Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 173

Chapter 173

The 7th Main Tower (4)

Having read the original romance fantasy three times, Flame remembers a lot about the major events occurring in Aether World.

She was well aware of what happens in the 7th Main Tower, but it was impossible to prepare for every detail of the strategy.

Since the genre was romance fantasy, most battle scenes were either skipped or simplified, and usually, the scenes focused on character psychology, so it couldn’t be helped.

If Baek Yu-seol were here, he would have provided a more effective strategy, but since he was absent, Flame prepared as much as she could within her knowledge.

‘Most of the strange monsters appearing in the 7th Main Tower are dark-attributed.’

Flame’s light (光輝) magic could be very effective against them, but it fundamentally differed from the holy (神聖) magic used by real angels or priests of the Holy Church.

Because she hadn’t yet reached the level to understand holiness in her magic, bringing ‘sacred symbols’ and holy water as countermeasures was quite a good decision.

-Kreee Kreee!

-Heeheehee!

With eerie sounds, ghosts floated in the air, and shadows seeped in from all sides.

Forgetting even that Jeremie was following them, Flame’s group sprinted down the corridor at full speed to evade them.

‘It was a good thing I brought the symbols.’

Th i s wa s co p i e d f r o m k i n g mt l. or g
Sacred symbols are akin to cross necklaces in churches or rosaries in Buddhism.

But unlike reality, they genuinely possess holiness.

Though not explicitly mentioned in the original romance fantasy, as expected, they were very effective in blocking the ghosts of the 7th Main Tower.

Flash!

When the circular symbols flashed, the approaching shadows and ghosts hesitated and retreated.

But since they weren’t particularly expensive symbols, their usage was limited.

‘If I use them recklessly like this, I’ll run out soon…’

She had bought as many symbols and holy water as she could with her own money, but it was still insufficient.

“Ah!”

As Anella stumbled while casting a spell, Flame quickly threw a symbol at her.

Zap!

A white spark burst, repelling the ghosts approaching Anella.

“Get a grip! What are you doing!”

“S-Sorry…”

Anella, with a pale face, clamped her lips shut. Delving into others’ traumas to confuse them was her specialty, but she had little experience with direct combat, causing her mind to go blank.

‘Still, I’m over 40 years old…’

Though lacking combat experience, to be a handicap at the feet of mere seventeen-year-olds was pathetic.

A wave of intense self-loathing washed over her, but she couldn’t afford to drown in it.

“There’s a lab nearby! Let’s take refuge there!”

“Anella! Quickly!”

“Yes… Ah!”

Flame practically carried Anella and threw her into the lab. Then, she thrust a symbol into Anella’s hands.

“Hold onto this. If you lose it, I’ll kill you.”

“…Thank you.”

Despite Flame’s harsh words, Anella felt a mix of gratitude and guilt, knowing that Flame had given her one of the few precious symbols left. Being a burden was a truly terrible feeling.

“How’s it outside?”

When Flame approached Aiselle, who was guarding the door to the corridor with a magic circle drawn with holy water, she answered with a grim expression.

“It’s swarming with ghosts. I had no idea there were so many ghosts in Stella.”

“This is bad… Other students have likely been dragged to the 7th Main Tower by now.”

Was it like this in the original romance fantasy?

She didn’t know.

There weren’t such detailed descriptions.

It only mentioned, ‘Aiselle was dragged to the 7th Main Tower, tormented by ghosts, and rescued by Hae Wonryang.’
Th i s w a s c o p i ed f r om k i n gm t l . o rg

There were no details on what Aiselle did inside, or how many ghosts appeared.

‘Should I have brought more symbols…?’

Even though she thought bringing ten was overly cautious, only three were left now.

They still hadn’t found where Hong Bi-yeon was kidnapped.

‘Where is she…’

She bit her nails, recalling the original romance fantasy.

First, where was Professor Maizen Tiren?

Though the exact location wasn’t described, she clearly remembered it being a spacious place with windows on all sides to see the sky.

Th i s wa s c o pi e d f r o m ki n g mtl. o r g
But does such a place exist in Stella?

‘…Yes, it does. The observatory at the top floor.’

Every main tower has a top floor, i.e., a rooftop, which is usually locked and off-limits to students.

Since she had never been to the rooftop, she wasn’t sure what it looked like, but she had heard about it.

‘So, we need to head to the rooftop…’

Boom! Boom!

