Chapter 1202: The Price (3)

Thump!

Two figures stood at opposite ends of the several-tens-of-meters-long corridor, facing each other.

Lennok, with flames conjured and clenched in his hand, and Ethan, watching him with an expressionless face.

Deadrise’s Captain and Marshal raised their will-thoughts toward each other in the heart of the command headquarters.

Vwoooom!!!

The rapidly intensifying magic emitted a heavy, resonating hum, like an airplane engine.

‘Ethan Bajour.’

Lennok thought, watching Ethan’s form shimmer like a heat haze in the distance.

‘I don’t know his specific abilities, but I do know he was a being rumored to rival the Nether King…’

After learning that Kaiser’s son was alive, Lennok didn’t know much about Ethan.

That he had died during the project, resurrected from death, and in return, lost many memories.

That after Kaiser’s death, he united the remaining Deadrise forces and built them into a colossal legion.

That he had traveled across the continent to regain his memories, even visiting Yorta and leaving behind records of his observations.

But among all of it, what Lennok remembered most attentively was the assessment of Ethan’s combat prowess.

The casual remarks he’d overheard long ago: that if Myeong moved, Ethan would also react.

He knew that such a statement would be impossible unless Myeong and Ethan were assumed to be Transcendent beings of similar power.

‘I will confirm Ethan’s identity here. Even if it means becoming enemies with the Legion in the worst-case scenario—’

Lennok’s decision to act after hearing the truth about the project was not impulsive.

He understood that the conclusion of the Black Consumer Project might be inextricably linked to himself.

And that Ethan’s revelation at this point was not born of good intentions.

If Ethan had intended to tell Lennok the truth about the project and help him, there would have been no reason to react like this.

Instead of ambiguously hiding whether he was Kaiser or Ethan, he would have clearly stated his identity and what he desired.

But Ethan probed Lennok’s reaction, and while concealing his own identity, maintained an ambiguous stance throughout.

The truth of a project that edited and set human destinies and talents was not all that Ethan desired.

Ethan was returning to Vulcan to conspire something of greater significance.

The moment Ethan refused to answer about his identity, Lennok understood everything and realized he could not side with him.

[Ignite]

Fwoosh!!!

As he clenched his fist, flames erupted and flowed from both sides of his grasp.

Crimson streaks of flame snaked up Lennok’s arms and wrapped around his entire body like waves.

Following the fiercely burning flames, his pristine white coat fluttered wildly.

In the fleeting moment Lennok’s lowered form shimmered and distorted within the scorching heat.

With an intense tearing sound, Lennok’s form vanished from its spot and reappeared before Ethan’s eyes.

[Double Stacked Acceleration]

[Scorching Flutter]

Bwooom!!!

An intense impact that felt strong enough to tear through the air.

Lennok’s and Ethan’s hands intersected in mid-air, stopping at that very spot.

Lennok, extending his fiercely burning hand, and Ethan, blocking that hand with an expressionless face.

Lennok’s flame-engulfed hand was aimed at Ethan’s neck, hidden beneath his military uniform.

“Must it really be this way?”

Ethan asked, looking down at Lennok with an expressionless face.

“I don’t particularly want to fight you.”

“On that point, we agree.”

Lennok smiled, looking at Ethan’s face beyond the flames.

“But I must confirm who you are, right here.”

“……”

“Because only by knowing your true identity can I find out where the project truly ended. Without that, I can’t move forward.”

Whether the one standing before Lennok was Kaiser, or Ethan.

Whether Ethan Bajour had truly severed Kaiser Bajour’s head and attached it to himself.

The truth of the project and the Legion’s direction could be confirmed and surmised by that single fact.

This was the reason Lennok, under the alias Cheonbeon, had attended the military parade and sought this private audience with Ethan.

The answer to the doubt he harbored since Kundara’s Ninth Tribulation lay hidden beyond this hand.

“A pity. Who I am must not yet be known.”

Kugugugu!!

Ethan shook his head amidst the intensifying heat.

“There are truths that become fixed the moment they are observed, so some secrets must remain hidden until the very end.”

“Is that so?”

Lennok’s expression turned cold.

“Then there’s no changing what we both have to do.”

Whoosh!!

Flames, spreading from his fingertips, spiraled up his forearm, intensifying the heat.

Ethan’s hand, grasping Lennok’s wrist, also ignited, swiftly scorching his skin.

Immediately after Ethan, with an expressionless face, released Lennok’s wrist, both moved simultaneously.

Kwoong!!

The corridor wall of the command headquarters collapsed, fully revealing the VIP room beyond.

Lennok’s and Ethan’s forms intersected and collided in a fleeting moment amidst the burning, distorted debris.

A heavy roar, unbelievable for mere fists and forearms colliding, exploded, unleashing a shockwave.

Tututututuung!!!

Lennok, scorching the corridor diagonally and drawing forth his magic, and Ethan, with an expressionless face, both walked out simultaneously.

But Lennok’s expression hardened at the chilling sense of unease he felt in that fleeting moment.

