Chapter 580: How to Use Space (4)
Activate by attaching the marker.
Lennok integrated Davi’s powerful computational abilities and the Iron-Plated Wings’ spatial interference capabilities into his self-made spatial manipulation spell.
Through this, the entire spatial coordinates of the marked targets were exchanged.
Kiiiiing…!!
Following Lennok’s gesture, dozens of markers glowed one after another, scattering light.
As if kneading space itself, dozens of spatial coordinates were simultaneously recognized from over six reference points.
The spatial magic, assembled according to his will, instantly swapped a series of coordinates, scattering the markers’ light in disarray.
His hands moved along the flowing magical light, which drew gentle curves before his eyes.
As if Lennok were directly playing and conducting space, the agents’ bodies vanished from one spot, only to reappear across the distance.
Craccck!!
Thud-thud-thud!!
“Ugh…!!”
“Argh!!”
The bullets pre-embedded in the vault wall and the agents’ positions were forcibly switched.
Using this, parts of the Agent’s bodies were embedded into the outer wall of the vault, subduing them.
Realizing that parts of their bodies were stuck in the vault wall, the agents stared at the wizard with bewildered expressions.
“Mr. Van, let us go!!”
“If it was going to come to this, we should have fought…!!”
“Fought? Why bother?”
Lennok replied indifferently.
“I’m not trying to pick a fight with Aegis, or launch a full-scale war on behalf of the Cartel. I’m just stopping people from getting past this vault.”
“……!!!”
“I won’t kill you. But if you interfere with my work, I can’t just leave you alone.”
As the agents not yet subdued began to create distance, he grabbed a few bullets with his bare hands and scattered them into the air.
Simultaneously, he activated markers on other agents, changing their spatial coordinates.
The agents, whose positions were helplessly switched and left floating in the air, were gripped by the wing’s grasp and impaled like stakes, just like Kade.
“Ugh…!!”
The markers attached to the staggering agents’ bodies activated instantly.
Their bodies, or parts of them, were bound to the grand underground vault wall, lined up as if impaled on a fence.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!!!
“W-what in the…!!”
“How can such a spell exist….”
All the agents gathered here were warriors who had faced countless real battles and crossed the line of death.
They fully understood how absurdly powerful Lennok’s space transfer spell was.
Was it even possible for someone else to so easily interfere with the body of a superhuman who had already awakened their mana and built up their Hierarchy?
Yet, this wizard played with them with such ease, brazenly displaying them on the vault’s outer wall like decorations.
“It’s a matter of circumstance and conditions.”
Lennok replied, walking toward the fallen Kade.
He couldn’t just move others around arbitrarily without any conditions or prior setup.
He needed time to attach and synchronize the markers, and activated markers were consumed as single-use items.
Creating and attaching markers, concealing them until synchronization was complete, and casting the space transfer spell — none of it was easy.
Moreover, the mana consumed in the process was truly enormous.
It was only because he was drawing mana from the Cartel headquarters’ auxiliary power as if it were water; if he were alone, he wouldn’t use such an inefficient spell on a large scale.
Chiiik!!
“Ugh…!!”
He used a [Bolt] to jolt Kade’s neck, bringing him back to consciousness, then reattached a single-use marker and synchronized it.
“You seem to have abilities related to disguise, a talent thoroughly specialized for assassination.”
“So you intend to subdue me first…? That would be meaningless.”
Kade faintly smiled, then shook his head.
“One whose profession is contract work always arrives at the beginning and the end of a task; what comes after…”
“What?”
Beyond Kade’s suddenly limp body, which had twitched once, O’Neil stood, gripping his sword.
“I have returned here to cut what cannot be cut.”
Beneath his wrinkled brow, O’Neil’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“Connections, even mortal enemies, are nothing but ties that must be severed when facing the only path forward…!”
Kiiiiing!!!
A sharp surge of Mind Imprint rapidly swelled within the old man’s inner world, his Miniature Universe. It was a sword strike unleashed with full power by a 7-level Completer.
He pulled his body low with mana, angled the Iron-Plated Wings aside, and settled his stance. In that fleeting moment,
Swoosh!!
The entire scenery of the underground cavern, reflected above Lennok’s head, was sliced diagonally and slid apart.
The sturdy wall of the underground vault was cut away with shocking ease, revealing its interior.
Kugugung!!
The outer layer of the Iron-Plated Wings couldn’t withstand the cutting power either; the outer parts were severed, except for the sections reinforced with armored plating.
As the vault wall was cut, many of the agents who had been bound to it were released, but Lennok paid them no mind.
Even though the agents regained their freedom, they hesitated to approach Lennok, only standing guard.
