The Wizard Guild.
Represented by all the Magic Towers within Eria. Yet not every Wizard was a member of the Wizard Towers.
Nonetheless, most of the Wizards within Eria, decided to register themselves with the Wizard Guild.
This was because the Wizard Guild had more perks than downsides in joining. The Guild was less of an organization, and acted more like a large scale research group of sorts. Hence, why many Wizards also went to their respective Wizard Towers to find like-minded individuals to help them in their own research.
Amongst them, there were certain groups of Wizards that decided to specialize in combat, rather than research. A good example of this was the Magic Corps. However, these wizards were also avid researchers in their own right. They simply acted on behalf of the Wizard’s Guild to help take down rogues or cooperate with other forces.
They were Wizards from all over, that were inside of the Wizard’s Guild, designed to take care of the rotten roots of Wizards who had turned or monsters that had become frighteningly destructive.
It was the Northern City of Edor. Like Travia, it was located in the North of Eria. However, it wasn’t as far up North as the freezing and lawless city of Travia. Though, it couldn’t be discounted as a cold place, as it still did face the northern winds regularly.
In Edor, The Magic Corps had been ordered to assemble for their next mission. They even had the direct support of multiple Tower Masters in person for this endeavor.
It was to kill a Wizard who had chosen to walk down the wrong path with magic.
“Kim Jonghyun.”
Lloyd, the Gold Tower Master, opened his mouth. He gazed at the wizards sitting in front of him with indifferent eyes.
There were a total of four wizards sitting in front of Lloyd.
“The fact that he, the former Master of the Black Tower, committed a taboo…… that’s no surprise if you look at history.”
“It’s pretty much a tradition for that Tower at this point.”
A grizzled man with a scraggly beard, grinned. It was the Green Tower Master.
“I don’t understand why though. Wasn’t he last tasked with taking out the Lich Frescan? Why would he of all people do this though?”
“Let’s not talk about it.”
Lloyd showed signs of discomfort around the topic of Frescan. Lloyd had been chasing after Frescan for a very long time, and yet each time, Frescan had somehow escaped his grasp.
A few years ago, he discovered Frescan’s dungeon and attacked it with the intention of killing him then and there, but his attack had failed.
“I’m not blaming you. However, it is not unusual for Dark Wizards, the Tower Master included, to commit a taboo. As long as their soul is in a contract with a Devil, their soul will slowly but surely become corrupted, forcing them to make questionable decisions.”
“Kim Jonghyun’s situation though…. Is much worse than we anticipated. He’s much more dangerous than Frescan.”
Lloyd sighed and said.
“Kim Jonghyun has the Grimoire.”
“So that’s why we’re here….Hahahah!”
The Green Tower Master smiled, revealing his yellow and degraded teeth. The Black Tower was different from the other towers in many ways.
All of the Wizards within the Tower were Dark Wizards, and they were known to not interact with the other towers.
This did not mean they were lacking in resources compared to any other Magic Tower, or ignored by the Wizard Guild. If anything, they had the most surveillance checks compared to any other Tower, due to the nature of the magic they practiced.
“Kim Jonghyun has the Grimoire…… Are you sure?”
It was the White Tower Master who asked the question.
“I’m sure.”
Lloyd nodded his head. The Grimoire. It was the book that every Dark Wizard dreamed and longed to get their hands on.
“How did the Grimoire land in Kim Jonghyun’s hands? I’m sure the owner was Arbeth…….”
“I don’t suppose Arbeth would have given Kim Jonghyun the Grimoire.”
The Green Tower Master murmured as he caressed his beard.
“But it’s clearly written within the corresponding twin, the Weiss. The Grimoire’s ownership has been transferred over to Kim Jonghyun.”
The Grimoire was originally owned by the Wizard Guild. The Weiss was a book that was the twin to the Grimoire, and the Wizard’s Guild had long been working on interpreting the two books’ large storage of Magical knowledge.
The two books : The Weiss, and the Grimoire. Neither should be individually owned by a single person or Wizard for that matter, and were the property of the entire Wizard Guild.
In the past, the Wizard Guild had been bitten in the back by Arbeth, who had stolen the Grimoire as he escaped after becoming a Lich.
During Arbeth’s escape, the Grimoire’s twin book had a sudden change. On the first page of the Weiss where nothing was written. The name ‘Arbeth’ suddenly had been engraved.
“Arbeth was an Arch Lich, with several hundred years worth of knowledge but. Not even he could pull off the grand spells of evil magic that are stored in the Grimoire.”
“It’s highly likely that Kim Jonghyun shouldn’t be competent in using the Grimoire’s frightening and sinister magic.”
Lloyd murmured.
“But that’s not what matters here. What matters is that Kim Jonghyun, the Black Tower Master, has the Grimoire in his possession,.”
Like all the wizards of the Black Tower, Kim Jonghyun was being watched and had regular surveillance check-ups with the Wizard Guild.
The location-tracking magic engraved on Kim Jonghyun’s mana clearly conveyed Kim Jonghyun’s location.
