Chapter 1259: Post-War Processing (12)
The outermost undeveloped district of Vulcan.
Lennok, arriving in the satellite city of Bailuts, located even further out, turned his gaze.
Whoosh!!!!
The murky air, laden with dust-filled winds. A familiar street, reeking of a mix of blood and rot.
But the landscape of Bailuts was vastly different from when Lennok had visited just before the start of the Subjugation Operation.
Towering skyscrapers had collapsed, and the train station and theater buildings lay crushed, as if trampled.
The reason was not difficult to guess.
‘The aftermath of the Subjugation Operation, then.’
The war, which began in Vulcan’s undeveloped district, had concluded without crossing District 49, after passing through the Outer Zone.
However, it was not unusual for parts of the undeveloped district to have been swept up in the war’s aftermath during that process.
Bailuts, in particular, was relatively close to Vulcan among the abandoned satellite cities in the undeveloped district.
It must have taken the brunt of the shockwaves when the Incarnation Body rampaged, collapsing part of the city.
Crumble…!!
Crumbled concrete and rebar slid down, emitting a grotesque, hollow sound.
The entire city looked tattered, as if swept by a typhoon. As Lennok gazed at the ruins, lost in thought, that moment—
“Victor……?”
“……”
A strangely familiar puppet stood amidst the wreckage, staring at Lennok.
The form of a broken puppet, manipulated by Pandemonium’s Puppet Master, Chebien, who had participated in the Subjugation Operation.
As Lennok turned to leave, Chebien stammered through the puppet’s mouth.
“You were alive…… I saw your name…… on the Power Ranking, but……”
His characteristic gloomy voice vaguely revealed Chebien’s surprise.
“Facing Adamant Thunder in the labyrinth…… you even managed to retain some power……”
“I’m not particularly interested in hearing that from you.”
Lennok adjusted his mask and spoke. His modulated voice echoed through the cold, ruined air.
“You, who clung to The Doctor’s side throughout the Subjugation Operation, merely observing the situation—what is there to be surprised about?”
“……”
“Aside from your puppet show as a stand-in for The Doctor, you were practically invisible. Far more useless than during the Kabahim incident.”
“Even if you say that, it couldn’t be helped…… The puppets used then weren’t designed to function in large-scale battles……”
Chebien replied in a gloomy voice.
“My role in the Subjugation Operation was merely a dummy…… acting as a decoy for The Doctor, or a sacrificial offering…… so there’s no reason to be reprimanded……”
“Your excuses are long-winded.”
Whoosh!
Lennok, instantly crossing space with Flicker, landed before Chebien.
Lennok scoffed, staring intently into the twitching, broken eyes of the puppet.
“In the end, you weren’t particularly helpful, yet you crawled out to the settlement meeting for the Subjugation Operation’s results…… Isn’t that all there is to it?”
“……”
Even with Lennok’s overt sarcasm, Chebien couldn’t utter a word.
Given his sensitive and gloomy personality, it was quite a docile attitude. That must have been because Chebien had observed Victor’s Manipulation Spellcraft up close throughout the Subjugation Operation.
A Manipulation Spellcaster who, shortly after the Kabahim assault, took on the role of confronting Adamant Thunder in the Subjugation Operation.
He also knew that Chebien’s role in this war was extremely insignificant compared to what Lennok had accomplished.
“Any more talk would be a waste of time. Everyone else has arrived, I presume?”
Having crushed his spirit this much, he wouldn’t dare to shamelessly claim his share in this settlement.
Lennok scoffed at the silent Chebien, then turned his gaze.
“Lead the way. You’re out here for that, aren’t you?”
“……I will.”
He followed the creaking puppet, walking through the collapsed ruins.
As they overlooked the half-destroyed Bailuts, Chebien spoke, his puppet creaking.
“Truly, not a single scratch…… Even after accomplishing such a feat at the end……”
“……”
“Manipulation Spellcraft…… just what kind of power is it?”
“You’ve been unnecessarily chatty.”
Lennok irritably turned his gaze.
“Why, do you think a worm like you could imitate it just because I told you?”
“It’s not as if I can’t receive instruction……”
“What?”
