Chapter 1447: A New Phase (12)
The mega-city of Vulcan. An old cathedral located in District 21.
A chapel, thick with dust, that seemed as if it hadn’t been touched by human hands in a long time.
Creeeeak…!!
“Eek…!! I-It looks like a ghost is going to pop out…”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master flinched at the chilling sound of the door opening.
Clutching a birdcage tightly with both hands, she looked around with a pale face.
“Wh-what business could we possibly have in a place like this…? Isn’t it t-too scary…?”
“Not something I’d expect to hear from a spellcaster who deals with corpses, is it?”
“C-corpses and g-ghosts are c-completely different….”
As Lennok looked at her with disbelief, she protested, trembling.
“Corpses d-don’t move… and they listen to me… but g-ghosts-”
“Waaaaaah!!”
At that moment, something dropped upside down from the ceiling and let out a terrible roar in front of the Corpse Ghost Spell Master.
The phantom-like figure gripped her shoulders with both arms, screaming at the top of its lungs right in her face.
“……”
However, the Corpse Ghost Spell Master, who had been trembling just moments before, didn’t react at all.
She just stood there, completely still, maintaining a firm silence.
Tossing aside the cloth covering his face, Ermont narrowed his eyes.
“Huh? What’s this, why isn’t she reacting?”
“She fainted standing up.”
“…What?”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master was trembling uncontrollably where she stood, foaming at the mouth, having passed out.
She was gripping the birdcage so tightly she hadn’t even dropped it.
“Seriously, what kind of a coward is this?”
Only then did Ermont grumble as he came down to the floor.
“She said she was scared of ghosts, so I was just trying to cure her by teasing her a bit. Isn’t fainting first cheating?”
“I don’t know what you were trying to cure. Strictly speaking, this happened because you did something useless, didn’t it?”
“What are you talking about? You’re the one who brought an uninvited guest to the meeting place.”
Leaping down into the chapel, Ermont sprawled out on a pew, crossed his arms, and asked.
“Who is this woman anyway? There was no one this gloomy back when we signed the agreement at the Magic Tower.”
“She’s the Corpse Ghost Spell Master of the Order Alliance.”
The answer came from Maiya, who was sitting near the chapel’s outer wall.
She said this while kneeling on the floor, disassembling and inspecting the parts of her prosthetic arm.
“I’ve seen her sketch on the black wanted list. It mentioned she has an incredibly timid personality, unbecoming of her infamy. I see it now.”
“She’s one of the high-ranking spell masters who’s quite well-known in the central regions due to the uniqueness of her spellcraft.”
Hylaea, who was cleaning the dust off the pipe organ, naturally picked up the conversation.
“I heard she’s quite an important figure within the Alliance. How did you bring her here?”
“She’s being held hostage at the tower.”
“…What?”
“I brought her because I thought she’d be useful for this matter.”
“……”
Lennok’s curt reply, which skipped over many details, made the other members’ expressions turn strange.
“So he’s holding a high-ranking spell master from the Alliance hostage in his tower…”
“Casually dropping such a dangerous story is a talent in itself.”
“He looks normal on the outside, but how is it that every single thing he does is-”
“Hey, is it okay to bring a hostage outside? What if someone sees?”
“What do you mean, ‘what if’?”
Lennok smiled.
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
“……”
Leaving the instantly subdued Ermont behind, Lennok looked around the chapel.
Some members had arrived, but others like Agneta, Freya, and Sarin had not yet shown their faces.
“Where are the others?”
“Agneta and Sarin have an appointment. Freya went shopping. She seemed excited all day. She must have had a lot of things she wanted to buy in District 49.”
Hylaea shrugged.
“She booked a six-star hotel and seems to be going in and out of District 49. Sightings and pictures of her have been popping up on social media all day.”
“……”
Ermont turned on his phone and immediately showed a picture of Freya laden with a dozen shopping bags.
Hundreds of photos were being tagged, showing her moving through a sea of people, taking pictures and signing autographs.
