Chapter 413: Master of Military Spirits (3)

“Military Spirit Magic.”

I haven’t deeply considered the existence of souls, but I’m aware of how Military Spirit Magic deals with similar concepts.

It’s a way of handling spirits. A different order that harnesses another kind of power, unlike existing spells.

However, that doesn’t truly mean it probes and takes souls.

Military Spirit Magic is merely a method of defining and discussing human potential and capabilities in an ethereal form.

It was left at a crossroads, distinct in its roots and direction from the various spells utilizing mana, eventually earning the name Military Spirit Magic.

Madric Onnion softly whispered towards Lennok, who had fallen silent.

[If it’s a vessel with both your talent and disposition, I am willing to treat you without being overbearing.]

“…”

[You’ve been chasing the remnants of the project because you’re curious about what this city dreams of and what it resents, haven’t you?]

Does he accurately understand why Lennok got involved in this matter?

[I will grant you the qualification to touch that secret. Why we still haven’t escaped the project’s failure, and why we are now trying to start a new project.]

In his calm voice, declaring this, there was not a tremor or a hint of hesitation.

A madness, like a conviction, that he absolutely believed his path was righteous.

But Lennok knew that this madness was by no means incorrect or wrong in this world.

What is needed to create meaning beyond a non-existent hope?

That in this world with a predetermined end, what can leave its will until the very last might be the obsession and twisted resentment, scraped from the bottom.

Lennok had vaguely realized this a long time ago.

“Those words don’t really resonate with me.”

Lennok, who had been quietly listening to him, replied.

“I heard that the secrets of the project are under a Prohibition Edict, making it difficult to reveal them externally.”

[…]

Lennok looked back at the pile of corpses with broken necks and smiled.

“A Prohibition Edict on secrets is like a knot tied with one’s own power… For a strong person like you, it must be hard to break such a promise. What should I trust to accept your offer?”

Madric Onnion, who had been silent, spoke.

[It seems Olivera Ron Maize told you more than I expected. What a truly old enmity.]

“…”

[But I am different from that woman who lost access to the project. Even if I cannot tell you with my mouth, I can show you with your own two eyes.]

Is he planning to personally show him the secret facility in the restricted zone to win Lennok over?

As Lennok briefly fell silent at the unexpected proposal, Madric Onnion continued.

[Your origin, past, and your actions defying the City Government until now are no problem. This colossal city has embraced even such rebels and used them as its strength.]

“…”

[Normally, I wouldn’t even allow time for such contemplation… but even that anguish pleases me.]

Perhaps Lennok’s attitude, seemingly unconcerned despite fully recognizing Madric Onnion’s identity and power, was quite satisfying to him.

From his perspective, having gone through long wars, it wasn’t strange that the defiance of criminals who vehemently opposed him felt more familiar than the subordinates who bowed their heads before him.

[I will have a message delivered through Achilles’s personnel. The choice is yours.]

Whoosh…!!

Madric Onnion did not wait for Lennok’s reply.

In the place where his intense will had swept past, only the corpse of a man, fallen like a broken-stringed puppet, remained.

A dreadful appearance, riddled with wounds all over his body. A bizarre rigor mortis with a twisted neck. A vacant, hardened face.

Is this the end of a superhuman subjugated under a sorcerer by Military Spirit Magic?

But instead of feeling unnecessary pity for the gang boss who had been used and then died by Madric Onnion, Lennok immediately grabbed his corpse and placed a hand on its forehead.

“Davi. Ready?”

[Of course.]

Simultaneously, a massive scroll unfurled behind Lennok, and the spell written within it began to glow.

The spell-weapon Papyrus Argenteus, brought from Jindun’s Hanghasa Labyrinth.

It was an item that allowed pre-prepared barrier formations to be remembered and used immediately, previously serving as a mana reservoir, but now it was different.

As the complex barrier formation inscribed on the Papyrus glowed, it captured the faint spirit emanating from the fallen man’s body, whose eyes were rolled back.

