Chapter 1480: Hunt for the First Apostle (14)

KRA-KOOM!!!

Pierced by the lightning that split the sky, the Buddha statue’s right arm snapped off and fell.

The impact shook the very axis of the earth, causing the crystal spires to sway, but Lennok did not withdraw his mana.

He simply continued to draw down electrical charges from beyond the dark, cloudy sky, his cold gaze fixed on the Eccentric Monk standing on the ground.

Crackle, crackle…!!

The Eccentric Monk of Pandemonium.

An oddball who received similar treatment to the Fisherman in the Demonic Conflux, a Transcendent who had joined this battlefield at the invitation of the Alliance Leader.

An Incarnation Spellcaster who would go down in history, a monster reputed to have possessed the continent’s greatest physical strength in his prime.

The very same Transcendent who, until just a moment ago, had killed the most Apostles alongside Lennok.

But the moment he manipulated the Buddha statue to destroy the Spell-Word Stone, all those titles lost their meaning.

“……”

The Eccentric Monk did not answer Lennok.

He showed no reaction to Lennok’s icy stare.

He simply gazed at Lennok with half-open eyes before turning away without a hint of lingering attachment.

“…Cough.”

Thud!!

Simultaneously with the Eccentric Monk’s disappearance, Betagron, whose heart had been pierced by that hand, collapsed to the ground.

Lennok immediately used Flicker to appear where the monk had been and approached Betagron, who was coughing up blood.

“Betagron.”

“Kh, keuhuk…”

Betagron gasped for breath, bleeding from the hole in his chest where the Eccentric Monk’s hand had pierced his heart.

But as Lennok helped him lie down, he calmly assessed his condition.

The reason Lennok had prioritized protecting the Spell-Word Stone over Betagron, even after realizing the monk’s true intentions, was because he had already suspected that Betagron was no ordinary human.

When they first met, the body temperature Lennok had measured from Betagron was below 20 degrees Celsius—a temperature at which a human could not possibly be alive.

It was proof that not only his heart but his entire circulatory system functioned in a completely different way from a human’s.

“Betagron. Are you conscious? If you can hear me, answer.”

“Kk, ugh…”

“If there’s anything you need for recovery, tell me. I’ll get it right now.”

“Parts, repair kit…” Betagron stammered weakly, lying on the ground with a pale face.

“The plant… next to it…”

Zip!!

At Lennok’s glance, Davi immediately hacked and controlled a nearby transport robot.

The moment the robot set down the repair kit it was carrying, the mechanical arms attached to Betagron’s body activated.

Right on the spot, it began to ‘repair’ Betagron’s pierced heart using the repair kit.

“An artificial heart… So even if your internal organs are completely destroyed, you can be repaired as long as you have the parts. Just what I’d expect from a Level 8 Magic Engineer.”

“Cough!! Keuhuk…!! Wh, why…”

Betagron muttered as his breathing returned, painfully coughing up clotted blood.

“The Eccentric Monk, why now…”

“There’s no need to confirm it now that we’ve come this far.”

Lennok stood up as he watched Betagron’s breathing stabilize, immediately connecting to the communication network.

“The Eccentric Monk has betrayed us. It seems he’s joined forces with the Cult, so if you encounter him, flee immediately.”

[Wait, what did you say?]

[Adamant Thunder, we need a more detailed explanation.]

[That’s impossible. The Eccentric Monk was personally invited by the Alliance Leader—]

Boom…!!!

As the communication network descended into momentary chaos, the Eccentric Monk, hands pressed together, landed in the middle of the battlefield.

As the monk slowly walked, the massive Buddha statue floating behind him turned its body.

The arm of the statue that had been striking down the Cult’s Apostles now rose toward the Alliance, who were entangled in battle with the priests.

“Wait…!!!”

With a scream from someone who noticed the change a moment too late, it fell mercilessly upon the spellcasters.

[Buddha’s Palm]

BOOOOM!!!!

“Aaargh!!!”

Blood splattered, flesh was pulverized, and corpses were strewn about.