“There aren’t no interchangeable parts between your Manipulation Spellcraft and my Puppet Master Spellcraft……”
As Chebien said that, he clasped and spread his hands, and faint threads stretched out between the puppet’s fingers, dangling.
“The Magic Scribes you use have similar aspects to the puppet strings I use to manipulate puppets……”
“……”
“In that they both manipulate spellcraft through a medium, the sensation would be similar…… Even if the systems are different, there must be points of compatibility……”
Chebien spoke in a voice heavy with gloom.
“If I could experience even a fragment of your monstrous talent for manipulating Magic Scribes…… I would give up anything……”
So, Chebien being here to greet him, a rare sight, meant this was his true intention from the start.
It seemed Lennok’s Manipulation Spellcraft, displayed during the Subjugation Operation, had left a stronger impression than expected.
For this eccentric who typically refused interaction even within Pandemonium to come out like this, it must mean he was truly desperate.
“Long-tongued, aren’t we? Is a trifling Puppet Master like you coveting my spellcraft?”
But Lennok scoffed at Chebien’s pseudo-offer.
“If you want to say such things, you should first present what you can offer before blathering on.”
“The price a Puppet Master can offer is fixed…… I can give you a very special puppet……”
The puppet, having stopped with a creak, looked up at Lennok with inorganic eyes.
“A puppet Masquerade, crafted with the practical techniques of a fallen Puppet Kingdom…… an activation artifact capable of swapping human and puppet souls……”
“……”
“I believe it would be extremely useful for you, who conceal your identity with a mask…… What do you say……?”
A masquerade puppet. An artifact that deceives and conceals by swapping human and puppet souls, then.
For Lennok, who conceals his face with an obsidian mask, there would surely be a way to put it to good use.
Even just from the description, it was clear that Chebien had prepared a rather decent price.
“I’m not particularly interested in mere blathering offers.”
But Lennok, without betraying any emotion, walked past Chebien.
Lennok stopped in front of an abstract-shaped art museum located on a central street in Bailuts and spoke.
“If you want to trade with me, you’ll have to bring the actual item before me first.”
Creak……!!
Without waiting for Chebien’s reply, he pushed open the transparent glass door at the art museum’s main entrance.
Inside the neatly arranged hall, grotesque paintings and intensely shaped sculptures were on display.
Lennok ignored the artworks and sculptures scattered throughout, heading straight for the center of the lobby.
Before the museum’s information desk stood a massive angel statue, with wings spread and hands extended.
A nun knelt alone, quietly offering a prayer.
“Hylaea.”
“……Victor. You arrived early.”
The nun, pulling down her eye patch, replied.
Hylaea slowly rose, gazing at Lennok with a calm expression.
“Are you well? I scheduled it expecting to wait another day.”
“Unnecessary consideration.”
Lennok sneered.
“You didn’t handle things that way at the last settlement. Since when have you been so lenient with appointments?”
“Because all the other members witnessed what you did in the Subjugation Operation.”
Hylaea replied calmly.
“If you hadn’t bought time against Adamant Thunder outside District 49 for The Legion to enter the labyrinth, the operation would have failed at that point. Everyone agreed on that fact.”
“……”
“Since such a task was entrusted to you, this settlement was planned to proceed after first confirming your survival. We also obtained The Doctor’s consent.”
“It’s good to see you alive again, Victor.”
A furball twitched on top of the angel statue, then leaped down to Lennok’s feet.
The pure white furball rolled at Lennok’s feet, then stopped and spoke in a deep voice.
“I knew you weren’t dead, but you look even healthier than last time…… Did you gain some new insight?”
“The Doctor. You, on the other hand, have returned to a pathetic state.”
Lennok sneered, looking down at the furball.
“Did you just abandon your newly acquired human body at the Ascension Gate?”
“If you had stayed until the very end at the site, you would have seen it too.”
The Doctor shrugged his furball body.
“That body was offered as a sacrifice to halt the Ascension Ritual. It was a rare vessel among the somatic bodies I’d recently acquired, but given the circumstances, it couldn’t be helped.”
“……”
“Besides, without the Conjunction Spell Master’s help, I couldn’t have processed and used that body so quickly. I have no lingering regrets.”
