The moon set and the time for the sun to rise arrived.
The darkest hour passed, and the light of dawn gradually brightened.
But that dawn light didn't fully reach Isla Machina, which was covered in steam.
As if rejecting the principles of this world, the island remained dark, dreary, and dampened by humidity.
It was not a time when people were waking up, but rather, conversely, when they were falling asleep.
Even this alone made Isla Machina strongly disconnected from the rest of the world.
The sun rose slowly above the ocean's horizon like a flower bud.
The bright light pouring in all directions broke into pieces upon meeting the waves, and those fragments of light were swallowed by the steam of Isla Machina.
In a world turning hazy.
The sight of a world filled with white or gray steam becoming enriched looked somewhat dreamlike.Standing tall at its center was a massive steel spire.
This pointed tower, rising as if to pierce the sky, was the symbolic structure of the New Magic Tower, a modern Babylon.
And Rudger stood on the rooftop of a building not far from that spire.
"So, such a moment does come eventually."
Cravat, who was next to Rudger, muttered as if feeling deeply moved.
His voice, blocked by the fog and water vapor drifting in the air, didn't spread far, but Rudger, who was close by, could hear it.
"We're starting. Once I prepare the magic, you just place the curse and withdraw right away."
"You don't have to tell me that, I was planning to. When I get back, I need to adjust the curse for that girl more precisely."
Rudger took out a pipe from his pocket.
After igniting a flame at his fingertip and lighting the pipe, Rudger put it in his mouth and inhaled deeply.
The powerful force of the poisonous herb penetrating his body through his lungs was transmitted to every cell throughout his body via his bloodstream.
It was a toxicity that would have killed an ordinary person hundreds of times over.
Even a knight would have coughed up black blood, but Rudger was unaffected.
For him, poison was essentially the same as medicine.
The toxicity surging from his body converted into magical power and flowed out beyond Rudger's skin.
A bluish mist emerged and swirled around Rudger, it was the magical mist phenomenon.
Rudger freely manipulated the magical mist according to his will.
With a slight gesture from Rudger, all the magical mist gathered above his right palm.
Cravat watched this intently.
'Not only is it amazing that he utilizes that crazy poison, but that level of magic control...'
The amount of magic concentrated in Rudger's hand made Cravat's skin tingle.
Not just physically, but for someone with discerning eyes, the psychological pressure was much greater.
'Well. If he's going to unleash something of that magnitude, I guess it's enough to take on the New Magic Tower.'
But if such magic was used simply for discharge, the magic loss would be enormous.
Just as he wondered if Rudger could sufficiently endure it, the bluish magic dwelling in Rudger's right hand began to take a form.
It was a massive double-edged sword.
The sword, made of blue magic emitting a subtle light, was over 5 meters in length.
It looked like a siege weapon used to destroy something, or perhaps a weapon for hunting giants.
That's not wrong.
Isn't there a steel goliath standing right ahead?
'But still, to think he could control such vast magic so perfectly.'
He gathered it cleanly without losing even a drop of magic.
Beyond that, he controlled it perfectly into a single form.
‘Monster.’
Though Cravat rarely showed interest in others or made evaluations, he couldn't help but think of Rudger that way.
‘As a monster with a human heart.’
"Are you ready?"
"...Yes."
Cravat began to infuse his energy into the huge magic sword Rudger had created.
The power of ancient curses.
The power of crushing, corroding whatever it touches, and also the power of spreading contamination and decay around it.
A red energy began to overlay the bluish sword.
Originally, these two energies should have collided, but thanks to Rudger's perfect control of magic, that didn't happen.
Rudger's magic and Cravat's curse.
The two powers instead mixed ingeniously, and the blade, which had been blue, was dyed a deep purple.
A combination of magic and black magic [Decay Sword]
"I'll go ahead. Make sure you succeed."
Once he applied the curse's power, Cravat's job was done.
Cravat retreated according to the plan, leaving final words wishing Rudger good luck.
Rudger answered with a nod.
The purple sword floating above his head aimed at the waist section of the New Magic Tower.
Rudger communicated to Gabriel through the signal device.
"Starting in 10 seconds. Are you ready?"
[Ready, so don't rush me.]
"For perfection, not even a single second of error is allowed. You need to stop time at the exact moment my magic hits the New Magic Tower. Can you do it?"
As soon as the words of caution ended, Gabriel's laughing voice was heard through the signal device.
[Are you talking about time errors in front of a time magician?]
That voice was filled with confidence that couldn't be seen in the anxious person from the day before.
[My time is never wrong.]
"Good."
Rudger faintly smiled as he looked at the Magic Tower before him.
The operation begins.
Rudger shot the purple sword in his hand toward the Magic Tower.
The purple sword, which had been making a humming sound, was shot straight forward like a beam of light at Rudger's command.
-Ping!
A long afterimage remained along the trajectory of the purple sword as it crossed the void.
A large tunnel was punctured through the misty water vapor that blocked the way.
The moment the Decay Sword hit the outer wall of the New Magic Tower, the tower's defense system activated.
The magic-engineering system to prepare against external attacks manifested through the outer wall as multi-layered barriers.
The Magic Tower was a group where magicians gathered to research, but the New Magic Tower, with all the latest technology applied, was different.
The Old Magic Tower was the same, but this place was essentially a fortress.
A residence for magicians, a research facility, and simultaneously the strongest fortress in the world.
That robust castle, which wouldn't budge to any explosive or siege weapon, raised its shield to block the intruder.
Rudger's sword colliding with the dense and large magic barrier happened almost simultaneously.
In terms of pure output and energy, the defense system had an overwhelming advantage.
No matter how much magic amplifier Rudger used, the magic wielded by an individual couldn't compare to the magic protecting an entire massive building.
