41 – The Power of the National Treasure
The scorching sun was already rising outside the window.
But he was still trapped in deep contemplation that had persisted since last night, unable to come out of it.
“When would be a good time…?”
His haggard face was a clear proof that he hadn’t slept a wink.
The situation was not easy, as he unconsciously repeated the dry washing of his face from time to time.
It was because he had failed the request of Duke Shurain, who had more power than the emperor in the empire.
The request was to annihilate the Northern Army, the strongest force of the Elven Kingdom, and assassinate the Crown Prince Eos.
In addition to the astronomical amount of commission fee.
With a huge increase in royal support funds, it was a significant request that could even be said to be the fate of the tower.
There was also an additional request to use as flashy and destructive magic as possible, so that war could break out between humans and elves.
Because the conditions I had set were so extraordinary.
Summoning meteorites, even at the cost of mobilizing countless magic stones and almost all the wizards of the tower. And more than once.
But still, the request had failed.
How could this even be possible?
It was definitely more difficult to bear than an unbelievable failure.
The failure of the request had a substantial financial impact on the tower.
Not only did the battleship soar through the sky, but it also swept away a massive amount of magic stones to summon meteors. As a result, it became difficult to secure enough magic stones for experiments or training within the tower for a while.
Furthermore, many of the wizards who used magic together exhausted their mana.
As a result, they lost consciousness and were still wandering in dire straits.
Yes.
Currently, the blazing magic tower was in a great crisis due to the failure of the commission.
Since becoming an apprentice wizard and entering the tower after graduating from the academy, I had never experienced such a thing before, so I couldn’t even feel it properly.
From Noble mtl dot com
It was quite an achievement to block four meteors.
Honestly, I thought I could do it with two.
After all, Aplatus, the supreme commander of the Northern Army of Liven Guard, controls a superior spirit.
So, I dropped one first and then dropped two more in succession.
It goes without saying that the destructive power of one meteor was unnecessary to mention.
Just one fall could cause the worst disaster that a living being could experience.
And yet, one elf managed to block three of them, so his reputation as the Tower Lord was unshaken.
Of course, Arduor was certain of that.
The mana consumption efficiency of the spirits is extremely poor, so Aplatus would have no more energy left.
In fact, he even vomited blood and kneeled down.
And that was the reason why he stubbornly dropped the fourth meteor against the opposition of the wizards, even at the cost of the crowd.
Victory was already in his hands.
Just that alone would have caused a significant portion of the southern Tenafer Barony and the northern forest of Liven Guard to be devastated.
Due to an enormous shock, an earthquake would occur throughout the empire.
Intense heat generated from friction with the atmosphere would cause blazing flames to shoot up from all directions.
Even if the morning breaks and a bright day dawns, the thick dust would still linger, and the gloomy day would persist for a while.
But…
That asteroid, filled with the potential for such a terrifying disaster…
Was simply blocked by a young-looking woman raising her hands.
“Ha!”
It was truly astounding.
“hahahahaha!”
It was so unbelievable that laughter burst out, as if from a deranged person.
“What in the world is that shield of light…”
That extraordinary magic, which felt completely different, was something I had never seen before in my life.
I had read countless magic books, but I had never come across a shield made of light that could even block an asteroid.
To think that a young woman with blonde hair, who didn’t even seem to be twenty years old, was using such incredible magic…
I felt a deep self-loathing, wanting to tear my own heart apart.
“Could it be… a dragon?”
If it was the magic of an extremely powerful dragon, it could be possible.
But I had never heard of a dragon that wielded light magic.
Moreover…
Why on earth would a dragon bother to unnecessarily block an asteroid…
The doubts continued to pile up, leaving Ardur with no choice but to sigh deeply, unable to find an answer.
“Who on earth is that woman!”
Bang!
In the end, he even slammed the table hard enough to hurt his fist, but still, no answer came.
It was a painful failure, but now he had to think about the future.
Regardless, he had to inform Duke Shrein of the results as soon as possible.
“….!”
And then, he realized too late.
Even though he appeared calm on the surface as the commander of many wizards.
Because of his lack of vigilance.
The ship had withdrawn without erasing any traces it had left.
In order to prevent any possible tracking, even the wizards who had to manipulate mana distortions were involved and ended up in a state of death.
If the elves were deliberately tracking them, it would undoubtedly reveal that the Tower of Fiery Magic was behind it all.
“….”
The fact that consecutive powerful magic spells were blocked, the highest firepower of the tower, was shocking.
Even if such an unbelievable event had not occurred, such an absurd mistake would not have happened.
But even so.
No matter what the elves do, there won’t be any major problems.
After all, the location of the tower was near the capital of the Empire.
Unless they go mad, those damn elves would never dare to invade this place.
Even if the elves were to inform the imperial palace of such facts, the situation would not change.
After all, the existence of the flying ship was a secret known only within the mausoleum, so it was a situation where pretending not to know was enough.
If they were to cause trouble in another mausoleum in a competitive relationship, the Duke, the client, would easily handle it.
So there was no need to worry about the elves forever.
“Sigh….”
As expected.
