The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower - Chapter 218

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 218: Eternal Moment (6)

A deep sense of disappointment filled Yuribe’s eyes as he looked over the three.

‘…How anticlimactic.’

He had come fully prepared, but his opponents weren’t ready at all.

The woman he had been most wary of was staring blankly into space with dazed eyes, mumbling to herself.

Clearly, she wasn’t in any condition to fight.

‘And the conductor guy…’

He was sitting there with threads tied to both hands, only his eyes shifting around.

Those threads were likely connected to the cocky brat who had gone inside.

Obviously, he couldn’t go all out in battle while holding onto those.

‘So that makes two out of the three effectively out of commission.’

He felt like a fool for preparing so thoroughly.

Had he known it would be like this, he might as well have come alone.

‘…No. Actually, maybe this isn’t so bad.’

The one he wanted to tear apart the most was the arrogant beast who cut off his horn.

If that brat emerged from the “place where everything stops” to find his comrades turned into cold corpses?

Th𝗶ѕ 𝘤hɒpṯℯr 𝐢𝓈 p𝐨ṡţɛ𝘥 b𝕪 𝗞ıṯєȠ0𝙫ɛ𝘭

“Heh… heheheh.”

Watching that arrogant face twist in despair might be quite entertaining.

Yuribe glanced back at the five demon kin he had brought with him.

Each of them was about as strong as the woman who had engaged in close combat earlier.

‘So it’s five against one.’

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t see himself losing.

With a cold smile, Yuribe opened his mouth.

“You look like you never expected to see me again.”

“…”

Kaya didn’t reply and instead glanced behind her.

Sasha was completely absorbed in her trance, and Oran, holding the threads, wasn’t in a position to fight.

‘I have to stall for time by myself somehow.’

But it was easier said than done.

Even with his horn cut off, Yuribe was a high-level warrior at the edge of Level 7.

And the five others were all around her level.

“…Senior.”

Oran’s trembling voice reached her ears.

He too was tormented by a life-altering decision.

‘If I let go of these threads now, little brother might never return.’

But if he kept holding on, the three present here would surely die.

Caught in this brutal dilemma, Oran’s face contorted.

—You’re so reliable. Feels like I finally have a real big brother.

Damn it, why did he have to say something like that at the end?

Oran clenched his teeth, deep in thought, when—

“Huuuuh, Oran Quil.”

Kaya swept her long hair back and fixed her gaze on the enemies.

“Don’t let go.”

“…What?”

“No matter what happens from now on, keep holding onto that.”

“But even for you, Senior, this is—”

“That’s an order. Just listen. It’s not like you joining the fight is going to change much anyway.”

Even if Oran joined, their chances of victory were close to zero.

Which meant it was more important to plant as many seeds of variables as possible.

‘Oscar Crucian… If that guy returns, the story might change a little.’

In terms of raw strength, his presence might not shift the tide.

But Oscar was a rare mage who could manipulate space.

At the very least, he might be able to find a gap and let them escape.

That slim hope was all they could rely on now.

‘And Sasha.’

She too was a promising seed, even though she was lost in a trance.

If she broke through the wall of Level 8 at the right moment, she’d be a tremendous asset.

‘I don’t know if a freshly minted Level 8 mage can take all of them on…’

But it would still be better than the current situation.

Which meant Kaya had only one job:

‘Buy time.’

With sharp eyes, Kaya stepped forward.

Yuribe gave a smirk in response.

“I’ve already gauged your skills in our last fight. What makes you think you can handle this alone?”

“Sounds like an excuse, but I was holding back a little back then.”

“…Nonsense.”

His beast-like eyes narrowed.

He knew better than anyone that she had no reason or room to hold back at that time.

Sensing that, Kaya continued.

“You know why I always stick with that slippery guy?”

“…”

“Because our domains are completely different. If he’s a conductor who performs for a single audience…”

Kaya’s body began to glow faintly.

The tattoos she normally kept hidden under her skin were now all activating at once.

“I’m someone who gets stronger the more enemies I face.”

“…Not worth listening to any further.”

She dared claim to have hidden her strength while fighting him?

Yuribe found it too ridiculous to believe and gave a gesture.

“Kill her.”

At his command, the five demon kin rushed at Kaya.

In the blink of an eye, they closed the distance and surrounded her.

“…Six enemies, huh? That should be just enough for authorization.”

Her red lips barely moved.

“World Liberation—Allform Primordium.”

Crackkk!

In the next instant, iron chains burst from her chest, piercing through the hearts of the six demon kin.

‘What… What is this absurd speed?’

Even Yuribe, feared across the land, flinched.

He hadn’t even had time to react before their hearts were impaled.

And yet, strangely, he felt no pain.

‘What is this?’

As he stood confused, the chains were pulled back and vanished into Kaya’s body.

At that moment, Yuribe realized—he had grown slightly weaker.

‘A technique that absorbs the enemy’s power…?’

While Yuribe frowned in realization—

“Chrrrp…”

Kaya licked her lips and smiled like a crescent moon.

“Mmm… Tastes even better than I expected.”

Allform Primordium.

Unlike Oscar and other mages who perform World Liberation by expanding their mental realm outward to overwrite reality—this was entirely different.

Most mages use “deployment-type” World Liberation.

Kaya’s was a fusion-type, drawing power inward from the outside world and fusing it with herself.

It was a technique more akin to what knights used than mages.

‘Allform Primordium’s ability is to absorb enemy power and drastically enhance physical abilities.’

The downside was that it wouldn’t even activate unless the absorbed energy met a minimum threshold.

But the upside was immense: the more power she absorbed, the stronger she became—an archetypal high-risk, high-reward ultimate move.

