Chapter 1482: Hunt for the First Apostle (16)
CRASH!!!!
The stained-glass window shattered as Lennok and the Second Apostle leaped into the corridor simultaneously.
The Second Apostle adjusted his glasses as he and Lennok, accelerating as if sliding, raced down the Crystal Tower’s corridor side-by-side.
The Second Apostle began to tear through the tower floors where the restoration ritual was underway, slaughtering the spellcasters at an incredible speed.
“Aaargh!!!”
“Stay away, stay—!!”
The spellcasters, noticing the anomaly, immediately tried to use their mana to stop his approach, but they couldn’t even put up a fight.
Accompanied by shrill screams, the spellcasters who had been on standby around the ritual site were quickly cut down, and fountains of blood erupted.
CRUNCH!!
CRACK!!!
He extended his hand, ignoring the barrage of attacks and spellcraft as if they didn’t exist.
The Second Apostle’s incanted prayer spellcraft, along with a pale flash, pierced through the spellcasters’ necks.
He grabbed them by the hair, tore off their heads, and in the blink of an eye, stained the surroundings with blood.
Ninefold Dorye
[Second Shadow]
“Get back!! Run!!”
“It’s no use, I can’t hit—!!”
BOOOOM!!!
Wherever he passed, dozens of corpses were left behind as if a bombing raid had swept through. He pierced hearts, ripped off heads, and mechanically killed and dismantled human bodies.
A concise and brutal massacre, carried out with a placid expression, like slaughtering livestock. Just as the Second Apostle turned impassively toward the panicked spellcasters indiscriminately firing their spells…
A flash of lightning erupted from the side, and Lennok’s and the Second Apostle’s forms collided diagonally.
KABOOM!!!
“As expected, you understand precisely what kind of ability I possess.”
The Second Apostle, recoiling sideways as if repelled, smiled faintly at Lennok.
“Is it because you possess a talent similar to mine?”
“I won’t deny that it helped me understand your ability,” Lennok replied coldly.
“But in the end, they are different abilities. That’s why I was able to grasp yours more quickly.”
The Second Apostle’s Apostle Spellcraft, free from restraints and shackles, and Lennok’s Targeted Resistance, which could not be designated by any power or gaze.
However, as soon as he realized the Second Apostle’s true nature, Lennok understood the precise difference between the two seemingly similar abilities.
If Targeted Resistance was the ability to refuse designation by any kind of power, the Second Apostle’s spellcraft was the power to break free from restraints directed at him.
To be specific, it was a type of ability that allowed him to escape the restraint or shackle after being ‘designated’ as a target.
While it had its disadvantages compared to Lennok’s Targeted Resistance, which avoided designation altogether, it also had the advantage of being free from direct strikes and impacts.
In a head-on fight, Lennok could seize the initiative, but the Second Apostle had the ability to completely ignore such an exchange.
That must be why no one had ever properly figured out his ability, and why no one had ever managed to fight him properly until now.
“An Apostle of Freedom who doesn’t serve a single god. That must be possible because your faith is directed toward a being other than an Outer God.”
Clatter…!
Lennok took out Mass Magic Bullets from his coat and scattered them across the floor of the landing.
“The failed savior… You were an Apostle who exists by serving the Pontiff as your god.”
If the Second Apostle was an Apostle of Freedom who did not serve one Outer God, who was the object of his worship? The answer was already determined the moment Lennok realized the Second Apostle’s identity.
An exceptional Answerer who could allow him to exist as an Apostle and grant him an Apostle Spellcraft different from the other Outer Gods.
That could only be the Pontiff, beloved by all gods.
“The materialization of the uncertainty principle based on the power of chance… The authority of freedom itself must be an ability based on the Pontiff’s origin.”
He evades and sheds all restraints and shackles directed at him by plunging them into the imprecision of chance.
The reason the Second Apostle’s ability couldn’t be caught by Lennok’s domain or magical perception was likely because the ability itself originated from the Pontiff.
Therefore, the question was not about the Second Apostle’s identity, but ‘how’ such a thing was possible.
