Chapter 129

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Chapter 129: Artificial Island, Ivemir (6)

Veronica is in danger.

That thought made Oscar’s heart race as he bounded up the stairs three steps at a time.

“Huh?”

Veronica, descending the stairs leisurely, suddenly stood in his way.

“What’s wrong? Why are you in such a rush?”

“…Veronica?”

Oscar hurriedly examined her condition and asked,

“You’re fine? I heard your scream all the way up on the second floor, so I thought something happened.”

“Oh, that? A gigantic cockroach came out of my room. It was so disgusting that I’m thinking of switching rooms.”

All that commotion was over a cockroach?

Oscar let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity, but Veronica looked over her shoulder and spoke.

“This is the fourth floor, right? Perfect timing. Help me pick a new room.”

She shrugged and walked past him.

As Oscar moved to follow her, a strange unease crept over him.

After a moment of deliberation, he decided not to ignore his instincts.

“…Why the fourth floor?”

“I told you, a cockroach came out of my room.”

“No, I mean, if you want to change rooms, you could just move next door. Why switch floors?”

And why specifically the fourth floor, instead of the sixth or eighth, which are closer to the seventh floor?

When he raised his doubts, she turned to look at him as if he were the strange one and replied,

“Why are you asking such weird questions? I just don’t want to be on the same floor as you guys. Like I said, I’m a woman. Remember when we were in the academy? The boys’ dorm and the girls’ dorm were on separate floors for a reason, weren’t they?”@@novelbin@@

“…”

Oscar stared at her as she naturally explained herself and then shook his head slightly.

“That’s not true.”

Veronica came to an abrupt halt at his words.

She sighed and turned back to him.

“Ugh, what now? What’s not true?”

“You said the Imperial Academy had separate floors for the boys’ and girls’ dormitories.”

“Yes, and it’s true.”

Oscar looked at her composed expression and shook his head.

“To my knowledge, the Imperial Academy built separate dormitory buildings for boys and girls when the new dorms were established. That was 146 years ago.”

“…So, that’s exactly what I said.”

He narrowed his eyes at her attempt to smooth things over.

“Separating the dormitories by floor happened before that—over 146 years ago.”

“…”

The air between them grew tense for a moment.

Then, Veronica chuckled lightly.

“Oh, my mistake. I didn’t know that.”

As soon as those words left her mouth—

Bang! Bang!

Oscar instantly fired two 『Wind Bullets』 at her.

In response, the ‘fake Veronica’ hastily summoned a 『Water Curtain』.

“…You reek of being an ancient being.”

Wind Bullet isn’t like ordinary wind magic such as Wind Cutter.

It was specifically designed to pierce through objects—an archetypal penetration magic.

“So, something like that won’t be enough to stop it.”

As Oscar muttered, the bullets tore through the Water Veil, piercing her forehead and heart.

Thud.

“…Hehe, heh… heheh…”

The fake Veronica, who had collapsed on the spot, began laughing.

Her lips stretched unnaturally, almost touching her ears, making her appearance grotesque.

Her entirely black eyes, devoid of whites, fixed on him.

“You… Oscar Crusian, was it? You’re pretty sharp. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”

The “thing,” which was difficult to define, turned into smoke and dissipated completely.

‘Smoke… Was that some kind of illusion magic?’

Oscar mulled it over for a moment before shaking his head.

He didn’t have the luxury to ponder it now.

‘The others are in danger.’

His heart raced even faster as he reached the seventh floor.

There, three people were standing in the windowless hotel-style corridor, turning their heads toward him.

“Hmm… Is that one of them too?”

“Probably.”

Fran and Veronica whispered to each other.

Judging by the shattered walls and collapsed ceiling, the hallway was in chaos.

It seemed they had also encountered “it.”

‘Do they think I’m a fake too?’

As he opened his mouth to explain himself, Killian muttered.

“No. That’s the real Oscar.”

“…How can you be so sure?”

“Seriously? He looks suspicious as hell—completely different from the usual Oscar.”

Fran stubbornly insisted on his gut feeling, but Killian firmly shook his head.

“My warrior’s heart says so.”

Oscar didn’t understand what that even meant, but he quickly nodded and interjected.

“I just ran into a fake Veronica downstairs. It seems like they can mimic appearances but not memories.”

“Why does that fake talk so much?”

“Shut up. You learned dual casting from me in the potion lab, didn’t you?”

“…What?”

Fran’s eyes widened as Oscar brought up something only the two of them knew.

Fran awkwardly laughed and made an excuse.

“Oh, um… Yeah, I thought you were real from the start.”

“Sorry for looking suspicious, then.”

Oscar smirked and approached them, asking,

“What happened here?”

“I was lying down to sleep when someone knocked on my door.”

Veronica raised her hand slightly and began explaining the situation.

“I asked who it was, and they said it was you. I opened the door without suspicion, but the lunatic kept trying to push into my room, saying they had something important to tell me. So, I told them to buzz off.”

“And then?”

“They kept grinning and insisted on coming in, so I lost it and punched them in the jaw. But then, their jaw turned into smoke and scattered.”

