A sealed room surrounded by the walls of the cave.
On the ceiling, a [Light Magic] spell floated gently in place of a lamp.
In the center sat an old wizard, Shulzen.
He shuffled to a corner of the room with a sluggish gait.
Then he grabbed a sack placed in the corner and flipped it upside down.
Chrrrrrrr!
Mana Stones poured out like sand.
And there was something that lit up its eyes ominously at the sight.
A sphere with grotesquely jumbled eyes, nose, and mouth.
It was the Gate Core of the Sabros Dimension.
Tadadadak!
The creature flailed its short limbs and rushed madly forward.
Crunch, gulp!
Its eye, located on its crown, blinked, while it exhaled through holes on its shoulder blades.
The Gate Core licked its tongue and devoured the Mana Stones scattered on the ground greedily.
Shulzen turned his head away in disgust.
Then, as if talking to himself, he muttered toward the heavens.
“…Costas, a Necromancer is going to show up.”
In truth, it wasn’t a simple monologue.
It was a warning directed at Costas, the commander of the Sabros Dimension, who had invaded Earth.
Sasak.
Seureureuk.
The response echoed back, brushing along the walls of the long cave.
– A Necromancer, you say?
“Yes, I’m certain. I saw a wraith.”
– That can’t be. I haven’t heard any news about a Necromancer participating in the regional bid in Korea.
“Costas, are you saying I’m mistaken? Do you know who I am?”
– I do, Shulzen. You were a wizard of the Arcane. That much I know. Though, it was a long time ago.
Grit.
Wizard Shulzen ground his teeth.
The phrase ‘a long time ago’ had struck a nerve.
He added,
“He’s not one of those who came through the bid competition. He must’ve entered during the early days of the Free Frontier. At best, he’s probably around the 8th Order.”
– Is that so? Then he’s not that formidable. But…
Shulzen and Costas envisioned the same image.
The Necromancer, steadily encroaching on Sabros’ territory, picking off minions one by one and incorporating them into his army of skeletons.
Shulzen warned,
“Fine. Whether it’s Wyverns or lizards, clear out the underlings in advance. Unless you want to see them rattling around as skeletons.”
– Understood. It might be better to gather them in an open field. As long as we avoid being picked off one by one, there won’t be an issue… But are you sure you’ll be okay?
At the worried tone, Shulzen let out a soft chuckle.
“I’m Shulzen. A low-grade Necromancer who drifts through the Free Frontier is nothing to me…”
– I wasn’t talking about you. I meant the Gate Core. I don’t care what happens to your life. Just make sure the Gate Core is protected. That’s our deal.
“You damn sly bastard, even when you speak…”
It was then.
Whooosh!
A spirit entity entered the sealed room.
From it, Shulzen could sense the same dark energy he’d felt earlier from the wraiths.
“See? I told you so!”
But this time, it wasn’t just a mere wraith.
His body froze momentarily.
The entity, now fully manifested into a skeleton knight, revealed itself.
It was none other than Mordred, a knight of Camelot.
A tension, cold and heavy, settled in the room.
Shulzen concealed the Gate Core behind him and faced the Necromancer’s soldier.
Clang!
Mordred’s assault continued.
Through the eyes of five remaining wraiths, I was observing the battle taking place in the sealed room deep within the cave.
An old man with gray hair and a long beard.
He was far more skilled than he appeared.
Ta-at!
Moving swiftly, he leaned his back against a bookshelf filled with tightly packed scrolls.
Then, skillfully, he pulled out a scroll and tore it, countering Mordred’s attack.
“Grease!”
Slip!
Mordred, who had been swinging his sword, slipped on the floor and fell.
Without missing a beat, the wizard tore the next scroll.
“Magic Missile!”
Pew!
A brilliant white light shot toward Mordred in the blink of an eye, but,
Whoosh!
It passed right through Mordred, who had reverted to a ghostly state using [Etherealization].
The wizard quickly chanted “Exorcise” and attacked Mordred, now in his spectral form. However, this time, Mordred canceled his [Etherealization] and countered with a sword strike.
