[Protectable People: 35]
[Protectable People: 34]
[Protectable People: 33]
⋯⋯⋯⋯
Baekryeom Lady watched the screen, gnawing her nails anxiously. It felt as if an unseen hand was slowly choking the life out of her.
“The protectable count is dropping. Have you found Gordius’s hidden team?”
“Not yet, Lady! We’ve been digging around, but... no luck. I’m sorry!”
“No need to apologize. I know you’re doing your best. For now, come back to the mansion. Baekseol and Selvier will be here any minute.”
“But if we don’t find them... even if we defeat Baekseol and Selvier, we’ll still lose.”
Baekryeom Lady was painfully aware of this fact. Even without the Grand Maze ’s attack, they were at a disadvantage. Gordius’s team hid with a massive 39 members, an overwhelming presence by sheer number alone.
Yet, time was against them. Focusing on finding Gordius’s team without preparing for Baekseol’s assault was certain defeat. They were cornered. Baekryeom’s faction was sandwiched, facing threats on both sides.
The only slim chance of survival would be to negotiate with Baekseol and Selvier... but the odds weren’t good.
Despite the distance, Baekryeom Lady overheard the conversation between Gordius and Baekseol. Judging by her tone, Baekseol seemed unlikely to accept a truce.
Her thoughts spiraled.
“Then, how on earth should we...?”
“Please, Lady! I’ll be your shield!”
“We’ll crush the enemy! Victory will be yours, Lady!”
They spoke with conviction, but even they knew it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the overwhelming odds. Time was ticking down, and before they could make a decision, Baekseol arrived.
Baekryeom Lady led everyone down to the first floor, ready for battle. They each armed themselves, those with magic prepared for ranged attacks from the rear.
They also set up a large shield, their core defense, blocking the entrance so completely that not even a sliver of space remained.
Ice magic relies on projectiles; if they could absorb the brunt of the attacks upfront, they could buy as much time as possible. Or so they believed.
And they even had a stroke of luck.
Thud. Thud. Thud...
“That sound... the Grand Maze !”
“The crazy maze is coming!”
Though they didn’t know why, the Grand Maze was indeed approaching. If they could just hold out inside the mansion, they might be able to defeat both Baekseol and Selvier!
They raised their shields.
Then, as they heard a soft footstep, like snowflakes falling...
Swoooosh—
A chilling frost swept through.
An announcement blared from the second floor: “Crown owner detected. Countdown begins now, one hour remaining.”
As expected, Baekseol held the Crown .
“The mansion is already full. The Grand Maze is closing in behind you. Perhaps you should reconsider, maybe try something outside?”
Baekryeom Lady, tense, tried to intimidate Baekseol, who stretched and yawned casually, seemingly unbothered.
“Turtles... or should I say, tortoises. You’re welcome to surrender now.”
“‘Surrender’? That’s absurd! There are nine of us, carrying noble blood. We won’t flee without a fight!”
“The entrance is narrow! We’ve completely blocked it with shields! We’ll hold until death if we have to!”
“......”
No.
Baekseol offered surrender only when she had already arranged her victory. She had done the same with Gordius and, though Baekryeom Lady hadn’t witnessed it, with Bennet as well.
She had already done something.
A chill ran down Baekryeom Lady’s spine. It wasn’t just a feeling; an actual cold was creeping in, strangely enough, from behind.
Crunch!
A team member in the back screamed as frost began to encase their ankle.
“Cold air... is seeping in from the second-floor stairs!”
“But how?!”
“One of the windows on the second floor is open!”
Gordius had opened it when he left the ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) mansion.
The mansion was an indestructible structure; windows couldn’t be opened from the outside, a fact they had confirmed multiple times.
When Baekryeom’s faction occupied the mansion, they checked and locked every window. There should have been no way for cold air to seep in from the outside...
The rules hadn’t changed.
An exterior window had opened. From it, Baekseol’s frost seeped in, gradually sapping the warmth. The answer was simple: the second-floor window was opened from inside.
