Chapter 1199: The Military Parade (13)
[Cheonbeon Evan Martinez.]
The name boomed through the loudspeakers, met with a thunderous roar of cheers.
Waaahhh!!!!
Deadrise Legion 2nd Command Headquarters.
A lavish carpet stretched out before the colossal headquarters building, reminiscent of a stadium.
Lennok stood amidst the cheers and applause of the entire legion, numbering in the tens of thousands.
[An 8-level Fire-Heat Grand Mage. Successor to the Ascendant Jindun. Legitimate heir to the Blaiver Magic Tower.]
The overlapping sounds and heat intensified, making everything around him feel distant and hazy.
Colorful confetti fluttered through the sky, as if to commemorate this very moment.
[The Apostle-Slayer who subdued the 10th Apostle Amrita. The Archenemy who brought down the Conjunction Spell Master of the Order Alliance. The hero who halted the Nether King’s Gabihaeng.]
[Drug King assassinated. Hanghasa Labyrinth conquered. Cult’s Far Western Branch annihilated. The ‘Seat’ of the Ability Awakening Warband defeated.]
[Conquest of Vulcan’s Outer Districts. Survival after the decisive battle with Adamant Thunder.]
[And countless other major achievements and military records on the Central and Eastern Fronts.]
With each introduction of Cheonbeon’s accomplishments, the roaring cheers grew louder.
The introductory remarks, as if flaunting his record to the cults and alliances attending the parade.
Thump! Thump! Thump!!
Each time Lennok stepped onto the lavish carpet, the entire legion stomped their feet in unison with his pace.
A massive platform was erected before the command headquarters.
As he approached between the tens-of-meters-tall stone statues flanking the platform, the sound intensified.
As if announcing Lennok’s presence across the entire operational area and showcasing this moment to all who attended the military parade.
[The Fourth Captain of Deadrise.]
Oooooohhh!!!
The gazes of superhumans not affiliated with the legion converged on Lennok from all directions, filled with various emotions.
Major powers vying for influence in the Central Front, and city-states extending their reach across continents.
Even organizations with completely opposing stances, like the Eyes of Blue and the Guido Cult.
“Captain Martinez.”
An old man in antique ceremonial robes, waiting below the platform, approached Lennok.
The old man, gazing at Lennok with a benevolent smile, held a magnificent white coat in his hands.
“It is a ceremonial uniform, crafted from the refined hide of a white dragon, then woven with the threads of spirit-weavers. It’s made in the manner of the immortals’ garments, often called a magic treasure.”
“……”
“Hundreds of types of protective spellcraft and supernatural abilities are woven into every thread of this coat. It is, in itself, a moving fortress.”
The old man carefully knelt before Lennok and respectfully extended the coat he held.
“This uniform has been long crafted for the legion’s new Captain. Please accept it.”
“……”
Instead of replying, Lennok silently gazed at the pure white coat the old man offered.
Unlike the black shadow-coat he wore as Adamant Thunder, this ceremonial uniform had structured shoulders and sleeves.
The flame emblem embroidered on the garment burned as if alive, emitting a mysterious aura.
It subtly resembled the coat Song-ha wore, yet its method of creation seemed different.
Lost in thought, Lennok took the coat from the old man and draped it over his shoulders.
Kiii-iiing……!!
The moment he put on the coat, a sharp resonance echoed, and an invisible barrier enveloped Lennok’s skin.
A mysterious aura, completely different in function from Jindun’s barrier spellcraft, truly akin to the Daoist arts of immortals.
A method of protection where simply wearing it encased the wearer in a conceptual barrier on their skin.
“Waaahhh!!!”
Tens of thousands of soldiers watching from behind roared incessantly.
The Fourth Captain, a position that never existed in Deadrise.
Everyone knew what it meant for the legion that Cheonbeon had accepted this position.
That Evan Martinez was not merely leading a legion, but was a Transcendent who had gained qualifications beyond that.
That he was a powerful wizard and Seeker, strong enough to claim the Captain position, considered a core individual power of Deadrise.
Everyone cheered that the legion had embraced a War-Mage, who was currently uniquely highly regarded on the Central Front.
The appointment ceremony of the Fourth Captain, held concurrently with the Marshal’s return.
Under the warm sunlight, commemorating and celebrating this moment, Lennok slowly began to walk.
As he ascended the platform erected before the command headquarters, the waiting Legion Commanders all simultaneously knelt.
Thump!!
“Captain Martinez.”
Mirva Neosoto, Commander of the 4th Legion, spoke, bowing her head toward Lennok.
“Congratulations on your inauguration as Deadrise’s new Captain.”
