Chapter 1495: The Worst Manipulation Spellcaster (2)
After a brief meeting, the group immediately headed toward the Second Gate.
Near the Second Gate, located in the depths of the Central Front, inside the Paragon Forward Base.
A portal opened in a space resembling a small airport, and Lapis disembarked, followed by others.
Whoosh…!!
A wondrous technique that instantly transported them from the outer perimeter to the Second Gate, deep within the Central Front.
Even Lennok, a member of the Eyes of Blue, had never seen such a technique, but he could grasp its general principle.
‘It distorts the distance between lighthouses, allowing them to leap across vast distances. It’s an application of the Lighthouse Keeper’s power to manipulate sight.’
The Lighthouse Keeper, tasked with observing the Outer Sea to postpone doom, grows stronger in proportion to the number of lighthouses.
At the point where the Eyes of Blue had built this many lighthouses across the continent, what would Lapis’s power be like?
She had once instantly summoned Lennok near the Hanghasa Labyrinth, but this felt far more expansive.
At their destination, reached with Lapis’s power, several guides were already waiting.
Paragon officials in uniforms tinged with blue light stood in two rows, welcoming the group.
“Welcome, Lapis Falsiar.”
The woman at the front, wearing glasses and exuding a professional air, politely greeted Lapis.
“I’m Alicia Anderson, Paragon’s Chief Operations Officer. Please call me Alicia.”
“Nice to meet you, Alicia. What’s the situation at the Gate?”
“Paragon’s main force is currently conducting a full-scale exploration of the Second Gate’s outer perimeter.”
Alicia responded directly to Lapis’s straightforward question.
“As planned, Paragon will lead the main force, and the Eyes of Blue will command the special unit, attempting to enter the Gate from both directions. Once you’re ready—”
“That’s good to hear. Our special unit is also assembled. Could you assign identification codes to the people I’ve brought?”
“Of course. We’ve already agreed with the Reconnaissance Agency to issue identification codes to all of you. However—”
Alicia nodded at Lapis, then glanced at Lennok.
“Are you sure about this? I’ve heard this person is…”
“……”
A spellcaster wearing a black robe, a mask, and a glass gauntlet was uncommon.
The Paragon officials, upon seeing Lennok, seemed to recognize him immediately.
Even the staff behind Alicia paled and stepped back from him.
But Lennok showed no particular emotion at their wary glances.
Instead, he folded his arms, staring at them slowly tilting his head.
“Since earlier…”
“Black Art?”
“There are some sneaky tricksters around.”
Whoosh!!!
Magic Scribes shot out, piercing the Paragon officials at incredible speed.
So fast that even Lapis and the nearby superhumans couldn’t react.
“Ah?!”
“Wait…!!!”
Dozens of staff behind Alicia were caught by the Magic Scribes, unable to resist as they stumbled.
With each catch, items from the officials’ pockets fell to the ground, bound by the Magic Scribes.
Clatter!!
Rumble!!!
The panicked officials tried to grab their falling belongings, but it was futile.
As Victor openly rifled through the officials’ possessions upon arrival, the others gaped in astonishment.
Lennok casually picked up the fallen items, glancing at them.
“Cell phones. Cameras. Transmitters. Beacon terminals. Quite a collection of communication devices. Were you planning to report to your superiors the moment you saw me?”
“Uh, this is…”
“Judging by how openly you’re acting, even while collaborating with the Eyes of Blue, it seems you’re not sharing command structures.”
Crack!!
As he tossed a terminal behind him, an invisible force crushed it.
Simultaneously, a black Magic Scribe coiled around Alicia’s neck like a whip, tightening around her carotid artery.
Alicia’s face paled, and Lennok’s crimson eyes flashed.
“I don’t care about your ulterior motives, but if you get in my way, I won’t hesitate to act.”
“…!”
“If you pull any more shady tricks, I’ll start by ripping out the throats of those who just tried it.”
The atmosphere turned icy as his harsh words fell.
They knew Victor, the Manipulation Spellcaster from Pandemonium, wasn’t making empty threats.
Clarice sighed softly, shaking her head, while Odile chuckled, holding back laughter.
“Unbelievable. How can we be on the same mission with someone like this…”
“Off to a fiery start. Quite the temper.”
“A flawed judgment, but a flawed action. Can’t you control yourself without causing a scene?”
Aratus clicked his harpoon, looking displeased, and Paragon’s special officers tensed, but no one intervened.
Though Victor’s actions were extreme, they knew the fault lay elsewhere.
“…My apologies, Black Art. It seems our staff made a mistake. There’s no excuse.”
Alicia, though sweating, remained calm and bowed her head.
“Paragon has no hidden agenda in this mission. However, Central Command is extremely concerned about the members of Pandemonium, so… I’ll withdraw the other staff and guide you personally.”
“Thank you, Alicia.”
Lapis nodded calmly at Alicia’s words.
“As discussed, the special unit will accompany us. He’ll be part of our team for this mission.”
“Understood. If the Lighthouse Keeper has recruited such a skilled Manipulation Spellcaster, he’ll be a great asset.”
