With the elevator out of service, Chris had no choice but to race up the stairs. Along the way, she ran into the stairs she’d climbed while outrunning Viscount Sage’s wyvern. She smiled upon realizing the wall had been repaired since then. An odd, fuzzy feeling washed over Chris as her memories drifted back to her adventures with Ein. However, she immediately shuddered when she saw a massive hole that led all the way to the bottom. Considering that it had been created by a recent shock wave, the sight of a crumbling floor wasn’t reassuring in the slightest.
“Just a bit more. I’m almost there,” she mumbled to herself.
Despite feeling like a lump of lead, Chris had managed to drag herself up the tower for several minutes. When she reached the flight of stairs leading to the roof, she finally caught her breath. Okay, let’s go, she told herself.
She placed a hand over her magic stone and recalled the voice of the crown prince she had once offered it to. Beyond the dilapidated door lay hazy skies, and a strong gust of wind sent her hair fluttering. She stood beside the massive hole she’d just taken notice of and saw a device wrapped around a still-standing pillar. She walked ahead before she was stopped by a voice.
“Shall I help you?” Oz asked. He stood a short distance away, with a wide smile on his face as his white coat flapped in the wind. “How are your wounds?”
“I’m good as new, thanks to you,” Chris replied. “His Majesty saw to it that I received the best care possible.”
“Wonderful.” Oz noticed that Chris had drawn her rapier and aimed it at him. “Why have you brandished your weapon at me?”
“I think you know why.”
The professor was silent.
“I only just became certain, thanks to Princess Katima’s words,” Chris continued.
“I don’t quite understand. Do you care to enlighten me?” Oz requested. “I feel as though you’ve misunderstood me. Perhaps a small chat would allow me to clear things up and smooth them over.”
He was eerily composed as that smile remained plastered on his face. Despite the rapier in his face, he managed to fire back with a few questions of his own. His attitude was clearly abnormal.
“Thinking back, there were a few things that bothered me,” Chris explained. “Even my colleagues weren’t aware of the ship that Sir Warren was on, but someone notified me that he called for you, Professor Oz.”
“He did indeed,” Oz replied. “The chancellor asked me for my aid, and I secretly boarded his vessel.”
“You were called for immediately after the tower went out of control.”
The professor’s cheek twitched for a moment when this knowing remark met his ears.
“My guess is, Professor Oz, you have some sort of goal in mind, and Sir Ein was in the way of that,” Chris said. “You also feared Sir Ein’s powers. And so, you forced the tower to go wild, in hopes that you could draw him out of Kingsland.”
Oz fell completely silent.
“After all, you know Sir Ein’s power very well, don’t you?”
“Well, of course,” Oz replied. “I heard all about it when he was last here.”
“Indeed, he went as far as to save the orphans we ran into. Surely, you could’ve predicted that Sir Ein would’ve personally purified the air, luring him away from Kingsland. Now, I have a few theories as to why you targeted our chancellor, but I’m not certain.”
Chris paused; she realized that her entire body was tense and nervous. She might have been up against a researcher, but he also happened to be a red fox. She was most certainly vigilant and alert.
“My other clue was Edward’s words,” the elf said. Oz flinched, and she wasn’t one to miss it. “You reacted just now. But Edward didn’t seem at all apologetic for letting it slip. It seems he once wished to kill you. Ah, but he mentioned receiving your assistance in this war, and for that, he displayed his gratitude.”
Oz fell silent. While Chris’s logic made sense, she still didn’t have concrete proof that pinned the professor as a red fox. Of course, if this was all coupled with the fact that he’d been left unscathed by the monster invasion, Chris’s suspicions were practically confirmed, but there was no evidence.
“Speaking of,” Chris said, deciding to spring a trap of her own, “that black stone you gave to Shannon and Edward is very curious. What is it made from?”
Oz sighed. “Good grief, this is why I abandoned them.” The professor knew that it was a trick question, but he saw no need to play dumb. He became defiant as he prattled away. “That man is nothing but prideful. And our chief is impulsive—she’s spent the last several centuries yearning only for revenge. There really is no advantage for me to constantly be with them.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, it’s nothing at all. About that black stone, unfortunately, even I’m not quite sure what it’s made from. Hmm? I suppose that might cause even more misunderstandings. I was the one who found the raw material. There’s no doubt about that. But I’m not quite sure what monster the material is from. I just know that it’s splendidly unusual and very useful, so I’ve been utilizing it as I wish.”
Oz chattered away while adjusting his glasses. He cast aside his fluttering coat and started to undo the buttons on his white shirt.
