<h4>Chapter 130: Fog (3)</h4>


    Sylvia''s ind, the Nameless Ind, had grown into a source of immense magical power. It absorbed mana-infused soil drifting around the Floating Inds’ orbit—known as mana soil—turning the entire ind into a catalyst meant solely for Sylvia.


    Because of this, any magic cast from the Nameless Ind could stretch across the continent—to the Empire''s depths, its surface, or even distant, ghostly inds.


    “<i>... I don’t deserve to be the one to kill her.</i>”


    Sylvia listened to Deculein’s words, feeling the weight they carried.


    “<i>Yet, she deserves it.</i>”


    “... Deserves what?” Sylvia muttered, knowing he wouldn’t hear her.


    As if answering, Deculein continued, “<i>She deserves to kill me.</i>”


    It felt like a needle pricking her heart, stirring emotions she believed had died long ago.


    “What do you think, Idnik?” Sylvia asked in a t, emotionless voice, each word sounding fragile, as if it could soon break apart.


    Idnik, who stood beside her, replied, "Well, it seems that man still has some shred of conscience left."


    Sylvia looked up at the sky. Birds filled the air—migratory flocks passing over the ind, with Swifty leading at the front.


    “Deserves to kill...”


    Sylvia deserved to kill him. Even Deculein had admitted it. With her eyes closed, she fell into deep thought, consumed by hatred. The more she learned, the angrier she became. Yet, buried at the bottom of that dark pit was another emotion, scorched and ingrained within her—love.


    “Idnik, are Ca and Deculein acquainted?” Sylvia asked.


    “<i>Hmm</i>? <i>Ah...</i>” Idnik replied with a faint smile. “There are a few well-known figures in the Magical Realm—Ca, Rohakan, Adrienne, Rodran, Glitheon, Bethan, Rezol, Kaimdal, Gindalf, Rogerio...”


    Idnik rested a hand on Sylvia’s head, prompting her to look up with a re of irritation.


    “And you, Sylvia.”


    “... Get your hand off my head,” Sylvia said.


    “Each of them has some connection to Deculein. Ca and Rohakan, in particr, were once his mentors.”


    Whether it was the best way to put it or not, Deculein had ties everywhere. Of course, not all of them were good.


    “If you include the former head, De, nearly every mage ranked above Monarch in this realm had links to the Yukline family. Through his numerous sponsorships, even many of the addicts on the Floating Inds were connected to Yukline,” Idnik continued.


    Sylvia stayed quiet.


    “Such an interesting family, really. They always knew how to draw attention..."


    As Idnik finished, Sylvia nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating on her spell. She turned her focus back to the distant ind across the continent.


    ***


    Ca and Deculein were once a mentor and protégé. Ca, the first mage sent at De’s request, began teaching Deculein, with Rohakan taking overter.


    Neither of them managed to aplish their goals. Ca, who was the same age as Deculein, gave up after two weeks. His abilities were simply too limited. She felt a bit of pity for him but ultimately saw it as his own failure. And she wasn’t wrong.


    Ca watched Deculein ce his hand on Epherene’s forehead, trying toprehend the dream.


    Then, he clicked his tongue and paused.


    Ca tilted her head, curiositycing her voice as she asked, “Why?”


    “This method will take far too long. Instead...” Deculein murmured, briefly closing his eyes as he tried tomand the Wood Steel within the castle. “I’m considering a more fundamental approach.”


    Ca’s eyes locked onto Deculein’s head, her focus narrowing on his skull. Something had altered within him, making his brain the Altar’s most desired treasure.


    “Deculein, I wonder what you''ve been through.”


    Deculein stayed quiet.


    Her eyes swept over his body as she added, "I think you fascinate me. I think I''m quite curious about you."


    "What do you mean?"


    “I’m curious about how you’ve grown, but I’m even more interested in why you took the me for Cielia’s death.”


    Deculein kept his silence.


    “Could it be that you pity Sylvia?” Ca continued. “I heard rumors that you were once her professor.”


    A faint twitch crossed Deculein’s brow.


    Ca looked up, eyes fixed on the traces of wind magic—clear evidence that someone was watching this space. She knew exactly who it was.


    “The Deculein I remember was never normal to begin with.”


    Deculein listened in silence. The details Ca shared about his past piqued his interest.


    "I wonder if I used to pity you back then, with your limited talent and how you couldn''t ept it."


