Chapter 493: Between Immortality and Mortality (1)
Thump…!!
The fusion, stepping forward, radiated an overwhelming aura.
“Unbelievable…!”
Even Tritan, who had been striding with a sharp, chilling aura, stopped as if shocked.
“Did you combine? Abandoning both your bodies?”
“To be precise, it’s a new horizon of possibility reached by combining mutation and synchronization.”
The result of Piyo and Jio’s fusion spoke calmly.
“It’s hard enough to fuse something that isn’t the caster’s own body, but stabilizing it is far harder.”
The fusion of their physical bodies was achieved through Piyo’s mutation magic, while their Mind Imprints and magical power were unified through Jio’s synchronization magic.
It was an incredibly powerful Geas, chosen by two Hierarchy-level superhumans, complete as individual superhumans, who temporarily abandoned their own existence.
“So it’s possible to transcend Hierarchy and reach Level 8 that way… A truly groundbreaking idea.”
Lennok watched the sight from outside the altar, unable to tear his eyes away.
He had considered that there might be something more when he learned that the two twins were Hierarchy-level magic users who had mastered different magic systems.
But he hadn’t expected that it would truly be possible for two individuals, distinct in both body and Mind Imprint, to completely fuse.
It was possible because they were identical twins, and each had accumulated different magic systems to the point of completing their Hierarchy.
At the same time, it was a truly perilous Geas, requiring both twins to embrace the extremely dangerous resolve of willingly letting go of themselves.
Yet, despite this—no, precisely because of this—they had undoubtedly crossed the ‘boundary’ that transcends Hierarchy.
They didn’t transcend Hierarchy by acquiring suitable qualifications and power as individuals.
Rather, because they reached the transcended state of Hierarchy as one, suitable qualifications and power were bestowed upon them.
Thus, the super-fusion of Piyo and Jio, once completed, became…
“Shall we begin?”
Screech…!!
Sizzle…!!
A monster that manifested Level 8 mutation magic and synchronization magic simultaneously.
It received dozens of spears piercing its body from all directions.
Thud, thud, thud!!
Cut and impaled by all sorts of blades like swords and axes, the fusion, its head bowed low, gripped the spear tips of the knights who had pierced it with both hands.
Simultaneously, hundreds of spear blades swelled and burst forth from the fusion’s entire body.
Kaga-ga-ga-ga-gak!!!
A wave of spear blades mercilessly pounded the armor of the countless Correction Knights who charged from all directions.
Unforeseen and incredibly tough counterattacks led to cries of astonishment erupting from all sides.
The fusion walked out from between the waves of swords and, as its arm transformed into a machine gun, it spewed fire.
Mutation System Unique Spell Mass Deployment Excerpt [Demonic Thousand Soldiers, Hundred Demons’ Fortune]
Kwooosh!!
A blinding flash and a spectacular pillar of fire soared up through the hollow in front of the altar.
Through the shimmering heat haze, a giant lion’s head burst forth, indiscriminately devouring armor and flesh.
Kugwagagagaga!!!
“There’s no pattern or trajectory, we can’t block it head-on…!!”
“If you don’t anticipate and prepare, this is virtually…!!!”
“Aghhh!!”
The fusion’s charge transformed into all sorts of bizarre magical beasts and weapons, sweeping across the area and indiscriminately trampling cultists.
‘The mutation speed and pattern variation are insane.’
Lennok murmured in admiration, watching the cult priests being mercilessly ground down below the altar.
The fusion wasn’t completely transforming its body; instead, it briefly swapped and wielded limbs, causing powerful superhumans to burst like toys.
But what was truly difficult was not its firepower and intensity, but the speed and versatility of its body mutation itself.
‘If it manipulates its body like that, the burden must be immense. Is it suppressing that with Jio’s synchronization magic?’
In the blink of an eye, a wave of swords transformed into a dump truck and crashed, and a shard of glass that had fallen on the frontline turned into a clay bomb.
A venomous snake that had been biting underfoot and injecting poison suddenly turned into a giant toad and swallowed a person, then transformed into a massive carnivorous plant and devoured another.
