The Tower of Ti Project. While the Ivory Tower’s official plan was to relocate to the neutral zone and establish a third continental power, the Tower Master and his inner circle had a far more ambitious goal. Even among the so-called ’radical faction,’ only a handful knew the truth. The Tower Master intended to unseal the ’Frozen Clock’ and trigger a rampage far exceeding the original Gate incident. The plan was to move the tower, now a literal ’ti bomb,’ to Roc Island and detonate it.
Simon stared, dumbfounded.
"Wh-what would happen then?"
"What do you think?" Serne’s lips curled into a smirk. "Our research indicates the blast radius of the ’ti bomb’ will encompass all of Roc Island, the surrounding sea, and even parts of Langerstine. Kizen will be trapped in an eternal temporal loop and utterly annihilated."
The historical reenactnts currently plaguing the tower were child’s play. When the gate first opened, it had been a true cataclysm. Deceased Tower Masters had reappeared to fight the anomalies, and figures from the future had even materialized. Many were simply trapped, forced to repeat the sa actions for eternity.
"The best part of this plan," she said, clasping her hands with a bright smile, "is that we can finally eliminate Nephthys. As a user of ti-based Innate Abilities, she’ll be hopelessly ensnared in the temporal chaos, like a fly in a tangled web. This might be our only chance to defeat her. And as it happens, we’ve just received intel that she has returned to Roc Island."
All the bla will fall on Gildon, the master of spatial magic. We’ll fra it as an act of revenge, sothing he orchestrated after seizing the one-hundredth floor. Once Kizen is gone, the Ivory Tower will assu control of the Dark Alliance."
The sheer audacity of the plot sent a throb of pain through Simon’s head.
"In that spirit, I have a proposal for you, Simon."
"You have no idea how much trouble I went through to get you off that perilous island. Kizen’s destruction is a foregone conclusion. The Ivory Tower will soon rule the Dark Alliance." She smiled, extending an open palm. "Co to the Ivory Tower, Simon."
Staring at her, Simon let out a long, weary sigh.
"The reason you want to recruit ... it’s to unseal that ’Frozen Clock,’ isn’t it?"
His point was sharp. To achieve their goal, they first had to overco one crucial hurdle: unsealing the dungeon master. Only then could they trigger its rampage. But the ice encasing the clock was a seal that could not be broken by force. Even the Greatsword of Ruin hadn’t left a scratch.
"Of course not," Serne cooed, feigning surprise. "Even you, a Legion Commander, can’t break that seal, Simon. That’s an ’Absolute Seal,’ cast three hundred years ago by the Sorcerer of White Ice at the cost of his own life."
Simon’s eyes widened.
’An Absolute Seal?’
"It’s a pure elental magic that sacrifices the caster’s life to permanently trap a target in unbreakable ice. The only way to break an Absolute Seal is to cast the very sa spell upon it again, canceling it out."
Simon’s jaw went slack.
"Wait, you have to sacrifice the caster’s life?"
"Yes. And even then, not just anyone can perform it. Only a mage blessed by the spirits or, in our case, one who has strongly inherited the blood of the Sorcerer of White Ice. And recently, one such talent was born." Her tongue darted out. "Have you guessed who it is? It’s soone you know, Simon..."
"Serne!" Simon shouted, his voice harsh. "Don’t tell you’re going to use irin...!"
"You can’t save everyone. It’s an unavoidable sacrifice." A chilling smile spread across her face. "It seems we have to give up on at least one person."
Simon’s lips trembled.
"Are you being serious?"
"Yes, I am. But more importantly, Simon, co to the Ivory Tower. It’s the only way you’ll survive."
Simon ground his teeth.
"I refuse such a pathetic offer to just save my own skin."
"Ah, so it’s a no, after all." The smile vanished from Serne’s face, replaced by a mask of ice. "Then it can’t be helped."
Her hair whipped around her as countless pure white feathers materialized, spinning in a vortex. Simon leveled the Greatsword of Ruin.
"This is the first ti we’ve fought since the island survival evaluation in our first year, isn’t it?"
Their Jet-Black flared, surging in competition. A battle with Serne. Even with the power of a Legion Commander, the outco was uncertain.
Simon slowly drew back his greatsword as Serne’s feathers coalesced into the shape of a magic circle.
"Are you ready?"
The air crackled with tension as their auras clashed. Just as they were about to lunge—
"Stop."
Simon lowered the tip of his greatsword. Serne, poised to attack, blinked in confusion.
"Serne, you may think you’re the only one who observes and analyzes others, but you’re mistaken. Other people are constantly observing and analyzing you, too." Simon’s breathing was heavy. "You always smile like that when you’re testing soone. When you’re playing a prank, when you want to see a reaction, when you fought with irin, and just now, when you were about to fight ."
"Is that... so?" Serne blinked, as if hearing it for the first ti.
