Chapter 1161: The Fate of Demise (12)
The remains of the Dead God slumbering deep within the sanctuary.
And beneath it, Lennok, pressed down and suppressed, surrounded by hundreds of knights.
But the words that flowed from Lennok’s lips were something the knights, despite their preparations, had not anticipated.
“Domain: Unfold.”
Kiiiiiing-!!
It wasn’t Lennok, but his summon who activated the Domain in his stead.
Eight arms came together, repeating the four-fold clap, and an achromatic ripple spread out, centered on the Tailor of the Imaginary Dimension.
Before the knights’ swords, who instantly grasped the situation, could strike Lennok, the incantation was complete.
“Unmarked Succession Knot.”
Paat!!
A black-tinged ripple exploded from the Tailor, engulfing the deepest part of the sanctuary.
The moment the black light flashed, the ripple swept over the entire sanctuary, devouring spacetime whole.
An expansion so fleeting that the knights, who were on high alert even for Lennok’s gestures, couldn’t react.
All the knights on the battlefield simultaneously understood what had just happened, thanks to their seasoned combat experience.
‘We’ve been had. He used a summon for the incantation…!!’
‘He never intended to activate the Domain himself from the start!!’
‘He deliberately feigned retreat to lure us out—’
The pinnacle of Manipulation Spellcraft, manipulating phenomena not with oneself, but with a medium.
An inhuman art, deploying a Domain using a summon instead of the caster themselves—unbelievable even to witness.
Yet, precisely because of this, even the Commander-ranked knights momentarily overlooked the existence of that grotesque summon.
To what extent a Manipulation Spellcaster could disregard laws and manipulate spells when determined.
And what dangerous power and abilities such a deployed Domain might contain.
All the knights reached the same conclusion and simultaneously swung their swords with all their might in the darkness.
Swaeek!!
Even with the Domain deployed, Lennok’s surrounded situation and formation didn’t change.
Dozens of high-ranking knights, led by the Knight Commanders, still encircled Lennok.
If they could kill the caster before the Domain was complete, they could cancel the spellcraft.
The moment the knights, thinking so, swung their swords mercilessly towards where Lennok had been.
Domain Unfold
Manipulation Hierarchy: Mental Image Actualization
[Unmarked Succession Knot]
Click.
“…Huh?”
With a hollow sensation of cutting through empty air, the knights snapped their gazes upwards.
The knights who had just held swords to Lennok’s neck were now standing hundreds of meters away.
Even other knight squad members approaching the center of the sanctuary were pushed far back, looking around disoriented.
Only then did the knights, horrified, realize that Lennok had ‘adjusted’ their positions by deploying the Domain.
“Did he manipulate spatial coordinates simultaneously with the Domain deployment…!!”
“Impossible. Since when, exactly!!”
A perfect Space Transfer, so complete that even the knights’ sensitive senses couldn’t detect any precursor.
A divine trick that forcibly designates and changes the knights’ positions immediately after the Domain unfolded.
At the center of the thus unfolded Domain, Lennok stood with his eyes closed.
Wheeeoosh!!!
He floated without drawing out any Mana Threads, within the strangely flickering shadows, as if submerged in darkness.
Lennok, walking on air as if flying, completely ignoring existing physical laws and with no consumption cost.
Behind such a Lennok, a grotesquely twisted black darkness slowly revolved.
“That’s…”
“Is it… an eye?”
Kkkkkiiigik…!!!
A dark distortion point, like a colossal black hole, rotated in the darkness, looking down at the ground.
Innumerable lines of light, sucked in from all directions, tangled like threads and spun in complex patterns.
Light warped along the dark horizon unfolding behind Lennok, spreading out like a giant eye.
Aside from the dark distortion point and the dark sky that unfurled simultaneously with the Domain deployment, nothing else in the landscape had changed.
The sanctuary, modeled after the Nayuta Shrine. Even the snowfield and the remains of the Dead God in the center remained perfectly in place.
This was the Domain Lennok had learned and refined under the Thorben Magic Tower Lord: a Domain that does not immediately alter reality upon deployment.
A variation designed to actualize the power of Trait-type Spellcraft, Manipulation Spellcraft, in the form Lennok most desired.
“A Manipulation-type Domain. Is this the pinnacle of Trait-type, treating even concepts as targets for spellcraft?”
Chiiiik!!!
And, Aron, who had been observing all these processes from beyond the sanctuary, opened his eyes.
Having completed the stabilization process of the Frost Ring, he drew out its full power, grasping near-infinite energy.
Tremendous mana surged from his entire body, rotating, and pushing up the Frost Ring floating behind him.
Each rotation of mana through the Frost Ring transformed into an eerie cold, spreading thickly.
“The art of deploying a Domain using a summon is astonishing, but it is ultimately a finite ability that is consumed and depleted.”
