TVDWL - Chapter 207 < Death of the Magic Tower Master >

"What's this?"

Mikhail, who hurried back after evacuating the children and the injured, couldn't contain his shock. The tower had been reduced to ruins beyond recognition. The tower had collapsed and the bodies of wizards who had died under the rubble of the building were strewn all over the place. They were all faces he knew. Ever since he had followed Pavel to the tower when he was young. They had been his colleagues and friends since then, living together and seeing each other's faces. No matter how much a wizard's personality was, they were people who had grown fond of each other as they had shared joys and sorrows in the tower every day. To him, who had been an orphan, the wizards in the tower were like family. He couldn't believe that they were dead in such a horrible way right before his eyes. It didn't feel real, 

 as if he was dreaming.

“Hoooo...”

Mikhail, who let out a trembling breath and washed his face dry, suddenly came to his senses.

'Where is the master?'

Suddenly, his heart started pounding with an ominous feeling that came rushing in like a wave.

'No way. Who is the Master? He even has the title of the most powerful and greatest wizard in existence.'

Mikhail, who was shaking off his useless thoughts by grumbling softly, called out to his teacher in a loud voice.

"Master!"

He looked around carefully, thinking that his master would be okay, that he would somehow escape safely.

"If you have any, please answer!"

He tried to ignore the anxiety rising to the tip of his neck and searched urgently for traces of the final battle. And...

"...!"

Finally, he found the bodies lying there. The moment he found the place, his screams suddenly stopped as if time had stopped.

The corpses of monsters with cuts and holes, and puddles of blood all over the floor. The remains of broken buildings, broken magic circles, and the bodies of young magicians who had resisted until the end and died inside. And. Pavel, who had fallen on top, held them in his arms as if he had lost his life trying to protect them.

"..."

He should have run over there right away to check on his master. But Mikhail was stuck in place, unable to move. His voice, which had been flowing smoothly until just now, was blocked as if it had been caught in his throat. The blood that had been running vigorously through his entire body felt like it had suddenly gone cold. Mikhail's body trembled slightly. He barely managed to lift his legs, which were motionless as if a large rock was hanging from them and took a heavy step.

"Master."

Mikhail approached the fallen Pavel and called out to him. But of course, there was no voice in return.

"Stop teasing people and get up quickly. I'm sorry I'm late. Yes?"

Mikhail's eyes were shaking as if he was gripped by fear.

"I was surprised enough... If you keep doing this, I'll get really angry?"

He barely held back the urge to run away and reached out his hand. Beyond the palm of his hand.

"Ah..."

Mikhail, who had checked his teacher's body temperature, which was so cold that he could not feel any warmth, sat down on the spot.

"No... That's ridiculous... This isn't it."

He gasped for breath and hugged Pavel's body.

"Master. Please... please wake up."

Mikhail carefully cupped Pavel's face with trembling hands.

"Open your eyes quickly. Please...!"

Mikhail let out a groan of despair as if a dam he had been holding back had burst.

“No. No.”

Before emptying the magic tower to evacuate the children, he remembered what Pavel had said.

'I like her!'

'I agree, so take care of that lady.'

And just before he moved using the teleportation magic, he vaguely heard him mumbling to himself.

'You've grown up well, my son.'

Pavel's face, which had been smiling kindly at him until the end, came to mind as if it were embedded in his eyes.

'That's the last one.'

Mikhail's eyes turned red and tears fell. He was overcome with guilt for not being able to be with Pavel during his last moments.

"Ugh."

A groan mixed with tears leaked out from Mikhail's teeth. Pavel was a savior to Mikhail. He took him in when he was living day to day on the streets, gave him food and clothing, and gave him a warm home. And that wasn't all. He took him as his disciple, and even adopted him as his son, and gave him a name that was based on his own surname. Mikhail Oelich. Pavel raised Mikhail with affection, calling him his son and the next magic tower.

'This rascal! Did he skip class again and come home to play?'

'What? You went to see the festival?'

