Chapter 388: A New Project (4)

Unlike the magic Lennok had freely used until now, barrier magic is a spell with quite clear limits and conditions. Not only does it require time to cast, but even its effective range is difficult for the caster to vary at will. Defining an area and building new rules always demands a corresponding price.

‘But that’s precisely why barrier magic can do things nothing else can.’

As barrier magic is bound by limits and rules from its very origin, within the area where the spell is applied, it gains advantages that no other law can replicate.

The work of barrier magic, defining and segmenting areas for partial manifestation, isn’t limited to real-world applications. Didn’t Jindun, whom Lennok faced then, effortlessly divide his consciousness and bring Lennok inside it? If it’s possible to construct a barrier within one’s own Mind Imprint or consciousness, there’s only one thing to do.

Lennok, having directly inherited Jindun’s barrier magic which defines and separates concepts, had been attempting to fragment his own Mind Imprint and partially manifest it.

Wiiiiing!!

The moment he grasped the concentric circles appearing on the chests of the stumbling superhumans. The fragments, shattering like glass, embedded themselves into the superhumans’ bodies, and began to float unknown thoughts within their minds.

“Gasp……!!”

Despite their eyes being wide open, information incessantly flooded their minds. Amidst a vast, endless void, a golden ring emerged, illuminating the dark cosmos.

Woooooong!!

What appeared in the minds of the various superhumans was not Lennok’s complete Mind Imprint. It was merely a single golden ring, immense beyond measure, floating in the dark void. Lennok was partially fragmenting his kaleidoscope and slamming that exact scene into the superhumans’ minds.

By combining the Mystic Eye’s visual sharing ability with barrier magic’s partial Mind Imprint manifestation, he was completely shoving that information into the opponent’s mind.

Just by partially extracting and showing that Mind Imprint, without directly projecting it into reality, the superhumans lost their minds and screamed in agony.

“No…… my head……”

“Ah, ahhh……!! What in the world…….!”

Concurrently, behind Lennok, a golden radiance spun clockwise, drawing a vast halo. The moment that colossal circle was complete behind him, surging waves each grabbed the superhumans and slammed their heads into the ground.

Kwoooong!!

The superhumans, who had struggled and fainted from the moment the concentric circles began to form. Lennok looked down at their pathetic figures, eyes rolled back and gasping for breath, and muttered, stroking his chin.

“Was it too much…… It’s more effective than I thought.”

He had merely combined the Mystic Eye’s vision-sharing and information-overload abilities with barrier magic to partially fragment and slam the Mind Imprint directly into their heads. But if he had dragged it on for even a little longer, it wouldn’t have been strange for the brains of everyone collapsed here to turn into mush.

Even though he had pulled and projected a part of Lennok’s Mind Imprint, driven by the need to suppress multiple individuals by injecting excessive information in a short time, they couldn’t even endure that brief moment.

It was only natural, considering Lennok himself was desperately trying to control his own Domain.

They probably wouldn’t even properly remember what they saw.

Lennok gathered the fallen, loosely binding their limbs with magical energy, then turned his head towards Yerien, who was gaping behind him.

“Enough gawking, care to lend a hand?”

“……Ye-yes?”

“I’d like to leave the interrogation of these guys to your CEO to find out who’s behind them. I’d appreciate it if you could call some people.”

Only then did Yerien realize what Lennok was saying and quickly nodded.

“Ah, understood!”

Yerien called her escorts, whom she had sent to the main office earlier, and immediately began transferring those Lennok had captured to the main office’s basement. A reply from the main office came immediately after she contacted Virgil and the other executives about what had just happened. Receiving a message to escort him with the utmost respect, Yerien wiped her sweat with a slightly nervous expression.

“H-hello. Mr. Van. I am Yerien Checkfield, appointed as a registered director this quarter.”

As soon as she saw Lennok approaching, she bowed her head.

“Thank you for your help.”

“You can clean that up, right?”

As Lennok pointed to the devastation he had caused on the street, Yerien immediately nodded.

“Of course. The main office will naturally restore it by the end of today.”

The asphalt-paved intersection, devastated by Lennok’s lightning magic projection, was beyond recognition, but such a degree of damage was not a big issue in this city where magic and spells breathed. Using the Cartel’s capital and connections, it could be perfectly restored to its original state in less than half a day.

“Good. Let’s head to the main office then. Are you also attending the regular meeting?”

“Ah, yes. I actually received orders to escort Mr. Van myself. Let’s go together.”

Lennok glanced down at Yerien, then shifted his gaze back to the surroundings of the street.

“I wonder if I should catch another taxi. Where’s the nearest stop from here?”

“Th-there’s my car in the nearby parking lot. If it’s alright, I can drive you!”

Lennok nodded immediately.

“Good. Let’s go.”

Yerien immediately led Lennok to her car.

As she naturally went to open the back seat door for Lennok, she noticed the scattered trash on the floor and quickly slammed the door shut.

Slam!!

“……What’s wrong?”

“No. It’s nothing. If it’s alright, perhaps you could sit in the passenger seat…….”

