Chapter 1128: Afterglow (16)
As Lennok stood up, the gambling chips piled at his feet collapsed.
Crash!!!
The heaps of chips poured out like a wave, flowing in all directions across the casino floor.
The eyes of those watching were tainted with greed.
“Wow, wow…!!”
“Damn, how much is all this…!!”
“Me too, me too!”
Gamblers cautiously trying to reach for the chips.
Customers rushed to occupy the machine Lennok had been sitting at, frantically pulling the lever.
“S-sir!!”
A middle-aged man, presumed to be the manager, rushed out, hastily buttoning his shirt.
With a bewildered look, he scanned the surroundings, then stared at Lennok with a displeased expression.
“Jackpot? How?”
“……”
“Ah. Th-that’s not it.”
The manager quickly regained his composure, rubbing his hands together with a smiling face as he approached Lennok.
“Congratulations, sir. You are indeed the lucky first person to hit the jackpot at our casino!”
“……”
“You may not be aware, but in Torquepaz, if you hit a jackpot, you are entitled to a ‘settlement’ regarding the compensation with the casino.”
The manager naturally took Lennok’s arm and said,
“How about we go up to my office and discuss this? I’m sure it will be a beneficial time for both of us.”
Squeeze-
Veins popped out on the manager’s hand, gripping Lennok’s arm.
“Sir?”
Lennok felt no pain due to his shield, but there was no need to explain the emotions with which the manager had gripped his arm.
But instead of shaking off the manager, Lennok looked behind him.
Not only casino customers and the manager had seen the slot machine hit the jackpot.
Clank, clank!!
Police officers slowly entered the casino, led by several heavily armored metal giants.
With expressionless faces, they looked at Lennok, pointed, and quietly whispered something.
‘Davi.’
[System unregistered. Identity unknown. Trait-type magic detected. That’s what they’re saying.]
It wasn’t the police who detected Lennok’s magic, but rather the Armored Barrel’s function.
But simple heavily armored robots couldn’t possibly detect Trait-type magic.
Could there be something other than a simple engine powering the Armored Barrels?
Thinking that far, Lennok turned his body, leaving the approaching police behind.
“Huh, h-huh?”
The manager waved his hand in confusion as Lennok slipped away like a ghost, but he couldn’t catch him.
Lennok stepped forward amidst the chaotic chatter of the casino customers.
“He’s escaping. Catch him!”
“He’s a Trait-type magic user. Don’t let him get away!”
As soon as Lennok turned, the police officers’ footsteps quickened.
The moment the police, gripping their holstered pistols, entered the chip-strewn casino.
Thwip-!!
With the sound of a pulled string, the slot machines along the wall began to fall over.
Crumble!!!
“Whoa, aah!!”
“Gah!! What in the…!”
“Don’t get crushed! Get out of the way!”
Customers who had been frantically pulling levers fell backward, and police officers ran to avoid the falling slot machines.
Lennok, with his back turned, walked through the chaotic casino hall amidst the toppling machines.
“There he is!”
“Spread out. Block the way!!”
“Secure the CCTV. Identify him immediately!”
“Wait…!!!”
Crash, bang!!
The gambling chips, piled high like a mountain on the tables, collapsed and showered down on the police officers.
Each time Lennok flicked his finger without looking back, machines fell in a domino effect.
The wooden tables scattered throughout the casino were drawn together like magnets, colliding and blocking the path.
A peculiar sight: with every step Lennok took, the fixtures and fittings throughout the casino toppled over, as if blocking his way.
“Whoa, aah!! The casino’s killing people!!”
“How badly did these bastards manage their facilities?!”
“My cards!! My full house! How are you going to compensate for this?!”
Customers shouting loudly from all around the fallen tables.
Torn cards and chip fragments fluttered down from above. The smell of whiskey spilled from broken glasses filled the air.
In an instant, the casino floor became a pandemonium, and the police stopped with bewildered expressions.
“What in the…!!”
“Why is this happening now, of all times?”
“Could his luck really be this good?!”
In the meantime, Lennok stopped near the casino’s back exit, lost in thought.
‘What should I do…’
The jackpot had suddenly gone off, drawing the attention of not only the casino but also the police.
For now, he could pass it off as a coincidental commotion in the casino.
But if he were to use more Manipulation Spellcraft to subdue the police here, there would be no turning back.
From that point on, quietly tracking the Clown’s movements would become a distant hope.
Was there a way to resolve this situation and ensure no repercussions later?
“Haa, haa!”
“Man, it’s so hard to catch one person…!!”
“This is the Torquepaz Police Department. We require your cooperation for a moment.”
