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Chapter 133

“The mass production of sword aura? How in the world is that...”

The news of the appearance of technology which could potentially reshape the entirety of the coming era at the exhibition on the other side of the building quickly spread among every major company participating in the expo. And together, without coordination, they all reached the same conclusion.

“You guys take care of this place!”

“Let\'s go find this Lee Se-Hoon... no, let’s head to the Department of Blacksmithing!”

Leaving only a few people behind to manage the booths, the highest officials from each company ran out of the hall. As a result, there were only low-level employees, students, and those who weren’t significantly related to these companies left within the expo.

The sudden exit of everyone left the staff members, who had just begun to warm up upon seeing the crowd filter in, completely dumbfounded.

“What the heck is going on...”

“They say Lee Se-Hoon has successfully mass-produced sword aura equipment.”

“...Then it makes sense.”

The original reason behind the expo and exhibition being held on the same date was to attract more people overall. Normally, the exhibition was relatively less visited than the expo; however, this year, the situation had completely reversed due to Se-Hoon\'s exhibit.

“It really turned out this way, huh...”

Luize, who was currently dressed as an expo staff member, observed the abandoned expo in disbelief.

The sight brought back a recent memory of Se-Hoon confidently saying that everyone would surge to see his exhibition in a massive wave—and that was exactly how it had turned out.

He really is amazing.

The mass production of sword aura equipment was one of the longest-standing aspirations of those in the weapon industry. Even Luize, who was completely in the dark about the field, had heard about it several times.

And the fact that someone she knew had achieved such an incredible feat filled her with awe and a strange pride.

Wait... why am I proud of him?

She tried her best to shake off the embarrassing feeling that had suddenly overwhelmed her. And it was during that moment that a familiar yet dreadful voice called out to her.

“Luize?”

Easily recognizing the voice, Luize suppressed the disgust rising to her face and turned her head.

“Wow. I’m surprised to see that you’re working here...”

The approaching curious old man was Charles, a member of Dawn and her old professor in the Department of Elements.

Luize unconsciously clenched her fists. How could he so brazenly talk to someone he had tried to turn into a cripple?

She desperately wanted to unleash an incantation and tear his throat apart, but she held back with all her might.

Not yet.

If Se-Hoon\'s prediction came true, an opportunity would come soon. Praying for that moment, Luize forced down her anger and relaxed her clenched fists.

“It’s because I’m not sure about my career path yet, so I asked Professor Lan Fei to let me explore the field of hextech.”

“I see. So you still won’t consider the Department of Elements?” asked Charles, despite having been rejected once already.

Now calm, Luize responded, “I need someone who can guide me and teach me about Incantation Magic. I don\'t think the Department of Elements is the right place to find someone like that.”

In other words, no one in the Department of Elements was talented enough to teach her. It was a loaded response, yet instead of being offended, Charles’s eyes began to shine.

“What if there were such a person?”

“In the Department of Elements?”

“They could be there or somewhere else.”

Unlike usual, his gaze and atmosphere were different; it was like his true nature was leaking through.

Feeling the scar on her neck begin to itch, Luize had to once again force down the urge to unleash an attack spell. She barely managed to say, “Then it would be great to learn various kinds of magic from them.”

“In that case—”

“But I don\'t think I need them.”

Cutting off Charles, Luize made a small, genuine smile.

“I already have a friend who’s also a great teacher of mine.”

She had no intention of learning from anyone other than Se-Hoon.

Not hearing the answer he wanted, Charles\'s expression hardened for a moment, but it soon relaxed into a smile as if nothing had happened.

“It seems you have met a good person. I will wish for your continual growth.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“See you later, then.” Giving her a nod, Charles slowly turned his body.

Boom-!

From out of nowhere, the sound of a terrifying explosion outside the expo resounded, its shockwaves shaking the interior. The impact was tremendous, able to shake even the massive exhibition hall. However, Babel had been prepared; the protective devices quickly activated in response to the unusual situation.

