Chapter 510: Mid-Term Settlement (11)

Even after Soryu and Sabrinah disappeared, the Aegis agents focused on confronting Lennok instead of pursuing them.

Lennok had also intended to hand off Sabrinah, who lacked combat ability, to Soryu, and then follow after holding out, but the current situation was extremely unusual.

Considering the circumstances, where the internal information of Pandemonium hadn’t been properly transmitted to Aegis, and Lennok’s existence and abilities were unknown, there was only one answer.

The Aegis agents here were meant to hold Lennok back and thoroughly minimize the variables of this operation.

The fact that they had been trying to engage Lennok in conversation and pry into his identity from the beginning was also part of their effort to reduce variables.

Their lack of reaction when Lennok tried to kill the green-visored agent meant that holding Lennok here was far more important than anything else.

They desperately wanted to reduce any variables for the operation inside the theater, by any means necessary.

The moment Lennok understood this fact, his course of action was decided.

“You go first.”

“Catch…!!”

The red-pink visor, realizing Lennok had seen through all their intentions, shrieked sharply.

And the shadow robe, as if crumbling, sank deep into the ground.

Swoosh!!

Simultaneously, a black figure, violently pulled by mana threads, dashed towards the theater.

Abandoning the young man with broken limbs without hesitation, the other two also immediately chased after Lennok.

At the back entrance of the grand theater, in the corridor leading to the dressing rooms, Lennok and the other two visored agents violently clashed.

Clang-clang-clang-clang!!!!

A shrill, metallic collision echoed, and the figures of the three brushed past each other, grazing the ceiling and walls of the wide corridor.

A heavy, stone-like object spun, bouncing off the corridor wall, creating a tearing sound.

Mana threads spread like spiderwebs throughout the corridor, constantly extending and retracting, slicing through dusty props and boxes.

The red-pink visored agent grit her teeth, watching the shadow robe’s figure flicker and dash down the corridor.

‘We had too little information!’

She had realized he was a special-attribute sorcerer, and a particularly difficult manipulation-type, so she thought they shouldn’t give him any opening.

But she never expected a sorcerer with that level of combat ability to also possess mobility surpassing Aegis agents.

‘It’s not just manipulation-type. This mobility can’t be explained unless it’s a completely different spell or ability…!!’

If the opponent was a sorcerer capable of wielding two special attributes simultaneously, their entire operation might need to be revised.

This ambitious plan was launched to assassinate high-ranking Pandemonium executives here and claim the achievement.

They couldn’t let a heaven-sent opportunity, which they thought they had gained through an inside informant, be ruined by a single variable.

Thinking so, the red-pink visored agent surged her mana, pressing forward as if galloping on the ground.

Chiririk…!!!

With a faint chime, her body subtly blurred like a ghost, passing through the dressing room wall in the corridor.

She reappeared right beside the shadow robe and violently slammed into its figure.

KWAANG!!

“Haa, haa…!!!”

“Juhryeong-nim!!”

“Focus!!”

The brown-visored agent, who had followed belatedly, gripped the shadow robe just as countless mounds of earth surged up, firmly entwining the robe.

However, the expression of the red-pink visored agent, Juhryeong, who had chased Lennok even using her main ability, was far from relieved.

Instead, she merely gnashed her teeth, watching the robe shrink to fist-size inside the earthen mound.

“It was a dummy. Damn it…!!!”

Since when? Perhaps they had been completely played from the very beginning.

Was he making gestures to draw the agents’ attention, then emptying the robe and feigning action as if nothing was wrong?

What made the fact even more chilling was that they couldn’t even tell when he started the act or when he disappeared from inside the robe.

His presence, tone, voice, movements, and expressions. They thought they hadn’t missed a single one of his movements.

“How could this be….”

Listening to the despairing monologue of the brown-visored agent, the agent called Juhryeong rose to her feet.

“Contact the Foreign Legion. We’re joining the main force.”

“But if we request reinforcements for an operation we started ourselves…”

“Look at how things are going. It’s already far from the original plan.”

Juhryeong murmured in a cold voice.

“What’s more, now that they’ve discovered the informant? The real operation that’s supposed to be carried out by the main force could also be messed up. We need to move fast!!”

“……”

The brown-visored agent listened to her words and stared at the fragments of the robe buried within the earthen mound.

He was an ability user specializing in earth-binding magic, particularly in spells used for restraint and confinement.

The spell he just used against Lennok was a high-level spell, capable of extending its binding beneath the ground, beyond merely physically holding the body.

