Chapter 469: Madame (2)

A quiet forest located in Sector 41. Through the bushes, a mansion, renovated from a Gothic-style castle, peeks out.

Despite its unique, isolated atmosphere, it was close enough for the bustling downtown area to be visible to the naked eye.

It was, in effect, a real forest situated next to a forest of orderly soaring buildings.

It was an open secret that Madame ran her broker business from this mansion.

In the spacious lobby inside the mansion, dozens of people sat around haphazardly, each holding drinks or drugs.

Elaborately sculpted statues, lavish furniture, and dozens of people sprawled between the stairs and railings.

They were most likely freelancers working with Madame.

With so many freelancers already drunk in broad daylight, even Jenny’s bar wasn’t this lax.

Was it beyond not caring about authority, but rather having no interest in such things at all?

Lennok thought so, sweeping his gaze across the lobby.

Unlike the castle’s ancient exterior, its interior was filled with modern amenities like state-of-the-art elevators, refrigerators, display cases, and cartridges.

Pool tables and bowling lanes, a standing bar with soft lighting in one corner, a boxing ring, arcade games, and people chuckling amidst a violent game of darts.

Clear evidence, at least, that Madame cared about creating various environments for her freelancers.

As Lennok stood near the lobby entrance, leaning on his staff, a young man who noticed his presence approached and asked,

“Are you looking for someone?”

“I have business with Madame.”

Lennok said, glancing over.

In response, Ryan Aiter, who was holding the unconscious body of a vampire, threw it onto the floor.

Thud!!

“It’s vampire business. Can you deal with it as quickly as possible?”

“My apologies.”

The young man smiled wryly.

“If you’re looking to place a direct commission, perhaps, but meeting Madame directly is impossible.”

“……”

“I’ll contact the higher-ups first. Please wait a moment.”

“Direct commission, huh…”

Lennok, having done similar work extensively himself, held no prejudice against the freelance profession, but who would want to entrust work to Madame’s freelancers after seeing this spectacle?

Just as he was about to put a little weight on his staff, a sticky voice came from below his feet.

“It’s how Madame manages her associates.”

A man with a red face from drink grinned widely.

“The commissions she brokers pay well, but she often picks and chooses her people. To put it negatively, the cost-effectiveness is poor, so she improves the working environment with her own money.”

“……”

“No matter how much they eat, drink, take drugs, or inject stimulants, Madame doesn’t care. She just procures everything they need for their work.”

The man said, shaking the glass in his hand.

The liquor trickled out as he leaned against a nearby staircase, but he paid it no mind.

“Since we’re handling jobs Madame brings in, not external commissions, few people bother with outside guests. You’ll have to understand that.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“Oh? I just figured guys who make faces like yours when they come to this mansion are always wondering about similar things.”

The man rummaged through a discarded box nearby, pulled out a thick cigar, and ostentatiously waved it in front of Lennok’s eyes.

“Shevier 18444. Something that can’t even be compared to that no-brand product you’re smoking.”

“……”

“How about it? Adamant Thunder, if you work under Madame, you could enjoy all sorts of things like this.”

“Hey.”

Only then did Ryan Aiter’s expression stiffen slightly, realizing this drunkard knew Lennok’s identity.

Perhaps it was the man’s unhesitant approach, even knowing Lennok was affiliated with Jenny’s company, that made him uncomfortable.

But Lennok knew from the moment he entered this mansion that quite a few people had recognized him.

Because from the moment he clicked his silver staff and walked into the lobby, he felt dozens of senses turn towards him.

They acted as if they were drunk on drugs, laughing and chatting, not caring about outsiders, but their senses were never dulled.

These were powerful individuals, skilled enough for Madame to personally scout them. They wouldn’t forget their duties, even when indulged in entertainment and pleasure.

Just as Ryan was about to open his mouth to protest further, he realized the atmosphere had changed in an instant and fell silent.

The vast lobby not only fell silent in a flash, but dozens of people holding drinks and drugs simultaneously turned to look at them.

Their gazes were persistent and sticky, as if they wouldn’t miss a single one of Lennok’s movements.

Lennok didn’t miss the faint greed and yearning imbued in those eyes.

And simultaneously, from where that emotion originated.

‘It seems what happened on the streets has already spread.’

It would be impossible unless the information that Adamant Thunder had reappeared in the underworld after a long time, and was relying on a life support device, had become known.

Unless someone had leaked that information onto the deep web and spread rumors everywhere, there was no reason for him to receive such stares.

