The Warring States Period

The Warring States Period

I gripped the back of the mage’s head and delivered punches without pause.

Despite the mage being equipped with various defensive magical devices, each time my fist landed, blood and screams gushed forth.

Thud!

“Gack!”

Crack!

“Kuack!”

Crunch!

Boom!

“Kuuuu…..”

Whoa… this is dangerous.

Grrrr…

Strange sounds kept coming from my mouth.

My head and chest itched. I felt like I might explode.

I wanted to crush him more. I wanted to drive this mage before me into complete despair. Even if I toyed with him for ten thousand years before killing him, I didn’t think this rage and malice would disappear.

‘This is truly dangerous…’

The increasingly uncontrollable emotions weren’t originating from me.

-They don’t see us as their own kind!

-Don’t cry. Be angry instead.

-In the end, power and hierarchy took precedence!

-Did you hear what happened to those who received eternal punishment?

-There’s no need to be angry. Just return the favor.

-Let’s make them fear us.

-No need to be so serious. Just do it.

-Even if we all die… if just one of us survives at the end, isn’t that our victory?

-Hehehehe. Eventually, you’ll all die too. Kikikik.

As soon as I reconstructed my Ki-blood with black magical power, they started chattering madly. Not just the black magical power constituting my Ki-blood, but all the black magical power floating in the atmosphere clung to me and rambled. They poured their horrific past onto me. Once one started talking, the others followed like an avalanche, selectively projecting only negative memories onto me. The very madness that had destroyed the world of gods.

Now I could understand that vampire woman. I fully comprehended the malice that made her attack me like a maniac despite her initial confusion. Calamities were ultimately a kind of magical power singularity—one with madness at its core.

Yes.

No one could maintain their sanity in such circumstances.

Gurrrr!

“Kaaack! Stop! Stop! You monster! STOP!!”

Hedric shouted, waving his hands. It was a pathetic sight, but—

Click!

Like a lie, my movement suddenly halted.

I couldn’t move at all. My fist froze in mid-air, and Hedric, catching his breath, said,

“Haa… haa… that’s done.”

With his blood-covered face, he looked relieved.

-No!

-You’re going to surrender to this?

-Damn them! Toying with me again?

-Huh? Hahaha! You think we forced divine body modification for something like this?

Gurk. Grrrr…

Argh… please stop making those creepy growling sounds!

I was trying desperately to hold onto my sanity, but once my body froze, the black magical power went even more berserk. It was simply unbearable.

Blood vessels bulged in my eyes and my shoulders trembled. My frozen arm shook and moved forward on its own.

My reason felt like it was about to fly away. At this rate, my self might truly shatter. This is bad. Should I now—?

‘No. Not yet. Not now.’

Gurrrr!

Forcibly swallowing the rising growl, I bit my lip.

Hedric stared at me with a pale face.

“Y-you, what are you? A humanoid calamity? You’re resisting my Gift [Command]? Ha, but you were clearly human before?”

Cursing under his breath, he stretched out his hand.

“Fine. Whatever you are, I’ll find out through dissection. Whatever you might be, you won’t be able to withstand this.”

With blood dripping from his mouth, he finally uttered a primordial incantation.

“Sowing!”

[Howw-ing!]

Other mages occasionally heard the voices of magical power. That’s how “primordial incantations” were born.

But unlike me, they could hear them only rarely, in very special circumstances, and they didn’t understand the meaning of the words. So, even a 6th Circle mage couldn’t properly pronounce a primordial incantation with their Circle. They couldn’t hear what sound their Circle was making.

The fact that Sowing was pronounced even somewhat like [Howw-ing!] was only because the Circle itself vaguely remembered the word.

In the end, all a mage could do was try to recall that moment they heard the primordial incantation as vividly as possible, hoping their Circle would produce a more accurate pronunciation on its own.

Naturally, primordial incantations completed this way had distorted and diminished effects.

