Chapter 260. α (9)
– Huh, oh my.
A war, really?
How long has it been since large-scale battles with the Beta Species, and they’re at it again with petty land grabbing?
The Green Mage Scholar thought while gazing at the sea of his hometown where a new war was unfolding.
How can beings be this stupid?
Every living mage is from the generation that experienced the Great War.
Have they truly not yet realized the value of peace?
– I can’t believe this.
Moreover, the victim who became the cornerstone of this war is someone I know well.
– By the way, that wealthy person from the eastern upper levels, could it be…?
– That’s right. The scholar we’re thinking of.
– His blood is orange. He’s… plump?
– I think it’s better to say he had a good build. Well, he didn’t care much about being large when he was alive, so I guess it doesn’t matter…
He was the only one to have dared to express concern for the unparalleled mage who had ripped apart all Beta Species.
– The hero may not worry, but last week was our nation’s long-standing festival, right?
– I suppose so.
– That well-built academic hall member was heading to the deep sea to visit his family after quite a while. It seems he got caught up in an incident then. Quite unfortunate.
The two mages gathered in the room exchanged opinions for a while.
– I don’t quite understand. That orange-rich noble may not be as good in combat as I am, but surely his defensive magic should have been decent?
– Of course. That family was likely the first to create a barrier surpassing the protection of [Coral Spy]… at least that’s what I heard long ago.
– But how did he die suddenly?
– It’s a long story, but I’ll explain.
– Alright.
– And we should decide what we’re going to do moving forward right here.
Usually, in cases like this, they would call upon barrier magic specialists to secure protections thoroughly, but the head of the academic hall changed the order a bit.
Since there’s a war hero here, if the enemy has any sense, they won’t invade easily.
*
Some more time passed.
Green blood.
Long legs.
And red, circular, odd-numbered eyes.
It was after quite a considerable commotion that the marine being with these traits realized the planetary turmoil.
– Because of the strict security, the messenger ended up being late.
The academic hall was a considerably closed community, both in location and nature.
This characteristic still persisted even after the Great War.
Even if one isn’t an aristocrat, every scholar shares the desire to protect precious research that has been painstakingly pursued at the cost of their souls.
– If I had known this would happen, I should have made some sort of signal magic beforehand.
Members affiliated with the academic hall are usually oblivious to outside affairs.
No, to be precise, saying they have no interest would be more accurate.
The orange individual who went out to celebrate the national festival was a peculiar case.
Moreover, during the Great War, they had no choice but to join the frontlines when simply staying idle could mean the collapse of Alphauri civilization.
In truth, considering their nature, they were quite distant from a belligerent attitude.
– ‘That guy is already dead. Is it even meaningful to go out of my way to seek revenge now?’
As harsh calculations flowed through, Alphauri had neglected funeral cultures even in this relatively kind middle era, not to mention during a time when someone was treated as a psychopath.
– ‘Inefficient. If I was going to take action, I should have done it before that orange guy died.’
With the countless magic scholars gathered, when you think about it, there was no safer place than the academic hall at such times.
So the green man decided.
Let’s not rashly go out and just observe the situation for a while.
– Hmm.
During the Great War, facing external beings that looked like monsters, they didn’t hesitate to engage in species slaughter. But this time, the situation was different.
—————=
˙ Beta Species – Bad
˙ Alphauri – Good
—————=
The rulers of the planet drilled this notion into the mages of the nurturing facility to win the last Great War.
However, the green hero present in this venue was from that educated generation.
Original personalities don’t last a lifetime. Perhaps during the self-absorbed boyhood, they wouldn’t have known, but now that they were older, doubts about intra-species slaughter were creeping in.
Thus.
– ‘It’s regrettable that a kindred spirit died, but I’m not inclined to leap into a national conflict. After all, I wasn’t directly affected…’
Being a soldier is quite tiresome.
He decided to maintain a neutral stance and ponder deeply about the war actions between kindred.
