Chapter 1368: Variation (7)

The journey, which began with Ermont, Pandemonium’s black wizard, was not smooth from the start.

The boarding procedures for the colossal airship docked at La Haven, a satellite city.

At the entrance of the vessel, capable of accommodating thousands of passengers at once, commonly known as the Transcontinental Migration Fleet.

Because as soon as the crew members saw the ticket Ermont presented among the passengers lined up for boarding, their faces turned grim.

“Class 6 ticket? Come this way.”

“Take off all your coats and outerwear. We’ll be conducting a baggage inspection now.”

“If you have even one dangerous item, you’ll be expelled mid-flight, so cooperate if you don’t want to die.”

“No, wait a minute?!”

They dragged Ermont away, who had presented his ticket, searched his entire body thoroughly, and dumped out his backpack. Clothes and artifacts came tumbling out of the backpack, making Ermont shriek.

“What is this black statuette? Utterly suspicious.”

“Why are you carrying multiple IDs? Who is Jawoon Audis?”

“No, if that breaks, it’s a huge problem!! Don’t drop it!!”

Crash! Bang!!!

Their attitude was rough and crude, as if they were inspecting cargo, not passengers boarding the migration fleet.

Only after observing the other passengers going through the boarding process could Lennok understand the situation.

People with the same tickets as Ermont were boarding not through the ship’s main entrance, but through the cargo loading bay.

“I wondered why there was no seat number on the ticket. So, Class 6 tickets were meant for hitching a ride in the migration fleet’s cargo hold?”

No matter how large the ship was, he wondered why there would be a Class 6, but it seemed it wasn’t even an officially sold seat to begin with.

It seemed Ermont had tried to cut corners to save money and ended up in trouble.

“You there, you’re boarding with this fellow, aren’t you?”

The grim-faced crew member, who had just finished frisking Ermont’s pockets, gestured towards Lennok.

“Come closer. Put down all your belongings and your backpack.”

“Very well.”

He handed the staff he was leaning on to the crew member.

The crew member snatched the staff and asked curtly.

“Other items?”

“Here.”

Feigning to take out an item, he pulled out a silver coin and handed it to the crew member.

The crew member paused, looked at it, then naturally slipped it into his pocket.

“…You’re a reasonable one.”

The crew member cleared his throat and looked at Lennok, who stood empty-handed, with a noticeably softer gaze.

“Your backpack? Didn’t you bring anything?”

“My body can’t carry heavy things.”

“…”

The crew member approached silently and gripped Lennok’s shoulders with both hands.

Davi hissed as if to say ‘don’t touch him,’ but the crew member didn’t hear it.

“Hmm… I see.”

The crew member, who had been holding his collarbone area, made a displeased expression as he looked at Lennok’s face.

The thin, sharp features and unusually pale complexion made him look like a patient on the verge of collapsing.

Perhaps feeling that things would get troublesome if Lennok collapsed from being touched, the crew member subtly distanced himself and said.

“…If a plague breaks out in the cargo hold, all supplies and passengers will be incinerated. Be careful.”

“Thank you for the advice.”

He already guessed how they were treating him, but if it made things easier, it wouldn’t matter much.

He walked past the casually gesturing crew member and headed towards the wide-open airship cargo hold.

Rumble!!

Inside the cargo hold, stacks of containers and all sorts of supplies formed a giant mountain.

Among them, people like Lennok and Ermont, who had paid bribes to get on, sat pressed against the walls.

Each of them had their faces covered with hoods or cloth, busily watching each other warily.

The very act of not boarding the fleet through normal means probably meant they had something shady going on.

After a long time, Ermont, who had slowly picked up his backpack and followed in, grumbled.

“Damn it, I wondered why the baggage inspection was so strict. Was it a trick to extort bribes?”

“Do you really need to be told that out loud?”

“No, if you want something, just say it. Why are you guys so shy? Do you expect us to know without you saying anything?”

“You have a point. They were so shy, they must have secretly emptied your wallet without saying anything.”

