Chapter 1001: Conjunction Spell Master (2)

Ring-a-ling-a-ling…

The sound of a call connecting echoed in the room, illuminated by the blinking monitor light.

With a sound like a receiver being snatched up, Maiya’s irritable voice rang out.

[Doctor, I’m extremely busy right now. What is it?]

“Is that so? But it might be worth taking the time to check on the first Gateway.”

The boy, perched on an old chair, smiled and gripped the microphone.

A ball of fur, an old man, a boy. The Doctor, who had recently changed his appearance regardless of age or gender, turned his gaze towards the monitor.

“Currently, major figures from the Central Front are gathering in large numbers around the Gateway. This scale of power converging in one place is the first time since the Calamity of the Four Heavenly Fiery Demonic Mirrors.”

[…….]

“It would be ideal if I could contact the Director now that he’s manifested, but I’m regrettably forced to tell you first. Can you head to the site immediately?”

[If you need help, ask The Clown. What do you want?]

“Cheonbeon, Evan Martinez, has been observed at the first Gateway.”

[…….]

At the mention of that name, Maiya’s reply was abruptly cut off.

Perhaps because she, too, had not forgotten what happened in the Hanghasa Labyrinth.

As the Doctor smiled at the lingering silence, Maiya countered.

[…Did you say Cheonbeon?]

“It’s practically his first official move since leaving the Eyes of Blue.”

The Doctor answered leisurely.

“The reactions are quite intense regarding the Apostle-Slayer, who was defeated by Adamant Thunder, now appearing at the Gateway. Especially since the Conjunction Spell Master has occupied the Gateway.”

[…….]

“I need information from the field. Since you’re going to investigate the situation anyway, wouldn’t it be better for you, who became familiar with his face in the labyrinth, to go?”

[Hah, I thought you were talking about something important…]

Maiya grumbled, scratching the receiver.

[I met Cheonbeon before he even became an Apostle-Slayer. The Director did something in the Cradle, so why would he cooperate now?]

“Hmm… That’s true.”

[I’m already swamped adjusting the Gravity Stones I obtained from the shrine. You’re asking for something pointless.]

Although Pandemonium’s forces infiltrated Vulcan and were defeated by Adamant Thunder, it wasn’t without gain.

While they couldn’t acquire the Forbidden Armament from Anathema’s shrine, they did harvest the Gravity Stones used to construct it.

Gravity Stones imbued with Anathema’s magic could be processed into top-grade ritual catalysts with a little work.

It was only natural for Maiya to be annoyed by the Doctor’s attitude, entrusting her with this task and now trying to change her schedule.

[I don’t care who dies at the Gateway. The very act of worrying about something that the den of evils isn’t involved in is—]

Maiya’s voice abruptly cut off at that moment.

A peculiar reaction, as if she had only just now remembered a very important fact.

[Wait, surely?]

“So you hadn’t completely forgotten after all.”

The Doctor chuckled and turned his gaze to another monitor.

His eyes, as he watched the swirling darkness on the monitor, suddenly deepened.

“It’s been quite docile for longer than I expected. Don’t you think?”

[…….]

“It’s not the monsters rampaging at the Gateway we need to be careful of. I intend to prepare for the worst-case scenario.”

“Black Cotton Flower Seeds, Thorned Gisu’s gall, Six-Horned Kirin’s eye, Iron Spirit Root…”

Clatter!

Every time Lennok moved his hand, the medicinal ingredients and catalysts on the shelves poured down.

“Blood-Attribute Anesthetic, Kessler Mana Coagulant, Abathor Will-Thought Enhancer, and even Stock-Type Curse Treatment.”

Lennok skillfully picked dozens of medicine bottles from the shelves as if shopping, and mumbled with a satisfied expression.

“As expected of the Order Alliance’s Grand Spell Master, it’s full of rare medicines and catalysts. I’m already feeling full.”

Was it because the Conjunction Spell Master himself was an excellent spellcaster and, at the same time, an even greater surgeon?

The room was filled with medicines and catalysts that were difficult to find even in Vulcan’s black market or auctions.

Just finding and stealing what he could take would have left his hands full.

Pop!

Lennok, who had quickly cleared out the medicine storage room and walked out, checked the nameplate of the room he had just been confined in.

[Preliminary Anesthesia Room 2]

So the room Lennok was held in was specifically designed for anesthesia, not surgery.

Walking out into the hallway, Lennok glanced at the faint, light green flame glowing in his hand.

Lennok, having successfully taken the Spark from the Magic Tower Lord, let out a satisfied sigh.

“A good start.”

This light green flame was the power the Magic Tower Lord used to heal his own body.

A Spark that, despite taking the form of a flame, possessed the ability to ‘heal’ living beings.

Lennok understood how rare and valuable such a Spark was.

‘It’s a Spark ignited by the caster’s mana. There aren’t many abilities more suitable for healing my injuries.’

