Chapter 1015: The Landmark (2)
“I came as fast as I could, but it seems I’m a little late.”
Shwooo…!!
The sky gradually darkened. A melodious woman’s voice echoed from amidst the smoke-filled ruins.
“I heard those abominable Apostle-Slayers were killing each other, so I rushed over to watch. Oh, what a pity~”
“…”
“Well, now that I think about it, things turning out this way might not be so bad.”
The woman smiled sweetly, her face adorned with vibrant, blood-red makeup. But everyone gathered there could not easily respond to her words.
The Seventh Apostle of the Guido Cult, Lariata Armush. No one had anticipated that one of the top ten strongest individuals within the Cult would suddenly intervene on the battlefield at this moment.
“The Cult…!! They’ve lost their minds.”
Rebid Awler, the metal-type superhuman who had been struck down by Yanikus Barbaria, gritted his teeth and glared at Lariata.
“This is Order Alliance territory. For you, who are at war with the Alliance, to intervene…!!”
“Quiet. What do I care?”
The bat wings attached to Lariata’s back struck Rebid Awler at incredible speed.
Clang!!!
The impact rippled across the metal plates Rebid Awler had erected, and the plates shattered like glass, crumbling down.
“Kuhak…!!”
Unable to withstand the recoil of the ability, Rebid Awler bowed his head and vomited. Internal injuries that hadn’t been visible even after suffering a neck injury in his fight with Yanikus Barbaria. The Seventh Apostle, who had incapacitated Rebid Awler with a single flap of her wings, cackled.
“How can this still be Order Alliance territory when the Conjunction Spell Master is dead? Did something happen to your head?”
“…”
“I heard the Ability Awakening Warband was preoccupied with assaulting the Calamity of the Four Heavenly Fiery Demonic Mirrors, so it seems they managed to spare some forces to manage the Gateway.”
Thwack!!
With a single gesture from Lariata, the head of a superhuman, who had been retreating nervously, was ripped off. The Seventh Apostle, gripping the superhuman’s head in one hand, tightened her grip with a cold smile.
“Or is it possible thanks to Ophelia’s disgusting ability?”
Crunch…!!
Under Lariata’s grip, the human head, skull and all, was crushed and pulverized. As Rebid Awler gritted his teeth and mustered his will-thought to face the gruesome sight, Lennok observed the Seventh Apostle from nearby.
‘It’s impossible to gauge her rank. Is she no longer human?’
Her swiftness in immediately rushing to the scene upon sensing the Conjunction Spell Master’s death. Her stealth in arriving at the Gateway City, bypassing the detection of countless powerhouses, hidden in the darkening sky. She was clearly a formidable powerhouse, yet it was difficult to discern her true level or rank. Perhaps it was because the Seventh Apostle, Lariata Armush, had already fallen so far that she could no longer be categorized by rank. The massive bat wings attached to her back. These were part of her true body, a mutation that occurred when Lariata awakened as an Incarnation Body of the apocalypse. Like the Tenth Apostle Amrita Fraubel’s rabbit giant or the Sixth Apostle Anathema’s goat-headed dragon-man, her essence must be akin to a bat.
‘She didn’t hide her wings. She’s become so mad that she can’t hide them anymore, a true monster.’
The Seventh Apostle was so broken that she could no longer maintain separate human and monstrous forms. While she appeared capable of conversation on the surface, inside, she was already a decaying monster. Having reached that conclusion, Lennok glanced back at Yanikus Barbaria, who lay collapsed in the distance.
‘If the Ability Awakening Warband and the Apostle aren’t on the same side, now’s the only chance.’
Lennok escaping alone wouldn’t be an issue, but Yanikus Barbaria’s presence was important. Though he didn’t particularly like Yanikus Barbaria’s nature, at least he had tried to help Lennok here.
“Ah, wait a moment!”
At that instant, Lariata, who had abruptly turned her head towards Lennok, shouted.
“Don’t move. I know exactly what you’re thinking.”
“…”
“Honestly, I’m not really interested in these tasteless blood-clots. My real target is you.”
The moment the Seventh Apostle stretched out her hand towards the sky, the bat wings wrapped around her arm. As the wings retracted with a sound like something being vomited, Lariata held something in her hand.
