Chapter 512 209: I Didn't Mean to Show Off...

"Keep talking. I want to know about that Saintess…"

In the eyes of the Extraordinaries gathered below the high tower, the number branded on Wei'en's forehead in the ancient Gonzalez language felt like a mountain crashing down on them.

On the chest of his illusory, dark silhouette was a mark, a red flame that flickered and swayed with the distortion of his form.

'A flame?'

The expressions on many faces changed. They had recognized the meaning behind the mark on Wei'en's robe.

"Ghost Soul…"

"A Great Mage from the Ghost Soul School?!"

"Tsk. How irritating. It's those shameless thieves from the Ghost Soul School!"

'Hm?'

'Ghost Soul… thieves?'

Wei'en's gaze swept across the crowd, landing on a dark silhouette that was vaguely discernible as having a half-mechanical body. Realization dawned on him.

'A Wizard from the Mechanical School?'

'No wonder he's so hostile toward the Ghost Soul School…'

But more importantly, he now realized that his identity as a Wizard of the Ghost Soul School had been exposed.

Wei'en glanced down, his eyes also falling on the black robe he had only recently put on. It seemed the ghostly flame emblem on his chest—the symbol of the Ghost Soul School—had given him away.

"Just because your Mechanical School isn't afraid, can you please not drag the rest of us into this?"

"Damn it, if you give a Great Mage from the Ghost Soul School an excuse to make a move, you'll get us all killed!"

"Yeah, the Mechanical School and the Ghost Soul School are both Wizard Schools. They won't attack you lightly, but that pile of bones would love nothing more than to crush us!"

"You mechanical piece of junk, the number on your forehead is only fifteen! It might as well be two words: 'Utterly Moronic'!"

Seeing Wei'en's gaze fall on him, the surrounding dark silhouettes subconsciously distanced themselves from the Mechanical Transformer, muttering under their breath.

"What's there to be afraid of? He doesn't know who you are," the Mechanical Transformer retorted stubbornly, his tone harsh. But beneath his distorted shadow, mechanical gears whirred frantically, causing illusory vortexes to ripple through his dark form. Clearly, he wasn't nearly as tough as he sounded.

"Why don't you take a good look at yourself first?"

"Damned fool. You're scared, so why not just admit it?"

"..."

Wei'en paid little mind to the Mechanical Transformer's words. 'In the Nightmare Realm, it's impossible to pinpoint anyone's true identity, so there's no way to target them anyway.'

It was just like with him—even though his identity as a Ghost Mage was exposed, it would be extremely difficult for others to discover his concrete identity from that alone.

'Perhaps only the Nightmare Sect has the ability to identify everyone here.'

Still, the mere fact that his identity had been exposed was enough to make Wei'en smile wryly.

He had originally planned only to avoid exposing his ability to alter his Origin Power, thinking it would be enough to show a slight increase from the number he had when he last met Flanta.

However, he had overlooked the emblem on his Ghost Robe, allowing everyone to notice…

Seeing the stares from the crowd, Wei'en knew that his hope of getting information about the Dawn Church's Judgement Saintess was now likely in vain.

'Oh well. If my identity as a Ghost Mage is exposed, so be it.'

'Even if someone did find out my concrete identity, I'm not too worried about it anymore.'

'Aside from the people of the Dawn Church, no one else would pay me any special mind.'

With that in mind, Wei'en scanned the area once more. Seeing that Flanta was absent, he passed straight through the crowd of dark silhouettes and arrived at the first floor of the tower.

Just as he had done last time with Flanta, he found a member of the Nightmare Sect on the first floor, signed a transaction contract, and was teleported directly to the forty-ninth floor.

"...Tren Mage got here early. I wonder what that research topic she mentioned last time was…"

"I'm actually looking forward to it. As shameless as those bastards from the Ghost Soul School are, their Research Center is consistently at the forefront of all the Wizard Schools."

"Even the Spiritual Mystery School, with its ancient lineage, can't manage to pull ahead of the Ghost Soul School when it comes to innovative knowledge."

"Hmph. And you don't find the research of our Mechanical School to be just as outstanding?"

"And yet, besides your own, most other schools aren't keen on transforming their bodies into mechanical shells, are they?"

"Heh heh…"

When Wei'en appeared on the forty-ninth floor of the tower, he found a number of Wizards already gathered, chatting amongst themselves around the central altar.

He scanned the room, his brow furrowed slightly.

'Strange. Flanta isn't here either?'

'From what I know of Flanta, that Enhanced Mage from the Blood Spirit School, she usually spends most of her day in the Nightmare Realm…'

"Look, over there!"

"An Origin Power of six hundred?!"

"A Great Mage actually came here…"

"It's a Great Mage from the Ghost Soul School!"

The surrounding Wizards all stiffened the moment they noticed Wei'en's silhouette.

As Wizards whose own numbers were all below fifty, they found it hard to believe that someone of the Great Mage level would appear at their gathering.

One by one, their gazes turned fervent as they stared at Wei'en. Even after discovering his affiliation with the Ghost Soul School, they couldn't resist the allure of having a Great Mage right in their midst.

'If I could get just a few words of guidance from him, perhaps…'

"Esteemed Ghost Mage, are you also here to attend this gathering?"

Just then, a robed, dark silhouette nearest the altar stepped forward, revealing the number forty-nine on their forehead.

'Hm?'

'That voice?'

The voice was familiar to Wei'en. After a few seconds of thought, he recalled that it belonged to Nana Mage of the Spiritual Mystery School—the one who had summarized the previous meeting during his first time at the gathering.

Realizing this, Wei'en gave a steady nod. "I am."