“…!”
Teddy Divine’s throat gulped.
A suicide command has been issued.
At the same time, it was an act of acknowledging oneself as a worthless being that committed a sin, elevating the authority of the Imperial Magic Tower to an unparalleled height. Could it be any more humiliating?
Current Black Tower Master, Teddy Divine.
Just a moment ago, her face was adorned with a relaxed smile, but now it was drenched in cold sweat and glistening like a freshly polished surface.
“Wait, wait a moment…!”
Still in a sitting position, she began to shuffle backward, her butt slowly inching away. Teddy Divine was now showcasing an utterly pathetic and ugly appearance.
“I was mistaken, I was mistaken. I totally misunderstood! Just give me one more opportunity! We’re obviously a Magic Tower too! There’s no way we would’ve tried to do something that bad!”
Teddy’s eyes were shaking as if an earthquake had struck.
She quickly scanned Ezekiel’s face, desperately searching for even a hint of an escape route.
However, the Inspector’s expression remained utterly indifferent.
“…Hiiik!”
Teddy hurriedly looked toward the audience, but soon resignation spread across her face. Ultimately, there was no faction that would support her.
It was a natural consequence of the actions she had taken.
Teddy Divine finally clasped her hands together.
Like a fly, she began to rub her palms together.
“…The Black Magic Tower has suffered immense oppression. But to not fall behind other towers, we needed some convincing results! In the end, the only choice we had was research on corpses! Right?”
“That’s just an excuse.”
Ezekiel scoffed.
“The Black Tower has managed to achieve results without crossing the line until now. Your greed simply got the better of you.”
“Please, please, show me some mercy! Surely, you can at least spare my life! No matter how high the Imperial Tower’s authority is, can you really do something like this?!”
Teddy pointed her index finger at Ezekiel.
A once pitiful face now suddenly filled with rage.
“You, you…! Inspector you!”
Tears of fear welled up in her eyes.
“If you kill the unfair Black Tower residents, you’ll surely face divine retribution! Do you know why? Because I…! Even in death, I’ll curse you! I’ll haunt you as a ghost and unleash necromancy upon you!”
Teddy shouted furiously, but suddenly she prostrated herself. Dragging her thigh that felt like ice, she desperately started to crawl toward Ezekiel.
“No, no! Inspector! Imperial Tower Inspector!”
Teddy clutched Ezekiel’s calves tightly.
“I spoke out of turn without knowing my place! I must have lost my mind! Inspector! Please, I don’t want anything else… just spare my life…!”
The desire to save her own life; desperation enveloped her.
“Inspector, you can’t ignore the plight of a poor Magic Tower. Where else can you find a Magic Tower more pitiful than the Black Tower? Where?”
Ezekiel’s expression remained emotionless.
Perhaps due to that, Teddy’s voice grew even louder in her urgency.
“Inspector! I’ll be a slave to the Imperial Magic Tower. I’ll accept anything you command, except for death! I swear I’ll be useful…!”
Ezekiel pressed down on Teddy’s head with his other foot. Firmly, as if crushing a bug.
“Ugh…!”
Without any further response, the Inspector nonchalantly nudged the spear at his feet with his toe.
Thump─
A chilling sound.
It meant for her to pick it up and just go through with the suicide.
“No exceptions or leniency. Didn’t I already say that?”
“…”
Teddy’s tear-streaked face fell into despair.
“I can’t believe this….”
She brought her trembling hand to her face.
“I can’t believe this, can’t believe this, can’t believe this…!”
Teddy clawed at her own face with her nails, drawing blood along the paths.
“With my life on the line, even after pleading desperately, you still want me to die! How can that be, just how can that be—!”
In that moment.
Teddy stopped talking and let her hands fall to her sides.
The Black Tower Master no longer shed tears or made sobbing sounds. She merely stared blankly at the ground with hollow eyes.
“…Alright.”
Teddy slowly lifted her head.
Her eyes, void of any light, stared intently at Ezekiel from a bizarre angle.
“If you’re determined to kill me, then so be it….”
