Chapter 536: The Tower Stands, the City Stands; The Tower Falls, the City Perishes

Chapter 536: As Long as the Tower Stands, So Does the City; When the Tower Falls, the City Perishes

"Impossible. Never possible."

Hearing Toresta's reply, Kamar’s face darkened with displeasure.

Inwardly cursing—ungrateful fool—he forced a faint smile and said in a falsely amiable tone, "Since the Tower Lord is unwilling, then so be it."

"The Mapleleaf City does not lack one mage tower."

Li Wei asked coldly, "What are you trying to do?"

"It's not what I want to do—it's that you're too stubborn to see which way the wind blows," Karma replied with a chuckle.

"Don't worry—we won’t tear off our masks just yet. Everything is simply a matter of choice."

"This is the will of the people."

With those words, Karma turned and left.

Li Wei frowned, unsure what game he was playing at.

Suddenly, he sensed many presences departing from the Mage Tower.

Such an unusual occurrence drew his attention immediately.

He walked to the edge of the sixth floor and looked down below.

A group of apprentice mages and full-fledged mages followed Karma out of the tower.

Karma glanced back once toward Li Wei, wearing a triumphant grin.

Though he couldn't actually see Li Wei, he knew for certain the man stood there.

After all, hadn't the Magic Academy already stripped away every last soul loyal to your tower?

Let’s see how you manage now.

Li Wei watched as Martin and Comas also left alongside Karma.

Both were veterans of the Mage Tower, having spent twenty or thirty years within its walls.

Yet they still chose to abandon it.

The reason was simple enough: Karma had promised them something greater—the chance to ascend beyond Master Mages.

Li Wei extended his spiritual senses across the Mage Tower. Inside remained only a sparse few.

One official mage and several weak apprentices.

The sole remaining full mage was Rota.

As for the rest—the feeble apprentices—they were all fervent admirers of Li Wei, hailed among the lower ranks as the prodigy of the Northern Frontier.

They wished to remain where legends were born.

Their potential was too poor for Karma to bother recruiting.

Because of Li Wei’s own journey, ironically, more apprentices revered him than ever before.

Many dreamed of awakening like him someday, soaring to new heights overnight.

When Martin and Comas stepped through the gates of the Mage Tower, both instinctively glanced back—and without hesitation, departed.

Comas murmured softly, “Do you think the Tower Lord might be angry?”

Martin replied expressionlessly, “The Tower Lord isn’t who he used to be.”

Comas stared at him in surprise.

Martin offered no explanation.

Nor could he explain—it was merely intuition.

Empty halls, bustling life vanished. The once-vibrant Mage Tower fell silent in an instant.

Seated alone on the sixth level, Li Wei gave a helpless, bitter smile.

“Master…”

So much emotion welled up inside him.

Finally thinking of Toresta, he could only let out another quiet sigh.

Toresta likely wouldn’t care about their departure.

To him, the only thing that truly mattered in this Mage Tower was the dragon soul imprisoned on the seventh floor.

Now, even that had long since disappeared.

For Toresta, the Mage Tower had lost all meaning.

That night, the tower felt especially desolate.

Even the few who remained had retired to their rooms to sleep.

It would surely be a sleepless evening.

Several shadowy figures quietly appeared beneath the corner of the Mage Tower wall.

They raised their eyes to gaze upon the towering spire above, exchanging glances briefly.

“Let’s begin.”

“We didn’t want it to come to this, but that old bastard refused to cooperate.”

“He brought this upon himself—no one else is to blame.”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several figures surged into the Mage Tower—

but triggered no defensive magical arrays whatsoever.

They easily breached multiple layers of protection around the Mapleleaf City Mage Tower, reaching the third floor.

There, they saw the golden door leading to the sixth floor already standing wide open.

Exchanging looks, they hesitated not a moment before charging straight through.

Whish! Whish! Whish!

In an instant, those same figures materialized upon the sixth floor.

Quickly scanning their surroundings, they found nothing but towering stone pillars—no sign of anyone present.

Looking outward, they beheld the lively night markets of Mapleleaf City stretching far below.

“Where is he?”

“There.”

One pointed toward the center of the sixth floor—a black fissure visible in midair.

“The seventh floor?”

"I have always heard that a grand secret lies hidden within the seventh tier of Maple City's wizard tower, and now, at long last, the chance to uncover it is ours."

"Let us go."

"Beware of a trap."

"What is there to fear? Are the five of us truly to dread a single fourth-rank mage?"

One after another, they stepped into the black fissure.

Crossing the spatial rift that led to the seventh tier.

The company finally cast their eyes upon "Torresta."

One of them scanned the surroundings, taking in the sight of a colossal, shattered cage.