It was changing only parts of its limbs into weapons and creatures, often simultaneously transforming into more than eight different mutated forms, shifting combat patterns every second.
No matter how excellent a mutation sorcerer Piyo was, transforming her body to that extent should have caused her own tissues to grind and overheat, making it unsurprising if her body itself was crushed and melted.
Was it suppressing that with Jio’s synchronization magic, and enduring the very tendency to revert to its original form through their bodily fusion?
The fusion, its right hand transformed into a snake’s head, bit the Correction Knight’s shoulder and spun its gaze.
“Bishop, are you just going to watch?!”
“Of course not…!!”
Bishop Tritan, wielding a scythe that emitted a chilling cold, lunged with an eerie rush, crashing his body into the fusion with full force.
The fusion, in turn, mutated one shoulder into a massive iron wall, receiving Tritan’s scythe.
Clanggg!!!
Tritan, with wings of ice spread behind him, pushed the fusion back at near-subsonic speed, gritting his teeth and drawing up his magic.
“Alright, let’s see how far this goes…!!”
As Tritan’s magic intensified, the arched scythe dug into the iron wall.
At the moment he applied the Miniature Universe of cold and the Property Transformation of magic to their utmost, cutting through the iron wall and the fusion beyond it—
Crack!!
One of the icy wings floating behind Tritan was severed, as if struck by that very blow.
“…!!”
As Tritan realized that this was not another anomaly but the power of the one standing before him, his face hardened.
“It’s too late.”
The fusion muttered, gripping the temple structure directly with its tattered hands.
Synchronization System Unique Spell Universal Expansion of Horizons [Shifting Flow, Shared Public]
Zap!!
Through the fusion’s magic, it synchronized the surrounding terrain structures directly with its own body.
As Tritan’s scythe pierced and split the iron wall, the temple’s internal structures synchronized by the fusion were cleanly bisected.
Crackle…!!
The massive fissure didn’t stop at the structure but spread all the way to the altar behind the chapel.
Several of the altar’s supports instantly split vertically, losing balance and shaking violently, then collapsing to one side.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!!!
A gentle ramp was created, leading to the top of the altar where two Apostles were locked in a bloody battle.
It was a path created by the fusion, which, in its momentary rampage, had synchronized all the impacts on the surrounding terrain.
“My God, this is impossible…!!”
“How can such high-dimensional synchronization magic be used on the sacred temple of the great Cult…!!”
Even other Agents couldn’t hide their shock at the incredible speed.
Originally, synchronization magic was a type of designation spell used to link different concepts into equivalent states or conditions.
As it interfered with concepts themselves, its power was extremely strong and its versatility immense, but it had a significant drawback: the synchronizer themselves could not move from their spot.
This was the fundamental reason why Piyo participated in this operation while Jio remained in the rear, despite being twins.
However, even that drawback could be temporarily transcended the moment the two twins merged their bodies and reached Level 8.
Sweeping indiscriminately with mutation magic, and then synchronizing the resulting impact with the surrounding space using synchronization magic.
An absurd idea, that by fully controlling that power within their own space-time, they would create a path for Lennok to reach Amrita.
The twins’ fusion had succeeded in this task, alone and isolated, in the heart of the enemy lines.
Kwoooosh!!!
Beyond that, silver and crimson light flashed and burst forth from all directions.
Hundreds of talismans floated and fluttered in the sky like waves.
Ryzer, Rapperd, and Gapseon arrived a step behind Piyo and Jio, beginning their intrusion into the battlefield.
Thud!!
Immediately after, a streak of inky black light flashed and landed beside Lennok.
It was Grisha, the copper-skinned shaman, who landed, her thick robe billowing.
The one who had deployed her Domain, the Southern Jungle Mirror, and slammed it entirely onto the Far Eastern Branch temple, had appeared last in this place.
“Evan, let’s go.”
Grisha, sweating profusely, looked back at Lennok and said.
“We don’t have much time. If we’re to conclude this, I need your help.”
She showed no panic, even in a situation like throwing herself into the midst of the Agents who surrounded Lennok.
