Chapter 454: The Well’s Boundary (4)

Tricking the altar’s timeline, turning it back to the moment the Well opened.

Only after hearing that did Lennok realize why The Clown had been chosen as the commander for this grand operation.

The Well of the Codex, unlike Jindun’s Labyrinth, was a magical realm on a different plane from the battleground of ideas.

In essence, it was closer to a sanctuary, like the Lighthouse of the previous Lighthouse Keeper, where an Ascendant, who had inherited a mission, resided.

Just as the Lighthouse continued to its successors after the previous Lighthouse Keeper’s death, the Well also possessed parts that operated through rules, regardless of the Ascendant’s will.

The Clown, aiming for that part, intended to open the Well not by changing its rules, but by tricking the very environment to which the rules applied.

[Then, I’ll begin the appropriate timeline adjustment now.]

As he touched the circular ring hanging over the altar with his long, crooked fingers, flames flowing between his fingers ignited the altar.

Simultaneously, the heavily rusted altar began to vibrate slightly, shaking off the accumulated rust and moss.

Screeeech…!!

[Solar, lunar, or any standard calendar—as long as I find a baseline, it won’t take long. The real challenge is after that.]

Clink, clink, clink…!!

As the hunchbacked demon struck the rings in front of the altar as if playing a piano, unknown ancient characters emerged and resonated all around.

The Clown skillfully rearranged and fitted these characters all over the altar, while incessantly muttering incomprehensible words.

The circular ring constructed on the altar slowly rotated counter-clockwise, distorting.

The process of forcibly tricking the altar’s timeline and observing its reactions.

The alien landscape visible from the incredibly high altar was nothing short of proof that The Clown was truly manipulating the timeline itself with illusion magic.

Lennok watched the scene silently, arms crossed, narrowing his eyes.

‘If a specialty-based spell reaches that level, does it transcend Hierarchy…?’

Judging by The Clown’s demeanor, it was clear this wasn’t the first or second time he had entered such a state.

Had he been toying with his own Hierarchy and somehow managed to cling to life until now using forbidden human sacrifice rituals?

Lennok briefly speculated about the level The Clown’s illusion magic had reached but realized it was of no great significance and stopped.

Even using forbidden magic, handling one’s own Hierarchy in such a way was excessively dangerous.

But wasn’t it necessary to acknowledge the fact that there were indeed irregulars, like The Clown, who weren’t bound by Hierarchy?

It was unknown if The Clown possessed military might comparable to Myeong or Croken.

But it was certain that the monster now forcibly reversing the altar’s timeline possessed a unique and alien talent comparable to theirs.

The quality of a joker, becoming more special than anyone else under limited and specific conditions.

Quite literally, a being most suited to the identity of The Clown.

[Oh? The date calculation is wrong. Did these guys not have a Friday?]

At that moment, The Clown, who had been excitedly striking the altar, tilted his head.

[Hmm, it seems I can’t precisely align the timeline for the Well to open like this.]

“Is there another way?”

At Lennok’s words, The Clown glanced down at the altar and grinned.

[Looks like we’re screwed?]

“……”

An irresponsible remark that instantly undermined the abilities Lennok had secretly rated highly.

Just as Lennok sighed and was about to step onto the altar, The Clown chuckled.

[Just kidding. It seems the day for offerings wasn’t included in their calendar. If I just add that as a variable and repeat simple calculations, I should be able to get it done on time.]

“I don’t need to hear every step of the process.”

[Then, could you check the area around the altar for any potential variables? It’ll be hard to start anyway until Reiya is ready.]

“……”

Lennok distanced himself from The Clown, who had once again begun concentrating on tricking the altar’s timeline.

Even if he said that, tricking time through illusion magic itself couldn’t be easy. A certain amount of time would definitely be needed.

Even at this moment, the sky was turning pitch black, and the sensory range that had spread throughout the jungle was closing in.

Not only Lennok’s mana detection, but even communications reaching the middle of the jungle were gradually cutting off.

Lennok, idly pulling out his phone from inside his robe, checked the messages that had arrived and furrowed his brow.

[Mr. Evan, I apologize for not being able to relay news from the Lighthouse recently.]

It was because the message was from Lapis, of all people.

