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Chapter 266: Null City (3)

The mages who had stepped inside began their search according to their pre-arranged party formations.

The Black Tower mages, clearly practiced in this task, spread out with ease and examined the interior of the building.

Every time they finished searching a floor, a report came through on the magical frequency they had agreed upon in advance.

-Alpha, basement level one, assigned area search complete. Nothing unusual. Moving up the stairs.

-Bravo, basement level one, assigned area search complete. Taking the elevator up.

Oscar, who had also finished searching his area of the basement, spoke up in turn.

-Charlie, basement level one, assigned area search complete. I’ll look for the nearest stairs.

Finally emerging from the underground, they reached the ground floor, and the true face of Zenith Tower revealed itself.

“Not as eerie as I thought it would be.”

“Now I get why the Black Tower was so desperate about this place.”

“Just how many books are there, anyway?”

The grandeur and sheer volume of books in the first floor’s Starlight Library overwhelmed them.

It felt as though every book on the continent had been gathered here.

Seeing the sight, Fran smacked his lips.

“A missing-persons case in such a magnificent place, huh. Oscar, do you feel any traces of black magic?”

“No. And I doubt black magic has anything to do with these disappearances.”

“Huh? Even though we think the radical faction might be behind it?”

“If that were the case, it’d be even less likely to be black magic.”

Oscar answered casually while casting a wide scan spell over the entire floor.

As expected, there was nothing unusual.

“The truth is, while each Tower’s magic may differ in school, their roots are similar. Even if the radicals and moderates walk different paths, their magic isn’t so unrecognizable to one another.”

“I see, so there’s always a detectable mechanism.”

Indeed, even the radicals’ mechanical necromancy was a new school, but still involved manipulating souls.

If the radicals had been kidnapping people with black magic, they would have noticed long ago.

Oscar’s eyes narrowed.

“This search has already been conducted more than ten times. High-ranking mages even joined some of those runs.”

But since even they had detected no anomalies, the disappearances likely had nothing to do with black magic.

That was his conclusion.

“Hmm. Then it’s trickier. If not black magic, maybe they’re using some kind of artifact?”

“An artifact, huh. Not impossible…”

Oscar also considered the possibility of demons being involved.

Recently, quite a few traitors had been exposed within various factions.

And of course, he didn’t believe those were all of them.

Surely there were still some hiding cleverly.

And if such a place existed, the Black Tower wouldn’t be a strange choice.

‘If a traitor really is hiding in the Black Tower and colluding with demons for this scheme…’

What method would they use?

He was deep in thought when Fran, shining Light across the dark shelves, spoke.

“Being in a library reminds me—didn’t the White Tower also have some old library ghost story?”

“…Not interested. Don’t want to hear it.”

Veronica, surprisingly timid, made a face.

But Killian ignored her.

“I’m curious. It might even be relevant.”

“W-Well, I suppose so.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not really that scary a story.”

Fran pulled a few books off the shelves in a certain order, then turned to them.

“They said that if you pulled out certain books in a specific sequence at midnight, a ghost would appear. Of course, once the library got busier, that rumor naturally disappeared.”

“Ghost stories always fade in crowded places.”

Since ghost tales prey on fear, they don’t last in places full of people.

“But why bring this up now?”

“I was just thinking—it might not be entirely unrelated.”

Fran pushed the books back in and continued.

“Don’t you think it’s strange? The missing people had no similarities in time, level, or even hometown.”

“True. They don’t have any common ground at all.”

Killian nodded.

Usually, such cases at least had some victim commonalities.

But from what was known, there were none.

“The ghost story I mentioned is a bit different from normal ones. You get what I mean?”

“Ah, a participation-based ghost story?”

“Exactly.”

Fran nodded.

“Normally, seeing a ghost or strange phenomenon is involuntary. But some tales, like the one I mentioned, only happen if you perform a specific action yourself.”

“You think the missing people did something like that here, and that’s why they vanished?”

“I just think it’s possible.”

“Hm.”

Now that they considered it, it wasn’t a bad theory.

Since there were no natural common traits, perhaps the victims had created one through a shared action.

“That’s… oddly convincing.”

“Right? I actually enjoy these kinds of stories.”

“So, Fran, what kind of special actions do you think people might take here?”

“Hmm…”

He glanced around, then shrugged.

“Not sure. Honestly, it’s just one possibility. I don’t think it’s very likely.”

“Great. You just scared us for nothing.”

