Chapter 535: Idea.

A project currently under research at the Tower of Magic, which, to stretch the truth, could be said to dabble in the domain of gods.

It was a type of magic that extracted the desired image from the vast memory of the World Tree, a memory that recorded most of what was seen in the world, and brought it to life. Essentially, it created a virtual world.

And naturally, it wasn’t an easy magic to perform.

Finding a refined image from the Root Net, the inner world of the World Tree, which could be called an ocean of information, was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Controlling the vast amount of magical power infused in the World Tree to create a space was equally challenging.

If something went wrong, you could be swept away by the huge flow of magic, leading to the destruction of both mind and body.

And that wasn’t even the end of it.

Even if you managed to retrieve the refined image and a vast amount of magical power from the World Tree, constructing a space based on them was no easy task.

To draw a comparison, it was akin to drawing a building’s blueprint alone and then laying the bricks yourself.

Enduring all these stages required high levels of stamina and mental toughness, needless to say.

Each and every step demanded the magician risk their own safety.

For this reason, building an Idea required a minimum of dozens of experienced magicians.

It wasn’t strange, considering they were materializing a world existing in the World Tree’s memory into reality.

What was strange, though, was that Oliver was accomplishing this task alone.

[Moirai School & Spatial School: Idea Construction, X-District]

As soon as Oliver chanted, a vast amount of magic that flowed from the deep roots of the World Tree spread out like spilled water, rapidly dominating the surrounding area.

The indescribable radiant magic began seeping through the ground like water through soaked paper, gradually corrupting the surroundings.

The Verdant Forest, previously dominated by Red Hood’s clones, began to fade as though being erased by a giant eraser, and in its place, a grey concrete jungle began to take root.

This was X-District, one of Randa’s largest slums.

“Gruuuh… This cannot be…”

Red Hood murmured, showing emotions of fear, caution, and confusion as the surrounding green forest turned into a concrete jungle.

He was beginning to grasp the essence of the spell Oliver was casting.

It was World Tree magic and spatial magic; even mastering one was difficult, but Oliver was displaying both at once.

To clarify, while Oliver wasn’t really doing all of this alone, Eve was helping by handling the World Tree’s images and magical power needed to construct the Idea.

All Oliver was doing was contacting Eve through natural forces to allow the images and magic to come into reality, then receiving them from Eve.

The problem was that even this action could easily fry his brain or destroy his body.

“I was lucky,”

said Oliver to the stunned Red Hood.

He spoke, all the while wielding a spell that not only dominated but also created space.

Red Hood thought Oliver was mocking and taunting him, but Oliver was being sincere.

Because the spell had been developed by the Tower of Magic, and the ones who first materialized it were Lilith and Puppet.

Oliver had merely observed, analyzed, and then adapted it to his own needs. This was only possible with help from Eve.

Briefly, Oliver explained this to Red Hood, who was despairing over the overwhelming difference in power.

Red Hood was exceptionally talented and hardworking, so it seemed a shame to see him give up.

However, the only reaction Red Hood could muster was shock.

“Mockery… Is it really possible to do this just from seeing it alone?!!”

Red Hood considered himself a scholar, before either a man or a beast.

He understood the principle.

Even if Eve transferred the images and magic of the World Tree, it was still up to Oliver to digest them.

While Eve’s help made the spell slightly less complex, constructing an Idea was by no means easy.

Projecting the images and magic into reality required vast mental processing, capable of burning one’s brain.

“Actually, this is a method I improved on. I found it difficult to implement an unfamiliar landscape alone, so I chose a familiar one.”

Oliver shared his knowledge with Red Hood simply.

As he mentioned, despite receiving Eve’s help, constructing such a large space with magic was no easy feat.

Especially in an unfamiliar environment.

Lilith could manage it because she was the essence of the World Tree, Eve, and because Puppet had enhanced her body.

