“What do you mean by that?”

“We said we would withdraw.”

The magicians of the Old Mage Tower spoke firmly, showing no intention of reversing their decision.

This meeting had been convened to find a way to overcome the crisis, but the plan unraveled right from the start.

“The exit will open in two days anyway. All we need to do is hold out until then. I see no reason to deliberately invite danger.”

“You’re saying you’ll just stay inside even though we have no idea what they’re planning? How can you speak so lightly when we don’t even know what might happen?”

“We don’t know what those unidentified attackers are trying to do, but how long could they last outside the outpost? They fled into a place teeming with supernatural phenomena—surely they’re already dead. All we need to do is reinforce the outer defenses and remain where we are.”

“You think they’re fools? You really believe they did all this without preparation? Of course they have a plan!”

“And what plan is that? Are you saying those people know something that we, the Old Mage Tower, do not?”

“You don’t know everything either, do you?”

The magicians of the Old Mage Tower frowned, clearly offended.

“That’s an excessive remark.”

“No, what’s excessive is your attitude.”

The atmosphere turned hostile in an instant.

No one wanted to risk their life in a situation like this.

Everyone was acting for survival.

But because the Old Mage Tower’s magicians showed no willingness to take any risks at all, they inevitably drew the ire of others.

“Are you that scared?”

“What did you say? We simply made the rational choice!”

“And what’s rational about bowing your heads like cowards?”

“What? Are you finished running your mouth?!”

Voices were rising.

Instead of uniting their forces, they were tearing each other down before anything had even begun.

“Enough! That’s enough!”

Yekaterina stepped forward to mediate, but it wasn’t easy.

The magicians of the Old Mage Tower were notoriously prideful.

Their usual attitude was already arrogant, and now, with multiple crises compounding, they were extremely sensitive.

Despite Yekaterina’s attempt to mediate, the mages remained divided, taking jabs at one another.

“No wonder they’re called relics of the past—they always play it safe. That’s why they’re so stagnant.”

“Says someone flying under the banner of a splinter faction that once bore our Tower’s name. How lofty you’ve become.”

The word “splinter” was a common way for the Old Mage Tower to mock the New Mage Tower.

It implied that the others had broken off from them, that they were the root and foundation.

The School Alliance wasn’t unified in opinion either.

After all, they were just a coalition of various small- and medium-sized schools.

It was only natural that their views would differ.

“Haa...”

Yekaterina sighed, but the magicians’ nerves weren’t so easily soothed.

Old resentments, festering for years, had exploded at the worst possible time.

‘What now? If this keeps up, we’ll hit a wall before we even begin.’

Yekaterina felt a headache coming on.

Magicians, hailed as intellectual elites of the era, were intensely prideful.

Even as the queen of a nation, she could not make them all bow their heads.

The fact that the Kasarr Basin was cut off from the outside world also played a role.

At least during Mystic Night, the magicians knew far more than she did.

‘If only someone would help out right now...’

As if someone had read her mind, a calm male voice echoed through the tense conference room.

“Staying here won’t do any good.”

It was a voice so composed it felt out of place.

And because of that dissonance, ironically, it drew everyone’s attention.

All eyes turned to the man who had spoken—a striking young man with black hair.

“Ludger Cherish.”

Someone who recognized him murmured the name.

Ludger responded with indifference.

“Seems most of you already know my name, so no need for a proper introduction.”

“What did you mean just now? That staying here won’t help?”

One of the Old Mage Tower magicians asked, voice tinged with sharpness.

“The ones behind this incident have no intention of leaving us alone.”

“And how can you be so sure of that?”

“Anyone who went to the mansion would understand. What happened to the Mansion of Secrets.”

The room stirred at those words.

A few mages who hadn’t heard the news looked visibly confused.

“The mansion has collapsed. It couldn’t withstand the leyline’s power and was reduced to ruins. The problem is that at the site of the collapse, the leyline is now overflowing.”

“Wait, that pillar we saw beyond the forest...”

He must not have been on site—he looked genuinely shocked.

The surging leyline energy could be seen even from the outpost.

The mages didn’t know what had caused it, but after hearing this, they sensed it wasn’t something trivial.

“And what’s the problem with that?”

“It is a problem. A serious one. Do you think it’s a coincidence that one of the ley lines was disrupted like that?”

“You’re saying they targeted it on purpose?”

“Sage Rimle intentionally twisted the flow of the leyline within the mansion to collapse it. That wasn’t the end goal. What you’re seeing beyond the forest is the result.”

