The Disappearance of the Obsidian Tower Master Lyune*

Magic is commonplace within the Floating City, and the Magic Towers and Tower Masters are intimately connected with the Floating City’s nobility. This can lead visitors to the city to an easy forgetfulness.

That magic is not so widespread in the lower realms, and Tower Masters are not entities to be taken lightly.

Obsidian Tower Master Lyune was a magician of small stature and doubtful visage. She concealed her body within thick robes and wore her conical hat drawn deep over her brow, evoking a witch more than a wizard, but the magic she wielded was entirely different.

A black sphere appeared. Light, heat, wind. A small, black orb that devoured all energy spun about her, as if a guardian for the Obsidian Tower Master. After a moment, one of the orbs shimmered and fired off a red-hot beam.

“Tch!”

Sensing the danger, Shay tilted Zhizan at an angle. The heat ray struck the ebon blade of Zhizan, scattering into embers. The scattering sparks showed the tangible form of the energy being released.

The Obsidian Tower Master muttered toward Shay,

“…Cease your futile resistance… We both seek to avoid unpleasantness.”

“If you hadn’t come looking for me, there wouldn’t *be* any resistance!”

*Sigh.* Always fighting. Can’t he escape and live quietly like me?

It was just when I was inwardly chiding Shay for her artless approach, watching from afar.

“The black mage who escaped my prison, I hear he came with you… Naturally, I’d come to you for answers.”

Oh dear. Could it be that Shay was in trouble because of my little jailbreak?

Well, who told them to leave me behind and frolic in freedom? Consider it punishment for abandoning a comrade. Savor it, Shay.

Evading the heat rays, Shay retorted, sharp as a thorn.

“You were the ones who locked up Hughes! I didn’t help. You lost him yourselves, so why are you blaming me?! I don’t know where Hughes is either, I was trying to find him!”

At Shay’s outburst, the Black Tower Lord ceased his attack, lost in thought.

“Oh… is that so?”

In that moment, the voice of the Green Tower Lord echoed from a resonance crystal hanging near the Black Tower Lord’s shoulder.

[Isn’t it obvious? The black mage he came with escaped. Suspicion of aiding his escape is only natural. Just arrest her already.]

“Ha, but… if she resists with such intensity, capturing her alive will be difficult…”

[I’m on my way to assist. With you and me both, subduing her should be easy.]

“Huh? What’s gotten into you…?”

[What do you mean?]

“You, the headstrong and stubborn one, helping me with my work…? Are you on your deathbed, or is that black mage such a dangerous presence…?”

[The latter. I’ll explain when I arrive, just capture her for now!]

At that moment, Shay was soaring through the sky, fleeing for her life. The Black Tower Lord, gazing at her retreating figure, raised his brush-shaped staff and inscribed a black dot in the air before her, transcending space.

Unique Magia, Vanishing Point.

Unlike the White Tower, which manipulates light, the Black Tower manipulates color. Color is a property inherent to matter that absorbs and emits light. White and black, starting from the same source, ‘light,’ progressed in different directions.

The Black Tower is a school that explores the space in which light dwells, rather than light itself. It’s only because they chose black that they’re burdened with a negative image, but it’s white magic in name and substance. The mages of the Black Tower are so concerned about this perception that every week, they bring up the idea of changing their symbolic color during meetings. However, it always fizzles out due to opposition from traditionalists.

And the Black Tower’s strongest traditionalist inscribed a Vanishing Point before Shay.

“Ugh…!”

A Vanishing Point is an imaginary point drawn to express perspective. As you approach the Vanishing Point, the amplitude of the image should decrease.

The Black Tower Lord’s Unique Magia was similar.

Everything slows down. Sound, speed, energy. It all converges on the point the Black Tower Lord inscribed.

It’s not that things disappear, but rather that they’re trapped, forever unable to reach the Vanishing Point. The Vanishing Point, swallowing light to the point it can’t escape, looked like a black monster devouring everything.