Thump!!
A massive greatsword, easily taller than Lariata herself. Its blood-red blade curved like an axe on both sides, an atrocious shape designed to tear humans apart. Lariata, gripping the summoned greatsword, swung it lightly, unleashing a fierce gust of wind through the ruins.
Whoosh!!!
A weight that crushed its surroundings by its mere presence. A blade wider than Lariata’s own body. The wind expelled by her swing tore at the ground, and the moment Lennok unconsciously raised his arm.
Whoosh!
Lariata’s flamboyant face was suddenly right before Lennok.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Evan Martinez.”
“…”
“The great wizard who gained fame by killing Priestess Isel Naydree and my younger sister Amrita in the Far Eastern Branch, wasn’t it?”
Lariata muttered, digging in her ear with her long fingernails.
“I did hear about it, but I don’t quite remember it well since I was out of my mind at the time.”
“I did hear that few Apostles maintain their sanity within the Cult.”
Lennok replied, looking at Lariata’s extravagant makeup.
“You must have already been broken.”
“Oh, you know quite a lot, don’t you?”
Lariata cackled, tilting her head back. Lariata, who had casually propped the massive greatsword on her shoulder like a toy, spoke.
“Well, if you killed Amrita, then you must have seen all sorts of terrible things, so it’s only natural, I suppose.”
“…”
“It’s hard for me to maintain my consciousness for long. Every time I come to, months have passed, so my sense of time is completely numb, you could say.”
The Seventh Apostle tapped her forehead with one hand and laughed.
“I was just waiting for the day I’d turn into pig feed, saying ‘whatever happens, happens’~ but our Priestess is someone who really likes recycling.”
“Priestess?”
The Cult’s new Priestess, Ureka Naydree. The authority she had been granted was the power to control mad Apostles according to her will. But could it be that she could even temporarily restore humanity to an Apostle who had already become a monster?
“Well, you don’t need to know that much.”
Lariata grinned, revealing sharp fangs beneath her lips.
“I just wanted to tell someone the touching story of how I, Lariata, miraculously returned to the field.”
“…”
Bat wings and fangs. Blood-red makeup and long fingernails. She didn’t even seem to try to hide them. She was undoubtedly a being born a vampire who became an Apostle.
‘Was it this woman who killed the Conjunction Spell Master?’
During the three-way meeting between the Pontiff, the Director, and Lennok. Ureka Naydree had mentioned during the preparations for the meeting that the Seventh Apostle had killed the Order Alliance’s Conjunction Spell Master and plundered his spellcraft. Lennok couldn’t show any reaction since he was there as Adamant Thunder, but it made sense if Lariata was a vampire. The Apostle’s authority related to vampirism. If she plundered the Conjunction Spell Master’s spellcraft through that, it wouldn’t be entirely impossible.
“I’m not particularly curious about the past of a beast devoured by faith.”
Lennok replied slowly, gradually beginning to retreat. Watching Lariata naturally approach and maintain her distance, Lennok asked.
“So, is your story over?”
“No, I told you, Apostle-Slayer.”
Lariata shrugged her shoulders.
“I came to see the face of the bastard who killed our Amrita, didn’t I?”
“…!!”
Lariata’s greatsword, hidden between her shoulder blades, spun at a subsonic speed. It tore through the ground beneath Lennok’s feet, unleashing a powerful cleave.
Boom!!!
The blood-stained cleave erupted diagonally, cutting across the ruined ash-strewn field. A field where grey-white ash scattered like snow from all directions. At the end of it, Lariata cackled.
“Yahoo~ Your face is pretty good, much better than I expected, huh? If it weren’t for the smell, I would have sucked your blood down to the marrow!!”
“That’s not something I can just let slide.”
Thump!!
Lennok, walking out of the ash, rubbed his shoulder with a tired expression.
“No matter how dirty I get, I don’t think I’d smell worse than a monster who eats people.”
“No, the Apostle-Slayer’s blood smells a bit unpleasant.”
Lariata said, raising her greatsword.
“When I vampirize, I smell the dead Apostle. It feels disgusting, like I’m cannibalizing my own kind, doesn’t it?”
“An interesting answer. Do you consider Apostles your own kind, rather than vampires?”
