The 31st Piece Overturns the Game Board

Before Seol could read a few lines of the book's prologue, messages began to appear.

[You have acquired Frozen Truth’s Unique Effect.]

[Passive: Chilly Darkness (Composite) is awakened.]

[When the One body, Multiple Avatars, and all other creations are destroyed, a frost storm is created. The frost storm deals damage proportional to the maximum health of the creation.]

[Your Frost resistance has been significantly increased.]

[Summoned creatures and creations take 20% less Frost damage.]

[There are still countless hidden effects of Frozen Truth.]

…

Seol stood absentmindedly with the book open.

- A summoner's forbidden book!

- A Certain Summoner's Forbidden Book Index!

- What the… Are you referencing a certain sci-fi school fantasy light novel released in Japan? Most people won't get what you're talking about.

- The two above, please, stop.

- Going wild just because something they knew was mentioned, hahaha.

Gauging how much power the book contained was impossible.

Curious about what other power he might awaken, Seol continued reading a bit more of the prologue.

Crack…

- Seol… Seol!

Ur called out Seol's name.

Seol shook his head and responded.

"Ugh…"

[You are unable to comprehend the book’s contents.]

- You just almost died.

"I almost died…?"

- Yes. That book will freeze you if you read it without enough magical understanding.

Startled, Seol touched his face.

'No way…'

One side of his face was frosted over, just like when he met Azran.

It was melting rapidly, but he had almost frozen to death in that brief moment.

'At this rate… Even if I break the seal, it's useless, isn't it?'

A food you can't eat or a book you can't read is worthless.

- You aren't even a Magician, yet you gained something from it. That already makes you lucky. As you are now, you would freeze to death before you could even finish reading the prologue.

Psh…

Tap—!

Seol closed the book.

After giving it some thought, he realized Ur was right.

Frozen Truth was so powerful that it had been classified as a forbidden magic book.

'To think they would classify a book as forbidden without even confirming its existence.'

Of course, the book really existed. And its contents were certainly dangerous. Because just reading the book might cost one their life, many Magicians might lose their lives in the pursuit of knowledge.

That reasoning justified the book being classified as forbidden.

This book possessed a strength even great Magicians would find hard to handle—Joneh and Satio weren't exceptions.

The only exception was probably…

Swoosh…

Seol opened the Void door.

WHOOM…

Soon, a huge door appeared before him, exuding a dark and ominous aura from the other side.

This time, the pure white book was in Seol's hands.

Seol gently extended his hand to see if he could pass beyond the door.

Swoosh…

Bzzt—!

"Ugh…"

A tingling sensation ran up his hand like it was warning him that it was still too early for him.

Seol extended his hand, holding the book.

Whoosh…

Black arms stretched out from within the door. Their grotesque appearance was something he wanted to avoid seeing.

But since he knew who was on the other side, there was no need to be scared.

"Here it is, Ur."

The hands paused for a moment and then took the book from Seol.

The hands seemed nervous. They began trembling as soon as they received the book.

A message appeared before Seol a few moments later.

[Ur, the Sealed begins walking the path of Frozen Truth.]

[The nature of Ur, the Sealed's mana changes to Frost.]

Whoosh…

A cold breeze swept past the gap of the Void's door as Seol hurriedly came out of his mental world.

- Azran… You're impressive…

Ur was probably racing through the book from the very beginning, muttering to himself as if nothing was bothering the lecture, unlike Seol.

- Even the basic theory follows a different trajectory. This line of thinking is quite interesting… Let's see if there's a base to it…

Seol felt a bit isolated, and even by the 3rd line, he couldn’t grasp the book’s contents. Just like even a great poem can't move someone with a dried-up heart, no matter how great the magic book was—for Seol, who lacked magical knowledge—it was no different from any other book scattered across the world.

That's why he decided to be happy for Ur, who could understand the book—Ur had become the true owner of the Frozen Truth.

'He's the first Wizard.'

Although he was now living inside Seol's Void, helping with numerous tasks as a summon, he was an incredible monster in the past.

When it came to understanding anything mana-related—specifically the miracle of mana evolving into magic—there was probably no one in the world who could surpass Ur.

Ur was mana itself.

