Chapter 398

Words : 2366 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

“Belkart! Why on earth are you!” Derek still couldn’t understand. They weren’t close friends, but they were at least acquainted. At least for Derek, he couldn’t fathom why Belkart would do such a thing. Limrei did it for revenge for his daughter, but what about Belkart? What was he thinking, even using the name of the deceased Leslie? Suddenly Derek recalled a forgotten fact from the past. “Could it be that you want revenge for your friends?” “...Friends?” Rudger asked what that meant. Derek stared at Belkart with a complicated expression and said. “Isabella, Leslie and Belkart were friends from long ago. The three were always together like one body. That was the same even after joining the Truth Faction.” Isabella, who was always positive and bright. Leslie, who was clumsy but more thoughtful and kind than anyone. Belkart, who was cold but acted as a brake because of it. They were three different people, but together they made the most compatible team. “But that relationship broke down, ultimately because of the accident that day.” Rudger knew what day Derek was talking about. The day Isabella went to the Kasar Basin and got caught in a magic storm. From then on, the relationship between the three essentially collapsed. “So Leslie didn’t die then?” “Leslie wasn’t at the Kasar Basin that day. His disappearance happened a year after Isabella’s death. He simply vanished. No one could trace his whereabouts.” “So that’s why you said it was impossible.” “But we couldn’t deny the possibility.” That’s why Derek thought Leslie was behind this incident. He thought he was acting for revenge for his fiancée Isabella but who would have thought the real mastermind would be Belkart. Derek realized what this was all about. “Come to think of it, I heard such a story. There was a wizard who claimed he could find people who went missing in the Kasar Basin. But most thought it was just a rumor and it was quickly buried.” It had to be buried because the person making that claim disappeared a year later. “Leslie headed to the Kasar Basin alone and never returned.” Isabella died, and Leslie died. Of the three who used to hang out together, only one remained now. When two of his friends of over 10 years died, how must Belkart have felt being left alone? “Belkart. Is that why you’re doing this?” Derek’s eyes were full of complexity. “To get revenge for your dead friends?” They weren’t close friends but as a former fellow Truth Faction alumnus, he couldn’t help but feel sad seeing Belkart so corrupted. The dead are dead. Shouldn’t the living move on with their lives? Despite Derek’s gaze, Belkart said nothing. He seemed to let this side think whatever it wanted, without excuse or acknowledgment. ‘So this was the real First Order.’ Until just now, Rudger thought Limrei was the First Order. Limrei is a veteran 6th Circle wizard. Who would have imagined that someone considered a top force anywhere would be merely a throwaway card? “Unexpected.” Belkart turned his gaze from Derek to look at Rudger. “To think that person would fail. I thought it ended successfully since the mansion completely collapsed.” Belkart didn’t particularly acknowledge Rudger even after seeing him. From the beginning, he knew Rudger was here. Knowing that, he didn’t warn or tell Rudger about what was about to happen here. Whether he was a fellow First Order or not, if he came to his mission area, he could just kill him if he interfered. This is how the Black Dawn Society’s executives are. For their mission, or to survive, they don’t hesitate to kill other executives. Still, he warned Limrei to be cautious just in case. He thought that person could handle it sufficiently but John Doe was now before his eyes. What that meant was that Limrei had failed to kill John Doe. “I see. So that person is dead?” There was no emotion of sadness. Rather, there was a subject that needed immediate attention in front. ‘The one who defeated Limrei must be that man.’ First Order [John Doe]. At first, he didn’t pay much attention. Although they were both First Orders, John Doe was loyal only to Zero Order and didn’t get along well with other executives, that’s why he rarely kept subordinates and mostly worked alone. John Doe’s actions so far had specialized in infiltration, disguise, assassination, and information gathering. He eliminated factors that might interfere with work and spread false information to cause conflicts. He thought he would probably move like that for life but John Doe began to reveal his true abilities in earnest while infiltrating as a teacher at Theon. As if everything shown until now was just the tip of the iceberg, John Doe caused many disturbances. Sometimes he acted in ways incomprehensible even as a fellow First Order. Still, they didn’t say anything because Zero Order trusted him but now that John Doe had come to stop him it was meaningless to ask if he had betrayed the Black Dawn Society. Wasn’t he the one who tried to kill John Doe first? ‘Is it because the secret chamber is right in front of us? I’m getting unnecessarily lost in thought.’ Right. What does it matter now? Things have come to an irreversible point. Then all that’s left is to kill or be killed, isn’t it? ‘You think so too, don’t you? John Doe. No, Rudger Chelici.’ Whether he read the thoughts contained in Belkart’s gaze, Rudger also responded with an increasingly cold gaze. Derek shouted. “Belkart! Stop this now! You’re about to commit mass murder!” “Derek. You’re still the same as ever, acting righteous without knowing how the world works. Do you think you’re here knowing what I’m trying to do now?” “Even if two ley lines have collapsed, there are still remaining ones! And all your subordinates are dead.” Derek was right. The Black Dawn Society’s Second Orders and Third Orders resisted fiercely, but ultimately failed to destroy the ley lines. “And it’s the same on the other side too. You must have carried out the operations simultaneously, but only one place exploded. That means we must have stopped the other one.” So surrender. Derek warned thus. Despite Derek’s warning, there was no change in Belkart’s expression. “Do you know why I kept detonating bombs on the cliff?” “Obviously to destroy the ley lines, isn’t it?” “That’s right too, but it wasn’t exactly just for destruction. It would be nice if it worked, but this land’s conditions are too tricky for that.” Belkart stared at the explosion-marked location with an unreadable gaze. “The ley lines here flow under the rocky cliffs. The ley lines are located unusually deep compared to other places. You think I did such things to blow up the ley lines? No. Everything until now was just the beginning.” “What?” “You might think you’ve stopped me. But have you really stopped me properly?” As soon as Belkart finished speaking, the entire cliff began to shake. Immediately after, everyone gathered at the spot felt that something was gradually rising from below. From various spots in the explosion-marked crater, a faint bluish mist began to flow out. It was high-density magical power, some mana leaking from the flowing ley lines. Derek made a troubled expression but realized the ley lines hadn’t completely collapsed yet. “This much is fine. It’s not critical yet.” “That’s right. But the cliff has reached its critical point. What do you think will happen if magic strikes here?” “What?” “Until now, I stayed still to conserve power, but there’s no need for that anymore.” Belkart floated in the air using levitation magic. Looking down at the fifty or so wizards and knights, he declared. “From now on, I will use all the power I possess to destroy that weakened cliff.” As if it wasn’t just a verbal warning, massive magical power began to writhe around Belkart. “Try to stop me if you can.” “T-This is!” It’s an attack from a 6th Circle wizard no less. Fighting against him is madness. There would be a chance if the 50 people gathered here fought in coordination but the problem was their position. Bluish magical power was leaking from the cliff’s cracks. That means the ley lines here are in quite a precarious situation. Fighting a 6th Circle wizard in such a place? While this side needs to protect, the other side has nothing to be concerned about. The numbers may be advantageous, but everything else is disadvantageous for them. However they must stop him. Just as Derek was thinking that and about to make a decision, someone launched an attack before him as a flash of light shot up into the air. The flash containing massive heat wasn’t simply dazzling light, but a cannon that pierces through everything. Derek’s eyes widened when he realized it was Rudger Chelici who unleashed it, and his jaw dropped when he saw Belkart blocking the attack as if he had been waiting for it. The light of enormous luminance collided with the shield and split into several branches, shooting high into the sky. While the wizards were captivated by that sight, Rudger exclaimed. “What are you all doing? Hurry up and press the attack.” The wizards who came to their senses at those words began deploying magic formulas to attack Belkart. Belkart wasn’t just watching this quietly. While continuing to block Rudger’s ongoing attacks, he simultaneously deployed other formulas and created