21st Century Archmage

Chapter 195: The Appearance of the Missing Tower Masters

Schwiiiiiiip. Baaam! Kegeeeeeeeeeeeeh.

‘R-Ridiculous!’

The sight before her was unbelievable. The Gold Wyverns that had been wailing in pain mere moments ago on the covert grounds were flying into the air, heedless of the spears that had plunged deep into their bodies.

That wasn’t all. The Skyknights riding the wyverns were just as bizarre. Even with spears thrown by the Kesmire Kingdom’s Skyknights sticking out of their torsos, they stood perfectly upright, still grasping the reins of their wyverns.

The nightmarish scene unfolding in front of her was something she didn’t want to see even in a dream. Chrisia watched in a daze.

Schwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip. BOOOOOOOOOOOM! Kweeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

“Gaaaaaaaaagh!”

Craaaaaaaaaaash!

“Gugh…”

The nightmare didn’t end there. Upper-circle magic suddenly spiralled into the air from all over the place. Enormous balls of light exploded in midair all around her. They were Air Boom spells, each one ear-splitting loud.

Piiiiiiiiiiping! Splurrrt! Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the Imperial Guard Skyknights that didn’t shed a single drop of blood from Kesmire’s attacks fired Blessed Spears of their own.

‘Th-The color of their mana is black.’

The spears hurtling towards them exuded a darkness blacker than night, as if they were imbued with darkness mana. Then, the spears were upon them, mercilessly skewering the Kesmire Skyknights blinded and deafened by magic.

“What’s with these bastards? Why won’t they die?! Kyre! Kyre! A group of Imperial Guard Knights appeared at the Palace Treasury! They’re using Dark Blades and slaughtering the kingdom knights!”

The shocked voice of her sister, who had gone to seize control of the Palace Treasury, rang in Chrisia’s helmet.

“All forces, retreat! Abandon all fighting and retreat at once!”

Just then, Kyre’s voice sounded in her ear, coming out almost as a scream. It was an absolute first. The man who was always full of confidence and calm was now ordering their retreat with a panicked voice.

“R-Retreat! All forces, retreaaaaat!!”

Snapping back to her senses, Chrisia yanked the wyvern reins, surging higher into the air as she shouted.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

The courageous Kesmire Kingdom Skyknights spread the retreat command over the battlefield using mana.

Schwiiiiiiiiiip. Babaaaaam!

“AAAAAAGH!”

But even as Kesmire’s wyverns turned, many of their number dropped out of the skies.

“D-Death Knights…”

As she was turning her wyvern’s nose seaward to flee, she uttered two words, her voice trembling.

The enemy that had flown up from all over the Imperial City and were massacring the Kesmire troops… were Warriors of Death, Death Knights.

* * *

“Kuhahahaha. How ingenious, you have a communication device installed in your helmet! I didn’t know that.”

Not feeling even an ounce of the same delight, I issued an unconditional retreat order upon hearing the screams of the commanders.

‘A-Altakas was the Emperor of the Laviter Empire…’

I had always been clear-minded, but shock was muddling my brain. This development was simply unthinkable. Who would have thought that the Emperor of the Laviter Empire, the top power of the Kallian Continent, would be Altakas, the Black Magic Swordsman of Destruction?

‘Then does that mean everything that’s happened was a part of his plan?!’

My mind whirled to the suspicious incidents occurring in the Laviter Empire. The imprisonment of the Cardinals and the destruction of the temples, the disappearance of the Tower Masters, and other various important incidents that had occurred in the Empire…

PR/N: I really don’t know how you didn’t at least find it suspicious considering these events happened soon after your visit from Haildrian. 

Everything clicked together, like a puzzle being solved.

Boooooooooooom! Kweeeeeeeeek!

I could hear the explosions of spells and the graphic screams of wyverns outside. The pain in those screams was clearly different from when the Gold Wyverns were being shot down by us earlier.

“Did you know we were coming…?”

My dazed brain cooled to freezing point. I thought that my plans were pretty perfect, but this guy had been waiting for me.

“I didn’t know you’d be this reckless. Kukuku. If you’d come just a few months earlier, you would have posed quite the problem.”