The police had reached right behind Lennok, stepping over fallen slot machines and tables.
The eyes of the uniformed officers glinted with even more suspicion as they saw Lennok’s robe.
[Master.]
Davi said.
[Shall we just smash them?]
‘…’
Lennok shook his head slightly, turned around, and stretched out his hand towards the approaching police.
The moment he spread his hand, and black Mana Threads were tautly pulled from his fingertips.
Someone grabbed Lennok’s wrist and immediately slapped handcuffs on him.
Clank!!
“There you are.”
“…?”
Standing right next to Lennok, a man with a cold expression looked down at him.
Unlike the other police officers in blue uniforms, this man wore a grey coat, and his face was pale.
He stood there, having handcuffed Lennok’s wrist, holding the other cuff.
“…”
At the sudden appearance of the man who had handcuffed Lennok, the other police officers stopped in their tracks.
The man with the cold expression turned towards the other officers and pulled out a police badge.
“This is Gordon, from the Violent Crimes Investigation Team of the Detective Division. This individual is a criminal our team has been pursuing, so we will escort him.”
“…Unregistered identity. A magic user classified as a top-priority subject for caution.”
The police officers gave him emotionless gazes.
“The search team will take him into custody.”
“This individual is under investigation for using a probability manipulation artifact while roaming the casino.”
The cold-faced Gordon said.
“Surely you know that probability manipulation crime is the most serious charge in this city.”
“…”
As if Gordon was not wrong, the police officers who had been faintly gasping for breath fell silent.
Gordon quietly looked back at them and stated as if delivering a notification,
“My colleagues are currently waiting near the back exit. I will escort this individual.”
The police no longer responded to Gordon’s words. Instead, they merely looked up at the metal giants lined up behind them.
The Armored Barrel, clad in full metal armor, stared intently at the man’s face.
Simultaneously, a stiff mechanical voice emanated from within the Armored Barrel.
[Police Lieutenant Alec Gordon of the Detective Division’s Violent Crimes Investigation Team.]
[Accessing Police Department database. Registered identity match.]
[Investigation Division BR Code recognized. Biometric authentication complete.]
“…Understood.”
Only after the Armored Barrel’s authentication was complete did the police reluctantly nod.
“If the charge of probability manipulation is true, then there’s nothing we can do.”
“After the investigation, we will immediately transfer the suspect’s identity to the search team.”
Only then did Gordon pull on the handcuffs on Lennok’s wrist and say,
“Follow me.”
“…”
Lennok silently followed the man who had started walking ahead.
Behind them, the murmuring voices of the casino customers and manager echoed.
“I knew it, he was a scammer.”
“I thought something was off from the moment the jackpot suddenly hit.”
“I always suspected he pulled some trick.”
“But isn’t the real scammer this casino, where no jackpot has ever hit?”
“Sir, could I speak with you for a moment?”
The manager dragged away the customer who had thrown out a needlessly sharp question.
Lennok left them behind and walked out through the casino’s back exit into a deserted alley.
A dirty alley strewn with torn posters and garbage. A dark street reeking of stale cigarette and drug smoke.
But the man who had brought Lennok stood silently with his back turned.
“I think we can stop the act now that we’ve come this far.”
Lennok said, looking at the police officer’s back.
“Isn’t manipulating a human very difficult?”
“Oh, r-right.”
Gordon slowly turned his back towards Lennok, creaking like a broken machine.
Both eyeballs rolled in grotesque directions, nostrils flared, and his mouth was twisted to one side.
His facial muscles convulsed, and his ears and eyebrows trembled, distorting his face like a ghost.
Gordon said,
“H-how did you know?”
“Because someone appearing so conveniently in that situation wouldn’t be a police officer.”
Lennok retorted.
“Above all, there aren’t many spellcasters in Pandemonium capable of ‘manipulating’ a living human.”
“Ah, ha.”
Thud!
The man let out a cry of surprise and collapsed weakly on the spot.
His arms and legs were twisted at grotesque angles, convulsing strangely.
The moment Lennok thought he looked like a puppet with cut strings and looked up.
A giant spider hung upside down above his head, staring at Lennok.
“Agneta.”
The descendant of an ancient species, with a spider’s body and a woman’s upper torso. A Manipulation Spellcaster who travels through the Imaginary Dimension and Pandemonium’s messenger.
It was Agneta who had ‘manipulated’ the police to extract Lennok from that spot.
“Victor. Long time no see.”
Agneta blankly said, caressing her eyelids stitched with needles.
“We. Saw each other back then. Back then.”
“…”
“…When was that?”
Her rather absentminded personality never seemed to change.
Being closer to an ancient species than a human, her sensibilities were also very different from others.
