Chapter 106: Meteor

While people around the world were glued to TVs showing the "Tower," three meteors descended from the sky straight toward it.

The moment they seemed to strike around the Tower—

A blinding flash flooded the screen, blinding everything. A few moments later, a faint tremor was detected in a neighboring country to France.

When the screen cleared again, dust swirled through the air, and flames erupted everywhere.

No one could see what had become of the "Tower" buried in the dust.

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Five minutes earlier—

High above France, in the stratosphere, I was there. To destroy the "Tower" all at once, the only option was "Meteor Impact."

That’s the same attack that took down a Titan. Plus, the "Tower" doesn’t move.

Not just one strike—three, all at once.

If I hit it one at a time, the "Tower" might regenerate before the next strike. Then it’d be pointless... No, better to concentrate maximum firepower in one go.

The control might be a little loose, but the power? Absolutely insane! The problem is, if I drop them straight down, they might miss the "Tower."

I want to angle them in... but I need thrust. Huh. After a quick thought, I pulled out a mithril orb from the sub-space, zeroed out gravity acting on it with a gravity manipulation spell.

Then I used wind magic to send three orbs flying in parallel.

Zipping toward the "Tower" at high speed, after gaining enough momentum, I suddenly increased gravity on the orbs with a gravity spell.

I carved a tunnel through the atmosphere with wind magic, locking onto the "Tower."

But still—three meteors? Control is brutal! The mithril orbs started vibrating, drifting slightly off-target.

The "Tower" loomed closer. I forced the trajectory back into line with brute wind magic.

"Hit it—!!!"

Three meteor strikes landed in different spots. One hit just in front of the Tower, gouging deep into the earth.

One shattered the lower-left side of the Tower, blowing the other side apart.

The final orb grazed the very top of the "Tower," detonating behind it. The explosion ripped through the area, sending up dust that soared higher than the Tower itself.

The cracked egg, damaged by the near-miss, snapped back into shape in mere seconds. Guess it really is pointless to damage the Tower unless you destroy it outright.

And me?

I launched the mithril orb ahead of me, then shot backward like a bullet straight toward the "Tower." I wrapped my body in qi, crossed my arms in front of my head, and charged forward, accelerating.

I slammed straight into the center of the Tower. It exploded outward with a thunderous crack, the surface tearing apart, leaving a gaping hole.

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【Riglia Sea · Onboard Rescue Vessel】

We're on a luxury cruise ship fleeing from Marseille toward Italy. This isn't a rescue vessel—this is a regular passenger liner, meant for pleasure, not emergencies.

But with the crisis unfolding, we’re all crammed on board, including nuns from Saint Victoire Convent, escaping Marseille en masse.

We seven were glued to the cabin TV.

"This... this is Teacher doing it, right?"

Arthur muttered, confused. No wonder—he’d thought we were just backing up Leo and Teacher in taking down the "Leader."

But reports said other sorcerers had already been sent to eliminate the target, aside from Leo and Carlo. So it has to be Gojo-sensei.

"Probably... Teacher's stronger than Leo and the others."

There was one kid who looked surprised at my words, but no one argued. I’ve checked every supernatural talent that’s made the news or appeared in the papers.

The likes of the Sanctuary Knights, “Suzaku,” or other famous talents from abroad—anyone making headlines, I’ve seen them all. But Teacher… even though he’s that strong, I’ve never heard a whisper about him.

Don’t know why, but I’m sure Teacher’ll figure it out somehow.

“It’ll be okay, right… Noah…?”

Emily murmured, her voice small. For someone who’s never opened up to an adult before, this must be terrifying—her first real worry about the one person who’s ever taken her seriously.

“It’ll be okay. Trust Teacher.”

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【Switzerland, Bern – Sanctuary Knights (Sanctuary Knights) Headquarters】

At the facility in Bern, members of the Sanctuary Knights had gathered. Normally, it’s just a token base—most of them are out traveling the world—but today, all fourteen of them were present.

“Whoa… that explosion was wild. Must be some magic or technique we’ve never seen before. Gojo, huh?”

Carlo sat on the sofa, watching the live TV broadcast, shaking his head in awe. The others looked just as baffled, no clue what kind of magic had been used.

“If Gojo can’t handle it, then we can just give up with a clear conscience. You feel the same, right, Leo?”

“Yeah… yeah.”

Gojo’s stronger than all of us combined. If he can’t do it… then nobody can.

On screen, the dust slowly settled, and the tower began to reappear.

“Count on you, Gojo.”

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【United Nations Headquarters – Geneva】

The media from around the world, holed up in the UN Press Center, were thrown into confusion as they watched the current footage.

No one had any idea who was attacking that “tower.” Even UN and European Parliament members seemed in the dark—no information was coming through.

The Sanctuary Knights, the only ones who should’ve known, were nowhere to be found.

Conflicting reports swirled. The only possible candidates were paranormal talents who’d previously taken down a “Leader.” China’s “Suzaku,” a Russian military anomaly. And—

【Japan, Tokyo, Keichou Newspaper】

“Japanese? Where’d that info come from?”

“Apparently registered with the UN. A Japanese paranormal talent.”

“Never heard of it. The Japanese government hasn’t announced anything, has it?”

Shimoda, a reporter at one of Japan’s top newspapers, Keichou Newspaper, was frustrated—stuck watching the footage with no leads. If he could figure out who this mysterious paranormal was, it’d be a massive scoop. But with no clues to follow, all he could do was pass the buck to his junior.

“Yeah. Reported to the UN during Japan’s big chaos period. Most Japanese probably don’t even know. We know the Self-Defense Force has paranormal operatives, so maybe it’s one of them?”

“Huh… I remember hearing Japan’s Self-Defense Force helped take down the UK’s Leader… Wait—hold on.”

Shimoda tapped his chin, deep in thought.

“Now that I think about it, rumors flew when Japan’s ‘Leader’ was taken down. The Self-Defense Force and some ‘magic users’ were said to have joined the hunt. Government denied it—nothing came of it.”

“…So the ‘magic users’ from back then are the ones attacking now?”

“Don’t know. But yeah… worth checking into…”

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After crashing into the tower, I stagger to my feet and scan the area. The surface was harder than expected, so I didn’t pierce in as deep as I thought… but I don’t feel any of that life-draining effect. So it’s probably either “Immortality” or “Super Regeneration” kicking in?

Right now, I’m about five to six meters deep inside. A big hole’s been made, but the worm-like creatures around me are writhing, moving toward me, trying to repair the tower.

I raise both hands to the sky.

Now that my职业 rank as Great Mage has risen, I should be able to use advanced magic I couldn’t before. A thick, pitch-black aura begins to form around me like mist.

The worm-like creatures recognize me as an enemy and lunge at me from all directions, their tendrils stretching out.

“Composite Magic — Land of the Impure Dead — Hellheim!!”

The black fog, once used by the undead Wang who was Japan’s former Leader, spreads violently. Where it touches the worm-like creatures, they burst into black flames, burning everything in sight.

The power is brutal—places turned to ash can’t regenerate easily.

I leap out, then look up at the tower again mid-air.

Up close, the sheer size overwhelms me. The black flames are just a tiny fraction of the massive structure.

But what’s most unsettling?… Even this close, my “Enemy Detection” isn’t triggering at all.

This “tower”… it’s different from any enemy I’ve faced before.