It was the same reaction as the fake Veronica he had encountered.

“At that moment, I remembered the monster described in the diary, so I screamed as promised...”

“And then we came out and took it down together with a coordinated attack.”

That’s why he suspected it was a fake even when he appeared.

Oscar, nodding in agreement, began explaining the creature he had encountered.

“So, you’re saying those fakes only have knowledge from 200 years ago?”

“And there’s one more thing.”

Oscar added another piece of information.

“The thing knew my name. And it naturally brought up the conversation we had earlier in the dining hall. If you think about it...”

“That means it knows all the conversations we’ve had on this artificial island over the past five days.”

“So, the reason it didn’t attack earlier was to observe us thoroughly and gather information?”

“That’s likely the case.”

It was proving to be a more troublesome foe than anticipated.

To think it would meticulously prepare for a perfect hunt instead of attacking the first prey it had seen in 200 years.

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“But it’s not as frightening as it seems.”

Oscar pointed out what he believed to be its weakness.

“For starters, its physical strength is weak.”

“Huh? Did you actually fight it in close combat?”

“Not exactly, but I’m confident based on what Veronica said.”

According to Veronica, the fake Oscar had asked her to unlock the door and let it in.

“In other words, it couldn’t force the door open or overpower her.”

“Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? Forcing a locked door open doesn’t really fit your usual image, does it?”

“There’s some truth to that. But do you remember the last part of the diary we read?”

“Of course. It mentioned how the senior mage asked to return together and requested the door to be unlocked... Ah!”

It was essentially the same situation.

“If the monster had significant physical strength, it would have forced the lab door open and attacked the mage back then. But it didn’t.”

“Exactly. Instead, it kept asking for the door to be unlocked and tried to persuade its way inside.”

“In short, it didn’t have the brute strength to force open a locked door.”

“And when I faced it, its movements didn’t feel particularly quick.”

Killian muttered with a bored tone.

“Right. This monster specializes in deception and ambush tactics. Its weakness is likely close-range combat.”

“But its magical abilities were pretty formidable.”

“I agree. Speaking of which, what kind of magic did the fake Oscar use?”

“Chain Lightning from the Yellow Tower and Gust Hand from our White Tower.”

“Hmm.”

Oscar stroked his chin for a moment.

“That’s a bit of a twist. The fake Veronica I encountered used the Blue Tower’s Water Veil spell.”

“What? Then that means it already uses spells from three different elements?”

“...Is that even possible?”

“It’s not impossible.”

After all, even he could use magic from any element if he learned the formulas.

However, the efficiency would be abysmal compared to the original.

“Mana circuits adapt to optimize for the magic we use most frequently.”

In some sense, it could be considered a form of evolution.

For instance, a White Tower mage’s mana circuit would evolve to maximize the quality of wind-element magic.

This concept became even more pronounced when dealing with opposing elements.

“A Red Tower mage casting water magic or a Blue Tower mage casting fire magic—both would produce results that are less than half as effective.”

“But the fake Oscar’s Yellow Tower magic was top-notch. Chain Lightning is a mid-level spell, after all.”

“And Gust Hand wasn’t sloppy either. It was on par with mine.”

“Hmm.”

Even the Water Veil it displayed was executed with remarkable finesse.

If so, the conclusion was clear.

“If my guess is correct, that thing can likely use magic from all elements, and without any penalties.”

“If that’s true, isn’t it essentially the ultimate mage—an ideal we all dream of?”

After all, the concept of an “All-Master” who wielded every element belonged in fairy tales.

“Exactly. At least in terms of magic, it’s not an opponent we can dismiss. It probably spent the last 200 years refining spells from every tower.”

Hearing that, the three of them fell into deep thought.

Even mastering one element made someone a formidable opponent.

But mastering all elements?

Killian, seasoned by experience, spoke in a cold voice.

“Oscar, this doesn’t seem like a problem we can handle on our own.”

“I agree.”

Even Veronica, who hated backing down more than anything, concurred.

“Let’s get out of here first. Then we’ll request reinforcements, whether from the Imperial Court or the White Tower.”

“According to communications, the imperial forces will arrive in two days.”

“Really? That’s great!”

When Fran cheered in relief, Oscar continued grimly.

“But I doubt we’ll make it out of here.”

“What? Why?”

“...Because our opponent won’t let us.”

It had watched them for five days before making its move.

That meant it had finished preparing to hunt them.

And that likely included ensuring there was no escape.

“Oscar Crucian, as sharp as ever.”

At that moment, a voice echoed through the corridor.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t just one voice—it was a harmony of dozens, blending together eerily.

Click, click, click.

Doors to empty rooms along the hallway began to open.

Then, mages of various faces and genders flooded the corridor.

Among them were copies of Fran, Veronica, Killian, and Oscar himself.

“Wait a second. Why does my fake look so stupid?”

“...That’s just your usual expression.”

“Oscar, what’s the plan?”

As Oscar stared at the advancing figures, he clicked his tongue.

There was only one choice they could make.

“Fight. Prepare yourselves.”

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