The Doctor let out a low chuckle.
“If there’s any regret, it’s that I couldn’t observe the Subjugation Operation to the very end. Baragan’s defeat and the Marshal’s death would have been worth watching, what a pity.”
“From the way you’re speaking, you don’t seem particularly interested in the results of the Subjugation Operation.”
Lennok narrowed his eyes within his mask.
“Regardless of the situation, you participated on The Legion’s side. Does it not matter to you if the war ended with Deadrise’s defeat?”
“Precisely. I didn’t think there was a high probability of the Subjugation Operation ending in an overwhelming victory for The Legion from the start.”
The Doctor affirmed.
“We sided with The Legion because that was the only way to directly intervene in the Subjugation Operation. It wasn’t really a matter of choice.”
“……”
“If The Legion won, we would take our ‘trophies’ from the victory; if they lost, we would take our ‘trophies’ from the defeat. This settlement meeting is also akin to such a gathering.”
The Doctor, speaking while slowly swaying his furball body, glanced away.
“But before that, let’s start once all the surviving members have arrived.”
“……There are still members who haven’t arrived?”
By the time Ermont and Deimus died, all existing members of Pandemonium should have returned alive.
From across the museum, a vampire waved cheerfully towards them, and a Dragon King stood with arms crossed, eyes closed.
But Lennok, noticing Ezekiel’s absence, his gaze faintly darkened.
‘The imperial family isn’t here. If he didn’t come with them, did he never intend to participate in the first place……’
Ezekiel Ron Maize. From Ars Nova’s Imperial Palace Cabinet, a Transcendent who, upon appearing on the Eastern Continent, immediately seized the 2nd spot on the Power Ranking.
Participating in the settlement under the alias of Victor was not only to finalize the Subjugation Operation but also because he judged this to be the definite channel to make contact with him.
However, it seemed Ezekiel had no intention of appearing at Pandemonium’s Mid-term Settlement.
Sarin and the Iron Chain Dragon King weren’t close to him, so asking about his whereabouts wouldn’t be helpful.
‘If he’s not here, I can guess where he might be……’
Just as Lennok fell into a moment of thought, the museum door opened, and someone walked in.
Clack!!
A bootfall that felt heavy somehow. The rustle of old, dust-laden clothes.
But Lennok, confirming the presence through his senses, frowned behind his mask.
“……This is.”
Creak……!
A man with disheveled black hair walked through the transparent corridor.
A calm, unwavering expression as he surveyed his surroundings, and a familiar click of military boots.
Even the meticulous demeanor of adjusting his collar and posture, fiddling with the buttons on his uniform sleeve.
All members gathered there knew that face.
Adamant Thunder Subjugation Operation’s supreme commander. 7th Legion Commander Deimus Rayon.
The soldier who had drawn his last breath on the final battlefield of the Subjugation Operation had arrived last at Pandemonium’s settlement meeting, looking at them.
“……”
In the heavy silence. The moment the other members, with varying gazes, looked at Deimus, raising their senses.
“You’re late.”
The Doctor said casually.
“I distinctly told you not to get distracted by trivial matters and hurry here.”
“Ah……”
Deimus slowly opened his mouth.
As the soldier cleared his throat and parted his lips, the corners of his mouth suddenly twisted into a grotesquely elongated smile.
Soon, his face transformed into a wide smile, utterly unimaginable from the Legion Commander they knew.
“Ah~ I’m sorry about this. I’m a bit later than I thought, aren’t I?”
“……”
“I thought I made it on time, but I didn’t expect even Victor to be here. I apologize for my lateness, even now.”
Deimus, his limbs creaking, shrugged his shoulders and asked with a grin.
“Well, since it’s still hard to move in this body, can’t we just overlook it, assuming that’s why I’m late?”
“……No way.”
Chebien, standing beside him, tilted his puppet’s head with a creak.
A frivolous expression and manner of speech utterly unfitting for the Deimus that Pandemonium’s members knew.
A face smiling with such stiff facial muscles it looked awkward, and a stance, leaning askew, flailing his limbs.
Chebien, recalling someone else strangely familiar from that speech and posture, asked.