It seemed she was planning to enjoy some serious shopping while she had the chance, so it was safe to assume she wouldn’t be back for a while.
“It won’t be a big problem even without Freya and a few other members, so don’t worry.”
A pure-white ball of fur that had hopped onto a pew spoke in a deep voice.
“Because I have come to Vulcan myself to handle that matter.”
“…Doctor Artemeyer.”
“Doctor, are you insane? That’s not even your real body.”
Ermont said in disbelief.
“You brought a weird corpse to the Subjugation Operation and made good use of it, and now you’re trying to take all the credit?”
“The body and the mind are inseparable in a biological sense. The vessel that houses the spirit is the representation of the self, so I always hold the conviction that all of me is myself.”
The Doctor spoke leisurely and turned his body.
“But now is not the time to deal with you, Ermont. There was a guest we were waiting for, wasn’t there?”
“……”
“Good to see you, Adamant Thunder. This is the first time we’ve spoken directly since the Subjugation Operation ended.”
The Doctor, Artemeyer, moved the ball of fur to look at Lennok.
“We became aware of each other in the Machine City. It was relatively recent, but do you remember?”
“I’d say it’s been quite a while.”
“Ah, has it?”
The Doctor laughed at Lennok’s calm words.
“Watching you rampage during the Subjugation Operation seems to have shortened my sense of time. As you know, that kind of ascension and failure is a rare sight in the continent’s entire history.”
“……”
“In that sense, I have a positive view of the agreement your Magic Tower signed with Pandemonium. Though I still find it hard to believe that Ermont, for the first time ever, came up with a plan that would benefit Pandemonium.”
“Well… to be honest, I wasn’t thinking anything at the time.”
Ermont smacked his lips.
“I just threw it out there because I wanted to see how others would react. Don’t praise me like that, it’s embarrassing.”
“I can only envy your intellect for taking my words as praise. Well, that’s not what’s important, so let’s get straight to the point.”
The ball of fur bobbed and said.
“As you know, we have gathered here today to ensure the Nether King’s shattered soul awakens safely in this artificial spirit body. For that purpose, I have also invited a guest today that you all know well.”
“A guest?”
“…It’s been a while, everyone.”
As the Doctor spoke, a pale-faced woman walked out from the back of the chapel.
She approached cautiously, stumbling awkwardly as if she hadn’t walked in a very long time.
Recognizing her face, Hylaea turned to her with a surprised expression.
“No way… Sabrinah? Did you wake up as soon as the Paradise Lost incident ended?”
One of Pandemonium’s members, a Spell-Word user who had been asleep for a long time.
She, who had chosen to go into hiding to avoid being swept up in the rampage of the Transcendent Spell-Word user Jinwa, had awoken.
Even Lennok hadn’t seen her since he acquired the Guide’s Ring to go to Yorta.
“I was hiding in his lab in exchange for being his specimen.”
Feeling the gazes of the members on her, Sabrinah smiled weakly.
“I feel like I’ve been pickled in formalin, but… thanks to that, I was able to wake up in time for the Doctor’s departure to Vulcan.”
“A physical body of a spellcaster affected by Jinwa’s Spell-Word was an excellent research subject for me, so don’t worry about it.”
“I thought I might never wake up again… A miracle truly happened.”
Looking at the members with an expression that seemed overwhelmed with emotion, Sabrinah slowly bowed her head.
“Thank you all so much. I won’t forget the debt I owe for this.”
“It was the Tower Lord who killed the Ascendant, not us, so there’s no need for that.”
“Ah… right. I heard there was a collaborator. That must be you.”
After greeting the other members, Sabrinah glanced at Lennok.
“You’re… the famous freelancer from Vulcan, right?”
“Hm?”
In that moment, the expressions of the other members turned strange.
Sabrinah, not noticing the atmosphere, continued.
