Chapter 294: Intelligence Unit (1)

Even in Dexter, the common magic system, there exists a movement spell called Flicker.

However, it’s not truly spatial transference, but rather a principle of filling one’s body with mana and pushing oneself forward at high speed.

It’s an unstable spell, where using it against a wall could easily result in one’s body being crushed and bursting.

Furthermore, the side effects of mana addiction, from filling all muscle tissue with mana, must be endured throughout the entire body.

That’s why Lennok deliberately avoided using the common magic’s [Flicker] even after securing enough mana to do so.

But the spatial leap Lennok is now envisioning is different.

Like how Enakphil’s five fingers move Lennok, it’s a method that precisely captures the space Lennok occupies and moves it entirely.

With this method, there’s no room for mana to seep into the body, allowing for evasive maneuvers without worrying about mana addiction.

“There are still many problems to solve, but… I’ve certainly taken the first step.”

This doesn’t mean he can immediately use Flicker via spatial leap.

Considering the enormous amount of mana and mental power consumed by just this localized spatial manipulation, a considerable amount of research and time investment will be required in the future.

However, for Lennok, the ability to clearly perceive space as a concept and manipulate it as a spell system, rather than relying solely on intuition or accident, held immense significance.

From the moment he first opened his eyes in this world, struggling even to float a flame above his fingertips.

How many things had happened until he finally understood the constituent elements of the world.

He could go further. He could still grow much, much more.

He instinctively knew that the path to Ascendant before him had not yet been severed.

Through this single demonstration, he could be certain of it.

The moment Lennok lightly exhaled and tried to restore the twisted spatial fragments.

Shhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiik!!!

The space in his hand rapidly returned to its original state, emitting an enormous amount of heat.

Kwaaaang!!

The flames that erupted from Lennok’s hand pierced through the corridor of the abandoned building, destroying everything in their path.

Lennok, who instantly raised his shield to withstand the recoil, surveyed the traces of destruction with surprised eyes.

Davi, who had quickly climbed onto Lennok’s head, finally spoke.

[Frictional heat caused by a side effect of spatial manipulation condensed. It seems to have exploded.]

“…Frictional heat?”

[When I secretly hacked into the Fortress Head’s access rights, I found and recorded a similar case. Would you like to see it?]

Davi said, raising her front paw and projecting a transparent hologram into Lennok’s eyes.

The rooftop of a building. A space originally meant for helicopter landings was cracked open, and people walked out from within.

Large-scale spatial transference. Commonly known as teleportation.

But just before the spatial rift closed, it strangely twisted, emitting a strange heat.

The immense heat spewing from within began to melt human flesh directly.

“…”

[The cause is presumed to be frictional heat generated between isolated spaces when failing to control spatial distortion.]

“I see…”

[It’s a mistake by a sorcerer skilled enough to handle not personal coordinates, but central coordinates within the spatial system, so such cases are extremely rare records.]

Was this a side effect caused by errors made by spatial sorcerers skilled enough to manipulate not just themselves, but even the coordinates of the worldline?

It made sense that the data was extremely rare, given that it was difficult to find even those who could handle spatial magic in this city, let alone someone of that skill level.

Lennok, who instantly found a similar phenomenon in his memory, nodded.

“So this was why the Ibon Family Head and the Missionary seemed to be in poor condition. If their bodies were exposed to this much firepower, it’s not surprising that their combat capabilities significantly dropped.”

Amrita’s Scales, a spell that sacrifices identical life to spatially transfer. He had thought there would be problems if the spell itself was overloaded, but he hadn’t expected this phenomenon.

“Looking at it this way, I still feel my understanding of space isn’t sufficient. The sensation of using it as an artifact and directly interfering with it must be different…”

[I don’t think the direction itself is wrong, but you might need more data to reduce trial and error.]

“Indeed, I can’t learn the spell by taking such frictional heat on my body…”

But instead of thinking about such dangers, Lennok came up with a completely different idea and clapped his palm.

“If I use this well, I might be able to use it as a weapon.”

[…]

“The destructive power itself is weaker than fire-attribute magic, but for exploiting gaps in perception, don’t you think it would be quite useful?”

Intentionally failing spatial manipulation to use its aftereffects as a weapon?

A thought that a mad wizard, not a mad scientist, would have.

Davi silently wagged her tail, smacking Lennok’s nape repeatedly.

Lennok left the abandoned building only after demonstrating spatial perception and manipulation a few more times.

It took some time to clean up and erase all traces, worrying if anyone might discover the frictional heat caused by the failed spatial manipulation, but there were no issues.

The sky had already darkened. He walked through the gloomy night streets, gazing at the low-hanging moonlight.

Even as he walked, Lennok continued to discuss spatial manipulation with Davi.