    The Deculein Ca remembered from those days was like a nervous little dog, constantly growling and snapping, always ready tosh out at even the slightest hint of attack or mockery.


    “But now, there seems to be a spark in your soul. I think I can see it,” Ca mused.


    Deculein leaned back in his chair. A spark. The word carried a different weight for him. Perhaps it was Deculein’s me igniting within Kim Woo-Jin’s soul, or maybe it was Kim Woo-Jin’s me flickering inside Deculein.


    “... Ca.”


    Anger flickered inside him at the thought of Ca pitying him.


    “I pity you as well.”


    Kim Woo-Jin knew Ca’s backstory as a named character. In that storyline, she had every reason to be pitied.


    "Only a few have lived a life as tragic as yours," Deculein continued.


    Ca set her eyes on him.


    "I took responsibility for Cielia''s death for one simple reason—because I killed her."


    Cielia died at Deculein’s hands. He and Ca both remembered it clearly. Whenever demons surfaced, Ca remained by Yukline''s side. Cielia’s death was no different—it was caused by that demon, the cmity known as the Letter of Fortune.


    “No matter the grudge or reason, there’s no justifying what I did,” Deculein continued. “Regretes toote. Nothing will change now.”


    Ca gave a nod.


    "Therefore, I will keep living this way."


    “... Do you ever think Sylvia might kill you one day?” Ca asked.


    “If she’s capable, I’ll ept it,” Deculein replied.


    A sudden gust of wind rushed through the room.


    Ca sighed faintly and replied, "...Is that so?"


    Ca gave up on the idea of trapping Deculein with her <i>Authority</i>. She pushed aside the thought of cracking open his skull to offer it to the Altar.


    “Deculein.”


    Ca doubted that Deculein knew. De was not dead. The specter’s brain still survived, buried deep within the Altar, clinging stubbornly to life. And that monster now sought his body.


    "What is it?"


    “... I think you need to be careful,” Ca murmured, her head shaking slightly.


    ***


    Epherene tried to think of a way out, but nothing came to her mind. For a moment, she thought about shouting that this was all just a dream and that everyone around them were ghosts. Instead, she hesitated, feeling her anxiety grow as she nced over at Jackal.


    “Dude, this is, like, so insanely tasty!” Jackal eximed.


    The strong-looking man remained unaware, shoveling food into his mouth.


    "Miss Epherene!" Ria called, tugging at Epherene''s sleeve. "Here, try this!"


    “<i>Hmm</i>?”


    Ria handed Epherene a <i>ssam</i>, and she reluctantly took a bite.


    "Chew it slowly, okay? And let''s not choke this time," Ria said.


    As Epherene chewed carefully, she nced at Hetrog. The <i>ssam </i>was normal this time, that he must have finally learned his lesson.


    "Alright! Now that we''ve finished eating, should we move ahead?" Ganesha said, rising to her feet.


    Before Epherene realized it, the meal was over. She jumped to her feet, intent on stopping them from entering the door.


    “No! Wait, I—”


    “It’s alright~” Ganesha interrupted, moving closer to whisper in her ear. “I saw it too. Ria knows, and so do the others. And look—the second hand on the clock is moving backward, jumping from 7 to 6.”


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Epherene stiffened in surprise.


    “So, let’s keep it to ourselves, alright?”


    <i>Of course, Ganesha noticed!</i> Epherene thought, nodding, her expression still stunned.


    Ganesha smiled warmly and continued, “Honestly, we’re just as reluctant to go in, but we don’t have a choice. We believe a friend who needs our help is inside.”


    “... <i>Oh</i>.”


    <i>So that’s why we’re here—to save someone~</i> Epherene thought, finally getting it.


    Then, an image of someone struck Epherene’s mind like a sh of lightning. A sharp pain throbbed in her temple, leaving her briefly stunned. She quickly scanned the area, her eyes darting around for <i>that person</i>. But he was nowhere to be seen, and the door to the inner castle creaked open.


    “6th day, 6 o''clock 6 minutes 6 seconds. We’re proceeding inside," Hetrog announced.


    Epherene noticed something else strange—he had said it was 6 o''clock, 6 minutes, 6 seconds earlier, yet the time hadn’t moved forward.


    “Let’s, like, totally head in?!” Jackal shouted with a burst of energy,pletely clueless about anything weird going on.


    Ganesha and Ria went along with it, while Allen casually followed the others.


    “Yo, sis! You in there?!” Jackal yelled, his voice echoing as he called out for Ca.


    “Carlos! Where are you?!” Ganesha and Ria called.