Vwoom!

In an instant, the devices in every booth were cut off from the mana supply to prevent any from going haywire, and even the spell disruption devices were activated.

And just like that, the entire hall had stabilized. But the chaos had yet to end; hurried voices could be heard from the communication device in Luize\'s ear.

“Multiple unknown explosions near the exhibition hall! Efforts to extinguish the fires are underway, but the flames are intensifying!”

“Attention all staff. Evacuate all visitors quickly to the underground emergency exits and stay alert for hidden terrorists—”

Buzz!

Before Luize could hear Lan Fei\'s full instructions through the earpiece, his voice was cut off. Her surroundings became eerily quiet; she had been isolated.

Just then, Charles came rushing back. He was frantic, unlike Luize who just stood silently in the current situation.

“What on earth is going on?”

“...”

“It seems something horrible is underway. Let\'s evacuate together—”

“Your left hand.”

Cutting off Charles once again, Luize calmly gazed at Charles, who had been trying to get closer while hiding his left hand behind his back.

“I can see that you are casting a spell, you bastard.”

“...Oh well.”

Whoosh!

Not bothering to make any excuses, Charles’s left hand shot forward, unleashing the spell he had been preparing.

Rattle!

Gray chains extended from his palm.

The spell was Mind Bind, a spell that allowed one to subdue the target\'s consciousness. It was a spell that a professor from the Department of Elements shouldn’t have known, yet Luize was able to keep her cool and respond.

Crack!

Activating the choker around her neck—Hati—it quickly transformed into a mask that covered her mouth. Without missing a beat, Luize immediately activated the spell stored in the equipment skill, Memorize.

“Spell Break.”

Bang!

The shockwaves created by the incantation shattered the gray chains thoroughly.

She neutralized my spell head-on? questioned Charles, who was left wide-eyed by Luize perfectly dispelling his spell.

Though he had sacrificed its output to prepare it in secret, it still shouldn’t have been weak enough to be easily broken by a mere student. And even when considering Luize\'s current skill level, which was at best borderline B-rank, it was still unexpected.

Fascinated, Charles said, “Impressive. I expected you to counterattack, yet to think you completely nullified the spell...”

“If I had counterattacked, I would have been subdued instead.”

From the chains, Mind Bind seemed more like a physical-type spell, but in actuality, it was a mental spell. If Luize had counterattacked with her usual elemental magic, it would have simply passed through and incapacitated her.

Tsk, he was right.

Initially, Luize had planned to use Memorize to store a spell that could immediately be used to subdue Charles, but Se-Hoon had advised otherwise.

“Those guys will even resort to using their own lives as a means, so unless it\'s a situation where you can kill them instantly, it\'s better to prepare a defensive spell instead.”

One had to be careful when facing fanatics who didn\'t mind dying as long as their comrades could fulfill the mission.

“To think you grasped that fact in such a short time... remarkable.”

It was heartfelt praise. Currently, Charles truly seemed like he was simply praising his talented student.

“Well, it may seem weird to ask this in the current situation... but would you consider joining us?”

“...”

“Think about it. In this vast world of magic, what can you even learn from those foolish enough to arrogantly stick to their meager understandings, confined to one field?”

For the first time, he was revealing his true nature to Luize.

“All current sorcerers are corrupt to their guts. Instead of seeking to learn more about magic and expand their power, they are just full of thoughts about wanting—no... conforming, to the constricting frames of S-rank or A-rank or whatever rank that they have set for themselves.”

From the bottom of his heart, Charles was criticizing modern-day sorcerers for only seeking magic that would allow them to crown themselves as high-ranking heroes instead of seeking it for the sake of learning, for the sake of magic.

“What meaning is there in such restricted thinking? We must break out of this disgusting frame to be free! We must show those fools the true beauty of magic!”

His monologue, which had been persuasive at the start, had turned into sludge of anger and contempt.

“And you’re different?”

