Chapter 380

Words : 2285 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

Roina asked in bewilderment. “Wait a minute. What do you mean the door is locked and won’t open?” “It means exactly what it sounds like. Those people can’t leave because the door won’t open.” At Arpa’s words, Rudger observed the mages lingering near the door. They were examining various parts of the wooden door with serious faces, but their expressions gradually hardened as they seemed to make no progress. “Stand back!” Finally, unable to wait any longer, one mage shot magic at the door. -Whoosh! Scorching red flames flew toward the door, causing a large explosion. The mages who retreated to avoid the aftershock widened their eyes at the sight that appeared after the black smoke dispersed. “It’s perfectly fine.” “Even with mystical power infused, how can it withstand this level of force?” The door was perfectly intact as if nothing had happened. There weren’t even any scorch marks despite being hit by the flames. “Was the power insufficient?” “Then let’s try something stronger.” This time, five mages simultaneously cast spells. An incomparably larger force than before struck the mansion’s door. Flash after flash of explosions occurred and the observing mages had to deploy shields to block the aftershock. The explosion was clearly felt even from a distance. The mages’ expressions hardened again when they saw that even this level of force, which they thought would surely be enough, had failed. “To think it’s still intact even after this much power.” “Perhaps we need to try opening it a different way?” The mages let out sighs of frustration as they looked at the door without a single scratch. If the observers felt this way, how must the mages who actually used the magic feel? They tried to use even stronger magic but had to give up when others around them stopped them. “No good. This door can’t be simply destroyed by magic. It’s probably protected by an enormous magical force.” “If magic doesn’t work, would strong physical force open it?” Someone with powerful strength. Some mages’ gazes turned toward Arpa as the thought occurred to them. With strength enough to grab and swing a Cheshire Tiger barehanded, there might be a possibility. “Leader. What should we do?” “Give it a try.” Arpa nodded and approached the door. The mages silently watched Arpa’s movements. “Hup.” Arpa grabbed the door with both hands and started pushing. Even though he was simply applying force, an enormous tension that seemed to constrict the space around Arpa filled the air. Arpa paid no attention to it and increased his full body output to apply force to the door. -Crack. The door that had remained intact against magic started showing slight reactions. Parts of the wooden door where Arpa’s palms made contact started tearing along the grain bit by bit. “Ohhh! He’s really pushing it open!” “Such unbelievable strength. Even a knight shouldn’t be able to display such power.” While the mages marveled at the strength Arpa was showing, they simultaneously realized that he was no ordinary knight aspirant. Quite a few of the mages present had met knights before and knew how much strength they possessed. That’s why they knew Arpa’s power was far from ordinary. But in the current situation, they couldn’t question or be curious about it. Getting out of this secret mansion was the priority for now. Arpa took a big step forward. Just as the door was about to be torn off, a new change occurred. -Bang! There was a flash of light between Arpa and the door, and Arpa’s body was thrown backward. Arpa quickly regained his posture in mid-air and landed safely, but his face clearly showed bewilderment. The same was true for those watching. “The door has been restored!” The door that Arpa had half-destroyed moments ago was somehow perfectly intact again. Everyone gathered there had their faces sink heavily at this sight. What might have been their last chance had disappeared. “Arpa. Are you alright?” “Yes. I’m fine.” “What just happened?” “I’m not sure either. It was just for a moment, but something seemed to push me back. Like the mansion itself was rejecting me.” “Seeing how the damaged door restored itself, that seems to be the case.” The door won’t open with magic or pure physical force. At this moment, everyone gathered there had the same thought. That everyone here was trapped in the mansion. “Is there a way out?” “How much time is left?” “What are the people outside doing?” The mages each spoke up with their concerns. If there was any silver lining, it was that no one was panicking and causing a disturbance. Rudger also discussed with his group about what they should do next. “It seems we’re trapped. We might as well consider it confirmed. The mansion won’t let us leave.” Everyone nodded with heavy faces. Rudger decided they needed to organize the situation first and opened his mouth. “Has anything like this happened before?” Roina and Sempas shook their heads. Finally looking at Limrei, he too seemed to recognize the severity of the situation and answered seriously. “Never. If it had happened, there would have been records of it.” “So this is the first time this has happened.” “Essentially, yes.” “How much time do we have left?” When midnight comes, monsters will start roaming the mansion. They don’t know what these monsters look like, how strong they are, or how many there are. The only thing they can be certain of is that when they appear, at least half of the mages gathered here will die. “4 hours. That’s how long until midnight.” “So we need to find a way to escape within that time.” “Do, do we really need to?” It was Roina who offered an opinion then. “The people who were preparing to withdraw outside must have realized that those inside the mansion aren’t returning, so they might take some measures. Even if we can’t get out from inside, maybe they could open the door from the outside...” “That’s probably impossible.” Rudger shook his head and denied Roina’s hope. “Why, why not?” “If it could be opened that easily from the outside, we wouldn’t have been trapped like this in the first place. The mansion’s door probably won’t open no matter what the people outside do.” “But it might...” “This is something that has never happened before. Thinking it would be resolved that easily is too optimistic. We need to assume the worst-case scenario right now.” “That’s...” Roina couldn’t continue at Rudger’s merciless response. In truth, she knew that what she said was just clinging to uncertain hope. “And there’s one more important fact.” Rudger lowered his voice so only his companions could hear. “You all saw it too. There are killers here. And now, no one can leave the mansion. Do you really think this situation is a coincidence?” “You mean this incident is related to those killers?” “At least that’s what makes the most sense.” Of course, questions still remain. How did the killers, that is, the Black Dawn Society, manage to trap everyone inside the mansion? ‘Leslie said they were planning something and that preparations were complete. While I don’t think this is his final goal, closing off the mansion was probably included in the preparations he said were complete.’ In the end, it meant there was something else Rudger didn’t know about yet. In other words, if he could just find out that method, he might be able to open the closed door again. ‘The problem is the existence of the Black Dawn Society.’ As if having similar thoughts to Rudger, Sempas muttered. “Those suspicious ones still mixed in here bother me.” “Ah, there are still killers inside?” “That’s what I think. Unless they’re fools, they would have left the mansion before the door locked. But not all of them, in my opinion.” Rudger agreed with Sempas’ opinion. “They’ve gained some way to control the mansion’s functions. That means others could potentially do the same. Being as thorough as they are, they’ll guard that function carefully.” “But then, wouldn’t they die too?” “Maybe they’re fully prepared for that.” Well, the Black Dawn Society is full of crazy people anyway. When they organized the situation, the circumstances were far more serious than initially thought. A sealed mansion. Killers existing inside. And monsters that appear after midnight. “Should we tell the others?” “That would only cause more chaos. Conversely, we might become suspects ourselves.” “That’s true.” No matter how much Roina racked her brain, she couldn’t think of a good solution. “First, shall we look for a way to escape?” Roina carefully shared her view. Her thought was that even though the door was locked, there might be other exits. “Like windows, for example.” “It would be nice if such a simple idea worked, but I don’t think it will.” Rudger answered while watching mages already trying the windows. The mansion’s windows were no different from the door. No matter how much they knocked or shot magic at them, they wouldn’t budge. They were truly like giant fortress walls in the shape of windows. ‘If there’s any possibility worth considering, it would be spatial movement through shadows.’ Rudger considered trying to get outside using Aether Nocturnus but he decided to give up after seeing the thick fog outside. ‘The density of magical power in this space is too high. One wrong move and the coordinates could get twisted.’ Spatial movement had many advantages, but it wasn’t without drawbacks. In this situation where magic power overflowed in the atmosphere, and even more so, the mansion itself was surrounded by mystical power. If spatial movement was used carelessly, there was a high chance of ending up in some unknown place due to distorted coordinates. It would be fortunate to fall from the sky but if he was buried in the ground, there would be no hope. ‘Moreover, revealing that I can use spatial movement is also a big risk.’ Beyond the existence of such magic, there was a possibility that his hidden identity could be exposed if he wasn’t careful. It was a choice full of risks no matter what. “In the end, there’s only one way.” Everyone’s attention turned to Rudger. “We need to find the culprit who orchestrated this.” “The culprit?” “They trapped us in the mansion, so they must also have a way to leave the mansion. We need to find them and interrogate them about the method.” “But how?” “That’s what we need to think about from now on.” Rudger said this while discreetly observing the mages gathered in the large hall. The Black Dawn Society was hiding among them but the problem was not knowing how many there were. ‘Originally I thought about groups of 10, but if some left the mansion early, there could be changes in numbers. Can’t assume it’s 10 people.’ Moreover, their behavior is quite strange. Although it’s a fake identity, Rudger is an executive of the Black Dawn Society, a First Order. They must know that someone like him entered the mansion, yet they still did this. ‘Do they want me dead? Or did they proceed because they couldn’t let even a First Order interfere with their plans?’ There were many concerning aspects, including the fact that they hadn’t made direct contact. Still, Rudger decided to lean towards the latter possibility for now. After all, his participation in the Night of Mystery and coming to the secret mansion was suddenly decided. ‘Even so, I can’t request to be let out alone. I can’t make contact with them by myself.’ The mansion’s rules are absolute. If you move separately even a little, you violate the condition of “minimum 5 people.” What would happen then? Rudger didn’t want to take such a dangerous risk. ‘First, I need to consider the possibilities. The mansion has a function to close the doors. And the Black Dawn Society either knows about this function or has reached a space where they can control it.’ There are over 300 rooms in the mansion and one of them was likely related to the function that could open the doors. ‘We need to find that room, but the possibility is practically zero.’ Having to find a room without knowing where it is was too unreasonable a condition. The library at least had some clues since people had visited it several times before but where they needed to go now was a place no one except the Black Dawn Society knew about. ‘Information. We need other knowledge related to this secret mansion.’ Rudger gathered his thoughts. “Let’s move.” “What? Now?” “There’s no point in sitting here putting our heads together trying to figure out a solution. It would be much better to look around directly.” “I agree.” Limrei also supported Rudger’s opinion. So did Sempas. “Then where should we go?” “Back to the library. We’ll look for clues related to this mansion there.” Rudger recalled the contents of the book he had read today. It said this mansion had an owner. Although it was in the form of a spirit, the fact that there was an owner provided a clue. They needed to find the room where the mansion’s owner stayed.

Chapter 380

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