The review that Ur left after reading a small portion of the Frozen Truth was.

- Azran… It will be hard to find a Magician greater than him among the living.

Seol found such an assessment embarrassing.

After all, Azran was a meaningful piece for him.

- Except for I, Ur, that is.

He liked Ur's confident demeanor.

Since Azran was his piece and Ur was his summon, it didn't matter to him who was superior.

It felt like being the mother of both a raincoat seller and a straw shoe seller. Of course, right now, his heart leaned more toward Ur, who was currently helping him.

- I will savor your truth slowly.

The constant struggle and loneliness of an absolute being had marked Ur's life.

He had never been left behind before.

- It seems I will be busy for a while. Ah, but before that…

'Ur.'

Seol regretted not having been able to have a proper conversation with Azran.

'Well, I guess there's nothing I can do about it.'

Right now, he was powerless. He was still so weak that he couldn't even properly stand face-to-face with Azran—he lacked the strength to hold onto him.

He couldn't help but think about what would have happened if Ur hadn't stepped in. Though Ur was the first Wizard and a dangerous being, he had a good relationship with Seol. And he was also one of the summons residing in Seol's Void.

In any case, he needed to be thankful.

'Thank you, that was dangerous.'

- Hmph, without my protection, you would have become Azran's plaything… Of course, I'm not saying he's lowly enough to do that.

'Then…?'

- Well… Azran is, how should I put it…? A Magician. A great Magician.

To think the word ‘great’ would be used to describe him. It seemed Azran had shaken Ur quite a bit, considering he was a being who had come out from the pages of a book.

'What did you talk about with Azran?'

To be honest, he was envious.

The conversation with him must have led to enlightenment… What if the topic of the conversation was him?

- Conversation? Hmm… Yes, it was a great conversation.

'What did Azran say?'

- Hmm… Amazing?

'What else?'

- Hmm… Amazing—No, stop asking so many questions. If ordinary people try to understand the conversation between two intellectuals, their heads might explode. Do you want to freeze to death?

Seol chucked at Ur’s warning.

Judging from Ur's reaction, it seemed like Azran was still the same as ever. In that case, their conversation must have been quite predictable.

'So you're still the same, Azran.'

After the disappearance of the dialogue options, Seol had been feeling quite frustrated from how short they were.

It was like this, for example.

[[A distressed woman has approached you. She says she's been close to this land's lord since childhood, but lately, the lord has been acting suspiciously. She seeks your wisdom on what you think. What advice could you give her?]

1. I'm not sure.

2. I'm not interested.

3. I will help you.

4. Could you repeat that?

…]

The simplicity of the options didn't mean they were clear. Seol always hoped that Azran would give a longer response, like a full sentence.

Most likely, the Azran Ur had encountered was just as frustrating.

Even if they had talked, the conversation likely hadn't gone the way Ur intended.

- Why are you laughing?

Now that he had secured a clear result, Seol felt somewhat relieved. That's why he first decided to focus on the situation at hand.

"What should we do about them?"

Seol pointed at the two Magicians and Bron, as well as the corpses of the Head of the Library and Branka.

- They will eventually melt. But at this rate, it might take a while. Shall I do something about it?

'Is that possible? After all, it's Azran's magic.'

- The magic Azran used didn't involve any profound truth. How to defrost has been detailed here, so it probably won't be hard.

'What I meant to ask is if that can be done while inside the Void.'

Ur scoffed at Seol's question.

- Haha, do you think I wasted time? Summon your avatar.

He quickly did as Ur instructed.

Whish…

Then, an avatar that looked identical to Seol appeared.

- Watch closely.

Zzzt…

['Ur' has seized control of the avatar.]

At that moment, Seol couldn't connect with the avatar anymore.

Zzt…

The avatar's eyes turned blue.

Haaaa…

Its breath was visible as it exhaled, and it began to stretch both arms forward.

- Ugh… This isn't easy.

The avatar began muttering.

Upon listening closely, it seemed like it was chanting a spell.

It was a strange sight to see a being that looked exactly like him chanting a spell.

- Damn. I have to go through this ugly spell-casting process before getting used to it…

Whoosh…

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through.

