Chapter 1165
Lee Han wanted to ask Saratan what had happened, but first he had to finish dealing with the problem right in front of him.
Lee Han lifted his body higher with telekinesis, then fired Lightning Fire at the restraints chasing him.
They stopped for a moment, but it was not particularly effective. The restraints quickly restored their form and flew at him again.
However, Lee Han had already anticipated even this. He changed positions using teleportation magic.
“Saratan! Send the stone tablet over here!”
Lee Han filled the staff with mana and threw it with all his strength. Saratan exerted its Authority to the fullest, as though it understood without needing any explanation.
‘Once I obtain that stone tablet, the test will definitely end!’
In order to somehow deliver the stone tablet to its foul-tempered and wicked master, Saratan caused vines to bloom wildly through the air.
It seemed that if Lee Han endured just a little longer, Saratan would be able to pass him the stone tablet.
At that very moment, a telepathic wave that made his heart sink rang out.
I will cast the next spell.
“!!”
-No!
Saratan screamed.
Wardanaz had even thrown away his staff, and now another spell was coming?!
And the worst part was that Saratan had failed to mention this in advance.
Just imagining how much of a fit Lee Han would throw once this was over was horrifying.
‘There was a pattern where another spell was cast during the restraint spell. Baquantalana! Why would you do something you never used to...’
Space shook, and magic swept through the surroundings. Saratan squeezed its eyes shut. A sense of despair that everything had gone wrong swept over it together with the magic.
“Send the stone tablet.”
-?!
Saratan was startled by the perfectly fine mage’s voice.
Amazingly, Lee Han was standing there unharmed. After receiving the stone tablet Saratan had thrown, Lee Han picked the staff back up.
-What? What happened? Was the spell not cast?
“It was cast, but luckily, it was a spell I am immune to. Something like does not work on me.”
-......
Saratan thought inwardly.
‘Could he not have passed the test by simply standing still without causing all that commotion?’
“Saratan.”
-What is it?
“When you explained it earlier, I am fairly certain you said there was no pattern like this.”
-......
***
With the exception of unusual cases like Caten, everyone else present had to do their utmost just to endure.
‘How in the world is he cutting through that?’
If they had possessed any leisure, the adventurers would have asked.
No matter how many times they looked at the sight of someone cutting through the ruins’ magic with a single sword, it made no sense.
Of course, even the Einroguard mages could not explain it. There were still many areas of magic that even mages did not understand.
As the restraints continued spreading, the space available for escape rapidly diminished. Even the Einroguard students who had been forging paths through the air were soon driven into a corner.
“Be transformed into a new path!”
The one who helped the students was Garko.
When Garko tore open a blocked wall in the ruins and created a new path, the students and adventurers hurried inside. Garko also transformed into a bird again and followed after them.
“Ah, we left Senior Caten behind!”
“This is not the time to worry about Senior! Worry about yourself!”
“What in the world is this magic using to detect us?”
At someone’s shout, Giselle fell into thought.
It was an urgent situation, with the magic continuing to pursue them from behind, but the more urgent the situation, the more calmly one had to judge.
‘It is not using the five senses.’
Earlier, several White Tiger Tower students had tried to deceive the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° pursuit with transformation magic like Garko, but it had been useless.
Had the magic not continued chasing Garko even after he transformed into a bird?
‘Could it be heat?’
There were many spells that operated by detecting heat.
“Argh!”
Anglago, who had been running along the wall beside Giselle, made a mistake and fell. Giselle quickly cast a frost cloak on the friend.
Rustle!
“Aaaaaaargh! Moradi! Why did you wrap me in a cloak of cold air?!”
“...Sorry!”
Apparently, it was not heat.
Garko, still transformed into a bird, circled around and spoke to Giselle.
“You are trying to determine what method it is using to pursue us. That was a good test.”
Anglago, who had been dragged away, would not have agreed, but the two mages quickly exchanged opinions.
“It does not seem to be using the five senses, and it does not seem to be heat either.”
“It also does not seem that the clone is transmitting information through the Blue Eye. It has continued pursuing us even after we came this far.”
“I wonder whether it may be detecting souls.”
“Souls! A keen suggestion. As expected of Einroguard mages... That could also explain why it took so long for the test to begin.”
“Please, anything, is fine, so, could you, start, thinking, of a solution!”
The adventurers running behind them shouted while panting.
It was good for the mages to exchange opinions, but they wondered whether the mages had forgotten the situation they were in.
Were all mages above a certain level like this?
‘Ah.’
Giselle felt slightly embarrassed.
It would have been one thing for Wardanaz to make such a mistake, but for Giselle to do so...
“If we need a way to block soul detection...”
“Among the potions the adventurers possess, there is a soul-rampage potion. It is crude, but it may be able to deceive the spell.”
“Is there no transformation spell that can temporarily change the form of a soul?”
“That is possible, but whether it would allow us to avoid the pursuit...”
‘I am never accepting another commission from a mage again!’
At the exact moment the adventurers cursed inwardly, the pursuing magic vanished as though it had been a lie.
The White Tiger Tower students who had been trapped on the other side also rose from their places in confusion.
Garko shouted joyfully.
“We must have passed the test!”
“I-I see. So that is what happened!”
“The magic inside must surely be transformation magic!”
“That is... Hmm...”
The students exchanged glances.
To be honest, they did not think the magic Baquantalana had left behind would be transformation magic.
Baquantalana was famous as an enchantment mage, so why would Baquantalana have gone out of the way to leave behind transformation magic?
***
“It is dark magic.”
“......”
“......”
Not only the Einroguard students, but even Garko was too shocked to speak.
