Magic Academy's Genius Blinker Chapter 526: The Story of the Blood Witch (10)

Shhhhhhh!

Amid a raging downpour, a bleak gray temple loomed. This wasn't some relic from ancient times.

Baek Yu-Seol inspected the temple's outer walls and swiftly determined its era of construction.

His eyes swept over the magical runes inscribed on the temple walls and nearby grounds, and Baek Yu-Seol commented,

"Nothing here seems particularly threatening."

"Really?"

Wearing a waterproof hood, Panallet stood warily. She looked toward Syclen, who had already advanced further.

No response came from the temple even after they breached its protective barrier, as though it lay utterly forsaken.

Splash!

Water droplets flew in all directions with every step Syclen made on the slick marble floor.

Baek Yu-Seol eyed the temple curiously. The magical barriers and formations appeared unremarkable, but an odd vibe hung over the site.

Traversing the impeccably straight road toward the temple, Baek Yu-Seol cocked his head in bewilderment.

"Excuse me, this is a straight path, right?"

"Of course, it’s straight. Can’t you see?"

"Then why does it feel like I’m walking sideways?"

"What are you talking about...? Wait, what the—?"

As Baek Yu-Seol fixated on the ground underfoot, Panallet abruptly detected something wrong.

"Where did that crazy woman go?"

"What?"

Reacting to Panallet's exclamation, Baek Yu-Seol whipped his head up and scanned the surroundings rapidly.

Syclen, mere moments ago striding ahead, had disappeared entirely.

At her speed, she ought to have been nowhere near the temple door yet. But she was completely out of sight.

No traces of magic use appeared. Mana fluctuations would have revealed any spells— 'Wait, hold on.'

Baek Yu-Seol came to a sudden halt, prompting Panallet to stop as well.

"What now? Why are you stopping too?"

"Hold on a moment."

Baek Yu-Seol flung back his hood, rain drenching his hair. Brushing off the chill, he lifted his face skyward and shut his eyes.

Shhhhhhh!

Rain's relentless roar and downpour enveloped everything, yet he tuned it out, extending his spatial perception to the maximum.

[Sixth Sense]

Nature’s Heavenly Energy Body trait granted him flawless awareness of his environment, unaffected by pounding rain or raging typhoons.

Yet unleashing this sense completely carried a drawback: everyday tasks became impossible.

He typically kept it in check, but in dire situations, he could release its utmost power.

And then—

Flash!

Baek Yu-Seol's eyes flew open, steady and sharp, fixed upon the temple.

"I take back what I said earlier."

"Huh?"

"These aren’t ordinary people."

Turning away from the direct path ahead, Baek Yu-Seol directed his sight sideways to rugged ground cluttered with rocks and gravel. It wasn't a trail whatsoever.

"The space around here is completely distorted."

"Like that crazy woman’s mansion in the forest?"

"No. This is on a different level. Syclen only used illusions to make the space appear twisted... but this is real. They’ve actually warped the space itself, shaping it into a labyrinth."

Space across the whole zone had been folded and contorted, expertly molded into a maze configuration.

Mastery of space at this caliber surpassed even what Eltman Eltwin could achieve.

Although seeking Scarlet was his main objective, Baek Yu-Seol felt an irresistible intrigue. Stumbling upon experts handling Twelve Divine Moons techniques so proficiently presented a chance too captivating to dismiss.

Fawn Prevernal Moon was fated as Baek Yu-Seol's mightiest future opponent.

Yet what truly sparked his interest was the reason a faction wielding such superior methods stayed concealed from the outer world.

Intel pried from the human-trafficking mercenaries before revealed this temple held no direct link to the Gray Divine Moon Church. Instead, it operated like a criminal syndicate's den.

Locals knew them as brokers for every shady deal in the area. They shielded outlaws from authorities and pursued deal-breakers or fugitives.

