The meeting started. People stopped murmuring amongst themselves, and everyone’s gazes shifted towards the center podium of the conference hall. People also stole furtive glances at the people sitting in the front row. The master of the magical tower, all the mages who had the power to participate in the top conference, and Elena were sitting in the front. Sunewick’s mayor and his officials were also with them.
One person stood on the podium; he was the host of this meeting. He cleared his voice a few times and briefly explained to everyone the purpose of this meeting with a loud voice. Then he called forth Wayne Jaewick, the main leader of the uprising against Walwiss Dwayne. The host called him out so that they could listen to his side first.
Wayne confidently walked to the podium. It seemed as if he had shed away all his doubts and concerns before he entered the magical tower today, because there was no hesitation in his footsteps. Wayne’s gaze passed Orland, who looked at him with a deep frown, and Elena, who was stiff and tense. Then it finally lingered on Walwiss who looked at him with an emotionless face. They briefly met each other’s eyes, but Wayne soon turned his eyes away. Then he looked straight ahead and met the eyes of all those staring at him.
Then he opened his mouth.
* * *
At the same time, Zich and his companions were back inside the city. Even though all four of them were wanted as criminals, the city was in chaos. With just a light disguise, people didn’t pay much attention to them. Lyla drew a lot of attention due to her beauty, so she covered her face with a hood.
However, it was still dangerous for them to openly wander around, so the three of them stood by in a deserted area while Zich watched over the magical tower by himself.
‘It’s about to start.’ Zich narrowed his eyes.
He saw a group of people enter the magical tower. All of them wore robes and held staffs, but Zich wasn’t tricked by their outfits. They were definitely people who were more used to physical work than magic—whether that was labor or combat.
‘Those are definitely guys that Jaewick and his group brought in to stage the coup. They don’t look like mercenaries, but their bodies are too well balanced for them to just be servants.’
‘They’ve been secretly raising soldiers.’ Zich was sure of this. Jaewick and his group had probably planned this coup for a very long time.
‘The robed figures probably helped them raise those soldiers. I can probably find evidence of this from Orland.’ Zich thought that out of all the other plans made by the robed figures so far, this conspiracy was the most elaborate so far.
‘Is it because they have to make the future Demon Lord and one of the Hero Party members here?’ Zich smirked. The harder they worked on their plans, the more fan Zich would have destroyed them.
The forces of the coup were able to get into the magical tower without much trouble. The people leading the group in the very front seemed like mages from Jaewick’s school of magic. They stood on standby in the lobby for a while. Zich saw that one of the mages leading the group began to talk in a loud voice.
‘It’s nothing important.’ When Zich tried listening in on them, they were just criticizing Walwiss. However, Zich judged that the mages’ words were meaningless and cut off his interest. Whether or not people agreed or disagreed with the mage’s words, everyone in the lobby was looking at the mage.
At the same time, Zich saw that a few of the forces of the coup began to move towards the door. They began to close the door of the magical tower. Even if people were focused on a different matter, there was no way no one would notice such a big door closing. However, people’s reaction speeds were slow. When people began to show their reactions, the door of the magical tower had already been closed shut.
Clank!
Zich could hear the sound of a lock turning.
‘It’s begun.’ Zich looked up at the magical tower. Even though the magical tower stood high up with dignity as always, what was unfolding inside was not the same.
* * *
The stiff and quiet atmosphere of the conference hall was completely gone. The meeting was slowly building up steam, and people’s voices began to grow louder. People began to criticize and point fingers at each other. Even though this meeting had been made to completely end the friction building up in the magical tower, judging by how the meeting was going, it didn’t seem like this meeting was going to be the last meeting.
Many people looked like they wanted to shut their opponent’s mouth with magic; they tightly held onto their staffs. However, despite the shouting and swearing, the meeting tentatively maintained its rationale.
“Are you saying that you still trust the master?!”
“Of course,” another magician replied to Wayne’s shout. “For what reason should the master be removed?!”
“Have you not been listening to me this whole time! I explained the reasons many times!”
“Don’t believe those words of unjust criticism and sophistries as valid arguments! Can you even think with that brain of yours!”
“That’s what I want to ask you! What do you mean by unjust criticism and sophistries! How can you say that even after seeing how the master dealt with the most recent incident! I’m so jealous that you’re able to think so shallowly! I’m sure you live your life without any worries or thoughts!”
“What the—!”
A few more people joined them, and soon, the conference hall became as loud as a bustling marketplace. The host tried to calm the two sides, but they didn’t calm down right away. However, when the host requested silence with a loud voice and smacked the gavel a few times, the mages closed their mouths one by one.
When people quieted down to a certain extent, the host requested everyone to refrain from making harsh and violent remarks. Then he continued the meeting. “I’ll now ask the master.”
Wayne wasn’t completely calm yet, but he asked Walwiss, “Do you have any thoughts about withdrawing from your position?”
Walwiss stared at Wayne. Many thoughts raced through his mind. While this commotion was happening, he had also thought about this question many times. Should he really withdraw from his position? Did he make such a big mistake? He had thought hard and long about this matter for many days with his eyes wide open. Then, he was able to make a final decision.
Walwiss replied, “No.”
