The AI Archmage - Chapter 75

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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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AI Grand Mage Episode 75

The full moon cast its pale glow across the earth. Nerin stood quietly, eyes closed.
The construction site of the village, still unfinished, was rather cluttered.
But she didn’t mind. In fact, she preferred it.
“Yeah, it’s not bad.”
Outside the Blue Tower, she had always been alone like this.
Because she was alien both as a human and as a mage, she had grown accustomed to solitude.
But the Blue Tower was different.
It was a mess, certainly, but unlike the outside world, it didn’t treat her as merely “another creature.”
They saw her as simply a bit odd—and that was all.
So to her, the Blue Tower was as comfortable as home.
“Are you ready?”
At the sound of that voice, Nerin’s gaze shifted.
It was Sion.
Though they hadn’t known each other long, Sion was a peculiar kind of “family.”
She solved the Blue Tower’s problems without hesitation and had improved Nerin’s condition as well.
She was eccentric, but she wasn’t thoughtless.
Nerin had quickly realized that Sion had become irreplaceable to the Blue Tower.
“Yeah!”
“Like I said before, they’re searching for you now. It seems a trace amount of their weapon fragments got lodged in your wound, which is how they’ve been able to track you…….”
Sion tapped her forearm repeatedly with her index finger as she spoke.
“In short, they’re going to come after you no matter what.”
“Right, I understand.”
Nerin nodded.
A moment later, she looked at Sion with an anxious expression and asked.
“But will you be okay? The ones who attacked me…….”
“Specially trained assassins, I’d wager. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have bothered using something like the Magic Killer’s Weapon in the first place.”
“……Yeah.”
Nerin nodded, her expression unusually downcast.
She was worried that her family would be hurt because of her problem.
But Sion spoke with certainty.
“You don’t need to worry.”
“But…….”
“Don’t worry. The Blue Tower isn’t as weak as you think it is.”
Then she looked at Nerin for a moment before asking.
“One question. Why did you leave the Blue Tower? Was it because of the attackers who’ve come looking for you now?”
“…….”
Nerin didn’t answer.
But that silence was answer enough for Sion.
“I see.”
Sion chuckled softly and spoke.
“Understood. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Then she turned away.
“You just wait here quietly. Give it a little time, and everything will be settled.”
“Ah…….”
At those words, Nerin hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Really…… is that really okay? Truly?”
Though conditions had improved recently, the Blue Tower had been in dire straits for some time—fragile enough that even minor outside threats could threaten its very existence.
Yet Sion spoke to Nerin without the slightest concern.
“Why would you even ask such a thing?”
There was no need, she seemed to say.
And in that same moment, Sion vanished from before her.
Nerin stared blankly at the spot where Sion had just been and murmured softly.
“Family…….”
She thought for a moment.
Perhaps this was the first time she truly understood what that word meant.

* * *

The middle-aged man entered Blue Tower Territory, leading his assassins forward with measured caution.
‘……As expected, nothing remarkable. The Magic Tower fell over a decade ago, so it’s only natural.’
Of course, had it been anything other than a fallen tower, he would never have entertained the thought of crossing into its domain uninvited.
Yet something nagged at him—a sense that something was amiss.
He’d felt it partway through: the sensation of passing through a peculiarly bothersome ‘barrier.’
Though he couldn’t grasp it fully, as a 6th Circle mage, the alienness of it was impossible to ignore.
‘Now that I think of it, there were rumors of a 9th Circle barrier spell here.’
But he chose to dismiss the thought.
If such magic were truly active, the Blue Tower wouldn’t have fallen into ruin like this.
Yes, there was no reason to worry.
Of course, if the Blue Tower discovered this incursion itself, it could prove troublesome—but the middle-aged man had no intention of allowing that.
Besides, he held a quiet certainty that the current Blue Tower harbored no mage capable of detecting their presence.
It was while moving thus.
Thud.
The earth trembled once.
The assassins and the middle-aged man, moving in silence, reflexively halted and scanned their surroundings.
“That vibration just now—what was it?!”
“We’re uncertain. No mana signature detected, but……!”
The assassins too couldn’t hide their alarm, their eyes darting across the darkness.
This was unexpected.
Could something unusual be happening within the Blue Tower itself?
“Don’t panic!”
The middle-aged man steadied his assassins, then surveyed the area.
Nothing overtly suspicious registered at first glance.
Yet why did he feel this way?
Gooseflesh prickled across his skin.
Even so, the middle-aged man forced the sensation aside.
“……In any case, all we need do is eliminate that mongrel and depart. Don’t waste attention on trivialities—just focus on what we’re here to accomplish.”
“Yes, understood!”
“Besides, the weapon fragment we planted in that mongrel will pinpoint its exact location, so we can arrive swiftly.”
Eliminate that ‘mongrel,’ and the objective is complete.
The middle-aged man quickened his pace, a thin smile crossing his lips.
“Of course, unforeseen accidents could occur during the mongrel’s elimination. The young mage of the Blue Tower might find herself entangled in our enterprise.”
“…….”
“Should that happen, we overlook it. Such things are unavoidable. We must be capable of disregarding minor matters to prevent the Main House’s future and avert catastrophe.”
The assassins nodded in agreement.
The decision had already been made.
Today, that mongrel would be eliminated—regardless of whether innocent blood was shed in the process.
“Now then, let us proceed—”
It was the moment he turned to move toward where that mongrel waited.
Thud!
The earth shook again, harder this time.
“……?!”
The middle-aged man and his assassins flinched involuntarily, their eyes snapping to the surroundings.
The tremor had felt significantly stronger this time.
Its meaning was singular.
Something vast and heavy was slowly approaching—something massive enough to shake the very ground beneath them.
“What in the name of—”
It was the moment he glimpsed the approaching form’s identity.
Crash!
Trees splintered and the earth erupted as the ’cause’ of the trembling finally revealed itself.
“What the……”
The middle-aged man stared, his expression one of utter disbelief, as he named what stood before him.
“……A golem?”
An iron golem of a form he’d never witnessed before loomed into view, massive and terrible.
So far, that was manageable.
The real problem lay elsewhere.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
The tremors did not cease—they continued, unbroken and relentless.
Until the iron giants surrounded the intruders, he continued to….
“Th-this place…….”
The middle-aged man, his eyes trembling as he stared at the golems, muttered in a quavering voice.
“What exactly are they?”