Before she could finish her thoughts, the ghosts launched another attack. Aiselle, with a strained expression, poured mana into the magic circle at the door.

“Hng…! The ghosts are invading the space!”

“What? But I put holy water on the door…”

Mid-sentence, Flame looked up with a realization.

Dark mist was creeping into the lab.

She finally understood.

The 7th Main Tower itself was a ghost story.

In other words, unless all spaces were sealed with holy water, they were still within the ghosts’ territory.

“Damn it! We need to escape! Staying here means we’ll be surrounded!”

“Yes!”

Aiselle hurriedly erased the holy water barrier and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Ugh, the ghosts are blocking the door from outside!”

“These damn bastards!”

Cursing, Flame kicked the door, but it didn’t open, of course.

Rattle, rattle!

While Aiselle and Flame struggled with the door, Anella, crouched quietly, turned her head towards a sound from behind.

“…Huh?”

She saw something strange.

Models used for biological experiments and anatomical models began to move.

Creak.

The eyes of an anatomical model rolled and met Anella’s gaze.

“Ah.”

For three seconds, her brain went blank.

It wasn’t out of fear.

The dead, fish-like eyes looking at her with contempt were absurd.

“Even models are looking down on me now…”

Even though I’m over forty…

She felt wronged and resentful.

While her life had always been miserable and wretched, she never wanted to be looked down upon by young ones.

Crack!

Veins bulged on her fist.

When a Dark Mage enters complete dark transformation, they lose all magic but their unique traits and physical abilities increase significantly.

Though she had lost all her unique characteristics and couldn’t use magic, enhancing her physical abilities through dark transformation was essential for combat.

T his w as c op i e d f ro m k i n g mt l .o rg
‘There’s no one watching, right?’

Flame already had some idea of her identity, and though she was concerned about Aiselle, it was better than hiding her strength and dying a meaningless death.

‘Remember, if you release more than 50% of your dark mana, you can’t hide it again.’

This was the advice her superior gave her after engraving the Dark Mage insignia before her dispatch.

So, she just had to maintain it below 50%.

Anella lightly clenched her fist and threw a jab. Though she had never trained her body or learned martial arts, this was her first time attempting physical combat.

Boom!!

The air shattered, and all the ghosts in front of her were instantly blown to pieces.

“What, what?!”

Preparing magic to break the door, Flame and Aiselle turned around in surprise.

Anella stood with her fist extended, facing the completely shattered lab wall.

“What is this…”

“What kind of magic was that…”

The girls were astonished, but Anella couldn’t answer them.

To be precise, Anella was also among the astonished ‘girls.’

‘What is this power?’

Though she lived as a Dark Mage, being naturally timid, she had never thrown a punch, not knowing her own strength.

With a bewildered expression, she spoke to them.

“Uh, the wall… it’s broken…”

“…Yes. Let’s go that way.”

Though ghosts blocked the door from outside, thanks to the convenient breach Anella made, the girls quickly escaped the lab.

“It’s the rooftop! That jerk must be there!”

“Yes!”

Back in the corridor, Flame’s group sprinted towards the stairs.

Using the elevator in a ghost-filled place was suicidal.

They had to traverse dozens of floors, but thanks to Anella significantly aiding their progress, their pace was much faster than before.

“Ugh!”

It was a shout.

“It’s not a scream but a shout.”

Though clumsy, Anella’s fierce punches and kicks at the front drove away ghosts, allowing the others to cast magic more leisurely and focus effectively on defense, speeding up their advance.

They had to traverse dozens of floors, but Anella’s aid was indeed a great boon.

‘At this rate, we can make it!’

However.

“Huh?”

Why didn’t she think of that?

The 7th Main Tower itself is a ghost story.

It can manipulate all spaces at will, so the stairs would be no exception.

“What is this…”

Anella looked forward, dumbfounded.

Stella’s main towers have a structure where spiral staircases are located at the intersection of four corridors.

T h i s w a s c o p ie d f r o m k i n g m t l . o r g
Small warp holes or moving stairs were installed to allow students to conveniently travel between floors, but…

There was nothing there.

There was just a giant hole in the ceiling and floor; no trace of stairs remained.

It was as if the stairs never existed.

“This is…”

She hadn’t expected this.

The building’s structure itself was grotesquely twisted.

