Chapter 228

The origin of these towers dates back to when five great sorcerers, once contributors to the foundation of Grandia, chose to establish towers instead of ruling over their own domains. Representing the schools of wizardry, fire, water, wind, and earth, these sorcerers wished for the prosperity of Grang and set up the towers at the capital’s heart and its four cardinal points. Initially, the towers were firmly aligned with the royalists, especially during the early days of the kingdom’s establishment.

However, as time passed, the allegiance of these towers shifted back and forth between the nobles and the royalty, depending on the strength of the monarchy. Eventually, unless the nation faced an invasion from external forces, the towers acted as independent interest groups, neither subservient nor fully aligned with any authority. Now, even amid the upheaval of the royal family, the Great Magic Towers—except for the Royal Tower—stand by passively, merely observing.

The towers had the luxury to choose sides because they could always align themselves with another faction when pressured by those in power. But in the present situation, as everything in the kingdom began to converge under the name of Macline, even they couldn’t help feeling anxious. This unease was what brought the leaders of the four towers together.

“Did Earl Chasen Riverfield really just surrender like that?”

“They say over a thousand knights entered the royal palace. How could the Royal Tower possibly resist?”

The Fire Tower’s master, Freymer Carlson, commented, which prompted a sigh and a response from Gilbert Limore, the master of the Wind Tower. The other two tower masters didn’t even react, for they all knew this already; or more likely, they were preoccupied with the current predicaments. As such, the atmosphere among the four gathered was heavy with tension.

Earth Tower’s master, Redios Crate, in particular, was continuously sighing, his inner thoughts more complex than the others. More than future worries, it was regrets of the past that weighed on him.

‘Should I have been kinder to Macline back then, secured a stronger alliance? No, no. What more could I have done? The problem is that Clayten…’

The Earth Tower had a somewhat favorable connection with Macline, but now Redios was troubled by his past conflicts with the kingdom’s most renowned sorcerer, Clayten.

‘I pushed him too hard, trying to step out of Everton’s shadow.’

A pained expression crossed Redios’s face as he remembered his former rival and Clayten’s mentor.

Was he too engrossed in his thoughts? He barely registered his name being called out.

“…Master Redios of the Earth Tower!”

“Huh? Ah… Master Freymer, what did you say?”

“Where is your mind right now? With the situation at hand!”

Freymer’s fiery temperament, befitting the master of the Fire Tower, caused Redios’s expression to harden slightly, feeling as though the elder was treating him like a subordinate. It made sense, given that Freymer, nearly ninety years old, was the eldest among them and practically a peer to their own mentors. Redios bowed his head slightly in response.

“I apologize, Master Freymer. I’ve been lost in thought…”

“Let’s lay out those concerns and find a way forward—that’s why we’re here. So, Master Redios, why don’t you start by sharing your thoughts?”

Freymer’s sharp eyes and irritable gaze under his snowy eyebrows fixed on Redios, who couldn’t help but swallow dryly.

“Hmm… Considering the precedence, do you think Macline would really go out of his way to attack our towers? If we were to unite…”

Bang!

“Are you even serious right now? At a time like this, to be joking? Would someone who respects tradition slay his master and kill the king!”

“No, what I meant was…”

“Stop spouting nonsense without thinking and come up with a solid alternative!”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

An old man’s booming voice, hard to believe it could come from someone nearing ninety, filled the room. Redios, chided, blushed a deep red, but Freymer’s words held truth.

“I apologize. My thoughts were not fully composed. Allow me to speak again.”

Wetting his dry lips, Redios met the eyes of the other tower masters.

“If we wish to maintain our influence, we need to unite our strength and make our stance clear. We need to convey our resolve that we won’t stand by if provoked. Even Macline wouldn’t want trouble within the capital during these unstable times.”

“That’s more like it. You’re finally making sense.”

The tension in Freymer’s face only slightly eased; however, the Water Tower’s master, Regen Pieta, seemed to disagree.

“And if Macline decides to strike us first, amidst this concentration of forces in the capital, it would be overwhelming for our towers to cope.”

“Do you think he’d go to such extremes? The magic towers, in a way, are also a vital force of the kingdom…”

Despite Redios’s opposition to the extreme notion, he felt Regen’s disapproving gaze on him. Regen didn’t voice his criticism as openly as Freymer, but his disdain was apparent in his eyes, looking especially youthful despite being the same age as Redios. However, Gilbert Limore of the Wind Tower drew attention with a firm slap on the table.

“We should not be too extreme, yet hopeful assumptions can bind us just as much. There’s a fine line between acting too quickly and waiting too long after seeing Macline’s response.”

And then what?

The fierce stares of the other three tower masters focused on him, but the amiable old man continued unabated.

“Given the situation, maybe Macline isn’t even interested in our towers. Rather than provoking him unnecessarily, I suggest we should stay one step ahead by gauging internal reactions.”

“What do you mean?”

“We should implant a reliable informant inside.”

“Even if we manage that, what if we suddenly get backstabbed?”

Although Redios considered it a rational suggestion, it didn’t seem to appease the fiery magician. Yet, Gilbert calmly replied despite Freymer’s agitated expression.

“We move with caution, while staying alert for such a scenario. Moreover, as far as I know, that sorcerer, the Golem Master, is a former member of the Earth Tower…”

Gilbert’s gaze shifted, bringing everyone’s attention to Redios.