It was as though a great battle had raged here; everything within the enclosure was utterly ruined.

"Is this the burial ground you chose for yourself?"

Looking at "Torresta," one man spoke with a short laugh.

"What used to be imprisoned here?" someone asked in bewilderment.

Buzz!

Within the dark expanse of the cage, the brilliance of a magic circle flared to life.

A purple array manifested.

Their statures stiffened as they found their bodies immobilized, trapped like insects frozen in amber.

"Damn it, this is a trap!"

"What is there to fear! Watch me destroy these circles!"

Having dared to tread into this place, they were naturally prepared to encounter such snares.

The man who spoke of destroying the array watched the gemstone ring on his right index finger glow with light.

This was the Ring of Ban-Breaking.

Capable of shattering any magic circle.

The ring unleashed a beam of blue radiance, striking the purple array.

Crack!

An unnatural sound echoed from the purple circle, and then hairline fractures appeared across its runes.

Just as the company believed the array was on the verge of shattering.

The wielder of the ring abruptly realized that the magic circle before them was inherently ruined from the start.

Though several cracks webbed across it, reducing its stability, it did not collapse.

Horror seized the man's heart; a mere broken remnant of an array was already this powerful.

How terrifying must the complete circle have been?

Whose master arrayist's handiwork could this possibly be?

Why would such an astounding magic circle appear in a place like this?

In days gone by, Torresta had used this restrictive magic circle to seal the soul of a fire dragon for decades.

He had even relied on its power to briefly hold at bay a Cardinal Archbishop of the Holy Church of Light.

In the end, Torresta's power had waned to exhaustion, granting Archbishop Minos the opportunity to shatter the boundary and break free.

An array of such immense might, even as a mere surviving fragment, could still unleash a truly staggering force.

"Curse it! This is impossible!"

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The ring unleashed several more consecutive beams of blue light, striking the purple circle.

The fractures upon the purple array multiplied rapidly.

Crack!

The charge of the Ring of Ban-Breaking was spent, and its gemstone shattered.

The sound of the ring's gem splintering reached his ears, a twitch of agonizing regret passing over his face.

The purple magic circle had endured the relentless barrage of the ring.

Though it held firm without collapsing entirely, its suppressing force was drastically diminished.

The five individuals could finally move.

One man took a fierce stride forward, bursting forth with astonishing speed.

"Sky-Rend Strike!" A ferocious flash of white sword-light sliced through the air, appearing instantly before "Torresta."

Pfft!

The blade-light clove through the silhouette of "Torresta."

The figure of "Torresta" fluctuated violently for a moment, like a mirage.

With a soft pop, it burst like a bubble, dissolving away before their eyes.

The Great Swordsman who had slain Torresta stood rooted to the spot, entirely bewildered, unable to believe his senses.

To kill Torresta, the one hailed as the strongest mage in Maple City, this easily?

No, the sensation of the strike felt nothing like a human body.

The Great Swordsman quickly scanned the surroundings, searching with sharp vigilance for any sign of the foe.

Yet he found no trace of an enemy's presence anywhere.

There truly was no adversary left here.

The sole opponent had just been cut down by his blade a moment ago.

"What on earth is going on here?"

With a blank stare, the Great Swordsman looked toward his companions, searching for an answer.

The remaining four were equally dumbfounded; a mage who had been preparing to cast a spell lowered his staff, frowning in deep thought.

"Just now, that figure seemed to be merely an apparition of Torresta; he is not here."

"Are you saying he has fled?"

Beside him, another man reacted immediately, pressing the question.

The mage cast a sideways glance at the assassin who had spoken and countered, "Do you think that likely?"

"He would rather die than surrender the wizard tower; would he abandon it and flee?" the mage questioned sharply.

The assassin offered a sheepish smile, shaking his head. "Then I know not."

The Great Swordsman demanded once more, "What exactly is happening here?"

The mage narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Aren't there still a few people left in the wizard tower? Find them and ask."

"No need," said a voice that reached everyone's ears. "What you wish to know, I can tell you."

All present wore expressions of astonishment.

The great swordmaster turned sharply toward the source of the voice and demanded loudly, "Who’s there, playing tricks like some ghost?"

A figure stepped into the seventh level.

The five people frowned upon seeing the newcomer.

The stranger was cloaked entirely in a magical robe, making their face completely indiscernible.

The mage attempted to use mental perception to identify the intruder.

As his mental probe approached, it felt as though it had fallen into an endless abyss—utterly unable to discern anything about this person.

His heart trembled with fear; he realized at once that this individual was far more powerful than himself.

With a grave expression, the mage fixed his gaze on the newcomer and asked, "Who are you, sir?"

