Chapter 117
Matap, Breguemins (highest council).
A special meeting room on the top floor of the Sky Tower was opened for the highest councilors of the Matap, or Elders, scattered throughout the world.
Blurry figures loomed in the darkened room, which contained nothing more than a large round table inscribed with various magical sigils.
– Doesn’t this happen too often these days?
– I’ve been busy.
– Ah, research was going so well!
– What the hell is going on?
An impromptu convocation of the Breguemins.
There were two items on the agenda today.
One concerning the birth (expected) of the Archmage’s new apprentice.
– The ether has chosen a master?
– That unruly mass of energy that no wizard in history had ever chosen as a master?
– I wanted to study it.
– But you say you’re not a mage yet. If you’re a preordained apprentice, well. Understood.
– If it’s because the Aether doesn’t like stellar energy, I understand.
He was surprised to hear that he found the secret chamber and took the aether, but that’s about it.
The elder wizards, a bunch of socially awkward geniuses, wondered what all the fuss was about.
– But if he doesn’t show up, won’t he be kicking me in the pants? Should we even bother looking for him? If the Aether master dies, he’ll be automatically summoned back to the realm.
– Is this all the way up to Breguemins? Can I go back to my research?
Robert choked back tears, having just barely escaped the punishment of ‘serving a heavenly archmage’ and now facing the punishment of ‘moderator of Breguemins’.
“No, it’s not that, it’s that the Archmage apprentice (to be) has a high probability of possessing the Purifying Power…”
Purification.
Those five words instantly changed the demeanor of the elder mages, who had been passive in the meeting, each with their own thoughts.
– What?! Purification?!
– Purification?!
– We need to find it now! What’s wrong with research!
– Why aren’t you finding it?!
– Is this something that would come all the way up to Breguemins? Of course we’ll find it!
The Elder Mages’ eyes flipped.
Their trigger buttons were pollution first, pollution second, pollution third.
And then the second one.
A first-level warning from the Matriarch.
– …
– …
– …
The noisy room suddenly fell silent.
– Speaking of ‘stellar nightmares’…
In the long, long history of the Tower, there were three stains that were never revealed to the outside world.
1. the murder of the First Archmage, who was called the Wizard God.
2. the birth of an incomplete Wizard God.
3. wizards hunting wizards (renegades).
These were the three things.
The Nightmare of the Stars was the second of these events.
At the time, Matap dreamed of restoring the Mage God, who had been killed by the shock of losing his spiritual support.
The result was an imperfect Wizard God, the result of an experiment called “Achieving Godhood through Magic.”
But it was not a blessing, but a disaster, for a black star covered all the sky, crushing and devouring all the stars in the sky at the time, according to a still-forbidden account.
That’s where the name ‘Nightmare of the Stars’ comes from.
– The sealed map of it…
– At least a thousand years had passed.
Everyone was terrified and could not speak easily.
It’s not called the Nightmare of the Stars for nothing. A mage god, even if imperfect. It was so superior to the mages that it was impossible to fight against it with the power of the tower alone.
– Ah! That’s why Sharit was eaten.
– …
– …
Everyone gasped at the Elder’s words as he recalled the agenda of the recent meeting.
– What? Why?
The mage, the newest of the Elders, questioned.
The elder mage, who knew the situation well, made a sickening sound and began to explain.
– It’s called the Great Demon Water Seal, but it’s actually called the Continental Stability Seal.
It was one of the legacies the first Archmage left to this land.
– It’s a complex system that separates and protects the human and monster zones… Oh, I don’t know. This isn’t the time for research.
– Haha, hemp water is a kind of magic charger.
– It’s not a real hemp tree. If it was, the area would have been wiped out by now. It’s a sealed star spirit…
– He lives off the energy of the stars, so he must have consumed the divine water to stay alive?
The elders’ minds quickly became overwhelmed. They also had more work to do. They need to find the records of the time, and they need to look into the seals.
Most importantly.
– Do we ask the temple for help?
– I must ask.
It was preparation for the Stellar Nightmare.
– But will they be of any help? There are too few high priests.
– There are one-tenth as many priests as there were a thousand years ago.
– I think the Saint should come out.
– You think your saint will come out easily?
– He’s not a god because he’s not divine. He’s an immortal. You can’t even kill him. Why else would they have sealed him away a thousand years ago?
The mages groaned at the dark clouds hanging over the once peaceful tower.
They decided to ask the temple for help, and to ask the only three archmages in the tower, but the bleak future did not go away easily.
– The rest of you, except for the High Master, Master Marcedes, are nowhere to be found in the Demon Tower or the Sky Tower.
– This is beyond reclusive, it’s stealthy.
– What are we going to do?
He was just about to say that all the mages would be eaten and killed.
– But what if this is where the purification power comes from?
– !
The mages’ eyes widened.
People aren’t supposed to die, and this is how it works?
Doesn’t ‘purification’ mean more than just erasing the aura of the stars?
The subject came back to number one.
– Find him! The archmage apprentice (planned)!
– Bring him to me!
– Make him my apprentice!
The steeple flipped again.
***
Halbern Manor.
She was in exercise hell.
‘Tough.’
Is she going to be the first person to die from working out like this?
The ether that had turned into jewelry and clung to her body argued that it couldn’t be.
It’s ridiculous. You know it.
“Ha, I want to be free.”
Pain→Pession is stimulated→She exercises→She feels pain→She feels pain→She feels pain again.
She wanted to get out of this vicious cycle.
“Sion, I’m sore.”
“Sore muscles are a sign of good health!”
“No, it’s your heart, asshole.”
Pession, whose eyes were already half closed, didn’t listen to her, obsessed with her health.
The doctor is saying the usual stuff about how moderate exercise is good for the body and mind.
“My daughter is suffering.”
He openly watched and enjoyed watching her suffer.
This guy?
She got annoyed and ripped the “Try harder!” sticker off his face.
“That’s confiscation.”
“Hehe.”
“I’m not going to give it to you if you try to be so sweet.”
“Shall I bribe you then?”
“I don’t know if that’ll work.”
She was arguing with her father, and suddenly he grabbed her in a hug and wouldn’t let go.
“I’m going to hold you until I get a new sticker.”
“Huh.”
She’d rather be her than him.
“…”
Pession glared at Arellin’s father.
He gave him a look that said he was interrupting, but he just smirked and hugged her tighter. Pession backed away for a moment, looking annoyed.
She watched the two of them interact and shook her head.
“Does dad hate Pession?”
“No.”
Father retorted with a chuckle.
“I think he hates me more than I hate him.”
“That’s because you keep provoking him.”
She slapped him, but it didn’t land. Father looked at her with a completely unrepentant expression.
“I can’t help it.”
“What.”
“Because he likes you.”
“…”
Father shouted proudly.
She actually likes this clueless man.
