Chapter 1236: Adamant Thunder Annihilation Campaign (27)
Kwagwagwagwaga!!!!
Golden arches erupted from all directions, and the labyrinth’s environment underwent a violent transformation.
The central part of the vast circular labyrinth rotated like interlocking gears.
Walls and ceilings broke down into millions of components, constantly reassembling in a dynamic, real-time metamorphosis.
Everything convulsed grotesquely in the core of the golden hellscape, where destruction and creation relentlessly repeated.
Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!
Pale hands surged from sky and ground, reaching for each other and clasping.
Each time the hands, tens of meters long, overlapped, a strange, singing cry echoed.
Watching the sight, the cardinal and military chaplains of the cult knelt where they stood and began to pray.
“Ah, ahhh…!!!”
“A holy will… I feel it.”
“How can the Apostle-Slayer wield His power…!!”
Ooooohhhhh!!!
A pale halo intertwined with golden wings, and unfocused eyes emerged on the wing’s surface.
As everyone silently watched the final stage of the Ascension Ritual begin,
“A being who seeks to become an Ascendant must fully decompose themselves and then reconfigure anew.”
The Doctor spoke in an awestruck voice amidst the silence.
“If the ritual until now was decomposition, then from now on it’s reconfiguration… it must be the stage where he reshapes himself with the mental image of destruction gathered through this war.”
“…”
“He won’t be able to move while reconfiguring his body, but once those wings fully unfurl and his eyes open - a new Ascendant will be born.”
Those who heard the Doctor’s explanation did not know that this process was infinitely similar to the challenge Maleon Gnosis had attempted.
The final stage of the Ascension Ritual, where one inflicted infinite destruction and creation upon oneself to decompose the body and reconfigure it as an Ascendant.
The culmination of Adamant Thunder, who chose Mass Spellcraft as his means, was-
“…Hehehe, Khuhuhu.”
Suddenly, Ermont burst into laughter.
“Puhahahaha!!! Doctor, what kind of joke is that? Stop messing around and give us a proper explanation quickly.”
“…”
“Well, it was an amusing joke, unlike you, Doctor. But something so absurd couldn’t possibly be true, could it?”
“…”
Grab!
Ermont seized the Doctor by the collar and shook him wildly with both hands.
“Just say yes, you old geezer!!!”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
“Kyaaaaaaaak!! Help me!! I want to get out of here!! Please let me out of here!!”
“Doctor, there must be a reason you’re telling us this at this point…”
Deimus said, ignoring the black wizard who was denying reality.
“Since the Ascension Ritual is in its final stages, there’s something we can do… isn’t there?”
“Deimus.”
The Doctor smiled, adjusting his clothes that Ermont had grabbed.
“You’re too valuable to die in a place like this, indeed.”
“…”
“The 7th Legion Commander is right. I’d love to watch the moment the ritual is completed until the very end, but that’s not what I intended to convey.”
Tuttututtutterng!!!
Amidst a hail of arrows, the Doctor spoke calmly.
“At the final stage of the ritual, Adamant Thunder must have lost his physical body and ‘decomposed’… conversely, that’s why he’ll be more sensitive to external interference than ever.”
“That means…”
To reconfigure a new body as an Ascendant, he was in a state of decomposition within that mass of wings.
Did that mean he was more sensitive to external variables than ever?
It wasn’t strange that the most crucial moment of the ritual was also the most dangerous.
However, the fact that the Doctor brought up this topic at this moment meant—
“If I completely expend the remaining lifespan of this body, I might be able to draw out the knowledge of the Ascension Gate one more time.”
The Doctor said.
“I will personally open the Ascension Gate and temporarily halt Adamant Thunder’s Ascension Ritual.”
“…The Ascension Gate.”
At that moment, all the superhumans listening to the Doctor stopped, their expressions grim.
The Ascension Gate. The failed Ascension Ritual in the Machine City, Machina.
The plan to become a [Gate] to the Fourth World, and the slaughter it encountered by connecting with the Second World.
Everyone knew what it meant for Artemeyer, the designer of the Ascension Gate himself, to mention it.
“I never thought I’d hear that name again here.”
“I heard it was a project that killed tens of thousands of Machina citizens. Can we use that here?”
“But Doctor. Even if you are the designer of the Ascension Gate, to be able to ‘open’ it alone…”
“No, it’s possible. I was late getting here because I was experimenting with that.”
Pat!!
As the Doctor raised his hand, a holographic screen appeared before him.
Deimus recognized it and muttered.
“System…”
“The foundation of the Operation System is based on the ‘miracle’ of artificially adjusting and editing human talent.”
