Chapter 1014: Milestone (1)
“If a vacancy appears in the position of the Grand Ability User who constructs the Collective Psychic Network, the Zero Seat will become aware.”
A superhuman who burst in immediately after Lennok retracted the Celestial Flower’s Myriad-League Fragrance Domain and burned the Conjunction Spell Master’s Life Domain.
At the same time, superhumans with powerful psychic waves began to surround Lennok from various parts of the ruins.
“With Mikal Zelih and the Sixth Seat O’Edon neutralized, Zero Seat Ophelia awakened and recognized your presence.”
“…”
“Therefore, the necessity arose to bring you in, even if by somewhat drastic means.”
So, a special unit belonging to the Ability Awakening Warband, moving as an elite few and carrying out solo operations.
Considering their appearance right now, before Lennok’s eyes, they were probably created as tools to hunt and eliminate powerful superhumans.
“Ability Awakening Warband Thirteenth Seat, Rebid Awler. Master of Golden Mechanisms, and in the name of the Annihilation Squad, I will—”
Rebid, the silver-haired man, tilted his head towards Lennok, who was looking around.
“What have you been looking at all this time?”
“…!!!”
CRACK!
As thick rebar spun like a drill, concentric shockwaves erupted.
Lennok’s body slid through the ruined cityscape.
Rebid looked down at Lennok, who had slightly lowered his head, and smirked.
“As expected, your reaction speed has been excellent this whole time. Not like a wizard, is it?”
“…”
“Even high-ranking spellcasters usually can’t maintain their vigilance when this exhausted.”
RUMBLE!
As he swept back his disheveled silver hair, metal gathered from all directions began to rotate behind Rebid’s back.
Solid metal enveloped Rebid’s entire body, transforming into thin, light armor.
A superhuman capable of manipulating metal to freely change its form.
Metal manipulation, considered among the top for versatility even within matter manipulation abilities.
Lennok also knew, through Olinic, how tricky a power metal manipulation was.
“No matter how strong one’s mental fortitude, when the body is pushed to its limits, thoughts naturally become narrow-minded… but you seem to be free from such concepts.”
“You speak as if you’ve killed many wizards before.”
Lennok, having instantly recognized the opponent’s identity and affiliation, stood up and spoke.
“Were you planning to nullify all our cooperation until now, just to bring me to the Zero Seat?”
“Cooperation? You seem to be mistaken.”
As Rebid stomped and leaped, a heavy roar echoed across the ground.
The man slowly walked forward, waving a hand at Lennok as he spoke.
“The only comrades the Ability Awakening Warband accepts are fellow ability users. Blessed wizards like you aren’t even considered in the first place.”
“So you planned to handle the deal to retrieve Mikal Zelih’s brain this way from the very beginning.”
“Regarding that, I apologize to Bernard.”
Rebid gave a cold smile.
“Unlike Bernard, we don’t trust non-ability users. How can one trust someone who doesn’t share the same pain?”
“…”
“The pain of being treated like an unpredictable bomb and ostracized from the moment of birth. That is the origin and essence of the Warband.”
The discrimination of innate ability users against non-ability users. It wasn’t entirely unexpected.
The subtle attitude other superhumans displayed towards Bernard when Lennok sought him out at the tavern.
The ‘circumstance’ that Angel vaguely referred to and postponed explaining back then must have been related to the Warband’s attitude towards non-ability users.
“While opinions within the Warband are divided, Zero Seat Ophelia leaves the treatment of non-ability users to the discretion of those in the field.”
CLANG!
Rebid, who had wrapped his arm in solid metal and raised it, spoke.
“Evan Martinez. I’ve certainly heard of your reputation, but this battle at the Gateway is the first time I could confirm it myself… And that makes you too dangerous.”
Rebid’s eyes, fixed intently, gleamed with cold killing intent.
“A wizard defeated by Adamant Thunder managed to fight and kill the Conjunction Spell Master one-on-one. Can you imagine the repercussions that fact will have on this front?”
“…”
“At this point, with Sixth Seat O’Edon defeated, if you stand at the forefront of the Gateway, we will lose control. That would be a great threat even to our comrades in the Warband.”
So, factions both friendly and hostile to non-ability users coexist within the Warband.
It wouldn’t be strange then, that a high-ranking executive, roughly the Eleventh Seat of the Warband, stepped in belatedly.
No, rather, their intervention at this very moment is proof of their exceptional ability.
“Were you aiming from the start for Ballak O’Edon to be defeated, and for the engagement to reach a lull?”
“It’s ironic, isn’t it? His defeat in the engagement with the Conjunction Spell Master gave us a legitimate reason to intervene.”
WHOOSH!!!
