“…?”
I’ve come to a place following the Fake Duke Huangyeol.
Arriving at a location with a blue sky, I felt a familiar energy and tilted my head in confusion.
Here, it’s Deoen.
[Lilyda!]
[Lilylilylilylily]
[Wow, I was dying waiting]
[Lilha]
[Where have you been?]
[Wow]
[After 5 hours and 24 minutes, Lily returns lol]
[You were a bit faster this time]
“Looks like everyone is here?”
I had moved to a place where broadcasting was impossible, so I had a backup camera floating in case the stream got interrupted.
The backup camera started taking shots of Deoen here and there, likely broadcasting the Knight or other alliance parties that were in the middle of their hunt.
And as soon as I returned, the camera began to focus on none other than me.
[ooooooo]
[It was fun though]
[Where were you?]
[I heard you were catching demons]
[Did Lily rescue you? Is that right?]
“I did rescue, yes.”
It was about 30% of the overall party, but it’s true that I saved them from the Demon of Preservation’s grasp.
[Wow]
[Great Lily]
[Just light]
[Was the raid canceled?]
[Didn’t you say you caught a demon?]
[What happened to the demon?]
[Demon demon demon]
[Is it over?]
“I was chasing after one that was escaping. There was a cloned Duke Huangyeol in the middle, so I had to tweak things a bit.”
I simply summarized what had happened during the time.
The chat window began to erupt, as always, with cheers for Great Lily, and there were also plenty of insults directed at Duke Huangyeol.
“First, we need to catch that Duke Huangyeol using magic. It’s our priority to capture the main body of the demon, but the Duke is also a problem.”
I have no idea what schemes that guy is up to.
The existence of a fake means that the Duke Huangyeol has also come in contact with the Demon of Preservation.
Moreover, the fact that the fake’s ego is so solid while being able to move freely in space suggests that the Duke has likely taken measures on his own.
“I couldn’t sense the demon’s will from the fake. I suspect they probably obtained separate control…”
[Oh ho]
[???]
[Oh?]
[Do we have to kill the demons?]
[We definitely need to catch Duke Huangyeol first, for real]
[For real lol]
[Let’s go assassinate Duke Huangyeol~]
“First, we need to assess this place.”
I spread my Wings of Light and floated up into the air.
Since the broadcast hasn’t been cut off, it’s definitely within Deoen and not somewhere like the Spiritual World, but I have no idea exactly where I am.
The sky was a pure blue without a hint of blemish, and the endless expanse of green grass stretched before me.
In this meadow, various flora and fauna coexisted, and at first glance, it seemed to be the very definition of peace.
‘If only it weren’t for that.’
Something stood tall and imposing, completely out of place in this serene meadow.
As I shifted my gaze to ‘that’, the camera reflecting on me automatically focused on ‘that’ as well.
[?]
[?]
[What’s that?]
[What is it?]
[It’s flashing all over the place!]
Bang.
I used the Spatial Divide to instantly approach ‘that’.
Even though I should’ve restrained myself from using spatial-related techniques, I tried it out, but a rift didn’t open.
……
As if this place had nothing to do with ‘space’.
“…Jinsik? Summoning Technique? Altar?”
A massive magical stone whose identity I couldn’t discern was surrounded by an array of incredible magical devices stacked like a tower.
Here, the magical tools were not created by users or residents of the Magic Engineering Guild but rather the ‘real deal’.
They were magical tools crafted and utilized by the Demon Race.
“The purple magical stone in the center is the core component. Dozens of magical inscriptions are lined up in a radius around it. It seems to be a means of link connection and preventing subordinates from getting hurt, so that any improper collisions or connections would lead to immediate retaliation…”
[? LOL]
[What in the world is this?]
[What’s going on?]
[Professor Lil has stepped in LOL]
[Professor, you’re going too fast.]
“In short, it’s a magical tool imbued with advanced magic.”
This was a high-level spell system even I found hard to decipher.
The first approach against a mage is to break the prepared board; the second is to not give them any time at all.
And this was essentially the result of having plenty of time.
“I don’t know what it is, but if this activates, something will happen that even I will struggle to stop.”
Typically, magical tools of the Demon Race are primarily used to absorb or destroy life and nature.
Whatever this is going to activate for, I need to stop it.
“Lasty.”
As I opened the Space of Despair, a beautiful girl with silver hair and blood-red eyes emerged.
She began to envelop the giant tower of magical tools with her blood magic.
Using Lasty’s Magic to find the existing weaknesses in the spells and adapt or infiltrate them.
In modern terms, this was akin to ‘hacking’ magic.
Lasty appeared to concentrate momentarily, mumbling the incantation, then furrowed her brow and shattered the entire blood magic.
“How’s that?”
“…Who made this?”
“Probably the Demon Race? It’s either preservation or ‘space’.”
Such a magical structure could only be created by the Demon Race.
“Because it can only be made by demons.”
