Chapter 678: Central Council Senate (6)

Each time the colossal eye reflected on the card rotated, the veil of darkness rapidly shattered.

A miracle that, as it fully revealed its gaze, warped all surrounding space-time at a destructive pace.

With just a glance, it collapsed the mind, a song of annihilation permitting only worship amidst immeasurable madness.

Crraaaackkk!!!

“…!!!”

The astrologer, now unable to even scream, lay powerlessly collapsed and convulsing.

At this rate, the veil would soon collapse, and Lennok would return to reality.

But even knowing this, Lennok struggled to keep his gaze on the Outer God’s eye until the very end.

Why had that unreal annihilation from the Outer Sea appeared at this moment?

He had to find out why, of all places, its gaze was cast upon the astrologer’s card, in this very spot.

He rapidly scanned the eye reflected on the card.

The wounded eye twitched incessantly, a colossal gaze seeming to wander in the void.

Just witnessing the radiance of its pupil before his eyes, his body felt stiff, as if dying.

Yet even amidst this, Lennok realized that even this gaze couldn’t match the power he had felt from the Well of the Codex.

‘Is it because it appeared through the image on the card that its power isn’t as great as I expected?’

Normally, at the moment the Outer God’s gaze arrived, it wouldn’t be strange for the space-time of this place to completely warp.

However, the power of its gaze was limited to this extent because it was merely observing this place from within the image on the card that reflected the constellations.

Due to the immense distance and the power being degraded once by being reflected as an image, Lennok was able to endure it.

And because of that, Lennok was able to discern one fact from the eye’s gaze that observed this place.

‘It’s not observing. This is…’

The Outer God’s eye rotated irregularly within the card.

But if it had been searching for Lennok from the start, scrutinizing him, would there be a reason for its eye to move?

The annihilation floating in the Outer Sea was not precisely aware of Lennok’s location and identity, nor was it watching him.

Instead, it was attempting to find Lennok, conversely, through the astrology that projected constellations.

‘Why?’

Why was it directly sending its gaze here through the concept of the card, yet couldn’t actually perceive Lennok right before it?

The moment Lennok registered that question in a corner of his mind.

The veil of darkness, unable to withstand the gaze, shattered completely, and the astrologer’s body was flung outward.

“Aaaargh!!” CRASH!!

The expressions of the council members who had been observing the situation from outside changed completely, just as the doors to the council hall burst open and soldiers rushed in.

“Councilman!!” “Are you al—!!”

Upon seeing the astrologer lying on the floor, convulsing, and Lennok standing perfectly fine in contrast, the soldiers instantly halted their steps.

Having made a snap judgment, the soldiers uniformly pointed their firearms at Lennok.

“Wizard! Hands above your head!!”

“Drop your staff and bow your head!!”

“Move now!!”

“I know what you’re thinking, but wouldn’t it be better to save this person first?”

Lennok, leaning on his staff, looked at the convulsing astrologer lying on the floor.

Unable to even breathe properly, her twitching face had already turned purple.

“I think it’s already a little too late.”

“Damn it…!!”

The soldiers quickly laid the astrologer flat, secured her airway, and began emergency treatment.

The medical unit must have been moving with them, as they used healing spells and emergency kits simultaneously to improve her condition.

“Her heart rate is completely erratic. She can’t breathe.”

“We’ll puncture the lung and force oxygen in. Prepare.”

“We’ll use an electric shock to reverse the myocardial infarction and forcefully reset the nervous system. Three, two, one!!”

CRACKLE!!

“It worked!!”

“Get her on the stretcher immediately and move. To the infirmary now!!”

The medical unit immediately moved with the astrologer, while the remaining soldiers uniformly surrounded Lennok, pointing their gun barrels at him.

Behind the soldiers, superhumans watched with incredulous and wary expressions.

Among them, Armand Martins, who had brought Lennok here, was also visible.

The Chairman, who had been silently observing the situation in the council hall, finally gestured to Meyer.

“Senator Meyer. Can you explain what happened?”

“…I don’t know what to say. Is this truly reality?”

Meyer, with an expression as if something was caught in his throat, struggled to step back, took a moment to compose himself, then spoke.

The astrologer had failed to divine fate, and collapsed upon seeing the scene reflected in the card.

He explained that something existed which could drive one mad just by looking at it directly, and the circumstances that the astrologer couldn’t endure it.

The Senate fell silent after hearing Meyer’s brief explanation.

“Van, what do you think?”

The Chairman, who had remained silent until now, asked Lennok.

“I wish to hear your thoughts on the outcome of the divination.”

“…”

Instead of answering, Lennok fell silent, a contemplative air about him.