“To turn a living human into a true Apostle, has the Pontiff already become an Outer God or a being equivalent to one?” Lennok said coldly, looking at the Second Apostle’s strange expression.
“That difference between you and the other Apostles… must be the secret the Pontiff holds.”
“Understanding through difference, not sameness… Hah, yes. You’re right.”
Splurch!!
The Second Apostle pulled his hand from the corpse of an unknown spellcaster and smiled casually.
He adjusted his glasses with a blood-soaked hand and turned to face Lennok.
“The doctrine of the cult that serves all gods was initially like that as well. Everything you say reminds me of an old friend of mine.”
“…”
“Is that just my imagination? Or—”
Crack—
Ignoring Lennok’s shield and barrier, the Second Apostle’s leg whipped out at incredible speed, striking his rib cage.
With the gruesome sound of ribs breaking, the Second Apostle whispered coldly to Lennok.
“Is it proof that you were another Pontiff in this repeating world?”
“Wrong, on both counts…!!!”
Lennok regenerated the ribs and lungs the Second Apostle had broken on the spot and launched a counterattack.
He struck the Apostle’s chin with his elbow and, while ignoring a kick aimed at his abdomen, fired a Flash Thunder.
Knocked back by the shockwave, Lennok touched the cold corridor floor and lifted his gaze.
‘He’s completely focused on killing the spellcasters participating in the ritual. Is he trying to delay the descent ritual no matter what…?!’
The Second Apostle’s Apostle Spellcraft was an authority that comprehensively dealt with the concept of ‘freedom’ itself.
Through that ability, the Second Apostle was slaughtering the ritual participants while simultaneously fighting Lennok.
Because of this, the Leader’s descent, which had less than five minutes remaining, was being continuously delayed and dragged out.
If his opponent were any other Transcendent, they wouldn’t have so easily tolerated him dividing his attention while fighting Lennok.
The problem was that the Second Apostle’s ability was extremely specialized in evading attacks and ignoring combat.
‘So this is why the Leader wanted the Conjunction Spell Master or the Thorben Magic Tower Lord. Did he already know about the Second Apostle’s abilities back then?’
Avesta Chapman’s artificial Ideological Domain, [Operating Room], which prevented any being within its range from dying.
The Thorben Magic Tower Lord’s Domain, [Thunder God’s Painted Pavilion], which didn’t alter or overwrite reality immediately upon deployment.
Both had a favorable matchup for stalling against the Second Apostle, regardless of his Apostle Spellcraft.
The Leader hadn’t intended to entrust that role to those two before Lennok for no reason.
But even as he quickly reviewed the situation, Lennok sensed that this was not the full extent of the Second Apostle’s abilities.
If the Second Apostle’s Apostle Spellcraft was an authority granted directly by the Pontiff himself, it couldn’t possibly end at that level.
It must, without a doubt, include the attribute of ‘chance’—
“First Apostle—!!”
The Preservation Spell Master, with a rock-hard impression, stood in the way of the blood-drenched Second Apostle with a resolute expression.
As he clapped his hands together, the surrounding ground and space hardened, rising up like a shield.
“I cannot rely on the help of other collaborators after coming this far. I, the Preservation Spell Master, will be your opponent…!”
“Opponent? You don’t know your place.”
Crunch!!
With a single gesture from the Second Apostle, the ground moved on its own, and the shield protecting the Preservation Spell Master vanished.
Before the Preservation Spell Master could hastily chant another spell, the Second Apostle’s hand pierced through his abdomen.
“Gack…!!”
“To hold me down, you should have brought the Conjunction Spell Master with both sides of his brain intact. The moment he wasted that talent at the First Gate, this outcome was decided.”
The Second Apostle, having neutralized one of the Alliance’s high-ranking spell masters in a single blow, smiled coldly.
“Or perhaps, his splitting his brain in two was for this very purpose? It was so long ago, I can’t quite remember.”
“Guh, cough…!!”