“It’s a bit awkward to say this, but in terms of ‘knowledge,’ it’s a fact that demons are superior to celestial beings.”
“Of course, it’s not about ‘intelligence.’ It’s about superiority in calculating and analyzing something like this.”
“Celestials are indeed exceptional compared to other races, but they don’t compare to demons.”
Lasty shook her head vigorously.
“No.”
“?”
“Your sister might not know, but the internal rituals are different. Besides the unique abilities, they’re composed of completely different techniques.”
“Is it a hierarchy issue? If that’s the case, then we just need to ‘inherit’ it.”
“There’s definitely a difference in ‘stages.’ But the links of the rituals are different, and the internal connection system for summoning elements is also different.”
“Hmmm… How about changing the link adjustment to a variable format?”
“That’s impossible too. By the way, this seems related to multi-layered nesting. It looks like it’s intended to reduce the burden of power, but in reality, I think they intentionally inserted a specific technique between the multi-layered connection of the rituals and recoil control. If you mess with it carelessly, the structure itself will rebel.”
“Well, that’s a bit troublesome.”
I thought it was just a complicated magical tool, but it seems there’s something unknown inside.
It might get quite complex.
[???]
[Please say something I can understand.]
[????]
[Is this a conversation among magic professors?]
[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA]
[I get it though?]
[Professor, come on, let’s go! LOL]
[Right? You should’ve been listening to Lily’s educational broadcasts regularly, tsk tsk.]
[Ah~ I see now.]
[So that’s what it is? Okay, okay.]
[Understood! (Not understood.)]
Swish.
Lasty’s hand again reached towards the tower of magical tools.
Lasty’s true blood seeped into the magical spell, and soon there was a crackling sound followed by blood seeping out.
It seems like she suffered damage from the recoil while trying to erode the inside.
After absorbing the blood again, Lasty displayed a more static expression than usual.
“Moreover, I’m very familiar with this spell.”
“Familiar in what way?”
“……”
“What’s wrong?”
Lasty was unusually contemplative.
This was not the reaction of someone who usually suppresses her desire to express herself with a blank expression.
“Sister… are you not angry?”
“Why would I be angry at you, Lasty? Speak comfortably. Comfortably—”
“Your magic is similar.”
“…….”
[?]
[HAHAHAHA]
[W-What?]
“…What I mean is, when you meet celestials, you can sense a common magical system. It’s not that it’s not made of holy elements; it’s just that the structure itself is almost identical. In fact, you could say it’s completely the same.”
“…….”
“What I’m saying is that just because you’re a celestial doesn’t mean you’re just holy magic. Are you angry?”
“That’s how the law is, right? Did you make your older sister angry?”
“Not at all.”
Magic didn’t significantly advance as it wasn’t the primary power of the Celestial Race; mostly, it just stayed the same.
Of course, I did modify Holy Magic in my own way, but I didn’t really step outside of the existing framework.
“Holy Magic is all pretty much the same. It’s just slight variations on the existing framework, and then adding a ton of Holy to increase the number of spells, while preventing dispels or hacks. The code is bound to be similar to that of the Celestial Race.”
“…Yeah, that’s true.”
“So there’s really no reason to worry about this. Just because the magic is similar doesn’t mean I’m a Celestial.”
[Is that how it is?]
[Ah, lol, right.]
[Hmm…?]
[Lololololol.]
[Lily’s definitely not an angel.]
[Lily the Angel, lololol.]
[She has wings, a ring, and uses Holy magic, just like an angel, but she definitely isn’t. Oof.]
[Lololololololol.]
[Real talk, lol.]
[Totally unfair, no.]
[Lasty looks cute.]
[Lasty looks like a doll.]
[Is she a sister?]
“…….”
“Anyway, it was made with the spells of Holy Magic, right?”
“Yeah, for now. The spells that are centered around Magical Stones are from the Holy Magic line.”
“Hmm… I wonder why…”
A tower of Magical Tools created by the Demon Race.
The outside was definitely made with Demon magic, so either Preservation or Space had to have participated in the creation.
But the reason why the most important magic on the ‘inside’ was created with Holy Magic spells was completely unfathomable.
‘It makes no sense. It would actually be a loss to do it that way.’
Deliberately arranging spells not with Demon magic but with Holy Magic.
This is like assembling a computer with high-performance, modern parts but then sticking in a low-performance, old CPU.
No matter how good the parts and resources you jam in there are, if the core is like that, the performance wouldn’t even be a fraction of what it could be.
There’s no way a race called the God of Magic would overlook such a flaw.
‘They must have had a need, so they did it.’
“I’m sure they did it because it was needed.”
They designed it this way because there was a necessity.
Thinking this, I took out my hammer.
“One thing I do know.”
The one who called me here was the Fake Duke Huangyeol.
“Duke Huangyeol wants something through this.”
And that something is definitely related to either the Demon Race or me.
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