Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Ruth angrily kicked an utterly perplexed Oliva out of his airship.

What could he say?

Could he say that he never expected many of them to survive, but absolutely couldn’t let them all die at once?

Could he say that life or death didn’t matter, but the speed and timing had to be calculated precisely to satisfy that ’Aislin’ and ensure the others wouldn’t be completely wiped out?

After all, they still needed someone to bide their time!

Were these the words a Tower Master of the Tower of Dark Enigma should be saying?

Oliva, sometimes the mind is even denser than the walls of the Tower of Dark Enigma... impermeable.

He looked up ahead: anyway, if Aislin wanted to scheme against Oliva, she’d succeed every time.

Even if she’s no longer herself, the new ’Aislin’ would certainly fully absorb her former memories... and her intelligence and ruthlessness would probably be even higher.

Even if Oliva doesn’t understand what he wants, the outcome wouldn’t differ much.

However, Ruth lay back on the sofa in agony... knowing what was happening and choosing to turn the tables is entirely different from being utterly bewildered and played in someone’s grasp!

Before, it didn’t matter since they were on the same side, but afterwards... that would be an enemy!

Though he knew Aislin’s situation would cause endless troubles, Ruth truly didn’t think he’d already be so distressed before reaching Sia Tower.

Can Oliva withstand the more ruthless and brutal Aislin?

Before, he could play the game of back-and-forth with Aislin because back then, Aislin didn’t truly consider him an enemy.

But now, they have become just that.

Ruth shifted his body and gently sat back down.

Beyond other concerns, the most important thing is to make Oliva understand his current situation.

Things like reputation are minor issues... he’s already gone from being the master of a Magic Tower to being someone’s subordinate; what could be more disgraceful than that?

Though the true Magic Tower Masters across the continent understand Ruth’s plight, the others likely have nothing kind to say about him.

But if Oliva, upon entering Sia Tower, still doesn’t know how to confront Aislin, then what hope does he have?

Ruth knows he could choose others, and there would surely be someone willing to step up when Oliva clearly couldn’t withstand it... they didn’t do this before, not for lack of desire, but because Oliva and Aislin’s collaboration made it impossible.

And when Aislin clearly has issues, and Oliva is also unable, someone will inevitably step forward.

Although Ruth desires Gilbert the most, he might still need to be hidden.

That guy wouldn’t put himself in such a dangerous position until reaching the Eighth Ring.

Those who’ve suffered tend to be more cautious, a sentiment Ruth understands and he’s willing to let this child he admires remain under wraps while he still has strength.

Ruth sincerely wishes that Gilbert will always be able to blend into the crowd... at least it shows he’s living well.

His students likely already suspect something’s amiss with Aislin.

And at Sia Tower, the student he trusts and cares for will probably vanish completely from the world.

Ruth doesn’t think such an entity would continue to stay by his side, addressing him — a defeated subordinate — as teacher while diligently working for him.

What the other side wants to know is merely the secrets of the Tower of Dark Enigma... after leaving the Tower of Dark Enigma, this teacher can be discarded.

By then, it would be he, the former teacher, who has to bow humbly to them.

This doesn’t concern Ruth much.

He managed to lead the Tower of Dark Enigma out of despair before, thick-skinned enough to become immune to a few pokes.

But Ruth couldn’t help but sigh again, truly hoping Oliva could grow during this journey.

Regardless, he’s a child whom Ruth has cherished and accompanied for many years; Ruth sincerely doesn’t wish for him to end in a dismal finale.

Yet, if Oliva still can’t stand firm... if Aislin intends to do anything to their side in the future, she will undoubtedly start from him.

They know each other too well, and sadly, Oliva is the weaker one.

Ruth can’t guarantee that he can save Oliva every time.

He slowly closed his eyes: the Tower of Dark Enigma, indeed, lives too difficult a life.

They plotted for so long and schemed so much, yet never expected an Aislin.

Of course, for someone like Ruth who never trusted anyone, the true secret of the Tower of Dark Enigma has always been buried deep in his heart, a mystery even Aislin and Oliva have never touched.

The mutual entanglement and tacit resistance among these Magic Towers against the Sia Tower and the Goddess Bisozeya behind it aren’t truly secrets.

If it weren’t for the known facts, there wouldn’t be people like those from Kamente Tower.

But Ruth never thought that in fighting for the future of the Tower of Dark Enigma, he’d have to bet with his student’s life.

Aislin, he’s helpless against; his adorable female student was like a moon reflected on the water, shattering with a touch.