As a cyber spirit, Davi could directly access various databases in the megacity and was skilled at collecting and organizing given information.

She was instrumental in classifying the magic Lennok used, and specifically measuring and quantifying the mana consumption and casting speed.

While high-level magical contemplation through discussion, like with Aris, was impossible, she was more than capable of helping Lennok compare the efficiency of his concepts and theories.

[Mana consumption is much higher than expected. When compared by instant output alone, it’s comparable to the master’s highest-grade destructive magic.]

“It’s difficult to worry about efficiency right now. First, I need to focus on expanding the range of manipulable space.”

[If you expand the manipulation range to include the master’s body, a simple calculation shows that 94% of your mana would be consumed with just two activations.]

“…If that’s the best option, there’s nothing for it.”

First, the goal is to expand the spatial manipulation range enough to contain Lennok’s body.

Once a seemingly feasible goal is set, and the standard is surpassed, he’ll have no choice but to invest in efficiency to reduce mana consumption and manipulation speed.

Once a clear system is established and he becomes familiar with the process, mana consumption and casting speed will naturally decrease.

“The spatial transference itself isn’t targeting very long distances either.”

He just wants to resolve the lack of mobility that he couldn’t touch even after reaching the Archmage stage.

A few meters per movement is enough. With just that much mobility, Lennok’s combat ability would advance to a different dimension.

The important thing is to compress the process and reduce mana consumption enough to use such short-range spatial leaps in actual combat.

If he could reduce the consumption to roughly that of a Level 6 high-tier spell, it might be possible to use it as a decisive move during combat.

If he could further improve efficiency from there, using Flicker dozens of times during combat wouldn’t be impossible.

For now, it’s close to fantasy, but at least there’s a possibility it could happen.

Something that had no possibility at all before studying the fortress ruins, Lennok now dreamed of with clear hope.

“Should I have paid more attention to collecting time-attribute artifacts…”

At least if he had manipulated time little by little with items, his gains wouldn’t have been so small after returning from the ruins.

It wasn’t that the possibilities he now held were insufficient, but he couldn’t help but feel a sense of regret.

Perhaps the power of time itself could play a decisive role in resolving the fundamental penalty Lennok possessed.

[I don’t think you deliberately searched for and collected your current artifacts, Master.]

Davi responded with a clear, crisp tone.

[It would be better to simply accept the statistical data that items related to time are extremely rare.]

“…”

Lennok silently reached into his coat and rubbed Davi’s small snout here and there.

Davi squirmed inside the coat, about to protest, then suddenly came to her senses and said,

[Master. You have a message.]

“What?”

Lennok usually had all phone notifications turned off, with Davi only responding to a few truly important emergency contacts.

In this line of work, he couldn’t afford to mess things up because of a phone notification.

Ultimately, for Davi to react despite all those settings meant…

[Recorded Message: Evelyn Marcia]

“…”

Lennok’s gaze naturally lowered as he looked at the name.

He had been planning to visit Evelyn soon anyway, but he hadn’t expected her to leave a message first.

Now that he knew about the secret of the ruins and the existence of the Apostle through Walter Martinez, sharing information with her would be the best course of action.

He thought a more serious discussion would be possible now that they both knew they were affiliated with the Eyes of Blue…

Thinking so, Lennok brought the phone to his ear and pressed the message playback button.

[Van, are you listening? I’m sorry to leave a message like this.]

Evelyn’s smooth voice immediately flowed out.

[I heard what happened at Yukbang Fortress. Originally, I was planning to enter the fortress when you finished the Proxy Battle, but I suddenly had to leave the city, so I couldn’t explain the situation. But it was such an urgent matter that I had no choice.]

She hesitated slightly, then continued.

[The Eyes of Blue issued a summons. Lapis is personally gathering watchers from various regions. It seems like something big is going to happen in the northern continent, but I’ll only know the details after I hear more about it.]

[I’ll be entering the Lighthouse soon, and I don’t think I’ll be able to communicate properly afterward, so I’m telling you now.]

After a brief silence, Evelyn spoke.

[Recently, the City Council’s movements have been unusual. The fact that information isn’t properly reaching me probably means it’s an issue with defense or foreign affairs, but I don’t know exactly what’s happening.]

“…”

[It might become difficult for you to leave the city before your summons arrives. Delete this message as soon as you confirm it, and if that happens-]

Click-!

Lennok, who had been walking with his phone, stopped dead in his tracks at that moment.

Davi, understanding the meaning of his unusual gesture, immediately raised her mana, and Lennok calmly lifted his gaze, observing his surroundings.

The dark night street, illuminated only by flashy neon signs.

No people passed by, only a cool breeze brushed against his thick coat.

Only then did Lennok lean subtly against a wall on one side of the street and shake his head.

‘They were waiting from the start.’