“Y-You are joking, right, Wardanaz?”
“Could it be because Wardanaz belongs to the dark magic school...!”
“Be quiet, you bastard.”
Lee Han shut his friend’s mouth.
Garko was already deeply shocked, and Lee Han did not want to cause any needless misunderstanding.
“I also belong to the transformation magic school, Mr. Garko.”
“Ah... Yes. I know. You belong to the enchantment magic school, the summoning magic school, the foresight magic school, and so on.”
‘Alshicle...!’
Lee Han cried out Alshicle’s name inwardly.
Then again, there was no way Alshicle would have omitted that information while boasting. Lee Han spoke as though making an excuse.
“I am not particularly close with the professor from the enchantment magic school. Haha.”
“I-I see. But... you said it is dark magic?”
“Yes.”
The name of the spell written on the stone tablet was . It was definitely an undiscovered spell.
They would have to study the formula and incantation engraved on the stone tablet to know exactly what kind of spell it was, but it was certainly dark magic.
To begin with, even the name sounded like dark magic...
To the successor who has reached this stone tablet, I bestow dark magic.
This dark magic is a spell completed through the research of my later years.
I have studied various forms of magic throughout my life, but the more I have studied in recent years, the more this dark magic has inspired my admiration.
Notes like these had been written in front of and upon the stone tablet.
Saratan quietly interjected.
-Baquantalana completed the spell in the later years of life, so that was why I missed the pattern! No wonder...
“Be quiet.”
“To think the magic Baquantalana left behind in the later years of life was dark magic... I thought it would be transformation magic.”
Garko looked unusually dejected. It was hard to believe this was the same mage who had bravely advanced into the underground depths of ruins whose identity was unknown.
Unable to keep watching, the adventurers comforted Garko.
“Mage. Of course, you may feel empty because the opportunity mentioned in the book has been lost, but this is not your only chance.”
“That is right! You will surely find what you seek in other ruins!”
“...You are correct.”
Garko regained some spirit.
A mage must not give up easily after only a few failures.
“I will be counting on you in the next ruins as well.”
“......”
“...Uh, that may be a little...”
The adventurers immediately looked troubled.
Once this commission was over and they returned outside, they intended to travel to the warmest place in the southern Empire and rest for half a year.
Especially somewhere without mages!
Feeling needlessly sorry, Lee Han comforted Garko.
“It is unfortunate that we failed to find evidence that Baquantalana was a transformation mage, but it is not necessarily entirely bad. If Baquantalana was versatile enough to study even dark magic, then Baquantalana must surely have studied transformation magic in depth as well.”
“?”
Giselle, who was standing beside him, tilted her head slightly.
Versatile enough to study even dark magic?
What did that mean?
‘Is that not an insult?’
Fortunately, there were no students from the dark magic school present.
“Thank you very much for those warm words. The mages of Einroguard are worthy of respect not only for their ability, but for their character as well.”
“It was nothing... Would you like to know the names of our houses?”
The White Tiger Tower students looked embarrassed, but they did not seem to dislike it.
Stepping on the feet of the friends who approached together with Giselle, Lee Han asked again.
“If you are interested, perhaps when we decipher this stone tablet, you could join us...”
“Ah. No. Truly, if it is not transformation magic, I am fine. And there is a gathering of mages in the north this time, so once this schedule ends, I must go there immediately.”
“Is it a gathering of transformation mages?”
“There will be transformation mages, and, ah! There will also be dark mages. They will be delighted to hear this news.”
Lee Han nodded without much thought.
The fact that there was a gathering of mages in the north was not particularly surprising.
There were many mages in the Empire, and such mages held gatherings and conferences large and small every day.
There was no reason for Lee Han to be surprised or interested merely because several dark mages were holding a gathering nearby.
Besides, this time, Lee Han had come out after accepting a commission from House Moradi...
‘If it is a gathering in the north held together with transformation mages, perhaps it is a small social gathering?’
***
Jiderf, the head of House Moradi and effectively the spiritual leader of the northern knights, looked around at the dark mages gathered before him with a solemn expression.
The backgrounds of the dark mages present were exceptionally distinguished.
Kalarogard, the magic school widely rumored to possess even the darkest forms of dark magic in the Empire.
The Descendants of Ahrak, who steadfastly continued the tradition of the Magic Tower founded in the past by the great dark mage Ahrak.
The Obsidian Magic Tower, a Magic Tower of dark mages that operated normally and exerted influence upon the Empire, contrary to the prejudice that most groups of dark mages were eccentric and abnormal.
And even the Legion of Oondorgu, composed entirely of undead and the strangest group among those gathered here.
“I have listened carefully to the esteemed opinions of the mages gathered here. However...”
“There is no however, Head of House! Even now, we must immediately seal off the north and search every corner to uncover the cause of the abnormal phenomena!”
“W-We do not believe it is necessary to go that far, but we do think the search efforts should be expanded.”
The reason the dark mages had come here was the recent disturbance occurring in the north.
There was hardly any disturbance in the Empire that did not have a magical cause, but the dark mages suspected that this particular disturbance was closely connected to dark magic.
And if it meant finding the cause, they were prepared to endure any extreme search measures.
Of course, that was the position of the dark mages. To Jiderf, who represented the position of the knights, it was an absurdly extreme proposal.
“I will give the matter further thought.”
“Head of House! If you listen to just a little more of what I have to say, you will change your mind!”
“I do not believe that is likely. Ah. Guests have arrived from Einroguard. I must personally welcome them, so I will take my leave.”
The dark mages seethed with frustration as the head of the house slipped away like an eel.
What was so difficult about sealing off the north?!