Chapter 538: Giant of Sunlight (5)
Thump!
The quiet cavern echoed even the slow footsteps like thunder.
Lennok walked through the vast, endlessly spacious hall where no people were to be seen at all.
Felix and Ilya looked around with curious expressions. At the very front, Purity walked slowly with his hands clasped behind his back.
Neither reaction was hard to understand.
The colossal stone statues lining both walls of the cavern they were walking through were easily over ten meters tall.
A magnificent hall of fame, where dozens of giants were displayed in various poses.
The four of them were visiting an unofficial exhibition hall located in Sector 5.
“Adachar Ivago, commander of the civil war. Tavi Holgren, head of the city development and expansion project. Madrich Onnion, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Riyad Hammer, Grand Marshal of the Allied Forces……”
Felix murmured, surveying his surroundings with a calm gaze.
“Every single one of them is a great figure who left their mark on Vulcan’s history.”
“……”
“Sir Azlan, are you saying that someone higher than the Senate is waiting for us here?”
Ilya sighed softly at Felix’s words.
“It seems like someone who highly values formality. I suppose we should be prepared for it to take quite some time.”
“No, there’s no need for that at all.”
Purity, who had been listening silently, chuckled softly.
“If anything, I’d say he’s very far from formality.”
“Excuse me?”
“Even choosing this place as the meeting spot today was solely due to his will.”
“What on earth does that…?”
While the others blinked, not immediately understanding the meaning of his words, Lennok quietly surveyed the surrounding statues.
Their attire, age, appearance, and demeanor varied greatly—armor, uniforms, old scholarly robes, and research gowns.
The only commonality was the enormous size of the statues.
Lennok, who had been idly gazing at the giants sculpted and displayed in various forms, regardless of gender or age, then.
His eyes met one of the statues that was quietly staring back at him.
“……”
“……”
Lennok tilted his head with an expressionless face, while the statue’s lips twitched.
Ilya, turning to look at the silently stopped Lennok, was startled by the statue’s appearance and immediately drew out her mana.
“An inv… intruder…! N-no, is it a statue?!”
“Yes, that’s exactly the reaction I wanted!”
Thump!!
Only then did the statue, with a somewhat satisfied expression, begin to move.
No, it wasn’t a statue.
It was merely an enormously tall giant, who had been holding his breath among the statues, pretending to be one of them.
The appearance of a middle-aged man, impressive with his massive five-meter-plus frame, thick belly, bushy beard, and grinning expression.
However, his physique and weight were so enormous and heavy that the combined weight of the other four people present couldn’t even compare.
Thump, thump, thump!!
As he lightly stepped forward to stand before the four, his footsteps alone seemed to make the entire hall reverberate.
Only then did Felix and Ilya, belatedly grasping the situation, gape in astonishment.
“A gi-giant!”
“How could a race, which I heard went extinct decades ago, be here in the central district of the mega-city…!”
“Hahahaha! Yes, that’s right. I chose this place because I wanted to see that expression!!”
Purity nodded, showing no surprise at all, towards the giant who was thumping his belly and shouting with a booming voice.
“Lucinder, please understand. It has been too long since people of this era have directly witnessed beings like you.”
“What? That’s not what I meant. Damn it, that boring guy had to be the first to find me!”
“You weren’t exactly subtle about hiding.”
Lennok, listening to the giant’s grumbling, replied flatly.
“If you wanted to be discovered at an appropriate moment and see a reaction, you should have chosen your audience better. You have strange hobbies.”
“Hmph, you’re far more impertinent than I expected.”
The giant snorted in reply.
“How was I supposed to know you were such an unfeeling block of wood with no emotional fluctuations? I just wanted to play a prank on humans I haven’t met in a long time!!”
“……”
It wasn’t a lack of emotional fluctuation; he had simply noticed him since entering the exhibition hall.
But this situation made it clear that the opponent was a skilled individual, capable of even deceiving Felix and Ilya’s senses.
The opponent possessed a complex aura and vitality that made it difficult for even Lennok, seeing him directly, to estimate his true power and potential.
“Since you haven’t met, I will introduce him.”
Purity turned his gaze away from the giant and towards the others, beginning to speak.
“Lucinder, no surname. One of the very few surviving giants, thought to be extinct, and a member of the Giant Soldier Corps that has existed for over 200 years. A disciple of an Ascendant, and……”
Purity paused briefly, then continued.
“He was the one who, as a part of the Elder Council, managed all the gates of the entire city.”
The Elder Council.
Lennok knew that this was the name of the organization that Purity had mentioned, one existing above the Central Council.
Hadn’t Meyer also mentioned them, saying that determining the mayor’s position was the Elder Council’s business?
