Chapter 312: Episode 312

The Fiend, Seo Shimhee.

Ever since Na Daeyong’s death, I had been investigating her, fueled by a nagging suspicion. Everyone’s testimonies were wildly conflicting.

Cha Doyeon swore she had never said those things. Daeyong claimed he had heard them clearly with his own ears. Eunsol insisted she saw Daeyong trying to kill me. Daeyong argued that Eunsol was framing him.

Their statements clashed at every turn. But Daeyong was insane, and so he was easily dismissed as a madman.

It was a convenient situation where every single one of his actions was rationalized away with a single phrase: “Because he was crazy.”

“I just… worked hard… that’s all…”

His final words still lingered in my ears.

I had proceeded with the investigation while keeping one crucial possibility in mind: that Daeyong was also a victim.

Of course, that didn’t justify the horrific deeds he had committed, but I had to consider the possibility that another entity had intentionally fractured his mental state.

While digging into the past, I recalled Jo Yonghee’s statement.

“I think a ghost lives in the Magic Tower.”

Yonghee’s story about seeing hallucinations.

What if he hadn’t been hallucinating at all? What if he had actually seen something real? Illusion magic was only possible for those genuinely born with the talent. Even I still had to rely on the Water Veil.

That’s right. That very necklace.

When the ‘First’ smuggled me into the middle of Seoul, the necklace was among my belongings. I had used it without a second thought at first, but there was one glaring discrepancy.

The fact that Anton’s Necklace was supposedly being exhibited on the third floor of the Kim Yusin Museum.

The genuine artifact was in my hands, so what the hell was on display at the museum? I checked, and it turned out to be nothing more than an elaborate replica.

In other words, from the very beginning, the real necklace had never been in the museum. It had fallen into the hands of a third party who had been using it all along.

What if someone had been using the relic’s illusion magic to sow discord within the Magic Tower?

Having deduced this much, I scrutinized Kim Sarang, Seo Shimhee, Jo Yonghee, Cha Doyeon, and Samia. However, there was zero concrete evidence. Above all, I couldn’t figure out a motive.

Just when the investigation hit a dead end, Hong Yeon shared some critical information passed along by Alexandro’s investigation team.

Suddenly, everything became crystal clear.

“As a member of the Global Alliance, I will eliminate you, Fiend Seo Shimhee,” I declared.

Cha Doyeon, Kim Sarang, and Jo Yonghee’s expressions instantly stiffened.

“H-How could Shimhee…” Doyeon stammered.

“This makes no sense! Shimhee! Please, say something!” Yonghee pleaded.

I understood the utter shock of the former fourth-floor team—people who had shared their joys and sorrows for years—but the reality standing before us was mercilessly cold.

Shimhee, now transformed into a grotesque Dragon-type monster, let out a low growl. She clutched the necklace protectively in one claw.

“How dare a fake…!” she snarled.

“…Fake?” I echoed.

That was when it happened.

The necklace activated, and a shimmering illusion conjured by the Water Veil materialized around Shimhee.

Dozens of illusions that looked exactly like me warmly embraced her monstrous body.

But the thing was…

“Why are they naked?!” I blurted out.

They always say it’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for, but I had no idea she was harboring this kind of batshit delusion.

As my naked doppelgängers hugged her, Shimhee closed her eyes and let out a pleased, rumbling purr.

As a spectator, I felt profoundly disturbed.

“The real one is right here beside me!” Shimhee cried out. “Don’t try to shake me by pretending to be the real one now!”

I was too stunned to speak.

I pressed my thumbs hard against my temples, a headache already forming.

Now I had a pretty clear picture of how the whole situation had spiraled out of control. Her madness was far more terrifying—and far more fitting for a Fiend—than Daeyong’s had ever been.

“Everything must disappear.”

Massive amounts of mana began to swirl violently within her gaping maw.

“I don’t need anything else. Only my world needs to exist.”

While Daeyong had been consumed by madness and suffered terribly from it, Shimhee was just purely, gleefully out of her fucking mind.

Because of that, I could at least alleviate my guilt—if only a little.

