The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 289
0.
Deep within a forest far from Heptarion—
A single figure appeared as if warped in through a dimensional gate.
Shrouded in shadow, the silhouette grumbled with annoyance.
“The Sword Saint, that parasitic bastard, wants us to mass-produce cursed weapons.”
As the shadowy figure muttered,
though the forest had been silent just moments ago, ripples began to spread through the air like waves across a still lake, and two more figures—equally cloaked in shadow—materialized.
Both exuded a displeased, ominous aura.
They gestured silently, beckoning the newcomer inside.
There, hidden from outside view, stood a well-constructed stone building.
Or more accurately—a laboratory.
“He really thinks cursed weapons just pop out of nowhere.”
“Tch, if we hadn’t allied with the Grand Duke, we wouldn’t have to listen to scum like him...”
“We told him natural cursed weapons are far stronger, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“He’s impatient. That’s all there is to it.”
The three shadows grumbled and exchanged complaints.
They couldn’t help but loathe the Sword Saint.
A mere human, yet daring to act as though he were equal to the great demonkin.
They acknowledged his strength, sure.
But still—
“It is what it is. We need him if we’re going to bring down Overpalace.”
“Khuhuhu, that’s true. Even for us, Overpalace is no easy opponent.”
“Even with the Grand Duke and other nobles on our side, it won’t be simple.”
“That’s why enhancing the ground forces with cursed weapons is essential.”
Helping humans disgusted them, but—
Overpalace disgusted them even more.
So they pressed on with their work.
Suddenly, the newly arrived shadow muttered,
“Ah, and the Sword Saint said he’d be coming himself.”
“Damn it. Now we’re being watched?”
“What an insult. When’s he coming?”
To that, the new shadow replied,
“He said he’d arrive at the tower in four days. That means he’ll come here the night of the fourth.”
“We’ll need at least one completed by then.”
“We’ll have to wring more out of the hearts.”
“Do we have enough materials?”
At that question, all three of them groaned in irritation.
“Not enough decent warriors.”
“They have to be used raw. Khihihihi...”
“So the last village is already used up.”
“You mean those natives? They’ve been gone a while now.”
“Hmmm. We’ll need to secure more materials soon.”
Their tone was regretful.
The reason the native population and related questlines around Heptarion had disappeared—was right here.
There had been native-related content early in the game,
but the demons had no concern for such things.
Why would demonkin care about human affairs?
Then one of them asked,
“What about the tower’s escort knights?”
“Hmmm, if they go missing, it’ll raise suspicion.”
“There’s a new recruit, though. We should look into him.”
“We’ll also see if there’s another nearby village.”
“The road into the city is blocked. We’ve concealed ourselves well enough.”
With plans to raid another settlement,
they resumed the blood-soaked work of crafting cursed weapons in their hidden stone chamber, all while cursing the Sword Saint.
1.
Working as an escort knight at Caliber Tower wasn’t the most exciting job.
Accompanying the mages on supply runs was the most stimulating part—
But even that didn’t happen very often.
Most of the time was spent guarding the tower’s entrances or patrolling the perimeter.
Monotonous and boring.
But Seong was actually quite intrigued, observing everything around him.
‘Hmm.’
He needed to identify any mages exuding demonic energy.
So patrolling the tower’s interior wasn’t so dull after all.
The reason?
A certain presence he had discovered during a patrol.
A translucent teal figure—one that only Seong could see.
–Gasp!? A... a noble soul!?
He didn’t need to sneak through every part of the tower or worry about infiltrating the underground.
By absorbing the ghost’s memory—
[You have displayed a power that exceeds current limits through 'Unknown Power.']
[Wisdom +3, Intelligence +3 permanently increased.]
‘Oh ho.’
It was a ghost that had died quite a while ago—
But having wandered the tower ever since,
its memories included a wealth of valuable insight. The stat boost was a bonus.
The only problem—
‘Hmm. Nothing, huh?’
He had suspected that there might be no demonkin in the tower...
But to actually confirm it—
Seong scratched his cheek, feeling a bit at a loss.
If the demon wasn’t in the tower, how was he supposed to identify who it was?
The ghost had been very curious in life,
and had retained many memories of the mages and their activities.
But even within those memories, nothing suspicious stood out.
The investigation was stalling—
But he didn’t feel particularly anxious or frustrated.
‘This is fun in its own way.’
Piecing the clues together one by one had its charm.
Just then—
–You said there were no disappearances, right?
Helena’s voice reached his ears.
She sounded mildly confused, and Seong tilted his head.
–Yeah, based on what I’ve learned so far, there haven't been any.
–That’s strange... You need warriors to make cursed weapons.
–Warriors?
