The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower-Chapter 324

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 324: Terror (2)

The interior of the airport was dark, but both sides were made entirely of glass, allowing bright moonlight to pour in.

As she walked through the space, Sasha let out a quiet gasp of admiration.

“Wow… so this is what the inside of an airport looks like. I’d only seen it in documents before—this is my first time actually being here.”

“What do you think?”

“It’s amazing. It almost makes me want to visit the airports of other cities too.”

“That’s good to hear. We’re planning to run an aggressive tourism initiative in cooperation with the Imperial Family and the city governments as well.”

He wanted the emotion people felt while waiting at an airport to be excitement, not boredom.

To achieve that, he had exchanged documents back and forth with the mayors of various cities countless times…

‘They dare try to destroy my airport?’

Oscar shot a sharp gaze across the airport, shrouded in darkness.

But the not-yet-completed facility was filled only with a chilling silence.

He glanced at the Designer, who had taken a seat on one of the waiting chairs, and asked,

“You didn’t lie, did you?”

“Why would I lie? If I did, I wouldn’t be able to diagnose you.”

“There isn’t even a single ant in sight.”

“Why not run a scan?”

“…That won’t do. If we do, the enemy might notice and flee.”

They had to deal with this without giving the enemy any chance to escape.

Otherwise, they could attempt another airport bombing at any time.

And while they were at it, they needed to uncover who was pulling the strings.

“It’s an airport. The layout is predictable. We’ll find them if we move around.”

“That’s easy to say, but it looks enormous and complicated.”

“It’s fine. I’ve looked over this building’s blueprints dozens of times.”

The moment Oscar confidently stepped into the corridor, his eyes narrowed.

‘Magic circle.’

In the pitch-black hallway, where not even moonlight reached, he felt an unfamiliar magical presence.

“Light.”

As Oscar slowly approached and illuminated the surroundings, the magic circle drawn on the floor finally revealed itself.

“Is something wrong?”

Sasha, who had approached while he stood there, widened her eyes when she saw it.

“This is…?”

“Yes. An explosion magic circle.”

Interpreting the formula revealed that it was an explosion spell designed to deliver shock to the floor, ceiling, and walls simultaneously.

‘But a single magic circle like this can’t bring down a building.’

And this wasn’t just any building—it was a massive airport.

One or two magic circles like this could never destroy it.

That realization gave rise to an inexplicable sense of unease.

Oscar snapped his fingers.

The light hovering above his fingertip shot down the corridor, gradually illuminating the area.

“…!”

“…My god.”

Sasha covered her mouth in shock.

The floor, walls, and ceiling of the long corridor were packed—densely—with explosion magic circles.

If all of them detonated at once, at least this entire section would undoubtedly collapse.

“Whoever did this… they were serious.”

“…Indeed.”

Suppressing the quietly rising anger within him, Oscar muttered—

Crunch!

He forcefully stomped on one of the magic circles.

“Oh.”

The Designer’s eyes sparkled with interest at the sight.

Normally, any external shock would immediately trigger the magic circle, resulting in a powerful explosion.

But the moment Oscar stepped on it, he expelled mana through the sole of his foot and dismantled the magic circle in reverse.

His bold, swift, and precise mana control was enough to astonish even the Designer.

“The circles haven’t been installed for long. Let’s move quickly.”

“Ah—just a moment, if you’ll excuse me.”

At that moment, the Designer suddenly took a step back.

Oscar narrowed his eyes, questioning his intent.

The Designer shrugged.

“As you know, the deal only included informing you of the commander’s location.”

“You’re backing out here?”

“My intuition tells me the commander is nearby. I’d prefer not to run into them, if possible.”

“……”

There was no real justification to stop him.

And offering additional compensation felt too risky.

Oscar glanced sideways at Sasha.

‘Even without him… Sasha and I should manage.’

After a brief calculation, Oscar nodded.

“Do as you please. But if you’re leaving, make it clean. Don’t get in the way.”

“No need to worry about that.”

With a gentle smile, the Designer waved one hand rhythmically.

“I wish you both the best of luck. I’ll be waiting at the pub—come find me once this is over.”

Once the Designer disappeared from sight, Sasha spoke up.

“There are too many magic circles. If we dismantle them one by one, it’ll take too long.”

“I’ll handle that.”

A thin line of mana surged forward, racing through the corridor.

Oscar watched it quietly, then nodded.

“That’s done. Let’s go.”

“…What? But—”

Sasha stared at the magic circles still covering the area.

“They’re still there…”

“It’s fine. They won’t explode. If you don’t believe me, check.”

“I—I trust you, of course! But just in case, I’ll check once.”

Smiling awkwardly, Sasha carefully extended her hand.

Protected by mana, her hand pressed firmly against a magic circle on the wall—yet nothing happened.

‘Ah!’

She finally understood what method her master had chosen.

‘I see—he didn’t dismantle the entire magic circle. He erased only the ignition trigger.’

Every explosion magic circle has a trigger.

Only when that trigger activates does the explosion occur.

Oscar had cleanly erased just that ignition switch.

‘This is definitely faster than dismantling everything… but…’

It was far more dangerous and difficult.

One wrong move, and it would have detonated instantly.

