Chapter 1442: A New Phase (7)
The standoff between Pandemonium and the Magic Tower in the heart of District 49 came to an abrupt halt the moment Lennok appeared.
Even the superhumans from both sides, who had been engaged in a tense war of nerves, lost all their steam upon seeing Lennok casually returning with a sandwich.
Some members seemed to lose all will to fight after noticing Lennok’s strangely disappointed expression.
Having resolved the situation with just a few words, Lennok then briefly explained the agreement to Jenny as they headed to the Magic Tower.
The foot traffic in and out of the nearby item exchange was growing by the day, never seeing a quiet moment.
New materials and items circulated 24/7, and the place was always bustling with buyers and sellers.
All the commission fees generated from these transactions were meticulously managed by Jenny, reinvested directly back into the tower without a single cell wasted.
To this day, she was constantly shaping the District 49 Magic Tower into one of Vulcan’s most prominent landmarks.
“Whoa, this is insane…”
“It’s unbelievably extravagant.”
A vast lobby unfolded before them as soon as they passed through the Magic Tower’s main entrance.
Centered around a crystal stone in the middle of the lobby, doors on all sides opened and closed ceaselessly as goods moved in and out.
On the stairways leading to the floors above, people hurried back and forth, exchanging documents and communications.
“I’ve held concerts all over the continent, but I’ve never seen a Magic Tower this open.”
“Branches of other Magic Towers are inside. Sinclair, Enolas, Valefor, and even Thorben…”
“There are observation facilities for Calypso and the Ferma Research Institute, too. Aren’t both of those top-tier, alpha-grade research facilities in academia?”
Not only the first-time visitors but even those who had participated in the Subjugation Operation couldn’t tear their eyes away from the new interior of the Magic Tower.
“Right after the war ended, this place was a complete wasteland… It’s really hard to believe.”
“I heard rumors that they manage more funds than most international financial firms, but is this something that can be achieved with money alone?”
“It would be impossible unless the Vulcan City Government openly gave them preferential treatment. They must have showered them with all sorts of special contracts and benefits to rebuild the tower.”
“Tower Lord. So you just live like a king around here?”
“You’re under some strange misconception.”
Lennok retorted as he entered the Magic Tower last, escorted by the tower’s mercenaries.
THUD!!
A bird-headed giant holding a hammer led the way, while a spear-wielding mercenary and a flame-wreathed witch walked beside him.
As soon as they saw Lennok return to the Magic Tower, the bustling people on all sides stopped as if on cue.
They backed away with horrified expressions and fell silent in unison.
The overwhelming sight of the entire, vast lobby of the Magic Tower falling into a sudden, hushed silence.
Amidst it all, horrified whispers faintly echoed.
“A-Adamant Thunder…!!”
“The Tower Lord has returned…!!!”
“No way, did he just get back from Paradise Lost?”
“Not a single scratch on him. Report to the Central Council immediately!”
“The D-Deepweb… I have to post the news on the Deepweb quickly…”
Though their mouths moved quickly, their hands hesitated, unable to move properly.
They could only wait, not daring to make a move for fear that even the slightest motion might reach the man surrounded by the crowd.
Ignoring the heated gazes pouring in from all directions, Lennok approached and stopped beside the members.
The members of Pandemonium, who were looking at Lennok with a bewildered expression, asked.
“…You’re practically a demon king. Is this the reaction you get just by showing your face?”
“I can’t imagine how you normally treat the people of the tower to get a reaction like this.”
“I feel like I should be the one who’s surprised, not them.”
Lennok replied nonchalantly.
“The tower’s interior facilities and structure are certainly eye-catchingly extravagant. I told her not to spare any expense, but isn’t this a bit much?”
“What are you talking about? This is your Magic Tower. Why are you speaking as if it has nothing to do with you?”
“This is my first time seeing it today, too.”
“…What?”
“While Van was away, I invested the tower’s funds to completely overhaul the interior facilities.”
Just as Freya shot back a look as if he were crazy, a low voice came from the side.
“Since there won’t be any major wars in this city for a while, I wanted to use this opportunity to significantly expand the tower’s business operations.”
“…”
“I might have overdone it by pulling in the authority of the City Government’s Countermeasures Committee, but thankfully, the results were better than I expected.”
Jenny, standing beside him with her arms crossed, smiled brightly.