Whizzz…!!!

An ethereal prison created using Jindun’s barrier magic.

It was one of the spells clearly passed down in his memory, easy enough for Lennok, who wasn’t familiar with the concept of spirits, to handle.

[Recording variables different from existing spell patterns. Data packet copy complete. Preparing for ethereal pattern subdivision implementation.]

As Lennok, who had unfurled the massive scroll behind him, formed hand signs, Davi assisted with computational power.

[Military Spirit replication complete.]

Fwoosh…!!

At that moment, the Military Spirit confined within the scroll Lennok had unfurled escaped the Papyrus and vanished.

Although the trace of the Military Spirit was lost before his eyes, Lennok’s expression did not change at all.

This was because an ethereal body, precisely identical to the Military Spirit that had been confined within the Papyrus’s barrier formation just moments ago, was glowing madly inside the scroll.

Lennok, gazing intently at the silky smooth surface of the scroll, nodded.

“It’s a success.”

[The Necromancy spell compatibility worked to some extent even with the Military Spirit’s data variables. It’s about a 30% improvement over what we simulated.]

“Because Necromancy must also exist within the category of ethereal spells, like Military Spirit Magic. Even if we can’t analyze all variables, recording and replicating them is possible. This much is enough.”

He wasn’t just aimlessly running around, claiming to track the Military Spirit Sorcerer, Madric Onnion.

The Necromancy spell and AI database he had already obtained when creating the Cyber-Spirit Davi.

He had successfully combined those two pieces of knowledge within Jindun’s barrier formation to temporarily imprison the Military Spirit, and then accurately replicated and acquired its ethereal data.

Stealing the Military Spirit through the barrier formation wasn’t impossible, but if he did, Madric Onnion would also know what Lennok had done.

Lennok had no desire to reveal his plans to Madric Onnion at this point.

Lennok nodded, looking at the Military Spirit replica continuously glowing within the barrier formation drawn on the inside of the scroll.

“It’s not that I’m uninterested in spells that deal with spirits, but it’s not to the extent that I need to learn from someone.”

[A master-like observation, indeed.]

Ignoring Davi’s unenthusiastic reply, Lennok fell into thought.

Regardless of whether it suited his aptitude, he was already aware of how to handle Necromancy and Avatar Bodies.

The Necromancy used by the black wizard Craig Tillion, and the Avatar Body used by Rapperd, the dog-headed giant who was a Watcher of the Eyes of Blue and a priest.

Lennok already understood the methods of dealing with spirits from those two aspects, didn’t he?

It would be a lie to say he had no interest in Military Spirit Magic, but he wasn’t so ignorant or desperate that he needed to go under Madric Onnion to learn it.

Rather, where Madric Onnion had hidden his true body was the more interesting topic.

A quiet morning. Lennok muttered as he walked out of the blood-soaked gang headquarters.

“Madric Onnion said he’s been conducting his duties through Military Spirits for at least decades, right?”

[Shouldn’t rewarding the spirit who suffered so much be the priority?]

“If I use this Military Spirit replica, I might be able to estimate his location to some extent.”

[I proudly suggest, first and foremost, adding another cozy toad house instead of the oily taste of motorcycle electricity….]

“However, with just direction, it’ll be too difficult to find a precise coordinate….”

Lennok, who was about to leave the headquarters, ignoring the Cyber-Spirit protesting wildly by rubbing its paws inside his coat, stopped his steps after seeing something stirring nearby.

“Yata…”

A bronze-skinned young man embracing a trembling leopard, unable to breathe properly.

He, too, didn’t look unharmed, with bones broken in several places throughout his body, but he seemed more concerned about the condition of the leopard accompanying him.

“…”

He had thought all participants died when Madric Onnion used the power of resentment to suppress the area, but this person survived while protecting his leopard?

Although he wasn’t perfectly fine, having failed to fully block it, it was clear that the young man’s skill was considerable.

