Having read the original romance fantasy three times, Flame remembered the major incidents happening in Aether World quite well.
She knew what was occurring in the Seventh Main Tower but couldn't prepare a detailed strategy for an attack.
Since the genre was romance fantasy, most battle scenes were either skipped or simplified, and scenes were often filled with character psychology descriptions, so there was nothing she could do.
If Baek Yuseol had been there, he would have presented a more effective strategy, but since he was absent, Flame prepared as best as she could based on her memory and knowledge.
"The strange monsters appearing in the Seventh Main Tower were mostly of the dark attribute."
Flame's light attribute magic would be very effective, but it was fundamentally different from the holy attribute used by real angels or the priests of the Holy Church.
Since she had not yet reached the level of realizing holy magic, bringing 'Sacred Symbols' and holy water as a countermeasure was a commendable judgment.
-Creeeeek!
-Keeeeee!
With eerie noises, ghosts floated in the air, and shadows seeped in from all directions.
Flame and her party ran through the corridor at full speed, forgetting even that Jeremy was following them, to avoid those things.
"Bringing the symbols was definitely the right choice."
The Sacred Symbol could be compared to a crucifix necklace for a church or a rosary for Buddhism.
But unlike reality, it actually possessed divine power.
Though not properly mentioned in the original romance fantasy, it was very effective in stopping the ghosts of the Seventh Main Tower.
Flash!
When the circle-shaped symbol flashed, the approaching shadows and ghosts hesitated and retreated.
But since it wasn't a very expensive symbol, its usage was limited.
"If I keep using them like this, they'll run out soon..."
Though she had brought as many symbols and holy water as she could with her own money, it wasn't enough.
"Ugh!"
When Anella stumbled and fell while casting a spell, Flame quickly threw a symbol at her.
Zzzap!
White sparks flew, and the ghosts approaching her retreated.
"Get a grip! What are you doing!"
"I'm, I'm sorry..."
Anella, with a pale face, bit her lip. Though delving into someone's trauma and enchanting them was her specialty, she had almost no experience with direct combat, making her mind go blank.
"Still, I'm over 40 years old..."
Though she lacked combat experience, it was humiliating to be a burden to children barely seventeen years old.
Overwhelmed by a sense of despair, she didn't have time to indulge in it.
"There's a lab nearby! Let's take refuge there!"
"Anella! Hurry up!"
"Yeah... Ah!"
Flame practically dragged Anella into the lab and thrust a symbol at her chest.
"Here, hold onto this. Lose it, and I'll kill you."
"...Thank you."
Despite the harsh words, Anella felt both gratitude and guilt for being given one of the few precious symbols. Being a burden felt utterly horrible.
"What's it like outside?"
Approaching Eisel, who was warding off the corridor entrance with a magic circle drawn with holy water, Flame asked with a tense expression.
"It's full of ghosts. I never knew there were so many ghosts in Stella."
"This is bad... Other students must have been dragged to the Seventh Main Tower by now too."
Was it like this in the original romance fantasy?
I can't remember.
There were no such detailed descriptions.
The main content was simply, "Eisel was dragged to the Seventh Main Tower, suffered all kinds of torment from the ghosts, and was rescued by Hae Wonryang."
There was no information on what Eisel did inside, how many ghosts appeared.
"Maybe I should have brought more symbols..."
I thought ten would be more than enough, but now there are only three left.
And I still haven't found the place where Hong Bi-yeon was taken.
"Where on earth is she..."
She bit her nails and recalled the original romance fantasy.
First, where was Professor Maizen Tiren?
Though the exact location wasn't specified, I distinctly remember it being an open area with windows all around, showing the sky.
But did such a place exist in Stella?
"...No, it does exist. The observation deck on the top floor."
Each main tower had a top floor, the rooftop, which was usually locked, preventing student access.
Though she had never been to the rooftop due to this, she at least knew what it looked like.
"So, we need to get to the rooftop..."
Bang! Boom!
But before she could finish her thought, the ghosts' assault resumed. Eisel, straining to maintain the magic circle at the door, spoke with a pained expression.
"The ghosts are invading the space!"
"What? But we sealed the door with holy water..."