“Thanks to that, I can now give an unexpectedly famous celebrity visiting the Magic Tower a reception second to none.”
“Ah, haha…”
“This is my first time seeing you in person, Freya Kalins.”
Jenny stared intently at Freya, who replied awkwardly.
“I never expected a celebrity known across the continent to be part of Pandemonium. A famous person’s little rebellion?”
“…It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
“Well, whatever. As long as Van brought you, a guest is a guest.”
Jenny gestured with her head while looking at Freya, who was twirling her hair and avoiding her gaze.
“Let’s go upstairs to talk. Is everyone okay with that?”
Jenny, along with Lennok, guided Pandemonium to a large auditorium on the upper floors of the Magic Tower.
A spacious area, normally used as a conference room, accessible only to the tower’s high-ranking officials.
Creak!
The moment the door opened, the superhumans who had already arrived inside immediately turned their gazes.
Peshia looked over with a frown, while Racy sat in a chair, engrossed in a tablet.
There was Purity, meditating with his eyes closed, and Jutiya, who pushed up her glasses while sipping a smoothie.
Felix, who had been silently guiding Lennok, spoke as soon as he entered the conference room.
“Van. I’ve heard the news. I want to talk about what happened in Paradise Lost right away, but…”
Felix’s gaze, as he turned back while holding the handle of his hammer, sank grimly.
“It seems there’s something else that needs to be handled here first.”
“…”
The bird-headed giant’s intense gaze swept over Soryu, Ermont, and Maiya in turn.
All three were opponents he had clashed with once before over the gauntlet at Anathema’s temple.
“Whoa, whoa~ Staring at us like that won’t blow a hole in our faces, you know.”
Ermont whistled.
“It’s been quite a while since we last met. Isn’t it about time we let go of old grudges and build a constructive future?”
“The perpetrator may easily forget, but the victim never can.”
Felix said, as if suppressing a boiling rage.
“That gauntlet was something Van, who defeated Anathema, should have had. How could I forget your villainy in stealing it through unjust means?”
“…”
During the struggle for Ban-gung’s gauntlet at Anathema’s temple, Felix had also been by Lennok’s side.
As the clash with Pandemonium at the time had been quite violent, Felix surely hadn’t forgotten what had happened.
But upon hearing those words, Ermont pouted as if wronged.
“No, I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but we weren’t the ones who took the gauntlet. I wouldn’t even feel this wronged if we’d actually gotten to use it, but Victor snatched it and has kept it ever since-”
SHING!!
In that moment, Soryu, who had been standing with a cold expression, flicked the treasured sword at his waist with one hand.
Simultaneously, the air around Ermont froze solid, stopping a spear blade aimed at his neck.
CRAAACK!!!
“Kyaaah?!”
“Kukukuk… Ice-boy, you’ve gotten much better since last time.”
Ermont let out a belated shriek, while behind him, a disheveled woman’s eyes glinted.
Peshia, gripping the frozen spear blade between Ermont’s neck, slowly turned her gaze toward Soryu.
“Looks like you got yourself a fancy sword that doesn’t suit you. Shall we see just how confident you are to have drawn it…?”
“I have no intention of committing the madness of antagonizing a Grand Mage in his own domain.”
Soryu said in a cold tone.
“If you want to pick a fight, I’ll take you on later. For now, I must do what needs to be done.”
“Is that so? I can’t stand bastards who are all talk.”
Peshia grinned.
“No matter how I think about it… shouldn’t we finish the fight we started last time, right here?”
“…”
In an instant, the atmosphere in the conference room rapidly intensified, turning sharp.
A precarious mood, as if someone might make the first move at any moment.
Within the room, thick with killing intent, the one drawing the most attention was, naturally, Maiya.
The greatest enforcer in the history of the Machine City, a combatant known as the continent’s top technician.
She was a Transcendent who, during their fight at Anathema’s temple, had been able to cross blades directly with Adamant Thunder, albeit briefly.
If one were to pick the most dangerous opponent in this room, she was undoubtedly the person to be wariest of.
“…”
However, despite being aware of the sharp gazes pouring in from all sides, Maiya made no response.
She simply stared intently at Jutiya Heiberk, who was sipping a smoothie in a corner of the room, watching the scene unfold.
Under that unspeakably intense gaze, Jutiya, who had been blankly observing the situation, made a bewildered face.
She subtly shifted her gaze and whispered to the Fearsome Blood King.
