Mage? Magic Engineer!-Chapter 114 - 111: On and Off the Stage

Rorschach left the private box the moment he finished informing Kano. He and Kano were on the third floor, while the target box was on the second.

He had one concern. While the sudden appearance of a suspected Mage was suspicious, there was another possibility. It would be awkward if it turned out to be Brother Xiao or Brother Jun.

He passed through the corridor, rounded a corner, went downstairs, and continued down another hallway. As he constantly used his [Arcane Vision] and drew closer, Rorschach saw a motionless, standing humanoid figure. He had already gathered a Fireball in his hand, ready to launch it as a Ray at any moment.

’What is this?’ Whether it was a Mage or special personnel equipped with Magic Alchemy Tools, it was impossible for their entire body to shimmer with Magic Aura, let alone one that perfectly outlined their human form.

And it was clear the Spiritual Light had intensified. Before, it was just points of light and a hazy blur.

At this point, Rorschach slowed his pace and waited for Kano to arrive.

In front of the suspicious box, Kano raised his hand. Rorschach felt a warm current flow through his body—’some kind of Protection, perhaps.’ He glanced at the Great Mage, and Kano nodded in return, signaling that he could open the door. Rorschach walked to the door step by step and tried the handle.

’It’s locked?’

Rorschach simply cast a spell, and under the effect of his [Decomposition Skill], the lock crumbled to pieces.

He turned and kicked the door open. CRASH! After the door flew open, he saw a man facing the stage, his hands gripping the box’s railing. The man sensed their arrival. Without moving his body, he slowly turned his head, revealing a completely putrefied face covered in grayish-green pus.

"Help... help..." The Spiritual Light grew brighter and brighter, and suddenly, the head split open. The victim’s face was burst apart by vines, but one of the plants shot straight toward Rorschach like a venomous snake.

A red light flashed. The Heat Ray Rorschach had prepared sliced the vine into several pieces and simultaneously severed the shattered head from the neck.

"Poisonous mist!" From the moment the vines appeared, Rorschach had anticipated a possible attack, drawing on his experience from the battle with Leopold in the river valley and the attacks at the Empire Palace and the Parliament Building. So, as the humanoid abomination launched its assault, Rorschach warned Kano, who was behind him.

Sure enough, thick, dark green smoke billowed from the collar, cuffs, and indeed the entire suit. Its density seemed heavier than air; after erupting, it began to sink, flowing down toward the seats in the main hall below.

’[Air Cannon]?’ ’That could certainly disperse it, but it would also mean the poison mist would spread faster to the audience below.’ Rorschach chose to condense water vapor instead, hoping the water would absorb and block its diffusion. A massive amount of water droplets nearly formed a curtain to envelop the mist.

Suddenly, the wind picked up. Rorschach felt all the air rush violently toward the corpse-abomination, sucking in the dark green smoke and the water Rorschach had summoned along with it.

Only after the mist vanished did Rorschach see that a spacetime passage had opened up beneath the abomination. On the other side, gray clouds churned endlessly. The portal exerted a tremendous suction force, tearing apart the struggling monster. Its clothes were already in tatters, and vines continuously burst out, writhing and trying to latch onto something.

Rorschach summoned a [Burning Hand] and seized the plants with the intense flames, burning them to a crisp.

SNAP! The passage shattered. Kano finished his Casting. Floating before him were a section of vine and a fragment of the corpse’s clothing, which he had deliberately preserved.

"On the other side of that teleportation window was..."

"The upper atmosphere of the Air Elemental Plane. It’s a negative pressure environment relative to the ground on the Main Plane," Kano explained. "Sometimes it’s very convenient for cleaning things up."

’That’s not exactly environmentally friendly...’ Rorschach thought Kano probably dumped trash into the Elemental Planes on a regular basis.

The brief confrontation ended just as the intermission did. The fight had been loud enough, but no one had noticed what happened on the right side of the second floor. Even if someone felt the strange wind at the end, by the time they looked up, the man’s body had already been exiled to another plane, making it impossible to see what was happening behind the railing.

