5. A Noble Soul (2)
The city of Camelrn, birthplace of magic.
Even now, when little more than appearances remained there, one special institution still existed.
The Magic Council of Elders.
Standing at the very pinnacle of the magical world, they possessed transcendent authority free from the interference of all rules and regulations.
Every member of the council had reached at least 8-Class, so unless the matter was extraordinarily important, they rarely gathered.
Yet today was special.
Seven of the twelve elders had assembled, and the reason was simple—
Sael Ri, an elder of the council and a 9-Class mage, had convened the assembly for the first time in three years.
Ordinarily, attendance at council meetings was abysmally low.
Usually only those who wanted to show up did, and even when they did gather, they spent most of their time talking noisily among themselves.
But today, the chamber of elders was silent.
“…A few are missing.”
At the low, weighty voice that flowed from the old man’s mouth, the councilors swallowed hard.
Ordinary mages tended to grow younger the more they matured.
A 6-Class mage’s appearance would cease to age any further.
A 7-Class mage would regain a slight measure of youth.
An 8-Class mage could preserve the appearance of someone in their twenties or thirties.
And finally, a mage who reached 9-Class underwent a phenomenon called rejuvenation or body change, where the body itself transformed into the most ideal structure for using magic and took on a childlike appearance.
But Sael Ri was different.
Once one became a 9-Class sage, one generally abandoned all attachment to appearance and paid no attention whatsoever to outward looks.
Yet strangely, he insisted on the appearance of an old man.
With his long white beard reaching down to his chest and his pointed hat, he wore the kind of traditional wizard’s robes that seemed as if they belonged in a novel, and that went hand in hand with the fact that he was rigidly old-fashioned and unable to discard the customs of earlier times.
“Yes. Hedaron had urgent matters arise in his territory and returned at once, and Palat entered seclusion about half a year ago, claiming to have gained an insight.”
“If it is a personal matter, then nothing can be done. What about the others?”
“…They absented themselves without stating a reason.”
“I see.”
When the old man nodded, several councilors broke into a cold sweat.
If one failed to attend a council called by Sael Ri without reason, the penalties were enormous.
‘…Those bastards are in real trouble now.’
In any event, there was no way to drag in those who had not come, so the meeting began without them.
“The pale green tower has begun to move.”
The moment Sael Ri brought that up, several councilors groaned and shook their heads.
“Why now… after they stayed still for over ten years…?”
The pale green tower and the Council of Elders were similar in nature.
Both were small groups composed of only a handful of 8-Class mages, and at the very top sat a 9-Class mage.
The difference was that the pale green tower stood closer to “criminals” in the magical world, whereas the Magic Council of Elders stood closer to its “rulers.”
So one could say the two existed in direct opposition to each other.
Especially since the pale green tower was one of the few forces capable of threatening the Council of Elders at the peak of the magical world, it was only natural for the councilors to feel uneasy.
“A witch appeared, and was slain by a mere mage. In a way, that makes it inevitable. The master of the pale green tower is particularly sensitive to the existence of witches.”
“T-that… is true.”
“Those stupid bitches. If they were going to hide, they should have hidden properly. Instead they exposed themselves and got themselves killed…”
“Hey, what happened to that witch you said you were keeping imprisoned?”
“She died. Couldn’t withstand the experiments.”
“Tch. That’s what happens when you waste good materials. If it were me, I’d have squeezed ten years’ worth out of her…”
“Silence. Enough idle chatter.”
When Sael Ri struck the floor with his staff—Thunk!—the room fell quiet in an instant.
As though silence magic itself had been cast.
“This is not the first time the pale green tower has acted independently. However, there is one problem… the Crescent Moon Tower has begun to move as well.”
“What? The Crescent Moon Tower?”
“Yes.”
In this world, there existed only two structures worthy of being called great towers.
The Full Moon Tower, the most famous magic tower in the world—
and the Crescent Moon Tower, hidden in the shadows.
The Crescent Moon Tower was also one of the forces that threatened the Magic Council of Elders.
For decades they had searched desperately, trying to uncover and seize it, but because it left no traces behind, their efforts had all met with failure.
In truth, the Crescent Moon Tower was beneficial in that it exterminated Dark Mages, but because it committed so many crimes in the process, the magical world had officially defined its members as criminals and ordered them pursued.
That, however, was only surface-level posturing.
In reality, truly tracking the Crescent Moon Tower was impossible.
“The pale green tower and now the Crescent Moon Tower as well… is this incident really that significant?”
A single witch had appeared, and then been killed.
