Chapter 1261: Post-War Processing (14)
After hearing about Pandemonium’s next plan from Hylaea,
Lennok returned to the distribution site and completed the procedure for distributing the spoils of the Subjugation Operation.
All artifacts and relics obtained on the battlefield by Pandemonium, led by Hylaea, totaled 12 types.
It was enough for the members gathered there to share, excluding the Iron Chain Dragon King.
Since their spellcraft and abilities differed vastly, their desired relics didn’t overlap, so the settlement didn’t take long.
Most of the artifacts the members divided were objects steeped in forbidden magic or human sacrifice, so Lennok quickly lost interest.
“A staff directly used by a cult cardinal. I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of bizarre forbidden magic it’s steeped in.”
“This might not be a bad haul to take back to the Crimson Star Clan.”
Ermont and Sarin seemed quite satisfied with the ‘staff’ and ‘serum’ they obtained from this settlement.
As many of the items presented for settlement were cult equipment, they would be useful to them in some way.
“You’re right, Victor…”
A stiff, sandpaper-like cloak hung over the shoulder of the puppet, whose jaw clattered.
Chebien, looking at Lennok through the puppet’s opaque eyes, uttered in a somber voice.
“It’s only right for the one who desires something to first prepare the offering…”
“…”
“My Puppet Master Spellcraft has compatible elements with your Manipulation Spellcraft… and we can certainly help each other…”
Saying so, Chebien pulled out a cracked mask from his robes and offered it to Lennok.
The mask seemed to embody a crying human face, painted with grotesque patterns.
As Lennok looked down at it, Chebien spoke softly.
“The Key to Masquerade. It’s the ignition device for holding a masquerade ball… Only with this can one control puppets…”
He had been unusually quiet throughout the settlement; perhaps he was contemplating Lennok’s offer of physical exchange.
To hand over the ignition device of Masquerade first, Chebien seemed truly eager to get tips on manipulating Magic Scribes from Lennok.
“We’ll meet at the Central Front… I’ll bring the Masquerade then and we can talk…”
The puppet stumbled, turned, and then, its cloak fluttering, disappeared beyond the ruined satellite city.
As Lennok watched its retreating figure, a furball that had rolled to his feet spoke in a grave voice.
“Spellcasters who handle mediums, by their nature, often tend to be reclusive and antisocial.”
“The Doctor.”
“To think that a recluse holed up in his room, absorbed in puppet-making, would stoop so low… He seems quite impressed with you after this operation.”
The Doctor let out a slow chuckle.
“He has a peculiar personality, but he’s a craftsman who makes puppets so intricate they can ‘replace’ humans. If you play your cards right, he might be helpful even to a Trait-type Spellcaster like you.”
“Why are you suddenly spouting useless advice?”
“You must have heard from Hylaea.”
The Doctor replied, slowly shaking his furball body.
“The Director has opened the way, and the Nether King has taken on the role of the Gate. Pandemonium will now officially expand its scope of activity to the Central Front.”
“…”
“In that process, there’s a possibility that many new members who joined the organization, or those who haven’t been in the field for a long time, will return.”
The Doctor gazed up at Lennok.
“If the timing is right, Pandemonium’s top forces will likely participate in the next operation. So, isn’t it best to prepare as much as you can?”
The moment Lennok flinched at the unexpected words, the Iron Chain Dragon King slowly turned towards them.
He walked with his characteristic inhuman, expressionless face, approached the Doctor, and lowered his gaze.
“Dragon King. Thank you for keeping your promise in this matter.”
The Doctor looked up at the Dragon King and chuckled.
“It must have been agony for a noble Long-lived Being of Kundara to watch the squabble of the lower beings. It must have been hard to bear.”
“The time granted to a life is not a matter of individual talent or ability. This dragon does not distinguish status by innate lifespan.”
The Iron Chain Dragon King said with an expressionless face.
“The Transcendent Short-lived Beings are in no way inferior compared to the venerated ones of Kundara. Their wars, too, should not be belittled as mere squabbles.”
“…”
The Dragon King, having stopped before the Doctor, slowly raised his gaze.
His eyes, sinking as if looking up at the sky beyond the blocked ceiling of a museum lobby, he spoke.