Aron, extending a hand towards the sky amidst the raging blizzard, muttered coldly.
“I will crush you head-on.”
[Ice Crystal Treasury: Ten Thousand Armaments]
Kwagwagwagwagwa!!!!
Swords and spears crafted from compressed ice. Various forms of weaponry took shape and surged from all directions.
A forbidden art, previously shown at the ancient castle, mimicking Forbidden Armaments by combining human talent with bloodline abilities, imbued into weapons.
An army of armaments, using knowledge gained from the Archive, pulling out and unleashing preserved human talents.
“All troops, forward.”
As Aron extended his hand, thousands of types of armaments floated into the sky.
Aron, controlling the armaments rotating in a vast spiral above the snowfield with his will alone, said coldly.
“Slay the traitor who defied the will of the royal family.”
Kwagwagwagwang!!!!
Armaments launched at supersonic speed rained down on Lennok like a bombardment.
Thousands of types of armaments floating above the sanctuary sky each emitted mana, launching like missiles.
They spread out in a giant circle towards Lennok, then converged, accelerated as if sucked in, and exploded.
Pabababababam!!!!
“Ooooooh!!!”
“We obey His Majesty’s command!!!!”
“Glory to the Kabahim Royal Family!!!”
A breathtaking sight where a corner of the horizon was obscured by explosions of magical light.
In a sea of light that felt almost majestic, exhilarated knights surged forward, unleashing their full mana.
They swung swords, unleashing slashes, and wielded their Miniature Universes, filling the gaps between sky and ground.
Cannons and arrows soared from all directions, adding firepower, and court mages each chanted spellcraft.
A rain of fire and light, densely filling and pouring down from the vast sanctuary sky.
“…They still know nothing.”
But Lennok, facing the thousands of bombardments raining down on him, raised a hand.
Without any preparatory movements like drawing out Mana Threads or wrapping them around his wrist, the moment he slowly clenched and unclenched his hand as if playing an instrument in the air.
“Property Decomposition.”
Paat!!
The thousands of bombardments pouring down on Lennok’s head vanished as if by magic.
“What—”
“…!!!”
Thousands of armaments unleashed by Aron, comparable arrows and cannonballs.
Slashes and Miniature Universes fired by the knights. Even the court mages’ firepower spells.
All that violence directed at Lennok miraculously decomposed within the Domain, vanishing without a trace.
In the fleeting moment the knights froze, confronted by an unreal sight that defied their superhuman comprehension, even when witnessed directly.
“Indeed. So this is what large-scale spellcraft manipulation, independent of a medium, feels like.”
Lennok, who had been standing with his eyes closed and one hand extended, murmured.
“More intricate than I thought. I would have struggled if I hadn’t already gotten a feel for it with the gauntlet.”
“You, what have you been rambling about…!!”
“Phase Preservation. Output Control. Space Coordinate Alteration. Directional Control Modification.”
Chwarararak…!!
The armaments and spellcraft that had decomposed and vanished before Lennok’s eyes reappeared in their original positions.
As if completely disassembled once and then reassembled, they revealed themselves before Lennok, having undergone destruction and creation.
The moment thousands of bombardments, which had been pouring down centered on Lennok floating in the air, were actualized back in their places.
“Reconstruction complete.”
Lennok, opening his eyes within the mask, pointed directly downwards.
“I’ll return it as is.”
The bombardments raining down on Lennok changed direction, and began falling directly towards the knights.
The armaments created by Aron, the knights’ slashes, and the mages’ spellcraft reversed as if time itself was rewinding.
They spread out in a massive sphere centered on Lennok, as if returning to their initial speed and direction.
Thousands of bombardments plummeted into the center of the sanctuary, sweeping across the ground.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwang!!!!!
“Aaaaahhh!!!”
“Stop the spellcraft!! Cut off the mana!!!”
“No, we can’t stop it. This is…!!!”
Aron’s armaments fell to the ground and exploded, and the knights’ bodies were torn to shreds and scattered.
In the barrage of armaments and spellcraft pouring down like a bombardment, intensely dazzling flashes of light erupted one after another, making it hard to distinguish anything.
Amidst the waves of light, human corpses flew around like toys, sprawling in gruesome states.
Kwaaang!!!
“This can’t be!!!”
Watching his comrades die brutally, Uzel, the Commander of the 6th Knight Division, looked up at Lennok with a twisted expression.
“Surely, you’re not using Manipulation Spellcraft without Mana Threads…!!!”
Manipulation Spellcraft boasted the most intricate principles and highest difficulty among all Trait-type lineages.
It could manipulate even phenomena and concepts, yet ironically, its near-omnipotent applicability made it difficult to establish a standard.
Therefore, even the most exceptional Manipulation Spellcasters struggled to wield spellcraft without using a medium like Mana Threads.