Neutralizing dozens of magic circles in barely two seconds—

Sasha looked at Oscar with eyes filled with reverence.

“Amazing, Master! You’re incredible!”

“Hmph. Ahem.”

Being admired by his disciple wasn’t unpleasant—but now wasn’t the time.

“Let’s move. Before people die.”

“Yes!”

As they sprinted down the corridor, neutralizing magic circles, a fork in the path appeared.

E Gate / F Gate

Oscar shouted at the split.

“Go to F Gate! I’ll take E Gate!”

“Yes!”

“Be careful!”

As Oscar rushed toward E Gate, he felt the number of magic circles decrease noticeably.

‘They’re decreasing? Why?’

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Compared to the corridor, this area was far more spacious.

If anything, there should have been more magic circles, not fewer.

‘Follow the trail first.’

Passing through the checkpoint, Oscar entered the duty-free zone.

As he scanned the surroundings—

A chilling sensation ran down his spine.

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

‘Above.’

Oscar generated a gust of wind and landed on the second floor.

What entered his vision was a line.

‘A line?’

Following it with his gaze, Oscar froze in shock.

It was merely a fragment of an enormous magic circle.

On the floor lay a magic circle of incomparable scale.

‘Insane.’

At least 100 meters in diameter, with destructive power on an entirely different level.

Even by rough estimation, it was hundreds of times stronger than the others.

‘If that detonates…’

Not even a fortress would survive—let alone an airport.

Oscar spotted a man kneeling at the center of the magic circle.

The man slowly opened his eyes and asked,

“…Who are you?”

“Me? I’m the owner of this building.”

Oscar charged forward.

Thud-thud-thud—CRACK!

Twisting his waist, Oscar delivered a spinning kick loaded with rotational force straight into the man’s jaw.

The man bounced across the floor like a skipping stone before slamming into the wall.

“C—cough!”

“I get it. I’m in a really bad mood right now.”

“…Insolent bastard!”

Wiping the blood from his mouth, the man gathered his mana.

SHHHHH—!

Flaming arrows tore through the air.

‘Blink.’

Oscar vanished.

“What—? Where did—?!”

Before the man could finish,—

BOOM!

Oscar appeared above him and smashed his face into the floor.

“Now. You’ll answer only the questions I ask.”

“G—ugh!”

Broken teeth spilled from his mouth along with blood.

Without blinking, Oscar grabbed the man’s hair and asked,

“Who’s behind this? Someone like you couldn’t plan and execute something on this scale alone.”

“Kh—heh.”

The man began to laugh.

Sensing something wrong, Oscar glanced downward.

‘Gloves.’

The man wore black gloves.

Oscar tore them off instantly.

Revealed beneath was a ring finger stained pitch-black.

“…The Black Finger.”

But why target the airport?

Blind loyalty to the Demon Emperor?

Or an attempt to sabotage the White Tower?

As countless thoughts raced through his mind—

“Heh.”

The man smiled.

In his eyes, filled with twisted delight, something reflected—

Oscar himself, gripping his hair. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

And behind him—

Someone swinging a massive greatsword.

“…!”

Oscar released the man and hurled himself sideways.

SLASH! THUD!

A chilling sound echoed as something heavy hit the floor.

Turning his head, Oscar saw the man’s severed head rolling across the ground.

“Tch. Idiot. You gave it away.”

The one who spoke was a giant nearly three meters tall, resting a greatsword on his shoulder.

Just looking up at him strained the neck.

Above the giant’s head grew a single horn.

“…A demon?”

“Heh. What—about to piss yourself? Can’t blame you.”

The demon chuckled leisurely.

“Because of you, I had to go through the trouble of activating the magic circle myself. But moving after so long isn’t so bad—”

SLASH.

A far cleaner sound echoed than when the man’s head had been severed.

The demon’s head fell to the ground, followed by the massive body collapsing to its knees.

“…Huh?”

The demon stared, eyes wide.

“What… is this? Hahaha. Am I dreaming?”

“You don’t dream.”

Oscar slowly stood, staring coldly at the severed head.

As he lifted his foot, the demon shouted desperately,

“W-wait! Let’s negotiate! I know who’s behind this! So—!”

“No need.”

There was no negotiation with demons.

Just as Oscar was about to crush the head—

KRAAAACK!

A bolt of lightning struck first, piercing the demon’s head.

“……”

The head was instantly charred black, white smoke and the stench of burning flesh rising.

Lowering his foot, Oscar turned toward the source.

“Tsk tsk. This is why you shouldn’t use just anything because it’s cheap and convenient.”

The voice belonged to a strange figure in a tattered gray robe, carrying the weight of long years.

His hood was pulled low, hiding his face.

He probably thought he’d concealed his identity well—but Oscar had already sensed it.

“The Yellow Tower.”

The unique mana of lightning wielders emanated unmistakably from him.

At those words, the figure sighed lightly and slowly removed his hood.

“How unfortunate. If you’d pretended not to know, I might have considered letting you live.”

Oscar stared at the old man before him.

It was a face he knew well.

“Isel Marcos.”

A man believed to have died in the war against the demons—

The Elder of the Yellow Magic Tower.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]