To put it simply, scarce few recognized their real affiliation with the Gray Divine Moon Church. Baek Yu-Seol himself wouldn't have detected it without arriving personally and probing with spatial awareness.

"So, what do we do now?"

"They don’t seem particularly aggressive. If they were, they would’ve already tried something using this warped space. The fact that they’re merely blocking entry suggests..."

"...That they’re like that crazy woman, Syclen?"

"It would be nice if that were the case, but judging by the mafia-related rumors, it’s probably more about keeping their identity hidden."

"What kind of identity would they be hiding...?"

"Probably something shady."

The spatial distortion at this spot hit such an extreme level that not even a top-tier mage could smash through it.

Actually, the human traffickers claimed that just arriving here was feasible for only a tiny number, never mind going deeper.

Baek Yu-Seol and his companions owed their arrival this far mostly to Syclen, once a witch hunter.

When a sly grin formed on Baek Yu-Seol’s lips, Panallet shrank back in shock. Rain poured down hard, yet she clung to her booze bottle. But feeling the tension, she jammed it into her belt.

"They’re resisting us, so..."

"We’re turning back, right?"

"No, we’re going to force our way through."

"What?! I don’t like danger!"

"Stop complaining and follow me."

Baek Yu-Seol avoided a direct path, swerving aside to weave through the tangled spatial maze. To pierce the twisted space, a crooked, apparently random trail was needed instead of a straight shot.

Panallet gawked in wonder as he zigzagged slowly onward.

"How do you even know where to walk?"

Baek Yu-Seol flashed a grin back.

"I can just see it."

***

Meanwhile, deep inside the temple.

"How does that kid know how to navigate this path?"

Another voice voiced Panallet’s very same wonder.

The temple’s drab outside hid a wildly colorful inside, splashed with clashing hues. Far from lovely, it screamed disorder, like hues thrown on without a hint of balance.

Inside that flashy, excessively ornate hall, three men and one woman huddled, staring at a massive projection from a crystal sphere.

"...Well, he is a peculiar boy."

Syclen had mysteriously gained entry to the temple beforehand, now honored as a visitor by the priests.

"Tch, it’ll be a problem if you don’t tell us clearly."

"I’ve already earned plenty of their resentment just by leaving them outside. Sharing more information would only make things worse for me."

"Resentment? Resentment? A witch hunter afraid of being hated by humans? What a joke. Just stop with the boring excuses."

Syclen smiled softly at the remark.

"I’d recommend you stop provoking me further. I don’t know what I might do if I lose my temper."

"Tch, you’re ridiculous."

The robed cleric sneered, flipping back his hood to expose crimson horns jutting from his forehead.

Exactly.

The priests’ actual selves were demons.

In today’s lingo... dark mages.

"Demons masquerading as priests of the Divine Moon Church. If people knew about this, they’d be shocked."

The display captured Baek Yu-Seol and Panallet threading the labyrinth. Astonishingly, they stayed on track... progressing with such smooth ease that it left the priests dumbfounded.

Entering the temple demanded one basic but brutal condition:

The class 9 labyrinth could in theory be beaten by any soul... beyond just elite mages. Bearing the guts to push ahead, the brains to spot the route, and the wits to ignore fake sights ahead, one could succeed.

Naturally, everyday folk seldom gathered every requirement.

Even grand mages frequently got trapped inside and retreated.

Yet the Gray Divine Moon Church rolled out the red carpet for solo maze-crossers, whoever they might be... including continent-renowned dark mage hunter Baek Yu-Seol.

"A dark mage hunter is coming. Aren’t you afraid?"

"Not really. We’re not weak enough to be killed by a kid like that."

"Heh, plenty of dark mages have died underestimating their opponents like you."

"Tch. You’re insufferable, you know that?"

Though Syclen beat Baek Yu-Seol into the temple, her core mission lingered sharp.

"So... can you find the Witch Queen?"

