Where Darkness Gathers (5)

The road back to the magic tower was utterly silent. Despite the three humans traversing the streets late at night, not a speck of dust stirred.

I closed my eyes and walked. Just like Granshel and Pawin had done, I relied solely on my senses to find my way, without using Mana. It felt like tightrope walking on a cliff. A dizzying sensation of not knowing where my body might fly. It wasn’t a delusion. I was actually walking towards a cliff, wasn’t I?

The cliff of death.

The closer I got to the Black Magic Tower, the faster my heart beat and the rougher my breath became. I remembered. Moments from the past. The instant my flesh split, my eyes snapped open, and my throat was blocked by the rising breath. When crimson muscles were exposed and dark red blood soaked the floor. When the fishy, nauseating smell of blood permeated my nostrils. When I was struck by a sword, my bones were crushed, and I convulsed in the agony of my brain burning. So many deaths came to greet me, but the door never opened in the end.

Because I didn’t open it.

-I open my eyes.

A cold wind brushes against my cornea. The wind hitting my face shook my hair, blowing it this way and that.

“Pawin. Have I ever told you?”

“…If it’s about how you can do anything if you set your mind to it.”

“It’s similar, but I’m actually hiding something. It’s nothing much, just a shameful preference I can’t reveal to others. That’s all it is.”

“…If it’s something like that… I haven’t heard it.”

“I’m a masochist. A masochist who goes wild when someone hits me or curses at me. You can despise me. Or, you can smash my head with that iron mace. As long as it’s not instantly fatal, it’s fine.”

“……”

Pawin didn’t answer me. She was still the same, clamping her mouth shut when she couldn’t find the words to say.

I didn’t wait for her next answer, though. I’m not used to expecting anything from others. If I were to expect anything, it would be related to self-harm or sadomasochistic sex.

It was impossible for someone to do something for me or respond to my true feelings unless they were completely insane.

That would mean Shuriel is crazy, but… well, that’s true. Anyway. Before long, we arrived at the Black Magic Tower.

“Unfitting for a place called the Black Magic Tower, there aren’t any wizards active at night. Is this also a prejudice?”

The door of the magic tower was firmly closed.

“Granshel! Can you open the door?!”

I craned my neck and shouted. There was no answer. It could just be that she was slow to respond, so I waited longer, but the result was the same.

Thinking about our first meeting, it might be difficult to contact her if there wasn’t someone to deliver the message separately. Unless there was a wizard active outside… but there wasn’t even that, so there was no way to convey the message.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at the door.

I could see it. A blue spiral of light floating in the air. The twisted and tangled lines crawled up and covered the entire door. It was a security device.

“What are you going to do?”

Shuriel tilted his head and pointed at the door.

His eyes seemed to say, ‘Let’s just go back and find another way.’ The one who vehemently opposed my suggestion was, surprisingly, Shuriel, not Pawin. It was also because of Shuriel that I couldn’t make a quick decision until dawn.

He even whispered to me in secret, away from Pawin, that he would rather learn black magic than be driven to death. I couldn’t help but scoff at his timid appearance, but I let it go since it was understandable.

“It seems they don’t receive guests at night. Still, if I explain the situation, they’ll understand, right?”

I smiled brightly and raised my hand.

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, the security device was even clearer. It was quite a complex circuit. Not only was there a triple barrier on the outer wall of the tower, but the main gate had a fivefold barrier.

I reached out and traced it. The strategy wasn’t difficult. The circuit that was most crucial to the barrier. I tore it out. At the same time, I planted a camouflage circuit to prevent the alarm from going off.

I thrust both hands into the gap in the barrier. Mana was transferred from the camouflage circuit. The Mana, spreading like blood flowing through veins, soon reached the entire barrier. I had most of the control under my command.

I finished this series of processes in an instant.

“Okay, open it.”

“…How did you do that?”

“I don’t think you’d understand even if I told you, so I’ll just say it simply. I picked the lock. I can build a whole city by myself, do you think picking a lock would be difficult?”

The barrier, now entering stabilization, didn’t reject us. I could have just broken through with brute force, but there would be a separate alarm inside. I wasn’t here to cause a commotion, so it was best to handle it quietly.

“The first-floor hall is empty…”

Considering the time, it was right that no one was there. Since everyone just used portals to get around, there was no need to go through the hall. The so-called ‘climber’s’ bracelet. By simply injecting a little Mana, you could open a portal to your assigned accommodation or laboratory.

“So, how do we meet the Tower Lord Granshel?”

“Really, I know you’re impatient, but there’s no need to keep asking and urging me. I’ll say it again, it’s a bit of a burden, but it’s not that serious. At least ‘for me,’ that is.”

Shuriel pouted and expressed his dissatisfaction. That was it. He had ‘understood’ that my way of thinking and his were separated by billions of years. Getting angry would only strain his relationship with me.

To believe the crazy talk about willingly committing suicide for the sake of a ghost’s ascension, he had no choice but to believe in me, of all people. I had the stamina. I didn’t like this method, though.

“Shuriel, Pawin. Check your mental link. I’ve minimized the impact on the main body as much as possible… but the intensity is high, so you might faint. You could even die. I’ll take care of it when that happens, but you still need to be careful.”

All preparations were complete in advance.

Now, all that was left was to execute it.

“I’m going to forcibly tear through space. Granshel might notice and retaliate, so I’ll go in alone.”

The tower is a place for climbers. The only way to climb higher than the floor you’re allowed is to overcome the trials. You could go if you were invited, but that would only be a temporary stay. If you couldn’t overcome the trials set by the tower, you couldn’t go up.

