Chapter 531: Dual Identity (2)

A long, black vehicle chassis glided gracefully against the night sky.

Screech!

Lennok, crouching low, left a series of mana explosions behind him, his eyes glinting darkly.

‘Of all times, Evan Vylun’s kidnapping. This can’t be a coincidence.’

With the entire mega-city abuzz with anti-gravity technology development, what did Evan Vylun’s kidnapping signify?

Either the incident itself was a fabrication, or it was evidence of involvement from a shadowy, complicit power.

Perhaps this whole situation was a trap, or someone’s machination; that possibility couldn’t be ruled out either.

But the reason Lennok readily stepped into this designated request, despite knowing some of this,

was because the diamond-tier client who requested Evan Vylun’s rescue,

‘was Antares himself.’

It wasn’t a self-orchestrated scheme by Antares.

Someone claiming to be Evan Vylun was genuinely being handed over to an unknown power.

Yet, Antares, knowing this, contacted Lennok for help, while simultaneously moving in a completely different direction himself.

Who exactly had the opponent kidnapped to cause this incident, and what were their intentions?

Antares had explicitly confirmed his willingness to personally assist Lennok.

Lennok had participated in this request to uncover the truth and the forces behind this incident with Antares’s help.

There was no need for prolonged deliberation.

Screech!!

He lifted the front wheel of his bike onto the hood of an armored vehicle attempting to ram him head-on.

As the heavy tire slammed down on the hood, the multi-propellant thrusters mounted beneath the bike’s chassis simultaneously activated.

Simultaneously, the armored vehicle below exploded, and he used the blast as recoil to spring upwards.

KWAANG!!

“Jenny.”

[8th floor!!]

Lennok’s bike burst straight into the high-rise building lining the roadside.

It shattered thick glass windows like toys, breaking through brightly lit offices one after another.

CRASH!!

“Kyaaak!!”

“Thief!!”

“Damn it, do you even know how high up this floor is—!!”

People in the chaotic office screamed one after another, rolling around to dodge the bike.

But no one easily escaped; they were all busy hiding and concealing something.

White powder and bags clung to their fingertips.

Given that it was a company located in the outer district, it was clear they weren’t involved in legitimate business.

[Van, not there!!]

Jenny’s urgent voice echoed in his ear.

Lennok replied quietly.

“I know.”

The bike, spraying a heavy engine roar, smashed through and broke open the building’s internal corridors and office walls.

In an instant, the bike burst out the opposite side of the building, flying through the air towards the adjacent building.

KWAANG!!!

It smashed through the stout iron barricades installed inside the windows with its weight and entered.

Beyond the bike’s throttle, dozens of superhumans stood in suits.

Each wore a thick mask or full-face covering, emitting a significant amount of mana.

These superhumans were carefully transporting a jet-black coffin, large enough to fit a person.

The superhumans, carefully carrying the Black Coffin [흑관], all turned towards the direction of the roaring sound.

Lennok, turning his bike aside, muttered.

“Found it.”

[…Found it?!]

Ignoring Jenny’s voice through his earpiece, Lennok dismounted his bike and drew his staff.

The quiet tapping sound of his staff echoing as it struck the lobby floor.

“A-Adamant Thunder…!!”

“We scattered so much dummy data and chaff, how could he find us so fast—!!”

Several superhumans, recognizing Lennok’s impassive face and appearance, immediately recoiled.

“Calm down. Look closely at him!!”

Among the slightly disoriented superhumans, there were managers quickly calming their comrades.

With sharp eyes, they swiftly scanned Lennok up and down, speaking quickly.

“If Adamant Thunder were in full condition, he wouldn’t have bothered coming here; he’d have killed us with a mere gesture.”

“The moment a wizard appears directly on the battlefield, we have a chance. Remember that!!”

Lennok heard that and chuckled involuntarily.

“I guess I know what you think of me.”

But as if regaining their fighting spirit from the managers’ words, one by one,

several particularly powerful mana-wielding individuals among the suits immediately gripped their polearms and charged.

“You crazy bastard, where do you think you are?!”

“Even if you’re injured, you can’t just quietly stay cooped up—!!”

BANG!!

A revolver bullet lodged precisely in the foreheads of those charging and yelling.

Half stumbled, splattering blood, but the other half displayed miraculous skill, blocking the near-subsonic bullets right before their faces in that fleeting moment.

However, the fierce electric current that burst from the bullets immediately wrapped around their bodies, burning their nervous systems whole.

FZZZZT!!!

“HUUURGH!!!”

At the sight of the lobby hall instantly dyed red with blood, the faces of the others turned ghastly pale.

“C-Crazy!!”

“Monster bastard…!!”

“I don’t want to make things unnecessarily complicated. There’s no need to.”

Lennok gestured toward the Black Coffin [흑관] they were desperately hiding and said.

“Hand over Evan Vylun.”

“…We can’t do that.”