Evan Martinez’s identity was that of a combat wizard who combined pyrokinesis, barrier spellcraft, and martial arts.

The fact that this identity, prone to injury, had gained healing abilities was a tremendous boon.

The Tower Lord must have also known how crucial the value of this Spark was, which was why he struggled so violently.

‘If I had my way, I’d want to steal other Sparks and other artifacts the Tower Lord possesses…’

Other Sparks possessed by the Blaiver Magic Tower Lord, or his artifact, the Burning Time Melody, which accelerated time by burning lifespan.

He was interested in the Sparks and artifacts held by the master of a Magic Tower that had existed for hundreds of years, but killing the Tower Lord here would alert the Conjunction Spell Master.

Hiding the Tower Lord’s death in this Life Domain, structured like a surgery room, was virtually impossible.

Since he had escaped the Conjunction Spell Master’s surveillance using Targeted Resistance, it was right to abandon lingering desires and investigate the surgery room.

“Surgery room, huh…”

It was called a surgery room, but it was a colossal, fleshy dome, hundreds of meters in radius.

Vermilion rooms and corridors were indiscriminately arranged, squirming as they constantly changed shape.

Because this Domain itself was a living organism, it felt like being inside a giant organ.

Lennok slowly stepped forward, watching the faint pulsing of blood vessels visible beneath the hallway.

‘Not much time. I need to move quickly.’

The first surgery would soon end, and the Conjunction Spell Master would have leisure again.

Before the Conjunction Spell Master finished the surgery and returned, he needed to quickly search the Domain and find what he wanted.

The goal was a Veil Fragment and the remains of the immortal Mikal Zelih.

Fortunately, Lennok knew where to go.

‘The entire Domain is wrapped around the Gateway entrance, he said. The entrance will be where it meets the ground.’

A place where the constant tremors of the squirming corridor gradually intensified. The core where the pulse of life could be heard. The most vital weak point that made this Domain a living organism: its heart.

As he passed through the shaking corridor and turned into a fork, the hallway wall split open and pulled aside.

Pop!

“…”

The inner space was incredibly vast. Lennok couldn’t see its end with his bare eyes.

Was it an exit leading to the Gateway entrance? Or a path to a deeper secret chamber of the surgery room?

Lennok stepped into the open room and fell silent at the unimaginably gruesome scene.

“This is…”

Hundreds of humans hung naked on the walls.

A horrific sight, displayed with rings piercing their necks. Even after Lennok entered, they hung limply, not moving.

The entire room was made of human walls, a sight difficult to accept even with one’s own eyes.

Lennok, silently surveying his surroundings, realized something was displayed in the center of the room.

“…Superhumans?”

Unlike the humans hanging on the walls, these figures were properly clothed and equipped.

A woman holding a grimoire, her hands outstretched.

An elderly knight, greatsword on his shoulder, shouting a battle cry.

Every drop of blood that fell onto the book’s page formed fragmented words.

And a young spearman, holding a spear and giving an attractive smile.

In addition, various other people were preserved throughout the room as if time had stopped.

Their bizarre forms frozen in poses and appearances that best displayed their specialties or talents.

“…”

Human specimens so lifelike they seemed ready to move at any moment.

Their presence was considerable, immediately revealing that they had once been powerful magic users.

Did the Conjunction Spell Master display opponents he had directly fought or killed in his surgery room like this?

No, if he intended to kill them, there would be no reason for such bothersome embalming—

Thinking that, Lennok suddenly realized something and touched the Compassion of the Archangel in his pocket.

His face hardened as he realized that these preserved humans were not being recognized as inorganic matter.

“Could it be… they’re still alive?”

The Conjunction Spell Master had not displayed these humans to show off his kills.

Instead, he had experimented on and dissected them as he pleased, then preserved them in his surgery room, keeping them barely alive.

Could such fragile creatures as humans be preserved like this, with only their lives sustained?

It was undeniable proof that the Conjunction Spell Master’s power and skill had reached truly inhuman levels.

At that moment, the fingers of the woman holding the grimoire slowly began to move.

Creak, clack…

As her stiff fingers were forced to move, flesh tore and blood dripped down.

A desire so clear and simple that even Lennok could immediately recognize it.

[Ki-ll m-e.]

“…”

The smiling expression, the unblinking eyes, remained unwavering.

Her skin was hardened and necrotic, her pupils treated with preservatives to prevent decay—a mere ornament.

Her body was just a shell, her senses long lost, seeing nothing.

She didn’t know whose presence approached, only poured out her sole wish to that unknown figure.

“…Haa.”

Lennok, looking down at the woman with a complicated expression, took out a small syringe from his pocket.

Holding the syringe, Lennok injected it directly into the back of the woman’s hand and quietly whispered into her ear.

“It’s a slow-acting poison. It will spread through your bloodstream in 12 hours, and you’ll die without pain.”

[…]

“It’ll be over soon. My apologies.”