“Thank you so much. Before I fell asleep, I think you were talking about building a Magic Tower in Vulcan or something. I hope this leads to a good outcome for you-”
“No, wait, wait!!!”
Ermont waved his hands in alarm, and Hylaea gave a bitter smile.
Maiya gave a rare, dry smile as she looked at Sabrinah, who was turning back with a puzzled expression.
“It seems certain you’ve been asleep for a long time. There’s no need to prove your identity.”
“Was the last time she was awake right when the Magic Tower was being built?”
Soryu said with a blank face.
“If she doesn’t know what happened in the meantime, it’s not strange for her to still call Adamant Thunder a freelancer.”
“You don’t have to say that. I don’t care what you call me, so don’t worry about it.”
Lennok chuckled and turned his gaze.
As if feeling his gaze, Lennok saw the Corpse Ghost Spell Master flinching while sprawled on a chapel pew and spoke.
“Looks like the Corpse Ghost Spell Master is waking up, so let’s begin. You’re not still scared of ghosts, are you?”
“It’s n-not ghosts, there are m-more frightening people here….”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master opened her eyes with an awkward look, then glanced around with an anxious expression.
“S-Suddenly, Pandemonium… I-I wasn’t told about this.”
“Didn’t I mention it earlier when I told you to prepare the Black Fairy?”
“Y-You’re trying to s-sell me off to a v-vicious… a heinous criminal organization…!!!”
“Not a story I want to hear from a spellcaster like you. Grab the cage and follow me.”
“Whoa, w-wait a minute…!!”
As Lennok dragged the Corpse Ghost Spell Master away, he heard whispering from behind.
“Hylaea… did I make some kind of mistake? Did Adamant Thunder join Pandemonium or something?”
“…I’ll explain later. Let’s take care of the urgent matter first.”
“It seems like a lot has happened while I was asleep…”
In the center of the chapel lay a nest made of neatly folded blankets stacked in layers.
A young spirit with drooping black wings was lying there, its eyes open, breathing slowly.
Its round, compact form resembled a young dragon. Despite being awake, its eyes were unfocused and vacant.
“The consciousness itself seems to be awake… but it still can’t move.”
Lennok carefully observed the spirit body and asked.
“Is it unable to properly perceive external stimuli or reactions?”
“To be precise, it’s closer to a problem caused by the mismatch between the wavelengths of the body and soul.”
The Doctor said.
“The Nether King’s soul that you retrieved is excessively worn down, so even though it has settled in the spirit body, it hasn’t assimilated. Of course, this isn’t your fault, but rather because the soul’s own performance has degraded too much….”
“……”
The performance of a soul. That detached, mechanical assessment was just like the Doctor.
“This is exactly the kind of situation that requires the help of an expert like myself. Ermont, bring the bag we prepared.”
“Why is it that both you and Adamant Thunder seem unusually determined to treat me like an assistant?”
Though he grumbled, Ermont walked over from one side of the chapel, carrying a large, rectangular black bag.
He undid the latches and opened the case, revealing all sorts of syringes and drugs packed tightly inside.
The ball of fur tapped the bag, and Maiya took out a syringe, filled it with a drug, and lightly pressed the plunger.
Click!
As Maiya brought the needle, dripping with the drug, to the spirit body’s back, the Doctor explained.
“As I said, the Nether King’s soul is currently in an extremely unstable state due to being excessively worn down. You’ve managed to bind him to this spirit body through some means, but a human soul and this spirit body are so different that they don’t match properly.”
“……”
“Therefore, we will find an inflection point where the Nether King’s soul and this spirit body react simultaneously to the same stimulus, and based on the delay in that reaction, we will recalibrate the spirit body’s senses.”
“So the drugs you brought are the trigger to stimulate both the soul and the spirit body simultaneously.”
“You see it precisely. However, it won’t end with a single stimulus.”
The Doctor nodded.
“We will repeatedly inject different drugs at regular intervals to lower the stimulus threshold and raise the synchronization rate as much as possible. I’ll need your help in that process.”