“You…… are you Ermont……?”
“Correct!!!”
Deimus smiled brightly, nodding towards Chebien.
“Actually, it’s not Deimus, but Ermont, who took over his friend’s body~!!”
“Oh my…… how disgusting.”
Sarin, perched on the museum lighting, looked on with contempt, but Ermont ignored her reaction and, as if he had been waiting, rattled off words.
“Man, I really came back from the dead, you know? Hyun-gung was stronger than I thought, so I got killed without even a chance. I should’ve just thrown everything away and run, but using a smokescreen to try and tie her down was my undoing.”
“……”
“The moment Jawoon Audis’s head, which I’d used for years, was crushed, it was over. I thought I’d have to wander the continent again like some petty ghost, searching for a new body, but what do you know? Ta-da~”
Deimus hugged his own shoulders with both arms, grotesquely rubbing his body.
“Well, wouldn’t you know, this lovely Deimus’s body responded to my Will-thought Transfer Spellcraft? I figured there was no need to miss this opportunity, so I quickly moved into it.”
“Hmm……”
To make such a frivolous expression with Deimus’s always calm face—should one call that a talent?
The expressions of the members, watching the calm commander’s face transform into a ridiculous sight, subtly shifted.
Hylaea, pressing her brow as if dumbfounded, asked.
“So, you didn’t show yourself even after the Subjugation Operation because you took over Deimus’s body and needed time to adjust?”
“Exactly. In fact, the only reason I could move into Deimus was because the body I was using just before was Jawoon Audis’s.”
Ermont, moving Deimus’s body, shrugged his shoulders.
“Since Deimus was also a Gemstone Spellcaster, compatibility was somehow possible, but because he didn’t have black magic aptitude, it took time to adjust the spellcraft.”
Ermont was an ancient black wizard who had lived for hundreds of years, taking over others’ bodies using Will-thought Transfer Spellcraft.
Will-thought Transfer Spellcraft is fundamentally close to black magic, so there’s a condition that the body to be taken must possess a certain degree of black magic aptitude.
Although the body he had used immediately before was that of a Gemstone Spellcaster, allowing for enough compatibility to transfer into Deimus’s body, who was also a Gemstone Spellcaster.
Time was needed to adjust the spellcraft to stably settle his consciousness into a body without black magic aptitude.
As the other members finally understood how Ermont had survived, Ermont rambled on.
“There are still some unresolved issues, but how could I miss the chance to devour the body of a Deadrise Legion Commander, right? Black magic aptitude can be developed one way or another later.”
“……”
“Heh heh, more importantly, aren’t you all a bit slow to catch on? After all, people have undeniable individuality, don’t they? With this much of a hint, you should have recognized me right away. I expected you all to notice as soon as you saw me, so this is a little disappointing.”
“Constantly spouting unpleasant nonsense, it certainly sounds like him, alright……”
It was true that Ermont’s behavior, openly flaunting his act of taking over another’s body and chuckling, seemed grotesque.
Their reaction was probably based on a vague discomfort that the black wizard before them might one day covet their own bodies.
But The Doctor, watching Ermont, seemed intrigued, twitching his furball body.
“You took over Deimus Rayon’s body after his death…… An interesting answer.”
“What?”
“According to Ermont’s explanation, he transferred his consciousness to Deimus’s corpse, effectively resurrecting that body. That’s far from the simple concept of merely switching bodies.”
The Doctor gazed up at Ermont’s widely grinning face.
“I suppose the true name of that spellcraft isn’t something like Will-thought Transfer Spellcraft…… but rather a byproduct of Immortal Research using black magic.”
“……”
“Indeed. The way the oldest families embrace death. That must be similar to what was used in the Gabihaeng—”
“Doctor.”
Ermont called The Doctor, still smiling.
“You can’t ‘say’ that right now. You know what happened in Paradise Lost, don’t you?”
“……”
For a moment, The Doctor fell silent, and Ermont mimed zipping his lips.
“Be careful what you say, awake or asleep. If you speak it, you’ll know?”
“……Indeed. We weren’t gathered here to discuss that.”
Did The Doctor immediately understand what Ermont was trying to say?