From the perspective of ordinary people, a witch might seem special, but to the pale green tower and the Crescent Moon Tower, witches were hardly an unfamiliar existence.
“It was not an ordinary witch. That witch… was a disciple of the Last Witch.”
“W-what…?!”
“Surely you don’t mean… there was still a successor of the Last Witch left alive!”
“Yes.”
The council members swallowed hard.
Because the magic of the Last Witch was none other than the strongest ultimate magic on earth—the power to turn illusion into reality.
The most “perfect magic” in the world.
The object of drooling desire for every mage, alchemist, and magitech engineer alive.
“Then… what happened to that magic?”
The council asked urgently, but Sael Ri shook his head.
“It was lost. She was killed in a subspace beyond by a Stella Academy cadet. Not even her corpse remained.”
“Ahh… how could that be…”
“To lose such precious magic without even being able to excavate it…”
And yet, at that moment,
every member of the council found themselves asking the same question.
The Last Witch’s magic was not merely wondrous—it was grand enough to be called sublime.
One of the most beautiful legacies left behind by the progenitor mage.
And yet why…
‘How could a being possessing such magic have been killed by a mere Stella cadet?’
That question could not help but arise.
“Baek Yuseol.”
Sael Ri softly recited the name.
“Both the pale green tower and the Crescent Moon Tower have focused their attention upon that child.”
And the fact that Sael Ri had spoken that name here and now meant that he too held a deep interest in the boy called Baek Yuseol.
“We too have heard enough of Baek Yuseol to know of him.”
“Shall we bring him before the council?”
“No. That will not be necessary. If he wishes to come, he will come. If he does not… then no matter what means you use, you will not be able to bring him.”
“What? Moving a mere cadet is not difficult at all.”
“You do not understand.”
Clicking his tongue, Sael Ri continued,
“That boy… is a special child who has stepped outside of fate. The best thing for you, too, would be to interfere as little as possible and keep one step back. Why can you not understand even that?”
At those words, every councilor shut their mouths.
Sael Ri occasionally said such incomprehensible things, but there was always profound meaning behind them, and even if one did not understand, one had no choice but to accept them.
“Still, the fact that the pale green tower has set its sights on that child… is somewhat bothersome.”
“…What should we do?”
“Convene the Magic Assembly and use it to restrain the pale green tower. Bind their feet so that they cannot move recklessly, and suppress their activities.”
The order was simple.
But it was by no means easy.
The mages of the pale green tower were mild in disposition, but between the tower master and his master—that woman—there were no fewer than two 9-Class mages among them.
“There is no need for you to feel burdened. That brat from Stella is also thinking of restraining the pale green tower.”
“I-is that so.”
Eltman Eltwin, principal of Stella Academy, was the youngest among the 9-Class mages, but he was also among the strongest.
Hearing that he would help eased the minds of the councilors considerably.
And with that, the meeting was over.
As Sael Ri rose from his seat, one of the councilors hurriedly asked,
“Elder. What do you intend to do about the Crescent Moon Tower…?”
“…The Crescent Moon Tower.”
He raised his head and looked at the night sky.
All three moons were hidden behind clouds, leaving the heavens dark.
“The moon is full.”
“Pardon?”
The councilor echoed the incomprehensible words, but Sael Ri offered no explanation.
He simply turned and walked away.
‘…So the Twelve Divine Moons are moving.’
The pale green tower and the Crescent Moon Tower could be understood.
But why had the Twelve Divine Moons suddenly begun moving at this point in time?
‘Grey Sky October. I’ll have to meet him.’
Was the world truly flowing according to fate?
To confirm that, there was no choice but to meet Silver Age November and Grey Sky October and ask them directly.
Sael Ri then disappeared like a mirage, and the councilor who had been waiting for an answer let out an empty, helpless laugh with a blank face.
“So something else is about to happen again while we remain ignorant of it…”
An 8-Class mage?
A gathering of power outside authority, the Magic Council of Elders?
What use were any of those things?
This world was driven by a very small number of truly great beings.
They could read fate.
And they had even learned how to walk beyond fate itself.
And what of themselves?
Were they not merely drunk on power and authority, foolishly imagining they stood at the highest point while not even realizing they were still bound by fate?
Even those above them, standing higher still, were chasing some purpose of their own.
“But… there’s nothing to be done.”
9-Class was not a realm one could reach through effort or talent alone.
It was, quite literally, a revelation from the heavens.
One person reached 9-Class because the night sky was cold and beautiful.