‘The Jeongryun Barrier is breaking. Is it this much with just bare-handed combat…?!’

The reason Cheonbeon could engage in close-quarters combat was his thorough use of Jindun’s Barrier Spellcraft for defensive purposes.

Because his body’s protection and all the stats and durability needed for close combat were replenished entirely through Barrier Spellcraft.

With the Touin passed down from Krod Azlan, and through the events in Yorta, Lennok’s martial arts had also reached a peak.

Yet, even so, Lennok felt an indescribable pressure during his brief clash with Ethan.

It wasn’t that special powers or spellcraft were damaging Lennok’s barrier.

The damage was purely from the difference in martial arts skill, an unavoidable loss accumulating.

“They say you’re the top-ranking War-Mage in the Central District; it seems it wasn’t an exaggeration.”

Perhaps the sentiment was mutual, as Ethan, emerging from the half-destroyed room, spoke.

“Your close-quarters combat skill is unbelievably high for an 8-level wizard. Was this much possible even without properly using fire-heat magic?”

“……”

“Alternate Incantation using martial arts… It’s an ideal that would be impossible to realize without a baseline combat ability.”

Ethan slowly turned his gaze and asked in a faint tone.

“Again, that talent catches my eye. Is your extraordinary nature truly a miracle originating from the project?”

“So, that’s what you wanted to know, which is why you sought this private audience with me.”

“Precisely. Because I don’t want to fight you.”

Ethan took slow steps and whispered.

“Rather, I wish to converse with you like this. I hope to keep learning about you.”

“……”

“Whether your existence is truly a miracle stemming from the project. Ultimately, that’s something I can’t be certain of without directly dissecting you.”

Ethan said, stroking his own neck with one hand.

“Just as you are curious about my identity, and wish to confirm it with your own eyes.”

A skirmish lasting mere moments.

Even with overwhelming skill, never losing composure against Lennok, Ethan still wished to converse with him.

That’s likely because his very act of answering Lennok about the project stemmed from his conviction that Lennok was a part of it.

As a participant in the project, he sought to confront and confirm Lennok, who might be its very outcome.

Though they stood facing each other because Ethan, in his own way, desired what Lennok also sought—

“That’s not something you get to arbitrarily decide and conclude.”

Lennok retorted, drawing forth his magic while clenching both hands together.

“Who I am, what I was — that’s for me to decide. What its origin was, is utterly irrelevant.”

“……”

“Even if, by some chance, the Black Consumer Project exists as a part of me in that process, my answer won’t change.”

Kwoooosh…!!!

He moved his fingers as if scraping the air, compressing the surging flames.

Beyond the burning conflagration, Lennok’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“I will always be myself, just as I was at the beginning. That single fact is enough.”

Even if the Black Consumer Project was a power that edited and set human talents and destinies.

Even if Lennok’s existence was a miracle created through the project, what Lennok had to do would not change.

He would look back at all the failures of the world and make all those possibilities his answer.

He had only made the project his target because its existence was closest to Lennok’s own purpose.

Nothing would change now that he had learned secrets beyond that.

“I see…”

Ethan, understanding Lennok’s answer, let his words trail off.

Frowning slightly, he stepped forward.

“But conversely, that’s not the answer I want.”

Hwoooosh…!!

With a dry breeze, Ethan lightly extended his hand, slowly raising his gaze, and murmured.

“Then, it seems I’ll have no choice but to take it here.”

‘I can’t draw this out. I need to end it as quickly as possible.’

Lennok’s expression hardened as he watched Ethan extend his hand towards him.

Lennok was currently in Deadrise Command Headquarters. A garrison where the Legion’s full force was gathered.

If the fact of clashing with the Marshal in a place like this were discovered, the entire Legion would move in a flash.

Lennok also didn’t expect to kill Ethan, known as the Revived, in a single blow.

All he wanted was to confirm whether Ethan Bajour had severed Kaiser’s head and attached it to himself.

Once confirmed, he would immediately leave the military parade and return to Vulcan.

If the direction of his task was set, there was no reason to hesitate.

From now on, he would simply devote all his strength to overcoming the obstacle before him.

Clenching the rotating, compressed mass of flame in his hand until it threatened to shatter, Lennok opened his mouth.

“Fusion initiated.”

Fire-Heat Attribute Unique Magic

Property Transformation: Fusion

[Blueshift: Incarnation Body]

Kugugugu…!!!

The flames swirling in Lennok’s hand began to fuse, taking on a bluish light.

Simultaneously, the bluish, flickering flames spread across Lennok’s entire body, burning fiercely.

In the fleeting moment Lennok’s entire lowered body shimmered with blue light, his flame-engulfed form accelerated at incredible speed.

The moment a wave of Azure Flames, filling the corridor and ceiling, crashed down on Ethan, one side of the command headquarters’ staircase exploded, sending up a brilliant blue pillar of fire.

Kwoooaaaah!!!

With just a light brush, furniture, decorations, insignias, and flags scattered into ashes.

