Ch.119White Tower Master (3)

“…”

“…”

We and the attackers glared at each other in silence for a moment.

I was trying to assess the current situation, while they were trying to figure out who we were.

After a brief silence of mutual glaring, the one who appeared to be the leader of the attackers spoke first.

“Judging by your attire, you’re students from the Magic Tower.”

Perhaps it was thanks to our change of clothes beforehand.

The attacker seemed to view us as just some of the many mages belonging to the Magic Tower.

This was clearly a favorable situation for us, but there was something that didn’t make sense.

How could someone with such poor skills—unable to see through this simple disguise—have defeated the White Tower Master?

‘Even if they started the battle with a surprise attack… they don’t seem skilled enough to defeat a Tower Master.’

For now, I could only assume they had some hidden trick up their sleeve.

So it would be best to make them lower their guard as much as possible.

“I suppose so… But may I ask what’s going on here?”

“You just had bad luck, that’s all. I hope you have better luck in your next life.”

I acted the part of a mage who had accidentally stumbled upon this place, playing into their misconception.

My act seemed to work well, as the attacker approached me with a red-glowing dagger in hand, showing no particular suspicion.

But even so, they were far too unguarded.

“I’ll send you painlessly… Argh!”

“As I thought… you’re too weak to have killed a Tower Master.”

See?

Even their leader didn’t require me to draw my weapon.

“Ugh… my arm… You’re no ordinary mage.”

“Hmm, is this dagger the source of your confidence?”

The attacker glared at me while clutching his severed arm.

The fact that he wasn’t rolling on the ground in pain suggested he had at least some combat experience.

‘Still not enough to take down a Tower Master though.’

I wondered if the dagger might be blessed by an evil god, but upon checking, that wasn’t the case.

What coated the dagger were merely curses using black magic.

[It doesn’t look like ordinary curses that we can talk about lightly.]

‘It’s not a weak curse, but not strong enough to help someone overcome an insurmountable wall.’

No matter how vicious a curse might be, if it couldn’t hit its target, it was as good as nonexistent.

What else could they be hiding?

As I remained vigilant of my surroundings, waiting for the attackers’ next move, one of them who had quickly distanced himself from me shouted.

“Activate the device now!!”

“This artifact wasn’t designed for multiple uses…! If we force it to activate…”

“I don’t care if it gets damaged, just activate it now!”

From their conversation, it seemed they had prepared some kind of artifact.

That must be how they were able to defeat the White Tower Master.

‘The voice is coming from… over there.’

While I was personally curious about the artifact’s effects, I had no intention of waiting around to find out the hard way.

If it was something that helped them defeat the White Tower Master, it could be a threat to me as well.

‘I’ll examine the artifact after subduing them.’

I drew my sword half a beat faster than the artifact could be activated.

While I might not have spotted them if they had been completely silent and hidden, their open conversation made their location crystal clear.

Slash—

With a single stroke, the head of the person hiding in the distance flew into the air, along with part of a nearby tree.

“If you’re going to hide, you shouldn’t open your mouth.”

“Damn it… Everyone retreat!”

“It’s already too late.”

When their scheme fell apart in an instant, the attackers immediately tried to flee, but they were stopped by Kitsune, who had already spread her shikigami.

They froze in the middle of trying to move in different directions and collapsed to the ground.

“Looks like they’re completely subdued. Now, let’s hear about that artifact… Huh?”

“Please, we can still fight…!”

As I approached the attackers to extract some information, they were staring into empty space with pale expressions.

They began begging the air for another chance, but even that didn’t last long.

All the attackers died on the spot, their life force drained as they rapidly aged.

It looked just like the Apostles when they became incapacitated.

‘But I didn’t think they were Apostles.’

With a glimmer of hope, I looked at Lilly, but her answer confirmed they weren’t Apostles.

“I thought the same thing because of how similar their deaths looked, but they definitely weren’t Apostles.”

“Hmm… I see.”

To make matters worse, the artifact they had tried to activate was already significantly damaged.

What they said earlier about it not being designed for multiple uses seemed to be true.

“At this rate, it probably wouldn’t have worked even if we had left it alone. We could have taken our time with the battle.”

“When you’re not certain, it’s better to be thorough. The White Tower Master was defeated, after all.”

As Lilly spoke, she glanced toward the fallen Tower Master in the distance, and my gaze naturally followed.

The White Tower Master sprawled on the ground had stopped breathing long ago, and his heart had ceased beating as well.

Looking at the body of the White Tower Master, Lumia briefly commented.

[That’s definitely dead by anyone’s standards.]

[What a shame after rushing all the way here.]

Yes, he was dead by anyone’s standards.

Lumia saw he was dead, Lilly saw he was dead, and even Kitsune’s confirmation didn’t change the fact that he was dead.

But at that moment, I felt something was off.

‘Isn’t he… too perfectly dead?’

[What do you mean “perfectly dead”? Dead is dead.]

‘True, but it seems like someone of Tower Master caliber died too easily.’

The Tower Master hadn’t been killed in his sleep; he had died after a proper battle.

That meant he must have clearly recognized that he was in mortal danger.

‘Someone of his level should be able to move even after their heart stops.’

A-rank adventurers and beyond, especially S-rank adventurers, could be called superhuman rather than human.

With enough willpower and magical power, they could even make a stopped heart beat again.

[So you’re saying the Tower Master died too cleanly?]

‘Yes, he should be able to use holy magic too, so his combat endurance should be better than an ordinary mage.’

While he could be defeated by something, surrendering so quietly was clearly suspicious.

The doubt that began with this sense of incongruity soon led me to one certainty.

“Considering how the White Tower Master was taken down like this, the other Tower Masters might be in danger too… Shouldn’t we meet them quickly?”

“Come to think of it… didn’t the White Tower Master borrow a magic book on clone magic?”

“Huh?”

Lilly seemed momentarily confused by my disjointed words, but I continued regardless.

After all, my current words weren’t meant for Lilly or Kitsune.

“Clone magic mimics the user almost perfectly. Though created by magic, it looks like a perfect person on the outside.”

That’s why magically created clones can be poisoned, cursed, and even die.

But a clone doesn’t necessarily disappear when it dies.

‘Of course, since it can’t move after death, it’s more efficient to cancel the summon and create a new one, but…’

If the purpose wasn’t combat from the beginning, and if this usage was intended, that would be a different story.

Yes, if one wanted to fake death and hide, nothing would be more useful than this clone magic.

“We’re not enemies, by the way.”

With half-certainty, I spoke out to find the White Tower Master who must be hiding somewhere around here.

There was no immediate response.

That was natural, given that he had just faced a death threat and would be highly cautious.

But I couldn’t back down.

Regardless of whether the White Tower Master was alive or not, the urgency of the situation remained unchanged.

“I know it’s hard to trust us, but let’s at least talk. Both you and we desperately need allies to stand against the Black Magic Tower.”

“Sigh, I’ve already been discovered, so hiding any longer would just be a waste of magical power.”

Was it my sincerity that got through to him?

Or did he simply realize that continuing to hide after being discovered was pointless?

The White Tower Master’s corpse on the ground disappeared in a flash of light, and as a light veil lifted from the air, the perfectly fine White Tower Master revealed himself.

“Fortunately, it seems the persuasion worked well.”

“No, I still don’t trust you. So… give me a reason why I should believe you.”

The White Tower Master, Luminel, looked at me with eyes full of wariness.