Chapter 340: Summons (4)

The moment the black arrow shaft embedded itself in the middle of the snowy field, the warriors moved even faster than Lennok.

“Damn it…!! It’s that archer!!”

“I saw them fighting intensely just a moment ago, but how are they already…!!”

“They’re targeting the direwolves! Get out of the way!!”

It was a swift movement, as if they already knew who the owner of this preemptive strike was.

However, as if reading all their movements, the same black flash streaked from beyond the mist.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!!

Rapid shots that thoroughly targeted the beasts they rode, not the humans.

A meticulous hand could be felt, one that intended to let no one escape this snowy field.

Just after Lennok realized who the arrow’s owner was, a step too late, Lapis said with a proud voice.

“This is my first time introducing her to Evan. She’s the archer who most recently decided to join our Eyes of Blue.”

Whoosh!!

The figure that burst from beyond the mist dashed through the warriors who had lost their beasts. Blood splattered everywhere, scattering hot fresh blood onto the snow.

A green glow could be glimpsed through the black shimmering afterimages. The owner of that cold, shining gaze was clear.

The warriors also reacted immediately.

“Kill her!!”

“Don’t lose track of her movements!!”

“Read her breathing! Don’t miss it for even a moment!!”

Clang, clang, clang!!!

Even as comrades died all around them, they calmly assessed the situation and immediately launched a counterattack.

The warriors surrounding the snowy field drew their favored polearms and immediately drew forth their mana.

KABOOM!!

They didn’t stop, even knowing that friendly fire would occur from the repercussions.

They understood that the loss from attacking their own allies immediately was less than the total annihilation that awaited them if they didn’t stop that figure dashing among the warriors right now.

Woooosh!!!

The moment the warriors, who had sharpened their armaments with Property Transformation of mana, tried to pursue the black archer’s afterimage.

Beneath their feet, a jet-black mana barrier began to rise.

Shwiiing!!

An unbelievably thick and sturdy barrier, deployed with magic during what seemed like a free movement among the warriors.

Below the barrier, which instantly separated Lapis’s group from the warriors, arrow shafts embedded in various spots in the snowfield resonated, extending jet-black mana into the sky.

“It’s the arrow shafts!!”

“Don’t attack the barrier, look under the bodies or the snow!”

“Send a request for backup, Divine Bow has arrived!!”

The warriors, realizing that the black arrow shafts stuck throughout the snowy field were acting as conduits for the spell, shouted at the top of their lungs, but it was already too late.

The archer’s afterimage, which had single-handedly disrupted the battlefield of superhuman beings.

The very person, who had brushed off the arrow shaft in her hand with the blood-stained field behind her, stood before Lennok and Lapis.

Hiss!

A unique appearance, clad in a black suit and a dark green visor. An impressive woman with elegant black hair reaching her shoulders.

“This is Evelyn Marcia, the finest archer of the Eastern Continent, known as Divine Bow.”

Evelyn removed her visor and lightly shook her head, her gaze meeting Lennok’s eyes.

“Evelyn. This is Evan.”

“…”

Instead of answering Lapis’s words, Evelyn stared silently into Lennok’s eyes.

Lennok realized the meaning behind her sullen gaze and gave a wry smile.

Hadn’t he told her at the end of the battle where he faced the White Lion of the Demonic Pantheon at Blaiver Tower that Evan and Van were the same person?

From Evelyn’s perspective, it wasn’t strange that Van, still pretending to be Evan, seemed displeasing.

“That’s truly impressive archery. I’ve heard a lot about it from Lapis.”

But Lennok, as if it were natural, put on a thick skin and slyly extended his hand towards her.

“Given that you were the first to come help us amidst this chaos, there’s no need to doubt your skill. I look forward to working with you.”

He could only hope she would play along.

However, instead of replying to Lennok, Evelyn glared at him with a slightly sullen look and blurted out a single sentence.

“Formal speech. How long are you going to keep it up?”

“…”

At Evelyn’s sassy retort, Lapis looked between the two with a slightly surprised expression.

Lennok cleared his throat slightly and quickly changed his tone.

“…I’ll stop if it felt awkward. Anyway, it’s good to meet you here.”

“…”

“But the ‘Emerald Archer,’ huh? Was that your moniker outside the city?”

At Lennok’s casual words, Evelyn’s shoulders flinched for a moment.

