“Are we the only two? Where are the others…?”
After a brief spat, Claire regained her composure and looked around anxiously. The room was entirely black from floor to ceiling. Despite that, the room was strangely bright, and only Hio and Claire were there.
“If they haven’t come after this much waiting, it really is just the two of us. Why? Are you scared?”
“S-Scared? No way! I’m a member of the Royal Knights. The youngest Royal Knight at that!”
Claire puffed out her chest as if she weren’t scared at all. The Golden Lion Emblem engraved on her left side seemed to shine even brighter.
“By the way, how did you actually get into the Royal Knights?”
It was something he had wanted to ask from the beginning. The Royal Knights were said to be a collection of the strongest individuals in the Empire.
Of course, rumors tended to be exaggerated. In reality, rather than just being the strongest, Vitalianus had personally selected and founded the group with individuals who possessed great experience and immense potential.
The problem was that even that much was enough to call them the best martial force on the Continent.
Anyway, at Hio’s question, Claire couldn’t help but shrink back again.
“T-That is…”
How did she get in? She didn’t really know herself. She had simply met Vitalianus by chance and boldly told him she wanted to join the Royal Knights, and suddenly, she was one.
She had been poignantly feeling her own lack of experience and skill over the past few months. The countless expectations and praises she had accumulated at the Imperial Academy had long since crumbled.
However, she couldn’t just tell Hio all of that. She couldn’t say it was purely out of luck. How could she say she had risen so high by luck while others struggled from the very bottom? As she was hesitating, Hio nodded as if he understood first.
“Actually, Vitalianus has a good eye for talent.” Hio nodded his head. “Your talent was something both I and Sirbert praised highly.”
Perhaps it was because it had been a very long time since she received such a natural compliment with a bright smile. Was it because she had been thinking it was just luck when she heard those words? Or was it simply because Hio was the one who said them?
“Still, it couldn’t have been easy. You must have worked hard. That’s impressive.”
Really, why was her face turning so red and her heart thumping so recklessly at such trivial words? It was a familiar compliment she had heard several times a day during her days at the Imperial Academy.
She had never thought much of the flashy compliments filled with all sorts of flowery language or the shy or bold confessions of love she received. But what was this feeling that made her feel like she was flying at a single, plain compliment from Hio?
“I mean, well… this much… obviously I had to do it. Since Hio even sent me to the Imperial Academy and all.”
She fidgeted with her hair for no reason, tapped the ground with her toes, and stole a glance at Hio, only to find him still smiling at her.
“S-So! I’m not scared!”
For some reason, it was difficult to meet his eyes, so she raised her voice unnecessarily and walked past Hio toward the Gate.
‘Did he notice her red face? Would he hear her heart thumping so loudly?’
“L-Let’s go in quickly!”
She quickened her pace toward the black Gate.
“You shouldn’t rush like that.”
Hio grabbed Claire’s hand as she passed and stopped her.
“I’ll go first, so follow me slowly. Don’t let your guard down.”
As she was gently led back a step by his hand, Hio’s back filled Claire’s vision. Had Hio always been this tall? Why hadn’t she realized before that his back felt so cozy and dependable?
So, Claire moved slowly behind Hio as he led the way.
“I’m going in. You can follow well, right?”
She answered with a quiet nod to the voice asking affectionately.
“…….”
Behind that answer was not the tomboy Claire of Delphir Village, but a girl who had grown quite mature.
[Entry of Pioneer – ‘Hio Pavlenko’ has been confirmed.]
[The dungeon is being formed.]
On average, there are about twenty dungeons on the Floor of Breakthrough. As Hio entered the first dungeon and felt the unfamiliar air on his skin, he activated his skill.
[Skill – Thunder Emperor is activated.]
In the Floor of Breakthrough, battles often break out as soon as one enters a dungeon. It could be said to be a dungeon faithful to the concept of ‘Breakthrough’. Therefore, he activated Thunder Emperor, which was good for responding immediately to any situation, but…
[This is a space where skills cannot be activated.]
[You are in a state where skills cannot be activated.]
[Skill – Thunder Emperor is canceled.]
Confusion set in at the message he was seeing for the first time in his life.
‘A space and a state where skills could not be activated? Was there such a place? Even in the Abyssal Depths where he was suddenly dragged, skills could be activated. But for skill activation to be impossible in an instance dungeon…’
‘…For now.’
Now was not the time to think about that, but the time to prepare the next countermeasure. Even without skills, Hio had magic. So he quickly pulled up his Magic Power and applied force to his Circles.
Since it was a space where skills could not be activated, Summon Death God would also be impossible. If so, he had to use magic carefully as well. 5th Circle magic consumed a significant amount of Magic Power.
While he rotated his Circles and concentrated his mind to prepare, his vision gradually became clear. As he snapped his eyes open at the sudden bright light…
“This is…”
He immediately understood why he was in a state and space where skills could not be used.
– Uwaaaaaa!
– Get in! Get in!
Everything packed tightly in all directions was people. An endless procession of humans, to the point where he couldn’t even tell where it ended.
They were all heading toward one place. If there was anything strange, it was that all those people were pushing their way in while ignoring Hio.
It was as if they couldn’t perceive Hio’s existence itself. And the people surging in like that passed right through Hio.
Beyond just not perceiving Hio, the people passed through his body as if he had truly become a ghost. That feeling of not being affected by physical force was quite familiar.
“Spiritualization?”
The Spirit Body, one of Hio’s characteristics. It was a feeling similar to when he used that. However, it was distinctly different. Even if he transformed into a ghostly body, he wasn’t completely invisible to people’s eyes.
