Chapter 1004: Conjunction Spell Master (5)
“The unique individuality of a Trait-type system is its ability to interfere with concepts beyond mere objects.”
Squeeze!
The Conjunction Spell Master’s gloved hand pressed down hard on Lennok’s, tightening its grip.
A monstrous grip, hard to believe it belonged to a doctor in scrubs.
“But to ‘restore’ a Chimera whose spellcraft effect has already ended, back to its original state… that is an unprecedented power I’ve never even witnessed.”
“…”
“Your Trait-type aptitude surpasses any level I could discuss or compare with. An 8-level Archwizard wouldn’t be unaware of that fact themselves, would they…?”
The Conjunction Spell Master’s cold gaze lowered, looking down at the operating table where Lennok stood.
“You wouldn’t be bound or restricted by my Conjunction Spellcraft. You were deceiving me from the start.”
The unprecedented situation: a Trait-type Chimera, having received Lennok’s blood, returning to a living human state.
It was unclear if this was a power that nullified the spellcraft effect itself, or an ability to rewind time.
Either way, it was clear that from the moment Lennok’s aptitude vastly exceeded the Conjunction Spell Master’s assumed standards, he would not be bound by the spellcraft’s restrictions.
As soon as the Conjunction Spell Master realized this, without an ounce of hesitation, he launched a preemptive attack at Lennok.
A swift and sharp judgment, unbelievable considering he had just been diagnosing Lennok moments before.
“From this moment on, your whereabouts will be confined to this operating room, and I will invest all my time at the Gateway in you.”
Bang!
With a single gesture, the Conjunction Spell Master slammed Lennok’s clasped arm onto the operating table.
“I will return after the second surgery is finished, so wait here.”
Even though Lennok had risen from the operating table and counterattacked, there wasn’t a hint of agitation on the Conjunction Spell Master’s face.
It was a display of confidence, believing he could perfectly control the situation despite the completely unexpected turn of events.
But Lennok, knowing this, smiled back at the Conjunction Spell Master.
“I don’t think so.”
“What did you say?”
“The reason you can’t touch me right now wasn’t because of the surgery to begin with, was it?”
Whoosh!
At that moment, Lennok’s body vanished as if disappearing into thin air.
He changed direction with two blinks, instantly getting behind and dropping down.
Clatter!
The Conjunction Spell Master, shaking from the impact, immediately gathered mana and spun around.
Lennok’s and the Conjunction Spell Master’s hands clashed again as if grappling in mid-air.
Fwaaaang!
As Lennok’s calm gaze fixed on the Conjunction Spell Master’s still-gloved hand.
“The clue was there from the beginning. It was as good as hearing the answer from your own mouth.”
“Nonsense…!!”
Along with the Conjunction Spell Master’s eerie retort, mana exploded. Lennok’s body was sent rolling backward, bouncing off the operating room wall.
Crash!
Medicine shelves and surgical equipment toppled over him, erupting in a roar and adding to the impact.
But the Conjunction Spell Master’s expression, observing him, was far more rigid than Lennok’s.
“…This is.”
Thwack!
A syringe filled with Lennok’s blood was now stuck in the Conjunction Spell Master’s shoulder.
“I asked you earlier about the oath of a physician. Do you remember?”
Lennok asked, rising after injecting the blood-filled ampoule into the Conjunction Spell Master’s body.
“What it means that a doctor, who has sworn the oath of a physician, could refuse treatment after diagnosing my body this far.”
“…”
“You didn’t answer that question. To be precise, you couldn’t, could you?”
Lennok began to walk towards the Conjunction Spell Master, who stood hunched over, clutching his shoulder.
“Come to think of it, you never once used Conjunction Spellcraft while diagnosing me. While mentioning grand methods like chromosome modification and hormone adjustment, you completely avoided discussing treatment using spellcraft.”
Lennok pushed aside his scrubs, checked the injection site, and offered a cold smile.
“You acted as if treating me wasn’t something you could decide on your own… So I was thinking.”
“…”
“That the being standing before me right now, might not be the Conjunction Spell Master himself.”
Crack! Crackle!
At the same time, the Conjunction Spell Master’s body began to slowly disintegrate where he stood, as if crumbling.
Lennok’s blood flowed into the Conjunction Spell Master’s body, a bizarre ‘restoration’ that seemed to cause his form to collapse.
