Chapter 1206: The Price (7)
Inside the outermost hangar of the trembling command center, which seemed on the verge of collapse.
Lennok and Song-ha walked through the vast passages lined with fighter jets and airships.
In this moment, their figures alternately appeared and disappeared between the massive, colossal metal structures.
A profound silence, in which the roars and vibrations from outside faded into the distance.
Rumble…!
A Grand Mage who had reached Level 8, and Deadrise’s most formidable individual combatant.
Two Transcendents, wielding power greater than anyone else across the entire command center, walked side by side.
Walking down the seemingly endless hangar facility passage, naturally assessing the distance between them.
Towards the most suitable place to unleash their respective powers, without needing to speak a word.
“You had quite an interesting conversation with Ethan, didn’t you?”
Song-ha asked, slowly walking with a hand on his Curved Blade.
Song-ha, scratching his head with a languid expression, looked up at the hangar ceiling.
“The secret of the Project, you say. I didn’t think anyone in this world would chase it this far.”
“…”
“I wanted to come quickly, but I felt I needed to confirm something first, so I’m a bit late.”
Was Song-ha’s delayed appearance itself because he prioritized checking Ethan’s condition over Lennok’s?
A Sacred Kin from Vulcan. As a stakeholder who had witnessed the Project’s failure, he couldn’t have moved recklessly.
Lennok, grasping the rapidly unfolding situation from Song-ha’s disjointed words, asked as he walked.
“Where is Ethan now?”
“He should be asleep by now.”
Song-ha scratched his cheek with a nonchalant tone.
“He was injured, but he also used too much power, which caused significant wear and tear. That’s what it means for Ethan to use his blood.”
“…”
“It’s probably because of you.”
Song-ha stepped forward with a jump, looking down at Lennok with a vacant expression.
“Your presence was an unforeseen variable at the Legion Parade. So, if Ethan used more power than necessary, I can accept that.”
“…Is that so.”
For Ethan to offer his own blood and feed it to Lennok’s Incarnation Body, was that itself a significant strain on him?
Indeed, it must be because Ethan’s very existence isn’t based on ordinary methods or means.
And the fact that Song-ha was explicitly telling Lennok this, without hiding it…
“After today’s Legion Parade, there will likely be major changes within the Legion.”
Song-ha said.
“But that’s something Ethan wanted, or a decision he had already made. Ethan always wanted to reform the Operation System.”
“…”
“I can tell without him saying it. That’s always how Ethan works. It hasn’t changed from long ago.”
Song-ha slowly stopped walking, leaving Lennok unanswered.
His pristine white coat fluttered in a faint heat haze. His face was hidden by his disheveled white hair.
“So, if I take you back to Ethan from here, there won’t be any problems.”
“I see…”
He had felt it since meeting him in Yorta, but Song-ha’s attitude was always consistent.
Respecting Ethan’s will, following his decisions, and affirming his existence.
That’s possible because Song-ha knows Ethan so well.
Watching him from Vulcan for decades, being with Ethan from the moment the Project began until its failure.
If he has served him even after Ethan met his death, resurrected, and returned to the Legion—
“Then I’ll ask you something.”
Lennok raised his gaze.
“Do you know who Ethan Bajour is?”
“Ethan? Why Ethan?”
Song-ha tilted his head.
“Ethan is Ethan. Ethan is Ethan. Ethan is Ethan, isn’t he?”
“…Ethan Bajour’s neck had no wounds or scars.”
Lennok said, turning his gaze with an expressionless face.
“But I don’t believe that alone is the truth. There are parts of Ethan’s actions that cannot be explained by just that…”
“…”
“It’s certainly true that he took Kaiser Bajour’s head. So, is he not Kaiser, but Ethan himself?”
Lennok muttered, looking up at the sky with a cold expression.
“Is that man merely a parricide who severed his father’s head and took it?”
“…Hmm.”
Song-ha, who had been listening to Lennok, quietly folded his arms.
“I understand what you’re trying to say. You saw something, didn’t you?”
“…”
“Well, if that’s the case, it’s not strange for you to be curious about Ethan.”
Song-ha said, trudging forward.
“But the reason we follow Ethan isn’t that. It’s a much simpler reason.”
“A simple reason?”
“The situation around us has always been complicated since we won the civil war.”
Song-ha raised his gaze absently.
“So I always tried to think simply. As I said, I’m not very smart.”
“…”
“I can’t help my comrades when it comes to making judgments. But there’s one thing I’m good at.”
Click.
The moment he placed his hand on the Curved Blade’s hilt, Song-ha’s presence began to ‘narrow’.