“Even I’ve only absorbed this much power twice in my life.”

Five mid-level 7s, and one late-level 7.

Yuribe had brought reinforcements for the sake of certain revenge—

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

—Ironically sealing his own defeat.

“…I see. I think I understand your ability now.”

Reading the aura surging from Kaya’s body, Yuribe nodded.

Yet even now, not once did the image of defeat cross his mind.

“It’s just a borrowed power in the end. Nothing’s actually changed.”

“……”

Despite looking like a beast, he had a surprising knack for hitting where it hurt.

Kaya merely shrugged her shoulders and replied coolly.

“Why don’t you see for yourself? Actually—”

She lowered her stance slightly and grinned.

“I’ll come to you.”

The moment her feet touched the ground—BOOM!

A demon was launched through the waterfall and slammed into the cliff.

“…Wow, that’s amazing.”

Crackle, zzzzz.

Kaya trembled as the uncontrollable power surged magnificently through her entire body.

In this moment, she could say without exaggeration that she was brushing the threshold of level 8.

Naturally, mid-tier level 7 demons—who couldn’t even use World Liberation—had no hope of enduring that kind of force.

“I’ll end this as quickly as I can.”

She moved with sharp focus, prioritizing keeping Yuribe from intervening.

“Guh!”

“W-What kind of movement is that…?”

Though the demons raised their weapons and resisted, they were clearly overwhelmed by her sudden momentum.

It looked like a starving wolf had broken into a flock of sheep.

All they could do was dodge or block her ferocious attacks.

‘She’s fast. I can’t even track her with my eyes!’

‘We’ll need time just to adapt to her speed.’

There was only one person present who could perfectly read her movements.

“…Hmm.”

Only Yuribe.

He watched her silently, deep in thought as he compared her now to the version of her in his memory—completely different.

“World Liberation,” the exclusive privilege of the strong—used by beasts.

Its unpredictability made it troublesome since one couldn’t anticipate it until experiencing it firsthand.

But as far as he knew, World Liberation was no universal key.

‘It twists the laws of the world momentarily, but it demands a commensurate price.’

If that weren’t the case, then there would be such a thing as a “world where opponents automatically die.”

With arms crossed, Yuribe gave a calm command.

“Don’t act rashly. Just wait until she runs out of stamina. There’s no need to attack first.”

“Yes, sir!”

His subordinates nodded immediately.

Being of Viscount rank, they were seasoned veterans even within the Demon Realm.

As they cautiously widened the distance without overextending themselves, the one who grew impatient was Kaya.

‘Tch.’

Just as Yuribe predicted, World Liberation wasn’t some all-solving miracle.

Even now, numbers appeared before her eyes—visible only to her.

-942

-941

-940

The digits dropped with each passing second, representing the time left to maintain this world.

Kaya’s technique Mansangchoryeon always had a fixed limit of 999 seconds.

‘Once this magical time ends, I’ll become nothing but a bug.’

She’d lose the ability to use even basic tattoo magic—left with only a tough body, nothing more than a brawler.

And against them, she wouldn’t survive even one second in that state.

‘…So I have to reduce their numbers as much as possible before then.’

Eliminating at least five minions and draining Yuribe’s stamina—that was the best-case scenario Kaya could aim for.

‘Please… I’m begging you.’

Thinking of Oscar and Sasha, Kaya prayed fervently.

‘Either one of you… just come back soon.’

* * *

‘Edna Sol Laplace.

Seeing her in person brought back a wave of nostalgia.

In his past life, the first time he met her was here—inside the Solitary World.

‘Back then, Edna was like a hedgehog with its quills raised.’

No one felt loneliness as deeply as she did, yet she was afraid to take the hand that was offered to her.

He was the one who brought that capricious creature out into the world.

After that, the two of them grew close rapidly.

—Oscar, why do humans even ride carriages?

—Well, because it’s the fastest way to travel?

—Flying is faster though.

—…Normal humans can’t fly.

—I see. Understood.

He taught her knowledge and culture from the human world.

—Edna, how does the dragon tongue magic actually work?

—Words are just tools. They’re a medium for engraving our will onto the world. More precisely, we’re turning our will into magic.

—Ah, I think I get the gist.

And she taught him disciplines and wisdom that didn’t exist in the human realm.

They were each other’s teachers, friends, and comrades.

“……”

That friend now lay asleep right before his eyes.

Oscar slowly stepped closer to her.

Despite the fact that her lifespan was being steadily consumed in real time, her closed eyes looked peaceful.

He gently placed his hand on the head of the enormous dragon, far larger than his own body.

‘Twenty-one years. That’s long enough.’

It was time for her to wake up.

Oscar didn’t know how to wake her from her deep slumber.

But he did know how to make the Solitary World itself collapse.

‘Isolation Garden.’

That spell, modeled after this world, could do it.

The collision of nothingness with nothingness would cause both spaces to naturally disappear.

But there was one problem.

“……”

Oscar looked down at the thread tied around his waist—Muyeong.

If the Solitary World didn’t collapse as planned, the only result might be that the thread snapped.

In that worst-case scenario, even the bare minimum guarantee of survival would vanish.

“……”

Oscar slowly closed his eyes.

He owed Edna—his longtime friend—so much.

Yet he’d never properly repaid her, always using the excuse of being busy.

‘You helped me a lot in our past life…’

“So in this one, I’ll repay that debt.”

Firm in his resolve, Oscar quietly drew up his magic.

Flick. The thread of magic wrapped around his waist fell away, limp.

Unique Magic: Isolation Garden.

White magic seeped into the field like a dream descending upon the land.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]