Dozens of Alliance spellcasters were crushed to death inside the Buddha’s hand, unable to even scream.

Superhumans caught in the aftershock were sent tumbling away, their limbs horrifically mangled.

The Spell Masters reacted to the Buddha statue’s strike, which crushed both the Cult’s and the Alliance’s forces indiscriminately.

“Immediately pull back the rear forces!!”

“Betrayal!! The Eccentric Monk has betrayed us!!!”

“How could this be, why would the Alliance Leader’s collaborator…!!!!”

[Kh, kegegegek!!!]

[Blood, blood, blood…!! It’s blood!!!]

[Kill, kill them all…!!!!]

It was a scene of slaughter, where blood flew, flesh was mangled, and screams filled the air.

The main body of the Alliance, which had been facing the Cult’s forces, began to crumble from the rear, and their formation broke.

With the area the Eccentric Monk had been guarding now empty, the bestial Apostles swarmed in madly.

Standing beside the fallen Betagron, Lennok turned and immediately raised his mana.

Crackle…!!

Engulfed in sharp lightning, Lennok’s form flickered as he took a step forward.

Accelerating as if shot from a spring, he trampled the Apostles rushing through the main gate and accelerated at incredible speed.

He came to a stop before the Buddha statue that was slamming its Buddha’s Palm into the Alliance spellcasters, twisted his shoulders, and unleashed the electricity drawn between his fingers, blocking the attack head-on.

[Buddha’s Palm]

[Spiral Thunder Annihilation]

KWWAAAAAAA!!!!

A twisted spear of lightning erupted from between the Buddha statue’s thick palms and shot up into the sky.

The statue’s palm briefly halted in the intense flash of lightning, and its forearm was torn off, unable to withstand the heat.

The brilliance was so intense that even those watching the battle from afar had to momentarily turn their gazes away.

Crack, craaack…!!

But the Buddha statue slammed its burning arm down even harder, crushing the spot where Lennok stood.

It was a display of physical power at its peak, as if trying to catch and crush Lennok’s magically enhanced body whole.

BOOOOM!!!!

The Buddha statue’s arm slammed into the ground and vanished, creating a massive crater on the battlefield.

A quiet voice echoed from behind the statue, which had instantly regenerated its shattered arm.

“He was famous for being an Incarnation Spellcaster with the continent’s greatest physical strength. It seems that wasn’t an exaggeration.”

Lennok, dusting off his coat, was now standing behind the Eccentric Monk, looking up at the Buddha statue.

“So it can overpower even the piercing force of Spiral Thunder Annihilation head-on. I should assume ordinary magic will barely work.”

“……”

“It’s pointless to ask now, but I still have to confirm it.”

Lennok put a cigarette in his mouth, flicked his fingers to light it, and asked.

“Why did you do it?”

No one had even suspected the Eccentric Monk, as they had heard the Alliance Leader personally invited him.

Because he had played a major role in killing the crazed Apostles at The Nest. No, because until just a moment ago, he had been guarding the front gate, killing the charging Apostles.

No one had expected that the Eccentric Monk, of all people, would betray the Alliance and side with the Cult.

Lennok, too, had known he belonged to Pandemonium and hadn’t thought him a traitor until the very last moment.

If the Eccentric Monk had agreed with the Director’s will and joined Pandemonium, he thought, he at least wouldn’t side with the Pontiff.

“You sided with the Cult, yet you killed Apostles. If you went to such lengths to wait for this moment, you must have a reason.”

“……”

“To betray even the Alliance Leader’s request… what on earth did the Cult promise you?”

But the Eccentric Monk’s answer was completely different from what Lennok had expected.

“Nothing.”

The Eccentric Monk replied.

“They promised nothing.”

“What?”

“There was merely a brief conversation.”

The monk, looking at Lennok with half-open eyes, said.

“A conversation to confirm that the one truly trying to become a god here today is not the Cult… but the Alliance Leader.”

“……”

“In this mortal realm, no more beings who have departed from the wheel of reincarnation should be born.”