Like a single blade, he honed his own presence, making it endlessly sharp and keen.
“The reason Ethan entrusted me with the Legion’s sword. The reason I moved to find Ethan’s memories.”
“…”
The moment Song-ha slowly lowered his gaze and his eyes met Lennok’s, a shiver shot down Lennok’s spine.
A transcendent Sword Intent that, merely by placing a hand on his sword, brought everything in his field of vision within range.
“The reason I exist as the Captain of the Legion.”
Song-ha’s voice had grown cold.
“I’ll show you right here.”
‘Evade…!’
Before he could finish the thought, Lennok’s will-thought and intuition moved first.
Flames erupting behind him simultaneously pushed Lennok’s body sideways.
A pristine white flash shot out like a beam of light, narrowly grazing Lennok’s cheek and soaring upwards.
Fwaaaang!!!!
The silver sword light did not stop there but extended behind Lennok, diagonally cleaving spacetime.
The will-thought sword strike, cleaving everything, rotated at supersonic speed, echoing as if ascending to the sky.
It shredded the vast hangar ceiling where Lennok and Song-ha stood.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!!
The slash did not stop at severing the hangar ceiling and outer walls but continued to extend.
The nearby supply depots, barricades, observation decks, and accommodation buildings were severed like blocks, rising into the air.
Before everything cleaved by the silver sword energy could fall and shatter, the two turned their bodies towards each other.
[Eight Flames’ World]
[Crimson Asura’s Kill]
Kiiiiiiing….!!!!
Red waves and silver sword energy crossed simultaneously, erupting in a circular ripple that vertically pierced the hangar.
Immediately after, flames and sword energy exploded on both sides of the hangar facility passage, turning the battlefield into a sea of fire.
Thwack!!!
Between the hangars, where acrid smoke billowed, raging flames and sword light flashed one after another.
The moment the silver sword energy flashed, swirling through the smoke, flames erupted as if suppressing that power.
Breaking through the storm of heat haze and exhaust fumes, their figures accelerated through the hangar.
Lennok flew, erupting flames like boosters, while Song-ha charged, pressing one hand to his head.
Swaaaeek!!!
[Thousand Fires’ Heavenly Rain]
A reddish composite magic circle unfolded behind Lennok, chanting the spellcraft.
Dozens of fiery spear-blades struck down, piercing fighter jets and helicopters in the hangar one after another.
Fiercely rotating flames tore through hard plywood, detonating instrument panels and engines in a chain of explosions.
Amidst the scattered heat, Song-ha swung his hand without drawing his sword.
Kwang!!!
The moment he clenched his fist and struck the air, the wave of fire pouring towards Song-ha warped and vanished.
A shockwave erupted from Song-ha’s fingertips, surging to the end of the hangar, demolishing and shattering everything around.
Teo-teo-teo-teong!!!
Lennok and Song-ha leaped through space, with the fragments of wingless, collapsed fighter jets between them.
Amidst the crumbling debris of the hangar facility and scattered fighter jet parts, Lennok and Song-ha’s figures clashed.
Exploding flames and a pristine white scabbard crossed, alternately striking their bodies with impact and fire.
[Crimson Fortress]
[Sound of Wave-Fire Resonating]
Peo-beo-beo-beo-beo-beong!!!!
A high-speed exchange continued amidst raging flames overlapping dozens of times per second.
Song-ha, erupting sword energy with a hand on his Curved Blade, and Lennok, striking with a reverse-gripped flame spear, their figures intertwined and distorted.
Towards the falling silver sword light, Lennok relentlessly closed the distance, pushing in dozens of flame spears at point-blank range and detonating them.
Each time, raging flames and sword energy erupted, incinerating nearby buildings, cleaving them into pieces, burning and collapsing them.
A high-speed exchange where acceleration and deceleration were repeated hundreds of times in an instant, crossing and even swapping their positions as they clashed.
Amidst the ecstatic, crisscrossing explosions, Lennok and Song-ha’s backs met for a fleeting moment before parting.
The moment they both spun around almost simultaneously, twisting and exploding magic and Curved Blade.
A powerful shockwave erupted in concentric circles, pushing Lennok and Song-ha’s bodies back in opposite directions.
[Ignition Fortress]
[Returning Blade]
Pwaaaaang!!!!!
“…!!!”
“…You.”
Lennok was on one knee, head bowed with effort, while Song-ha staggered, regaining his balance.
Song-ha, looking down at the back of his hand charred by flames, turned to Lennok with a strange expression.
“I heard the stories, but you really fight better than I expected.”
Click!
