The tremors shaking the mansion felt as though the building itself was warning those within.

Something’s about to happen—run while you still can.

“Leader! What on earth is going on?”

“I don’t know either.”

Supported by Arfa, Ludger reached the spot where Loina and Sempas were.

Perhaps due to the massive quake, the two had just regained their senses.

“W-What’s happening?”

As Loina stammered in confusion, Ludger briefly explained what had just occurred.

Rimle’s betrayal—and the aftermath of their battle that had left the mansion in this state.

Sempas let out a low murmur and spoke.

“What about the old man?”

“He retreated.”

“Impressive.”

The words were directed at Ludger, but there was no mockery in them—only genuine admiration.

Rimle was a 6th-Circle mage.

He wasn’t someone Ludger should have been able to take on.

Sempas didn’t believe a mage’s circle level was everything in a real fight.

But it was still a measure of total power—and often the most decisive factor.

Especially when Rimle wasn’t the sort to stay cooped up in a study. He was a hands-on mage, one who roamed the world in pursuit of magic.

To merely endure against someone like that was a miracle in itself—yet Rimle had backed off.

If Sempas had heard they had fought on even ground and driven him off, he would’ve been even more shocked.

Of course, Ludger didn’t share the details of the fight.

He only said Rimle had fled, tied up in the current state of the mansion.

Loina couldn’t shake off the shock of betrayal.

“This can’t be. Why would Sage Rimle do something like that...”

“That’s not what matters right now. Look outside.”

Sempas gestured toward the window with a jerk of his chin.

Everyone’s gaze followed.

And they were all stunned.

The fog that had always clouded the view beyond the window, caused by the Mystic Phenomenon, was gone.

For the first time, they could see the scenery beyond the mansion clearly.

Only then did the group realize that something had changed.

“The Mystic Phenomenon... it’s thinning.”

At Loina’s murmured words, Ludger grasped what was going on.

‘Could it be the aftermath of my fight with the old man?’

It was entirely possible.

Thinking back, the mansion had always recovered quickly no matter what damage it sustained.

It had been sturdy enough to endure even considerable magic.

But his duel with Rimle had far exceeded what the mansion could contain.

A clash between two 6th-Circle mages.

Their magic had displaced and exploded the dense mana that permeated the mansion.

No matter how protected the structure was by the Mystic Phenomenon, that shockwave was bound to affect it.

More importantly, the location of their battle played a critical role.

‘The summoning circle for the Shadow Knights... that was the core of the mansion’s defense system.’

That very spot had been connected to the leyline running beneath the mansion, drawing its energy from it.

And they had fought on top of it.

It was practically like setting off fireworks on top of a powder keg.

With the leyline channel destroyed, the mansion could no longer draw mana from it.

But that didn’t mean the flow itself had stopped.

The now-twisted flow of the leyline was instead beginning to affect the mansion in reverse.

As if to prove it, the entire mansion shuddered violently, and small cracks formed along the walls.

“I-If this keeps up, it’ll collapse!”

At Loina’s outcry, Ludger silently agreed.

They had to escape—immediately.

Then, something he had forgotten flashed into his mind.

‘The library!’

The hidden room inside the library.

He hadn’t yet examined the book stored there.

Perhaps sensing his shift in expression, Arfa spoke.

“Leader. Go.”

Ludger was momentarily taken aback by Arfa’s unexpected consideration but then nodded.

“Very well.”

He rose to his feet.

By now, his stamina had mostly recovered.

His mana, once depleted, was steadily returning thanks to the medicine he’d taken.

His head still throbbed, but it was bearable.

“I have a quick stop to make. The rest of you should escape first. Right now, the mansion’s outer barrier is down. You should be able to get out.”

With that, Ludger dashed down the corridor without looking back.

He could hear Loina shouting something behind him, but he ignored it.

‘I need to find it as fast as possible.’

The tremors were growing stronger.

Cracks spread across the walls, and dust fell from the ceiling.

The mansion, once protected by the leyline, was now being torn apart by its reversed flow.

As Ludger ran through the shaking corridor, he suddenly stopped.

Ahead, a door swung open, and a group appeared.

“Move it! Take everything we can!”

“The Mystic’s protection is gone! We can carry things out now!”

“Secure the most important books!”

They were mages of the Truth School.

Each of them was lugging armfuls of books.

Among them, one figure stood out.

Tortey, the leader of the Truth School and the man who had once clashed with Ludger.

Unlike the others, he carried only a single book in his hand.

And Ludger instantly recognized it.

‘The book on Non-Attributed Mana!’

