Chapter 102 : Chapter 102

Chapter 102 - The Master of the Magic Tower

There were various things I had requested from Mangrave, but the most crucial matter was, by far, one thing.

A meeting with the Master of the Magic Tower.

“...Hmm.”

Mages in the world of Conqueror held a very strange position.

They were never ignored wherever they went, but at the same time, they were never welcomed anywhere.

That was because everyone knew that mages were high-class personnel who did great things, but no one knew exactly what purpose these people moved with.

Their main job was to annihilate everything related to the existence of ‘demons’, but in the first place, almost all information related to that was controlled.

Considering the characteristics of some cunning ones, they were the type where just obtaining knowledge was dangerous.

So, the image of a mage eventually boiled down to being ‘a mysterious but unapproachable existence’.

And sitting at the pinnacle of that image was the Master of the Magic Tower.

He wasn't just mysterious; he was also one of the most sinister people in the entire game.

A man who truly wouldn't let his right hand know what his left hand was doing.

“Master of the Magic Tower. The guest I mentioned before...”

-Do you think that makes sense right now!

“...”

Cornelius’s words were cut off by a sharp voice that came from inside the room.

The Master of the Magic Tower's office was so noisy that you could feel it even through the door. The voices of several people could be heard. It was obvious he hadn't cleared his schedule to meet me.

When I sought Cornelius's understanding with a glance, this mafia-boss-like man also nodded with an apologetic expression.

In any case, I was the one whose rightful exercise of my rights was being obstructed.

-A gate opened by a demon appeared in the middle of the Grand Unification Event! What on earth were the mages near the Magic Tower doing!

-I don’t want to hear it from a branch that was just sucking its thumb from afar. We proved our worth in actual combat!

And inside the office, a fiery war of words was taking place.

They seemed to be the branch managers of other magic associations, not the Magic Tower in the Vatican.

An elderly branch manager with an authoritarian tone. A young branch manager unable to control his vigor.

These two phantasmal bodies were raising their voices, bickering over who did better.

‘...In truth, even just being a branch manager makes them crazy mages.’

Both of them were probably super-elites who wouldn't fail to secure a seat of honor anywhere they went. At least, if you sent a truckload of the current Lee Si-yeong, these two could probably clean them up in no time.

Just looking at them arguing, they seemed like people who hadn't fully grown up.

And in the very center of that remote video conference was a middle-aged man with his legs crossed.

Slit eyes. An ever-smiling face. Graying white hair and a monocle.

The head of the organization that exists to annihilate all the world’s ma (demonic energy/evil), the Master of the Magic Tower.

“...Master of the Magic Tower. Am I interrupting, by any chance?”

“Ah, Cornelius. Not at all. So, everyone, please stop. The meritorious contributor of this incident has graced us with his presence.”

As soon as the Master of the Magic Tower said that, the faces of the two branch managers turned to me simultaneously.

And the aura in their eyes was by no means favorable.

Well, yes.

In the first place, these two were just bickering over who had more merit in the recent incident.

But the person who should have been weighing that just nonchalantly stamped his approval that the one who played the biggest role here was an outsider, me.

And a Climber from a weak Eastern guild, an easy target for disdain at that.

In reality, I did do all the work, but these high-and-mighty blockheads who were only concerned with debating merits and rewards even after an incident where people almost died were unlikely to consider that.

-Did you sell your self-introduction somewhere? You are before the Master of the Magic Tower.

-It seems the Climbers of the East have no common sense.

No.

Weren't you two just growling at each other a moment ago?

The speed at which they joined forces as soon as a common target to bite appeared was astonishing.

“...”

I glared at the Master of the Magic Tower, who was looking at me with a benevolent smile.

There was no way this man didn't know that these two would become hostile to me if he said that.

The reason he said it anyway was obvious.

He was testing me.

Testing to see how wisely I could get out of this situation.

“Hoo.”

Damn it.

Then, well.

I'll give you what you want.

Injecting manners into foolish people is my specialty, after all.

“The demons’ activities have been a bit quiet lately. Originally, they were guys who would pop up at least once a month to cause incidents, but recently, they’ve been quiet on a yearly basis.”

As those words suddenly came out of my mouth, the branch managers frowned simultaneously.

It would seem like I was talking about something unrelated to the original topic, so they were probably wondering what I was on about.

I continued, undeterred.

“Well, in fact, it’s probably not that strange. They were always guys who operated on a certain cycle, so it’s fair to think that this time, too, their rest period is over and they’ve crawled out of their dens.”

I said, looking at the two branch managers.

“Two idiots who can’t even see the essence of the incident would probably think just that. Seeing you two fight over who’s better when you’re both useless makes it certain.”

A brief silence fell.

Soon, the two, who understood what I had said, became enraged at the same time.

-A childish, cheap provocation. Choose your words carefully. You could be hastening your death.

-Hah. I thought you were foolish enough for a young friend, but here’s an even bigger one.

The two of them simultaneously hurled harsh words at me.

The mana of the entire space turned hostile towards me. A pressure that made it difficult to breathe set in.