The Eccentric Monk said this as he slowly began to walk.

“The one standing beside the Pontiff… understood this fact.”

“That’s…”

The Eccentric Monk of Pandemonium was a Transcendent who had roamed the continent, killing those who sought to become gods.

So, did the Second Apostle talk to the Eccentric Monk and make him hostile to the Alliance?

Not siding with the Cult, but opposing the Alliance to create a balance.

But when on earth did he contact the monk and persuade him?

The only time the Second Apostle had to contact the monk was—

“…During the attack on The Nest.”

Lennok, realizing the whole story in an instant, said.

“Right after the Chroma Spell Master was attacked, you were nowhere to be seen, unlike the other collaborators. You had already made contact with the Second Apostle then, hadn’t you?”

“……”

“While the Third Apostle was buying time, you finished your conversation and then came to see me… How absurd.”

Right after the Chroma Spell Master was attacked, the others moved to handle the situation, but the Eccentric Monk was nowhere to be found.

Only after the attack was over was he seen sitting on a hill of dead Apostle corpses, waiting for the others.

No one suspected him because he had played a major role in killing several Apostles, but by then, the Eccentric Monk had already made contact with the Second Apostle.

Even the Apostles he killed then must have been a kind of offering the Second Apostle made to have that conversation.

As he understood the full picture, questions that hadn’t made sense naturally resolved themselves.

“That’s also why you weren’t caught during the interrogation to find the traitor. You were never the one who leaked The Nest’s coordinates in the first place.”

Lennok’s gaze on the Eccentric Monk turned cold.

“There’s one more person colluding with the Cult. Who is it?”

“Many things have happened, but this humble monk still respects the way of the One Who Walks Backward.”

Despite Lennok’s question, the Eccentric Monk brought up something completely different.

“The one who pursues god-slaying and the humble monk who breaks divinity have something in common… I try to follow the direction of the organization he leads when possible.”

“……”

“I heard the organization this humble monk belongs to has made some promises with your Magic Tower.”

For the first time, the Eccentric Monk looked at Lennok properly and said.

“I do not wish to break our promise, so please withdraw. This humble monk has no intention of fighting you here.”

“If that were the case, you wouldn’t have stepped forward like this. I wonder which side broke the promise first.”

Lennok retorted, pulling an ampoule from his coat.

As he injected the stimulant into his arm, he focused his vision and activated his Mystic Eye.

He stared at the Buddha statue floating behind the Eccentric Monk and raised his consciousness to its absolute limit.

Fwoosh!

‘In terms of pure physical strength, this monster might be stronger than Croken. A head-on clash would be inefficient.’

There had been much speculation about the Eccentric Monk’s abilities, but now that he was here, he could feel it clearly.

His opponent was a master of Incarnation Spellcraft, far beyond Lennok’s comparison. A Transcendent who controlled an Avatara far superior to himself.

While his own martial prowess might not be great, the power of the Buddha statue he summoned was not unworthy of its title as the strongest on the continent.

From the moment it withstood and crushed the power of Spiral Thunder Annihilation head-on, no further description was needed.

Its physical strength surpassed even that of Croken, the strongest warrior Lennok knew.

But despite that monstrous power, it wasn’t a monster that the current Lennok couldn’t face.

‘Its strength is insane, but it’s not fast. If I can seize the initiative, there’s a way to beat it.’

The Buddha statue’s size and strength reminded him of Gillian, whom he met in Kabahim, but while it was far stronger than Gillian, it wasn’t as fast.

Simply looking at the speed at which the statue swung its arms, it was below average among Level 8 physical ability users.

It must be some kind of restriction or price for wielding such monstrous power.

Even without a direct confrontation, with such a speed difference, he could definitely seize the initiative.

Zzzzzzzzz…!!!

Lightning flickered across Lennok’s entire body as he leaned forward and lowered his stance.

Lennok’s eyes, which had slowly closed and opened, flashed with a sharp blue light as he accelerated.