Recalling the historical records of his homeland learned at the nurturing facility, he thought.
– Alright, well. There are barely a few specialized knights in this country. Surely the conflict can’t escalate to involve scholars from this remote region, right? The real soldiers will escalate it quickly!
Of course, contrary to this Alphauri’s hopes.
The academic hall was soon embroiled in the chaos.
*
Bang-!
From somewhere, a brilliant explosion reminiscent of Earth’s fireworks erupted.
Generating high temperatures underwater isn’t usually an easy task.
But by embedding the mage’s will within a dry shell and then popping it open suddenly like a grenade or a gift box, such phenomena can be observed more easily than expected.
Just now, one Alphauri exploded right in front of me.
Where the heat dissipated, the blood of kindred soon filled the area.
Bright red.
A murky liquid resembling the color when strontium burns brightly began spreading into the sea, and by the time it did, consciousness finally began to return.
Among the gathered magic scholars, the first to speak was a young green mage.
– This is insane.
With the situation like this, who wouldn’t curse?
First, before explaining the mysterious underwater explosion incident.
I’ll mention one word.
[Korean Magic Tower].
In fact, some extraterrestrial beings were once greatly surprised upon seeing that term on Earth.
When searching the internet, it roughly comes out as a construct like ‘magic + tower.’
And coincidentally, there was a similar compound term in Alphauri.
Magic Tower.
Shortened, it’s just called Matap.
However, the magic tower in Alphauri had a significantly different meaning from the one owned by Seo Esther.
Simply put, they were armed thugs.
Yet the academic hall people at least kept the minimal line during their quest for knowledge, but those guys completely disregarded morals and ethics.
– Did they somehow interpret the Beta Species’ teleportation magic? How did they arrive straight to this deep cavern?
– That contradicts the messenger’s words!
– They were just supposed to be tussling at the border!
– Truly puzzling.
– And to think they’d try to breach our barriers this way.
A clamor ensued.
Various marine beings began chattering.
Thus, now I’ll explain why the magic scholars were flustered.
– How many have fallen victim like this?
Members of the neighboring country’s magic tower embarked on a large-scale magic hunt to gain power.
And their first target was this northern country, C▒l▒▒s, which was among the top three magic powers in this world.
However, the vile group from the magic tower killed the noble of another nation, throwing the world into a turmoil of chaos.
– How many more?
Without caring about the safety of their homeland.
They headed for the border, dodging the knights of the powerful nations, and went straight for the most fertile vault.
Their only objective was to annihilate the academic hall.
However, this sanctuary of knowledge, as mentioned 30 hours prior, was quite closed off. In other words, the protection was tight.
So do you know what means these magic tower thugs used to breach the enemy’s barriers?
– Ah.
– Poor thing…
– How could these small, delicate newbies…
The first manifestation of mind control magic made its appearance.
The barriers here allowed only those certified members of the academic hall to come and go freely.
That certification process was so high in security that instead of recklessly trying to breach the barriers directly, the magic tower opted for people.
Yes. They used people.
This spring.
They cunningly brainwashed the fledgling mages who stepped into the garden here and extracted them outside, implanting bombs in their bodies before sending them back inside the academic hall.
Then they detonated them. A lot. All 25 of those naïve newbies who were coerced into their brainwashing.
Until now, there had never been such powerful mental control in the world; hence, the shock resistance of the academic hall’s barriers was failing.
– Ugh…
The hearts of the young mages resonated with turmoil.
– I’m sorry…
This place is where geniuses gather, so even while quickly raising walls to prevent further brainwashing, it still wasn’t fast enough.
– Research… Everyone helped a lot…
Near the core of the barrier, all the rookie mages had exploded, leading the magic to lose power.
Thud, plop.
A green mage raised his head.
In the far upper levels, remnants of the barrier were scattered with the flow of water.
– Ah, I still haven’t accomplished anything…
Once the wall disappears, that’s when the full-scale battle begins.