The Doctor, acquiescing, turned his gaze towards the vast museum hall.
“It seems everyone who was expected has arrived, so let’s begin. As I said, the purpose of this meeting is the settlement of the Subjugation Operation.”
“……”
“As the scale of damage and repercussions from the Adamant Thunder Subjugation Operation were greater than imagined, we had anticipated that the Magic Tower wouldn’t be able to recover all the remains and armaments left on the battlefield at once.”
The Doctor stated calmly.
“As a result, separate from The Legion’s operation failing, we succeeded in recovering several ‘necessary’ spoils of war from the battlefield swept by Adamant Thunder, led by Hylaea.”
“That is……”
“With The Legion’s command collapsing and main forces annihilated, the legacy of the forces that participated in the Subjugation Operation remained. We intend to distribute the recovered spoils according to contribution to the operation, in order of priority. Victor, step forward.”
At the naturally following call, the members’ gazes instantly turned to Lennok.
The Doctor spoke, looking at Lennok who stood in his place with his arms crossed.
“During the entry into District 49, you bought time against Adamant Thunder, were the first to reach the center of the labyrinth to draw out Hyun-gung, and finally played a decisive role in deploying a Domain to thwart the Ascension Ritual.”
“……”
“We have cross-verified this through the testimonies of observers who watched the Subjugation Operation, as well as the members who remained on the battlefield until the end. It is only right that you, who achieved the greatest merit in this war, take the most valuable spoils of war we recovered.”
The Doctor twitched his furball body and turned to Hylaea, who closed her eyes and slowly clasped both hands together.
As Hylaea assumed a prayer-like stance and drew forth mana, the angel statue standing before her began to move.
Its gigantic wings, seemingly about to fill the entire hall, pulsed and scattered dazzling light before Lennok.
Fwoosh!!!
“……This is.”
“Kaiser Bajour, during his lifetime, collected rare talents and relics from across the continent as his assets.”
The Doctor’s voice resonated softly amidst the overflowing light.
“Naturally, the superhumans under his command also received and possessed the artifacts and relics that Kaiser had collected.”
“……”
“This is a key possessing the rarest and most unique power among the treasures Kaiser acquired.”
The angel’s wings, reaching towards the sky, softly flapped, growing in size.
As if opening a clenched fist, it plunged something held within its wings diagonally before Lennok’s eyes.
Clang!!
A beautiful silver-white radiance spread forth the moment it appeared in the air.
Its form, with smooth and elegant curves, as if a crescent moon from the night sky had been pulled down to earth.
The moment he realized it took the form of a great katana, familiar even to Lennok.
“The Great Katana Flowing Soul (流魄), wielded by Deadrise Captain Song-ha.”
The Doctor said.
“It is a Spirit-Forged Armament, one of fewer than ten in the entire world, and a type of Quasi-Weapon. You, Victor, have the right to take this first.”
“……Spirit-Forged Armament? Quasi-Weapon?”
As Lennok remained silent, Ermont tilted his head.
“I think I’ve heard those names before…… Is it like an ego sword, the kind I know?”
“It refers to a weapon crafted by forging a soul into an armament.”
Hylaea stated calmly.
“Unlike Forbidden Armaments, which use an entire human as material, it’s a type of relic crafted through a soul-forging ritual. As expected of Quasi-Weapons, some among them maintain an independent self.”
“Oh, using a soul as material isn’t exactly a good thing, is it?”
Sarin, sitting on the lighting fixture, swung her legs and chuckled.
“No matter how precious a relic, if it’s mixed with some strange petty ghost, it becomes useless, doesn’t it? For example, the soul of a disagreeable and frivolous black wizard who takes over others’ bodies.”
“Damn it, if you keep talking like that, next time I’ll take over your body.”
Lennok ignored Ermont’s grumbling, and just as he turned his gaze, The Doctor stated calmly.
“However, the caliber of the soul contained within this is unique and belongs to a great being, on a completely different level from Ermont.”
Whoosh……!!!
The great katana, embedded diagonally before Lennok’s feet, emitted a strange resonance.
The Doctor looked at the form of the great katana and said quietly.
“For what is contained within is none other than the soul of Ascendant Crimson (秘色).”