Altakas was oozing an air of ease. Even though I was holding a sword, he held no weapon in his hands.

Whirr, whirr.

However, my mana core was thrashing like crazy inside me. The yin-attribute mana was reacting particularly fiercely.

“How unexpected. I didn’t think you would have darkness mana like me. Oho, that’s something I never expected.”

He wasn’t at the 8th Circle for show. A simple look was all it took for him to analyze the mana composition that no one on the Kallian Continent had known about.

Drip.

I felt a cold line of sweat run down my back. Ever since I came to the Kallian Continent by dimensional teleportation, there had never been a moment as dangerous as now. A variable I hadn’t predicted was now a knife aiming straight for my heart.

“Master, where are you? Dangerous guys are flying over.”

‘Ngh!’

Standing before a foe stronger than me made my heart and mind recoil in fear. Because I had ascended to the 7th Circle, I knew just how incredible and terrifying 8th Circle magic was. And while I was frozen, the beastman Hasifor’s voice sounded in my ear.

‘Bebeto’s in danger.’

Not just the beastmen, but my loyal Bebeto waiting for me in the sky was in danger. The screams outside had quieted to near silence.

‘I have to get out of here.’

Altakas had so many forces hidden away in this Imperial Palace that he could afford to be this relaxed even though he hadn’t anticipated my attack. Not only was I in great danger, but so was everyone else.

“Haha, Altakas. I’ve heard your name ad nauseam. I heard the rumor that you were defeated 200 years ago in Haildrian and fled, but I didn’t think I’d meet you here. Hahaha.”

Didn’t someone say that even if you went into a tiger’s den, as long as you had the composure to call the emergency line, you could survive? I attempted a psychological jab, keeping my voice relaxed.

“…I didn’t think any humans here would know me. It’s already been 200 years, but there are still people who remember. Huhuhu.”

‘Huh? He’s not getting mad?’

I wanted to slip away while he had his guard down, but Altakas simply gave a cold laugh. It was worrisome.

“Master, the bastards are coming in a swarm. There’s nowhere to run.”

Guooooooooooooooooooo!

I’d never heard the beastmen sound so panicked. Bebeto’s cry of irritation rang throughout the palace grounds.

‘I can’t draw this out any further.’

The beastmen were all 6th Circle magic swordsmen. But even they were struggling with the situation outside. This was a crisis.

Flash!

Without any warning, I switched modes and fired off my secret move, Ghost Meteor, at Altakas. Nine blade swords shot across the Emperor’s large bedroom towards him like bolts of lightning.

‘Now!’

My surprise attack was successful, but I had zero confidence in victory. I whirled around and flung myself towards the right window.

Bababababaaam!

The moment I did so, the sounds of sharp explosions rang in my ears.

“Hahahaha, hahahahahaha!”

I was breaking the window and jumping out, when I heard Altakas’ guffaw of enjoyment behind me.

‘Dammit!’

I was sure that he had blocked my blade swords with Auto Shield magic. I cursed inwardly. Even I wasn’t capable of casting Auto Shield yet.

The feeling of running away like a coward was terrible.

* * *

Reaper Scans

* * *

“Sir Mage, thank you. I truly don’t know how to repay your favor…”

The official road heading to the Royal Capital of the Pakinch Kingdom was littered with a good hundred Orc Warrior roasts. They had jumped out of the dense forests on either side of the road, attacking the travelers, but all of them had been cooked alive. Wilhelm, the merchant group boss who had been traveling with around ten mercenaries, was now bowing repeatedly to an elderly man who gave off the impression of being an archmage.

“Then repay me with money.”

“…”

For a split second, Wilhelm’s face full of sincere gratitude stiffened. Because of the plagues spreading around, most merchant groups were struggling. Some places completely forbade outsider entry, so many of their important trade lines had disappeared. However, Wilhelm couldn’t stay idle, so he went to a close friend of his and got salt produced in Nerman, one of the few products still being distributed. But even before he could start selling the salt, a horde of orcs came out of nowhere. Due to the plague, orc subjugations and other military activities to maintain public order were canceled, so monster attacks were frequent these days.

