Chapter 1210

After having a meal and exercising with Yong Seol-Hwa, Tae-Sung stretched one last time before entering his VR capsule.

With plenty of rest and a heart full of love, both his body and mind felt refreshed.

“Okay, let’s do this! Time to give it my all again today!”

Hyping himself up, Tae-Sung closed the VR capsule lid and logged into the game.

[Alert: Connecting...]

[Alert: 99%... 100%!]

[Alert: Welcome to Brave New World!]

Once he connected to the game, the space before him was the same cramped, dirty toilet made of wood, but it was not empty.

The moment Tae-Sung materialized...

“

H-Hiiiik!

W-Who are you?!”

An old magician squatting on the drop hole and relieving himself was so startled at Siegfried’s sudden appearance that he toppled backward and got his butt stuck.

This old magician was the very one among the five magicians assigned to the restricted area that Siegfried had yet to turn into an Irradiator. Hamchi was convinced that the old magician was suffering from severe constipation.

Of all times, the old magician was relieving himself at the moment.

“Good riddance!”

The old magician’s bare butt got stuck in the drop hole, leaving him flailing his arms in a ridiculous manner.

However, Siegfried was not laughing.

‘

W-What the heck?!’

He was just as stunned, with no room to even find humor in it.

“Y-You fiend!”

Even while his butt was stuck in the hole, the old magician recognized Siegfried as an enemy, and he immediately unleashed a spell he had channeled that morning.

Magicians would typically channel a few spells every morning to ensure that they could cast them instantly during any emergencies.

Since most powerful spells had long channeling times, magicians would always pre-channel spells that could be unleashed with a simple incantation for dangerous moments like this.

Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

A surge of powerful current gathered around the old magician.

It was one of the most common emergency spells, a simple yet extremely lethal one, but...

‘

Not on my watch!’

Just before the lightning spell was unleashed, Siegfried activated Wave of Oppression.

Woooong!

A wave shot out from Siegfried, disrupting the old magician’s flow of mana, which stopped the spell from activating.

“...!”

The old magician’s eyes went wide when his spell fizzled out.

“H-How did you—?”

That was as far as he got.

“Shut up,” Siegfried growled, choking and gagging the old magician.

“

Mmpf! Mmph!”

The old magician struggled, but there was no way he could physically overpower Siegfried.

“Stay still,” Siegfried whispered, injecting his radioactive microbes.

“

Mmpf! Mmph...! Mmm...”

About a minute later—

“I greet my master.”

The old magician was now reborn as an Irradiator.

“

Phew!

That was a close one.”

Siegfried helped the old magician, Antelleco, free his backside from the drop hole and stand up.

“From now on, I want you to—”

He was about to give instructions to the Irradiator when—

“Sir Antelleco! Is everything all right in there?”

A knight patrolling the area knocked on the door and called in.

It seemed that he heard the commotion and came to check on the old magician.

“Tell him it’s nothing and send him away,” Siegfried whispered quickly.

“I’m fine! It’s nothing! I slipped and nearly fell into the pit, that’s all!” Antelleco replied.

“

Ah,

is that so?”

“My old eyes are failing me, it seems. Anyway, nothing to worry about. I’ll finish up here and be right out.”

“Understood. I will leave you in peace, sir.”

“Much appreciated."

When the knight walked away,

Siegfried finally exhaled in relief. “

Phew!”

He had been worried about this exact situation, which was the reason he hesitated to log out before. Logging in to find someone was using the toilet, which would surely alert the knights outside, was the worst-case scenario for him.

And sure enough, it had actually happened.

Fortunately, he acted a step faster and managed to avoid the worst-case scenario.

“Go and join the others. But make sure to act natural, got it?”

“Yes, Master.”

With that, Siegfried succeeded in converting all five high-ranking magicians in the restricted area, the ones responsible for inputting the coordinates, into Irradiators.

In other words...

‘

It’s showtime!’

Siegfried thought, grinning from ear to ear.

He planned to use the Irradiators to alter the coordinates input into the magic circle.

Every magician in the restricted area had become his slaves, so the operation was as good as complete.

***

On that same afternoon...

“This is a restricted area. Only those authorized are allowed entry. Please turn back.”

A knight of the Marchioni Empire blocked Siegfried and Duke Decimato’s path.

“I am a mage dispatched to assist here. This one beside me is my apprentice,” Duke Decimato said, pointing at Siegfried as he spoke.

“Dispatched support?”

“Indeed.”

“Please allow me to verify your—”

It was then.

“

Ah!

You have arrived!”

One of the Irradiators stationed in the restricted area came forward to greet the two, and he proceeded to vouch for their identities.

“They are here to assist with the final stages of the magic circle. Let them pass.”

“Yes, sir!”

And so, Siegfried and Duke Decimato managed to enter the restricted area with ease thanks to the Irradiator’s help.

“Please allow me to take charge of the operation from here, sire.”

As befitting of a Great Wizard, Duke Decimato swiftly began revising the coordinates inscribed into the vast magic circle.

Adjusting a magic circle was hardly a challenge for him, someone who was on the cusp of ascending to the pinnacle of magic itself. Duke Decimato had trained for over a year under none other than Daode Tianzun, the one who stood at the pinnacle of magic.

His depth of magic knowledge was so vast that he could handle something like this with his eyes closed.

Still, just because it was easy did not mean it could be finished in the blink of an eye.

Revising the coordinates was a time-consuming process that required long hours of calculation and input.

Thus, Decimato had to dedicate himself day and night, ceaselessly computing complex formulas and encoding them into the magic circle.

The Irradiators served as his assistants, as they aided in manipulating the coordinates.

