Chapter 48  

When the vortex of water that rose from the lake was swallowed up by a huge flame and evaporated, the lake that used to be full, became an empty pit.

Shun Grammys, the Clarte of the Blue Magic Tower, was so outstanding that people had said he would soon become the Head of Clarte. However, he was now on the ground, shaking, with a look of disbelief. When Lee Shin saw that, he gave a disdainful look.

The only way Lee Shin could clear this stage was either by winning at the Deleague or by killing all the masters of Magic Towers besides the master of Black Magic Tower. Thinking it would take too long to win at the Deleague, Lee Shin had decided to kill all the masters of the Magic Towers since that was the only way to quickly move on from this hell-level stage. However, there were numerous wizards in every tower, and the masters were talented people who Lee Shin could not afford to underestimate.

‘It would have been easy if it was just two or three of them, but…’

It was burdensome even for Lee Shin to deal with all six masters of the Magic Towers, because if he were to knock one down, the wizards from the other Magic Towers would come for him. Therefore, Lee Shin had to come up with a strategy to bring down all the towers step by step.

‘If possible, I should get the Black Magic Tower on my side.’

If Lee Shin were to suddenly attack and kill the masters of the other towers, there was a high chance that even the black tower would turn their back on him.

‘It’s unfortunate, but Shun will have to be the trigger for the self-destruction of all the Magic Towers.’

“I… can’t… believe… it…” Shun frowned and stared at Lee Shin.

"I'm sorry, but I think I’ll have to play the villain here," Lee Shin replied.

When Lee Shin replied, he did not feel happy, but it was not because he had to kill Shun Grammys who was innocent.

‘Hmm… It doesn’t feel that bad actually…’

Although the people Lee Shin encountered on this stage were simply made in the tower by the gods, Lee Shin still felt weird about his own lack of guilt.

‘Death…’

Ever since Lee Shin’s understanding and familiarity with death had increased, death started to mean less to Lee Shin, little by little.

"Sigh..." Lee Shin sighed heavily. He escaped from his contemplative mood for a moment and looked at Shun Grammys.

Whoosh—

A burning flame was created over Lee Shin’s hands.

"If I have to be the villain here... I’d better be the best one,” Lee Shin muttered.

"You’re making it sound so easy..." said Shun Grammys.

The blazing flame on Lee Shin’s hand fell on Shun Grammys.

"Goodbye," said Lee Shin.

"You… son of a bitch… keaugh!” Shun Grammys screamed.

Lee Shin walked away from that scene and disappeared from the spot as if he was absorbed into the darkness. The flame that he had left behind was a small one, incomparable to the size of the one that swallowed the water vortex. Even that large flame did not continue burning for long, and was extinguished in just a few minutes. There was nothing left on the scene, other than smoking rubble and traces of water, signs of a great confrontation between water and fire.

* * *

"Hey, you punk! Where have you been? Why are you running around like a headless chicken in the Blue Magic Tower when you said you wanted to join the black one?” Raymond asked.

Lee Shin encountered Raymond on the way back and wondered what he was up to until this late.

"Oh, did you hear about me?" Lee Shin asked.

"Of course I did, especially if you’re causing so much trouble there!” Raymond replied.

Contrary to his raised voice, Raymond did not look angry.

"Well, I heard that even if I’m learning about black magic, I shouldn’t be lazy about studying the other elemental spells,” Lee Shin replied.

"But still, you brat! It hasn't even been long since you came... Ugh, never mind. At least you knocked down some of those blue guys. I'll give you credit for not getting beaten by such stupid people," Raymond complimented.

Raymond looked relieved, though it was just a few that Lee Shin had knocked down. Since Raymond knew that the wizards of the Black Magic Tower had been mistreated and looked down upon by the wizards from other Magic Towers, he did not want to scold Lee Shin.

"May I come in?” Lee Shin asked.

"Take it easy! Also, is it true that you're planning on taking the test for the second-class right away? Do you feel ready?" Raymond asked.

"Well, it’s not like I don’t feel ready,” Lee Shin replied.

"Ha, you are too cocky. How on earth did this guy get here? Here, take it." Raymond handed a palm-sized book to Lee Shin.

"What's this?" Lee Shin asked.

"This is a notebook that has instructions on how to make curses. I used it when I was studying back in the day," Raymond explained.

"But why are you giving this to me…?" Lee Shin looked surprised.

“The second test is all about cursing with objects, not magic. Of course, you may use mana, but since you haven't learned anything about it yet, this notebook will help prepare you for the test,” Raymond explained.

"Are you allowed to give this to me?” Lee Shin asked.

"It doesn't matter, because we can’t even guarantee that the stuff written in there would get tested. Plus, most of the other guys have already studied that part, so I'm giving it to you because I'm afraid without help, you’ll fail and leave our tower,” Raymond explained.

