Chapter 619: Ex Machina (6)

“You…!!”

The assassin, belatedly aware of Lennok’s presence, glared at him with sharp eyes, but Lennok ignored the chilling killing intent emanating from the assassin and raised his head.

A colossal Two-Headed Eight-Armed Deity stood in the dark cavern.

It was an artifact the Doctor had brought from Pandemonium for an interim settlement, a divine relic used to store, retrieve, and exchange knowledge and power from the Old World.

This very object had suddenly appeared in the coordinates the assassin was tracked to, now revealing itself before Lennok’s eyes.

“Tch, damn it…!!”

The assassin shot a murderous glare at Lennok, as if he would kill him on the spot, yet he couldn’t easily move from his position.

Only then did Lennok accurately observe the assassin’s appearance, realize this fact, and nod.

“You have good instincts. Did you know you were being tracked and try to remove the bullet?”

Blood dripped profusely from the inside of his rolled-up forearm, and in his hand, he clutched a thin scalpel-like knife.

Self-mutilation that couldn’t even be attempted without the resolve to dig into one’s own flesh and remove the bullet.

He probably guessed that the bullet would be a hindrance immediately after successfully escaping.

“It’s impossible unless you’ve had similar experiences… Looks like you’ve carried out this kind of assassination operation many times.”

“…”

“Sidesquad, aren’t you?”

At Lennok’s direct question, the assassin’s demeanor sharpened considerably.

Though he showed no outward sign, it was proof that his intentions had been instantly seen through.

However, Lennok had been convinced that the assassin was a Sidesquad agent the moment he faced the Two-Headed Eight-Armed Deity.

Because the emblem on the statue, which he had confirmed through Committee Member Geldrich Langmuir, seemed to be the core power that constituted the Sidesquad.

Did he think there was no reason to remain silent once his identity was revealed?

The assassin glanced back at the Two-Headed Eight-Armed Deity behind him, then quickly snapped at Lennok.

“I don’t know how you found this place, but if you shut your mouth and leave quietly, I won’t kill you. My target from the start was only Narcissa.”

“Yet you also shot the comrade you personally taught to shoot.”

“…”

This was the very person who had taught the soldier who came to Lennok the wrong maintenance habits and deliberately interfered with his zeroing.

At Lennok’s calm retort, the assassin’s face seemed to flicker for a moment, but he quickly composed himself.

“I’ve been dedicated to the security department for years for this moment. A minor sacrifice is unavoidable…”

“Do you know exactly what this statue is used for?”

“…!!”

Lennok’s figure was now past the craftsman, standing before the Two-Headed Eight-Armed Deity.

As the assassin, startled, looked back, Lennok touched one of the statue’s arms and spoke.

“I thought it unlikely for several of these to exist, but its appearance is slightly different from my memory. Its inherent power isn’t very strong either.”

“…”

“No, looking at it now, the material itself is…”

Instead of the solid ore Lennok remembered, it was bronze, slowly rusting and crumbling.

Realizing instantly that the statue standing here was not the one the Doctor had left behind, Lennok turned his gaze.

“It was a replica. Is it something made to project only the statue’s power for temporary use?”

Without waiting for the assassin’s reply, Lennok lowered his head.

“Indeed, it makes no sense to hide such a precious divine artifact near the Workshop District. Another original must be hidden somewhere in the Machine City…”

The Two-Headed Eight-Armed Deity that the Doctor used for the interim settlement, and another second statue existing somewhere in the Machine City.

And what lay before Lennok now was a replica created to project the abilities of that second statue.

‘Considering the prominent traces of Old World relics and knowledge everywhere, has the Doctor worked in Machina before?’

Teremer’s Demise, a magic gun from the Old World.

The technology of the Sidesquad agents, who transferred their consciousness into neural circuits through full-body modifications.

The Old World artifact modification and replication magic system contained within the pendant Narcissa brought.

And now, even the form of the Two-Headed Eight-Armed Deity Lennok was facing.

