Chapter 1052: Western Continent Inner Shipping Route (3)
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!!!
As the tower’s outer barrier was breached, missiles slammed directly onto the deck.
Amidst an explosion mixed with blood, the deck splintered and shattered, and something burst forth from between the broken debris.
[Kuaaaagh…!!]
[Kekekekek!!]
Humanoid monstrous beings, their entire bodies covered in blood, let out grotesque laughter. Like ghouls, their twisted bodies rose one by one on the deck, grinning eerily.
“…Huu.”
The War-Mages, who had remained on deck to repair the barrier and intercept missiles, drew upon their mana with grim expressions.
The moment the Thorben War-Mages, each chanting their own spells, prepared to fight the approaching monsters.
CRACK!!
A flash of lightning in the air pierced through the monsters, passing by them in an instant.
The moment that brilliant blue lightning swirled, the monsters that had boarded the deck crumbled into handfuls of ash.
CRUNCH!!
[Kueeoooo!!!]
[Kahak, kahak…!!]
The screams of the monsters, unable to bear the agony of their bodies burning and evaporating.
The War-Mages, who had been staring blankly, belatedly saw Lennok descending at the end of the lightning and quickly turned their gaze.
“I’ll leave the monsters falling onto the deck to you.”
“…Van.”
Lennok stood with blue currents swirling around his entire body, pulling on his gloves.
“I’ll personally handle what’s in the sky.”
One of the War-Mages, startled, hastily said.
“W-we will handle them ourselves. To ask for your noble hand—”
CLANG!!
As gigantic Iron-Plated Wings unfolded from Lennok’s back, the surrounding air warped as if crushed.
Just by lightly crouching with the Iron-Plated Wings, powerful wind pressure bore down and pushed everything away.
Lennok’s figure instantly shot up into the night sky.
PAAAAAANG!!!!
Four types of Common Magic and barrier spellcraft to minimize air resistance.
Five types of lightning-attribute unique magic to generate propulsion with thunder and lightning.
Two types of atmospheric unique magic to assist the movement and lift of the Iron-Plated Wings, all chanted in an instant.
“Killing mindless monsters like these is hardly a difficult task.”
Lennok, ascending at tremendous speed with his wings, took out a drug that paralyzed his semicircular canals, swallowed it, and murmured.
“I’ll smash them.”
KWA-AANG!!
Lennok dodged the wings of a fighter jet flying from behind him, twisting his body.
He spread his Iron-Plated Wings in mid-air to kill his speed, then sharply changed direction and ascended vertically.
With wings extended beneath his feet, he plunged down onto the cockpit of the fighter jet at terrifying speed.
KWA-JI-JI-JIK!!!
[Kuee-ee-ee!!!]
The monster in the cockpit, unable to withstand the weight, was crushed into a bloody pulp with a horrendous scream.
“Next.”
KWA-AANG!!
The moment Lennok bent his wings and adjusted his direction, he leaped, using the crushed fighter jet as a foothold.
He then sprang over the night sky and landed on another smoothly flying fighter jet.
[Whitefall]
KWA-A-A-A-ANG!!!
Brilliant white lightning flashed, striking and incinerating the monster-transformed fighter jet.
With desperate screams, several fighter jets simultaneously spewed smoke and plummeted to the ground from various locations.
CRUNCH!!
[Aaaaargh!!]
He burned and tore out the monstrous mass thrashing inside the cockpit with lightning.
The Iron-Plated Wings, spread like a giant’s hand, clutched the broken fighter jet like a toy and hurled it away.
Lennok’s figure leaped, smashing, trampling, and shooting down fighter jets flying between the Magic Towers at incredible speed.
Every time lightning flashed in the night sky, he accelerated further, unleashing a series of brilliant blue shockwaves.
KU-GU-GU-GU-GU-GU!!!!
From the deck, the War-Mages stared blankly, watching him single-handedly crush and slaughter supersonic fighter jets.
“There was a reason he earned such a bizarre reputation in Vulcan.”
“…Is that really the destructive power possible for a wizard?”
