The Sword Genius of the Magic Empire - Chapter 36



Only Noblemtl

A storm of mana flow passed by.

Silence fell on the huge room.

In such a sight.

Enoch stared blankly at the back of the maid in front of him for a moment.

‘Although before, he seemed quite sincere about protecting Enoch’s body… .’

Her pure white inner world just now illuminated by Persona’s unique magic.

The only figure that existed in the empty inner world of Lien was Enoch.

Enoch muttered briefly to himself as he recalled that scene.

‘I didn’t know it would be like this.’

Lien glanced over, then approached, swinging her arm once to retrieve the wire.

Sarak.

Lien came close enough to feel each other’s breathing and began to silently check if he was injured, just like during the last mission.

Enoch glanced at her for a moment.

Maybe it was because I had seen Lien’s inner world firsthand earlier, but Lien’s usual attitude definitely felt a little creepy.

Could it be because I saw with my own eyes how sincere she was towards the original Enoch?

“There are no other wounds.”

Enoch tried his best not to pay attention to Lien, and slowly walked away, holding his sword.

Anyway, now all that’s left is to finish this work.

Sling.

Enoch approached the persona who was still lying motionless on the ground. However, after seeing her condition up close, Enoch slowly lowered the sword in his hand.

She was already dying.

It was clear that the persona was coughing up blood weakly, and it was also clear with the sense of mana.

With severe mana depletion and battle injuries, he will no longer be able to survive. Perhaps it is the price of continuing to fight despite being close to running out of mana a long time ago.

“… He was said to be an incompetent, non-magician direct descendant of Elseid.”

The persona spoke quietly, gasping for breath.

“That fact, was that the… mask you were wearing?”

With those words, the last light disappeared from her eyes.

Enoch quietly put away his sword.

Compared to the performance, unique magic, and name value that Persona has shown so far, it is a rather disappointing ending.

Rather, perhaps that was why I felt a strange sense of reality about her death.

“…a prophecy.”

Enoch, who was suddenly chewing over the information that Persona had confessed in her inner world, muttered quietly.

As for the Tantalus experiment, this part definitely needed to be investigated.

‘There’s a lot of bait. But nothing has been properly revealed.’

Enoch, who had thought that far, soon closed his eyes.

Anyway, it’s not too late to think about the headache later.

First of all, what I had to do right now wasn’t worrying about things like that.

‘First of all… should we try farming?’

In the ruined interior left by the battle, Enoch found one relatively intact wall.

‘I guess it’s here.’

Of course, if everything else is destroyed but you are the only one who is still intact, it means that it is a place that must be like that.

Enoch kicked the suspicious spot openly with his foot.

Kurururur!

As expected.

The wall that was barely holding up collapsed, revealing the vendetta branch’s supply room in front of him.

Supplies neatly stored on the shelves.

All of the horse stables and artifacts lined up inside were of considerable luxury, as he had expected.

All the horses that stand out are either fairly well-known brands or expensive items with the names of famous horses engraved on them.

‘There are quite a few useful items in the original. There are even quite a few artifacts that are hard to obtain.’

Well, that’s true.

If in the original, when it was revealed that there was some kind of backing for Vendetta, I guess that says it all.

Anyway, Enoch smiled faintly.

Farming good equipment is the basis of spec up!

But Enoch, who picked up the horse with a satisfied smile, realized a very important fact that he had forgotten the next moment.

“… Ah. Right.”

I’m not a wizard, am I?

Enoch, whose thoughts suddenly crossed his mind, stiffly turned his head and looked back at the warehouse.

The corners of his mouth turned into a bitter smile.

That would be the case, in the original work, the main character was a wizard and used these items as if they were a given…

Most of the advanced magical tools here are useless to Enoch, who can’t use magic.

“Arai.”

Enoch threw the horse to the ground.

Tankrang!

Usually, artifacts or magic items are items that ultimately amplify the power of magic or make it extremely efficient.

In other words, it is of no use to someone who cannot use magic.

Of course, not all artifacts of the Magic Empire are like this. In principle, there are artifacts that can be used by non-magicians as well.

The same goes for the ‘self-shining fox doll’ that I had received from Chloe as a token of my gratitude.

