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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 195: Traitor (1)
Sensing something amiss, Arin shouted from afar,
"Commander, where are you going?"
"To the White Magic Tower. We'll wrap things up quickly and withdraw."
I instructed my subordinates to return to Keplan as soon as they collected Karios's body, and I left Black Mountain first.
It wouldn't be good if they ran into No. 3 by accident.
Whiiiiing—!
The wind blew fiercely.
It suddenly felt much colder.
As soon as I reached the flatland, I quickly set my direction and was about to run, but I suddenly stopped and turned around.
At the entrance to the path stood the crumbling signpost, tilted precariously.
It read〈Lile〉.
"..."
I turned back.
I buried the signpost in the ground, covered it with soil, and closed my eyes.
A small memorial.
The locals in Lile had all likely become demonized humans.
I wasn't sure why the demonized humans under the Clown's command hadn't attacked me, but it seemed to be related to Yin-dimensional mana.
It was as if the command to attack their master had malfunctioned.
Slap—!
I slapped my cheek and kicked off the ground towards Keplan.
My destination: the White Magic Tower.
I already knew that the demons had reappeared and were targeting humans.
Their goal, it seemed, was to erase the expedition records and seize control from the shadows.
But what was this about a 'revelation' from 300 years ago?
Were there demon survivors from 300 years ago?
This changed everything.
Demons from the past surviving until now?
It made no sense.
A fundamental question hammered in my mind.
I had killed all the demons.
Verkes, that bastard, was no exception.
In the final moments, I had focused all my attention on him.
I definitely killed him.
There couldn't be a revelation I didn't know about.
This was impossible.
It felt like cause and effect were tangled in a knot that couldn't be unraveled.
What was I missing?
I had to check.
Looking at the distant lights of Keplan, I increased my speed.
***
"...Right now?"
A quiet silence filled the 1st floor of the Magic Tower.
The mage sitting at the entrance checked the time and shook his head.
"It's too late. Wouldn't it be better to come back in the morning?"
"Now."
The mage, with a slightly hesitant expression, nodded.
"Alright. Follow me."
I made a list of the books and headed straight for the upper floors as soon as I entered the archive.
As I passed the 3rd floor, I heard a boisterous noise.
It was the mages.
It seemed they were gathered in the archive at this early hour, having some sort of discussion.
I was about to quietly pass by and go to the next floor when...
"Oh?"
"Could that be Sir Ruin?"
Some of the mages approached me with curious looks on their faces.
"It is! It is! To think we'd see Sir Ruin here at this hour."
"Seeing you visit the archive at this time, it seems you're also fond of the dawn, Sir Ruin. The time before sunrise is the best time for intellectual growth. If you don't mind, would you like to join our conversation? We were just discussing incantation magic."
"No, thank you."
I tried to proceed to the 4th floor, but suddenly felt resistance from the magic circle at the entrance.
"..."
The librarian guarding the magic circle looked at me with a troubled expression.
"What's going on here?"
The librarian looked even more troubled and averted his gaze.
Following his gaze, I turned around to see the group of mages staring at me.
The young man sitting furthest inside stood up.
"Why don't we have a little chat?"
"Did you block my way?"
"I am Raphael, the Chief Mage of the Magic Tower. I am in charge of the archive's magic circle."
Where had I seen this guy before?
Suddenly, a memory from the Alliance headquarters flashed through my mind.
The guy from the Magic Tower who appeared when I was about to kill Vaph.
The guy who appeared between Mcclaine and the guard commander and said he needed to fix the magic circle.
"I know that Sir Ruin is looking for books related to incantation magic in the archive. I can help you."
"You seem to have the wrong idea. I don't have time for this."
"Sir Ruin of the Samael Clan."
The mage named Raphael smiled faintly.
"Opportunities to interact with the Magic Tower don't come often."
"This guy is insane."
"Pardon?"
I glared at the mages in frustration.
"Haven't you heard about me from Mahon? If you don't release the magic circle right now, I'll destroy it."
I gave them a warning and tried to move upstairs, but the resistance from the magic circle showed no signs of disappearing.
Wiiiing—!
I immediately opened my Circles.
Chanting a shortened incantation of Shock Wave, I launched a shockwave towards the magic circle.
Saaaaaaa—.
The shockwave was absorbed into the magic circle.
Raphael shook his head.
"I've heard the rumors, but I didn't expect you to be this reckless, even at the Magic Tower."
The other mages looked at each other and, as if passing judgment, each uttered a word.
"How dare he speak so carelessly about the Floor Master's name? He has no manners. There's no need to interact with someone like that."
"But it is fascinating. Judging by the mana flow, it's a 5-circle Shock Wave. It seems like he activated the incantation in a shortened form, which is amazing. It's worth researching for the advancement of magic. Think of the bigger picture."
"You're right. This is actually better. Once he experiences the magic circle himself, he'll change his min— Hmm?"
At that moment, an unpleasant sound emerged from the magic circle, as if it were cracking.
Chief Mage Raphael, the first to notice the anomaly, twitched his eyes subtly.
In a split second, Raphael's pupils dilated widely, but...
Crackle—!
Faster than that, the shockwave that was being absorbed into the magic circle burst out, shaking the entire floor.
"What the—!"
"An individual's incantation causing such an impossible...?"
The startled mages jumped to their feet and looked at me.
"A 5-circle anti-personnel magic circle broken by a single person's incantation?"
As the archive of the Magic Tower, once filled with a tranquil atmosphere, began to tremble in shock...
I, having shattered the magic circle, immediately went up to the 4th floor.
Or rather, I tried to.