At the time, the first floor was already filled with Baekryeom Lady’s people. The only possible direction left was... above. The ceiling!
The image of the outdated ceiling decor and the old-fashioned chandelier crossed Baekryeom Lady’s mind. It clashed with the rest of the mansion, as if it had been added after the fact. She screamed.
“I understand now! I know where Gordius’s team is hiding!”
“You do?!”
“Not underground, but in the ceiling! Above the ceiling... on the third floor!”
But it was already too late.
If she had realized the oddity sooner, if she had confirmed that the second-floor window was open, they might have held out against Baekseol’s assault a bit longer.
They might have fought and eliminated Gordius’s faction before the Grand Maze arrived, or stalled just long enough.
But now, with everything delayed, Baekryeom Lady had only one option.
An all-out melee.
Baekseol and Selvier had no idea about the protectable count or that the Grand Maze swallowed people closest to the entrance first. Banking on that ignorance, she committed to the chaos.
“Everyone except the two guarding the entrance, head to the second floor! Break through the ceiling, and hold from within!”
“We’ll protect you with our lives, Lady!”
“How much good will that struggling do you? I’ll—”
Selvier stopped Baekseol with a raised hand.
“Selvier?”
“You’re planning to deplete your mana and then pass out again, right? Not this time. The Crown countdown has started, and I’m not waiting any longer. We’ll take them all out at once, then it’s just you and me, one-on-one.”
Fwoosh!
“ Ascension (羽化), Angel of Flame. ”
The temperature spiked, and Selvier’s entire body glowed as if she were made of living flames. Baekseol’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly—her highest expression of surprise.
“A fire mage’s ascension...?”
“When did you reach the ascendant level?!”
“ Angel of Flame , Phase One: Brilliant Blaze (輝瀲) .”
A condensed miniature sun shot from her palm. As it clashed with the shield, a deafening explosion resounded through the mansion.
BOOM!
Selvier’s ascension, though incredibly powerful, lacked endurance. In contrast, Baekseol’s ability to slow opponents was simple but steady. The two abilities complemented each other.
“Before that insane fire magic hits, I have to get close—ugh, my steps are too slow...!”
“Her aim isn’t as precise as you’d think! Just read the trajectory and—”
“Except there’s no dodging in this enclosed mansion while slowed!”
Bang, BOOM!
The setting worked in their favor, forcing the opponents to absorb the hit, be swept by the blast, and crash against walls or the floor. Selvier grinned, feeling the synergy with Baekseol.
Though it wasn’t the same level of synchronization as with the Mad Wizard, it felt like running a three-legged race in sync.
Baekseol also allowed a slight smile. They had finally reached the same level. She hadn’t expected it to happen this quickly, but she was pleased.
Together, the wizard pair held a clear advantage over Baekryeom’s knights. In the mansion’s confined space, the knights had nowhere to run; they took every hit.
But the mansion also slowed the fight down.
“If I unleash all my firepower, we’d get caught in it, too.”
“True. Wizards do better in open fields.”
“But we can sweep everything here. The Grand Maze is coming, but if we’re right, the mansion’s interior is safe.”
Using wide-area spells in close quarters increased the risk of friendly fire. They had to tone down their magic, inadvertently prolonging Baekryeom’s faction’s survival.
Fwoosh—
Another fireball came soaring.
“Everyone, deflect Selvier’s next attack toward the ceiling! Ready, one, two!”
“Clan secret, Crescent Slash!”
“Orion’s First Spear!”
Following Baekryeom Lady’s command, each knight used their ultimate move to knock the fireball’s trajectory upward. It shot toward the ceiling and exploded.
KABOOM!
With a simple crash, the ceiling shattered, revealing the 39 figures clinging to it.
“Ugh, that’s... grotesque. What... what are they...?”
Selvier gasped. Dozens of students were clinging to the domed ceiling, like flies on a wall, shouting out.