“Uwaaah!? These thieves, seriously…!!”

Ermont shrieked, clutching his noticeably lighter backpack, then quickly grinned and turned around.

In both his hands, he now held money and valuables that were clearly not his own.

“I don’t know how they read my mind so perfectly.”

“…So that’s why you spent so long on the baggage inspection. You didn’t, by any chance, empty the crew members’ pockets, did you?”

“Those guys seemed to have collected a lot of under-the-table money during the inspection.”

Ermont chuckled and handed a silver coin to Lennok.

Returning the money Lennok had given as a bribe to the crew member, Ermont said.

“They’ll only realize their pockets are empty after the boarding process is over. We’re all in a difficult situation, so we should share these small coins to survive, right?”

“I wonder how difficult their circumstances are to choose this cargo hold instead of a proper ticket.”

“What are you talking about? Of course, it’s to save on travel expenses, but this ticket was hard to get, even through acquaintances.”

“You said this shabby cargo hold ticket was hard to get?”

“The Transcontinental Migration Fleet is originally a ship that accepts passengers rigorously. It’s a valuable vessel that only carries passengers who have applied for immigration at the city level.”

Shaking the ticket, Ermont, who walked ahead, continued.

“But this Class 6 ticket is basically an identification tag attached to cargo, not passengers, so suspicious people like us can board the fleet by being ‘treated as cargo.’ Well, these days, crew members are abusing it as a way to pocket bribes, though.”

“So, knowing that, you focused on emptying the crew members’ pockets instead of giving them bribes.”

“Hehehe. High-ranking people like the Tower Lord might not know, but checking each other’s pockets in the underworld is a fundamental rule. If we’re talking etiquette, it’s like a casual handshake.”

“Such a vulgar handshake exists?”

As Ermont spoke, he handed over the money and bills he held to the people sitting around the cargo hold.

Lennok thought he was giving charity, but seeing that the recipients weren’t surprised, it seemed it had been pre-arranged.

Perhaps he had made a deal with people already on the migration fleet to obtain tickets for boarding the cargo hold.

While Lennok gazed around, Ermont adjusted his backpack and gestured with his head.

“What are you doing? Let’s get in before the crew members chase us. Ah, surely the esteemed Tower Lord isn’t finding it too shabby to stay in, is he?”

Shabby. Indeed, looking at the swaying cargo hold, such a word would naturally come to mind.

It was also true that most of the passengers sitting closely packed against the walls looked like criminals or illegal immigrants.

“When I worked as a freelancer, I experienced worse things several times. This is a decent level.”

“No, does a wizard like you still remember his fledgling days? I can barely recall the body I used just before this one.”

“Stop with your rotten antics and tell me about this plan. How do you intend to get to Paradise Lost?”

Lennok leaned against the cargo hold wall with Ermont, turning his gaze.

“If the Nether King’s legacy isn’t in Paradise Lost, as you said, things will get complicated. A rash move could, at worst, lead to us being discovered by Jinwa before we even find the legacy.”

“The most important thing is to first arrive at Gateway City and rendezvous with the other members.”

Ermont counted on his fingers and said.

“We have a general plan, but we’re not yet sure ‘how far’ into Paradise Lost we need to go. Especially since Paradise Lost is currently moving.”

“Paradise Lost is moving?”

“Paradise Lost is a Garden of Language ruled by a fallen Ascendant. And isn’t language a concept that organically changes and blends over time?”

Ermont shrugged.

“For example, the language I used hundreds of years ago is quite different from the common continental language used today. Of course, I feel that the common language of this era tends to be less refined, but—”

“Spare me the old stories I’m not curious about.”

“…Hylaea said that’s why Paradise Lost constantly changes and doesn’t stay in one place.”

Under Lennok’s chilling gaze, Ermont quickly summarized.

“So, to pinpoint Paradise Lost’s location, we need to gather in Gateway City and tamper with The Veil… Anyway, that seemed to be the gist of it.”