Simon spread his arms.
"If you were truly serious about making an accomplice, you wouldn’t have tried to persuade with such a foolish argunt as ’join us if you don’t want to die.’ You’ve watched long enough to know what kind of person I am."
"You could have used with a few convenient lies. But instead, you revealed the entire truth, even the part about sacrificing irin, all under the pretext of recruiting . You want to see sothing in this information, don’t you? Am I wrong?" Power blazed in Simon’s eyes. "What is it that you truly want, Serne?"
’Heh. Hehehe.’ Covering her face with a hand, she began to laugh, her shoulders shaking.
"I’m no match for you." When she lowered her arm, her expression was a canvas of complex emotions.
[I told you, didn’t I, Serne?]
The voice of a third party made Simon turn. The Ghost of Ti was approaching.
[That trying to sound out this steadfast friend of yours would be pointless.]
The two of them knew each other. As Simon looked between them, confused, the ghost spoke again.
[Kekeke, didn’t I tell you before? About the one who steals my research.]
’Ah.’
"Sotis I leave my research findings by the window. And there’s soone who cos every day to take it, registers it as their own, and rises to the top of the Ivory Tower!"
So that was Serne. Simon was finally beginning to understand. He now had an inkling of why the ghost, claiming he wanted to prevent a tragedy, had shown him their past.
[To reach the truth, one final piece remains,] the ghost said, light flickering in his hand. [A minute should be enough.]
His vision was engulfed in white.
---
"You’ll die if you stay here. Will you co with ?"
"From this day forward, I am your father. I will make you the greatest human on the continent."
A young Serne followed the Tower Master into the Ivory Tower. As he had warned, everyone there despised her. But...
"Hi, Serne! I’m irin. Is this your first ti here? Let’s play together!"
In that strange, hostile place, irin was a ray of hope. The one person who should have been most wary of her treated her with more kindness than anyone. Shad by the child’s example, the adults softened their attacks, and public opinion began to turn. Serne and irin beca inseparable, the most precious person in the world to each other.
"I’m going to be the Tower Master when I grow up."
irin was serious about her goal.
"I promise, irin. I’ll make you the Tower Master."
Serne cheered her on. They never doubted their friendship would last forever. But the mont she learned the truth, everything shattered.
The Tower Master, who had been neglectful and offered no affection beyond her magical education, one day summoned her to his study.
"Excellent," he said with admiration, placing the ’Orb of the Ice Emperor’ on his desk. Serne had frozen it so completely that sharp icicles jutted from its surface. "Do you know what this is?"
Serne shook her head.
"I’ve never heard the details. Only that if you can freeze it, you’re a great mage..."
"Indeed." The Tower Master cleared the ice from the orb and set it on the table. "This was created three hundred years ago by the ’Sorcerer of White Ice,’ the one who sealed the Tower of Ti, to train his freezing magic."
"Ah..."
"To freeze this orb requires an innate talent for ice magic. Or rather, the blessing of a spirit." The Tower Master attempted to use his own magic on it, but despite the imnse power he wielded, the orb remained untouched. Only the desk beneath it froze solid. "Since the Sorcerer of White Ice, only two mages have ever managed to even slightly freeze this orb with their mana."
The Tower Master set the orb down.
"For a long ti, the Ivory Tower has searched for a child with the sa blessing."
"Why? If you need a strong mage, it doesn’t have to be an ice-type..."
"To break the ’Absolute Seal’ he cast."
The Tower Master then explained the plan that had been in motion for centuries: the relocation to the neutral zone, and the Absolute Seal magic that required the caster’s life. A seal that could only be broken by one of its own kind.
Serne jumped in shock.
"W-wait a minute! Then...!"
"That’s right." The Tower Master closed his eyes. "irin will beco the Tower Master at the age of twenty. As protector of the tower, she will uphold its noble will and sacrifice her life to break the seal."
Serne, who had stood frozen, her mouth agape, erupted in fury.
"Why? I won’t allow it! Why does irin have to sacrifice herself? What about what she wants!"
"It is a glorious fate. A human’s life is short, but her na will live on in the Ivory Tower forever."
"What’s the point of leaving a na behind if you’re murdered! That isn’t a sacrifice, it’s a killing!"
The Tower Master was inwardly surprised by her unprecedented defiance, but his voice remained cold. "Sacrifice is unavoidable. If we do nothing, the Ivory Tower will be consud by Kizen and torn to shreds." He slowly placed a hand on her head. "You are a clever child. I trust you understand. From now on, do not draw attention to yourself by freezing the Orb of the Ice Emperor. irin is the one who will break the seal. After she dies, when you beco Tower Master..."
Serne roughly slapped his hand away and snatched the orb.
"No, Father. irin isn’t skilled enough."
She poured her power into the orb, and ice erupted from its surface.