“We’re exposed! But stick to the Cicada strategy! Hold on!”
“The Grand Maze is coming; Gordius held out till the end! He did it!”
“Then we just have to last until the end, make Gordius’s sacrifice count!”
Selvier and Baekseol’s expressions turned to confusion. Why were they so determined to hold on? Was there something... something they didn’t know?
Was even the mansion not safe from the Grand Maze ? But it was too late to reconsider. They prepared their magic with maximum firepower.
“To hell with it... I’ll blast them all out of here! Angel of Flame , Phase Two— Flare Star (赫隣星) !”
“Right. We just have to eliminate everyone. Ice Gardener’s Landscaping. ”
The mansion split in half between blazing heat and a frost garden, with roses and swans made of ice growing from the ground.
Gordius’s team handled it simply.
“Going in first!”
“Next is me!”
Sacrifice.
“They’re throwing themselves directly into the source of the magic?!”
“They’re smothering it before it fully casts. Normally, it’d be a pointless self-destruct, but the tournament’s safety measures are dampening the spell’s power.”
Like moths to a flame, Gordius’s teammates threw themselves into the magic, bought a few seconds, and disintegrated. Baekryeom Lady clenched her fist at the sight.
Even without Gordius, his team believed in their purpose. They acted as though he was still with them. But what about her? Had she led her followers effectively, or was she somehow lacking?
Did she deserve to be their leader...?
While Baekryeom Lady’s resolve wavered, Selvier gathered her mana for a final strike.
“It’s only delaying the inevitable! I’ll end it all with Phase Three, Nova —ah?!”
Thunk.
A massive hand reached through the window on the second floor and grabbed her.
Startled, Selvier twisted to look beyond the window, where the Grand Maze pressed against the mansion’s entrance. Somehow, time was up.
“This... this was supposed to be a safe zone!”
Whoosh! With a dying scream, Selvier was sucked in.
Baekseol, sweating, watched the scene and quickly grasped the rules before breaking into a sprint.
She didn’t know how many people the Grand Maze would devour, but it was clear... it would start at the entrance!
“Block Baekseol!”
“Hold the line!”
“Move aside, tortoises...!”
The screen displayed only 17 protectable people left—a result of Gordius’s scattered unit’s relentless cabinet destruction. And there were still twenty clinging to the ceiling.
Once the Grand Maze swept through, only Gordius’s team would remain!
“Hahahaha! Gordius, I hope you’re watching! We won—!!”
A declaration of certain victory.
Baekseol, Baekryeom Lady, and her followers all sensed the outcome and ceased fighting. The Grand Maze was about to settle everything.
...
Or it would have.
“?”
“Why... why isn’t the Grand Maze moving? There are still plenty of people left.”
“The screen, it still says seventeen. I’m sure of it!”
The Grand Maze suddenly stopped.
The Mad Wizard, watching on a monitor, leapt from his chair. Had he made a coding error? Was there a bug?
As he debated turning on the PA system, a crackling noise echoed, and strange magical waves rippled from within the Grand Maze.
The screen, instead of displaying numbers, began transmitting the Grand Maze ’s interior—a kind of broadcast hijacking.
The wave reached the screens of visitors watching the tournament, and parents and nobles witnessed the spectacle.
“What... what are these tentacles?!”
Terrorists screaming as they were devoured by various monstrous tentacles—
“Hahaha! You’ve fallen into my hands! That wicked plan to disrupt the Academy, thwarted by none other than Namgoong Cheonghui!”
and a victorious Envers declaring victory.
At the height of the mansion battle...
The suspiciously knowledgeable rookie terrorist Heeyeonghyun, leading the group, guided the terrorists with uncanny familiarity.
Winning over the terrorists had been simple. After knocking out two of them to prove his strength, he convinced them with a heart-wrenching tale of hatred for the Academy.
Though Envers’s acting was terrible, his story sounded plausible enough.