KWA-A-A-ANG!!!
Lennok dropped lightning onto a fighter jet attempting to escape him, shooting it down.
Standing on the shattered fighter jet, Lennok frowned as he observed the movements of the fighter jets flying around him.
“The squadron’s flight path is unusual. Are they not simply gathering to fight us?”
The fighter jets, realizing they were no match for Lennok head-on, were gathering near the mothership.
Were they planning to form a formation with the Headro Warlords’ General-grade entities and overwhelm the War-Mage Tower with sheer force?
Lennok’s expression hardened as he drew upon his mana, extending it to his Iron-Plated Wings.
Immediately after, his entire Iron-Plated Wings heated up, covered in lightning, and emitted dark blue thunderbolts.
[Azure Scale Armor]
Lennok’s form, clad in blue lightning like armor, broke through the fighter jet squadron and ascended even higher.
KU-GU-GU-GU-GU!!!
[Kiiieeeek!!]
[Grrrgghh!!!]
The monster-transformed fighter jets desperately tried to block Lennok, but upon contact, they only burned a brilliant blue, evaporated, and turned to ash.
He ascended with a rotation, scattering blue flames in a wide circle across the night sky.
Each time, Headro Warlords’ fighter jets burned, shattered, and plummeted to the ground in droves.
Lennok then pierced through the hull of the aerial aircraft carrier from the bottom and surged onto its deck.
KWA-A-A-ANG!!!
[Kueeeeoooooh…!!!]
Even a General-grade entity couldn’t endure the pain of having its body pierced, letting out a large, slow scream.
The entire mothership violently shook, a tremor rippling through it.
CRACK!!
Lennok retrieved his lightning, landing instantly on the mothership’s deck and folding his wings.
Overloading his Iron-Plated Wings with lightning magic caused severe damage, a method he usually avoided.
But there was a reason he pushed himself so hard to approach a General-grade entity and stand on it.
“…O-oh.”
The crimson, viscous magic circle spread across the deck.
Standing in the center of that magic circle, a pale-faced woman covered in blood stammered, turning her gaze toward Lennok.
“Th-this place isn’t… somewhere j-just anyone… c-can enter…”
“You. You are not a remnant of the Headro Warlords.”
Lennok asked with cold eyes.
“A spellcaster capable of handling such an insidious spellcraft, who are you?”
“O-oh, m-me…?”
The woman offered an awkward smile with a pale expression.
“Th-the Order Alliance’s… C-corpse Ghost Spell Master, I believe.”
WHOOSH!!!
A fierce wind swept across the deck of the aircraft carrier floating hundreds of meters in the air.
Unlike the War-Mage Tower, which was equipped with air resistance barriers, this mothership, entirely transformed into a monster, lacked safety features to ward off the wind.
The wind blowing across the deck was so violent it felt less like clouds and more like a storm raging from all directions.
Old turrets mounted on the bow of the mothership clattered weakly, and detached exterior panels, their screws loose, rattled wildly.
KWA-GU-GU-GU-GU!!!
Amidst the howling wind and roaring cacophony on the violently swaying deck, the woman, soaked in blood, wore an awkward smile.
“Corpse Ghost Spell Master.”
Upon hearing the woman’s words, Lennok slowly drew upon his mana.
“So, the Order Alliance was controlling the Headro Warlords’ monsters in this battlefield.”
“N-no… that’s not… not it…”
“Were you manipulating the Warlords’ monsters from behind the scenes to fight the druids?”
“It’s not that I m-made them fight… I j-just needed this s-spellcraft…”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master stammered in response.
“I was trying to… t-take the General-grade entity’s… power to manipulate m-monsters and… turn it into spellcraft…”
“…”
Considering she was performing a sinister ritual on the deck of a General-grade entity, she was surprisingly forthcoming with her answers.
Lennok, having tidied his Iron-Plated Wings, quickly scanned the Corpse Ghost Spell Master’s entire body.
‘I barely feel any life reaction. Aside from her mana and will-thought being intact, she’s practically a ghoul.’
