Chapter 407

Words : 2746 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

People were tense. The surviving mages swallowed hard, debating whether to fire their magic. A beast and judging by the aura it gave off, it was a very dangerous one. Before it could attack first, a preemptive strike... ‘Oh no.’ However, the moment the beast’s gaze turned toward them, they had to abandon that thought. This was not an opponent they could dare to defeat even if they charged in. The moment they faced it, despite being human, they could feel themselves being pushed to the bottom of nature’s food chain. “Spirit King. That’s the Spirit King.” Someone who recognized the deer muttered. The mages reacted even more intensely to the word Spirit King. “Spirit King actually existed?” “A creature that had never shown itself in the Kasar Valley until now, why is it here...” If it’s the Spirit King, they definitely shouldn’t provoke it. The Spirit King existence held high academic value, but that didn’t mean they could treat it carelessly. it possessed intelligence comparable to, or perhaps even surpassing, that of humans. Moreover, the mages gathered here were those who studied magic and mysteries, not people who skinned mysterious creatures for their hides. Of course, there were those whose eyes were blinded by greed at the existence of the Spirit King. Gregorium of the Old Tower was a prime example, however, he couldn’t show hostility toward the Spirit King because someone jumped down from the Spirit King back. “Oh, oh? It’s a person!” People’s attention eventually shifted to the one who had been riding Spirit King. The man who fell from the air soon generated magic gently and landed on the ground. Precise and...Also light. Yekaterina opened her round eyes wide at the man who landed beside her. Derek and Gregorium were equally surprised. “Ru, Rudger Chelici...” Rudger Chelici, who had headed into the forest to stop Belkart, had safely returned. And he had done so while riding the Spirit King, which existed in the forest. People blinked their eyes repeatedly at that unbelievable sight. What’s going on? A person rode the Spirit King? Is that even possible? As people’s attention focused, Rudger opened his mouth toward the Spirit King. “You can go now. Thank you for bringing me here.” Surprisingly, the Spirit King nodded as if it understood those words. -Whoa. The mages let out exclamations. The rumor that the Spirit King could understand human language and communicate with them turned out to be true. -Whoosh! Enormous magical power erupted from the Spirit King’s body. The force of that magical power was so great that even Arpa, Sempas, and Roina, who were returning to the forward base at that moment, could feel it. The Spirit King, gradually rising high into the air, was eventually enveloped in pure white light. It was a brilliant light like seeing stars in the sky up close. The mass of flash shot out in a long trajectory toward the direction of the forest. White and golden magical power scattered in the air, drawing a long trail. People were captivated by that beautiful sight. When the Spirit King’s figure completely disappeared beyond the forest, they turned their heads as if enchanted and stared at Rudger. Having descended to the ground, Rudger fixed his disheveled hair and lightly tugged at his collar. The same calm face and attitude as usual. People felt strange emotions at that sight. It felt surreal because it was too calm despite being impressive. That’s when Rudger opened his mouth. “We should still have matters to settle among ourselves. Mage Gregorium.” “...” Gregorium bit his lips. In his eyes as he stared at Rudger, flames of jealousy were burning fiercely. Not only was he alive in this situation, but to return to the forward base riding the Spirit King. Gregorium could hardly think of an action that would draw more attention from people than this. But what’s important now would be the situation at hand, right? “Matters to settle? Was there such a thing between us?” Gregorium strongly maintained that he knew nothing of the sort. “After running away to save only yourselves, you’re now going to play dumb?” “Differences of opinion causing dispersal is unavoidable.” At those words, Rudger slightly curved the corners of his eyes. So that’s how you want to play it? “If you can call a unilateral retreat without discussion an opinion, that is.” “What’s wrong with that? Looking at the results, our judgment was correct. The ley lines at the cliff burst, and yet the Kasar Valley didn’t collapse.” Even if the process wasn’t good, it’s fine if the result turned out well. Gregorium’s words carried such meaning. “That may be so. But the Old Tower abandoned their duty and only sought ways to save themselves. The loss of trust from that is unavoidable.” The course of action the Old Tower had shown was, in a way, an act of tightening their own noose. It meant that if they moved everything according to profit relationships, they could easily cast aside even close relationships at any time. The Old Tower is not an organization that operates purely on internal affairs. They too raise funds by forming collaborations with various external organizations, companies, and families, that’s modern society. In such business relationships, the most important thing is mutual trust. There are two types of trust, either moral trust or trust based on