Seong asked, and Helena confirmed.
–Normally, a cursed weapon is created naturally over time—when a weapon kills countless people, demonic energy gathers and corrupts it. But the demonkin force it by sacrificing life and infusing the weapon directly.
–...Hmm.
–But that requires a lot of living beings. The fact that there’s no sign of it happening here? Strange. That means the cursed weapons aren’t being made inside the tower.
If that many sacrifices were needed,
there was no way they could do it inside a tower filled with mages.
They had likely infiltrated the tower for its enchantment expertise, but—
To make cursed weapons, they’d need victims. Disappearances.
But there hadn’t been any s in the city.
It was baffling.
Then, suddenly, Seong remembered something odd from the ghost’s memories.
‘Huh? Natives?’
–Ah yes! Lately, people have been saying it’s strange how the forest natives are nowhere to be seen!
Another clue from the ghost’s memories.
Natives.
Seong furrowed his brow in confusion.
Since players started arriving in this city,
no one had ever seen the so-called forest natives.
But this ghost, who had died long ago, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) remembered seeing many of them living near the forests around the city.
Now, not a single one remained.
‘And there was no extermination order or anything in the memories...’
–Exactly!!! That’s what makes it weird! They just vanished, like they evaporated!
‘It’s certain now.’
The demonkin had wiped out the natives.
Most likely.
‘I’ll need to investigate.’
Rather than charging into the forest blindly,
he decided to gather more intel in the city first.
After finishing his patrols—
the Guard Captain, clearly delighted that Seong had ed for duty again on day two, approached him with a smile.
“Ahhh, Yu Seong, you’re really diligent.”
“Ah, thank you. I’m just doing what I should.”
“Hahaha! People like you are rare these days! That is diligence!”
“Thank you.”
It seemed the man had been burned by bad recruits before.
Then he said to Seong,
“That’s enough for today. You can clock out early.”
“Oh? Are you sure?”
“Yes, yes. You’ve done well. See you tomorrow.”
“Thank you. You’ve worked hard as well, sir.”
“Hahaha! Likewise!”
A wonderful superior who gladly granted early leave.
Seong left the tower in high spirits.
The streets were still crawling with knights,
and the atmosphere was tense—
But since becoming a Caliber Tower escort knight, no one looked at him with suspicion.
He even wore the official badge of Caliber Tower, which was practically an identity card.
Naturally.
He walked the streets and began asking around, targeting some older citizens.
“I heard there used to be natives living near the city.”
“Ahh! That’s right, that’s right. Was it last year? I haven’t seen a single one since. Makes you wonder if something happened.”
“I see.”
If it was last year, that could be just before the advance party reached the seventh city.
As Seong continued his inquiries,
he also approached a few ghosts and scanned their memories.
[You have displayed a power that exceeds current limits through 'Unknown Power.']
[Wisdom +2, Intelligence +2 permanently increased.]
[You have displayed a power that exceeds current limits through 'Unknown Power.']
[Wisdom +3, Intelligence +2 permanently increased.]
[You have displayed a power that exceeds current limits through 'Unknown Power.']
[Wisdom +2, Intelligence +3 permanently increased.]
From what he gathered,
the natives had lived in the forests as village communities, and there had been significant interaction with the city in the past.
But the city’s people had never liked them much.
So once they vanished, no one really looked for them.
He also learned that a few natives had settled in the city,
but no one had seen any in the forest for quite some time.
Then—
[Scenario Quest 『The Disappeared Natives』 has been generated.]
A scenario quest appeared.
‘Hmm.’
From this, he could infer
that the original story of this city likely involved a conflict between the townsfolk and the native people.
But with the sudden disappearance of the natives—
The quest had shifted, now focused on locating them.
Seong narrowed his eyes and muttered,
‘It’s confirmed.’
The demonkin had definitely done something to the natives.
He didn’t know how many of them there were,
but he was certain at least one had infiltrated the tower.
Time to head into the forest.
He had gotten off work early, so he had plenty of time.
Shooting off into the woods,
Seong opened the Gate of the Underworld.
He summoned various subordinates to scout the area.
Among them, Noctrynium appeared and began the search—
But yielded little.
‘Hmm.’
For some reason, none of his summoned subordinates could find any trace of the enemy.
Even his assassin-class subordinates, Shivren and Noirtein, found nothing.
As he scoured the forest, Helena commented,
“The demonkin are masters of concealment. Even I would struggle to find traces right now.”
“Hmmm.”
If even Helena struggled to detect them,
then chasing them down blindly might not be the best idea.
It would be better to follow the trail of the quest.
‘The quest said survivors might be in the city, right?’
He would have to find those survivors first.
.
!
Chapter 289
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