“The Silver Star has moved, and the Central has reacted. Others, too, will be unable to defy that massive current.”
“…Silver Star?”
Ignoring the Doctor’s question, the Dragon King walked past the two and said.
“If you plan to conduct affairs in the Central, you’ll need to consider this. The Silver Star will no longer show mercy to those weaker than itself.”
“…”
“You will soon realize it if you use the Ritual Armament this dragon transferred to you.”
The Iron Chain Dragon King said so, then glanced at Lennok.
“Things that are irrevocably broken often have a way of understanding each other.”
“…”
The Dragon King walked straight through the lobby and disappeared, without even waiting for a reply.
His detached attitude suggested no interest whatsoever in the settlement taking place in the satellite city.
Ermont, approaching with the staff in hand, muttered with a dumbfounded expression.
“He’s an inscrutable lizard from beginning to end. Was he just waiting around until now just to say that?”
“Kundara’s highest-ranking Long-lived Beings have existed as Transcendent for hundreds of years, awaiting the Outer Tribulation.”
The Doctor replied in a leisurely tone.
“It’s impossible to know how those who have witnessed the rise and fall of Ars Nova look upon the current human race.”
“The Iron Chain Dragon King is a Transcendent known even among Kundara’s Dragon Kings for his upright character. Had it not been for this incident, it would have been impossible to draw him into Pandemonium in the first place.”
Hylaea said from beside him.
“A war of this scale concluded without major issues. He doesn’t seem to have any intention of antagonizing or separating from us, so it’s not a bad outcome in many respects.”
“Since the Adamant Thunder Annihilation Campaign failed, they’ve finished their business. Would they really cooperate with criminals like us again?”
“If he didn’t intend to, he wouldn’t have bothered to warn us about Maleon Gnosis’s defection.”
The Doctor said with a chuckle.
“A Long-lived Being of that age doesn’t decide their movements for a single reason. His temporary relinquishment of the Dragon King’s position and joining the Demonic Conflux must have a reason beyond that… It’s enough to merely weigh the benefits, as long as it doesn’t conflict with his objectives.”
“Doctor. You know suspiciously much about Long-lived Beings. Did you perhaps want to become a dragon?”
“Well. I did once dream of a similar achievement.”
“…Huh?”
“It’s not that important a story. Ermont, the settlement is all done, but what will you do now?”
Ermont frowned at the Doctor’s blatant change of subject, but soon, like a goldfish, he quickly forgot and became lost in thought.
“Hmm, well. I’ve been too busy adjusting this body to think of anything else… but I guess I should return to Vulcan first.”
“I see. Returning to Vulcan?”
“The Subjugation Operation must have caused an uproar on the Deepweb, and I haven’t even checked a single page yet.”
Ermont puffed out his chest with an eager expression.
“There must be friends anxiously looking for me all over the bulletin boards, and I haven’t even properly reported my survival. I need to go stir things up properly.”
“…”
“Don’t look at me with such a pathetic expression, Hylaea. We’ll have to return to Vulcan together anyway, so shouldn’t we get along for a while?”
“No, I’m not returning to Vulcan.”
“What?”
Hylaea slowly massaged her wrist, looking at Ermont with wide eyes.
“With Pandemonium’s decision to expand its operational range to the Central Front, my role has temporarily changed. This operation will be the last task I undertake in Vulcan for a while.”
“Huh? But you can’t do that.”
Ermont tilted his head.
“If Hylaea leaves, Vulcan’s contact will disappear, won’t it? The importance of this city has already grown because of the Subjugation Operation, so leaving the person in charge vacant at this time is…”
“Who said the person in charge would be vacant?”
“Huh?”
“Isn’t there someone returning to Vulcan to replace Hylaea?”
Ermont, turning his gaze at the Doctor’s retort, felt Hylaea and the Doctor staring intently at him and closed his mouth.
“…”
“…”
Sarin’s faintly scoffing gaze, and Lennok’s openly sneering one.
Feeling an ominous sensation, Ermont’s body moved before his mind could even process it.
CRACK!!
“KUWEEEK!!”
A whip made of blood had, at some point, tightly bound Ermont’s ankle as he tried to turn and flee like lightning.