Song-ha, sheathing his Curved Blade at his waist, asked.
“Your skill is tremendous, even though you don’t look well. Why have you been running until now?”
“No matter how well I fight… there’s no reason to face the entire Legion alone.”
Lennok, rising with a pale face and coughing, retorted.
“The moment I try that in any way, I’d just be forced to suffer unilateral losses. I have no intention of wasting power where the Legion’s forces are concentrated.”
“…”
Turning the Legion into an enemy might have been destined from the moment he clashed with Ethan, but Lennok still had no intention of facing all of Deadrise here.
The 2nd Command was located on a vast plain, wide enough for more than six of Deadrise’s legions to gather.
It was, quite literally, a battlefield where the entire Legion’s firepower and organizational strength could be deployed in their most fluid form.
If Lennok were to confront the Legion head-on in such a battlefield, even in peak condition, he would have to endure immense losses.
Nevertheless, considering the presence of the Marshal and the Captain, victory could not be guaranteed either.
Moreover, in his current deteriorating condition due to the Incarnation Body’s rampage, there was practically no need to discuss his chances of victory.
“I’ve already confirmed everything I wanted. I made my decision even before hearing your answer.”
“…”
“All that’s left is to get out of here.”
Although he had confirmed there were no cuts or scars on Ethan’s neck, Lennok was still certain.
Ethan’s words and actions, identifying himself with the Project. The Mana of Reversing Heaven he used. Even his ambiguous answers after revealing his identity.
That he wasn’t simply Ethan Bajour himself, but hiding something more.
Having confirmed it at the last moment through the Incarnation Body, he could withdraw without hesitation.
That’s why Lennok was able to decide to leave the Legion Parade right then and there.
“For someone who says that, don’t you think the damage you’ve inflicted on the command center is too great?”
Song-ha shrugged.
“Not only did you wipe out the elites of the 3rd and 9th Legions, but you also killed Lieutenant General Lenore to get here. Half of the Command Headquarters and nearby production facilities have collapsed.”
“…”
“More importantly, that thing floating in the sky. It’s not operating at full power yet, is it?”
Song-ha pointed at something hidden by the hangar ceiling, shaking his head.
“I may be foolish, but I’m not so dim-witted that I wouldn’t know what that is. You’re too dangerous.”
“You’re just flapping your gums without even using your full power…”
Lennok sneered, struggling to push himself up.
Because Lennok also knew that Song-ha, for his part, hadn’t used his Mental Image even once until now.
A genius so outstanding that even Peshia Grisbern envied him yet acknowledged him, even held him in awe.
He had known since Yorta that Song-ha was a monster, but he still couldn’t gauge his full capabilities.
He could only vaguely infer it through Song-ha’s composure and handiwork, not through the actual skill he displayed against Lennok.
“I know you want to buy time. What do you want to hear from me?”
“Not really?”
Song-ha smiled.
“I already said everything I wanted to say. Should I repeat it?”
The moment Song-ha placed his hand on his Curved Blade, a silver sword light exploded behind Lennok, grazing his cheek.
Chwaaaak!!!
“…!!!”
Severing dozens of Jeongryun Barriers like paper, a cold blade immediately brushed his cheek.
Before he could feel pain, hot blood streamed down his cut cheek.
Feeling the blood trickle down his collar, Lennok looked at Song-ha with a hardened expression.
‘I didn’t detect the precursor. This is…’
If he hadn’t reacted at the last moment, his head would have been severed.
An evasion Lennok accomplished purely by relying on instinct, even he who usually detects and prepares for most attacks from their precursors.
It was proof that the sword strike, which erupted before Song-ha even drew his Curved Blade, bypassed Lennok’s mana perception by transcending space itself.
Unbelievable speed, as if wielding a Curved Blade the length of his own height. The sword light came from a completely different trajectory than Song-ha’s position.
Lennok had once encountered it at the edge of Yorta, under the identity of Victor—
Lennok, instantly reaching a conclusion, muttered.
“A Miniature Universe, then.”
“Unleash your Domain. Martinez.”
Song-ha, with his hand on his sheathed Curved Blade and his head bowed, said in a chilling voice.
“The Flame Flower you used to kill the Conjunction Spell Master. If you don’t use it, you’ll die. Next time, I’ll take your head.”
“…”
He knew what Song-ha was saying.
A Level 8 swordsman. The Captain of the Deadrise Legion deploying his Root Mindscape, using his own body as an armament.
The power of that Miniature Universe must have transcended the manipulation of physical laws, reaching the level of altering reality itself.
Likewise, it couldn’t be withstood head-on without a Domain that also used a Root Mindscape. Song-ha was warning Lennok of this.