Even though they held the same director position, their status within the Cartel was like heaven and earth. The other person was a noble who single-handedly killed the former CEO, Parden McQueen, and was appointed to the director position in recognition of that achievement. As rumors that he himself declined the CEO position were almost certainly circulating, Yerien strove to guide Lennok with utmost politeness.

Lennok tilted his head slightly and chuckled. He could clearly see the state of the car with his magic perception.

Yerien, too, must have known it, as she hung her head low.

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s go quickly.”

They left District 42 and headed towards the area where the main office was located.

Perhaps because Lennok was in the car, even with the road clear, Yerien concentrated on safe driving.

Instead of hurrying her, Lennok turned his gaze out the window and fell into thought.

Jindun’s barrier magic, which he had just used to suppress the unidentified superhumans, was far more effective than he had anticipated.

‘Jindun’s barrier magic. I thought it would help with the partial manifestation of my Domain, but it’s beyond expectations.’

At the time he had just emerged from The Cradle after finishing his conversation with Jindun, hadn’t Lennok faced three superhumans simultaneously with his momentarily amplified magical power? Lennok hadn’t forgotten that the golden halo hovering behind him at that time was a trace of a part of his Mind Imprint partially projected into reality.

If the concept of forming a barrier could be applied to Lennok’s own Mind Imprint and separated, then it would be possible to draw out a part of his Domain, which was previously only capable of full deployment, into reality.

For now, it was merely about combining it with the Mystic Eye’s abilities to slam the Mind Imprint into them, but he confirmed that it wasn’t impossible with enough magical power and trial and error.

While Lennok was deep in thought about how he should utilize barrier magic in the future, Yerien, who was at the wheel, cautiously glanced at Lennok before speaking.

“I understand that Mr. Van holds a special position within the company……”

“Is that so?”

Despite Lennok’s unenthusiastic reply, Yerien persisted.

“Yes. I heard that you haven’t really participated in company affairs since your appointment as director.”

“……”

“Considering how you helped me earlier, I wonder if you intend to participate in the Cartel’s business……. May I ask?”

It was undeniably an impudent question to ask while driving, but Yerien had made up her mind. The wizard sitting beside her was an existence treated as particularly special among the mysteries that lingered in the shadows of this city. What was this wizard thinking, who had survived confrontations with the Cartel’s Chairman and various powerful figures, stirring up secrets, to reach his current position? Had this man, who had risen to an external directorship by killing numerous monsters with skill alone, without any background or connections, now decided to abide by the Cartel’s will?

“I heard you’re still working as a freelancer. If our Chairman put in a special request, then……”

At those words, Lennok, who had remained silent until then, chuckled for the first time.

“For a Cartel director, your information is lacking. It’s been quite a while since I’ve accepted requests.”

“I-is that so……?”

Thinking she had made a mistake, Yerien broke out in a cold sweat.

Lennok shook his head, watching her continually push up her glasses which kept sliding down her nose.

Except for the period when he focused on building his reputation, Lennok’s actions were a result of his own self-interest. In that process, he merely took on requests nominally to receive some compensation.

Although he still used the title of ‘freelancer,’ Lennok had no intention of accepting requests from others anymore, unless they involved spatio-temporal artifacts or spells.

“But what you said isn’t wrong. It’s true that I have business with your Chairman. If necessary, I’m willing to assist with the Cartel’s work.”

“I-I’m sorry…….Huh?”

Yerien, who had been hunched over with her head bowed, flinched in surprise and turned her gaze towards Lennok. Lennok extended his hand and pointed at the windshield.

“Look ahead.”

Screech!!

“Kyaaak!!”

Yerien, whose face had gone pale, narrowly avoided the truck that appeared in front of them, then gasped and asked.

“M-Mr. Van, you’re planning to help us……?”

“Isn’t that something to be so surprised about? After all, I nominally hold the position of external director in your company.”

“But what the director has done so far is……”

Hasn’t he only destroyed Cartel subsidiaries and killed Parden McQueen, the former CEO? The answer that she wasn’t sure if those actions had ultimately helped the Cartel rose to Yerien’s throat and then disappeared.

Lennok sensed what Yerien wanted to say and smiled faintly. In this line of work, there was no such thing as favor without compensation. It would be more comfortable for the Cartel’s executives or Chairman if Lennok clearly stated what he wanted. While he couldn’t know if she would grant all of Lennok’s wishes, it was certainly a sufficient condition to get her to the negotiation table.

After that, Lennok immediately took Yerien’s car and headed to the Cartel’s main office. It was located in the downtown area of the underworld, a district of buildings that boasted unparalleled grandeur and dizzying height. Among them, they headed for the Central Headquarters, built with the most flamboyant and grand scale.

Even in broad daylight, hundreds of people busily moved around outside the company, each engrossed in phone calls. The atmosphere was businesslike, hard to believe for a powerhouse of the underworld and a member of The Triad. The Cartel’s main office, which had grown as a corporate conglomerate, possessed both scale and capital comparable to any major corporation.

Yerien immediately started moving, leading Lennok who was quietly looking around.

“Yes. I’m moving with him now. If you could start preparing for the meeting as quickly as possible……”

Walking with a phone in one hand and ceaselessly jotting things down in a notebook with the other, her actions seemed close to a fascinating feat even to Lennok.