Walwiss’ firm reply rang throughout the entire conference hall. There was a mixture of cheers and jeers. In the midst of this commotion, Walwiss and Wayne exchanged gazes.
“…We will be taking a short break. Please gather together after our break.” With the host’s words, people began to stand up one by one.
Everyone was tired from the intense and rough meeting. Some people stayed in the conference hall and exchanged thoughts while some went out of the conference hall to cool their heads. Wayne carefully watched these sights, and then he looked at his comrades who hadn’t left their seats. They nodded at each other. It was time to begin their plan.
And Orland quietly watched them from his seat.
* * *
After eating bread, dessert, and picking his teeth with a toothpick, Zich stared at the magical tower. No matter what anyone said, he looked like a person enjoying a relaxed life. However, even if people were envious of how leisurely his life looked, if they knew about what Zich was going to do soon, they would immediately run away without hesitation. Zich looked up at the magical tower with a slightly bored look. Then his eyes changed.
‘It’s a signal.’
Zich saw a cloth that looked like a robe waving in and out from a window of the magical tower. This repeated several times. Zich was sure that they were Orland’s forces. It was a signal that the coup was going to happen soon, so Zich got up.
‘I need to call the others.’ Zich needed to call Lyla, Hans, and Snoc who were hiding in a deserted area. Zich slowly moved away from the magical tower.
* * *
While Zich went to get his companions, a significant amount of time had passed.
“I wonder what the situation is like inside.” Lyla looked up at the magical tower.
“Well, I’m sure it’s far from peaceful. I can guarantee that.”
“You look like you’re in a good mood?”
“There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be happy.”
Lyla shook her head. “Let’s quickly get on with it. I’m worried about Elena.”
“We probably don’t have to worry about Elena.”
“Don’t think that everyone has rock-hard nerves like you. Even if her body is fine, her heart will be in pain.”
“Your nerves are similar to mine.” However, Zich didn’t say anything else.
They walked towards the magical tower. The door was still firmly shut, and four people were standing guard in front of it. They all wore robes, and from a glance, they looked like mages from the magical tower. However, Zich didn’t think they were mages.
‘They’re definitely not mages. They have weapons hidden beneath their robes.’
Even though they kept their weapons well hidden, they couldn’t escape Zich’s eyes.
Lyla asked from behind him, “What’s your plan? Are we going to secretly infiltrate inside?”
“Nope. I already did enough of that so far. It’s time for me to use this.” Zich clenched his fist and shook it around. Then he confidently walked towards the entrance of the magical tower.
“Stop!”
As soon as Zich came near, the people guarding the door raised their hands to stop Zich.
“Entering the magical tower is forbidden right now! You can’t go in no matter what—!”
Grab! Zich’s hands grabbed the speaker’s face. He moved so naturally that no one was able to react. With a big smile on his face, he said, “Shut up.”
Swoosh! Zich moved his arms. He grabbed the person’s head and shoved him against the walls of the magical tower.
Thud!
A loud and blunt sound rang out. There wasn’t even a scream. The guard’s blood splattered across the wall and he slipped down to the ground without even being able to cover his bloody nose.
“It’s an enemy!” The rest of the three guards unsheathed swords from their robes.
“Were you guys not mages?” Zich smirked and took out Windur. He deflected all the swords coming towards him.
Clash! Clash! Clash!
With the sounds of iron clashing against each other, all the swords that came towards Zich bounced off Windur. Zich saw a huge opening in his opponent’s chest area. Windur showed its fangs and pounced.
Slice! Slice!
A red line of blood spurted out of the two guards. Zich frowned and avoided the blood that came flying towards him.
Thud! Thud! Two bodies collapsed on the ground.
“You bastarrrd!” The last remaining guard yelled and ran towards Zich.
However, Zich didn’t bother dealing with him; he even turned his back. It seemed as if the guard’s sharp sword would immediately slice Zich’s back, but something like that didn’t happen.
Bang!
“Kuahhhh!” Flames swallowed the guard; a painful scream rang out.
The guard even let go of his sword, flailed his arms, and rolled on the ground to extinguish the fire. However, it was futile. Soon, he was completely burnt and took his last breath.
Step! Someone stepped over the burnt corpse. It was Lyla who just used her magic; she clutched her staff and walked towards Zich with a stiff face. Snoc and Hans followed right behind her.
“Let’s go!” Lyla spoke with a lot of resolve in her voice.
“I like your resolve. Yeah, why don’t we go wild inside?” Zich put strength into his hands as he opened the door. The door shook a bit, and it seemed as if the door was locked from the inside. However, Zich wasn’t hindered by this and put more strength into his hands.
Cruuunch! The lock was unable to protect itself, and it completely shattered.
Creaak! The door opened, and the inside of the magical tower was revealed. There were several people in the lobby, and anyone could tell that they weren’t mages.
“Who a—”
The man didn’t even have time to finish his sentence. The people in the lobby were cut down without being able to properly resist Zich’s sword; Zich’s swings didn’t have even the slightest bit of hesitation. Zich confidently walked into the magical tower as no one could stop him from entering. Lyla, Hans, and Snoc followed him from behind.
“So where are we going to go now?”
At Lyla’s question, Zich easily replied, “The dungeon.”
The dungeon was where everything was going to start.