“So, gathering near The Veil is also to ascertain Paradise Lost’s location, is that it?”

Lennok mumbled, lost in thought.

“In any case, it means we can only properly do something after arriving at Gateway City. Does this migration fleet go straight to Gateway City?”

“No? It only skirts the Central Front border zone. Gateway City isn’t even included in the migration fleet’s planned disembarkation points to begin with.”

“…Then what was the reason for boarding the migration fleet?”

“Well, we can just get off somewhere near the Central Front and diligently crawl our way to Gateway City, can’t we? And we can just burn all the small fry that cling to us along the way.”

Ermont chuckled as Lennok stared at him.

“What plan do we need when Vulcan’s strongest wizard is right next to me? Won’t everything be solved just by dropping a few lightning bolts?”

“You’re seriously mistaken.”

Lennok tilted his head.

“It might be fine for now, but once we get close to The Veil, it will be difficult to overuse lightning magic. Especially given the objective of this mission.”

“…Huh?”

“The Central Front is currently exposed to the gaze of countless monsters from both inside and outside the Outer Sea. If I use lightning, the Ascendants will immediately recognize my presence.”

Lennok said.

“The same will be true for Jinwa, who is lurking in Paradise Lost.”

“…Oh.”

He still remembered the advice Myeong had given him directly at the end of the Gabihaeng that struck Gateway City.

[The Central Front, where Ars Nova is located, is the border closest to the Outer Sea on this planet. Because the Boundary Line of the World is faint, all sorts of Transcendent beings observe the Central Front from within and without.]

[They don’t come for you, but for the death and causality you create. I can help you this time…]

[But next time, you will need a means or backing to protect you.]

A warning that wasn’t important when he sought the Central Front with the intention of destroying it, as in the case of the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors.

But it was advice that absolutely had to be considered when undertaking tasks in the Central Front while avoiding the eyes of Ascendants and demigods.

Lennok’s lightning magic had currently achieved transcendence through the Subjugation Operation, reaching the Branching Point of Level 9.

If he used lightning at this point, the Ascendants would immediately perceive that transcendence and react.

“I have no intention of hiding once collision becomes unavoidable, but until then, I plan to exercise restraint. I should have told you beforehand.”

“No, without lightning magic, I don’t think you’ll be much help… Aren’t you just sensitive and a sick burden?”

Ermont’s expression turned sour.

“I have a long way to go, and I have to take a frail wizard with me? Can’t you just get off the ship now?”

“Don’t misunderstand. It means I need to be careful with lightning magic, not that I won’t use spellcraft at all. In fact, to retrieve Myeong’s legacy, I need to be proficient in black magic.”

Crack.

As Lennok nodded, the hand of a Demonic Giant that appeared from thin air gripped Ermont’s neck.

“I can easily snap the neck of an arrogant black wizard like you.”

“Kyaaaah!!! Ca-cancel!! It was a joke. A joke, I tell you!!”

“…Hey.”

Next to Ermont, who was screaming, his face pale, a chilling voice was heard.

A middle-aged man with a bushy beard glared at the two with a grim expression.

“I’ve been trying to hold it in, but can you two quiet down? Do you want to boast that you sneaked into the cargo hold?”

“…”

“You’d better stay still if you don’t want to be stabbed in the side for acting up without reading the room.”

Indeed, gazes filled with sharp intent could be felt watching them from various spots in the cargo hold.

Only then did Ermont clear his throat, stand up, and bow profusely in all directions.

“Oh my~ I apologize. It’s my first time on an airship at this age, so I got a bit too excited…”

Ermont, who awkwardly leaned back against the cargo hold wall, grumbled.

“You made me lose face for no reason. What are you going to do about this?”

“I don’t know what nonsense you’re spouting, considering it’s not even your own face. Didn’t your back fold like a piece of paper for someone whose face wasn’t burning?”

“Most of the passengers here are shady characters. They’re the kind of people who’d stab you in the side if you’re noisy, so we have to be careful.”

