand that your current act is a clear violation of the agreement?"
"I'm not a wizard of the Magic Tower."
Lucas replied succinctly, and the Ice Spirit snorted mockingly.
"You speak laughable words. You appeared suddenly in this world. Without warning. It was a much more abrupt appearance than falling from the sky. Do you think I don't know that's the method of the Magic Tower?"
Explaining his relationship with the Magic Tower was a tedious task. Besides, the Ice Spirit was so furious that it didn't seem possible to have a decent conversation.
Lucas pointed in the direction he had come from, towards the body of the wizard.
"Look over there. Wasn't that wizard the one you made the agreement with?"
"...That's right."
The Ice Spirit's gaze shifted to the other side of Lucas's shoulder.
"When I arrived, he had already been attacked and murdered by someone─"
"Now I see that you're not a wizard of the Magic Tower, but an intruder!"
"What nonsense is this?"
"Don't get it wrong. It wasn't me, but another being..."
"Under whose orders have you come?! Do you dare to take lightly this 'Biofrost'?"
"...Then, I'm just the discoverer of the scene. If I had killed that wizard, I wouldn't have done it so blatantly in front of you."
"These guys have annoyed me from the start! How convenient...! I'll make you remember how harsh winter can be!"
"..."
Suddenly, something snapped in Lucas's mind.
"Hit him a bit."
Residue said indifferently.
"Historically, that has always been the solution."
-----------------------
A few moments later, the Ice Spirit knelt and said:
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was you, Absolute-nim."
"..."
Lucas wasn't an Absolute being, but he neither confirmed nor denied the Ice Spirit's words. It was difficult to accurately express his current state in a few words.
'I've wasted time on nonsense.'
Lucas clicked his tongue and looked at the Ice Spirit. Feeling his gaze, the spirit shivered, but Lucas felt no compassion.
Should I just eliminate it?
Lucas suppressed the impulse rising within him and said:
"Tell me what happened here."
"Eh?"
"If you're the ruler of this region, you should have a general idea of the situation. Tell me what you know."
The Ice Spirit hesitated for a moment before responding:
"I don't know."
"What?"
"I couldn't understand anything."
"Seriously. In fact, I was unconscious until recently."
Lucas stopped.
"Unconscious? You, a spirit?"
"Yes. It's the first time it has happened to me in thousands of years, so I don't know what caused it... but since I regained consciousness, I can't use even a hundredth of my original strength."
The Ice Spirit said with a sad expression.
"...And about other intruders besides me?"
"Eh?"
"There's a person in the cave in that direction. Did you also not know of their existence?"
"Yes, yes."
The Ice Spirit responded with an embarrassed expression.
Lucas furrowed his brow.
...Of course, with Min Harin's current ability, it wouldn't be difficult for her to commit a murder without being detected by the Ice Spirit, but the fact that he was unconscious concerns me.
[...Ah.]
The Ice Spirit suddenly spoke.
[Well, I'm not sure if it's something I should say... but just before I passed out, I think I saw complete darkness.]
"Complete darkness?"
[Yes. To be honest, it was as vague as a dream, but...]
"..."
Lucas asked the Ice Spirit a few more things after that, but he didn't get anything else useful. He let it go and headed back into the cave, arriving in the blink of an eye.
"..."
Inside the cave, Min Harin was still sitting there. With her eyes closed and her head bowed, she hadn't changed at all since he left.
She seemed to be asleep, or perhaps lost in thought, meditating or in the midst of training. But Lucas knew none of that was true.
Min Harin was awake, and her attention was directed at him.
"You left without saying a word."
With a soft voice, she opened her single eye.
"Where did you go?"
Her soft voice approached Lucas, inquiring about his intentions.
"To the place you came from."
"..."
Their gazes met.
Min Harin's pupils were like crystal, not like a mirror.
Crystal that couldn't catch the light couldn't reflect or contain anything.
Yet, Lucas continued to gaze at those pupils as if he were half in a trance.
Then she said:
"─Lucas Traumen."
The moment she spoke his name,
He couldn't be surprised or show any other reaction.
Because at that moment, the cave's ceiling collapsed. Stone fragments mixed with ice fell like hail, and the true cause of the cave's destruction came into view.
