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The Magic Tower…

Oh Kang-Woo had never heard of such an organization, yet it felt familiar for some reason. It seemed as if the organization had been shoehorned in for no reason because the author had thought that not having a Magic Tower in a fantasy was a waste.

"It\'s apparently known as the \'Tower of Truth,\' to be more precise," said Lillith.

"Tower of Truth…" He scratched his chin, thinking that its name didn\'t matter. "Where is this guild from?"

"It is a fairly large-scale guild located in Europe. In particular… it seems they have quite a long history."

"A long history?" Kang-Woo asked while tilting his head.

It had only been six years since Players appeared on Earth. How long of a history could they have?

\'Wait.\'

He narrowed his eyes, recalling Tian Wuchen and Zhuge Xian.

\'They\'ve apparently been using martial arts before Players appeared.\'

In the case of Wuchen, although most of the knowledge had been lost over time, he even knew the martial arts of the Martial God Tian Taihuang.

\'In that case…\'

That meant the Tower of Truth had existed before the Day of Calamity.

Just like Wuchen had used martial arts before that day, there was a chance that the people from the Tower of Truth had also possessed supernatural powers that couldn\'t be explained with science.

\'It\'s not impossible.\'

The Demon Cult was an organization with thousands of years of history, after all.

Magic, sorcery, martial arts…

The powers that had become widespread after the appearance of Players had existed since before the Day of Calamity.

"So, where is he right now?" Kang-Woo asked.

"We imprisoned him in the Hall of Protection with Gaia\'s permission. Si-Hun is monitoring him."

Kang-Woo nodded.

It didn\'t matter what organization he was from—they couldn\'t immediately believe his words that he wasn\'t a Demon Cultist. After all, a Demon Cultist wouldn\'t blatantly reveal the fact that he was one when seeking asylum in Guardians.

He stood up.

Lillith asked, "Will you be going right away?"

"There\'s no better way than talking to him myself."

"Fufu, I will lead the way."

"It\'s fine. I\'ve been to the Hall of Protection too many times to count."

Kang-Woo smirked and opened the gate that led there.

\'Come to think of it, this is so convenient.\'

He could go to the Hall of Protection from anywhere and at any time he liked. Not only that, but he could also go to any Guardians branch worldwide through the Hall of Protection, so in terms of convenience, it was top-notch.

As he walked through the gate, he saw a familiar, white passageway.

"Hyung-nim."

Kim Si-Hun, who was guarding the entrance, greeted him.

Kang-Woo nodded and entered the room. Inside, he saw an old man bound by mana restraints. He had messy white hair and a gray beard. He looked like a generic old mage that would appear in a certain film about a ring.

Kang-Woo brought a chair over and sat in front of him.

"Nice to meet you."

"You are…"

"I am Oh Kang-Woo, a member of Guardians. I have come here to ask you a few questions."

"Ngh."

The old man twisted around as if the mana restraints were uncomfortable.

Smiling, Kang-Woo opened his mouth to say, "I hope you can understand, even if the restraints are a bit uncomfortable."

"… Ah, yes! O-of course." The old man flinched in surprise and bowed his head. He carefully opened his mouth. "My name is Khadgar. I am a mage of the Tower of Truth."

"I have never heard of it."

"The existence of the Magic Tower is not publicly known," he said with pride.

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes and said, "I heard you had been enslaved by the Demon Cult… Could you tell me the specifics?"

"It is exactly as it sounds. Those filthy demons treated us like slaves…! Sniff."

It seemed he was overflowing with emotions as he spoke. The old man frowned and bit his lip.

Kang-Woo could feel the old man\'s desperate emotions. His eyes shone.

\'He doesn\'t seem to be lying.\'

Neither the voice full of sincerity nor the tears of a victim could be considered proof, but it did not seem to be an act, at the very least.

"Fuuu, fuuu." Khadgar calmed down and said, "We mages of the Magic Tower have been researching magic for a very long time in pursuit of the truth."

"I heard you have been using magic since before Players appeared…"

"Yes, that is correct," he said confidently. "I guess you could say that it is a small reward for pursuing the truth of the world. We are able to perform miracles, to an extent."

"I see."

"While we were researching, we were ambushed by the Demon Cult. They enslaved us and extorted our magic."

"When exactly did this happen?"

"It was… about a year ago."

Khadgar\'s eyes became teary as if he was remembering a terrible nightmare.

\'A year ago, huh?\'

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes after hearing that.

"Do you mages of the Magic Tower not have any magic to use for combat?"

"No, we do. We possess powerful magic that has been passed down for generations. However…" Khadgar lowered his eyes. "We were no match for the demons."

\'Well, I guess that makes sense.\'

Demons and humans… There was a clear difference in strength between the two races.

Of course, there were exceptions who were able to slay most demons before they could muster any form of resistance, such as Si-Hun, but demons were fundamentally far more powerful than humans.

"You mentioned that they extorted your magic… What did they do exactly?"

"We were forced to create the magic items they required. They were black gems the size of fingernails… We were also forced to create very weird-looking stakes."