<Devastar>

I stepped onto my dark mana foothold, flew up, and delivered a brutal kick right under the dragon’s jaw. The massive reptile’s head snapped back sharply.

“Guh!”

“I’m sorry.”

Falling back toward the ground, I raised my index finger. Countless magic circles bloomed like a radiant field of flowers above Shimhee’s head.

“For not realizing.”

<Fire Cannon> ×300

The dragon’s heavy body couldn’t withstand the descending baptism of fire, crashing down into the floor.

“For not understanding.”

<Flame Tauros> ×30

Thirty sixth-order spells were simultaneously planted onto the dragon’s scales before detonating. Her agonized cries rang in my ears.

“For leaving you behind!”

<Prometheus> ×3

Giants of blazing fire surged upward, embracing the dragon’s body as the volley of Fire Cannons and explosions detonated in rapid succession.

The fiery giants steadily swelled in size, and Shimhee thrashed wildly in agony.

The towering inferno made her look like a giant Christmas tree engulfed in flames.

Is she still protecting the necklace, even in the midst of this?

Seeing her clenching the relic tightly in one hand was almost pitiful.

“Aaaaaaaaargh!”

Shimhee spread her massive wings, smashed straight through the ceiling, and soared upward into the night sky.

She obviously intended to flee, but naturally, I had already prepared for that.

Just as I expected, her escape was cut short. A rubber-like mana veil was spread across the sky directly above the ruined cafeteria. Countless mages, floating in the air on arcane footholds, were channeling their power to maintain the barrier.

“Give up,” I warned. “There are no holes for you to escape through.”

The tower mages commenced their attack. The dragon was one-sidedly bombarded by the sheer firepower pouring in from every direction.

Booooom!

Ruuuumble!

She howled in agony.

“…I can’t watch this.” Doyeon buried her face in her palms.

“You don’t have to force yourself to look,” I told her softly. “You can step back from this battle.”

No matter what kind of monster she had become, she was once our colleague. Yonghee had completely slumped to the ground, his legs having given out entirely. Nearby, Kim Sarang leaned against an intact table in utter silence, chugging wine straight from the bottle.

Shimhee’s strength was rapidly draining away. It was time to end her suffering.

I summoned Specter into my hand, gripping the hilt tightly. The magic circle glowing along Specter’s surface was a twenty-stack of Sever, a sixth-order spell favored by magic swordsmen.

With this much stacked power, I could easily slice through even the thickest dragon hide.

I bore a heavy share of the responsibility for this tragedy. So, I had to be the one to finish it.

I signaled the mages to cease their assault, then launched myself into the air. In an instant, I vaulted directly over Shimhee’s head.

Her vermillion eyes locked onto me. My heart wavered for a split second, but I refused to loosen my grip on the blade.

Farewell.

Right as the blade pierced the scales of her neck—

-Tower Master!

Ea’s frantic warning snapped me back to reality. Something massive rushed into the periphery of my expanded field of vision.

Clang!

My vision spun wildly. The sheer force of the blow sent my body hurtling through the air, smashing cleanly through the cafeteria’s second floor before slamming brutally into the ground.

Ea had deployed a cushioning shield just in time, but the impact was still jarring enough to knock the wind out of me. Every bone in my body screamed in protest.

Damn it! What is it this time?

Biting my lip, I forced my head up. Something resembling a massive, jagged claw had torn a rift straight through the empty air and was protruding into our reality.

It wasn’t a standard warp, a dimensional rift, or a dungeon gate. It literally looked as if the creature had just reached out and shredded the fabric of the void itself.

“No, no, no.”

The claw slowly retreated into the tear and vanished. A moment later, the space ripped open even wider, and a pitch-black dragon’s head breached the threshold.

It was several times larger than Shimhee’s monstrous form. Its sheer, impossible size felt suffocatingly overwhelming.

The glowing purple eyes that peered down at us were brimming with an arrogant light, assessing us as if we were mere insects. A long, forked tongue flicked out from its maw.

“She is an important pawn of mine,” the black dragon rumbled. “First you kill Wayne, Clint, and even Alexandro, and now you plan to take her from me as well?”