But the monster who had now deployed a Domain over the entire sanctuary no longer wielded spellcraft through Mana Threads.
He merely willed it, manipulating and transforming the direction of all powers pouring towards him, turning them back.
He laid hands on the nature and attributes of power, the fundamental values composing matter, corrupting and altering them to seize them.
Simple, yet truly destructive and utterly overwhelming spellcraft operation, for which there was no counter.
But Uzel instinctively knew that it wasn’t solely due to the Domain.
“To interfere with and transform thousands of forces’ directions and properties, how can a human…!!”
Even with the Domain’s assistance, ultimately, it was the spellcaster himself wielding the Manipulation Spellcraft.
This was proof that Lennok was manipulating all the forces and laws currently pouring back into the sanctuary.
His understanding of spellcraft, analytical ability, manipulation capability, coordinate designation and directional control through complex computations, even multi-thought and self-division abilities.
Uzel, as a knight, couldn’t even fathom the level of aptitude and talent required to achieve such a feat.
“Focus, Sir Uzel.”
Kwaang!!
Beside Uzel, an elderly knight drew his sword, deflecting a falling spear.
“Sir Byun!!”
“At this moment, only we can be of help to His Majesty.”
Byun, Commander of the 3rd Knight Division under the Ten Royal Knights of Rectitude, stepped back from Uzel and raised his sword.
His aged eyes fixed upon the Manipulation Spellcaster floating in the black sky.
“Only after seeing that Domain do I understand. That man is not merely a blood relative of an Ascendant. He is a Transcendent who reached his answer unbound by his origin. We should have killed him before he deployed the Domain.”
“…”
“Even if all the Ten Royal Knights of Rectitude fall here, we must kill that man for the peace of the royal family.”
Tatatang!!!
He deflected the bombardments pouring down like bullets with his sword, narrowly avoiding them.
Uzel, turning his gaze with difficulty, looked at Lennok floating far away and asked.
“Is there a way?”
“We must help His Majesty fight that monster on equal footing.”
Kwagwagwagwa!!!!
Aron, emitting cold air from his entire body to freeze the atmosphere, continuously created and fired armaments.
Lennok, changing the direction of the armaments Aron forged, turned them into his own power and made the sanctuary explode.
Thousands of armaments intersected and exploded between the sky and the ground, unleashing flames.
The number of knights dying from the aftermath was beyond counting.
“Ugh, ugh…”
“My body, it’s not obeying…!!”
The bodies of knights who had fallen or lost combat capability creaked and rose from their positions.
As if an invisible hand gripped and manipulated their flesh, they picked up weapons and forcibly drew out mana.
“No, I—!!”
“Run!! Everyone, run!!”
Puk!! Suguk!!
Despite their desperate screams, their bodies dutifully swung swords at their comrades.
A fratricidal slaughter, stabbing the backs and necks of the knights who survived the bombardment, severing their life force.
As the number of surviving knights dwindled, an equal number of dead knights rose from the ground.
Gripping their swords, they moved their remaining mana to strengthen their bodies, roaming to kill their fellow knights.
Kwarurururung!!!!
The ground cracked, fragments flew, and the palace walls and ceiling collapsed, exploding.
The sanctuary sky ripped open, twisting the atmosphere, forcibly creating a storm.
Knights lying on the melted snowfield, where hellish heat surged, sobbed and wailed.
“Impossible!! Why is this happening…!!”
“You… are you truly a god!!”
“The abilities of my Domain are not that convenient.”
Lennok smiled, turning his gaze.
“On the contrary, if I were a god, I would never have been able to conceive of such a Domain.”
Armaments imbued with will-thought and spellcraft composed of mana. Seizing and manipulating both organic and inorganic matter.
Wielding the matter and laws existing within the Domain freely with his will alone, even without Mana Threads.
The ability of the Domain, Unmarked Succession Knot, was literally the power to decompose everything once and reassemble it.
It was a singular culmination Lennok had achieved through Manipulation Spellcraft, and “Reconstruction” itself for all things.
Immediately after deploying the Domain, Lennok reconstructed all spatial coordinates within it, creating distance between himself and the encircling knights.
He reconstructed the bombardment of ice lotus armaments fired by Aron, forcibly manipulating their direction and attributes to fire them back.
And he was freely reshaping and swirling the battlefield by decomposing and then reassembling the sanctuary’s terrain.
Using spellcraft without Mana Threads was the price for obtaining the condition of not altering reality immediately upon deployment.
It was truly a means to freely reconstruct all matter and laws within the Domain, taking everything as a medium for spellcraft.
This was another culmination of Manipulation Spellcraft Lennok presented, having seen Ban-gung’s memories.
Not an incomprehensible spellcraft that dismantles everything, harboring the mental image of a ruined future.
But a Domain of comprehension that understands, decomposes, assembles, and newly creates everything.