“A Chimera clone. And a duplicate with almost equal cognitive abilities as the main body. I wasn’t sure until the very end because there was no sense of incongruity…”
Lennok said, pulling the ampoule from the crumbling Conjunction Spell Master’s shoulder.
“In the end, as a clone, you couldn’t perfectly use the spellcraft. That’s why you were refraining from using it. If I had noticed any awkwardness, your identity as a clone would have been exposed.”
The Conjunction Spell Master had not been personally present in this operating room to diagnose Lennok.
Instead, he had used a Chimera to create a duplicate with equal capabilities, who then diagnosed Lennok in his stead.
For a Conjunction Spell Master who had sworn the oath of a physician, there was a restriction to treat a patient once the diagnosis was complete.
But the reason why the Conjunction Spell Master could diagnose Lennok, uncover the secrets of his body, and still refuse treatment.
It was because the Conjunction Spell Master who examined Lennok was, in fact, a substitute made from a Chimera.
“Amaz…ing…”
The Conjunction Spell Master, whose skin was now cracking like porcelain, stiffly turned his head.
“But, it’s too late… The examination data has already been shared within the database—”
“No.”
Crackle!
The surgical equipment glowing behind Lennok began to flicker with static and go dark.
The clone sharply looked up, but Lennok, unconcerned, grabbed him by the collar.
“Did you think I would just lie on the operating table and watch what you were doing?”
Bang!
Lennok gathered mana and kicked his shoulder, and the clone, unable to withstand the force, fell back against the operating table.
Lennok watched the clone disintegrate, starting from the shoulder where the blood-filled syringe was injected, and spoke.
“The operating room’s internal database has been blocked. Hacking the bio-network that uses neural transmission took some time, but it was on schedule.”
“…”
“There was no conscious link between the clone and the main body from the start, was there? If you intended to violate the oath of a physician, you would have deliberately severed the connection to avoid affecting the main body.”
“Haha, hahahaha…”
Only then did the clone, realizing Lennok had complete control over the information in this space, burst into laughter.
The Conjunction Spell Master’s clone, looking up at Lennok with a blurred gaze, said.
“I see, now I understand why you are still alive… You were walking a tightrope with your life within my Life Domain.”
“…”
“But it will be meaningless. Even if I disappear from this place, my will shall continue.”
Whoosh!
Even as he crumbled into sand, the clone’s eyes were filled only with interest directed at Lennok.
“Even if no information is given, even if there are no clues, ‘I’ will realize the same thing the moment I see you…”
“…”
What the Chimera clone had confirmed from Lennok was not a peculiarity that could only be verified in this place.
It was a sense of incongruity that any spellcaster of that level would inevitably feel the moment they faced and confronted Lennok.
The Conjunction Spell Master’s clone believed that even if he died here, it wouldn’t matter as long as that feeling was conveyed to the main body.
The clone, offering a faint smile as he looked at Lennok, then slowly lowered his head.
“I’ll be waiting in the next life, Evan Martinez.”
Whoosh!
With those words, the clone vanished, turning into a handful of sand.
A different kind of reaction than the Trait-type Chimera that Lennok had forcibly ‘restored’ moments ago.
“The next life…”
It was quite an unexpected word for the Conjunction Spell Master’s clone to leave as a final testament.
Perhaps even the clone, not the Conjunction Spell Master himself, had already transcended humanity in terms of will and mental strength.
Lennok cut short his thoughts and immediately turned his gaze towards the trembling man in one corner of the operating room.
“Hah, hah…”
The man, who had returned from a Chimera to a human, nervously touched his face with trembling hands.
He seemed unable to properly comprehend his own state, having belatedly regained consciousness.
Lennok knelt before the man and met his gaze.
“Snap out of it. Can you speak?”
“I, I am…”
“Your name and affiliation. Or anything you remember. Hold yourself together.”
“…A, a patient room…”
The man answered with difficulty.
“In a patient room… lying down… on the verge of death…”
“Where was the patient room?”
“A passage… leading behind the operating room…”
“I’ll guide you.”
A Chimera made using a human with Trait-type aptitude as material. He must know something about the Conjunction Spell Master.
The moment Lennok helped the man up and was about to rise.
Crunch!
As the man tried to stand, his body crumbled like sand and disintegrated.
“…Ah.”
Only then did the man seem to realize something, looking up at Lennok with a blank expression.