“…And who the hell are you?” I demanded.

My joints creaked in protest, but I forced myself to stand, feigning composure.

“Do I even need to introduce myself, Magic Tower Master?”

That was when the air began to shatter. Space ripped open all around us, and Fiends—fully shifted into their monstrous states—poured out from the void one after another.

The mages instantly tensed, frantically drawing upon their mana. Doyeon, Sarang, and Yonghee rushed forward, bracing themselves for a bloodbath.

“I have no name. The Fiends who follow me simply call me the Führer.”

“Wow, that’s real neat,” I deadpanned.

The Führer.

The supreme leader of all Fiends.

That background knowledge was filed away in my head, but right now, I couldn’t care less. I was just annoyed out of my fucking mind.

I swiftly traced a magic circle over my chest.

“Führer or whatever the hell you are—you think you can just stick your ugly mug in my domain? You got a death wish?”

<Kim Yusin Original – Deformation Meister>

Radiant wings tore from my back, and my attire shifted into flowing blue garments.

“Bring it.”

*

A moment later, I found myself slammed brutally into the wall once again.

Are you fucking kidding me…

I picked myself up, coughing and spitting out mouthfuls of dirt and plaster.

This Führer guy, whoever he was… I hated to admit it, but he was absurdly strong.

“That is the absolute limit for a frail human body.”

The Führer materialized a massive, scaled arm from the void and made a theatrical show of resting his chin against his claws.

Seeing that colossal reptilian snout curve into a smirk made my irritation violently flare up all over again.

I’m in the middle of Seoul. My firepower is heavily restricted.

Half-assed magic wouldn’t even scratch his scales. But if I unleashed a spell like Armageddon here, I wouldn’t be able to handle the apocalyptic fallout.

The entirety of Seoul might get wiped off the map.

“Do you really have time to rest, Magic Tower Master?”

The Führer parted his jaws. Dense, pitch-black energy rapidly condensed within his maw.

…I knew it. It’s the exact same dark mana I use for Devastar.

But I had no more time to analyze the spell. I calculated the trajectory of his imminent breath attack and hurled myself forward with everything I had.

<Ancient Barrier>

The very second I deployed the seventh-order defensive wall, the torrent of black breath erupted and crashed violently against my shield.

An eardrum-shattering roar tore through the air, making my senses reel. I couldn’t back down an inch. Standing directly behind me in the line of fire was the one-hundred-twenty-story Seoul Tower.

“You hunters simply have too much to protect.”

The Führer’s smirk widened.

“You risk your pathetic lives to protect not only other humans, but also the meaningless property of complete strangers. It is truly pathetic.”

“…You bastard!”

My arms, straining to hold up the barrier, trembled violently under the crushing pressure.

“I have been eagerly waiting to meet you, Magic Tower Master. You slaughtered my cherished subordinates and blew away Manama in its entirety. Within the realm of Fiends, you are the boogeyman himself! Rest assured, I will not let you die quickly.”

Gritting my teeth against the onslaught of the breath, I darted my gaze downward. The Fiends were currently hauling away an unconscious Shimhee.

“Everyone, stop them!” I roared.

The mage team, led by Sarang, rushed forward, but the Fiends immediately intercepted their advance.

While the vanguard clashed in a chaotic melee, Shimhee was being dragged further and further away.

“Just as you predicted, Tower Master. Six months from now, this wretched world will certainly be destroyed. The Nemesis will usher in our paradise. Aren’t you looking forward to it?”

The immense pressure of the breath attack was gradually diminishing, but the Führer was already shifting his gaze. This time, he opened his maw, aiming squarely toward the heart of Gangnam.

“Are you serious…!” I yelled.

At that precise moment, a mountain-sized arc of crimson sword aura cleaved through the atmosphere, hurtling directly toward the dragon.

The Führer abruptly choked off his breath attack, raising a scaled arm to catch and crush the incoming strike.

“I apologize for the delay, Yusin.”

Having received my distress signal, Hong Yeon strode out of a shimmering warp gate.

“Do I just need to eliminate that disgusting piece of trash?” she asked, her voice laced with venom.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep