Teddy Divine's throat bobbed up and down.
A suicide order had been issued.
It was an act of acknowledging oneself as a worthless sinner while
simultaneously elevating the authority of the Imperial Tower. Could
anything be more humiliating?
Teddy Divine, the current Black Tower Master.
A face that had been filled with a relaxed smile until just moments ago was
now covered in cold sweat, glistening unnervingly.
"W-Wait a moment…!"
Remaining seated on the ground, Teddy slowly pushed herself backward.
She now displayed a completely groveling and wretched demeanor.
"I was mistaken, completely mistaken! Please, just give me one chance. I'm
still part of the tower! I couldn't have been trying to do something that
terrible!"
Teddy's eyes shook as if an earthquake had hit.
She quickly scanned Jaekiel's face, desperately looking for any hint of an
escape route.
But the Auditor's face remained completely emotionless.
"…Tsk!"
Teddy quickly looked towards the audience.
But soon, resignation spread across her face. In the end, there was no
faction willing to side with her.
It was a natural consequence, considering all she had done.
Teddy Divine finally brought her hands together.
She began rubbing her hands together like a fly.
"…The Black Tower has suffered enormous oppression all this time. But
we needed some impressive achievements to avoid being outdone by the
other towers! In the end, corpse research was the only option left! Right?"
"Using that as an excuse?"
Jaekiel snorted.
"The Black Tower has made achievements without crossing the line until
now. Your greed just went too far."
"Please, please show mercy! Can't you at least spare my life? No matter
how much authority the Imperial Tower has, how can you do something
like this?"
Teddy pointed her finger at Jaekiel.
Her previously pitiful face suddenly filled with rage.
"You, you…! Auditor, you…!"
Tears of fear welled up in her eyes.
"If you end up killing the unjustly accused members of the Black Tower,
you'll definitely face divine retribution. Do you know why? Because I…
I'll curse you even after death! I'll haunt you as a ghost, using necromancy
if I have to!"
Teddy, who had been shouting in anger, suddenly fell flat on her face.
Dragging her ice-pierced thigh, she began desperately crawling towards
Jaekiel's feet.
"No, no! Auditor! Auditor of the Imperial Tower!"
Teddy clung tightly to Jaekiel's calf.
"I didn't know my place and spoke out of turn! I must have lost my mind!
Auditor! Please, I don't ask for anything else… Please just spare my
life…!"
The desperation to save her life was evident.
"As an auditor, you can't just ignore the pitiful state of the tower, can you?
Where is a tower more pitiful than the Black Tower? Tell me, where…?!"
Jaekiel's expression remained indifferent.
Perhaps because of this, Teddy's desperate cries grew louder.
"Auditor! I'll become a slave to the Imperial Tower. I'll accept anything
you ask, as long as it's not death, okay? I'm sure I can be of use…!"
Jaekiel pressed down on Teddy's head with his other foot, pushing her away
as if he were squashing a bug.
"Ugh…!"
The Auditor didn't respond, instead nudging the body of a spear at her feet
with his toe.
Clang.
The sound echoed ominously.
It was a command to pick it up and end herself.
"No exceptions, no mercy. I already told you."
"…"
Teddy's tear-soaked face became hollow.
"This can't be…"
Her trembling hand reached up to her face.
"This can't be, this can't be, this can't be…!"
Teddy clawed at her own face with such force that blood began to well up
along the scratch marks.
"I'm begging you like this, throwing everything away, and you still tell me
to die! How can you do this? How can you possibly do this?!"
Then, all of a sudden.
Teddy stopped speaking and let her hands drop.
The Black Tower Master no longer cried or sobbed. She simply stared at the
floor with empty eyes.
"…Fine."
Teddy slowly lifted her head.
Her eyes, void of any life, stared at Jaekiel from an eerily twisted angle.
"If you're determined to kill me, there's no helping it…"
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
At the same time, corpses began pouring from the tower walls, and Teddy
started absorbing all the dark energy emanating from their magic cores.
