Chapter 1204: The Price (5)
In the factory district near Deadrise’s 2nd Command.
After the tanks surrounding the production facility erupted with a fierce roar, thousands of rounds of concentrated fire rained down with dazzling light.
KWAH-AAAH-AAAH!!!
Multiple rocket launchers and self-propelled artillery spewed fire, and missiles, drawing a gentle arc across the sky, accelerated as their propellant burned.
The Legion’s artillery units, gathered to confront the wizard who had turned the command center upside down, roared incessantly.
And just as the cloudy sky was dyed crimson, covered in a rain of fire.
Lennok stretched out his hand towards the crimson sky and began his incantation.
Fire-Heat System Unique Magic.
Property Transformation Amplification Extremity.
Crimson Star System: Solar Apex.
Eighth Star: Tribulation’s Sky.
Woooooong!!!!!
As he covered and eclipsed the sky with one hand, the sky slowly darkened in sync with Lennok’s gesture.
It was as if something colossal was blocking the sun, forcibly initiating a total solar eclipse that should not have occurred at this time.
The same intense and eerie sense of déjà vu he had felt when facing the 8th Legion Commander, Townsend, in their assessment match.
“That’s!!”
“Unbelievable, the sky…!”
The soldiers, abruptly looking up, widened their eyes to slits as they confirmed the identity of what blocked the sun.
Kwooo-roo-roo-roong…!!!!
The head of a colossal fire dragon, its mouth agape, was swallowing the sun floating in the sky.
A massive shadow, so ponderous and heavy it almost looked like a turtle’s head.
It emerged from behind the sun, devouring its light with its body and swelling in size.
FWOOOSH!!!!
The fire dragon blocking the sun devoured the light and heat that should have fallen to the ground.
With each gulp, the fire dragon’s shadow swelled maniacally, eventually growing larger than any tactical weapon on the battlefield.
Awakening by consuming the sun’s light, casting its own light upon the ground in place of the sun, and ultimately using the sun itself as a power source.
“Summoning complete.”
Lennok murmured softly.
“Solar Ship operation commenced. Field effect deployed.”
KOO-GOO-GOO-GOO!!!
At that moment, the countless flames of concentrated fire pouring down on Lennok collectively changed direction and surged towards the sky.
The cannons mounted on tanks and armored vehicles. The autocannons and missiles of fighter jets that dominated the airspace.
All that thermal energy, fired towards the ground, reversed its course, beginning to distort and be absorbed towards the fire dragon blocking the sun.
The commanders of each legion, watching from the control room, stared with pale faces and wide eyes.
“Unbelievable. The Legion’s bombardment…!”
“Is he forcibly manipulating the direction of the concentrated fire?!”
“Megiddo operates using the sun as its power source, a summon that temporarily replaces the sun’s role.”
Lennok muttered, gazing up at the sky.
“Therefore, only immediately after the Solar Ship is summoned, it’s possible to interfere with the flow of heat on the ground.”
KWA-GWAA-GWAA-GWAA-GWAA!!!!
The heart of hell, where fire blended with fire, and explosions added to explosions, intensifying the heat.
All that thermal energy and flames were forcibly warped as if bent by an invisible hand, absorbed towards Megiddo.
A miraculous feat that, with a single summoning, seized control of the firepower unleashed by the Legion’s tactical weapons.
The commanders frantically clutched their communicators, shouting at the top of their lungs.
“Fire! Fire!!!”
“Re-establish the firing line! Commence concentrated fire!!!”
Puh-buh-buh-buh-bung!!!!
An overwhelming spectacle of thousands of flames rising towards the shadow of the Solar Ship floating in the sky.
Soldiers and tanks on the ground hastily moved, turning their cannons.
Thousands of rounds fired sequentially by the encircling tanks exploded in mid-air. Creating a rain of fire that dyed the sky crimson.
KWA-GWAA-GWAA-GWAA-GWAA-GWANG!!!!!
The burning rain of fire simultaneously scattered and flashed with light above the factory facilities that had ceased operation.
Along with a tremendous shockwave, a mushroom cloud bloomed in the middle of the street where the factories were concentrated.
However, even amidst the chaotic battlefield, the spot where Lennok and Euphoria stood remained unharmed.
“This is…”
“Move.”
Just as Euphoria murmured in surprise, noticing the fact, Lennok stumbled and took a step.
“The Solar Ship’s ability to guide the Legion’s concentrated fire is only temporary. We must break out of the encirclement now.”
“Are you manipulating the thermal energy itself… using it as power to operate the ship?”
Euphoria murmured.