He hadn’t expected this to happen as soon as he left Yukbang Fortress.

Moreover, this street was much closer to the central urban area of Vulcan than its outskirts.

He hadn’t thought they would ambush him in this vicinity, which was more than close enough for the city government’s eyes to reach…

The moment he thought that, a man wearing goggles burst out from the wall Lennok was leaning against and swung the dagger in his hand.

Kagagagak!!

Sharp flashes of mana frictioned brightly between the dagger’s finely serrated blades, like teeth.

A move intended not to break Lennok’s shield, but to tear through it and strike the main body beyond.

But Lennok’s hand, approaching through the shattered shield, grabbed the man’s jawline even faster.

[Volt]

Chzzzzzzzt!!!

“…!!”

With a strong current directly permeating his lower jaw, the man’s entire body trembled violently before going limp.

An extreme level of endurance, not even uttering a single scream.

His forearm tingled from forcing his hand to move quickly. Lennok shook his wrist, swiftly ducked, and rummaged through the man’s pockets.

Lennok’s expression subtly hardened as he confirmed the unknown full-body suit the man was wearing.

‘This isn’t an ordinary item. Is it military grade?’

Not only did a faint mana circuit flow through the entire suit, but embedded special elements were still hindering visual detection of the man.

Furthermore, considering he had burst out from beyond the wall Lennok was just leaning against, it must have the ability to pass through solid objects.

It was difficult to tell whether this was purely the man’s ability or the suit’s power.

If one sample wasn’t enough, he would just have to collect more data.

Lennok quickly turned his gaze and projected mana into the empty street. Faint presences could be felt within his heightened sensory range.

More than ten in number. They were holding their breath, waiting for their target from within buildings and various parts of the street.

They maintained distance to avoid being wiped out at once, diversified their altitude. They evenly placed vanguards and rearguards, thoroughly dividing the front lines to construct a encirclement.

Lennok brought his hand to his sleeve, deep in thought.

‘Their spatial pre-positioning is incredibly meticulous and precise… It’s impossible without intense training.’

Regardless of individual strength, training is essential for superhumans to form groups and establish organizational capability.

This is because learning collective combat methods, separate from individual combat ability, has little to do with a warrior’s talent.

The faint killing intent resonating through this street was no different from that of hunters who had undergone such training.

Chiiik!

Lennok took out another cigarette, put it in his mouth, gripped his revolver, and walked.

Six more steps. The moment he passed a closed commercial block, the sewer grate beneath his feet exploded, and two people lunged out from below.

A preemptive strike, grabbing his legs from below.

Immediately after, supporting fire poured down simultaneously from the upper floors of buildings located in the front and rear, tightening the retreat path.

Do-do-do-do-do-do!!!

[Supporting fire ended. Impact confirmed. Review post-impact status.]

[Visibility obscured. Base signal lost. Second line vanguard annihilated!]

[…!!]

The glow of shattered neon signs faded, and the street plunged into darkness.

Those who had hidden themselves uniformly put on infrared goggles and illuminated their vision, but beyond the street, they could only see their fallen comrades bleeding.

[…Target coordinates lost. Third line vanguard prepare for engagement. Data acquisition rate?]

[Less than 10%. Assessment: Operation cannot be continued with remaining forces.]

[Proceed.]

A resolute voice echoed over the radio.

[There’s no turning back. Acquire Adamant Thunder’s data here, no matter what…!]

Taang!!

[Foxtrot…!!]

The radio network became chaotic at the sight of a comrade falling, blood splattering from his forehead.

Lennok, listening to the echoing voices through Davi, murmured,

“Found you.”

He knelt on one knee, rested the sniper rifle on his arm, and put his eye to the scope.

[Scanning of structures within a 50m radius complete. 3D blueprint implemented. Entry into firing angle calculation. Automatic firing algorithm secured.]

[All detected snipers confirmed capable of firing at present.]

Click…!

As he slowly pulled the trigger, a faint inky-black glow descended upon the rifle’s long barrel, assisting the act of firing.

[Aim Correction]

[Trajectory Adjustment]

[Ricochet Shot]

[Projection Magnification]

[Friction Reduction]

…

Charrrrrrr!!!

More than eight types of countless shooting assistance spells poured onto the rifle.

Despite the assistance far exceeding its capacity limit, the rifle’s barrel did not tremble in the slightest.

[Silence]

Along with the silencing magic, the bullet that shot silently from the muzzle carried the strong essence of shadow.

The bullet, fired at supersonic speed, bent directly into the rainwater drain on the ground.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!

The ricocheting bullet bounced more than a dozen times inside the drain, without losing any speed, and reversed its course towards the building’s rooftop.

Immediately after, the head of one of the snipers, who had been focused on Lennok with his rifle, tilted forward.

Crack!