The Doctor said, manipulating the system window to display it clearly before everyone’s eyes.
“I delved through the system code and discovered a way to artificially draw out that power. Using this, I can expend all the remaining lifespan of this body to create a miracle just once.”
“…”
“Of course, what I can open alone is a hopelessly inferior, degraded version of the Ascension Gate… and only for a very brief moment, but the important thing isn’t the perfection of the Ascension Gate, but its mere existence itself, so there’s no problem.”
“…Artemeyer. Was the reason you traded with the Legion to take over the System for this from the beginning?”
“Don’t get so angry, Baragan.”
The Doctor laughed, looking at the sorcerer’s scowling face.
“It would be a lie to say I didn’t intend to use the System, but it will ultimately aid in the subjugation campaign. Can’t we just consider this a fair trade?”
“There’s no guarantee that opening the Ascension Gate will stop Adamant Thunder’s ritual. Letting you just have your way here—”
“No, it will succeed. Even if it failed, the Ascension Gate was undoubtedly a type of Ascension Ritual.”
The Doctor cut Baragan off and raised his hand.
“It was a challenge of the same vein as the Ascension Ritual Adamant Thunder is attempting in this labyrinth right now.”
“…”
“Have you ever considered what would happen if two different Ascension Rituals collided in a single spacetime?”
Adamant Thunder, who made the subjugation campaign his Ascension Ritual, and the Ascension Gate, which was the Machine City’s Ascension Ritual.
What would happen if massive rituals that transform the world for ascension were superimposed in one space?
At the very least, the ritual would certainly not proceed or continue in its normal form.
As the 8-level superhumans instinctively understood this and fell silent, the Doctor explained.
“If Adamant Thunder’s ritual fails simultaneously with opening the Ascension Gate, that would be ideal. But even if not, it is certain that the ritual will be temporarily halted.”
“…”
“I’m telling you this now because, in the process of stopping the ritual, you must not hesitate, no matter what happens.”
The Doctor’s wrinkled expression suddenly turned cold.
“I can only open the degraded Ascension Gate by expending the remaining lifespan of this body once. So you must not hesitate, no matter what happens. Understood?”
“Artemeyer. That won’t be the only problem.”
Baragan said with a scowl.
“To succeed in your plan, we must deal with the sniper first. Otherwise, all of us will have our heads pierced by those barbaric arrows and die.”
Pavavavat!!!
Even at this very moment, Hyun-gung scattered her senses in all directions, confirming her ‘targets.’
Each time the black greatbow gleamed, twisted shots and arrows rained down.
If they hadn’t used Quetzalcoatl as a shield, they wouldn’t have even had a moment to exchange opinions.
“Someone needs to step up and tie down Hyun-gung as a preliminary measure.”
Esteban naturally picked up on the remark.
“Hyun-gung has taken the high ground and is sniping unilaterally… we’ll suffer heavy losses if we approach recklessly.”
“As an excellent archer, she would never give up an advantage unless absolutely necessary…”
Deimus said with difficulty.
“The fact that Adamant Thunder entrusted his Cradle of Lightning to her means he trusts Hyun-gung’s abilities more than anyone else in this battlefield… indeed, she is virtually preventing our approach all by herself.”
“…”
The opponent was a monster who reached Level 8 specializing in the rare talent of archery.
While fundamentally skilled, she boasted a near-invincible advantage under specific conditions.
In an environment like this, where new high grounds were constantly being created and she could preemptively occupy them, she was virtually impossible to deal with.
“We need to occupy the high ground before Hyun-gung, or at least pose a threat that we could… Otherwise, Hyun-gung will never stop sniping.”
“I’ll do it.”
Esteban calmly raised his hand, and opaque mercury coiled around his wrist, solidifying.
Crackle…!
“My ability is Level 8 Mercury Manipulation, capable of manipulating the four states of matter, so I’m confident in my combat adaptability.”
“Aisen, the 5th Seat.”
“I’m probably the most capable of dealing with the constantly changing patterns of incoming sniper fire. I’ll ask for rear support from the others.”
Even as mountains of soldiers and superhumans killed by Hyun-gung’s sniping piled up, Esteban’s expression remained unchanged.
Regardless of the risk, it was a conclusion based on rational judgment, understanding that he was the most suitable choice.
Just as Deimus’s expression stiffened at Esteban’s detached attitude, which didn’t even exclude himself, Esteban rose without hesitation.
“If I die, send the surviving members of the vanguard back to the Zero Seat. There’s no need to retrieve the body.”
“Understood. If—”
“No, that won’t do.”