Although Raymond was grumbling, when Lee Shin saw him handing over his notebook, he could tell that Raymond had a lot of affection for the Magic Tower.

"Thank you,” Lee Shin said.

"No need to thank me now, but if you pass, do errands for me then, since I helped you," said Raymond.

"Okay,” Lee Shin replied.

The next day, Seia was in chaos because of the confrontation between the Blue Magic Tower and the Red Magic Tower in the lake on the outskirts. The dispute between the two towers that began in the early morning had spread to the nearby Magic Towers so that, eventually, people in the Black Magic Tower could hear about this news.

"Did you hear that Shun Grammys of the Blue Magic Tower is dead?”

"Shit... that lake became a mess."

"Did you see that? People from the Blue Magic Tower are restricting entry so that no outsider gets in."

"Well, I saw that at night because I happened to be near there. When I went there after hearing an explosion, everything was completely burned... Ugh, I ran away from that scene with goosebumps."

"Do you really think someone from the Red Magic Tower killed Shun Grammys?”

"Then who else would have killed him? People from the Blue Magic Tower went under investigation, but all they could find were the traces of fire spells.”

The death of Shun Grammys was more serious than just any death of the Clarte, because he was one of the important figures in the Blue Magic Tower, and most of its wizards had trusted and respected him. Killing him was like starting a fight with the whole Blue Magic Tower, especially if the opponent was a long-time rival, the Red Magic Tower.

Lee Shin left his tower immediately and went to the lake. There was a barrier surrounding the entire lake. Many wizards gathered outside of the barrier, but there were only a few inside.

‘Well, the barrier magic doesn’t seem that great, just as I expected.’

Looking at the barrier, it was a piece of cake for Lee Shin to break through. He easily entered the barrier by making a slight twist in the mana flow.

"Are you telling me to believe that right now?”

As soon as Lee Shin entered the barrier, he could hear an angry voice. As he turned to look at where the sound was coming from, Lee Shin saw wizards of the Blue and Red Magic Tower. Among them, there was a wizard with a long beard wearing a robe that had a blue dragon design that symbolized the blue tower.

‘Is he the master of the Blue Magic Tower?’

On the other side, there was a woman with short red hair and dark eyebrows, wearing clothes that had a red bird design.

‘Okay, so those are the masters of the Magic Towers, and the Head Clarte and Clartes are on the side.’

Lee Shin realized he had already met them all in his previous life. Typically, insignificant people like them should not have remained in his memories so vividly.

"Someone’s playing a trick! Why would we kill Shun at this moment? This is so obvious!" Helen shouted.

"Then who did it? Who else could handle such a high level of fire spells to kill Shun!" Shane shouted.

"Shane, you need to calm down. The Deleague begins in three months, and you really think we would kill Shun so openly in this situation? Do you think this makes sense? If we fight like this, we’re only doing good for the real murderer,” Helen explained.

The master of the Red Magic Tower, Helen, was busy trying to calm Shane down. After listening to her argument, Shane did not get violent nor act recklessly, because he probably thought her argument made sense.

‘No way… I thought Helen would fight back considering her character… Was I wrong?’

.

Lee Shin had planned for a conflict to happen after killing Shun, as he knew that if the hot-headed Shane picked a fight, Helen’s fiery personality would not allow her to back down. However, contrary to his expectations, Helen was composed and was stopping Shane.

"Then what do you want me to do? We have this evidence and we have no choice but to suspect you. And you are telling us to hold it in?" Shane asked.

"That's not it, I’m just saying we should take some time. If the two of us end up fighting, we’re only doing good for the other Magic Towers. Listen, I have an idea,” said Helen.

"What? You'd better think carefully before you say it. If it's nonsense, I’ll kill you guys all even if that means our tower will get destroyed," Shane said.

The atmosphere was tense. The breaths of the Blue Magic Tower wizards quickened though they were doing nothing in particular; whilst the Red Magic Tower wizards kept their guard up in case of an unexpected development.

"We have a way to analyze the mana pattern of this fire spell. I'll send you the registration list of all the wizards of our tower and check them all out one by one. First, I’ll show you mine,” Helen said.

"Oh, so you’re going to show me the entire registration list? Is that right?" Shane asked.

"Yes, that’s right," Helen replied.

It seemed like Shane liked Helen’s suggestion, and Lee Shin did not feel good about the unexpected twist in the situation.

‘Shit, if it continues on like this, all my hard work will be wasted.’

While Lee Shin was at a loss for what to do or say, the tension between the two masters continued to ease. ‘At least, I'm glad I came here.’

