Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 98

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 98. The Sephiroth Magician – A City in a Dying World (1)

I stared at the hand Andromallius extended toward me, hesitating for a moment.
Was accepting his hand truly the right choice?
From what I’d observed, he seemed like someone I could trust, at least on the surface.
But could I truly rely on my own judgment?
If his words were true and this world was indeed a dying one, was there no possibility he might deceive me?
Or if I refused, was there truly no chance he would retaliate against me?
Nothing in this world carried zero percent risk.
Yet cowering before small possibilities and refusing to move forward didn’t suit my nature.
Besides, ever since creating my astral body, I’d grown fascinated by the magic of this world.
In that case, accepting Andromallius’s hand wasn’t such a bad idea.
I smiled wryly and spoke.
“Whether I take your hand or not—let’s get to know each other better first and decide then. If you’re forcing me to choose right now, I’d have to decline. I’m not the type to trust someone I’ve just met today.”
At my response, he laughed awkwardly and withdrew his hand.
“Ha, actually I was planning to suggest we get to know each other better before joining forces. I just spoke up first because it seemed like you were searching for my motives. I’m serious.”
His flustered attempt at explanation was so clumsy it made me chuckle.
“I understand. Still, since Andromallius is essentially my magic instructor, I’ll consider your proposal positively.”
“That’s enough for me right now. Let’s head to the City.”
I followed Andromallius out of the Secret Base.
Outside, the swarm of ants that had been chasing us wandered through streets reclaimed by the forest.
Andromallius pierced an ant’s head with a simple magic bullet and disposed of it.
Seeing this, I realized his earlier muttering about how they would’ve been fine if not for the poison wasn’t an exaggeration.
But that magic bullet structure—it’s surprisingly simple.
Isn’t it usually more intricate than that?
Ah, is it because the magic bullets I learned were taught by the Librarian Elder?
“Speaking of which, why did you fall victim to the poison?”
At my question, Andromallius laughed bitterly.
“The circumstances are too long to explain. But briefly put, I was betrayed. A friend I thought was my comrade was seduced by my enemy and poisoned me.”
I was left speechless.
“And someone you’ve only just met today—you fell for a single word from them?”
Could this person actually just be a gullible fool?
“Ha, hardly. I determined your sincerity through my magic, so I trusted you.”
“But didn’t you say you couldn’t use magic because of the poison?”
“I’ll explain as we head to the City.”
In response to my question, he turned toward the City and disposed of the swarming ants with simple magic bullets.
“Magic classification can be divided into hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of categories if one so chooses. But if I were to classify it most broadly, I’d say there are three types.”
With a single gesture from Andromallius, countless ants exploded into black smoke and vanished.
The magical power I’m sensing is less than Hwagyeong’s, but the destructive capability might actually be stronger.
“Unique magic, universal magic, and pact magic.”
Or rather, I should say it’s specialized in slaughtering civilians.
Andromallius swept the black smoke away with wind, preventing it from approaching us.
“Unique magic is personal magic that hasn’t been academically formalized, so only the individual can use it. In essence, it’s closer to a superpower than actual magic.”
Unique magic would refer to things like the ‘Multidimensional Avatar’ I received from The Tower or ‘Regeneration’ that I obtained from an ability stone.
“Universal magic, on the other hand, has been academically established and formalized, allowing anyone to learn and use it if the conditions are met. Magic bullets like these, which can be used simply by sensing magical power, are the prime example.”
I fired a magic bullet just like Andromallius did.
It wasn’t the Librarian Elder’s magic bullet, but Andromallius’s.
My magic bullet pierced through the ant’s brow, and it collapsed.
“Excellent. While it’s an extremely simple spell, the completion is remarkable for something you replicated after seeing it just once.”
He seemed to have noticed that I’d copied his magic.
“Finally, pact magic refers to borrowing power by making a contract with magic itself or with an entity that serves as the subject of magic. Others call those who handle pact magic Warlocks or Theurges.”
“Like demon contractors or holy priests?”
“Those are included as well. In my case, I’ve contracted with the magic ‘Andromallius’ and can use its authority at any time without consuming magical power. Thanks to that, I was able to discern that Credit was speaking truthfully.”
At those words, I became puzzled.
“If you’ve contracted with such a powerful magic and can use it freely, couldn’t you have escaped easily even without using magical power?”
At my question, Andromallius laughed bitterly.
“The Andromallius I’ve contracted with has almost no combat authority. The little combat ability it does have is the kind that punishes ‘the wicked,’ so it doesn’t work on monsters at all.”
“So pact magic isn’t something you can use whenever you want?”
At my words, Andromallius began complaining as if venting.
“That’s exactly right. It works on monsters that were once human, but for monsters that were once animals, hunting other animals can’t be considered evil. Since the concept of ‘evil’ originates from humanity, there’s nothing to be done about it.”
“But when handling pact magic, are there no risks? Like your soul being surrendered to a demon if you die?”
Andromallius is the name of one of Solomon’s 72 demons, so it made sense to ask.