Crack…

And his frozen comrades began to defrost.

* * *

"Oof… Oof…"

"Ugh… What the…"

"What happened…?"

After completing its task, the avatar disappeared to avoid any suspicion.

Seol pretended he had also just woken up. That way, he wouldn't be bombarded with annoying questions.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. But… It seems the ice lost power and crumbled."

"Azran! Was it really Grand Duke Azran?"

"I couldn't see his face."

"What about his voice?"

"I couldn't hear his voice either…"

As if he were asking about someone he idolized, Joneh asked him many questions but stopped upon realizing that Seol also didn't know much.

Santio marveled.

"Anyway… It's amazing. I cast multiple layers of magic resistance, but they were broken through in an instant."

"Tsk, tsk… He probably froze everything, including the magic resistance. That much is nothing for someone like The Grand Duke of Frost."

"How do you know in such detail??"

"I figured it out after getting hit earlier… It's been a while since I've felt so miserable."

"As expected, you're a genius when it comes to taking hits…"

"Enough, don't tease me."

Although the two Magicians seemed to have a rough idea of what had happened, Bron was completely in the dark. So Seol briefly explained the situation to Bron, who had helped him find the book.

Upon hearing the explanation, Bron burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! To think I, Bron, would meet an opponent I couldn't even move a finger against. A formidable enemy I couldn't even meet even when I lost my life… This is a first…"

While Bron was marveling, Jamad suddenly emerged from Seol's shadow.

Whoosh…

Boom… Boom…

Jamad slowly walked somewhere, with Bron and Seol following closely behind.

When Jamad stopped, Bron said, "Life is fleeting yet full of strange twists and turns…"

"Bron…"

"I know what you want to say."

Bron grinned.

"You need Branka's Shamanic Spells, right?"

Before them lay the corpses of the Head of the Library and Branka.

Nod…

As Jamad nodded, Brun shrugged.

"Take it. Branka's power is useless to me. But it might be different for you."

"But…"

"You don't need to get permission. Branka lost to you in a fair fight. Taking the power of the defeated is the right of the victor. I'm sure Branka wouldn't mind. He's probably in the underworld right now, feeling ashamed he mistook the power of the Library of All Knowledge for his. So he would feel relieved if you took it. That will probably free him from that burden."

"Understood…"

Jamad placed his hand on Branka's corpse.

Whoosh…

As he activated the Shamanic Spell, a snowstorm swirled around them.

"Ugh…"

"Is it resisting?"

"No, that's not it."

Bron said with a serious expression.

"It's rejoicing."

Crack…

Jamad's muscles swelled, his frame growing even larger than before. His gaze deepened, and his energy surged.

Whoosh…

[Jamad absorbed Branka's Ancient Shamanic Spells.]

[Jamad, the Totality of Nature, has improved to Jamad, the Great Shaman ]

[Jamad now upholds the power of Earth.]

[Jamad awakens Primal Power: Glacier.]

[Primal Power: Glacier has replaced Primal Power: Waterfall.]

[Rain of Fire Stance has been improved to Primal Power: Soul.]

[Passive: Shivering Chill has been learned.]

[Passive: Universal Passage has been learned.]

[Passive: Ancient Soul has been learned.]

…

The blue flame that had once flared in Branka's eyes now flickered in Jamad's.

"Two steps forward…"

"Oof… Oof…"

Sensing the change in Jamad's energy, Bron stepped back in hesitation.

"Th-this…"

"So this is the succession we've only heard about…"

The others were the same; they also instinctively took a few steps back.

While Jamad was gathering energy, Seol turned his attention to the broken Head of the Library.

Just who had created this terrifying machine, and where did the power of the Library of All Knowledge originate?

He ran his hand over the Head of the Library, seeking anything that might give him a clue.

It was when his hand reached the Head of the Library's head.

Creak…

"Huh…?"

[The Library of All Knowledge is currently disabled.]

[The Library of All Knowledge cannot initiate self-repair.]

[A proxy Head of the Library is required.]

Whoosh…

[You have been designated.]

"What…?

[You have earned the inaugural achievement 'The Newly Arrived'.]

[You have earned the inaugural title 「All Knowledge」.]

…