The speed and force were terrifying.
Gurgle! Gurgle!
The immense energy seemed too much for Teddy to handle. Black veins
bulged all over her body, and her muscles twitched grotesquely.
"Hah…! Hah…! Hahhh…! Hehehe!"
Teddy suddenly let out a bizarre smile.
Finally, her eyes completely rolled back.
"Graaaah! Graaaaahhh!"
As she roared, her body emitted black light.
The scenery around Jaekiel changed.
.
.
.
.
"…"
Jaekiel quietly observed his surroundings.
The scenery of the conference hall was gone.
A massive stage covered by curtains, tiered seating, a single light shining in
a circle but blocked by curtains… It looked like a very large opera house.
In this sudden performance hall, there were only two people.
Jaekiel and Teddy Divine.
'Is this illusion magic?'
He understood the situation easily. It seemed Teddy had cast an illusion on
Jaekiel as her last desperate act.
Srrrrk!
The curtains parted, and the lights shone on the stage.
In the center of the stage, where the light shone down, Teddy stood
courteously. She was dressed in an overly elaborate gown and a widebrimmed hat, like an opera singer.
Teddy slowly opened her previously closed eyes.
"I never imagined it would be this intense… Absorbing the magic cores of
corpses I've collected over ten years feels this exhilarating? The power
feels almost too strong to handle…"
Her face displayed an expression as if she had reached the height of ecstasy.
"…In this moment, I have finally become perfect!"
Teddy finally turned her gaze towards Jaekiel.
"Auditor, you've heard of the Transcendent State, haven't you?"
The Transcendent State, a scene visible only to those who have transcended.
It was the ultimate technique and secret art that a magician who had reached
the extreme limits of their craft could obtain.
"Thanks to you driving me to the brink of death, I was finally able to absorb
all the corpses…! I should thank you! This is the true vision of the Black
Tower!"
Snap!
Teddy snapped her fingers.
Grumble. Grumble. Grumble. Grumble.
Simultaneously, corpses began to appear from all directions, approaching
steadily.
Since this was a world within an illusion, the number could be considered
nearly infinite.
"This is my Transcendent State."
As if singing, Teddy placed one hand on her chest and raised the other high
toward the ceiling.
"It's a performance. Congratulations on being my first audience."
Grrrrroooar!
The horde of corpses began rushing in like a swarm of clouds.
Jaekiel's response, however, was indifferent.
"There are quite a lot of spectators."
He muttered quietly as he formed ice in midair. The shape was that of a
bell, nearly as large as the ceiling.
In the next moment, Jaekiel struck the bell with all his might, his body
imbued with magical power. The corpses, which had suddenly closed in,
were just about to leap.
Deeeeeeeeeng.
The ice bell rang out grandly from the impact.
In an instant, a wave swept through the space, visible to the naked eye.
"Grk…"
"Grk?"
That was the end of it.
All the corpses collapsed like scarecrows. The only sound that filled the
performance hall was the dull thud of bodies hitting the ground.
It wasn't just the corpses that were cleared away.
The space itself began to break apart piece by piece, like a puzzle coming
undone.
The illusion that Teddy had conjured with all her remaining soul began to
shatter entirely. It was a perfect breakdown.
"…What?"
Teddy's expression turned blank.
"That can't, that can't be…"
She muttered in disbelief, utterly desolate.
"These are corpses I've gathered for ten years… A spell I've prepared for
ten years… Why…?"
Thud, Jaekiel kicked the ice spear on the ground with his foot.
Swish!
In the next moment.
Thud!
The spear pierced through Teddy's neck.
The death of the Black Tower Master.
Her head finally separated from her body.
A face still unable to comprehend the situation.
And as Jaekiel stared down at the vacant expression on the corpse's face.
"Your performance seemed quite boring."
Jaekiel murmured quietly.
"The audience fell asleep, and they just won't wake up."