Agneta clapped her hands as if she had finally remembered.
“Ah, right. It was at the fortress on the border of Kabahim.”
“It was when I met Hylaea in Vulcan.”
Lennok replied indifferently, lowering his gaze.
“Even if you lack a sense of time, your proficiency in Manipulation Spellcraft has certainly advanced.”
“Kk-euh-geuk…”
The police officer convulsed on the ground, letting out a faint groan.
His facial muscles twisted into impossible expressions, and his arms and legs convulsed out of control.
“Even if he’s barely clinging to life, manipulating a living human can’t be easy.”
The other police officers had retreated willingly because the man who had handcuffed Lennok was undoubtedly from the Violent Crimes Investigation Team.
If she had manipulated a dead body or impersonated someone using a stolen identity, the Armored Barrel would have immediately noticed.
But thanks to Agneta bringing a living detective from the Investigation Division to act, they were able to pass without incident.
“Yeah, it’s hard.”
Agneta nodded honestly.
“Manipulating facial muscles is too complex. It’s hard to control with Mana Threads.”
“Of course. It would be even harder to make him speak, rather than just manipulating him like a doll.”
Lennok said, looking down at the fallen police officer.
“You’d have to individually manipulate the movements of the lips, tongue, and vocal cords with Mana Threads. If the manipulation or breathing was off even slightly, the awkwardness would quickly show.”
“Right, right.”
Lennok could also manipulate humans with Mana Threads, but making them ‘act’ was extremely difficult.
Not only would one have to control even the most minute details with Mana Threads, but also consider the living human’s consciousness and reactions.
If any part of that process went awry, the person being deceived would inevitably feel a sense of unease.
It would be better to use psychic spellcraft or artifacts to charm or hypnotize.
It was clearly an inefficient thing to do in many ways, but precisely because of that, Lennok admired what Agneta had accomplished.
“By purely manipulating physical reactions to act, the police didn’t suspect a thing. In a way, it’s quite remarkable.”
“Victor understands.”
Agneta said with an impressed voice.
“The other members don’t. They just scold me about when I’ll travel through the Imaginary Dimension.”
“…”
“I like fellow Manipulation Spellcasters. I always want to work with Victor.”
Agneta slowly descended to the ground, moving her spider legs, and clenched both her hands.
“I’ll work hard this time too.”
“…”
Agneta was a Manipulation Spellcaster who drew and wielded her spider silk like Mana Threads.
But due to her birth, her innate talent and sensibilities were often out of sync in various ways.
Lennok had shown interest in Agneta’s talent as a Manipulation Spellcaster several times, and Agneta, surprisingly, always welcomed such conversations.
Perhaps it was because she had very few opportunities to discuss her spellcraft with others.
As a result, because Agneta helped Victor, they were able to escape without causing unnecessary commotion.
“Where is the Clown? The fact that you’re here means he’s already arrived in Torquepaz, doesn’t it?”
“Ah.”
Agneta, who had been listening to Lennok blankly, clapped her hands then.
“Right. I had to guide the Clown.”
“…”
“Follow me. I’ll make a path.”
“…Make a path?”
Whoosh!!!
The moment Agneta’s spider leg pointed into the air, thin spider silk spread out.
Dozens of Mana Threads, spread out like spiderwebs in all directions, instantly draped over the alley.
Agneta, expertly climbing up the alley using the Mana Threads, beckoned to Lennok.
“This. Let’s ride this.”
“…”
“It’s a bit far. This is a shortcut if you want to go fast.”
Fade…!!
With those words, Agneta’s form, standing on the Mana Threads, slowly began to disappear.
The hunter’s art of completely erasing one’s presence the moment they climbed onto the spider silk.
Lennok tilted his head, leaving behind Agneta’s presence, which was moving away with a ‘sha-shak’ sound.
Perhaps because they were both Manipulation Spellcasters, Agneta tended to assume Lennok could naturally do whatever she could.
But moving by climbing Mana Threads like a spider, as she was doing now, was vastly different from the sensation of merely manipulating Mana Threads.
“No choice then…”
Lennok gripped the Mana Threads Agneta had spread out earlier and channeled his magic.
Simultaneously, Agneta’s spider silk turned black, transforming into Lennok’s Mana Threads.
Lennok, having taken control, precariously climbed onto the Mana Threads.
Thwip…!!
He pulled and extended the Mana Threads, using tension and elasticity to lift his body.
An art of gliding his body using pure Mana Thread manipulation, not Lennok’s inferior physical abilities.
After several leaps, Lennok soared above the dazzling entertainment district and slowly began to move across the spider silk.