"Activate the Spirit Barrier!"
The mages' voices rang out from behind me.
A moment later, the barrier activated, the walls vibrating as if trembling, and it gently constricted my heart.
I turned my head.
The mages, their hands clasped together, glared at me while chanting something that resembled an incantation.
Among them, Raphael met my eyes.
"Please come down, Sir Ruin."
His gaze was coercive.
Simultaneously, the waves of the barrier pressing in from all directions caused my Circles to react strongly.
It wasn't a magic barrier that suppressed Mana Cores.
It was a barrier that directly suppressed the Mana Circles.
I met Raphael's eyes and raised my right hand high.
"It's no use. You might get hurt. Please come down."
5-circle, Reverse Incantation.
Dark Heavenly Thunder.
A small black spot appeared above the mages' heads.
"We won't hold you accountable, so come do— Hmm?"
A hint of doubt crept into Raphael's voice.
Almost simultaneously, the same doubt appeared in the eyes of the other mages.
That was when the waves of the multi-layered dark lightning exploded, shattering the barrier that had spread throughout the archive.
Crackle—!
Blood poured from the mouths of the mages who had been maintaining the barrier.
"Cough! Hack!"
"Cough!"
I immediately approached Raphael and grabbed him by the collar.
"Why are you being so obstructive?"
"Just now... how...?"
"You want to die?"
Raphael's eyes were filled with uncomprehending terror.
He was completely speechless.
At that moment, the sealed space on the upper left floor opened, and someone hurriedly descended.
"The barrier is broken? What's going on! And you are...?"
Mahon Sirius.
I met his eyes for a moment, then slapped Raphael again.
Slap— Slap— Slap—
After landing three consecutive slaps, I released his collar.
"This is your last chance."
I glanced at Mahon as I headed for the upper floor.
"If you interfere one more time, I'll destroy the entire Magic Tower."
Mahon Sirius, surveying the broken barrier and the collapsed mages, watched my retreating figure and let out an incomprehensible sigh.
***
I put the previous incident behind me.
That wasn't important right now.
As soon as I arrived on the 5th floor, I immediately began searching the studies, starting from the left.
The space was much larger than the 4th floor, but the number of books themselves wasn't that great.
As before, I focused on books related to novels, legends, and journals.
[Record of the Discovery of the First Special-Grade Demon Realm — Asapha Ardehain]
[Giants and the Land of Death – Author Unknown]
[Barrier: Record of the Completion of Ragnarok — Scarlata, Representative of the Hundred Mages]
There were a few titles that piqued my interest, but I closed the books after skimming a few pages.
It was unlikely these books contained what I was looking for.
I immediately moved on to other books.
As I quickly scanned the shelves, a particular book caught my eye.
[Annihilation of the Spirit Tribe: Record of the Expedition — Author Unknown]
A title similar to the record of the previous expedition I had found.
I immediately pulled out the book and slowly scanned its contents, my gaze stopping at one point.
[Day 2,327.
The Gento mercenary group was annihilated by the foolish attack of the Spirit Tribe. But we had the great Heavenly Pressure. Yultara Arihama finally beheaded Vassago, the chief of the Spirit Tribe.]
'What the...'
The description was the same as the distorted record I found regarding the Black Clan.
The Spirit Tribe were the Gray Elves who had sided with humans in the expedition.
And Marquis Vassago...
It was none other than the Crazy Mage, me, who had taken his head.
Yultara was one of the three guardian knights of the Arihama Clan and had been killed by Vassago.
The Heavenly Pressure shield he had erected was shattered by Vassago's blow.
I couldn't hide my unease.
It wasn't just because I had found another distorted record of the expedition.
The record was distorted as if it were fabricated.
Come to think of it, the record I found on the 4th floor was the same.
Yultara Arihama, who was described as having killed Marquis Vassago, was actually the knight who was killed by Vassago's direct blow.
And Aiolli Baltahar, who was described as having killed Viscount Iosa, was actually the knight who was killed by Iosa's direct blow.
This wasn't just a simple distortion.
'This can't be a coincidence.'
I slowly scanned the record once more.
[Day 2,920.
The Gento mercenary group was annihilated by the foolish attack of the Spirit Tribe. But we had the great Heavenly Pressure. Yultara Arihama finally beheaded Vassago, the chief of the Spirit Tribe.]
"..."
I didn't know how this was possible, but...
An ominous premonition had been pointing to one conclusion for a while now.
Day 2,920.
The day that marked eight years since the expedition departed.
"It's something you wouldn't know unless you experienced it yourself."
Content that couldn't have been fabricated from the outside.
No matter how many times I thought about it, there was only one overwhelmingly clear possibility.
As if to confirm it to myself, I uttered the word aloud.
"There's a traitor."
300 years ago, during the final expedition.
There was likely a traitor among them.
It felt as if bitter poison was pooling in my mouth.
I forced myself to swallow and examined the study once more.
The fragments of the past were too vivid to simply stop dwelling on them.
I continued to search, hoping to find something else, but there were no more books written like journals.
However, in the last shelf of the last study...
As I pulled out the very last book, I found another one lying horizontally, as if hidden inside.
"Haa!"
I took out the hidden book and blew on it to remove the dust.
It was less a book and more like an old notebook with papers bound together.
The title read:
[Journal of the Unforgettable Dream Expedition]
As if possessed, I began to turn the pages.
[TL/N: Many things have been revealed in this chap n will be revealed in the upcoming chaps, so i just wanted to put a disclaimer here that things revealed are subjected to change as I get more context/understanding of certain things. But until then these will be considered confirmed.]
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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