Hearing him address the figure so respectfully, the other four exchanged startled glances instinctively.

Buzz!

Without any visible movement from the robed figure—

Light suddenly flooded the pitch-black seventh level.

For the first time, the entire chamber revealed itself clearly before them.

Eighteen stone pillars supported a hexagonal spire—that was the structure of the seventh floor.

Now, over half of those pillars were broken, and most of the intricate magical inscriptions etched upon them had been destroyed.

The roof tilted slightly askew.

Looking up, they could see beneath it a complex array of magical patterns.

Like the shattered pillars below, these too were damaged beyond recognition, save for a few faintly glowing sections.

Those remaining luminous areas matched exactly what they had seen earlier—the purple magical formation.

It was inconceivable: less than one-tenth of the formation remained intact, yet it still exerted such overwhelming suppressive force.

Buzzzz!

Whirrrr!

Shattered stones and fragments of the ruined spire began to rise into the air.

As if time itself reversed its course—

Broken pieces flew back into place, the tilted ceiling straightened, and toppled columns rose anew.

Everyone watched in amazement at the unfolding spectacle.

Only the mage among them looked as though he'd witnessed something supernatural.

He sensed it—an immense yet precise flow of arcane energy permeating the space around them.

Unimaginable. How could anyone control such vast power with such flawless precision?

"Petrify to dust!"

"Reshape dust to stone!"

Li Wei cast two consecutive spells, restoring the ruined seventh level to its former appearance.

Though visually restored, the damaged magical formations could not be repaired instantly by him.

Petrification and reconstruction—these were new spells Li Wei had casually learned while his simulacrum guarded the Tower of Mages out of sheer boredom.

In fact, nearly every spell stored within the tower had already been mastered by his phantom self.

After all, being the master meant access came without cost.

Upon returning, Li Wei simply inherited through the Arcane Codex every bit of proficiency his simulacrum had gained.

By now, the number of spells recorded in the codex had surpassed three digits.

And Li Wei showed no sign of nearing his limit.

"Exactly who are you?" the mage asked again, his expression darker than ever.

Such terrifying mastery over magical energies—he doubted even ordinary archmages could achieve this.

Even several sixth-rank mages he knew personally would find this feat impossible.

To a mage, what Li Wei displayed bordered on divine miracle.

Li Wei glanced briefly at the group, then walked unguardedly through their midst.

He moved to the center of the seventh level.

A throne slowly ascended, and he turned to sit.

As Li Wei passed by, the assassin stirred with intent to strike.

But the moment that thought formed, an overwhelming sense of dread surged within him—

A feeling of impending doom.

Once he abandoned the idea of assassination, the terror vanished entirely.

Almost like an illusion—but the cold sweat soaking his back told him otherwise.

That warning had come from his extraordinary danger-sense ability.

Never before had he received such a chilling signal.

More terrifying than any brush with death he'd ever faced.

He understood—if he acted, he would die without question.

The great swordmaster gripped his blade tightly, watching Li Wei pass beside him.

Every hair on his arm stood on end, muscles tensing involuntarily.

Instinct screamed that this man was extraordinarily dangerous.

Seated now, Li Wei drew the attention of all as they turned to face him.

"I am... Torresta."

"Torresta!"

They stared at him in shock, faces filled with disbelief.

The great swordsman frowned. Was this truly Torresta himself?

The oppressive presence was genuinely overwhelming!

After his initial shock, the mage felt something was amiss.

He looked at Levi with suspicion.

"Forgive my bold intrusion at this late hour. I humbly apologize for any offense."

The mage bowed his head and spoke respectfully.

He had conceded defeat.

Seeing this, the others also lowered their heads in acknowledgment of their wrongdoing.

Levi said calmly: "Go back and tell those who sent you that regardless of what you intend to do, stay away from the Mage Tower."

"Without the Mage Tower, it matters little where the forbidden spell falls."

Hearing these words, the mage's heart trembled.

He knew the other was issuing a threat.

If anything happened to the Mage Tower, a forbidden spell would descend upon Mapleleaf City.

He dared not risk testing this possibility.

Perhaps the other truly possessed such capability.

The mage performed a deep bow and said: "I understand. I will certainly relay your message truthfully."

"Then we shall not disturb the Tower Master's rest any further."

With hearts pounding in fear, they retreated from the Mage Tower.

"A forbidden spell? Can he truly cast a forbidden spell?" the assassin asked incredulously.

The mage replied: "I do not know either, but... he is indeed the most powerful mage I have ever encountered. His strength far exceeds my imagination. Even I cannot fathom just how strong he truly is..."

(End of Chapter)