And Wilhelm was the unlucky target of those orcs. When he was surrounded by the hunger-mad orcs and on the verge of death, a massive fireball suddenly hurtled over and turned the orcs into one big bonfire.

‘As if I had that kind of money…’

The mage in front of him answered his heartfelt thanks with a blithe demand for money. He was giving off an air of dignity, making him look like the legendary Tower Masters, but his actions were the epitome of pettiness.

“Um, that’s…”

“What, you’ve got no money? Then make up for it with your body, at least.”

Gulp.

The white-bearded elderly mage seemed to have seen through Wilhelm’s soul. Wilhelm felt his vision darken at the mage’s words. From his ease in finishing off the orcs, he had to be a 5th Circle mage at least. If the mage told him to die, he would have no choice but to die.

“I beg you, please spare us. We will do anything.”

“Sir Mage, please spare us.”

When Wilhelm immediately fell to his knees and begged for his life, the mercenaries who had been watching anxiously from the side followed suit, throwing their pride far away. Anyone with half a thought knew that a whimsical upper-circle mage was more terrifying than any orc.

“How far are you guys going?”

As Wilhelm and the mercenaries prostrated themselves, they heard the mage’s quiet query.

“W-We are going to the Royal Capital.”

“That so? There should be lots to eat in the Royal Capital.”

The elderly mage demanded that they travel together until they reached the Royal Capital. Even under the baking rays of the sun, he wasn’t sweating a single drop. He smacked his lips in anticipation.

“But what are these goods you’ve got here? I can smell the ocean from them.”

‘He’s got a dog’s nose!’

The merchant leader, Wilhelm, was able to see once again that the elderly mage in front of him was a man of extraordinary ability.

“It is salt produced in Nerman. It was mass produced in the one and only ‘salt farm’ on the Continent.”

“A salt farm? There’s a salt farm here?” said the old mage in shock.

“Yes, it’s said that it was developed by the lord there, and they’re built using a material that doesn’t exist elsewhere. It was called cement or something like that.”

“Cement? Woah, how is it that a word like cement is being used in the Kallian Continent?”

“We’re not too sure either. However, it’s said that the Lord of Nerman can do such things because he is an upper-circle magic swordsman…”

“Upper-circle magic swordsman?”

“Yes. But everyone on the Continent knows this…”

Did this elder come out of closed-door magic training deep in the mountains or something? He didn’t even know about the Lord of Nerman who was so famous on the Continent.

“What is that lord’s name?” asked the elder with urgency.

“K-Kyre. He is called Kyre de Nerman.”

“K-Kyre! D-Does he happen to have black hair? And is he a little taller than me?”

The excited elderly mage asked about Kyre’s distinguishing features, common knowledge for everyone on the Kallian Continent.

“Yes, that’s correct. The Lord of Nerman, Kyre, possesses unique black ha—”

“PUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The old mage burst out in uproarious laughter before Wilhelm could even finish.

“Kang Hyuk! You’re still kicking, I see! And you even nabbed yourself a territory. Hahahahahaha!”

The old mage shook with laughter that came from his belly, his long beard swaying. And then, his laughter stopped as suddenly as it had come.

“But how come you’re telling me such an important fact only now?”

“What? P-Pardon?”

The elderly mage suddenly found fault with him.

“If you bastards had told me that earlier, my mood would’ve been better way earlier!”

What was with this unheard of, upside-down logic? Wilhelm’s anger reached breaking point, but he suppressed it with difficulty. From the looks of him, this elderly mage was definitely crazy. He didn’t want to become like the orcs lying lifeless next to him.

“I apologize for committing a grave sin.”

“Spill it.”

“…?”

This mage definitely had a nasty habit of saying things with zero context. Out of nowhere, he told Wilhelm to “spill it”.

“Erm, if you are asking me to talk about the Lord of Nerman, Kyre…”

His merchant group was small, but he’d been a merchant for decades. Wilhelm, who had survived all this time by relying on his quick wits, bent backwards to explain everything about the Lord of Nerman, adding embellishment as needed.

And when he said that Nerman had a might that could pressure empires and had recently constructed an enormous castle that didn’t fall short of any imperial castles, Wilhelm saw a glint shine in the old man’s eyes.

* * *

‘It’s dangerous!’

