A man who appeared to be a mage approached Killian after he arrived in the royal capital.“Are you a knight of Eurasia?”
“I am Killian Eurasia.”
Surprise briefly crossed the man’s face.
“Please wait a moment.”
He used communication magic.
Whoosh.
Soon, a mage appeared through the Warp Stone.
It was Russell McMahon.
“Sir Killian. We meet again.”
“I received a letter from His Majesty the King.”
“...I see.”
Those words seemed explanation enough.
“I shall guide you to His Majesty.”
As they walked, Russell told him several things.
All the results of the Joint Investigation Team had been reported, and Hegel apparently intended to form an investigation team to search for Formulas that might be inscribed all over the continent.
“What happened to Sharle?”
“As for that... I believe it would be better for you to hear it directly from His Majesty.”
Russell quietly drew the line.
‘Is there something going on?’
Before long, they reached the royal castle.
Like Eurasia, Cornelia had also absorbed the Romero Kingdom and made it its capital.
Walking through the streets of Romero, the capital, Killian took in the peaceful atmosphere.
Hundreds of years ago, under the reigns of exceptional kings and queens, Eurasia and Cornelia had respectively been called the Kingdom of Knights and the Kingdom of Mages.
Countless knights had hoped to join Eurasia’s knight orders to cross the wall, and countless mages had hoped to belong to Cornelia’s mage orders to reach a higher realm.
To Killian, those events were as vivid as yesterday.
And after hundreds of years, the two kingdoms that had fallen to rock bottom were once again reclaiming their former glory.
Eurasia focused on training ordinary infantry and Rangers around its five knight orders, while Cornelia was gradually expanding its power around five mage orders and one knight order.
‘At its current rate of growth, it might be possible to reclaim the glory of two hundred years ago.’
While walking and talking with Russell, he had already reached the front of the royal audience hall.
“This is as far as I guide you.”
“Thanks to you, I arrived comfortably.”
“His Majesty will be waiting for you.”
Russell withdrew.
When Killian entered the royal audience hall, he heard a welcome voice.
“Prince Killian.”
“It has been a long time since I have seen the Sun of Cornelia.”
He placed a hand over his chest and offered a respectful greeting.
The Sun was an expression used only for the Emperor of the Empire, but Killian thought it suited the man known as the Flame Emperor as well.
“Your gift for words remains unchanged.”
Hegel did not seem displeased.
“Congratulations on opening a new realm.”
He had reached a complete 8-Star.
For someone who was practically the master of the Magic Tower, he would reach the rank of Master before long.
He was not the only one who had assessed the other’s strength.
“You, too, crossed the wall while I was away.”
“Many things happened.”
“Great power carries great responsibility. Eurasia is fortunate indeed.”
Formal greetings were exchanged.
The two spoke of the war Cornelia and Eurasia had fought, and asked and answered questions about what had happened in the investigation team that had gone north.
“Sharle separately reported to me about the dragon called Hazard. You said you obtained him in the Magic Tower before, did you not?”
“Please forgive me for not telling you beforehand.”
“There is no need to say that. I, too, would not have been able to complete Sun Magic if you had not given me the spellbook.”
“If not for Sharle’s help, I would not have been able to hatch Hazard.”
Killian told him about the work he had done to hatch the egg in her laboratory, and how he had later kept Hazard with him in Polymorphed form.
Hegel also looked surprised when he heard that Hazard had torn apart an Arch Mage’s linked magic in less than a year.
“They said that a Dragon Heart cannot be compared to a Human Mana Heart. It seems that was true.”
“As things turned out, I even formed a Hollyheart now.”
“...!!”
At the familiar reaction, Killian gave an awkward smile.
Anyone who heard it would know it was far from ordinary.
“I heard that you formed a Hollyheart as well.”
“That is correct.”
“Unbelievable things happen far too easily.”
He let out a hollow laugh.
“What happened to Sharle?”
It was the subject Hegel had avoided all along.
He gave a small sigh.