Originally, <Sowing> wasn’t this kind of spell.

It was a command specified by ancient gods to easily create various plants. Being plants created by gods, they could make all sorts of special ones.

Trees that bore gold, grass that could heal any wound, flowers that strengthened you just by smelling them, things like that.

But the Sowing that Hedric was using now didn’t create any plants.

Instead, mana rose like a shimmering heat haze in a radius of about 10 meters around me.

Mana that couldn’t form plants, swaying like seaweed. Over that, Hedric’s spells poured down.

<Delusion!>

<Confusion!>

<Ego Collapse!>

<Fascination!>

<Domination!>

<Enchantment!>

<Submission!>

The spells showered down and met the haze of mana.

The haze absorbed these spells like plants absorbing water, then released them back at me several times stronger, like dandelions dispersing seeds.

Dozens, hundreds of mental spells flew at me. Even I, half-transformed into a calamity, couldn’t withstand it.

Consciousness gradually blurred. My struggling body sank into dullness.

“Is it… over?”

“It’s over. That space has the power to copy and stack Master Hedric’s spells. One spell multiplies tenfold, a hundredfold. It’s Hedric’s trump card. Once that spell is used, even an A-grade Night Calamity would fall under mental domination within five minutes. It’s not something a 3rd Circle mage could withstand.”

“As expected. Can’t beat a 6th Circle mage after all? Too reckless.”

“…Is it really over? My legs are still trembling.”

“Of course it’s over. It’s amazing he got this far.”

Like in a dream,

I heard the mages murmuring.

Step. Step.

I also heard Hedric’s footsteps approaching me.

“Ha, haha. What a… perfect specimen? I could thoroughly research you, then sell you to the Magic Tower. Perfect! Hey! Pan-Dalus! Keep your promise, will you? Hahaha.”

A voice dripping with greed.

It was the same.

Just as I’d seen in [Simulation].

Barely holding onto my self that was about to sink completely, I moved my lips.

Cling!

I released a memorized spell engraved on my saw-toothed Circle.

[Time Reversal]

“What… what?”

Surprised? Yes. That’s exactly how I felt when Han Se-hoon used it on me.

The time of my body rewound. To the exact point I had designated.

The thousands of mental spells scattered and disappeared, Hedric’s Gift [Command] “Stop!” vanished,

even the black Ki-blood that had been gnawing at my self dissolved… my body returned to its pristine state before fighting Hedric.

The only difference was that I wouldn’t be able to use [Time Reversal] for the next two weeks. That’s all.

“Phew…”

With refreshed consciousness, I looked at Hedric.

Around me, the heat haze of <Sowing> that hadn’t yet disappeared was still swaying, laden with Hedric’s mental spells. The fertilizer was plentiful.

“Mr. Hedric. That’s not how you use that spell.”

“Wh-what?!”

Watch carefully.

“Sowing!”

[Sooooo-wing!]

Oh! My Circle succeeded in pronouncing it almost perfectly.

Crunch! Crunch!

In a radius of about 10 meters, plants shot up from the ground. Vines that grew instantly up Hedric’s legs all opened their flower petals at once.

Within the flower fragrance were abundant mental spells that robbed judgment and induced unlimited goodwill toward me.

All thanks to the fertilizer Hedric had provided.

While Hedric’s imperfect Sowing merely copied and stacked spells, the proper Sowing not only copied spells but also “refined” them to make them more powerful.

Even a 6th Circle mage couldn’t withstand it.

Hedric’s eyes, filled with shock, gradually softened and became blank.

“Mr. Hedric?”

I asked with a smile.

“Yes… YES! Did you… call me?”

It worked perfectly.

“Oh my, it seems you’ve fallen victim to your own magic? What should we do… I think we’ll need to take you to Solas Magic School for treatment.”

I turned my back as I spoke.

“We’ll take Mr. Hedric for treatment. Visitors are welcome anytime!”

The Society mages awkwardly laughed at my declaration.

