Chapter 423: New Magic System (3)

KWAH-AAAAAH!!

Having lost their target and master, the Military Spirits slowly halt their advance before dissipating and vanishing, and the grand scenery of the Soul Requiem Tower crumbles.

A utterly devastating collapse that completely freezes a person’s mind and memories, shattering their Mind Imprint.

Only Madrich remains, screaming, frozen amidst the debris of the Soul Requiem Tower, at the heart of the Ice Domain that burst out of the Mind Imprint through partial deployment.

A kaleidoscope emerged from the foundation of the power he unleashed with all his might. Within it, the presence of a vast Ice Domain erupted.

Madrich, possessing the powerful intuition befitting an Archmage, realized what an unbelievable miracle it was.

“What… what in the world is this…? How could that… be the mind of a living human…?!”

It was not the past or the present, but a kaleidoscope of a branching point, guaranteeing a future that would not return. He couldn’t comprehend the meaning conveyed by that answer.

He denied it even more because he knew that sight was a miracle that should never exist within a human mind.

If the conviction he had believed in and followed his entire life, the one he thought was the correct answer, had wavered even for a moment, perhaps Madrich Onnion’s journey had already ended at that instant.

“That’s not the answer!! That’s not the answer for our conclusion…!! You are a being that shouldn’t exist!!”

Pierced by dozens of ice pillars, Madrich’s figure, sobbing and wailing like a child, was truly desperate.

Lennok gazed at his pathetic display, then nodded.

“Perhaps.”

“What…?”

“But that’s not an answer others decide for me; it’s an answer I must find myself.”

Lennok raised a hand towards the glacial temple that filled the entire sea, muttering.

“At least I still can… If I have time left, that’s enough.”

“Lesser Binding: Glacial Orb.”

As his five fingers gently curled into a fist, the massive asteroid-like structure of ice began to contract.

It compressed the space, shrinking its scope, and powerfully crushed Madrich’s existence, which had been pierced and fixed within it.

“Others won’t leave you alone…! The City Council will never stop here!!!”

“That’s not your concern.”

“VAAAN!!!!”

The vast Ice Domain, which had spread across hundreds of meters, completely crumpled and contracted, transforming into a fist-sized orb.

CRUUUUMBLE!!!

A tiny sphere of ice slowly floated in Lennok’s hand.

Yet, the being Lennok had fixed within it was none other than Madrich Onnion himself, an 8-level Archmage.

The ice sphere, which had been constantly vibrating and rattling, slowly settled onto Lennok’s palm and simultaneously fell silent.

At the same time, the vast sea, which had been frozen solid, began to return to its original state.

SWOOOOSH!!!

“Hoo…”

Leaning against the collapsed iron gate of the naval base, he embraced the biting sea wind.

Clutching the frozen ice sphere in his hand, Lennok weakly looked up at the night sky.

Another arduous battle had ended, and Lennok had not yet lost his way.

A former Chief Justice and an 8-level Military Spirit Sorcerer. He was a formidable opponent who should not have been faced at this stage, and the cost was equally harsh.

The continuous use of blink spells exploiting the loophole in his spell arsenal, and the long-delayed construction of a new magic system.

If Lennok hadn’t found answers to these two problems, he would have struggled to calculate his chances of victory.

Let alone capturing Madrich Onnion as he had, he might not even have been able to guarantee his own survival.

THUD!!

On the coast, where the kaleidoscope of the Domain and the spiral of the magic system had lost their light and vanished, Lennok, bearing the full brunt of his injuries, buried his head in the sand.

The little fox spirit, wriggling out from his embrace, cautiously called out to Lennok.

“Master…”

“…I told you not to come out yet.”

Lennok stroked Davi’s head with a wry smile.

Bringing out a spirit carelessly in front of a Military Spirit Sorcerer who could manipulate spirits more perfectly than Lennok himself, one never knew what might happen.

“Your body’s metabolism is rapidly decreasing. If you don’t receive emergency treatment immediately, considering Master’s regeneration, it’s too dangerous.”

“Right…”

He could no longer feel his fingertips.

The searing pain in his side had also disappeared, leaving only a dull fatigue.

They said the truly dangerous moment was when you couldn’t even feel pain.

If that was true, Lennok’s current condition was by no means something to laugh off.

“I’ll contact the broker right away. Or perhaps it’s better to call the mercenary group?”

It had been a long time since his entire body had been so battered.

It was amusing to see the rare panic in the cyber-spirit he had created and nurtured, but he couldn’t just lie there in the cold wind like this.

“It’s okay… I made a deal… One signal, and she’ll come running… Just contact… her…”

With trembling hands, Lennok pulled out his mobile phone from his embrace and dropped it in front of Davi.

There was still work to do before the effects of the medicine wore off and he passed out.

Outermost edge of the Western Continent.

The Paraghini Republic, ruined by a long war.

A lawless zone where Dominic Cabaro, known as the Drug Kingpin, had seized power, but had now plunged back into chaos after he fell into an unknown coma.