“For someone who cares about such things, you seemed to be making quite a fuss.”

Lennok asked nonchalantly, without even looking at Ermont.

“So, is it about time to arrive?”

“…Huh?”

“The reason for sneaking into the cargo hold. If you were shouting like that to send a signal, it would roughly make sense.”

“What? No, as I said earlier, it was because of insufficient travel expenses—”

“I told you to stop with the nonsense.”

Lennok looked at Ermont with an unexpressive face.

“Did you really think I’d believe a black wizard who steals other people’s bodies chose the cargo hold because he was short on money? If you genuinely needed help with travel expenses, you would have said so from the start.”

“…”

“You have plenty of ways to secure funds just by using the Legion Commander identity you’re currently using. There must be another reason why you didn’t use it and rode in the cargo hold.”

Though naturally frivolous and light-hearted, Ermont was an ancient black wizard who had lived for hundreds of years.

Having survived for so long without being an Ascendant, he undoubtedly still had tricks up his sleeve.

Despite all the fuss, the fact that he readily accompanied Lennok on this journey meant he had made ‘certain’ arrangements to reach Gateway City.

He was an unreliable follower in many ways, but as a fellow spellcaster, Lennok knew it would be difficult for Ermont to maintain such a relaxed attitude without some backup plan.

“If you used the cargo hold to avoid leaving a boarding record, it must be because we need to conceal our disembarkation point, not our boarding point. You never intended to disembark at a normal port, did you?”

“…Heh.”

At that moment, Ermont, who had been staring blankly at Lennok’s face, grinned widely.

“You really were an incredibly capable freelancer. How are you so quick-witted?”

“…”

“Victor was smart, but not very curious. This isn’t so bad for working together, I suppose.”

Ermont slowly stood up and began to stretch.

“I think we can consider the success of this operation more positively.”

“You sound quite confident.”

Lennok chuckled.

“Well, good. You have some wizard-like method prepared, I presume?”

“Ah, yes. Well, it’s not really that grand, but…”

Ermont scratched his cheek and said.

“I just brought in the ‘cargo’ that would be delivered to the cargo hold before the migration fleet arrives. It’s just preparation for a smooth plan.”

“Not bad. In fact, that’s the best answer I could have expected from you.”

Lennok stood up after Ermont and slowly massaged his neck.

“I’ll cooperate. Among the cargo piled inside, there’s a means of transport for us, isn’t there?”

“No need for that. They’ll just come out when it’s time.”

“…They’ll just come out?”

He thought Ermont had secretly brought in and hidden a personal airship in the cargo hold, but “they’ll just come out” sounded like the hidden cargo was alive.

As Lennok tilted his head at the unexpected answer, Ermont shrugged.

“I know we can’t go all the way to the destination like this, but I also have no intention of getting off the ship. Why bother with such a troublesome and annoying thing?”

“Then what?”

“Why not just turn the ship’s rudder in the direction we want?”

“…What?”

BOOM!!!!!

There was no answer.

The boxes and supplies piled in the cargo hold exploded like balloons, and soldiers carrying firearms burst out.

As they raised their guns and pulled the triggers, hot gunshots erupted one after another like celebratory fireworks.

Rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat!!!!

“Uwaaah!!!”

“Wh-what!!!”

“It’s an attack!!!”

Inside the dusty cargo hold, people screamed and rolled on the floor.

Containers and trailers fell over everywhere, and the airship violently lurched.

Gunshots rang out not only in the cargo hold but throughout the vessel, and soldiers rapidly charged through the cargo hold.

“Everyone, kneel and put your hands up!!”

Amidst the chaos of gunshots and gunpowder, falling people and charging soldiers.

Inside the airship, which had instantly turned into a battleground, Ermont shouted with evident glee.

“From now on, we are taking over this ship!!!!”

“…”

Davi tilted her head in Lennok’s arms, speechless.

[I thought he had some grand plan, but he was just a crazy terrorist?]