A Saint Wizard of Level 7 or higher, having completed their hierarchy.
She possessed powerful will-thought and mana commensurate with her rank, yet almost no vitality could be felt from the Corpse Ghost Spell Master’s body.
If one were to detect her presence solely through Lennok’s mana perception, it felt as if a dead body were moving.
It was to the point where he suspected her stammering wasn’t a peculiar habit, but rather her tongue stiffening, making her unable to speak properly.
Lennok, deep in thought, slipped his hand into his coat.
‘A ghoul maintaining mana and will-thought identical to when it was alive. It must be related to the Corpse Ghost Spellcraft she mentioned herself.’
An Order Alliance Spell Master refers to the owner of a unique spellcraft, either self-developed or inherited through a single lineage.
Naturally, individual Spell Masters are exceptional spellcasters and hold significant positions as executives within the Alliance.
Even if they weren’t Grand Spell Masters directly building the Great Connection, it was natural for each Spell Master to possess formidable power or individuality.
The problem lay in why a high-ranking executive like an Alliance Spell Master was left alone on such a battlefield, performing a ritual.
If the woman before him was capable of manipulating the Headro Warlords’ General-grade entities—
[Fang Thunder]
CRACKLE!!
A thick current of electricity shot from Lennok’s fingertips, bending long like an animal’s fangs.
Lennok, gripping the sharp fangs of lightning, aimed them at the Spell Master and spoke.
“Stop the ritual and retreat the Headro Warlords’ monsters. Refuse, and I’ll drop this mothership straight to the ground.”
“U-uwa…”
“It seems you possess a spellcraft that manipulates dead creatures…”
Lennok tilted his head, watching the Corpse Ghost Spell Master tremble with a pale face.
“If you can control monsters, unlike Spirit Necromancy, it will become troublesome. I forbid the use of your spellcraft until the War-Mage Tower passes through this battlefield.”
“Th-that’s difficult…”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master stammered, bringing her hands together in front of her.
Following her hands, submerged in a pool of blood, crimson blood gathered at her feet.
“I-I’m not… doing this because I w-want to… I have to… t-take the General-grade entity’s power and… turn it into spellcraft here…”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master trembled and stammered on the colossal, blood-soaked magic circle.
But it was a tremor of a different kind than fear or caution towards Lennok’s words.
A strange tremor, as if she was swaying and shaking her shoulders, intoxicated by the spectacle she herself had created.
Clutching her shoulders with both hands, the Corpse Ghost Spell Master chuckled, looking at Lennok.
“I-I’ll finish quickly… Th-that’ll be fine, right?”
“…!!”
KIIIIING!!
At that moment, a colossal magic circle centered on the Corpse Ghost Spell Master glowed crimson, beginning to pulsate wildly.
A peculiar will-thought, standing on the boundary between life and death—neither living nor dead—enveloped the surroundings.
In an instant, the Corpse Ghost Spell Master’s will-thought surged across the deck, covering the entire aircraft carrier.
The densely concentrated, ashen will-thought embraced the aircraft carrier, swiftly transforming into a colossal sphere.
Lennok’s expression momentarily hardened at the overwhelming speed and scale.
‘The output of her will-thought is immense…!’
Her hierarchy seemed to be around Level 7, but the output of her will-thought itself easily surpassed that of most Level 8 Archwizards.
It was already unusual that she used will-thought rather than mental image, but it was clear that the Corpse Ghost Spell Master herself was indeed an eccentric individual possessing an extraordinary spellcraft.
Simultaneously, black-stained corpses began to erupt from the deck all around the mothership, piercing through the floor.
“Kuaaaak!!”
“Die, you’ll die…!!”
“I-I want to live!!”
Unlike monsters, these corpses moved their tattered vocal cords to scream out human words.
Their eyes glowed an unparalleled crimson, and from their bodies emanated mana and will-thought that were distinctly human, unlike monsters.
Corpse Ghosts, moving dead bodies while wielding the will-thought and mana that were the rights of the living, all under the Spell Master’s command.
