Chapter 113: The Abyss Within

It was no wonder.

The face was one Gaon recognized.

It was none other than Elgein, Vice Tower Master of the Tower of Fire.

Of course, the reason Gaon smiled wasn’t simply because his target, Elgein, had appeared.

‘An Abyss member, huh?’

Restrictions were embedded in Elgein’s head and heart.

He belonged to Abyss.

‘How much does he know?’

Originally, Gaon had planned to kill him immediately.

But upon discovering the Abyss connection, his mind changed.

What position would a 7th-Circle Archmage hold within Abyss?

It couldn’t be low.

It would be very high.

And he would know a great deal accordingly.

Just then, Elgein extended his staff.

Whoosh!

A dragon-shaped flame erupted from the tip and flew toward Gaon.

It carried heat intense enough to distort the surroundings.

But Gaon made no attempt to respond.

There was no need to block it, and not blocking seemed more helpful for the situation.

Soon, the flame dragon exploded against Gaon.

And evaporated, vanishing at the same moment.

Gaon hadn’t done anything.

It had failed to penetrate his resistance and disappeared on its own.

The smile faded from Elgein’s lips, just like the flame dragon.

A brief silence fell.

Literally brief.

“H-How…?”

Elgein muttered in a voice full of disbelief before casting magic again.

It was another flame dragon.

The difference was that it was much larger than before.

Naturally, with the increased size came greater power.

But once again, Gaon offered no response.

The flame dragon exploded and, as before, failed to breach his resistance, evaporating into nothing.

Elgein fell into a daze.

‘Th-This can’t be.’

He couldn’t believe it.

It wasn’t a full-powered attack, but it wasn’t light either.

The fact that it couldn’t penetrate resistance was immensely shocking.

Gaon assessed Elgein and the surrounding reactions before thinking.

‘This should be enough.’

It wasn’t just Elgein who was dazed.

Everyone around had fallen into the same state.

Of course—a 7th-Circle Archmage and Vice Tower Master of the Tower of Fire’s attack vanishing without breaching resistance.

Such reactions were perfectly natural.

To subdue Elgein, Gaon mobilized Pacheonki, first dominating and suppressing the space around him.

Then he cast Bind.

Upon casting, Pacheonki burrowed into Elgein’s body.

Elgein flinched.

He drew up mana to push it out.

But he ultimately failed, and Pacheonki took root throughout his body.

Thus suppressed externally and internally, Elgein completely lost control of his body.

All he could do was move his eyes, and with a gaze full of fear, he looked at Gaon and thought.

‘Damn it, it’s Gaon!’

He hadn’t realized at first.

He’d thought it was just some reckless fool.

But the moment the two spells were blocked, he knew.

That it was Gaon.

He’d known Gaon was reckless.

That’s why he’d been uneasy.

Wondering if Gaon might suddenly appear at the tower one day.

And now he really had?

Just then.

Step, step.

Gaon approached Elgein.

Elgein wanted to flee from the advancing figure.

Of course, that was only in his mind—with control lost, there was nothing he could do now.

Step!

Gaon stopped in front of Elgein, reached out, and grasped his shoulder.

Then injected Pacheonki.

The reason was obvious: to remove the restrictions.

Two streams of Pacheonki reached the brain and heart in an instant and dismantled them.

Crackle!

Having dismantled the restrictions, Gaon cast Shock to knock Elgein unconscious.

He wanted to interrogate him right away if possible.

But this wasn’t the situation for it.

Brush.

Gaon turned his head to look at the central magic tower entrance.

Numerous additional mages had appeared.

Leading them was a mage with a stern face.

It was a face Gaon knew.

Not in person, but from a portrait.

It was Tower Master Sinabro.

‘The portrait looks better.’

As Gaon compared the real thing to the portrait.

“Gaon! What is the meaning of this!”

Sinabro shouted.

“……!”

Gaon’s eyes flashed at the outburst.

‘He knows me?’

This was their first meeting.

Yet how had he recognized him? Gaon was curious.

‘Has my portrait already spread?’

Gaon hadn’t hidden his face.

Quite a few knew his current appearance.

And Gaon had recognized Sinabro from a portrait.

Perhaps Sinabro had done the same?

‘Or like Sterun?’

Sterun had been Abyss.

And without restrictions.

Could Sinabro be an unrestricted Abyss member?

The reason for Gaon’s suspicion wasn’t just the recognition.

About thirty percent of the mages who appeared with him were Abyss.

‘Hmm, I can’t kill him right away.’

Originally, he planned to kill him immediately.

But like Elgein, interrogation seemed necessary.

Having decided, Gaon cast magic at once.

Whoosh!

A magic circle appeared at Sinabro’s feet.

Extreme cold surged upward.

Sinabro hastily erected a barrier.

A bright red one filled with heat.

The cold exploded against it, freezing the barrier solid.

Then it shattered into pieces.

In the meantime, Gaon mobilized Pacheonki to dominate the space and crushed the mages who had appeared with Sinabro.

As befitted a 7th-Circle Archmage, Sinabro only staggered—he didn’t collapse.