“Since we’re artificially adjusting the synchronization rate, it will be crucial to suppress the power to prevent it from flaring up.”
Lennok rolled up his sleeves and raised his mana.
“I understand what you’re trying to do. Let’s start right away.”
“It’s so refreshing not to have to repeat myself. This is why I like geniuses.”
“E-excuse me, but I didn’t understand anything?”
Push!!
Ignoring Ermont’s words, Maiya unhesitatingly brought the syringe to the spirit body’s back.
She lightly rubbed an area on the spirit body’s back with one hand to numb it, then immediately inserted the needle and administered the drug.
Simultaneously, a dense wave of black magic erupted from the deeply sleeping spirit, flooding the chapel.
Fwoooosh!!!
“Cough, cough!!”
“Hey, what is this…!!”
“Just a fragment of a soul has this much power…”
The other members coughed with discomfort as the black magic spread like thick, acrid smoke.
Standing in the center of it all, Lennok spoke to the Corpse Ghost Spell Master without turning around.
“Corpse Ghost Spell Master. Get ready.”
“Ah, eek…?! Y-yes…!!”
Scrambling to her feet, the Corpse Ghost Spell Master lifted the cloth from the birdcage, revealing a Black Fairy with black wings.
Sensing the thick black magic filling the chapel, the Black Fairy rubbed its sleepy eyes and lifted its head inside the cage.
The other members turned their gazes with peculiar expressions at the sight of the clearly unusual Black Fairy.
“Hey, what is this? Do Magic Towers raise creatures like this these days?”
“That’s no ordinary spirit. Its presence is closer to a Phantom Beast species… a rare species from the Spirit World?”
[…….]
Feeling the gazes from all sides, the Black Fairy shyly shrank back.
With its wings folded, the Black Fairy glanced around cautiously, then its eyes sparkled as it discovered the black magic lingering in the air.
It hesitantly reached a hand out of the cage, and a piece of black magic was gathered into its palm like cotton candy.
The moment the Black Fairy brought it back into the cage and gently stroked it,
The black magic that had been erupting from the spirit body instantly diminished and began to stabilize rapidly.
Wooooong-
The transcendent-level spellcraft correction that was granted just by being in its presence when using black magic or black mana.
Just as the Fairy Conjunction Master had said, the mere existence of the Black Fairy was increasing the success rate of the procedure the Doctor was conducting.
At the same time, a few members who intuited the Black Fairy’s abilities watched with interested, shining eyes.
“Incredible. It can stabilize the flow of mana just by touching it?”
“An unprecedented level of spellcraft correction for black magic… or a form of transcendent affinity.”
“Even spirits aren’t like this. I’ve never seen a spirit body with such powerful affinity.”
Behind them, the Corpse Ghost Spell Master was clutching the cage, earnestly coaxing the Black Fairy.
“G-good girl… good girl… I-I’ll feed you when we get back to the t-tower….”
“Administering Spiritual Resonance Accelerator. Commencing spiritual pressure stabilization. Setting Sensory Synchronization level. Threshold differentiation.”
Next to the Corpse Ghost Spell Master, the Doctor’s instructions continued, and with each one, Maiya’s hands moved like a machine.
Even while bracing against the fierce explosion of black magic from the spirit body, her fingertips didn’t waver.
She flawlessly selected the various complex drugs the Doctor mentioned from the bag and repeatedly injected them, changing ampules without a single mistake.
Click, click!!
Push!!
Each time Maiya injected a drug in the sequence determined by the Doctor, the spirit body trembled faintly.
The Black Fairy stabilized the chaotically rampaging black magic, and Sabrinah used Spell-Word to continuously calm the spirit.
They stimulated it in four directions—mana and body, will-thought and soul—ceaselessly raising the spirit body’s synchronization rate.
At the center of it all, Lennok extended his will-thought, constantly attempting to make contact to awaken Myeong’s spirituality, and at that moment,
“Transcendence…”
From the mouth of the artificial spirit resembling a young black dragon, a very faint and weak tone flowed out.
