‘There you are.’

As always, Cheon Woo-Jin suddenly appeared behind Siegfried.

His skill, Incarnation, allowed him to move directly next to his intended target. It enabled him to move without making a sound or leaving any traces, so it was impossible for the target to notice that he had arrived.

This skill was the reason Cheon Woo-Jin would always manage to startle Siegfried as if he were a ghost. Cheon Woo-Jin always enjoyed catching Siegfried off guard and giving him a jump scare. This time was no different.

‘Let’s see how you like this, punk,’ he thought with a grin as he quietly approached him.

As usual, he snuck up behind Siegfried and tried to startle him, but he couldn’t.

“Gotcha, bitch!”

Siegfried suddenly turned around and shouted at Cheon Woo-Jin.

“Aack!”

Startled out of his wits, Cheon Woo-Jin landed hard on his butt.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

His heart pounded wildly, as if it was about to jump out of his chest. The last thing he expected was for Siegfried to surprise him, so his body was in a total state of shock.

“Hey, what are you so surprised about?” Siegfried asked with a mischievous grin.

“Y-You scared the shit out of me, you asshole!” Cheon Woo-Jin screamed, his voice still shaking.

“Kekeke!”

“What are you laughing about?! I felt my soul leave my body just now!”

“Oh? So now you know how it feels? Kekeke!”

Siegfried couldn’t help but cackle out of delight after finally giving Cheon Woo-Jin a taste of his own medicine.

“Hey, you bastard! Are you seriously—”

“I bet you thought you’d never get caught off guard by me, didn’t you? Keke!”

“Y-You...!” Cheon Woo-Jin growled, trembling in anger.

“Yes, it’s me,” Siegfried sneered in response.

“Just wait and see! I’m going to scare you to death next time!” Cheon Woo-Jin shouted, his voice filled with anger.

“You’re always welcome to try,” Siegfried replied haughtily.

He was not confident that he would never fall for Cheon Woo-Jin’s surprise attack ever again, as he would be caught completely off guard if Cheon Woo-Jin decided to appear while he was completely immersed in something.

Still, the fact that he got a win over Cheon Woo-Jin this time was simply too sweet for him that he couldn’t help but taunt the latter.

‘Kekeke!’

He had always been the one suffering from such jumpscares, so the fact that he turned the tables around for once felt great. Thus, he decided to enjoy the feeling of satisfaction for now and worry about Cheon Woo-Jin's retaliation later.

“Anyway, why did you come here?” Siegfried asked, extending a hand.

“Why else?” Cheon Woo-Jin grumbled in response as he took the hand and stood up. Then, he said, “I came to tell you something I spotted.”

“Is it about the Marchioni Empire?” Siegfried asked.

The only reason Cheon Woo-Jin would suddenly appear like this these days was when he discovered some scheme the Marchioni Empire was cooking.

“Yeah. It looks like they’re scheming something again,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied.

“Oh? That’s perfect timing. I was actually planning something myself,” Siegfried said with a smirk.

“Huh? Planning what?”

“Those damned mages are quite the nuisance,” Siegfried said with a chilling grin.

“Huh? Mages? Hold on, no way... Are you planning to...?”

“I’m going to kill them all.”

Siegfried had resolved to wipe out every single mage within the Marchioni Empire and bring down the Magic Tower.

“Oh dear...” Cheon Woo-Jin muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. He couldn’t help but be intimidated by the killing intent oozing out of Siegfried. He knew from experience that Siegfried was someone true to his words, so it would not be strange at all if the mages ended up getting wiped out.

“So, what do you think they’re up to?” Siegfried asked.

“I think they’re going to destroy the dam,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied.

“Hmm... The dam...”

“Here, look at this. See the dam over here?” Cheon Woo-Jin said, pointing at a map.

“Yeah, I do.”

“You might be wondering what they’re hoping to achieve by destroying the dam when the water would flood toward the Marchioni Empire rather than the Proatine Empire. But if you look at this mountain here—”

“Hold on, does that mean...?”

“Yeah. They plan to destroy the mountain and cause the water to flood toward the opposite side. And if they succeed in doing that, then—”

Siegfried continued, “All the cities here will be destroyed. Our strategic fortresses will be submerged as well.”