Even if it was a great sword created without any magic leakage, compared to the New Magic Tower, it was just the size of a toothpick.
But Rudger's sword wasn't simply equipped with output.
The ancient curse Cravat overlaid on the sword.
The curse magic, not manifested by modern formulas but imbued with ritual and mysterious power, too easily ignored such matchups.
-Keeeeeng!
The magic barrier, which had been wrestling with the sword, started to collapse from its center.
The curse penetrated the magic barrier, causing it to collapse from the inside, and gradually expanded its range.
The collapse of the 1st barrier was instantaneous and the advancing sword then hit the next wall.
The 2nd and 3rd walls also couldn't withstand the curse's power and melted or decomposed.
The Decay Sword, which had surpassed multiple layers of walls, finally touched the outer wall of the New Magic Tower directly.
And it penetrated it as easily as tofu, puncturing straight through.
-Bong!
A purple line was drawn in the void and the trajectory of that line was exactly at the waist of the New Magic Tower.
A hole was punctured in the Magic Tower's outer wall, no it wasn't just the outer wall.
The sword, which had penetrated inside, continued to advance without stopping, penetrating all inner structures before breaking through the opposite wall.
Rudger watched this silently.
A large passage was created in the iron fortress that had never allowed any intruder until now.
But the Magic Tower would soon sound its alarm system, separate or lower partitions, and wake up the magicians on standby to prepare for the attack.
That process wouldn't even take 5 seconds.
"But 5 seconds is enough for him."
At that moment.
-Tick.
Time stopped.
"You really pulled off something flashy."
In the frozen time, Gabriel looked up at the Magic Tower.
Seeing the purple beam that penetrated the entire Magic Tower drawn in the air, he couldn't help but stick out his tongue.
That crazy human really broke through the New Magic Tower's defense system with a single attack.
No, is it not single? It was also possible because of Cravat's curse power.
'But considering that guy's skills, I think he could have somehow managed alone without help.'
While thinking such pointless thoughts, Gabriel headed toward the Magic Tower.
-Waaaaaang!!
Emergency warning lights rang loudly throughout the New Magic Tower.
The siren sound, dully spreading through the morning fog and steam, was like an alarm clock announcing the morning.
Rudger watched the scene from the rooftop of the building.
"The reaction is faster than I thought."
Did Gabriel properly collect the item inside?
He had to forcibly suppress such thoughts.
Rudger was in no position to worry about Gabriel now.
Magicians burst out from inside the Magic Tower.
War Mages affiliated with the New Magic Tower were flying towards where Rudger was, using flight magic.
Seeing how they immediately identified the opponent's location after the attack and responded in unison, it was clear they weren't just guys locked in rooms only doing research.
'I don't need to fight, so I should just run away, but.'
Rudger couldn't help but smirk at the unfamiliar presence he felt behind him.
"Right. I knew you would move."
Rudger bowed his head deeply.
Something sharp swept past where Rudger's head had been.
Without even looking back, Rudger pulled out the sword stick from his waist and swung it.
With a clang, the opponent blocked the attack with a sword. But he couldn't completely deflect the force contained within, as the guy was pushed back with a slide.
Rudger slowly turned around.
Black coat, fedora, and pale skin.
"See you again."
"John, Doe."
The guy nodded and stared at Rudger with rolling eyeballs.
A biological test subject created by the collaboration of Nikolai and Viktor.
Among them, this guy was one with high intelligence, enough to give commands or speak.
It was probably a special specimen.
As if to prove this, the guy was holding a large greatsword in one hand.
It meant he could handle tools and had the skills to utilize them.
"Of course, you didn't come alone."
At Rudger's words, the special specimen grinned.
Simultaneously, new guys arrived en masse on the building rooftop.
All were test subjects with pale skin, wearing black coats and fedoras.
Each holding their own weapons, they were staring at Rudger with eyes full of killing intent.
"No sooner do I reveal myself than you come chasing. You're quite insidious and persistent."
Nikolai could have interfered before this operation started, but he didn't.
He deliberately chose to hinder Rudger's escape after the incident occurred.
Rather than decisively cutting off the opponent's breath, it was an insidious method of slowly boiling them to death.
Just holding Rudger back when he needed to escape, like now, was threatening enough.
'No matter how special a specimen they are, they can't stop me with mere test subjects.'
Seeing the test subjects taking out injection ampoules from their coat's inside pockets, Rudger shook his head.
"Indeed. How could it end with just this much?"
Rather, if it hadn't been so, Rudger would have been disappointed in Nikolai.
-Phook.
The test subjects who injected their ampoules began to suffer, drooling.
Their bodies bulged up more than before, and muscles protruded over their coats.
Blood vessels running red and blue covered their necks and faces, making it hard to gauge how strong the drug was.
"An awakening agent exclusively for test subjects."
The test subjects, already with powerful physical abilities, especially the special specimens, doped with drugs.
How high would their physical abilities rise?
-Ping!
Rudger's pupils caught the subtle sound of something cutting through the air.
In less than a comma second, Rudger's shadow-wrapped body collapsed and disappeared from its spot.
Various weapons swept through that empty space.
The attacks were almost simultaneous, so only one sound was heard.
Rudger rose from the shadow of a nearby alley.
Immediately, Rudger raised his head but had to throw his body sideways.
-Kuwung!
A test subject fell vertically onto the spot where Rudger had just been.
His two legs penetrated the ground up to his ankles, and spider web-like cracks spread around the alley.
'He followed me? In that short time?'
These guys seemed to have some sort of ability to detect his position.
Perhaps they had devised their own method based on the fact that the range of spatial movement wasn't long.
"Over here! The sound came from here!"
To make matters worse, War Mages began to rush into the scene.