Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

“Ether is a power that everyone has.”

“But most people die without even being able to feel it.”

“Amongst those who are able to feel it, only very few people can use it in battle… Yes, only people like you and me.”

“But I feel this kind of ether for the first time… It’s pure, yet unrefined… but it’s also infinitely rough…”

I flinched whenever Margretha’s hands touched my chest. My breathing turned ragged and my body felt hot. It was never a good feeling to have something running around my body against my will.

As I frowned, Margretha pressed my right pectoral muscle with the palm of her hand.

“Stretch out your arms, and the weapon . . .”

A long knife was gripped in my left hand. The pain in my chest passed through the shoulder blades, then to the forearms, and finally into the fingertips.

Once it escaped my fingertips, the blade of the long knife was dyed golden.

Whooosh-!!

At the same time, I felt something coming out of my body in mass. The golden flame bursting out from the long knife extended over 1m. It was completely different from Margretha’s Ether Blade.

“What the… what in the world is this…”

Margretha was left speechless when she saw a golden flame stretching over 1m long.

“If you say you don’t know, who will know…” I uttered after mustering all my power to speak. Meanwhile, I could hear that Da-jeong and Seokhyun were busy admiring it.

“It’s as big as Seongho’s dick!”

“Then, he should grasp it around his waist!”

‘These crazy bastards!!’

The golden flame died out as the two chatted.

“Keuh… What was that? What happened?” I gasped and asked.

Margretha stood there blankly, barely answering.

“I don’t know the details either… It definitely felt like ether, but why isn’t it straight?”

“Can it be because I come from another world?”

“I don’t know… What is certain is that I felt the purity in your ether. You said Giudecca wanted you, right? It might be because of this.”

“Didn’t I say I just want more cutting power?”

“L-let’s try it out from now.”

Damn, it freaking hurts.

Still, thanks to my skills, the pain subsided in an instant. Margretha put her hand on me in earnest and began to test things up.

Seokhyun, who was watching, said.

“Ether is… Like Qi.”

“Qi?” Margretha asked.

“What you did to Seongho just now was a Qi transfer, right? Though, it’s the variation where you moved the Qi inside rather than transferring yours to his.” Seokhyun shrugged.

“Such a setting exist?” Da-jeong’s eyes widened.

“The golden flames emitted by Seongho can be roughly called sword qi materialization. In other words, he has reached the pinnacle now.”

What kind of intimidating setting is that?

Anyway, with Margretha’s help, I was able to manifest Ether Blade once more.

She said again in admiration. “Th-this is not an ether blade, it’s a different type… how about it. Can you keep it?”

“I don’t think it will be difficult.”

Even at this moment, something was leaking out of my body. ANd thanks to that, the golden flame continues to maintain its brilliant appearance.

Margretta tilted her head, as if failing to understand something.

“Strange… This is the first time a beginner has maintained an ether blade for such a long time. At most, a few seconds is the limit…”

“It’s because his bowl is big. Seongho has been playing the game the longest among us.”

“We are only a few hours behind him, though?” Da-jeong chided.

“The game has an effect on reality, though. It’s not something to look at lightly.”

Seokhyun’s words held some truth in it. According to Ahn Geun-Seok, a certain magic swept the production company and made the apocalypse into reality. So, there’s a good chance that some magic was applied to me who had been playing the game for a long time.

“Let’s do a little test.”

“I will help you.”

With Margretha’s help, I could finally get back on my feet, albeit barely. As it turned out, it was very difficult to move while using the Ether Blade.

“Heup!”

As I held my breath and stabbed the Ether Blade into the wall, something absurd happened.

Boom-!!

The walls touched by the golden flame exploded instantly. Unexpectedly, I was soon after covered in debris and had to roll over. It’d really been a while since I felt the floor and ceiling spinning like this.

“What the! Are you okay?”

Margretta scooted over and examined me, and she was soon left startled.

“His wounds heal so quickly…”

“That’s because he’s a total monster. He’ll also wake up soon.”

As Da-jeong said so, I got up. And after a few more tests with Margretha, I concluded that my ether blade had explosive properties attached to it.

“My ether blade also has cutting properties. The transcendental knights from the Empire also had similar properties. It’s an ability that was originally passed down through bloodline and was replicated through an enhancement procedure.” Margretha explained.

“Why am I different?”

“It could be because you come from a different world… I don’t know. Though, if we have a magician with us, it might be possible to investigate.”

When she said magician, the first thing I thought of was the guy who attacked me with a thunderbolt spell. There will be a lot more of them opposing my way in the future, but with a magician on our own, it would be possible to respond against them.

“Where can we get a magician?”

Margretha fall into contemplation as I raised that question.