Lennok felt the psychic waves emanating from the other superhumans pressing down on the entire area.
The construction of a force field that went beyond merely suppressing ability activation, making the manipulation of will-thought difficult.
Was this why they had been stalling for time while talking to Lennok?
“What happened today in this Gateway City violated the unwritten rules of the Central Front in many ways. But thanks to that, we’ve also gained this opportunity.”
“…”
“Immediately after the engagement with the Conjunction Spell Master ended. At this moment, with your Domain retracted. If not now, having scraped the bottom of your mana reserves, it would be impossible to catch a monster like you.”
CLANG!
The moment Rebid clenched his fist, countless metal projectiles rose from all directions, aiming at Lennok.
Waves of psychic power seemed ready to pour down on Lennok, standing alone in the ruined street.
Rebid laughed, looking at Lennok’s disheveled appearance.
“It’s not a request, but it would be best not to resist. There’s no need for your limbs to be intact to make you kneel before the Zero Seat.”
“…I see.”
Lennok replied, raising his gaze.
The Ability Awakening Warband was a super-large force, one of the few that could be counted on one hand in terms of scale and prestige, even in the Central region.
It was impossible to judge such an organization by a single standard and distinguish friend from foe.
That’s why, despite the Warband’s notoriety, Lennok had tried to uphold his promises to them, but—
Lennok, who had been silently looking up at the darkening sky, murmured.
“There’s no reason for me to overlook you just because I promised Bernard.”
[Explosive Flame Orb]
BOOM!
Flames that erupted from the other side of the street rapidly condensed and blew a superhuman’s head apart.
The corpse, cleanly incinerated above the neck, staggered and slumped to the ground.
“…!!!”
An ultra-fast incantation that allowed no time for reaction, even with the force field deployed to restrict will-thought manipulation.
As the others flinched at the unrealistic speed, Lennok, pulling out an elixir from his pocket, spoke.
“I’ll interrogate Bernard about this later; for now, let’s take care of what needs to be done.”
“Cheonbeon…!!!”
“I’ll kill you.”
A death threat devoid of any emotion.
At Lennok’s chilling declaration, the superhumans, feeling a cold dread as if their hearts had been pierced, recoiled.
Seeing this, Rebid clicked his tongue and stepped forward.
“…Right. It wouldn’t make sense to hunt a great wizard without putting in this much effort.”
WHOOSH!!!
Following Rebid’s gesture, the floating metal projectiles began to spin.
“I’ll take the lead. Everyone, move!!”
Hundreds of metal projectiles fired towards Lennok, and Rebid accelerated even faster.
Enhanced elemental super abilities rained down upon the force field deployed by superhumans all around.
Amidst the rain of bullets and the activation of various super abilities, Lennok slowly drew forth his mana.
The moment Lennok, with the blazing curtain at his back, turned towards the pouring killing intent.
“Tsk… vermin.”
With a soft click of the tongue, something pale-white slammed into Rebid’s body at incredible speed.
CRASH!!!
A sprint surpassing the speed of sound. A murderous weight, as if a bumper truck had slammed into a person.
Rebid raised steel plates with astonishing reaction speed, but he couldn’t stop it.
CRACK!
The steel plate ripped from beneath his feet shattered, revealing a gaunt-faced old man.
“You…!!!”
“Be silent.”
Before Rebid could say anything, the old man spread his palm and placed it against Rebid’s side.
With just that, Rebid’s armor crumpled, and his body was sent crashing to the other side of the street.
BOOM!!!
The old man, who had sent Rebid flying with shockwaves that crushed the very air, stood before Lennok, his long robes fluttering.
Lennok, confirming the face of the old man in white robes, murmured.
“…Barbaria.”
Yanikus Barbaria, the high-ranking Watcher of the Eyes of Blue who had surgery in the Conjunction Spell Master’s operating theater.
So the Tyrant of Kaiushyu, whom he had released from the operating theater, was still in this city?
“I wondered why you sought out the Gateway, but you sided with these Warband thugs?”
The old man looked back at Lennok with a look of disdain.
“To associate with mere stock full of self-righteousness who don’t even consider anyone but fellow ability users as human – your judgment seems not even to reach the tip of your powers.”
“…”
A strange rebuke that seemed to thoroughly belittle Lennok while simultaneously highly praising his actual skill.
Did he also know that Lennok had fought and defeated the Conjunction Spell Master?
“I told you to escape quietly and not do anything unnecessary.”
Lennok, putting the elixir pellet he was about to swallow back into his pocket, retorted.
“It hasn’t even been half a day since your surgery. Do you want to die?”
“Ha! This measly heart disease. At this point, I don’t particularly care.”
Yanikus snorted and thumped his chest.