Information that an undeniable flaw had appeared in a formidable opponent they couldn’t even touch. They must be itching to confirm if that rumor was true.

It wasn’t surprising.

At least the associates Lennok knew from the streets were never the honest and faithful kind of people.

Until now, Lennok had intentionally not given them an opening, so they hadn’t had the chance, but they were always ready to pounce.

Unless they were working through the same broker, it was more accurate to consider them rivals rather than associates.

Meanwhile, the young man who had been holding the receiver at the reception desk approached Lennok again.

“Van, I’m sorry, but I can’t get a hold of Madame.”

“……”

“This happens sometimes. Madame unilaterally makes us work, so when things are like this, there’s nothing we can do.”

The young man’s attitude had changed, now calling Lennok by his alias, Van, as if they were friends.

The young man shrugged and said,

“But if you’re really in a hurry, there’s one way. Care to hear it?”

“Tell me.”

“Take the elevator that goes straight to the top floor of the mansion.”

The young man said, pointing to a massive crystal pillar in the center of the lobby.

Inside the circular crystal pillar, whose interior was clearly visible, a complex tangle of cables could be seen.

At the bottom of the pillar, which looked like an elevator shaft, there was an opening wide enough for two people to pass through.

“Madame prepared that specifically for esteemed guests. However, there’s one problem.”

“A problem?”

“You can’t summon the elevator without a code key. When it’s not in use, it’s always waiting for Madame on the top floor of the mansion.”

“……”

This was familiar.

Lennok’s gaze naturally swept over the freelancers who might have the code key, then, in that instant, returned to the young man’s chest.

The young man recoiled in horror.

“No, no!! I’m not telling you to take it…! There’s a way to summon the elevator even without a code key!!”

He quickly waved his hands, diverting Lennok’s gaze, and said,

“Y-you just need to supply power to operate the elevator!!”

“……”

“It’s something Madame prepared for people like you, Van.”

A strange smile had appeared on the young man’s face.

“Instead of taking someone else’s code key, it would be better if you followed Madame’s designated method.”

Only then did Lennok realize what the young man wanted and let out a chuckle.

The freelancers gathered in this lobby were, astonishingly, trying to test Lennok.

It was highly probable that even the remark about not being able to contact Madame was a lie.

The young man’s strange smile and the gazes of the other freelancers didn’t seem to hide it.

“Alright.”

Lennok nodded without hesitation.

At that moment, one of the young man’s shoulders was abruptly crushed, and his waist bent sideways, sending him slamming into the lobby floor.

CRACK!!

“Kyaaaak?!”

The young man writhed, letting out a bizarre shriek. The subtle smile that had been on his face was gone, replaced by a ghastly sight as if all his internal bones had collapsed.

At Lennok’s sudden preemptive strike, several freelancers who had been watching the situation abruptly stood up.

“Hey, where do you think you are causing a ruckus?!”

“Even if it’s you, if you act so recklessly in Madame’s castle…!!”

“Don’t cause a scene.”

Lennok retorted indifferently, not even turning to look at the freelancers.

“I’ll give you what you want.”

“What…?”

Without waiting for a proper answer, Lennok immediately walked towards the elevator.

A small crack beside the crystal pillar passage that formed the elevator door.

It was a rectangular panel, seemingly made for a person to insert their hand.

Behind the panel, dozens of thick cables, as thick as Lennok’s wrist, were tightly bundled and passed into the crystal pillar.

Lennok followed the direction of the cables with his gaze, then at one point, narrowed his brows.

He had realized that dozens of thick cables were extending not only to the elevator but also to various parts of this massive castle.

Watching Lennok stand before the elevator’s power mechanism, the freelancers began to whisper quietly.

“…Are we really okay?”

“Shut up. Don’t you know this is our only chance?”

From the moment Van limped into the lobby, leaning on his staff, all the freelancers in the castle had been focused on verifying a single rumor.

The information that Adamant Thunder had suffered a fatal injury in his battle with Madrich Onnion, to the point where he couldn’t even move outside without relying on a life support device.

This was the perfect opportunity to confirm if that rumor was truly factual.

“But is that really a life support device?”

“Don’t you see the bloodline connection device attached to the tip of his staff? It’s definitely an artifact high-level wizards use.”

“Now that you mention it, his complexion does look a bit dark. No, I guess it always looked like that…”

“Stop the useless chatter and focus.”

They weren’t simply picking a fight and causing a scene because they thought Lennok had grown weaker.

It was a series of actions under the guise of rudeness, meticulously observing and watching Lennok’s reaction.

