Beyond the wall, the world was peaceful. Vendors hawked their wares, and commoners threaded through the bustling market. Yet not a single person dared approach the towering metal fence.
Although the building behind the fence looked exceedingly grand, and the old man at the gate seemed absent-minded, places like this usually meant danger.
At the gate, Ganis warned them again. "Over the past hundred years, more than thirty adventuring parties have entered this Mage Tower, and not one person has returned. Although Mage Madela is only a High-Level Mage, his field of study is Spatial Magic. So... please be extremely careful."
Downs raised the corner of his mouth. "Don't you and your king think difficult work deserves suitable compensation?"
He sounded nothing like a former Knight Apprentice.
To put it plainly, he meant one thing: pay up!
Er, his mind had become completely shaped like a mage's. It couldn't be helped; in the world of magic, equivalent exchange mattered most.
Ganis coughed awkwardly. "His Majesty will provide fair compensation for a successful outcome."
Downs stopped teasing the king's chief adviser and nodded to the burly warrior carrying a silver-white greatshield. The strapping man, named Huan, pushed open the iron gate under the old doorman's complicated gaze.
The moment they stepped across the threshold, it felt as if they had entered another world.
A strange violet-blue glow swept across the treetops, and the branches seemed to be decorated with twinkling lights, constantly shining with arcane radiance.
That wasn't all. The ground was clearly trembling faintly, and the space inside the courtyard seemed offset from the space beyond the wall. Though Downs could still see Ganis and the others clearly outside the gate, he felt as if he were underwater, looking up and trying to greet people on the surface.
The four High-Level professionals beside Downs watched him expectantly. He was a [genuine once-in-a-century] mage, after all.
The failure of so many parties over the past century, and the deaths of so many Master Level professionals of other classes—even legendary professionals—proved one thing: from here on, this was the domain of mages.
It wasn't that they looked down on spellcasting classes like Sorcerers or Clerics. In a place like this, only a mage's knowledge could save the day.
Frankly, the four of them were little more than accessories.
Downs was actually a little nervous too. During the last great battle at Ramanque City, he had been hailed as a hero. To put it plainly, he'd charged at the city gate in a rush of blood without thinking it through, and only felt afraid once the battle was over.
What about this time?
Would the little theory his master had taught him be enough?
No—in fact, Downs could barely remember what his master had taught him.
It couldn't be helped. Every time his master taught him something, Downs only half understood it. But he always managed to grasp a new spell, so his master considered him to have passed.
When it came to magical theory, he was probably at the level of someone who had only six of their seven apertures open...
Downs tentatively whispered to Laifu on his shoulder, "Master?"
Unexpectedly, Laifu gave a small nod.
Lein... He really was there.
Even after entering a different space, his soul connection with Laifu still seemed stable. It was remarkable.
Downs wasn't the only one nervous. Lein was nervous too.
Although Lein felt as if he were playing a third-person adventure game, he couldn't forget that he had to "clear it in one life." Otherwise, his hard-won disciple was done for.
"Let's go in!"
At Downs's command, the Rogue serving as their scout took the lead and pushed open the door of the Mage Tower. It looked only five stories tall, with a spindle-shaped roof.
The three-meter-high brass door opened with surprising ease. A century of wind and frost had apparently done nothing to rust it shut.
When the scene beyond the doorway came into view, the five of them couldn't help swallowing.
It was spotless!
It looked as if a team of servants had carefully cleaned it every day.
Not a speck of dust could be seen on the black-and-white tiles. Time seemed to have stopped at the instant the Magic Net collapsed a hundred years ago.
Now and then, they spotted marks on the floor where sharp Combat Boots had scraped across it. Those had clearly been left by later visitors, not the tower's owner.
After walking for a while, they began to sense that something was wrong.
Not just a little wrong—twelve out of ten wrong!
Whether they judged by its exterior or by the architectural plans provided by the Royal Family of Cervantes, this Mage Tower—with its circular footprint and floors no larger than five hundred square meters—couldn't possibly contain a straight corridor over a hundred meters long.
The door behind them hadn't closed on its own, but everything around them was growing quieter. Even the howling wind outside had fallen silent.
Only a rhythmic mechanical sound came from ahead, accompanied by indistinct murmuring, as if luring them onward.
The other four "accessories" all looked at Downs.
If they were going to retreat, this might be their last chance.
But they had come this far. Who would want to turn back?
Even if they didn't trust this mage who seemed to have sprung out of the ground, they trusted their own masters—and the Legendary Archmage behind Downs!
They gritted their teeth and continued forward in the most common adventuring-party formation.
The Rogue scouted ahead, the Greatshield Warrior took second position to guard Downs in the middle, the Cleric came fourth, and the Ranger brought up the rear, lightly drawing her bowstring.
The sound ahead grew clearer.
It wasn't music. It was a clattering sound, like mechanical gears turning to a fixed rhythm.
Downs knew it well. He had seen with his own eyes how a waterwheel could "continuously turn the power of the Water Element into Wind Element."
They entered a vast central hall. Everyone instinctively blinked as the surroundings grew brighter, and the sight before them made their hearts pound.
At last, they understood what had happened to the adventuring parties that had entered the Mage Tower before them.
Nearly all of them were here...
Over a hundred wraiths floated two meters above the ground. These poor souls had died after being driven mad, yet they seemed unaware of their own state. Obsessed with revenge, they frantically chased the enemies who had driven them to their doom.
From the five adventurers' perspective, most of the wraiths were pointlessly beating one another, while others desperately scraped at the walls and doors beside the central hall with their pale, translucent fingers.
If it had only been wraiths, they might have been able to manage. The problem was that the floor of the hall was full of [animated objects].
They saw a brass candlestick twist itself into a knot. The trident-shaped candlestick had a grotesque human face where its prongs met. It shrieked as it sent the three candles on its head lashing outward like whips.
If they weren't mistaken, it was trying to strangle a wooden boar that had probably been a sideboard in life.
They hated to describe a sideboard as a boar, but it really did look like one. Its four table legs had become hooves, and with its arched back and enormous wooden boar's head, it wasn't just similar—it was identical.
The scene was so eerie that the three physical fighters felt their scalps prickle.
The Ranger, Christine, nervously gripped her bow and asked in a low voice, "Can we go around them?"
Before she could get an answer, the strange creatures apparently noticed their unexpected arrival. Suddenly, every unnatural thing in the central hall shrieked in unison, then charged at them.
"Ah!" The Greatshield Warrior felt a sudden tightness in his head, and the world spun around him.
Wraiths had the [Madness] trait.
The [perception] shockwave created when more than a hundred wraiths went mad at once was far beyond what a High-Level Warrior could handle.
As the warrior's mind was blasted blank, the Cleric, Pat, who had barely managed to withstand the onslaught, shouted, "There's no way I can handle this many wraiths!"
It was over!
The same thought flashed through all three of them.
They could easily imagine the wraith horde devouring them, chewing up their souls, melting their flesh, and turning them into more of those twisted [animated objects]. What a miserable end.
Just then, lightning descended!
"Boom!"
The thunderous roar and dazzling flash of lightning became the central hall's only refrain.
All four of them saw nothing but a blinding white light. Almost instinctively, they raised their hands to cover their eyes...
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