At that moment, Baragan said with an unenthusiastic expression.
“On second thought, it’s better if I do it. Psychic, you’re out.”
“What do you mean?”
“If that sniper is as cunning as Deimus said, there’s no way she wouldn’t have thought of the method we just discussed.”
Saying so, Baragan stood up.
“She’s focused on sniping right now, but she must have prepared for our approach. If we’re unlucky, we could die in one hit without accomplishing anything.”
“But if we don’t approach, even recklessly, no variables will arise.”
Esteban turned his gaze with a calm expression.
“We need to create a crack in the battlefield somehow to find a way. We can’t do anything without taking risks.”
“No, I told you. The sniper must have already thought of that kind of approach.”
Baragan retorted bluntly, clasping his hands together.
“Then at least we should try a method the sniper knows about but can’t counter… shouldn’t we?”
“Lord Baragan. Surely—”
Paahhhhhh!!!
At that moment, a colorless ripple exploded from beneath Baragan’s feet, engulfing the surroundings.
It was only then that the other superhumans realized the meaning of the hand sign Baragan had made.
Baragan muttered the incantation, spitting it out.
“Domain deployment.”
Domain Deployment Origin Rank Mental Image Actualization [Woven Soul Secret Serpent Palace]
Kugwagwagwagwaga!!!!!
A nest of death and snakes, tangled and interwoven.
Hundreds of giant snakes erupted from beneath Baragan’s feet, writhing and seething.
As the massive snakes bit each other’s tails, intertwining and weaving, becoming living totems that engulfed the battlefield.
A corner of the dynamically changing labyrinth battlefield began to ripple, covered by Baragan’s Domain.
Kagagagagak!!!!
Hundreds of snakes crawled up, gnawing away, and replacing the golden arches that had previously risen.
The dazzling labyrinth landscape transformed into a colossal snake’s nest, a miracle overwriting spacetime.
“I see. He intends to overwrite a part of the battlefield occupied by Hyun-gung with his Domain.”
The Doctor, watching from behind, stroked his chin.
“The idea of completely eliminating the high ground isn’t bad… but how much longer can it hold?”
“Kuhk…!!!”
Pazzzzzzzik…!!!
Udududuk!!!
At that moment, pale hands surging from all directions began to press down on Baragan’s Domain.
Each time a pale hand caressed the space, Baragan’s Domain, which was altering reality, was crushed and distorted.
The snake’s nest, expanding around Baragan, was compressed and shattered, and the size of the Domain rapidly shrunk.
“No way. Lord Baragan’s Domain…!!”
Jajajajajak!!!!
Baragan, reeling from the recoil of his Domain being destroyed in real-time, let out a hollow laugh, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
“Damn it… this is all I can manage, even at full power?”
Baragan, a Level 8 Grand Sorcerer, was a superhuman whose mana capacity and spellcraft scale boasted strategic-grade proportions.
Even though it would normally be easy for him to cover thousands of meters if he seriously deployed his Domain, Baragan’s current Domain only covered tens of meters.
A size far too small to completely cover the high ground Hyun-gung occupied. Even that was swaying as if it would shatter, unable to maintain its form.
This was proof that the action of will-thought and mental image was being suppressed to an absurd degree in this labyrinth.
“No, this is enough.”
But Esteban, seeing the sight, immediately drew out mercury and stood up.
“He’s covered Hyun-gung’s movement route, even if only slightly, with his Domain. This can create a blind spot where her sniping can’t reach…!!”
“Doctor, start immediately!!”
Ermont, too, hurriedly surged with black magic and shouted.
“I’ll go tie down Hyun-gung right now!!!”
“Kuhk…!!!”
Deimus, his face pale, bit down on a gem and advanced forward.
As Evelyn cast a chilling gaze, dozens of shadows simultaneously darted out from beneath Quetzalcoatl’s tattered wings.
Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!
Waves of grotesque, pale hands surged from all directions in the labyrinth.
They gritted their teeth and ran, evading the slow, swaying hands that reached out to grasp and steal their souls.
A sharp rain of black arrows, as if on cue, descended from the sky.
Pavavavavat!!!!
“Keuhok!!”
“Kkeup…!!!”
Soldiers and superhumans, running in stride with their commanders, fell, pierced by short spears.
Mages waiting in the rear attempted to intercept with fire magic, but their numbers were far too few.
Even then, they were overpowered and failed to stop them, leaving countless corpses scattered everywhere.
Tuttututtutterng!!!
“Chebien!!”
“I know… without you saying…”
A puppet clattered to its feet among the corpses, crawling up a golden arch.