And through such binding spells, the fragments of the shadow robe were slowly disappearing, like water flowing through sand.

The decision didn’t take long.

“Understood. I’ll contact the two waiting outside Bailuts.”

The two quickly entered the theater through the dressing room.

Lennok stood atop the theater’s transmission tower, silently looking down at the two agents.

“……”

He had first pulled his body back and concealed his presence, leaving only the robe, right after subduing the green-visored agent.

It wasn’t due to any words or gestures, but happened the moment their attention was drawn to the shock and weight of the carapace shield.

Naturally, Lennok hadn’t expected to fool the Aegis agents until the very end.

He had been prepared to be discovered immediately after the chase, aiming to disperse their forces and reduce unnecessary effort.

But he had not expected that even he would fail to notice that they hadn’t caught on to his dummy until the very end.

The reason why even top-tier warriors and veteran special forces agents with abundant practical experience hadn’t quickly realized the truth.

Lennok had an idea where the cause lay.

‘My presence has subtly changed since I directly encountered the Outer Gods. It must be because of that.’

The ritual of revelation personally conducted by Archbishop Isel Nidri.

There, Lennok had been offered as a sacrifice but instead garnered the interest of the Outer Gods, refusing their proposals.

Since then, Lennok had been aware that his life signs and mana patterns were becoming increasingly twisted and harder to detect.

It wasn’t that his mana manipulation or sensitivity had problems.

It was simply that his very presence, life signs, and other traces like human presence were subtly changing from before.

Even if he disguised his mana pattern and slightly altered his life signs, the overall change in his presence couldn’t be hidden.

A faint, uncanny intuition, as if he was gradually moving away from being human.

A phenomenon as if he was becoming more and more like the Outer Gods, ever since he gazed beyond the sea of darkness and vividly remembered their presence.

The fact that Aegis agents failed to confirm him and let him go until the very end just now.

The repeated strange phenomena in front of The Doctor’s eight-faced, eight-armed idol should also be seen as part of that.

Was his Mind Imprint changing in a different direction without his knowledge?

Not being able to fully perceive and control such changes was something he strongly disliked.

“……”

But instead of rushing to investigate what was happening to his body, Lennok donned the shadow robe, which had returned to his hand, and slowly rose.

At any rate, he had shaken off the obstacles directly marking him.

Normally, he would have immediately returned to the other members inside the theater to inform them of the situation, but Lennok had no intention of rushing.

No matter how excellent the Aegis agents were, he didn’t believe Pandemonium members would fall so easily.

Now that he alone had escaped the enemy’s surveillance, it was ideal to observe the situation instead of rushing back.

Furthermore, he needed to investigate the two others Soryu had mentioned earlier, who were waiting outside Bailuts and watching the situation.

‘Should I start by searching the outskirts of the satellite city?’

The two agents, the brown and red-pink visored ones, moved very urgently, yet hesitated to request reinforcements from the external forces waiting outside the city.

That must be because there was something about either the existence or the skill of the external forces that made the agents reluctant.

If he could exploit that, he might be able to deal with the informant within Pandemonium and the split within Aegis all at once.

The moment Lennok thought that and was about to greatly sharpen his mana detection across the entire satellite city.

KWAAANG!!!!

Suddenly, a gigantic pillar shot up from the theater’s streamlined roof, appearing above Bailuts.

“……!!”

A clear sign that a clash had begun inside the theater.

Immediately after standing up and raising his senses towards the theater, Lennok realized it wasn’t just a stone pillar.

It was the eight-faced, eight-armed idol, carefully enshrined in the theater’s main hall.

The pillar that had just burst through the theater roof and soared upwards was one of the idol’s arms.

Although it was quite large, what did it mean that the idol’s arm, which had fit comfortably inside the theater, had suddenly grown so massive?

It must undoubtedly be one of the various abilities The Doctor had imbued to protect the idol itself.

PAAAAH!!

Simultaneously, the previous silence was broken as if by a lie, and mana raged from all directions within the theater.

Combat had begun simultaneously in various places.

Lennok also moved without delay towards the theater roof where the idol’s arm had shot up.

The strength of the special agency Aegis was undoubtedly threatening, but Lennok had never thought Pandemonium would lose from the start.

All members of Pandemonium, regardless of their poor organization, were talented individuals, each with distinct specialties.

They were all veterans who had survived countless battles and faced death to join the organization as lone wolves.

Above all, they had Maiya Lenslit on their side, if no one else.