Crackle—!
At that moment, corpses began to pour from the spires’ walls, and Teddy started to absorb all the dark mana emitted from their Mana Cores with her own body.
The speed and energy were terrifying.
Gurgle─! Gurgle─!
Teddy seemed unable to handle the overwhelming energy. Black veins bulged out everywhere, and her muscles twisted grotesquely.
“Hah…! Hah…! Haaah…! Hehehe─!”
Suddenly, Teddy let out a strange smile.
Her pupils completely rolled back.
“Guuuuh─! Gaaaarrrrrgh─!”
When she roared, spewing black light from her entire body, the scenery surrounding Ezekiel changed.
.
.
.
.
.
.
“…”
Ezekiel quietly surveyed his surroundings.
The conference room scenery had long vanished.
Before him was a gigantic stage concealed by curtains, a tiered audience, and a single spotlight blocked by a curtain… it resembled a very grand opera house.
In this bizarre theater, there were just the two of them.
Ezekiel and Teddy Divine.
‘A hallucinatory magic, I see.’
He easily grasped the situation. Teddy seemed to have cast an illusion in her last desperate attempt against Ezekiel.
Swish—!
The curtains drew back, illuminating the stage.
In the center under the light, Teddy stood gracefully. Dressed in an incredibly luxurious gown with a wide-brimmed hat, she resembled an opera singer.
Teddy slowly opened her eyes that she had just closed.
“I can’t believe it would feel like this…. Absorbing the Mana Cores of corpses I’ve gathered for 10 years is exhilarating! I feel a power that’s nearly overwhelming…”
Her face wore a melted expression as if she had just reached a climax.
“…In this moment, I have finally become perfect!”
Finally, Teddy’s gaze turned toward Ezekiel.
“Inspector, have you ever heard of the term Transcendental Realm?”
The scene only visible to a transcendental being, the Transcendental Realm.
It referred to the unique season and secret art attained only by a magician who reached the ultimate realm.
“Thanks to you pushing me to the brink of death, I was finally able to absorb all the corpses…! I should thank you! This is truly the vision of the Black Tower!”
Snap─!
Teddy snapped her fingers.
Rumble─ rumble─!
At that moment, corpses began to appear from all directions, coming closer.
Given that it was a world within an illusion, the number might as well be limitless.
“This is my Transcendental Realm.”
With a voice as if singing, Teddy placed one hand on her chest and raised the other hand towards the ceiling.
“This is the performance. Congratulations on being the first audience!”
Goooohhh─!
A horde of corpses began to rush in like a cloud.
Ezekiel’s reaction, however, was indifferent.
“Quite a decent audience you’ve gathered.”
He mumbled quietly while crystallizing ice in the air. The shape formed a bell that was nearly as tall as the ceiling.
In the next moment, with all his power, Ezekiel struck the bell with a mana-infused body just as the corpses leaped toward him.
DING ding ding ding ding─!
The shockingly resonant ice bell rang out.
In an instant, waves visible to the naked eye swept across the space.
“Grrrk….”
“Is that it?”
That was all it took.
All the corpses fell like puppets cut from their strings. At that moment, the only sound echoing through the performance hall was the sound of lifeless bodies hitting the ground.
It was not merely about clearing away the corpses.
As if puzzle pieces were being pulled apart, the very fabric of this space began to crack slowly.
Teddy’s illusion, activated with all her soul, started to crumble entirely. It was a perfect counter.
“…What?”
Teddy’s expression turned vacant.
“That can’t, can’t be….”
She muttered in disbelief, and despair overtook her.
“After 10 years of gathering corpses… after 10 years of preparing magic… why….”
With a kick, Ezekiel launched the ice spear on the ground.
Shink─!
The next moment.
Pooof─!
It pierced right through Teddy’s neck.
The Black Tower Master’s death.
At last, her head severed from her body.
Her expression still failed to grasp the situation.
Before the frozen visage of her body, Ezekiel softly whispered,
“Your performance seems to be rather dull.”
“Those sleeping audience members, they simply refuse to wake up.”
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