As soon as it approached, its head was shattered by an arrow, scattering debris, but that wasn’t the real goal.
Mercury mixed with the shattered puppet’s remains, solidifying quickly, then erupted into legs.
“Run!!!”
“If you stop, your head will explode…!!”
A blind spot from the sniping, temporarily created by Baragan’s Domain. Mercury bridges were built, aiming for that gap.
Dozens of superhumans, their faces pale, gasped for breath and sprinted across the bridges.
“I-I feel like I’m going to die…!!”
“Rotate your mana…!! Losing consciousness means the end!!”
The worst battlefield, where mana and will-thought were suppressed. Even respiration and metabolism slowed, ceasing life activities.
Pale hands, surging from all directions, slowly brushed past the superhumans, stealing their souls.
“Victor, you heard that, right…!!”
Deimus gasped, his face pale, and muttered.
“We’ll tie down Hyun-gung here. Assist us—”
Deimus stumbled, about to fall from the bridge, when a Magic Scribe snatched him by the collar and hoisted him up.
A Manipulation Spellcaster, wearing an obsidian mask, was looking down at him.
“…Victor.”
Kugugugu!!!
Ignoring Deimus, who hung from the bridge, Victor glanced at the distant cocoon of wings.
Victor, who had been staring at Adamant Thunder, who was wrapped in a pale halo, entwined with nine wings, and blinking hundreds of eyes, spoke.
“I did… think things might turn out this way.”
“…”
“But that doesn’t change what needs to be done.”
A faint hint of a smile seemed to mix in Victor’s modulated voice.
“Alright. I’ll help you approach. That seems better for both sides.”
“What do you—”
Swaaeeek!!!!
Before Deimus could ask again, black Magic Scribes erupted from Victor, exploding outwards.
Hundreds of strands of Magic Scribes caught the superhumans falling beneath the mercury bridge and spun them around.
Evading the falling lightning and arrows, they instantly threw them onto the golden arches.
“Whoa, what?!!”
“W-What the…!!”
The superhumans, who had instantly ascended to the same high ground as Evelyn, stared at each other, dumbfounded.
The ascent happened in a flash, making all their previous efforts and attempts feel futile.
Could the assistance of an exceptional Manipulation Spellcaster disregard the limits and dynamics of the battlefield to this extent?
While they were entranced by a feeling as if they had made a deal with a demon, the experienced superhumans quickly regained their senses.
“Over there!!!!”
Kwagwagwagwang!!!
Evelyn, dodging incoming barrages, drew her massive black greatbow.
She pulled out a short spear pre-inserted into a golden arch, nocked it, and fired without looking back.
The sequence of actions was so fast it left only blurry afterimages. Each time, superhumans were skewered like kebabs and fell from the arch.
Tuttututtutterng!!!!
Archery that reached a divine level, as if shooting from hundreds of meters away at point-blank range.
Even as the superhumans killed by her arrows neared a hundred, her expression behind the visor showed no emotion.
Proof that she was carrying out the battle with thoroughly mechanical and cold judgment.
The superhumans who had climbed onto the arch with Victor’s help glared chillingly at Evelyn.
“Sniper. Found you!!”
“You won’t die a peaceful death…!!!”
The terror of sniping from an unseen distance was entirely replaced by hatred towards the opposing sniper.
It was a truth applicable across all eras that excellent snipers easily earned the hatred of their opponents.
But Evelyn’s expression remained unchanged, even as she felt the murderous intent pouring from all directions.
She simply drew a short spear, dodging an officer’s knife lunging from the side.
Thump!!
The short spear in Evelyn’s hand, instead of being nocked onto the greatbow, pierced the officer’s stomach.
“Ah…?”
“Didn’t you know?”
Evelyn lowered her visor, looking at the officer who stared blankly at her.
“I’m also good at close combat.”
Click!!
Sticking the greatbow into the ground, she drew two short spears, one in each hand.
Evelyn, wielding two black short spears, turned to face the superhumans rushing from all directions.
“Dieeee!!!!”
“No.”
Pat!
Evelyn’s body accelerated at an incredible speed, plunging into the soldiers who had climbed onto the golden arch.
A blurry black silhouette, invisible to the naked eye, flickered and churned amidst the blades.
Each time a sharp green gleam flashed, blood spattered, and severed necks and limbs flew into the air.
Kagagagagak!!!!
Swaaek!!
“Keok!!!”
She kicked a jaw, knocking him down, then climbed onto a shoulder and plunged a spearhead into his crown.
As she twisted her body, sliding to avoid a downward-striking blade, blood poured from all directions.
Boom!! Drrururuk!!!