Flame looked up with a regretful expression, cutting herself off mid-sentence.
Dark mist was creeping into the lab.
Only then did she realize.
The Seventh Main Tower itself was a ghost story.
In other words, unless all spaces were sealed with holy water, they were still within the ghosts' reach.
"Damn it! We need to escape outside! If we stay here, we'll be completely trapped!"
"Yes!"
Eisel hurriedly tried to remove the holy water seal and open the door, but it wouldn't budge.
"The ghosts are blocking the door from outside!"
"Those damned bastards!"
She cursed and kicked the door hard, but of course, such an attempt was futile.
Rattle, clatter!
While Eisel and Flame struggled with the closed door, Anella, who was quietly crouched, turned her head at a sound from behind.
"...Huh?"
And she saw something strange.
The anatomical models used for biology experiments and the skeleton models began to move.
Rattle
The eyes of the anatomical model rolled and made eye contact with Anella.
"Ah..."
Three seconds of brain freeze.
Not because of fear.
The absurdity of the rotten dead-fish eyes looking at her as if mocking her left her speechless.
"Even the models are mocking me now..."
Though she had lived a miserable and pathetic life, she hated being looked down on by these kids.
Her fist tightened, veins bulging.
In full black magic form, a black mage loses all magic abilities but gains greatly enhanced physical abilities.
However, having lost all her unique traits and being unable to use magic, enhancing her physical abilities through black magic was essential for combat.
Flame already had some understanding of her identity, and she was concerned about the girl named Eisel. However, she thought it would be much better to reveal her power than to die meaninglessly here.
'Remember. If you release more than 50% of your dark magic, you won't be able to hide it again.'
This was the advice she received from her superior just before being dispatched, while receiving the seal of the Dark Magic Church.
In other words, she just needed to ensure she didn't exceed 50%.
Anella lightly clenched her fist and threw a jab. She had never learned how to fight, nor had she trained her body professionally, so this was the first time she attempted direct combat.
Bang!
As the air shattered, all the ghosts in front of her were instantly blown to pieces.
"What, what was that?!"
Flame and Eisel, who were preparing magic to break down the door and escape, turned around in surprise.
Anella stood with her fist outstretched, and the laboratory wall was completely shattered.
"What is this...?"
"What kind of magic was that just now...?"
The girls were astonished, but Anella couldn't answer.
To be precise, Anella was included among the 'girls' who were astonished.
'What kind of power is this?'
Even though she lived as a dark mage, she was so timid that she had never properly thrown a punch, so she didn't know her own strength.
Anella spoke to them with a bewildered expression.
"Um, the wall... it's broken...."
"...Yes. Let's go that way."
Since the ghosts were blocking the door from the outside, they couldn't open it, but thanks to Anella creating a more convenient and easy path, the girls quickly escaped from the laboratory.
"It's the rooftop! That jerk must be there!"
"Okay!"
Flame's group, back in the corridor, ran towards the stairs with all their might.
Using the elevator in a place full of ghosts would be suicidal.
They had to climb dozens of floors, but thanks to Anella's significant contribution to their power, their progress was much faster than before.
"Argh!"
That was a battle cry.
"Screech!"
Not a scream, but a battle cry.
Anella, though clumsy, drove away the ghosts at the forefront with her impressive punches and kicks, allowing the others to cast spells more freely from behind and effectively focus on defense.
Given they had to climb dozens of floors, Anella's contribution to their power was certainly welcome news.
'At this rate, we can make it!'
However,
"Huh?"
Why hadn't she thought of this?
The Seventh Main Tower was a ghost story in itself.
It could manipulate all the spaces in the building at will, so why wouldn't it affect the stairs?
"What is this...?"
Anella looked forward with a stunned expression.
Stella's main tower had a structure where spiral staircases were located at the junctions of the four corridors.
Small warp holes or moving stairs were installed to conveniently shuttle students up and down.
But there was nothing there now.
There was a huge hole in the ceiling and floor, but no trace of the stairs.
It was as if the stairs had never existed.
"This is...."
She hadn't expected this at all.
She never imagined that the structure of the building itself would be twisted.
'What should I do...'