* * *

“Akasha, is the connection complete?”
[Yes, everything is complete.]
Akasha replied to Sion.
Of course, Sion had already anticipated this situation the moment Nerin returned to the Blue Tower.
If it had merely been bad luck that led to the assault, it might be different.
But he was certain of it—analyzing Nerin’s wounds had made that clear.
Which is why he’d prepared.
Not just magic tools capable of detecting intruders.
He’d also decided to mobilize the useful tools that had originally lain dormant within the Blue Tower.
[A total of 38 golems. Connection complete. Currently, 4 units have surrounded the intruders.]
“Good. Deploy the golems to the detected positions first.”
[Understood.]
Akasha began deploying the golems according to Sion’s command. Of course, not all the golems being mobilized were combat-type.
They hadn’t been created with such a purpose in mind from the start.
But that didn’t matter.
Even so, the golems were perfectly suited to face these unwelcome guests.
Clang!
“Ugh, unngh……! Wh-what’s this? Why won’t our weapons…….”
“Idiot, use magic!”
The assassins scrambled and moved to engage the golems.
If this were a planned scenario, it might be different, but in a situation like this, even assassins couldn’t help but panic.
“Yes, panic.”
Sion watched them calmly and began manipulating the golems.
Screech!
The steel golem’s eyes blazed as its arm extended toward the assassins.
And the choice the mage assassins made in that moment was not magic.
Clang!
The blade an assassin swung in desperation bounced off.
The situation was too urgent to risk chanting a lengthy incantation for a spell.
“Not that it matters much if they do use magic.”
The moment Sion muttered this, the assassins behind him deployed magic.
But.
Screech!
“……Wh-what?”
It didn’t work.
The assassin stared wide-eyed at the golem, unmarred by even a scratch.
At that moment, the middle-aged man cried out.
“Es-escape!”
The composure that had been visible just moments before was nowhere to be found.
That was when it happened.
“M-Master, our magic……! Our mana won’t move!”
“What?!”
It was exactly as they said.
The assassins’ mana refused to move.
Their faces drained of color, they watched the golems’ encirclement tightening around them.
But soon they suppressed their panic and moved desperately, searching for an opening.
Sion watched it all in silence.
“Hmm, I’d hoped they’d show something unexpected, but there’s not much to see here.”
[Generally speaking, that reaction is reasonable, isn’t it? If magic doesn’t work and physical attacks are difficult, panic is inevitable.]
“That’s true enough.”
Still, he’d hoped for a more interesting response.
They were, after all, a group capable enough to deploy the Magic Killer’s Weapon in an assault.
[9th Circle Magic is certainly impressive. It blocks out practically any spell.]
“Exactly.”
The reason the assassins couldn’t use magic was simple enough.
9th Circle Magic—Belusian’s Iron Fortress.
The spell that Sion had successfully restored before was now protecting the Blue Tower.
And as the one who’d accomplished that restoration, Sion held authority over Belusian’s Iron Fortress.
[So you’re planning to lure them in and capture them as things stand?]
“No.”
[……Why not?]
The scene unfolding below proved that using golems alone would make short work of those intruders. And yet…… why, exactly?
“There’s no sport in it.”
[I beg your pardon?]
“I was planning to wrap this up quick and clean. But now that I’ve thought it over, I don’t think I should.”
At those words, Akasha felt a deeply ominous presence settling over her.
That foreboding that her Creator would inevitably abandon the plan and indulge in some capricious whim…….
And that premonition proved to be no mistake.
Sion’s eyes had grown cold—far colder than before.
“How dare these wretches try to wound my tower’s invaluable labor force?”
[…….]
“I think it’s best if I handle them myself. Merely subduing them won’t be nearly enough.”
[What are you planning to……?]
To Akasha’s question, Sion smiled quietly, then spoke.
“What else? Show them just a little more of what hell looks like.”
[…….]
And so, in their desperate flight, the assassins’ fates were sealed.

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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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