Currently, Kim Jonghyun was being tracked down by the Wizard Guild, but in the past he was not the type of person that caused trouble within the Wizard Guild. Even for a Dark Wizard he was punctual, honest and open with his research.
However, the Wizard Guild did not completely trust Kim Jonghyun despite all of that.
The track record of those who had preceded his position was noticeably poor. Arbeth had stolen the Grimoire and became one of the 5 Black Stars of Predator. Frescan, the next in line, turned himself into a Lich and conducted experiments unethical in their very nature with living human beings.
It was a justifiable lack of trust for anybody who would succeed the position.
“The tracking magic for some reason still works. It might be a trap.”
Kim Jonghyun also knew that he was being tracked.
He was no fool, and knew that if he came into possession of the Grimoire, his name would be engraved into the Weiss. If he had the skill to get the Grimoire into his own two hands, it was unlikely that he couldn’t dispel a mana tracking magic spell.
Yet, his tracking spell that was placed on his mana signature had not been dispelled. It was almost as if he was trying to invite them with open arms, shamelessly.
“The Magic Corps will be arriving in full soon.”
It was the wizard who had been silent until now. He was the Wizard belonging to the Magic Corps, serving as the representative of the Magic Corps until the Magic Corps arrived.
“I think it’s a good opportunity. When Arbeth stole Grimoire, there was no Wizard more knowledgeable or stronger than Arbeth, but…… that’s not the case anymore, am I right? If the rest of the magic corps arrive, we will be able to kill Kim Jonghyun and take Grimoire away with complete ease.”
“But have you thought that maybe Arbeth is with Kim Jonghyun? And that they might even be acting together?”
“It was a long time ago when Arbeth was titled a Grand Wizard. Hundreds of years have passed since then, and the level of Wizards within the Guild has risen dramatically.”
‘You’re still too young to even talk about what a frightening presence a Grand Wizard is.’
The Green Tower Master and Lloyd, the Gold Tower Master, shared the same thought as they watched the young and eager Wizard speaking with conviction and eagerness in his words.
It’s not nearly as easy as it sounded. No matter how strong the overall level of the Guild Wizards had improved, the title of a Grand Wizard was several leagues above an Arch-Mage in terms of both spell casting, and magical knowledge.
Of course, not a single one of the Wizards present knew that Kim Jonghyun had plundered Arbeth of all his mana and magical knowledge.
“I don’t want to risk my life for something this dangerous and skeptical.”
The Red Tower Master opened her mouth. Scarlett was crossing her legs over one another, speaking with an irritated expression.
“I didn’t even want to come here in the first place. I was only dragged along here since the Gold Tower Master happened to be nearby.”
Scarlett didn’t bother to voice her nasty complaints of having to be close to the Gold Wizard Tower and be automatically dragged into almost any affair the Gold Tower had, due to the two Towers’ history together. So naturally if the Magic Corps forced the Gold Tower to cooperate, the Red Tower was surely the next Tower to be nagged for their cooperation.
“You didn’t even bother to ask the other Tower Masters before dragging them here did you brat?”
Scarlett was rather more worried about her two friends who she had not seen in a long time. Baek Sogo and Lee Sungmin. What happened if her life was in danger here?
She had given them both bracelets that would break with a magic spell if one of the other owner’s lives were in danger. If she was to fight in earnest here, she would surprisingly much rather be with those two, who were surely becoming stronger by leaps and bounds. Especially the case for Lee Sungmin who had been notoriously knocking down opponents that even she wasn’t sure if she could best.
Scarlett was worried. If her bracelet snapped and her life was in danger, would they come in time? Would she ever be able to meet them again?
“I can’t believe you’re so shameless! You’re the Red Tower Mast-!”
“Hey, you little shit. I’m sorry, but my life is more important to me than some stupid title of a Magic Tower Master. And since when were we colleagues? In the first place, it was all those old bastards’ ideas and yours moving for the idea of a profit. Why are you basically telling me to go off and die for the guild? Who are you to order me what to do with my life?”
Scarlett retorted with a snort. The young Wizard was speechless.
“Don’t say such rude things like that. It’s not like we forced you to act.”
“Just quit being a dick. I can tell you aren’t sorry at all.”
“……hmm. I’m not forcing you to risk your life. If it’s a dangerous situation…….”
“That’s enough. I’ll just move on my own. That bastard, Kim Jonghyun… why the hell did he have to create such a mess?”
Scarlett lowered her gaze back to the bracelet on her wrist, grumbling.
She had given these two copies of the bracelets to her two friends on the Mountain of Mush.
If Scarlett sent a signal, wherever they might be in the world, they would be able to locate Scarlett and come to help.
‘But the world is too big.’
Scarlett chewed her lower lip. She didn’t even know where Baek Sogo was, but she did know where Lee Sungmin was.
Hadras…… It was a long way from Edor. Even if he for some reason left at that very moment, it would take months to travel to Edor.
“Well.”