[Our main Eyes of Blue unit is repeatedly advancing and retreating along the path from the far eastern Fracture Valley towards the center. Communication is difficult as it’s out of range, but there’s news I absolutely must convey, so I’m contacting you belatedly.]

The message, beginning with those words, surprisingly contained more than just a simple greeting.

[There will be a great disturbance in the southernmost part of the continent. The power dynamics of organizations based in the south will fluctuate greatly. The Eyes of Blue has concluded not to intervene in this matter.]

“……”

[If you happen to get involved with the jungle, you absolutely must not go there. Please understand that it’s difficult to explain in a mere letter. I will tell you separately later. See you soon.]

Lennok, after reading the message, immediately pressed the delete button and found himself smiling bitterly.

What expression would the young Lighthouse Keeper make if she knew Lennok was already in the middle of the jungle?

Lennok understood what Lapis was trying to say, but it was too late to heed her warning.

“The send time was already… three days ago.”

The message was sent around the time he entered Pandemonium wearing his mask, so he was late in checking it.

No wonder Watchers like Gap-seon seemed uninterested in the jungle, despite the scale of this matter. Had they decided to ignore it entirely?

From Lapis’s message, he would probably hear the reason why they decided to withdraw from this matter later. That was enough.

As Lennok thought that, he returned to the altar and confirmed the increasingly violent reverse rotation of the ring.

At that moment, a flash of light from beyond the city instantly traversed a great distance and struck The Clown’s back.

KABOOM!!!

As a bluish column of light erupted from the altar, a massive storm of heat swept through the area.

Dozens of Glen, collapsed with their hearts exposed, were incinerated and melted by the heat.

The stench of burning superhuman corpses filled the entire square at that moment.

Throughout the square, hundreds of people simultaneously began to surround the area.

“Atren Kizad.”

And then, a chilling female voice from behind Lennok.

“Your face is so distorted I almost didn’t recognize you. And I certainly didn’t expect you to be messing around in a magical realm like this.”

Flaming red hair and a thick coat. And intense flames rippling all over her body.

It was clear who was the source of the immense, artillery-like flames that had just been shot at The Clown’s back.

Lennok realized the face shimmering within the flames was familiar and frowned slightly.

One of the Five Flame Pillars of Blaiver Magic Tower, the artillery mage known as the Witch of Conflagration, Tatiana Chiglet.

The mage who came from the Central Front to resolve the situation with White Lion Turan, a Pandemonium member who caused trouble in the Western Continent branch.

A seasoned combatant, familiar even with Evelyn Marcia, had coincidentally come to this jungle.

[A familiar face, indeed.]

The Clown, seemingly unable to completely ignore her, released one hand from the altar and turned his head.

Quickly surveying the individuals surrounding the square, he nodded with a small exclamation of surprise.

[Have you allied with the Headro Warlords, the Redding Revolutionary Army, and the Ability Unfolding Vanguard? For a proud Magic Tower, that’s a wise choice. Of all places… Tch.]

It seemed she had achieved something significant since he last saw her; the mana swirling around her had become even more intense.

“You’re looking well. Been eating and living well after toying with and killing one of our Flame Pillars, have you?”

As Tatiana lightly breathed into both her hands, flames surged like waves, one by one, beginning to rise into the air.

“You seem to be tampering with the Well of the Codex. In that state, you won’t be able to budge from the altar until you drop dead.”

Flame-attribute Unique Magic Property Transformation: Manifestation of Emission [발산현현]

[Crimson Link [적련통]]

[Karmic Flame [업화]]

[Sixty-Fourfold Transformation [육십사중화]: Grand Resonance [태공명]]

WHOOOSH!!!

Three artifacts floating around her body resonated, amplifying their power and stabilizing mana circulation…

Dozens of long, sharp spears of crimson flame, appearing several meters long, rose into the air and then poured down like rain.

“Let’s see you try to block this.”

[Thousand-House Fire Rain [방천화우]]

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!!!!

In an instant, the entire square was engulfed in massive flames, beginning to explode wildly.

With the heat and firepower continuously erupting like artillery barrages in the middle of the jungle, the other forces surrounding the square were disoriented.

Lennok, too, hid himself beneath a nearby stone pillar, raising his shield to its maximum.

‘What firepower…!’