Veronica, still a little shaken, protested.

“But think about it. The people who came here weren’t on a joy trip; they came to find missing persons. Would they really waste time on nonsense?”

“Fair point.”

Just then, another wave of magical radio reports came through.

-Alpha, first floor area search complete. Nothing unusual. Heading up the stairs.

-Bravo, first floor area search complete. Found an escalator—using that.

-Charlie, first floor area search complete. Taking the elevator.

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At that moment, all the lights in the building suddenly went out.

An announcement followed.

-Aah, this is Borg. Repeating, this is Borg. There’s been a problem with Zenith Tower’s magic engine. It’ll be dark for a while, so please bear with us. When moving upstairs, use the stairs.

Borg, waiting outside, had relayed the message to everyone through Prometheus.

Oscar asked via radio,

-Estimated repair time?

-Half an hour at most. Six mages are already working on it.

Half an hour.

Not enough to halt the search.

“Everyone, light up your own spell.”

The four cast Light, illuminating the area well enough, then headed for the nearest stairs up to the second floor.

“Wow.”

The second floor, Artifacts & Equipment Shops, offered a completely different charm.

If the first floor overwhelmed with grandeur, this place captured attention with its scattered storefronts.

“Hey, check that sign. Sword Art Company might be opening a branch here. They’re huge.”

“Didn’t expect that. I thought only magical artifacts would be sold.”

“Not all visitors are mages, after all.”

Naturally, no artifacts or gear had been stocked yet.

But just looking at the storefront signs, one could easily imagine the crowds that would gather once it opened.

“This place’ll blow up once it opens. Could become a holy site up north.”

“Yeah. Outside capitals like the Imperial City or Baran, it’s hard to get top-tier gear.”

Oscar thoroughly checked even the restrooms before another set of reports came in.

-Alpha, second floor search complete. Nothing unusual. Heading up the stairs.

-Bravo, second floor search complete. Moving up with Alpha party.

So they had met on the stairs.

With four staircases per floor, and eight parties moving, it was inevitable.

Oscar reported in.

-Charlie, second floor search complete. Using the north stairway.

As they headed north, Party 7, Gold, had just finished reporting.

But Party 8, Hotel, remained silent.

-This is Borg. Hotel party, we’re not receiving your transmission. Please adjust your frequency and report again.

-If you hear me, call for help or leave the building immediately.

-Or shout loud enough to summon nearby mages.

“……”

But no matter how long they waited, neither voice nor signal came.

The silence stretched until Borg made the call.

-All parties, cease search immediately. Exit through the front doors at once.

At that moment—snap!—the lights across the building came back on.

-Elevators and escalators are back online. For safety, everyone should regroup using the east elevators to reach the first floor.

-Confirmed.

-Understood.

Listening to the flood of replies, Oscar’s group headed for the east elevators.

They pressed the call button, and the car, resting on the sixth floor, began its slow descent.

Ding—its doors slid open.

[The doors are opening.]

“Huh? What the…”

Veronica frowned at the empty car.

“Weren’t we all supposed to take the east elevators down together? Why is no one in it?”

“Guess we’re the first to arrive.”

Oscar glanced at the row of elevators—four in total, as befitting a modern tower.

And sure enough, one of the others descended past the third, then the second, then the first floor.

‘That must be Alpha or Bravo.’

They had reached the third floor before Oscar’s group.

He quickly hit the button to stop the doors from closing.

“Let’s just take it. We’ll all meet at the bottom anyway.”

The four stepped inside and pressed “1.”

The doors closed, and the car began to move.

It was then Killian muttered,

“Oscar… do you think the Hotel party really vanished?”

“…Yeah. But it happened too fast.”

So soon—after only two floors searched—another disappearance.

And this time, an entire party of four.

“We’ll need to regroup on the first floor and plan next steps.”

“Who was in Hotel again?”

“No idea. I’d never seen any of them before.”

As they chatted, Oscar felt something strange.

‘Wait. Why is it taking so long? We’re only going down one floor…’

Zenith Tower was cutting-edge, so the elevators were fast.

Yet the display remained stuck on “2” for an unusually long time before finally shifting.

[The doors are opening.]

The doors slid wide—but none of them stepped out.

Of course not.

There were no waiting mages outside.

And the scenery before them was not the first floor they remembered.

“…What is this…”

00. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ nοvelfire.net

That was the incomprehensible number glowing on the display.

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