Lloyd’s eyebrows were twitching. He pressed down on his ear with his fingertips. Lloyd, who listened to the communication magic he was receiving through one of his ears, made a relieved expression.
“They’re sending men from the Murim Alliance as well, too. It appears that the Murong Family Main Branch is not far from here, so the warriors of the Murong Family and the independent martial artists, a part of the Murim Alliance will be coming here soon.”
“Kikiki! You want to catch a single Dark Wizard with 2 large forces of warriors, one from a Great Family, one from the Alliance, a couple of Arch Mages that are the Tower Masters of the Magic Towers, and an elite combat unit of wizards? With this much firepower I might as well go catch a dragon kikiki!”
The Green Tower Master cackled creepily.
It was a joke, but it was clear that there were a lot of troops for catching a single man. And regardless of how powerful a Dragon really was, this wouldn’t be short of the power estimated to hunt one down, he thought.
“You realize what he’s been called lately right? The Devil of the North.”
The White Tower Master murmured.
“That’s understandable why he’s called that. Do you know how many people he killed in just a single week? Seven large villages were wiped out by his hand alone.”
The Green Tower Master grinned.
“I don’t know if those deaths are related to Grimoire’s ancient magic, but even for Kim Jonghyun, whom I could never read his face… this is too aggressive.”
“In addition, this area is within the territory of the Vampire Queen… Geniella….”
Even the Green Tower Master who had been grinning had been forced to shut up at the sudden remark.
It was obvious the elephant in the room would clearly be brought up at one point. Geniella, the Vampire Queen, and one of the 5 Black Stars had the North marked as her territory. And… she was more than frightening, since whomever they were dealing with regarding Kim Jonghyun, would likely be either Arbeth’s level or just a bit under… But to have 3 opponents that were around the level of the Black Stars within ‘Predator’? It would be asking for hell.
“The Vampire Queen is in Travia.”, Scarlett interjected.
“I suppose so, but the whole North is actually within her influence. The fact that the Vampire Queen has been silent even though Kim Jonghyun committed a blatant massacre in the North…… There’s something going on between the two of them here.”
“Are you implying that Kim Jonghyun might have entered Predator?!”
“Maybe he became a Lich already, without us knowing.”
The possibility that Kim Jonghyun might have become a Lich.
That mere thought alone made all the Wizards gathered go deathly silent. Becoming a Lich would mean he wouldn’t die even if his shell was destroyed… but it wasn’t only that.
If he had become a Lich, then the requirements had been met. He could have joined Predator, and the people here would be facing monsters beyond their capabilities.
“……What should we do if the Vampire Queen intervenes?”
“Well, I already told you, I’ll flee in a heartbeat.”
Scarlett replied as if she had nothing to think about.
“The Vampire Queen Geniella is a monster that has lived for hundreds of years. And she’s got plenty of powerful vampires under her direct command. She has a force that could easily trample us in terms of military might under her command. I don’t want to die. Actually, I want to get out of this ridiculous manhunt right now.”
“The Vampire Queen won’t intervene.”
The White Tower Master opened his mouth with a pale face, clearly betraying his words with his facial expression.
“Even though they are grouped together as monsters under the name of Predator, they are extrinsic monsters. They do not have any loyalty to each other in that sense.”
“That doesn’t mean they’re hostile either though. Because it’s at least this clear… that she openly condoned a large massacre within her own territory by Kim Jonghyun.”
“It just doesn’t seem that this is enough then.”
Listening to the words of the White Tower Master, Lloyd pressed down on his temples in stress. After a little silence, Lloyd spoke up once more.
“You are connected to the Holy knights and Paladins of the Church right? If our opponents are undead, they can surely help.”
“What? That’s….”
“We can’t dismiss the possibility. And if it turns out to be true, I would rather be safe than sorry.”
“Okay…I’ll ask them for a favor.”
The White Tower Master nodded his head with an unsure look.
The troops were steadily increasing in number. Scarlett sighed and cupped her hands to support her chin as she pondered.
‘If you’re still down South there’s no way you’ll be able to help me.’
Scarlett knew of the rumors that had been circulating around recently. She knew that Baek Sogo had left the Murim Alliance and that Lee Sungmin had become the successor to the Sama Order.
In fact, Baek Sogo had been helped by Lee Sungmin in the past after Scarlett and Lee Sungmin separated after their trip to the Shaolin when she was stuck in a dungeon.
Also, Scarlett didn’t believe that Lee Sungmin killed Murong Seojin and Zhuge Taeryong. Something felt fishy ever since Baek Sogo of all people had left the Alliance, and Lee Sungmin, who was shy and beat up on himself a lot, would have killed others in cold blood without reason.
Even if there was a reason, it was most likely a good one. But things just didn’t bode well with her lately. And… as long as the Murong Family’s forces were here to support them, there was no way that if Lee Sungmin came to help save her, that they would get out of here unscathed.
I can’t help it.’
Scarlett sighed and disheveled her hair. Scarlett pretended not to know she had the bracelet on her wrist because she didn’t want to throw her friends into danger for her own safety.