A mysterious organization shrouded in veil. The true giants of sunlight who had been present at every moment of the city’s founding, development, expansion, and glory.
Lennok was now, for the first time, facing a member of that very Elder Council.
…He had never dreamed that the ‘giant of sunlight’ would be an actual giant.
“Just call me an old pig who’s only gotten fatter. Why are you making such a grand fuss about it?”
Lucinder, the giant, replied disinterestedly, grumbling at Purity.
“Anyway, Krod, you’ve gotten really strange with age. Caring about unnecessary formalities. Are humans just hopeless after all?”
“Please bear with me. I no longer even remember which faction or organization you belonged to.”
Purity gave a wry smile, shook his head lightly, and then spoke again.
“Lucinder holds a special position as the Key-keeper within the Elder Council. He is also the only one who can temporarily grant us access to the restricted zone.”
“……”
“This operation is not initiated by the Central Council, but a designated order activated through the Elder Council’s proxy authority. This is the first time this has happened since the Nakcheon Incident, and it’s a new operation related to the project, launched after 20 years.”
‘Nakcheon?’
Lennok inwardly frowned at the mention of that name.
He had a general idea of which event Purity was referring to.
However, Lucinder cut Purity off sharply as soon as he heard his words.
“I don’t know what Krod has been blabbering about, but the Elder Council is not some superior institution to the Central Council.”
“Excuse me?”
“Most of those guys withdrew to the sidelines to step away from active duty. Do you think they care about how the city runs now?”
“……”
“Besides, the fact that things turned out this way is largely our fault… Ah, never mind. I’ve checked your faces, so let’s get this over with quickly.”
Sticking a finger into his teeth with one hand, he grasped a handful of his bushy beard with the other.
Pulling his beard down, Lucinder opened his mouth wide and abruptly stuck his finger into his throat.
“Ughhh!!”
“……”
While the others were speechless at the bizarre sight, Lucinder’s eccentricity continued.
The moment he spewed out something covered in saliva from his throat, an array of unknown ancient characters began to swirl in the air above his thick finger.
Flash!!
The array’s form assembled itself in mid-air, scattering mysterious blue light.
Lucinder gestured to the other four with a disinterested expression.
“You four have all entered Sector 6 at least once, correct? Make sure, because there could be an adverse reaction.”
Even if Lennok and Ilya had, had Felix and Krod also entered the restricted zone in different ways before? Lennok had certainly needed Pallard O’Con, the Deputy Director of the Agents, to enter Sector 6.
As all four touched the character array floating in the air, an unknown pattern like a barcode was etched onto the back of their left hands.
Hiss!!
Seeing this, Lucinder picked up the character array again and gulped it down.
Lucinder let out a loud burp, then smacked his lips and grumbled.
“Damn it, it always feels disgusting. Why do they have to make emergency access rights between sectors into bio-codes, making me go through this crap? Am I really still working at this age?”
“……”
The Key-keeper, who stored the access rights to all the gates of the mega-city.
Absurdly, the method of storage was for the giant Lucinder himself to swallow them into his stomach.
Perhaps the sheer volume and complexity of the bio-code access rights were too vast for an ordinary human to handle.
Since he held temporary access rights to the city’s gates, including the restricted zone, inside his stomach, the term “Key-keeper” was perfectly accurate.
Only then did Lennok understand why a special organization like the Elder Council could exist with a position and status different from the Central Council’s structure.
Special knowledge or authority that could not be inherited within the order established by the city’s founders.
They were those who preserved and managed the legacy of a bygone era, close to outdated, who wouldn’t be strange to have retired or died long ago.
Was that why they could coexist with the powerful Central Council, nominally, while maintaining a relationship where they didn’t interfere with each other?
“Well, even if it looks like that, it’s a living code, so… Get into the sector quickly before you die. You’ve prepared everything, right?”
Purity, who had been staring at the bio-code etched on the back of his hand, nodded.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Lucinder. I imagine this isn’t a small burden for you.”
“Cut the pointless flattery. If it wasn’t for the others’ requests, I wouldn’t have even started this.”
Lucinder mumbled disinterestedly, his gaze sweeping over the other four before stopping on Lennok.
“I wanted to see the face of the one who killed Onnion, at least once.”
“……”
Despite the giant’s gaze instantly darkening, Lennok wasn’t surprised.
Madrich Onnion. An 8-level military sorcerer.
Lennok knew that the former Chief Justice, who had directly participated in the project decades ago, was acting as the Elder Council’s proxy.
He had expected such a topic to come up at some point, now that he was meeting a member of the Elder Council.
“Yes, I thought anyone who could deal with that stiff-necked judge and kill him wouldn’t have ordinary talent… but this is certainly beyond my expectations.”