There was no information that Tatiana Chiglet had achieved significant progress in the meantime, so she must still be a 7th-level Holy Wizard.

But the barrage she unleashed was so intensely spectacular that even Lennok found it difficult to endure.

Her magic, honed in the Central Front, which was akin to a magical realm, had already achieved power transcending Hierarchy within her specialized field of artillery.

A rain of indiscriminate bombardment unilaterally unleashed upon a vast area, without any checks or opposition.

The flames were so intense that the sky, darkened by Kebaek’s appearance, momentarily flashed red.

[Victor!]

The Clown, too, seemed somewhat flustered, turning his gaze towards the altar and shouting.

[Buy me some time until Reiya is ready. Can you do it?!]

“…I’ll try. Don’t expect too much.”

Elite soldiers of the Headro Warlords, special forces of the Ability Unfolding Vanguard, inquisitors of the Redding Revolutionary Army. And the artillery mages of Blaiver Magic Tower.

There wasn’t a single organization he hadn’t heard of, and the superhumans belonging to them were formidable.

Similar to Tatiana, who was pouring artillery fire here, three other superhumans, commanding their respective organizations, were fiercely observing the situation.

If Tatiana’s bombardment was deemed ineffective, the leaders of the warlords, the revolutionary army, and the vanguard would also begin to move.

He needed to buy time until The Clown could trick the altar’s timeline and forcibly open the Well.

With Glen dead and Reiya not ready, what could Lennok, left alone, possibly do now?

Amidst the ceaseless bombardment, Lennok carefully observed Tatiana, narrowing his eyes.

Three red-glowing artifacts rotated behind Tatiana’s back. He realized that all her mana was being amplified through those artifacts.

An oval mirror with red threads, a constantly clicking and writhing red cube, and a blue ring circling her waist.

Though it was his first time seeing them with his own eyes, Lennok had no difficulty guessing their identity and nodded.

‘Are they all spell armaments, equivalent to weapons of war?’

Spell Armaments [술식병장].

A term referring to a set of artifacts combined by high-level spellcasters for combat, each composed of artifacts that amplify the user’s combat power to its extreme.

For a mana user, while personal achievement and Mind Imprint awareness are crucial, equally important is the existence of diverse and powerful artifacts.

And the spell armaments used by Tatiana, who had long survived in the Central Front, would almost certainly be items that amplify her artillery abilities to their limit.

Hundreds of superhumans surrounding the grand thoroughfare of the square, spread out like a massive airport runway, also held powerful artifacts in their hands, even if not to the same extent as Tatiana.

His contemplation was brief.

‘Davi.’

[Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Mana Conversion Spell: Activation preparation complete.]

Davi, hidden within Lennok’s thick robe, replied as if she had been waiting.

Simultaneously, the spirit’s tail swelled into four branches, transforming into a Four-Tailed Fox, and at the same time, Davi’s body began to grow inside the robe.

Rumble!!

As Davi’s body swelled with her gigantification spell, Lennok’s robe frantically bulged and expanded.

Other superhumans who witnessed this gasped, pointing and whispering.

“Beneath that flame, the movement is unusual. Check it out.”

“It’s beneath the ruined bridge in the square…”

“Is that a body transformation mage?”

“No, just looking at that size, it feels more like an ancient demi-human…”

It wasn’t a surprising reaction.

From the outside, it wouldn’t be strange if Lennok’s body appeared to be transforming into a bizarre shape.

Davi’s body swelled, making the robe look as if it would tear, but the elasticity of the robe, made from shadow fabric brought from Palgung Fortress, was immense.

Davi, having completed her gigantification inside the robe, embraced Lennok with her four tails and then rotated her mana.

[Grrr-grrr-grrr…!!]

With a somewhat clumsy roar, Davi’s mana spread outwards in circular waves across the square.

In response, Lennok also unhesitatingly pulled out the Compassion of the Archangel from within his robe.

A creation-type unique magic [Yeoncheong [연청]], which temporarily disables artifacts by combining the hacking ability of the Cyber Spirit and the spatial transference of the Compassion of the Archangel.

It was a magic that inflicted devastating damage even when used on the Arashak Relic Expedition Team via Chain Lightning.

What about the combination of Davi, now a Four-Tailed Fox, and Lennok, who had enhanced his Compassion ability by consuming the Archangel’s Tear?