“……”
“As of this moment, all of us Legion Commanders have been ordered to submit to your command structure. We are duly prepared to obey.”
Instead of replying, Lennok silently looked down at Mirva.
Just hours ago, she had been trying to recruit Lennok; now, she was bowing her head, treating him as Captain.
She was now serving a superior who had risen to the Captain position overnight, rather than a Lieutenant General leading the same legion.
Yet, no dissatisfaction or defiance was visible on Mirva’s face.
She merely informed Lennok of his upcoming schedule with impeccable courtesy.
“The Marshal is waiting in the main building of the command headquarters.”
Mirva, kneeling on one knee before Lennok, spoke in a calm voice.
“Before the inauguration ceremony concludes, you may wish to address the legions gathered for your appointment—”
“No.”
Lennok cut Mirva off and turned around.
“It’s not necessary. I’ll go meet the Marshal directly.”
“……Understood.”
Mirva, having readily assented, stepped back, and simultaneously, the other Legion Commanders all bowed their heads.
Atiya, Commander of the 6th Legion, grumbled beside Mirva, her lips pursed.
Deimus, Commander of the 7th Legion, showed respect to Lennok with a chillingly expressionless face.
The Commander of the 8th Legion knelt, stumbling with a pained expression—
Lennok stopped.
“Townsend.”
“……Commander of the 8th Legion, Townsend Sommernel.”
Townsend bowed silently towards Lennok.
“We listen to the words of Captain Martinez, who has taken command of the legion.”
“……”
Perhaps because he had been defeated by Lennok and beaten by Song-ha, he certainly didn’t look well.
Blood-stained bandages peeked from his uniform, and a splint was on his forearm.
The entire legion watched as Townsend, despite his injured body, moved to show deference to Lennok.
Forcing him to suppress any lingering resentment, to kneel and bow his head before Lennok.
Was this the rule of power and the strength of hierarchy that existed in Deadrise?
Lennok, who had been silently looking down at Townsend, slowly turned his gaze.
Several Legion Commanders knelt around Lennok.
Tens of thousands of soldiers saluting him from below the platform.
Even the attendants waiting with all sorts of gifts prepared for the new Captain.
A magnificent spectacle: the entire legion of tens of thousands, arrayed to the horizon, pledging allegiance.
An overwhelming scene that evoked a slight sense of awe even in Lennok, who had never shown interest in power or rank.
But Lennok soon put those thoughts aside and moved on.
Click!!
He passed the bowing Legion Commanders and headed towards the main building of the command headquarters, where a lavish carpet was laid.
Attendants waiting all around naturally offered gifts to Lennok as he walked.
A sword, received upon rising to the rank of general. Spell-imbued gloves, matching the coat.
All sorts of medals and brooches Lennok didn’t recognize gleamed on his coat.
“Captain Martinez.”
At the entrance to the main building of the command headquarters, a familiar young man waited.
“Congratulations on your appointment as the legion’s new Captain.”
“……Enel.”
Riyad Enel, Brigadier General and staff officer of the 5th Legion.
The de facto commander of the 5th Legion, who had personally come to greet Lennok as their Legion Commander.
And now, he was also a soldier who had just lost the superior he had come to serve.
“With the command staff’s consideration, I have been entrusted with guiding you to the main building. Please follow me.”
“Thanks to you, I’ve received much consideration.”
Lennok spoke, letting Enel naturally lead the way.
“I regret what happened with the 5th Legion.”
“What more could we need, now that the new Captain has joined the legion?”
Enel shook his head.
“You don’t need to worry about the 5th Legion. Rather, Captain, you seem remarkably calm.”
“……”
“It’s truly been a long time since a new Captain was appointed within the legion. Especially a promotion ceremony of this scale; it’s quite unprecedented even by past standards, but……”
“I was surprised, but there was nothing to be agitated or wary about.”
The moment they entered the corridor, the shouts from outside sharply diminished.
Lennok replied calmly as he walked with Enel down the suddenly quiet corridor.
“The Marshal giving me the Captain position wasn’t simply about valuing my skill; he probably wanted a situation like this.”
“……Excuse me?”
“If so, I merely thought it necessary to play along for a moment.”
The new Fourth Captain of Deadrise, whom Song-ha had personally named as Ethan’s command in front of Lennok.
Everyone present had been so shocked that they almost forgot the situation, but Lennok, in fact, was thinking of something else.
‘There was a Legion Commander who ranked higher than Cheonbeon’s alias on the Eastern Continent Power Ranking.’
Lennok’s gaze, looking down the endlessly ornate corridor, grew cold.