Alicia accepted this without objection and gestured to her staff.
The flustered staff, unable to gather their belongings, hurriedly withdrew.
Alicia, quickly regaining her composure, led the group alone out of the lobby.
“First, it’s best to show you the overview of the Second Gate. The situation inside and outside the Gate is, to put it mildly, extremely dire.”
“……”
Beyond the forward base, a hellish landscape unfolded.
Groan…!!!!
Piles of naked, lifeless bodies formed hills as far as the eye could see.
The original terrain and environment were unrecognizable, a human-made ridge.
At the center of this mental hellscape stood two colossal hands, palms spread wide like blooming flowers.
Amidst the corpse-filled ridge, the hands stood alone, defiantly.
This grotesquely explicit structure, far beyond human morality and taboo, was the Second Gate.
It must be the abode of the Tyrant Duke, one of the Three Grand Dukes of the Empire.
The others seemed to share similar thoughts, their expressions grim.
“Ugh, just looking at it makes me nauseous.”
“It’s actually twitching. It’s a truly ‘living’ gate.”
“It’s utterly grotesque… How could someone kill so many people?”
“Your nausea isn’t just a feeling—it’s actually happening to you.”
Alicia spoke calmly.
“The owner of the Second Gate, the Tyrant Duke, was the greatest Manipulation Spellcaster in imperial history. Aside from Ban-gung from outside the Empire, he had no rivals in his time.”
“……”
“According to records, now mostly lost, the Tyrant Duke didn’t rely on mediums for his manipulation spellcraft… He was a medium-free Manipulation Spellcaster.”
“Medium-free…?”
Naturally, the others’ gazes turned to Lennok.
Lennok, arms folded, listened intently.
“What are you all staring at?”
“……”
The superhumans, at a loss for words, stared blankly at Lennok before snapping back to reality.
“…No, right. This wasn’t it.”
“Something feels off. Sorry, my mistake.”
As the others scratched their heads in confusion, Alicia continued her explanation.
“Manipulation Spellcraft is the most complex of the specialized arts, overly versatile and requiring a medium. Black Art here uses Magic Scribes, while others might use blood, mercury, or sound.”
[I know Manipulation Spellcraft requires a medium. So the Tyrant Duke could wield it without any medium at all?]
“Records suggest the Duke didn’t rely on specific mediums during his lifetime. This tendency likely intensified as he fell to Demigod status.”
Alicia spoke calmly.
“As a medium-free specialized spellcaster and a Demigod who manipulates all things… he could now, if he wished, even manipulate the human mind.”
“……”
Silence fell.
Only then did everyone understand why Alicia had shared this.
“I see. That’s why I felt strange when we arrived. It’s because of that, right?”
“The entire battlefield inside and outside the Gate falls within the Duke’s spellcraft range?”
“In the worst case, one of us could be mentally manipulated by the Tyrant Duke.”
High-level superhumans have self-contained consciousnesses, making them difficult to invade or interfere with.
Yet Alicia shared this because even high-level superhumans couldn’t escape the Duke’s spellcraft.
If so, they needed to start preparing defenses against the Duke’s mental manipulation right away.
“It seems we’ve heard enough. Let’s finalize the strategy here.”
Lapis, expressionless, addressed the superhumans.
“Our priorities are twofold: seize the Gate and rescue Pyeonram, who’s being held somewhere within.”
“The Snake Guarding the Well…”
“No need to explain about the Duke. Avoid him at all costs. If you encounter him, abandon the mission and retreat immediately.”
In the tense atmosphere, Lapis spoke coldly.
“We’ll enter the Second Gate while Paragon’s main force draws attention. Our priority is to locate Pyeonram.”
“What’s the plan after finding Pyeonram at the Second Gate?”
Lennok abruptly asked Lapis.
“If that snake from the Great Forest is still alive, the Duke must be using the Ascendant for something.”
“……”
“If we intervene, the Duke will notice. Do you think we can escape with the snake?”
“We’re not escaping with Pyeonram. If I’d intended that, I wouldn’t have gathered people like this.”
Lapis shook her head.
“As you said, the Duke will know if we touch Pyeonram. Instead, we must use the situation to our advantage.”
“Using the Duke’s awareness to our advantage… I don’t understand.”
“It’s not complicated, Lady Aosel.”
Lapis calmly responded to Euphoria Aosel’s flat tone.
“Once we free Pyeonram from the Gate, she’ll confront the Tyrant Duke. While she fights him, we’ll head to the control room at the Gate’s core.”
“Wait. You mean to wake Pyeonram and make her fight the Duke for us…?”
At Marietta’s shocked voice, the others stared at Lapis in surprise.
But Lapis, unperturbed by their gazes, continued expressionlessly.
“Pyeonram lost to an Ascendant from the Old World in the Great Forest, but not due to lack of power. The Ascendant’s ability was simply a perfect counter to her sorcery.”
“……”
“Now held within the Gate, weakened, she can at least buy us time against the Tyrant Duke once freed.”
