Chapter 224: Helena alive?

For the higher-ranking Mages, once they could no longer advance along their own paths, the only thing that truly mattered was protecting and helping their families and factions prosper.

It was something I had understood a long time ago.

To achieve this goal, these great organizations monopolized the knowledge necessary to advance into the realm of Mages, isolating wandering Mages and deliberately making it more difficult for those who did not belong to their factions to progress.

Even the Arcangrove Tower itself had extremely strict rules regarding the information provided to Acolytes who wished to advance in rank.

I came from another world.

Naturally, I was able to see through these methods of information control.

It was practically a classic monopoly strategy.

But understanding this did not mean I could do anything about it.

Before those powerful Mages, I was nothing more than an ant.

After all, I was only a Level 3 Acolyte.

I hadn't even touched the realm of an Official Mage.

Although this is quite dangerous at the moment, it may also be my best opportunity to obtain the resources and information I need.

If I am incapable of climbing the mountain of power to reach supremacy, then let me become mud. Let me sink completely into the earth and rot!

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Three days later...

I finally arrived in the vicinity of the Arcangrove Tower, dismounted from my horse, and after following the path for another dozen minutes, I finally caught sight of the enormous white-stone structure of the Arcangrove Tower.

My gaze remained fixed on it.

A long staircase stretched all the way to the base of the mountain.

However... half of the steps had been destroyed.

Large cracks ran through the structure of the Tower.

In some places, the damage was so severe that dark passages could be seen through the walls.

The nearby stones were covered in marks left behind by spells.

The ground was mixed with mud and fragments of stone.

The Biochip continued emitting warnings.

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

The levels of magical radiation detected in some areas were extremely high.

—What a disaster...

I casually kicked a stone.

Bang!

It rolled across the ground.

Then I began walking toward the staircase.

Ruby came with me.

We slowly climbed the broken steps.

When we finally arrived near the main entrance, a metallic voice echoed.

—Who are you? Strangers!

I stopped.

—If you cannot present proof of your identity, I will make you pay for attempting to invade the sacred Arcangrove Tower!!

I looked toward the entrance. The old humanoid statues with bull heads that had stood beside the gate had been completely destroyed.

Then a large shadow rapidly descended from the top of the Tower.

Whoosh!

A white figure cut through the air.

It was much larger than a human. Probably two heads taller than me. Its arms were extremely long and almost reached the ground. Its body seemed to have been carved from several layers of white granite.

Despite the enormous cracks in the Tower's structure, the creature could climb up and down the walls without causing any instability.

That immediately made me realize something: the Arcangrove Tower was far more resilient than its current appearance suggested.

A massive shadow completely covered my body.

Thud!

It landed before me, raising a cloud of dust.

My eyes narrowed.

Then the Biochip identified the creature.

Beep!

[An entity with a high level of energy has been detected.]

[Comparing with the database...]

[Identification complete.]

[White Obsidian Demonic Golem.]

A White Obsidian Golem possessed combat strength comparable to that of an Official Mage.

The creature tilted its head.

Then it brought its enormous face closer to me.

—I can sense friendly energy emanating from your body.

—Show it to me.

Its snout came even closer.

An extremely strong and rotten odor assaulted my nostrils.

I had to summon all my willpower to avoid frowning.

—Friendly energy?

I thought for a few seconds, then remembered and quickly took out the inscription scroll I had signed at the Tower when I chose my mentor.

I held it out.

—Is this it?

The Golem took the scroll.

Then it blew on it.

Fuuu!

The runes engraved on the scroll began emitting a golden light.

The Golem examined the document for several seconds.

Finally, its eyes widened.

—So that's what it was.

It looked at me.

—You are an Acolyte of the Arcangrove Tower who previously undertook external missions.

—Brat, come in.

I silently sighed.

Ruby also went through the inspection.

I took out several Deep Cave White Stones that I had acquired during my time in Kar-Dur.

I placed them on the ground before the Golem.

—Please accept my offerings.

The creature's eyes immediately lit up.

—Deep Cave White Stones from Kar-Dur Tower?

It picked one up.

—Not bad.

Without hesitation, it put the stones into its mouth.

Crack!

The sound of crushing stone echoed.

The Golem seemed genuinely satisfied.

I took advantage of the moment.

—May I ask what happened to the statue that used to be here?

The creature continued chewing.

—It's dead.

—Dead?

—It was mutilated by the heavy artillery those damned Dark Mages brought with them.

My heart sank, but I had already suspected as much. The war had truly been brutal.

After giving another slight bow, I entered the Tower together with Ruby.

As soon as we passed through the main entrance, Ruby approached me.

She quickly kissed me and tried to pull away, but I firmly held her by the waist and pulled her back.

I kissed her firmly before finally letting her go.

—You're the woman I like the most, you know?

Ruby smiled.

—Hahahaha.

—This Empress is satisfied. Now I need to visit my room and see if anything has changed.

Then we went our separate ways. I continued walking alone through the corridors and noticed that there were far fewer Acolytes than I had expected.

The corridors were almost empty.

The commercial areas also seemed deserted.

Even the mission area, which would normally be filled with Acolytes coming and going, seemed quiet.

I began calculating mentally.

Perhaps the Tower didn't even possess half of its original strength.

When my turn came, I took out the mission records and a small portion of the scales from the Great Brown Snake I had killed in Distant Wind City and placed everything on the counter.

—I'm here to complete my mission.

The Acolyte behind the counter raised her eyes.

—All right.

—Please wait here.

She was a pretty, freckled girl, and judging by the fluctuations of mana, I estimated that she was only a Level 2 Acolyte.

While she checked my records, I waited and grew bored, so I began observing my surroundings.

The number of people had decreased drastically. However, on the other hand, the number of missions had not decreased. In fact, it had increased.

Moreover, many of the missions offered much greater rewards than before.

That was abnormal.

If the Tower was desperately increasing the payments, it probably meant that it needed people and powerful Acolytes.

It was then that a muffled, hoarse voice sounded behind me.

—George, is that you?

—It's been a long time since I've seen a familiar face!

My body became motionless.

I slowly turned my head.

An swollen figure was standing behind me.

She was completely covered by a long brown robe. A strong, rotten smell of pus emanated from her body.

My eyes widened.

Even without needing the Biochip, I recognized that person.

—Are you Helena?

The figure beneath the robe seemed to tremble.

Then her voice carried a clear trace of emotion.

—You still remember me?

At the same time, a wave of magical energy escaped from her body.

My Biochip immediately analyzed it.

Beep!

[Energy level detected!]

[A Level 2 Acolyte...]

For some reason, Helena had survived the war between the towers; she was that lolita I'd met right after I was reincarnated into this world, and apparently she'd progressed—on top of that, it seemed she'd actually survived a magical experiment.

Poor little girl… She wasn't as pretty as Ruby, but Helena was undoubtedly a young girl with the potential to be a sex slave, and I could have raped her and paid a few magic crystals to help her, but now it's too late.

...

1382 Words