Transformed into a streak of light, Lennok’s figure shot into the space under the Buddha statue’s arm in the blink of an eye.

Swoosh!!

The golden melody raged in Lennok’s vision, pinpointing a fleeting moment when the Buddha statue couldn’t defend.

He predicted the exchange of blows with his Revelation ability and the Kaleidoscope, calculating all probabilities with the Automeus Automated Calculus.

Lennok, having amplified his physical abilities with the Black God Demonic Art, was about to break through the statue’s swinging arm and grab the Eccentric Monk by the neck in one move when…

The Eccentric Monk, his hands still pressed together, chanted a scripture, his lips barely moving.

“…Reincarnation.”

Fwoop!!

In that instant, the Buddha statue floating behind the monk vanished.

Before Lennok could even grasp the meaning, the monk chanted again.

Simultaneously, the Buddha statue reappeared behind the monk in a different posture and slammed its fist down at Lennok.

“Cycle.”

“…!!!!”

KWWAAAAAAAANG!!!!!

With a tremendous shockwave, the ground split, the canyon collapsed, and corpses rained down.

Bodies of those from both the Cult and the Alliance, caught in the shockwave and killed, tumbled down like toys.

The Eccentric Monk, his hands half-open, watched Lennok, who had instantly retreated to a distance.

“A divine art that uses a subspace existing outside the six paths. What a strange sorcery.”

“Huu…!!”

Lennok, releasing a blocked breath, placed a hand on his knee and stood up.

He was completely unharmed. But the expression on his face as he looked at the Eccentric Monk was subtly hardened.

‘I’ve already used Feigenbaum’s Ring. I had a feeling, but he handles his Incarnation Body in an unbelievable way.’

Just now, Lennok had used the Eight Trigrams Formation, his Mystic Eye, and his Quasi-Authority all at once to try and blow the Eccentric Monk’s head off in one go.

Because in a speed battle rather than a head-on clash, it was better to end it as quickly as possible to avoid variables.

And indeed, the Buddha statue couldn’t even properly react to Lennok’s speed. But—

The Eccentric Monk had countered Lennok’s attack by reverse-summoning the statue and then immediately re-summoning it, changing its posture.

“Repeating the summoning and reverse-summoning of an Incarnation Body in an instant… I’ve never seen it used like that before.”

Unlike ordinary summoning, Incarnation Spellcraft was the power to manipulate a spiritual entity that was judged as equal to oneself.

Because of that, when controlling an Incarnation Body, it was possible to specify its direction and movement more delicately than other summons.

The Eccentric Monk had used precisely that method to reverse-summon the Buddha statue and then immediately re-summon it in place to counter Lennok’s speed.

While that counter was astounding, what was truly unbelievable was the monk’s proficiency with Incarnation Spellcraft itself.

Summoning an Incarnation Body that powerful should consume an immense amount of mental energy, yet the Eccentric Monk performed all the necessary steps for reverse-summoning and re-summoning in an instant.

Just how powerful was the Eccentric Monk’s mental strength and consciousness, and how much training must he have repeated to be able to handle an Incarnation Body to that extent?

He could get a faint sense of it just from clashing once, but even so, Lennok did not hesitate.

Crackle…!!

As he took a step forward, a blue lightning flickered across his entire body.

Lightning of an intensity incomparable to before began to converge in Lennok’s hand.

Bzz, bzzzzzzzzzt-

A distorted azure light, like plasma, was gripped in Lennok’s hand, dyeing the entire sky blue.

Transcendent beings on the chaotic battlefield flinched and turned their gazes upon sensing that energy.

“This humble monk is merely trying to stop the cycle of sin the Alliance Leader is about to commit.”

The Eccentric Monk, with his hands pressed together, said calmly.

“Knowing this fact, you are still unable to bend your will. Can you, too, not see the forest?”

“I don’t think the Alliance is any better an organization than the Cult either.”

Lennok, engulfed in overflowing lightning, said.

“But look at what’s happening here now. Who do you think is committing sin in this place?”