Lapis, with a puzzled expression, grabbed Lennok’s sleeve and asked.

“Um, are you two… perhaps already acquainted?”

At the same time, her ear, glimpsed through her swept-aside hair, turned red.

Lennok, not noticing her reaction, continued speaking.

“It’s a more fitting title than I thought. When Lapis first mentioned it, I was a bit unsure if it was…”

Whoosh!!

Lennok only shut his mouth after seeing a jet-black arrow shaft plunge into the ground at his feet.

“If you call me that in front of other people, I’ll punish you.”

Evelyn’s face, smiling sweetly.

But while she could control her expression, it seemed difficult to hide the flush that had spread to her neck.

Even Lapis subtly glanced at her and muttered with a slightly flustered expression.

“So you really don’t like that name…”

“Stop it.”

“…I didn’t say anything.”

“Stop it.”

“…”

Lennok, realizing that no answer would work in this situation, quietly shut his mouth.

Instead, Lennok changed the subject, looking at the massive black barrier Evelyn had conjured in the middle of the snowy field.

“Your skill has improved since I last saw you. Did you know how to use this kind of spell, too?”

The barrier Evelyn had erected to protect them wasn’t just excellent in its strength and scale.

Rather, it used mana pre-stored in the arrow shafts as a medium to resonate, splitting the ground and isolating space.

The cleverness of barrier magic was deeply embedded in the very constraint that amplified the barrier’s strength and scale according to the number of arrow shafts.

Given the nature of barrier magic, which fundamentally requires familiarity with imposing various restrictions and geas, this technique would have been impossible for Evelyn without her having expertise in such matters.

But despite Lennok’s words, Evelyn quietly shook her head.

“It’s not something I originally knew… I learned it by observing here.”

“You learned it by observing?”

“I don’t know why, but among the guys gathered here, there are surprisingly many high-level barrier mages.”

Evelyn replied, crossing her arms.

“After dealing with them and looking at some of the artifacts and books they had, I figured I could roughly imitate it.”

“…”

“Putting mana into arrow shafts and resonating them probably has a lot of flaws, but it’s useful for stalling.”

Evelyn said this casually, but it was undoubtedly remarkable that she, who was not inherently a sorcerer, could understand and replicate the principles of barrier magic simply by looking through a few books.

That was probably possible because she had moved past the stage of completing her own Hierarchy and had already grasped clues on how to ascend further in her own unique way.

The moment Lennok was about to continue the conversation to ask more about that fact.

Lapis, with a slightly anxious face, grabbed Lennok’s coat.

“Um, so maybe it’s better if we put some distance between us and them first?”

“Why?”

“Well… since neither Evan nor Evelyn are warriors, it’d be better to fall back and buy time… the Zakira warriors are not easy opponents.”

Rumble!!

As if proving Lapis’s concern wasn’t unfounded, the thickness of the barrier Evelyn had deployed rapidly thinned, and a series of thundering sounds erupted from beyond it.

The Zakira warriors, having removed the arrow shafts that acted as conduits for the barrier, immediately began projecting their firepower.

They knew very well that if they dragged out the battle for too long, it would be to their disadvantage.

“It’s fine.”

But Evelyn smiled faintly, even as she watched the barrier crumbling.

“Because I’ve already opened the way. They should be catching up by now, don’t you think?”

CRACKLE!!

The jet-black mana barrier crumbled, and the moment the warriors from beyond it were about to hurl their blades at Lennok and Lapis.

A dazzling burst of mana light appeared beside them and directly slammed into the warriors’ flanks.

KABOOM!!

“GAAAAAH!!”

“Enemy attack!!”

“The Eyes of Blue? How are they so fast…!!”

An incredibly sharp counterattack. New superhumans appeared one after another, pushing back the warriors and shattering their formation.

The other Watchers, who had been moving behind Evelyn, had finally arrived at this battlefield.

An utterly chaotic melee. Despite being absolutely outnumbered, the Watchers, as if by prior arrangement, naturally took on multiple opponents each, focusing on buying time.

Meanwhile, the mages among the Watchers, who had created distance and begun their incantations, continuously poured out firepower.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!!

A rain of mana bullets covered the sky, and ash-gray flashes hidden among the shadows indiscriminately pierced through the warriors.

At a point when their numbers had somewhat evened out, and despite it being a situation where the warriors could still gauge their chances of victory, they chose to retreat.