Lucinder mumbled, scratching his beard with a strange look in his eyes.
“There’s a subtly similar feeling about him. I can see why the others are paying attention.”
“Are you talking about Madrich Onnion?”
“…No, I spoke out of turn.”
Lucinder said that and slowly stood up.
Thump!!
With heavy footsteps, Lucinder instantly rose to a greater height and spoke.
“However, it would be wise to remember that someone must bear Onnion’s karma, Van.”
“……”
“It is our duty and right to rectify the project’s failure. Approaching its secret means you must share its responsibility.”
This was a declaration completely different from before—hard, heavy, and inorganic.
It felt weighty, like a ruler delivering a verdict and sentence, or an offer that must be accepted as truth.
“Understand that the leeway given to you in this matter is an extension of that task.”
Thump, thump!!
The giant’s voice echoed as he walked casually through the quiet hall, unconcerned by any gazes, disappearing into the darkness with indifferent steps.
Only Lucinder’s last words quietly resonated among the inorganic statues.
“Perhaps even all those connected to you.”
“……”
No one dared to speak until the giant had completely vanished from sight.
Because the immensely powerful will he scattered in his final moments was strong enough to press down on the entire space.
That was not the kind of resolve a mere key-keeper or high-ranking official could possess.
It was proof that this fat, old, bushy-bearded giant was once a warrior trained to perfection, more than anyone else.
“That giant, you said he was a disciple of an Ascendant.”
Lennok turned his gaze to Purity.
“Whose disciple was he?”
“……If he does not say it himself, it is not something I can tell you.”
Purity, who quietly refused to answer, glanced at the bio-code etched on his wrist and nodded.
“As Lucinder said, we don’t have much time. I’ll guide you to the gate.”
Thud!
As a foot landed slightly off, a piece of broken brick rolled downwards.
Even after a long time, the sound of the brick hitting the ground wasn’t heard.
Instead, what pierced their ears was only the grand sound of water, echoing endlessly.
ROAR!!!
Water mist rose everywhere due to the ceaselessly pouring water, controlling the water level, obscuring vision so much that it was impossible to see an inch ahead.
Only the enormous pipes, visible here and there through the fog when walking along the waterway’s edge, allowed them to guess the scale of the dam.
“Truly an enormous scale.”
“They say it alone supplies 40% of Sector 20’s water resources, so its scale must be beyond imagination.”
Ilya adjusted her backpack slightly as she replied.
“The existence of this dam is said to affect the climate of Sector 22, so it must have an influence beyond what is visible.”
The multi-purpose gravity dam in Sector 22.
At the very end of a facility that boasted an overwhelming size and scale among all the mega-city’s facilities.
Purity had been walking along the boundary of this colossal waterway for a long time, leading the other three.
“But I don’t know how there could be a way to enter the restricted zone from here.”
Felix said.
“Didn’t we receive authorization, so it wasn’t supposed to be a matter of entering through proper procedures?”
“That’s not wrong.”
Lennok, who had been listening quietly, said.
“What do you mean?”
“That the path we are currently taking is the proper procedure.”
At that moment, the ceaselessly pouring water above the four began to split, parting to both sides.
Rumble!!!
The sight of a massive waterfall, easily weighing thousands of tons, splitting left and right, fully exposing the dam’s wall.
The changed direction of the waterfall’s torrent engulfed the four people, but no one was knocked back by the impact.
They simply stood there, receiving the violent downpour, and stared at the split dam wall.
Felix, mouth agape, looked up blankly and murmured.
“……It was hidden in a place like this.”
The form of a colossal gate, striped with yellow and black warning patterns, stretching for dozens of meters.
Red warning lights flashed incessantly from the ceiling, signaling danger, and shockwaves close to a roar erupted as the gate slowly began to open.
Rumble!!!
A person walked out through the slightly opened gap in the gate, just wide enough for one to pass, and bowed deeply.
[Welcome to the Kurbas Multi-purpose Gravity Dam.]
His entire body was clad in an unknown gray suit, and his face was covered by something resembling a massive gas mask.
A bizarre design where not a shred of skin was exposed on a body whose gender could not be discerned.
He, who had been quietly observing the group through the dragonfly-like gas mask, subtly moved aside, opening the way into the gate.
[The Administrator is waiting. I will guide you.]
“……So this dam had an Administrator.”
Ilya said, slightly surprised.
Lennok turned his head at her words.
“Is there a problem?”
“It’s a term referring to the highest civil service rank, excluding the City Government Central Council.”
Felix said.
“Meaning the person in charge of managing this dam is one of the fewer than a hundred highest-ranking authorities in this city.”