“That woman. Does she have a grudge against me or something? Why is she staring at me like that?”
“The emotion mixed in that human’s gaze isn’t anger or hatred.”
The vampire replied calmly.
“She seems to have a very strong interest in you. Maybe you should try talking to her later.”
“Absolutely not. I can’t stand clingy people like that.”
“Not my problem. More importantly…”
The Fearsome Blood King turned his red eyes to Sarin, who was standing at the very back of the group.
“True Blood of the Blood King. I believe I warned you once during the Subjugation Operation. And yet you’ve returned?”
“Ha, haha… It just turned out that way.”
“It seems my words didn’t mean much to you.”
Racy crossed his arms as he looked at the awkwardly laughing Sarin.
“Looks like I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”
Groooowl…!!!
Within the explosive atmosphere, everyone in the conference room carefully gauged their distances.
Even amidst this, they were stealing glances at Lennok, who stood with a placid expression, leaning on his staff, when suddenly.
The conference room door burst open, and Aris and Evelyn walked in, carrying all sorts of papers and documents.
“Jenicia. The documents for the agreement you requested are all ready.”
“Ah, both of you, come here. Good work.”
Jenny, who was standing next to Lennok, took a share of the documents from Aris and spread them out on the table.
Evelyn, standing beside her, grumbled as she dropped a pile of papers on the table.
“Jenny, take some of my documents too. Are you playing favorites?”
“I don’t have time for jokes. Just hurry up and help. We need to review them before handing them over.”
Jenny, who seemed to have grown much closer to Evelyn, quickly reviewed the documents with Aris and placed them on the table.
Only after quickly scanning the hundreds of pages and confirming their contents did Jenny finally turn to Hylaea.
“The documents for the agreement Van mentioned are ready, so come and check them yourself. You’re the one in charge of Pandemonium, right?”
“…For now.”
Hylaea slowly walked forward, quickly scanned the documents piled on the table, and nodded.
“The agreement itself is concise, and most of it concerns regulations for special exceptions. Understood.”
“Good, then let’s sign and get this over with.”
Jenny said, taking a pen from the table and offering it.
“It’s over once you and we sign and each take a copy of the contract. We’ll decide whether to renew or terminate the agreement every three months.”
“Confirmed.”
“Each time the contract is renewed, both sides can propose at least one request for cooperation. It might not be necessary, but it’s a formal clause included to maintain the form of an agreement, so be aware.”
“A reasonable point of agreement.”
“Let me say this in advance.”
Jenny’s gaze toward Hylaea turned sharp.
“If by any chance you try to play games or pull any tricks with this contract, everything will be null and void. I’m sure you understand what that means if you’ve read the contract.”
“…”
“Remember that this agreement is structured with Van accepting your request. This has been explicitly stated, so in the future-”
“That probably won’t be necessary.”
Hylaea calmly picked up the pen.
“Because the one with the ability to ‘modify’ the contract’s contents isn’t on our side. It’s your Tower Lord.”
“…What do you mean?”
“You’ll find out if you ask him.”
Hylaea said no more after that, but Lennok inwardly gave a bitter smile.
She, too, remembered that he could modify the contract’s contents with the Quill of Oaths he had obtained in Paradise Lost.
Did she realize that he had accepted because he could render the agreement meaningless if necessary?
Jenny looked at Hylaea with a strange expression, then picked up a pen and leaned over the contract.
Scratch, scratch.
In a breathtaking silence, Hylaea and Jenny finished signing their respective contracts.
Weian, who was watching from the side, scratched his cheek with an awkward expression.
“Well… that ended faster than I thought. Shouldn’t we shake hands and take a picture or something?”
“Idiot, are you trying to advertise to the whole world that we’re shaking hands with a criminal organization?”
“No matter how I look at it, forming such an agreement with Pandemonium seems dangerous.”
Felix said in a deep voice.
“Individually, they are exceptionally talented and dangerous outlaws. Apart from their nefarious activities, they are superhumans who cannot be underestimated.”
“I don’t know. On the contrary, in that regard, I’m more inclined to agree with it.”
The Fearsome Blood King retorted.
“If they’re a vicious criminal group, wouldn’t signing an agreement like this reduce the number of things we have to worry about? Especially now that the Magic Tower is enjoying its current prosperity.”
“But…”
“Either way, we can just observe and then draw our conclusions.”
