Chapter 164 : Chapter 164

Chapter 164

A secret chamber shrouded in darkness.

White and black mana flickered over the stones that made up the walls.

The ceiling soared high, but its end was submerged in darkness, invisible to the eye.

In the center of the room, a round stone statue was placed, its surface faintly engraved with ancient characters.

A secret space created by connecting the White and Black Magic Towers.

Two mages revealed themselves there.

“It has been a while since we last met here.”

The White Duke, Rastian Arken, spoke as he looked at the man across from him.

“Did you treat the injuries inflicted by Hegel Cornelia well?”

“I wasn't inflicted with anything; my mana simply experienced a reflux. Our Mana Hearts are no longer ordinary, after all.”

The Black Duke, Morus Obitus, replied with a grim laugh.

“Then that is a relief. It would be ridiculous for the supposed head of a Magic Tower to be unable to use his power.”

“What about you? Have you recovered from the injuries you sustained in Eurasia? I heard you were busy saving your own skin?”

“……”

The White Duke briefly recalled the battle in Eurasia.

There, he had faced Simon Eurasia and Escardo Schtenberg simultaneously.

Facing an 8-star Knight and a Knight who had mastered 7-star simultaneously.

It was not an easy task, even for him.

“I, too, have no injuries to speak of.”

“A response befitting you.”

Klklkl.

The Black Duke scoffed mockingly.

He knew that, contrary to his words, the White Duke’s escape had not been easy.

“Simon Eurasia. That man has become even more of a monster in the time I haven’t seen him.”

The White Duke recalled the moment he faced Simon.

His personal achievement was around the mid-level of 8-star, but when synchronized with the Magic Tower, he was nothing short of an 8-star master.

Was that all?

‘We have a new power.’

‘Divine Power’, which borrows the Authorities of the Gods.

‘Radiance’, which manifests the Curses of the Grotesquery.

The White and Black Magic Towers had each been reinterpreting the Authorities of the Gods and the Curses of the Grotesquery, experimenting with combining them with mana.

That experiment had been passed down for a long time, and in the modern era, the two of them, the legitimate successors, had inherited it.

The Black Duke raised his index finger.

“To think that someone like you barely managed to escape with your life. Did Simon Eurasia master the 8-star or something?”

“That grim personality of yours is still the same.”

The White Duke, clicking his tongue, spoke again.

“There were two things I overlooked.”

“Klklkl. Let us hear them.”

“First, about the level of the Eurasia princes. Among them, Killian Eurasia was capable of facing the two superhumans accompanying the Fifth Prince all by himself.”

“Did I not say? That two superhumans would not be nearly enough to face him.”

If they had been ordinary superhumans, the Second Prince Isaac would not have been defeated so soundly.

The Black Duke chided the White Duke for not heeding his advice.

“Are you trying to say I should have brought an army?”

“What a foolish thing to say.”

“You are the foolish one. The limit to what could enter Eurasia’s banquet hall was about two superhumans. Any more than that, and they would not have let us in so easily.”

He had intended to use the Fifth Prince as a sacrifice for the curse anyway, so he was not much of a loss.

The only problem was that he hadn't known Killian Eurasia would deal with the activated piece of Grotesquery so easily.

“And the second?”

“Simon Eurasia. He had already mastered the 8-star.”

At those words, even the Black Duke looked surprised.

“I did not hide my use of divine power. On the contrary, I revealed all the cards I held with the intention of killing him.”

By fusing mana and divine power, one could produce power equivalent to a master without synchronizing with the Magic Tower.

The total amount of mana would be insufficient, but the destructive power would not be much different from when synchronized with the Magic Tower.

However, Simon Eurasia had offset the divine power used by the White Duke with Ke and Shik, and Escardo Schtenberg had sliced through space, cutting down countless spells.

It was as if they had known from the beginning that he would come.

“You said you injured him?”

