Chapter 575

After finishing a short comedy routine with Yena and sending her home like a cat sprawled out to sleep, I logged into Deoen the next day.

What greeted me upon logging in was the ‘Growth Orb’ obtained from the initial rewards of the altar.

Originally, it was a reward that only one person could receive, due to the legendary traits that Leo and I had both obtained, but for some reason, we got to split it.

I guess its efficiency must have dropped by nearly half?

The usage effect is simple.

First, you place gold coins, jewels, or magical stones against the golden orb, which then takes a moment to absorb them and enters a ‘charging’ state.

Then, when you ‘use’ the orb in its ‘charging’ state, it spits out a certain level of experience points.

Ugh…!

I just consumed 10 gold coins. That’s about 220,000 won in Korean currency for a minuscule amount of experience points.

Based on my current experience meter of 126, that’s around 0.0001%.

Of course, considering my experience has surpassed a hundred billion, this number was certainly not something to ignore.

In a way, it seems more efficient than the ‘coin’ that Yena got scammed out of, but the cooldown and the necessity to feed it different currencies aren’t really great aspects.

“It feels a bit weak for a legendary trait…”

Before logging off yesterday, Leo and I conducted a short test, but aside from generating experience points, there was nothing particularly special.

Leo, who was initially happy to have received the reward, was now filled with disappointment, and the chat window had pretty lackluster reactions too.

I wanted to question the Master of the Altar Immensus about it, but I couldn’t sense his presence anywhere in the tower.

To just disappear without a word is quite something.

‘Where on earth did he go?’

If it weren’t for Yena, I would have found a way to shake the altar thoroughly, so it was truly regrettable that I couldn’t.

With a sense of disappointment, I returned to Eli Academy in Elbrite.

Due to being extremely busy lately, neither I nor Lasty, who was fixing the Dark Mage and Demon King, nor the Pharaoh, busy with his romantic endeavors, had been able to conduct classes often.

The rankers attending the classes also didn’t come by frequently, as they were busy with World Boss raids or new dungeons from the Great Cataclysm.

As a result, several facilities, which cost a pretty penny and relied on advanced magical techniques, were gathering dust.

‘It’s under a Clean Magic routine for daily automatic cleaning, though.’

“Still, it’s not like there’s no usage at all.”

Looking at the facility usage records, it seemed at least 6 to 7 people were utilizing it each day.

“Well… I’m going to have to recruit more students soon. Also gather more faculty.”

With such a vast space that could accommodate at least 5,000 people, it was quite the waste to have only about 10 people, professors included, using it.

If Besk knew, he’d probably be grabbing the back of his neck in disbelief at this space waste.

Is he already doing that?

“Your expression looks good.”

“…You’ve come?”

—Ah, you’re here. I’m working hard.

In the office located just below the top floor of Elbrite.

Besk Ronhadia, the head responsible for most of the tasks in the Duchy of Elbrite, welcomed me unexpectedly.

Beside him, the Spirit of Darkness, Black Cloud, was frantically flipping through documents, using its cloud-like shape to pick up numerous papers like tentacles and check them.

“Have you been well, Black Cloud?”

—Yes, thanks to you, I’ve seen more documents than I have in my entire life.

“What brings you here? Ah, I heard you went on a mission to raid the Altar.”

“Your dark circles have diminished quite a bit.”

“Yes. Well, as you can see…”

Before heading to the New Continent, Besk looked almost like a corpse, but now, with a hint of life thanks to the idle Black Cloud, he looked somewhat better.

Of course, while he looked more lively, the dark circles weren’t completely gone.

Black Cloud, not being human, didn’t look tired at all.

“The Academy grounds. Are you still slacking off?”

“That’s right.”

—96% of the facilities have barely been used for two months. Nearly 70% haven’t been touched at all.

Chak chak chak!

Documents were swiftly categorized by Black Cloud’s clouds.

Receiving those documents, I nodded.

—If it’s not being used, it would be right to either eliminate or reduce it…

“We won’t stop using it; we’ll need it soon.”

“Is that so?”

“When the content is organized. Since the New Continent quests and the Great Cataclysm’s World Boss haven’t been completed, everyone is busy.”

The reason the Academy, which was prepared with great ambition, isn’t active enough is that there’s so much to do.

Once we finally capture the Altar, the New Continent, and the Empire’s Demon Race World Boss—whom we still haven’t dealt with—then we might have some time left.

I imagine serious classes will start around then.

“…Now that I think about it, it’s ridiculous.”

“?”

“How long has it been since we entrusted it to the Empire, and they still haven’t dealt with it?”

Though not completely reliable, Duke Huangyeol holds the power over the continent.

With strength comparable to that of an Intermediate Angel, he should have the capability to handle it and likely already have countermeasures in place, yet for some reason, there have been no reports of their subjugation.

