Chapter 514: The Sniper’s True Worth (4)
Maiya’s sudden, pointed assertion.
But instead of being surprised by that fact, Lennok simply gazed at her.
He thought there must be a reason she, who had never done anything unnecessary until now, had chosen to stay until the very end, waiting for something.
Either she still had personal business in this city, or she had sensed something from Lennok, who had seemed completely disinterested.
She was a monster who had transcended Hierarchy, reaching Level 8.
A former enforcer, said to be among the best even in the notoriously intricate and complex Machine City.
The mere fact that this enforcer, whose path should never have crossed his, was involved with Pandemonium was a product of a terrible coincidence.
As in the Hanghasa Labyrinth, it wouldn’t be strange for something to happen that defied Lennok’s expectations.
“I don’t know your identity, your magic, or your origin, but I have a feeling. You know me.”
Maiya gazed at Lennok’s silent mask with an expressionless gaze.
“And I probably know you too.”
“……”
“No, perhaps it wasn’t during the Labyrinth… Your presence is strangely faint. But this subtle sense of incongruity… it’s definitely someone I’ve spoken with directly.”
It was a chilling intuition.
Despite Lennok’s best efforts to avoid contact, this monster was pinpointing his identity based purely on intuition.
The reason she mentioned the Labyrinth first but couldn’t be certain was likely because Lennok’s presence and magical pattern were twisted so aberrantly.
Nevertheless, Maiya almost certainly trusted her senses as she posed the question to Lennok.
“If you joined through The Doctor’s recommendation, then you’re completely unrelated to my objectives. So I won’t concern myself with you. But…”
Maiya’s eyes gleamed chillingly for a moment.
“If you interfere with my work for any reason, I will cut you down. Do you understand?”
Lennok smiled calmly.
“Those are not words to hear from a phantom unable to escape the failure of the Ascension Gate.”
“…!!”
Veins bulged on the back of Maiya’s hand as her eyes met Lennok’s through the mask.
WHOOSH!!
A chilling killing intent, tightening on a single target. The momentum that seemed about to strangle Lennok dissipated as if it had never existed.
An incredible level of emotional control, enough to inwardly impress even Lennok.
Maiya stared intensely at Lennok’s obsidian mask, then slowly turned her back.
“If you remember me from the time of the Ascension Gate, then you’d know.”
“……”
“Now I am no longer bound by rules and laws. I will pick up the pieces of my mistakes, no matter what it takes. Even if that mistake was…”
…like water spilled on a dark sea.
Maiya muttered this and instantly vanished.
Her mobility was astonishing, comparable to Translocation. With a single leap, she was already gone from Lennok’s sensory range.
He somewhat understood why an enforcer from the Machine City would be so obsessed with the past.
It must have been because the failure of the Ascension Gate in Machina was such a bitter tragedy that it completely changed the person known as Maiya Lonsdale.
For now, he was too busy investigating the Black Consumer Project to pay attention to Machina, but Lennok did have his own interest in the Machine City’s Ascension Gate.
Hadn’t Gearside, who once fought Lennok, raised Lieutenant General Edmuth Treffen of the Defense Force to Level 8 just by consuming the byproducts of that project?
Projects aimed at achieving ascension were all dangerous, yet attempts to realize grand ideals.
It was clear that even their remnants would serve as significant indicators for mages like Lennok.
Lennok glanced back at the spot where she vanished for a moment, then immediately jumped from the theater roof and boarded one of the trains that had departed late.
SCREEEECH!!!
He landed in the last car of the train, which was rapidly rolling along the tracks with a piercing screech.
He used magical threads and levitation magic to reduce the impact, familiarizing himself with clinging to the train’s ceiling, and stared up at the sky.
WHOOOOSH!!!
Beyond the dark night sky, countless black flashes, barely visible, rained down ceaselessly like a shower of death.
“This is truly absurd…”
The rain of arrows currently dominating and pouring down over the theater district was a force completely beyond Lennok’s comprehension, enough for him to inadvertently monologue.