There were too many hints and reverence for Old World traces and knowledge to dismiss it as mere coincidence.

At Lennok’s words, the assassin asked nothing more.

He simply clenched his jaw and plunged the knife in his hand into his forearm without hesitation.

Thwack!!

“Hmph…”

With a faint frown, he unhesitatingly rummaged through the muscles of his forearm.

Blood flowed down the blade, dripping onto his fingers and forearm, tearing and cutting away even the flesh.

Clink!!

The bullet, pushed out and flicked away by the tip of the knife, fell lifelessly at the assassin’s feet.

Without even thinking of staunching the bleeding from his forearm, he raised the knife towards Lennok. The blade was ragged, as if gnawed away.

The assassin spoke.

“This knife is made from Grajai-a Ore. Even if it takes a cannonball head-on, it only bends a little.”

“…”

“Such a material is like this after being used for a short while to remove a bullet. Do you know what that means?”

“I wonder.”

Lennok smiled.

“I don’t think you need to proudly tell me you were scammed.”

In reality, the residual mana from Lennok’s bullet had corroded and destroyed the blade, but Lennok didn’t bother to inform him of that fact.

Perhaps the assassin hadn’t expected a normal reply either.

“Hahaha…!”

The assassin, laughing eerily, appeared right before Lennok and kicked him hard in the shoulder.

CRASH!!

Lennok was sent flying, tumbling and crashing into the middle of the dark cavern.

Not stopping there, the assassin caught up to Lennok, roughly pressed his neck with one arm, and slammed him down.

CRAAAACK!!

Mounting the sliding form that was scraping its back on the ground, the assassin instantly subdued Lennok and asked.

“Are you an Enforcer?”

“…”

“If you were from the Mechanized Corps, you wouldn’t even try to talk to me like this. Who’s behind you?”

“Don’t you think you’ve got the order wrong?”

Even with a foot kicking him and a hand pressing on his neck, his voice was unbelievably calm.

As the assassin flinched at the tone, Lennok’s reply continued.

“You’re the one who conspired to assassinate Narcissa. In fact, I have many questions for you.”

“There’s no time for such nonsense…!!”

The assassin tried to press Lennok with those words, but then his gaze suddenly dropped, and he realized something was wrong.

If a human body had slid across the floor for tens of meters, there should have been a gruesome trail of blood and flesh fragments.

Yet, the cavern floor beneath Lennok’s feet was perfectly clean, without a speck of dust.

The moment the assassin realized this and sprang to his feet.

“Well, I roughly know what you were aiming for with this act, anyway.”

A nonchalant voice sounded right beside the assassin.

Lennok, who had appeared beside him, pulled out a pendant from his pocket and examined it closely.

“Were you waiting for the moment Narcissa would bring this artifact outside?”

“…!!”

The Furnace General’s forging tool that Narcissa had presented to Lennok for testing, and which Lennok had repaired on the spot.

Now he understood why the assassin hadn’t confirmed Narcissa’s death even after conspiring to assassinate her.

For the assassin, safely securing this pendant was even more important than certainly cutting off Narcissa’s life.

“Grrr…!!”

The assassin, tense, tried to seize an opportunity to snatch the pendant from Lennok’s hand.

Ignoring the assassin’s reaction, Lennok became lost in thought, caressing the pendant he had repaired.

“The pendant and the statue… I see.”

After saying that, Lennok smiled and tossed the pendant back to the assassin.

“Go on.”

“…What?”

“Activate the statue’s ability. You stole the pendant for that, didn’t you?”

“…”

“Given that you prepared such a hidden spot near the Lower Workshop District, you must have known Narcissa would be dispatched here.”

Lennok smiled, looking at the silent assassin.

“You’ve been waiting for this chance, haven’t you? What are you waiting for?”

“Damn it…”

The assassin gritted his teeth, realizing his intentions had been laid bare, but he no longer resisted Lennok.

He had just fumbled twice in combat and realized he couldn’t gauge the opponent’s true power.