“With such an ability, balancing firepower against the Legion shouldn’t be difficult.”
“The Solar Ship’s ability is not a power I can fully control yet.”
Lennok’s complexion, walking through the burning factory facility’s corridor, was even paler than before.
“It’s merely akin to borrowing that power solely through its inherent summoning effect.”
“…Are you saying it’s exerting such power just from the after-effects of its summoning?”
Megiddo, the Solar Ship, summoned using the eighth core of the Crimson Star System.
An overwhelming power that reproduces a total solar eclipse just by being summoned. An immense ability to forcibly distort the flow of heat on the ground.
However, Megiddo’s ability was not a power Lennok acquired through normal training or research.
The source of the Solar Ship was the core of a Level 9 Outer Sea Entity, the bio-battleship Megiddo. The very Spark that the Director handed over from the Sixfold Demonic Mirror of Return.
The engine of a battleship that was evaluated to be on par with a mega-city. Lennok had recognized its potential and had been working to make it the eighth core of the Crimson Star System.
But perhaps because it was a Spark that the current Lennok could not obtain, even after constructing it in the form of an Eighth Star, he couldn’t properly control it.
Even at this moment, he wasn’t truly wielding Megiddo’s power or abilities; it was merely borrowing a fraction of its power while maintaining the summoning.
Nevertheless, Lennok was demonstrating the reason he had summoned the uncontrollable Solar Ship here.
Using the existence of the Solar Ship, which reproduced a total solar eclipse, to divert the Legion’s attention and distort the pouring concentrated fire.
Simultaneously, forcibly bestowing blessings and enhancement spellcraft across the entire command center, which manifested as soon as the Solar Ship activated.
That alone caused the impenetrable encirclement to loosen, and the Legion’s forces began to disperse in all directions.
Presumably, the commanders of each unit instinctively understood how unrealistic a collection of power that Solar Ship was.
Therefore, Lennok intended to use the Solar Ship’s existence as an asymmetric force against the Legion, and as a decoy.
“Now that the Legion’s attention is focused on the Solar Ship, escape the command center—”
“Where are you rushing off to?”
One side of the crumbling factory wall exploded and collapsed, and someone walked out from beyond it.
KWAH-AAAH-AAAH!!!!
Steel rebar melted, dripping molten metal. Conveyor belts mixed with the molten metal, emitting a foul stench.
The entire visible landscape burned and melted, repeatedly exploding and shaking the ground of the battlefield.
A tall woman, wearing gauntlets wrapped around her forearms, looked down at Lennok.
“When I first saw you here, I never thought things would turn out like this.”
“…Lieutenant General Atiya.”
“It’s a pity, Evan Martinez.”
Lieutenant General Atiya, leading Deadrise’s 6th Legion.
Had a martial artist whose own cultivation was profound personally come to capture Lennok?
“Come to think of it, the military parade was in full swing.”
Lennok slowly turned his body, facing Atiya.
“Among the Legion Commanders who could move immediately, were you the first to step forward?”
“The military parade is over, you bastard.”
Atiya replied with an indifferent air.
“With the Command Headquarters exploding and the Marshal injured, there’s no way the event could continue. Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
“…”
“The other Legion Commanders have already taken action. They’re probably forming an encirclement to prevent you from escaping anywhere in the command center.”
“Is that so.”
“I came first not because of such circumstances, but because there’s something I want to ask you.”
Clank, Atiya lightly tugged at her gauntlet and asked.
“Cheonbeon. Why did you do it, exactly?”
“…”
“Even if you had done nothing, the entire Legion would have hailed you as the new Captain. At your word, they would have rushed to any battlefield and sacrificed their lives.”
Atiya tilted her head with a stern expression.
“The Marshal offered you power and honor among the continent’s top figures, so why did you refuse it?”
“Because what I wanted was never such a position or honor from the beginning.”
Lennok replied, rising with difficulty.
“I didn’t attend the military parade to become a Legion Commander. I was merely waiting for an answer from Ethan Bajour.”
“So, this is the result of your conversation with the Marshal?”
“…”
Lennok did not answer.
Atiya stared silently at Lennok, then let out a cold sigh.
“I see… I was gravely mistaken.”
She muttered as she walked out from amidst the flowing lava.
“I interpreted your disinterest in the Legion Commander position differently. I thought it was a ceremonial statement from an appointed candidate who took on the role out of necessity.”
“…Is that so.”
“But you never lied, not for a single moment, from the very beginning.”
Atiya stared at Lennok with chilling eyes.
“You have no intention of taking on the Legion Commander role. You casually cast aside the Captain’s position you received and seek to antagonize the Legion. You had no interest or curiosity in us from the start.”