Flame racked her brain desperately. There had to be a way. There was some method she was missing.
How had Eisel and Hae Wonryang overcome this obstacle in the original romance fantasy?
There were no exact descriptions of that.
All it said was that Eisel received help from Hae Wonyang.
'Wait, help from Hae Wonryang...?'
Then a thought occurred to her.
In the future, Hae Wonryang would become a great 'Elemental Master' who could perfectly handle all attributes.
Although he currently only managed wind, ice, and fire, he handled those three attributes almost at the highest level, so his reputation was well-deserved.
In other words, Hae Wonryang could use 'Wind Levitation,' a high-level wind spell, from the start.
Due to the extreme mana consumption, he never showed Wind Levitation in the original story, but in such a crisis, he could lift himself and ascend, couldn't he?
But there was no user of wind magic here. In other words, there was no means to replace the stairs.
She thought of riding Eisel's ice and her plant magic to ascend, but that was impossible.
Ice and plant magic, inherently fragile, would not withstand the onslaught of the ghost story and would soon break.
While she could summon a large tree trunk and strengthen it with material manipulation to some extent, could she reach that height while using two attributes simultaneously?
"The shadow is consuming the space!"
"I can't hold on!"
Her thoughts couldn't continue.
Eisel and Anella, gnawed by shadows, began to kneel gradually. Only one symbol remained.
'If consumed by the shadows, they lose their consciousness.'
She looked regretfully at the spot where the stairs had been. If she poured all her mana into it, she might be able to ascend.
But if she did that, she might lose Eisel and Anella.
'This is my fault.'
It was a hasty decision.
She should have thought and judged more carefully.
Had she underestimated the dark erosion of the Seventh Main Tower, which even Baek Yuseol had warned was dangerous?
'I am a fool.'
Her lips bled from biting them too hard. But without time to feel the pain, Flame sprinted towards Eisel and Anella.
There was no choice.
Even if it consumed all her mana, she had to endure.
'I can do this.'
Eisel is the protagonist.
The one and only protagonist of this world.
Even if I fall here, I must protect her.
Closing her eyes tightly, she chanted a spell.
Unlike other spells, the incantation of luminous magic had a specific tone, sounding almost like a song.
...Shhh!
A golden halo spread from Flame. The darkness was devoured by the light, and the ghosts melted away.
The intense and sacred light caused Anella and Eisel to stagger and fall backward.
"What is this...."
It was a type of magic they had never seen before.
It wasn't destructive, nor was it blinding, but it purified all the darkness in the space.
In an instant, the blackness receded, and light filled the world. Anella unconsciously thought,
'It's beautiful...'
A disqualified dark mage.
Thinking that magic, which was the opposite of her own, was beautiful. But any other dark mage would think the same.
Even if they died from it, their last thought would be, 'It's beautiful.'
The golden magic circle beneath her feet spun and sent starlight towards the sky.
Indeed, the girl's magic resembled starlight. Neither luminous magic, which dark mana users hated the most, nor sacred magic.
Starlight magic.
While listening to the hymn of the stars as if they were plucked from the galaxy, Flame slowly closed her eyes.
'...Still, I did my job.'
I can only endure, but after this, Eisel, as the protagonist, will find a way to overcome this obstacle.
That's enough. It doesn't matter what happens to me right now, as long as I can save Hong Bi-yeon and Eisel...
As she thought this, suddenly, the golden halo was covered by a golden wave.
It was another golden magic.
"Huh...?"
Anella, startled by the wave of magic, closed her eyes tightly, then noticed something strange and looked at where the stairs should have been.
There, were the stairs.
Decorated extravagantly and unnecessarily, as if for a king, a golden staircase extended to the top.
[TS: Pretty lame image tbh]
[TS: ooh this one is a bit better , just that there are too manny people]
"This, this is..."
"Hurry!"
Anella, surprised, tried to say something, but Eisel acted immediately, supporting the exhausted Flame and starting to climb the stairs.
Anella quickly followed.
Then, she glanced back.
...Far away.
In the darkness that Flame hadn't completely erased, it seemed there was a golden boy, but he soon disappeared into the shadows.
As if it were an illusion.