Above the remnants of civilization, where there was no order or law, and only bandits wielding guns and magic like weapons ran rampant.

A woman with the body of a spider was traversing the webs strung across the void.

“Yes, Dominic’s condition is still the same. The possibility of him waking up seems low going forward.”

Agneta, a member of Pandemonium.

A descendant of an ancient species, she was skilled in manipulation spells using spider webs, and possessed a special ability to traverse imaginary dimensions at will, serving as a messenger across the entire continent.

“It would be good to start considering when to hand him over to the Doctor. I recommend dealing with it before attention shifts to the central front.”

She continued to mutter as if conversing with someone, but to an observer, it just looked like she was talking to herself in mid-air.

“I’m heading to the Southern Continent jungle now. Gye-baek’s movements are unusual. I’ll confirm and report separately to the commander–”

CRASH-BOOM-BOOM!!!

At that moment, the cloud-covered sky of the Paraghini Republic split in two, revealing a clear blue expanse between them.

Agneta, who had been staring at the suddenly open sky without any forewarning, sharply changed the direction of her legs.

“I’ll talk to you later, for now.”

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!!

She traveled along her webs towards the epicenter of the impact where the sky had split in two.

Through abandoned forests, ruins, factory districts, and vacant lots, to the center of a mountain of scrap metal where discarded military supplies were piled high.

At the end of a field filled with old scrap metal as far as the horizon,

The figure of a massive giant, steaming profusely from its entire body, could be seen.

KWOOOOH…!!

Its massive body was covered in black scales, and a tail as thick as a steel rebar firmly balanced it like a counterweight.

Agneta, recognizing the opponent at a glance, frowned.

“Ugh… Of all places…”

Among the countless powerhouses in Pandemonium, he was one of the very few monsters whose power and scale were on a different level.

Fewer than five beings within Pandemonium could converse with him on equal terms.

It was a situation where retreat was impossible as he had entered her field of vision.

Agneta let out a small sigh and cautiously landed hundreds of meters behind the crocodile giant, Croken Asylus.

“A spider, then.”

Croken said without turning around.

The steam billowing from between his scales, like a living engine, made the giant even more imposing.

“What brings you here?”

“That’s what I’d like to ask, Asylus.”

Agneta said, subtly shifting her gaze.

“I don’t mind you moving on your own, ignoring the commander’s request, but being this conspicuous is troublesome.”

“…”

“The Paraghini Republic is still part of the plan. I hope you don’t just smash everything indiscriminately.”

Croken turned his bright yellow eyes to her face and replied.

“An 8-level Archmage just died.”

“…What?”

As Agneta blinked, taken completely by surprise, Croken muttered.

“I don’t know who it was, but a high-level curse that was weighing down my body just disappeared. Because of that, I failed to control my power.”

“…”

It was unknown how many monsters and grievances Croken Asylus, who had lived as a battle mercenary for a long time, had accumulated.

However, it was astounding that the monstrous power he had unhesitatingly unleashed until now had been exerted while carrying a curse directly bestowed by an Archmage on his body.

Who would believe that the power that had just cleared the cloudy sky was due to the disappearance of a curse that had been weighing down his body?

Steam billowed from his entire body due to the frantically accelerating metabolism.

Croken, who had been quietly looking down at his own body, abruptly let go of what he was holding.

It was the terribly deceased body of a young man, having lost all human form.

Croken stared at the young man’s corpse with an indifferent gaze, then spun around.

“I had my doubts, but it’s still outrageous. In the end, is he the only one who truly captures my attention…? I don’t like coming to the same conclusion as that black wizard…”

As the crocodile giant clicked his tongue and took a step forward, he instantly brushed past Agneta without a sound or trace.

The terrifying sight of a massive body, weighing several tons, silently traversing hundreds of meters and vanishing.

Behind Agneta, who stood dazed, only Croken’s vanished voice echoed.

“Find out who the dead sorcerer was. I’ll be waiting in the jungle.”

Agneta, left alone with the youth’s fallen corpse, muttered with a hollow voice.

“…You were listening to everything from the beginning?”

SWOOOSH!!

The sound of waves filled the quiet coastline.

At the end of the early dawn, as it slowly broke and tapped on his eyelids, Madrich opened his eyes.

“Where is this…?”

“This is the end of the dream, Onnion.”

As if answering his question, a powerful, ringing voice came from right beside him.

Madrich, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu from the woman’s voice, abruptly turned his head and let out a hollow laugh.

“Indeed… It was you after all.”

A fluttering robe. Hair braided so long its length was immeasurable, cascading down.

And the immensely powerful magic flowing from her body.

Olivera Ron Maize. The Chairman of the Cartel and an 8-level Archmage, she had been waiting beside him instead of Lennok for him to awaken.

Her two eyes, now uncovered after removing the veil that always hid her face, sparkled with dazzling brilliance.

Madrich looked into her eyes, then subtly glanced down at his own body and nodded.