“Yes, yes. Understood. First, I’ll check according to the manual, and if instructions come down midway, then immediately…… Ah, has the report already arrived? Understood.”

Yerien hung up the phone and immediately turned to Lennok, saying.

“Director. A report on the situation has just reached the CEO. He wishes to see you immediately, so I will guide you directly to his office.”

“You seem quite used to this kind of work.”

Yerien gave an awkward smile.

“I worked in the secretarial office for quite a long time. I never thought I’d be doing similar work after becoming a registered director…… Ahaha.”

Lennok immediately followed her to the CEO’s office, located on the top floor of the main office.

The CEO’s office was unimaginably vast, occupying an entire floor. In the center of the room, expensive furniture and artworks were conspicuously displayed everywhere.

Virgil, who had been sitting on a long sofa surrounding the room, immediately stood up and approached Lennok as soon as he saw him.

“Van. It’s been a while. Thank you for coming.”

Lennok also smiled, seeing Virgil’s face as he readily extended his hand.

“You have a nice office. Is it okay for a vampire to use a place where the sunlight comes in so well?”

“I don’t know where you heard such strange things, but we don’t believe in such odd superstitions……”

The red-eyed man with a solid, muscular build. Virgil, who had assumed the position of Cartel’s first CEO, paused as he approached Lennok. He stopped speaking and looked at Lennok, his face showing unconcealable surprise.

“…….I truly can’t believe it. Have you found a way to ascend even higher in the meantime?”

“……”

“It feels precarious, like it could explode any moment. There’s no way it would feel like this unless you’re balancing on a threshold.”

“You must have lived a long time, too. I didn’t expect you to recognize it.”

Instead of saying anything else, Lennok shook his head.

Virgil, seemingly affirmed by Lennok’s reaction, let out a sigh with an incredulous expression.

“I see you’re on the verge of transcending Hierarchy. It’s insane. To be walking around so casually in such a state……”

Indeed, unlike others, Virgil seemed to have some idea of the extent of Lennok’s achievements. This was likely because this vampire, who held the position of Cartel’s first CEO, had not only reached the 7th-level attainment but also assisted Chairman Olivera Ron Maize by his side, making him familiar with the Peak of Extremes.

Virgil seated Lennok, then brought something suitable to drink and offered it. Still seemingly not over his surprise, Virgil constantly looked back at Lennok and muttered.

“I truly can’t believe it. You look like a completely different person from when you killed McQueen. I still can’t believe you’re the same being as back then.”

“How long are you going to keep talking about that?”

Despite Lennok’s indifferent reply, Virgil didn’t stop.

“Is a new monster being born……. To prepare for the moment the balance of power collapses, it would ultimately be advisable to step forward……”

“Virgil.”

Bang!!

As Lennok lightly tapped the table, unleashing magical power, Virgil finally looked back at him.

Looking into Virgil’s eyes, which had turned blood-red, Lennok spoke.

“I appreciate you clearing your schedule and arranging a meeting, but I didn’t come here to discuss this matter with you. I came to make a deal.”

“……”

“I want to meet Olivera Ron Maize. I’d like to set up an appointment, can you contact her?”

“……The regular meeting was canceled the moment the attack on the board members was confirmed. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“How long do I have to wait?”

“It’s been over ten years since the Chairman attended a meeting. I’ll probably have to contact her separately.”

Instead of answering directly, Virgil subtly changed the subject.

“More importantly, Merlida succeeded in interrogating the individuals you captured and extracting information.”

“Already? That was faster than I thought.”

Does that mean she already made the captured individuals talk while Yerien was transporting Lennok to the main office? Merlida, the third CEO. As far as Lennok knew, she wasn’t originally human but a long-lived species akin to a giant beast. If she’s capable of interrogating humans despite not being one, she must be quite confident in her abilities.

Virgil carefully watched Lennok’s face and spoke.

“She said it was easy because they couldn’t regain their senses, though she doesn’t know what method you used. Cross-referencing with publicly available personal information, it’s highly likely they are from the Achilles’ Force Response Department’s special forces unit.”

“……Achilles?”

Lennok had indeed heard that name before. It was a military supply company that was never left out when mentioning the colossal corporations reigning in the daylight of the mega-city Vulcan. Wasn’t it the sword of the daylight world, producing and managing AI-based security devices and military equipment, and sometimes even acting as a PMC (Private Military Company)?

“And it’s also the biggest competitor to the currently precarious Dyke Corp.”

Woooong!!

No sooner had Virgil finished speaking than Lennok’s phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

[Dyke Management Planning Team. Panua Bellucci]

Panua’s response, who had been unreachable all day.

Virgil glanced at Lennok’s phone and chuckled.

“Regardless of arranging a meeting with the Chairman, it seems clear that an immediate matter has arisen. Shall we call that friend of yours and talk?”

Virgil, who had been looking out the window where bright sunlight still poured in, his eyes began to turn a terrifying blood-red.

“Regarding the ominous rumors that have started circulating in the city lately, it seems she can provide the most accurate testimony.”