Among the superhumans in suits, a middle-aged man, who appeared to be in charge, laughed with difficulty.

“What we have in our hands right now is a genius with an intellect more brilliant than any recent researcher.”

“…….”

“How many sacrifices did we have to make to secure this person? Are you telling us to give it all up with a paltry threat?”

“Hmm…”

Lennok, having received an unintended compliment, calmly caressed his staff.

But nothing had happened to Lennok, so what had they been doing and with whom to be so firmly resolved?

‘The possibility of this being an act or a decoy seems low, but…’

“We cannot… We absolutely must deliver Evan Vylun for the future of the world today!!”

He pulled out an unknown vial from his pocket and, with trembling hands, drank it without hesitation.

The other superhumans watching him gasped and helped the fallen man to his feet.

“No, you can’t use that here—!!”

“Why go this far?!”

“No matter what, protect Evan Vylun!!”

The man, lying prostrate with wide eyes, shouted.

“He is undoubtedly the spark of hope that will give this world new wings…!!”

“Department Head!!”

Lennok sighed with an air of bewilderment at this utterly desperate declaration of resolve.

“Sorry, but aren’t you forgetting who the kidnapper is right now?”

It was frankly odd that the nominal kidnappers of Evan Vylun were acting as if they were trying to protect him.

But there was no answer to Lennok’s question.

“Grrrgh!!”

Because the middle-aged man, whose eyes had rolled back and mouth foamed, rose with his skin turning bright red, instantly transforming into a fiendish apparition.

Simultaneously, the amount of mana flowing from his body began to increase explosively.

KWAANG!!

He instantly became a giant, his physique nearly doubling in size.

Whatever drug he had taken, the real-time breakdown of his cellular tissue was surely evidence of a tremendous price paid.

But the man, having risen again with a truly terrifying appearance, did not charge at Lennok.

Instead, he casually hoisted the Black Coffin [흑관], which his subordinates had been carrying, onto his shoulder and threw himself out of the building alone.

CRASH!!

While Lennok stared with an incredulous expression, the others gritted their teeth and threw themselves at him.

“The Department Head was right. He clearly can’t use magic…!!”

“It’s just one revolver, don’t stop!!”

“Close the distance!! Once we’re close, he’ll have trouble increasing his firepower—!!”

The superhumans showed no hesitation, even seeing their comrades dying horribly.

However, their resolute shouts vanished clean away the moment they saw the massive heavy weapon appear before them.

CLACK!!

A multi-barrel rotary machine gun, modified by bundling dozens of long barrels into a circular shape.

As he raised the thick barrel and infused it with mana, the muzzles began to rotate wildly, emitting a brilliant blue mana light.

WHIRRRRR!!!

“…Huh?”

“Wait, that’s not a revolver, it’s….”

Machina, the Machine City’s custom-order category system upgrade: Predator Overbound Gatling Gun.

It instantly finished warming up, and dazzling mana light erupted from between the rotating muzzles, spraying hundreds of mana bullets throughout the lobby.

DUDUDUDUDUDU!!!

The building walls were riddled with bullet holes like a honeycomb at an insane speed.

Trajectory correction and recoil adjustment. The manifestation of multi-target firing assistance magic, combining aimed shots and concentrated fire.

Even the superhumans desperately struggling to escape the firing range couldn’t evade its speed and accuracy.

“KUUAAAHH!!”

Innumerable corpses, riddled with dozens of holes, fell onto the walls and floor.

Leaving the instantly quieted lobby hall behind, Lennok turned his gaze towards the direction the man had jumped.

‘Where is it?’

It wasn’t that Lennok couldn’t stop the man’s escape even after seeing it.

But he didn’t seize the man, even after watching him flee with the Black Coffin [흑관], because his intention wasn’t to merely kill them and retrieve the coffin.

The fact that Van himself had participated in Evan Vylun’s rescue operation.

A suspicion that perhaps the circumstances themselves were subtly orchestrated.

Lennok hadn’t forgotten Antares’s warning that more people might try to pry into Evan’s identity or secrets.

Therefore, instead of immediately securing the Black Coffin [흑관], he had deliberately observed their movements to see where they were heading.

‘He hasn’t left this vicinity yet. Just confirming his direction will be enough.’

Just as Lennok thought that and was about to rapidly expand his sensory domain.

Jenny’s urgent voice echoed in his ear.

[Van, it’s above you!!!]

WOOOOSH!!!

At that moment, from the rooftop of the adjacent building, a massive flying object, its engine roaring, rose into the night sky.

More like a small structure than an airship, it flew through the sky so naturally, instantly beginning to move away from Lennok.

Jenny, who instantly found data on the craft, quickly relayed the information to Lennok.

[It’s an aerial refueling station used in Windelz, the City of Storms [풍랑도시 윈드엘츠]. How is a non-commercial craft like this in an outer district—!!]

Davi also quickly displayed the craft’s specifications on the bike’s screen.

