Chapter 281
The fire giant, wreathed in the same flame whips that bound Zeke, charged.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
The giant, cloaked in a surging storm of fire, collided with Zeke.
FWOOOSH!
Zeke's body was engulfed in the inferno. The mages watching panicked.
"W-Wait. Is he going to be okay?"
"I-Is this an accident? What do we do if that Draker fella burns to a crisp?"
Hearing the murmuring mages, Hixson also grew flustered and moved to stop the match.
Just then.
"Hold on."
Antonio, who had appeared beside him at some point, blocked Hixson's raised hand. Seeing his master suddenly appear, Hixson's face went white.
"M-Master..."
Hixson was about to make an excuse when he looked at his master's face and realized that it wasn't just Antonio—all of Nirvana's Masters had been watching the duel.
Hixson's eyebrow twitched.
'I'm dead.'
Antonio clicked his tongue as he watched Xeros, who had summoned the fire giant.
"Tsk, tsk. That boy Xeros. I told him to always be careful when dealing with knights."
At Antonio's dissatisfied tone, a short, red-cheeked elderly mage standing next to him spoke in a gentle, smiling voice.
"Tony, don't be so hard on him. It's only because his opponent is a Draker. A normal knight would have been turned to ash by now."
But Antonio's expression remained full of disapproval.
"Hmph. If you're going to do something, do it right."
Hixson listened to the two Masters, confused.
'It looks like Xeros is winning completely, so why are they acting like that?'
When Hixson looked back at the arena, Xeros still hadn't relaxed his guard and was straining to maintain the spell.
It was then.
SHRIIIIIP!
Zeke swung his sword, cutting his way out of the flames that had enveloped him.
FWOOSH!
At a gesture from Xeros, the flames tried to latch onto Zeke again, but it was useless. Zeke's movements were much faster.
WHOOSH!
Raising Bahamut, Zeke dropped rapidly from the air and dove toward Xeros.
RUMBLE!
Xeros extended his hands, creating a magical shield in front of him.
CRACK!
But Zeke's sword sliced right through the magical shield as if it wasn't there. The flustered Xeros unleashed a desperate barrage of every spell he could, but Zeke's sword deflected them all.
SHWIIING!
Having cut through all the magic, Zeke landed on the floor and placed his sword at Xeros's neck.
With a pale face, Xeros shot his hands into the air,
"I... I surrender."
After speaking, he collapsed to the floor as if all his strength had left him. Zeke extended a hand toward him.
"You fought well, Sir Xeros. This was a great learning experience for me."
During the fight, Zeke had intentionally induced openings and minimized his attacks because he wanted to see as many of Xeros's spell combinations as possible. Even for Zeke, with his vast battlefield experience, Xeros's precise chain-casting had been tricky to handle.
As he was smugly reflecting on the variety of magic he had been able to experience, Xeros took his hand and got to his feet,
"Sir Zeke, I'd like to hear your honest opinion of my magic."
Zeke thought for a moment before speaking.
"It was precise, but I felt it clearly lacked real combat experience."
Xeros's face turned pale with shock,
"L-Lacked combat experience?"
"Yes. As you demonstrated, the linking of spells and the appropriate placement of attacks were effective. However..."
Zeke met Xeros's eyes.
"Because it is so precise, it is highly likely to fall apart the moment something unexpected happens. On the battlefield, a mana bomb might suddenly explode behind you, or the comrade next to you could die in an instant, causing you mental shock. I found myself wondering if it would be possible to execute such precise magic under those conditions."
Xeros listened to Zeke's words with a serious expression and nodded.
"I see... That's certainly possible."
"It would be best if you could train while accounting for such situations. If not, you could create a similar environment..."
Zeke trailed off as he felt eyes on him. He glanced to the side and saw Antonio and the other Masters listening intently to his words with their ears perked.
When Zeke stopped talking, an embarrassed Antonio let out a dry cough and started scolding Xeros to save face.
"Ahem! Xeros, you fool! What did I tell you? I told you to fix that habit of summoning creatures when you get cornered! Unlike fighting mages, against a knight, the first strike is everything! And a surprise attack is even better."
Xeros was flustered by his master's words,
"B-But Master, a surprise attack is a bit..."
At his side, Zeke shook his head.
"No. Master Antonio is right. The most effective way to use magic against a knight is with a surprise attack in an unexpected situation."
At Zeke's words, Antonio's face lit up.
"See! The Draker knight says so himself. As expected, Sir Zeke knows what he's talking about."
Ever since the Fairy Stone incident, Antonio's favorability toward Zeke had clearly risen.
At that moment, the short, red-cheeked mage next to him spoke up with a gentle smile.
"This is a good opportunity. It would be great if Sir Zeke could talk to our students about real-world combat. They're all bookworms who spend their days cooped up in their labs, so their practical sense is severely lacking."
Antonio nodded in agreement,
"Hey, that's a great idea. For once, you've had a good thought, Gutan."
Zeke was startled to hear the name of the mage next to Antonio.
'Gutan Nirvana? So he's an 8th Circle Master, too. A sorcerer who earned the title of Top Mage, the pinnacle of combat mages.'
Gutan Nirvana was one of the war heroes who had achieved countless merits in the war against the Eastern Empire's invasion twenty-five years ago. Unlike the fake hero Howard Draker, who had stolen his comrades' achievements, Gutan Nirvana was the real deal.
Gutan floated through the air and approached Zeke and Xeros. He smiled at Zeke,
"If you would be so kind, Sir Zeke, I would like to invite you to the Combat Magic Society, for which I serve as an advisor. What do you say?"
It was a chance to build a relationship with a Nirvana Master; there was no reason to refuse.
"If you would have me, I would be delighted to attend."
Gutan smiled and nodded,
"Excellent. Then let's plan to meet with the society members tomorrow."