Soldiers, mages, and superhumans, instantly losing their balance, stumbled and fell from the arch.
Evelyn, unfolding the short bow attached to her wrist, looked down at the superhumans falling through the air.
Click!!
“You…!”
Swaaek!!
Before he could even let out a furious shout, a sharp arrow was embedded between his eyebrows.
Before he could draw his last breath, Evelyn turned, and a mercury blade slashed through the spot where she had been standing.
Pavavavabak!!!
“You’re also good at close combat, huh.”
A calm man’s voice came from behind Evelyn, who had moved aside.
“But no matter how talented you are, it’s not comparable to your archery.”
Whoosh!!
Opaque mercury now flowed like water beneath Evelyn’s feet.
The silver-haired nobleman, Esteban, looked at her with a cold gaze.
“You won’t be able to secure such an advantageous position again.”
“…Ha.”
Dozens of superhumans had climbed onto the golden arch via the mercury bridge.
Quetzalcoatl roared, and Baragan focused on restoring his Domain.
Even now, superhumans were converging towards the center.
But Evelyn remained unfazed by those who directed undisguised hatred her way.
She simply slowly lowered the short spears she held.
“My arrows are custom-made to the size of my greatbow, so in terms of size and weight, they’re closer to short spears.”
“…”
“So, in a pinch, I use them like short spears, but they are arrows, after all, so their durability isn’t great. They’re much tougher than ordinary arrows, but compared to real spell-armaments, they break easily and their edges quickly dull.”
Evelyn spoke in suffocating silence.
“They’re expensive to produce and take a long time to make, so what I have here is all that’s left right now. And I wouldn’t have been able to make this many without Van’s help.”
“…What are you trying to say? Is this some kind of last dying wish?”
“It means that once I ran out of prepared short spears, I had no intention of continuing the sniping battle.”
Evelyn said, her gaze turning cold behind her visor.
“Because… I knew you wanted to buy time for a different reason than us.”
“What…?”
“Aisen, the 5th Seat!!”
Deimus shouted, his face pale.
“Kill Hyun-gung immediately. Your ability…!!”
Swaaaeek!!
No further words were needed.
As the other superhumans instinctively surged with mana, Esteban launched his superhuman ability.
The mercury flowing beneath Evelyn’s feet erupted, coiling around her body, compressing and crushing it.
The activation speed, which surpassed the limits of perception, could only be achieved by a superhuman ability powered by mental strength.
Udududuk!!!!
However, Deimus’s gaze, as he watched the compressing mercury prison, was already fixed elsewhere.
The fundamental reason why the Legion wanted to buy time, separate from Adamant Thunder.
The fact that Evelyn had already noticed that, surely—
Swaaaeek!!!
An arrow shot by Evelyn from her short bow just before Esteban could get behind her.
One of them was still flying across the labyrinth battlefield, falling far into the distance.
Its size was much smaller and thinner than the short spears Evelyn used, like an ordinary arrow.
Deimus realized that a golden halo was rotating around that arrow, and that the arrow had now reached ‘someone’s’ vicinity.
Paat!!!
The arrow, enveloped in a golden halo, disappeared, and Evelyn’s figure appeared in its place, as if her position had been swapped.
Hyun-gung had instantly descended from the high ground to the ground, crossing hundreds of meters in a single leap.
Yet, despite this being the situation they had longed for, Deimus couldn’t purely rejoice at the fact.
With Victor’s assistance, a significant portion of their forces had safely ascended near the high ground.
Conversely, the number of forces remaining on the ground had relatively decreased.
And on the ‘ground’ where Evelyn had descended, was—
“Doctor!!!!”
Swaaek!!
Adamant Thunder, spreading his nine wings and blinking his eyes, slowly began to ‘breathe’.
Evelyn sprinted towards the Doctor, who was concentrating on system operations with his eyes closed.
Chebien’s puppets lunged from all directions, but she easily leaped over them.
Holding a thin arrow, she leaned forward and explosively accelerated.
Shattering puppets one after another, she instantly reached the Doctor, and at the same moment—
Evelyn, holding the arrow in a reverse grip, thrust it straight through the Doctor’s neck.
Poooook!!!!
The Doctor slowly opened his eyes and muttered.
“…Evelyn, Marcia.”
“Doctor Artemeyer. You must be the designer who planned this operation.”
Evelyn said with a cold expression.
“For Van’s sake, you’ll have to make your exit here first.”
Thud!!
No answer came.
Before the Doctor could even open his mouth, Evelyn grasped the arrowhead and slashed his neck.
The Doctor’s head separated from his neck, spraying blood, and floated in a circle.