A floating mechanism designed not only to carry significant weight and many people at once but also to remain airborne for extended periods.

Lennok chuckled the moment he saw it, realizing where the craft must have been procured from.

“So there was a reason for the aerospace exhibition.”

The aerospace exhibition that had recently begun opening in various parts of Vulcan.

It was ostensibly collected to exhibit various aircraft from across the continent, but its true purpose was something else entirely.

It was to test-apply Evan Vylun’s anti-gravity technology, personally announced by him, for use in the outer districts.

It was practically proof that someone had already commenced commercial development of anti-gravity technology.

[If he starts escaping by air, we’ll have no choice but to pursue him by ground…!! Effectively, interception is the only answer…!!]

“No, just wait a moment.”

Lennok replied.

“Because I just thought of a good way.”

Even an aerial station used in a flying city couldn’t fly so freely in the outer districts, where magnetic storms are powerful.

Evidence that Evan Vylun’s anti-gravity technology, which creates artificial updrafts unaffected by the environment, had already begun to be applied to other flying objects.

But Lennok, knowing this, instead of immediately shooting down the station, activated the gatling gun he was holding once more.

DUDUDUDUDU!!!

A rapid volley of mana bullets, heavily imbued with Lennok’s mana, wildly pounded the wall of the empty building, then promptly tore through it.

It smashed the rebar and concrete supporting the building’s internal structure, severing one side near the middle and pushing it outwards.

CREEEAAK…!!

The spine of the high-rise building slowly began to tilt to one side, forming a diagonal line.

The moment the night sky became visible through the cracks, Lennok immediately got on his bike and twisted the throttle.

VRROOOM!!!

He burst through the building’s cracks and unhesitatingly climbed onto the tilted wall.

As the massive monster bike raced up the building wall, gaining speed, Lennok’s figure was launched like a streak of black lightning.

CRASH-BANG!!

Building windows shattered mercilessly beneath the tires, falling away.

The bike’s speed allowed it to race up the tilting building wall faster than the windows could break.

He continuously layered riding assistance magic onto the bike, which was perfectly adapted to Davi’s auto-driving algorithm.

Shaking off the clinging air resistance and accelerating, the bike ascended the slowly tilting building in reverse.

WHOOSH!!

Using the diagonally tilted building wall as a springboard, he launched directly into the air.

[No, wait…!! The coordinates and altitude change values!! It’s insane, utterly…!!]

As he listened to Jenny’s terrified shouts through his earpiece,

the bike, soaring into the night sky, sped across the heavens with the dazzling full moon behind it.

In the illusion of the surrounding landscape flashing by at insane speed, he continuously activated the bike’s propellants and boosters.

The black bike, precariously adjusting its direction in mid-air, landed and skidded onto the very end of the receding aerial refueling station.

SCREECH!!!

Someone steadied the bike, which had skidded far across the heavily shaking platform of the station.

[Quite a view, isn’t it?]

HSSS…!!

The massive man, who had stopped the bike and spoken to Lennok.

Though dressed in a suit, his physique was overwhelmingly tall, nearly 3 meters.

He wasn’t just tall, but also broadly built, with considerable width.

He wore a thick gas mask above his neck, constantly exhaling breaths and steam from its filters.

He inhaled deeply, gazing at the city laid out below the station.

[This city is changing with the innovation brought by anti-gravity technology. This night view, which was never permitted in the outer districts, is the strongest proof.]

“…….”

The gas-masked giant let go of the bike, stepped back, and spoke leisurely.

[It’s incredibly difficult and intricate to break free from one’s innate environment and constraints. Even more so when it’s not your own limitation, but a boundary set by the world itself. Do you know how immense Evan Vylun’s talent and intellect are, to have achieved such a feat?]

“Dunno.”

Lennok replied indifferently.

“But I can tell you’re boasting as if his accomplishments are your own.”

[…….]

Lennok’s eyes, fixed on the gas mask, became cold.

“The city government intervened, didn’t they? Tell me who’s behind this.”

The fact that some of the aircraft originally meant for the aerospace exhibition were leaked in this manner would have been impossible without the city government’s tacit approval.

Someone from the City Government’s Central Council, or an equivalent special agency, must have secretly moved to secure Evan Vylun.

There must be a larger, more secretive power hidden behind this current situation, beyond just these people.

Coming this far, the true nature of this operation is slowly becoming clear. Discovering the city government’s intentions is probably one part of it.

Behind the man, a jet-black coffin stood upright, supporting an old pocket watch.

The ticking of the watch’s second hand, like an alarm, echoed quietly, and then the man’s full voice was heard.

[Allowing such intellect and talent to rot away in a mere university institution is a loss for all humanity. So, we decided to obtain it.]

Click.

The ceaselessly moving second hand stopped, and the watch resting on the coffin fell, shattering.

Immediately after, the coffin’s door swung wide open.

[Evan Vylun’s talent itself.]