The stout Bishop, Boder, who stood at the forefront of the Agents, also narrowed his eyes at her appearance.
“Secret-sect shamanism… So it was you, the shaman of the Way of Returning?”
“…”
“You’re out of your mind. No matter how urgent the situation, to intervene by causing such a scene… Is this wizard that important to you?”
“All preparations are complete.”
Grisha replied, putting a long tobacco stick to her trembling lips.
“Evan bought us more time than expected. I came here prepared for war if necessary, but… that won’t happen.”
“Oh?”
“The entire Sea of Understanding has been surrounded and blockaded by the autonomous region’s navy. For the next three hours, no one will be able to enter the territorial waters.”
“…”
Only then did Boder’s face stiffen, realizing the meaning of Grisha’s words.
“The Cult’s reinforcements, and even third-party intervention, are impossible. Today, here, the 10th Apostle Amrita dies, and the Far Eastern Branch falls.”
Grisha’s lips, holding the long tobacco stick, were stained purple.
It was proof of how difficult and strenuous it was for her to maintain the Domain that had inverted and covered the entire island.
Boder gazed silently at Grisha’s face, then quietly motioned to the other Agents.
Understanding his meaning, the Agents one after another began to prepare for full-scale combat in their own ways.
“Restraining spell stage 1 release.”
“Magic Domain designated. Yin-Yang Rite of Return preparation.”
Not only did they release restraining spells and draw forth power like Tritan, but they also amplified their magic by the power of the land itself, designated as the Cult’s territory, forcibly raising their condition.
Thud-thud-thud!!!
Among them were also some Agents who had just been trying to manage the battle between the two Apostles.
Because there was no longer a need to stop the battle that had erupted between Amrita and Zaif.
The battle between the two monsters, who had lost their human forms, had already ended in a unilateral victory for one side.
[Ugh….]
Crunch, crunch!!
The colossal ball of fur, emitting an unidentifiable guttural sound, gnawed on Zaif’s flesh.
Bleeding profusely, it ceaselessly devoured the body of its fellow Apostle, gradually changing its form into something more than a mere fur ball.
Zaif, who had been injured while used as a conduit to summon an Outer God, and furthermore, had lost the intellect he had regained after the ritual ended, had struck Amrita first yet failed to defeat her.
It was proof that the difference in Hierarchy, attainment, and physical abilities between the two Apostles was that extreme.
The outcome of the contest between Apostles, which operated strictly on the law of the jungle, was decided from the start.
Zaif’s eyes, swaying at Amrita’s touch, had long since lost the light of life.
“…”
Ultimately, Lennok could not answer whether what Zaif had been so certain of at the very end was truly a reality.
He could only resolve not to stop to confirm it.
Did he die believing what he desired was the truth to the very end? Lennok only hoped that the outcome he desired would at least be similar.
Then he had to move.
Whoosh!!!
As Lennok drew up his magic, the surrounding air greatly heated up, and Grisha slowly nodded.
“Let’s go.”
“You won’t get away with it…!!”
As Boder, forming hand seals with both hands, unleashed a dazzling light, Lennok’s body vanished from his spot.
“Wait, what in the world…!!”
The Agents, realizing they had lost Lennok in an instant, tried desperately to stop him, but he didn’t halt.
Instead, he merely flickered faintly, as if reflecting yet not existing, moving through the ramp.
“I can’t sense his presence at all!!”
“We can’t observe his magic pattern, this is impossible…!!”
“Even his life signs are so faint, is he not human anymore…!!”
As the Agents wasted time trying to pursue Lennok, who was neither caught nor sensed, some others hastily tried to return to Amrita’s side.
“Too slow, you idiots!!”
From the silver storm that burst forth beside the altar, Ryzer and Rapperd appeared and kicked the Agents away.
Kwoosh!!
The muscular dog-headed giant and the brawler instantly slammed five or six Agents to the ground, continuing their bloody exchange.
Simultaneously, hundreds of talismans falling from the sky formed a massive barrier, instantly blocking the space between Lennok and the Agents.