Ermont, restrained by Sarin’s Blood Manipulation, thrashed wildly.
“KIIEEEK!! Let go! How dare a filthy vampire touch me!!”
“Since you love Vulcan’s ecosystem so much, there’s no need to find another person in charge.”
The Doctor, perched on Ermont’s thrashing head, said.
“It’s fortunate we don’t need to search far for a candidate who enjoys associating with Vulcan’s demons.”
“Shut up!! Go away!! No!!”
“Congratulations, Ermont.”
The Doctor patted his own body, watching Ermont shriek in terror.
“It seems you’ll be taking on the role of Vulcan’s next person in charge for a while.”
“NOOOOOOOO?!!!”
After the mid-term settlement concluded and the minor commotion of Hylaea and Ermont swapping roles ended,
Lennok ignored the other members, left Bailuts, and returned to Vulcan.
Although he moved for the settlement, he couldn’t make any significant moves as Victor for the time being.
‘He was more active than expected in the subjugation operation.’
There were few means to directly intervene in the Subjugation Operation, so it couldn’t be helped, but even considering that, Victor’s actions were more intense than necessary.
He didn’t merely contribute to the legion’s operation; he directly clashed with an Incarnation Body to buy time, and played a decisive role in stopping the Ascension Ritual.
In other words, the Subjugation Operation had more variables than Lennok expected, but it was also true that he relied on Manipulation Spellcraft to control those variables.
Even without that, Victor’s name was currently being constantly mentioned across the Deepweb and various Power Rankings.
Having used Victor’s identity consecutively after the Kabahim incident, he had to restrict his activities for a while.
‘There’s a lot to do during post-war processing, so there’s no need to worry about other identities, but…’
Although he was handling urgent matters first, there were numerous tasks requiring Lennok’s authorization in the aftermath of the war.
Many major tasks, including the restoration of District 49 and the reconstruction of the Magic Tower, were still unfinished.
And, above all, people he needed to meet were still waiting for Lennok in this city.
“Adamant Thunder.”
A quiet cafe on the outskirts of a bustling street in District 41, untouched by the aftermath of the Subjugation Operation.
The red-eyed girl sitting on the terrace raised her hand, seeing Lennok.
“Over here, you’re a little late.”
“I’m sure I was the one who called you and asked you to find someone.”
“Isn’t it human etiquette to arrive 5 minutes early and wait?”
“Nagging when your contractor isn’t even late, that must be summon etiquette.”
“You never lose an argument.”
The Fearsome Blood King grumbled, pushing the coffee on the table towards Lennok.
“Here, your coffee. I changed it to decaf; you don’t mind, do you?”
“Who told you to change my order as you pleased?”
“Why? Isn’t coffee meant to be enjoyed for its taste anyway?”
The Fearsome Blood King tilted her head.
“It’s not like drinking this will wake you up or put you in an awakened state. And even if it did, you don’t sleep well at night anyway.”
“Don’t judge humans by vampire standards.”
Lennok said so, yet took a sip of the coffee she had ordered.
As Lennok savored the coffee, which felt like the first he’d had in weeks, Racy sipped a fruit smoothie placed before her.
“Ah, this is delicious. Heiberk recommended it, and it’s not bad after all. I wondered why people would blend raw fruit, but I actually like the texture.”
“Jutiya has been inseparable from smoothies ever since she settled in this city. Her taste isn’t exactly reliable.”
“Is that so? I don’t really understand human tastes. In fact, I don’t really understand human preferences at all.”
The girl turned her gaze.
The Long-lived Being’s eyes, watching the people walking beyond the terrace, sank deep.
“Indeed, looking back, it was always like this when I worked with Kaiser.”
“…”
“Although I joined the project after receiving the proposal, I don’t think I really knew all my colleagues. No… perhaps I thought there was no need to know them.”
A faint regret filled the vampire’s eyes.
“I thought Kaiser’s change was inevitable. The price that inevitably comes to a Regressor. I thought any attempt to prevent its side effects would be futile.”
“…”
“I thought everyone knew and was prepared, but perhaps others weren’t. Each time Kaiser changed, one by one, they changed along with him.”