Creation-type Unique Magic: Alchemy Application Triple Forging [삼중연성] Mana Thread Catalyst Interference Cyber Projection Reality Distortion Spatial Transference Wide Area Deployment

[Great Luo Yeoncheong [대라연청]]

CRACKLECRACKLECRACKLE!!!

Hundreds and thousands of mana threads spread across the entire square. The tenacious Cyber Spirit’s illusion flowed along the thin threads.

As the invisible waves swept through the square along the threads, they adhered to the artifacts held by the superhumans, stiffening them.

“Wh-what?!”

“Is it the Well’s power…?!”

The Great Luo Yeoncheong wave unleashed by Lennok swept through the superhuman forces surrounding the square and charged, engulfing the three artifacts rotating behind Tatiana’s back.

Fzzzt…!!

“…!!!”

As the artifacts’ durability and power were extraordinary, their functions weren’t completely destroyed, but a sharp drop in efficiency was natural.

The countless rain of fire pouring down on the square drastically reduced its scale, and the explosion range diminished.

At the same time, The Clown, having escaped the aftermath of the bombardment, immediately began preparations to summon the Well.

Seeing this, the leaders of each faction began to move, gritting their teeth.

“That crazy bastard finally…!!”

“Do you want to see the entire Southern Jungle collapse?!”

“If the Well of the Codex appears, Kebaek won’t be stopped anymore. We must stop it by any means necessary!!”

“The Magic Tower’s bombardment has lost its effectiveness. We will take the vanguard and replace them!!”

Thump-thump-thump-thump!!

Hundreds of superhumans poured out from all four directions almost simultaneously, as if on cue.

Their target was the pyramid-like altar, rising sky-high in the center of the square.

They instinctively knew that things would spiral out of control the moment The Clown opened the Well of the Codex and summoned the Ascendant.

As physical ability users charged ahead, speed and impact comparable to armored vehicles surged towards all sides of the square.

Some of them headed towards Lennok, who had orchestrated this entire situation.

CRASH!!!

“Catch the transformation mage!!”

“He’s hiding a very powerful artifact inside his robe, find it!!”

“We need to break the artifacts’ paralysis!!”

But Lennok, instead of blinking away from the superhumans charging at him, subtly retreated and looked down at his feet.

“It’s time.”

Immediately after, the ground beneath the superhumans charging at Lennok collapsed, and something massive surged upwards.

BOOM!!

[KIIIIEEEEK!!]

It bounced the surrounding superhumans in all directions with a mere flick of its body and let out a foul cry.

A house-sized toad with striking sky-blue skin.

As it cried, it frantically glowed, spewing breath mixed with potent venom in all directions.

“Ugh, ugh…!!”

“What is this?!”

The startled superhumans instinctively recoiled, only to be trampled to death by thick legs crashing down from behind their heads.

CRUNCH!!

[Oooohhh!!]

Elephants with blood-red eyes charged through the jungle from outside the square towards Lennok.

The elephants, having lost their shaman masters and wandering the jungle, were now converging on this location en masse at a specific time.

Not only that, but all sorts of jungle beasts began to appear from various directions.

Four-legged creatures made entirely of mud, anteaters with long flickering tongues, pumas covered in thorns, and four-headed moles appeared from all sides, drooling, biting, and clawing at the superhumans’ heads and feet.

All of them had lost their minds, rampaging and indiscriminately attacking everything that moved.

It was natural for the superhuman units charging towards the altar to fall into immediate chaos.

Lennok, observing the square that had turned into a mess, subtly began to withdraw.

‘I didn’t expect it to work this well.’

A lure that drove magical beasts into rut, obtained in exchange for returning the Blood Spirit Tribe’s artifact.

Lennok had modified that lure using alchemy to spread its effects more strongly.

He thought it would only buy a little time, but he never imagined it would attract all the magical beasts of the jungle to this extent.

Although it was far more effective than he’d imagined, this should be enough to buy time.

And in that brief time Lennok had created, Reiya began to move before The Clown.

WHOOOOMM…!!

A sharp vibrating sound echoed through the jungle sky.

Immediately after realizing it was a microphone sound emanating through speakers, someone’s singing began to reverberate in the sky.

Aaaahhhhhh…!!