Chapter 652: The Right to Ascension (2)
Machina’s exclusive Workshop District.
At the peak of the colossal Workshop Tower, endlessly rising.
The 3rd Ground Mechanized Troops were stationed around the colossal tower, each of its countless floors serving as a workshop.
Yet, no sound of crushing flesh and blood was heard, despite all artillery fire being concentrated on a single man.
GRRRRIND!! CRACK!!
Sounds of snapping screws and nails, crushing steel and sheet metal, and tearing alloys.
Amidst it all, only the dazzling light of thunder, burning oil and melting iron, flowed like blood.
“Iron-armored infantry, third row, advance!!”
“Anti-aircraft batteries, support the heavy cavalry’s charge!!”
“Armored grenadiers moving.”
“Stealth Mobile 17th Platoon annihilated…!!”
BOOOOOM!!
Diverse voices ceaselessly echoed across the busy communication network.
But within the voices repeating their reports, an unmistakable blend of awe and fear was present.
“A monster…!!”
THUDD!
The moment someone’s choked whisper leaked through the network.
A tank, split in half, flew over the heads of the iron-armored infantry and slammed into the ground dozens of meters behind them.
CRASHHH!!
At the point of impact, the tank, unable to withstand the shock, exploded, instantly crushing the artillerists who had been frantically firing anti-aircraft guns.
A momentary lapse as part of the formation surrounding the Workshop Tower crumbled.
Immediately after, a bolt of lightning surged from the center of the encirclement, writhing like a snake, piercing straight through the middle of the formation.
“Snake Lightning Bow”
BOOOOOOM!!!
“Aaaargh!!”
The 3rd Mechanized Troops, besieging the Furnace General’s Workshop Tower, were all mana users whose bodies had been mechanically augmented and who wore exoskeleton power suits.
Machina’s military equipment boasted exceptional performance, capable of substituting low-tier firepower spells.
They unleashed a coordinated, unwavering barrage of artillery fire, mass-produced to such an extent, delivered with order and formation.
But what did it mean that this stalemate still persisted?
In the silence where no one dared to speak, space rippled.
SHWOOOO…!!
The figure of a wizard slowly emerged from the billowing smoke and dust.
As he quietly walked out and looked up, there wasn’t a single discernible wound on his appearance.
Though he stood there in dirty work clothes, looking exhausted, everyone present saw more than just his unkempt appearance.
CRACKLE, SPARK…!!
Streaks of lightning pulsed vibrantly from within his fluttering work clothes.
The intense manifestation of his mana, roaring as it surged forth like the form of a Raksasa behind him.
WHOOSH!!!
“It can’t be…”
Though unseen, though its true scale was imperceptible, everyone instinctively knew.
The man standing before them was not the craftsman known as Lyman.
A wizard who had accumulated an overwhelming Hierarchy, powerful enough to overwhelm the 3rd Mechanized Troops in a direct exchange of firepower.
They realized they were facing a grand wizard who could manipulate and control the mana in an entire area down to the particle level.
“Waaargh!!!”
A heavy cavalryman in a panic screamed and swung his weapon at Lennok.
Intense steam hissed from the joints of his thick, iron-armored suit, reducing pressure and increasing output to amplify his raw strength.
The colossal halberd he held split into sections, boosting with jets of steam to gain even more speed.
CRASH!!
A sudden attack, wielded with a power and speed that far surpassed the heavy cavalry’s own full might.
The cavalryman, weighing hundreds of kilograms, threw himself forward with a single strike, making it feel as if the very ground briefly trembled.
But even that impact could not reach the wizard, stopping short before him as if blocked by an invisible barrier.
CREAKKKK…!!
The halberd, unable to advance any further right before the wizard, crumpled under its own immense power.
From the recoil, the suit’s joints from the heavy cavalryman’s forearm to his shoulder and chest ruptured, violently spraying blood.
“Guh-aack!!”