Even a high-ranking spell master of the Order Alliance couldn’t last for a moment if their abilities were a poor match for the Second Apostle’s.
This was why the cult’s First Apostle was treated as a de facto asymmetrical power, capable of maintaining the balance of power even in the Pontiff’s absence.
But the Preservation Spell Master, even as he coughed up copious amounts of blood, did not stop his incantation.
“Not, yet…!!”
Preservation Spellcraft Activation: Self-Designation
[Unbending Will]
He cast a preservation spell on his own body, ‘preserving’ the Second Apostle’s hand that was crushing his liver and kidneys, trapping it entirely.
Just as the Second Apostle smiled at the Preservation Spell Master’s resolve to hold him down at the cost of his own life…
Lennok appeared at his side, unleashing lightning from his fingertips and accelerating by repelling its kickback. He then pierced and tore out the Second Apostle’s heart.
CRUNCH!!
The Second Apostle’s body crumbled like mud, and simultaneously, another Second Apostle appeared on the opposite side of the Crystal Tower’s landing.
The apostle who appeared on the other side descended at incredible speed upon the heads of the spellcasters fleeing from him.
At that same moment, a horrifying massacre and dismantlement, difficult to describe in words, took place.
CRUNCH, CRACKLECRACKLECRACK!!!!!
“Gyaaaaargh!!”
“Please, please…!!”
A mechanical hand gesture that tore apart human bone and flesh with bare hands, extinguishing life.
A massacre so devoid of emotion that the spellcasters, unable to bear the pain, begged for death.
“Cough, Second Apostle. Over here…!!”
The pale-faced Chroma Spell Master, with great effort, swung his brush, sending forth a crane made of paint.
The painted crane exploded from all sides, unleashing powerful shockwaves, but the Second Apostle ignored it and kicked the Chroma Spell Master in the stomach in one motion.
The Chroma Spell Master barely managed to block with his brush, but he couldn’t hold for even a moment and was crushed along with the brush handle, sent flying into the Crystal Tower’s inner wall.
BOOM!!!
“Keoheok…!!!”
But the Second Apostle paid not the slightest attention to the Chroma Spell Master he had kicked away.
Holding the head of a spellcaster he had ripped off, he simply stared intently at the ritual progressing in the Crystal Tower.
“I see roughly how you plan to descend. Celestial Spellcraft?”
“Cough, cough…!!”
“You’re artificially changing the environment of the Material Realm to be closer to the Glass Garden. You chose the Crystal Canyon because you needed a large-scale catalyst for that process.”
Leaving the Chroma Spell Master to painfully cough up blood, the Second Apostle tilted his head.
“The Leader, the subject of the Great Connection, couldn’t have borrowed an Old World spellcraft, so he must have used another method… Stole the Celestial Spellcraft? No, the sensation is strong. It’s almost close to the original…”
“You, you bastard…”
Just by observing the descent ritual up close, the Second Apostle was reading the information he needed at an incredible speed.
As the Chroma Spell Master was left speechless at the Second Apostle’s insight, who grasped all the information about the ritual with a brief glance…
“Ah, I see. You made contact with Chicheon himself and borrowed the original text of the Celestial Spellcraft. That makes sense.”
The Second Apostle said nonchalantly.
“They say the Ascendants of the Old World have started moving recently, so it must be related to that. I’ll have to wring the necks of the entire intelligence department at headquarters when I get back.”
“Over here, look, over here…!!!”
Ziiiiing…!!
Though the Chroma Spell Master tried desperately to draw his attention while vomiting blood, the Second Apostle ignored him and chanted a prayer spell.
Countless photons converged at the Second Apostle’s fingertips, compressing their energy. They spun, becoming a magic bullet containing immense thermal energy.
“Once you know the type of spellcraft used for the descent, foiling it is easy.”
The moment the Second Apostle unhesitatingly dropped it toward the bathtub where the incarnate body was preserved…
Lennok blocked his path, unleashing a golden radiance and deflecting the spell head-on.
SHWAAAAAAAANG!!!