Its power, range, speed, and precision. Even the arrows’ trajectories changed in real-time, sensing their targets and redirecting towards trains speeding away from the theater in all directions.
He had known Evelyn Marcia was an excellent archer, but he never imagined she had reached such divine skill.
No, even for Evelyn, such a large-scale bombardment would require considerable preparation.
Not only would thousands of arrows be needed, but imbuing each one with magic and firing it would be an immense strain.
The fact that this bombardment was still ongoing was a miracle in itself, but it would be impossible to move from the sniper’s position while it continued.
He suppressed his presence while simultaneously deflecting Evelyn’s arrows falling from the sky.
CLANG!!!
Evelyn, ceaselessly firing arrows from outside the city, must have also felt Pandemonium’s presences rapidly dispersing.
It was highly likely she would shift her strategy from simply unleashing a wide-area rain of arrows to a more focused approach.
If she, who boasted superior skill to any archer Lennok knew, then almost certainly—
‘She’ll try to snipe me directly…!’
WHOOSH!!
A terrifying black streak of light flew past his face.
A sharp arrow, barely visible against the dark sky of the satellite city, shot mercilessly towards Lennok’s neck.
He had been preparing since the moment it was detected by his magic sense.
As if expecting it, he leaned his whole body back, manipulating magical threads to alter the arrow’s trajectory.
The arrow, narrowly missing the train’s path, pierced through the road surface right beside it.
With that impact, asphalt fragments scattered everywhere.
BOOM!!
An attack not simply targeting individuals on the train, but aiming to derail it as well.
Lennok clung to the train’s ceiling with magical threads and quickly entered the interior seating, lost in thought.
‘As expected, she’s not aiming directly for the tracks.’
Even if she aimed directly for the tracks, the parts she could destroy were limited.
All the members of Pandemonium gathered for this settlement were capable enough to temporarily replace broken tracks.
Evelyn, unable to indiscriminately fire powerful snipes, would likely aim for points that would ensure a definite hit or hinder pursuit.
Rather, the fact that she was aware Lennok was on this train and launched a sniper attack at this point was itself remarkable.
WHOOSH!!
Another sniper shot, as if on cue.
Perhaps she decided to focus her attention here the moment she saw Lennok’s response.
But this time, instead of deflecting Evelyn’s sniper shot in another direction, Lennok neither blocked it nor interfered, leaving it untouched.
In an instant, an arrow pierced through the night sky and the train’s ceiling.
An arrow, similar to the harpoon-like one that had pierced Vernon, spun as it churned through the train’s metal body like water.
BOOM!!
The train’s middle section buckled upwards as if folding in reverse, then swerved off the tracks.
Fragments of the train body twisted in place, flying everywhere.
Old seats and luggage racks floated up, lifting Lennok’s body, which had been clinging between them, into the air.
In the fleeting moment just before the impact reached its peak, Lennok’s body vanished from that spot.
WHOOSH!!
Using a blink spell, Lennok’s body instantly exited the train, moving to the side while suspended by magical threads.
Immediately after, he landed directly on another train passing by from behind.
CREAK!!
[There are currently 64 trains in operation. The trains circulating and crossing nearby are Lines 5, 27, and 83.]
From Lennok’s arms, Davi clung to a still-active system, reporting the situation.
[Shall I tell you the exact contact times?!]
“No, it’s fine.”
Lennok said this, his face pale, and shifted his gaze while still clinging to the train.
“At this point, Evelyn will probably realize that targeting others instead of me is more cost-effective—”
Immediately after, Lennok stopped speaking and threw his body out of the train as if recoiling.
Despite the somewhat clumsy movement, Lennok’s body, unhindered by magical threads, was instantly flung clear of the train.
At the same time, a blinding flash swept through the spot where Lennok had just been.
WHOOSH!!
[Found one.]
A broad-shouldered physique. A sharp metal suit wrapped around his entire body. A dark blue visor covering his head.
The deep, ocean-blue light was that of one of the Aegis members Lennok hadn’t seen until now.
