Ch.264Chapter 264 – The Magic Tower Collapses

In the Western Continent, there existed a very famous saying that had been passed down for ages:

‘Mages are either madmen or lunatics.’

Since this saying particularly treated mages as dangerous beings, one might expect there would be much controversy about it among mages themselves, but…

Surprisingly, mages didn’t get angry about this saying for tarnishing their honor.

Instead, when mages heard this saying, they praised its creator for accurately penetrating the essence of what it means to be a mage.

This was because the saying didn’t literally mean that mages were all lunatics or madmen, but rather that mages were so obsessed with magic to that extent.

Mages were fundamentally people who explored mana to create ‘magic.’

All mages had to walk the path that their predecessors, called pioneers, had walked before them.

No matter how talented one might be, magic always activated according to established rules.

In summary, the discipline of magic required foundational knowledge to produce corresponding results.

In that sense, there were many mages who worked tirelessly to leave their names in the history of magic.

Do you know the easiest way to leave your name in magic history?

It was to create ‘new magic.’

The criteria for new magic were quite simple.

One would be recognized for creating new magic by improving the formula to make magic activate faster or by making some kind of modification.

This meant that improving or enhancing magic was extremely difficult and challenging.

Naturally, many accidents occurred during this process, with magic failing to manifest being considered a very minor incident.

In severe cases, explosions occurred even with non-attack magic, and with attack magic, entire cities could be obliterated.

“I’d say it’s relatively safe now,” Zern Meyer said with a dejected expression and a bitter smile.

It was hard to believe he was the same person who had been explaining things in a bright voice just moments ago.

“Well, at least we’re alive, so that’s fortunate.”

We were currently trapped in the basement of the magic tower.

To be more precise, we were in the rubble of the completely collapsed magic tower.

“Is anyone hurt?”

“Everyone is safe! All 47 people who were in the banquet hall appear to be unharmed.”

Upon Zern’s question, the mages trapped underground quickly assessed the situation and reported back to him.

Zern let out a sigh of relief at the news that all forty-seven people were safe.

“Phew, that’s a relief at least.”

“What happened?”

“From what I can tell, it seems there was a problem in the magic research laboratory.”

“Is that just speculation, or are you certain the problem came from the laboratory?”

At my question, Zern fell into thought for a moment before speaking.

“I’m certain. The explosion sound we heard before the banquet hall collapsed is the kind you hear when an improved version of Explosion magic fails.”

Wow, does he have some kind of analysis device attached to his ears? How does he know that?

“Are you sure about that?”

“I’m certain. Unlike other magic, when attempts to improve Explosion magic fail, the resulting explosion produces a sharp, ear-splitting sound. Since we’ve spent our lives researching magic, we can distinguish the sound of failed magic improvements just by hearing them.”

I nodded at Zern’s explanation, but still wondered why the explosion had occurred.

“Do you know why the explosion happened?”

“…It seems the mages who skipped the banquet to work on improving magic made some kind of mistake.”

Zern let out such a deep sigh that it felt as if his soul was escaping with his breath.

His condition was extremely serious.

“When doing research, explosions are commonplace, but…”

“So this dealt a fatal blow to the magic tower, which was already in bad shape from previous explosion accidents.”

“Shamefully, that appears to be the case.”

Perhaps because I was now an honorary member of the magic tower, Zern showed his emotions without reservation.

“Still, it seems the other people in the magic tower are safe.”

“How do you know that?”

“This pendant you see here is something every member of the magic tower must possess. Through this, we can check what has happened to the tower’s members.”

The pendant Zern showed me was about the size of an adult man’s palm.

Judging by how it sparkled here and there, it seemed to be facilitating some kind of communication.

“The mages outside are currently contacting us about the situation. Everyone is safe, and except for the five mages caught in the explosion, everyone is unharmed.”

“That’s a huge relief. Is there some special mechanism installed in the magic tower?”

“Yes. When the magic tower is about to collapse, magic circles installed in the core stone teleport all mages inside to safe zones.”

“Then why are we trapped here now?”

“Well… the truth is, the banquet hall isn’t registered in the magic circles installed in the core stone…”

In other words, the banquet hall where I, Zern, and the other mages were located wasn’t registered in the teleportation magic circle that activates when the tower collapses.

“The banquet hall wasn’t part of the original design but was added later as an extension. So it wasn’t designated in the teleportation magic circle installed in the core stone, and above all, they didn’t anticipate that people would be in the banquet hall when the magic tower was collapsing.”

I found Zern’s explanation somewhat understandable.

I mean, think about it logically.

What kind of crazy person would stay holed up in a banquet hall when a magic tower is about to collapse?

Under normal circumstances, rather than being trapped in the banquet hall when the tower collapses, anyone would immediately escape outside.

However, in our case, people were in the banquet hall when the tower suddenly collapsed, leaving us trapped without a chance to escape.

“What are the chances of someone coming to rescue us from outside?”

“Well, the mages outside have already sent word, and since the building collapse was visible throughout Archenium, I think measures will be taken promptly, but…”

In the end, he didn’t know when the rescue team would arrive.

Fortunately, the mages here had deployed shields and used reinforcement magic to harden the outer walls of the space we were trapped in, so it didn’t seem like it would collapse immediately.

I wanted to suggest using my ability to get out, but I didn’t know what would appear at our location if I used it.

Moreover, I didn’t even have my hammer, so using my ability was impossible.

So all I could do was wait for rescue from the outside.

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

The collapse of the Archenium Magic Tower.

The scene of the tallest building in Archenium collapsing was witnessed by all citizens present.

As the tower collapsed, debris scattered in all directions, but fortunately, there were no other buildings nearby, so there were no major casualties.

Additionally, the tower’s automatic rescue magic activated, evacuating everyone except those in the banquet hall to designated safe zones outside the tower.

However, the problem was that people were trapped underground in the collapsed tower.

News of the tower’s collapse was spread by the security team that rushed to control the scene, and this information was also conveyed to the Imperial Palace and Glesius Academy.

“What did you say?”

Regina also wore an expression of disbelief at the news that reached her ears.

“The Archenium Magic Tower has collapsed, and people are trapped inside…”

“Patos!”

Before Shannon could finish speaking, Regina used teleportation to appear at the site of the collapsed magic tower in Archenium.

“It’s, it’s Lady Regina!”

“The legendary archmage!”

As Regina appeared, people recognized her and bowed their heads in fear.

The security guards who had been preventing people from approaching the collapse site became even more thorough in blocking access after Regina’s arrival.

“You’re still alive.”

Immediately upon arriving at the scene, Regina deployed a search magic without incantation and confirmed that Patos was alive.

Having confirmed he was alive, she had nothing to fear.

Regina completed all calculations with her genius mind and then uttered the activation word for her magic.

“Mass Teleport.”

As she spoke the activation word, a powerful flow of mana swirled around her, and a group of people appeared before her.

“Huh?”

“This is… outside?”

They were the people who had been trapped underground, and they seemed confused by the sudden change in their surroundings.

However, before them, Regina’s eyes fell on Patos.

Seeing him with scratches from small debris, she rushed to embrace him.

“Thank goodness, I’m so glad you’re alive…”

Regina was grateful that her lover was alive.

For her, Patos’s well-being was far more important than that of others.

Seeing his lover embracing him, Patos simply stroked her back gently.