“…”
“If you only attended the military parade to use the Legion. If you were a Transcendent who truly served no one but the Lighthouse Keeper…”
Clank!!
As she clenched her gauntleted fist, a cold murderous intent flickered in Atiya’s eyes.
“Then I, too, as one who serves in the military, must do my duty.”
There were no more words.
Atiya took a step forward, and the moment Lennok instinctively lowered his stance, watching her.
Atiya’s body, explosively accelerated, slammed into Lennok head-on, unleashing a powerful shockwave.
KWAH-AAAH-AAAH!!!!
Amidst the scattering rain of concentrated fire, Lennok and Atiya’s forms simultaneously tangled and tumbled.
Lennok, suppressing the rampage of his Incarnation Body and chanting fire-heat magic, and Atiya’s offensive, crushing the flames with her gauntlets.
DOO-DOO-DOO-DOO!!!
With a sound like machine gun fire, fists and flames intersected behind Lennok and Atiya.
Each time mana exploded behind Atiya, her body pierced through the atmosphere, accelerating.
Forcibly adding acceleration to the heavy weight of the gauntlets on both arms, raising their power.
And the moment the punch, laden with both weight and speed, rotated half a turn in mid-air and struck Lennok head-on.
The exterior wall of the burning factory facility exploded diagonally, raising a dust cloud dozens of meters high.
PEO-EO-EO-EONG!!!!
“Gah…!”
“You must have expended considerable mental energy to burn down the Command Headquarters to that extent.”
Atiya said coldly, watching Lennok, who had been pushed back, wreathed in wings of fire.
Looking down at Lennok, who knelt on one knee, her eyes sharpened.
“But your condition seems far worse than I expected. Did even a wizard like you have to push yourself so hard to face the Marshal?”
“…”
He was already suppressing the rampage of his Incarnation Body and pouring mental energy into maintaining Megiddo’s summoning. But Lennok didn’t answer, bowing his head.
Lennok’s reason for summoning Megiddo wasn’t merely to draw the Legion’s attention and loosen the encirclement.
There was one authority granted to Lennok by the Solar Ship’s presence in the sky. He hadn’t yet determined if he should use it against Atiya.
Atiya, perhaps not expecting a clear answer, immediately raised her hand.
“If you don’t intend to answer, fine. No, just don’t answer until the very end.”
WHOOSH-OH-OH-OH!!!
As Atiya snapped her fingers, the endlessly stretching factory walls collapsed.
Beyond the sky where concentrated fire poured, a colossal Water God Phoenix, entirely made of water, flew with its wings spread.
Seeing Townsend, the 8th Legion Commander, who had fused with a Phantom Beast species, Atiya once again gathered her mana and clenched her fist.
“I don’t even like this situation where I have to fight alongside that irritating summoner bastard…!”
KWAH-AAAH-AAAH!!!!
Atiya swung her fist, simultaneously exploding the condensed mana behind her gauntlets.
Accelerating the rotation of her shoulder, elbow, and scapula, she struck space itself with her gauntlets.
The art of manipulating space as a result, permitted only to Level 8 Fist Masters.
The moment Lennok’s face hardened at the extremity of blows transcending distance, and he clutched his fire-heat core.
A wall woven from tree roots surged before Lennok, blocking Atiya’s punch.
CRASH! ZZZZZZT-ZZZZZT-ZZZZZT!!
The natural barrier, woven from plants, shook violently, absorbing and dispersing the impact.
Tree roots and branches tangled and snapped, wildly swaying, but ultimately faded without reaching Lennok.
A Long-lived Being walked out from behind Lennok, stretching out her hand, and said.
“Martinez. I will hold this place.”
“…Euphoria.”
“I don’t intend to face everyone alone, but buying a little time…”
“Aosel, Supreme Committee Member of the Elder Council.”
Crack!!!
The tangled root barrier was torn apart, and a thick gauntlet pried open the裂缝.
Atiya, who emerged through the rift, looked at Euphoria’s face with a stern expression and said.
“Such actions weren’t discussed with the command center beforehand, I presume. Do you intend to ruin the deal the Elder Council made with the Legion?”
“I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
Euphoria replied with an expressionless face.
“The deal with the Legion Command does not include a situation like this. To mediate the situation, shouldn’t we first cease hostilities?”
“Ha! You’re making a flimsy excuse to side with Cheonbeon.”
Atiya snorted, and as she exerted force, Euphoria’s plant barrier split apart.
KWAH-AAANG!!!
“It doesn’t matter, but you’ll certainly pay the price for choosing the wrong side!”