[Grrrrrr-]

[Kegegegegek!!!!]

The crazed, drooling Apostles charged toward the Alliance spellcasters through the broken formation.

With bloodshot eyes, a monster tore off limbs, devouring humans without restraint, accompanied by a roar of madness.

“Hahahaha!!! Yes, more, do more!! Entertain me just a little!!!”

The Third Apostle, with chains wrapped around his arms, dropped from the sky and ripped the heads off fleeing spellcasters.

Lifting the human head like a ball, the Third Apostle threw it at the collaborators defending the line and charged.

With the Apostles rampaging around the devastated ritual site, the Alliance’s forces were diminishing at a tremendous rate.

“No matter how grand the reason, no matter how lofty the cause…”

But Lennok, raising his mana, spoke in a cold tone.

“I don’t think siding with a monster that finds joy in eating humans is the right thing to do.”

“Righteousness.”

The Eccentric Monk closed his eyes.

“Such a thing never remained in this mortal realm to begin with.”

Swoooosh…!!

There was no answer.

The moment Lennok’s form, shrouded in lightning, vanished, the Eccentric Monk pressed his hands together.

Lennok, having reached supersonic speeds, clashed with the Buddha statue at incredible velocity.

KRAKAKAKAKAKABOOM!!!!

Lennok, gripping the shattering lightning and scattering it like an explosion, and the Eccentric Monk, concentrating with his hands pressed together.

Each time, the Buddha statue behind the monk vanished and reappeared, endlessly changing its movements.

Shockwaves powerful enough to make an ordinary human’s body explode erupted and intersected hundreds of times in an instant.

A lightning cannon pierced the sky diagonally, and the Buddha statue’s palm collided with it head-on, turning everything upside down.

[Six Gods Thunder: Lamentation]

[Buddha’s Palm]

The lightning grazed the Eccentric Monk’s forearm, spun sharply, and pierced through the Buddha statue’s shoulder.

The impact caused the left side of the statue, which had worn a benevolent smile, to explode and collapse.

KWAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

The Incarnation Body shattered and collapsed with a deafening roar, but Lennok did not let his guard down and watched the monk’s reaction.

He had already broken the statue’s arm several times, yet the monk had continued the fight by re-summoning the Incarnation Body. He wouldn’t consider the destruction of half its upper body to be a significant blow.

However, the Eccentric Monk no longer manipulated the statue toward Lennok, nor did he re-summon the Incarnation Body to counterattack.

Instead, he separated his hands, which had been pressed together until now, and completely reverse-summoned the half-destroyed statue.

“This is as far as it goes.”

“…What are you scheming?”

The speed at which the Eccentric Monk re-summoned his Incarnation Body was astonishing, but that was a response limited to defense.

With that method alone, he couldn’t seize the initiative and land an attack on Lennok, who had mastered Lightning Transformation.

But then, why did the Eccentric Monk choose this moment to betray them and side with the Cult?

He didn’t reveal his true colors simply to destroy the Spell-Word Stone.

There was something, a more important reason than that—

“The reason this humble monk accepted the Cult’s proposal was not to engage in a meaningless struggle.”

As he said this, the Eccentric Monk slowly raised one hand.

“It is because I believe the role I have been given will help to balance this war.”

“What…”

Plunge!

In that instant, the Eccentric Monk thrust his own hand straight into his heart and tore it apart without hesitation.

The activation of a Geas, drastically increasing the power of a spellcraft through self-harm.

His actions, contrary to his words, seemed to be an attempt to summon the Incarnation Body again, and Lennok immediately got into a stance—

And then he realized.

“…Wait.”

Why did the Second Apostle, knowing The Nest was a trap, insist on meeting the Eccentric Monk during the raid?

Why did the Second Apostle, while staying behind to meet Lennok, try to hide the fact that he had met the Eccentric Monk?

The Eccentric Monk of Pandemonium was a great Incarnation Spellcaster who would go down in history. A Transcendent with the power to freely summon and command Incarnation Bodies.

