The mages prepared their magic in large numbers, and Pi Jin-hyeok began focusing on pushing us back using the spells he had extensively memorized.
However, it wasn’t as if we hadn’t prepared either.
The first one to strike out was Go Yu-jin.
This was because Go Yu-jin would have difficulty fighting properly due to poor compatibility if they headed inside the Magic Tower.
Therefore, the goal was to increase the chaos by taking action outside the Magic Tower first.
Krrrk, the ground surged up with a roar of twisting earth, and the moment it became a Stone Golem, Go Yu-jin leapt toward it.
“Still as crude a control ability as ever.”
This was a remark from Jeong Gil-sun, who was watching Go Yu-jin as they moved together; in reality, it was a feat possible because Go Yu-jin was a 7th Circle user who could perform at a crazy level, using golem magic up to the 6th Circle without preparation.
A panicked mage desperately operated earth magic to further collapse the ground, and just as the large and heavy Stone Golem was about to be neutralized by the use of ‘Dig’ magic, it happened.
“You people know too little about me.”
The moment the voice rang out from the Stone Golem, the body of the Stone Golem, which had sunken up to its waist, bent slightly before leaping up with a Bang!
It was an unbelievable feat, and the mage was left speechless by a maneuver that was utterly unimaginable.
“Are you still handling a golem as if it were a human?”
To Han Sang-gil’s question, I shared what I knew.
“I understand she applied human muscle forms and operating methods directly to the golem. I wonder if there is any other summoner as outstanding as she is.”
“Certainly, if one can implement relaxation and contraction by injecting mana into muscle forms, such things would be possible, but… it is a feat that requires immense concentration and control ability; Yu-jin’s skill has advanced even further than in the past.”
Han Sang-gil spoke in admiration. And at that moment, I felt Pi Jin-hyeok’s mana.
“It doesn’t look like he intends to just defend.”
Just then, Go Yu-jin, who had leapt out of the collapsed ground, rushed toward the Magic Tower and swung her fist at the barrier that had begun to surround the tower in an instant.
Craaaaack!! The moment the fist touched the barrier, an enormous explosion occurred, and a large crack split across the barrier.
However, the Stone Golem’s arm was also not unscathed, but just as Go Yu-jin, seeing this, pulled her other arm back and swung her fist to break the cracked barrier, it happened.
“Explosion!!”
A powerful explosion occurred in the space between the Stone Golem and the barrier, and in an instant, the Stone Golem shattered, spraying fragments in all directions.
Though the onlookers were filled with concern, I knew that such an attack couldn’t possibly damage the interior of the golem, so I looked at the three black mages and spoke.
“I will head to the basement. Could the three of you deal with the mages who will come swarming down from the upper floors of the Magic Tower?”
“If those things from the video are in the basement… it will be difficult even for you.”
As Jeong Gil-sun said, if all five of them rushed at me at once, I certainly wouldn’t be able to handle them.
However, I wasn’t the only one heading to the basement.
“Commander An Sang-ik, let’s go together.”
Since it was as if the government had directly declared its intention to intervene, I asked this question out of certainty that An Sang-ik would step forward.
At that, he nodded and asked.
“You’re certain, right?”
“There will be much more. So… please have the government forces move as well.”
“I shall do that. I will join you… bringing two adjutants.”
‘Chu Myeong-hun is a concern, but since he must have his own thoughts as well, perhaps he won’t act recklessly. He probably entered the tower with a feeling of letting the Magic Tower deceive him for now.’
With certainty, I nodded at Han Sang-gil, and he began preparing magic in step with the response within the scope anticipated while coming here.
K-boom!! Just then, countless offensive spells began pouring down from the middle floors, aiming for the Stone Golem that had faltered and retreated from the Explosion, creating a thunderous roar.
Enormous flames soared, looking as if the Stone Golem would crumble at any moment, but she quickly repaired the Stone Golem by infusing mana and, clenching her fist once more, struck the barrier directly.
Mages could be seen preparing offensive spells again in disgust, but perhaps thanks to Go Yu-jin drawing their attention so effectively, Han Sang-gil, who had prepared his magic, stepped forward and reached out.
Then, a black sphere appeared at the upper part of the barrier being prepared for the Sealing of the Tower, and it instantly began to crush and suck in the space.
“It’s a Dark Hole!! Prepare to cancel! I said respond!!”
It was Pi Jin-hyeok’s urgent shout, and the elders of the Magic Tower intervened actively, releasing mana to somehow prevent the Dark Hole from growing.
But was it because it was not a spell that could be easily handled?
“Activate the Magic Tower!!”
Pi Jin-hyeok’s shout continued, followed by the Stone Golem’s punches aiming to break the barrier once again.
With every powerful impact delivered to the barrier, the cracks grew rapidly, and the mages used a staggering amount of mana to somehow restore it.
In terms of total mana capacity, the mages were bound to be overwhelming, but each spell had a maximum output, and since spells became useless if an impact exceeding that limit was applied, the Magic Tower was bound to become a crucible of chaos from the incredibly powerful spells cast by the 7th Circle black mages.
Pi Jin-hyeok, thinking that this situation could not be maintained for long, was using even the Magic Tower’s mana to maintain the defensive wall, but seeing the size of Han Sang-gil’s Dark Hole continue to grow, he eventually moved his steps toward the interior of the Magic Tower.