The best enforcer of the Machine City, Machina, and an 8-level physical ability user.

A monster who, in addition to her physical prowess, was also skilled in blood magic, reaching the Peak of Extremes in both experience and judgment.

Even without Lennok himself, the possibility of this Pandemonium settlement failing was virtually non-existent.

As expected, by the time Lennok arrived at the theater’s main hall, the situation had already reached a stalemate, far from a clear victory or defeat.

“This crazy old man…!!”

“Hehe, the taste of blood is quite extraordinary…”

A blood elder licked blood, engaging in a fierce battle with a grey-visored agent, blades clashing.

Pupupupuk!!

“Die.”

“What the hell is this? The mana flow is a bit strange, isn’t it?”

Vernon, drinking alcohol and observing his opponent while being beaten by a yellow-visored agent.

Chebien held two agents, pulling out various weapons from inside his puppet body, while Soryu, who had returned to the theater’s main hall, was fending off attacks from other agents.

The Aegis agents, forming the vanguard, built the battlefield, while two visored agents, purple and jade, stood in the rear providing magical support.

Despite mana running wild and the theater exploding everywhere, there was no intense atmosphere.

Unlike the Aegis agents who were fully committed to the operation, Pandemonium’s response was somewhat lukewarm, leading to a sluggish battle.

Among the battles ongoing throughout the theater’s main hall, corridors, back entrance, and ceiling, there was one battlefield where the most intense engagement was taking place.

“Kwahhhhaak!!!”

Turan, the white lion, and Logier roared incessantly with blood-red eyes, pressuring their opponent.

And a black-visored agent calmly stared at the idol, fending off their assault.

The lion-giant and the werewolf charged, scattering terrifying mana from both sides, while the black-visored agent alone stood and received every attack.

The shockwaves unleashed by the full-power clash of 7-level and higher physical ability users shook the half-collapsed theater violently.

Lennok turned his gaze, confirming the superhumans fiercely battling in front of the idol, which had grown many times its original size.

“The Doctor.”

He dropped from the theater roof, landing directly on the idol’s shoulder.

At Lennok’s voice, appearing right beside him, the ball of fur wriggling atop the idol turned its gaze.

“Victor, you’re late. Soryu said you’d be back soon.”

“There’s an informant. Someone who knew and leaked our information in advance…”

Lennok stopped speaking there.

There was no reaction from The Doctor who was listening to him.

“You already knew.”

“Well, it’s rather obvious, isn’t it?”

The Doctor chuckled.

“If an operation so precisely targeted against us was based on mere coincidence, I would have been disappointed instead.”

“……”

If The Doctor said this much, the others probably had some inkling too.

Lennok, therefore, immediately understood the situation and changed the subject.

“It seems there’s a Foreign Legion unit waiting outside Bailuts who haven’t joined the operation yet. If you need to protect the idol, you’ll have to pull out as quickly as possible.”

“Oh-ho.”

“Why the reaction?”

The Doctor, receiving Lennok’s expressionless gaze through his mask, spoke.

“I thought you had no interest in Pandemonium at all, but you’re much more proactive than I thought.”

“This isn’t the time for useless sentiments.”

“You must think the value of my idol is that attractive, right?”

“……”

He wasn’t wrong.

The Old World information Lennok had gained through the idol’s ability during this settlement was quite satisfactory.

And he was willing to participate in similar settlements in the future for that reason.

At the very least, The Doctor and the idol needed to be intact for them to be able to gather for such settlements again.

“Now that things have come to this, I’d rather ask you. Let’s speak frankly, just between us.”

The Doctor’s ball of fur wiggled, gesturing to all corners of the theater hall.

“Who do you think the informant is?”

“……”

“Of course, it’s hard to rule out the possibility that you betrayed us and then brazenly brought news of an informant, but that’s precisely why I want your opinion.”

“You want my opinion? You’re talking nonsense.”

Lennok scoffed sharply.

“Aren’t you trying to test me with a conclusion you’ve already reached?”

Just like Lennok, The Doctor must have had an inkling of who the culprit was the moment he realized there was an informant.

At this point, simply asking the question was nothing more or less than probing Lennok’s thoughts.

As expected, The Doctor merely let out a few strange laughs and didn’t answer further.

As if it didn’t matter if he didn’t want to speak.

From the start, his attitude seemed to indicate he didn’t place much importance on the informant’s identity or purpose.

Because the organization Pandemonium itself was structured and maintained so loosely, the informant must have sold information to Aegis without much burden.