“I never intended to align myself with the forces of Short-lived Beings from the start, however.”
Euphoria pressed her palms together, watching Atiya advance, tearing through the root-woven barrier.
“From now on, I will show you a little of my craft.”
PAAH-AH-AH-AT!!!
The green radiance that bloomed from Euphoria’s hands expanded and spread at incredible speed.
A vision that seemed to stretch beyond the military factory’s production facilities and across the horizon in the blink of an eye.
As Atiya turned her gaze to that primal yet overwhelming will-thought, Euphoria murmured.
“Outer Method deployment. Myriad Entanglements.”
Primitive Magic: Creation Harmonization Technique.
Eighth Kind - Outer Method.
[Myriad Entanglements]
KWAA-REUR-REUR-REUK!!!!
As soon as Euphoria’s incantation ended, vines erupted from every visible patch of ground.
The factory burning amidst the concentrated fire. Atiya advancing through the flames. Euphoria herself, preparing her incantation.
Tanks and armored vehicles surrounding the factory facilities became entangled in vines surging from beneath the ground, their movements halted.
Deploying a life spellcraft of identical power across the entire coordinate area centered on Euphoria. Copying and expanding its range and power with Primitive Magic.
Manipulating living beings through the principles of life spellcraft, and through the manipulated beings, even encompassing other life forms not directly targeted by the spellcraft.
An overwhelming scale and spellcraft range permitted only to sorcerers who wield nature itself.
KWAA-REUR-REUR-REUNG!!!
WUH-JEE-JEE-JEE-JIK!!!
The tank’s tracks became entangled in vines, derailing and losing their balance, toppling over on the spot.
Vines coiled around the chassis and wheels, launch platforms and supports, pulling them down with dozens of times the force of gravity.
The cannons of tanks and self-propelled artillery aimed at the factory facilities were entangled in vines, all simultaneously pulled out and twisted.
[Cease fire! Cease fire!]
[Stop loading ammunition!!]
Shouts echoed through the communicators, and the incessant rain of concentrated fire dwindled slightly.
The moment the explosions, which had threatened to incinerate the entire factory facility, diminished in power.
Lennok was moving, leaving everything entangled by Euphoria’s life spellcraft behind.
“Cough…!”
Amidst the ruins where vines and tree roots tangled across the burnt-out factory grounds.
Lennok, who had moved rapidly by forcibly generating flames for propulsion, looked up.
‘I succeeded in drawing the Legion’s attention and escaping the factory district. But…’
Having summoned Megiddo to draw the Legion’s attention and loosen the encirclement, then escaping the factory district with Euphoria’s help.
From here on, it wasn’t the plains where the Legion’s main forces were stationed, but rather scattered facilities like power plants and supply depots.
Once he left this vicinity, he could summon his bike and move without being detected.
As the escape route had to cover all directions, even if an encirclement was present, it likely wouldn’t be rigid.
So, from here on—
CRASH!!
The moment he shattered a melted iron gate and entered the power plant on the other side, he ducked forward to avoid a falling blade.
He slid across the heated ground of the power plant facility, chanting magic.
He crossed his hands and extended them, wrapping himself in a curtain of flames and detonating it.
The soldiers charging from all directions were pushed back by the explosive force, slamming into various parts of the power plant.
PEO-EO-EONG!!!
“Gah!!”
“What a monster… he still hasn’t lost his focus.”
“I thought he’d be exhausted by now, having used a summoning spellcraft of that scale.”
Soldiers clad in heavy armor emerged from all sides, their eyes glinting with fierce light.
One hand equipped with a laser gauntlet, the other wielding an axe or a saw-bladed greatsword, their appearance was chilling.
Lennok had seen them once before on the Central Front.
“The elite of the 3rd Legion’s Assault Unit, I see.”
Lennok, rising to his feet, surveyed his surroundings with a pale face.
“It seems their claim of encircling the entire garrison wasn’t a lie.”
“Because what you did today was an unprecedented incident in the Legion’s history.”
Thump!!
An old man with white hair, walking out from among the soldiers, bared his teeth at Lennok.
Deadrise’s 9th Legion Commander, Lenore. Lennok remembered his face as he had openly shown hostility towards Cheonbeon during a Legion Commander’s strategy meeting.
“I felt a hint of unease from the moment Deimus spoke highly of you before.”
CRUMBLE…!!
Lenore, clutching an axe larger than himself, growled.
“The 7th Legion Commander has a good eye for people, despite his age, but that mostly pertains to talent or aptitude.”
“…”
“He can only see a person’s character in a standardized way. He thinks everyone is like him.”
