Chapter 189 – We Exchanged Clearly

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The appearance of the Zero Mountain Range.

The expected damage was destructive enough to reduce everything humanity had built to zero. The world’s brightest minds put their heads together over the Zero Mountain Range’s settings.

“Dragons live at the summit, you say?”

“…something like this is going to rise up in reality?!”

“What kind of absurd mountain did Cosmo create?!”

“Even if, say, it appeared from the ocean…!”

The enormous impact from the mountain range soaring upward would create tremendous disruptions in sea levels.

What would the destructive force of the earthquakes and tsunamis arising from that be?

This was not a problem confined to a few specific countries.

“There is no country that could serve as a breakwater against a tsunami like this. Every country, every civilization would literally be swallowed by the sea!”

The desperate news was conveyed to world leaders.

“…what is the method to minimize the damage?”

There was no one who could answer.

Naturally.

Even before the Cataclysm.

And after it, humanity’s science had developed at a frightening pace.

But was not its direction always limited to the direction of destruction?

That was the reason one could not be pushed for an answer.

That was right.

Until then, humanity had been overlooking it.

A concept entirely different from science.

The fact that [magic] from another world existed in reality.

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Republic of Korea’s capital, Seoul.

The Mage Tower.

News about the Mage Tower began to be conveyed to the world.

The Mage Tower’s lobby.

Yoon Jong-jin urgently made a phone call somewhere.

The recipient was naturally PD Hyun Yong-seok.

“…senior, I said I would absolutely make it up this time, right?”

-I’m about to die of busyness, what are you on about out of nowhere?

“No, I mean the incident with Ho-yeol-ssi’s flower garden!!”

Today’s Arcana.

The intuition of the main camera director.

That it was a bad intuition had been exposed to everyone when covering Ho-yeol’s flower garden. The process of Ho-yeol tending the garden became a hot topic among viewers.

But the one who recognized the potential was writer Kim, who had accompanied them.

He had pledged to make up for that mistake.

With nothing but a camera.

Yoon Jong-jin, who had been waiting in ambush in the Mage Tower lobby.

“The days of staking out here were worth it.”

He continued meaningfully.

-Send the footage over. Use it however you like after editing.

Click-click

Yoon Jong-jin said that and ended the call.

Hyun Yong-seok frowned at his screen.

The broadcasting station was already at a standstill even as things were.

“I was an idiot for getting briefly excited about the Zero Mountain Range.”

Even if occupational hazards were frightening.

The thought that there would be no shortage of broadcast material even if the Earth were ending had come first.

Of course, even if he worried.

There was nothing a mere broadcasting station PD could do in the face of a natural disaster.

Anyway, the occupational habit acted up once more.

“…let me at least see what the fuss is about.”

Click

Upon clicking, completion.

Soon, Yoon Jong-jin’s angle appeared in real time.

Confirming it, Hyun Yong-seok’s pupils went wide.

“What, what is this.”

From the bizarre staircase of the Mage Tower.

A bizarrely large number of mages were descending.

Unlike in the past, the Mage Tower had begun external activities.

But that was at most a limited scope.

The ones who had revealed themselves externally had been limited to a few, including Marcelo.

But now.

“……!”

Led by Chief Mage Marcelo.

All twenty Senior Mages followed behind him.

Beyond that, a procession of hundreds of proficient and apprentice mages continued.

That alone was already sufficiently astonishing, but.

Soon, Yoon Jong-jin’s angle closed up on someone.

A woman with a gentle impression, closer to an elder than middle-aged.

A robe especially ornate with decorations and patterns.

One could discern her position from her attire alone.

Hyun Yong-seok muttered.

“…could that be an Elder Mage?”

The Elder Mage said to be called a Demigod?

What that implied was simple.

All Mage Tower mages, excluding the Tower Master, had revealed themselves to the world. This was a scene that had not been recorded even when Arcana was nothing but a game…!

“For what reason…?”

A possibility suddenly arising.

Indeed.

There was only one reason for them to move at this moment.

“The Zero Mountain Range……!”

Hyun Yong-seok posed a question to himself.

‘Would the all-powerful Mage Tower for just that reason?’

Today’s Arcana PD.

Hyun Yong-seok was equipped with Arcana knowledge befitting his position.

He understood well enough what sort of people mages were in Arcana.

‘Mages are arrogant.’

Honestly, there was fair reason for such arrogance.

Unlike other classes that required equipment suited to their level, mages had [magic power] flowing through their bodies as both weapon and armor.

‘The Mage Tower is the apex even among such mages….’

Furthermore, stagnant water rots.

Given that the Mage Tower had not interacted with the outside world until now.

Their current actions were beyond belief even seeing them.

But Hyun Yong-seok made a rapid judgment.