Shay, mid-flight, abruptly changed direction. However, the Vanishing Point swallowed even the space of the Thousand Blossoms, causing her to spiral and fall like a butterfly with a lost wing.

The Black Tower Lord strolled leisurely along Shay’s trajectory, muttering to himself.

“…How did a black mage break through my Gravity Barrier? I created the barrier using an application of the Vanishing Point. I would like to ask if I met him.”

“Then…! Just ask Hughes directly!”

Spinning, falling, Shay channeled her rotation into Cheon-Aeng. Unleashing the whirlwind trapped within, she flung it towards the Black Tower Lord.

Thousand Swords Technique, Dragon Ascent.

A single strand of storm surged towards the Black Tower Lord. The closer it came, the sharper the Dragon Ascent became, resembling a keen spear. Then, in a fleeting instant, the storm, whittled down beyond sharpness,

was trapped within a vanishing point.

Seeing the storm disappear into the vanishing point before him, the Black Tower Lord spoke without a hint of surprise.

“A blade-shaped Rene’s Pocket…? A peculiar form. But your wind is useless… it’s a vibrational form. It will only become fodder for my vanishing point…”

And the storm, absorbed into the vanishing point, now bared its fangs at Shay, having become the Black Tower Lord’s power. Seeing Shay’s flustered expression, the Black Tower Lord mentioned Gizan.

“That, heavy sword, perhaps… “

Gizan could break the vanishing point. The overwhelming mass of Gizan’s form would not vanish.

But Shay, after a moment of calculation, bolted.

‘Gizan could shatter that Unique Magic…! Don’t be fooled! It’s a trap! There’s no way a mage would openly reveal a weakness!’

The mage’s true power had yet to be unleashed. The synergy between White Magic and Unique Magic was what made a mage a mage. When Shay noticed this and fled, the Black Tower Lord, who had laid the trap, lamented in disappointment.

“Good instincts…and full of life. Seeing things like that makes me a little envious…”

Despite the overwhelming difference in power, she didn’t give up, choosing to flee – it was tiresome. Still, the power gap was too great.

“That’s… a dead end.”

“Kyaa!”

A reverse wind engulfed Shay as she fled. She tried to counter with Cheon-Aeng, but the one-way wind would not permit opposing currents. Shay fell to the ground like a fly.

Gaining her senses, she looked up to see the Green Tower Lord, umbrella pointed at her. The Green Tower Lord, who had suppressed Shay with the one-way wind, spoke in a cracked voice.

“I was distracted by you and overlooked it. That Black Mage. What is his identity?”

It wouldn’t matter if I revealed he was a human king. Shay, with her rebellious spirit, retorted through clenched teeth.

“Why are you asking? You judged him as a Black Mage and imprisoned him, didn’t you?”

“…That’s…”

I’m curious too. Why are they suddenly looking for me so desperately? Taking advantage of the opportunity Shay had created, I read the Green Tower Lord’s thoughts.

‘…If I’m not mistaken. When I first encountered him. It felt like my Unique Magic was being analyzed. Just like when I faced the Demon Lord…’

Well, I have telepathy. I can read minds, so it might seem like I was analyzing you. It’s not a big deal.

‘…Analyze…? No. That’s not convincing either. There was definitely something wrong with the one-way wind back then. My Unique Magic’s vulnerability. If I can’t figure that out. I can’t proceed with other research…’

The Green Tower Lord collected his thoughts and spoke.

“I felt an unknown power from that Black Mage. My analysis concludes that not clearly identifying it would be a great threat to the Floating City.”

“The analyzed conclusion is to capture and imprison Hughes, and hunt him down with dozens of people? If Hughes is a threat to you, it’s because of your own extreme actions!”

“Perhaps. But, if we eliminate him, we will at least no longer feel threatened.”

Shea’s eyes widened.

“You’d kill Hughes?!”

“If it becomes necessary.”