Clang!
The wizard shielded himself and the Gate Core with a .
Then he bellowed at the top of his lungs:
“Costas! Now!”
That’s when it happened.
BOOOOM!
CRAAAASH!
One of the cave walls collapsed in an instant.
A massive tail suddenly burst through, obliterating one side of the cave.
RUMBLE…
Their secret room was finally exposed to the surface.
That much went according to plan.
However,
[The Knight of Camelot, Mordred, has been destroyed.]
[Mordred returns to being a Wraith of Camelot.]
Mordred, caught in the attack, had been obliterated.
Rolling across the ground were an Enhancement Stone and a large Mana Stone.
The wizard approached them slowly, sneaking the Enhancement Stone into his pocket.
Then, with a flick, he tossed the two large Mana Stones behind him.
Swoosh!
The Gate Core, which had been wriggling restlessly, gulped down the Mana Stones left behind by Mordred’s destruction.
Whooosh.
The wizard glanced at the lingering wraiths around him and gave a sly smirk.
It was a message directed at me.
“Hoho. Have you come to your senses yet, Necromancer? What will you do now? This must have been worth quite a lot to you. Why don’t you just show yourself? If you come within 10 seconds, I’ll even return the Enhancement Stone.”
He mocked me.
I was already heading toward him.
But even with the helicopter I was on, there was no way I could reach him within 10 seconds.
Just then, a cold, sinister voice echoed through the cave, accompanied by a sharp, hissing sound.
– Now that the path is clear, take the Gate Core and leave immediately, Shulzen.
“What? Why the sudden rush? I told you, that damn Necromancer is no match for me…?”
– It’s not just the Necromancer who’s coming this way. The victor of the war, Seoul’s representative, is heading here as well. They’ll definitely aim for the Gate Core.
“Hey, Costas. You lot can’t even handle your own affairs properly, and now you’re ordering me around? You deal with it yourself. I’m not going anywhere without this bookshelf.”
– Shulzen!
“You’re the ones who planted me here in the first place! Don’t try to change your tune now.”
As the wizard finished his rant, the enormous tail that had been writhing through the cave emerged once again.
Shhhhhhh!
Its body stretched out, long and massive.
It was a colossal serpent, its entire body covered in glistening scales.
The creature’s size was so immense that its body nearly filled the entire cave passage.
Even through the eyes of the wraiths, I could only catch glimpses of its body, it was far too vast to take in all at once.
Hiss!
Somewhere in the cave, a spine-chilling sound of a tongue flicking echoed as the giant serpent, Costas, glared at the wizard.
– A half-baked wizard who’s useless without scrolls…
“You bastard… What did you just say?”
Ignoring the presence of the wraiths floating nearby, the two argued, their voices growing louder and louder.
And all of this farce was unfolding inside a cave formed by ‘Terraforming’.
In other words, they were directly beneath me.
The helicopter I was riding had just landed on top of the cave.
The Gate Core was right below.
No matter how thick the cave ceiling was, if I were to drop a payload of blessed steel or rain missiles down, the problem could likely be resolved in an instant.
But this wasn’t just their base of operations, it was also smack in the middle of downtown Incheon.
If I launched a large-scale attack, I could wipe them all out.
However, it would also risk endangering civilians like Min-woo’s mother, who might be hiding in their homes within the city.
And besides…
“…That’s way too tempting to just destroy, isn’t it?”
The bookshelf the old wizard was guarding so jealously.
It was filled with countless magic scrolls, each packed tightly into place.
Unfortunately, I had already used up all the available storage slots granted at Level 4.
However, there was one method left to store that bookshelf.
PAX displayed an information window for me.
Ding!
—
◈ Category Item Registration (2)
– Allows the creation of a new category to be included in the Fulfillment Center. (Maximum 2 uses)
(Note: Creating a category consumes resources.)
—
This was an advanced version of the existing .
The ability to store objects belonging to categories like ‘logistics center’ or ‘military base’ that were already in the subspace.