“Whatever it is, a scoop is a scoop.”

Without hesitation, he began preparations for a special Today’s Arcana broadcast.

That judgment of Hyun Yong-seok’s proved precisely correct.

Channel VBC.

Special Today’s Arcana.

In the footage, Marcelo opened his mouth.

-We have received salvation. Therefore, we will provide salvation.

…the all-powerful Mage Tower received salvation?

“Just what is he talking about?”

Among billions of people.

The only one who instantly understood what those words meant was a single person.

A single person, Ho-yeol, stared at the screen.

.

.

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Words that I, Granfel, had lived with almost constantly on my lips.

“All things have a give and take.”

Marcelo.

He was receiving those words with an ominous aftertaste.

Seriously taking them to heart!

He had been thinking about whether he should return to the Mage Tower anyway. Because the moment the update details appeared, it became quite a commotion.

‘Zero Mountain Range out of nowhere.’

That colossal natural disasters would follow in the wake of its appearance.

The expert analysts on the news had been speaking so gravely.

But then, even though I sent no telepathy.

Marcelo moved first.

Honestly, I was a little moved by the Mage Tower…

“Procedures must be followed.”

…moved as you are, you’re still shameless, Granfel.

The point being that since he submitted his leave, they should handle things on their own as the basic course of action.

But unlike the declaration.

I was straightening my clothes.

Because I too was a member of the Mage Tower, even if parachuted in.

I looked out the window at the elixir field.

“Excessive moisture rather causes the roots to rot.”

…do not compare an enormous tsunami to water in a watering can, Granfel.

Anyway, I could not stand idly by in the face of such a natural disaster.

“Moreover, trials are always followed by their rewards.”

And furthermore, this was no other region, but the [Zero Mountain Range].

Dragons reputedly living at the summit.

Effectively speaking, it was a region that could be an active stage all the way to the final arc of the Arcana continent.

After entering the level 500 range.

Taking advantage of the accumulated experience points from the Quernberg Mechanical Tower…

No, the levels that rose upon acquiring them were 95.

‘Thanks to that, the increased experience point requirements were not felt acutely.’

Naturally, clearing rifts alone would not have allowed for that many level gains.

Unless it were a hunting ground where monsters kept appearing rather than rifts that disappear upon clearing.

‘Certainly I might be able to worry less about experience points.’

That is, if the excessively noisy update can be safely gotten through.

If someone were to ask whether I was confident I could stop an Earth-ending natural disaster, I would naturally answer confidently.

There is no longer the Lee Ho-yeol who used to ride on the Mage Tower’s coattails from behind.

Why?

Whether the intermediate process was skipped or not.

Because I had a Circle in my heart.

[Current Achievement Reached: Circle (All Magic Manifestation +1,000%)]

Just as elemental magic has affinity, magic has manifestation.

I intended to confirm the power of such a Circle.

There was no time to hesitate.

Raising magic power, the feel was clearly different from usual.

Roar

…is this the power of the Circle?

The high-level magic, Portal, manifested in the open air immediately.

A Portal that even Marcelo had to put considerable effort into the interference process.

At a speed that could be called instant.

To think it would manifest this swiftly.

Even I was surprised by my own growth, yet.

Always.

I, Granfel, composed as ever.

“This is the first time confronting the principles of nature.”

I simply murmured and stepped forward.

“I will not hold back in order to defy the principles.”

Truly.

“Come, nature.”

In various ways, this was gravely serious…!

*

The location of the Zero Mountain Range was pinpointed.

The Pacific Ocean.

Humanity fell into deliberation.

“Expert Baek, should we be glad about this?”

“I would say the worst was at least avoided.”

“I hold a somewhat different view.”

“What do you mean, Expert Hwang?”

“It was impossible to pass through without any damage. Had it rather been generated somewhere on a continent, the area would have been devastated, but humanity could have minimized the damage. But this…!”

“Now wait, are you saying the few must sacrifice for the many?”

Indeed.

It might be cold words to some.

But that was the truth.

“You all know, don’t you? This is not damage that can be lessened by dividing it!”

But getting worked up now would change nothing.

The Zero Mountain Range would generate in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

All of humanity faced a situation where they would bear the full brunt of its formation. The threat of hundreds-of-meters tsunamis seen only in disaster movies was becoming reality.

All of that had become foregone conclusions.

Just then.

“I, I apologize for interrupting, but. We have breaking news…!!”

“……?”

New news arrived at the studio.

The anchor urgently continued.

“All mages of the Mage Tower have begun external activities. According to the AAU, this is something with no precedent even before the Cataclysm. For detailed news, we go to our correspondent on the scene…!!”

The Mage Tower had begun to move, apparently.

Chief Mage, Senior Mage, proficient, apprentice, and even Elder Mages.