“She laid her hands on the power of the Transcendents.”
“By Transcendents, you mean...”
“Gods and Grotesqueries.”
“...”
“I knew she felt pressured after Kiel died, but it seems it was worse than I thought.”
Losing a Superhuman would have been a great loss to Cornelia as it prepared to leap forward.
‘Regardless of Sir Russell’s existence, was she trying to cross the wall in her own way?’
Serena had also crossed the wall by coming into contact with Silvana’s will.
The approach of hastening time by coming into contact with the will or fragments of Transcendents was not wrong.
‘Sharle, who synchronized with the Magic Tower, can realize 7-Star magic.’
She was a creation mage who had stabilized 6-Star, so her value was already no less than that of an Arch Mage.
Even so, she had overexerted herself like this to ease the burden on her heart.
‘She may act like an adult, but she is still a Human who has not even lived thirty years.’
“Celot stopped the child’s time.”
If it was Celot, called the Mage of Eternal Ice, there would have been a way to slow the condition so that it did not progress.
“May I ask why you called for me?”
If Sharle had truly fallen comatose while researching the powers of Gods and Grotesqueries, it would have been more proper to seek help from the Papal Office than from him, a knight.
Sharle had also formed a good relationship with the Saintess, so they would not have refused either.
Yet they had asked him for help.
He asked because he thought there must be a special reason.
“Because I did not believe it was a problem that could be resolved with Divine Power.”
“...?”
“Cornelia’s Magic Tower possesses a personality of its own.”
It was something he already knew.
Whenever he synchronized with the Magic Tower, it would speak to him.
“It was not I or the previous heads of the family who limited synchronization with the Magic Tower to direct descendants.”
“...”
“The tower wanted it that way.”
The tower forbade Cornelias who were not direct descendants from approaching it.
“It was not simply a matter of qualification. It must have feared that Mana would be abused.”
Mana held limitless possibilities.
And the Violet Magic Tower was a structure capable of producing Mana that was close to limitless by itself.
The two Magic Towers held by the Empire were the same, as were the divine tree planted in the Forest of Fairies and the Holy Tower of the Papal Office.
“The Magic Tower seemed to dislike the thought of those unqualified to do so overusing Mana and harming the world.”
“Are you saying that Sharle crossed the line the Magic Tower had set in order to research the Transcendents’ power?”
“That is right. It is the Magic Tower that is holding Sharle’s consciousness.”
“...”
“Celot and I tried synchronizing with the Magic Tower, but we could not even approach the child’s Mind Image.”
Hegel’s gaze turned toward the pendant around Killian’s neck.
‘I see.’
Killian had the pendant that had originally belonged to Sharle.
He had also experienced temporarily sharing her Mind Image.
Hegel wanted Killian to synchronize with the Magic Tower and enter her Mind Image.
“May I ask this of you?”
“I will do it.”
There was no need to hesitate.
Sharle Cornelia was now practically a close friend of his.
‘It is fortunate that the pendant has not yet fallen into Orchid’s hands.’
At Killian’s answer, Hegel’s expression became satisfied.
“Thank you. I entrust Sharle to you.”
So quietly that Killian could not hear.
“Son-in-law.”
Hegel murmured it softly enough for only himself to hear.
***
There was no need to delay.
Immediately afterward, he headed with Hegel to where Sharle was.
When he stepped onto the Warp Stone, he saw Celot, enveloped in surging violet Mana.
‘He is synchronized with the Magic Tower.’
He immediately knew that the place to which they had traveled was inside the Magic Tower.
‘Sir Celot has grown as well.’
The level he showed while synchronized with the Magic Tower differed from before.
An incomplete 8-Star.
Perhaps a new 8-Star mage would be born in Cornelia within a few years.
It was admirable that Diana’s descendants were walking their own paths without losing their way.
“You have arrived.”
Keeping his gaze on the Barrier, Celot spoke.
“I brought the son-in-law.”
“Thank you for coming, Fourth Prince.”