Lennok stared down at the heavy cavalryman, who was screaming in pain, with an expressionless face.
CLICK!
He raised the pure white revolver in his hand and aimed it directly at the cavalryman’s helmet.
The moment he pulled the trigger, brilliant blue mana flowed along the pristine white barrel like blood through veins, converging.
BANG!!
It cleanly blew apart the heavy cavalryman’s helmet.
A precise shot, its power delicately adjusted so as not to harm the contents inside the helmet.
“Hahh…!!”
From inside the shattered helmet, a man with a pale face looked up at Lennok.
Skin so pale it was almost white, and unidentifiable blemishes etched across his face.
Undoubtedly human in form, yet with features grotesquely distorted.
“You’ve integrated Old World technology into your body through human sacrifice. The recoil seems quite severe due to the lack of proper adjustment.”
Lennok observed his face carefully as he spoke.
“With your metabolism ruined, you’re sustaining your life by fusing your body with the suit. Don’t you think you’re living up to the name ‘Mechanized Troops’ too literally?”
His body was irregularly distorted in various places due to excessive hormone injections to maintain combat capabilities.
His biological mechanisms and metabolism were long ruined, and now he was relying on the power suit for most functions.
This was likely the result of focusing on mass production and forcefully grafting Old World technology, rather than prioritizing user safety.
“Wh-What are you talking about?!”
“Do you not even know what technology made you stronger? Perhaps not.”
Lennok nodded, directly loading rounds into the revolver’s cylinder.
“But you must know that humans were ground down in the process of fusing your body with that heavy suit, correct?”
“…”
“You couldn’t not know. To implant that knowledge and its usage into your mind, you would inevitably have to be directly involved in the sacrifice process.”
Even with excessive hormone injections, it was rare for an adult body to deform to this extent.
Such bodily deformation would be impossible without direct involvement in the human sacrifice, even to the extent of affecting one’s spiritual body.
“Only a fanatic, mad with doctrine like the Guido Cult, could adjust for the side effects of such sacrifices.”
Lennok chuckled, looking at the silent cavalryman’s face.
“Well, I can at least tell that all of the Mechanized Troops are following Hermes’ will.”
CLICK!
He placed the revolver’s muzzle against the man’s forehead.
“Wa-Wait…!!”
Feeling the heat from the still-warm muzzle searing his forehead, the man shrieked.
“No, not me!! I was forced…!!”
BANG!!
As a hole was pierced through the man’s forehead, blood dripped from the back of his head.
Lennok, stepping over the corpse with eyes rolled back, looked at the encirclement around him and nodded.
“Move. If you open a path, I won’t kill you.”
At that moment, a resonant voice echoed among the dozens of tanks and iron-armored infantry.
A colossal holographic face materialized above the tanks. It was the Will-thought of Thermore Shin, the commander of the 3rd Mechanized Troops.
“I requested a check of your equipment and magic through the continental public network and the Magic Tower database.”
“…”
“A pure white revolver and outrageously powerful lightning magic. They all belong to a wizard with a criminal record. I haven’t seen your face before, but there’s no need to confirm it.”
Thermore asked.
“Adamant Thunder of the megacity Vulcan. What is your reason for infiltrating Machina under Lyman’s name? Be aware that depending on your reason, we can hold the Vulcan City Council accountable for this.”
“Accountable?”
Lennok laughed.
“You clearly have no idea what the City Council of a megacity is like. Or are you pretending not to know?”
“…”
“Even with all this havoc, no one is moving except for the superhumans under Ex Machina.”
The Enforcers, Sidesquad, Mechanized Troops.
Even though Lennok and Maiya were drawing attention from across the entire Machine City, the only ones confronting them were these three armed organizations, directly affiliated with the Council.
Yet, within Lennok’s hyper-sensitive awareness, sharpened to its limit by the combat, he sensed gazes entirely different from theirs.
The gazes of those thoroughly observing the situation, taking neither side of Lennok or Hermes.