Here, it went one step further and could create entirely new categories.
In other words…
‘I can store anything, as long as I come up with a fitting name.’
Of course, it wasn’t free.
Creating a new category required resources, and so did storing items within that category.
Moreover, this wasn’t an unlocked ability yet.
“PAX, unlock it.”
[Understood.]
[1,000 Mana Stones have been deducted as the cost to unlock the ability.]
[Remaining Mana Stones: 10,757.]
Now, the key was coming up with a fitting name for the newly created category.
And fortunately for me,
I had overheard every word of the enemy’s conversation through the wraiths.
“Create a new category called ‘Magic Scrolls’.”
[Creating a category will consume 5,000 Mana Stones.]
[Proceed with category creation?]
5,000.
The cost was shockingly high, but I didn’t hesitate.
“That’s absurdly expensive. Fine, go ahead.”
[Understood.]
[5,000 Mana Stones have been deducted.]
[Category creation in progress…]
[Remaining Mana Stones: 5,757.]
A flurry of expenses followed, one after the other.
But it wasn’t over yet.
I still had to absorb all the magic scrolls from that bookshelf.
I made my request to PAX.
“Take all the scrolls on that bookshelf and store them in under the ‘Magic Scrolls’ category. But don’t store duplicates, just one of each type.”
[Items classified under the ‘Magic Scrolls’ category.]
[Calculating storage cost…]
Ding!
[The total cost for registration is 3,914 Mana Stones.]
“Alright, proceed.”
[Cost deducted.]
[Remaining Mana Stones: 1,843.]
And so…
[Proceeding with registration…]
[Acquired 1st Circle Magic Scroll, ‘Magic Missile.’]
[Acquired 1st Circle Magic Scroll, ‘Light.’]
[Acquired 1st Circle Magic Scroll, ‘Ice.’]
…
[Acquired 2nd Circle Magic Scroll, ‘Fireball.’]
[Acquired 2nd Circle Magic Scroll, ‘Ice Spear.’]
Magic began pouring into my Subspace.
Shulzen, who had been leaning against the bookshelf, suddenly paused.
His hand, which had been fumbling over the magic scrolls, stopped as a strange sense of unease crept over him.
Whip!
He spun around.
“…What…?”
It was the bookshelf he had relied on as though it were an extension of his own body.
At a glance, there didn’t seem to be any noticeable difference. Yet, there was a peculiar feeling of emptiness.
It was as if dozens of scrolls had vanished without a trace.
“This is ridiculous… I need to pull myself together.”
He shook his head.
To think he was growing anxious over some lowly Necromancer.
Shulzen couldn’t help but feel the weight of age pressing down on him.
And that was when it happened.
Fweeeesh!
Fweeeesh!
Blinding flashes of light burst out in rapid succession.
Shulzen couldn’t help but gasp in shock.
“…Magic?”
Even though he had been exiled, he was still a wizard of the Arcane.
There was no way he wouldn’t recognize Magic Missile, a basic 1st Circle spell.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Dozens of Magic Missiles struck the massive body of Costas.
Witnessing this, Shulzen shouted in a panic.
“Costas! It’s not a Necromancer! …It’s a Wizard, a Wizard!”
But that wasn’t the only problem.
“Just how many of these are there…?”
Fweeeesh!
Fweeeesh!
Even though it was only a 1st Circle spell, the issue wasn’t its power.
It wasn’t double or even triple.
There were dozens of Magic Missiles, far too many to be normal.
Even the Archmages of Arcane couldn’t fire this many Magic Missiles at once.
“Could it be… dozens of them?”
But that couldn’t be the case.
There was no way dozens of Arcane mages would flock to a lower dimension like this.
Meanwhile, Costas remained silent.
Even after Shulzen frantically reported the intruding wizard, there was no response.
Growing increasingly anxious, Shulzen raised his voice again.
“Costas! Are you listening? I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s a wizard…”
But,
– Shulzen.
What came back was a tone Shulzen had never heard before, one that sent a shiver down his spine.