Ignoring Hegel’s words, Celot calmly greeted him.
“You seem exhausted.”
“Thanks to your coming early, I can still hold on for now.”
“Then let us begin immediately.”
Fwoosh.
Hegel’s Mana, synchronized with the Magic Tower, eased Celot’s burden.
As the Barrier grew faint, Sharle lying on the bed came into view.
At a glance, she simply appeared to be asleep.
If not for the faint Radiance emanating from her body, nothing would have felt amiss.
Killian gripped the pendant hanging around his neck.
Ding.
[Name Search Magic activates.]
The blooming violet Mana formed letters before his eyes alongside Cornelia’s magical Formula.
[Verification of direct-blood descendant Sharle Cornelia.]
As the magical Formula and lettering reassembled themselves, an androgynous voice of indeterminate age sounded in his ears.
[Marriage relationship between Sharle Cornelia and Killian Eurasia confirmed.]
[Confirmation complete.]
The violet Mana magic circle rotated.
[Bloodline verification complete. Synchronizing with the Magic Tower’s Mana.]
The moment Killian’s Mana came into contact with Sharle’s.
[Kiaaaaaa—]
Radiance burst out with a sound like metal being scraped.
Fwoosh.
Crack.
Fire and ice.
Violet Mana possessing two attributes blocked the Radiance.
Shing.
Killian drew Anima.
And then.
Thud.
He drove it into the floor and unfolded a new domain.
“Carpe Illusion.”
Shhhhh.
Within the Magic Tower, while synchronized.
“Violet Magic Tower.”
Fwoooosh.
Even the Radiance that surged as though to consume them.
Even the two Arch Mages whose Mana surged to control that Radiance.
Their momentum faltered before the majesty radiating from the enormous tower.
“It would be believable even if it were real.”
“To think this is a technique made from a Formula...”
Hegel and Celot exclaimed in admiration.
Unconcerned, Killian approached Sharle.
The Mana of the two Arch Mages was neutralizing the approaching Radiance.
He could make full contact now.
He removed the pendant around his neck and placed it in her hand.
Then.
Ding.
[Contacting direct-blood descendant Sharle Cornelia.]
[Entering the Mind Image World.]
Killian was able to enter her.
***
The first thing he encountered was a space swept by violet Mana like a tidal wave.
Splash. Splaaash.
How many times had he been heaved by the waves before he reached the water’s edge?
Fwoosh.
He ignited Mana and evaporated every drop of water.
He saw the woman he had been looking for in the distance.
Where the blue sea met an endless sandy beach.
Sharle stood on the shore, where the waves whispered softly.
She sat on a small chair beneath the shade cast along one side of the beach.
Her violet hair, lightly scattered by the sea breeze, gleamed in the gentle sunlight, and a thick book rested on Sharle’s lap.
Each time she turned a page with her fingertips, there was a soft sound, and her eyes followed the stream of letters in deep concentration.
The book’s title was hidden, but her neat gaze and smile made it clear that it interested her.
“Sharle.”
At his call, she looked up at Killian.
“Who are you?”
“This is not the time to joke.”
“Silver hair, two dragons emblazoned on knightly armor. You have the appearance of Eurasian royalty.”
“...”
“Could you be Demian Eurasia?”
“I am Killian Eurasia.”
“Killian...?”
Sharle tilted her head.
“...”
Killian realized something was wrong.
Come to think of it, he had not checked the name of the Curse she had been dealing with.
Hegel had said that he, too, did not know for certain even what she had been privately researching.
“How strange.”
“...”
“There is no such name in Eurasia...”
‘No way...’
“I am Sharle Cornelia, a 6-Star mage who resides in the Violet Magic Tower.”
Smile.
Sharle gave her characteristic gentle smile.
Killian’s face hardened at the sight of her being completely unaware even of her own situation.
One Curse came to mind.
‘The Curse of Oblivion.’
She had forgotten the existence of Killian Eurasia.
Chapter 233: Chapter 233
10 min read