“…”
Whooshing!!!
He was moving dozens of meters in the air, relying on a few thin Mana Threads.
He wouldn’t die if he fell, but just looking down for a moment made Lennok feel dizzy.
Usually, he would inject various drugs in such situations, but it wasn’t a combat situation, so he didn’t have the luxury of overdoing the doping.
[Shall I hide what’s below your feet?]
“…No, it’s fine.”
Lennok said, glancing down.
“It seems like we’ll arrive soon anyway.”
The shortcut wasn’t a lie; the travel distance was surprisingly short.
Agneta’s faint presence was now clearly felt on the other side of the spider silk.
Passing through the bustling commercial district, they reached the opulent casino hotel district located within.
A top-tier luxury facility where the hotel itself had been transformed into a massive casino, eliminating the need to go outside for gambling.
Had the Clown already infiltrated the hotel located in the deepest part of Torquepaz?
The moment Lennok thought that and looked at the glowing hotel building under the night sky.
“…Ah?”
KWA-AA-AANG!!!!
Red flames erupted from inside the building, blowing up the entire casino hotel.
KUGUGUGUGU!!!!
Hotel wreckage scattered with hot flames. A colossal skyscraper crumbling, bent at an angle.
The heat was so intense that glass windows and walls melted, rapidly fusing together.
Even Agneta’s Mana Threads, on which Lennok was riding, shook unsteadily from the impact.
“…”
An unexpected explosion suddenly erupted in the heart of Torquepaz’s most luxurious casino hotel.
Lennok stared down blankly at the sudden, unforeseen catastrophe.
Davi quickly turned on the radio and began to relay the latest news.
[A large-scale fire has broken out at the Alcantara Casino Hotel, located in the central district of Torquepaz.]
[The Alcantara Hotel is a top-tier accommodation facility owned by the Alcantara Bank of the Western Continent and-]
[It was the hotel where Freya Carlins, visiting for her world tour, was staying…]
There was no reason to listen any longer.
WHOOSH!!
Lennok slid down the Mana Threads and headed inside the burning hotel through a broken window.
Melting glass windows, concrete inner walls that had collapsed from explosions everywhere.
People dressed in strange, unknown clothes lay dead in corridors, walls, and doorways.
Lennok, who was about to pass them by, suddenly stopped at the sight of the bodies.
“…”
These were not ordinary guests or casino patrons.
Bodies dressed in strangely uniform clothes, with wounds on both wrists as if from self-harm.
Were there so many such individuals staying at the Torquepaz casino hotel?
Lost in thought, Lennok immediately followed Agneta’s spider silk.
Drip, drip…!!
The deeper he went, the more bodies there were. Blood dripped from the ceiling and everywhere in the corridors.
Countless human corpses lay bleeding from all over their bodies. Their arms and legs twisted into grotesque shapes.
The innermost part of the casino hall lobby on the first floor. A gruesome path made of human skin.
At the end of that path, in a wide lobby hall, a pure white bathtub was placed.
Splash!
The bathtub was filled not with water, but with crimson blood, and someone lay limply inside.
Blood dripped from an arm hanging limply over the side of the tub.
His head was tilted back, face painted stark white, not breathing.
Tap!
Lennok, descending from the Mana Threads, frowned at the corpse in the bathtub.
“This is…”
The stark white face paint. Messy hair. Naked, but unmistakable.
The Clown’s corpse lay in the bathtub filled with blood, not breathing.
The moment Lennok took a step closer, looking at the sight.
“Ah.”
The Clown, who had been closing his eyes, suddenly lifted his eyelids.
The moment he opened his mouth, the Clown’s cheek split open, and blood flowed out.
His eyelids tore, and blood streamed down his cheeks like tears.
The Clown slowly rolled his eyeballs, looked at Lennok, and grinned.
“Welcome, Victor.”
“…”
“We haven’t seen each other like this in a very long time, have we?”
Instead of answering, Lennok stared intently at the Clown.
The Clown was bleeding from all over his body, looking as if he would die any moment.
The blood that flowed out was collecting in the bathtub where the Clown lay.
“Oh, isn’t this reaction a bit too cold for such a long-awaited reunion?”
The Clown waved his hand, still lying in the bathtub.
“Even if we weren’t born on the same day, we promised to turn this city upside down together, didn’t we?”
“…I don’t recall making such a gruesome promise.”
Lennok asked, looking at the Clown with a cold gaze.
“What are you doing here?”
“It’s a joke. Actually, I just thought I should clean up a bit before the concert starts.”
The Clown slowly turned his eyes to Lennok and grinned.
“So, I decided to kill the mayor of Torquepaz first.”
“…What?”