Two First Rank official wizardsâwithin the Wizard Tower, they were already the most powerful figures aside from the Tower Master himself.
Yet when facing the fully restored Gorsa, they still stood no chance at all.
The pitch-black magic formation drained two powerful First Rank wizards completely dry in just a short span of time.
Anze, already exhausted to his limits from the battle, was the first to die. Even in his final moment, his eyes remained locked on the Wizard Tower behind Gorsa.
Rum, on the other handâcharred all over and bearing the worst injuriesâlasted longer.
But as the formation continued to operate, his once-burly frame began to shrink, bit by bit.
When the alternating black and white light faded, the man who had once stood over two meters tall was reduced to a shriveled body barely one and a half meters in height.
Yet strangely, the disappearance of all that muscle gave Rum back a more normal appearance.
âGorsa⊠Iâll kill youâŠâ he was still muttering.
Gorsa slowly walked out from the center of the formation and looked down at Rum.
A head of newly grown, soft platinum hair fell past his ear.
âYou hate me that much? I was the one who saved your life, you know.â
âYou⊠you slaughtered my entire clanâŠâ Rum trembled as he stretched out his hand, fingers curling around Gorsaâs neck in the air, as if he could choke him like this.
Gorsa shook his head. âI already told youâI was just passing by and picking up corpses⊠but fine, hate me if you want.â
He crouched slowly, reaching out to touch Rumâs ruined body. His expression was as if he were caressing a fine piece of leather.
âSo this is the pinnacle of your light-element wizardry? Converting energy into matter, while maintaining dual defense and attack against both forms. No wonder you managed to last this long.â
Gorsaâs eyes began to brighten, bit by bit. âTruly⊠the perfect material for a vessel.â
Suddenly, he turned around, looking toward the 20th floor of the Wizard Tower. After a moment of thought, he let out a soft laugh and shook his head.
âWell, that kid did save me once.â
Gorsaâs hand moved from Rumâs back to the back of his skull.
âHm. First, weâll need to remove the impurities.â
A faint glimmer flashed, and Rumâs head vanished on the spot.
All that remained on the ground was a trace of ash, perhaps the last remnants of what could still be called his remains.
The rest, Gorsa casually collected with a wave of his hand.
Not far off, Monica was helping Kaz as they made their way over.
Both of them were trembling, their faces pale as corpses.
Gorsa stood up. âWhereâs Gudo?â
Monica bit her lip. Arcs of electricity still danced across her body, and patches of her skin were alternating between black and white.
It was the price she paid every time she expended her magic on a large scale, and also a serious, lurking danger.
âWhile you were⊠adâadvancing⊠he escaped.â
Gorsa raised an eyebrow.
Now that he had eyebrows again, their color was slightly darker than his irises.
âYou let him go on purpose?â
Beside her, Kaz was clutching his neckâit had healed somewhat, but the injury was still serious enough that he needed Monicaâs support just to walk.
âTower Master,â Kaz sent Gorsa a voice transmission, âGudo has Alpha-radiation toxin. We couldnât get close to him.â
âAlpha, huh?â Gorsa didnât sound angry. âSupposedly a strange name Saul came up with. Now even the developers of the Alpha toxin have collapsed under its effectsâitâs unclear if theyâll even survive. You not daring to pursue Gudo makes sense.â
As for what had happened to Keli, all of them had their suspicions.
Gorsa looked at Monica, and she flinched instinctively.
Because she couldnât fight for long periods, Monica had chosen to stay out of the fray at the start.
Though she did protect Saul at the last moment, that act also served under threat and promise to treat her critical condition. So when Gorsa suddenly advanced Rank Three, fear had already gripped Monicaâs heart.
The only reason she still had the courage to walk over was because Gorsa had always kept his word.
Even though most of the time, he was a complete liar.
