Chapter 17 : Search for the Archmage

Although the world was connected by the internet, the world outside the internet was still vast, and many places remained untouched by human footsteps.

For example, the lands beyond the Northern Mountains.

A land reachable only by crossing a vast monster-infested territory and snow-capped mountains perpetually covered in snow—the coldest and darkest land. A wasteland, now in ruins, where vampires once thrived.

The Saint traveled north using the Church’s teleportation magic circle.

“So this is the arctic…”

It was said that a vampire who remembered ‘Hero Calvin of the Great War’ lived here.

Vampires.

A race that disappeared in ancient times, only appearing in legends.

It was such a far-fetched story that, honestly, it was likely a wasted trip, but…

‘The one I’m looking for is also a legendary figure.’

To find a legend, she had to believe in legends first.

Moreover, the fact that the person who introduced themself as a vampire was the producer ‘Kinnikos,’ with hundreds of thousands of followers, added credibility to their testimony.

A genius who created countless vocal synthesizers: Alice, Lilith, Nymphi, Aurel…

And so, the Saint set off for the land forbidden to humans.

• Growl…

Countless magical beasts roamed the north, but…

“Go away. I’m in a hurry.”

Holy power was the most ‘advantageous’ power.

Poison to demons. It purified demonic energy and had an advantage against all other powers, including mana.

If the opponent wasn’t a demon but a mere beast…

…It would simply be purified by holy power.

• Whimper?!

Thus, nothing could kill the Saint.

She was God’s daughter. God’s chosen one. God’s most beloved, a person in perhaps the most unreasonable position in the world.

To kill her, one would need a demon, at least.

And so…

The Saint headed beyond the Northern Mountains, to the ‘Land Where the Sky Whale Fell,’ and…

…Found the vampire’s castle.

“Oh my, this is the first visitor I’ve had since waking up. The Saint, right?”
“…Progenitor Ms. Kinnikos, is that you?”

“Call me Producer. What meaning does a name have for a progenitor without any kin?”

“Hmm… so you’re saying the unknown Archmage is ‘Mage Calvin’?”
“Yes!”

“Sigh… I see. So that’s how it was…”

The vampire Kinnikos recalled a mage who had visited the fortress alone hundreds of years ago.

“Indeed, he would be capable of creating such grand magic…”
“Do you know Calvin?”

“Yes. That man… was filled with curiosity for new things.”

Before Kinnikos fell into a long slumber…

When the fortress was still dazzling with endless parties…

There was a mage who appeared alone, penetrating all the barriers protecting the fortress.

• “Hmm? What brings a human to this fortress? Do you wish to become one of our bloodline and enjoy eternal night and youth?”

• “Ah, something like that. I want to research the vampires’ ‘Bloodline’ magic. Is that alright?”

An eccentric mage who accepted vampire blood for the sake of magical research.

He wasn’t interested in the all-night parties or the eternal slumber in coffins.

He simply spent his time researching bloodline magic.

• “So this is how it works… As expected, becoming part of the bloodline is the key to raising the Swarm Consciousness skill tree. The addition of racial traits is quite interesting… Ugh, why are the required skill points so high? Well, it’s additional content, so I guess it can’t be helped.”

A mage named Calvin, who muttered incomprehensible things all day.

And…

• “Thanks for everything.”

• “Hmm? Are you leaving the fortress? There’s… sunlight outside.”

• “Life Restoration, Life Purification.”

• “…Holy power?”

A vampire who used holy power and turned back into a human.

It was a truly bizarre encounter.

Come to think of it, it seemed Mage Calvin had been preparing this ‘network’ magic even back then.

“So, Saint, you’re saying you’ll go and find this Mage Calvin yourself?”
“Yes.”

“Hmm… that’s… interesting. This will be fun.”

The vampire nodded and went somewhere, returning with a large red gem.

An ominous gem, exuding a bloody red aura.

“If this Network Magic was truly created by that Mage Calvin… then the bloodline connection… that power the mage called ‘Swarm Consciousness’ must be at play.”
“This gem is…?”

“It’s a Bloodline Gem that can detect the scattering and connection of consciousness. It can track ‘Swarm Consciousness’. It should react if there’s a strongly connected bloodline.”

The Saint nodded and accepted the gem.

Then, with a slightly darkened expression, she asked again,

“But… I don’t know where to start tracking.”
“Hmm… that’s not difficult.”

“Yes?”

The vampire activated the Network Magic Tool and adjusted some settings while sitting in their chair.

The radio’s ‘Listen Again’ function activated, and the mage’s voice flowed out.

[“At the academy—”]
[“There’s a festival during the day—”]
[“Sylvie?”]

Words the mage had spoken on the radio.

