The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 99

The main conference room of the Olympiad Management Headquarters was buzzing with a heated discussion.

“I thought they had given up since it was so quiet. But as expected, they’re persistent.”

“I told you, didn’t I? There’s no way those black mages would give up so easily.”

“I was well aware of that, but I never imagined they would dare to attack so brazenly, even with this level of security….”

The topic of the meeting was the attack that had occurred an hour ago.

The purpose of the meeting was to speculate on the Black Magic Tower’s objectives based on this attack and to prepare accordingly.

“They’re more persistent than cockroaches… Where the heck are they laying their eggs…?”

“You can say that again.”

However, the meeting hadn’t officially started yet.

Since it was a sudden summons, not all members had arrived yet, so they were currently waiting.

While waiting, those who knew each other were exchanging opinions and chatting.

“What’s the status of Security Teams 2 and 3?”

While listening to the attendees’ casual chatter, the head of security for the Olympiad, who was in charge of overall security, casually asked his subordinate.

“Fortunately, there were no fatalities.”

“That’s a great relief.”

More than half were injured, and five were seriously wounded, but thankfully, there were no deaths.

“Did you eliminate them?”

“……Unfortunately, we failed to eliminate them. About half of the attackers escaped.”

“What about the pursuit?”

“A pursuit team has been formed and is currently tracking them. There’s no additional news yet.”

“I see. If there’s any additional news, report it immediately.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Just as they finished talking, the door to the conference room opened.

The last person summoned to the meeting had arrived.

“You’ve arrived.”

The head of security greeted the man who had just arrived, Shin In-hyuk.

“Am I late?”

“No, not at all. Please, have a seat here.”

The head of security’s tone was very polite. The head of security was a 7-circle user, while Shin In-hyuk was an 8-circle user. [Circles refer to a mage’s level of power, with higher circles indicating greater magical ability.]

In the social structure of mages, where circles determine a kind of hierarchy, it was natural to use honorifics.

Even if that weren’t the case, Shin In-hyuk was also over 10 years older.

“Now that everyone is here, let’s begin the meeting in earnest.”

The head of security rose from his seat and headed to the podium.

The lights went out, and a video appeared on the holographic screen at the front of the conference room.

“As you all know, an hour ago, our security guards were attacked by black mages.”

“Is it certain that the attackers were black mages?”

Someone asked.

It was a look that suggested they wanted to confirm the basics first.

“Yes, it’s certain.”

Footage from the scene, captured by CCTV, was broadcast.

“As you can see in this video, the attackers were using black magic. All ten of them.”

“I see.”

One or two might be a coincidence, but all of the attackers used black magic.

It was clear that the Black Magic Tower was behind this attack.

“Has the reason why they attacked the security team been revealed?”

This time, it was Shin In-hyuk who asked.

“Yes, that has also been revealed.”

The head of security manipulated the panel and displayed the next data on the screen.

“First of all, there was someone among the attackers who used mental magic.”

“……Tsk.”

Mental magic.

The mention of the trash-like magic, which was practically the Black Magic Tower’s identity, caused all 13 participants to frown simultaneously.

“They tried to manipulate the minds of the guards with this mental magic. Here, this is the data analyzing the condition of the guards who were affected by the mental manipulation magic. If you look around here….”

“They’ve been given suggestions.”

The head of security’s eyes widened slightly at Shin In-hyuk’s words.

He didn’t expect him to recognize it immediately just by looking at the data. It seemed Shin In-hyuk had quite a deep knowledge in this area as well.

“Yes, that’s correct. As Lord Shin In-hyuk said, they’ve been given suggestions. Unfortunately, we can’t know what kind of suggestions they were….”

“There’s no need to know what kind of suggestions they gave. The fact that they gave suggestions at all is enough to confirm that they’re trying to do something at the Olympiad.”

A man who had been quietly maintaining a serious demeanor throughout.

Ron Stert, the current head of the Stert family and Adela’s uncle, spoke.

“Yes. As Lord Ron said, it’s almost certain that they’re targeting the Olympiad.”

“Indeed. They gave suggestions to the guards to cause internal collapse when they launch a terror attack later. Is that it?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

There was no other reason to give suggestions to the security guards.

“By the way, how did you manage to notice the suggestion magic?”

“It was mainly due to having a Black Magic Tower specialist team on standby.”

“So, the black mage hunting dogs stepped up.”

“Yes. She noticed the suggestion magic on the guards.”

“Her insight and skills are still impressive.”

Most of the participants, including Shin In-hyuk, were impressed.

“Tsk. Relying on that revenge-seeker.”

However, some participants openly expressed their dissatisfaction.

It was a glimpse into the likes and dislikes of the person called the black mage hunting dog.

“Anyway, with this, their objective is clear.”

Once is a coincidence, but twice is inevitable.

Following the black mage who was disguised as an Olympiad administrator, this attack and suggestion.

The Black Magic Tower’s target is the Olympiad.

“Why are they targeting the Olympiad? There aren’t any particularly valuable items in the stadium.”

One participant asked.

The Black Magic Tower wasn’t a group of ideologues, but a criminal enterprise that pursued profit.

Why would such people attack the Olympiad, which wouldn’t bring them any money?

Especially after breaking through this level of security.

“That’s….”

“Kidnapping.”

Shin In-hyuk interrupted the head of security.

“Their goal is to kidnap promising talents to supply materials for human experimentation.”

Ron Stert’s expression twisted particularly harshly.

Since his niece, Adela, was participating in the competition, his anger was immense.