They didn’t know how the space transfer spell worked.
Only the shock of Lennok forcibly moving their positions remained vividly in their minds.
From the moment Lennok successfully used the space transfer spell, most of the agents were effectively neutralized, regardless of the situation.
Lennok, with his back to these agents, looked at O’Neil and spoke.
“If you were going to use your Miniature Universe, you should have used it sooner. Your judgment is excessively slow.”
“…….”
“No, perhaps your judgment wasn’t slow, but your heart was.”
Lennok tilted his head, watching O’Neil, who didn’t reply.
“Its power is considerable, but that’s probably because it needs time to warm up, isn’t it?”
“Why don’t you try taking it yourself and see?”
O’Neil raised his dazzling blade and stepped forward.
There was no more conversation.
Only the half-broken Iron-Plated Wing and O’Neil’s gleaming sword light fiercely intertwined, unleashing shockwaves one after another.
Kugwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!
The Miniature Universe within O’Neil’s mind was a consistent Mind Imprint of cutting, unconcerned with anything else.
It didn’t end with a single powerful slash capable of cutting the entire underground vault.
The Miniature Universe’s Mind Imprint remained on the blade like residue, assisting every sword strike he unleashed.
Naturally, the second clash that followed had a distinctly different aspect.
Charrrrr!!
Sword slashes poured through the Iron-Plated Wings, shattering their components and mechanical parts, quickly revealing their inner workings.
Realizing the unusual durability of the armored plating on the wing’s exterior, O’Neil displayed the skill of twisting his sword energy towards the wing’s joints.
Kagaga-gak!!
The feathers of the Iron-Plated Wings were cut off and scattered in all directions, and even the wing’s main body was sliced away.
Even as Gileon’s wing, which he had painstakingly restored, was damaged and losing its function, Lennok did not stop.
Amidst the downward-striking sword light, he continuously used Flicker, doing his best to preserve the wing’s original form, while pulling out different firearms at every moment.
Ta-ta-tang!!
He fired a sniper rifle from dozens of meters away, unleashed a charged shotgun at close range, and mixed revolvers and automatic pistols to scatter magical bullets everywhere.
With each bullet that struck, the enchantment within it activated. Flowers of flame, ice, and lightning bloomed, consuming the surrounding space entirely.
Using the fired magical bullets as markers, he simultaneously activated the space transfer spell.
The coordinates of the unleashed common magic were randomly swapped and slammed onto O’Neil’s body.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!!!
He meticulously avoided direct combat, twisting trajectories and speed with Flicker and Spatial Leap Targeted Shot.
Even when Chain, belatedly regaining consciousness, manifested shadows to respond, the speed and frequency of the counter-attacks only drastically increased.
In the underground cavern, where shadows, sword light, bullets, and assassination techniques intertwined, Lennok overwhelmed every moment of the exchange.
That’s when Chain bit her lip, smeared blood on her fingertips, and quickly began to form hand seals.
“Old man, Kade. Protect me.”
“Chain!!”
“Anyway, we just need to get the ledger, right? I don’t have the energy to deal with that monster of a junior for long…!!”
Chain muttered this, instantly expanding her own Mind Imprint.
“Domain…!!”
Kiiiing!!
The shadows gathered at her feet materialized into a giant cube above her head.
A spherical shadow, resembling a giant shadow block unfolding and assembling, rapidly consumed and constructed space.
Perhaps because she was a veteran active decades ago, her Domain casting speed was incredibly fast.
Chain’s Mind Imprint rapidly completed her Domain, to the point where she didn’t need the protection of the other two.
However, Kade looked at Chain with a frustrated expression, turning his head sharply.
“Chain, no!! If you use your Domain here first, that man’s spatial manipulation…!!”
Kiiing…!!
Simultaneously with the activation sound from inside the Iron-Plated Wing, Lennok unleashed Spatial Severance once more.
But what was cut and torn apart like spreading cracks wasn’t actual space, but Chain’s Domain itself.
Clang!!
The shock of Chain’s deployed Domain being cut and dismantled on the spot.
From the recoil, Chain’s face instantly turned pale, and she convulsed, spitting out black blood as she sharply bent at the waist.
A few agents who had remained and held their ground moved to support her, but Chain reached out to them, stopping them.
“It’s not over yet…!!”
At that moment, the severed parts of the shadow Domain, conversely, tangled around the Iron-Plated Wings, exploding in succession.
Kwaaaaang!!
“……!!”
Only then did Kade realize that Chain had forcibly deployed her Domain, and he rapidly channeled his mana.
“I see. To disable the wing’s function…!!”
