Chapter 105: The King of Ruin

No mistake—Leo Garcia. Leader of the Sanctuary Knights, the strongest esper in the world! My idol’s actually here, at this convent.

He’s here to see Teacher, but what’s it about!?

“Go back to the dorms.”

Teacher said that, then disappeared into the guest room with Leo.

“Hey! Noah, it’s the real Leo! We’ve only seen him on TV, and now we’re just supposed to go back to the dorms? Come on!”

Arthur’s practically vibrating with excitement.

“Hey, let’s sneak a listen, quietly…”

Sara tiptoed toward the guest room door, pressing her ear against it. Emily just stood frozen in the back, but I’m curious too—what are they talking about?

In the end, we all gathered in front of the door, straining to hear.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

“It’s been a while, Gojo.”

“Yeah. Four or five months since we last met…”

Leo had been smiling at first, but once seated and facing me, his expression turned serious.

“No time to waste—straight to the point. I’m here about the Tower in France.”

“I just heard about it on the news…?”

I didn’t know anything. So it’s good Leo’s here—he might know something.

“That’s a ‘Leader’.”

“A Leader? The Tower itself?”

I was stunned. That’s nothing like any Leader I’ve ever met.

“Wasn’t Prometheus defeated?”

“Wrong info. He failed. It’s gone completely out of control.”

So that’s what it is… I didn’t even realize he’d come here specifically for this.

“So I’m here to—”

“Wait a sec…”

Leo looked slightly surprised, but I just kept walking toward the door. When I opened it, the kids scattered like spiderlings.

I shut the door and turned back to my seat, and Leo was laughing.

"Guess you're pretty popular with the kids. Kinda unexpected."

"Just wanted to see the famous Leo, that's all."

I sat back down, facing Leo directly.

"Gojo, I’m asking you to take down the ‘Leader’ in France. Neither I nor the Sanctuary Knights can destroy that ‘Tower’."

"Know what kind of power it has?"

Leo laid out several photos on the desk.

"These are photos of the ‘Tower’s’ surface, taken with a telephoto lens. It looks like worm-like creatures have gathered to form it—about 1,500 meters tall."

"1,500 meters!? That big!?"

I’ve never seen a ‘Leader’ that huge before.

"And the worst part? It’s growing rapidly. If we don’t stop it, it’ll spread across the world—soon, there’ll be no turning back."

From the photos, thick vines stretched from the four corners, reinforcing the base like roots, supporting the ‘Tower’ like a giant plant.

At the top, the shape was strange—something round and spherical in the center. At first glance, it looked just like a royal scepter.

"This ‘Leader’s’ ability… it absorbs life force. It drains life from all living things—humans, animals, everything."

"A ‘Tower’ that steals life…? What happens to people after they’re drained? Do they just die?"

"Whether human or animal, they start aging rapidly—like they’ve lived a hundred years in a single day. Then they waste away and die."

Aging…? If it just steals life and forces aging, then I’ve got an ‘Eternal Life’ ability. Shouldn’t be a problem even if I get close. But… I guess I’ll have to try it to be sure.

"Gojo, I'm sorry. I really wanted to avoid asking you for help. If the world found out about you, it'd be chaos. But we can't do anything on our own... "

"Yeah, I said you could call me anytime you needed, right? But what the hell is that sphere up there?"

"It's an egg. They say it's a moth's egg."

"An egg? A bug, for real!"

Uwaaah! I’m totally scared of bugs... Can’t say I hate ’em now, though.

"Prometheus apparently attacked the egg directly, but it regenerated in an instant. They concluded that the egg can't be destroyed unless the Tower is destroyed first."

"...so it’ll just come out on its own, eventually, huh...?"

"Ah, no time! To take down a monster with growth and regeneration powers, you’ve gotta finish it in one hit—your ‘firepower’ is the only way. Sorry to rush you, but I’m counting on you!"

Got it. How’s the evacuation of the local residents coming along?

The evacuation zone’s been expanded, but a large-scale evacuation order’s coming tonight. By noon tomorrow, evacuations in that designated area should be complete.

