Chapter 1223: Adamant Thunder Annihilation Campaign (14)
No sooner had Ermont’s words fallen than the soldiers waiting on the mobile fortress’s deck moved.
“Clang!!
Shazazazazak!!!“
Soldiers from the 7th Legion aimed their guns at the group, having finished reloading from all sides.
Red dots, glinting through scopes, instantly poured down on the members standing on the deck.
Officers from the 7th Legion drew upon their mana, approaching Ermont with grim expressions.
“Black wizard. It seems you still don’t understand what’s happening.”
“Thump!!”
The deck shook as a large man, bearing the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, stomped his foot violently.
The Lieutenant Colonel, wreathed in boiling mana, stood before Ermont, glaring and snarling.
“Pandemonium is currently part of a Special Operations Squad formally incorporated into the Legion’s command structure. Are you saying you’ll defy a wartime order?”
“I don’t recall ever promising to follow the Legion command’s orders, though?”
Ermont grinned, even as he felt the gun barrel pressed against his temple.
His snake-like face, inhabiting Jawoon Audis’s body, exuded an eerie aura.
“Besides, wasn’t that precisely why you needed us? You hoped we’d create variables, throwing us into dangerous situations like this when things got desperate.”
“…You bastard!!”
“Of course, I didn’t join the Annihilation Campaign without knowing that, and I don’t particularly think that idea is bad.”
Ermont tilted his head.
“But we also have no reason to just sit back and move exactly as the Legion wishes, do we?”
“You’re here thanks to Lieutenant General Deimus’s consideration!!! If you don’t engage on the battlefield like the other factions participating in the Annihilation Campaign—”
“Ah, so.”
Whoosh!!
Ermont vanished from the Lieutenant Colonel’s sight.
Ermont, instantly perched on the giant’s shoulder, stretched the man’s neck with both hands and said,
“Didn’t you call us because you needed an unpredictable variable on this battlefield?”
“Urgh…!!!”
Thudududuk…!!!
Black magic coiled around Ermont’s hands, and the sound of the giant’s neck twisting was heard.
The Lieutenant Colonel, whose neck was instantly seized, tried to resist somehow, but black magic, defying the laws of physics, activated on the spot.
The giant’s head spun around and was ripped clean off its body.
“Shwaaaak!!!!”
A fountain of blood erupted from the headless neck, drenching the deck.
Ermont licked the blood from his face, grinning.
“So, I’m just moving in a way the Legion can’t predict. Is something wrong with that?”
“Fire!!!”
The 7th Legion soldiers didn’t hesitate long, even after witnessing the scene.
As soon as the staff officer’s order was given, the soldiers who had been aiming their guns collectively pulled their triggers.
“Dudududududu!!!!”
Hundreds of bullets poured down at supersonic speed toward the Pandemonium members standing on the deck.
Just before the bullets struck Ermont’s grinning, blood-soaked face, Lennok raised his hand.
“Piiing…!!”
Mana threads, too thin to be seen, zipped through the air at incredible speed, piercing the bullets.
He caught hundreds of bullets fired from all directions by piercing them with mana threads, then flicked them like a whip, altering their trajectory.
The shattered bullet fragments scattered across the sky.
“Tatata-tang!!!!”
“M-madness…!!!”
“What kind of spellcraft is this!”
A bizarre situation where not a single bullet hit its target, despite the triggers being pulled.
“Chwararak!”
Lennok’s mana threads snatched dozens of gun barrels simultaneously, turning them around.
The soldiers, as if possessed, swiveled their gun barrels to aim at each other and pulled their triggers.
Before they could even comprehend what was happening, the ejected bullets burst their comrades’ heads, splattering blood.
“Tatata-tatata-tang!!!!!”
“Aargh!!”
“S-cease fire!! Cease fire!!”
Soldiers screamed and fell on the deck amidst the rampant friendly fire.
An automaton, hastily putting down its gun, stumbled and embraced a soldier.
Countless blades shot out from inside the automaton, piercing vital organs and severing life.
“Chwajajajak!!”
“Urk…!!”
“Puhahaha!!!”
Ermont burst into laughter, sprinting over the corpses lying with the automaton.