Even when he activated his Spirit Body and rode the Phantom Steed to move, people could clearly see Hio’s appearance. He had only borrowed a ghost’s body for a moment; he wasn’t a complete ghost.
But the people filling the surroundings now couldn’t perceive Hio at all, could they? It truly felt as if he had become a ghost.
“Kyaa! Oh, you startled me…”
Claire, who entered a step late, also looked at her body in horror as people ran through her.
“What is this…”
Even Hio, who already had the Spirit Body characteristic, found the sensation unfamiliar, so how much more so for Claire? She looked around her ghostly body, touched a person passing by, was amazed to see her hand go right through, then suddenly snapped back to reality and looked around.
– Get in! Push in!
– We must get in!
People were packed everywhere. They were all pushing blindly toward one place.
– Waaaaah!
– Aaaaah!
– D-Don’t push! It’s blocked!
The sound of children crying, the screams of people who had fallen, and desperate shouts were all mixed together, making it look like a battlefield.
“What is… happening?”
Before entering the Magyeong, they had received a sufficient explanation. They were told that once they entered the dungeon, monsters would attack relentlessly. However, this phenomenon was something Claire could not fathom at all.
“Hio?”
So, thinking Hio might know something, she looked at him and asked, but Hio’s gaze was fixed on one spot and did not move. Naturally, Claire’s gaze followed Hio’s. Then she saw a giant tower, the likes of which she had never seen before.
A single tower that was clearly visible even though it was incredibly far away. People gathered like a swarm of ants. A strange translucent veil blocking the people. And a city visible inside it. A tower rising high in the center of the city, piercing even the clouds.
“What is that…”
As she stared at its magnificent appearance in a daze, Hio’s voice was heard low in her ear.
“……Tetradia.”
This place was the ancient city of magic. They were in front of Tetradia.
“Let’s go in for now.”
“Okay.”
They moved toward Tetradia, which was covered by the high veil. He didn’t know if it was a ghost’s body or something, but since they could wander freely in the air, they were passing over people’s heads toward Tetradia.
– Open the door! Open this!
– Please… please open it!
The translucent veil thoroughly blocked the intrusion of the gathered people, and the Magicians standing beyond it could not meet the people’s eyes, staring at the sky or the ground instead.
“Those people… their clothes are similar to Hio’s?”
“They are Magicians.”
“Huh? Magicians?”
“Yes. The ancient Magicians who have now disappeared.”
“Then… are you saying we’ve come to the past?”
At Claire’s question, Hio shook his head.
“It’s probably not that. What we’re seeing is likely just a memory.”
Perhaps it was connected to the previous Space of Suffering. Abellar Pavlenko, who did not help with the migration of Basterion and watched the downfall of the foolish king and kingdom. It was his back story.
The only difference from then was that he had to watch as a thorough bystander, unable to move directly or change anything. It was actually better. He could focus entirely on the truth from a thousand years ago without worrying about anything else.
“So Claire, look closely.”
A secret history from a thousand years ago that no one remembers and no records remain.
“Look at what we are fighting against and what happened in the past, where even the records have vanished.”
The two passed over the heads of the shouting people, past the translucent veil and the Magicians lined up in front of it, and entered Tetradia.
The streets of Tetradia were both familiar and unfamiliar. Hio had always looked out at the streets from the hundreds of floors of the Wizard’s Tower but had never walked them directly.
It was not the current Tetradia, which was crawling with Abyssal Curse and mid-to-late-stage monsters, but the past city of Tetradia, which was clean and had many people coming and going.
“So… you’re saying the reason magic disappeared was not because of regression, but because of loss?”
“And this is the ancient city of magic from a thousand years ago?”
“Wow… the city is truly amazing.”
Hio walked those streets and told Claire various stories. Since there wasn’t enough time to tell everything, he kept it as brief as possible. He only conveyed the core points.
The magic city Tetradia unfolded before their eyes. Portals emitting bright light appeared in various places, and streetlights installed at regular intervals were connected like power lines through Magic Power channels.
A few airships floated slowly in the sky, and the Wizard’s Tower above everything else was so magnificent it was beyond words. She was seeing such a city in person.
Seeing such magical sights with her eyes and hearing an unbelievable story about the past with her ears, Claire naturally felt a mysterious sensation.
“Is the Wizard’s Tower usually that big?”
“Then, are you saying Hio is the last Magician?”
“Why was magic lost?”
“Are those Abyss things that strong? To the point where even Hio finds it hard?”
As the story continued, difficult questions poured out. Hio also still had many things he didn’t know about the city of Tetradia.
Perhaps this opportunity would allow him to get a glimpse into the secrets of the past. Thinking so, they arrived at the entrance of the Wizard’s Tower.
It was the first floor, the Lobby of Beginnings, which had never been permitted to Hio in the Wizard’s Tower of the current era.
‘Would they be able to enter there?’
“Let’s go in.”
“…….”
With the expectation that he could learn the secrets of Tetradia, he entered the Tower of Mages.
Simultaneously, his vision went black. It was a feeling as if all senses as well as vision were blocked. It was the same feeling as when the scene changed in the Space of Suffering, and when that slowly faded and all senses, including vision, returned…
– Look here.
In front of Hio and Claire, an elderly Magician and a middle-aged Magician were sitting across from each other. He didn’t know who the elderly Magician with thick white hair was, but he could immediately recognize the identity of the middle-aged Magician across from him.
It was because the green necklace hanging around his neck was very familiar.
– The Lord of the Magic Tower…!!
He was Abellar Pavlenko. He was the greatest Magician of his time and the head of the great Pavlenko Family. At the same time…
– Is that truly the best you can do!
He was the one who abandoned the foolish king and his people to death.