The man standing before him now was an overwhelmingly bizarre and mysterious monster, unlike any strong opponent the assassin had ever faced.

“…”

The assassin clutched the pendant tightly and stood nervously before the Two-Headed Eight-Armed Deity.

The moment he placed Narcissa’s pendant on the statue’s outstretched hand.

Rumble…!!

The statue’s hand slowly curled, gripping the pendant and forming a fist.

Simultaneously, the five eyes embedded in the left face of the statue slowly began to open.

“It’s working…!!”

The assassin, filled with joy, climbed onto the statue’s arm, immediately spread his arms wide, and urgently shouted.

“I want to know where the Heart of the Dragon is…! Or any information about it will do!!!”

“Heart of the Dragon…?”

As Lennok repeated the words, the assassin urgently watched the statue, unconcerned.

As if in response, the statue’s eyes opened and looked down at the assassin.

Unlike Lennok’s memory, the statue’s opened eyes were unnervingly bloodshot.

“Hm?”

Just as Lennok subtly frowned at the sight.

The statue’s outstretched hand swung, as if rejecting the assassin, and flung him away.

Whoosh!!

The assassin, seemingly not expecting such a reaction from the statue, looked agitated as he widened the distance and moved away from it.

“Tch…!!”

Even amidst that, he quickly retrieved the pendant and tried to escape Lennok, but—

Bang!!

“Gah!!”

Simultaneously with the gunshot, a pain shot up his side, precisely severing the flow of mana in his body.

The assassin, bleeding from his side and collapsed, struggled to look back, seeing Lennok’s face slowly walking towards him.

In his hand was a pure white revolver, emitting faint smoke.

The only difference from before was that blue cracks, as if electricity flowed, were spreading across the surface of the white metal.

“No…”

Lennok ignored the assassin’s resistance, picked up the pendant from his hand, and spoke.

“The pendant made by the Furnace General isn’t an Old World relic. To be precise, it’s merely a magical tool created by applying Old World technology.”

“…”

“What the statue collects and exchanges isn’t objects connected to the Old World, but only memories directly intertwined with a forgotten world. You don’t know that fact accurately.”

Lennok hadn’t just idly given the pendant to the assassin and urged him to use the statue’s ability.

Because Lennok knew both the pendant and the statue fairly accurately, he knew from the start that this transaction wouldn’t be possible.

Should he be satisfied with having adequately provoked the assassin and learned his objective?

“Someone who sought the Heart of the Dragon, yet had ambiguous knowledge about the statue’s ability… No, perhaps it’s more accurate to think they were testing the criteria.”

From the moment he realized the statue’s ability was projected through a replica, Lennok had ruled out the possibility that the assassin acted alone.

The very act of placing a replica here beforehand meant that someone was separately storing the second, original statue.

“Sidesquad. What’s your connection to Pandemonium? Are you acting on the Doctor’s orders?”

“…!!!”

Was that one word from Lennok a trigger?

“N-no… Please!!!”

The moment he heard those words, the assassin’s entire body began to convulse violently and creak.

Clack, clack!!

A strange undulation, as if his flesh was swelling. A sound like gears rotating from inside his body.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!

The assassin’s head snapped up, and iron frames burst from inside his face, covering his entire body and transforming him into a bizarre monster.

[HAAARRRGH!!]

The monster shrieked shrilly, sprang to its feet, and rushed at Lennok, sliding across the floor.

A brutal movement, shattering an invisible shield and attempting to tear out Lennok’s heart without hesitation.

But almost simultaneously, a bullet from Lennok’s raised revolver knocked aside the pouring blades and caused an explosion.

BOOM!!

[KIIIIIEK!!!]

As soon as it realized it was struggling to withstand Lennok’s magic bullets head-on, it changed tactics.

Moving quickly throughout the dark cavern, disrupting Lennok’s aim.

WHOOSH-WHOOSH-WHOOSH!!

The moment a dull metallic gleam flashed through the shadows, it had already left that spot, moving to exploit Lennok’s blind spots.