The elder representative of the Old Mage Tower, a wrinkled senior mage, frowned deeply.

“So you were with Rimle, were you? How trustworthy. But why should we believe that?”

Ludger looked at him with a gaze that asked, What are you trying to say?

The elder scoffed.

“I’m saying, perhaps you were involved in Rimle’s scheme.”

“In other words, you’re accusing me and my team members of complicity.”

“Sempas and Loina Pavlini, was it? What reason would we have not to suspect them?”

“What?!”

That burst of outrage came from a magician of the School Alliance.

Everyone here knew that Loina was a representative and Lexuror-tier mage from the Alliance.

“Are you saying the Old Mage Tower is accusing us?”

“I’m simply leaving all possibilities open.”

The elder deflected, eyes still locked on Ludger.

“Unless I’m mistaken?”

“I understand.”

Ludger’s reply to the question of whether the accusation was wrong was strangely calm.

“What is it you understand?”

“Ignorance is not a sin. If one knows nothing, it’s understandable they would think that way.”

He phrased it diplomatically, but the meaning was clear: You’re saying that because you’re too stupid to know better.

For a mage—symbols of intelligence—that was a particularly insulting remark.

The elder mage’s face twisted.

“You ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ bastard—!”

“Do you know how many leylines flow through the Kasarr Basin?”

Instead of responding to the anger, Ludger threw a question.

“What kind of game is this?!”

“You don’t know?”

“Why, you—!”

The old man was about to lash out again but held back, conscious of the eyes around him.

“......Five.”

“Glad to hear you know. The Kasarr Basin is a realm formed by the convergence of five leylines. The one that burst was just one of them—the leyline flowing beneath the Mansion of Secrets.”

The overflowing energy was now spreading outward.

The surrounding area must’ve been devastated already.

“The Kasarr Basin is like a dam holding a massive volume of mana. One of its pillars has collapsed. Their goal is obvious: they intend to collapse the others as well.”

“What? Then this whole place...”

“Will collapse. Once the leylines twist, their tremendous energies will clash. And then what do you think will happen?”

“...A catastrophe.”

That was exactly what the Black Dawn Society was aiming for.

And the fallout from the Kasarr Basin’s collapse wouldn’t be confined to just the basin.

The destructive chain reaction would follow the leyline’s path, bringing devastation to the entire region.

“There are at least three nearby cities. Not to mention towns and villages with people living in them. If this happens, how many people do you think will die?”

“......”

The mages fell silent.

Only now did they begin to grasp what the enemy was after—and just how dire the current situation really was.

“You said they went outside the base? Then they’re targeting the other leylines. If we don’t stop them immediately, we’ll face a disaster.”

“Wait. That doesn’t make sense. Say what you will about the Mansion of Secrets, but the rest of the basin is filled with unpredictable phenomena. Are you saying those people are moving around like it’s their own backyard?”

Even after years of research by countless magicians, the phenomena here remained mysterious.

The idea that some unknown group had figured it out made no sense.

“When exactly did they move?”

“What? Why are you suddenly asking that...”

“Did the enemy react right after the mansion’s leyline started twisting?”

The one who answered that question was Yekaterina.

“That’s right. Something happened beyond the forest, and enormous beasts charged straight toward the outpost.”

“And then the infiltrators revealed their true colors. After carrying out indiscriminate destruction, they moved in an organized manner and escaped outside.”

Derrick muttered with a grim tone.

“So they were targeting the destabilization of that leyline from the beginning?”

“Yes.”

“...I see. The mysterious phenomena ultimately occur along the leyline’s flow. If one of those lines gets disrupted, it would inevitably influence everything connected to it.”

“If we just stay put in the outpost, that would be exactly what they’re hoping for.”

Ludger stared straight at the mages of the Old Mage Tower as he spoke.

The Old Tower mages flinched at the contempt in his eyes but couldn’t open their mouths to argue.

They weren’t entirely unaware of how foolish their previous stance had been.

“But how exactly are they planning to destroy the leylines? Even if they have a plan, the energy flowing through a leyline is beyond anything humans can touch.”

One of the School Alliance magicians raised the point.

In fact, after realizing that this entire land had been formed by the massive flow of leylines, there had been plenty of attempts to harness them.

But all had failed.

The energy flowing beneath the land was just too immense.

You could reroute a small stream—but not a massive river.

“Manipulating that power and simply disrupting its flow are two very different things. Of course, the method for the latter would be far easier and more straightforward. For instance, triggering an explosion in a leyline’s core zone.”