As expected of elite mages. Even the way they expressed their hostility was classy.

But, so what.

I came with a topic that would make even guys like these tremble.

I took out a bottle from my pocket. It was the one that had held the enhancement drug Edgar drank.

“But, there’s something a bit regrettable.”

I strode confidently to the front of the Master of the Magic Tower.

I threw the bottle onto his table.

Black smoke crawled out from the completely corroded vial.

“The demon’s energy mixed in here. Everything else is fine. But there’s one with the ‘corrosion’ attribute. The one that converts everything it touches into ‘ma’.”

Silence fell. The faces of the young and old branch managers, who had been spewing harsh words at me just a moment ago, turned pale simultaneously.

The people here were at least capable enough to climb to high positions. They were starting to guess what kind of story would come out of my mouth.

That was the very reason these people existed.

“Since you are mages, you should know what that is. Which demon wields such power.”

The Great King of Flies.

A being that boasted end-content level difficulty in the Conqueror world. A being that could become the final boss depending on the route.

A being that would cause an apocalypse and ruin the entire world if left alone.

The reason mages would first destroy, kill, and purify anyone even slightly related to it. Leading to the continuous creation of victims like Edgar and Lee Si-yeong.

I was talking about that kind of being.

“Ah, of course, it doesn’t seem to be fully awake yet. Its energy is faint, and even someone like me managed to subdue it somehow. However.”

Clearly. With controlled tempo. Slowly.

So that the sentence I was saying was properly hammered into their ears.

“It will probably awaken very soon. The fact that its energy has leaked out is proof of that, isn't it?”

The branch managers looked at each other.

Fear was in their eyes. It was particularly intense in the older one. His demon hunting career must be long, so there was a high chance he had experienced a fragment of that power at least once.

And if one had such an experience even once.

That experience would forever stick inside the brain and never leave.

The [King of Flies] was that kind of being. It wasn't for nothing that these people would crush even the slightest sign of it, creating innocent victims in the process.

And I had just declared that the main body of such a being was about to be resurrected.

“Well, the situation being what it is. It's no big deal. Let’s just leave it and settle the merits and rewards first. A demon that turns its surroundings into a living hell just by breathing, contaminates your mind just by making eye contact, and melts everything its body touches is about to be resurrected. That’s more important. Of course.”

-...You’re not even a demon expert. How can we believe everything you say...

“Mister.”

I smirked and cut off the young branch manager’s words. I walked up and looked him straight in the eye.

“While you were sitting there receiving reports on paper, I was just out there beating up the guy who drank this. How many demons have you killed in actual combat?”

-...

“That’s enough. Opposition for the sake of opposition is disgusting.”

This time, no particular answer came back.

I sighed and turned my head towards the Master of the Magic Tower.

“So, I think my ‘self-introduction’ is done by now. Shall we move on to the real story?”

“The real story?”

“Business talk. About how to take down the King of Flies.”

The room was filled with a completely different kind of silence than before.

-...Are you being serious right now? After explaining in detail how dangerous that thing is?

Do you think I’d say this as a lie?

No, seriously. If it’s that dangerous, isn't it normal to take it down quickly?

‘In the first place...’

I had to take that thing down to unlock the ending route I wanted.

And crucially.

It wasn't a completely absurd story either.

As long as you guys help me with one thing.

***

The Master of the Magic Tower calmly looked down at the necklace placed before him.

‘This. You can complete it, right?’

‘Did you say complete?’

‘This isn’t finished yet. Well, you’ll know when you see it.’

It was the ‘reward’ the Climber named Kim Gyu-sik had demanded for resolving this incident.

That man had called it the Gnosis’s Heart.

He had just publicly declared that if this was completed, he would personally ‘hunt’ the King of Flies.

“...He’s in the same guild as the ‘Seed’. What do you think?”

At Cornelius’s question from the side, the Master of the Magic Tower let out a dry laugh.

“He was a more peculiar person than I had heard in the reports. Although there’s no credibility to his words yet.”

Of course, he had heard that he played a great role this time, but separate from that, the claim of taking down the King of Flies single-handedly was, no matter how you looked at it, likely a bluff.

Considering the essence of that demon, it would be an impossible task even if the Master of the Magic Tower himself went.

“...”

The Master of the Magic Tower picked up the necklace and examined it more closely.

The first impression was that it was one of the common mana amplifying devices. It felt like it was made by a fairly renowned craftsman, but he couldn't find anything special about its performance.

In what part was it incomplete? What was this thing that he could boast of being able to face even the King of Flies?

He was thinking that.

Until he discovered the ‘tissue’ embedded in the very center of the necklace.

“...”

The Master of the Magic Tower’s eyes widened.

“...I see.”

He understood at once.

Why this was incomplete.

Why he was entrusted with this.

Why he even mentioned the King of Flies.

‘...He doesn't speak untruths. That man.’

Certainly, if this were to be completed.

Hunting the strongest demon in history might not be just an empty boast.

Thinking so, the Master of the Magic Tower let out a hollow laugh.

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