profit relationships. However, the proportion of this trust cannot be established by just one side. It’s just a difference in ratio, but both must be included. However the Old Tower had completely shattered even the minimum human trust relationship in this aspect. They might do business now because it’s mutually beneficial, but later? The Old Tower’s course of action meant that they could easily change their attitude like flipping their palm whenever something didn’t suit their intentions. At Rudger’s words, Gregorium had an “oh no” moment. Actually, this was something Gregorium had been worried about too. The moment he retreated here, it would leave quite a mark on the Old Tower’s reputation. That action would also endanger Gregorium’s own position within the Old Tower but when comparing endangering his position to risking his life, the former was obviously much better. After all, you need to be alive to have a position. ‘I didn’t expect to survive in this situation in the first place.’ Gregorium had judged that the Kasar Valley was already beyond hope. Moving with the thought that at least those who could survive should survive wasn’t necessarily a bad judgment but whether it was right would ultimately be determined by the results. In that sense, Gregorium’s judgment was greatly wrong at the point where the Kasar Valley didn’t collapse. Every choice has consequences and Gregorium had to pay the price for his wrong choice. “Don’t be ridiculous! What’s wrong with making the obvious choice!” However, Gregorium couldn’t fully accept that situation. He had to be shameless, there was no choice because it was unfair, it was unfair. From his perspective, the collapse of the Kasar Valley was a disaster that couldn’t possibly be stopped. Moreover, although he had only vaguely felt it from afar, the magical resonance felt from the direction of the cliff was definitely not ordinary. It was at least 6th tier grand magic. From Gregorium’s position, who had witnessed it in the past, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize such magic being used. “Are you saying we should have fought against a 6th tier mage? That would have only increased casualties, is it so wrong to try to reduce those casualties!” “Because the casualties you reduced were only your own people. And didn’t you decide to retreat before even knowing if the opponent was 6th tier?” Rudger responded sharply to Gregorium’s reaction. Gregorium let out a groan and looked around. This was disadvantageous, so he was trying to seek help from others. There were some businessmen, mages, and nobles here who had connections to the Old Tower but no one tried to help Gregorium. Rather, as soon as their eyes met, they turned their heads away and ignored Gregorium, pretending not to know him. They weren’t unaware that stepping forward here would mean getting dragged into the mud themselves rather than helping. “This, this...!” These ungrateful humans! Gregorium was furious, but from others’ perspective, they had to be careful to avoid unnecessary trouble. Rather, there was even some indignation. Why are you asking for help now when you ran away without fighting? Feeling those gazes, Gregorium felt at a loss but he didn’t bend his pride until the end. “...So. Are you going to hold me responsible now? Weren’t those suspicious guys the ones who killed people in the first place! They’re all dead now!” “We’ll look into those guys more later. What’s important now is pointing out the behavior that increased the number of victims through unilateral action when the damage could have been reduced.” “Are you saying I should take responsibility for all of this?” At those words, Rudger smirked. “I wasn’t saying you should take responsibility. I just thought everyone here should know.” “...” “I don’t have the right to punish you particularly. If I, a teacher at Theon, meddle with the Old Tower, that would cause its own big problems. But just revealing the truth shouldn’t be an issue.” Rudger said this while looking around. “And how people who accept that truth think about and respond to the Old Tower is entirely their freedom.” As if proving those words, Derek Olsen and Yekaterina proudly stood beside Rudger. Gregorium’s face turned bright red. He felt the unfriendly gazes of people directed at him. Gregorium instinctively felt that if he didn’t resolve this here, he was finished but no matter how much he thought, he couldn’t see a breakthrough. Even if he tried to turn the tables on Rudger by backing himself with authority, the situation was hopeless. After all, wasn’t he someone who returned riding the Spirit King? In this place, Rudger had now become a literally different existence that was difficult to touch. How could he possibly deal with that? “...Just you wait.” Gregorium realized that saying anything more would only make himself look worse and quietly retreated. Of course, he didn’t forget to inwardly vow that he wouldn’t let this go easily. Watching the Old Tower mages retreat like defeated soldiers, Yekaterina eventually burst into laughter with a “pfft.” Then she held her stomach and giggled, didn’t she? It was fortunate that the sound was so quiet that only Derek and Rudger could hear it, otherwise others would have been shocked too. Yekaterina, who finally calmed down, gave Rudger an eye-smile. “Thank you. Thanks to you, one troublesome matter has been