[Unknown manipulation-type sorcerer. Judging by the traces in the agents’ database, there’s a high probability he’s a wielder capable of handling two systems simultaneously.]
“……”
His body exuded explosive magic, as if about to burst at any moment.
A ferocious and relentless aura, as if he might ignite on the spot from the overflowing power he couldn’t control.
The visor, awkwardly adjusting his helmet, nodded as if loosening up, seeing Lennok’s figure suspended in the air.
[Presumed to be extremely refined in both combat ability and tactical intelligence. From now on, we will proceed with capture and determine extraction viability.]
From that spot, he suddenly rushed towards Lennok, as if stomping on the air.
CRACKLE!!
A magic circle rising beneath his feet propelled him upwards, and the visor, rocketing into the sky, spun to within close range of the floating Lennok.
The ripple effect from his fist and foot strikes twisted his shoulder and erupted as if to pierce his solar plexus in the blink of an eye.
BOOM!!
A flash of light, blossoming like an explosion in the air, brilliantly colored the sky above the trains speeding along the railway.
Two figures ruthlessly weaved and flashed in all directions among the rapidly passing high-rise buildings of the ghost city.
[Don’t run!!]
“…!!”
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!!!!
The visor, having pushed his magic to its limit, elegantly twisted his body in mid-air, and a grayish light gleamed.
All sorts of flashes, transformed into various bombardments and cutting spells, poured down on Lennok.
A high-level combatant capable of freely employing hand-to-hand combat and spellcasting with just a slight twist of his body.
Lennok also immediately extended magical threads to the surrounding buildings as they passed, anchoring himself, and swiftly performed evasive maneuvers.
His shadow robe, shrouded in darkness, swayed this way and that, dodging the rapidly pouring flashes of light.
‘My sense of balance…!!’
In the process, the churning in Lennok’s stomach from the strenuous movements was unavoidable.
No matter how much Lennok improved his overall condition with Archangel’s Tear, such intense maneuver combat was tantamount to suicide.
However, in this situation, floating in the air and dodging the opponent’s attacks, he couldn’t immediately change this dynamic.
‘I have less than ten blinks left. If I waste them here, it might be difficult to escape Bailuts.’
He didn’t need motion sickness medicine; he needed something far stronger.
In his inverted position, flung into the air, Lennok gritted his teeth and rummaged in his robe.
What he pulled out with his magical threads was a type of painkiller that completely numbed the semicircular canals themselves.
The churning stomach and loss of balance would disappear, but he wouldn’t be able to maintain balance at all while the drug was active.
But Lennok swallowed the pill, chewing it without a moment’s hesitation.
“…!!”
WHOOSH-CRACKLE!!
Simultaneously, he affixed dozens of magical threads extending from all sides of his robe to the walls of nearby buildings.
He then rapidly contracted the threads, adjusting his speed and trajectory.
WHOOSH!!
In an instant, he twisted like a snake crawling through the air, approaching within striking distance of the visor.
The blue visor, as if expecting it, threw a full-force punch at Lennok, who had approached right in front of him, but—
The blade of violent wind, erupting and swirling from beneath his forearm, did not reach the robe.
[You…!!]
The moment the visor, realizing that the robe was heading towards one of the still intact trains, tried to quickly turn his back—
Through the window of a nearby building, the incendiary bomb attached to the visor’s back became visible.
BOOOM!!
Immediately after, it exploded in mid-air with a dazzling burst of flames.
Lennok, not even looking back at the explosion above his head, immediately landed on another train.
He then squeezed into the passenger car, tumbling inside.
CRASH!!
“Ugh…!!”
Having swallowed the painkiller that completely numbed his sense of balance, standing was, as expected, difficult.
Even as he groaned, he forced himself to stand, connecting magical threads to his limbs.
A strange sensation, as if controlling himself like a puppet, moving his limbs by attaching threads.
After completely replacing direct manipulation of magical threads with mental command, he split the control area down to individual finger joints.