[Heavenly Grace Immovable Barrier]
The jungle forest spread across the sky fell directly, soaking the entire area in a damp swamp.
“This…!!”
Boder’s expression greatly twisted as he realized he was properly trapped at the last moment, and Grisha smiled with effort.
“Don’t interfere unnecessarily; let’s just play among ourselves.”
As he pushed his magic sensing to the limit, everything in Grisha’s Southern Jungle Mirror and around the Far Eastern Branch island came into his senses.
Geobin Melwood, the captain of the Correction Knights, clashing with Ryzer, who wore silver gauntlets.
The dog-headed giant Rapperd, swinging a colossal temple pillar, and the Agent, wielding a magnificent halberd, stood in opposition.
On one side of the altar stairs, Grisha and Boder erupted with dazzling light, and in the sky, Gapseon and a patch-eyed Bishop unleashed spells to dominate the air.
All these battles and movements converged on the temple at the center of the island and the altar deep within it.
A continuous series of battles where some desperately crossed blades and exchanged killing intent with their opponents to stop Lennok, while others did so to let him through.
But Lennok, perceiving all this chaos correctly, stepped onto the ramp leading to the end of the altar.
‘Not far now.’
It was no coincidence that most of the Agents had just missed Lennok’s presence and reactions.
From the moment he participated in the Outer God’s ritual and directly faced their breath, Lennok’s own magical power had been constantly fluctuating.
An unintended temporary disappearance and fluctuation of life signs and magic patterns in Lennok himself.
He didn’t know if this was an unexpected stroke of luck or a path leading to uncontrollable ruin.
He only vaguely thought that it might be a side effect of his very close contact with the Outer Sea’s apocalypse, causing his own intuition to overflow.
‘Not far now….’
Crackling…!!
It overflows.
His individuality, values, way of thinking, and reason for existence.
His magic, aura, stamina, spirituality, mind, and consciousness all uncontrollably burst outwards, desiring and drawing in something more powerful.
He clearly recognized himself as being undeniably present in this place, yet endlessly distancing himself from it.
A feeling as if he were becoming something closer to non-human.
Whoosh…!!
On the wind-swept spire of the altar. Amrita, covered in blood and seemingly asleep after devouring the seemingly dead Izel and Zaif, lay sprawled.
There was no resistance. Only the enormous body of the 10th Apostle, exhausted from the bloody battle with a fellow Apostle and slumped, breathed in this space.
He knew why the other Watchers had entrusted Lennok with killing Amrita.
He might not know exactly what Jindun’s control code, temporarily handed over by Gapseon for reinforcement requests, was, but it wouldn’t be hard to understand that it was a secret plan to break the Grand Bishop’s barrier itself.
It was also natural for Gapseon and other Watchers to think that Lennok held the means to kill Amrita through that.
The time Zaif had bought by sacrificing his own life, and the time that Grisha and other Watchers were currently buying for Lennok.
Normally, he should immediately think of a secret plan or spell to kill Amrita and act on it.
But instead of drawing up magic to conjure a powerful spell to make Amrita’s massive body explode at once,
Bang!!
He instead pulled out the revolver from his embrace and shot Izel, who lay collapsed behind her, in the head.
“…!!”
Izel’s head, rigid and white like porcelain, wobbled greatly, and crimson blood oozed out from it.
However, instead of simply slumping after suffering a direct gunshot wound to the head, Izel slowly turned her head back, then began to stagger to her feet.
“Oh my…”
Izel’s face, which had risen from her slumped position, was stretched into a long smile, as if possessed by a ghost.
“I thought I had fooled you perfectly. How did you know?”
A completely different voice from Izel’s, like that of an innocent child.
But instead of being surprised by that fact, Lennok pulled the trigger of the revolver once more.
Bang!!
Izel’s glabella was pierced, and blood gushed out once more, but only cracks appeared on her porcelain-like rigid skin.
Crackle!!
As her skin cracked, a completely new, flesh-colored skin was fully revealed from within.
Like shedding a skin and molting, another person’s form newly emerged from between the hardened, falling skin.