“At best, it was a minor wound that would heal with two or three months of treatment.”

An injury so minor it was hard to believe that 8-star beings had clashed.

“Anyway.”

Just then, the White Duke smoothly changed the subject.

It seemed that was enough talk about past events.

“The reason we gathered is not to confirm our past failures, is it?”

They had a common plan from the start.

“The operation we were pushing for in Elvenheim has failed.”

The plan to get their hands on Yggdrasil by using the Arch Lich in the Oran Mountain Range.

Just in case, he had cast a spell to detect the power of Grotesquery in Elvenheim and the Oran Mountain Range from the very beginning.

In the midst of that, the traces of the Grotesquery piece in Elvenheim disappeared.

He had tried to send people to confirm, but it was not easy to approach due to the Arch Lich’s rage.

Although he had crossed the wall twice through wicked means, he was, after all, an Arch Lich with power comparable to an 8-star mage.

He had planned to approach again once his anger subsided.

But a while ago, the spell he had cast on the Oran Mountain Range was activated.

It was a signal that the aura of Grotesquery that had been there had also disappeared.

It meant that someone had subjugated the Arch Lich.

“Yes… was his name Johannes Schtenberg.”

The illegitimate son of a family head who had remained at the edge of 6-star, from the Schtenberg Family that had wielded power on the central continent as a Sword Family until a few decades ago.

The Black Duke nodded as he muttered his name.

“I saw him once while conducting research with my master.”

Like most of those who belonged to the Black Magic Tower, he had a certain degree of talent.

“But it was not enough to cross the wall.”

A level where he would not have been able to cross the wall if not for the research through the piece of Grotesquery.

“But not only did he cause trouble as soon as he crossed the wall, he also stole the Curse of Grotesquery that the Magic Tower was researching and went into hiding.”

“With the full power of the Magic Tower, you should have been able to track him?”

“You know well. My master intended to do so.”

He said they tried to track him by mobilizing five Arch Mages and about a hundred high-ranking mages from the Magic Tower.

“If my master had had his way, that bastard would have been caught and brought back within two years.”

“Don't tell me you stopped him?”

The Black Duke responded to the White Duke’s question with a grim smile.

“I heard that 200 years ago, the Grotesquery had hundreds of curses. But what we are dealing with is, at best, only one curse each.”

“……”

“Of course, the irony is that even with just one of those curses, it carries the risk of annihilating a decent-sized kingdom.”

The Black Duke continued.

“We call it a piece, but it feels lacking to call it a true piece.”

The pieces of Grotesquery did not have a form like magic stones.

They were mostly discovered in a formless state, and high-ranking mages like themselves would capture them in tools or living creatures to study them.

“But that bastard implanted it in his own body and took it. He must have been out of his mind trying to escape.”

The Curse of Exploration.

“It is a non-lethal curse compared to others. I was curious.”

How far he could climb with the piece of Grotesquery he had monopolized.

“And what help the results of his research would be to the Black Magic Tower in the future.”

Indeed, the man had abandoned his humanity to immerse himself in research and finally reached 8-star.

Of course, since it was an 8-star he had reached by becoming a monster, he probably couldn’t completely eliminate the imperfections.

“But it was a sufficiently valuable experiment just for that.”

A human who crossed the wall through a curse.

He said it raised the benchmark for how far such a person could climb.

“Prince Isaac will be pleased. His Highness has been quite disheartened since his defeat to Killian Eurasia.”

“Before the Prince’s joy, we should worry about ourselves.”

The Elvenheim matter using Johannes Schtenberg was their last chance before the war broke out.

The White Duke and the Black Duke exchanged meaningful glances.

“We will have to report to His Majesty the Emperor soon.”

“Is that so. I might get to experience death after a long time.”

Contrary to his nonchalant tone, the Black Duke’s expression was not good.

The Emperor of the Heinrich Empire, Pergius Heinrich.