The three individuals gathered here had all served as Agents in this city decades ago.
They knew how Gileon of Deadrise wielded his power.
If this wizard was replicating Gileon’s Spatial Delamination ability, its origin must undoubtedly be the Iron-Plated Wing Lennok possessed.
Chain instinctively grasped this fact, lured Lennok into using Spatial Delamination on her Domain, then forcibly attached the crumbling Domain to the Iron-Plated Wings, paralyzing the wing’s function.
Her judgment was that without the Iron-Plated Wings’ power, Adamant Thunder, injured as he was, wouldn’t be able to display his full combat capabilities.
‘There was no information that Adamant Thunder had spatial manipulation abilities of that level. If his current combat power relies on the wing’s strength…!!’
Chain gambled on that assumption, using her own Mind Imprint as bait to tear off Lennok’s wing.
Kade, who understood this first, moved, and O’Neil also thrust forward his blade, imbued with the Mind Imprint of his Miniature Universe.
Chwaaaak!!
A spherical slash spread out, filling half the underground cavern, blocking any escape. Just as Kade used stealth movement to grasp Lennok’s collar.
“You’re willing to make a gamble. It’s audacious, but a good attempt.”
Lennok, helplessly pulled by Kade’s fingertips, smiled.
“It seems the talk of you working in the field for decades isn’t a lie…”
At that moment, the form of Lennok grasped by Kade transformed into a hard ice sculpture and crumbled on the spot.
Crack-crack-crack!!!
“……!!!”
The crumbling ice fragments instantly froze Kade’s arm, which had gripped the collar, stopping him in place.
A massive single wing was embedded in the side of the ice sculpture.
Only then did Kade understand that Lennok had used the Iron-Plated Wing as bait to draw him in, and he let out a hollow laugh.
Thwang!!
Blood splattered from behind Kade’s knees, and he sank to the ground helplessly.
“You tend to act without considering your opponent’s reactions. Is it because you were an assassin, taking on contract work?”
Lennok, now in his shirt sleeves, stood behind him, holding a revolver, and glanced down at O’Neil and Chain.
Chain, slumped from the recoil of her Domain being dispelled, and O’Neil, holding his dazzling blade, sweating profusely.
“After using Miniature Universe and Domain to that extent, no one has any reserves left.”
Click!!
He pulled the trigger, aiming a mana-infused bullet of the ice-attribute system at O’Neil’s forehead.
O’Neil too gathered and compressed his remaining mana, assuming a stance. Just then,
Someone lunged out in front of Lennok, blocking his path.
She was wearing an Agent uniform, but the woman with a sword at her waist and glasses looked familiar.
Lennok immediately recognized her mana signature and asked.
“…Hina?”
“Grandfather, we have to stop here.”
Hina disregarded Lennok’s words and quickly spoke to O’Neil.
“There’s nothing to be gained by fighting Mr. Van.”
“Is it because this man is an external advisor to our agency?”
“That’s not what I mean…!!”
“You don’t need to evaluate this operation, Agent O’Neil.”
A leisurely voice came from behind Hina.
Someone, who had arrived at the entrance of the underground cavern, was leaning against the collapsed rubble, looking up at the split vault.
“…Director?”
Hina spun her head, her expression one of disbelief.
Greta, who should have been directing the agents from a safe vantage point above, had appeared directly at the most crucial operational area.
“If a monster like that is guarding the entrance, you should retreat immediately. Why didn’t you report it to me sooner?”
Greta leaped over the stone debris and walked past Hina.
Meeting Lennok’s gaze, who was looking down at her, Greta grinned.
“His eyes are completely out of it. With a guy like that parked in front of the Cartel’s underground vault, things were bound to go wrong.”
“…….”
“I never expected Adamant Thunder to visit the Cartel precisely on the day we chose to launch the operation. It’s my fault for not considering our external advisor’s schedule.”
The middle-aged woman admitted her mistake candidly.
Lennok watched her face carefully, then raised the revolver he was holding and asked.
Click!
“Are you the new Director of Aegis?”
“New Director, you say.”
Greta replied indifferently.
“I was the one who put Pallard in the Deputy Director position. I’ve just returned to my old seat after a period of youthful wandering.”
“You don’t look like you’re old enough for puberty.”
“You said you got your external advisor position while working with Pallard, right? Well, that works out perfectly.”
Greta smiled and raised her hand.
“Please say hello to the newcomers I brought.”
With a snap of her fingers, the frigid air of the underground cavern felt as if it instantly warmed.
Hwa-reuk…!!
No, it wasn’t a hallucination.
As she gave the signal, a powerful heat source directly walked in from the entrance of the underground cavern.
