[Trantor - Pr?ks]


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    Chapter 179: A New Title


    In a tavern district near the northwestern part of Ken''s bustling city center, a light drizzle fell.


    A young man sat alone in a sparsely popted, shabby tavern, sipping from his ss.


    He gazed at the rain-streaked street, then took another sip, repeating this action for a while. His expression gradually grew displeased.


    "Dante!"


    A small, mace-wielding man entered from outside and called out to the young man.


    "It''s been a while, Dante."


    "Kurian. You''re still aste as ever."


    "Ahem."


    Kurian coughed awkwardly, sat next to the young man, and set down his mace.


    "I could have been here earlier, but something came up."


    "Same excuse as always."


    Kurian pounded his chest with an aggrieved look.


    "It''s true! You know who I saw on my way here?"


    Dante finally smirked and replied,


    "Don''t make a fuss. It''s not like Ken is short of celebrities these days."


    "You''ll be surprised when you hear this."


    Dante beckoned him to continue, and Kurian spoke in a confident tone.


    "Alshura."


    "Who?"


    "Alshura Belussia."


    Dante, who was about to take a sip from his ss, paused.


    "The Blood King Serpent, Alshura?"


    His voice was slightly raised, and everyone in the tavern nced towards them as if on cue.


    Kurian nodded, as if to say ''See?''


    "What did I tell you? You''d be surprised, right? The head of a Vassal n came in person."


    Dante chuckled and replied,


    "At least make your lies believable. There''s no way that Blood King Serpent from the southern jungle woulde all the way here."


    "Oh,e on. I saw the Emperor''s carriage entering the Alliance with my own eyes. Do I look like someone who would lie about something like that?"


    "Really?"


    "Of course. Come to think of it, it''s not that strange. A few days ago, all the Tower Heads gathered at the Alliance, didn''t they? This is no ordinary matter."


    Dante, making eye contact with Kurian, replied with an incredulous look,


    "Ken really is in chaos. The Alliance has restricted entry to even the low-level Demon realms, which has been a headache. It seems like it''ll take longer than expected to return to normal."


    "You''re saying that because you don''t know. Even if the entry restrictions are lifted, I''m not going anywhere near the Demon realms for a while."


    Kurian shuddered, and Dante''s lips curled into a smile.


    "Seeing you exaggerate like that, your body seems fine?"


    "Fine? My whole body still aches. It''s only because it''s me that I''m like this. The others are probably still lying down, unable toe to their senses."


    Kurian, deliberately exaggerating his movements, patted his body and met Dante''s eyes.


    Both of them burst intoughter.


    "I''m d you''re alright. Tell me what''s going on. Are the rumors true? It''s hard to believe any of it."


    "Ahem. With an empty mouth?"


    Kurian looked around the tavern and clicked his tongue.


    "We''re meeting after so long, and you had to choose this shabby tavern? There are so many nice ces nearby."


    "You know how it is, right? Since nobody can enter the Demon realms these days, everyone''s stuck in taverns. All the other ces are already packed."


    "Ugh."


    Kurian grumbled, brought the ss in front of him to his lips, and then grimaced.


    "You still haven''t broken the habit of filling your ss with water, Dante."


    "Why are you making a fuss about it now?"


    "A wanderer like you doesn''t understand romance. Drink some alcohol, wear some bold clothes. That''s why you have no friends besides me."


    Kurian shook his head, clearly disapproving of the neat white clothes Dante was wearing.


    "Enough with the pointless chatter. I brought you some snacks you''ll like."


    Dante took a white bag out of his pocket, and the savory smell of oil filled the air.


    Kurian sniffed and checked the contents.


    "Fried food? It smells amazing."


    "Try it first."


    Kurian took a bite of the fried food and his eyes widened.


    "Huh, this is like fried chicken. They sell this kind of thing in Ken?"


    Kurian took a sip of the alcohol the waiter brought and picked up another piece of fried chicken, sucking the oil off his fingers.


    "This is amazing, really. Where did you get this?"


    "I''ll tell you after you hear my story."


    "For some fried chicken?"


    "Suit yourself."


    "Stingy, stingy."


    Kurian red at Dante and chuckled, then his expression suddenly turned serious.


    "Don''t believe any of the rumors circting in Ken right now."


    "As expected. Right?"


    Kurian shook his head.


    "The rumors can''t keep up with the truth. Especially about the Samael n, they''re not even half true. Probably when the survivors recover from their injuries and start moving around, the rumors will be corrected."


    "You''re saying it wasn''t an exaggeration?"


    "It''s not an exaggeration, it''s not even half the story."


    Dante''s pupils dted.


    "If it wasn''t for Samael, everyone would have died. The fact that I can have this conversation with you here is all thanks to Samael."


    Dante asked with a solemn face,


    "The Orcus too? Are you saying the Samael n yed the biggest role?"


    "Biggest role? What biggest role..."


    Kurian immediately corrected him.


    "The Crazy Mage Squad''smander did it all by himself. He killed Orcus alone."


    "...What?"


    "Yeah, I understand your reaction. It''s hard to believe. But what can you do when it''s the truth?"


    Dante met Kurian''s eyes and swallowed hard.


    "I can''t believe it. Is he some kind of superhuman or something?"


    "I''m being serious, Dante."


    Silence fell between them for a moment.


    As Dante sipped his drink, he overheard the conversations of the people around them. It was all about Samael.


    "And everyone is focused on Orcus, but that''s not really the important part."


    Kurian lowered his voice and continued,


    "Everyone who was there knows. There were things worse than Orcus. I''ve never seen such monsters before."


    "There were things worse than Orcus?"