“There is a friend of mine in the Magic Tower. He’s a young man, but he’s quite a maniac about magic. I don’t think he would mind if we decided to get advice from him.”

But I had another idea rather than just asking for advice. But first, I need Margretha to return to Ezekium. Once she did so, wouldn’t it be possible to sweep all the supplies of the mage tower together with the wizard?

It would be nothing but stealing, but since things would turn out that way anyway, I don’t want to look for the other way.

Margretha was taken aback when I suggested that.

“Isn’t that stealing? I absolutely hate it.”

“Is there a window in the magic tower? All you have to do is leave it open. I’ll go in and clean it all up. Of course, your friend will be included.”

“Wait… we are bringing Tibris here?”

“We can’t offer him anything special, but let’s just say we will fully support him. He will have all the freedom to do his research.”

“He’s free to do any research, huh? Certainly Tibris would be tempted. He used to pour out complaints to the old people of the Mage Tower because of that…”

Then Da-jeong intervened.

“From what I’ve heard, it sounds like he’s crazy about magic research, so it doesn’t matter where it is, right? We will also wipe out the supplies of the Mage Tower to boot.”

“Because he is such an unusual wizard, he might accept the offer… But, you underestimate how many supplies are in the Mage Tower. It is impossible to move them all.”

Sorry but that’s my specialty. If I could somehow get in, taking it would be a piece of cake. But the problem remained. We need to first check the capabilities of the gate that was opened with the dimensional jewel.

After working hard to get the information from her, she finally explained it.

“We often referred to it as a dimensional rift. The dimensional jewel copies the coordinates of a gate and opens another gate. To put it simply…”

“If I open a dimensional door near Ezekium, other guys can follow, right?”

“Yes. The reason I came here is because I copied your gate.”

Then we should run away first before opening the dimensional gate.

I organized my thoughts.

“Let’s do this.”

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Margretha returned to the imperial garrison. As expected, she received a lot of stinging stares her way. The fact that she returned unscathed when she lost all of her subordinates itself was a matter that was criticized by everyone.

“Are the two wizards dead too? I don’t know where she got the courage to raise her head.”

“Her mission failed, all her men were killed… And the honor of the Transcendental Knights fell to the ground.”

Not long after arriving, she was immediately summoned by Pope Vandyre. Initially, a meeting with the head of the Transcendence Knights was planned, but the church intervened and changed her schedule.

Koleos, who was assigned to her, promptly guide her.

“This result… the Pope is deeply disappointed.”

“I understand.”

“Even though we had opened the gate, we got no result whatsoever. You will have to be determined.”

“No, I have a result with me.”

Margretha pushed out her breasts at him.

“Can you tell me what that result is?”

“I will let the pope see it for himself.”

In an instant, a booming enveloped the two of them. The lift had reached the grand hall and Margretha moved forward. Once she’s in the room, she could see Pope Vandyre sitting on one side of the room while giving out a benevolent smile.

Along with the commander of the Transcendental Knights and the Magic Tower Master, the man was the High Lord who ruled the newborn Ezekium. Additionally, he was also the most powerful amongst the three.

But behind that smile of him, a cruelty beyond anyone’s imagination was hidden. Margretha was one of those people who knew about it.

“Greetings from Margretha Pistel, your excellency.”

The man opened his eyes soon after.

“Lady Pistel. I heard that you are lost in battle with the heathen. I never thought you would appear like this.”

At his mild rebuke, Margretha felt the ether in her whole body pulsate. She had been thinking about it before, but she just now realized that the pope’s intimidation was anything but normal.

Is it because he received Giudecca’s protection?

“This Pistel, although had made an irreversible mistake, was not coming home without having a result. Please look at this.” Margretha answered after barely being able to suppress her rapid breathing.

“Bring it here.”

She politely offered her smartphone to the pope. For the first time in a long while, there was curiosity in Vandyre’s eyes.

“What is this object for?”

“I stole it from those heathens. It is said that those heathens could communicate, draw pictures, and read books using that object.”

To say she stole it was nothing but a lie. However, Pope Vandyere, who fell in love with the novelty of the smartphone, didn’t care at all.

When Margretha taught him how to take a selfie, he was amazed.

“Heh heh, is it some kind of magic? Can I just use it until whenever?”

“Here… there is a battery inside that part, and the heathens say it doesn’t last long. At most one day…”

“Hmm…” Pope Vandyere continued to fiddle with the smartphone. He was really amazied be the fact that something that wasn’t even a mirror could show his face right away.

“Are there many things like this in the world of strangers?” He asked.

Margretta said what she had in mind beforehand. The strangers’ world had been ruined for a long time. The survivors over there were struggling day by day, but their fighting power was quite considerable. On top of it, all of them had abilities comparable to transcendental knights, and their growth rate was also quite fast. It wouldn’t be an easy fight even if the new Ezekium tried its best.