Amidst the heat where steel frames, supports, and objects forming the command headquarters vanished without a single moment’s resistance.

Lennok’s and Ethan’s forms collided with tremendous speed amidst the collapsing structures.

Kwang!!

Dudududu!!

Lennok, accelerating enveloped in blue flames, and Ethan, receiving the pouring inferno, crossed paths.

“You’re compressing a heat source that transcends limits and forcibly turning it into plasma to manipulate it.”

Kwoooosh!!

Ethan’s body, pressed down by Lennok, plunged straight down, breaking through several layers of the command headquarters’ staircase.

But amidst the heat that vaporized everything around them, Ethan still stared directly at Lennok.

“Are you giving directionality to plasma, an extension of fire-heat magic, and using it as propulsion for acceleration? It’s practically a miracle technique, converting your physical body into an ion engine.”

Perhaps because Ethan, holding the rank of Marshal in the Legion, also had considerable knowledge of engines and military technology.

A faint hint of interest was discernible for the first time in Ethan’s usually indifferent voice.

“The concept is splendid, but the manipulation ability and attribute control that make it possible are on a different level. It’s an accomplishment even the successive Blaiver Tower Lords I remember wouldn’t have dared to attempt.”

“You’re far too composed…!”

[Azure Flame]

Kwoooaaang!!!

He swung his hand, flickering with blue flames, and slammed it down towards Ethan.

The surging ripples exploded dozens of times, incinerating the command headquarters’ staircases and corridors.

Lennok’s fierce offensive, burning his entire body at incredible speed, pressed down on Ethan.

But even as he accelerated through the inferno, Lennok’s expression remained rigid.

‘I can’t even feel the sensation of inflicting damage. It’s as if he’s not even human to begin with…!’

Kugwagwagwa!!!!

Glass windows melted like flowing water, and rows of blue flames burst forth through them.

The alloys protecting the headquarters’ main facilities and interior shattered and disintegrated, exploding with shockwaves.

Between them, Ethan’s and Lennok’s forms shimmered faintly, accelerating at incredible speed.

“It can’t be helped. With this body, I wanted to avoid fighting if possible, but…”

Thwack!!

Ethan, covering his neck with one hand, landed on the ground and extended his arm to the side.

“It would be foolish to hold back against a wizard like you.”

Vwoooom……!!!!

As Ethan drew forth his will-thought, an intense resonant hum spread through spacetime.

He lightly turned his body, facing the blue flames pressing in from all sides.

This was the moment Ethan, who had only been receiving Lennok’s attacks until now, moved first.

Ethan whispered in a voice that seemed to fade.

“Reverse Scale.”

Tututututuung!!!

With slow hand gestures, he deflected all the flames Lennok hurled with his full will-thought.

A chilling, bursting sound as bluish flames warped, shattered, and vanished, space and all, from every direction.

Without time to react to Ethan’s first counterattack, which was on a completely different level from his previous lukewarm attitude.

Ethan’s hand pierced through space at invisible speed, impaling Lennok’s heart.

Paaang!!

“……!!!”

Lennok’s body, engulfed in blue flames, halted abruptly, and at the same moment, Ethan’s presence abruptly subsided.

As if he could only use his strength for a fleeting moment, Ethan’s movements slowed.

The moment Ethan, having thrust his hand into Lennok’s body, turned to say something—

Grab!!

Lennok sharply raised his head, seized Ethan’s arm, and pushed him straight back.

Ethan’s expressionless face, leaning back against the wall, was momentarily illuminated by a flash in his eyes.

The command headquarters’ corridor wall, engulfed in blue flames, shimmered and cracked.

Kwoooang!!

“……!”

“As I thought, your body isn’t in a normal state either.”

Lennok murmured, pressing hard on Ethan’s shoulder as blue flames scattered.

Bluish flames surged out with Lennok’s breath as his lips parted.

“If you intended to neutralize my offensive with a single attempt, I knew you would aim for this exact moment.”

“……Indeed.”

The point of penetration where he had pierced Lennok’s heart with his hand.

Ethan, confirming that part of Lennok’s chest had turned into blue flame, murmured with an expressionless face.

“Did you completely plasmify part of your body to ignore physical interference? You enveloped your body in plasma from the start of the engagement to conceal that ability.”

“……”

“However, if physical Property Transformation is possible, there would have been no reason to fight that way in the first place.”

“Because if not now, there would be no other chance to confirm your identity.”

Lennok, cutting off Ethan with a cold expression, extended his hand.

Lennok, gripping the collar of Ethan’s worn military uniform, spoke with a cold expression.

“Ethan Bajour. What you obtained in Kundara, I will confirm it here—.”

Chwaaak!!

Lennok, seeing Ethan’s neck beneath, froze on the spot.

The one doubt he had harbored since Kundara’s Ninth Tribulation.

The moment he confirmed a suspicion he had called doubt, but was half-convinced of.

“……”

There was no trace of a cut anywhere on the joints or muscles connecting his head and body; it was perfectly normal.

Ethan Bajour’s neck bore no scars or wounds whatsoever.