The very thing he had been desperately searching for.

And now it was in Tortey’s hands.

Just as Ludger spotted them, the Truth School mages noticed him as well.

“What’s this? You’re still alive?”

Tortey sneered as he recognized Ludger.

They had holed themselves up in the library while everything unfolded.

But they weren’t completely unaware of what had gone on outside.

Ludger didn’t bother answering.

His eyes silently fixated on the book in Tortey’s hand.

“Ha.”

Tortey wasn’t a fool.

He realized immediately that Ludger coveted what he held, and his lips curled in ridicule.

“What? You want this?”

“......”

“From the look on your face, you know what this is. So, you found that hidden room before us, huh?”

Tortey had gotten lucky.

When the mansion shook, the library hadn’t escaped unscathed.

Some of the bookshelves collapsed—and behind them, he discovered a hidden space. Sheer luck.

His insatiable hunger for knowledge had seized the opportunity.

He swept up everything inside.

And the most important-looking item—he took that himself.

“Seeing that look on your face just confirms it. What a shame, huh? Missing out on the discovery of the century when it was right in front of your nose.”

Ludger didn’t respond.

He simply stared at Tortey, face hardened.

Tortey, pleased by the reaction, was about to gloat further—until something struck him.

‘Wait. He’s not looking at me.’

Ludger wasn’t watching Tortey.

He was staring past his shoulder—at something behind him.

“What the hell...?”

Just as Tortey turned to look, a massive explosion slammed into him.

The already-quaking mansion shook even more violently, and the blast sent Tortey sprawling across the floor.

Had he not instinctively cast a defensive spell, he might have been torn to pieces on the spot.

Several Truth School mages who’d been caught in the explosion weren’t as lucky—they collapsed, seriously injured.

“Wh-What is this?!”

Tortey tried to shout in disbelief—but then noticed something.

His hand was empty.

The book he’d been holding had been blown all the way forward.

Right to Ludger’s feet.

“W-Wait!”

Ludger bent down and picked up the book from the ground.

He casually brushed off the dust that had settled on its cover.

“Y-You bastard! What do you think you’re doing?! Give that back! That’s mine!”

Tortey roared, his aged face twisted in rage and greed.

“It’s in my hands now. Why would I return it?”

“You insolent wretch! Are you mocking me?!”

“This isn’t mockery. And you seem to be forgetting something—you were just ambushed.”

Ludger’s words made Tortey snap back to reality.

He staggered to his feet and looked back.

Who dared attack a Truth School mage?

Tortey’s face, so contorted with anger, was overtaken by shock.

“You’ve still got that nasty habit of shouting first before you grasp the situation, Tortey.”

“...Rimle.”

There stood his old colleague.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Tortey couldn’t comprehend why Rimle had attacked him.

“Did I ever wrong you that badly? No. We were comrades, exploring the path of truth together!”

“You might’ve believed that.”

Rimle scoffed at Tortey’s words.

His mocking tone alone said everything about how laughable he found them.

“Tortey. You’ve always been like this. Always claiming everything you’ve done was out of goodwill.”

“What? Of course it was! Everything I’ve done was solely for the pursuit of knowledge! If that’s not goodwill, then what is?!”

“Exactly. That’s the problem. You’re convinced that no one understands knowledge better than you. You think it’s fine if hundreds—thousands—of others die, as long as you alone survive.”

“What did you say?”

“You don’t even flinch when people die. You’re not saddened. You don’t feel regret. Let me ask you seriously—were you ever truly sad?”

“Sad? What are you even—”

“My daughter.”

“......”

Tortey fell silent, as if he had sensed something in that moment.

“...That was an accident. Why are you acting like it was my fault?”

“Because it was an accident that could have been prevented.”

Rimle raised his staff, cold sarcasm in his voice, and pointed it at Tortey.

“If you hadn’t fled the scene with your personal disciples, no one would have died.”

“......”

“You thought I wouldn’t know? Thought it didn’t matter since everyone who was there either stayed quiet or ended up dead? You were dead wrong.”

As he spoke, Rimle pulled something from his belt.

It was a bell-shaped artifact.

Ding-ling.

When Rimle shook it lightly, faint, flickering souls began appearing throughout the mansion, circling around him.

“Tortey, do you know? This mansion is full of the dead. The entire Kasarr Basin is like this. Anyone who dies here becomes trapped—forever.”

Tortey flinched, visibly shaken, but Rimle chuckled low.

“This place is like a giant birdcage. A horrible prison where souls can never ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) rest.”