‘However, the performance and power are just that level.’

Unfortunately, among the magical tools that can be used by non-magicians, there are virtually none that can be expected to have dramatic effects.

Because compared to the high-powered artifacts usually used by wizards, their performance is much weaker.

widely.

Enoch picked up a dusty artifact that had been lying haphazardly on a shelf.

An artifact called the “Wizard’s Fog Pocket”.

This is a common consumable artifact that can be used by non-magicians, often seen in-game.

If I had to compare its performance, it would be like a smoke bomb.

‘I never even saw anything like this in the original.’

Enoch took it first.

‘It’s better than nothing, but….’

But to call this a reward for all the hard work, it was too meager.

‘I’ve worked so hard, but now I have nothing to write home about!’

As a veteran, I can never tolerate such ridiculous irrationality.

Enoch looked around the warehouse with his eyes wide open.

But at that time.

On one side of the warehouse, something was caught by ‘Mana’s Sense’.

‘Wait a minute, that mana… .’

The familiar flow of mana.

It was the Mana I had seen just a moment ago.

He immediately figured out the identity.

‘Persona’s Manada!’

Enoch immediately raised his sword and stood guard.

Is it possible that Persona isn’t completely dead yet?

‘No. The persona must have died, right?’

Enoch walked slowly, following the faint olive-colored mana.

And deep within the great vault, Enoch finally found the source of the mana.

‘A shard of glass? No. It’s a horse saddle of that shape.’

A small, sharp piece of glass that looks familiar.

Shards of glass glowing with translucent olive-green mana were stored in transparent display cases on the warehouse walls.

Enoch immediately remembered what it was.

‘This is the piece of glass that Persona used to escape this world of nothingness.’

widely.

And when he reached out to the Persona’s saddle and grabbed it.

Suddenly, Enoch’s vision reversed.

***

‘uh?’

A familiar feeling.

Enoch looked around.

An endless pitch-black space.

The familiar place suddenly appeared before my eyes.

‘… Is this, a world without meaning…?’

An inner world that suddenly came into being.

Swish.

Enoch was momentarily surprised when pale letters appeared on the piece of glass he was holding in his hand.

–

? “Glass Shards of the Inner World”

A glass shard created with unique magic to interfere with the inner world of others.

It helps users to consciously control and understand their inner world.

Features: The more you use it, the more your inner world becomes more powerful.

–

So then this is what forced the world of nothing to work.

Enoch stared at the piece of glass.

‘This looks… quite useful?’

Persona’s riding ground.

Her riding gear is used to control the inner world created with her own magic according to her will.

Originally, like other magic items or artifacts, it would be an item that could not be used by non-magicians.

Nevertheless, it was obvious why a non-magician could use her riding gear.

‘Enoch too, it must be because he is building an inner world like Persona.’

Enoch stretched out his arm, holding the shard of glass.

‘Let’s test it out for a bit.’

There was something I needed to check.

A brief exchange with the swordsman who defeated Persona earlier. After seeing that, I came up with a hypothesis.

If you utilize the effects of this horse well…

‘It might be possible to communicate directly with the Black Star!’

The moment I thought that.

In Enoch’s hands, the glass shards transformed into countless particles of light, rising into the air and disappearing.

Slurp

Beyond the disappearing particles of light.

Opposite the infinite inner world in which he stands.

The figure of the black knight was standing in front of Enoch.

A swordsman who was once called the last swordsman of the empire.

Enoch focused his consciousness on his form.

And the next moment─

[… Enoch Elseid.]

─A familiar, deep voice rang out.

Enoch opened his eyes for a moment.

“… is it done?”

But as soon as he muttered like that, the silhouette of the swordsman began to crackle as if it was covered in noise. Then it quickly disappeared.

Then, in an instant, the inner world is released.

Enoch’s vision had suddenly returned to reality.

It was a sudden phenomenon, but he could guess the cause. He recalled the information he had seen earlier.

‘That’s right. You said that the more you use it, the more its performance improves, right?’

It seems like its power is a bit weaker now.

However, for those who were still struggling to deal with the “world of nothingness,” this was the most urgent item.

‘I got something good.’