The Mage Tower’s full force had stepped through the portal, apparently.

Leaving behind just one word.

-We have received salvation. Therefore, we will provide salvation.

Such Mage Tower mages were spotted.

By a helicopter flying to film the Zero Mountain Range.

Within the camera’s angle.

Crack-crack-crack!

The Zero Mountain Range rising with a tremendous roar.

Its scale and speed of formation were enough to be seen as a new continent being generated in real time.

At the same time, the swelling waves were also those seen only as CG in disaster movies.

Sooooo!

But the camera’s direction was not toward the Zero Mountain Range.

It was toward the Mage Tower mages floating in the sky.

Senior Mage of Flame Magic, Banshee shrugged his shoulders.

“Science is inefficient. Don’t you think, Senior Bangrit?”

Rumble-rumble

In order to fly through the sky.

One had to board that noisy mechanical contraption.

Senior Mage of Pure Magic, Bangrit answered awkwardly.

“Everything has its pros and cons.”

“Pros and cons. Senior Bangrit, what do you take magic for? There is nothing in the world as great as magic. Just like this, right now. Even this rough wave can be calmed like this, can it not?”

“That…it’s actually something Senior Chief Mage Lee Ho-yeol said. All things have pros and cons. He began his study of [the Anomaly] from that very acknowledgment, he said.”

“…gah.”

When did he say such a thing without me knowing?

Could it be, at the round table conference, when I was getting an earful from Senior Matis.

And I’d crouched down and momentarily dozed off, was it then?!

Bangrit asked Banshee, who was flustered.

“Are you saying you do not agree with what Senior Ho-yeol said…?”

“N, no! How could I?!”

Roar-roar-roar

Banshee hastily summoned his magic power.

“It’s just that I briefly misspoke because I was concentrating on this manifestation. I’m not particularly good at anything other than burning magic, am I? Haha…… you understand my heart, don’t you, Senior Bangrit?”

Magic that treads upon the Pacific Ocean.

Calming the sea did not require complex interference processes.

Mage Tower mages, each called the chosen ones.

Their vast magic power was effortlessly controlling the waves.

“I, it’s a sight to behold even seeing it!!”

A scene spreading to the world in real time.

As if a lie.

No, as if 『magic』.

The waves that had been about to drag humanity to extinction began to subside.

Elder Mage Yugweed smiled.

“This sort of cooperation is new to me, Marcelo.”

“Thank you for joining us.”

“To have gratitude make me feel somewhat hurt is also new.”

“Ah……”

“It’s a jest. A jest.”

Yugweed looked at the Zero Mountain Range gradually revealing itself.

As expected, it was a great mountain worthy of setting the entire Mage Tower into motion.

Why, at its very summit…

“Now a whiff of an old nemesis is beginning to drift in.”

Because dragons, victors of the Dragon-Demon Great War, were coiled there.

It was precisely because of them that the entire Mage Tower had moved out.

If among the dragons sleeping in their nest, even one were to wake from the commotion…

“A truly calamitous disaster would come.”

The full exit from the tower was to deal with such an unforeseen incident.

And so Yugweed, who had been carefully watching the Zero Mountain Range, soon.

Was able to sense something ominous.

“……Marcelo.”

The Dragon-Demon Great War, an era of the distant past.

The Mage Tower’s lesson born from that defeat.

No one must awaken the dragons’ sleep.

In order not to forget the lesson.

Magic circles they had manifested near the summit.

One of those magic circles was in a state of destruction.

What that implied was simple.

“It seems a variable has arisen.”

Whose doing it was, could not be found out immediately.

The Zero Mountain Range, vast just from looking at it.

Within it existed the Hundred Thousand Caves, an even deeper abyss.

So the objective to prioritize was still.

“I will focus on restoring the magic circle.”

Restoring the destroyed magic circle.

Though Yugweed knew Marcelo’s abilities better than anyone.

She was estimating that it would not be easy.

The Dragon-Demon Great War was an event in the unfathomably distant past.

Even if one grasped the structure of the ancient magic circle, detecting, interfering, and actually manifesting the restoration were different matters. Yugweed muttered quietly.

“…those winged lizards do not have the best patience.”

But Yugweed too had been overlooking something.

Someone no less impatient than dragons.

Such a person existed even within the Mage Tower.

Out of nowhere, a voice came from behind.

“Everyone has worked hard.”

“……!!!”

“I will also return to the duties of the Chief Mage from this moment.”

Flowing silver hair.

A familiar attire.

A familiar voice continued.

“I will take charge of restoring the magic circle.”

And.

“…L, Lee Ho-yeol Chief Mage?!”

As always, saw it through without fail.

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What does it matter if it is an ancient magic circle.

『Reversal Magic』.

One shot and it is restored.