He ran over the bodies of fallen soldiers on the deck, drawing upon his black magic, and swung it at the surviving soldiers.
“Pububububung!!”
Amidst the black magic scattering like a thick, dark mist, a blood-red flash streaked across the deck.
As a red line was drawn across the necks of the surviving soldiers, their heads separated from their bodies and fell.
“Chwaak!!”
“Hmm.”
Sarin looked at her blood-stained hand, then stuck out her tongue and lightly licked it.
She shook her hand, seemingly displeased, and slowly turned, muttering.
“It’s not very tasty. I shouldn’t have bothered….”
“Dududududu!!!!”
Even at this moment, soldiers on the deck aimed their guns at each other, pulling triggers.
Their faces were filled with unhidden agony and screams as they initiated friendly fire against their own.
The 7th Legion’s mobile fortress. Dozens, hundreds of superhumans and soldiers on its deck were overwhelmed by a single person’s spellcraft in a grotesque spectacle.
The figure of the spellcaster, arms crossed, manipulating the entire situation from the center of the bullet-riddled deck.
Sarin watched the red glow glinting beyond the obsidian mask, smiled, and began to walk.
“This might not be so bad after all.”
“Urgh…!!”
“Crash!!”
Even the high-ranking officers who had resisted until the end fell, drenched in blood.
The scent of blood thickly spread across the deck as the gunfire subsided.
“T-the command will not let you get away with this.”
The staff officer who had first spoken to Ermont stammered, covered in blood.
“If you break the deal with Lieutenant General Deimus and betray the Legion, you will surely pay the price—”
“Crunch!!”
Ermont kicked the staff officer’s head, breaking his neck, then stretched languidly, as if refreshed.
“Ah~ My body’s finally loosening up. Should’ve done this earlier.”
“…”
“How was it? Not bad for a hastily improvised plan, right?”
Ermont approached Lennok, who stood with his arms crossed, and tapped his shoulder with a familiar gesture.
“I felt this last time too, but we work better together than I thought—”
“Whoosh!”
A mana thread sprung from beneath his feet, binding Ermont’s ankle.
Lennok flicked his hand, and Ermont tumbled, smashing his head onto the deck at incredible speed.
“Wham!!”
“Guh-ack…!!”
“Black wizard. I don’t recall ever agreeing to anything with you.”
Lennok said coldly, looking down at Ermont, who was convulsing with his eyes rolled back.
“I merely indulged you because I thought it was necessary. Don’t misunderstand.”
“Cough, cough…!! Hehehe… but Victor. You know, don’t you?”
Ermont coughed, his face still in a puddle of blood, then looked up with a smile.
“Adamant Thunder’s power is unbelievably, incredibly strong. Even if a war of attrition was envisioned, it must have already far surpassed what the Legion command anticipated.”
“…”
“At the point where the Legion’s casualties become abnormally high, the command will definitely try to throw us into even more dangerous situations than initially promised. Wouldn’t it be better if we moved on our own, rather than being used at their whim?”
“I’ve never trusted you that much in a situation like this.”
Lennok had never truly considered Ermont an ally, but he understood what he was getting at.
At this point, where half of the Legion’s main forces had been slaughtered at the start of the Adamant Thunder Annihilation Campaign.
With Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower, which had transformed its shape using Mass-Hierarchy Unique Spellcraft, having crashed Primo Alert, the remaining Legion forces were less than half.
In this situation, if high-level superhumans were sent to assault the Magic Tower, Pandemonium would inevitably be placed in a perilous position.
Ermont was proposing to Lennok that it would be better for them to seize control of the situation themselves.
“Oh, Victor. Wasn’t it just a moment ago you were gleefully killing Legion bastards with us? Saying that now is unfair.”
Ermont grinned, dangling in the air by his ankle, which was caught by a mana thread.
“By cooperating in this situation, you essentially agreed that our plan was better. Tell me the truth!!”
“Shut up before I rip your neck off.”
“Kiiieeeek!!! Cancel, cancel!!”
Lennok fell into thought, leaving Ermont, who was squealing as black mana threads coiled around his neck, behind him.