“Since I entrusted even my surgery to that Conjunction Spell Master, if I die here, it must be my destiny.”
“…”
“Stand up. I shall personally guide you outside the Gateway City.”
Leaving the superhumans surrounding him, Yanikus turned around.
“I, Yanikus Barbaria, do not forget a favor, even if received from a commoner whom I ought to command.”
His flamboyant robes fluttering, he glared at the superhumans with his hands clasped behind his back.
“I shall duly assist you so that you may meet that Lighthouse Keeper again.”
“…You seem to be mistaken.”
Yanikus’s intervention itself didn’t matter, but Lennok had no intention of returning to the Eyes of Blue.
The moment Lennok was about to open his mouth to clear up the unnecessary misunderstanding.
“What touching solidarity.”
CRASH!
The tilted tavern collapsed explosively, and Rebid walked out.
“It’s sickening to watch you Watchers lick each other’s wounds.”
Rebid, clad in solid steel like gigantic bones, smiled coldly as he looked at Yanikus and Lennok.
“Yanikus Barbaria. What difference do you think it will make if a human like you joins the Lighthouse Keeper’s mission?”
“Shut up, you vermin.”
“…”
Rebid’s expression turned dumbfounded at Yanikus’s sudden outburst.
Yanikus narrowed his eyes, looking down on Rebid as he spoke.
“How dare those who rely on a madwoman like Ophelia lecture anyone?”
“Hey, old man.”
At Yanikus’s words, brazenly disparaging Ophelia, Rebid’s expression turned cold.
“You’d better watch your mouth. Don’t you know the Zero Seat might be watching us here?”
“Even if she were watching with cross-eyed vision, it wouldn’t bother me.”
Yanikus stepped forward, sneering.
“Why would I fear an epileptic who can’t even keep her own limbs in check?”
“…I’ll kill you.”
The grim-faced Rebid raised his psychic waves, and the other superhumans synchronized with him.
Leaving a minimal number of personnel to maintain the force field, everyone else moved to form a battle line.
As the superhumans, who had surrounded the two from front and back, closed the gap, Lennok spoke.
“Barbaria. Take on that metal ability user. I’ll kill the other ability users.”
“The engagement with the Conjunction Spell Master must have been taxing, then. Have you lost the nerve to take on the strong ones?”
“Because of personal circumstances, I need to kill as many Warband members as possible.”
Mikal Zelih said that the lives of Warband members were needed to take over the Ritual Weapon: Fluorescent Star.
Since he didn’t know how many lives would be required for the transfer process, it was best to make as much effort as possible.
Although he had recovered about half his mana, his body had not yet fully recovered.
If he could get Yanikus’s help, things would be much easier.
“Well, fine. As it happens, I have something I want to test.”
Yanikus snorted and pulled a small bottle from his pocket.
“That elixir you gave me. If it’s not as effective as you guaranteed, you’ll be in for a scolding.”
“…You were still saving that?”
The moment Lennok replied with a dumbfounded expression, Yanikus, bottle in hand, guzzled its contents.
The moment the rapidly approaching ability users, gripping flames and psychic waves in both hands, lunged at Yanikus.
BOOM!!
Crimson mana erupted explosively, instantly pushing the superhumans back.
“Ugh…!!”
“What pressure…!!”
The ability users had no time to react to the sudden release of mana.
Yanikus, wreathed in crimson eye-glow, darted through the superhumans and vanished, and the limbs of those he touched twisted and snapped.
CRUNCH!!
The Tyrant who once ruled Kaiushyu. Yanikus Barbaria was a physical ability user who had reached Level 8.
Among them, he was a martial artist who had reached mastery using bare-handed combat techniques and joint locks.
Every technique he performed, using his body as a weapon, was a killing art that tore human bodies apart.
CRRRACK!!
Touching human bodies produced a gruesome sound, like ancient trees twisting and splitting.
All around, superhumans began to collapse on the spot with desperate screams.
“Aaaargh!!”
“M-my leg…!!”
“Scream more, you vermin…!!”
A pure, childlike smile had already bloomed on Yanikus’s lips.
He looked as if he couldn’t bear the sheer joy of this very moment, crushing human bodies.
His innate disposition was that of a villain who loved to kill, and his methods reflected it.
The moment Yanikus, who had instantly crushed over a dozen ability users, reached out to the remaining ones.
Heavy metal pillars fell in front of and behind Yanikus, and Rebid punched Yanikus in the face.
CRASH!!
Beyond the fluttering flamboyant robes, Yanikus and Rebid’s gazes met simultaneously.
“I heard you were a dying old man, but you’re quite spry. Must be the effect of that medicine you just guzzled?”