"The last time a witch hunter requested something like this was 400 years ago. The records say it wasn’t particularly difficult if done correctly... but for that to even happen, you know Baek Yu-Seol has to arrive here first, right?"

"Of course."

"To locate a witch, we need the most cherished item owned by the person who shared the deepest bond with her. If Baek Yu-Seol doesn’t pass the trial, we won’t be able to help him."

To most folks, a "trial" word would spark terror. Yet Syclen held her bold smile, utterly steady.

"That doesn’t sound difficult at all."

While observing Baek Yu-Seol stride boldly toward the temple without a shred of doubt, she made a remark, causing the priests to cluck their tongues in irritation.

"All these folks showing up here are nothing but headaches..."

Had they just waited patiently, Baek Yu-Seol would have reached them in merely an hour at most or three hours at worst. Convinced of his eventual arrival, they chose to unwind and bide their time.

However—

"Hold on. What in the world is that boy up to?"

"Huh?"

An unforeseen event was unfolding.

"He... drew a sword?"

Indeed, the monitor displayed Baek Yu-Seol unsheathing Ethereal Wind and Moonlight, aiming it at nothing but empty air.

One priest, eyeing the scene, whispered uneasily.

"Hey, that kid... no way..."

Another priest picked up the speculation.

"He isn’t seriously attempting to slice through space, right...?"

The notion seemed ridiculous.

Yet nobody present dared to brush it off completely. No better reason explained Baek Yu-Seol’s strange behavior.

"Crank up the volume."

With the press of a button by one, Panallet’s voice blared out clearly:

— Hey, hey! You lunatic fool! What on earth are you trying to do?!

— Hang on. Why should I waste time on this absurdly twisted route some jerk devised just to mess with me?

— Uh? You’ve got a point...

— Plus, when you boil it down, spatial distortion is nothing more than magic, isn’t it?

— That... yeah, sort of...

— So, let’s hack right through it all. I’ve got no patience for this crap. Who even sticks dumb traps like this in the path?

— W-wait, hold it!

As their nightmares proved true, the priests leaped from their chairs in alarm.

That spatial distortion barrier, handed down through centuries... a relic rich with legacy!

"If that gets wrecked, it’ll be a nightmare to fix...!"

But their desperate shouts arrived too late.

Baek Yu-Seol swung his blade with ease, cleaving the warped space ahead. The whole region tore open, exposing the real route concealed by the trickery, parting dramatically like the Red Sea in a divine feat.

Thud!

One priest slumped to the ground in shock.

Repairing that barrier demanded an astronomical amount of work and toil.

Thud! A second priest fell to his knees.

Even Syclen, who had observed quietly until now, gaped in utter astonishment.

Her brows furrowed sharply.

She’d long recognized Baek Yu-Seol’s exceptional nature.

Yet this surpassed everything.

The youth had transformed the ’impossible’ into fact.

Countless spatial mages graced the world, but tales of anyone shattering space magic itself were unheard of.

Unlike common elemental magics, space magic belonged to a superior realm, baffling even its experts.

To put it simply, Baek Yu-Seol’s feat was...

He’d casually done what no other soul had ever managed.

Syclen, ever the picture of calm, sensed her pulse quicken with suspense. On the display, though, Baek Yu-Seol’s actions grew even stranger.

"Hey, Baek Yu-Seol, why’d you freeze up like that out of nowhere? Baek Yu-Seol?"

He stood rigid in the sword-swinging stance.

"What’s happening, Baek Yu-Seol...?"

Panallet shouted frantically, yet her words failed to pierce through to him.

Because...

— Halt right there, Baek Yu-Seol!

A voice echoed inside his head.

Familiar yet alien.

Baek Yu-Seol knew its source instantly.

The voice came from no one else but himself—

His very consciousness, though not quite.

It belonged to a different iteration of him, from another realm.

— Yes, it’s me!

It was another Baek Yu-Seol.