From a distance, Pan-Dalus also smiled faintly.

It was the perfect ending.

With the excellent excuse of “hospital visits,” the Society mages here could now visit Solas Magic School without worrying about anyone’s scrutiny.

And so, one by one. They would become our allies.

* * *

“Now the name Divine Mage will shake the entire Tower.”

That evening was a small gathering centered around our Research Nomad and Pan-Dalus, joined by Principal Ruttle of the magic school and the Mage of Refinement, Oh Si-jin.

Fire grapes and wind reeds were appetizingly arranged, with steamed pork and gellyfish roast giving off delicious aromas. Glass bottles contained horugallis fermented wine and lami sap.

“We’ve truly crossed a point of no return now.”

Oh Si-jin smiled bitterly, but Pan-Dalus laughed lightly as he picked up the horugallis fermented wine.

“Let’s have a drink to that.”

Horugallis. A substance with anti-psychotic and anesthetic effects. This was my first time drinking it since going wild with laughter after consuming it at Arsenal #7. It gave me a strange feeling.

“Hmm…”

The old mage who had dedicated his life to the Tower and humanity spoke with dreamy eyes.

“Si-jin.”

“Yes, master.”

Refinement, who had been sitting at an angle, straightened his posture. Pan-Dalus downed another glass of horugallis and continued.

“I’m scared too, actually. Everything is happening faster than I anticipated. What we’re about to do is create an eighth force in this Tower… and beyond that, reconcile the seven forces currently at odds with each other… But it’s all starting without time for preparation. It feels like a hundred lives of this old mage wouldn’t be enough. However… if a person must stake their life once in their lifetime… I think now is the time.”

Pan-Dalus picked up a fire grape. The peach-colored grape revealed its white flesh.

“The floors of the Tower of Covenant that can produce food are the 20th, 50th, 70th, and 90th. These fire grapes are produced on the 20th floor. We need to secure a route at least that far.”

Pan-Dalus’s gaze turned to me.

“That’s how we can create a sustainable organization. An organization that will serve as a foundation for the Divine Mage. So, Si-jin. And Principal Ruttle.”

“Yes.”

“At your command.”

“Remember that from now on, the person you should be most concerned about is not me, but the Divine Mage here. Getting the Divine Mage to the top of this Tower. That is my goal.”

“…Hmm…”

Oh Si-jin let out a sigh.

“Answer me. Can you do that?”

Finally, Oh Si-jin downed his horugallis fermented wine and answered.

“…I’ll keep it in mind.”

Principal Ruttle burst into laughter.

“Haha! I will prioritize the Divine Mage above all else.”

With the atmosphere flowing this way, I felt I should say something too.

“I’m counting on you. Please send me to the top of the Tower. Please unite the power of the other organizations that are fighting among themselves. Then… I will show you how I can prevent extinction.”

There was no need for modesty in a place like this. Seeing my resolute gaze, Pan-Dalus smiled with satisfaction.

Ruttle laughed along.

“Hohoho! Indeed! Didn’t the Divine Mage clearly demonstrate it today? That he can replicate not only Gifts but also primordial incantations! Existing magical theory has been overturned. As he says, truly… the era is changing. Those who cannot adapt quickly will inevitably be left behind. Thinking that I stand at the forefront of this… I’m deeply moved. Thank you for allowing someone as inadequate as myself to be part of this historic moment.”

Speaking with an excited voice, he drank the lami sap. After draining the refreshing, sweet liquid to the last drop, he wiped his beard.

And so we shared our goal.

We would be able to absorb the Society’s joint caravan that had descended to the 3rd floor without much trouble.

After that, next would be the Truth Tower and Magic Tower.

Sometimes by force, sometimes by persuasion… we intended to shake the existing factions in this Tower and establish an eighth force.

When it felt bleak and frightening,

A glass of horugallis would erase unnecessary fears.

We can do it.

That’s what I whispered to myself, and to the magical powers.