But Lennok saw its movement, put away the revolver, and pulled out another gun.

Click!

A thin, elongated laser gun glowing with a cold, indigo light.

But what was peculiar was the intricately cut crystal prism floating in front of its long barrel.

The prism floated, fixed in position as if anchored in front of the muzzle, even as the gun barrel moved around.

Without time to be wary of its bizarre appearance, Lennok immediately inserted the magazine and finished loading.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!!!

As targets were simultaneously locked onto in the laser gun’s scope, a series of messages rapidly appeared.

[Prediction calculation complete.]

[Automatic interception activated.]

Immediately after the message appeared below the scope, Lennok pulled the trigger, and the laser gun’s muzzle began to glow brightly.

FLASH!!!

The laser light bursting from inside the muzzle passed through the crystal prism, instantly splitting into dozens of rays that brilliantly illuminated the cavern.

The monster twisted its body, slowed down, and then accelerated throughout the cavern, trying to escape Lennok’s aim.

But astonishingly, the dozens of fragmented rays struck the rampaging monster’s entire body without an inch of error.

DU-DU-DU-DU!!!

[…!!!]

The fragmented lasers almost simultaneously caught up to and pierced the desperately fleeing monster’s trajectory.

Only then did the monster, realizing escape was impossible within Lennok’s scope, roar and charge in a straight line.

[HRAAAAGGNNGH!!!]

Each time it indiscriminately allowed the rays head-on, it staggered from the intense heat that dug deep into its body and shattered its iron frame.

Nevertheless, the monster gathered all its remaining strength and succeeded in gripping and breaking the laser gun’s prism.

[Aaaaaah!!!]

Uttering indescribably varied monstrous screams in succession, the assassin’s form then swelled as if to self-destruct.

But Lennok calmly watched the monster, then pulled out another prism from his pocket.

“I have another one.”

[Ah?]

Realizing it was the exact same equipment as the prism he had just desperately broken, the monster let out its dying shriek.

There was no need to pull the trigger further.

Bang!!

One shot to the terribly twisted forehead of the completely shattered iron frame of the assassin.

Watching the monster’s form collapse and lose power on the spot, Lennok roughly dealt with the remaining debris.

“Is it a self-destructing killing machine that transforms with a specific word as a trigger? As expected of the Machine City, they make peculiar things.”

A human weapon that transforms hormones explosively rising in the brain just before death, indiscriminately destroying its surroundings and self-destructing.

Indeed, it’s the best method for orchestrating a specific incident and eliminating witnesses and evidence.

Come to think of it, the shadow leader who infiltrated Lennok’s workshop also transformed into a bizarre beast and struggled desperately at the end.

“Pandemonium…”

Pandemonium and the Doctor. It’s clear they reacted to these keywords, but it’s hard to grasp how deeply they’re involved in this incident.

It wouldn’t be impossible if he deliberately used Lennok’s magic or Victor’s network.

But if he did, Lennok’s position as a craftsman, built up until now, would be jeopardized.

‘Now that Narcissa has been caught in an assassination attempt, it’s hard to tell if the Upper Workshop District relocation plan will proceed as promised. Ultimately, is observing the unfolding situation the best course of action…?’

Although he pursued and killed the assassin, he still hadn’t crossed the line of being able to operate the workshop under Lyman’s name.

Since he knows he can deceive the Enforcers and Ex Machina, it wouldn’t be bad to maintain his craftsman identity as long as possible.

Lennok roughly arranged the assassin’s corpse to look like a self-destruction, checked the time, and muttered.

“Approximately 3 minutes until the investigative agencies find this place…”

He should leave immediately to avoid leaving any traces or circumstances that would reveal his presence here, but…

Even with that thought, Lennok calmly gazed at the statue’s replica, which was still intact.

“…Alright.”

During the interim settlement, he only used the statue’s ability once due to the Doctor’s intervention, but since the opportunity had arisen, there was no reason to pass it up.

Lennok immediately stepped onto the statue’s palm and pulled out an object from his pocket.