After breaking the window and jumping outside, I fell straight to the ground, unable to cast Fly because of the piercing magic aura I could feel behind me. Then, I quickly looked up into the sky.

Claaaaaaang!

The Shield spells on the wyvern armor of the beastmen’s wyverns were being triggered again and again by black spears. Their situation was obviously perilous. They were maintaining a defensive formation, as if to protect Bebeto, who was in stationary flight higher above them.

Schwiiiiiiing!

“Son of a bitch!”

In the short time while I was looking at the sky, Imperial Knigh— no, Death Knights I could feel no lifeforce from, had surrounded me in every direction. I cursed at the bastards who were charging towards me, swinging Dark Blades with infuriating calm.

Slice!

Fueled by my rage, my sword lit up with a bright blue glow and cut straight through one of the Death Knights running my way.

Sizzle.

Instead of blood, black smoke emerged from the cut. And without dying from the cut that had bisected it, the knight continued to flail on the ground. It was like a scene from a horror movie.

Despite their comrade’s gruesome end, the Death Knights stared at me through their visors with their murderous crimson eyes. They ran towards me without hesitation.

‘These fucking bastards.’

I could now understand why the Tsarina of Haildrian was so terrified of Altakas. He was crazy enough to turn all of the Imperial Knights and Skyknights guarding the Laviter Empire’s Imperial City into Death Knights. He wasn’t human. Compared to Altakas, Master Bumdalf was like a gentle-mannered elite from Korea’s top university.

Sliiiiiice.

That Alpacas guy had to be watching me right now. I swung my sword swiftly as I read the situation.

‘No matter what methods I need employ, I need to escape’

That much was clear. It wasn’t just a matter of my life and death. For the sake of the Continent, I had to escape.

“Kuuuuuuuuu.”

“Kikikikikikiki.”

These Death Knights didn’t have anything close to human rationality. They were trying to rip me apart from limb to limb like zombies from the movies.

“Rune Flare!”

I cast a 5th Circle flame spell, which I could do without memorizing.

Flash.

As if realizing my urgency, the mana in the air gathered quickly and spread out in a 20-meter large sphere of flame.

Ba-ba-ba-ba-bam. Fwoooooooooooooooosh.

Dozens of Death Knights were struck down by the fierce magic sphere.

‘I have to use Blink.’

If I tried to go through the battlefield that was the sky with Fly, I would meet a miserable death. I prepared to use Blink, aiming for the faraway sky where Bebeto was flying.

Schwing.

“Gah!”

The moment I was about to cast Blink, at least ten swords came piercing towards me from within the flames.

‘What the hell is with these shits?!’

Surprisingly, even as they burned in the 5th Circle magic, the Death Knights did not halt their onslaught. They continued to attack as skeletons, their flesh having melted away to bare bone. Their doggedness was truly terrifying. I could see why Death Knights were called “Cursed Knights of Death” now.

‘Hm?’

Suddenly, I felt a chill from above my head. The warning signals blaring off in my head stilled my hand from shattering the roasted Death Knights.

“B-Blink!”

In my alarm, I unconsciously cast the Blink spell I had been preparing.

Flash!

Blink would teleport the caster to the point they were looking at. In my panic, I ended up looking at a point above the inner castle walls rather than Bebeto’s location.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAASH! FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH.

‘Oh my god…’

The 7th Circle fire spell Magic Flare crashed down at the spot I had just been with a force incomparably greater than the Rune Flare I cast earlier, leaving an enormous circle of lava on the ground.

‘I-It wasn’t Altakas.’

The spell that had just gone off wasn’t filled with the imprint of black magic. My head swiveled, looking urgently for the new, powerful enemy that had appeared.

‘Upper-circle mages… It can’t be, are those guys the Tower Masters?’

Three mages were floating lightly in the air with Fly. Wearing tattered robes, they began flying towards me.

‘Dammit…’

I felt my heart squeeze. Altakas had turned the Tower Masters into half-liches, and not just one or two of them.

‘You happy, Altakas? You fucking dogshit bastard.’

He was watching from somewhere.

Guoooooooooooo!

Bebeto’s cry of rage rang loud and clear in my ears.

—-

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