“And so, only the name Heeyeonghyun remains... I have never once dreamt, not a single time...”
“What a tragic tale. You, too, must truly despise the Academy.”
Translating his grievances in Academy terms, he spun a convincing tale. The borrowed narrative sold well, with the terrorists accepting his lack of eloquence as part of his background.
And he’d even discovered their plan: the terrorist leader carried a crystal to record video, as well as an artifact to broadcast it everywhere.
Their goal was to kill students brutally, then broadcast it widely, tarnishing the Academy’s honor.
But meeting Envers sealed their fate.
On a quiet Academy road, Envers came to a halt.
“Do you know where this is?”
“...No. But there don’t seem to be any students here. Weren’t you supposed to guide us to a resting spot for disqualified students?”
“Hmm, I didn’t lie. Waiting here is... the fastest route. The dungeon for eliminated students will be here any moment now.”
Thud, thud, thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—!
The Grand Maze was on its way. This path lay along its route.
During the maze’s earlier attack following the Baekseol vs. Bennet fight, Envers had been there. Even while running for his life, he’d memorized its route.
Afterward, as he attempted to regroup with Gordius at the mansion, he crossed paths with a lone terrorist. Sensing the danger, he followed them and eventually slipped into their group.
Though he regretted missing the team tournament, he reasoned that exposing these malicious invaders was the right thing to do.
Surely, Gordius would understand.
“What the hell is that monster?!”
“You... you tricked us?!”
With the terrorists, blades drawn, glaring at him, Envers raised his hands and took a firm stance, reaching out mentally to grasp the sky.
“You shall not move an inch. Ascension, Sword of the Monarch! ”
“Gah...?!”
“What... what kind of ability is this?!”
Manifesting his insight, he projected his will across the battlefield. The air around them filled with the grim pressure of a perilous forest.
Crushed by the weight, none of the terrorists could move a step.
Thud thud thud thud thud—whish, clink clink!
“Argh!”
“I’ll kill you, Heeyeonghyun!”
The Grand Maze devoured them all.
Envers took the artifact from the terrorist leader and activated it, broadcasting the capture to the outside.
With the maze stuffed with an unexpected batch of non-participants, it had reached an internal error. Due to the tournament’s security setup, it registered the terrorists as students.
Having swallowed so many already, the maze left the mansion students alone and ceased functioning. Only Selvier and a few others were taken before it retreated.
“Hey, wait! Where are you going? You forgot Baekseol!”
“Is this Envers’s doing?! He’s ruined everything!”
“Get back here, Grand Maze ! We were about to win!”
Ignoring the frantic cries of Gordius’s team, the Grand Maze withdrew, leaving Baekseol, Baekryeom Lady, and her faction in the Mansion of Glory.
“......”
“......”
“ Ascension, Turtle Beats Rabbit. ”
Baekseol’s moves were as swift as ever, and in the end, everyone but Baekseol was eliminated.
Thus, Gordius’s near-perfect plan was shattered by none other than the wild card, Envers.
The Mad Wizard’s office buzzed with heated debates on tournament fairness.
Gordius’s team argued they’d have won without the gimmick’s interference, while Baekseol claimed she would’ve won regardless.
The Mad Wizard groaned, tugging at his hair.
“Aisha, should I apologize? How could I have foreseen terrorists would show up at this exact moment?”
“When a professor makes a mistake, they get scolded. The coding could’ve been better, too. And aren’t you a little rusty? Wasn’t academy sabotage a norm in your old world?”
“Fine, fine, it’s all my fault... a reward, then... maybe...”
While the Mad Wizard pondered, the tournament drew immense interest from involved parties. The action-packed visuals not only thrilled viewers but also offered an accurate assessment of the students’ capabilities.
Whereas one-on-one duels often left details to the sharp-eyed, the edited multi-angle footage allowed everyone to clearly see each student’s worth, leading to a surge in Academy sponsorship.
All in all, a partial success.