    "Yeah. Samael killed them all. I still get chills thinking about what I saw. The mages from the Magic Towers couldn''t do anything, and the famous knights, except for one, were all knocked out. Only Samael was different."


    "..."


    Kurian murmured in an even lower voice,


    "If word of this spreads properly, the power dynamics across the continent will flip. Those up-anding noble ns that have been getting attention—second only to the Vassal n—will all end up beneath Samael’s feet. For drifters like us, keeping up with rumors like this is how we survive."


    Dante suddenly muttered,


    "Darklight, they say..."


    "Darklight?"


    "The Crazy Mage''s title. They call him Darklight."


    "Ah."


    Kurian nodded in understanding.


    "Dark light. An urate expression."


    Kurian shuddered again and murmured,


    "It was dark, but to us, it was no different from light."


    Kurian, picking up thest piece of fried chicken, suddenly said as if he just remembered something,


    "So, where exactly do they sell this fried chicken?"


    * * *


    7th floor private room of the Magic Tower Alliance.


    I was meditating in a corner, and I briefly opened my eyes to check my condition.


    ''It''s been a week already, huh?''


    A week had already passed since I left the Demon realm.


    I was staying in a spacious room with so many adjoining rooms that it was more like a detached house than a private room.


    The other members of the Crazy Mage Squad were also each upying a room and meditating.


    I had considered staying at the temporary residence in the northeast, but I didn''t refuse this offer since being in the Alliance would be better for grasping the overall situation.


    While high-ranking meetings continued for a week at the Alliance, I checked my condition every day.


    Thanks to all the elixirs they provided, I was overflowing with vitality.


    I had reached the 6th Circle, and the fools had all reached the 5th Circle.


    However, I couldn''t shake off an unsettling feeling.


    ''There are no aftereffects.''


    The mana of the Yin dimension inevitably brings madness.


    The biggest aftereffect of madness is memorypses.


    It starts to appear seriously from the 5th Circle of Reversal, when manifesting Dark Heavenly Thunder.


    But no matter how much I try to recall...


    There are no gaps in my memory, from the moment the madness manifested, to splitting Orcus''s head, to plunging the fire sword into the demon''s heart.


    ''This is strange.''


    Knock, knock—


    At that moment, I heard a knock on the door, and Agouro appeared.


    Following him were Fichte, who had sent the messenger bird, Karios, the Blue Magic Tower Head, a man presumed to be the Yellow Magic Tower Head, and others who seemed to be high-ranking officials of the Alliance, all entering in line.


    "The meeting is finally over?"


    "It''s been a while, Crazy Mage Commander."


    The people around us slightly raised their eyebrows as they saw Fichte and me greet each other.


    "Crazy Mage Commander, this is the second time. On behalf of the Blue Magic Tower, I thank you."


    "I am Owen, the Yellow Magic Tower Head."


    The Yellow Magic Tower Head, who only nodded his head, seemed quite rude.


    Meanwhile, Hector, who enteredst, leaned against the door with a cold expression without saying a word.


    Taylor, ir, and Cliff, who were resting in the Red Magic Tower, also followed Hector inside.


    As soon as the door closed, Agouro said to me,


    "Crazy Mage Commander. The Alliance Head wishes to see you."


    "Hold on a moment."


    Suddenly, I started to hear strange footsteps outside.


    They were strangely irritating.


    It was like hearing the busy footsteps of people bustling about in a marketce.


    Then, all the Tower Heads turned their attention outside at the same time.


    Following the footsteps, the mor of voices grew louder.


    "I''ll go check it out."


    Seeing no sign of themotion dying down, Hector, who had been leaning against the door with a cold expression, went outside.


    "Where are you all from? We''re in a meeting, so if you could just..."


    "Crimson me!"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "What are you doing here?!"


    "This is too much! You should have contacted us first if something like this happened. Have you forgotten about Samael?"


    "Where are the children! Tell us now! Are they here?"


    "..."


    m—


    Hector returned, closing the door behind him, his expressionpletely different from before.


    His nostrils red, and his eyes were filled with panic.


    Agouro also stared at Hector in surprise.


    "What''s wrong, Vice Tower Head? Who were they to make you react like that...?"


    Suddenly, a sense of unease washed over me.


    The voices I had just heard were definitely familiar.


    Crash—


    The door burst open with a loud bang, and I made eye contact with the elders who had stormed in.


    "Oh my, you''re all safe!"


    "...Elders?"


    Led by Norman, the head elder, they started grabbing our faces, one by one, and embracing us.


    Completely dumbfounded, I asked Norman,


    "What are you all doing here?"


    "What do you mean ''what are we doing here?'' We heard all the rumors! Do you know how worried we''ve been since that incident in Urgon? Thankfully, you''re all safe. Thank goodness, thank goodness. Oh, Ifrit..."


    "How did you even get up to the 7th floor?"


    "How did we get up here? Who would dare stop the elders and the head elder of the great Samael!"


    "Indeed! When we said we were elders of Samael, everyone stepped aside! Just in case, we brought a lot of magic stones, but..."


    "..."


    As far as I knew, our elders weren''t crazy.


    But what was with the madness in their eyes now?


    It suddenly felt like chaos had erupted.


    There was no sign of the situation calming down.


    "Elders!"


    "Oh my! Thank goodness, thank goodness!"


    "Elders!"


    "Oh dear, oh dear!"


    Wow...


    As I struggled to find a solution, a possibility shed through my mind.


    I walked over to the table in the corner, picked up the Demon realm core that I had left there, and hurled it across the room.


    "Hmm?"


    It was like an instinctive, animalistic reaction.


    All the elders simultaneously turned their heads towards the core that had fallen in the corner.


    Then, as if on cue, they started rushing towards it.


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