Chapter 641: Airship

Oliver had experienced few intense emotions like disappointment, anger, or confusion in his life.

This was because he could usually read his opponents’ thoughts and intentions with the Warlock’s Eye.

Thus, he rarely got disappointed, angry, or confused by any situation.

Such emotions typically arose when things deviated from one’s expectations or predictions.

But that didn’t mean he was completely devoid of emotions. After all, the world could be unpredictable, and unexpected things happened.

This was one of those moments.

“Don’t worry. You know Yareli’s skills, and I guarantee Derek’s abilities too.”

They were aboard an airship heading from Randa to the outskirts of Gallos.

Kevin said this to reassure Oliver as they made their way to the uppermost deck.

Though it may have seemed pointless, it was necessary.

On the surface, Oliver appeared calm as usual, but just moments ago, he had insisted on directly confronting Rosburn.

This, during a dire situation where the airship was at risk of crashing.

He was still feeling dizzy. Thankfully, Kevin had barely managed to convince him otherwise.

“Yes, I understand.”

Oliver replied briefly after hearing Kevin’s words of comfort.

The tone was the same as usual, but Kevin noticed a subtle change.

Or maybe it was just an illusion after witnessing Oliver swiftly defeating the Dark Sorcerer earlier.

Either way, it wasn’t important at the moment.

“But still, something’s odd.”

Kevin, who was suppressing his presence with magic while scanning the surroundings, spoke up.

“What are they trying to do?”

Kevin was puzzled by the actions of the Dark Sorcerers.

And it was a very reasonable question.

Hijacking an airship was a high-risk crime, even aside from the brutality involved.

One wrong move could lead to a crash, and the fuel gave them a limited time frame. Its massive size made it easy to track and hard to escape.

Therefore, the objective of hijacking an airship had to be crystal clear.

It had to be for the airship’s destruction, kidnapping, or a terror attack by colliding it with a building etc.

Naturally, high levels of skill, numbers, and coordination were required, which these Dark Sorcerers lacked.

Despite their skills, they were too few in number to effectively take over such a large airship, and their defensive measures were sloppy. Moreover, after taking control of the cabins, gas bags, and engine room, they displayed no significant actions.

Their behavior was hesitant and uncoordinated, as if they were only instructed to go this far.

The question was, who had given the orders?

“Well, we’ll find out once we catch them.”

At the airship’s uppermost level, just below the gas bag management layer.

Kevin used the Warlock’s Eye to peer through the ceiling and set his target.

Thanks to the assistance he received from Oliver, which enhanced his vision, Kevin could use the Warlock’s Eye more freely than most Dark Sorcerers.

As Oliver had mentioned, there were six Dark Sorcerers, who seemed unaware of their current situation.

Without further delay, Kevin pulled out the chain he had received from the Holy Knight.

Shink.

The silver chain rattled, emitting a faint sound.

The chain’s glitter made it look somewhat like a rosary. Kevin infused it with magic to control it.

Rattle, rattle.

The chain, now wrapped in magic, crawled like a snake along the wall, clinging to the ceiling below which the Dark Sorcerers occupied the gas bag management room.

Bang!

Kevin moved his hand and, with a burst of magical energy, the chain sent out small shockwaves, piercing through the ceiling and simultaneously binding the Dark Sorcerers beneath it.

“What, what’s happening?”

“Argh! It’s strangling us!”

Thanks to Kevin’s pure magic and his wartime experience, this ambush was executed flawlessly.

Though the Dark Sorcerers tried to resist in their panic, they couldn’t do anything once Kevin began chanting.

[Necto]

As he chanted, the chain emitted a brilliant light, completely disabling both the Dark Sorcerers’ dark magic and their physical movements.

This was the unique function of the ‘Chains of Repentance,’ a Holy Item. The Holy Knights had mentioned that it utterly neutralized the spells and movements of criminals.

As if to prove its effectiveness, the chain activated fully, even escaping Kevin’s control.

It wasn’t a problem since the Dark Sorcerers were already incapacitated.

Thus, one of the three groups of Dark Sorcerers that had taken over the airship was easily subdued.

The other two groups were likely in the same situation.

Kevin and Oliver were about to ascend to the gas bag management room when a loud explosion echoed, causing the ship to shake.

Boom!!

The explosion came from the engine room at the stern.

For a moment, it seemed the Holy Knights might have failed.

Boom!!

Then a second explosion followed.

The sound came from above.

Alarmed, Kevin rushed up to the gas bag management room, practically breaking down the door, and discovered the space surrounded by reinforced glass containing various mechanical devices and the massive gas bag visible through the glass ceiling.