“Demon contractors do face such risks, but the Andromallius I’ve contracted with isn’t a demon but magic itself, so my soul won’t be surrendered or anything like that.”
Not a demon?
“Andromallius can be described as a ‘fragment of authority’ born from the ‘shadow of a dead god.'”
“Then the magic called Andromallius isn’t alive?”
He nodded in affirmation.
“That’s right. It merely exists, but it’s not living magic. However, even so, magic called authority possesses its own will even if it isn’t alive.”
How can something that isn’t alive possess will?
“Well, even if we call it will, it’s more like the will of a looping video or the spinal reflex that occurs in a brain-dead vegetative state. That’s why it carries different risks.”
“What kind of risks… Ah, I probably shouldn’t be asking about this, should I?”
At my words, he nodded.
“Correct. For those who use pact magic, risks are also weaknesses. You could say they’re the price paid for wielding absolute authority.”
Well, from his behavior and words, I could roughly figure out what the risk was.
From the way he repaid his debt to me, his benefactor in life, and the casual remarks he let slip about justice, it seemed the risk was a constraint on his actions.
“I mentioned earlier that I operate as ‘Shadow,’ right? The ‘Shadow’ has many nicknames and derogatory names, but the reason the official name became ‘Shadow’ is because the leaders who command ‘Shadow’ must necessarily be those who’ve contracted with authority magic born from the ‘shadow of a dead god.'”
“So magicians who haven’t contracted with that authority magic can’t become Shadow?”
“More precisely, they can’t become leaders of Shadow. The other shadows, the 72 shadows, wouldn’t acknowledge them. Of course, the mercenaries in the City aren’t only shadows. There are countless mercenary groups, and their collective bodies each use their own unique names.”
Andromallius mentioned the names of several famous mercenary groups.
Hawk, Daffodil, Fang, Trump, Redevelopment Mercenary Union, Hybrid….
“Hybrid is a mercenary company?”
“Among other things, yes. Large corporations typically expand through diversified ventures, so they’ve branched into the mercenary business—though their parent company is a pharmaceutical firm. These days, they’ve gained more renown as a mercenary enterprise than as a pharmaceutical one.”
He muttered that it was probably because mutant monsters had become increasingly active lately.
“While there are numerous mercenary and contract organizations, Shadow stands out as both the most publicly renowned and the most shrouded in mystery among them. The leaders of each Shadow faction operate independently in a horizontal hierarchy, so they have different inclinations—sometimes allied, sometimes hostile to one another.”
Hostile to each other? How could they be unified as a single organization?
“Surely the one who poisoned you isn’t from the same Shadow faction?”
“Why wouldn’t they be? Berial—that worthless bastard has always been my enemy.”
Berial. Now that I thought about it, Andromallius had suspected me of being an assassin sent by Berial.
“That’s a mess.”
“Ha, the world is crumbling as we speak. There isn’t a single organization that isn’t dysfunctional. Even the 33 Magic Towers that govern the City are a complete disaster—why should we be any different?”
When Andromallius had introduced himself, he’d mentioned being one of the seventy-two most powerful mages, excluding the leaders of the 33 Magic Towers.
As I listened to his explanation, the Forest eventually gave way, and we arrived at the City.
The City’s buildings showed signs of poor maintenance—cracks ran through them everywhere, and a foul stench permeated the air.
“Here, put on this mask. We’re still quite far from entering the City proper, but it functions as a temporary identification of sorts.”
Andromallius donned a black mask and handed me an identical one. I wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed as though some kind of magic had been woven into it.
“By the way, what you see over there isn’t the City.”
I put on the mask and asked.
“What? I can sense people’s presence scattered all around.”
Wasn’t this just a slum?
“This is the outskirts of the Old City—a place where those abandoned by the City live, those who couldn’t even obtain citizenship. Unfortunately, the people here don’t receive protection from the magical barrier that guards the City; they merely exist as parasites outside it.”
His explanation reeked of dystopia.
“Still, while the City doesn’t manage this place, they don’t obstruct the logistics markets that allow people here to maintain minimal subsistence. Mercenaries often deal with the monsters that appear outside the City as well.”
“Why is that? No matter how large the City is, if they can’t conduct trade, their resources would be limited, wouldn’t they?”
At my question, Andromallius exhaled softly.
“The City doesn’t eliminate the people here because they serve as a biological barrier, preventing the monsters from outside from entering the City.”
I was horrified by Andromallius’s explanation.
If they held back the monsters trying to crawl into the City, the cost of maintaining the magical barrier would decrease.
Moreover, they extracted biological mana from these people to construct the magical barrier that protected the skies.
The reason the City didn’t obstruct the flow of goods here was to achieve maximum effect with minimal cost compared to managing the barrier directly themselves.
It was the thinking of someone who viewed people not as human beings, but as resources.
Yet I couldn’t bring myself to suggest tearing it all down immediately.
Those abandoned by the City—without such a role, they would lose even the minimal resources needed for survival and any shelter to live in.
It seemed I had truly arrived in the worst of all possible worlds.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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