Chapter 549: Monster of the Past (1)

Shhhhhhhhhh!!!!

A massive power plant’s thermal exhaust vent, dozens of meters wide.

The vast side of the vent, large enough to engulf dozens of people, was melting and dripping like ice cream.

The engine room, where thousands of pipes directly managing the power plant’s exhaust functions were chaotically intertwined.

Lennok, restoring his worn-out shield with mana, rose to his feet.

An overwhelming presence could be felt beyond the haphazardly woven pipe network.

Had they finished stabilizing the fixation device and joined the fray? Lennok couldn’t help but offer a bitter laugh.

‘I should have killed at least one of them the moment I was discovered. What a shame.’

Lennok understood that this was a realm where spacetime was dissociated, but he didn’t know the exact concept by which past figures could exist.

While it was certain that this wasn’t a true past timeline, if it were merely a space constructed from someone’s memories or traces, then why could individuals like Kaiser or Olivera exist, retaining their full powers from that time?

Furthermore, how could they naturally react and think against variables like Lennok, who had intruded from the outside?

Did stabilizing spacetime mean something different from merely leaving behind memories or traces?

Although he had assisted Kaiser’s research, even Lennok found it difficult to grasp the true nature of this phenomenon.

To confirm whether these past beings were truly alive in this space, it would have been ideal to kill one and observe the outcome.

Indeed, Lennok had been on the verge of killing Parden McQueen, but Gileon’s sudden intrusion had made him miss the opportunity.

‘To think he’d use his Miniature Universe to intrude into the Domain at that very moment…’

Lennok, his coat straightened with a cold gaze, pulled out a cigarette from within.

‘His judgment is incredibly swift and bold. Perhaps there was a reason he served as Kaiser’s confidant.’

Without even knowing what Parden McQueen’s Domain, the White Rakshasa Monastery, was capable of, Gileon used his own power to intrude into the area.

This was possible only because he judged the risk of McQueen dying instantly on the spot to be far greater than suffering damage within the Domain.

The boldness to dive into a spellcaster’s Domain without hesitation, even knowing he had to bear the risk.

The judgment to read the rapidly unfolding situation in a fleeting moment and calculate gains and losses.

And the martial prowess to act on that judgment, endure his own losses, and momentarily stand against Lennok.

Such a decisive action would be difficult for anyone but a seasoned vanguard who has directly fought on the front lines.

If, as Jenny said, Kaiser’s retainers all possessed this level of capability across the board…

Then it was only natural that an organization like Deadrise, formed by such individuals, would boast such formidable power.

‘I haven’t yet ascertained how many superhumans from the past exist in this area. If there are more like Gileon, it’ll be a headache…’

Flight capability via steel wings, seasoned firearm proficiency, and even Spatial Delamination manifested through his Miniature Universe. Each of these abilities was truly troublesome.

Given Gileon’s judgment and boldness, the best course of action would have been to pursue and kill him immediately after the engagement ended.

However, Lennok hadn’t done so for another reason.

It was because he had already sensed an overwhelming presence emerging from the power room, a presence difficult to compare even to McQueen and Gileon combined.

Boom!!

Just by taking a light step, the surrounding air grew heavy.

The local climate warped, and the surrounding laws of physics seemed to solidify and sink, emanating a dark, oppressive aura.

A vibrantly colored, flowing ornate robe fluttered, releasing faint currents amidst the drab darkness.

Beyond the shimmering veil, the clear radiance of a mystic eye could be glimpsed.

[Parden tells me you’ve been doing some interesting things.]

…

[Most who impersonate my name are merely insects, not even worth delving into their true nature…]

Even with his vision obscured by thousands of pipes, her figure was perfectly clear.

An overwhelming presence that boasted its existence, not just through the five senses, but as if imprinted through mana, consciousness, Will-thought, and mental imagery.

Olivera Ron Maize let out a small laugh.

[You seem… different.]

“I have no intention of fighting.”

Lennok replied, walking casually through the engine room.

Olivera, too, slightly lifted her flowing robe and followed.

“I have no intention of killing Kaiser either. I merely wish to clean up the fallout from the research being conducted at this power plant.”

[Fallout?]

“You said you intended to fix spacetime itself and leave it as a testbed in a specific area.”

Lennok brushed dust from a pipe with his finger, then quietly gazed at it as he spoke.

“If the timeline within the same space deviates, mana particles will be forcibly disintegrated, leading to widespread exposure events.”

…

“If we thoroughly review the specific knowledge and processes used in spacetime research and prevent adverse effects from occurring—”

[You’re lying.]

Olivera, cutting Lennok off immediately, spoke.

[You have no interest in such matters at all. In truth, you don’t even particularly wish to know what we’re doing here.]

…

[If you truly wanted to stop the exposure, you would have traveled all over the power plant to grasp the full picture. That would be more efficient for resolving the issue.]

Olivera turned her gaze.

[But instead, you’ve been constantly observing Kaiser, right by his side. I’ve seen people act like that before. And I understand their feelings very well.]

“Oh?”

[You wanted to confirm, didn’t you?]