The gas bag was so enormous that it was difficult to see its entirety, but even so, the massive hole caused by the explosion was immediately noticeable.

How did this explosion happen? Kevin wondered. He had clearly immobilized the Dark Sorcerers completely.

Kevin checked on the bound Dark Sorcerers with suspicion.

To his shock, they were all dead, foaming at the mouth.

They had bitten into poison hidden in their molars to commit suicide.

Kevin’s mind swirled with confusion at this absurd situation, and then he met the gaze of one of the airship crew members who had been tied up nearby.

“The bomb has gone off! We need to respond immediately!!”

The crew member, who worked in the gas bag management room, practically screamed, his face as pale as a sheet.

And he was right.

There was so much to inquire about, but for now, they had to handle the current crisis.

Kevin used a small flame to free the restrained crew members and began to address the situation.

If the airship crashed from this height, everyone would perish.

Meanwhile, gas continued to escape from the hole in the gas bag, making it grow even larger.

The only relief was that after great effort, the gas had been refined, so it didn’t catch fire even after the explosion.

“Activate the emergency gas bags!!”

Fwoooosh!!!

Someone pulled a lever and shouted, and smaller gas bags deployed explosively from all four sides of the airship.

These were safety devices added to ensure flight or safe landing if any major gas bag issues arose.

As the emergency gas bags expanded, the falling airship began to stabilize.

But it didn’t last long.

In a cruel twist, explosions occurred again at the front and rear of the gas bag.

“What the…?!”

Explosions rocked the ship, and the people aboard screamed in terror.

The last safety mechanism had been blown up.

Kevin and Oliver were just as shocked.

It made sense that someone had taken over the airship, but the fact that bombs had been planted in various parts of the ship’s external gas bags baffled them.

However, there was no time to ponder this.

They needed to come up with the next plan, whether to escape from the falling airship or somehow stop its descent.

In the midst of this dire situation where most people would freeze, Kevin and Oliver’s eyes met.

The many hours spent together as professor and personal staff hadn’t been in vain; they could communicate without words, exchanging their thoughts through their gaze.

Kevin was the first to speak.

“Do you have a way to stop the airship from crashing?”

“I have a method to try, but I’ll need some time.”

“Good.”

It sounded unreasonable, stopping an airship that weighed hundreds of tons, but Oliver was confident—though it would take time—and Kevin accepted it.

The conversation made little sense under normal circumstances, but thankfully to these two, it was possible.

Kevin acted first.

He gathered magic in his legs to anchor himself to the floor, preventing his body from floating as the airship fell, then released his magic into the air, trying to communicate with a spirit.

“Sylph.”

He called out to the air, or more specifically, the wind itself.

Amazingly, despite Kevin’s usually stoic tone, something responded as the air inside the airship moved, forming a current.

The air current was soft and warm, like a breeze basking in sunlight, and soon a semi-transparent woman formed out of the current before Kevin’s eyes.

She had an unrealistically slender yet beautiful figure, with wings like those of a fairy sprouting from her back.

It was clear from a glance that she was a spirit.

Though Kevin had developed the ability to control all spirits, seeing it in action truly amazed him.

Kevin made a request to the spirit.

“Can you help me?”

Despite the vagueness of the request, it seemed to confuse the spirit not at all.

After all, the wind was everywhere, so the spirit clearly understood the situation without needing an explanation.

Fortunately, the spirit showed no reluctance to Kevin’s sudden request.

As soon as he asked, the spirit vanished, then a vast air current formed around the falling airship and began to hold it up.

The airship’s descent quickly slowed.

Kevin shouted.

“She’s just buying us time. Even a spirit can’t keep something that weighs hundreds of tons afloat for long.”

It was true. Even a spirit couldn’t wield unlimited power in the human world.

Knowing this, Oliver immediately went into action.

‘I’m glad I brought this, just in case.’

Oliver felt a sense of relief as he pulled out a branch from inside his coat.

It wasn’t a natural branch but one that had been handcrafted into a straight shape, which indicated it wasn’t an ordinary branch.

It was a branch crafted from a part of Eve’s Fake Body, intended as a gift for her.

In other words, it was essentially a part of Eve’s body.

“Eve.”

Oliver called out to Eve through the Communication Device attached to the inside of his shirt collar.

Understanding the situation through the Communication Device, Eve immediately instructed him on what to do next.

[Please reset the airship’s communication frequency. Set it to the Tower of Magic and Moirai School’s frequency.]

It was a sudden order, but Kevin, who had some experience piloting airships from his time as a military wizard, quickly adjusted the communication device in the management room and reset the frequency.

“Will this frequency reach out there?”

“It will.”