The power emanating from beyond those gazes was mostly Ascendant-level or higher. Perhaps some had even reached beyond that.
“So, the entire Machine City isn’t following Hermes’ plan after all.”
Lennok was confronting superhumans from the ‘light’ side of Machina.
But conversely, superhumans residing in the shadows of the Machine City, in the Uninhabited Districts, were also aware of the current situation and observing it.
Those strong individuals who had perfected their Hierarchy through their own power in the Machine City, or monsters who had already transcended and reached level 8.
This was evidence that, on the contrary, they were concealing their presence and observing the unfolding events, rather than assenting to Hermes’ will.
“Adamant Thunder, you seem to be mistaken.”
The 3rd Corps Commander scoffed at Lennok with a chilling tone.
“The Sidesquad Mobile Unit, Enforcers, and the Mechanized Troops’ 2nd Underground Corps and 8th Supply Corps have arrived nearby. Do you truly believe that you, with your injured body, can breach this tower alone?”
“…”
“My question about the Vulcan City Council was merely to confirm whether the will of a megacity was involved in your actions… If there’s no risk of inter-city war, there’s no reason not to subdue a mad wizard right here.”
BOOOM!!
Simultaneously with his words, the presence and pressure of mana surrounding the Workshop Tower intensified even further.
As the 3rd Corps Commander had stated, the forces besieging the Furnace General’s Workshop Tower increased, and they all began to focus their gazes on Lennok.
WHIRRRR…!!
Then, at the end of a line of hundreds of tanks, Thermore, who had merged his body with a tank, stepped forward and spoke.
“Committee Member Hermes intends to make this incident a grand plan for Machina. Summoning a great spirit from beyond the Gate is merely the beginning.”
CLANG!
Tanks loaded with shells, anti-aircraft batteries, snipers, and iron-armored infantry moved in perfect coordination, reorganizing their formation.
Amidst the ceaseless friction of metal, the 3rd Corps Commander calmly continued.
“Together with the newly arrived Ascendant in the Machine City, we shall overcome the Gate’s failure and rise again.”
THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD!!!
Airships ceaselessly moved overhead, casting their lights, and the surrounding iron-armored infantry rotated and moved.
A wave of steel rippled like a tide with the movement of the suited infantry and heavy cavalry.
WOOOOSH!!!
Lennok muttered, watching the iron-armored infantry charging at him from the front with hand cannons and shotguns.
“Race Shotgun, Gundal Handcannon, Clay Armor… As I look at them, I remember each one.”
Machina’s equipment, created by combining items and gear from World 2.0 with this world’s technology.
Even as he recalled their forms and origins, complex emotions arose each time.
At the fact that the second world Lennok played as a game was a desperate reality for someone else.
The reality that the enjoyment he felt ultimately culminated in a terrible end, leaving only these remnants.
Even the realization that everything he had once dismissed lightly might have been records of an actual apocalypse is terrifying.
And perhaps, the thought even occurred that Lennok’s own end might not be so different.
Lennok chuckled, looking at the hundreds of flashes of light shimmering overhead.
“I…”
The moments flashed through his mind, from his arrival in Machina until the moment he glimpsed the memories of destruction from beyond the Gate.
If he couldn’t put an end to this moment, how could he claim to offer an answer to the world’s ultimate fate?
Lennok, unable to voice the answer he yearned to scream—‘I am different, I am different’—drew up his mana.
Like a substitute for his unfinished monologue, lightning surged around Lennok’s entire body, becoming a roaring dragon-like maelstrom that shook heaven and earth, intercepting the pouring barrage.
“White Fall”
“Reverse Motion”
BOOOOOOM!!!
A pillar of pure white lightning, accompanied by a colossal peal of thunder, surged upwards.
In the brief moment all the superhumans of the 3rd Corps were captivated by its beautiful light.
“Thunder-Splitting Ascendant Step”
“Pillar of Light Link”
The lightning of White Fall exploded, then split into thousands of strands, pouring down like a rain of electricity.