Indeed, there was no reason to follow the Legion’s orders, as the situation had changed from what Deimus had promised.
That’s why Lennok had dealt with all the Deadrise soldiers who tried to manipulate them.
While the Legion’s strength was indeed necessary to reduce the power of the Incarnation Body, there was no reason to obey the Legion’s command.
Considering that, he had thought that deviating from the Legion’s judgment at this point was acceptable, but—
“Honestly, I thought it would take more time for such signs to appear, but it seems the Legion command is more agitated than I expected.”
The Doctor, brushing off his blood-stained shirt, said in a leisurely voice.
“While they might have expected a greater-than-anticipated depletion of allied forces, the incapacitation of Primo Alert at this stage wasn’t part of their plan.”
“…”
“But even I didn’t anticipate Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower to be such an unrealistic object. To think he’d apply that spellcraft to his own Magic Tower…”
“Kugugugugu!!!!”
A colossal structure, dismantling and reassembling hundreds of thousands of components, scattering dark blue light.
A giant golden fighter jet gracefully spun vertically in the air, rotating its fuselage and unleashing powerful shockwaves.
The sheer air pressure alone crushed tanks that were rampant on the ground, creating a gruesome scene of blood and gore splattering everywhere.
“Even after crashing the command, it continues to change its form slightly.”
Hylaea muttered, her face pale.
“Is it trying to transform into a new shape to continue slaughtering the Legion?”
“No, it wouldn’t have enough cost to continuously transform into new shapes.”
The Doctor looked up at the sky and replied softly.
“The ability Adamant Thunder just used is the spellcraft of a great Ascendant known as the War-Proxy. It is, quite literally, the authority to directly manipulate and transform mass itself.”
“…”
“It was one of the few ‘alternatives’ considered when I was in the Machine City, Machina… and one of the most precise and difficult spellcrafts that existed in the Second World. No matter how monstrous an Ascendant Adamant Thunder is, he wouldn’t be able to use such a spellcraft without any prior indications.”
The Doctor stared sharply at the tumultuous tower, whose dozens of meters of golden wings rotated.
“Transforming into a new form requires enormous power, of course, and even without that, there would definitely be a precursor before attempting a shape transformation. At least, not right now.”
“Doctor. It’s rare to see you so impressed by spellcraft…”
Chebien’s automaton asked, sounding surprised.
“Is Mass-Hierarchy Unique Spellcraft really such a formidable authority…?”
“The ability to directly manipulate matter that has form inherently contains infinite possibilities. Countless individuals wished to inherit Hermes’s legacy, but no one could even understand the principles of the spellcraft.”
The Doctor spoke, unable to hide his astonishment.
“To be able to apply that spellcraft to the entire Magic Tower and wield it like that, in such a deranged state, is truly remarkable… in terms of pure spellcraft aptitude, it is undoubtedly a talent that will go down in history.”
“…”
Pandemonium’s Doctor, Artemeyer, was the researcher who designed the Ascension Gate in the Machine City, Machina.
As the very person who designed the Ascension Gate, which failed due to its connection with traces of the Second World, he was already familiar with Hermes’s Mass-Hierarchy Unique Spellcraft.
He understood how difficult and profound Mass-Hierarchy Unique Spellcraft was, and how unrealistic it was to apply it to an entire Magic Tower.
But because of that, he also understood that even Adamant Thunder, no matter how powerful, couldn’t continuously manipulate mass of that scale.
A miracle, manipulating tens of thousands of tons of mass to transform its shape and create functions.
Even if the enormous power consumed in that process could be replenished, precursors before using the spellcraft were unavoidable.
The Doctor, through this, judged that Adamant Thunder currently had neither the time nor the leisure to transform into a new shape.
“So, what shall we do… Even if Baragan moves, he won’t be able to confront Adamant Thunder head-on. At best, he’ll only be able to hold it back for a short while.”
The Doctor stroked his chin, looking up at the gracefully spinning golden flying object in the sky.
“Even if there are no immediate signs of Mass-Hierarchy Unique Spellcraft being used, its immense lightning power remains, making approach difficult. And we don’t know when the rampage that slaughtered half the Legion will begin again.”