resolved.” “It was nothing.” “But how did you manage to ride the Spirit King? What happened in that forest?” Yekaterina’s eyes were full of curiosity about this situation. That included Varenchina who had just returned after receiving simple treatment, and her brother Vatali who was supporting her, and Derek Olsen. Since they weren’t unaware of the situation, they were staring intently at Rudger. “It seems this will be a long story.” Rudger let out a small sigh and entered the tent. The people around watched that sight in bewilderment, and Yekaterina instructed such people to go about their own work for now. * * * Many people gathered in the tent. Most were the representatives of each organization who had gathered to share opinions before starting the operation. Of course, compared to before, that number had decreased quite a bit. There were those who had died, and the Old Tower including Gregorium, who had held a large proportion, didn’t show their faces at all. Instead, Arpa, Sempas, and Roina, who originally shouldn’t have been there, were mixed in among the seats. ‘Where should I start the story from?’ Rudger gauged this in his mind before opening his mouth. “More than anything else, it would be better to explain what happened in the forest first.” No one objected to those words. Among the people here, there was no one who wasn’t curious about what happened in the forest. Both the existence of the Spirit King, and above all, the appearance of the Earth Elemental Lord. “First, I think everyone has already heard the story and knows about the existence of the culprit.” Belkart Benmark. He, who had faked his death at the mansion, was actually the mastermind behind all of this. And Limrei was the same in collaborating with him. “Belkart destroyed the ley lines at the cliff. But coincidentally, the overflowing ley lines in the forest began to stabilize again.” “How is that possible?” Liumea, one of the New Tower’s representatives, asked that. Her complexion wasn’t very good, as she had been most affected by Amar’s poison. It wasn’t that she had been careless, rather she had taken the hit instead to protect her fellow companions. Fortunately, thanks to the antidote her life wasn’t in danger, but originally she should have been resting and recovering. Despite that, the reason she came to this place was probably because she wanted to know how the situation was flowing. “Once ley lines are broken, it’s usually difficult to restrain them with normal magical power to stabilize them again. Breaking them can be done by a single 6th tier mage, but stopping them requires five times that. But if they were stopped, who on earth did it?” “It was the forest’s beasts.” To Liumea’s disbelieving gaze, Rudger quietly nodded. “Living beings that have dwelled in the Kasar Valley for a long time. Beasts that absolutely don’t fall behind in terms of magical power quantity became of one heart and mind to stabilize the ley lines.” “That can’t be...” Liumea couldn’t believe it, but Roina stepped forward and answered instead. “It’s entirely possible. We just confirmed the Spirit King’s existence too, didn’t we? Thinking about that, it’s not strange for the beasts in the Kasar Valley to show special movements.” “Indeed, even the Spirit King stepped forward to fight Belkart to protect the forest. Belkart tried to destroy the stabilized ley lines again during that, but that’s when a new miracle occurred.” “The Earth Elemental Lord.” Someone’s murmur echoed softly inside the tent. There was no one who hadn’t seen the existence of the huge rocky mountain that rose beyond the forest. Since everyone had seen that sight, naturally they could know how this incident ended but even though they saw it, it still feels like they’re dreaming with their eyes open. The hypothesis that they all had hallucinations due to the Kasar Valley’s mysterious phenomena seems far more credible. “That’s what happened.” But Rudger, who had watched the situation up close, gave a definitive answer. The people gathered in their seats had no choice but to accept reality. * * * After everyone in the tent dispersed, Rudger also left the tent. Since the fight was over, he was thinking of taking a rest to calm his confused mind. If there was anything fortunate amid the chaos, it was that the tent he had borrowed was safe even in this mess. Thinking that at least he wouldn’t need to move his belongings again, as Rudger headed toward the tent, someone followed behind him. “...Queen Yekaterina?” When he wondered who it was, he saw it was Yekaterina who had followed him alone without even bringing her guards. ‘Why is she here?’ Before such questions, Yekaterina bowing her head to Rudger while maintaining proper etiquette came first. “Thank you for helping us. Thanks to you, we were able to survive.” “...Please raise your head. It’s not good if someone sees.” “It doesn’t matter if they see because this is natural for a benefactor.” “I didn’t really do much to begin with though.” “Just fighting your best is already something to be thankful for.” She’s truly stubborn about such aspects. ‘But did she come to find me separately just to express such gratitude?’ The moment he thought that, Yekaterina threw out a question like an ambush. “But Mr. Machiavelli, what’s the reason for hiding your identity and working as a teacher?”

Chapter 407

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