You came here alone to eat delicious food? You damn fool! Are you just talking?

The voice yelling and scolding was still vivid in his ears. It seemed like he was bluntly speaking, but Mikhail could tell that there was affection hidden within it.

"Please don't do this. It was my fault..."

From now on, I will tell you everything I do, never skip class and listen diligently. I will do everything the teacher tells me to do. So...

"...Please don't go."

Mikhail cried and clung to Pavel, but Pavel, frozen stiff, did not move an inch.

"Father."

Mikhail called his father for the first time, sobbing.

"What if you go like this? You said you wanted to hear me call you father."

Mikhail had never called Pavel "father" before.

'Now, try calling me father.'

'No, I do not want.'

'What? Are you still embarrassed?'

'Oh, I don't know.'

At first, it was a bit awkward, and as time went by, he felt embarrassed and unfamiliar, so he couldn't easily say it out loud. And even though he didn't call him that, Mikhail felt all the affection he gave him, so he didn't feel the need to change his title. He'll just let some more time pass, and he'll call him that later. Mikhail had that thought in the back of his mind, but he kept putting it off and putting it off.

"Father..!"

Mikhail opened his trembling lips and called out over and over again.

"I haven't done it yet."

I haven't called you father yet.

"Thank you for raising me and taking care of me. You haven't even heard my thanks yet."

But now there was no one to listen to those words. Mikhail burst into loud sobs and cried like a baby.

'I should have called you sooner. I should have called you 'Father' every single day. What is this?'

At this very moment, everything was so regrettable.

'I shouldn't have left my seat. No matter what my father said, I should have stayed by his side.'

Deep regret and despair consumed him.

Mikhail held Pavel's body and cried for a long time. After a long time, with a blank face as if he had lost his soul, Mikhail carried Pavel's body to a safe flat ground. Then he began to collect the bodies of the other wizards one by one. He cleared the rubble and swept away the debris, and he personally pulled out all the bodies of his colleagues who were buried in the rubble.

'I should have been there. I shouldn't have left my seat.'

Constant regrets suffocated him. He wanted to turn back time. Indescribable quiet vengeance and anger filled his insides. Mikhail bit his lower lip until it bled. After he had cleared the rubble of the building with magic and ran out of magic, he cleared the debris with his bare hands. He didn't care if his hands were torn and bloody. Mikhail buried each and everybody he collected. Lastly, he buried the body of Pavel, the master of the tower, and his father. Mikhail's face had become terribly haggard.

"I'll come back and make you a proper grave and tombstone."

He asked Pavel politely and got up from his seat.

"I will definitely pay you back. Please bear with me until then."

Mikhail's face was filled with determination. He vowed over and over again that he would not leave those damned warlocks alone.

"I will make you pay the price."

Mikhail was determined to wipe out all the black magicians and root them out. His eyes were blazing with a desperate desire for revenge. 

*** 

In the dark forest where the light did not penetrate well even in broad daylight due to the thick undergrowth, an old man with a short gray goatee stepped deeper into the forest, panting.

"Ugh, ugh."

The old man arrived in front of a small cave, took a deep breath, and looked back.

"I think it's safe if we come this far."

The old man took a deep breath of relief and chuckled as he looked in the direction of the burning tower.

"You unlucky master of the magic tower. You act as the master of the magic tower however you want, and now you're having a good time!"

The old man who was laughing wickedly breathed magic into the black stone in front of the cave. Then, a dark light shimmered on the black stone and a translucent image appeared. A woman's voice was heard from within it.

"What's the situation?"

"It went according to plan. I organized it well."

The old man spoke with pride, his arrogance pricked up.

"As expected, it was a brilliant move to attack the Magic Tower right after capturing the Saintess. Since we were able to strike quickly before the news even spread, things went very smoothly, didn't they? Well, of course, it was because I had already dismantled the protective barrier Inside the Magic Tower that things went so well."

The old man was bragging as if he wanted his achievements to be recognized as soon as possible, like a general who had achieved great things.