The most urgent issue now was to make up for the losses caused by the failed commission.
There was no need to return a portion of the commission fee received as a down payment.
But there was a desperate lack of money to replenish the consumed mana stones and pay the promised compensation to the mobilized mages.
Furthermore, the increase in imperial support funds had also fallen through.
As a result, they would lose the Duke’s trust,
And in the future, not only the support funds but also the vast privileges of various policies and businesses managed by the imperial palace would be snatched away by other mausoleums.
So.
There was no choice but to spend the night worrying about what to say to Duke Schlein to confess the failure.
Should they use the sudden appearance of the woman as an excuse?
Or should they ask for an opportunity to make up for the failure?
Their head was filled with such worries, making it too complicated to do this or that, and in the end, when they grabbed their head with both hands and bowed deeply, it happened.
Crack! Suddenly, a sound of something breaking came from the ceiling.
Since becoming the mausoleum master, it was the first time they had heard such a sound.
From the cracked ceiling, white dust fell like snowflakes.
The only emotion one could feel in a situation they had never experienced before was a sense of crisis.
Thus, naturally, the right hand began to fumble with the rings on the left hand.
The jade ring on the little finger was a magical ring that allowed instant teleportation anywhere within the tower.
On the surface, Yoonina’s ring was adorned with golden letters in the runic language, meaning “wherever I want to go.”
And the stone ring on the ring finger was a ring that could instantly summon a magma golem.
The faint light seeping from the cracks all over the surface was due to the sealed golem.
Rumble, rumble-
Then, soon after, a loud crash! The sound echoed, and the roof finally collapsed.
“What, what is this!”
Through the destroyed roof, someone wearing a black hood was looking down at her.
The twisted lips that were slightly revealed below looked extremely ominous. It was so unsettling that it sent shivers down her spine.
“This is truly an amazing sword. There’s no need to even turn invisible.”
The man, who had dared to invade her personal space in the tower and break through the roof, jumped down without any hesitation, muttering incomprehensible words.
***
Thump! Thump!
It didn’t take long for her to adapt to the sudden pounding sounds coming from all directions.
Of course, in the process, she had to endure excruciating headaches and even vomited blood once.
Unable to proceed any further, she eventually released her invisibility.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Everything stemmed from the sword she held in her hand.
The green divine sword of Libengard, called the Rapier.
That elongated thing.
It fiercely awakened forgotten life from all the dead trees around, breathing vitality into them.
It was connected, with a taut green divine sword, to all the structures made of wood from the surrounding dead trees, to the wooden ships sailing through the sky, to the cold walls of the towers, to the various furniture inside the mages’ towers, all radiating green light.
The once dead trees now came alive, responding to me with the vibrant energy of life through the green divine sword.
However, the countless presence of hundreds, if not thousands, of wooden materials coming from different places was quite burdensome for me now.
As my consciousness faded and severe pain wracked my body, my mana, which was rapidly depleting, was replenished at an even faster rate by the Wiblea armor.
Amidst the agony, a firm conviction arose:
I could freely manipulate the countless wooden materials.
“Who are you!”
As the pain subsided after enduring it for a while, another mage appeared on the rooftop.
With a face full of astonishment, he alternated between looking at his fainted comrade and me.
“Intrud-“
He aimed his wooden staff at me, trying to announce the presence of an intruder in a loud voice, but there seemed to be no need to worry.
Finally, the terrible headache disappeared completely, and my brain, fully adapted to the new stimuli, opened its eyes to a dizzying sense of omnipotence.
I immediately put my abilities to the test.
Crack! Bang!
From the ground, from the ships, and even from the staff he was holding.
Dozens of thin and thick wooden stems explosively shot out, tightly wrapping around my entire body.
It didn’t stretch like a rubber band, but rather seemed to grow rapidly at an unimaginable speed.
“Kreub-eup…!”
The magician, bound by a rope and floating in the air, could no longer speak a word.
To make something like this possible…
Truly, it was an incredible sword.
Of course, it consumed a tremendous amount of mana, but it quickly recovered thanks to the armor.
In the end, Aplatus’ words were not empty promises.
As long as I had the Mugum of Wiblea.
Actually, it didn’t seem like a big deal to destroy one magic tower.
I was in a state where an intense sense of power dominated my mind, making me feel like I could do anything.
Thwack! Snap!
I rushed forward and knocked out the magician with the hilt of my sword.
Thud-
The sprouting tree branches quickly returned to their original positions.
The two magicians from the Tower of Blazing Heat lay unconscious side by side.
With this, I had successfully preserved two precious weapons.
And now, I had to capture the owner of all the weapons, the Lord of the Tower.
I closed my eyes and focused my mind.
Thump-thump-
It was to locate the Tower Lord through the countless pieces of wood in the tower.
“……”
I bowed my head and looked at the floor.
The tower was right below the rooftop.
So, what I had to do now was to quickly collapse the floor, and for me, it was not a difficult task at all.
It was because there were wooden structures inside the rooftop floor covered with red bricks and cement.
Crash! Rumble rumble-
Several embedded wooden structures wriggled like angry snakes, and exactly where I wanted, they collapsed all at once.