Lennok slowly lowered his stance, drawing up his mana.
“The Apostle I killed wouldn’t have… considered a filthy bat their own kind.”
“…Hehe.”
Lariata’s lips, which had been smiling, stretched grotesquely wide.
“You’re swaying as if you’re about to collapse, yet your talk is quite impressive.”
“…”
“Let’s see if your skills are just as good.”
Goooooh…!!
The chilling silence just before battle. Flames and ash rained down from the increasingly darkening sky. The distance to Lariata, who readjusted her greatsword in the distance, was around 50 meters. But Lennok knew that such a distance meant nothing to an Apostle. If Lariata Armush was a vampire, she must have possessed considerable physical abilities even before becoming an Apostle.
‘In the worst case, she might also be using Blood Magic… No, that’s a certainty.’
Her very appearance on this battlefield without a trace was proof that she wasn’t merely a physically capable individual. As someone capable of killing the Order Alliance’s Conjunction Spell Master, it was highly probable she possessed considerable aptitude for spellcraft.
Screeeech…!!!
The Seventh Apostle’s bat wings spread out several tens of meters wide, then contracted. The moment they explosively expanded, propelling Lariata’s form upward.
Lennok, turning his back without hesitation, leaped through space and began to flee.
“…Huh?”
Flash, flash, flash!!
Using Flicker, he instantly crossed the battlefield and gripped Yanikus Barbaria’s nape.
[Radiant Flame Step] [Advance]
Flaming petals falling from the sky aligned beneath Lennok’s feet, rapidly accelerating his form.
Whoosh!!!
Lennok’s retreating figure, having recovered Yanikus Barbaria’s body and escaping in the blink of an eye.
“Ah~ Is that how you’re going to play?”
Lariata, who had been staring blankly at him, spread her wings with a chilling smile.
“I treated you with some respect as an opponent, and you toy with my feelings?!”
Thwoom!!!
As the bat wings narrowed vertically, Lariata’s form accelerated. She began to chase Lennok at incredible speed, piercing through the ruins of Gateway City.
Thump-thump-thump!!!
The shadows of the Seventh Apostle and Lennok instantly rampaged and blasted through the ruins. Lennok’s form accelerated, turning directions as it cut through the burnt and incinerated debris of buildings. Yanikus Barbaria’s body, held by the nape, also shook violently, following his movements.
“Kuh…!! You bastard, what are you doing…!!”
Yanikus Barbaria, finally unable to suppress his vomiting of blood, roared.
“To flee in front of the enemy, do you still call yourself the strongest Watcher of the Eyes of Blue?!”
“I don’t recall receiving such an embarrassing title.”
Avoiding Lariata’s pursuit, he caught and grasped the flaming petals falling from the sky.
“My mana has recovered somewhat, but my body is less than half of what it should be. More importantly—”
The moment he turned, scattering flames at his feet to increase the blaze, a pale radiance flashed from beyond the ruins.
Peeeww…!!
Thud, thud, thud!!
The Prayer Spellcraft used by the Cult. At the same time, Correction Knights and high-ranking priests appeared from outside the district.
“Chase the Apostle-Slayer!!”
“We must bring his corpse to the Main Branch today…!!”
Priests scurried through the ruined streets, searching for Lennok’s trail. Lennok, hidden behind a collapsed pillar, gestured.
“The Apostle being here means the Cult’s priests have already arrived at Gateway City.”
“…”
“The situation isn’t different elsewhere. Look.”
Rumble, rumble, rumble…!!
A brilliant pillar of flame, not Lennok’s own flame magic, erupted from the direction of the half-destroyed black market. A tank fused with tentacles, spewing fire, appeared from where the search party’s infirmary should have been. The Blaiver Magic Tower’s Pyro-Sappers. The Headro Warlords’ fallen monsters. The Cult’s priests, and mercenary groups who had gathered, seizing the opportunity.
“Fighting the Seventh Apostle here would be a meaningless war of attrition. I have no intention of doing good deeds for the others.”
His body, battered from the fight with the Conjunction Spell Master and only just beginning to recover, how much more could he fight? Although his depleted mana had recovered with the full bloom of Celestial Flower’s Myriad-League Fragrance, fighting when his body couldn’t support it would be suicide. If he hadn’t used Body Isolation Barrier, he wouldn’t have been able to move normally like this in the first place.