“Lighthouse Keeper, I have a question about this plan.”
Phasia raised her hand.
“Can we be sure Pyeonram will fight the Tyrant Duke for us? She’s not exactly friendly toward humans, and she might just run away.”
“The Tyrant Duke imprisoned Pyeonram in the Gate to use her. Once free, he’ll try to recapture her, so she’ll have to fight him to protect herself.”
Lapis answered promptly.
“Ultimately, all we need to do is free Pyeonram. In most cases, she won’t turn against us.”
“…What if Pyeonram isn’t in a state to fight? After one defeat, she might be too weakened to even face the Duke.”
“Pyeonram recreated herself through sorcery. In an environment with mana, she can regain her strength somehow. The real issue is elsewhere.”
Lapis looked around.
“Pyeonram has long guarded her mission, earning her a recent curse of forgetfulness. If her memory or mind is unstable, the worst-case scenario is—”
“Pyeonram might already be under the Duke’s mental manipulation.”
“…What?”
As Lennok finished speaking, the air turned cold.
If Pyeonram was not only imprisoned in the Second Gate but also mentally manipulated by the Duke,
It was unimaginable for a Level 9 Ascendant to be manipulated, but Pyeonram’s unstable mental state made it possible.
In the worst case, freeing Pyeonram might lead to their deaths at her hands.
“That’s why we must take the risk and locate Pyeonram first.”
Lapis spoke calmly.
“Though unlikely, if she’s under mind control, we’ll need to adjust our approach.”
“So, if everything goes well and we safely avoid the Duke to reach the control room, what happens next?”
Odile, the laid-back vampire, asked Lapis, arms folded.
“Even if Pyeonram and the Duke fight, it won’t last forever. Given their levels, the battle could end in an instant.”
“……”
“Even with a miracle, we might only have a brief window. What’s the point of reaching the control room in that time?”
“There is a point.”
Lapis replied.
“Reaching the control room means the mission is essentially complete. From there, I can take control of the Second Gate.”
“What?”
“The Second Gate, now occupied by the Tyrant Duke, was once a sacred site established by my grandmother within the Empire.”
Lapis explained.
“Originally, it housed my grandmother’s Ideological Domain, the Ten Thousand Reflections in One Pupil. In other words, it’s a lighthouse.”
“……”
At that moment, Lennok understood why the Eyes of Blue were leading this mission.
He also grasped why Lapis was gathering Watchers and outsiders to attempt the Second Gate.
It wasn’t just about retaking the Gate or reclaiming Heaven’s Eye’s legacy.
From the start, the key to the mission had been in Lapis’s hands.
“Once we reach the control room, I can claim the Second Gate’s authority. At that point, the Gate’s ownership will change, and I can immediately banish the Tyrant Duke.”
“Banishment… I see, that sounds plausible.”
Aratus, harpoon in hand, pondered, arms folded.
“At least it’s more realistic than trying to kill one of the Three Grand Dukes ourselves. Can we specify the banishment location?”
“Yes. I can send him somewhere he’ll never return. Of course, since it’s not my lighthouse, I’ll need to inspect it firsthand.”
Lapis spoke calmly.
“I’m sharing the full plan now because this information must not leak. I’ll reveal it only once to everyone involved and use my power to prevent further disclosure.”
“……”
“Since the Second Gate was once a lighthouse, my power can protect you from the Duke’s mental manipulation and memory tampering, but only for those present.”
“So, we break through the Second Gate, find Pyeonram and the Duke, make them fight, then summon the Lighthouse Keeper.”
[The summoning spell for Lapis is held by the Watchers. Several high-ranking Watchers are participating in this mission.]
Finally understanding the plan, the superhumans tensed.
The mission to confront the corrupted Demigod, the Tyrant Duke of Arathos.
Yet Lapis’s plan, though dangerous, wasn’t unrealistic.
With the Lighthouse Keeper herself handling the core tasks and allies filling the gaps, it was an ideal strategy.
“Please prepare a small, ten-square-meter sealed room.”
Clarice closed her eyes, murmuring calmly.
“We’ll need time to prepare the spellcraft before starting.”
“Oh, and I’ll need a lot of catalysts for my bullets…”
“Can you get me another harpoon like this? I’d like a spare.”
As Clarice spoke, requests poured in from all sides.
They were preparing for the mission’s start, each needing to ready their essentials.
“Understood. You can’t start the mission immediately after hearing the plan.”
Lapis nodded.
“We’ll begin the Second Gate assault in half a day. Use that time to check your condition and make final preparations.”
“Paragon isn’t as well-equipped as the Agency for exploration, but we excel in supply and reinforcement.”
Alicia flipped through files, speaking confidently.
“Any equipment or consumables you need will be supplied within three hours. Feel free to request anything.”
“Black Art, come with me.”
Lapis turned, brushing past Lennok.
She glanced at his obsidian mask and whispered softly.
“Before my grandmother left, she gave Victor something.”
“…Something?”
“Have you heard of ‘Fate Sealing’?”