“No, not yet. But He

is different.”

Having regained his calm, Charles looked directly at Luize.

“When He returns to us on the Day of Dawn, true magic will emerge in this world. And for that, we need you to convey His voice.”

“...”

“Come with me. Come and understand the true essence of magic. You’ll be able to reach a higher level—”

“Voice, huh?”

For the third time, Luize cut him off. Then, with a cold laugh, she looked at Charles.

“So, making my neck a mess was to shove that great person\'s voice into it, I suppose?”

“...”

Speechless, Charles just stared at Luize with wide eyes. Then, after what seemed like a long time, he sighed.

“It would have been better if you didn\'t know...”

“Even if I hadn’t known, I still wouldn\'t have wanted to learn magic from insane cultists like you.”

“In that case, I won’t try to make any more meaningless invitations.”

Making a bitter expression, Charles mustered up his mana and met Luize’s eyes.

“It seems you were just stalling, hoping for help to arrive while you talked to me... but it’s unfortunate. It never should have taken this long for rescue to come.”

Now that he mentioned it, despite the explosions and the open use of offensive magic in the middle of the expo, no one had arrived. And the reason behind that was leisurely given by Charles.

“Professor Lan Fei\'s spell disruption devices have activated throughout the entire exhibition hall. I’ve also manipulated the protective and spatial devices to turn the interior into a maze.”

With the help of every operative of Dawn that had infiltrated Babel, Charles had managed to create such a setup. Even Lan Fei, despite his competence and skill, wouldn’t have expected some of his own assistants and exhibition hall managers to be collaborators with Dawn.

“No one will come to help you. Just surrender quietly, and I promise you won\'t be hurt.”

“You don’t want me to get hurt, huh...”

Muttering Charles’s words back to herself, Luize directed her cold, glaring eyes toward Charles.

“You’re spouting nonsense, you old bastard.”

Whoosh-!

Responding to her anger, her eyes flared blue, and all of the mana within the hall began to resonate wildly.

Rumble-

The resource produced by the immense amount of mana caused even the space isolating the surrounding area to creak. The mana carried an enormous amount of anger and murderous intent, forcing Charles\'s body to instinctively recoil.

Seeing his unsightly retreat, Luize unleashed all of the emotions that had been bubbling within her.

“Stop spouting nonsense and just come at me. I\'ll turn your neck into a rag just like mine.”

“Ah...”

Overwhelmed by the killing intent constricting his entire body, Charles revised his assessment of Luize, which he had made just a few minutes earlier.

A power that amplifies with emotion... so this is the talent of the Voice.

At first, he merely thought of her as a strong candidate to become a Region, but her current appearance made him rethink that.

There\'s no one but her.

The only person capable of fully conveying His will to this world was none other than the girl before him. With fervent conviction, Charles acted.

Snap!

The sound, which was seemingly devoid of any mana, reverberated through the air.

Luize narrowed her eyes at the seemingly meaningless action.

Hummm-

Responding to the snap, numerous hextech devices within the expo started to awaken. It was at this moment that the sound recognition devices, which had been secretly installed within various booths, began partially deactivating the mana isolation devices in the hall, bringing various exhibits back to life.

Among them was one certain booth in the center; the mana that had been previously cut off from the expo surged into it mainly.

As an immense amount of mana was continuously poured into the Celestial Fire Furnace, a hextech device made by MT Industries that was originally designed to control flames, the furnace\'s exterior began to glow a bright crimson. The temperature of the room rose by several levels.

Boom!

A massive shockwave shot out from within the device.

Thinking it was just caused by the excess mana supply, Luize observed it. It was then that she noticed the shockwaves continually being released rhythmically, making Luize squint her eyes.

...A heartbeat?

Boom! Boom!

There was something inside the Celestial Fire Furnace generating that heat; the pulses became more rapid, like something was coming to life. Then, the seams of the furnace started to crack and crimson flames began to leak out in all directions.