"High noon...?"

We agreed to attack the tower at noon tomorrow, Paris time.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

That night, before the evacuation order came through, a shocking piece of news broke. A mysterious tower had appeared in France, growing bigger by the hour—and devouring human lives.

The source was said to be one of the European Parliament members, but who knows for sure.

And what really sent people into a panic was the info that the tower kept growing... and in two weeks, humanity would be wiped out.

The media from around the world swarmed the UN, the European Parliament, and the French government, all trying to verify this information.

"What the hell is this! Where did the info leak from?"

"I don't know... but it seems someone leaked to the media that Hans Teacher was the one who kicked out the Sanctuary Knights and covered up the info..."

"What the hell!? Who the hell did that?!"

At that moment, Hans’s phone rang—same number he’d seen before. Blood rushing to his head, he answered—

"Hey, Hans, looks like you’re in a real pickle. I can only imagine how you’re feeling."

"You bastard... Salman!"

"I figured leaking this stuff would be tough, so I helped out. Oh, no need to thank me."

"You think you can get away with this!? Just like that!?"

"You’re finished as a politician. No, even as a regular person, your life’s gonna be rough from now on... But hey, if you ever need help, give me a call anytime."

Hans hung up the phone, hand trembling, standing frozen in disbelief.

With internal leaks piling up one after another, the European Parliament and the UN realized full control was impossible—and held a press conference.

The press event, held at the UN headquarters, turned into an unprecedented storm of shouting.

"Why did this happen!? What the hell have the UN and the European Parliament been doing all along!?"

"Rumor has it you ordered the cover-up of the info—Hans, is that true!?"

"Wait—why did you shut down the Sanctuary Knights in the first place!? If they’d been active, none of this would’ve happened, right!?"

"Who’s going to take responsibility!?"

The barrage of accusations and rapid-fire questions left the UN officials and European Parliament members flustered and speechless.

And their panic? It was live-streamed to countries where communication had just been restored—amplifying public fear even more.

Meanwhile, it was announced that the Sanctuary Knights (Sanctuary Knights) had officially launched their campaign to destroy “the Tower.” Given how long people had been clamoring for their intervention, this announcement brought hope to the masses.

The night, soaked in a mix of emotions, was slowly beginning to break.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

That morning, we’d gathered in Arthur’s room. Leo had arrived yesterday, and the sudden appearance of the “Leader” in France? There was no way they were unrelated.

An evacuation order had been issued across all of France—meaning we had to leave the convent, too.

“What do you think… if the Sanctuary Knights are heading out to destroy the Tower, and Leo came here first to see Gojo Teacher…?”

Sara trailed off, her tone heavy with implication. I picked up the thread.

“Gojo Teacher came to ask for his help in the destruction.”

Everyone here knew Gojo Teacher’s strength. Given that Freyja and Carlo were also on friendly terms with him, it wouldn’t be surprising if they’d fought side by side before.

We were still mulling that over—

“Hey! Looks like Gojo Teacher’s heading out!”

Viktor burst into the room, frantic. We all rushed outside, finding Gojo Teacher talking with Sister at the entrance.

“Teacher! You’re going?”

“Yeah, just stepping out for a bit.”

He answered like he was heading to the corner store—light, casual.

“You’re fighting, right? You’ll be okay?”

“Huh? Worried about me? Don’t sweat it. You all just focus on evacuating.”

“Don’t die… please… come back, okay?”

He smiled. Was it to ease our nerves? After he left, the silence that remained… it was suffocating. A kind of dread we couldn’t even name.

Noon. A formal statement comes from the Sanctuar Knights. This time, it’s not Leo or Carlo who are taking down the target—instead, it’s another gifted individual, hired by the Sanctuar Knights.

The world freezes. Everyone’s confused. Of course, they assumed it would be Leo Garcia—our so-called global hero.

A hunt led by an unknown gifted—one with no name, no history—

While people mutter their unease, at 12:18 p.m. Paris time, long-range cameras roll. The footage of “the Tower” goes live, streamed across the globe.

Billions of eyes watch it unfold.