“Are you out of your mind? Do you think I’ll stand by and watch?!”

“You are no exception. Know your place.”

The Green Tower Master raised the cube, pregnant with lightning and storm.

A cube of one-way passages, a prison of wind. Air trapped, compressed within, only waited to be unleashed in a blaze of lightning and flame.

If that cube were to detonate at this range, Shea would not survive. While Shea gritted her teeth, the Green Tower Master looked down at her, indifferent.

“You are ambiguously strong. Easy to kill, but difficult to capture alive. So, if you resist to the very end, I cannot guarantee your safety.”

“Acting however you please…”

“Acting however I please? That is the right of the Chosen. And so.”

The Black Tower Master, radiating a vanishing point, had also drawn near to Shea.

Before her, a one-way passage; behind, a vanishing point. There was nowhere to run, no way to escape. To resist any further meant risking her life, and in all likelihood, ending in Shea’s demise.

‘Dying is fine! But to not even properly speak to Hughes, to end this iteration here…!’

“Lay down your weapon before I count to three. One, two…”

It was as the Green Tower Master began to count, folding down his fingers, that…

“Everyone.”

The Azure Tower Master stepped between the Green Tower Master and Shea.

Wedges herself into a space crushed by two absolute concepts, a vanishing point and a one-way passage, the Azure Tower Master calmly calculated with lowered eyes. A white breath blossomed from her lips.

“Stop.”

The world froze.

In an instant, the wind stilled, and the atmosphere calmly froze, blooming with frost flowers. The air that carried vibrations vanished, and all noise ceased. A vast silence brought everything to a halt. Wind, sound, and this battle itself.

“Haaah…”

Within it, the Azure Tower Master knelt, curled like a butterfly. A thin layer of frost coated her clothes and skin. The scattering frost fragments over her shoulders made her look all the more like a butterfly.

Unique Thaumaturgy, Determinism.

Unique Thaumaturgy of extreme freezing point, freezing even the air itself.

These glittering motes, created from frozen air, not water vapor, were a substance that could not be born on the surface. Masses of solidified air that should only exist in the distant cosmos swirled around her like a halo.

A forbidden ability. What shock would the world experience the moment this Unique Thaumaturgy was released?

Ignorance is bliss, they say. Conversely, knowledge is fear. The Green Tower Master and the Black Tower Master, who knew the Azure Tower Master’s power better than anyone, shouted in unison.

“That crazy b*tch!”

“Are you out of your mind…?”

Unique magic domain, one-way passage. Triple layering.

A unique magic domain that forces a one-way passage. The Green Tower Master layered the one-way domain three times, surrounding herself. The magic power flowing through the gaps she created formed magic circles.

Unique magic domain, vanishing point. Three-point perspective.

A three-dimensional form arises from the three vanishing points. A single drop of water falls, tracing a star shape with the three vanishing points as vertices. The Black Tower Master, too, drew forth power to confront the heteronomy.

Mages are powerful. And dangerous. The power of unique magic domains, which overwrites the rules of the world, can, if mishandled, ruin the world.

And when different rules collide, their power amplifies uncontrollably. No matter how great and powerful the floating city is, filled with magic, it cannot withstand the full power of the three Tower Masters.

A precipice situation, where the floating city could collapse at any moment, if even one person upsets the balance.

“Oh, the Magic Federation’s young and brilliant talents. They continue their heated exchanges, day and night!”

Then, light shifted.

The heart of the floating city. Babylon. From the city’s core, which vertically bisected the round floating city, a dazzling light emanated. After blinking against the momentary glare, I discovered ‘him’ standing shoulder to shoulder with the Black Tower Master.

A man who, even in a situation that demanded he intervene, seemed delighted by the fight itself, joyfully shouting.

“Yes. Exchanging, arguing, and debating with each other are the first steps toward progress! Explore! Collide! Advance further! That, truly, shall be a new step toward progress!”

A being called the Demon King.

*