There it is.

The topic Redios had been dreading had surfaced, bringing a heavy weight upon him. Stories he’d tried to bury in the recesses of his heart resurfaced, and he could only respond with a bitter smile.

“Ah… Yes. That is true.”

“We may not be allies, but as former comrades, perhaps you could reach out and gather some information before anything happens?”

Utilizing the sorcerer as an informant.

If possible, it was indeed an ideal solution.

“Ah… perhaps that much is possible.”

“Good idea.”

A glimmer of hope sparked in the others’ eyes, but to Redios, it only added to his frustration. He knew too well that it was an unrealistic expectation.

“Ah, but…”

He couldn’t confess that even glimpsing Clayten’s shadow from afar meant turning away and fleeing. Nor could he make empty promises, aware that they’d backfire eventually. As Redios was biting his lip, hesitating to speak, an external voice interrupted their deliberations.

– Lord, Lord Logan Macline and Sorcerer Clayten have arrived!

The voice made the expressions of the tower masters stiffen and freeze.

* * * Creeeak.

Only two people entered the room as the door swung open—those brave enough to come to the northernmost edge of the capital, to the Fire Tower, without any escort in such turbulent times.

No one thought them reckless. An aura user and a sorcerer, even if the towers had proactively set a trap for them, would have inflicted immense casualties. These were individuals with extraordinary abilities.

Aware of this, the tower masters could not help but tense and sweat at the sight of the two men, Logan and Clayten, whose simple presence overpowered the room despite displaying no particular aggression.

Logan, with an indifferent face, walked past the conference table directly to the master’s seat and sat down casually.

“Lucky that you’re all here. Saved me the trouble of having to visit each of you separately.”

Logan’s ambiguous words, complemented by the upright stance of Clayten, further delayed the tower masters’ response.

“…What do you mean?”

“As everyone knows, the country is in an unstable state. I have come to seek the cooperation of the magic towers to help stabilize the kingdom as soon as possible,” stated Clayten.

The tower masters looked at each other, their expressions reflecting confusion and consternation, when suddenly—

“Under Clayten here, we’ll unify the command of the kingdom’s five great magic towers. We expect your full cooperation, masters.”

Logan spoke up without pause, making a declaration.

“What?!”

“No, you can’t!”

“The towers have always been impartial, Logan!”

“This disregards our customs…”

Bang.

Their voices vanished as though washed away by a single echo from the table. A strange energy radiating from Logan’s hand pressured them completely.

“It’s a national emergency; there’s no room for dissent. Choose now—cooperate, or be branded as rebels and dealt with accordingly. Right here, right now.”

The cold tone that followed abruptly snapped the masters back to reality, their faces twisting with the inability to hide their shock.

Logan’s mere presence emitted an intimidating aura that silenced any opposition—their throats could be slit in an instant if they dared to refuse. Added to that, the foreign energy emanating from Clayten was also intensifying.

Ominous vibrations filled the room as the brown aura flowed from Clayten, infusing it with mana—that distinctive Mana Force palpable even to the tower masters skilled in handling mana.

Their faces turned pale.

‘This is a true sorcerer…’

‘Ugh, this power, it’s already reminding me of Juan Douglas.’

‘Impressive.’

While the three tower masters individually reflected on their thoughts, Redios felt a profound sense of defeat from witnessing Clayten.

‘To think I’ve spent my life overshadowed by Everton, and now his disciple stands as a sorcerer…’

Biting down on his lip until it bled, Redios couldn’t help but glare at Clayten, who nonchalantly smirked back.

Shiver.

‘Am I not even worth considering?’

Despair filled his clenched fists, but it was this feeling that allowed him to speak up first amidst the suffocating atmosphere.

“Are you really trying to intimidate the leaders of the four great towers with just the two of you?! And, this is the Fire Tower! Isn’t that right, Master Freymer!”

“Well said, Redios! Lord Logan Macline, as powerful as you may be, this is my domain.”

Anger resonated alongside Redios’s words, and Freymer stepped forward with his face flushing red.

The air thrummed.

The mana bursting from Freymer began to slowly push back against Logan and Clayten’s presence.

Rumbles echoed.

‘These men made a grave error coming here!’

Freymer saw this as an opportunity. Although the flowing fire mana wasn’t magical power per se, it was derived from the tower’s accumulated strength over many years. It thus had the potential to momentarily overpower even two superhumans of this magnitude.

“Face the consequences for underestimating a tower master, Logan Macline!”

Freymer bellowed as his gestures directed the mana to surge forth.

But suddenly.

“There is no underestimation here.”

A cold voice cut through the air, followed by a flash of golden light.

Snikt.

Freymer’s necklace snapped off with a faint sound.

The mana receded like the tide, draining away from the room. A single strike from the divine sword, Vision, the Blazing Cutter, had severed the link between the tower and the tower master.

“How could this be? The artifact is destroyed, but the control should have been…”

Freymer’s face turned ashen as he mumbled, in shock, while Logan nodded with a frosty smile.

“Now, let us hear the will of the tower masters once more.”

The juxtaposition of soothing words and ruthless intent, the earthen magic emanating from Clayten disrupting the masters’ mana, and the golden aura aimed at Freymer’s throat added more pallor to the face of the aging magician.