Lennok looked down at the young man for a moment, then pulled out a small potion from his coat.

He opened the lid and poured the medicine into the gasping leopard’s mouth.

Hiss…!!

“What is this…?”

“An antidote.”

Lennok replied.

“It’s something that neutralizes the effects of drugs. Better than nothing.”

“…”

It was something he always carried a few of, just in case he was pushed to an irreversible state due to drug abuse.

It would probably have some effect even on an animal affected by a potent cocktail of drugs.

Seeing the leopard’s breathing quickly stabilize and begin to purr, Lennok stood up.

“Yata!! Are you okay…?”

“He might have bloody urine; it’s part of the process of expelling impurities, so don’t stop it. He’ll be fine after three days of good rest.”

“That’s surprisingly detailed.”

The young man looked up at Lennok with an admiring expression.

“Adamant Thunder, have you had much experience with this?”

“…Well, something like that.”

It was a bit difficult to call it Lennok’s own experience.

“Because I also have a partner who never listens.”

[Hey!]

“I kept them just in case that guy picked up something weird to eat.”

[Hmph, I’m a spirit with discerning tastes, you know.]

While subtly pressing down on Davi’s wiggling movements inside his coat, the young man, who had struggled to stand up, bowed his head.

“…Thank you very much. I owe you a great debt.”

“Don’t worry about it. If it were a situation where no witnesses should be left, I would have had to kill you instead. My helping you was merely….”

Lennok said that and chuckled.

“That’s enough. You can go now.”

It was too awkward to say that in the young man’s appearance, embracing his dying leopard, Lennok saw himself and Davi overlapping.

Anyway, the moment Madric Onnion recognized Lennok’s identity, there was no longer any reason to maintain the identity of Victor.

The fact that Lennok was in conflict with Achilles was as good as publicly known, so there was no need to silence witnesses by killing them now.

Just as Lennok, thinking this, gathered the Papyrus and was about to turn his back.

“Wait a moment.”

The hesitant young man bowed his head towards the fallen leopard.

He unfastened a collar from the neck of the leopard, which was licking the young man’s cheek, and carefully handed it to Lennok.

“I am a warrior of the Southern Blood Spirit Tribe. I am skilled at observing the future by looking at the stars and finding my brethren.”

“Blood Spirit Tribe, huh….”

It’s a name I remember.

Among the three types of Mystic Eyes Olivera Ron Maize showed Lennok, wasn’t the Mystic Eye of the Northern Leader from the Blood Spirit Tribe?

“If you tie this to your friend who never listens, you’ll be able to find their location by looking at the stars in the night sky, no matter where they are.”

“Hmm, I’m not sure if he’ll like it… but I’ll keep it in mind.”

Lennok said that, took the collar offered by the young man, and put it away.

The young man bowed once more to Lennok, then picked up his leopard and disappeared.

Lennok also turned his back on the blood-soaked gang headquarters and immediately left.

[It’s not needed anyway, since I won’t leave Master’s side.]

Lennok chuckled at Davi’s grumbling.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of putting it on you.”

What meaning would there be in putting such a collar on Davi, who exists on the border between the cyber and reality?

The relationship between a sorcerer and a spirit exists beyond the physical realm, so crossing distances wouldn’t be difficult if summoning and unsummoning were possible.

“However, if we can estimate its location based on a powerful medium, couldn’t it also be used for Military Spirits?”

[Oh?]

Lennok stroked the collar in his hand, watching Davi tilt her head.

“Let’s test if it works even on a Military Spirit replica.”

[An old enmity, huh.]

Olivera Ron Maize’s faint telepathic message echoed within the quiet basement.

[I didn’t know Onnion thought that. We didn’t encounter each other much during the project.]

“Madric Onnion said he could tell me the project’s secret.”

Lennok, his head bowed, touching the workbench, replied.

“He said he couldn’t tell me due to the Prohibition Edict, but he could show me.”

[The scope of the Black Consumer Project was so vast that even core personnel often didn’t have overlapping knowledge.]