The moment he finished speaking, Gutan's body blurred and then vanished. Antonio shook his head as he watched him go.
"Hah! To think he'd be the one to invite a knight... It's a strange day when a man who despises knights does something like that. Alright, you fools, the show's over! Get back to your labs and finish your theses!"
Hixson, who was trying to slip away with the other mages, was caught by the scruff of his neck by Antonio.
"I told you to keep him company, and you couldn't even do that without causing trouble."
"Eek! Master, it wasn't like that! Sir Zeke was the one who wanted to—"
"Are you talking back to me?"
"N-No! Not at all, Master!"
Antonio dragged Hixson over to Zeke,
"Sir Zeke. My talk with the old-timers went well. They said it was a splendid idea."
"Thank you, Master Antonio. I will send the official contract shortly."
"Puhaha! Excellent! I'm so relieved I won't have to go hunting for those damned Fairy Stones for a while."
Antonio held Hixson fast,
"You, don't cause any more trouble. Just guide Sir Zeke to his guest room."
"Y-Yes, Master."
Having said his piece, Antonio created a door in the wall, just as he had the first time, and stepped through it.
Hixson, sweating bullets, said to Zeke,
"Whew, I barely made it out of that alive. Sir Zeke, this way, please. I'll show you to your quarters."
Just then, Zeke extended a hand toward Hixson,
"Sir Hixson, before that, shall we settle the bill? I bet ten thousand pesos, so I'm curious what my winnings will be."
Hixson's face went pale once more.
* * *
Zeke was surprised by how ordinary the guest room at Nirvana was. He had expected something special from a mage's room.
'I was full of prejudice, it seems.'
But while the room looked normal, his prejudice wasn't entirely unfounded. Every single facility was powered by mana, which meant that Zeke, a knight, couldn't even turn on the lights. It was a form of constant training for them, deliberately designed to force the use of mana at all times, much like how the Draker clan trained to constantly use aura.
'This is a problem. I can't very well call for someone every time I want to turn the lights on or off.'
Zeke thought for a moment, then, on a whim, he activated his System to see if it could interface with the facilities.
[The Superior Administrator System is attempting to connect.]
[Verifying Code...]
[Title: Blessed by the Ancient Dragon - Confirmed.]
[Access to 3rd Defense Base 'Tower of Infinity' granted.]
Zeke stared at the messages in shock.
'Tower of infinity? This place was also built by a dragon?'
Most places where the System could connect were likely built by dragons. Amazed, Zeke tested the connection by operating the room's facilities through the System.
"Turn on the lights."
At Zeke's command, the mana-powered lamp lit up. He was now able to use the functions of the Tower of Infinity by linking it with the Kabbalah System.
'Interesting. Let's see what kind of functions this place has.'
Zeke opened the System window and browsed through the information stored in the Tower of Infinity. Most of the stored content consisted of records detailing who was using which space and how.
'Hoshigar-nim was a Dragonkin, so he should have known how to use the System. Does that mean the current mages can't access it?'
The Tower of Infinity had the ability to infinitely expand the space within its walls. It seemed this function, at least, could be used without requiring system access. It appeared that since there had been no Dragonkin in Nirvana after the first clan head, Hoshigar, the mages had only been using the tower's most basic functions, completely unaware of the others.
'Let's look at the records from Hoshigar-nim's time.'
Examining the records from a thousand years ago, Zeke discovered that, unlike the present, a vast amount of information had been stored in the system back then.
'These look like records left behind by mages during the Golden Age after the war.'
Perhaps because it was from the early days of the Nirvana clan's founding, the records were disorganized.
Mages of the Mage Tower considered their research results to be closely guarded secrets, never revealing them to others.
Even if they did publish their findings, it was only a general overview in the form of a thesis; the core theories were passed down only to their direct disciples.
However, the mages of Nirvana sought to share their research to develop even better magic.
Their goal was to prepare for a time when an enemy like the Demon King's army might invade the mortal plane again, so they could effectively defend against them. That will have been passed down ever since Hoshigar's time.
But it seemed that something had gone wrong with the records starting about 500 years ago.
'What's this? The records are cut off from here.'
Until that point, all kinds of information had been logged in the System, but afterward, only data on space expansion was recorded. It was as if access to the Tower of Infinity had been severed 500 years ago.
Zeke examined the records from that period in detail. As he looked through them, he realized a major incident had occurred within the Nirvana clan.
'Necromancers? So Necromancers were originally part of Nirvana, but they were driven out.'
In its early days, Nirvana had Necromancers who wielded dark magic coexisting with regular mages.
However, problems began to arise after the first lubern dynasty established the Holy Empire 800 years ago, and as time passed, the Church rose to power. The Church began to persecute all Necromancers, treating them as evil dark mages without exception.
The mages of Nirvana refuted the Church's claims and tried to protect the Necromancers, but the Church used its Paladins to indiscriminately capture them. Many Nirvana mages who vehemently resisted were sacrificed in the conflict, and because of this, the mages who had access privileges to the Tower of Infinity were either killed or went missing.
Facing this relentless persecution, the Necromancers were gradually driven into the shadows. In the process, the number of them conducting illicit experiments rapidly increased.
'It was a vicious cycle.'
As he was looking through the records, one title caught Zeke's eye.
"Experimental Log on the Artificial Production of Blood Tear Stones Applying the Mandragora Production Method?"
It sounded very familiar. When he tried to access the file, a warning window popped up, stating that his access was restricted.
Zeke looked up the author of the experimental log and scrolled through the list of their works. An enormous list of data and logs unfolded before him.
Zeke's jaw dropped. He looked at the author's name.
"Victor Nirvana..."
The unfortunate genius Necromancer.
It was Richmonde's real name.