Chapter 131 – Empire (2)
Fwoosh.
Flames erupted.
As befitting its name, all kinds of flame magic blossomed in the Red Tower.
But their level was low.
‘Is this what it means to only covet my legacy?’
It was crude.
The structure of the magic, the way it was cast, and the method of manifestation.
Everything was like that.
To sum it up in one word, it was crude.
Most of their expressions were wary.
But among them, a few wore triumphant faces.
As if wondering how they could possibly escape from here.
That’s what their expressions said.
“This is the level of the Red Tower’s magicians.”
“...Regrettably, this is above the average level of the Magic Tower.”
“There’s much to be done.”
I raised my hand.
Grab.
And clenched the air with my fist.
I roughly handled it for now.
“By the way, how should I apologize?”
“A truly sorry person wouldn’t make that kind of face.”
“...Hmm.”
I touched the corner of my mouth. I was smiling.
‘I thought it was sufficient enough.’
Glacial Heavenly Moon and Brilliant Blazing Fire.
Achieving that balance.
The trait to balance Brilliant Blazing Fire, Celestial Flame (S), chosen by trait selection.
Even after acquiring it, I couldn’t resolve the balance.
‘Well, there’s the Vessel of the Archgod (Ex-).’
Over time, it can gradually be adjusted, but to be honest, devouring the sun was a good move.
That too.
[Eternal Sun (S+) and Celestial Flame (S) are combining.]
[You have acquired Eternal Sun·Extreme (S++).]
[Young Dragon Heart (B) is influenced by Eternal Sun·Extreme (S++).]
[Young Dragon Heart (B) evolves into the Fire Dragon Heart (A).]
By obtaining my trait, the balance was almost resolved.
‘Well, it’s not perfect, but.’
With my talent, I could use Divine Thunderbolt right now.
For a moment, as I was distracted,
“Please forgive him for my sake.”
“There’s no need for forgiveness or anything.”
This wasn’t that kind of issue in the first place.
Anyway, the mistake was because my body acted on its own.
So, creating an artificial sun... No, recreating my unique ability, Eternal Sun, was the right thing to do.
‘The problem is how to recreate it.’
I looked at the mages of the Red Tower.
The confident expressions some had earlier were long gone.
They were all breaking out in a cold sweat.
They all wanted to cast spells but couldn’t even open their mouths.
“Those guys really need a lot of teaching.”
“......It’s because the Purple Tower Master’s skills are superior.”
“Of course, they are.”
It’s simple to become stronger and more amazing than back then.
Never settling, always striving to improve.
Effort never betrayed oneself.
‘Well, depending on the direction of that effort.’
It might become a bit pitiful.
Anyway, my thoughts were simple.
Those who strove become something.
A hardworking ordinary person versus a lazy genius.
Comparing the two, the hardworking ordinary person was far better.
I lowered my hand.
Then, the frozen mana disrupted all the magic formulas.
Rustle.
Then all the flames began to die down.
That’s the end.
The Red Tower’s mages lost their will.
“How, how could this...”
“My most perfect flame magic...?”
“...I’ve heard of it.”
A trembling voice.
An elderly mage looked at me.
“Purple Tower Master, Han Seojin. They say he freezes mana and dominates magic.”
At those words, all eyes turned to me.
I chuckled and looked away.
“More importantly, can’t we just make the artificial sun again?”
“Can it be done?”
“Well, it seems we have the materials here.”
What I had to do was simple.
Even I could not turn the artificial sun into the Eternal Sun and then recreate it exactly.
‘It’s a simple matter.’
The resources of the Red Tower.
Using that...
‘I just need to experiment.’
By creating a new artificial sun.
‘Han Seojin, the Purple Tower Master.’
The mages of the Red Tower gathered and looked at one man.
His hair had turned completely white.
And blue eyes.
“Cough, cough.”
The crown prince.
Age 127.
He should have succeeded the emperor long ago, but he still had not become emperor.
“...Oh heavens!!”
127 years old.
In an age where death could come any day,
Yet the emperor was still young.
The crown prince, though also living a very long life, paled in comparison to the emperor.
He could die any day now.
At the age of 10,
He was full of ambition.
At 30,
He pondered what policies to implement when he became emperor.
At 40,
He thought that even the emperor would surely die soon.
And at 50,
He began to feel uneasy.
He started to think he might die before the emperor.
‘Why doesn’t he die?’
The emperor remained vigorous.
Finally, after surpassing 100 years old, the crown prince changed his thinking.
‘Please.’
Please, he didn’t need anything anymore, just liberate him from his duties.
Anyway, the Crown Prince set out to work today.
The Empire.
Perhaps because it was settled in Mongolia,
There were many disputes coming from all directions.
Above, the Druids were causing a fuss, and below, the gangsters were causing a fuss.
And the Tower Mages were busy fighting among themselves.
It was the Empire’s officials who had to mediate and appease such people.
“These damn bastards!! The new master of the Yellow Tower has blown up a mountain!!”
“The Purple Tower Master went berserk during an experiment.”
“The Scarlet Tower Mage had a life-and-death duel with the head of the Hwangbo family in the martial world...”
The Crown Prince sighed.
His ambition to become emperor had long since withered.
In fact, he had once wanted to ascend the throne.
‘These damn Tower Mage bastards.’
An official of the Empire.
Within the Empire, a position second to none but the Emperor.
However, that position was still just an official.
The emperor was forcing him to sit in the position of the crown prince and work as an official.
The reason he wanted to become emperor?
He wants to immediately enthrone the crown prince and take a break himself.
However, the emperor was dumping all the work on him.
So, he wanted to become emperor.
‘What should I do with these damn tower masters?’
During his time, the tower masters started to run amok.
In the previous generation, about 100 years ago, this wasn’t the case.
The Purple Tower Master.
The great prophet of magic.
Because of him, the other tower masters were relatively well-behaved.
The proof of this was the Red Tower Master.
When the other tower masters caused trouble, he coordinated with them to prevent accidents or consolidate power.
Most of the tower masters caused incidents, but the Red Tower Master was the best among them.
Every major incident in history seemed to involve the Red Tower Master.
However, the current Red Tower Master did not cause much trouble.
As a result, the Red Tower Master received better support, and the Magic Tower Masters started causing problems.
The Crown Prince worked diligently regardless.
Whatever the case, those guys were the pillars of the empire.
‘Damn it, should I just kill them?’
Sometimes, the urge to kill was inevitable.
Anyway, the Crown Prince managed his duties diligently.
Then, an urgent report arrived.
“Y-your Highness, we have a serious problem!”
“What is it? Did some other scum of a tower master cause trouble? Or is it the commander of the knights...?”
“The, the Green Forest King has appeared!”
“What?! The Green Forest King!?”
“Yes, and she is at the imperial gate as of 30 minutes ago!!”
The Crown Prince was shocked.
Anyone else would be fine.
But they were not.
It was not a big deal that China lost its scientific civilization.
Martial artists.
They said that they eradicated the scientific civilization.
‘But that’s not the truth.’
The fairy tribe that settled here.
They were horrified when they saw the scientific civilization upon arriving here.
-Those wicked, wicked things are harming nature!!
-Eradicate them all!! They all must be wiped from this world!!
A single tribe set China’s civilization back 500 years.
Green Forest Elves.
The one who reigned over them.
A hero of the Supreme Realm.
A martial artist of the Flower Realm, and a spirit artist of equivalent stature.
──That crazy woman who supported Confucian culture and spoke rudely to the emperor.
That crazy woman had entered the empire.