Among them, several words that could specify a location were being combined.

“It seems they frequent the commercial district of the Magic Kingdom. Especially the restaurant streets and back alleys, rather than the main streets. Do you know where that is?”
“Ah, yes! It’s near the academy I attended!”

“Then you can start there.”
“Thank you! But… how did you figure that out?”

The mage had done many broadcasts. Hundreds of hours in total.

Moreover, they rarely talked about themself, mostly reading stories or introducing songs.

But to find all the words that could hint at a ‘location’…

It was hard to imagine how much time and effort that would take.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m a Producer.”
“Yes?”

“Actually, I’m working on a series.”

The vampire accessed the Video Sharing site and opened a channel.

It wasn’t their usual channel for synthesized music and videos. It was a channel filled with somewhat crude, but oddly amusing thumbnail images.

“This is…?”
“Listening to the recordings over and over, it started to sound like music. So… I’ve been combining them to make music.”

[Human Realm Normalization]
[I’ll Take Care of Everything]
[God of the Network]
[The Mage’s Touch]

The vampire played the playlist.

Music started playing.

It was music created by combining… or rather, refining the words the mage had spoken on the radio.

If the mage had heard it, he would have said, “Is this the ghost of the ‘Composite Gallery’?” (TL Note: ‘Composite Gallery’ refers to a section of a Korean online community known for combining various sources into humorous or satirical content.)

“Oh my…”

To extract and edit every syllable from hundreds of hours of radio broadcasts to create music…

It was a task of near-obsessive dedication, bordering on madness.

“I love this voice.”
“…”

“So, if you meet him, will you persuade him to start broadcasting again?”

The insane vampire…

…Smiled at the Saint and said,

“The more material for synthesis, the better.”

Around the same time…

The Demon Monarch decided on a simpler approach.

“Send all demons capable of controlling Demonic Energy and handling familiars to the Human Realm.”
“Pardon?”

If the mage was somewhere in the Human Realm…

…They just had to search the entire Human Realm to find them.

“And have all those demons and familiars transmit the surrounding scenery in real-time broadcasts. Those demons who can’t control Demonic Energy will analyze the surrounding information by watching those videos. Don’t limit yourselves to the videos our demons send; monitor all real-time broadcasts showing the surrounding scenery. The goal is to find the ‘unknown Archmage’.”

Demons were living in an age of unprecedented wealth.
They no longer needed to hunt magical beasts for food in the barren Demon Realm or fight to plunder resources from the Human Realm.

They could just dig in the ground and money would magically appear.

In other words, the Demon Realm was overflowing with wealthy, unemployed demons.

“If there’s any suspicious location, I will check it myself. He’s probably hiding behind multiple barriers.”

So, she would utilize this overflowing workforce…

…To surveil the entire Human Realm.

She was the Lord of all demons, their rightful master.

And so…

Half the world, all the demons of the Demon Realm…

…Were mobilized for the mage search operation.

The hero chose an even simpler method.

“Holy Sword! I just have to go this way, right?”

The Holy Sword Navigation.

The moment a seed of destruction emerged, the Holy Sword guided the Hero to prevent that destruction. A compass that existed to save the world. That was the Holy Sword.

And the hero’s strike was a crisis that would directly lead to the ‘destruction of the world’.

In other words, the Holy Sword had a duty to stop the hero’s strike.

“Thank you, Holy Sword!”

The hero started walking.

It was a very long, very, very long journey, but…

If they kept walking, they would eventually arrive.

It had always been that way.

And so, three destinies moved towards the ‘mage,’ each in their own way.

“Is that… an elf? That’s a dead end.”

The Saint followed an elf who seemed to be connected by ‘Swarm Consciousness’ in the commercial district.

After going around several alleys, she suddenly found herself in an unfamiliar forest.

“Hmm? There’s a place suspected to be protected by a Perception Interference barrier? I’ll go check it myself.”

The demons, analyzing the video feeds from billions of familiars, discovered a place their familiars couldn’t access.

It looked like an empty space, but strangely, the familiars couldn’t explore it and returned.

The Demon Monarch decided to go there herself.

“Holy Sword! This way?!”

The hero just walked.

“Here, we shall restart the history of the Great One!”
“Wow!”
“Look! The Devil’s Crystal is reacting! The Great One must be sealed nearby!”

And the devil worshippers, who weren’t particularly looking for the mage, just happened to find a place where a demon was supposedly sealed.

And…

That place was…

“The Demon Lands…!”

The land filled with countless monsters, where the legendary ancient dragons were said to live.

The great forest in the southeast of the Human Realm’s continent.

The Demon Lands.

“Huh? Why is the video streaming traffic suddenly increasing so much?”