Having heard her explanation, Vandyre made an angry face and glared at her.

“Lady Pistel, are you saying that our Order is lacking?”

“No, your excellency. I just thought we need to make a perfect preparation before taking another action. One of the survivors exhibited a fighting prowess comparable to mine even when he didn’t have an ether blade. What if he trains properly? I want you to consider that.”

Margretha’s eloquence pleased the pope.

“Perfect preparation… You are indeed correct. There are many things to prepare for the extermination of heretics and infidels…”

Margretha broke out in a cold sweat. Again, she knew that the Pope’s purpose was not to exterminate the heretics. Rather, it was to spread Giudecca Faith into all living beings.

Vandyre said in a solemn voice.

“I will use Sir Pistel’s failure as a basis for taking a step forward. There will be more to do in the future.”

“Then, I will excuse myself, your excellency.”

After Margretha leave the room, the Pope beckoned Koleos who was standing in one corner towards him/

“Isn’t it suspicious?”

“It was very funny how she dared to deny that she had failed. It’s clear that someone made her do so. Probably… the person who gave that item to her.”

“There is nothing wrong with being careful. Watch her.”

“Your will is my command, your excellency.”

“Anyway, this stuff is so magical. It records and shows people’s movements as they are… I want to use it quickly, what should we do?”

Koleos smiled mischievously. He instantly knew the Pope’s intentions.

“I will call the battle nuns.”

“You pick this up and record it.”

After a while, the combat nuns appeared and threw off their clothes in front of the pope. Koleos grabbed the smartphone and recorded the lewd spectacle taking place on the throne.

Meanwhile, while they were doing that, Margretha met her friend at the magic tower. After hearing the circumstances, he said:

“A different world, huh? You want me to go there and do my research there?”

“Now that I have said this, you have no right to refuse. I’m sorry.”

Originally, she didn’t want to involve her friends at all. But everything was going too fast for her to even contemplate before making the decision. If she didn’t do something today, she might not be able to do it as he could be imprisoned by tomorrow.

Tibris showed an unexpected reaction at her offer.

“Another world… Different people… Unusual adventures… Good experiences… Research… Higher realms… Good, good! Let’s go now!”

“Huh?”

Margretha was taken aback.

Can he really make the decision that easily?

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Da-jeong and I flew on top of Ezekium garrison’s sky on top of a gryphon. According to Margretha, the boundaries of the Magic Tower were surprisingly loose.

-At first, the boundaries were strict. All kinds of magic were installed in the mage tower. However, since the Magic Tower is the home and research center of many magicians. The alarm rings every time, so they turned it off because it was annoying.

Well, if someone went to the bathroom and triggered the alarm every time, they would naturally be annoyed.

Da-jeong hugged my waist and asked.

“Is it the end once we rob the magic tower?”

What a horrendous thing to say.

“We have to clear the ether mine too before the news spreads. But first, we have to leave immediately after securing Marie and Tibris.”

“Can we really do so? We never know when those guys will appear.”

That was the problem. Ahn Geun-seok did not tell us when the monsters on the 13th floor will appear. Therefore, we should stop doing anything we were doing immediately once we heard the news,

“We can’t help it. We have to do it as quickly as possible.”

I remembered moving supplies quickly on the first day of the apocalypse. Since the place we were going to rob was a magic tower, the time would be tighter and more dangerous. But we still have to do it.

We rode the gryphon and circled the garrison. And suddenly one of the windows of the magic tower creaked open.

“Let’s go.”

“Be careful.”

I grabbed the elderwood rope and jumped down. Then, using the rebound from the rope, I soared into the air. I made a dimensional wall and ran on top of it, and Margretha hurriedly moved away.

“What, what is it?”

The slim wizard inside was startled. Ignoring him, I opened the portal. At the same time, I could see Margretha’s jewel glowed.

“Now we can open the gate. By the way… can we go first?”

“I’ll take care of the rest.”

Tibris looked back and forth between me and Margretha and snapped his fingers.

“Is this a plan to rob supplies with subspace abilities? It won’t be easy. The magic tower has all sorts of barrier magic. To put it simply, your spell will bounce.”

Is it really so?

I opened the dimension warehouse and threw the books and scrolls on the shelf into it. After it all entered without any problems, Tibris seemed shocked.

“Oh, no, that shouldn’t be the case…”

Margretha tapped him on the shoulder.

“From what I’ve heard, this man is the best at stealing supplies. He is an uninvited guest, but what can we do?”

Tibris was startled when I threw something that resembled an egg.

“That, please handle that with care!”

I ignored his words and continued tossing. I’m busy, so I don’t have time to move quietly.