When I put my hand down, the fragment of Persona that I was holding just a moment ago had disappeared.

Come to think of it, did it disappear into particles of light in this empty world earlier?

I guess I should say that it’s completely absorbed into my inner world.

Swish.

As Enoch finished his thoughts, Lien came up to him and said.

“There are no signs of enemies around.”

“Okay. The exemption mission is over.”

Enoch nodded in agreement.

“But before returning to the family… .”

The top floor window of the building.

The night view of the city below.

Enoch added, looking at the complex streets of the underworld lurking in the darkness of the night.

“There’s a place I need to stop by for a moment.”

***

“Who, who came?”

“That monster and the maid who came this afternoon…!”

But the man’s words did not end.

“Waaaaaaah!”

A wizard flying out of the door with a scream.

The dark magicians inside the room exchanged anxious glances at each other as they watched him writhing and collapsing on the floor.

“Sleep, lock the device… …!”

“No! And then for no reason… … !”

Just as they were seriously considering whether or not to lock the door as a last line of defense.

Boom!

A boy wearing a robe that was like a nightmare to them appeared as he kicked open the iron door noisily.

He said, throwing the broken saddle of the wizard who had just flown away onto the ground.

“What about Omen?”

Eventually, Enoch’s words brought back memories of last time, and soon the other wizards gave up their intention to rebel and slowly retreated.

In front of him and the maid in black robes, those who had been blocking the room also made way without a sound.

As he opened the door and went in, a loud voice welcomed him.

Bang. Bang bang!

Small confetti and glittering powders flew from the sky.

Colorful firecrackers, perfect for birthday parties.

In the dark room, Omen was sitting with a crooked expression, looking this way, holding a small toy firecracker.

“I congratulate you on your successful exemption mission, but please be a little more polite when you visit. If you continue like this, your already meager household will be ruined.”

Omen calmly replied to Enoch, who was briefly looking at the random firecracker.

“Oh, this is a gift from the cake shop.”

He shrugged, showing me the half-eaten cake on his table.

“Of course today is not my birthday. It’s from the store in front of here, and it’s so delicious that I sometimes order some of my subordinates to buy it for me.”

After pretending to be funny, he gestured to the seat in front of him and asked with interest.

“By the way, how on earth did you get rid of that infamous persona in half a day?”

Enoch did not answer for a moment.

Even though he came here right after the battle with Persona, Omen already seemed to know the outcome.

Omen added in a low voice.

“You seem to have forgotten. Even though this place has fallen, it is still the underworld of the Empire. Our ears and eyes are everywhere.”

He said with a meaningful smile.

“The inhabitants of the dark streets can hide their presence in a shadow a span wide even in broad daylight.”

Then Enoch glanced behind Omen and nodded.

“It looks like that.”

The dark district residents gathered behind Omen, huddled together to avoid Enoch and Lien.

Omen met their eyes for a moment, who were wide open, sighed, and kicked them away with his foot.

“Oh my, I was just trying to show off my skills after a long time! Just disappear!”

As soon as permission was given, Omen looked at them as they left the corn room as if they had been waiting for him, put his hand on his head and asked them again.

“… So, why did you come to this shabby place? You didn’t just kill Persona and return to your family right away. There must be a reason you came here first.”

“I heard from Persona about a prophet from the past underworld.”

Omen paused for a moment at his words. Enoch continued speaking to him.

“It seems that Tantalus is conducting experiments based on the forbidden book left behind by the prophet.”

Omen sitting in the darkness of the room.

Enoch said, looking at his silhouette.

“Since you are the one who continues the legacy of the underworld, even though it has fallen, you must know something about this.”

“That kind of information isn’t free. This is also a top-tier business item that’s hard to come by.”

But he closed one eye slightly and said,

“But… if it’s someone with as high investment value as you, then the story might be a little different.”

Omen, the master of the underworld streets.

He added, sitting in the darkness of the room, his chin resting on one hand, nonchalantly.

“With the success of this exemption mission, your potential has been proven not only to your family.”

Enoch cut off his leisurely pace and replied briefly.

“The main point.”

“In the past, among the dark magicians of the old generation, there was one who was called a ‘prophet’ because of his unique magic that allowed him to foresee the future.”