Literally, only Sinabro avoided falling.

The rest, like the earlier Security Force, collapsed face-down without exception.

Gaon cast Bind on Sinabro as he had with Elgein.

Thus, Sinabro lost complete bodily control like Elgein, and Gaon approached him.

“Shock.”

Crackle!

Sinabro fainted just like Elgein, and Gaon surveyed the surroundings.

Everyone was staring at him.

Those whose eyes met his averted their gaze as if by agreement, bowing their heads.

Gaon smiled and spoke.

“You’ve all seen clearly what happens when you touch Gardion. I hope you don’t do anything foolish.”

Naturally, no one responded to Gaon’s words.

He hadn’t spoken expecting answers anyway, so he paid it no mind and turned away.

Then waved his hand.

Crack! Crack!

Ice spikes erupted from the ground, piercing the prone Abyss-affiliated mages.

All those pierced met death.

Whoosh!

And burst into flames on their own.

Watching the burning corpses, Gaon waved his hand again.

The unconscious Sinabro and Elgein floated up.

Gaon entered the central magic tower with the two, thinking.

‘They’ll show up during interrogation.’

He had only captured the two most important ones.

Many more needed handling.

They would appear as he interrogated these two.

‘I hope they come all at once.’

Gaon wished they wouldn’t come separately but together, heading to the top floor of the central magic tower.

Many people remained inside.

But naturally, no one blocked his path, and Gaon soon reached the top floor.

Upon arrival, he first woke Sinabro.

“……!”

Sinabro flinched at the sight of Gaon.

Then, moments later, shouted.

“Wh-What are you doing! What is this!”

The Sinabro who had boldly used informal speech earlier now spoke politely, as if it had never happened.

Gaon asked him.

“First, one question. Are you Abyss?”

“Abyss?”

Sinabro frowned and retorted.

Then shouted.

“Don’t lump me in with those bastards!”

Gaon was slightly surprised at the outburst.

‘He knows about Abyss?’

Most knew of its existence but not the exact ‘name.’

Yet he denied being Abyss while knowing the precise name?

“How do you know about Abyss?”

“What?”

Alter Tower Vice Tower Master Pianus retorted with a flustered face.

“The central magic tower is under attack?”

He couldn’t help but question it.

The central magic tower—at the heart of the Tower of Fire—was being attacked?

That wasn’t all.

Honestly, there was a report even harder to believe than the attack.

“Sinabro and Elgein have been subdued?”

That Tower Master Sinabro and Vice Tower Master Elgein were overpowered.

“Yes.”

Bailey answered with an awkward expression.

And continued.

“Elgein’s magic didn’t work at all. It was blocked like by resistance.”

Pianus had nothing to say.

Sinabro and Elgein being subdued was unbelievable but possible.

Not impossible.

But a 7th-Circle Archmage’s magic blocked by resistance?

That was impossible.

Even an 8th-Circle mage couldn’t block a 7th-Circle spell with resistance alone.

9th-Circle might, but.

9th-Circle was absurd.

‘…It can’t be resistance. He must have misseen.’

Collecting himself, Pianus replied.

Then asked.

“Have they identified who?”

“They said it’s from Gardion Tower.”

“Gardion…”

Until decades ago, Gardion Tower had been the supreme, strongest magic tower, but its prestige had plummeted due to the war with the demon world.

Conversely, some towers had risen sharply, and the Tower of Fire—one of them—was at war with Gardion.

In other words, Gardion attacking the Tower of Fire wasn’t strange.

“But who from Gardion?”

“Sinabro called him Gaon.”

“Gaon?”

Pianus tilted his head.

For some reason, the name felt extremely familiar.

‘…Gardion Tower’s Gaon…?!’

Soon, Pianus’s face showed shock.

There was only one Gaon in Gardion Tower.

The founder and first Tower Master, Gaon Varta.

‘…Wasn’t he dead?’

Gaon had vanished decades ago.

Many assumed he was dead.

Yet that Gaon had appeared?

Unbelievable, but considering the situation, the probability was very high.

After all, decades ago, Gaon had been an 8th-Circle mage.

Time didn’t necessarily lead to higher realms, but if he’d grown stronger?

No, even maintaining his strength would explain the current events.

Pianus shot up from his seat.

“I need to go there right now.”

The Alter Tower had neither friendship nor enmity with Gardion.

That’s why he needed to meet him even more.

He still couldn’t fully believe it, but from the situation, the Tower of Fire was as good as finished.

Conversely, Gardion Tower would reclaim its past glory and soar.

In other words, building ties with Gardion would only get harder over time, and for the future, he needed to establish friendship as soon as possible.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason Pianus wanted to meet Gaon.

‘If it’s Gaon, that array too…!’

There was a more important reason than friendship.

Creak.

Emerging outside, Pianus headed straight for the central magic tower.

Step.

But not long after, he had to stop.

Because of a ‘group’ that appeared ahead.

It consisted of Vice Tower Master Hailey from the Tower of Wind and high-ranking mages from the Tower of Fire.