Lenore’s wrinkled face held a faint sneer.
“But I’ve always thought that an independent spirit like you would never serve in the military. It seems my judgment wasn’t wrong after all.”
“It’s not hard to say ‘I knew it’ after something has already happened.”
Lennok walked forward and retorted.
“If we could judge right and wrong based on outcomes, Deadrise wouldn’t have been created in the first place.”
“You’re quite adept at wagging your tongue like a wizard, but that’s as far as it goes.”
Lenore chuckled.
“Your skills and talent seem quite exceptional, but just from the way you’re fleeing, I can tell you’re not in good shape.”
“…”
“It seems the Marshal personally dealt with you. No matter how pale your face is, you just look like a hunted beast.”
Clank!!
Lenore, shouldering his axe, gathered mana and walked forward.
The 3rd Legion’s Assault Unit and the 9th Legion’s elite, following Lieutenant General Lenore, aimed their weapons at Lennok from various parts of the power plant facility.
“If I drag you before the Marshal and make you kneel, explaining how dangerous and reckless this incident was, then even in future subjugation campaigns—”
“You talk too much.”
Lennok smiled coldly and spread his hand.
A veteran soldier who had long served on the front lines of the Western Front.
The warriors who followed him were also seasoned veterans who had survived countless battles.
Suppressing the rampage of his Incarnation Body and maintaining Megiddo’s summoning already consumed all of the Crimson Star System’s mana.
At this point, prolonging the fight against them would likely put Lennok at a severe disadvantage.
Therefore, what was needed was, quite literally, the authority to annihilate an entire legion.
KWUH-OOO-OOONG!!!!!
As Lennok spread his hand, the colossal burning ship floating in the sky began to tilt.
The moment he drew his will-thought towards the Solar Ship, which was brandishing flames and raining meteors upon the ground.
The heat and flames exploding at the edge of the sky began to converge in Lennok’s hand, as if being pulled.
“Compressed Manifestation.”
KWUH-OH-OH-OH-OH!!!!!
Amidst the storm of flames swirling around Lennok, a core took shape, rotating and compressing with direction.
Hundreds of streams of fire, shattering the hangar ceiling, descended onto Lennok’s hand, violently rotating.
It was as if the flames were sinking around Lennok’s hand, conjuring a black solar sphere.
“Unbelievable.”
At the overwhelming convergence of heat, Lenore clenched his weapon with a rigid expression.
“Wizard, how can you wield such mana through a summoned entity…!”
“Megiddo’s power isn’t specialized solely for the ability of the summon itself.”
Lennok replied.
“This is a power that, by its very existence, is granted status equivalent to a Domain… a miracle literally created to replace a Domain.”
Megiddo, the Solar Ship, uses the sun as its power source, transports the sun, and by its very nature replaces the sun’s power.
Therefore, as long as Megiddo is active, its surroundings are forcibly imbued with all field effects related to the sun.
Not just Property Transformation or Attribute Conversion, but a massive buff that bestows the sun’s Mental Image and enhances all related systemic spellcraft.
And the true meaning of being able to forcibly imbue a specific Mental Image into spacetime is—
“The true meaning of using the power of a Domain, which projects the Root Mindscape into reality, without directly deploying a Domain.”
Lennok exhaled a cold breath, muttering.
“I will show you directly, starting now.”
“9th Legion Special Forces, all units, charge!!!”
Suddenly, Lenore, feeling an eerie sense of unease, shouted violently, pulling forth his Miniature Universe.
“He’s about to use a fire-heat-aligned Mind Imprint! Cut him down before he completes the spellcraft!”
KWAH-AAAH-AAANG!!!
Before he finished speaking, soldiers armed with chainsaws charged at Lennok from all directions with full force.
Chilling slashes intended to tear Lennok’s body apart, wielding furiously rotating saw blades at subsonic speeds.
But Lennok didn’t even look at the blades of the special forces pouring from all sides; he bowed his head.
One authority Lennok gained the moment he summoned the Solar Ship, Megiddo, and floated it in the sky above the command center.
Preheating of the Mental Image, forcibly bestowing a judgment equivalent to having used a Domain, without directly deploying one, upon the ground around the Solar Ship.
Through this, he actualized a special technique in reality that could only be used within the Domain of Black Sun’s Fall.
“An—”
“Sky-Lotus Drill activated.”
Amidst the total solar eclipse that darkened even the sky, this time, black flames materialized in Lennok’s hand.
The black sun, born by devouring Lenore’s astonished body, plunged to the ground, unleashing tremendous heat.
KWAH-AAAH-AAAH-AAAH!!!!