“So, even soldiers who died and became monsters can wield their human-era strength if turned into Corpse Ghosts.”
Only then did Lennok’s eyes turn cold as he understood the true value of the Corpse Ghost Spellcraft.
“To render the spellcraft’s targets neither dead nor alive… this is a power on a different boundary than Spirit Necromancy. Who taught you this?”
“I-I didn’t really… l-learn it from anyone…”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master gave an awkward chuckle and subtly retreated.
“A-anyway, I’ll finish q-quickly and g-go… I’ll h-hide so I don’t get noticed…”
“No.”
FLASH!!
The straight-shooting flash of Fang Thunder pierced the spot where the Corpse Ghost Spell Master had stood.
A pillar of fire, wreathed in brilliant blue flames, shot vertically upwards, brightly illuminating the dark sky.
KWA-A-A-ANG!!
A deafening roar arrived a beat late.
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master screamed, rolling on the ground.
“Uwaaaaat!!!”
“Whose permission did you get to finish the ritual alone and try to escape?”
CRACKLE, CRACKLE…!!!
The lightning on Lennok’s fingertips rotated and compressed, then transformed into a sharp drill.
Lennok, having instantly chanted Partial Lightning and floated up, aimed it at the Corpse Ghost Spell Master’s forehead and spoke.
“Stop the ritual and retreat the fleet. Otherwise, I’ll destroy this mothership right now.”
“…”
“If you can’t understand common sense, I’ll have no choice but to split your head open right here.”
Lennok’s eyes shone coldly as he looked at the Corpse Ghost Spell Master.
“Or, have you turned your own body into a Corpse Ghost as well, making it hard for you to hear me?”
“…Ahaha.”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master’s awkward chuckle, in an instant, turned peculiar.
“Aha… I-I know… who y-you are…”
“…”
“The Archwizard who defeated Ch-Cheonbeon… O-of course you’re incredibly s-strong, but…”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master stammered, bringing her hands together.
“I-I also… use s-spellcraft… well…!”
CRACK!!
At that moment, Lennok understood the true nature of the sense of unease he had felt around him.
The hundreds of Corpse Ghosts the Corpse Ghost Spell Master had raised on the mothership by spreading her will-thought.
Not a single Corpse Ghost had dared to attack Lennok or show hostility after awakening.
The awakened Corpse Ghosts did not surround Lennok or move to protect the Spell Master.
Instead, they piled themselves up neatly on the magic circle the Corpse Ghost Spell Master had created, becoming materials for the magic circle themselves.
KIIIIING!!!
The magic circle, built by stacking Corpse Ghosts, emitted a peculiar resonating sound of a completely different dimension than before.
The result of a contradiction transcending laws, appearing when human sacrifice is performed in layers.
“You’re attempting human sacrifice using dead bodies?”
Realizing this, Lennok’s expression hardened as he sharply turned his gaze towards the Corpse Ghost Spell Master.
“No way, the true value of the Corpse Ghosts…!!”
“M-my Corpse Ghosts… in the s-sacrificial ritual, they’re c-counted the s-same as living humans…”
Hiding behind a pillar on the deck, glancing at Lennok, she giggled.
“Are they u-useful…?”
CRACK!!
There was no answer.
Lightning flashed in Lennok’s hand, bent low as if gently sweeping the floor.
Immediately after, a colossal sphere of lightning erupted, rotating and rising above the mothership’s deck.
[Eternal Thunder: Immortal Refinement]
KWA-GU-GU-GU-GU!!!!
The concentrated mass of electricity spun violently, pressing down on the mothership, and the monster-transformed General-grade entity let out a gloomy scream.
On the violently shaking deck, the Corpse Ghost Spell Master shrieked pitifully.
“Kiiyaaaak!!!”
“You possess a forbidden spellcraft that shouldn’t exist if you’re alive.”
Lennok, having raised a colossal planet of lightning, muttered coldly.
“Die here before you can be exploited by the Cult.”
What was important in human sacrifice was neither the High Priestess presiding over the ritual, nor the magic circle or spellcraft required for it.