The next moment, Lee Shin came out of the barrier and headed to another place. Lee Shin was aware that it was not a simple job to compare the mana pattern one by one. Not only were there a lot of people, but it also took a long time to do so accurately. Lee Shin knew that he had to make good use of that time.

After returning to the Black Magic Tower, Lee Shin looked through the notebook that Raymond gave him. There were numerous instructions in there–most of them very basic, but there were still some pretty good ones.

‘Well, I guess this is pretty much it.’

The instructions were not particularly useful for Lee Shin considering his level, but they were enough to reveal the general skill level of second-class wizards.

"Welcome," the shop owner greeted him.

Since Seia was a city of magic, there were many stores that sold magic ingredients. Lee Shin could easily go around and collect the ingredients he needed.

"The Eyeball of the Retinal is 500 points, and the Red Lizard's Tail is 350 points. Lastly, the Stem of the Cultivated Black Striped Flower is 900 points," said the shop owner.

.

.

.

Lee Shin had prepared a total of eight ingredients after looking at the instructions from Raymond’s notebook about making a curse with a decent level of difficulty. This step was not difficult for Lee Shin, who studied black magic with the research data left behind by Gene Ebrium.

"Okay, this brings me to the end of preparation for the second test," Lee Shin muttered.

Day turned to night and the sky was dark. Time passed by quickly because Lee Shin had been to several places to work during the day. That night, Lee Shin did not return to the Black Magic Tower, but waited around the Red Magic Tower for someone to come out. Since the Red and Blue Magic Towers were in a state of emergency, those with qualifications below first-class wizards were prohibited from going out of the tower. Then the lowest ranked wizards who could come out of the tower were the Clarte…

‘He’s out.’

A wizard wearing a red robe carefully came out of the tower, but not realizing that someone was after him.

[Deep Flare]

A black flame that burst in the dark began to burn the red wizard who was qualified as a Clarte. He immediately lit a flame and tried to drive out Lee Shin's black flame, but his flame was swallowed up by Lee Shin's black flame and it added to Lee Shin’s power.

"Keugh! What the hell?" The red wizard started to panic.

The red wizard caved in so helplessly to Lee Shin’s magic because he had never experienced it before. The next moment, Lee Shin took off the red wizard’s clothes and wore them.

"Wow, the flame protection is great,” Lee Shin muttered.

Thinking that he would burn the robes, Lee Shin had tried hard to adjust his level of mana when fighting the red wizard, so as to prevent the clothes from being ruined as much as possible. However, other than a slight trace of burn marks, the robe looked fine. Lee Shin called out Harpness to make the wizard’s corpse into an undead, put it in the shadow space and immediately headed to his next destination.

There was a mine belonging to the Red Magic Tower outside of Seia where black fossils were mined. This place was steaming hot, because the black fossils that emitted heat had filled the entire place. The wizard of the Blue Magic Tower, who was frowning from the discomfort of just being in such a place, looked around nervously as if he was waiting for someone.

"You're here," the blue wizard muttered.

As soon as his voice was heard, a shroud of water was produced but it could not exert its power due to the surrounding heat. The shroud of water soon disappeared after being swept away by the flames.

"Take it easy! I guess you're not worried about your son's safety?" Lee Shin asked.

The wizard of the Blue Magic Tower clenched his teeth when he saw the relaxed appearance of his opponent. The Head of Clarte, Hemingway, came all the way here because of a mysterious note.

- If you're worried about your son, Gal Leadway’s safety, come to the black fossil mine alone by midnight. I can't guarantee your son's life if you report this to someone or bring an escort.

As soon as Hemingway received this note, he ran to his son’s grocery store, but the store had already closed. After realizing that his son was not even at his usual place, he subconsciously ran to the mine. Hemingway knew that it was a trap but there was no other way. Also, he was confident that he would, at least, be able to escape the attack.

"Of course it was you, reds. How did you know my son?" Hemingway shouted with anger.

Lee Shin, wearing Clarte’s robe with a red bird pattern on it, hid in the dark and laughed at Hemingway without showing his face.

"If you're curious, then beat me," Lee Shin said.

On a field that was much more advantageous for the red wizard, Lee Shin’s flames and Hemingway’s waves clashed.

* * *

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Shane opened the door when he heard the loud banging noise on the door.

"M-m-master…” Hemingway said.

"Hemingway!" Shane was shocked to see his appearance.

Hemingway was standing there almost dying with burns all over his body and half of his clothes burned.

"What happened to you…?” Shane asked.

"It was… a red… bastard…” Hemingway replied.

"What? Why did you leave without reporting?” Shane asked.

"My son… He was held hostage…” Hemingway replied.

"What? How dare they!" Shane was furious to hear that.

Bang!

When Shane pressed the button on his table, sirens rang throughout the Blue Magic Tower and he declared, “it's war, you reds."