For the same reason he hadn’t killed the Tower Lord, he couldn’t kill them here.

The moment they died here, the Life Domain would immediately sense their deaths and alert the Conjunction Spell Master to the anomaly.

It was possible that their very survival served as a warning system.

Flip!

At that moment, the woman finally raised her hand and awkwardly began to turn the pages of the grimoire.

As she turned the trembling pages and closed the entire book.

The grimoire, now closed, emitted a faint magical light.

“…This is?”

[…]

There was no reply. As if her task was done, even her presence faded.

Whoosh!

At that moment, the wall behind the exhibit of preserved superhumans swung open, revealing a hidden room.

Unlike the surgery room, which was a squirming living entity, this was a solid metal secret chamber.

Lennok finally understood the purpose of this space and nodded.

“So, it wasn’t a flesh wall they needed, but a metal room. Is that why he hid this secret chamber?”

Was the reason only the woman among the preserved superhumans could move to hide the entrance to the secret chamber?

The Conjunction Spell Master’s idea of hiding the secret chamber not with the surgery room itself, but with the woman’s magic.

Hiss!

Lennok stepped inside, sensing the chilling cold that permeated the room, and fell silent.

“…Was this a freezer for storing organs extracted from superhumans?”

Severed arms and legs, heads and eyeballs. Hair and internal organs. Human organs and body parts floating everywhere.

Finely dissected nerve strands and muscle fibers. Bizarrely incised organs and viscera preserved in test tubes.

Gurgle…!!

Eyeballs in test tubes spun around, and heads in bathtubs gasped for air.

Some of them seemed to perceive Lennok’s presence, turning their gaze towards him.

The pungent smell of preservatives and blood stung his nose. Just standing there made his head dizzy.

Pressing his eyelids, Lennok composed himself and looked around with sunken eyes.

‘It seems indiscriminately displayed, but there’s an internal rule, not just about appearance.’

The dissected organs gathered here were not merely collected for the Conjunction Spell Master’s hobby.

Organs or body parts with peculiar appearances or abilities that could pique the Conjunction Spell Master’s personal interest.

Specimens with two right arms, a seven-fingered hand, or an organ with hardened, clogged heart vessels.

There were also organs imbued with special magic, or made of special substances themselves.

It was clear that every specimen had an unusual history or rarity.

Just as that thought reached Lennok, and he turned to recall the objective he needed to find in the surgery room, at that moment.

[You’re not the Conjunction Spell Master.]

Someone’s voice echoed behind Lennok.

A stiff, mechanical tone. Yet, somehow, the manner of speech was relaxed.

[If it’s alright, could you come over here and let me out? I’ve been confined for so long, it’s incredibly stifling.]

“Confined?”

[Oh, so you can hear me after all.]

The voice let out an undisguised gasp of admiration.

[Not many people can sense an imprint made of mental waves so well. Your spirituality seems highly developed.]

“…”

[Come a little closer. I want to read your mental waves too.]

Lennok approached instead of answering, and the voice immediately reacted.

[Hmm? I’m sensing something familiar… Is it perhaps pyrokinesis?]

A guess relatively close to the truth, yet subtly off.

But Lennok realized that the speaker was detecting the array device on his arm, not him.

It was stolen goods, originally used by a pyrokinetic who couldn’t control their abilities, for discharging internal heat, wasn’t it?

And the fact that the speaker was sensing a superhuman’s trace and talking to him like this meant—

[If you’re a fellow superhuman, I’d like to propose a trade in the name of the Ability Awakening Warband.]

“A trade?”

[Have you ever heard of Hwangokseong [Fire Star], the ritual weapon bestowed upon innate ability users by the Warband’s leader, Ophelia, the Zero Seat?]

The voice spoke.

[It’s an armament used to ignite one’s will-thought and boost the output of innate abilities, even for the forced awakening of a Phase Domain. But due to its operating mechanism, it’s useless to me. It would suit a pyrokinetic like you much better.]

“…”

[I hid it somewhere in the surgery room because I didn’t want the Conjunction Spell Master to take it. If you help me, I’ll hand it over to you.]

“Are you sure you want to hand over such a valuable item so easily?”

[After all, I hold quite a high position in the Warband.]

The voice cleared its throat, sounding boastful.

[The Zero Seat would be furious if she found out, but if I say it couldn’t be helped, headquarters will understand.]

“I see.”

As soon as Lennok heard those words, he quickly averted his gaze.

He had guessed it right after the voice spoke, but he was certain after hearing the self-introduction.

He hadn’t expected consciousness to remain in such a conversational form, but there was no mistake.

“You are Mikal Zelih, the Third Seat of the Warband, the Immortal, aren’t you?”

[…What?]

The exhibit stand located in the deepest part of the cold freezer.

At its very top, conspicuously displayed, was a human brain.

The brain, cleanly cut in half with only the left hemisphere remaining, tilted its ‘head’ in the aquarium.

[You… How do you know who I am?]