“Supplying materials for human experimentation. It’s certainly something they would do, but isn’t that too much of a leap in conclusion? To come to such a conclusion just because it’s the Olympiad, without any evidence….”

“There is evidence.”

Kim Seok-hyun interrupted the man and took out a USB from his pocket.

Then, he handed it to the head of security.

The head of security immediately connected the USB and opened the file inside.

“This is a collection of data on cases related to the kidnapping of teenagers and younger, among the recent incidents involving the Black Magic Tower. As you can see, the number has doubled in the last three years.”

Shin In-hyuk gestured to the head of security to move to the next data.

The head of security immediately displayed the next data.

“And this is a research log obtained when we raided their human experimentation site. As you can see, this sentence here….”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the last sentence on the screen.

“As expected, ordinary mages can only produce ordinary results. We need better quality materials.”

Ron Stert spoke as if he were swallowing his disgust. He had only read the sentence, but it felt like his mouth was rotting.

“Is there any need to say more?”

The increase in the number of kidnappings.

The content of the research log.

If you include the Olympiad, this is the conclusion you reach.

No, there is no other conclusion.

The atmosphere in the conference room instantly became heavy. Everyone seemed to be deep in thought.

Among them, the head of security’s expression was particularly serious.

‘It’s problematic in many ways that their target is promising talents.’

If the Black Magic Tower were to succeed in kidnapping promising talents, then the Olympiad would be over.

The Olympiad would lose the trust of each country and walk the path of ruin.

That must be avoided.

“We need to increase security even more for the safety of the students.”

That was the moment when the number of Olympiad security guards increased.

* * *

After Kim Seok-hyun left the room.

I told Mimir about what I had heard from Kim Seok-hyun at Mimir’s Well.

“Well, that’s roughly the situation.”

The quiet Black Magic Tower had finally shown movement, their objective had become clear, and they had decided to increase security to prevent it.

In short, that was the gist of it.

“What about suspending the competition?”

“They won’t. It’s so popular right now. And there are no casualties other than the security guards.”

“……I see.”

Mimir’s expression was cold.

She looked very worried.

She was probably worried about the fact that the Black Magic Tower was targeting me.

“You don’t have to worry too much. No matter who they are, it’s impossible for them to do anything after breaking through this level of security. There’s no chance my safety will be compromised….”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.”

Mimir interrupted me.

“I know very well that the successor’s safety is guaranteed.”

My father and the Blue Magic Tower Master.

And Kim Seok-hyun and Shadow, who were providing close protection.

Even if the Olympiad security were to be breached, my body would be safe.

Mimir also knew that there was no chance of anything happening to me.

“Then why do you have that expression?”

“There’s something bothering me.”

“……Something bothering you?”

“Yeah.”

Mimir rummaged through a pile of books she had casually stacked nearby.

It was a pile of books from the outside that I had prepared at Mimir’s request.

Mimir took out a book from the pile.

It was a guidebook containing the Olympiad schedule, plans, and information for the second half, which had just been distributed today.

“The Black Magic Tower’s goal is to kidnap promising talents to supply materials for human experimentation, right?”

“Yeah. That’s what we’re assuming for now.”

At first, it was just a circumstantial assumption, but when they investigated, they found quite a bit of evidence. There was a lot of plausible data in the documents I received from Seok-hyun a little while ago.

“But is that something they would do even if they had to break through so much security?”

Mimir asked casually, flipping through the guidebook page by page.

“If it were the normal security from last year, they might have been able to break through. The benefits might have been greater than the effort to break through. But this year, the security has more than doubled, right?”

I felt like I knew what Mimir was trying to say.

“Are you trying to say that it’s not cost-effective?”

“Exactly.”

In short, from the Black Magic Tower’s perspective, this attack was a loss.

“If it were me, I would target the promising talents after they return to their respective countries rather than targeting them now.”

To kidnap promising talents after breaking through this level of security would require a considerable amount of manpower. It would probably be a close call even if they gave it their all.

The current Olympiad security is at that level.

Certainly, as Mimir said, it would be easier to kidnap the promising talents separately after they had dispersed to their respective countries than to break through this security and kidnap them.

“It’s also suspicious how sloppy they are with their work.”

“I agree that their work is sloppy. Actually, I’ve been pondering about it for quite a while because of that.”

I fully agreed with the statement that their work was sloppy.

The fact that the spy who was disguised as an administrator was caught, and that the attack on the security team was easily stopped.

It was sloppiness that was unthinkable for the Black Magic Tower, which was known for its meticulousness.

“But there’s nothing else they could be targeting at the Olympiad other than people.”

There were no valuable items stored in the Olympiad stadium.

There was nothing else they could be targeting.

“Unless they’re a resistance group. They’re not the kind of people who would commit terrorism at the Olympiad for the sake of a cause or principle.”

The Black Magic Tower was a thorough business crime organization. A criminal enterprise that chased money. There was no way they would commit terrorism for no reason.

“Maybe they’re just in a desperate situation where they need to kidnap promising talents.”

It was our perspective that it wasn’t cost-effective.

From the Black Magic Tower’s perspective, it might be cost-effective to kidnap promising talents even if they had to break through this strict security.

“No. There is something else they might be eyeing besides people.”

Mimir, who had been flipping through the guidebook, stopped at a certain page and held it out to me.

“The prize for the Olympiad MVP.”

It was a page with information about the prize for the MVP, which was announced for the first time tonight by the commentators.

“The Crest of the Summit. I think that’s their target.”