But, what about Oliva?

Ruth truly does not know what he would do if one day, Oliva were to die at the hands of ’Aislin’... Just thinking about it, his long-dormant emotions seemed to ignite.

Placing him nearly amidst a raging inferno... The last time he felt such torment... ha~ it was also a gift from the Sia Tower!

His parents and siblings, his mentors and senior brothers, the girl he loved...

And now, even the child he saw as his own, must they all be lost because of these demons?

Ruth clenched his fist suddenly.

No, if Oliva truly cannot hold on, then he would rather be hated by that child in the future than keep him in the position of chief disciple!

-----------------

Squatting inside his own airship, Oliva had no idea that his respected teacher had already made a painful decision. He was busy counting soldiers and assigning his men to patrol behind the outskirts mage’s airships.

Indeed, he hadn’t grasped Ruth’s intent.

Over the years, Oliva had gotten used to leaving the scheming to Aislin.

Even though he knew he should pay more attention, most of the time, it just slipped his mind.

Luckily, his greatest strength, and the one most like Ruth, was his protectiveness.

Compared to those outskirts mages, his subordinates and students were what mattered most to him.

Knowing there might be danger, Oliva naturally wouldn’t let them split up.

Thus, he divided the twenty-something mages into two patrol teams based on mid-high tier levels.

Moreover, he specifically instructed them that if they encountered an attack, they should first send a distress signal and then try to ward off the enemy. They should not risk themselves for a group of outskirts mages; feel danger and run immediately.

Although Oliva didn’t explain it clearly, his students and subordinates couldn’t help but shiver: if at first they thought the sneak attackers might be skeleton frames from the Tower of the Undead, now they absolutely didn’t think so.

Those skeletons wouldn’t make an Eighth Ring Oliva that nervous.

Of course, they still wouldn’t consider their enemies to be from the Sia Tower... The image of that unrestrained, arrogant ’Black Dragon’ who left even the world-class powerhouses of Sia Tower returning in defeat lingered in their minds.

”Teacher, when will they come?” someone couldn’t contain themselves.

”How would I know?” Oliva replied irritably, ”Anyway, as long as we’re near the Tower of Dark Enigma, they definitely won’t come within these two days.

Eventually, we’ll have to leave the monitoring area of the Main Magic Tower.”

Aislin may have changed, but she wasn’t crazy yet.

Her current ideas, though more vicious... But in her heart, she’s doing it for her own good.

Even if her starting point has shifted from the Tower of Dark Enigma to the Sia Tower.

She still wouldn’t do anything so obvious that it would harm the Tower of Dark Enigma.

Oliva’s students and subordinates looked at each other, unable to understand Oliva’s viewpoint: when did that Black Dragon leading a swarm of undead ever consider the monitoring of the Main Magic Tower during a sneak attack?

They all sprang from underground, didn’t they?

There should be no monitoring magic in this world capable of detecting underground movements outside the Magic Tower’s control area!

But after observing Oliva’s impatient expression, they also knew they couldn’t ask more.

-----------------

”Ambush!”

”The Tower of the Undead!”

”Help!”

”It’s the Undead! Help!”

Just as Oliva predicted, on the fifth day away from the Tower of Dark Enigma, the ragtag airships behind were attacked by enemies.

But in contrast to what Oliva thought... it was actually the undead who came!

Oliva swiftly flew into the sky, turning to glance at the distant red airship showing no signs of disturbance: How did Aislin do it?

Unlike Oliva, foolish enough to suspect that the undead might be Aislin’s doing to lure out the ’Black Dragon’, Ruth’s first reaction was naturally: no wonder the Tower of the Undead was defeated so miserably!

No wonder the Styx Force has been so weak for centuries; it’s been indirectly controlled by Bisozeya!

He didn’t believe these undead charging in from outside had any connection to the Black Dragon... those skeleton frames following the dragon can hide within the ground!

Clearly, even though this world’s soil repels magic, it seems to overlook those bearing the Styx’s breath.

Otherwise, the undead wouldn’t have been able to carry out a successful sneak attack so easily... If they were rushing over from the ground, these Magic Towers wouldn’t be so ineffective, letting enemies reach right under their noses before realizing.

And the skeleton frames ambushing their convoy were hidden in piles of rocks scattered across the wilderness, then they charged at those scattered fools whom Oliva had repeatedly warned might be ambushed by bandits.

Ruth had no interest in the fate of those fools, he was now only interested in whether Aislin was the slumbering Bisozeya!