“Hehe. It’s been a long time since I felt like someone was reading my thoughts and cards…”
Confirming Lennok amidst the scattering gale of light, the Second Apostle turned back with a cold smile.
“Did you already realize what kind of Apostle Spellcraft I use at that point?”
“I was just confirming exactly what kind of Apostle you are.”
Psssh!
Lennok pulled out an ampule and injected another dose into his neck, feeling the sensation of the painkiller flowing in as he replied.
“Being an Apostle of Freedom doesn’t just mean you aren’t bound by restraints or shackles.”
“…”
“Because you don’t serve one Outer God, you can, conversely, freely use the Apostle Spellcraft of all Apostles. Is that it?”
Lennok, raising his mana, stared at the Second Apostle, his eyes glinting coldly.
“So that strange talent you’ve shown until now was an ability based on that.”
The reason the Second Apostle could move freely between all sorts of places without a trace.
The reason he could exist in various places simultaneously and act as vigorously as if he were multiple people.
All those questions seemed to be definitively answered by the single truth: the Apostle of Freedom.
The Second Apostle could, quite literally, ‘freely’ use the Apostle Spellcraft that was the exclusive domain of the highest-ranking Apostles.
The Tenth Apostle’s Libra Spellcraft. The Eighth Apostle’s Puppet Spellcraft. The Sixth Apostle’s Underground Spellcraft.
Perhaps the Second Apostle’s actions were so hard to grasp and so ambiguous because he could borrow Apostle Spellcrafts, each possessing immense potential.
It was a guess Lennok had been considering since realizing the Second Apostle’s identity, and he had become certain of it during the battle inside the Crystal Tower.
“To be able to borrow other Apostle Spellcrafts… An absurd ability. How did the Pontiff create a monster like you?”
“‘Create’… There’s a flaw in that statement. I was not created by others.”
The Second Apostle answered readily.
“I simply remained in the cult because I wished to.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everything has a price, and that includes [Freedom].”
Slowly turning toward Lennok, the Second Apostle began to walk as he spoke.
“To you, my spellcraft may seem limitless, but it’s like a miracle that is established by paying a great many prices. The Leader knows this, which is why he is trying to hunt me through this affair.”
“…”
“I understand his feelings. It was probably the most efficient method for him. But…”
With a cool expression, the Second Apostle flicked his fingers and raised his gaze.
“The concept of freedom isn’t like that.”
Flash—
A pillar of pale light pierced the Crystal Tower’s ceiling and descended vertically.
Without a moment to react, it struck the center of the ritual site, falling upon the heads of the spellcasters who were deep in concentration on the restoration ritual—
It incinerated the bodies of nearly dozens of spellcasters, instantly extinguishing their lives and reducing them to a handful of ash.
KWOOOOOOAAAAAAAARGH!!!!
“Gyaaaaaaaargh!!!”
“No, if only we had a little more time…!!”
“If I kill all the spellcasters assisting in the restoration of the Great Connection, the ritual itself cannot be established.”
The Second Apostle said as he wiped his blood-soaked hands.
“Of course, the Leader probably wasn’t planning on relying solely on you and the spellcasters. Seeing that the other Grand Spell Masters, besides the Fairy Conjunction Master, are still nowhere to be seen, there must be a Plan B involving them.”
“…”
“But no matter how plausible an insurance policy the Leader has prepared, it ultimately won’t be as proper a procedure as the ritual being conducted here now.”
Slowly walking forward, the Second Apostle looked up at the sky.
“Just like me, the Leader doesn’t have much time left. That must be the proof… If he didn’t have many choices either, doesn’t it make sense why the Leader would go this far and bet everything?”
“Bet everything…”
Lennok knew what the Second Apostle was trying to say.
That the reason the Order Alliance pushed forward with the plan despite such losses was because the Leader didn’t have much time left.
The Second Apostle must have also guessed to some extent the ‘precariousness’ that Lennok had felt when he saw the Leader in the Glass Garden.