Like a machine, slowly but steadily, Lennok pushed himself up using a nearby chair, stretching his neck as he began to walk.
‘It’s much less repulsive than I thought…’
He hadn’t just blindly swallowed the medicine without any plan or thought.
He knew that eventually, to continue advancing with his current physique, he would have to try this kind of manipulation in a real combat situation.
Until now, he had dealt with close-quarters combat purely through transcendent intuition and strategic thinking, but there might come a time when even this utterly frail body would have to engage in physical combat.
In that case, it would be better to directly control his body through magical thread manipulation rather than relying on Lennok’s utterly inferior motor skills.
Lennok had intended to experiment with this inspiration, which he had gained from observing the puppeteer Chevyen, on his own body before it faded.
As he quickly headed to the train’s front control cabin, Lennok spoke.
“What about crossing tracks nearby?”
[Lines 6 and 47 in 2 minutes 5 seconds, and Line 21 in 3 minutes 38 seconds!]
“Good.”
Lennok said this, flung open the control room door, placed his hand on the train’s operating system, and turned his gaze to the sky.
“That should be enough time.”
BOOOM!!
Immediately after, a figure descended as if slamming into the very end of the train and strode purposefully towards Lennok.
Although parts of his suit were scorched, the dark blue visor itself was undamaged.
Lennok also knew that his opponent wouldn’t die from an explosion of that magnitude.
[You’re playing useless tricks. Did you think you could escape pursuit just by thinking that little?]
CLANG, CLANG!!
A train in the dark night, cutting through the heart of the satellite city.
Behind the visor walking from the end of the wide-open passenger car corridor, unknown spell characters constantly appeared and vanished.
Considering that Aegis members learned new spells separate from their innate abilities, this opponent must also be a wielder who had acquired powerful additional spells.
[Divine Bow wasn’t the only external force brought in as reinforcement for this operation. As long as I’ve detected you, there’s no way I’ll ever let you escape.]
“I see.”
Lennok chuckled.
“But I didn’t say a word about Divine Bow. Is it alright for you to just reveal that?”
[…It was unavoidable for our forces to be exposed the moment the rain of arrows was unleashed.]
As the visor rubbed his wrists, his forearms above the suit began to blaze intensely.
HISSSSSS…!!
With forearms burning as if they had been tempered in hot lava, he grabbed a nearby seat, and it instantly melted.
The visor, having melted away the corridor door, stood facing Lennok in the same car and nodded.
[If we can capture a special type sorcerer from Pandemonium and analyze their spells, that’s enough. It’s a shame we couldn’t capture The Doctor himself, but it can be considered a gain in its own way.]
“You’re taking a long way to say you couldn’t interfere because you were afraid of Maiya Lonsdale.”
Lennok adjusted his mask and spoke to the silent blue visor.
“I know there was an insider within Pandemonium. You could have intervened at any point. You weren’t targeting The Doctor from the beginning, were you?”
[…]
“No, to be precise, you were targeting The Doctor, but you yourselves didn’t have high expectations. It’s not surprising if you’re more interested in the byproducts than in The Doctor.”
Lennok chuckled, looking at his unresponsive opponent.
“Aegis members are granted the right to extract and directly acquire the spells of the members they capture… If such a rule exists, then your trivial obsession wouldn’t be unexplainable. What do you think?”
[Heh heh…]
HISSSSSS…!!
The visor, loosening up by flexing each of his blazing hot fingers, let out a gloomy laugh.
[I think I can only give you that answer after I drag your corpse back to Vulcan. Will that be alright?]
“Of course. What difference would it make?”
Lennok also let out a sharp laugh and gripped his magical threads tightly.
SHIMMER!!
Dozens of magical threads gleamed from all sides of the half-destroyed passenger car.
All those threads clung to various parts of Lennok’s robe, manipulating his body like a puppet.
WHOOSH!!
With just a nod, he dodged a black arrow that pierced through the window.
The moment the visor hesitated at his unusual movement, Lennok chuckled and asked.
“It’s something you could just ask him directly. Don’t you think so, traitor?”