They are just occasionally handling the Demon Beasts due to “Spatial Rifts.”

Other news is nonexistent.

Besk answered with a troubled expression.

“…It seems it’s not something I can answer.”

“I know. I just mentioned it.”

“……”

“It’s frustrating. We can’t just go and eliminate them.”

Dealing with the Demon Race is simple.

While their Unique Ability of ‘Space’ can be a nuisance, now that I have regained some strength through the Fourth Phase, it should be manageable.

It’s a bit annoying, but now that I’ve regained some strength through the Fourth Shift, I can handle the opponent.

If I use Kraken’s Spear and Fourth Shift techniques properly, I should be able to take it down without significant damage.

The capital of the Empire will be utterly destroyed due to the battle’s aftermath, but if we just move the people out beforehand, it won’t be a problem at all.

“The issue is…”

That’s the ideal outcome that Duke Huangyeol desires the most.

Like ‘appendages,’ they want to use me to gain benefits without suffering any losses.

The very reason they’ve pushed Ruslan to be the next Emperor of the Empire is for this reason.

Ruslan is nothing more than a naive ‘human’ child who knows nothing.

They probably thought it would evoke sympathy and that I wouldn’t dare to lay a hand on him.

“Hmm… how obnoxious. Really obnoxious.”

I can’t let Duke Huangyeol have his way, so before the disaster penalty hits, I’ll have to take action.

Should I bring Sre with me again, just like before?

“Or maybe I should just wreck the capital one more time…”

─What is that?

“Huh?”

Black Cloud points towards the window.

At that moment, I feel something unknown and turn my head to see something flying from beyond the sky.

The object was coming at a high speed…

KABOOM!!!!

“What?!”

It broke through the long window and landed right between Besk, Black Cloud, and me.

The sight of an expensive table valued at a hundred gold coins being smashed to pieces.

Besk, suddenly attacked, made a distressed face.

“How dare you attack the great Ronhadia’s territory…!”

“But this is Elbrite.”

“…Aren’t they both?”

“If we must get technical, it’s mine.”

Though I granted authority, I hold the actual power.

“……”

“What is this?”

I lightly use Holy magic to break apart the table, revealing something buried in the ground.

A sickle, black with a mix of green.

The handle of the sickle was made of unusually sturdy wood, and the blade was covered in mysterious symbols that seemed to have some meaning.

─An ambush?

“Well, I don’t think anyone who’s sane would attack my land.”

At least within the continent, there shouldn’t be anyone who would attack me, let alone my territory.

Duke Huangyeol from the Empire is cautious of me but keeps me in check, and most kingdoms that aren’t part of the Empire do not oppose ‘Elbrite.’

There might be a small faction or users who would, but currently within Elbrite, there is a ‘Mana Shield’ in effect.

A highly advanced shield that makes even great archmages look foolish is layered several times, maintained semi-permanently with the Blue-Red Stone brought from the ancient island.

Moreover, since I’m within Elbrite, the Holy Shield automatically activates.

In other words, the one who threw this scythe has the strength to penetrate multiple layers of shields, including the holy shield.

“Given this, it must have been thrown by quite a skilled person… but who could it be?”

─Isn’t it a Demon Beast? I heard it comes out through a Crack in Space.

“I don’t sense any magic.”

If it were magic, I would have felt it before it reached here.

Magic and holiness are forces I’ve experienced far too many times.

But there was not a hint of such power in the recent attack.

‘I missed it for just a moment.’

I was relaxed since I was inside Elbrite, but even I was caught off guard by the speed of the attack.

What was even more astonishing was that I sensed no indication of the attack before it happened.

I immediately turned my gaze toward the shattered long window.

A completely wrecked window.

It’s a pretty expensive window; I wonder if they thought about paying for it before attacking.

“……”

“Shall we track them? I’m currently analyzing the Blue-Red Stone connected to the magic circle to deduce the likely location. The expected list will be out in one minute…”

─Finally, I can stretch my legs a bit. Stuck here doing paperwork has me feeling stiff.

“I found it.”

─?

I took off with the scythe in hand while leaving the two slaves… I mean, workers behind.

■

Tracking the traces of power to hunt down enemies is one of my main tasks.

There are countless monsters in the world, and quickly analyzing trails is crucial to prevent additional damage.

Once again, I utilized the faint traces of power left on the scythe to follow closely behind.

And at the end of the trail, I discovered the reason for the attack.

“It really is a Crack in Space.”

A very small crack pulsating with a blue light.

It was shrinking in real-time, about the size of a human head, and beyond the crack flowed an energy completely different from this place.

Even though I should not have been attacked on the continent, here I was.

‘The one who attacked is an existence from outside the continent.’

And entirely from ‘another dimension.’

Thud. Thud.

Someone’s eye peeked through the dimension.

“? Who are you?”

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