…

[Whether he was capable of completing the project. Whether he was a person of such caliber, wasn’t that what you wanted to know?]

She whispered, her voice tinged with a faint smile, as if she knew all of Lennok’s innermost thoughts.

[By now, a few astute individuals should have discerned the truth. It’s not surprising.]

Leaving the silent Lennok, Olivera walked ahead, her hands clasped behind her back.

[This is an eternal promise that alters the very concept of the world… and a false illusion that deceives the conclusion to contrive the next. Is it not rather absurd to expect to walk a thorny path without shedding a single drop of blood?]

Lennok and Olivera reached the end of the engine room. Standing before a thin iron door, the two quietly met each other’s gaze.

Olivera chuckled and said,

[Even if a few more drops of someone else’s blood are shed in the process, it wouldn’t be so strange.]

Crumble…!!

At that moment, the countless forest of pipes that Lennok and Olivera had passed through began to collapse.

As if time itself belatedly followed their path and steps.

As if swept away by invisible slashes and mana, severed thousands, tens of thousands of times.

Thousands of metal pipes shattered into hundreds of thousands of fragments, falling apart, then turned into cold iron dust and scattered throughout the engine room.

Whoosh!!

In the belated storm of iron dust, Lennok’s coat and Olivera’s robe fluttered in unison.

The manifestation of shared Will-thought between the two high-level mages as they exchanged words.

With just the subtle interplay of mana that followed, the entire engine room had been transformed into ruins.

[So you already understand the manifestation of mana through Will-thought… How regrettable.]

Olivera shook her head.

[To think a mage of your talent must be buried in this backwater as we move forward.]

…

Creak!!

Slowly, he opened the iron door and stepped outside.

In the distance, the vast open ground within the power plant was visible.

A space encircled by impossibly tall chimneys and thick, massive facility buildings erected all around.

Receiving the full sunlight pouring down from the clear sky, Olivera slowly turned her back.

[But that is precisely what we have done all this time.]

The moment she raised her hand and made a gesture as if grasping empty air.

The sunlight pouring from the sky rapidly converged, gathering at her fingertips.

Hummm…!!

A fierce, pulsating light of potent mana coursed along her slender, long fingers.

The moment Lennok realized it wasn’t merely mana congealing into a luminous form, but the shape of a true elemental property, his brow furrowed.

Radiance-attribute unique magic

One-Center Cannon Shot

[Glory Pierce]

Boom!!!

The light bursting from Olivera’s fingertips became a magnificent beam, sweeping over Lennok’s body.

[Thunder Calling]

Crackle!!

Almost simultaneously, a bolt of lightning struck from the clear sky, colliding perpendicularly with the flash of light streaking across the ground.

The two diverging beams of light, upon collision, warped and splintered, unleashing dazzling flashes in all directions.

Kwakwakwang!!!

From the front, its firepower and speed were powerful enough to rival Lennok’s lightning magic.

The sequence of incantations she displayed right before casting the spell. It wasn’t difficult to guess what power she wielded.

‘Radiance-attribute system. Is it light elemental magic…!!’

[You withstood it.]

The fleeting moment Lennok realized that fact and hesitated, Olivera moved first.

[Then can you react to this one too?]

Cling-clang!!

Fragments of light, scattered in all directions by the clash of the two mages, resonated violently, creating a strange hum.

The moment she lightly tapped those clusters of light as if touching them with her hand, they transformed in color, becoming brilliant masses of radiance.

Like constellations in the night sky, the light clusters encircling Lennok sequentially exploded. Each embraced a different direction and trajectory, swallowing the space whole.

Radiance-attribute unique magic

Star Net Divine Radiance

[Pleiades Western Light]

Kwakwakwang!!!

Immense heat melted the ground and the power plant’s open-area buildings, conjuring a scorching wind.

Heat haze, rising from the light explosion, writhed, melting iron and scorching the earth.

An area-of-effect spell that connects seven types of radiance, resonating them in all directions to maximize explosive power.

Once trapped within its range, dodging or enduring it was an almost impossible concentration of firepower projection.

But what reflected between Olivera’s fingers was not melted human flesh, but the vast, surging form of thunder, as if about to burst.

Crackle-crackle-crackle!!!

A cluster of lightning, flickering within his coat, devoured the radiance unleashed by Olivera and slowly swelled in size.

Dozens of thick currents, each the size of an arm, rotated in unison at Lennok’s gesture.

All of them, like living creatures, tore through space, twisting and transforming into tangible physical force.

Following the lightning strikes that surged from Lennok’s body, even his two eyes gleamed with a vivid blue light.

The fleeting moment Olivera once again snatched the light from the sky and transformed it into a weapon, Lennok’s form vanished from that spot.

Flash!!

The moment Lennok appeared behind her, twisted his shoulder, and slammed his arm downwards,

Dozens of lightning bolts, burrowing beneath his feet, simultaneously gripped the ground, burning it as they shot pillars of electricity upwards.

Lightning-attribute unique magic

[Monstrous Thunderous Collapse]

[Contract Thunder Haze]

Simultaneously, Olivera, gripping the light clusters that fell from the sky, detonated them to conceal her form.