By comparison, Oliver was just a human. Building a space wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

“I pondered this point myself and eventually came to a solution.”

“…”

“Rather than creating an unfamiliar scene, I constructed a familiar one. Just as we can walk on familiar paths without getting lost, even if we don’t pay much attention.”

Red Hood frowned. It sounded like some amazing solution, but could that really allow him to construct space alone?

Whether one used a spoon or a ladle, it’s impossible to scoop the entire ocean.

Yet, if it were possible, then it wasn’t the fault of the spoon or ladle, but of the one wielding them.

Oliver seemed oblivious to this, or perhaps he was feigning ignorance.

Red Hood didn’t dare delve into it further, his attention drawn by the massive structures looming overhead.

“…This place… Is it familiar to you?”

Red Hood cautiously asked while staring upward.

Seven massive cement stakes, each as large as a building, floated above Red Hood’s head.

Those very stakes were the reason Red Hood couldn’t attack.

If those massive stakes made of emotions, cement, rebar, bricks, and firearms fell to the ground, the region would undoubtedly be obliterated by their sheer physical force.

There was no way to escape within an Idea, making it even more dangerous.

“Yes, I created them.”

Oliver replied, recalling the time he met Chef, the apprentice of the Flesh Cook, trying to prevent the war between Fighter Crew and Crime Firm.

Joe had intended to kill Oliver, but soon changed his mind, allowing Oliver to accompany him to the battle with Chef.

The massive stakes floating in the sky were the products of that moment.

They were made to show Chef that Oliver was qualified to fight against him.

It had happened long ago.

Yet here he was, in a forest across the sea, seeing them once again. Such is the unpredictability of life.

Tick, tick, tick…

Debris fell from the cement stakes above.

In that precarious situation, where it felt like a bomb might go off at any moment, Red Hood nervously asked,

“Why are you so… willingly… telling me this?”

“As a sign of apology.”

Oliver responded without hesitation. A sign of his honesty.

Red Hood understood the sincerity behind Oliver’s words, yet he still couldn’t comprehend it.

He couldn’t grasp why Oliver felt the need to apologize.

“I think I may have treated you disrespectfully… By calling you an animal.”

When Oliver explained why he was apologizing, the realization hit Red Hood like a bolt.

He had indeed acted like Oliver was a fascinating experimental animal.

Ironically, through their fight, Oliver had realized that Red Hood possessed a powerful intellect, vast knowledge, and strong resolve.

Simply treating him as a beast wasn’t right.

“So… you went easy on me?”

Red Hood voiced what he had already vaguely suspected.

Despite consuming all the flesh dumplings he had hoarded for decades to push his battle power to its limits and devouring the Special Body that the Flesh Cook had stored, becoming a being far beyond his former self,

it hadn’t made much difference against someone like Oliver. It had been nothing more than a beast’s trick.

“No, that’s not what I…-”

“-Cruel and arrogant.”

Red Hood cut Oliver off.

Considering that when he first met Oliver, he had been eager to run away, and afterward, their conversations had been terse, this was a rather unusual attitude.

Even when targeting Oliver’s life, Red Hood had tread carefully with his words.

Whether it was because of the fight they just had, Oliver’s cruel demeanor, or the death magic Calm that Oliver had imposed on him, the situation was intriguing.

Not to mention, whether it even mattered that Red Hood was unaware. To him, what mattered was the realization that all his efforts had only been for the amusement or nourishment of the being before him.

Perhaps, Oliver had used his current spell not out of necessity, but merely as practice.

Could there be anything more cruel and arrogant than that?

“Well, you… you are capable of that.”

Oliver reacted to that statement.

“You? …who are you talking about?”

“The Pied Piper… that monster!!”

Red Hood recalled the time when, in an effort to maintain his humanity, he had captured and devoured a witch and her granddaughter.

It was then that he first encountered the Pied Piper, who was abducting children from a village, and Red Hood felt an indescribable fear, humiliation, and all-encompassing desire to reach an unattainable height.