"Oh?"

Kang-Woo\'s eyes shone.

Demonic crystals and Rift Seeds.

He had figured out how they were able to mass-produce such things.

"We were also forced to enchant numerous armaments and pieces of equipment. We were no more than slaves in a sweatshop."

The old man clenched his fists in anger.

"Those damn demons! Magic is not meant to be used like some insignificant tool!!"

"Please calm down… How did you manage to get free?"

"Some unknown demons attacked the factory we were in. They might have had some sort of internal conflict… I took that opportunity and barely managed to escape."

He\'d taken advantage of the chaos that had formed due to the battle between the Demon Cult and Lucifer\'s retainers and had luckily managed to escape.

Khadgar bowed deeply to Kang-Woo.

"I beg of you! Many of my comrades are still being held by the Demon Cult! Even now, they are being extorted by those evil demons. Please… please, save them!"

"Of course we will," Kang-Woo answered without hesitation and smiled.

\'The Magic Tower, huh?\'

The Magic Tower, an organization of mages who had been in pursuit of the truth of the world for a very long time.

\'Well, they don\'t seem to be quite worthy of pity.\'

He had almost felt pity after hearing the circumstances they were forced into, but when he thought about it, there didn\'t seem to be a need.

\'If they were attacked a year ago…\'

That meant that, before that, the Magic Tower had remained peaceful.

\'And the fact that no one knew about their existence means… pretty much that.\'

They had done nothing when humanity had been on the brink of ruin on the Day of Calamity. They had the power to fight monsters since before Players had appeared, yet they had simply watched. They hadn\'t protected or saved anyone.

The only thing that mattered to them was \'pursuing the truth.\'

\'I mean, it\'s not like you\'re obligated to save people just because you have power.\'

But it at least wasn\'t what Khadgar was making it out to be: as if good Samaritans who had done absolutely nothing wrong were being wrongfully exploited.

Those who had done absolutely nothing while other people in need of help were pretty much begging for help all this while. It was truly laughable to see people, who had no desire to help others, begging for help themselves.

\'Well, it doesn\'t really matter to me.\'

Kang-Woo couldn\'t care less whether they were good Samaritans or not. What mattered was their value—whether they were useful or not.

\'They can also enchant equipment, huh?\'

Not only could they strengthen all sorts of equipment, they would also be able to create all sorts of magic weapons and scrolls if milked thoroughly.

\'Not bad at all.\'

He had been feeling disappointed by the average level of Players lately. If they could raise the strength of Players by boosting equipment specs, it would be worth the effort.

\'I can make use of them.\'

A smile appeared on his face.

* * *

\'Alright!\'

Khadgar exclaimed in excitement in his head. He felt as if he had finally grasped a sliver of hope within despair.

\'I knew I made the right choice coming here.\'

Guardians, an organization made up of pushovers who dedicated themselves for humanity. He\'d heard about them through rumors, but he\'d never imagined it to go this well so easily.

\'I can\'t believe there are actually people like this on Earth.\'

He did his best to suppress his laugh of disbelief. He couldn\'t care less about trivial matters of the human realm, such as monsters attacking through Gates, the war against the Demon Cult, and things that had absolutely nothing to do with the pursuit of truth, so he couldn\'t understand it at all.

\'Tsk tsk, pathetic idiots.\'

They had no idea what was truly important; they could not understand the true meaning behind the Day of Calamity…

The human race currently living on the star known as Earth was incapable of reaching the core of the truth, nor was it even trying to reach it. These humans weren\'t trying to understand the meaning behind the appearance of Gates and Players.

\'I\'m sure they\'ll never come to understand why Earth is so special.\'

Earth was different from other stars.

This world…

"Do you know where your comrades are being held?"

"… Ah! O-Of course!" Khadgar quickly answered.

He knew where his comrades were being held. No, to be more precise, he knew where the Tower of Truth\'s research materials were stored.

\'Comrades, huh?\'

Such a word was completely foreign to a mage. Khadgar suppressed his laughter. He couldn\'t care less about his comrades. They could stay enslaved by the Demon Cult or die for all he cared.

\'The Tower\'s research materials.\'

That was all he needed.

\'This had to happen when I was about to attain the knowledge of Lady Hecate…\'

Hecate was the goddess of magic as well as one of the Titans that appeared in ancient mythology.

Just as he had grasped onto the hopes that he would be able to attain even a portion of that knowledge, the Demon Cult had invaded the Tower of Truth.

\'Fuuu. Just thinking about what I went through because of them makes me…\'

He remembered the days he\'d spent as a slave.

\'Magic is not supposed to be used for something so trivial!\'

Magic was a sacred knowledge that should only be used in search of the truth. It wasn\'t supposed to be used for trivial enchantments or for making magic tools.

\'But that all comes to an end now.\'

Khadgar\'s eyes shone.

He\'d heard rumors about Guardians. The organization was strong enough to have come out victorious against a massive Demon Cult branch in Tibet. They could be considered the last bastion of humanity.

\'I will finally… be free from the demons!!\'

He clenched both fists.