Rorschach suddenly had a thought. "The theater should be symmetrical, right?"

Kano’s expression darkened. Sure enough, under their combined [Arcane Vision], the private box directly opposite them on the second floor also contained a humanoid Spiritual Light.

Rorschach scanned the other areas again. The VIP boxes on the third floor showed no similar reaction. Clearly, this attack was aimed at the audience in the main hall.

The third act began. As the first symphony faded, thunderous applause welcomed the rising curtain.

Applause, applause... The entire hall erupted in similar sounds. Under this stimulation, in the left-hand box, the upright corpse of a woman in an elaborate gown began to split apart.

Pus and writhing vines burst from her body. At the last second before the poisonous mist could erupt, two Mages suddenly appeared inside the box. The space-time around them distorted for a moment before stabilizing.

This was a Tier Five manifestation of [Any Door]. Kano had grabbed Rorschach and crossed the entire theater.

Kano and Rorschach adopted a different strategy from the one they used on the male corpse. A large volume of water enveloped the female corpse—this was Kano’s spell—while at the same time, a ray of intense cold erupted from Rorschach’s hand, quickly freezing the target solid.

The two worked in perfect concert. This way, they successfully preserved the complete "evidence"—which was also an abomination.

"You watch the situation here. If any new problems arise, activate this gem." Kano took a magically enchanted gem from his spatial ring. "Just infuse it with Ether, and it will shatter, creating a Teleportation Gate just like the last one to send this filthy thing to another plane. For now, maintain the freeze."

"Alright." After Rorschach agreed, Kano left immediately to notify others to handle the aftermath officially.

It was a three-act performance, with the third act being slightly longer than the first two. The play finally reached its stirring climax:

The beautiful Catherine and her lawyer brother, through their wisdom, integrity, and courage, had gathered evidence of the frame-up by the Noble and the Priest. Now, both sides stood before the highest court in the land to face each other. All the characters from the play were present as spectators and jury.

After the closing arguments, Catherine’s powerful recitative echoed through the theater:

"Because you are a Great Noble, you think you’re someone special! Bloodline, wealth, title, position—all the things you take pride in! What did you do to earn them? You did nothing but struggle a bit on your way out of your mother’s womb, and nothing more! No, when it comes to courage and honesty, every single person on the docks is nobler than you!"

Onstage, both inside and outside the courtroom, a chorus representing the voice of the masses rose in response.

And the lawyer urged the judge to make his final ruling: "Your Honor, I ask you to decide before all! Declare which side is victorious! I must remind you, on behalf of the will of the people: one side fights for simplicity, the other for indulgence; one for honesty, the other for deceit; one for honor, the other for baseness; one for restraint, the other for greed... Please, make your decision! Announce to everyone who has triumphed over whom!"

As if the audience had also become part of the jury, they focused intently on the judge. When he declared the Noble and the Priest guilty of false accusation and Edmund innocent, cheers and applause erupted both on and off the stage.

But the Noble fell into a frenzy. "You may have won today, but I will repay you a hundredfold! You reek of fish, you bitch, you’ll never see your fiancé again! He will become a pile of dried bones and filth in my dungeon!"

Facing the gritted teeth of everyone else, including the audience, the Noble laughed triumphantly.

However, as his laughter died, the music suddenly stopped, and the lights went dark. When the light returned, the male protagonist was miraculously standing on stage, embracing his fiancée, sparking an even greater roar of cheers.

’He just crawled out from under the floorboards during the blackout...’ Rorschach had already mastered [Dark Vision]. In order to watch for any possible disturbances on stage, he kept it active along with his [Arcane Vision], but it robbed him of some of the enjoyment of the play.

Kano, the Court Guard Captain, and a squad of Guards burst into the private box. Rorschach had been continuously casting [Cold Ice Beam] at the block of ice, and his arm was now sore and stiff. "You’re finally back."

The Guard Captain surveyed the hideous, abominable corpse, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "Can someone tell me what in the world is going on here?"