He was the only person who could make the two Magic Tower heads tremble in fear.

“I wonder how many lives will be lost if we are summoned this time.”

“It would be best to refrain from such impious words, even in front of me. Just because we have come to serve His Highness the Prince, you haven't forgotten that we are His Majesty the Emperor's men, have you?”

“Hoh. Do you doubt my loyalty?”

“His Majesty the Emperor has chosen to become a God.”

“After researching divine power, your thoughts have become like a priest's.”

“Is it not the future you also chose to see the end of the demonic path?”

The Black Duke chuckled.

“I understand your thoughts well, so let us stop here. We shall see each other again after His Majesty the Emperor's questioning is over.”

Ssk.

The figure of the Black Duke disappeared.

“……”

Left alone, the White Duke quietly looked at his reflection in the mirror.

“9-star, is it.”

The self-deprecating laughter was brief.

“I have sacrificed far too much.”

Ssk.

The White Duke vanished from the secret space.

***

The Annihilation Squad Leader’s personal training ground.

There, Killian and Escardo stood facing each other.

After a brief probing exchange.

Hwaaak. Hwaaaak.

Blue and red mana flickered.

As the two men’s mana intersected, the air of the training ground became filled with a heavy tension.

Clang. Claaang.

Several exchanges were traded.

The atmosphere was closer to an actual battle than a spar.

“Carpe.”

“Carpe.”

The domains unfolded by the two knights pushed against each other’s mana as if in a power struggle, and the two swords clashed once again.

The one who seized the upper hand first was Escardo.

“Carpe Illusion.”

The red mana flowing through Escardo Schtenberg's Sword filled the training ground.

“Severatio.”

The surrounding space distorted, and the reality that enveloped them slowly faded away.

Clang!

When Killian cut down the approaching red mana, a sound like a blade being repelled rang out.

‘This is Sir Escardo’s Carpe Illusion.’

Even an ordinary breeze, according to the user’s will, possessed the sharpness of a sword and aimed for the opponent’s life.

Killian calmly raised his sword.

His eyes were as composed as ever.

“A world that cuts down everything. How interesting.”

“I shall grant you a handicap, so you should unfold your domain as well.”

Escardo warned that in the current state, he could be seriously injured by his sword.

It was the consideration of a knight who had reached 8-star.

There was no reason for Killian to refuse.

The tip of Aether’s blade touched the floor.

Kwarurururu.

A sea of mana flowed out from the sword, pushing back Escardo’s domain.

“Total Solar Eclipse.”

Hwaaaaak.

The sky darkened, and the sun disappeared.

The shadow that covered the sun came into contact with the red mana.

Pajijik. Pajik.

A clash between a domain trying to absorb and a domain trying to cut down.

The moment the two Carpe Illusions collided, the mana waves intensified.

Claaaang!

Sword met sword.

Pajijijijik!!

The two’s Carpe Illusions continued to clash.

Normally, this would have been the moment to determine a new victor.

But suddenly.

“Keuk……”

Killian’s face contorted in a sudden onset of pain.

‘Again… this symptom.’

As if mana was boiling inside his body, his heart and Mana Heart began to throb.

It was the same symptom as when he had faced Johannes Schtenberg before.

“Keueuk……”

As the headache continued, Killian momentarily lost his balance.

Because of that, he could not properly block Escardo’s sword, which was swung aiming for his waist.

Kwaang!!

A loud roar was followed by a powerful impact.

He had shrouded his body in mana using the sword membrane of his scabbard, but the impact dispelled his Carpe Illusion.

Killian, who had been thrown to the end of the training ground, staggered to his feet.

Just taking one blow seemed to make the reflux surge.

“Are you alright?!!”

Escardo, too, looked surprised, as if he hadn't expected him to react so helplessly.

‘This is a big problem.’

Killian trembled in pain as he tried to control the reflux symptoms.

The war with the Empire was just around the corner.

‘In this state…….’