Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 165

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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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A café operated by the heir to the Dark Guild.
165
“Ahhh! The Mage Tower is collapsing!”
“Everyone, run!”
As debris rained down overhead, the gathered crowd erupted into shouts and scattered in all directions.
I looked up and felt my expression harden.
“That’s where Grandfather was.”
“Something’s happened.”
“Could they have succeeded?”
If they’d managed to destroy the power as Seniel suggested, it would be a relief—but something felt wrong.
And then, a moment later.
The debris fell again, this time with violent force.
Wind howled through the opening like a vortex, and a tremendous force detonated above before crashing down with a thunderous boom.
Everything nearby was swept away by the shockwave. We too were hurled backward.
The surrounding smoke was so thick I could barely see what had fallen, so I squinted.
Black smoke and blue light swirled together, enveloping an enormous sphere.
With the whirlwind churning around it, nothing was visible at first, but glimpses of the interior appeared between gusts.
I spotted Grandfather and Gregory caught within it and my eyes went wide.
“They’re trapped in there. Cayden, is there any way to help?”
“We can’t get close. If anyone touches that, their body will simply crumble.”
I didn’t know what had happened, but the miasma was many times more potent than when the power had been drawn from the map.
My body trembled just watching it, and I could only imagine what Grandfather was enduring.
Then I noticed something else inside the sphere and gasped.
……!
Grandfather and Gregory weren’t alone in there.
The being trapped in ice—the one I’d seen when dragged beyond the cliff on Alein Mountain.
It was unmistakably the same face I’d seen then, its massive black wings unfurling.
“This can’t be real….”
It was definitely Desikan.
How could he be here if his seal hadn’t been broken?
I was consumed by shock.
That was when—
He opened his eyes and looked at me, smiling wickedly. The moment our gazes met, chills ran down my entire spine.
“I’ve come to collect you.”
His lips moved. Despite the distance, his voice reached my ears with perfect clarity.
“Are you alright?”
Seniel grabbed my frozen arm and pulled, snapping me back to awareness.
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
Looking at Seniel, his face was twisted in strain, breathing heavily through gritted teeth.
“What’s wrong?”
“Something feels off. I can barely breathe—there’s this crushing pressure. It’s like a heavy stone is pressing down on my entire body.”
“What?”
Glancing around, I saw Biedler was in a similar state to Seniel.
The weaker mages had already collapsed to the ground, and some lay motionless.
Only Cayden and I remained standing comfortably.
“…I’m fine.”
What was fortunate was that the demonic beasts had stopped moving since the sphere appeared.
It seemed to be because of Desikan inside it.
Juliano was also watching the sphere with a gleeful smile.
“Rosia, look at your feet.”
At Cayden’s urgent voice, I lowered my gaze and found a vine wrapped around my ankle. I cut it immediately with my sword.
“Vines?”
They were much thinner than what I’d seen on Alein Mountain, but vines were dominating the ground.
That wasn’t all. Though the tower was crumbling, we were clearly still inside the Mage Tower, yet the surrounding landscape was changing.
Desolate earth, dust, and a dark crimson sky made me gasp in horror.
“Don’t tell me this place is….”
“Yes. Desikan is using his power to transform this into the Intermediate Realm. We have to stop him.”
Desikan was overlapping the space where he was sealed with the Mage Tower.
That’s why only Cayden and I weren’t affected.
Cayden is the only priest who can enter the Intermediate Realm, and I’ve already been there before.
“If this place becomes entirely the Intermediate Realm….”
Cayden gritted his teeth.
“Everyone will die. Once it transforms, there’s no going back.”
I turned to Seniel and Biedler, who were suffering, and asked anxiously.
“Isn’t there a way? We can’t get close to the sphere.”
“No matter how powerful Desikan is, he’s still sealed, so he must have used a Mediating Artifact to connect the spaces.”
“It’s somewhere here?”
“Yes. We need to find it and destroy it.”
I took a slow breath to steady myself and looked around.
I focused on sensing the same aura I’d felt when approaching Desikan in the ice.
The space was too vast to search completely, but I reasoned it had to be near the sphere.
Then I sensed something odd near where Juliano was standing.
I’d assumed the strong miasma came from Juliano’s power, but something felt unnatural.
The man who moments ago had been throwing nets and causing chaos to capture me was now standing motionless in place.
Suspicious of his stillness, I examined him closely and noticed his feet looked swollen.
Something buried hastily and hidden. A strong intuition struck me, so I called out to Cayden, who was also scanning the surroundings.