Omen said as if to remind us.

“It is said that the prophet was once called ‘Gnosis’.”

For a moment, Enoch’s eyes narrowed.

Because it was a name I knew well.

─ The black magician prophet, “Gnosis”.

Among those who were called warlocks of the former empire, the first wizard to achieve 1st rank.

A legendary figure who is considered the progenitor of the dark magicians from the old generation.

‘A person who, according to the settings, is stated to have almost no related records at present.’

However, in the original work, Gnosis was only a character briefly mentioned in the story or conversation.

That is why Enoch did not expect that the person’s name would suddenly appear here.

Omen continued.

“He who was said to have seen through all things in the future left behind a book of prophecy called the Book of Gnosis.”

He added as if it were a given.

“Of course, as it was the legacy of a warlock, it was treated as a forbidden artifact in the empire.”

Enoch nodded silently at his words. This was a fact he also knew.

“The Book of Gnosis”

A book of prophecy left behind by a wizard from the past that is now known to be completely lost.

In the original, it was just a simple setting with no significance.

I never thought I would come across it in earnest here.

“It seems that the forbidden book contained records of ‘past experiments in demonic magic’ along with numerous prophecies.”

Omen said lazily.

“I guess that’s the prophecy you’re talking about regarding the Tantalus experiment.”

As expected, it was a new fact that I was hearing for the first time.

Enoch spoke thoughtfully.

“So there was something similar to the magic experiment that Tantalus did in the past.”

“To be exact, you are the original.”

“What do you mean?”

“At that time, there was a ‘first beast transformation experiment’ conducted by black magicians… Tantalus is currently inheriting the records of that experiment and improving them with his own abilities.”

“Does that mean Tantalus has the Book of Gnosis?”

“No. As everyone knows, the original “Book of Gnosis” has been completely lost.”

Omen shook his head and said.

“The only things that existed until recently were fragmented copies.”

He added in a low voice towards Enoch.

“But among them, Tantalus probably picked up a copy of the ‘experiment’ related manuscript. So he’s probably conducting human experiments like that.”

Enoch nodded.

Now I have a rough idea of ​​the situation. But there are still some questions that remain unanswered.

“What is Tantalus trying to do with this experiment?”

“Well, let me know when you find out about that part.”

As he spoke, Omen took something out of his bosom.

Looking at the label, it seemed to be some kind of journal.

“This is information that the only rat who returned without being killed by Persona a while ago asked me.”

He said, handing over the journal he was holding.

“It looks like part of the experiment log that Persona was keeping. This should answer your question to some extent.”

Omen continued speaking to Enoch, who had accepted the journal.

“First of all, all the demons created in this Vendetta branch are made from the ‘Beastmen’.”

“They are the Suin tribe.”

“Yes. The ‘water people’ of the southern part of Elseid Territory. They are said to be suitable materials for creating elite test subjects.”

Suddenly, the casino’s laboratory flashed through Enoch’s memory.

I had already guessed to some extent what it would be like from the appearance of the test subjects managed by Persona, but I didn’t think it would be real.

Omen added nonchalantly.

“I don’t know the details of his experiments, but… the smell of his experiments doesn’t seem all that bad.”

Enoch opened his journal.

Tantalus’ handwriting was left messily on the pages of the journal.

Traces of elaborate experimental designs of numerous magic circles.

The various hypotheses he had established and the parts that seemed to have been discarded were a mess and a pain in the eyes.

And then, as I opened the very last page of the journal, a map that had been stuck there fell out.

─A map with clear markings drawn on it.

Enoch’s gaze turned upward.

The red note written next to it caught my eye.

_

May 24 01:00

“Final Experiment”

Vendetta Series 13th Annihilation Hall

Total number of members under “Tantalos”

Southern Elseid Territory, Suin Tribe Village

Large-scale human trials planned

_

Enoch took the experiment journal and put it in his bosom.

With this, our next destination has been decided.

A village of the Suin tribe.

At that moment, someone flashed through Enoch’s mind.

‘It just so happened.’

A smile formed on his lips. That would be the case, if he went to the village of the Suin tribe now… …

‘You’ll be able to meet the original’s most important character, whom you’ve been waiting for a long time!’