Considering that, it wasn’t difficult to guess who the culprit was.

Lennok, who had been staring at The Doctor, sharply averted his gaze.

“If we only consider the information about an informant, the first person that comes to mind is the one who bears the least risk in this situation.”

“Oh-ho.”

“Chebien, the puppeteer. He’s still holding out with only one puppet here, isn’t he?”

“So, he’s the informant?”

“No.”

Lennok shook his head.

“Chebien would know that too, so the likelihood of him betraying us in this way is low. Rather, it’s more natural to see it as an attempt to divert suspicion towards him.”

“Then?”

The moment Lennok opened his mouth to tell The Doctor.

Flash!

The black-visored agent, who had been silently fighting Turan, the white lion, disappeared from his spot and then violently pierced through Turan’s chest.

Pushuuuk…!!!

The lion-giant’s flesh was ripped apart on the spot, its blood and gore brutally scattering everywhere.

In an instant, the area around the idol’s knee, where it sat cross-legged, was drenched in blood, but—

“Kwahhhahak!!”

Turan, the white lion, raised his arm and struck the visored agent as if such a wound was nothing, even with his heart pierced.

KWAANG!!

With that raw power alone, a shockwave swept through the main hall, clearing away all the lined seats and the stage.

“Annoying…!!”

Logier, spraying blood, lashed out at the berserk lion-giant’s head, then leaped over Turan and dashed towards the black-visored agent.

But the black-visored agent paid no mind to Logier, leaping over him and instantly appearing before the idol.

In a fleeting moment, the black-visored agent stood before Maiya, who was silent with her arms crossed.

The Doctor also seemed to sense something unusual from him, glancing over.

“That’s high-level black magic. Who taught you?”

“……”

“It’s rare to find talent that can possess excellent combat abilities, enough to directly confront Turan, while also mastering black magic to that level.”

The Doctor laughed, ignoring the visored agent’s silence.

“As it happens, I know a rather good black wizard. If they agree, I could introduce you. What do you say?”

At his words, not just Lennok but several Pandemonium members collectively frowned.

They weren’t unaware that the black wizard The Doctor spoke of referred to a monster incomparable to anyone else present.

“What the hell… Are you just trying to wipe out Bailuts entirely?”

Sabrinah’s murmured words, which weren’t entirely impossible, served as proof of the black wizard’s terrifying status.

However, the black-visored agent, instead of listening to such words, silently surveyed his surroundings from beside Turan, who had retreated, clutching his chest.

Already, about half of the agents who had entered the theater with him were still in combat readiness.

The other members were merely watching them from a distance, as if observing monkeys at a zoo.

Unlike the Aegis agents, most of Pandemonium’s members hadn’t intended to fight hard from the beginning.

“…I thought I could make Maiya Lenslit move. I was wrong.”

After a brief silence, the black-visored agent uttered in a hoarse voice.

“Did I misjudge the main force’s power by focusing on cutting off variables? It was a failure from the start.”

The visored agent’s gaze turned towards Maiya, who had stood unmoving guarding the idol’s front.

Already, two corpses of agents, cut in half and dead, lay like trash at her feet.

“Hey, what are you talking about, making someone move or not…”

“We’ll wipe out all forces here and start over.”

The moment Chebien scoffed and was about to sneer at the words that casually called out the name of the overwhelmingly unique enforcer among them—

The visored agent pulled out a small signal device from his pocket.

“Broken Arrow. I know you’re listening. Start.”

“Kuh-haha, Broken Arrow? That guy must watch too many movies!!”

Vernon guffawed, chugging his alcohol bottle.

“No matter who they bring as external forces, it’s ridiculous to say they’ll wipe out this situation—”

Thwack!!

At that moment, Vernon, mid-sentence, abruptly twisted his body to the side with all his might.

Immediately after, something long and jet-black burst out above Vernon’s left shoulder, where he had been drinking from the bottle.

It pierced through his collarbone, then his shoulder blade, burrowing directly under his armpit, and embedded itself into a crack in the floor.

A chilling blow, as if a harpoon had skewered Vernon alive, hanging him there.

The expressions of the other members watching also changed instantly.

A perfect snipe that even Vernon, the target, hadn’t noticed until the moment of impact.

There was a presence completely different from the Aegis agents they had faced so far.

Armed with overwhelming range and a near-fatal sniper weapon, capable of putting all of them within its range.

And Lennok knew one Green Gem Archer who could do such a thing.