That was the moment he gained the drive to improve himself—to strive to become something more after barely maintaining his humanity.

Oliver also reacted to Red Hood’s words.

After all, the Pied Piper was the only death magician among the Black Hand’s Fingers that Oliver hadn’t met yet.

Consequently, Oliver knew little about the Pied Piper. All he knew was that Lake Village, which he visited during the Tower of Magic’s academic conference, had been desolated by the Pied Piper. He didn’t even know the reason for it.

“I won’t just sit back and tremble anymore!! That’s why… why I came here!!”

Red Hood, bathed in a strangely beautiful glow, lunged forward with his clones, as Oliver shifted his gaze toward the center of the continent where the Pied Piper was.

It was a charge filled with the resolve to die fighting.

Even Oliver, who knew much about combat, hadn’t seen such strong will before.

It was a very impressive moment.

To observe it more closely, Oliver extracted his emotions and layered them onto the Idea, exerting his control.

[Bless]

Mary’s original death magic dispersed into a faint mist, spreading across the entirety of the Idea.

As the death magic layered on top, X-District, made of magical power, began to change in nature. The bricks around Oliver all seemed to gain a will of their own, aiming to protect him.

Shrrrng!

The magically paved roads disassembled like blocks, creating cliffs as they fell below, eliminating any routes leading to Oliver,

while some pillars and walls of buildings floated into the air, reorganized as barriers to shield Oliver, while others fell like bombs onto Red Hood and his clones.

Despite charging in with natural forces, potent magic, and deadly death magic cloaking his body, Red Hood and his clones were hindered by the entire city, unable to reach Oliver easily.

Just a few moments ago, the situation had been the complete opposite, with Red Hood controlling the Verdant Forest.

He had been overwhelmed by the stakes’ majesty, forgetting that not only the stakes but the entire space was under Oliver’s control.

Inwardly, Red Hood lamented. The moment the Idea was constructed, the fight was essentially over.

Regretting his brief emotional lapse, Red Hood wondered if he should have followed his instincts and fled—like a mere beast.

Just then, a looming shadow darkened the space above his head.

The massive cement stakes that had radiated overwhelming presence began to descend slowly, cloaked in death magic.

Red Hood quickly scanned his surroundings, alarming that the cement jungle of X-District had been restructured by Oliver’s hand into a cement prison.

The paved roads beneath his feet and the half-constructed cement buildings were like cages trapping Red Hood.

Ruuummmbbblllleee!!!

A sound of the air ripping apart echoed from above.

It was the sound of the massive, death magic-laden stakes falling to the ground under the force of gravity.

Rrruuummmbbblllleeeee!!!!

Rrrruummmbbbllleeerree!!!!

As the stakes got closer and closer to the ground, the sound grew louder, deafening, while the shadows cast by the stakes darkened the surroundings as if it were night.

If the area wasn’t under Oliver’s control, he would have already considered escaping. But it was, so Oliver was free to observe Red Hood.

To see how he would react.

Amazingly, Red Hood, facing death and unable to find an escape, didn’t despair. Instead, he bit down, scoffingly shoved the last flesh dumpling into his mouth, and simultaneously unleashed all his emotions, magic, and natural forces.

He wasn’t betting on a miracle but was struggling just to fight back, even in this hopeless situation.

Red Hood crammed the incompatible emotions, magic, and natural forces together to reinforce his body.

He attempted to defend against the massive stakes falling from above.

Right before the stakes collided with the ground, Oliver flicked his finger, drastically reducing their power.

Bwooom!!!

Even with their power reduced, the simultaneous crash of the seven stakes caused a world-shattering sound, producing cracks in the Idea space and leaving a bowl-shaped depression in the ground.

Clop… Clop…

Oliver walked through the dust and silence following the impact, looking down at the fallen Red Hood who had barely avoided direct impact.

