The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 334

“What is this?”

The moment I arrived at the Sky Tower, I felt something was off.

Normally, there would at least be a few senior-grade mages around—resting, fooling around, or holding their own magical debates—but there wasn’t a single one in sight.

“Where did everyone go?”

Did they all go on some kind of group trip?

“I don’t see Master either.”

It was strange. Even if the other mages were gone, not being able to feel my master’s presence at all was really strange.

“Maybe…?”

I went to the Archmage’s domain, where my master usually shut himself away, but he wasn’t there either.

On a normal day, I would have grabbed anyone passing by and asked, but today there was no one at all. The empty Sky Tower felt unfamiliar.

And something else felt different too.

Hmm. Maybe it was just my imagination.

[The brightest shining star says your presence is so strong it’s blinding]

[The darkly burning star says the weight you give off is too heavy]

[Lucky Star 777 bursts into tears when it sees you]

⋮

No, this wasn’t just my imagination.

“Huh?”

The stars were acting weird.

They were the ones who usually hovered around, trying their hardest to catch my eye or just to talk to me one more time.

Now, the lights that had been moving toward me like usual suddenly stopped and hesitated in midair.

[The darkly burning star is afraid of you]

[Lucky Star 777 wants to stay far away from you]

[The Star of Knowledge and Wisdom trembles as it looks at you]

“Um……”

Well, thinking about it, they had been keeping their distance ever since I came back from the ruins… but it wasn’t this bad. Why were they suddenly avoiding me so much? That kind of hurt.

“What’s wrong with you guys?”

It was the moment I finally spoke up, unable to hold back my questions.

[The Star that Records Truth is startled!]

[The brightest shining star runs away from you!]

“……?”

Have you ever seen starlight get startled? I just did.

The stars flared brightly, then whooshed away. I blinked as I watched the light actually retreat into the distance.

Unbelievable.

Even if a person usually doesn’t think much about it, when something runs away from you, you kind of want to catch it.

The obsessive tyrant hidden inside me lifted its head.

“Hey, stop right there, runaway star!”

That was when a suffocating chase began. Normally it would’ve been impossible, but luckily there were no other mages around, so I could move freely.

“Weren’t you the ones clinging to me and saying you liked me all the time? This is ridiculous. Can your feelings really change overnight?!”

When I got angry, a few stars flickered as they tried to explain.

[Lucky Star 777 explains this isn’t its own will]

[The brightest shining star shouts that you’re too dazzling and scary]

[The Star of Knowledge and Wisdom says this is all your fault]

“How is this all my fault?!”

After a fierce chase, I finally cornered the fleeing stars. Was this how a lion felt while hunting on the savanna?

I cast a barrier so they couldn’t escape and trapped them completely.

“Hehe. There’s nowhere left to run now. Just surrender and let me catch you.”

The moment I stepped closer—

“Huh?”

The stars, which had been huddled together and trembling, suddenly slipped away somewhere.

“Huh—?”

At the same time, my outstretched hand passed straight through something.

“A barrier?”

Why would there be a barrier here…?

Before I could think further, the scenery beyond it entered my view.

A distorted space that looked like outer space. And lying there, collapsed, was a single person.

Huh?

“Master?!”

 

****

 

 

A subspace at the very top of the Sky Tower.

In a warped space that looked like outer space layered over a meeting room, the elder mages were gathered in large numbers.

“Is everyone here?”

Hege looked around at the sparsely empty seats and let out a sigh.

He knew that the owners of those empty seats no longer existed in this world.

“First, let’s hear the situation.”

Fwaa—

A map of the entire continent, created by someone’s magic power, appeared in the center of the subspace.

Blue lights marked intact mage towers, while red lights showed towers that had been occupied or destroyed.

“The damage to the mage towers is severe. On the Albrecht side, the major cities suffered little damage, but most towers in remote areas were destroyed. All mage towers on the Shugra continent and in Uyo are completely disabled. You could say those areas have fallen.”

