‘Are you telling us to face the knights? Sorry, but I’m busy with magical research.’
‘More importantly, what were you thinking when you sent those outlaws into the labyrinth? Hmm? Of course, if we capture them, it will be a boost to the school’s honor, but…’
‘Ugh, these photos…!? Got it. I’ll go down right away.’
‘Arthur, wait there! What did you just see!?’
Mariel felt something was off.
To be precise, it wasn’t just unusual; it was ‘suspicious’.
Mittier and the Glesia School’s mages were moving busily in the lounge.
Looking around urgently at the tense atmosphere, as expected, Clark was on the 19th floor.
“Hey, you.”
“Yes?”
“You will compete with me.”
“Suddenly? Well, I guess…?”
She covered her Witch Note, put down the parfait she was eating and abruptly dragged the nearby mage to the training room. It was to avoid being caught slacking.
Wearing a pure white dress among the red and blue robes made her stand out too easily, making it easy to spot her.
Nevertheless, maintaining such attire wasn’t merely to imitate an aristocratic young lady ignorant of worldly matters.
“I am Isaac Gadel. A 2nd-tier mage from the Mittier School, hailing from the Nevens family.”
“Mariel Levancia. The school is confidential, and my origin is from the Holcroft Count family in Jehepf.”
“Confidential? Well, fine. It seems you were invited by another school, so try to control your strength as much as possible…”
“There’s no need for that. Let’s start quickly.”
On the day her family was annihilated, the clothes she managed to bring with her through the inferno.
Though she would no longer attend balls or social events, she still maintained her identity as a Holcroft daughter.
Not fleeing or hiding was a ‘Principle’ for her. Even while living in a dorm without any servants, there was no reason to abandon her pride.
“Water flows over the cliff, so that the red beauty does not perish.”
The droplets of blood created with such determination fit between the cracks of the broken gears and rewound the world.
“Famine in abundance, now it has become a wildfire.”
By delving into the layered timelines, she brought considerable destructive power with only basic magic.
“Fire? No, smoke? Ugh…!”
The moment ‘Wildfire’ and ‘Waterfall’ were cast simultaneously from her fingertips, a massive amount of mist and a shockwave were generated.
Though it was originally impossible due to the intersection of magic spells at the same coordinates, the result was due to the mystic force applied.
An impressively clean victory that felt almost hollow.
Confirming that the unpleasant gaze lingering at her chest had disappeared, her golden pupils glanced sideways at Clark.
With his keen senses, he must have felt the vibrations even beyond the defensive magic, as he was just lifting his gaze from the Witch Note.
Holding the hem of her dress with her fingertips, she slowly revealed herself from the mist.
The intoxicated smile was a bonus.
“Supervisor! It’s been a while. Have you kept the room clean while I was away?”
“It seems you have been practicing as instructed.”
“As instructed? I always put in my own effort.”
“Your shamelessness remains the same. It’s good to see.”
Her charming figure drew everyone’s attention.
However, Clark’s gaze had already returned to the Note.
He seemed more buried in the forum than the ‘Galactic’ person she was.
Every time she asked, he would mumble about ‘just lurking’, and despite several attempts to peek, she always failed due to the overwhelming difference in physical abilities.
More than anything, Mariel was dismayed.
That her beauty and such an outfit were overshadowed by a dull stack of papers.
“Ugh!”
So, she quickly pulled her hand back from trying to hit her forehead and jumped unexpectedly.
This time, she intended to either tear the paper mask that always covered half of his face or confirm it.
It was driven by curiosity and a newly established principle.
‘Learn more about Clark.’
One of the derived rules from the ‘Great Principle’ of not breaking Holcroft’s pride.
Layered spells and newly created magics from her training had their roots in this.
There were plenty of suspicious points, such as the mysterious spear technique and statements made in front of the Monument Stone.
The more she learned about things she didn’t know, the stronger the ‘Clocktower of Principle’ would become.
Tta-da!
“Eh?”
“Ah!?”
However, his ghostly reflexes blocked her.
Clark’s hardened knuckles, holding the Witch Note, accurately struck her forehead.
Though Mariel was the one who foolishly charged, Clark’s reflexive defense mechanism triggered the mystic force.
The vision turned blue, and mana began to drain from her body like a receding tide.
Like when a flowerpot falls while walking or a thief bumps into you while targeting your wallet.
Mariel was not flustered, as it was a common occurrence in everyday actions.
Rather, at this point, she was contemplating stepping left next time.
In the numbed space, his voice was heard.
“What is this?”
Snap!
Interference Magic – Dispel
As Clark’s hand grabbed Mariel’s waist, time, which was about to reverse, flowed again.
He had disrupted the ‘Principle Reversion’ with a sensation he had become accustomed to through practice.
The sense of being ‘interfered’ by his magical power surged in like a tidal wave.
Mariel quickly covered her chest with both hands.
“Ugh, ha…!”
A persistent and somewhat sadistic pleasure surged from the apex of her body’s sensitivity.
The experience of becoming overly sensitive to even the slightest touch was confusing and intensely addictive.
Moreover, the emotions that flared up every time their magic intertwined made her crown feel endlessly hot.
Unaware of this, Clark was conversing with Sera, who had returned after giving up chasing Arthur.
“You two were like that after all? I had a rough guess when you asked to join us from the labyrinth, but…”
“What do you mean, like that?”
“I don’t mind, but it’s best if Professor Vina doesn’t find out. Are you okay?”
If this continues, I might end up begging for uncontrollable pleasure.
She might end up begging for uncontrollable pleasure later. She had already begun rationalizing it as giving in to magic due to her weakness on the forum.