Surprisingly, she no longer even had Izel’s face properly.
“Huuu…”
She tossed her head back with a light air, straightened her back, and stood up.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, and her pupils were filled with endless darkness.
Between the jet-black irises, countless traces of starlight flickered intermittently.
She laughed, gazing at Lennok without a care, with misshapen eyes that seemed to hold the starlight of the night sky.
“Thank you, Evan. It was getting hard to break out of this shell anyway. I’ll consider it your thoughtfulness.”
“Thoughtfulness… That’s what I’d like to ask you.”
A crisp, refreshing movement, as if born anew from an egg. A profound sense of incongruity that was utterly out of place in this chaotic battlefield.
But precisely because of that, Lennok understood that this very moment was the final turning point to conclude this matter.
Lennok smiled coldly and asked.
“I never thought that an Apostle… would possess a human body and awaken. Was this all planned from the beginning?”
What newly emerged from Izel’s body, as if shedding its old form, was not another being.
It was the exact same voice as the Apostle Lennok had briefly conversed with, gaining consciousness during the Grand Bishop’s revelation ritual.
“The 10th Apostle Amrita. I thought you were devoted to the Grand Bishop, facing certain death, but you had entirely different plans.”
“Well, the High Priestess didn’t expect things to turn out like this, either.”
Amrita responded leisurely, leaning against one of the altar’s pillars and looking down at the ground.
“High Priestess Nidri seemed to want to increase her assimilation rate with the Outer Sea through me, and to refine herself as a vessel to contain her will… But that’s essentially becoming a being fundamentally very similar to me.”
“…”
“Finding an opportunity despite a body that couldn’t withstand the madness for long… was purely by chance. It’s not my fault for repurposing the body the High Priestess left behind, is it?”
Amrita muttered with an innocent smile.
Could it be that Izel, assimilated into Amrita’s body and becoming a perfected vessel, became similar in essence to Amrita, naturally allowing Amrita’s consciousness to transfer into it?
“Does the body dominate the mind, or does the mind dominate the body? It’s an unanswerable question, but either way, it’s certainly not entirely wrong.”
Lennok slowly walked and stood beside her, then said.
“The madness that afflicts Apostles. What if that madness, which turns them into mere instinct-driven beasts, isn’t simply a problem of the mind?”
Lennok had encountered the Cult’s Apostles, and he had witnessed countless times how they eventually shed their human forms and became monsters.
Even their ultimate end, where, with madness permeating their very bones, they met death without being able to return to human form.
But what if that madness wasn’t only because they glimpsed the Outer God’s memory, but also because they couldn’t properly control their transforming monstrous bodies?
“If the mind can’t escape the influence of madness within a completely bestial body, then you must have thought of simply switching bodies altogether.”
Lennok said this and looked back at Amrita.
“If Izel Nidri’s body, which is fundamentally similar to yours, could allow you to escape the madness tormenting you and regain your sanity, wasn’t that the case?”
“Hehehe, to be able to discern the current situation so deeply…”
Amrita let out a languid laugh.
“As expected, you were similar to us… High Priestess Nidri truly didn’t understand that to the very end.”
“…”
“An instinct-like intuition, or perhaps a kinship close to disquiet? Well, either way, it doesn’t matter. Some things can’t be explained without miracles.”
Leaving Lennok unanswered, Amrita carefully embraced her own shoulders with both arms.
“Poor High Priestess… how pitiful… I didn’t intend for things to turn out this way, but it’s truly regrettable.”
“…”
“But your will, I will definitely carry it on, even if it’s like this.”
“I see.”
Lennok couldn’t help but scoff.
“But for someone claiming it wasn’t intentional… don’t you think you’re smiling too brightly?”
Silence stretched endlessly.
Amrita’s lips stretched upward as if torn.
“Heh heh… Do you know why I hate wizards?”
Lennok also watched her face and quietly smiled.
“Because they’re too quick on the uptake?”
Kwoosh!!!
A section of the altar exploded as if bursting apart.
The Genius Wizard Who Eats Pills Chapter 494