“That’s impossible!”

“And why do you think it’s impossible?”

“Well, because so far there’s never been any precedent—”

“There is no precedent. But was the mansion’s collapse a matter of precedent? If it were truly impossible, how do you think the Mansion of Secrets was able to channel leyline energy in the first place?”

“I—I mean...”

“Not knowing something and it being impossible are two very different things.”

Ludger’s words landed the final blow.

“That’s why instead of sitting around here in the outpost, we have to go directly to where the leylines are and stop them. If we don’t...”

“...If we don’t?”

“Everyone will die.”

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock, staring at Ludger.

Their expressions seemed to ask: How the hell do you know all this?

Ludger calmly added:

“...That concludes the statement from Mage Loina Pavlini.”

“Wait, that was from Lady Loina?”

“She asked me to relay her words exactly.”

In other words, all of this had come from Loina’s analysis—Ludger was just the messenger.

As soon as he said that, the magicians quickly began to nod in understanding.

“If it’s Lady Loina’s analysis, then it’s trustworthy.”

“She must have been analyzing the situation even in this very moment.”

“She probably skipped this meeting to dig up even more information.”

Had Loina actually been present, she’d likely have grabbed Ludger by the collar asking when she ever said any of that.

Silence.

A heavy hush settled over the conference room.

The enormity of the approaching disaster weighed on everyone’s hearts.

“...Very well. It seems the situation has been somewhat clarified.”

Queen Yekaterina stepped forward again, drawing the magicians’ attention.

“We now need to pursue the unidentified group and protect the remaining leylines. One of the five has already been destroyed—four remain.”

“The enemies likely split up into four groups, each targeting a different leyline. We need to stop them as soon as possible.”

“No. It’s three.”

The one who spoke this time was the same old mage who had been expressing discontent throughout the meeting.

Everyone turned with a look that said, What’s he going on about now?

The old man looked irritated by their suspicion.

“There are four remaining leylines, yes. But we only need to worry about three of them. That’s because one of them is directly beneath us.”

“You mean... under the outpost?”

“Yes. This outpost was built right on top of one of the leylines. That’s why we’ve been able to last this long inside the Kasarr Basin.”

“Then that internal sabotage attempt—was it meant to destroy the leyline here?”

“Most likely. But when they failed, they moved on to the next one.”

The Black Dawn Society’s overall plan had been sound.

But what they didn’t account for was how quickly the mages would respond, despite the sudden betrayal.

That rapid response had only been possible thanks to Yekaterina.

Even amid the chaos, she had taken command, assembled the people, and restored order far more quickly than expected.

‘That’s where she proved useful.’

If Yekaterina hadn’t been here, two leylines would have already been destroyed.

It was a narrow stroke of fortune in misfortune.

They had managed to protect one of the five.

But the score now stood at one to one.

And three leylines still remained.

Even a single leyline’s collapse had already weakened the Basin’s mysterious phenomena.

If a second were destroyed, there was no telling what would happen next.

“At the very least, we have to protect three of the five leylines.”

“That’s the bare minimum. We must act as if we cannot afford to lose even one.”

“We’ll need to form teams. Divide into three.”

“We should also leave people behind just in case there’s another ambush. And we need people to care for the injured.”

The operation was to begin in 30 minutes.

Until then, everyone would prepare and regroup once personnel had been selected.

Thus, the meeting came to an end.

Everyone dispersed, each to make their own preparations. Ludger was no different.

‘We don’t have much time, but it’s not so tight that we’re desperate just yet. The remaining leyline locations aren’t precisely known, so the enemy will have to spend time finding them too.’

To destroy a leyline, one had to strike the exact core of its flow.

And not just in one place—multiple precise strikes had to be executed simultaneously. It was a complex process.

‘Even if they’re in a hurry, they’ll need time. If we act fast, we can intercept them.’

But something still nagged at him.

‘It’s strange. I thought with Rimle’s death, their command structure would be shaken.’

Yet judging by the mansion’s collapse, the strike on the outpost, and their subsequent retreat—it had all happened too fast.

‘Is there still someone giving orders?’

Ludger pondered as he headed toward the central plaza where Loina and Arfa were.

That was when he caught a glimpse of someone beyond a half-destroyed tent.

“...You are...”

Peeking out from behind the tent, watching Ludger cautiously, was a young girl.

Her bright blonde hair shimmered.

He had seen her before.