“I, I already died—”
Whoosh…
The man, unable to even properly finish his sentence, turned into a handful of dust.
A miracle had only briefly occurred due to Lennok’s blood; his life had effectively ended the moment he was transmuted into a Chimera.
“…”
Lennok remained silent, then headed towards the corridor where the man had indicated the patient rooms were located.
Small patient rooms where patients rested and recovered after surgery.
Swish!
He opened the door and pulled back the curtain, and an emaciated, white-haired old man on the bed turned his gaze.
“…You.”
His body was terribly shriveled, and his pale complexion seemed entirely devoid of blood.
He must have had a fierce demeanor in his youth, but now not even half of that vigor was visible.
Yet, in his eyes, as he looked back at Lennok, a chilling, sharp pressure could be discerned.
Lennok knew who this man was.
“Yanikus Barbaria [제벽 야니쿠스 바르바리아].”
Lennok said, returning to the patient room and pulling out the tank containing Zelih’s brain from his sub-dimension.
“You were the high-ranking Watcher who booked the Conjunction Spell Master’s surgery.”
The tyrant of Kaiushyu, an 8-level physical ability user. An old hag weakened by a long-standing illness.
And a new Watcher, brought into the Eyes of Blue at the proposal of Gapseon Dreyfus.
[It’s quite amusing that the Tyrant of Kaiushyu has become so frail he needs the Conjunction Spell Master’s surgery.]
The tank floating behind Lennok also reacted upon hearing the name.
[Live long enough and you see all sorts of things… But what about the Conjunction Spell Master’s business?]
“Cough, cough…!! I’ve seen your face at a Lighthouse meeting…”
Yanikus, who had been listening to Lennok, coughed lightly and hunched over. Perhaps the cold air entering from outside the room had worsened his condition.
But Yanikus’s gaze, fixed on Lennok, showed no sign of weakening.
“Evan Martinez… the wizard the Lighthouse Keeper cared for, was it?”
“…”
Yanikus, bracing himself on the bed, slowly pushed his upper body up and grinned.
“I wondered where you’d been wandering after leaving the Eyes of Blue, and you’ve set up shop in a place like this?”
“Talk all you want.”
At Lennok’s approaching, expressionless face, Yanikus looked surprised, then gave a self-deprecating laugh.
“Heheheh…!! I really shouldn’t have gotten surgery. What a waste.”
“…”
“If I had known I’d die here, it would have been better to go out in a drunken stupor— Ugh!”
Bang!
Lennok pushed Yanikus’s shoulder with a finger, and with a light shockwave, Yanikus’s body was knocked back.
Lennok pressed down on Yanikus’s forehead, who was coughing laboriously, and pushed aside his hair.
Yanikus’s expression hardened as Lennok examined his scalp through his disheveled white hair.
“You!! If you’re going to kill me, do it quickly. What are you doing?!”
“Doesn’t look like you got a brain transplant.”
Lennok confirmed there were no sutures on Yanikus’s head and let go.
“You seem to be speaking fine too. What did you have surgery for?”
“Brain transplant, what nonsense…!! I would never undergo such a grotesque procedure.”
[Grotesque, you say? That’s a bit embarrassing to hear.]
Yanikus, having struggled to shake off Lennok’s hand, retorted with an irritable expression.
“If you’re not going to kill me, get out of my way. Now that the surgery’s done, I plan to go taste the Hwacheongru’s Crimson Flower Wine even now.”
[He talks a good game for someone who looks like a dying corpse.]
As Zelih said, Yanikus, who appeared to have just finished surgery, was not in a normal state.
He must have been under anesthesia on the operating table for a long time, making it difficult for his body to endure.
Even now, he was sharpening his words at Lennok, but it was clear his body was not moving as he willed.
“…”
However, Lennok ignored Yanikus’s words, silently contemplating something.
Zelih also seemed to sense that Lennok’s reaction was unusual, turning his left hemisphere within the tank.
[Evan Martinez. What is it?]
“I see. So, the Blaiver Magic Tower Lord replacing Yanikus’s reserved spot at Hwacheongru meant…”
“What are you muttering about?”
Lennok, who had been quietly mumbling to himself, extended his hand towards the operating room’s CCTV.
At that moment, Davi responded to his will, hacking into the camera of main operating room #2.
Whoosh…
A calm, white operating room. A vast, empty space filled with complex surgical machinery and equipment.
The Conjunction Spell Master, in scrubs, stood looking down at the central operating table.