âNow that Iâve advanced to Third Rank, I have to return to my family and inherit the Wizard Tower thatâs rightfully mine. Youâre coming with me.â
Monica abruptly looked up, eyes filled with both fear and joy.
She didnât quite understand why Gorsa, who already owned a Wizard Tower, would need to inherit another one, but just hearing that he was returning to his family made her that much more confident that he could heal her body.
The Glare Family that Gorsa belonged to was a powerful clan with a Fourth Rank wizard among their members! It was said theyâd even produced a Fifth Rank wizard in the pastâthough none had appeared for the last hundred years, and no one knew if that rumor was true.
If not for the gossip that Gorsa had been exiled to the western regions of the Stat Continent, Anze and the others would never have dared to covet Gorsaâs Wizard Tower.
After deciding to take Monica, Gorsa turned to look at Kaz.
The old man was already on the verge of collapse.
Gorsa raised his hand and pressed it against Kazâs wound. When he let go, the half-missing neck had already returned to its original state.
âWhat is this?â Kaz touched his neckâit had healed that fast?
âGot the idea from Rumâturning energy into matter. But itâs fragile, so take care of your cervical spine.â With a smile, Gorsa then asked, âIâm handing this tower over to Saul. Do you want to come with me to Glare, or stay here?â
Kaz clearly hesitated, but before he could decide, a voice suddenly burst out from inside Gorsaâ
âKill me⊠kill meâŠâ
âYouâre already awake?â Gorsa pulled out a dark, writhing shadow from his cloak. Deep within the shadow, even darker currents of black twisted endlessly.
Gorsa frowned. âI let you absorb that much evil thoughts, and now the contaminationâs gotten worse.â
Monica straightened her back, concerned for her boss first. âTower Master, you werenât contaminated just now, were you?â
âI was. Otherwise, I wouldnât have nearly mutated from that interlayer riot⊠But Glareâs inheritance has its ways of dealing with contamination. Iâve already returned it to Yura, which is why sheâs even worse off now.â
As the group spoke, Yuraâs cries of âkill meâ echoed around them like background music, growing sharper and sharper.
Kaz couldnât bear it any longer. He was from the Kema Duchy and had known the living Yura. Now, seeing that the resurrection experiment had failed and that Gorsa had reached Third Rank, he tried to plead, âTower Master⊠could you⊠maybe let Yura go? Sheâs been like this for so longâitâs torture.â
Gorsa smiled. The curve at the corner of his lips was exactly the same as when his face had been wrapped in bandages.
âI can let her go, but only once the resurrection experiment is complete. Then Iâll personally kill her. Clean and swift.â
Kaz shuddered all over, feeling like even his breath came out with shards of ice.
Monica hurriedly tugged on Kazâs robe, silently begging him not to speak again.
Only then did Kaz come to his senses, and slowly lower his head.
âAlright, Iâm going to check on SaulâŠâ Gorsa clearly didnât want to talk anymore. He tucked Yuraâs soul, now condensed into a tight ball, back beneath his cloak.
Heâd just gotten halfway through speaking when he suddenly noticed that from the twentieth floor downward, cracks had begun to appear along the Wizard Towerâs outer wallâspreading all the way to the first floor and then sinking into the earth.
The whole tower started shaking violently. From inside came several terrified screams.
Was the Wizard Tower collapsing?!
But right then, from within those cracks splitting the outer walls, countless slender white arms reached out.
Some wrapped around the tower to keep it from breaking apart, while others extended to the ground, holding up the structure to prevent it from toppling over.
Hundreds of delicate white arms gripped the Wizard Tower, barely maintaining its original form.
Gorsa whipped his head around to glare at Kaz and Monica, uncharacteristically flustered. âYou see that?! And youâre still talking about letting him inherit the tower? Heâs already looted almost all my secrets!â
In that moment, Gorsa understood very clearlyâafter the mouth and eyes, even the last of the interlayerâs limbsâthe armsâhad switched allegiance.
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