Oliver responded while grasping the branch made from Eve’s body.

Kevin matched the frequency.

“Done!”

The frequency was aligned with the branch made from Eve’s body.

With that, an unreal amount of magic began to flow from the branch.

It was like a magic fountain.

Eve had used the Fake Body to transmit the World Tree’s magic to the distant branch.

Oliver had theorized it could work, but seeing it actually happen was astonishing.

Enormous amounts of magic surged from the small branch, filling the interior of the airship almost instantly.

But that wasn’t the end.

This was just preparing the necessary material.

Eve used the massive amount of magic to connect the frequency of the Communication Device. She also transmitted the vast knowledge stored in the World Tree.

Blueprints were included.

Once everything was prepared, Eve gave the command.

[Dave.]

Oliver responded.

[Moirai School & Spatial Faction’s Ideation : Airship Model FS-824]

With that, the immense magic that had filled the airship began rearranging, emitting multicolored light and superimposing itself onto reality.

It was the moment the world of the World Tree, the Rut-Net, merged with the real world.

Based on the information and images transmitted by Eve, Oliver not only sealed the hole in the gas bag caused by the explosion but also refilled the gas inside and even repaired the damaged engine.

It was a miraculous sight so surreal that everyone inside the airship was dumbfounded. The falling airship stopped and began flying again.

***

Project Ideation, which was being researched in the Tower of Magic, was essentially new magic that superimposed the Rut-Net onto reality.

It involved drawing the infinite magic and knowledge stored in the World Tree into reality to create physical results.

In the past, Oliver had first witnessed this magic through Lilith and later used it once in the Verdant Forest.

This was now his second time using it.

The key difference was that he wasn’t using it to fight but to repair an airship, which turned out to be far more efficient.

Under normal circumstances, Oliver would have analyzed it on the spot and jotted down notes in his notebook.

But he couldn’t do that now.

Because there was a more urgent matter at hand.

“How did you get here?”

In the gas bag management room, despite being busy maintaining Ideation with Eve, Oliver still called Rosburn and asked.

His question was genuinely serious.

He simply couldn’t understand why Rosburn was here.

Rosburn answered honestly.

“I secretly followed you!”

Despite his fear, the boy tried to speak with courage and confidence.

It was admirable, but it still didn’t make sense.

“Why?”

“Be-because I wanted to help.”

The group fell silent, including Oliver.

Rosburn shrank back under the weight of the silence but didn’t back down from his intention.

“I want to help you, sir. Even if I’m not much help, I’ll still do my best-”

“-Ugh.”

Oliver, who highly valued manners, was forced to stop listening and held his head with his hands.

It was an irrational reaction in the middle of a conversation, but it was proof that his head was really aching.

Oliver was currently headed to a den of Dark Sorcerers who worshiped him, and among them was the Pater Church, trying to exploit the situation.

It was a situation where the slightest misstep could trigger a chain of catastrophic events.

Just imagining Rosburn being caught up in it made his headache worsen.

And this wasn’t just a complaint; the pain was real.

At that moment, one of the causes of his headache arrived.

“We will be landing soon. All passengers are expressing their gratitude to the Tower of Magic.”

A nun in a black habit approached and said.

She was an attendant assisting Roderick, the knight-priest, along with the Holy Knights and had been busy calming the people who were in turmoil from the Dark Sorcerers’ terror.

According to Kevin, she was quite skilled.

“…Well, that’s good to hear.”

“Though it’s not entirely good. The Dark Sorcerers are all dead.”

Kevin interrupted and dampened the mood.

As Kevin mentioned, they had subdued the Dark Sorcerers with minimal casualties, but the downside was that none of them were captured alive.

Most died resisting or committed suicide with poison.

Kevin explained the frustrating situation and observed the nun with the Warlock’s Eye.

Her emotions didn’t waver.

“Let’s be grateful that no innocent people were hurt. I truly thank you all.”

She took a few steps closer and bowed in gratitude to the Tower of Magic’s wizards.

Given who she was, everyone responded with the appropriate courtesy.

Though Oliver was a bit preoccupied with Rosburn and didn’t respond as politely as usual.

At that moment, the nun grabbed Oliver’s hand.

“Especially to Mr. Xenon, who prevented the crash of the airship. Thank you very much.”

Oliver was a beat late in responding to the sudden gesture, and the nun smiled and stepped back.

It was strange. The nun’s feelings seemed genuine.

However, in the brief moment she held his hand, she passed a note to him.

She did it so discreetly that no one noticed.

It wasn’t her first time doing this, and what was even more intriguing was the message written on the note.

[Be wary of Roderick, the knight-priest.]