“That’s not the only thing they’re doing,” Cheon Woo-Jin said. Then, he added, “They seem to be digging into the ground around this spot, which is quite strange if you ask me. There’s no reason for them to be digging there. And on top of that, nearly twenty thousand mages have gathered there.”

“Do you think they’re going to try to trigger an earthquake after digging?”

“That’s what I suspect. They must be planning to destroy the dam and trigger an earthquake at the same time. With those two combined, they will deliver a devastating blow to us. By my estimate, a third of our territory will be wiped out in an instant if their plan succeeds.”

Once again, the mages of the Marchioni Empire were the main problem. They intended to use their mages to cause a massive disaster and deal a catastrophic blow to the Proatine Empire.

“This is wonderful. I’ve been needing a justification to hit them, and this is better than perfect,” Siegfried said with a smile.

While he was smiling, his eyes looked nothing short of murderous. He had already planned to drop Scourge of God on the Magic Tower, the so-called base of mages, so this gave him the perfect justification to do it.

“Thanks a lot, man,” Siegfried said.

“Don’t mention it,” Cheon Woo-Jin shrugged in response. Then, he asked, “But are you sure it’s fine if you do that?”

“Hm? Why?”

“You do know that what we see isn’t the true power of the Marchioni Empire, right? They’re far stronger than we think.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Siegfried had never underestimated the Marchioni Empire—not even once. The Marchioni Empire reigned as the world’s strongest empire for more than five hundred years, and that kind of power was not to be taken lightly.

If an all-out war were to break out between them, then the Marchioni Empire would, without a doubt, unleash countless destructive secret weapons they had kept hidden for centuries.

In other words, even though Siegfried could deal a great blow to them now, there was no way to predict the extent of their might once the real clash came.

Even so, Siegfried knew that he had to do something. He knew very well that all he could do right now was to chip away at the Marchioni Empire, but he had to start somewhere.

After all, he was already building the battleship that would combine both the technology of the Marchioni Empire and the Coral Race, and it would serve as his own secret weapon in the upcoming war.

In addition, they were searching for the resting place of the Ancient Corals. Those Ancient Corals would surely serve as powerful allies. All in all, he planned to do whatever he could to weaken the Marchioni Empire before the decisive battle.

***

Siegfried immediately convened an emergency strategy meeting. Now that he knew what the Marchioni Empire was scheming, it was time for him to come up with an effective countermeasure.

“Your Imperial Majesty, I believe the Rod of God should be used to bring down the Magic Tower. That tower will have all kinds of defensive spells installed, so only something like the Rod of God will be powerful enough to destroy it,” Oscar proposed.

“I agree,” Siegfried replied with a nod. Then, he asked, “Then what do we do about the Marchioni Empire’s scheme?”

“It would be best if we infiltrate and hit them before they manage to achieve their goal. If we destroy the dam before they manage to make the mountain collapse, then we can hit them with their own scheme,” Oscar replied.

Just as she said, infiltrating the enemy and hitting them with their own scheme was the best option.

However, achieving something of that scale within the Marchioni Empire’s territory would require not only the Proatine Imperial Army’s elites, but also the Proatine Force and Siegfried himself.

“If I may, Your Imperial Majesty,” Michele suddenly spoke up. Then, he stood up and said, “I believe there is something we must think of before striking the Magic Tower with the Scourge of God.”

“What is it?” Siegfried asked.

“The mages of the Marchioni Empire are not the only ones in the Magic Tower.”

“Hm?”

“We have reports that the disciples of the missing Elder Daode Tianzun are in the Magic Tower, too.”

“Ah...!”

“Also, hundreds of mages who opposed the Marchioni Empire taking control of the Magic Tower are also locked up in the prison within the tower. If Your Imperial Majesty uses the Scourge of God to destroy the Magic Tower, then the mages imprisoned there will die.”

“I can’t let that happen. I don’t want innocent people to get caught up in it,” Siegfried said, shaking his head.

“We must carry out a rescue operation first,” Michele said firmly.

The Proatine Empire had no leads on the whereabouts of Daode Tianzun, so obliterating his disciples would surely not be the wise move.

