Teddy Divine, who claimed the position of Black Tower Master.
Shiver!
Her body trembled slightly.
What is this?
In her sight, there was only one person.
Just a single man.
Yeah, just the Academy’s Inspector.
He wielded ice magic, utterly ordinary.
Yet, as soon as Ezekiel took a step, Teddy was filled with tension.
…Is the spire shaking?
No. It was her own body trembling.
Realizing that, a shock hit the back of her head.
Teddy had delved deeply into black magic, naturally encountering all sorts of brutal conditions and viewing them as the utmost joyous entertainment.
In other words, the mage did not seem like a mage at all.
He was merely regarded as a material for her magical research.
So, she could tell at a glance. Was the opponent low-quality material or high-quality material that could be helpful?
She had never worried about whether the material was stronger than herself. That simply could not happen.
The premise that Teddy would win was unshakeable.
However.
What the heck, why?
Teddy’s energy began to creep with warning.
That Inspector was crying out that he was exceedingly dangerous.
It took time to calm her trembling body. Her stiff muscles weren’t moving well.
She couldn’t comprehend this with her mind.
Teddy recalled the information about Ezekiel again.
Commoner, undeclared at the Academy, no experience…
No matter how she looked at it, he was an inexperienced rookie. If one had to examine it, maybe his performance in Ruiple could count as his first achievement.
Yeah, just a rookie.
Yet, her senses continually denied that fact.
He was anything but a novice; he was a seasoned expert with more experience than Teddy, someone so dangerously capable that he might turn Teddy into a test subject.
…How is this even possible?
A mage acting like a predator against Teddy?
Did the Academy hide information? For the mission?
But that was a slim possibility. Teddy had also used dark channels to gather information, and Ezekiel really did seem to come from a common background with no experience.
Teddy flinched while trying to wipe the sweat from her forehead.
The droplet that dripped down was already frozen.
It wasn’t this cold just a moment ago.
Teddy quietly took a deep breath.
If you only try to understand everything with your head, you won’t survive long in this field. Sometimes, you need to trust what your instincts are pointing to.
Snap!
Teddy flicked her finger, and immediately something like a rock chunk dropped from the air.
Thud! Thud! Boom!
But it was definitely not a rock. Three men with massive builds landed softly.
Teddy sent a telepathic message to them.
—Cut their breathing. Don’t let your guard down.
Then, cracking their necks, they laughed.
—Teddy, what do you mean? Against just a single mage?
As they implied in their statement, they weren’t just a single entity with one soul. They were monstrous amalgamations, crammed full of mages’ souls in top-tier bodies.
Indeed, the traces of being sewn up with needles were evident throughout their bodies. Teddy’s masterpiece.
The masterpieces blabbered recklessly.
—Teddy’s not trying to scare us. It means to preserve the corpse well, or else if we lose control, he will be completely smashed.
—That’s right! Let’s play with him a bit before killing him!
The three masterpieces began quickly approaching Ezekiel, with the one in the middle opening his mouth.
“Hey, did you say the Black Tower is falling today?”
Ezekiel didn’t even spare a glance at the masterpieces. He only watched Teddy over their shoulders.
“Inspector, why are you barking without even grasping the situation? If the spire were to blow up because of your arrogance, we would all die. You wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
Finally, Ezekiel clicked his tongue.
“Is that the unique chant of black magic?”
…Hmm?
“Boring, you talk too much. When’s the magic coming?”
The masterpieces’ gazes grew fierce.
“Still messing around and provoking….”
They mumbled more, but Ezekiel began to close the distance step by step.
A mage, favorable in ranged combat, was actually moving closer; that was already tremendous confidence.
“…Inspector, where should I start tearing you apart?”
At that, Ezekiel casually spoke.
“Weren’t you given orders to kill me anyway?”
The masterpieces froze at his unexpectedly cold tone.
“You just have to carry out the task assigned to you. Why hesitate?”
Hesitate?
Hesitated, huh.
…
The masterpieces suddenly reflected on their own actions.
Thinking about it, they were right. Teddy had only ordered to kill, and the masterpieces were excited at the thought of tearing apart the Inspector’s limbs. They could execute it immediately.
Whether the Inspector begged for mercy or not, they would kill him.
Whatever the Inspector did, they would kill him.
…Why didn’t we just charge in?
Did they hesitate?
Could they really? Teddy’s masterpieces, themselves?
No way!
—He’s strange. Let’s rip him apart at once!
—Agreed!
—Let’s go right now!
After exchanging telepathic messages, the masterpieces began to draw up pitch-black energy. The density covering their bodies was almost visible to the naked eye.
Though there were many strange points, none of the three ragdolls realized anything was wrong.
Would any human get angry at an ant provoking them?
No, rather, they would be intrigued.
They might even find it amusing. It was quite delightful that such insignificant creatures showed such attitudes just to be stomped into the ground.