A last-minute deflection had altered the stake’s trajectory away from Red Hood, but the residual impact was still so significant that he lay unconscious.

Oliver stared at Red Hood, who had fought bravely even in the face of death, and extracted his emotions to cast death magic.

[Vomit]

A spell from the Disease-Weakening branch of death magic that forced Red Hood, while unconscious, to vomit up the large flesh dumpling and the heavy iron key he had in his stomach.

Without hesitation, Oliver picked up the iron key, wiped it clean with a handkerchief, and kept it. After all, the key was the main reason Oliver sought out Red Hood.

Having achieved his first goal, Oliver looked down at Red Hood once more.

There was a second reason Oliver wanted to meet Red Hood—to understand why he feared him—but he didn’t provide the clear answer Oliver had hoped for.

Yet, Red Hood had shown him something even more interesting, something that made Oliver regret thinking of him as just an experimental animal.

After some thought, Oliver chose to respect the will Red Hood had displayed and decided to heal him. However, just then, he heard Eve’s urgent voice through the communication device attached to his shirt collar.

[Dave!]

Eve, who rarely showed signs of panic, caused Oliver to pause, and she continued to speak as if she had encountered a disaster.

[Outside the Idea. Something unusual has been detected in the middle of the Verdant Forest, which we couldn’t observe before. Quickly—]—Crrrk!!!

Noise suddenly interrupted Eve’s speech, cutting off her transmission.

This was a grave situation. The communication device Eve had designed and assembled herself could only communicate with Eve, but as long as there was a World Tree nearby, it could be used anywhere.

Thus, it could function flawlessly even within the magic-based virtual space of the Idea.

And yet, the device malfunctioned? There was only one possible explanation.

Their location had been pushed beyond the World Tree’s domain.

That was logically impossible, yet, astonishingly, it was reality.

Beyond the Idea, the barrier deep within the Verdant Forest had grown in strength and was expanding, consuming the Idea like it was devouring it.

Even considering the cracks in the Idea caused by his recent attack, this was still an extraordinary phenomenon.

However, what bothered Oliver the most was the energy coming from the barrier.

It was a bizarre mixture of death magic similar to the entrance to hell that Puppet had once shown in the Contaminated Zone.

The energy of hell grew stronger, and soon, thick fog and thorny vines began to engulf the grey cement jungle, advancing toward Oliver and the unconscious Red Hood.

The fog made the view blurry.

Shockingly, the energy from the barrier seemed to momentarily impair even Oliver’s vision, which rarely failed against anything but beings like the Archive and demons.

A more terrifying phenomenon was just beginning to unfold.

The strange thing was, that wasn’t the end of it.

Even though Oliver stayed in one place, the strange flow of the mysterious environment and the subtle shifts in the ground made him feel as if he was moving elsewhere.

The swirling mist began to intertwine, forming the shape of a woman.

It looked like a girl, no older than her mid-teens.

The girl made of mist looked straight at Oliver and spoke.

“Nice to meet you. The one burdened with an unreasonable fate.”

At that moment, the mist cleared, and Oliver could see.

He could sense the mysterious atmosphere of the dense Verdant Forest and the various creatures within it. Many people were struggling against those creatures.

They seemed to be the ones trying to claim the legacy of the Flesh Cook. Among them, Oliver recognized a familiar face.

“…Claude?”

Amid the many black mages, Claude was fighting using the female Zombie Puppet, and he noticed Oliver.

Injured, Claude showed signs of both surprise and relief as he shouted.

“Ah, Dave! It’s good to see you. How have you been? …Sorry to ask right after meeting, but could you help us out? We’re close to dying.”

Claude remained calm and polite as he fought the human-made creatures, and Oliver asked him a question.

“Do you know where we are?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if you know where we are.”

Sensing something off in Oliver’s question, Claude replied.

“The Sleeping Beauty…! This is her territory!”