"I see."

The old man's voice grew louder as the woman beyond the video clapped her hands in agreement.

"You must hit this ball very high. If I hadn't been there, clearing the magic tower wouldn't have been this easy. Please tell His Majesty the Emperor about this."

"..."

The woman showed no reaction. Then the old man cleared his throat with a loud cough and continued speaking.

"So, when all is said and done, I would like to take the position of the next Magic Tower master, But there is no оnе else who would be qualified to take that position anyway."

The old man openly revealed his greed. Then, the woman who had been quietly listening to his rambling suddenly asked.

"Well, even if I give you the position of the magic tower owner, do you think you can accept it?"

"Yes?"

"It would be impossible to even survive."

"...?"

Before the old man could even understand the woman's words. 

Crack! An arrow made of light shot at the old man.

Crack! 

And the arrow split the black stone that was creating the image in half.

"Whew!!"

The old man looked back in surprise at the arrow that barely passed him by.

"Got you. You traitor."

"You... you!"

It was Max who risked his life to chase after the old man.

"You're worse than a bug! You're a member of the Magic Tower Senate and you're trying to sell the Magic Tower to those black magicians?!"

Max gritted his teeth. As he had said, the old man was one of the elders who held important posts in the tower. Max caught up with the old man and overheard him talking to the woman on the other side of the screen. His anger was boiling over.

"Why did you do this?"

Despite Max's questioning, the old man glared at him with a shameless face.

"That stupid sucker who was attached to Pavel."

"Answer the question. I asked why you betrayed the Tower."

The old man who had been snorting and farting opened his mouth to laugh.

"Betray the Magic Tower? I didn't betray the Magic Tower. I saved it."

"What?"

Max's expression crumpled at the old man's barking.

"How can we let them do nothing but babble about creating a world where all wizards are treated equally?"

The old man spoke passionately, his neck bloodshot as if he was indignant.

"Our wizards are great and special beings! They are completely different from other trash who can't even sense magic! And among them, it's not enough to select only the noble ones with noble blood flowing through them, but you bring in a beggar who doesn't even know where he came from! I knew it from the moment he praised that beggar as the next Magic Tower Lord. That bastard Pavel is not worthy of being the Magic Tower Lord!"

"Ha."

Max was speechless at the old man's outburst.

"You're crazy, seriously crazy. I can see that you're not making any sense."

Max decided to stop questioning and make it a priority to catch him and return to the tower. He positioned himself to attack and subdue the old man.

"You idiot! You don't understand even if I tell you. Do you still not understand the situation?"

"You are the one who doesn't understand the situation. Since you betrayed the Magic Tower, there is no place for you now. It would be the same even if you escaped to the Empire."

“Hahahaha!”

The old man burst into laughter, wondering what Max had said.

"The Emperor of the Empire is also here with us, so what is there to fear? And when this is over, I will obtain the position of the Lord of the Tower!"

"A piece of trash like you is a member of the Senate."

As expected, he sighed when he confirmed that the Emperor was really joining hands with the warlocks. The Senate also agreed with him. Max made a disgusted expression. The old man paid no attention and smiled like a winner, congratulating himself as if the plan had already succeeded.

"There isn't much left now. We will gain great power. If we just get the heart of the dragon in the north...!"

At that moment.

"Uh...?"

Crack. The old man's face was twisted as if cracked.

"What... What is it?"

Max was so flustered that he didn't even know what to do. 

Boom!

"...!!"

The old man's head exploded with a loud noise. Startled, Max looked at the old man's shattered body, wary of any further explosions.

"This is..."

The old man's corpse contained pieces of black magic stone. It was a type of black magic that would cause someone to self-destruct if they said certain forbidden words.

“Ha. Shit.”

The traitor died in vain. But Max clearly heard what he said.

"The heart of a dragon."

Max was scratching his head as he felt things were going from bad to worse.

'Let's go back quickly.'

Max hurriedly turned his steps towards the magic tower.

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