However, the masterpieces failed to realize that they were already shaken by Ezekiel’s few words.
Swish—
Just as the ice spear aimed at them.
“Gasp—!”
The masterpieces invoked black magic first.
The combined dark energy of the three merged into a massive snake shape that shot upwards, ready to swallow Ezekiel whole.
Bam!
But the snake couldn’t close its mouth even after it opened.
Creak—! Creak…
To keep its mouth from closing, a long ice pillar had stuck firmly inside the snake’s maw.
The masterpieces’ eyes widened.
Holding up?
It was their combined power, yet it was holding up?
Panic and annoyance simultaneously pierced the masterpieces’ minds. However, they weren’t foolish enough to stop fighting and question it.
They immediately charged for the next strike.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
They pummeled the dark serpent’s bridge, trying to make it shut its mouth.
Creak, creak, creak…!
However, they couldn’t break a single ice pillar. The scene left the masterpieces gaping.
—How on earth is this holding up?
—No, holding up isn’t the main issue!
Indeed, what was truly crucial was something else.
—…Energy, our energy isn’t seeping in!
Unlike ordinary mana, dark mana usually has the property of seeping in, yet this wasn’t the case at all.
Since it couldn’t penetrate Ezekiel and his ice, they couldn’t follow up. It merely flowed down as if touching an inanimate object. How could this be?
—What the hell is going on?
—Why is this happening…!
There were three figures, not just one.
No, considering they were a weapon created by dozens of souls, it could be said they were dozens.
Yet, they couldn’t handle just a single Inspector?
This was something that absolutely shouldn’t be happening.
“Huuuh—!”
“Haaaap—!”
Ultimately, the masterpieces began to pour all their strength, even vocalizing their efforts, but Ezekiel remained calm.
As if he were completely detached from this situation.
One of the masterpieces changed strategy and began blasting explosions all around. It was black magic that wouldn’t care about who was around; truly cruel and destructive.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
However, no explosion harmed anyone amidst all the chaos.
When orbs filled with dark energy detonated in all directions, the ice cocooned over them like a garbage bag. Even if multiple ones exploded, none broke through that icy barrier.
The masterpieces’ eyes turned bloodshot.
“You keep defending, you arrogant bastard—!”
The three masterpieces simultaneously bit their tongues.
They soon accepted that plain black magic had no chance of winning and redirected all their energy.
Self-destruction.
They intended to meet the Inspector in the afterlife.
“Grrrraaark—!”
“Grruuuhhh—!”
The entire bodies of the masterpieces began to boil, and soon, the ground trembled as they charged toward Ezekiel.
Boom—!
Their speed was so fast, it resembled massive boulders hurtling toward the Inspector.
Rumble—!
They produced an enormous sound that shook the air.
But suddenly, they heard it.
The Inspector murmured a single word.
“Conclusion.”
At that moment, they saw it.
For a split second, as if time had slowed, an ice spear spun towards them like a discus.
It was merely a moment captured, yet the speed was so fast it felt more like a disk rather than a spear. Just like a blue full moon.
Swish—!
They heard something slicing through the air.
What was sliced?
Unclear.
Rumble—!
They continued to rush toward Ezekiel.
Now the Inspector’s face was right in front of them. They would embrace his body and then explode; that would be the end.
In that moment of steeled will.
…?
The rushing bodies suddenly altered their trajectory.
It wasn’t due to magic, nor did they change directions of their own volition – suddenly, they passed purposely above the Inspector, tracing a parabolic arc.
As if the standard of the world’s horizon had shifted.
Slowly.
Very slowly, the positions of the ground and ceiling began to interchange.
What was happening?
Telepathy was not sent.
In this world where heaven and earth were flipping, where gravity and physics seemed twisted, the masterpieces were faced with something suspicious.
They finally placed something particular into their perspective.
….
A scene they should never have witnessed.
…!
All three of their upper bodies were very cleanly sliced, grotesquely entangled in the air.
The earth hadn’t flipped; they were the ones who had been sliced and flipped.
Over each other’s shoulders, still firmly planted on the ground, their lower halves gazed blankly at their master.
…Did we get sliced before we could even launch?
“What on earth…?”
“When did…!”
“Huh…?”
Though they couldn’t restrain their questions and shouted, that was the end of it.
Crumble—!
As the three upper bodies fell to the ground, it only produced the sound of ice shattering.
Ezekiel had not allowed their self-destruction.
There was no sound left.
Their mouths had frozen shut, so they couldn’t even leave a dying wish.
Their bodies had frozen, so their blood didn’t even flow.
All that remained was a hollow death.
“Huh….”
Someone couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
Snap—!
In an instant, their lips froze lightly and stuck together.
“Silence.”
The Inspector murmured quietly.
“The Princess is watching too. Maintain proper decorum.”
Punishment – now the curtain was finally rising in earnest.
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