"Look! I can freeze it this much! irin can’t do this!"
The entire plan hinged on irin being able to cast the Absolute Seal. But could she do it if she could only barely freeze the orb’s surface? If she failed, her life would be lost for nothing. Serne was pressing that very weakness.
"Serne, you are our hope. For you, the perfect one, to sacrifice yourself instead of that defective product is..."
Her eyes blazing, she shouted, "Let be clear, this is the one thing I will not concede!"
"Serne!"
"I will beco the Tower Master!" she yelled back, unyielding. "The one who breaks the Absolute Seal will be ...!"
The faint sound of footsteps echoed from a distance. Serne flinched and turned, but they had already vanished.
"Do you an that?" the Tower Master asked, his gaze heavy. "You would die in her place?"
"Yes, I’m serious," Serne said, clenching her teeth. "From this mont on, I will beco the Tower Master by any ans necessary. And I will be the one to break the Absolute Seal."
---
The vision of the past faded. As his sight cleared, Simon was thrown into turmoil.
’Then Serne, from the very beginning...’
Everything had been for irin. She wanted to beco the Tower Master only to gain the right to sacrifice herself in irin’s place. Her provocations, her focus on Jet-Black flas—it was all a desperate ploy to keep irin from honing her own innate talent for ice magic.
"I promise. I’ll make you the Tower Master."
Serne hadn’t lied. If she sacrificed herself, the title would naturally pass to irin.
’That’s...!’
Simon bit his lip hard. His vision cleared completely.
He found his limbs pinned to the wall. White feathers were embedded in his body, suppressing his Jet-Black and severing his telepathic link to his undead. He looked forward.
The Ghost of Ti stood with his head bowed, a troubled look on his face. Serne was smiling faintly.
"Wh-what is this? Serne!"
"I’m sorry, Simon. Please just stay like that for a mont." She turned and walked toward the ’Frozen Clock’. "If I let you go, you’d only try to stop ."
"You... don’t tell ...!"
She placed her hand on the Frozen Clock.
"Do you rember when we fought together in Tarados? When we entered the dungeon controlled by ’The Union,’ I was watching everything through my feathers."
"Serne! Wait! Untie and then we can talk!"
Her tongue darted out.
"As I watched, I noticed your Greatsword of Ruin had a new function. The ability to absorb a dungeon master and take control of the dungeon, wasn’t it?"
"When I break the Absolute Seal, I will die. When I die, the magic binding you will be released. At that mont—" She smiled brightly. "Use your sword to absorb the dungeon master and take control of this dungeon."
It was the only way, she had concluded, to stop the Tower Master’s plan.
Simon’s face twisted in anguish.
"Didn’t you hate Kizen? Why...! Why go so far as to betray the Tower Master?"
"Because," she said with a faint smile, "my father, the Tower Master, was a pawn of ’The Union."
"What?"
"The data from the Tarados dungeon... you and Lorraine thought you split it, but I snagged a few things myself. I found an interesting na on the mber list." A chill crept into her eyes. "A man of such little worth. He might destroy Kizen, but that won’t lead to the Ivory Tower’s greatness. It’s just being used and played by The Union. I can’t stand that. If we eliminate Kizen, they’ll just try to swallow the Dark Alliance whole."
"Serne...!"
"And most importantly," she added with a sweet smile, "that man keeps insisting on killing you. How annoying."
"Sacrifice is unavoidable."
"Sacrifice is unavoidable," she repeated, her voice soft. "This is the only way to save both you and irin."
Serne took her hand from the clock and slowly approached him. Smiling, she caressed his cheek.
"Simon, do you rember when we first t in our first year?"
"During the island survival evaluation, when Lorraine and I were fighting, you jumped in and boldly asked for help. The three of us tead up and took down that giant undead, rember?"
"Serne...!"
"Oh, and do you rember when you taught Internal Jet-Black Eruption in Combat Magic class? I gave you a little back hug then."
One coupon for fighting the Saintess of Purification together. Two for taking down The Union in Tarados. Her hair fell around her face as she calmly listed their mories, each one a vivid panorama in Simon’s mind.
"This is my last request. I haven’t collected all ten, but I’m cashing in all my coupons now." Her voice trembled as she placed a hand on his chest. "When I die, stop the Tower Master’s plan. Okay?"
She took her hand from his cheek and walked away. Simon struggled violently against his bonds.
"Serne!! Wait!" he scread. "Don’t do it! I’ll figure sothing out! There has to be a better way! You don’t have to die! Please...!"
"I’m sorry."
Serne activated the black magic she had prepared. A complex magic circle spread across her body, its light resonating with identical patterns that blood across the ceiling and walls. Shrouded in magic, she embraced the ’Frozen Clock’.
"Goodbye, Simon."
"SERNEEEEEEE!"
A blinding flash of light and a deafening roar consud the ice.
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