But—
“No. I won’t use Heavenly Flower, Ten Thousand Mile Fragrance.”
Despite Song-ha’s words, Lennok sneered coldly and drew upon his mana.
“That’s not an ability that can be properly used in this situation. Even if I forced its deployment, it wouldn’t reach a fraction of its true power.”
The Heavenly Flower, Ten Thousand Mile Fragrance Domain is a power that draws strength and blossoms using time as a Geas.
It’s a miracle that manifests by bending the principles of Barrier Spellcraft to their extreme, using each heat-core of the Crimson Star System as petals.
It was a power with uniquely heterogeneous abilities and properties among the Kaleidoscope’s Domains, but it wasn’t without its drawbacks.
Not only could he not move from that coordinate immediately after deploying the Domain, but it also required a long time to unleash its full power.
It was entirely unsuited for a situation like this, where he was escaping from the command center’s restricted area.
Against Song-ha, who possessed unmatched skill among the swordsmen Lennok had seen, there was no reason to choose such a method.
It was a flame that, commensurate with its unique immense power, had to be designed and unleashed while considering the situation and conditions.
“Instead… if you wish, I’ll show you a different technique.”
Lennok slowly clasped his hands together, extended them forward, and muttered.
“This is another… point of culmination in the fire-heat attribute system that I’ve acquired.”
Fire-Heat Attribute Unique Magic
Property Transformation Fusion
[Blueshift]
Pwuhaaaak!!!!
The moment he clasped his hands and drew mana, the flames gathered in his hands glowed with a blue light.
Plasma, created through the Property Transformation of Fusion, underwent repeated compression in Lennok’s hands, then took on repulsive force and exploded.
Pazzzzzzzzzzz!!!
The blue flames repeatedly expanded as if exploding sideways, spreading out like wings centered on Lennok’s hands.
Like a bird flapping its wings, the plasma-transformed flames violently shimmered, taking the form of a massive Great Bow.
The moment Lennok gripped the blue flame Great Bow, he drew it back and aimed it at Song-ha.
[Azure Manifestation of Hell: Illusion Bow]
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!!
He reorganized the plasma, built through Fusion, by adding will-thought, reshaping it into a single spellcraft.
He gave the superheated energy the properties of compression and fusion, shaped it, then mixed in the principles of burden and resonance, repulsion and rotation, to accelerate it.
Stabilizing flames that transcended limits by blending in the concept of Decasing, ultimately ‘shaving away’ time and space themselves through incineration.
Another point of culmination existing in fire-heat attribute unique magic.
Essence
[New Moon]
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!!
He turned his body, assuming the stance his body remembered, exactly as he had learned and mastered from Evelyn.
The archery Lennok chose to forcefully give direction to uncontrollable power and unleash it.
Song-ha, too, seemed to realize it the moment he saw the great bow of blue flames in Lennok’s hands, unable to hide his laughter.
“Hahaha! Now that I see it, it has a certain elegance! Good!”
Click!!
With his hand on the Curved Blade’s hilt, Song-ha assumed his stance for the first time.
He slid his left foot back, lowered his center of gravity, and rotated his shoulder to conceal the Curved Blade behind his back as if to cover it.
His pristine white coat elegantly flapped with his body’s rotation, creating a breeze in response to the overflowing heat.
Lennok, gripping and aiming the blue flame bow, and Song-ha, holding his Curved Blade, faced each other from opposite ends of the hangar.
The moment Lennok and Song-ha moved simultaneously, and their heightened will-thought surged towards each other, unleashing the reins.
This time, wings of brilliant blue flames consumed and incinerated the entire hangar facility, soaring upwards.
Ku-hwa-aaaaaak!!!!
Wings of Azure Flame, dozens of times larger than the Water God Phoenix commanded by 8th Legion Commander Townsend, furiously flapped.
The blue flame wings, erupting explosively on both sides, enveloped the hangar where Lennok and Song-ha stood, swirling and compressing.
The moment a plasma-transformed Supernova manifested on the ground, beginning to incinerate even the ‘concept’ of reality.
Chwaaak!!
Within the superheated compressed mass that dyed spacetime blue, Song-ha drew his sword for the first time.
In contrast to his repeated, supersonic draws, he drew his Curved Blade slowly, visibly even to the naked eye.
Simultaneously, silver sword energy, having lost direction and speed, began to gather from all sides, converging towards the elongated Curved Blade.
Kagagagagagak!!!!!
Inner World Miniature Universe: Sword Heaven of Return
[Return: Sun Blade]
Not a draw, but a sheathing.