The Doctor, deep in thought, muttered, then glanced at Lennok and smiled.
“Indeed, from now on, we’ll have no choice but to rely on your abilities, Victor. Is that alright?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Lennok, who had been looking at the sky with his arms crossed, replied.
“Since the Legion command tried to use us, there’s no need for us to shy away from using the Legion.”
“Oh? Victor. Did you have a method in mind?”
“If we don’t cooperate with the Legion to confront Adamant Thunder, but instead use the Legion’s forces as a shield, it’s not impossible.”
Lennok said, raising his gaze beyond the obsidian mask.
Looking at the Magic Tower violently spinning in the sky, Lennok sneered.
“If we’re overwhelmed in an organized confrontation, a head-on firepower battle, then it’s only natural to draw this battlefield into a chaotic free-for-all, isn’t it?”
“That aligns perfectly with my thoughts.”
The Doctor smiled.
“With Primo Alert collapsed, there’s no chance in a head-on confrontation. It’s better to induce a chaotic battle and disperse Adamant Thunder’s attention in various directions to have even a small chance.”
“So, instead of combining forces with the Legion, you’re going to use the Legion’s forces to turn the battlefield into a complete mess?”
Ermont cackled.
“I’m quite fond of the idea of screwing over the guys gathered here. So, what do we do now?”
“Well. There are infinite ways to cause chaos on a battlefield of this scale, but…”
The Doctor raised his hand, pointing at the mobile fortress they were on, and smiled.
“How about we think about it after we take control of this mobile fortress?”
“Whoosh!”
Eight superhumans walked in a line across the blood-soaked deck of the mobile fortress.
As soon as they smashed through the barricade blocking the inner corridor, a hail of bullets poured out.
“Tatata-tatata-tang!!!!”
“Don’t come closer!!”
“Don’t let them have the control room. Guard the passage!!”
“Aargh!!”
The soldiers remaining inside the mobile fortress resisted desperately, but couldn’t hold out even for a moment.
The members quickly subdued the remaining soldiers and entered the control room, looking around.
The vast control room’s walls and ceiling were packed with gauges, levers, buttons, and control sticks.
Ermont frowned intensely, looking at the tiny lettering on the gauges.
“Damn it, I can’t understand a single thing written here. Is this even in the common language?”
“Ermont. The Legion wouldn’t possibly adopt a system simple enough for you to understand.”
“Hylaea. Are you picking a fight?”
“I think I generally understand how to operate it.”
While Ermont bristled at Hylaea’s calm reply, the Doctor stepped forward.
“Chebien. Could you lend me a few automatons you’re not currently using?”
“My automatons are not something a person unfamiliar with spellcraft can control… They’ll be useless to you, Doctor….”
“I don’t intend to use them myself. There are seats inside the control room where operators need to be. Just sit the automatons there.”
With Chebien’s help, the Doctor seated automatons in various spots in the control room, then raised his hand.
“Through Operation System analysis, I’ve acquired the specifications and operating principles of this mobile fortress.”
“Clang!!”
The Doctor gripped a lever without hesitation, pushing it all the way up, and said,
“I haven’t mastered the feel of the controls, but there should be no problem controlling its direction and adjusting its speed. Shall we go straight ahead?”
“Bwooong!!!!”
At that moment, the mobile fortress’s hull vibrated violently and slowly began to tilt forward.
The sensation of the wheeled mobile fortress lifting into the air, simultaneously floating.
The 7th Legion’s mobile fortress shot forward at tremendous speed, as if recoiling from its spot.
“Kwaaaang!!!!”
As the colossal hull surged forward, nearby tanks and armored vehicles, stationed around it, were crushed and destroyed.
Mechanized Legion soldiers, rampaging after being caught in an EMP, crashed into the hull, scattering components everywhere.
“Kwagwagwagwagwang!!!”
Each time the massive metal mass slid across the ground and accelerated, shockwaves and earthquakes erupted in succession.
The mobile fortress, unilaterally collapsing one side of the front, pierced through the Legion’s main forces alone.
A section of the front where the Mechanized Legion and the Legion had gathered collapsed, and the communication network was filled with shouts and screams.
