Chapter 52
A little past midnight, the sky was overcast, casting a shadow over the White Tower as if a dark omen loomed. The moon and stars were faint, obscured by the clouds.
“Come on, destroy and kill everything! For the complete descent of Lord Tumor!”
A peculiar enemy, leading giant rats and cats and red, round monsters never seen by most of the continent’s inhabitants, attacked the White Tower.
“What the hell are those monsters?”
“I’ve never seen such creatures before!”
“The door was broken in one blow!”
“Why is the Tower Master over there?”
Tragic history repeats itself. Screams echoed from all directions.
Amid the clamor and shouts, Red Tower Master Hisran, Blue Tower Master Siord, and White Tower Vice Master Hesed rushed out, recalling the stories passed down from their predecessors.
About two decades ago, how the Yellow Tower in the center of the continent was silently overtaken by the dark sorcerers’ horde.
The invaders wielded strange powers, neither magic nor swordsmanship, much like now.
“Aaah!”
“The wall is broken!”
“W-Why is the Tower Master doing this!”
Before the assault on the Yellow Tower, its Vice Master, caught by the invaders, had used his own pride, lightning magic, to lead the destruction of the tower in a crazed state.
Boom! Crash!
Like Irina now, whose normally green eyes had turned black, using her wind shield—which would have blocked an enemy’s attack under normal circumstances—to shatter the White Tower’s walls.
The red crystal necklace around her white neck swayed slightly in the wind.
Rumble.
The wall, crushed by the shield, scattered into tiny fragments.
When she focused on defense as an ally, they never realized, but the destructive power of her wind was quite formidable. The White Tower mages’ faces were filled with fear as they faced her power head-on.
Hisran and Siord hesitated for a moment.
“Oh, so that’s how you can use a shield…”
“Someone like that is considered gentle…? What is the god Magia thinking?”
Hesed’s crimson eyes shook violently. Seeing her blackened eyes made him feel as though his heart was turning dark too.
‘Senior sister. Irina…’
Hesed hid his trembling hand and, as the Vice Master of the White Tower, shouted,
“The enemies who have infiltrated the White Tower are led by a dark sorcerer who can use shamanism! The monsters they brought are likely created through shamanism. Especially, the red, round monster is ‘Gluttony,’ which devours anything it touches. Do not come into contact with it!”
His brief explanation and warnings spread widely through amplification magic.
Those perceptive enough quickly understood the situation. Their Tower Master, too, must be controlled by shamanism or dark magic.
Devrant and Irina’s gaze turned to Hesed.
“Is that the Vice Master of the White Tower, ma’am?”
Irina replied in an imposing tone, her voice indifferent.
“Yes, that’s correct. They say he’s a rare talent in the history of the White Tower.”
Oddly, Devrant addressed her with utmost respect.
“How amusing.”
The mages battling the giant, ferocious rats and cats, and Gluttony could hear laughter that didn’t belong on the battlefield.
“Hahaha! Are all the mages here blind? They value someone with slightly better intelligence over a vessel of the deity with such power and affinity for nature. Magia’s children are truly foolish.”
Vessel of the deity. Magia.
Unsettling words slipped out.
Hesed felt a chill run down his spine. The composure he struggled to maintain was crumbling.
“Who are you, possessing my Senior’s body?”
This seemed different from ordinary possession. Hesed aimed his glowing chains of electricity, ready to strike at any moment.
“You may be fairly smart, but how dare you try to meet my gaze?”
Hesed’s vision suddenly wavered. An invisible force pressed down on his entire body, rendering him immobile.
‘…Gravity magic?’
This was unbearable. He couldn’t withstand it. If this continued for just a bit longer, some part of his body would surely burst.
At that moment, a sound like wailing metal was heard. The combined efforts of Blue Tower Master Siord, known for his skill with the sword, and Vine, less famous but steadfast in his training, disrupted the strange force and freed Hesed.
“Are you a fragment of Tumor, the god of black magic and rage?”
Siord’s words were enough to shock everyone around.
“Haha!”
Irina—or rather, the being possessing her—laughed once more.
“Yes, it seems that what Devrant and my followers have been doing all this time hasn’t been in vain.”
They had tried to make vessels of the two women from another world, Jaeha and Yeonhwa, but had thought their efforts completely thwarted by the Tower mages’ interference.
Regardless, the constant attempts by the dark sorcerers to break Tumor’s seal had resulted in freeing even a tiny fragment. Thus, it was able to quickly inhabit a prepared body with minimal effort this time.
“How could I not be pleased to take over someone prepared as a vessel by Magia?”
“What do you mean by that? How could the god Magia prepare my senior sister as a vessel?”
Despite his questioning, Hesed roughly understood the implications.
Magia, the god of magic whom mages revered and followed, unlike other gods on the continent, did not have dedicated saints or saintesses. However, it seemed likely that Magia would have chosen at least one person to convey the divine will in times of need. That must have been Irina.
‘If she is possessed not by black magic or shamanism but by a fragment of a god… what can we do?’
A sealed god is still a god. Hesed was in despair.
Irina’s eyes, turned black, captured the image of the man struggling helplessly.
A power not strong enough to be threatening. Someone not worth paying attention to.
But the unyielding will of this body’s original owner, not yet fully consumed, fixated on Hesed.
Come to think of it, the divine protection subtly guarding Irina had weakened only after the betrayal she felt towards the man before her swept through her body.
“It’s thanks to the mages of the White Tower and you. Should I offer my gratitude?”
“…!”
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