Another, after tossing sleeplessly in bed, attained enlightenment in a dream and reached 9-Class.
Another became 9-Class after hearing the voice of God while meditating.
A genius that appears only once in a thousand years?
It meant nothing.
How many geniuses until now had despaired at the wall of 9-Class?
9-Class…
was truly the domain of gods, beyond human beings.
The world in which those people lived was completely different from the one inhabited by everyone else.
Accepting that, the councilors turned away with powerless steps.
They had formed the Magic Council of Elders decades ago just to peek at the edge of 9-Class.
And still, even now, they could not understand a single grain of that divine realm.
Fwiiiing…!
When you stand at the very edge of a cliff and close your eyes as the wind blows past, sometimes you can become intoxicated by the sensation that your body is swaying.
Even though in reality you are not moving at all.
‘The world revolves around the sun.’
Those were the words once spoken long ago by some mage-philosopher.
That single sentence shook the very foundation of the world, forcing all the magic of the magical world to be overturned and reconstructed, and several centuries had passed since then.
“Can you feel it? The flow of the world.”
Rudelik Hollow.
Master of the Crescent Moon Tower,
and one of the great 9-Class archmages.
Standing at the edge of the cliff, he often enjoyed the sensation of the world revolving around the sun.
Naturally, it was a sensation no ordinary person could possibly perceive.
“I have no interest in such things.”
The one who answered Rudelik’s words was a man with gray hair, gray eyes, and peculiar clothes.
Even the aura around him was far from ordinary.
His name was—
Grey Sky October.
The strongest of the Twelve Divine Moons.
“So then, why did you come looking for me?”
“I came to speak with the old man sprawled there, sleeping on his back.”
When Grey Sky October indicated somewhere with his gaze, Rudelik smiled.
Because out there beyond the edge of the cliff, with a wooden platform laid across the empty air and sleeping flat on his back in a drunken stupor, was another of the Twelve Divine Moons—
Silver Age November.
“It’s not often that two of the Twelve Divine Moons face each other… Are you sure that’s fine?”
The Twelve Divine Moons were “fated” not to encounter one another.
Rudelik knew that.
The progenitor mage had left behind a final warning—
that on the day all of them gathered, something truly, truly terrible would happen.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true. Aside from you, all the other Divine Moons are bound up in their own shackles and unable to move.”
“Enough idle chatter. Wake him.”
At those words from Grey Sky October, Rudelik smiled broadly.
“That’s a little difficult. He’s an old man with a lot on his mind and a lot of stress. He’s finally getting some good sleep after all this time, and you expect me to wake him?”
“That is not for the likes of you to interfere in.”
As Grey Sky October said that and took a step forward,
Rudelik moved to block his way.
“You can’t go any farther, Grey Sky October.”
“…You mean to stop me?”
“Yes.”
Rudelik looked at Silver Age November with troubled eyes.
It had already been several months since his own ability of foresight had ceased to function properly, and he had come directly to Silver Age November in search of the cause.
But it turned out that Silver Age November himself was also in a state where he could no longer properly foresee the future.
Which meant that Grey Sky October’s arrival here could not possibly be a good sign.
More than anyone else, Grey Sky October was sensitive to fixed destiny, and he loathed anything that did not flow according to the ordained order.
Even if the world itself were to collapse at the end of it, Grey Sky October’s choice would never change.
‘Fate flows in accordance with the will of the stars.’
He believed in that more fanatically than anyone.
“Let’s not do this at a time like this, shall we?”
Rudelik held the opposite view.
At last, a being like a supernova had appeared—a being capable of changing fate itself.
And Grey Sky October wanted to interfere with that?
‘There’s no way I can allow that.’
As one who had once been blessed by Silver Age November, he had an obligation to carry out his will.
Thinking so, Rudelik raised “void” onto his fingertip.
A power of exactly the same nature as Grey Sky October’s—
dimensional force.
Seeing that, Grey Sky October frowned.
“You intend… to come at me with void?”
“Even if you are made of void, that doesn’t mean you’re the one who handles void best, does it?”
“What an interesting theory. The arrogance of you mages has never pleased me.”
Having said that, Grey Sky October stepped forward.
A single step—
the shortest in the world, and perhaps also the longest.
Kugung!!
Dimension clashed against dimension, space collapsed, and gravity inverted, causing all things to rise toward the cracks between dimensions.
And at that very moment—
“Kurrr…”
Silver Age November, who had finally been enjoying a deep, restful sleep, was dreaming.
A happy dream—
one in which he played poker against some boy and crushed him utterly.
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