Even in this situation, her thoroughly heated mind continued to act to uphold the principles.
Her heightened senses imprinted on her brain the scent of him, the thrilling height difference, and the shape of his muscles beyond his clothing.
“Ugh, ahh…!”
“Mariel?”
“Ah, let go of me…!”
“How can you demand the reversal after you rushed in first… Anyway, there’s something I want to ask.”
As Mariel came to her senses and struggled, Clark’s grip loosened.
Just as her eye level was lowering, Mariel noticed something shiny under his robe.
The colorful and beautiful plates of copper, silver, gold, and platinum that are the symbol of adventurers.
Among them, there was just one.
A plate that emitted no light whatsoever.
It looked torn, as if it had been damaged by some strong force, its material and shape indistinguishable.
The pale ivory it displayed, from only a small portion, resembled the bone of some animal.
Hadn’t Arthur been said he was a gold-ranked adventurer?
This might be an unexpectedly significant find.
“The supervisor lacks any subtlety at all! But what do you want to ask?”
“Simply a matter of curiosity…”
Does Mariel have any intention of leaving the Magic Tower to rebuild her family?
The moment she heard this, her hands stopped adjusting her clothing.
*
A few hours later.
I was waiting on the 11th floor for the Silver Wing Knights to emerge from the labyrinth. Mittier and Glesia School’s mages, who had come with the apprentice representatives, were also present, though they didn’t know the reason.
I expected they would come up soon, but killing time was getting tiresome.
So, I decided to talk to my beloved Attachment Sword.
“If I’d known, I should have connected you from the start. Well, still, since we need to go up the tower, have they found the Haeju School?”
— ZrT ㅎㅐㅅㅅ어? (TLN: This is gibberish.)
“Of course, I value Mariel greatly. If she leaves the tower with the knights, I won’t see her face again. That’s why I tried desperately to prevent it.”
— ㅂㅗㄴ심으ㄴ?
“I wanted to stir things up in both the forum and reality.”
— …….
Honestly, part of that was slightly sincere.
After all, it would be dull living in the dormitory without her.
In the end, the knights had made it to the training floor with my help, and only one step remained before meeting Mariel.
The mages who had emerged in front of those exhausted from exploring the labyrinth.
The desperation of having to climb step by step by sacrificing their companions.
The twist that the Haeju School mage, who had helped them ascend both materially and morally, was actually the final boss.
— Isn’t that a bit of a twist? ㄱㅡ ㅇㅏ니ㅇㅑ
“Of course, no matter how you turn it, there’s nothing but goodness in me.”
Having confirmed Mariel’s intentions, I decided to adjust the strength appropriately and allow at least one person to ascend.
At the very least, I needed to prevent them from enforcing their will with physical power.
As I checked the signals inside the labyrinth with the position note while inserting the spear into the spear stand, Arthur approached me.
However, his expression was grim.
“Hey, Clark. Someone is coming.”
“The knights? They don’t seem to be here yet.”
“Not them. This magical power is…”
“What is it?”
As he hesitated, I questioned him again when a group of mages appeared.
Dressed in plain black robes with no markings and covered in various anti-recognition magic, they were unidentifiable as to whether they were male or female.
The only feature was that each had a black star-shaped tattoo between their right thumb and forefinger.
“Is this the place? The location written in the letter.”
“Definitely. They said the remnants of the knights would come out from that entrance.”
“Brings back memories. I had a rough time back then too.”
“One who couldn’t even pass the training floor. Anyway, why are there so many people here?”
‘Black Star.’
A notorious group of dark mages across the continent.
The mages inside the tower would not stay silent upon seeing such lawbreakers. Just as Arthur was about to prepare for battle, one who appeared to be their representative approached.
Focusing on his sense, I could see reddish, glowing hair under the blurry robe.
“Oh, you’re from the Mittier School? Nice to meet you. I’m Izazel.”
“I have nothing to discuss with a disgraced sinner. Filthy beings not even allowed to comprehend the Mysteries, let alone obtain them.”
“Mysteries? Oh, that one! ‘Using Omniscience as a stepping stone to pursue Omnipotence,’ right? I used to search for it obsessively myself.”
The woman, giggling, raised her arms.
Without any warning, all the mages’ robes suddenly caught fire.
“But you know, you don’t have to rely on such trifles to use such grand magic!”
The smell of burning fabric and dense smoke filled the air.
Confused mages hurriedly attempted to evolve, but nothing worked. I stood by Arthur, watching the flames slowly burning the skin.
It felt oddly familiar.
“Uncomfortable, isn’t it? You’ll never be able to extinguish it. My magic is on a completely different level from the simple, ignorant spells taught in the Magic Tower.”
“Ugh! You damn…”
“Let them roll around. I’m not interested in the kids this time. It’s good for you too. I’m here to deal with the outlaws of the Magic Tower in your stead.”
“Shut up!”
“If you can hold out a little longer, Security will be here soon….”
With only a few apprentices left on the training floor, they could never defeat the Black Star’s dark mages.
No matter who they were, they couldn’t hold a single floor of the tower for long.
Just as Sera and Arthur exchanged glances to seek external help.
Izazel’s chatter suddenly stopped.
“What about you standing there? Not showing any reaction, you seem quite accustomed to pain… hmm?”
Ah, it came back to me.
That familiar magic.
“Why? Why? Why?”
“…”
“Um…, are your comrades doing well?”
I approached her, brushing off the ash from my head.
And greeted the dark mage, who was alternating between looking at my face, the plate hanging around my neck, and the spear in my hand.
“I should have at least sent a greeting occasionally, but I’ve been busy with work…”
“Long time no see? Mountain Burner.”
“…!!”
Izazel