Creating something from something, then forging something new from that something.
And through that infinite cycle, finally moving towards creating something from nothing.
The very essence of the Mandala Ban-gung had yearned for.
Jjeojeok!!!
At that moment, the black orb embedded in the Cold Comet’s chest cracked and slowly vibrated.
With a sharp tearing sound, the black orb shot out, rotating like a ring, and floated towards Lennok.
Paaang!!
Floating, distorting space like a lens, it coiled around Lennok’s fingers, solidifying into the shape of a black ring.
The core of the Prestige Domain, Mandala. The essence containing the Manipulation Spellcraft used by Ban-gung.
It only came into Lennok’s hand after he demonstrated a different directionality than the aforementioned Ascendant.
“This much test drive for the Domain should be enough.”
Lennok, gripping the black ring and looking down, drew out mana and turned his body.
“It seems I’m finally ready. Shall we begin in earnest now?”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a tremendous cold swirled from below the ground.
Kwooooooh!!!
Aron stopped even wielding his bloodline ability to forge armaments and exchanging bombardments with Lennok.
He merely focused on converging his mental image and mana within himself.
“I admit it.”
Aron, tilting his head back from the center of the whitely distorted cold, murmured.
“You are not merely a being explainable by being a blood relative of an Ascendant. You are a Transcendent who reached his answer unbound by your origin.”
“…”
“To even say these words only after facing your Domain, is truly my own inadequacy and oversight.”
Aron slowly raised his head and said.
“Therefore, from now on, I shall focus all my efforts on drawing out everything I have to kill you.”
Swaeek!!
At that moment, an enormous ice formation surged from beneath Aron’s feet, piercing through where Lennok had been.
An immense ice pillar, dozens of meters tall, shot upwards at supersonic speed, unleashing a shockwave.
Paaaaaang!!!
“Miniature Universe: Open.”
Before the successive sonic booms had even subsided, Aron, gripping the ice pillar, incanted.
“Titan Armament Manifestation.”
Inner World Miniature Universe: Titan Armament
Kwagwagwagwa!!!!
Aron’s body swelled dozens of times over on the spot, transforming into a giant, grasping and pulling out the ice pillar.
Just by stamping his foot, an earthquake erupted, mana echoed, and explosions followed his steps.
Aron, enlarged to such a degree that he looked down on Lennok floating in the air, wielded an ice spear and drew out mana.
Lennok laughed at the sight.
“That’s a rather familiar size. Did you steal that from Gillian’s Miniature Universe?”
“My second tier of authority is Royal Authority itself, allowing me to freely draw upon the royal family’s assets and treasures.”
Aron replied with a heavy, resonant voice, taking a step.
“Now that I wield a Forbidden Armament, I can bypass the process and draw upon the preserved talents of the royal family.”
Kwooong!!!
Hard ice enveloped Aron’s entire gigantic body, transforming into pure white armor.
Aron, instantly clad in frozen heavy armor, spoke in a chilling tone.
“At this moment, thousands of talents and hundreds of Miniature Universes shall revolve within my grasp.”
The second tier of ability possessed by Aronbaiger Kabahim, who had the Talent for Duality.
The power to extract preserved talents using bloodline abilities and engrave them onto armaments forged from ice.
Aron had used this ability to preserve Gillian’s left arm. Aiding him with a Forbidden Armament, he unfurled Gillian’s Miniature Universe.
Now that he wore the Frost Ring, it must mean Aron could freely draw upon the human talents he had incorporated into the royal family’s assets.
“Even with thousands of talents and Miniature Universes, only a few would actually be useful.”
But Lennok, seeing this, did not retreat, instead sneering and chanting a spell.
“Besides, you’re not the only one who can wield the power of a god.”
He applied Manipulation Spellcraft to the only object on this vast battlefield that could rival Aron’s gigantic size.
A power core that, normally, Lennok’s spellcraft wouldn’t even register, let alone be allowed to extend his will-thought towards.
But now—
“Arise.”
Kwaaaang!!!
Cutting through the swirling blizzard, the frozen knight creaked and rose.
Slowly lifting its body from the black throne, moving its cracked and frozen armor.
The remains of the Dead God, the Cold Comet, rose at Lennok’s will.
It met Aron’s firm gaze, and they faced each other.
“Impossible!!!”
“The god who protects Kabahim…!!”
“His Majesty clearly claimed its power, yet!!”
Amidst the shocked screams of the surviving knights and court mages, Lennok wielded spellcraft from atop the giant’s shoulder.
The giant, creakingly raising its fist, slowly rotated its arm, and fiercely collided with Aron, who was swinging his spear with all his might.
The clash of the two giants in the center of the sanctuary generated an intense shockwave as their powers misaligned.
It completely overturned and ripped apart everything unfolded within Lennok’s Domain.
Kwaaaaaaaaaa!!!!