“Killing fresh-faced young blood like you makes my vitality surge, you see.”
“Let’s see how long you can keep spewing senile nonsense…!!”
TATATATA!
Surrounding Rebid and Yanikus, dozens of metal pillars slammed down.
Within the metal cage created around the two, Yanikus and Rebid’s fists clashed.
BOOM!!
Rebid’s protective metal armor exploded, revealing his bruised bare skin.
Sharp metal projectiles rained down, tearing Yanikus’s robes.
Arms and shoulders clashed tightly, pushing them back, then instantly closing the distance and locking together again.
CRACK-CRACK!
Each time, gruesome sounds of joints, bones, ligaments, and muscles tearing echoed from their bodies.
“…!!!”
“Old man!! Is this all you’ve got?”
Yanikus’s pale face, and Rebid fiercely pressing him back.
Lennok, who had been unleashing scorching flames upon the other superhumans, tilted his head, watching them.
He could endure muscle and ligament damage, but bone fractures couldn’t be sustained for long.
Yet Rebid continued fighting, even as his entire body was being crushed by Yanikus’s joint locks.
“Could it be that he’s had all his bones modified into metal?”
CRASH!
He pressed Yanikus back, pushing his body to ricochet between the metal pillars.
He slammed his fist down on the white robes, pounding the aged body.
“You said heart disease, right? Your pulse looks a bit weak; should I perform some CPR?!!”
“Kuh…!!! What ridiculous nonsense…!!”
BANG! BANG!!
Without even thinking of recovering his writhing body, Yanikus looked down at Rebid.
In Yanikus’s eyes, as he watched Rebid maniacally focusing on striking, there was an undisguised sneer.
“Your lowly imagination can only reach that far, I suppose.”
“What?”
CRACK!
At that moment, Rebid’s neck rotated counter-clockwise and snapped cleanly.
“G-g-gh…!!”
“Did you truly believe that merely turning your bones into metal would protect and restore you?”
Yanikus, grasping the neck of the slumped Rebid, gave a vicious smile.
“If you rub and contract the muscles, and twist the nerves, no matter how sturdy the skeleton, it cannot endure. You’ve learned martial arts incorrectly.”
“…!!”
“Even if you had kept your distance and responded with metal manipulation, it wouldn’t have been enough, yet you dared to challenge me in close combat?”
CRASH!!
Yanikus shattered the metal pillar in one go and kicked Rebid, speaking.
“I’ll rip your head off.”
“Lord Rebid…!!!”
The superhumans, who had been helplessly pushed back by Lennok, desperately called his name, but there was no way to stop it.
The moment Rebid, unable to rise from the shock of his neck being twisted backward, gritted his teeth.
“Ah~ Everyone, halt.”
WHOOSH!
With a languid female voice, Yanikus’s body froze in place.
Gigantic bat wings flapped, covering the sky, and the ground instantly grew dark.
“Good. I’m not too late, am I?”
The ruins strewn with superhuman corpses.
On the battlefield where metal pillars were bent and broken, a woman casually draped an arm over Yanikus’s shoulder.
Flamboyant makeup unsuited for a battlefield. Blood, thickly painted around her eyes like mascara.
“No, but I arrived at the Gateway and it wasn’t Cheonbeon fighting, but some strange old man.”
The woman giggled, tilting her head towards Yanikus.
“You should explain what’s going on, shouldn’t you? Don’t you think?”
“…Who are you?”
Yanikus slowly shook off the woman’s arm, gritting his teeth as he turned his head.
Though injured, Yanikus himself hadn’t even noticed her approach.
Despite having bat wings tens of meters long on her back, her stealthy mobility was abnormally high.
A strange sense of dissonance, as if she were not quite human despite her human form.
Lennok, who had just thrown aside the superhuman corpse he had incinerated, turned his gaze with a hardened expression.
“You…”
A face he’d never seen.
But the moment he saw the woman with the flamboyant makeup, the stigmata carved on his right wrist throbbed.
The High Priestess’s authority left by Priestess Seina Naydree. The stigmata, serving as its proof, reacting meant that—
“Ta-da~ I’m an Apostle~”
WHOOSH!
The woman grabbed Yanikus by the collar and flung him away.
At the same time, she kicked the neck-snapped Rebid in the stomach, sending him flying.
CRASH!!!
With the two superhumans, flung dozens of meters in opposite directions and buried behind the ruins, the woman smiled broadly.
“Guido Cult’s Seventh Apostle, Lariata Armush. Appearing by order of the Main Branch!”
“…”
“And you are…”
The Seventh Apostle’s eyes, slowly turning towards Lennok, instantly filled with cold hatred.
“The Apostle-Slayer bastard who killed our cute little sister, Amrita?”