Instead of drawing and swinging the sword, he slowly returned the Curved Blade to its scabbard, recovering all the sword energy he had drawn until then, in reverse.
As if time were reversing, he inverted every step and process of wielding the sword, compressing them into a single moment.
The moment Song-ha’s Curved Blade, now holding immense sword energy, was fully sheathed after its reverse draw.
As if releasing all the compressed Mental Images and will-thoughts at once, a sword strike that cleaved the world flashed.
[Cleaving Heaven]
There was no sound.
Neither the sight of a sword being swung, nor the sharp silver sword light.
Only Song-ha remained, as if he had already swung his sword and settled his stance, now lowering his Curved Blade.
The plasma star-body Lennok had created, and the collapsing hangar ceiling. The clouds in the sky glimpsed between them.
All of them were diagonally cleaved, leaving sword marks before scattering and vanishing.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!!
A moment later, the belated sound of everything Song-ha had cleaved screaming and collapsing into rupture.
Towards Lennok, who silently looked up at the scene, Song-ha walked, having sheathed his Curved Blade.
“Power equal. Mental images annihilated each other. You rendered my spellcraft and sword energy null, did you?”
“…”
“Did you forcibly change the trajectory by incinerating the ‘time’ my sword strike was about to directly hit? Truly incredible magic.”
Song-ha, stopping before Lennok, muttered.
“But at that point, you’ve expended everything.”
“…”
Lennok’s incomplete point of culmination, gained through the Property Transformation of Fusion.
The essence of incineration, New Moon, which compressed plasma-transformed flames to shave and burn away time and space.
Lennok clashed New Moon with Song-ha’s Cleaving Heaven, creating an antagonistic state, and ultimately twisted and blew away the trajectory of his Soul Sword—
At that point, the mana remaining in Lennok’s body and the Crimson Star System had reached their limit and ceased functioning.
He had used up all his remaining mana and the reserves of the Crimson Star System to counter Song-ha’s Soul Sword and render it null, while enduring the backlash of his Incarnation Spellcraft.
“My sword reaches the end simultaneously with its beginning, and simultaneously reverses from the end, returning to its origin.”
Song-ha slowly walked towards Lennok.
“Because it touches the result first, then completes the process, my sword is not bound by time or space.”
“…”
“You should have unleashed your Domain from the start to withstand my sword. Without altering spacetime, you couldn’t have fought me on equal terms.”
Should he use an Elixir?
Even after coming this far, Lennok still had a few backup plans.
Lennok didn’t pull them out immediately because it was difficult to gauge how far he would have to push himself against the transcendent swordsman before him.
He was a Transcendent who, despite likely being influenced by Ethan’s power, directly interfered with causality through his own swordsmanship.
A monster possessing both talent and experience, making victory hard to guarantee even in peak condition.
In this moment, he realized with undeniable clarity just how dangerous and powerful Deadrise’s individual combatant truly was.
“I already said it.”
Song-ha, with a hand on his Curved Blade, said in a chilling tone.
“If you won’t unleash your Domain until the end, I’ll take your head.”
“Oh, really?”
A low voice echoed, as if answering Song-ha’s words.
“Then I’ll do it instead.”
“…!”
Song-ha turned his senses with a cold expression, drawing his sword strike almost simultaneously.
The moment the sharp silver sword energy struck down at supersonic speed towards the direction of the voice.
Someone else completed the incantation first.
“Domain Deployment.”
Domain Deployment
Esoteric Hierarchy Mind Imprint
[Southern Vistas of the Green Sea]
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!!!
A colossal hemisphere of jungle erupted explosively between Lennok and Song-ha.
Bushes and trees grew over the melted, burnt-out hangar, covering everything.
The parched air, utterly devoid of moisture, transformed into that of a damp, humid jungle.
It instantly altered and covered the entire surrounding landscape, expanding the space.
An overwhelming scale that covered not only the hangar where Lennok stood but also the entire production facility surrounded by the Legion.
This immense, unbelievable scope of a Domain, and this landscape, Lennok had seen before.
A long time ago, when Lennok first encountered the Watchers and entered the Eyes of Blue—
Thud!!
From the center of the endlessly expanding jungle, a sorceress in a worn robe walked out.
A bronze-skinned woman looking down at Lennok and Song-ha from atop a hill overgrown with trees and bushes.
“Go, Evan. I’ll hold that swordsman back.”
“…Grisha.”
“You once told Lapis that the Eyes of Blue would always be the same as you were to her.”
Grisha nodded at Lennok.
“I need to repay at least a little of the debt I owe you.”