Rumble.
Costas’s low voice pressed down on the cave like a tightening noose.
– Were you so desperate for the Gate Core?
“…What?”
Only then did Shulzen realize something was seriously wrong.
As Costas’s words hit uncomfortably close to home.
– Who else but you, a half-rate wizard, would dare meddle in a lower dimension like this?
Hssssss…
The spot where dozens of Magic Missiles had struck.
Costas’s charred flesh emitted smoke as it smoldered.
“Costas, wait a minute…”
– We’ve provided you with prisoners just as you asked. We turned a blind eye to your revolting experiments, grinding those prisoners alive. Unlike the noble Arcane dimension, we have shown you mercy.
Whoooosh…
For a moment, the cave was plunged into silence.
But soon, Costas’s enraged roar shattered the stillness.
– And yet you dare betray Sabros? The Sabros that accepted a worthless exile like you?
“What kind of bullshit is this, you snake-headed bastard!”
Ssssshhh!
The coiled body of Costas, which had been tangled throughout the cave, began to move rapidly.
And finally…
Costas’s massive head appeared right before Shulzen.
– Your attack was well received. The ambush wasn’t bad, but… the power was pathetic.
Hissss!
Costas’s thin tongue flicked menacingly, dancing like a whip.
“…Damn it.”
There was no reasoning with this creature.
Abandoning persuasion, Shulzen quietly reached his hand behind him.
Toward the bookshelf where his weapons, the magic scrolls, were kept.
But then…
‘…What?’
No matter how much he groped for them, he couldn’t grab hold of a single scroll.
In fact,
“…What’s happening?”
Swish!
The few scrolls he had tucked inside his robe suddenly shot into the air.
Then,
Zoom!
Like phantoms, they were sucked through the cracks in the cave ceiling where light seeped through.
“No… no!”
These were magic scrolls meticulously inscribed with painstaking care.
The dozens of ink bottles and pens scattered on his desk spoke volumes about his efforts.
Ever since the Arcane dimension shattered his Mana Heart, those scrolls had been his only magic, the embodiment of years of toil and memories.
But now,
They were vanishing.
Years of his life soaring into the sky.
Everything was being stolen, ripped away by a sudden, gravitational force that struck like a bolt out of the blue.
“……”
And yet, he didn’t even have the time to cry out in despair.
Shhhrrrreeeeeek!
The massive jaws of the giant serpent loomed over him.
Shulzen tried to say something, anything, but…
CHOMP!
Costas devoured everything in the sealed room in one bite.
Shulzen, his bookshelf, his desk, the ink bottles, the magic paper, every single item, down to the smallest detail.
Even the Gate Core, still chuckling darkly, was swallowed whole.
– Farewell, half-rate wizard.
Costas’s motives were simple.
One was to eliminate the traitor, Shulzen.
The other was to protect the Gate Core from the approaching enemies.
Holding the Gate Core in his mouth, Costas violently shoved the rest of the contents down his throat.
The old wizard and the pile of junk slid down, writhing as they were swallowed whole.
And then,
Crunch!
Costas clenched his throat muscles, snapping Shulzen’s body in his mouth.
The brief scream that escaped Shulzen was abruptly cut off as his body began to dissolve slowly in Costas’s stomach acids.
The bitter stench of the old, greedy, and cruel Arcane wizard permeated Costas’s senses, utterly souring his mood.
Sssshhhrrr!
Costas moved swiftly, his motions sharp and purposeful.
He made a solemn vow to himself:
– Even if I lose all my forces, no—, even if it costs me my life, I will protect the Gate Core.
Because that was the only way to protect Sabros from catastrophic loss.
But then,
BOOM!
BOOOOM!
– !!??
A sudden, searing impact jolted Costas, leaving him momentarily disoriented.
And that’s when he realized,
The attack was none other than Shulzen’s Magic Missiles.
But Shulzen was already dead.
That sharp, cunning realization sent a chill through Costas, leaving him utterly shaken.”
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