‘What should we do…’

Flame racked her brain desperately. There must be a way. There must be a way she was missing.

How did Aiselle and Hae Wonryang overcome this obstacle in the original romance fantasy?

T h i s wa s c o p i e d f r om k i n g mtl .o r g
There was no detailed description.

It just mentioned that Aiselle was helped by Hae Wonryang.

‘Wait, Hae Wonryang’s help…’

A sudden thought struck her.

Hae Wonryang would eventually become an ‘Elemental Master’ who mastered all attributes.

Though he currently only handled wind, ice, and fire, he did so at an almost top level, living up to his reputation.

In other words, Hae Wonryang could already use ‘Wind Levitation,’ a high-level wind attribute spell.

Though it was never shown in the original due to its high mana consumption… in such a crisis, he could have floated up.

But there was no wind magic user here. In other words, there was no means to replace the stairs.

She thought of using Aiselle’s ice magic or her plant magic to climb, but it was impossible.

Ice and plant attributes fundamentally lacked durability, unable to withstand the ghostly onslaught for long.

She could summon a large tree trunk and enhance its strength with material manipulation, but would that be enough to reach such heights?

“Ugh, shadows are consuming the space!”

“It’s too hard!”

Her thoughts were interrupted.

Aiselle and Anella started to collapse, gnawed by shadows. Only one symbol remained.

‘If they’re consumed by shadows, they’ll lose their consciousness.’

With a regretful gaze, she looked at where the stairs had been. If she could pour all her mana into it, maybe she could ascend.

But if she did, she might lose Aiselle and Anella.

‘It’s my fault.’

It was a hasty decision.

She should have thought more carefully and judged better.

Even Baek Yu-seol had warned that the Dark Mana Erosion in the 7th Main Tower was dangerous and needed preparation… Did she underestimate it too much?

‘I’m an idiot.’

She bit her lip so hard that it bled. But without feeling pain, Flame ran with all her might towards Aiselle and Anella.

There was no choice.

She had to use all her mana to hold out here.

‘I can do it.’

Aiselle is the protagonist.

The unique protagonist of this world.

Even if she falls here, she must protect Aiselle.

Closing her eyes tightly, she chanted her spell.

Unlike other magic, light magic spells had specific tones, making them sound like a song.

…Saaa!

Golden light spread out from Flame. Darkness was consumed by the light, and ghosts melted away.

In that intense, sacred light, Aiselle and Anella stepped back and sat down.

“What is this…”

It was a type of magic they had never seen before.

It wasn’t destructive or blinding, but it purified all the darkness in the space.

In an instant, the blackness receded, and light painted the world. Anella couldn’t help but think to herself.

‘Beautiful…’

As a Dark Mage, she was disqualified.

To think of something as beautiful when it opposed her magic. But, any other Dark Mage would think the same.

Even if they were killed by it, their last thought would be that it was beautiful.

Golden magic circles spun beneath her feet, raising starlight towards the sky.

Indeed.

The girl’s magic resembled starlight. It wasn’t light or holy magic that beings with dark mana despised.

It was star magic.

As if plucking starlight from the heavens, Flame closed her eyes slowly while listening to the hymn of stars.

‘…Still, I did what I had to do.’

I can only hold out here, but after this, Aiselle will think of a way and overcome the obstacle as the protagonist.

That’s all. No matter what happens to me now, as long as Hong Bi-yeon and Aiselle are saved…

At that moment, a golden wave engulfed the golden light.
Thi s w as co p i ed f r o m k i n g mt l . o rg

It was another golden magic.

“Huh?”
Th i s w as co p ie d f r om k i n g m t l . o r g

Startled, Anella closed her eyes at the wave of magic, then noticed something strange and looked at the place where the stairs should have been.

There, stairs appeared.

Inappropriately, a lavishly decorated golden staircase, as if made for a king, extended to the top.
Th i s w a s c op i e d f ro m k i n g m t l . o r g

“This is…”

“Hurry!”
T h is w as c o pie d f ro m k i n g m t l . o r g

Anella, surprised and about to speak, was interrupted by Aiselle, who immediately acted.

Supporting the exhausted Flame, she started to climb the stairs, followed by Anella.

She glanced back for a moment.

…In the distance.

Through the darkness that Flame hadn’t cleared, she thought she saw a golden-haired boy, but he soon disappeared into the shadows.

As if it were an illusion.

End of Chapter.