    Epherene wondered if Deculein was inside. For now, she trailed behind the others.


    ***


    On the second floor of the Ghost Castle...


    “I wonder if you have a n. I really want to wake my brother up soon,” Ca said.


    I nodded and replied, “I do.”


    I didn’t have a n ready when Ca asked, but the preparation quickly fell into ce and was now finished.


    “I wonder how you n to go about it?” Ca asked.


    "... Sometimes, primal force must overrideprehension," I replied, ncing around the castle—a grotesque, mystical space that seemed to have taken on a life of its own.


    "I wonder what you’re trying to say."


    “I’m going to destroy the entire castle.”


    Ca let out a small gasp before questioning me again, her tone still filled with doubt as she asked, “I wonder if you have enough mana for that.”


    "You will assist," I said.


    Ca bit her lip, unsettled by the unexpected demand for cooperation.


    “How?”


    “I’ve inscribed the entire castle with the <i>Telekinesis </i>spell using my steel. You will supply the mana we need. I will handle the rest.”


    I didn’t know exactly how much mana Ca had, but it had to be in the tens or hundreds of thousands. With that level of support, my <i>Telekinesis </i>would reach its full power, enough to cause a small tremor across the continent.


    "I will destroy the spirits that have taken over this castle and ind," I continued.


    The n was simple—focus all of Ca''s vast magical energy within her mana directly into the castle.


    Ca looked at me, a faint smile on her lips, and asked, “This castle seems to be made of thousands of souls. Will you end up destroying them all?”


    “... <i>Hmph</i>,” I muttered, curling my lips in contempt. “It’s better to die than to exist as these damned spirits.”


    “What if they say they don’t want to die?” Ca asked.


    It was a deeply human dilemma, but I shook my head and replied, “Even so, they’re nothing more than the cries of the dead.”


    Whatever happened to this castle or the souls trapped inside, neither Deculein nor Yukline would ever care. My ego was never bound by the sentimental belief that souls are human.


    "Wouldn''t this be a massacre? Many mages might criticize you. The Magical Realm already epts that souls exist," Ca warned.


    “Why should I care?”


    “... What?”


    "It''s not my concern."


    <i>Why would a soul be considered human? They''re nothing but parasites—long dead and buried. Yet, these goddamned creatures have the nerve to drag the living into their twisted nightmares,</i> I thought.


    “Yukline does notpromise—never has, never will.”


    I never cared about the process. Only the end result mattered. Sentiment and chasing happiness meant nothing to me.


    "This ce calls for the resolve of a viin, not the mercy of a saint," I concluded.


    And I never hesitated to make those choices. Born under the Viin’s Fate, I lived out my role as a true viin.


    “I wonder if you''ll end up making enemies of ghosts,” Ca said.


    I replied to Ca''s words with a faint smile, "As if that concerns me."


    I knew I would kill countless real people in my lifetime. If they returned as ghosts, driven by hatred or thirsting for revenge, it wouldn’t matter.


    "They might cling to your shoulders, sapping your strength little by little, until they leave you worn out too soon," Ca said.


    “<i>Hmph</i>. Do you think I’m incapable of dealing with ghosts?”


    If they chose to haunt me, so be it. I would crush them relentlessly until their very essence was scattered into nothingness.


    "I''ll break them down, over and over, until these ghosts are nothing but a fading nuisance."


    "... Right," Ca replied, nodding after a pause, then channeled her mana into the ground. "I think this castle made a mistake. A mage as cold as you isn’t one to mess with."


    Following the magic circle inscribed by Wood Steel, the Authority’s mana surged forward, fast and relentless like a river in flood. Ca closed her eyes for a moment, and in that instant, her mana swept through the castle.


    “I think it''s done. Do you really have it under control? It’d be quite embarrassing if you couldn''t pull it off after all that talk,” Ca said.


    "Have no doubt," I replied, connecting the magic circle, now infused with Ca''s mana, directly to my body.


    <i>Swoooosh...!</i>


    A torrent of mana coursed through me, pushing my limits, but my <i>Iron Man </i>body held strong. I would not falter.


    <i>Tap—</i>


    Atst, like a pebble dropping to the earth, a faint ripple of mana marked the spell''s activation. And then came the name, almostughably out of ce—<i>Intermediate Telekinesis</i>.


    <i>Ruuuuumble—!</i>


    The ground trembled beneath me, a sudden, powerful quake that rattled everything in its wake.


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