Fwoosh-

Those weren’t wild flames that only sought to consume; they had a clear purpose as they spread outward. Stretching further and further out, the flames soon began to wrap around the other devices in the hall, dragging them all forcefully to the furnace and welding them together.

Sizzle! Crash!

Along with the mana-isolation devices and the mana-distribution devices, several other hextech devices were forcibly welded to the furnace, forming a single entity that was now entirely enveloped in crimson flames. Had the crimson flames grown even brighter after the new integrations?

“...”

Luize watched as the ceiling was completely hidden by enormous wings. Following suit, a magnificent tail feather, colored by an exquisite blend of red and crimson hues, came into view.

What followed was obvious. With a sleek beak and one empty eye, an enormous bird made of flames stretched out, flaunting its majestic presence.

Seeing the creature before her, Luize’s expression hardened and she muttered, “The Vermillion Bird...”

The S-rank demon beast—the Vermillion Bird—which had been subjugated in the past, had now revived in Babel.

“Screech!”

Shrieking in rage, the Vermillion Bird seemed like it was about to burn everything around it.

Intending to do something about the seemingly uncontrollable beast, Luize began to prepare a spell.

But she was unable to cast it.

Vwoom!

From all directions, a strange sound echoed. At the same time, a red magic array appeared beneath the Vermillion Bird, materializing dozens of black stakes in midair.

Zoom!

Like it was a hunt, the stakes shot toward the Vermillion Bird from all directions. Some intersected and pierced the bird’s neck before twisting and bounding the phoenix, just as a collar would.

“Screech!”

The Vermillion Bird let out a painful scream, but soon, it completely calmed down.

Seeing how it had so quickly turned docile, Luize was able to instantly understand the situation.

They prepared a control spell in advance.

They had revived the Vermillion Bird using the expo devices, and as expected, had prepared accordingly by secretly setting up a control spell outside.

How long had they been preparing for such a thing? Luize had heard from Se-Hoon that something was likely to happen at the event, but that something turned out to be on a whole different scale.

Can we actually handle such a thing?

Despite her trust in Se-Hoon, experiencing the revival of the Vermillion Bird firsthand made it hard for her to stay calm.

Noticing Luize nervously steadying herself to cast a spell at any moment, Charles calmly addressed her.

“Don’t worry too much about it. We’ll only burn away your memories. Your personality will be left unaffected.”

Finished with what he had to say, Charles extended his hand, and the Vermillion Bird, which had apparently been waiting, began fiercely burning using the mana supplied to the booths.

Facing the approaching flames of the Vermillion Bird, famous for being able to burn through even the human mind, Luize gritted her teeth and prepared to counter.

However, at that moment, she locked eyes with the Vermillion Bird’s single white pupil among its three pairs of eyes.

“...?”

Fwooosh!

Spinning its massive body like a top, its fiery feathers rained down on the expo like a meteor shower. The apocalyptic sight, a true catastrophe, brought a smile to Charles’s face.

Everything is flowing smoothly.

Now all he had to do before making a clean retreat was subdue everyone inside, secure Luize and Se-Hoon, and then transfer control of the Vermillion Bird to Offering. Everything was going to plan—supposedly.

Whoosh!

Straying away from the rest, a single feather of the Vermillion Bird shot toward Charles’s head.

Boom!

Colliding with Charles, a small explosion went off, releasing a terrifying flame that began to thoroughly burn Charles’s body and mind.

The unexpected development caused Charles to scream in misery, a stark contrast to Luize, who just blankly looked up at the Vermillion Bird.

“Screech!”

It was still shrieking ferociously and scattering its feathers while spitting fire, but the phoenix’s one white pupil glanced at Luize and winked cheekily. It was as if two personalities existed within one body.

Connecting the dots, Luize’s mouth gaped open.

“...That crazy bastard!”

Then, she smiled.

She was certain Se-Hoon had managed to partially seize control of the Vermillion Bird.