[As I said before, time is short. Let’s start immediately.]
[This is ridiculous, Conjunction Spell Master. What are you talking about now?]
A red-haired man with a pale complexion lay on the operating table, wearing a patient gown.
The Blaiver Magic Tower Lord spoke.
[It was you, wasn’t it, who postponed my surgery, which was originally booked as the first, to the second slot?]
The Blaiver Magic Tower Lord, clad in a patient gown, lay on the Conjunction Spell Master’s operating table.
Lennok understood everything the moment he saw the Conjunction Spell Master and the Tower Lord.
‘So that’s it.’
The Blaiver Magic Tower Lord was one of the two clients who had booked the Conjunction Spell Master’s surgery.
As soon as he realized this, he instantly understood the nature of the incongruity he had felt regarding the Tower Lord.
The reason the Tower Lord, whom he met in the black market, was wary of the Conjunction Spell Master but not of being caught by him.
The reason he had been unusually submissive despite the Conjunction Spell Master’s forceful notification.
All of it was possible because the Tower Lord was the Conjunction Spell Master’s patient.
‘So the reason he was at Hwacheongru instead of the Eyes of Blue Watcher was because the Tower Lord’s and Yanikus’s surgery order had been swapped.’
Why was the Tower Lord handling the schedule instead of the Eyes of Blue Watcher?
It was because the Tower Lord’s appointment, originally booked as the first, had been pushed back after the Watcher’s.
[Surgery time is about 3 hours. That’s how long it will take to cleanse your blood vessels and fill them with coolant.]
[And that includes maintaining my mana circuit, coating it with the prepared catalyst, and repairing it, right?]
Lennok pondered as he listened to the conversation between the two over the video.
‘Since when? Was this an agreement made before the Conjunction Spell Master took his position at the Gateway?’
Even though the Blaiver Magic Tower Lord showed extreme obsession with the Gateway administrator position, he didn’t express anger when the Conjunction Spell Master took it instead.
At the time, Lennok simply thought it was because the Tower Lord feared the Conjunction Spell Master that much, but…
What if conceding the administrator position to the Conjunction Spell Master in the first place was part of a deal for this surgery?
[If you’re ready, let’s start quickly, Conjunction Spell Master. I find it hard to bear this any longer.]
The Tower Lord, lying on the operating table, had bloodshot eyes he couldn’t hide.
The boiling rage within him, it was obvious who it was directed at.
[Just thinking about that damn heretical wizard makes me desperate to regain my power right now…!!!]
[I have considered Evan Martinez’s existence to some extent.]
Despite the Tower Lord’s gritted teeth, the Conjunction Spell Master spoke in a calm tone.
[There’s an inevitability set from the moment he willingly entered my Domain. Several things have already come to fruition… there’s no need to rush.]
[No, I know. You’re mistaken.]
The Tower Lord spat.
[Do you even realize how bizarre it is for that Adamant Thunder fellow to survive a fight with him and be perfectly fine?!]
[…]
[He’s incredibly tenacious. Instead of cutting off his limbs, if you let him off the leash, he will definitely cause trouble…!!]
[I understand your anger. That’s why you’re lying on this operating table right now.]
The Conjunction Spell Master replied indifferently, shining a light on the operating table.
[If you hadn’t been injured fighting Adamant Thunder in Vulcan, I wouldn’t have had to take charge of the Gateway.]
[Even knowing that…!!]
[But what you need to do now is calm down and take a deep breath. You’re too agitated for the anesthetic to work well.]
The Conjunction Spell Master’s gaze towards the Tower Lord became inorganic.
[If I administer the same anesthetic three times to a high-level spellcaster like you, it wouldn’t be strange if you developed a tolerance in the meantime.]
[…]
[You wouldn’t want to wake up in the middle of having all your blood vessels cleansed and removed, would you?]
At the Conjunction Spell Master’s words, devoid of any sympathy, the Tower Lord finally pressed his lips together.
[I’ll handle Evan Martinez… Everything will be over when you wake up.]
The Conjunction Spell Master brought a respirator to the Tower Lord’s mouth, activated the anesthetic equipment, and thick smoke filled the operating table.
As the Tower Lord’s eyes closed, the Conjunction Spell Master brought down the scalpel he was holding.
With a sound of cutting, all sorts of mechanical devices spread over the operating table began to buzz busily.
Slice, slice!