“I have what I came for, so I’m leaving the city. If I’ve killed enough Ability Awakening Warband members, there shouldn’t be any problem with the inheritance of the ritual weapon—”
There was no need to cling to Gateway City any longer once his objective was achieved. The moment Lennok confirmed the bat wings smashing through the ash-strewn district in the distance and accelerated.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!!
Dozens of metal pillars slammed down in a line, relentlessly chasing Lennok. Superhumans leaped from the bending metal pillars, pursuing Lennok.
“…Ability Awakening Warband.”
“Wizard. Where do you think you’re running off to alone?”
Crash!!
Rebid Awler, who appeared from beside the ruined street, stomped his foot, unleashing a storm of countless metal fragments from beneath. At the same time, buildings and fortress remnants blocking the way were pushed aside, instantly closing the distance. Lennok changed direction, avoiding the superhumans rushing from all sides. Watching Lennok evade pursuit by alternating deceleration and acceleration, Rebid Awler sneered.
“We didn’t account for an Apostle’s intervention, but capturing you and escaping won’t be a problem.”
“…”
“If you come with us willingly now, the Ability Awakening Warband might even protect you—”
Boom!!
At that moment, a projectile flying from somewhere struck Rebid Awler’s face. He transformed his armor with incredible reaction speed to block the projectile, but Rebid Awler’s form lost its balance and was thrown backward.
Crash!!
A listless, middle-aged man’s voice echoed above Lennok’s head.
“Honestly, why are there so many idiots in our Ability Awakening Warband?”
“Bernard…!!!”
The moment Rebid Awler, having identified the culprit who fired the projectile, gritted his teeth and stood up. A thick chill instantly froze Rebid Awler’s arms and legs to the ground, stopping him.
Crack, crack, crack!!!
“Evan. Over here!!”
“…Angel.”
“I’ve prepared an escape route, so let’s head back to Vulcan. The Chairman is waiting.”
Angel, whose body was half-made of ice, was gesturing to Lennok, sweat dripping profusely.
“Could you just lower the temperature a little before that? My whole body feels like it’s melting right now.”
“I don’t think this is the time for jokes.”
“Bernard. Are you taking the side of a non-ability user as a member of the Ability Awakening Warband?!”
Crash!!
As Lennok lowered the output of his Radiant Flame Step, Rebid Awler, who had shattered the ice and stood up, roared.
“You’ve been blinded by Pioneer’s fame! Is defying Zero Seat Ophelia’s message truly for the good of the Ability Awakening Warband?!”
“Since when was backstabbing a Watcher who just finished a fight for the good of the Ability Awakening Warband?”
Bernard, reloading a cannon on the half-burnt, melted fortress wall, retorted.
“The Conjunction Spell Master’s death is enough to report to the higher-ups today. Don’t you know how dangerous it would be if Evan Martinez died here?”
“…!!”
“Though he left the Eyes of Blue, he was the Watcher the Lighthouse Keeper cherished most. If the Ability Awakening Warband laid a hand on him, it would cause perpetual antagonism with the Eyes of Blue.”
Click, Bernard, who had loaded a new projectile and aimed it at the ground beneath his feet, said.
“I don’t think Zero Seat Ophelia would be too pleased with that, either.”
“This…!!”
Boom!!!!
Before Rebid Awler could say anything, Bernard fired his cannon at the fortress. The projectile exploded in place, collapsing the city’s outer wall, and Bernard immediately leaped outside the fortress.
“Cheonbeon, follow me!! There’s an emergency Pioneer passage outside Gateway City—”
Whoosh!!
The moment they escaped to the grassland outside the fortress, the air immediately felt different. From the smell of burning ash and dust, to the smell of gunpowder and mana, volatile as if about to explode. It wasn’t the fresh smell of grass or wind. Realizing this, Bernard turned his gaze towards the grassland beyond.
[Ah.]
The robed spellcaster, whose gaze met Bernard’s, let out a chilling telepathic message.
[Finally, you look this way.]