It was merely a gambit to find out if Adamant Thunder was truly severely injured, and if so, how critical his condition was.

“If he’s truly severely injured, he’ll struggle to inject magic into the power mechanism.”

That power mechanism wasn’t just for charging the elevator’s power.

It was a device designed to supply power to all sorts of equipment, cartridges, lighting, and various other facilities currently operating throughout the lobby.

The moment magic was injected into the power mechanism, power would first be supplied to all the equipment the freelancers were playing with, and only after that could power be supplied to operate the elevator.

It was a demanding task that required not only instantaneous magical output but also comprehensive stats like maintenance, duration, circulation, and responsiveness.

In other words, these were also several characteristics that first became apparent when a high-level wizard was injured.

“A decrease in instantaneous output is a problem, but they start showing significant flaws in their maintenance or duration.”

“Originally, it’s a method for directly attending to Saint-tier esteemed guests and above. Someone in an injured state would never be able to meet the criteria.”

Though they muttered as if uncertain, the freelancers were secretly convinced of Adamant Thunder’s injury.

Many of the freelancers gathered in Madame’s castle were seasoned veterans.

Among them, quite a few knew of Madrich Onnion’s reputation and ferocity.

Even that monstrous wizard, boasting an undefeated record, surely wouldn’t have faced an 8-level Commander Wizard without paying a price.

Otherwise, everyone here thought, he wouldn’t have restrained his activities for a while and then appeared with such a device attached.

“Adamant Thunder’s reputation is over.”

“That unlucky bar will finally know its place.”

“It’s better this way. How could a wizard’s status be that high in the first place….”

Woooooosh!!!!

At that moment, the magic bursting forth from Lennok’s body filled the entire lobby and began to tremble.

A chilling, utterly suffocating momentum.

The freelancers’ faces turned pale from the pressure that not only slammed into the power mechanism’s panel but swelled out in all directions.

“I-it’s okay… I knew the output wouldn’t drop much…!!”

The real issue was how long he could maintain that output.

It was highly probable that an injured body couldn’t even maintain that output for a moment.

As the freelancers muttered and gripped nearby objects, gritting their teeth to keep their eyes fixed on him, at that very moment.

All sorts of equipment installed throughout the lobby began to malfunction simultaneously.

Rumble, rumble…!!!

Clang, clang!!

Beep, beep!!!

The lights illuminating all around intensified crazily, then couldn’t withstand the power and shattered, glass and all.

Arcade machines, refrigerators, and display cases overheated, spewing smoke and catching fire, and heating wires buried in the lobby floor burst, kicking up clouds of stone dust.

The lobby quickly darkened, and intermittent blue flames illuminated the surroundings.

The windows on the outer wall of the castle couldn’t withstand the pressure and burst one after another, scattering glass shards everywhere.

BOOM!!!!

The bizarre sight of the gigantic castle’s power flickering and real-time deteriorating from the touch of a single person.

It couldn’t withstand the injected energy itself, spiraling out of control, exploding, and even blowing up the wires.

As a result, the output escaping the power mechanism pressed down on the lobby space itself, squeezing the consciousness of the freelancers.

A crushing pressure that felt as if it was wringing out their very souls, simply by scattering momentum around.

“Gasp…!”

“How can a human possess such magic…?”

“No, you have to stop…!”

Only then did the freelancers realize Lennok’s intention and rose to their feet, trembling.

Lennok had no intention of supplying energy to all the power sources in the lobby through the power mechanism in the first place.

He simply intended to overload the system with an output beyond its limits, destroying all other equipment at once, and activating only the elevator.

“The power mechanism can’t hold up. At this rate, the castle will collapse…!!”

“You crazy bastard, stop!!!”

Ignoring the desperate shouts from behind him, Lennok gripped the power mechanism’s panel as it was.

CRRRRRT…!!!

Just at the moment the edge of the metal plate was being crushed and crumpled by the sheer magical output, about to be embedded into the lobby floor and utterly destroyed.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Van.”

Ding!!

The firmly closed elevator doors opened, and someone stepped out.

“I am Clevea, in charge of managing this main building.”

A woman in a neat suit, with a pale face and her hands clasped behind her back, looked down at them and bowed.

“Madame is waiting. Please follow me.”

Only then did Lennok slowly remove his hand from the power mechanism panel and turn his gaze.

Hiss…!!

Lennok smiled, turning his back on the completely melted and smoking panel.

“Took you long enough to come down.”

Wizard of Many Lives, Chapter 470