“[The 7th Legion’s mobile fortress has deviated from formation!!]”
“[Maintain the front line!! Stay within the magic circle!!]”
“[Deimus. What in the world are you doing!!]”
“[Aargh!!!]”
Ermont smirked, looking back at the utterly chaotic Legion, who were in disarray from all directions.
“Puhahaha!!! This is definitely much more fun. We should’ve done this earlier!”
“[What in God’s name are these lunatics doing!!!]”
“Kiii-iiing!!!”
The Legion’s self-propelled artillery, belatedly realizing the situation, collectively turned their cannons.
They aimed and fired at the mobile fortress, which was crushing the chaotic front line and sprinting toward Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower, which glowed in the distance.
“Pububububung!!!”
Just before dozens of shells, traveling at subsonic speed, struck the hull, Lennok, standing on the deck, moved.
“Not yet.”
“Swaa-aek!!”
He drew out a mana thread, wrapped it around the shell, matching its rotational speed, then added more rotation like spinning a top, altering its trajectory.
He changed the trajectory, deflecting them just barely away from a direct hit on the mobile fortress’s hull.
The human-head-sized shells, deflected behind the mobile fortress, zipped past Ezekiel and Iron Chain Dragon King, who were standing on the deck.
Immediately after, they exploded hundreds of meters behind in the open field, sending up brilliant pillars of fire.
“Kwagwagwagwang!!!”
“Chijik, chijijik…!!!”
“[This is Deimus.]”
At that moment, Deimus’s voice resonated through the crackling communication network.
“[Pandemonium. What is going on?]”
“Swaa-aek!”
Lennok snatched the discarded transceiver on the deck with a mana thread and spoke.
“Deimus. You’re too late.”
“[…We are still recovering from the damage to Primo Alert and reorganizing the command structure. I was transferring command authority to the surviving staff officers.]”
Deimus replied a moment later.
“[We’re moving the main forces to counter Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower, but chaos has erupted in the rear. Did you hijack the mobile fortress?]”
“While you were away, command demanded we directly assault the Magic Tower.”
Lennok replied.
“With Primo Alert annihilated, there’s no need to follow your orders. We’ve ‘borrowed’ the mobile fortress on the premise that it’s better to act on our own judgment.”
“[As you moved, the front line in the rear of the Legion’s main forces collapsed. Blaiver Magic Tower and the Ability Awakening Warband have noticed the change and are repositioning.]”
Deimus’s voice turned cold.
“[At this rate, the front line will collapse, and Adamant Thunder’s forces and our own will be completely entangled. What is your reason for turning against the Legion now?]”
“You misunderstand. We have no intention of breaking the premise of the Adamant Thunder Annihilation Campaign we initially discussed.”
Lennok smiled.
“It’s just that confronting the Magic Tower seems impossible with just us. We’re merely trying to get the other factions to crash into the tower first, then we’ll make our move.”
“[Are you calling that a reason?]”
“Don’t worry.”
“Kwa-rururung!!!!”
The heavy hull of the mobile fortress charged toward the formation where the Legion’s forces were gathered.
The scattered forces of Blaiver Magic Tower and the Legion, forced to flee from the mobile fortress trampling allied troops and tearing through the front line, naturally drew closer to Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower.
The golden flying object, wreathed in dark blue lightning, vibrated its wings violently, turning toward the main Legion forces that had closed the distance.
“[Pandemonium. How dare you…!!!]”
“[No, it’s too late. Avoid it at all costs!!!!]”
“[Lieutenant General Deimus was wrong. These bastards are uncontrollable…!!!!]”
“[Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower is approaching!!! Spellcraft output unmeasurable!!]”
“[The front lines are tangling…!!!!! Aaaaagh!!!]”
“Pubububububung!!!!!”
The main Legion forces, forcibly brought closer to Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower, and Blaiver Magic Tower’s Flame Majesty Temple began their battle.
Tanks and new model mages swept away by dark blue lightning from all directions. Flame giants roaring and perishing.
Lennok smiled, hearing the rough screams echoing through the communication network.
“I’ve played the villain many times. So, as promised, I’ll become the unpredictable variable no one on this battlefield can foresee.”