Outside the Gateway City fortress, robed spellcasters of the Order Alliance were lined up in formation. They had surrounded the city’s outskirts, forming a battle array, and were continuously conjuring spell formations of complex shapes.
“Oh.”
Bernard, who belatedly climbed down the collapsing fortress, scratched his head.
“I hadn’t considered this.”
[Did you think you could kill the Alliance’s Grand Spell Master and escape the Gateway so easily?]
Goooooh…!!
The robed figure, standing at the head of hundreds of Alliance spellcasters, spoke in a frigid voice.
[The atrocities you committed today are grave sins that the Alliance can never overlook. How dare mere ownerless dogs…]
“…”
[Ability Awakening Warband. Guido Cult. Magic Towers and Headro Warlords. And all you other filthy mercenaries.]
The moment the robed figure spread his hand, hundreds of spell formations in the grassland beyond glowed intensely and began to rotate. The robed figure, with the dazzling magical light at his back, tilted his head.
[Today, upon your corpses, we shall rebuild a new Gateway.]
Whoosh!!!
Had they been preparing an interception outside Gateway City immediately after the Conjunction Spell Master’s death? The power of the spellcraft aimed at them was extraordinary. Hundreds of bombardment spellcrafts, each powerful enough to half-destroy a city with a single shot. If all that firepower were concentrated on Gateway City, the entire trace of the city would be completely obliterated.
Bernard, who had been staring at the Order Alliance’s spell deployment with a stiff expression, slowly turned his gaze.
“Well, if we’re going to survive this, it looks like we’re in for a lot of trouble, huh?”
“…”
Boom, boom, boom, crash!!!
Outside the fortress, the Magic Tower wizards continuously chanted spells, and the Headro Warlords’ monsters scoured through the ash. Mercenary units, aligned by squad, closed the distance. The Cult’s priests raged, chasing Lennok from all over the ruins. The surviving Annihilation Squad of the Ability Awakening Warband surrounded Lennok, who stood before the collapsed fortress, glaring at him.
“…Evan?”
Not long after the engagement with the Conjunction Spell Master, an encirclement of countless forces converged on Gateway City. A chaotic battlefield situation, growing so complicated that survival couldn’t be guaranteed. But Lennok put all those things aside and silently gazed at the sky. The sky that had been darkening continuously from a while ago until now.
“Evan, snap out of it!”
“…That’s right.”
Angel, flustered, urgently shook his shoulder, but Lennok paid no attention. The reason he had continually missed the appearance of other superhumans immediately after finishing his engagement with the Conjunction Spell Master. The reason Lennok’s senses couldn’t reach outside the city even while his mana sense was active. The reason he still remained in Gateway City even at this moment, as the situation grew complicated. The cause for Lennok’s hesitation in judgment even after perceiving the anomaly. It was because he understood that all of it lay beyond the approaching darkness. Even knowing it was an unforeseen change, he accepted what was about to happen. Perhaps it was because Lennok, too, had always thought he would face it in this form someday. With that, words naturally flowed from Lennok’s lips.
“Run.”
“…Huh?”
Lennok, releasing Angel and Yanikus Barbaria’s napes, stepped forward and spoke.
“Run with all your might. Past Gateway City, deep into the front lines.”
“What?”
Whoosh!!
At that moment, the darkness spreading from the edge of the horizon instantly dyed the opposite sky pitch black. A wave of darkness so fleeting that neither Angel nor Bernard, nor even Yanikus Barbaria, could perceive it. Simultaneously, the sky above Gateway City was plunged into an darkness that cast not a single ray of light. Only the distorted flames of Celestial Flower’s Myriad-League Fragrance shone like a total solar eclipse within the darkness. An immeasurable ominousness. A savage ferocity that gnawed darkly at one’s chest. A primal fear, as if crushing the heart, choked their breath.
“Gasp…!!
“It can’t be. This is…!!”
Chaos incomprehensible to the Alliance spellcasters, the Ability Awakening Warband’s ability users, the Magic Tower wizards, and the Cult’s priests. Amidst it, Lennok, the only one staring at the approaching tide of darkness, spoke.
“…It’s coming.”
Screeech…
Clack…
Clang…
The sound of clock hands violently twisting. From beyond the darkness approaching at the edge of the horizon, a colossal black coffin appeared.