A man in a thick, heavy armored suit, several times larger than the standard Agent uniform.
He wore a black helmet and a bulky gas mask, breathing through a hose connected to a steel bag on his back.
[Hoo-wook, hoo-wook…!!]
Each time the man breathed roughly through his gas mask, flames flowed from the bag connected to the hose, heating up the enormous underground cavern.
“I brought retired old-timers back to active duty to reorganize our internal forces, but you can’t help their flaws, can you?”
Greta asked.
“These are folks who have been out of the field for decades. It wouldn’t be strange if their senses, mana, or stamina were problematic.”
“…….”
“So, when I called the retired agents back, I promised to solve those difficulties for them. And this friend here…”
Greta patted the man’s shoulder and grinned.
“He’s been in a coma for over 20 years, unable to control his superhuman abilities.”
“A superhuman, huh…”
“It’s truly a wondrous power. It produces such firepower with top-tier efficiency even among innate abilities, yet he can’t control it on his own until he dies.”
Greta pulled out a remote control from her hand and pressed buttons, and the man’s helmet flashed in response to the signal.
As if inputting electrical signals according to the remote control’s commands.
“But that also means that with force, or external will, a certain degree of control is possible.”
Greta nodded and said.
“That’s what I want to achieve in this city through Aegis.”
Only then did Lennok understand what Greta was saying.
The other three agents Lennok had just faced also had their own problems and weaknesses.
And the superhuman Greta had just introduced was a resource completely free from the risk of such injuries.
“Enough with the unnecessary talk, shall we begin?”
Hwa-reuk-reuk!!
Following Greta’s gesture, the man, scattering flames with mere combustion, breathed wildly inside his helmet.
The massive, condensed flames before him transformed into a giant sphere of fire, surging upward.
Kugwa-gwa-gwa!!!
An immense heat that could melt an entire steel wall and then some. It was firepower that could turn O’Neil and the other agents into a handful of ashes.
“Let’s first check what’s hidden inside that half-severed vault.”
Hwaaaak!!
The sphere of fire instantly approached Lennok’s immediate vicinity.
But Lennok merely looked up at the fireball filling the underground cavern.
“I was wondering how long you would leave it up to me… it seems the Cartel is finally thinking of balancing things out.”
“What?”
At that moment, something quickly flew from behind Lennok and threw itself into the sphere of fire as if sacrificing itself.
The sphere of fire, which had been falling as if to melt away half of the underground cavern, stopped in front of the cleaved vault wall.
Crack-crack-crack-crack!!!
The massive fireball began to freeze from its edges, instantly losing its heat and transforming into a chunk of ice, plummeting down.
Kwoooong!!
The frozen sphere shattered upon impact in front of the vault door, scattering countless fragments of cold in all directions.
From amidst the fragments of that ice chunk, a dark-skinned man slowly rose.
Unlike his bronzed skin, his hair was almost an icy white.
A cryokinetic of immense power. And a system completely opposite to the pyrokinetic superhuman Greta had introduced.
“Hmm, I seem to have arrived much later than expected…”
The white-haired man scratched his head, rose, and then turned his back to Lennok, bowing his head.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Van. Thanks to you, I don’t think Virgil will scold me too much.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Anghel.”
Anghel, bowing politely, raised his head and said.
“I’m a director at Cartel headquarters… no, the Fourth Director, in charge of the telecommunications division.”
“…….”
Aside from his powerful cryokinetic abilities, his reaction was utterly listless.
But Anghel’s presence and his answer clearly signified something.
Members of the directorate, who had not been at headquarters, were now gathering there one by one.
Kugwa-gwa-gwa…!!!
The underground cavern wall crumbled, revealing the shape of a colossal beast.
With a powerful white mane, and bloodshot eyes, the beast looked down at the agents, exuding fierce mana.
[How dare a washed-up organization like that….]
Merlida, the Cartel’s Second Director, a phantom beast, who had been a member of the directorate since ancient times.
Splish…!!
A viscous pool of blood began to saturate one side of the underground cavern wall.
The blood, painting the wall crimson, flowed down to the floor, creating a path like a red carpet.
Dozens of soldiers, formed from bloodstains, rose as if arrayed along both sides of the winding river of blood.
Receiving the salute of these soldiers, a dark-red vampire figure slowly entered the underground cavern.
“Greta, it’s been a while.”
Shaaaak!!
By the time she noticed, Virgil was already standing right next to Greta, his hands clasped behind his back.
Virgil’s red eyes curved long, looking down at Greta’s face with a chilling smile.
“It’s been so long… it took a while to prepare a welcome. I wonder if you’ll like it.”