Purity said calmly, stroking his white spear shaft.
“If they pull any foolish tricks, we can terminate the treaty immediately. One of us can bear the responsibility for that, can we not?”
“Old man, cut the crap. Why should I have to take the fall for a contract that damn Adamant Thunder made without my consent?”
As soon as Jenny and Hylaea finished signing, the tower’s Transcendent beings began to voice their opinions one by one.
Even among the high-ranking officials of the tower gathered in the conference room, the reactions were sharply divided.
Watching this, Hylaea put down her pen and asked.
“You signed the agreement without unifying your internal opinions? I don’t see why you needed to rush things this much.”
“You seem to be misunderstanding the tower’s decision-making process.”
Jenny said calmly.
“If Van has already decided on something, we proceed with it unconditionally. It’s not our place to interfere with his judgment.”
“…”
“For the next three months, we promise by this contract not to interfere in any way, even if you operate in District 49.”
Jenny slowly picked up the contract, stepped back, and looked at Freya as she asked.
“It seems there are some who wish to shop at the exchange. If you’d like, shall I assign a guide?”
“…Thank you, but that’s not necessary. I have a manager from my agency assigned to me in Vulcan.”
“Aha, I suppose that makes sense.”
Jenny waved her hand as if she had expected it.
“Don’t worry, I won’t reveal the fact that you’re affiliated with Pandemonium. Everyone here is tight-lipped.”
“Even if you didn’t, our Illusionist will take care of any problems that arise.”
Freya replied with her arms crossed.
“That’s how we’ve always done things until now.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll have to put it differently.”
Jenny smiled at Freya.
“We will be placing you under constant surveillance within District 49 for the time being, so don’t refuse. Do you understand me now?”
“…”
“I don’t mind the surveillance, but let me make it clear that if a fight breaks out with the tower’s officials, it will not be our responsibility.”
Soryu said in a flat voice.
“I won’t care, but there will be members who won’t hold back if that beastkin or the spear user shows hostility toward us like they are now. This will be even more true if other members of Pandemonium visit Vulcan under this agreement in the future.”
“Oh, I don’t care. In fact, I’m thinking this contract might not even last a month.”
Jenny smiled coldly at Soryu.
“It seems Van is also looking forward to that. Shall we pick a day and have a proper go at it?”
“If you set the stage, I have no intention of declining.”
As the air grew sharp and tense, Lennok tilted his head.
“Jenny. I think there’s some kind of misunderstanding-”
“Van, that’s enough. Come over here for a moment.”
Before he could finish, Jenny grabbed Lennok’s arm and walked out of the conference room.
Once they were out in the quiet hallway, Jenny glanced back at Lennok and whispered.
“The news about Paradise Lost has spread throughout the continent, and Vulcan has been turned upside down. You guessed as much, right?”
“…”
“Not just the central network, but the Deepweb has been overloaded, causing all sorts of communication networks to go down. You should check it out later.”
“…I will. It seems I’ve caused you to worry over this.”
Lennok gave a bitter smile as he followed Jenny outside.
“I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. May I explain what happened in Paradise Lost now?”
“…”
Jenny looked at Lennok with a complicated expression, then finally let out a small sigh and said.
“Let’s talk about that issue later… For now, let’s deal with the urgent matter.”
“An urgent matter?”
Jenny glanced at Aris, who had followed them out belatedly, and said.
“I think it would be better if Aris told you. Would you care to explain?”
“?”
Only then did Lennok turn his gaze with a look of curiosity.
At Jenny’s words, Aris stepped forward and spoke with a cautious expression.
“Tower Lord. Do you remember the task you entrusted to me before you left for Gateway City?”
“Of course. I believe I asked you to manage the Guardian Spirit Beast…”
After the Subjugation Operation, he had asked Aris to look after the Guardian Spirit Beast, which had fallen into a deep sleep for a long time.
Even when the Thorben Magic Tower Lord left the tower, the spirit beast had remained asleep, continuing to consume power without waking.
A being whose voracious appetite and sleep-talking had astonished even Dadam, the Ascendant of the Outer Lei Clan.
“If you remember, then this will be quick to explain.”
Aris gave a bitter smile.
“The Guardian Spirit Beast has woken up. However, its appearance…”
“…Its appearance, you say?”
“It’s… difficult to explain in a single word. I think it would be best if you went to see it right now.”