The elders’ faces all darkened.

“Those bastards again?”

“Yes. The group calling themselves the Mage Liberation Alliance.”

“Lately they’ve been going by the name Eclipse, I hear.”

Dark mages and regular mages had never been compatible to begin with.

Mages exposed to dark magic inevitably accumulated more ‘corruption.’ In the end, it was a structure where mages were bound to lose.

As if that disadvantage wasn’t enough, a new variable had recently entered the picture.

“Again…”

At some point, unknown espers had begun assisting the dark mages.

That completely shattered the barely maintained balance between the two factions.

“These shameless fools! To pull something like this while we were away from the Sky Tower to see our precious youngest!”

To make matters worse, the attack happened on the very day of Arellin’s debutante ball, dealing the mage towers a devastating blow.

“How did they even know we’d be gone from the Sky Tower?”

Senior-grade mages were hurriedly dispatched across the world for support, but even now, mage towers everywhere were being destroyed or overtaken.

“Just who are these espers?”

“Honestly, that’s the problem. We don’t know. Espers usually follow bloodlines, but…”

“The senior mages we sent report that many of their abilities are crude and unusual, making them hard to identify.”

“…This is bad.”

Everyone realized just how serious the situation had become.

“The barrier on the Central Continent has weakened.”

“The fall of the Gairen Mage Tower was especially damaging…”

“The barrier at Lake Sharit hasn’t been restored yet, has it?”

“That’ll take a hundred years to fix.”

“Damn it. Those bastards use every dirty trick imaginable, and it’s infuriating that we can’t do the same.”

“It can’t be helped. They became dark mages precisely so they could do things like that.”

A situation like a sandcastle that could collapse at any moment.

And yet, the expressions of the elders gathered here weren’t completely grim.

“At least there’s one good thing. We no longer have to fear corruption.”

Everyone’s faces brightened.

Thanks to Arellin—who freed senior-grade mages from the curse of corruption they all suffered—this situation wasn’t entirely hopeless.

“Hehe. We’re lucky to have our youngest.”

“Right. If it weren’t for Arellin… things could be far worse than this.”

“The Sky Tower itself might’ve fallen.”

Even though that savior had also thoroughly plundered the research they had completed at the cost of their lives…

Hege, who had lost the most research to Arellin, spoke on the next agenda with a lighter heart.

“Then next, let’s continue discussing what to do with the mages rescued from the fallen mage towers—”

At that moment, a massive wave of magical power spread from afar, making everyone flinch.

“……?”

“…….”

What on earth just happened?

 

 

****

 

 

 

“Master, are you okay?”

I didn’t even know what to call this place.

It was clearly somewhere within the Sky Tower, yet it felt like the other side of the world—and yet not quite.

As if the other world had been layered over reality, both existing at the same time.

‘Why does a place like this exist in the Sky Tower?’

That question quickly took a back seat. What mattered right now was checking my master’s condition.

‘He’s so cold.’

When I touched him, icy cold energy flowed out, making me flinch.

“Master?! Are you hurt? Please wake up, okay? You can’t die! You can’t just leave like this!”

I used every healing spell I knew, but none of them worked very well.

[The Star of Knowledge and Wisdom objects, saying immortals don’t die]

Like I don’t know that. I just said it because I was panicking.

Growing more serious as I looked at my master, who wasn’t breathing, I glared at the stars.

“Why is my master like this? Do you know?”

The stars were still trembling, but they didn’t run away.

Maybe it was because my master was nearby.

[The darkly burning star says it can’t explain]

“Want to die?”

[The Star of Knowledge and Wisdom panics and argues that violence is bad!]

“Then explain nicely.”

[Lucky Star 777 beats its chest, saying it wants to tell you too]

[The brightest star carefully explains that this is related to the karma of the ‘First Star’]

The First Star……

“That’s my master.”

I frowned as I recalled one of my master’s many titles.

My master’s karma?

“He has way too much of that. I can’t even guess which one it is.”