And the Cult’s Apostle was one who had received the power of the end—

“An Incarnation Body. Don’t tell me…!!!”

“Summon.”

Grind!!!

The moment the Eccentric Monk formed a hand seal with the hand that had pierced his heart, Lennok unleashed a blast of electricity.

Simultaneously, a massive pillar of light erupted around the monk, brilliantly illuminating the entire Crystal Canyon.

“Well now.”

A hand appeared from within the pillar of light in place of the monk, catching the lightning Lennok had fired and sending it flying back.

CRUUUUNCH!!!!

The cliffs of the Crystal Canyon shook as they were struck by the deflected lightning, and fragments rained down like a landslide.

But even as the canyon shook violently, Lennok couldn’t take his eyes off the man who walked out of the light.

A man with an intellectual air, wearing glasses and dressed in the most splendid platinum sacred robes he had ever seen.

“It took a little longer than I thought.”

The Second Apostle, slowly opening his eyes and looking at Lennok, smiled and asked.

“I’m not too late, am I?”

“…Second Apostle. How on earth…”

Just like before, there was no presence or power to be felt, a strange sense of emptiness.

But even so, the moment Lennok saw the Second Apostle standing there in place of the Eccentric Monk, he knew.

This man standing before him was the ‘main body’ of the Second Apostle that the Fairy Conjunction Master had spoken of.

The First Apostle of the Cult had arrived, ready to fight with his full power.

What made it possible was none other than—

“I never imagined the potential of Incarnation Spellcraft was this great.”

Lennok said, having found the answer himself.

“It can target not only one’s own Incarnation Body… but even an incarnation of the end as a subject for spellcraft. You were aiming for this from the start—”

“Don’t worry. What I asked of the Eccentric Monk ended right here.”

The Second Apostle, walking forward slowly as if in response to Lennok’s words, said.

“An old monk who achieved enlightenment long ago. A being impossible for us to ever understand. Conversely, that’s why I was able to persuade him, but—”

Pushing up his glasses, the Second Apostle stared at the crystal spire with an utterly cold gaze.

“From here on out, I suppose I’ll have to step in and finish things myself.”

“……”

The moment the Second Apostle, whom he had been most wary of, ignored all of the Alliance’s defensive lines and appeared before the crystal spire.

The instant the most powerful monster in the current Cult began to move personally to prevent the Alliance Leader’s descent.

But Lennok instantly cast aside the complex thoughts racing through his mind and raised his mana.

What he had to do now wasn’t to review and analyze the situation.

The Second Apostle seemed to guess Lennok’s thoughts and smiled coldly.

“In the end, you intend to stop me?”

“…Yes.”

“I told you. You’ll regret it.”

In fact, he might have known it would come to this.

No matter how thoroughly he had prepared, no matter how well the plan had gone.

From the moment the Alliance Leader had asked a favor of him, he had thought it might turn out this way.

That was why Lennok had not been lazy in preparing for the worst-case scenario.

The first and last moment when the First Apostle of the Cult and Lennok would clash head-on.

“Even that is for me to choose and decide.”

Creak!!

In that instant, the golden halo floating behind Lennok’s back twisted counter-clockwise and exploded.

Simultaneously, an irreversible change occurred within Lennok’s body, and his presence and mana pattern flipped as if reversed.

Another possibility of the Ouroboros magic system he had been steadily researching at the Magic Tower.

A new authority that had been permitted only to his comrades in the tower, but which, after research, had become applicable to Lennok himself.

He resolved the contradiction through a Self-Spell-Word, imposing rules and prohibitions to establish an impossible miracle.

A sudden change began from within the wizard. The Second Apostle stopped, feeling an intense ‘kinship’ at the same time.

“This presence is…”

“If I’m to face an Apostle, then becoming like an Apostle is the best way.”

Lennok’s pupils, emitting a thick smoke from his entire body, had transformed into sinister, vertical slits, like a snake’s.

“Let’s begin, Second Apostle.”

[Activating Apostle Transformation]