“…”

[Excluding that part, he’s probably not wrong.]

Listening to the voice echoing behind him, Lennok put his eye to the lens.

A private underground workshop he had Jenny prepare for him.

Lennok was working on tracking the Military Spirits’ location there, and simultaneously communicating with Olivera Ron Maize through the contact network she had provided.

He had left the laboratory at his home out of concern for the risk of being traced, but there wasn’t a major problem.

The important thing was to estimate the direction and distance the Military Spirit replica was heading, to figure out where Madric Onnion’s Military Spirits were gathered.

He placed the collar inside the Military Spirit’s barrier formation, bound within the Papyrus, and sought the location of the constellation drawn on the back of the collar.

The constellation itself doesn’t move in the night sky, but depending on the viewing angle and luminosity, one can estimate the location of the collared target.

“Hmm…”

A groan escaped Lennok’s lips as he looked into the night sky through the pre-installed telescope.

[Did you really expect things to be that easy?]

Olivera Ron Maize said with a hint of laughter in her voice.

[I never thought you’d obtain an item from the Blood Spirit Tribe, but if it’s something from a half-wit exiled from the tribe, its efficacy won’t be that great.]

“…”

[Onnion said he would send a separate message, so if you truly wish to meet him, following his instructions would be easier.]

“I have no intention of following his wishes without knowing anything.”

Lennok replied, without taking his eyes off the lens.

“At least I need to know where Madric Onnion’s main body is located, and where the remaining spirits gather if the Military Spirit’s physical body disappears.”

[What if that’s impossible?]

“I’ll completely crush Achilles and interrogate its CEO.”

Lennok’s eyes, constantly adjusting the lens’s wide-angle, gleamed coldly.

“If I destroy his desired new project to an irrecoverable level, he’ll react somehow.”

[Reckless.]

Olivera Ron Maize chuckled.

[It would be interesting to watch when you’ll fall at the end of such a precarious tightrope walk.]

Lennok knew it too.

That the unrealistic achievements, reputation, qualifications, and Hierarchy he had built up until now were because he had taken such risks.

However, Olivera Ron Maize did not know that in every moment Lennok had taken risks, there was always a reason and a conviction behind it.

“Be quiet and focus. I didn’t contact you today just for idle chat.”

Saying that, Lennok slowly drew up his senses from deep within his body.

An unpleasant foreign sensation, different from simply handling mana, forcibly blooming and adjusting an innate superpower.

But through it, the output of his Mystic Eyes, directed to both eyes, dispersed, and Lennok’s pupils began to gently rotate.

Only then did Olivera Ron Maize’s laughter abruptly cease, realizing what Lennok was about to do.

[…You’re insane. It’s only just begun to sprout.]

From the beginning, he had no intention of relying solely on the lucky item he obtained from the Blood Spirit Tribe.

The reason Lennok went out of his way to risk creating and preserving a replica of the Military Spirit.

It was so that he could directly observe the result with his Mystic Eyes, which observe the realm of possibilities, and capture other possibilities existing in the same timeline.

If there’s another possibility that the Military Spirit replica could have, wouldn’t it be the main body of the gang boss’s Military Spirit, which was just collected by Madric Onnion?

The left Mystic Eye, which visualizes the realm of possibilities.

And the right Mystic Eye, modeled after The Seven Debts Jewels Mystic Eye, which observes and fixes causal results.

By combining these two abilities and revisiting the constellation’s position observing the Military Spirit replica, it’s possible to confirm a landscape beyond what is visible.

Even if it’s impossible to replicate at Olivera Ron Maize’s level, adding additional meaning to the existing abilities of his Mystic Eyes should be enough.

[It’s impossible to replicate this with just theory. How could you, at a point where the concept of causality isn’t even properly grasped….]

“You can see for yourself now.”

Lennok’s right eye, muttering those words.

Deep within his black pupil, a golden circle slowly began to emerge.