“Retreat immediately!! Flee!!”

“Abandon anyone who can’t move!! We need to preserve our strength for now!!”

“Ugh, Belter…!!”

The Zakira warriors, precisely gauging the moment the tide turned, fell back.

They hadn’t forgotten that Lennok and Evelyn were waiting behind the Watchers they were currently facing.

As a warrior group that had long operated in the Northern Continent’s snowy fields, their judgment was swift, but the newly appeared Watchers didn’t let them escape.

Rather than focusing on killing them with full force, they tied their feet, prevented their escape, and suppressed them with firepower supported by their rear lines.

Since Evelyn had already killed all the wolves they were riding, it would be difficult for them to escape far.

It was possible because of her judgment to eliminate their means of transport and buy time, rather than killing all the warriors by herself.

The battle ended swiftly, simultaneously with the collapse of the power balance.

Only then did the other Watchers, having regained their composure, begin to rush towards Lapis.

“Lapis!!”

“My apologies. We were held up for too long over there…!!”

“We’ve identified the organization that attacked the base. They’re a criminal organization operating in the Western Continent, called Elderbine.”

“No matter how I think about it, the level of barrier mages seen around here is formidable. It’s still hard to distinguish friend from foe.”

Lennok recalled the face of Seon-myeong, the spearman in neat attire.

Besides him, over ten other Watchers conversed all around, exchanging information gleaned from the chaotic battle.

The battle fought across the snowy field had been so fierce that there wasn’t a single person whose body wasn’t splattered with blood.

Unlike Evelyn, who had been the first to spot and rush to them, these others hadn’t been able to keep pace with her speed.

They were likely accustomed to moving with Evelyn, and had chased after her solo action.

“…”

Lennok stepped back amidst them, calmly observing the faces of the Watchers who surrounded Lapis.

Most of them were faces he hadn’t seen in the autonomous region. They were likely Watchers who had been absent on external missions when Lennok visited the Pilenom Autonomous Region, or new recruits to the Eyes of Blue.

He realized anew just how rapidly the Eyes of Blue organization was expanding its influence and scale.

The mere fact that such a concentration of superhuman power had gathered together, and that all of them naturally accepted Lapis as their center, proved how extraordinary her abilities were.

Her resolve to refuse the opening of the heavens and provide her own answer was not false.

Indeed, many skilled individuals were gathering around Lapis, drawn by her strong will and conviction.

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

Evelyn, standing beside Lennok with her arms crossed, quietly asked.

Lennok silently turned his head, but Evelyn continued speaking, her gaze fixed on Lapis.

“After the rumor spread that the next Lighthouse keeper, previously known only as the granddaughter of the Seer, had subjugated the drug lord, many people grew interested in her.”

“…”

“Not everyone wants the same answer as Pandemonium. There are quite a few who wish for continued existence. The Eyes of Blue is essentially providing another path for such people.”

Evelyn said that and then turned her gaze towards Lennok.

“While there was someone else who acted as the trigger, a lot of people have come to believe in Lapis’s strength and will, and have joined her cause.”

“Evelyn. Are you saying you’re one of them?”

“No, if you ask me, I’m not Lapis but…”

Evelyn, who was about to answer Lennok naturally, suddenly hiccupped and stopped speaking.

“–Anyway, you should be careful. As the Eyes of Blue organization itself rapidly expands beyond the autonomous region, there might be pressure from the mega-city too.”

“…”

“Right now, the city is noisy both inside and out, and with the agreement the Seer made, the City Council isn’t paying much attention… but this situation won’t last forever.”

“That sounds like more of your concern than mine, Evelyn.”

Lennok, meeting Evelyn’s green eyes, asked.

“The Eyes of Blue and Agent activities. Can they be compatible?”

“…”

Evelyn also sighed with a slightly troubled expression.

There was no need to think long about why she was saying such things to Lennok.

Although she told Lennok to be careful, Evelyn herself was still unable to provide a proper answer.

“…This particular matter, I came with the Deputy Director’s authorization. Investigating the movements of Ascendants is an important issue for special agencies like ours, after all. What happens next, I’ll just have to worry about that after some time has passed.”

“The mega-city’s Prohibition Edict is about to be lifted. Are you aware of the news?”

“I know… I’ve been occasionally asking the Watchers who joined late due to the call to assembly for news from the city.”