It was precisely ensuring the quality and quantity of the offerings for the sacrifice itself.
No matter how powerful the human sacrifice, human lives were finite and could not be abused.
However, Corpse Ghost Spellcraft was a spellcraft with the potential to nullify such limitations of human sacrifice.
Of course, since it used corpses, its efficiency couldn’t compare to real humans, but it held immense potential in merely being able to mimic such an act.
If such power were to fall into the hands of the Alliance, let alone the Cult, an irreversible hellscape would unfold.
CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!!!
Lennok, who had burned and crushed the human sacrifice magic circle on the deck with the heat of Eternal Thunder, was about to crush the Corpse Ghost Spell Master with his spellcraft, when—
“M-monster circuit replication…!!”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master stammered, shouting quickly.
Her eyes tightly shut, she gripped a broken anchor and began high-speed chanting.
“Will-thought transmission… Defense mechanism deconstruction… Unconscious alteration…!!”
Was she intending to finish her task even as her entire body was about to burn and vanish?
Lennok, unwilling to give her a chance, swept the sphere of Eternal Thunder and slammed it down onto the mothership.
The very moment he did, “S-spellcraft extraction complete…!!”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master barely finished her chant.
“G-garden transmission…!!!”
TRICKLE…!!
Suddenly, a sense of déjà vu, as if something was entirely extracted from the center of the colossal aircraft carrier, was felt.
Something forming the core of the General-grade entity. The totality of power that could be described as the essence of life and origin.
It popped out of the mothership and trickled down, rolling.
Like water droplets flowing over petals, it trickled down glass beads and seeped into the soil of a garden.
Lennok watched as the spellcraft, which had undergone extraction, was being ‘transmitted’ somewhere, the moment he faced the ritual the Corpse Ghost Spell Master spoke of.
Even his own consciousness was synchronizing with the spellcraft that was beginning to transmit somewhere.
He looked at the destination of the power the Spell Master had successfully extracted.
The moment he realized it was the path leading to the space-time where the Order Alliance’s Great Connection was being achieved.
Lennok finally perceived that he was actually seeing that scenery, not just an illusion.
“…”
A beautifully sculpted Glass Garden.
The night sky, adorned with a galaxy, was reflected overhead, and dew-laden flowers and trees bowed their heads.
The garden’s landscape was steeped in silent tranquility, as if utterly unconcerned with the busy pace of the world.
Lennok found himself standing in the middle of that distant garden, where time seemed to have stopped.
“This is…”
In the rapidly changing scenery, Lennok quickly regained his composure and assessed the situation.
As he watched the Spellcraft Extraction used by the Corpse Ghost Spell Master, Lennok’s consciousness underwent a rapid synchronization.
He directly witnessed the process by which the Great Connection, as defined by the Order Alliance, was being achieved.
As a result, Lennok now stood here, at the destination of the Great Connection—
“Strong sensitivity is almost a curse for mortals.”
From behind, someone’s voice spoke.
A calm voice, devoid of any power or will.
A normal human voice, without the resonance of mana or the presence of will-thought.
“Things that shouldn’t be seen. Things that shouldn’t be heard. Things that shouldn’t be felt. Such things exist abundantly in this world.”
“…”
Beyond the shadows inside the garden. Someone sat on a chair, draped in deep shadow. Not revealing their form in the sunlight where the night sky’s starlight fell, but merged within the exceptionally dense shadow.
Beyond the shadows, fingers illuminated by starlight were transparent like glass.
“However, a spellcaster capable of such strong synchronization, enough to temporarily access my garden just by observing the ritual, is practically the first since Chapman.”
“…You are.”
Nothing could be felt.
Even though Lennok knew that only his consciousness had transcended time and synchronized with this space.
Facing the transparent shadow before him, Lennok’s sensitivity could not detect a single thing.
The moment he realized this was proof of a transcendence that surpassed life and death, different in essence from the Ascendants Lennok had seen until now—
The Alliance Leader asked.
“Or, is it evidence that you possess an even greater trait-type talent?”