Between the pillars of lightning and the explosions of light, hundreds of mana and Will-thought projectiles began to violently collide and detonate.

Kwakwakwakwang!!!!

Amidst the fierce and violent projection of mana and light, the incessant clash of Wills flickered.

Slicing countless conscious moments of thought and judgment, cramming incantations and tactical duels into every flow of time.

Beyond the streaks of light and lightning flashes that blurred and receded from his vision, he fully perceived the accelerating flow of his thoughts.

Immediately after mocking and dismissing the warmth of death that approached amidst the escalating thunder and brilliant explosions.

Behind the two mages, dozens of mana rays twisted out of sync, drawing irregular spirals.

Kwakwakwang!!!

The real landscape distorted, as if colors were smudged amidst the chaotic barrage of mana light.

Through the distorted view, Olivera could be seen bringing a hand to her face.

Tear…!!

As Olivera pulled at her veil, the fabric covering her face peeled away, revealing her countenance.

A cold expression, an indifferent gaze fixed on Lennok.

Beyond it, the dazzling form of a mystic eye shone, exuding brilliant radiance.

The moment Lennok directly faced the light of that mystic eye, the ground where they stood began to crumble.

Rumble-rumble-rumble!!

Lennok’s form began to plummet into an abyss of unknown depth, cracking and splitting like glass.

Lennok’s body incessantly burned amidst hellfire, then began to be torn limb from limb by the grasping hands of surging demons.

Rip-rip!!

Olivera’s figure, with a stern face, gazed at Lennok’s body, now fragmented into pieces of flesh and turned into a corpse.

Lennok’s eyes and mouth, scattered and fragmented, twitched, his lips moving as if to speak.

The moment Olivera slightly tilted her ear to hear his words.

Lennok quietly whispered.

“As expected, it’s not the Seven Debts Jewels Mystic Eye yet.”

Crack…!!

Immediately after, the abyss landscape surrounding Lennok and Olivera shattered completely, and they instantly returned to the power plant’s open ground.

Lennok wiped away the blood tear flowing from his right eye, while Olivera silently watched him.

Lennok calmly stated.

“The mystic eye’s ability won’t work. At this point, it might not even be your primary ability.”

…

Lennok didn’t know much about Olivera at this point in time.

Only that before she settled in Vulcan, she wandered the continent, interacting with various spellcasters.

She had also been acquainted with the shaman Grisha and Nora, the matriarch of the Summoning Magic Tower, but had severed all ties after entering the mega-city.

However, he knew more about Olivera’s abilities from researching her mystic eye and copying some of its powers.

Originally, Olivera was a complete 8-level mage, but after awakening the Seven Debts Jewels Mystic Eye, she focused on changing her magic system to align with the mystic eye, leading her to seclude herself.

She even temporarily lowered her Hierarchy during the process of shifting her power and system predominantly towards the mystic eye.

The Olivera he faced in this timeline was a being from a point in time before she had fully awakened the Seven Debts Jewels Mystic Eye.

‘It makes sense now that her primary magic was of the light attribute system.’

What Olivera used before acquiring the Seven Debts Jewels Mystic Eye was light-attribute magic of the Radiance-attribute system, which manifested the dispersion and convergence of light through magic.

She was even a monster who, with just that, transcended the Hierarchy and reached the Peak of Extremes.

Because she possessed a transcendent understanding and intuition regarding light, enough to reach 8-level, she was able to acquire the Seven Debts Jewels Mystic Eye, which contained seven lights in her eye, in her later years.

It was also possible to accept a decline in Hierarchy and switch her primary system from Radiance magic to the mystic eye because both abilities were intrinsically linked to light.

Lennok slowly rose to his feet, wiping the tears streaming from beneath his eye, and thought.

‘The Seven Debts Jewels Mystic Eye possessed the power to intervene with causality. I’m not sure which would be more troublesome at this point…’

Just discovering that she hadn’t yet completed the mystic eye was a significant gain.

Olivera showed a slightly surprised expression at Lennok’s words, then gently smiled.

[I see. So that’s how you bore my mark on your body. You’ve already met me once before, haven’t you?]

…

[Given that I don’t recall it, the connection we formed back then must not have been particularly important. In that case, there’s no need to ask further.]

Rumble-rumble-rumble…!!

Suddenly, the mana surging from Olivera’s entire body began to amplify and swirl madly.

An incredibly powerful mana rotation, encompassing the entire sky of the power plant and seeming to press it down whole.

Beneath her flowing robe, mighty, colorless waves resonated and swirled, threatening to engulf the entire space.

Olivera’s fingers, having swiftly completed a series of hand signs and incantations, lightly brushed her lips.

“Domain expansion.”

[Exploration and Exchange Bright Mirror]

Fwoooooosh!!!!

With an intense amount of light that seemed to blind both eyes, the surrounding landscape flipped madly.

The sensation of the light bursting forth, its angles and colors shifting dozens of times in a fleeting moment.

The moment he noticed, the power plant’s open ground was already surrounded by hundreds of massive mirror barriers.