A quiet stillness flowed over the sun-drenched terrace at midday.
A leisurely noon, with only the faint sounds of people talking on the street.
“You, who brought Kaiser’s end, would be able to answer.”
In the languid air, as if time had stopped, the Fearsome Blood King asked with an expression steeped in regret.
“Back then, if I had acted differently in the project, would anything have changed?”
“If so, you wouldn’t be standing before me, but lying as a corpse on that plain, alongside the Legion.”
Lennok said calmly.
“It was an outcome decided long ago. Something determined tens of thousands of timelines ago.”
“…”
“Because it wasn’t a past that we, living in the current timeline, could change… I was able to decide what to do with Kaiser.”
Lennok, finishing the remaining coffee and standing up, raised his gaze.
Lennok muttered, looking at the highest floor of the towering skyscraper.
“So, from now on, I should focus on what I can change, even if just a little.”
“…Yes.”
The Fearsome Blood King closed her eyes.
“I’ve already spoken to them over there. You can go straight up.”
“…”
“They’ll be waiting.”
Lennok didn’t reply and moved on.
The moment he couldn’t find his whereabouts at Pandemonium’s mid-term settlement, he already had an idea where he would be.
Confirming his whereabouts through the Fearsome Blood King and having the area cleared beforehand was merely to observe minimal protocol.
It was less preparation and more a minimal sign of respect for the person he was about to meet.
VWOOM…!!
He headed towards the skyscraper rising on the street opposite the terrace.
The glass doors opened, revealing a spacious, empty lobby hall.
When he entered the open elevator, the doors naturally closed, and it ascended.
Without pressing any buttons, the elevator stopped at the top floor, its doors opened, and an office was revealed.
WHOOSH!!
Virgil’s office, located on the top floor of the Cartel headquarters.
But the vampire who always sat at that desk, greeting Lennok, was nowhere to be seen.
Only a young man stood there, facing the wind blowing through the wide-open office window.
His face was covered with a thick cloth, and he wore pure white ceremonial robes, standing with his back to Lennok in a detached posture.
Yet, that presence was both utterly familiar and endlessly alien to Lennok.
“Ezekiel Ron Maize.”
A being Lennok had become aware of after finishing Kaiser’s matter and revisiting District 19.
One of the very few survivors who once belonged to that great and noble collective.
The administrators of this world whom Lennok had to confront last for ‘the next step.’
The Imperial Palace of Ars Nova.
A survivor of the now-destroyed imperial family was waiting for Lennok.
“…”
Ezekiel did not respond to Lennok’s call.
He merely lowered his gaze, hidden by the cloth, and looked at the cityscape spread out below his feet.
He stared for a long time at the panorama of the mega-city stretching to the horizon, then opened his mouth.
“Long ago, I believed all of this was nothing but a futile illusion.”
“…”
“As time passed, I thought it regrettable, yet inevitable.”
Ezekiel slowly turned his head, his gaze momentarily fixed precisely on Lennok.
“And now… I think I understand why we are stopped here.”
“For someone related to the Imperial Palace of Ars Nova, that’s excessive humility.”
Lennok’s expression turned cold as he looked at Ezekiel.
“Are you trying to say you came to meet me without even knowing what you’re alive for?”
“Since the Emperor left, we haven’t known anything about ourselves.”
Ezekiel said.
“But I know what you want from meeting me.”
“What?”
“The Imperial Privilege of the Imperial Family, which was used as the power source for The Prohibition.”
At Ezekiel’s words, which went straight to the core without hesitation, Lennok was speechless.
“Didn’t you come to find me because you wanted to ask about its origin and abilities?”
“…”
“If you wish, I will tell you. It’s not difficult for us.”
Saying so, Ezekiel slowly rolled up his sleeve.
As his palely white wrist was revealed, the moment he lightly pressed his own wrist with his other hand.
Pfft, with the sound of flesh being cut, ‘blue blood’ began to flow from his fingertips.
Ezekiel slowly moved, extending his bleeding hand towards Lennok.
“Drink.”
“…What are you thinking?”
“There’s no need for complicated procedures to speak of our abilities.”
Ezekiel replied.
“The Imperial Privilege you desire already exists within you.”