I concentrated Mana on my right arm. Geometric patterns extended from my elbow to my wrist. Spatial coordinates, the highest-level teleportation magic, and a protective formula to overcome the tower’s rejection were engraved.

Seureureuk… I slowly raised my right hand. The moment my shoulder and arm became horizontal, the magic circle engraved from my elbow to my wrist-the Mana inherent within gathered in my palm. A light so bright that it illuminated the hall submerged in darkness.

At that very moment.

I grabbed my right arm with my left and released the Mana as if shooting it out.

-Kwaaaaaak!!!

“Keuk…!”

The tower’s rejection was extreme. An uninvited guest was trying to climb the tower. And to the hundredth floor. Coveting the highest seat. Kagagag…! The tower poured all its power into trying to annihilate me. Attribute magic accumulated in the tower-the essence of hundreds of years attacked me.

“Get out of here-“

Blue light flashed in my eyes. I clenched my fist tightly. Kkadeuk. The sound of something being crushed. The tower’s resistance weakened. Riding that momentum, I entered stabilization.

-Jiiiiiing…

Blue light gathered. Mana swirling in a spiral shape. The small bead formed in the center gradually increased in size.

The bead gradually became elongated, large enough for one person to enter, and the amount of light emitted gradually decreased, becoming less bright than a fluorescent lamp. The faint light illuminated by Mana. I looked at the newly created passage and smiled with satisfaction.

I opened the portal.

“Ah, can you hear me over there?”

I spoke playfully, but there was no answer, as expected. More than that, I thought she would attack as soon as I opened the portal, but it was quieter than I expected. Or, she might ambush me the moment I entered.

“I haven’t heard that she’s away… Is there some kind of meeting between wizards today?”

Shuriel shook his head.

Surely she didn’t fail to notice. I caused such a ruckus.

‘Shall I go in?’

I entered the portal without hesitation. If I was attacked, I would just take it. I was going to be tortured anyway, so this would be good practice.

Then.

-Stop.

The voice I had been waiting for.

“I’ve heard that you built a city by yourself… but I didn’t know it would be to this extent.”

Granshel.

She yawned and revealed her face.

“Haaam…. Even the previous Tower Lords couldn’t overcome the tower’s rejection. There have been many attempts to forcibly climb to the upper floors, and there are countless attempts even now. But no one has ever succeeded. Well, I don’t want to know. Uncovering the secrets of the tower is taboo, and it doesn’t help with growth at all.”

She was in her pajamas. She chattered incessantly even while yawning. Judging from the circumstances, she seemed to have been sleeping. However, unlike her languid eyes, the aura emanating from her body was atrocious.

Coming back to it, if I were to summarize Granshel’s words, it would be something like, ‘What the hell are you?’

“Sorry, Granshel. I have a favor to ask.”

I said with an awkward smile. Granshel raised her eyebrows at the word ‘favor.’ And she opened her mouth.

“Dealing with darkness and overcoming the night is an easy task. You don’t even need magic. To put it bluntly, you just need to light a fire, right? Well, yeah. If you’ve overcome it, you should use it in reverse. But… wandering around late at night and using dark magic doesn’t look good. You know? That Inquisitor miss over there. So, we usually work during the day.”

It was a long speech, but it probably meant, ‘Why did you wake me up when I was sleeping?’

“I’m sorry. Wizards usually don’t sleep well at night… I just assumed you were awake.”

Wizards usually don’t sleep well at night…

The mages who do rough work or the ones who don’t sleep at night, the magic tower mages turn on the lights at dawn and devote themselves to research. That’s what mages are. A race that dies if they can’t satisfy their curiosity. There are exceptions, but I didn’t know that someone who was a Tower Lord would diligently fulfill their need for sleep.

Granshel approached me in her pajamas, which revealed her thighs.

“Night. I like it. But there’s another reason why we act during the day. The darkness spread everywhere is hard to control. Dark magic is more dangerous than other magic. If you recklessly delve into it without an answer… you’ll be eaten. The moment you cross the line, it’ll pounce on you.”

You crossed the line.

Granshel glared at me and said.

“That’s why we start partial training in the morning. Darkness becomes clearer when there’s light. We deal with small amounts of darkness first. When we gradually build up our strength like that… we finally train at night. That’s the real training.”

• Seureureuk.

Darkness spread. When I turned around in the suddenly darkened vision, the faint blue light emitted by the portal had also been eaten by the darkness and disappeared.

__

-Where should I loosen up a bit?

Voices could be heard from all directions. Even if I lit a fire or created a sphere of light, the darkness didn’t dissipate. Only the echoing voices lingered in my ears.

“I didn’t come here to fight.”

I adjusted my senses to avoid getting lost in the darkness.

-I borrow the name of the first Tower Lord, Karpia. I, Karpia Granshel, warn you, who have broken the fair and just rules of the tower and illegally invaded the space of the climber that should be completely separated.

Get out of here immediately.

-If you can’t win, just close your eyes in the darkness.

If not, be prepared to fight to the death.

Granshel was more angry about breaking the rules of the tower than about invading her room without permission. Ignoring the tower’s resistance and invading the climber’s floor was a challenge and insult to all magic towers.

“…That’s exactly it.”

Of course.

I knew.

“I won’t resist. Kill me.”

-…

The attack stopped. At the same time, the air trembled.

Granshel demanded additional explanations from me.

“…It seems like you’re finally willing to listen to me?”

I raised my head and looked ‘exactly’ at where Granshel was. Darkness where nothing could be seen. I inferred the location of Granshel, who had hidden her appearance, using only my senses.

And our eyes met.

I looked directly at Granshel and said.

“It’s nothing much. Please preserve that anger…”

With the determination to die if you don’t kill me.

“…Will you torture me?”