“What are you talking about...?”

“My daughter died here. Right here, in this place that offers no peace. And so did these souls. They continue to drift endlessly, trapped in this cage.”

Ding-ling. Ding-ling.

Rimle rang the bell again and again.

“What did they do to deserve this? Why must they suffer in such a place?”

“What does that have to do with me?!”

“Why wouldn’t it? The souls of those you personally silenced in this place, those killed as collateral by your greed and reckless actions—those souls are here too.”

“......”

The Truth School mages flinched.

Not because they were surprised—but because a truth they wanted buried had been exposed.

They had never hesitated to kill for their goals, their desires.

That fact simply hadn’t become public. If it ever did, they’d be branded as black mages, and they’d deserve it.

Tortey glared at Rimle with icy eyes.

“Right. I bet those damn ghosts told you to do this, didn’t they? Told you to get revenge? To kill everyone in this mansion?”

“You asked me what I wanted to do?”

Rimle repeated the question.

But this time, it wasn’t directed at Tortey.

He was speaking to Ludger.

“I want salvation. I don’t care what happens to anyone else. But my daughter—she’s different. Her soul is still trapped here. That’s why... I have to release her. Let her find peace.”

Even if that peace is paltry.

It had to be better than staying here.

It was a completely selfish reason.

But Ludger couldn’t bring himself to argue with Rimle.

Because no one understood that selfishness more than Rimle himself.

“So all of this... was planned?”

Rimle shrugged.

As if to say—believe what you want.

“The mansion will collapse soon. I’ve twisted the leyline flow. It won’t be able to withstand the energy. I can’t say what runaway mana might do. So if you’re going to escape, now’s the time.”

The man who just moments ago had fought to the death was now telling them how to survive.

Which one was the real Rimle?

No—maybe all of it was real.

People don’t only have one side.

Stuck between Ludger and Rimle, Tortey finally exploded.

He wasn’t so stupid that he couldn’t follow their conversation.

“Rimle! You’ve gone completely insane! Are you saying you caused all of this? Do you realize how important this place is?!”

“Yes, I’ve gone mad. But from what I see, you’re no different.”

“What?”

“And not just you. Every wrinkled old fool standing around you, too. We’re all insane. Obsessed with knowledge, consumed by greed, driven mad by revenge. We’re the kind of people who shouldn’t exist.”

Rimle muttered the words like a bitter curse, then his eyes gleamed sharply.

“That’s why we madmen... need to disappear—for the sake of the world.”

“Y-You...!”

Tortey tried to shout something but quickly switched to constructing a spell.

Rimle’s surprise attack scattered against the hastily raised barrier.

“We don’t have much time left. Let’s stop wasting it with small talk. This isn’t what I stayed here for.”

“...Fine. If that’s how you want it, I won’t hold back either.”

At his signal, the Truth School mages around him each raised their staves.

Ominous magical pressure surged from their bodies, bearing down on Rimle in unison.

But Rimle, standing in the middle of the storm of mana, held his ground.

More than that—he still had room to speak calmly.

“Now, outsider. Leave.”

He said that, but Ludger knew.

Rimle was not in full condition.

He might’ve patched up the wounds from their fight, but he couldn’t take back the blood he’d lost.

Even with a potion, his expended mana wouldn’t be fully restored.

And yet, he had chosen to remain in this collapsing mansion.

Ludger once again saw the illusion.

Rimle stood amidst rising flames.

But this time, he wasn’t alone.

Everyone he’d wanted to leave with was gathered here.

Was that what the hell inside his heart had always been for?

“Where do you think you’re going?! You’re not leaving either!”

Tortey shouted, blood vessels bulging in his eyes as he glared at Ludger.

He’d overheard the truth and even snatched the book Tortey had coveted—it was only natural to lash out.

“Tortey. You’re not in any position to worry about someone else right now.”

Tortey’s stubbornness was swiftly silenced by Rimle.

Rimle’s pressure made it impossible for him to focus on anything else.

Tortey had no choice but to face Rimle head-on.

“Get lost.”

“......”

Ludger looked at Rimle one last time before he left.

Rimle was looking back—so the two met each other’s gaze.

Did he know it would come to this? Did he realize the portrait in the mystical phenomenon was of himself?

Ludger didn’t ask.

Because Rimle gave him a small, crooked smile.

It was the same kind, grandfatherly smile he had shown only to Arfa.

‘I see.’

He had known all along.

Ludger nodded, turned his back, and walked away.

‘Take care, you bastard.’

It felt like he heard Rimle’s voice say that behind him.