magic around him. It was a method commonly called double casting. Since he was maintaining defensive magic first, the magic transitioning to attack had to be simplified. Belkart compensated for this by unleashing massive magical power. It was a simple magical power release, not even creating and shooting magical spheres but dropping them. However, the amount of mana contained in those magical spheres was an amount that ordinary wizards would need to squeeze out for a long time. What would happen if that collided with the cliff above was self-evident. “Block it!” “Use defensive magic!” The wizards waiting below hurriedly deployed defensive formulas. They gathered their magical power and spread shields where Belkart’s magical spheres were falling. Immediately after, a massive shockwave was created as the shields and magical spheres collided. The power struggle between nearly 40 wizards and Belkart individually surprisingly ended in a draw. The magical spheres and shields disappeared simultaneously but the wizards felt it. Unlike this side panting after barely blocking it, Belkart’s expression remained calm as if nothing had happened. That’s how big the difference in level was. “Don’t panic! We’ll all die anyway if we retreat here!” Varenchina’s voice, imbued with aura, thundered above the cliff. Those words awakened the frightened wizards’ minds. “I’ll block him! Everyone focus on holding out!” Varenchina rushed towards Belkart. Belkart using levitation magic was high in the air, obviously an unreachable distance just by jumping but that’s when Derek used magic. A huge stone pillar rose diagonally. Varenchina stepped on the stone pillar and approached Belkart. “A senior knight, is it?” From the amount of aura imbued in Varenchina’s voice, Belkart realized she was a senior knight. Then mediocre defensive magic wouldn’t be enough to deal with her. The most fearsome aspect of knights was the power their aura possessed. The stronger the knight’s aura, the more it tears through shields painstakingly created by wizards like paper. “I just need to stop you before you get close.” Belkart cast magic. A huge metal cuboid appeared in the air and fell towards Varenchina. It was massive with each side being 3m long. Varenchina swung her sword imbued with purple aura. The metal magic revealed a bright red cross-section as it split in two and scattered left and right. At that moment, a massive current hidden inside the metal was released. “What?!” Although startled, Varenchina wrapped her body in aura and retreated backward like doing a back tumble. Immediately after, the current’s waves swept through the stone pillar where she had been standing. Belkart’s attack didn’t stop there. The two metals spewing intense current coils around them moved freely and pressured Varenchina. Derek watching from behind shouted. “Be careful! Belkart is a master of metal and electricity magic! It’s dangerous to approach him without preparation!” Even when hiding his identity as Leslie, Belkart was a wizard who used metal and electricity attribute magic at an expert level. In those fields, Belkart could compete even with higher circle wizards. Now that it was revealed that Belkart was actually a 6th Circle wizard, it was impossible to estimate how strong his main magic would be now. That’s when Rudger stepped in. Taking advantage of the momentary opening while attention was focused on Varenchina, Rudger approached right next to Belkart and swung his staff containing magical power. Belkart stretched out his right hand without panicking. Metal fragments gathered in front of his widely spread hand and created a sword, Magnetar Sword -Clang! The two weapons collided. Rudger immediately tried to withdraw his staff and cast magic, but the staff stuck to Belkart’s sword without budging. “You shouldn’t carelessly swing metal in front of me.” Countless metal spears were created around Belkart and shot towards Rudger. * * * In Felix City, the city closest to the Kasar Basin, strange phenomena were occurring one after another. Carriages that usually moved well stopped, and the weather that often had fog was unusually clear. Citizens were confused by the different situation from usual, and were greatly shocked that the white dome of the Kasar Basin visible in the distance had become fainter than before but what really surprised people wasn’t that. “Hey, was there a mountain over there originally?” Overnight, a mountain that hadn’t been there before was now present. Someone with good observation skills would have realized one more fact. That the mountain is still moving even now.

Chapter 398

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