Chapter 38 Paying a Visit to the Zenith Tower

Eternal Veil Tower

The elevator went up. After a long ascent, the doors opened onto a circular observation chamber at the very top of a needle-like tower built directly into the apex of the Eternal Veil itself. The entire curved wall was a single pane of transparent, magically reinforced crystal, offering a terrifying, breathtaking view. 

"This," Mr. Shigeto announced with a sweep of his arm, "is the Zenith Anchor. The direct neural interface with the Eternal Veil. From here, the Witch Queen cast her final spell. And from here, we believe, her legacy can be restored."

He gestured to the center of the room, where a raised dais held a single pedestal of the same crystal, glowing with a soft, internal light. 

"Your connection point, Ultra Extra-kun. Simply place your hands upon the conduit. Your unique barrier magic will resonate, and our technicians will guide the stabilization from the control room below.

This tower was constructed in the year following the Great Calamity. A marvel of modern magic and engineering, built not just to observe the Veil, but to commune with it. Every wall is inscribed with runes, every beam reinforced with prayers for her enduring legacy. It is a monument to her sacrifice, and now, a tool for her successor to complete her work."

Shota turned to Shigeto.

 "Sir, with respect, I am not here for sightseeing or a history lesson about how this tower was built. I am here to try and fix the Veil. To do that, I need to concentrate. I need to be alone."

"Of course! Of course, you are absolutely right. The work of a hero requires focus. We will monitor from below. The faster, the better. The entire city thanks you for your courage."

With a final, significant nod to the five ranked Pros who had remained silent by the elevator, Shigeto turned and left. The Pros filed out after him. The elevator doors closed, leaving Shota alone in the silent, glowing chamber.

Lycoris’s voice snapped into his mind.

"Shota-chan, listen! The walls! The etched markings in the crystal aren’t decoration. They’re containment and drainage magic circles. The moment they sense you pushing mana into the core, they’ll activate from the control room and latch onto you like leeches. You’ll be locked in place while they suck you dry.

Damage them! Now! Before they can be powered! Use a barrier edge—a sharp slice should do it. Don’t destroy the whole wall, just fracture the circuit lines. Break the continuity.

Then, barrier the doors! Not just a wall—seal the frame completely. That will buy us the time we need. They’ll have to blast through, and that will cause vibrations that could destabilize this whole structure. They’ll hesitate."

The precise magical circuits were severed, the etchings marred by hairline cracks. The drainage magic was neutralized before it could ever activate.

In the same instant, Shota’s other hand twitched. At the circular elevator doorway and the smaller service entrance, a solid, deep-blue barrier materialized. They were locked in. And they were locked out.

"Good," Lycoris whispered, "The clock is ticking. They will not hesitate for long. Now… touch the veil, I need to feel my body. Let us see what is left of me."

Shota’s hands made contact with the veil. For a second, nothing happened.

Then, a deep, resonant THRUM pulsed out, a sound felt in the bones more than heard. The entire Eternal Veil, the vast dome over Tokyo, reacted. A colossal wave of light—a violent, brilliant magenta—rippled out from the Zenith Anchor, cascading down the curvature of the barrier like a stone dropped in a planet-sized pond. The light washed over the entire city in an instant, illuminating the streets in an eerie, supernatural glow before fading.

In the control room below, alarms blared. Technicians shouted, "We have reaction! Unprecedented mana resonance! The subject has engaged the core!"

 Mr. Shigeto’s smile finally broke into one of genuine, triumphant relief.

"It's working! He's activating the link! Prepare the siphoning magic!"

"Shota-chan, I have contact established. Soul-link to physical vessel… confirmed. Structural integrity of the sealed body… stable. But the impurities… the Veil has been absorbing corrupt mana, toxic spells, and decay for a decade. It’s like a filter clogged with poison. My body is preserved, but it is entombed in a shell of metaphysical sludge. Purifying the connection, carving a clean channel for the fusion… this will take more than a few minutes."

Shota didn’t hesitate. He didn’t ask for odds. The massive pulse of light had just announced their presence to everyone in Tokyo. The clock was now ticking louder than ever.

“Do it, miss Lycoris. There’s no time to waste. We can't back out now!”

He erected a perfect, dense, blue-white bubble around himself—a last stand fortress. 

"Okay, here I go, beginning fusion ritual: Soul-Weave and Purification. Do not break contact. Do not lose focus. The defenseless period starts… now."

Shota’s eyes closed. His consciousness turned inward, plunging into the complex, dangerous tapestry of the spell Lycoris was weaving, using his S-tier mana as both thread and needle. 

Outside his small, glowing bubble, the corrupted Veil pulsed with light. And in the control room below, the technicians frowned. The energy signature wasn't matching the siphoning protocols. Something was wrong.

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Outside the Tokyo Barrier - Victor Creed's Hideout

Victor Creed sat in his sanctum, the pulsating fragments of the World-Severance Array laid before him on a dark altar, neared completion.

A tremor rippled across his magic perception. His eyes snapped open.

He turned his gaze, focusing on the source. The Eternal Veil. That stubborn, dying scar over Tokyo.

“Hmm, what are those government fools up to now? Sacrificing yet another innocent wizard?”

The energy signature was not the dull, draining pull of a sacrificial battery. This was different.

“This doesn’t feel like their usual clumsy butchery of people such as Sacrificing some poor barrier mage to pour power into a corpse. No. It doesn't feel forced this time. This is… intentional. Are they finally trying something new? Or have they actually stumbled upon a clue?”

A dry, humorless laugh escaped him. 

“Ah, who am I kidding, of course not. They don’t even know what that spell truly is. A sanctuary, not a barrier. And without knowing, they’re trying to mess with its heart. Amateurs playing with a god’s remains.”

He stood up, pacing slowly. The artifacts glowed, their charge at 98%. He had planned to wait for the perfect, full 100%. To savor the moment of absolute power.

But the current situation could not be ignored.

“If by some impossible chance they manage to actually restore the Veil to its original integrity… even a fully charged Array will not break it. The Witch Queen’s work, even done in a panic, had a certain… annoying resilience. 

A restored Veil would be a significant obstacle. It could delay me. And time is the one resource even I cannot afford to waste. 

No, I cannot allow even the possibility. My whole plan would be for nothing. And that simply would not do.

 It seems I’ll be paying a visit to the Zenith Tower a little ahead of schedule. Time to go and say hello. And put an end to their little experiment, once and for all.”

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Arata’s transport trucks screeched to a halt at a heavily fortified military checkpoint at the base of the immense tower. The entire area was a fortress. Energy shield generators. Automated defense turrets tracked the skies. Rows of armored vehicles and hundreds of soldiers, mixed with lower-ranked Pro Wizards, formed defensive rings.

"Listen up! Our assignment is perimeter support and aerial overwatch. The Pro Wizard Association has mobilized. The top thirty ranked Pros, all S-tier and above, are on-site. The Top 5 are here as well. The Witch King himself is commanding. They are stationed in a defensive ring outside the Veil, ready to intercept any hostile force."

Arata gestured to the dome above them.

 "The government has spent the last months turning the areas around the barrier into a fortress. But that is not enough. Our job is to ensure the procedure inside goes smoothly. No interruptions."

He turned specifically to Mirai and Enji, his voice lowering slightly, but still official. 

"Miss R.R., your jet-drill propulsion gives you aerial capability. Heatburst, your flame-jets do the same. I will provide wind-support. Our squad will take the high-altitude patrol route, right above the Veil's surface, directly over the Zenith Tower facility. The rest of the academy teams will integrate with ground support under the Pros' command. 

Aerial team, with me. The rest of you, report to the ground commander. Move out!”