“I think I found it. There.”
“Let’s check right away.”
As Cayden and I rushed toward him, Juliano hastily commanded his demonic beasts.
“How are they moving? And two of them?”
Since we weren’t interested in fighting the beasts, we quickly sidestepped the ones charging at us and lunged at Juliano.
“Ugh, what are you doing! Attack them immediately!!”
Juliano panicked and commanded the beasts, but we were already at his face.
For all his mastery of Summoning Magic and Demon Realm artifacts, Juliano himself was pathetically weak.
He didn’t know how to use his body—all he could do was backpedal to dodge our advance.
“Get away! Don’t interfere!!”
Crazed with desperation, Juliano tried to throw a net at me again, but I swept it aside with my foot and sent him tumbling backward to the ground.
Where he’d been standing, we found exactly what we’d expected.
A ring-like object wrapped in black smoke, radiating miasma—clearly from the Demon Realm.
“This is it?”
“Yes. I’ll destroy it right now.”
Cayden drove the Holy Sword he was holding through it.
Pure white light erupted, beginning to purify everything around it.
The vines vanished, and the desolate landscape of the ruined tower returned to normal.
Those who didn’t understand what had happened looked confused and began moving again.
I felt my tension ease when I saw Seniel and Biedler, their faces relaxed, running toward Cayden and me.
“Thank goodness. Really.”
“You found it well, Rosia.”
I met Cayden’s affectionate gaze and let my lips curve into a smile.
“Did you do that? I have no idea what just happened.”
“It seemed like only the two of you weren’t affected.”
Biedler clearly had many questions.
But just as I was about to answer, another massive explosion erupted from the sphere.
The powerful miasma radiating from the sphere had noticeably weakened.
It seemed to be the result of his failed attempt to absorb power while transforming this place into the Intermediate Realm.
As the whirlwind surrounding it dissipated, I could see Desikan, Grandfather, and the fallen Gregory.
Grandfather’s silver hair, which had been neatly tied, was now flowing wildly in all directions.
Seeing exhaustion etched across his face, there was nothing I could do but watch—and it was unbearable.
That was when—
Grandfather turned toward us and transmitted his voice through magic.
“There’s no choice left now. I’m going to pour all my strength into this.”
Understanding his meaning, I rushed toward the sphere, shaking my head.
“No! Please don’t!”
“Rosia!”
Biedler quickly grabbed me. I struggled, but Seniel and Cayden also held me as they shook their heads.
“You can’t get close.”
Grandfather raised a barrier to prevent us from approaching.
Then he drew out his staff and, arms crossed, aimed it at Desikan, who was looking down at him.
“Grandfather?”
“Rosia. I’m feeling strange.”
Cayden too sensed something was wrong and moved closer to me, standing near the barrier.
A faint smile appeared on Grandfather’s face as he turned to look at us.
“Rosia, and Seniel. Thank you so much for appearing before me when I had lost all reason to live.”
“Grandfather!”
Unsure of his intention, I pounded on the barrier to stop him.
But it didn’t yield, and my palms only bled. Still, I kept pounding.
“The fact that I lived through all those tedious years must have been so that I could meet you. Watching you has brought me such joy.”
Listening to Grandfather’s voice, brimming with genuine happiness, tears began streaming down my face.
“I am a selfish man. In my long life, I never once sacrificed for anyone. But for the world you will live in…”
Grandfather’s staff erupted with an enormous surge of magical energy.
“Don’t do this! Please!”
But no matter how loud I cried out, I couldn’t stop the magic that had already begun.
In that final moment, Seniel and I were reflected in Grandfather’s tear-filled eyes.
“I wish I could keep watching you live. There’s so much I wanted to tell you, so much I wanted to see…”
Because of Grandfather’s magical power, the sphere began rising into the air again.
The black aura was being driven back, a blue vortex swirling anew as Desikan was forced away.
“The first time I’ve ever said this. I love you. My precious grandchildren….”
“No!! There has to be another way!”
“Grandfather!”
Seniel, realizing what was happening, tried to cut through the barrier while calling for him.
Grandfather was sacrificing himself to destroy Desikan’s power.
A light so brilliant I couldn’t open my eyes erupted, and the impact sent us all flying backward.
I felt against my stinging skin the fact that this magical energy surpassed all the mages in this place combined.
When I opened my eyes again after squeezing them shut, the sphere had burst and the surroundings had been swept into a wasteland.
Grandfather….
He was no longer there.
I couldn’t stop his sacrifice.

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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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