‘Among the Legion Commanders, there is a Transcendent who is evaluated similarly to Cheonbeon. Yet, giving me the position of the Fourth Captain means…’
What Ethan wanted, even going so far as to create and hand Lennok the position of Fourth Captain, which hadn’t previously existed.
He knew that it was to create an unprecedented situation like this, to establish a pretext for a private audience with Lennok.
That’s why, at the point when he had given up the internal appointment for Legion Commander and half-killed Townsend, he hadn’t refused Song-ha’s offer.
Click.
At that moment, the corridor door opened, and someone walked out beside it, yawning.
A woman with a youthful impression, her hair tied in two pigtails, wearing loose-fitting blue ceremonial robes. Barefoot, unsuited for the command headquarters’ facilities.
“Oh.”
The woman, idly looking around, met Lennok’s gaze and ambled over.
Looking up at Lennok with sleepy eyes, she tilted her head and spoke.
“So you’re Evan Martinez. It’s my first time seeing your face this close.”
“……”
“I’m the Fairy Conjunction Master of the Order Alliance. Nice to meet you.”
Saying so, she unreservedly extended her hand towards Lennok.
“I saw you handle Chapman at the First Gate. Can the Order Alliance take a little credit for you becoming the legion’s Fourth Captain?”
“……Captain.”
“It’s fine.”
The Fairy Conjunction Master of the Order Alliance. Hearing those words, Lennok walked past a tensed Enel.
Ignoring the Fairy Conjunction Master’s outstretched hand, Lennok looked down at her and asked,
“What business does the Alliance have with me?”
“No. If it were in the past, maybe, but I don’t have business with you now.”
The Fairy Conjunction Master said, wiping her outstretched hand on her ceremonial robes with a languid expression.
“I had something to discuss with the legion command staff, but a surprisingly big shot came to the parade. So I had to step aside for a moment.”
“A big shot……?”
“Yeah. Some eccentric who hasn’t attended events like this in decades.”
She pointed at Enel, standing beside Lennok, with an indifferent gaze and said,
“If you don’t want this person to get broken, you’d best leave him here. Though if you want to see him turned into a toy, you can take him with you.”
“……”
The Fairy Conjunction Master was a being who wielded incomprehensible spellcraft, freely moving between the Material Realm and the Spirit World.
If such a spellcaster was wary enough of ‘breaking’ someone to step aside, then the person currently meeting Ethan wouldn’t be an ordinary guest.
“Enel.”
“Captain, but……”
Enel was about to say something but then closed his mouth, swallowing his words.
Perhaps he thought he couldn’t add his opinion to a matter that the Alliance’s Spell Master and Lennok had agreed upon.
Enel turned to Lennok and saluted with precise movements, saying,
“……It was an honor to serve you, even for a short while.”
“……”
Lennok nodded, and Enel turned and disappeared down the corridor.
Watching him, the Fairy Conjunction Master shrugged with a curious expression.
“He’s surprisingly perceptive for a soldier. Or is he perceptive because he’s a soldier?”
“It doesn’t matter which.”
Lennok turned his head.
“He’s a man perfectly capable of being a subordinate. It’s just that the timing wasn’t right for us to be together.”
If Lennok had joined the legion when he was more inexperienced and weaker, he might have found a good comrade.
But in the end, it was merely a connection where the circumstances and timing weren’t right for either of them.
Just as he had let many connections and Branching Points slip away, it was best to let go of the 5th Legion matter here.
As Lennok thought this, the Fairy Conjunction Master looked up at him with a strange expression.
“You’re certainly different from Adamant Thunder. I’d heard rumors, but I’m surprised a Grand Mage like you can say such things.”
“……”
Lennok silently turned around, ignoring her subtle words, which he couldn’t tell were admiration or sarcasm.
He had no desire to indulge the Fairy Conjunction Master’s pointless musings or monologues.
Here, it was right to simply heed the Spell Master’s warning and go directly to meet the Marshal.
The annex located in the deepest part of the command headquarters. Beyond it, someone’s presence echoed like mist.
He now knew where Ethan was waiting for Lennok, without needing to ask.
The moment Lennok slowly clenched and unclenched his fist, faintly raising his mana and stepping forward,
“Long ago, your existence was also included in the Alliance’s plan.”
The Fairy Conjunction Master said, looking at Lennok’s back.
“The killing power absolutely necessary for the Great Connection’s reconstruction. We needed an Apostle-Slayer who could provide that.”
“……What are you trying to say?”
No, Lennok already knew what she was saying.