Besides, the mages against the Marchioni Empire’s tyranny would surely join the Proatine Empire once they were freed, and they would undoubtedly prove to be extremely valuable assets who would contribute greatly to the Proatine Imperial Army.

Siegfried wasn't someone who could miss out on such a rare opportunity to gain an army of powerful mages while dealing his enemy a devastating blow.

“Then this is what we’re going to do. We will rescue the mages first, hit the Magic Tower hard, and then use the confusion to destroy the dam first,” Siegfried said.

“A wise decision, sire,” Michele replied with a nod.

The rest of the ministers agreed to Siegfried’s suggestion in unison, too.

Just then, Duke Decimato raised his hand and spoke up, “If I may, sire?”

“Please, go ahead,” Siegfried replied.

“While I have nothing against destroying the Magic Tower, the materials and knowledge inside the tower are beyond precious. Thousands of years of history, magic knowledge, and all sorts of rare materials are gathered there. Since we will be infiltrating the tower anyway, it would be best to gather those valuable magic documents and bring them to our empire.”

“I will keep that in mind. But if the situation does not permit it, then gathering those things might be difficult.”

“I understand. Your Imperial Majesty’s grace is immeasurable.”

“Okay, that’s it. Everyone, get ready to move out.”

With that, Siegfried started the operation to infiltrate the cradle of all mages on the continent, the Magic Tower.

***

Siegfried led the Proatine Force and infiltrated the Marchioni Empire. After positioning themselves near the Magic Tower, he gave the order for them to hold position while he proceeded alone.

“Y-Your Imperial Majesty!”

“This is far too dangerous, sire!”

The Proatine Force members tried to stop him—and rightly so. Storming the Magic Tower, which was swarming with tens of thousands of mages, alone made no sense at all.

Not only was it dangerous, but it was also downright suicidal.

However, Siegfried was not scared at all—no, he didn't even consider the tower to be dangerous.

Why?

It was all because...

‘They’re all just prey to me.’

Siegfried was not afraid of mages. His Wave of Oppression disrupted a mage’s channeling, preventing them from using spells. How many mages had he hunted down with ease in the past? It didn't matter how many mages he faced or how powerful they were, as he could easily defeat them using the Wave of Oppression.

‘Today’s the day I spice my spear with mage blood,’ Siegfried thought, staring up at the tower.

The Magic Tower was said to have been built by the greatest mage who lived around two thousand years ago, making it a monument of magical history itself.

Today, Siegfried was going to turn this antique tower into a piece of history by destroying it completely.

‘Let’s go!’

Siegfried sprinted toward the tower’s entrance.

“Halt! Who goes there!”

“Stop!”

“We will attack if you don’t stop!”

The guards, mages, and knights stationed at the entrance shouted at Siegfried. However, he ignored their warnings and answered with the Splitting Heaven and Earth instead.

Bam!

The +10 Sky Piercer struck the ground and—

Krwaaang!

—Splitting Heaven and Earth spread out in a fan shape, swallowing the entrance of the Magic Tower. For two thousand years, ever since it was built, no one had ever dared to infiltrate the Magic Tower.

The tower was swarming with countless mages, making it a stronghold that even the mighty Marchioni Imperial Army did not dare to infiltrate.

Turning so many mages into their enemy would be a burden even for the Marchioni Imperial Army, which was the very reason the Marchioni Empire was forced to orchestrate a coup to seize control of the Magic Tower from within.

In short, Siegfried storming alone was a historic event worthy of being recorded in the annals of history.

‘I’m going to kill them all.’

With that resolve, Siegfried kicked down the gates and activated Green Hell Magno.

Wooong!

Siegfried gathered his Primordial Force and unleashed a cloud of radioactive gas around him.

Ssseuuuu!

The green gas that was filled with radioactive energy and microbes started filling the Magic Tower.

Just like that, a massacre began. The Green Hell Magno inside the tower was so overwhelming that the mages on the first floor couldn’t even put up any resistance at all. The radioactive gas killed them before they could even react or cast any defensive spells.

In mere seconds, Siegfried wiped out the mages on the first floor, leaving not a single survivor.