“You’ve suspended my state with the power of those eyes. Is that the Seven Debts Jewels Mystic Eye, which observes and fixes only the results of causality?”

The moment Madrich Onnion was fixed and sealed within Lennok’s Ice Domain, his existence was practically meaningless.

It was the complete freezing that collapsed not only the lives of living beings but also their thoughts and Mind Imprints.

It was natural that ordinary life, as well as Madrich himself, who had transformed into a Military Spirit, could not fully maintain their form.

Was it not purely Olivera’s power that his consciousness, which should have dissipated the moment his existence was sealed, remained here?

She had observed Madrich’s spirit, which was on the verge of disappearing, with her Mystic Eye, forcibly holding his existence to this reality.

“It’s a power far too weak to meddle with fate, but it’s sufficient to hold onto a dying old hag for a while.”

Olivera said, turning her radiant gaze towards Madrich.

“Just as the old men who borrowed your power so desperately wished.”

He laughed, unperturbed by her sarcasm about Madrich’s actions in bewitching high-ranking City Government officials using Military Spirit Sorcery.

“Interfering with causality using an innate ability… It makes sense that you abandoned the project midway and focused on research. Or, perhaps, you already had a premonition of failure back then?”

“…”

There was no answer.

The two sat silently on the coastline for a while, watching the horizon as dawn broke.

“You don’t have much time, do you?”

Madrich said disinterestedly.

“If you have business, why don’t you finish it and leave already?”

“We still have something to confirm with each other.”

Olivera replied casually.

“That’s why I specifically asked Adamant Thunder.”

At her words, Madrich scoffed.

“At your age, to have such a young punk do your dirty work… You’re truly at your wit’s end.”

“Hmph… That’s not wrong. But if you’ve met Van, you’d know, wouldn’t you?”

“…”

“He’s a man who constantly tests and evaluates not only others but also himself. We don’t know if he’ll be the right answer, but he certainly has the qualification to stand before the conclusion.”

“He’s a monster.”

Madrich spoke with difficulty. His voice trembled, more evident than he could hide.

“He wasn’t a vessel that could be called human. It wasn’t the form of an answer that a living person could possess. It wasn’t simply reality; it was completely, unfathomably…!!”

Olivera gazed silently at Madrich, who was trembling, unable to continue his words, then turned her head.

“You said even seeing it wouldn’t make sense, and it was true.”

“…”

Had not even Parden McQueen, the First Director who had served Olivera for decades, lost his life to that power?

While she hadn’t expected even Madrich Onnion, an 8-level Archmage who transcended Hierarchy, to say such a thing, it was natural that Lennok’s Mind Imprint harbored a very peculiar underlying power.

No, the very fact that there were no rumors whatsoever about his ability and the sight itself was proof of how dangerous that sight was.

Did an unfathomable, demonic landscape, incomprehensible even to an old hag who had lived on battlefields for decades, slumber within that man’s mind?

Madrich’s trembling shoulders slowly settled at Olivera’s calm words.

“Yes… What good would it do to say such things now? It’s absurd, but perhaps it was already over the moment I thought that sight wasn’t so bad.”

“…”

“If there’s a possibility that only that man can choose, then he, not I, should be the one to move forward.”

What kind of sight had he encountered, for this arrogant Military Spirit Sorcerer to have changed so much?

Olivera felt a surge of curiosity in her heart but shook her head, not forgetting her predetermined objective.

“Not everything is over yet. I can still grant you a sliver of time to witness the conclusion.”

“You want to make a deal?”

Madrich let out a hollow laugh.

“You’ve already recovered all the Military Spirits that were under my command, so what do you want now?”

If Olivera was the first to appear at this abandoned naval base where Lennok and Madrich had fought fiercely, then none of this could be a coincidence.

The reason Madrich Onnion had been able to exert such immense influence over the City Government’s high-ranking officials even after stepping down as Chief Justice.

Olivera had come here precisely to reclaim and obtain the spirits and bodies of those high-ranking City Government officials whom he had held hostage.

Knowing this, Madrich couldn’t understand what she wanted from him.

“Of course, the spirits you held will be used as leverage to regain my access rights from the City Government.”

“That’s right.”

“But what you can do is not yet over.”

Olivera said, her Mystic Eye sparkling.

“Now that you’ve lost most of the power of Military Spirit Sorcery and are fading, haven’t the restrictions placed upon you also weakened?”

“Wait, surely you don’t mean…”

Only then did Madrich’s eyes widen as he realized what Olivera wanted.

“The chains of restriction Alkaid placed upon us. This is the only opportunity to gauge their limits.”

He heard the sound of waves crashing.

The collapsed Soul Requiem Tower. The endless end of a dream.

“In exchange for revealing the knowledge bound by the restriction here, I will arrange for a spare body remaining in your laboratory.”

Olivera smiled, standing one step before the landscape where everything Madrich had dreamed of became meaningless.

“The secret about Alkaid. What happened to him at the end of the project. We’ll begin once Adamant Thunder regains consciousness.”