The Northern snowy region. Communication with the outside is not smooth in this vast area, where the mana of Ascendants is prevalent.

Nevertheless, Evelyn seemed to have been gathering news from Vulcan through other Watchers who arrived later than her.

“I wondered why Van you were taking so long, but I didn’t imagine you’d get caught up in the Defense Force’s coup.”

“Deputy Director Pallard was desperately looking for you. It was such a big deal that even Croken Asylus appeared, so you would have been a great help if you were there.”

At Lennok’s indifferent reply, Evelyn let out a small laugh.

“I suppose so. Among the field agents who practically have the privilege of being exempt from the Prohibition Edict, I was the most outstanding and cooperative.”

“…”

A reply unlike Evelyn’s usual self. The faint cynicism mixed with doubt wasn’t directed at Lennok, who stood beside her.

Could it be that among her motivations for deciding to join the Eyes of Blue, there was a reason Lennok didn’t know?

The moment Lennok was about to open his mouth to ask about that fact.

Wooooooooosh!!!

A resounding horn blast echoing from beyond the snowy field silenced the Watchers.

At the same time, monstrous beasts emerged, piercing through the blizzard.

Their appearance and physique resembled rhinos. At a glance, their build prioritized close-quarters combat over mobility.

Lennok sighed as he recognized the riders mounted on the backs of the monstrous beasts.

At this point, what other organization would appear riding such monstrous beasts?

“The Zakira warriors… That wasn’t all of them just now.”

“Since the vanguard, made up of fast-moving wolves, didn’t return, their main force must have come out.”

Only then did Lennok understand why they were called the most dangerous warrior group in the Northern Continent, and he nodded.

If a vanguard consisting of wolf-riding warriors was already such an elite force, how rough and violent would the combatants of the main force, who handled direct confrontations, be?

“Monstrous beasts that were originally known to be impossible for humans to tame… those warriors know how to handle such beasts, and they share that knowledge. They are opponents who can never be underestimated, even outside of this snowy field.”

“Are we going to fight to the end?”

At Lapis’s words, Lennok subtly looked around.

The other Watchers were already somewhat depleted in stamina from the continuous melee and dealing with the reconnaissance unit.

Although Lennok and Evelyn were relatively unharmed, they couldn’t avoid a prolonged battle with just the two of them.

And staying in one place and continuing to cause a commotion in this snowy field would be nothing short of suicide.

However, Lapis quietly shook her head even after hearing Lennok’s words.

“Regardless of victory or defeat, it seems it will take some time.”

“Yes.”

Lapis smiled and quickly turned her gaze behind her.

“It’s about time for our main force to arrive.”

“…Main force? The Eyes of Blue had a main fo….”

Lennok’s words didn’t continue to the end.

At that moment, a massive presence, too immense to ignore, began to be detected even amidst the somewhat chaotic sensory sphere.

Something emerged from above, piercing through the raging blizzard and thick clouds.

Concurrently, the snow-covered ground transformed into a sweltering jungle, with wide bushes and trees sprouting up everywhere.

A familiar landscape, and mana that was even more memorable than that.

The moment Lennok recalled the image of a sorcerer who had lived for hundreds of years in his mind.

A colossal Floating Island appeared above the snowy field, unleashing immense pressure.

Wooooooosh!!!

Only then did Lennok realize what Lapis had said and muttered.

“I see. When I heard they were moving their base, I had a hunch, but…”

It didn’t simply mean changing the gathering place for the Watchers.

By some unknown method, Lapis had summoned an entire Floating Island that should have been part of a floating island cluster, and was using it as the Eyes of Blue’s base in this snowy field.

Thud, thud, thud!!!

A figure descended from the edge of the Floating Island, landing directly in the midst of the Zakira warriors’ main force.

Simultaneously, the snowy landscape distorted in various places, and colorless waves surged forth.

A sight hard to believe even with one’s own eyes, as Domain and Miniature Universe unfolded everywhere.

The Level 7 Watchers, who belonged to the main force, had newly joined the battlefield to confront Zakira’s main force.

“There were a lot of mistakes at first, but now I think I can say it.”

Magnificent waves of mana surged throughout the snowy field. Dozens of elite warriors moved according to her will.

Lapis, with the Floating Island filling the sky at her back, smiled triumphantly.

“Welcome back to the Eyes of Blue, Evan.”