CRACKLECRACKLECRACKLE!!!
Lightning bolts, as thick as fingers, filled the entire floor and ceaselessly struck down.
The heat ruined suits, twisted tank barrels, and even melted the mana that had been drawn up.
Amidst the scattering infantry of the 3rd Corps, thrown into disarray, a raging shaft of lightning pierced through them.
“Thunder-Light Well”
“Piercing Advance”
THWOOM!!!
The wizard’s figure, surging from within the exploding lightning, began to break through the corps’ formation at high speed.
“Fire the anti-aircraft guns, stop that monster!!”
“What are the heavy cavalry doing…!!”
Giants in heavy suits collectively blocked Lennok’s advancing figure amidst the pouring rain of lightning and anti-aircraft fire.
They were modified armored soldiers, individually enhanced in weight and size to the level of moving tanks.
Even the supporting fire from tanks, firing wildly with no regard for friendly fire.
“Kill him!!!”
“Diiieee!!!”
From behind, grenadiers ceaselessly launched explosives, and mana-enhanced soldiers charged through the raging waves of fire.
But the moment cold mana flashed amidst that torrent of firepower and murderous intent, all life and metal blocking his path were shattered and crushed.
Lightning-type unique magic
Dual Cast
“Monstrous Thunder Collapse Sound”
“Color-Shifting Flying Lightning”
The thunderous sound spread out in ripples like a sonic wave, and the moment that mana touched matter, it completely inverted its color, destroying it.
CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH!!!
“Aaaargh!! My body, my body…!!”
Elite soldiers, directly exposed to the lightning that destroyed and corroded their nervous systems, screamed in unbearable pain.
Tanks, fixed to the ground with anchoring devices to maintain formation, sank into the earth and broke apart.
A massive storm of mana swept through, pulverizing the battlefield where blood, steel, and oil were crushed, scattered, and stained.
CRACKCRACKCRACK!
He melted and crushed tank units, engineers, and batteries that stood in his way with thunderbolts.
Against the iron-armored infantry charging from all directions, he unleashed continuous shots from a charged shotgun, unleashing shockwaves.
He gathered the flames swirling beneath his feet with pyrokinetic magic, swelled them, and ceaselessly melted and evaporated blood and steel.
CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH!!!
With every step Lennok advanced, roars and crushing sounds replaced his footsteps.
Screams and regretful shouts from all directions mixed with the whirring of mana.
He paid no mind to the level of equipment his opponents possessed, or what Hierarchy of superhuman they had reached.
CRACKLE!
The moment he confronted them point-blank, he started by firing a charged shotgun blast.
He prepared and fired concentrated shots capable of piercing even tanks in a single breath, and concentrated mana descended from the air as lightning.
Scarlet flames swirled beneath his feet, rising as sharp thorns, while violet chains tore apart and disassembled anti-aircraft guns and tanks.
The overwhelming might of the wizard, grinding down the entire corps with every move forward.
Staff officers, observing the situation from the rear to direct operations, vomited at the desperate sight.
“Blegh…!!”
“This is insane!!”
“We must retreat, right now…!!”
“We need to rendezvous with other corps, Commander… Otherwise, all of us will…!!”
Adamant Thunder of the megacity.
A mad wizard, obsessed with battle and blood, whose cruelty lingered on every battlefield he passed through.
They had briefly forgotten that such a monstrous being had been quietly living under the identity of Lyman.
A grand wizard who had endured countless battles, accumulating such a fearsome reputation, yet had never suffered a single defeat.
Was he not still alive and standing here precisely because his talent had long surpassed his uncontrollable madness and cruelty?
He was not an opponent who could be defeated by overwhelming numbers, by sheer quantity.
His talent, coupled with countless combat experiences that surpassed it, could not be rivaled by the entirety of the 3rd Corps assembled here.
A living strategic weapon, born from an immeasurable accumulation of talent, experience, and time, stood before them.