This plan was originally supposed to have been carried out long ago through the Conjunction Spell Master or the Thorben Magic Tower Lord. With the matter delayed this much, the Alliance had no choice but to accept severe losses.
However, what Lennok felt from the Second Apostle’s point was not such a reason, but—
“And yet you, too, had no choice but to personally intervene here to stop the restoration of the Great Connection.”
“…”
“Is it because the existence of the Great Connection, which links all spellcraft, interferes with the activation of your Apostle Spellcraft? Because your authority is ultimately realized in the form of a spell?”
“It’s not necessarily just for that reason.”
After a brief hesitation, the Second Apostle slowly turned his body.
“But for now, that reason seems sufficient. What more do we need to say to each other, having come this far?”
“…I see.”
“Let’s end this. The way to settle this fight was decided from the beginning, wasn’t it?”
Even as he listened to the Second Apostle, Lennok was quickly lost in thought.
‘My effective options… are not that many. At best, two, or maybe three.’
During the rapid exchange, the moments Lennok lost track of the Second Apostle’s position or presence lasted at most one or two seconds.
But in those brief moments, the Second Apostle trampled the spellcasters like insects, destroying the ritual site beyond recovery.
An overwhelming power against which the Alliance’s highest-ranking spellcasters, led by the Preservation and Chroma Spell Masters, couldn’t even stand for a single exchange.
‘Even if I deploy my Domain, I can’t trap the Second Apostle. I might be able to capture him for a moment right after deployment, but he was barely affected before.’
When he met the Second Apostle at the Duris Workshop regarding Anathema, the Second Apostle had not been bound at all by the Domain Lennok had deployed.
A strange sensation, as if the Second Apostle’s existence hadn’t even entered the space of the domain, despite its deployment.
At the time, he only knew it was due to the Second Apostle’s Apostle Spellcraft, but now he understood.
The Apostle of Freedom, unbound by any restraint or shackle. He must have completely evaded the domain Lennok deployed through that ability.
‘If I deploy my domain, the Second Apostle won’t be trapped, and instead, other spellcasters will enter. A Domain isn’t a sophisticated enough technique to distinguish and grant entry to people one by one.’
Lennok’s Domain was a power that overwrote reality itself, so aside from Unmarked Succession Knot, most of his abilities couldn’t be used with precise distinction between friend and foe.
If he used his domain even slightly incorrectly, he would end up targeting the spellcasters instead of the Second Apostle. In the worst-case scenario, he could ruin the plan with his own hands.
His opponent was the cult’s First Apostle, who served the Pontiff beloved by all gods and wielded the very power of chance itself.
If he made a single mistake, the Second Apostle would undoubtedly read that moment and secure victory for the cult in this war.
At that point, Lennok’s goal of uncovering the Pontiff’s true intentions would also go up in smoke.
But—
“Domain Manifestation.”
FWAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
Knowing this, Lennok unhesitatingly brought his hands together and deployed his Domain.
Simultaneously, a colorless ripple exploded outward, beginning to cover the interior of the Crystal Tower’s floors.
Excuses like the Domain not working on the Second Apostle or the situation not being suitable were unnecessary.
Lennok’s Domain was a power that held the potential to control even such situations as he wished.
If it doesn’t work, make it work. As Lennok deployed his domain with that thought—
The Second Apostle did not use his Apostle Spellcraft to evade the Domain.
“Domain Manifestation.”
Instead, he simply formed different hand signs with each hand and chanted the ‘same incantation’ as Lennok.
“Evil Blood Frenzy. Human-Form Marionette.”
Domain Manifestation
Sacrifice-Hierarchy Mindscape Embodiment
[Evil Blood Frenzy]
Domain Manifestation
Ritual-Hierarchy Mindscape Embodiment
[Human-Form Marionette]
FWAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
Three colorless ripples exploded simultaneously, overlapping one another, each projecting a different Root Mindscape into reality.
At the same time Lennok’s domain manifested inside the Crystal Tower, the Domains of the Seventh and Eighth Apostles, deployed by the Second Apostle, collided with it.