The reconstruction of the Great Connection that the Order Alliance Leader had once proposed to Adamant Thunder. The grand battle with the Guido Cult that would accompany that process.
The Order Alliance Leader himself participating in the subjugation of the Second Apostle.
The Spell Master was saying that the Alliance had once deliberated between Adamant Thunder and Cheonbeon for that plan.
“Once one side is chosen, excluding the other is inevitable, but if we had chosen you, would something have been different?”
The Spell Master tilted her head, watching Lennok, who had stopped.
“That’s something we’ll never know until the results are in, after all.”
“……”
“Goodbye. It was fun for a little while.”
She waved at Lennok, speaking with a smiling face.
“Say hello to Chapman if you see him.”
Swoosh—
As he stood before the annex of the command headquarters, the automatic doors slid open to either side.
Inside the colossal headquarters, no other human presence was felt apart from Lennok.
A deathly quiet stillness, completely unlike the first time Lennok had visited the command headquarters.
Yet, Lennok naturally accepted this atmosphere within the command.
A military parade was an event where generals toured each legion arrayed in their encampments.
By now, it wouldn’t be strange for command headquarters personnel to be making final preparations at each legion’s encampment.
‘……No.’
No, he knew that wasn’t the real reason.
It wasn’t a matter of ceremony or procedure; it was simply because he desired it.
That the Marshal had wanted everyone dismissed before this moment, which was why this place was empty.
Lennok intuitively knew that Ethan was waiting for this meeting right now.
“……”
Did he know?
That Lennok had pursued this moment for so long.
That he had peered into a secret even Ethan himself didn’t know, and desired more.
That they had stood in the same place amidst a miracle transcending past, present, and future timelines.
Lennok knew, yet at the same time, didn’t know.
He wanted to know, yet at the same time, didn’t want to know.
He was afraid that the truth he had uncovered for so long might be uglier than he imagined, and he might be disappointed.
Thinking that many things he remembered about Kaiser might no longer be true.
Even though he had already come to a conclusion in his heart, he had hesitated to confirm it—
Time continued to flow, and despite not having finished preparing himself, it was now upon him.
He couldn’t know if everything was perfectly prepared.
He only hoped he wouldn’t have any regrets at the last moment.
Screeeech……!!!
The door opened, and a brilliant light streamed from beyond.
A sun-drenched room. A small garden spread outside the window.
Beyond the grass swaying in the breeze, he sat.
At a table in the center of the garden, he was slumped with his chin in his hand, eyes closed as if asleep.
A face so remarkably similar to Kaiser Bajour’s, that he had, on the contrary, thought it couldn’t be him.
Click.
The moment the door closed, all other sounds vanished.
Lennok silently watched him, then slowly began to walk.
As he moved past the room and stepped out into the garden, a warm breeze swept in.
A gentle breeze, carrying faint warmth, as if caressing his cheek.
On the green grass bathed in sunlight, Lennok stood motionless, gazing at him.
“……”
A quiet stillness, as if time itself had stopped.
In a silence where both acknowledged the other’s presence, yet neither spoke first.
“In the legion, the Captain position holds a different meaning than rank or authority.”
Ethan whispered.
“It is a promise I convey. That in exchange for borrowing your name, your place will forever remain here.”
“……”
“A qualification that remains unchanged even if you don’t belong to the legion, allowing you to enjoy everything the legion has to offer.”
A voice so faint it seemed about to vanish. A distant quality, as if not directed at Lennok even when he stood before him.
Ethan said softly, his eyes still closed.
“I made that promise to meet you.”
“I……”
Lennok asked.
“How should I address you?”
“Call me whatever you wish.”
Ethan, his chin still propped in his hand, whispered.
“A name no longer holds importance to me.”
“……”
Instead of replying, Lennok looked at the hand propping his chin.
More precisely, at Ethan’s neck, concealed beyond that hand.
Beyond it, would the truth Lennok sought truly lie?
Would the ugliness Lennok feared to confirm be carved there?
If so—
“The time has come.”
Ethan opened his eyes.
He slowly removed his hand and rose without any support.
His neck was hidden by the collar of his old military uniform, not clearly visible.
Ethan turned with an expressionless face and stared intently at Lennok.
“Shall we talk while we walk?”
“……Talk?”
“There’s much to say…… but it won’t take long.”
Ethan whispered in a faint voice.
“A brief tour of the military parade will probably be enough.”
“I don’t know what kind of time you’re talking about being enough.”
Lennok’s face hardened.
“That’s not for you to decide. The reason I attended the military parade was—”
“I know.”
Ethan slightly turned his head.
“Weren’t you here to find me to confirm the true nature of the Black Consumer Project?”