It looked like a form of black liquid, leaving a long trail as it fell.
Like a slime extending endlessly, the areas the liquid passed through left black cracks as if they were painted with a brush.
─A chill ran down his chest from a sudden terror.
Lucas had experienced this terror before.
The "Destruction" he saw through the Fountain of Wisdom.
The darkness surrounding that Destruction was surprisingly similar to the feeling he had now.
Kwaaah!
Without hesitation, Lucas extended the Void. He completely forgot the restrictions he had imposed on himself.
Kwang!
The extended Void took the form of a barrier. However, it was useless. The drops of darkness falling through it as if it were strong acid. Without any delay, as if simply passing through.
Lucas was horrified to realize that the Void he had extended had no effect.
[Use the power of Omniscience!]
Following Residue's advice, he invoked the "Thunder" and used Omniscience.
All the information about the surroundings reached his brain in the form of data.
"...!"
And Lucas understood what the drops of darkness were.
It was death.
It was Annihilation, and also the "most perfect Destruction" Lucas had observed so far.
The drops fell, erasing without a trace "all spaces" they passed through.
Lucas reached a conclusion through his amplified senses.
‘…There's no way to stop it.’
If he couldn't stop it, the answer was evasion. He identified a place where the drops didn't fall and darted towards it. Still keeping an eye on Min Harin.
The moment he used Omniscience, he realized.
It wasn't Min Harin who had unleashed those drops. The timing was quite fortuitous, but still...
‘She's not capable of entering the [Minimal Time Zone]?
Lucas shook his head at the thought that suddenly occurred to him.
As Residue said, that was to be expected.
The space Lucas had accessed now was a landscape granted to no more than twenty people in the entire universe.
─It lulls the consciousness that was once kept awake.
The time that moved slowly regained its original pace, and just after the destruction began again, he pushed Min Harin.
"…Ah."
Min Harin staggered back a few steps.
"There."
Looking at her as she came to a halt, he continued.
"Don't move a step from there. For 13 seconds."
Lucas gave her a brief warning and left the cave. She had things to do too, but first, there was something he needed to understand.
He had memorized all the points where the drops fell, so there was no danger.
Immediately after leaving the cave, Lucas looked up at the sky. The snowstorm had stopped long ago, so he could immediately see what was happening. It was a sight that could only be seen at the end of the apocalypse. The sky was shedding black tears. From cracks in space, ominous liquid flowed like the sand of a broken hourglass, cascading like a river. What had just covered the cave was only a small part of that huge stream.
['Destruction'...]
The moment Residue muttered that word, Lucas felt the tips of his fingers freeze.
"So it was you, Master?"
A dry, emotionless voice came from behind. The 13 seconds had already passed.
Lucas turned around and saw Min Harin standing in front of the cave.
"I see you're alive."
"...Yes."
He could keep denying it, but there was no reason to. Moreover, judging by Min Harin's attitude, it seemed she had been guessing since the beginning.
A brief silence.
Lucas took that time to carefully observe his disciple and realized he couldn't find even a hint of joy, surprise, or even emotion in her.
Have I become so irrelevant to her that even our reunion holds no meaning?
"..."
Min Harin opened and closed her mouth several times. She seemed to be carefully selecting her words.
"I'm glad."
The voice that finally came out of her was still transparent and indifferent.
...I'm glad, but I'm also bitter.
However...
"I'm sorry."
At that moment, Min Harin bowed deeply. Her voice was still dry and impersonal.
"...I'm sorry."
When she repeated the same words once more, Lucas's mouth fell open.
...Something's not right.
She may not feel any emotion at our reunion. Maybe it's my selfishness to expect joy from her.
...But, what about this situation?
Even in front of this apocalyptic landscape, with the sky collapsing and black liquid flowing from the sky's interior.
...How can she not be even slightly shaken? How can she not feel fear seeing 'that'?
─We only see the surface... but maybe she has sacrificed something more.
Suddenly, Residue's words came to mind.
What she had sacrificed, besides her eyes and her arm...
At that moment, Lucas realized what it was.
Min Harin, she... had lost her emotions.
Tags:
TGMRA (Novel)