“Oz... What exactly is your goal?” Chris asked.
The professor looked elated by the question, resembling a child who had been given a new toy. His face was filled with delight.
“I just want to be at the pinnacle of evolution!” he shouted, causing Chris to turn quiet in confusion. “Monsters, nonhumans, and even the Demon Lord—among all the living creatures, they’re the most greatly affected by the concept of evolution! Now, where is the epitome of that? The apex? Where, oh where is the final stage of evolution?! I simply want to find the answer to that!”
“Then why did you attack Sir Warren?”
“Because he was in the way, of course! It was only in my final moments with him did I realize that he’s a red fox as well! He was a simple nuisance until then! It’s as clear as day! With him in the picture, the crown prince’s evolution was stunted!”
“For such a goal, you...”
“Pardon? ‘Such a goal,’ you say? Don’t be so foolish. There’s no better historical specimen than your crown prince! His abilities surpass those of even the Demon Lord Arshay! Don’t you know that?! You should take a good look at him! He’s spread his roots all over Heim’s royal capital! I’ve never seen anything more divine! He simply tickles my urge to research him further!” Oz paused before he proudly went on, “I remember falling for the crown prince the moment I met him. It’s why I provided him with one of my species’s precious magic stones. Ah, that reminds me, that stone has quite the special effect.”
Oz claimed that at his signal, the stone was designed to spew a thick miasma fog. The mist’s density was on par with the miasma that had poured from Rayfon’s pores in Bardland. It could cause chaos within the castle in moments.
“The first princess had apparently stored it away, but I wonder if it was destroyed,” Oz wondered. “Well, it’s a trivial matter; my plan is going smoothly.”
Chris felt her blood boiling in response to Oz’s confession.
“I won’t forgive you,” she growled. “We lost countless lives to the war you started! Do you even know just how many people died?! And even Sir Ein is...”
“What piffle. Our chief started that war.” He chuckled as though to correct Chris. “She was gripped with the lust for revenge. I’ve no idea why she wanted it or whom she despised, but I’d imagine it had something to do with Ishtarica. I’m not directly involved, so I really am not sure.”
Despite strongly denying any responsibility, the professor looked more delighted than he’d ever been before. His talkative behavior only served to prove it. He made a grand gesture and stared up at the heavens.
“All I did was use that!” Oz bellowed. “The chief’s personal pursuit of the crown prince was only a convenient coincidence! And so, I contacted him after a long while and lent him my aid! I made it so that the crown prince could unleash his true powers!”
Oz’s goal was very straightforward. He wanted Ein to encounter Shannon, fall to her spell, and run wild just as Demon Lord Arshay had many centuries ago. When the war broke out, Oz had simply utilized it for his benefit. By handing Edward the black stone, he only sought to fan the flames of war with the fruits of his research. The professor would do anything to realize his goals.
“All because of you, Oz...we’ve been gravely injured,” the elf said coldly.
In a flash, she vanished from view, and reappeared behind the professor. However, the master of the tower grinned broadly, maintaining his cool.
“It pains me to make such precious sacrifices, but thus is life. That’s all I can say,” he replied.
“Oz, you’re insane!” Chris declared.
A single researcher should’ve been no match for the knight, so Chris was certain that he’d arrived with some sort of plan. As doubt filled her mind, she pointed her rapier squarely at Oz’s chest, hoping to end him in a flash. But oddly enough, she froze in place, stopping just short.
“This tower, you see, was completed around two hundred years ago,” Oz said. “Back then, there was a researcher who was called a genius of the millennia. He provided his full support in the development of this structure.”
As his words hit her ears, Chris realized that her arms and legs were now encased in white ice. Is this some sort of magic? It was shocking to think that he could use such a powerful spell in an instant.
“Needless to say, I was that researcher,” Oz finished.
A familiar black stone was embedded in each of the professor’s dorsums. Reminiscent of jet-black diamonds, these stones were much darker than the one Edward had used. Chris gasped in surprise.
“These are the finished products,” Oz explained. “These are not the failed prototypes I sent across the sea to those two. My stones are the only ones that exist in the entire world. With these, I’d like to polish the crown prince’s potential even further.”
The ice started to swallow Chris’s body whole. Unable to even step forward, she hastily retreated while clicking her tongue in annoyance. Her wind magic was enough to shatter the ice that had encased her limbs. However, her supple skin had been hit with a rash of frostbite, creating a pain that surged throughout her body.
“I’ll be frank,” Oz said. “You cannot kill me in this tower.”
“I won’t know if I don’t try,” Chris replied through gritted teeth.