TRPM 267

chapter 267

Two nights had passed since the Shadow Sorcerer was arrested.

And on the night when Korea’s Four Great Guilds and the Association were preparing to deal with the supremacists within the Legion Guild…

I, as usual, sent out my puppets to clear dangerous dungeons—those that were difficult for ordinary Awakeners to handle.

Of course, “difficult” didn’t mean “impossible.”

If a guild had someone on the level of an Aura Master or Archmage, they could clear it eventually, even if it took time.

Ah, naturally, I also dealt with dungeons that had been officially declared “uncleared.”
Those were usually places with impossibly tricky conditions or such vast internal structures that a clear was deemed unrealistic…

But with my meditative trance, I can see what others can’t, and if I wish, my perception can extend beyond the Korean peninsula to all of East Asia. If a nation possessed that level of range and detection, clearing such dungeons wouldn’t be too hard.

In fact, I had already cleared an “uncleared” dungeon in London.
Since then, whenever I came across another such dungeon, I immediately dealt with it.

Other countries had caught wind of this and often asked me to handle their dungeons as well…

But since their intentions were basically to exploit someone of my caliber for cheap labor, I just ignored them.

Anyway.

That night, while I was checking for dungeons that ordinary Awakeners would struggle with, I sensed something unusual.

“…Was the flow of mana always like this?”

It started with a faint sense of wrongness.

I brushed it off at first. After all, mana flows could shift at any time.

Up until now, I had used those flows to predict where new dungeons might form… so if the flow had changed, it was worth investigating again.

I thought it was just a little bothersome.

“……”

But as I began redrawing the map of mana flows in my head, I sensed another anomaly.

The mana is all flowing in one direction.

Curious, I expanded my perception.

Sure enough, the mana in the air was converging toward a single point.

This is clearly artificial.

Like the mana-gathering formations in specialized Awakener schools or academies… only on a completely different scale.

Those magic circles gathered mana from their surrounding districts at best. But this…

It feels like mana from the entire world is being drawn in.

I couldn’t believe I was the only one who noticed.

Even if it wasn’t public knowledge, many institutions already knew that dungeon formation was linked to ambient mana. They must have been monitoring these flows in real time.

And a convergence of this scale couldn’t be natural. Someone was behind it.

But why gather this much mana?

Gathering mana itself wasn’t illegal.
But gathering it at this scale… incomprehensible.

Maybe they wanted to compress it into artificial elixirs? Possible, though horrendously inefficient.

Or maybe…

“…A dungeon?”

A chill ran down my spine.

Yes, a dungeon.

The black mist that forms dungeons was believed to be condensed ether from the air.

If someone was deliberately collecting this much mana to create one artificially…

It would be on a whole other level compared to anything that had come before.

A dungeon more dangerous than any ever seen.

“Could it be they’re trying to create an unstoppable dungeon, flood it with monsters, and let them spill out beyond the gate?”

Or perhaps…

“…Or are they planning to raid such a dungeon for its rewards?”

That seemed more plausible.
The harder the dungeon, and the fewer who attempted it, the greater the system rewards.

I had even obtained my subspace ability as a dungeon reward.

If that was their plan, it meant whoever was behind this was confident they could clear it—no matter how difficult.

“…Just what kind of maniacs are these people?”

I widened my perception to map the mana more clearly.

…Too much interference.

The farther I extended, the more I picked up—the hum of buildings, vehicles, people moving.

It was like an avalanche of information forcibly dumped into my mind.

An ordinary person’s brain would’ve burst by now.

But I was different.

Compared to the flood of knowledge I was forced to endure when I glimpsed the beings beyond the rifts torn by my spatial slashes… this is nothing.

Of course, that didn’t mean I could process it all in real time.

So I filtered, narrowing my focus only to the flow of mana.

There. I think I’ve got it.

Once I had a rough idea of the convergence point, I pulled my perception back.

Heat prickled faintly at my temples, but I sighed in relief.

The convergence point was still within my range.
Had it been outside East Asia, pinpointing it would’ve been far more difficult.

“…China, huh?”

Yes. The mana was converging in China.

And not just anywhere—at a place I knew well.

Where I had gone to rescue Alex when he was kidnapped.

And also where I had met China’s strongest being—the Heavenly Demon.

Meaning this operation was likely orchestrated by one of the Heavenly Demon’s cults.

“…Well, those fanatics would totally do something like this.”

Given their insane deeds in the name of serving him, this could easily be their work.

Maybe they wanted to create a dungeon as a “playground” for the Heavenly Demon.
Or maybe to offer its rewards to him.

“Ha. And here I was worried.”

I shook my head and lay down.

If it was the cult’s doing, I didn’t need to worry.
Anything they did had the Heavenly Demon’s approval—and he respected strength. He’d even shown me some friendliness.

Unless he and I became enemies someday, I doubted he’d act against me.

…Right?

An odd unease lingered, but I forced it aside.

Meanwhile, in China…

At the very site where mana from across the world was converging, three figures stood.

“(Ho… what a tremendous aura.)”
“(Unbelievable… this actually works.)”
“(Heh… did you doubt me?)”
“(Not exactly. I knew it was possible, but seeing it in person feels strange.)”

The three were none other than Oracle—who had left the Martian organization—and her new allies: the Heavenly Demon and the Great Warlock.

“(So all I have to do is raid this dungeon and claim the system’s reward, right?)”

“(Exactly. It should be a decent diversion. This massive mana won’t enlarge the dungeon, but instead empower its boss monster.)”

Oracle revealed that not only had she created this artificial dungeon, she had some control over its parameters.

“(Heh… I made some adjustments.)”

“(You fixed the rewards too, didn’t you?)”

“(Of course.)”

Not that Oracle herself did it—the Great Warlock had, at her request.

“(So all that mana went into empowering the boss monster, huh….)”

The Heavenly Demon’s lips curled upward.

A stronger monster—stronger than any before.

The thought thrilled him.

I wonder what kind of foe it’ll be? Hopefully humanoid… though any will do.

“(It’s opening.)”

As he mused, the moment arrived.

The dungeon formed, and its gate appeared.

Without waiting for Oracle or the Great Warlock to speak, the Heavenly Demon leapt inside, body burning with excitement.

“(Hahahaha…!)”

“…Seriously.”

“Heh… let’s follow him.”

Oracle sighed as she watched him rush in like a madman, while the Great Warlock only chuckled knowingly.

“(Wait, but if we enter too, the rewards—)”

“(I fixed the rewards. No problem.)”

With that, the Great Warlock entered first. Oracle, trusting him, followed.

And then…

“(……)”
“(……)”

She found the two standing frozen. Not literally turned to stone—just unmoving.

“…Why are you two like that?”

“(Heh… interesting.)”

“(Heh-heh… we’ve got a problem.)”

Oracle, confused, followed their gaze.

“…A jiangshi? That’s a Chinese undead, isn’t it?”

“(The talisman on its forehead says so.)”

Only one being stood there—a jiangshi.

But one strengthened with the mana of the entire world.

And then…

“(Heh-heh… that face looks familiar.)”

“(Wait…)”

Oracle blinked, finally realizing.

That face… She recognized it.

If her greatest concern were to grow older, his face would one day look just like that.

“…Don’t tell me… Artist?”