“……”
He likely wasn’t someone dispatched merely to manage this dam. Felix and Ilya had realized that fact as soon as they heard the word “Administrator.”
The four immediately followed the person in the strange gas mask and walked into the gate.
Upon entering the gate, a truly overwhelming hangar, befitting its size, was the first thing that came into view.
People in suits and gas masks were moving around, managing something piled up in the hangar.
The guide ignored his colleagues and led them to a secluded passage above the hangar.
Ilya looked down at the people moving around below their feet with a somewhat curious expression.
“Everyone is covering their bodies and faces. 위생이나 소독이 필요한 무언가가 있는겁니까?”
“But if so, there would be no reason not to make us wear similar equipment near the hangar.”
“It’s not a matter of disinfection or hygiene.”
At Felix and Ilya’s words, Lennok, who had been quietly surveying their surroundings, spoke.
“If anything, it’s a matter of survival.”
“What?”
At Lennok’s words, he felt the guide walking ahead of them slightly flinch his shoulder.
“The internal mana within the gate is very subtly fragmented and diverging.”
Lennok said, then subtly removed his glove and lightly ran his hand over the back of it.
His extremely sensitive mana perception had long since recognized how the mana in this space existed.
“Perfected superhumans might be fine, but ordinary people exposed for too long would have their internal organs damaged. The suits they’re wearing seem to be a protective measure against that.”
“That can’t be……”
“Are you saying that a phenomenon close to radiation exposure is occurring inside this space?”
“Radiation exposure… that’s probably the most accurate term.”
Lennok chuckled faintly.
“The unusually large gas masks they’re wearing are probably for a similar reason. If this kind of exposure invades the respiratory system, there would be no way to survive.”
“It’s truly hard to believe that such a phenomenon is happening inside the Kurbas Dam……”
Ilya said with an astonished expression.
“Sector 20 is an area where nearly a third of the mega-city’s population lives. Is it truly possible for such dangerous radiation exposure to occur in a dam that manages the water resources for such a sector?”
[Radiation exposure is not occurring at the Kurbas Dam.]
At that moment, the guide ahead quietly spoke.
[The Kurbas Dam was built here precisely to prevent the radiation exposure of mana particles.]
“What on earth does that…?”
[It seems Adamant Thunder already suspects. I’m surprised. The rumors weren’t baseless, after all.]
Lennok did not bother to respond to the flattery.
He merely nodded slightly with an expressionless face.
But the guide, seemingly even more pleased by Lennok’s attitude, let out a low chuckle.
[It seems that the lifting of the Prohibition Edict and the collapse of the boundary between light and shadow was not entirely a bad thing. No one could have predicted such a powerful and captivating sorcerer existing in the city’s shadows.]
“……What did you say?”
[Allow me to reintroduce myself.]
Click!!
They passed through a dark passage and corridor, arriving at a secluded room.
As the group entered, the door closed, and he slowly removed his gas mask.
Pshhhhh!!
As the lights in the room came on, gas and spray containing disinfectant erupted, completely drenching the guide from head to toe.
Only then did Lennok realize that the room they had entered was a passage similar to a sterilization chamber.
The guide, sweeping back his drenched hair, spoke.
“Keegan Grimes, First-Class Administrator of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Resources.”
The young man, appearing to be about Lennok’s age outwardly, smiled faintly and turned his head.
“I am responsible for guiding you, including Sir Krod Azlan, to the restricted zone in this operation.”
“……”
At that moment, a faint shift in Felix and Ilya’s presence could be felt from behind them.
The other side of the young man’s face, which he had turned, was that of an elderly person, well over eighty years old.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen your face, Grimes.”
At Purity’s words, who had been silently observing until now, Keegan gave a wry smile and extended his hand.
“Sir Azlan. It’s a pleasure. This is the first time since the Main Body Meeting 20 years ago, isn’t it?”
“It truly is regrettable to meet in such a setting.”
“It’s fine. Accepting this dam’s management position was my own will.”
Keegan maintained his faint smile and pointed to the spacious conference room visible beyond the sterilization chamber.
“There isn’t much time. Shall we get straight to the point?”
The Administrator’s eyes, fixed in a mask-like smile, seemed to quiver with a hint of impatience.
“To ‘launch’ you into the restricted zone within an hour of your access authority being activated, various preparations will be necessary.”
Grimes’s incredibly cryptic message.
However, Felix, who had been listening, asked with a serious expression instead.
“If you mean ‘launching,’ does that mean we have to fly?”
“No, it’s a bit different from that…?”
“That’s a relief. It’s been over 30 years since I forgot how to fly…”
“……”
Everyone forcibly suppressed the question that naturally arose in a corner of their minds and headed to the conference room.