They needed to brace themselves against the enemy.
However, the mages present had trouble swimming at all.
Though all sorts of healers clung to them, ultimately the last brainwashing victim had died.
– …
The recently deceased Alphauri was one year younger than the youngest of the academic hall, who was the war hero.
– Yeah.
Ultimately, what flowed was the mage’s calm voice.
– Thinking about it, that orange noble must have passed away like this out there too.
Just moments ago, he had been swept by a turmoil of hesitation in his heart.
Is it really right to cast magic aimed at the Beta Species against a fellow Alphauri?
Was the scholar he met in his childhood truly deserving of death?
Wasn’t there a better solution? Now that he’d completely mastered his magic, couldn’t he just ignore them and escape the danger just fine without getting involved?
– Pathetic, devoid of vitality.
But at that moment. He finally changed his stance.
Alright. Indeed, blood must be spilled to cleanse the frustration.
I must entirely eradicate those foolish enemies who disrupted the peace to dare stretch their tentacles and rest easy.
Killing someone just because I’m upset seems wrong at first glance, but… well, does ethics even matter now?
– The barrier is breaking!
– Summon the Great Mages. Right now!
– What about the letter!?
– You rascals! How dare you mages clumsily drape magic tools all over…!
If this road is leading in the wrong direction, eventually someone will step in to put a stop to it. By force.
If such a phenomenon doesn’t happen, to the point where we continue to hold our positions until the day we die…
– ‘Then there’s no need to think any further.’
Crack, crack, crack—!
The screams of the barrier echoed shortly after.
Just like in the past, enemies began invading from the far upper levels.
In response, the scholars started to move in unison.
.
.
.
A dark liquid spread sneakily into the azure water.
– Ha-ha! How’s that! The model students who’ve been engrossed in studying in this cave can’t pull themselves together, right?
Haha.
The heretics from the bordering country flew rapidly, turning the surrounding currents into chaos.
A new magic developed secretly during years of peace.
Mind control.
The magic tower’s members kidnapped the impoverished and conducted various brain research, thus easily suppressing the mages in the academic hall with this superior magic.
Just like the electrification magic conquered an era in the ancient past, once a powerful new spell is born, it takes a long time before countermeasures come out.
– The power struggles are finally over. I’ll absorb all your knowledge, and our magic tower will unify the waters personally!
Moreover, they easily surpassed the number of Great Mages in this nation.
Even including retirees, the number of acknowledged Great Mages in the academic hall was merely six.
But these invaders hailed from one of the top nations in the world, easily vying for the top two spots, meaning they had far more expendable forces.
To ensure their invasion succeeded, they secretly negotiated with politicians and even borrowed Great Mages from other countries, amassing a staggering twelve.
The count of top mages was precisely twice that of the academic hall.
– Aah!
– Uwaah!
– What, what’s going on? Why is this suddenly happening…?
Just then.
The researchers from the magic tower suddenly fell from their mounts.
And that wasn’t all. This area had been deliberately turned into a cradle of complete mental invasion by embedding hidden crafts long ago.
– Below! It’s down below!
A gigantic creature opened its eyes deep in the water.
It carelessly ignored the relentless mental attacks from the magic tower like it was breathing.
Currently, the magic barriers weren’t isolating the space, so even though the enemy’s magic should technically touch them, it was a problem.
– …Green, red eyes? ▒▒, that’s the Deep Sea Person who ended the Great War!
Upon encountering the legendary war god, the magic tower’s foes loudly exclaimed in unison. Offensive and vile.
But upon meeting this famous figure, they would pay an astronomical price for their good fortune.
– I wonder what treasures are hidden in your brain!
Once again, let me reiterate.
This mage is presently in their twenties by Earth’s age.
Also to add, this story’s protagonist was recognized as a Great Mage around that same youthful age of what is called “weak crown.”
A calamity.
This year was the peak period of that Green Mage Scholar.