Simultaneously, everyone froze and listened intently to the spirit body.
“Myeong. Can you hear me?”
In the quiet silence, Lennok cautiously approached the spirit body and reached out his hand.
The moment Lennok’s hand slowly made contact with the wavering spirit body, which was like a mass of thick darkness,
A faint will poured out from the spirit body, momentarily flowing through Lennok’s will-thought.
「Transcendent Magic」「The Second」「World’s Ten Laws」「Demon」「Heaven’s Gate」「Spaceship」
“…!”
Indiscriminate and irregular keywords flowed in at high speed.
But they carried an intense meaning and mental image that were impossible to ignore.
While Lennok paused, the spirit body, which had been staring blankly at him, closed its eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Those watching with bated breath exchanged bewildered glances.
“Wh-what was that?”
“It fell asleep again…”
“Did it succeed or fail?”
The agitated group murmured, but Lennok couldn’t answer, silently looking at the spirit body.
Transcendent Magic. The Second World’s Ten Laws. And Demon.
He had no way of knowing what meaning the information Myeong had conveyed at this point in time held.
In the endless, quiet silence, the Doctor spoke.
“The procedure has ended stably. Now that its senses are synchronized, it will recover enough to be able to speak before long.”
“……”
“Judging by the flow of its spirit, it seems it will recover in about ten minutes. Everyone, rest well until then.”
“We plan to manage the Nether King’s care here in District 21 from now on and check on his condition periodically.”
Hylaea said as she followed Lennok out of the chapel.
“This city has high-level medical facilities and even hospitals for spirit bodies, so we’ll know immediately if any problems arise.”
“……”
“We’ve contacted the Director, and until Myeong’s situation is decided, we’ll take turns handling it. Is that alright?”
“I thought this was all settled when we signed the agreement with the Magic Tower.”
Lennok lit a cigarette and turned to Hylaea.
“Myeong is a member of Pandemonium. His whereabouts are no longer my business to interfere with.”
“……”
“I don’t think there’s anything more I can do… If you need a hospital or a doctor recommendation, let me know.”
“The Tower’s Administrator already sent over the contact information. I’ve heard the rumors, but she’s incredibly efficient.”
“She’s someone you can always trust in matters like this.”
Lennok held the cigarette and silently let out a puff of smoke.
Hylaea watched his profile and asked.
“What are you planning to do from now on?”
“……”
“Through the Subjugation Operation and Paradise Lost, you’ve gained a status incomparable to any mortal. Aside from the monsters challenging ascension, there is no being with a standing that can be compared to yours.”
Hylaea said.
“Honestly, I still can’t believe I can have a normal conversation with a wizard like you. It’s likely because you’ve personally protected your humanity… but what is it you desire, to go to such lengths?”
One great journey had ended, but from there, a new journey would begin.
The banquet of Grand Generals held somewhere on the Central Front. The Emperor’s invitation left in the plant city of Larabelli.
One was a conference attended by the Ascendants of the Old World, the other an opportunity that might connect to the sunken Imperial Palace.
It wasn’t just the matter of Paradise Lost. The Alliance’s Great Connection, the Cult’s ritual, the second gate of the Demonic Realm. Even the existence of monsters and Outer Gods spanning the central regions and the outside world.
He felt there were still things to do, a path yet to be walked.
But precisely because of that, Lennok could answer Hylaea’s question without difficulty.
“At the third, I will become perfect, and at the fourth, I will overcome.”
“…?”
“After peering into many possibilities, I feel that completion is now just before my eyes.”
After facing and defeating Jinwa, after unfurling the sea of lightning, he had a faint intuition.
That after obtaining transcendence even in his identity as Victor, he could no longer stand still.
“A long journey has ended… Now, it’s time to turn to the next page.”
Lennok raised his gaze.
“I must become an Ascendant.”