And Siegfried? Well, he was slacking off.

“Man, I’m still tired. I’m gonna take a short nap.”

“

Kyuuu!

You’re a good-for-nothing freeloader, owner punk! Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?!”

“Hey, what’s there for me to do here? I don’t know the first thing about magic, you know?”

“

Kyu?”

“Sometimes staying out of the way is a good-enough help.”

“

Kyuuu!

Hamchi forgot that owner punk is too dumb to use magic!

Kekeke!”

“What did you just say, punk?” Siegfried growled. Then, he narrowed his eyes and said, “Not knowing magic doesn’t make me dumb. It just means my specialty lies elsewhere.”

“

Kyuuu?”

“My job is to stay here and be ready in case something happens. It might look like I’m doing nothing, but it can’t be helped.”

He couldn’t leave the restricted area, as a variable could arise from out of nowhere.

Until Dragonhead Mountain had erupted and razed the Marchioni Empire’s territories to the ground, Siegfried couldn’t afford to take his eyes off this place.

***

Time passed, and at long last, the Marchioni Empire completed the magic circle on Dragonhead Mountain.

The civil works to divert the flow of lava toward the Proatine Empire were finished as well.

As soon as the project ended, the Marchioni Imperial Army would withdraw, leaving only the old magicians in the restricted area. Unbeknownst to them, the old magicians were already Siegfried's Irradiators.

“Thank you for your hard work. We will see you back in the capital.”

With that, the knight captain departed Dragonhead Mountain, leaving only the old magicians.

Every single Marchioni Empire troop retreated from the mountain, fleeing as far away as they possibly could.

The volcano was set to erupt soon, and lingering nearby would mean getting disintegrated alive.

“Yeah, run along now. Make sure you run as far away as you can, okay?” Siegfried muttered under his breath, watching the imperial army fade from view.

The people of the Proatine Empire had completed their mission, too.

Siegfried and Duke Decimato had already altered the coordinates of the magic circle, while the dwarves and the laborers had completed their part, too.

Now all that remained was to force Dragonhead Mountain to erupt.

‘

Hmm... Those bastards really do piss me off...’

Siegfried thought.

He loathed the magicians of the Marchioni Empire.

There were tens of thousands of magicians in the empire, and they were the ones often responsible for the atrocities committed by the empire.

While other great powers possessed hundreds to a few thousand magicians, the Marchioni Empire could mobilize tens of thousands at a whim.

The huge disparity was the very foundation of the empire’s strength.

‘

They’ll keep being a bother if I let them live...’

The Marchioni Empire’s magicians were their greatest source of power. As long as the magicians remained, they could keep doing these underhanded tactics as they wished.

‘

I have to pull it out. Eliminate the root of the problem...’

Then, a thought popped into his head.

‘

Oh? What if I just storm the Magic Tower and slaughter all of them?”

The Magic Tower was once the cradle of all mages, but it changed when the pro-empire magicians seized its leadership and turned it into a branch of the Marchioni Empire.

‘

Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. I’ll storm the Magic Tower and wipe them out.’

Siegfried decided he would strike the Magic Tower, where nearly twenty thousand magicians resided, and kill the empire’s source of power.

The magicians were invaluable in large-scale warfare, thanks to their area of effect spells, so they would, without a doubt, be a huge liability in the war against the Marchioni Empire someday.

Of course, massacring the magicians within the Magic Tower would be far from easy.

While the magicians were nothing but prey for Siegfried, the Magic Tower was an impregnable fortress.

Striking it undetected would be quite a challenge, as it would be impossible to cause havoc without attracting the Marchioni Empire’s attention.

Thus, he needed to find a way to destroy the Magic Tower without attracting the Marchioni Empire’s attention.

‘

But how...?’

Siegfried kept pondering, trying to come up with a solution.

“Your Imperial Majesty.”

Duke Decimato walked up to him and reported, “It is time to trigger the eruption.”

“

Oh?

Is it time already?”

“Yes, sire.”

“Okay. Let’s begin.”

Duke Decimato channeled his mana into the magic circle.

“You must leave now, sire.”

“Okay.”

As soon as the runes flared to life, Siegfried left Dragonhead Mountain at once and returned to the Proatine Empire.

He could get caught up in the eruption and disappear without a trace if he were to loiter around, so it would be better for him to run away while he still could.

Once Siegfried and his forces had already withdrawn—

Woooong!

The magic circles and runes across Dragonhead Mountain came to life, unleashing a blinding, radiant light.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

***

Meanwhile, Emperor Stuttgart stood atop the highest spire of the imperial palace. The highest spire stood at an impressive five hundred meters off the ground. This spire was deliberately built this high to serve as a statement that the Marchioni Empire looked down upon the entire continent.

It was the very embodiment of the Marchioni Empire’s pride.

“This smells exquisite.”

From the terrace set upon the lofty spire, Emperor Stuttgart savored a wine so rare that a single bottle cost one hundred kilograms of gold.

As he took a sip, his gaze lingered on the western horizon in the distance with Grand Duke Neighdelberg at his side.

“When does it begin?” Emperor Stuttgart asked.

“In one minute, Your Imperial Majesty,” Grand Duke Neighdelberg replied without a hint of hesitation.

The reason Emperor Stuttgart had ascended this spire and was looking westward was simple. He wanted to witness the eruption of Dragonhead Mountain with his own two eyes.

A volcanic eruption that would devastate the Proatine Empire was a spectacle he wanted to burn in his memories.

While such a cataclysmic event would strike fear into the hearts of others, to a sovereign ruler like Emperor Stuttgart, it was no different from admiring a display of fireworks.

A firework that would raze his enemy to the ground.