The sound of cutting and slicing flesh. The noise of removing organs and extracting and cleaning blood vessels beneath them.
Each time the Tower Lord’s limp hand trembled, the surrounding air rapidly increased in temperature.
Hiss!
Steam rose instantly as the scalpel touched a blood vessel.
An 8-level pyrokinesis-type Archwizard. It was no exaggeration to say that the Tower Lord’s body had already assimilated with the pyrokinesis attribute.
Falling blood turned into flames and oxidized, and the heat emanating from his internal organs boiled, becoming steam.
But the Conjunction Spell Master, through the obscuring steam, still cut open blood vessels and scraped out the foreign matter clinging inside.
Thud, thud, thud!
Ash-like residue, as if the inside of the blood vessels had burned and fused. The moment the melted ash clumps on the tip of the forceps shot out of the blood vessel, they burst into fierce flames.
Had he truly carried such severe internal injuries from his encounter with Lennok in Vulcan?
The Tower Lord’s combat power shown in the black market, with his entire body’s blood vessels covered in ash, felt all the more remarkable in retrospect.
It must have been possible because the Blaiver Magic Tower Lord was also a grandmaster whose talent was unmatched anywhere.
But what truly surprised Lennok was not the Tower Lord’s injury, but the Conjunction Spell Master’s skill itself in operating on him.
‘Astonishing.’
Lennok’s face was filled with undisguised admiration as he watched the Conjunction Spell Master’s movements, cutting and scraping blood vessels.
‘To dissect an entire living human body while keeping them alive. That’s not a feat a human can achieve.’
Conjunction Spellcraft doesn’t aid in cutting or dissecting targets.
The process of dissecting the Tower Lord’s body alive and removing his blood vessels was entirely achieved by Avesta Chapman’s own ability.
But even without using spellcraft, the Conjunction Spell Master was perfectly continuing the surgery while keeping the Tower Lord alive.
This was irrefutable proof of the Conjunction Spell Master’s outstanding medical knowledge, skill, and surgical prowess.
“Good.”
Having confirmed the Conjunction Spell Master’s face, now perfectly concentrated, Lennok withdrew his gaze without lingering and turned around.
“Let’s move immediately. This is the only chance.”
[Ugh. My stomach churns even without one.]
He had killed the Conjunction Spell Master’s Chimera clone, but the clone’s information had not yet been shared with the main body.
This was likely because the connection between the main body and the clone had been deliberately severed to allow the clone to diagnose Lennok and violate the oath of a physician.
At this point, where the Conjunction Spell Master himself was unaware of the clone’s death and had begun the second surgery.
This was the only moment to obtain the Veil Fragment undisturbed.
“Take this. Barbaria.”
“Cough, cough…!!”
Lennok placed a small vial of medicine on Yanikus’s sickbed, and Yanikus, who had been coughing weakly, asked.
“What are you planning to do?”
“It’s a panacea to boost a physical ability user’s condition. A liquid concoction of mana and elixirs.”
“I don’t need it.”
“No, keep it. It’s not like I’m giving it to you because I particularly want you to live, either.”
Lennok said coldly, looking down at Yanikus’s face.
“If I had my way, whether you died here or not, I wouldn’t care…”
“…”
Yanikus Barbaria lay on the sickbed, looking exhausted.
But Yanikus was a tyrant who had killed and exploited innocent people for his own desires in Kaiushyu.
It was also true that there was no reason to specifically try to save him here.
But Lennok, even as he thought so, let out a small sigh.
“If the number of Watchers decreases any further, it will put a burden on Lapis.”
“…You.”
Yanikus looked slightly surprised and raised his gaze.
“This is ridiculous. Even after leaving the Eyes of Blue, you still care about the Lighthouse Keeper?”
“…”
“If you cared that much, why did you quit being a Watcher and…”
“That’s all I have to say. Take that and escape when I give the signal.”
Lennok turned away without a second thought.
“Live. You wouldn’t want to die here after all that surgery, would you?”
“…”
Yanikus, who had been silent, eventually reached out and clutched the vial.
Looking at the vial with a sullen expression, he asked.
“What kind of signal do you plan to give?”
“Well, it won’t be hard to understand.”
Lennok smirked and exited the operating room.
Hot flames flickered between Lennok’s fingers as he slowly loosened his hand.
“Because as soon as I’m done, I plan to blow up this grotesque operating room.”