“Where are you going?”
As I approached the barrier and spoke to him, he glanced back at me with a venomous expression before heading straight inside the Magic Tower; I looked at Jeong Gil-sun and Cheon Jong-un, who had quietly come to my side, and asked.
“Please take care of this quickly. It will be quite troublesome if it turns into a war of attrition.”
“The limits of the fellow who designed this are clearly visible.”
Jeong Gil-sun placed his hand on the barrier, and Cheon Jong-un also lightly infused mana into the barrier to check its state before pointing at the ground.
“It takes the impact and channels it below; it feels like the area underneath is plastered with shock-absorption magic circles, so no matter how much we strike it like this, Yu-jin will tire out first. Old man Jeong Gil-sun, let me borrow some mana.”
“Old man my foot, we’re both aging in the same boat.”
He glared at Cheon Jong-un with a harsh gaze. It seemed impossible for the relationship between the two to be good.
This was because they were the heads of two different black mage groups, and they fought frequently over massive interests. However, when I, caught in the middle, cleared my throat once, Jeong Gil-sun let out a sigh and strongly infused mana into the ground.
“Should this be enough?”
“What’s with being stingy with only two area-spells’ worth?”
“You damn brat. That’s enough to break this barrier with sheer force!”
“Even so, it will be restored in less than a second; if we want to break the source, bring out some more. This friend here has to struggle inside, so we can’t let him waste his mana, can we?”
“Ugh, what a lot of trouble to go through in my later years…”
At the sight of him infusing mana into the ground even more strongly, Cheon Jong-un placed his hand on the ground and pushed his own mana in. Then, he quickly began preparing a spell.
Attributes were assigned to the mana, and the frame took shape. I marveled as I felt the infused mana clinging thickly to the frame, completing a single structure.
‘7th Circle Masters clearly show their individual personalities. Cheon Jong-un was of the absorption-type.’
In reality, he deals powerful damage to targets by storing and then releasing absorbed power. Hadn’t I also almost suffered by being caught in this tactic?
“Is it Infernal Break?”
“There’s nothing like this for destroying everything that forms magic along with the ground.”
“Heh, what a vicious fellow. Good. This is good!”
Jeong Gil-sun looked delighted, and Cheon Jong-un chuckled as if he knew a thing or two. This must be why people shudder at the sight of a black mage.
Seeing them excited at the thought of using great destruction magic, I stepped back, and the two followed suit before asking.
“By the way, are you going to leave Yu-jin like that?”
“Indeed, she might be caught in the spell.”
So I utilized message magic and immediately told Go Yu-jin to pull back.
In truth, it would have been great if Go Yu-jin could have broken through the barrier as an initial response, but it ended at the level of drawing attention.
Still, since they could prepare the magic and move on to the next step, I believed she had fulfilled her role sufficiently.
Just then, she sent a reply to my message.
-I’ll help when you enter! –
What kind of determination did she make?
Go Yu-jin lacked materials she could pull from inside the Magic Tower.
This was because the Magic Tower building itself was practically a single artifact. Therefore, no matter how great the summoning technique, it wasn’t easy to seize the will from an artifact possessing immense mana.
But I burst into laughter at the message that followed.
-I brought plenty of iron powder in my sub-space! –
When I glanced at Cheon Jong-un, he smiled as if he had realized something from my laughter. Then, he spoke to me.
“It’s because I wanted Yu-jin to stop by somewhere.”
Since it was a matter of only having to persuade Cheon Jong-un, I thought I knew why Go Yu-jin and Cheon Jong-un, who I expected to have arrived at the scene in advance, were later than us.
They had anticipated the battle with the Magic Tower and brought a countermeasure.
‘An Iron Golem…’
In reality, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a strategic weapon if Go Yu-jin operated an Iron Golem.
A steel giant dozens of meters tall—somehow, I felt expectant, and Cheon Jong-un cast the spell while watching Go Yu-jin increase her distance.
“Here it goes, Infernal Break!”
The moment he clapped his hands, an indescribably massive mana surged.
‘Is it seven area-spells’ worth of mana?’
With this one spell, Cheon Jong-un had invested half of his mana, and Jeong Gil-sun had also used a third of his.
It was no different from the total power of the two having been cut down significantly, but the important thing was the fact that the Magic Tower also had to bear enormous damage.
At that moment, along with the activation of the spell, the ground began to tremble, and soon cracks appeared everywhere before a powerful draconic force surged up in an instant.
‘Did he intentionally not use death energy?’
Infernal Break is a spell that causes great destruction using the power of death as its main force. However, because it was in the city, he had excluded ‘death energy’ itself from the spell so as not to damage the surroundings.
It was a great consideration, and as the cracks intensified, the barrier vanished in an instant; seeing the panicked mages shouting at the top of their lungs and making a fuss, I spoke.
“Let’s go. I’ll need your help until the moment we head to the basement.”
“You… bastard who sucks the marrow right out of the bones.”
“Let’s do that; it’s been fun after a long time.”
There were the two black mages who looked delighted, and An Sang-ik with his two adjutants following while looking at us strangely.
In that way, we neutralized the Magic Tower’s first line of defense and reached the point of entering the tower.