The other council members and Silford also merely observed him silently.

However, as time passed, the words that flowed from Lennok’s lips were completely different from what they had expected.

“It wasn’t a divination.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Because the divination didn’t work, the spell, conversely, projected the origin of its own operation backward.”

Because the astrological divination failed to affect Lennok’s target-specific resistance ability, the spell, having lost its purpose, repeatedly idled and reached the origin of its own composition.

The sudden appearance of the Outer God’s gaze in this place was precisely that side effect.

But what did it mean that the origin of the spell, having idled in such a way, reached all the way to the annihilation of the Outer Sea?

What did it mean that the power of astrology, which reflects fate through constellations, and the origin of that spell, were directed towards an Outer God?

It was a power to directly communicate with a formidable will existing beyond the Outer Sea, and to download and project a portion of its power.

“I’ve seen a similar type of ability to this.”

“…”

Lennok’s gaze grew chilling.

“She wasn’t even an astrologer from the start. Is she using an imitation of the arcane power possessed by the cult’s priestess?”

Isel Naydree, the former priestess and Far Eastern branch leader of the Guido Cult.

And the current priestess of the cult he had encountered at the Well of the Codex.

Having met both individuals, Lennok realized that the essence of the astrologer he had just encountered was similar to theirs.

The method of directly communicating with the will of the Outer Sea, borrowing its power to divine the fate of mortals.

But what did it mean that the Elder Council, not the cult, held and wielded that priestess’s ability?

The meaning behind Silford’s remark that the astrologer was no different from a souvenir.

And the reason why, despite being similar to the priestess’s ability Lennok had experienced, its power itself seemed significantly weaker.

“Through the failure of the Black Consumer Project, they’ve obtained a power akin to a subordinate substitute for the priestess.”

“…”

Kaiser had repeated every failure in the world, trying to find non-existent answers, accumulating infinite data on the test field.

Among the byproducts left behind by that failed project, there also existed astrologers who mimicked the arcane power possessed by the cult’s priestess.

The council hall was steeped in silence. But no one was surprised or agitated by Lennok’s words.

That very fact proved that Lennok’s assertion was the truth.

“I believe I’ve said this repeatedly,”

Silford nodded with a knowing smile.

“…that you wouldn’t even break even with this method. Wasn’t I right?”

The moment Lennok realized that was sarcasm directed at others, not him.

The Chairman spoke.

“At the end of a long war… we obtained many trophies that were worse than useless.”

“…”

“What we learned through our dealings was that only predetermined divinations could fall within our perception…”

The indifferent black eyes swept past Lennok.

“But precisely because of that, it can be used to observe and confirm what is unchangeable.”

“Confirm?”

“To be aware of the danger outside. The invariable fact that it is approaching.”

“…”

“If you correctly perceive that, then no matter where you walk, you will be aligned with the banner of this city.”

Only then did Lennok realize what the Chairman was thinking.

He had no intention from the start of directly judging whether Lennok threatened the city’s order, or if he intended to.

He merely wished to confirm what Lennok’s thoughts were leaning towards.

In that process, it didn’t matter whether he discarded the astrologer like a consumable, or if she was a result of human experimentation from a failed project.

Once it was confirmed that Lennok was wary of the Outer Gods, there was no need to consider if he would be a threat?

CLANG!!

The Chairman stood up, picked up his dark, ink-black overcoat without hesitation, and spoke.

“I’ve confirmed everything I needed to. I’ll ask one more thing, then we’re done.”

“What is it?”

“There’s a task I wish to entrust to you. It’s something only you can do.”

The Chairman’s eyes gleamed clearly.

“Among the Senators, there is one who has directly contacted and been encroached upon by an external power.”

“…”

Lennok, belatedly understanding the meaning of those words, tilted his head.

It was because he thought what the Chairman was saying was so utterly unrealistic.

A Senator who had directly contacted the Outer God’s power and been encroached upon by it?

Not only was it absurd to have directly contacted those annihilations, but it was also hard to believe that the Central Council was still ‘keeping’ a Senator who had suffered such a fate.

Ignoring Lennok’s reaction, the Chairman asked again.

“Are you willing to meet them?”

“The price?”

“I will approve the establishment of a Magic Tower in the name of the Central Council. It’s essentially the authority to create a new extraterritorial zone within this city.”

“…”

The Chairman smiled, seeing Lennok make no reply.

“Whether you want it or not, it won’t be a bad privilege to have.”

CLANG!!

Lennok stepped into the elevator descending into the endless underground.

Meyer, who had followed Lennok out, sighed and spoke.

“Van, that was too reckless. You know that, don’t you?”

“I know.”

“I thought you were going to kill the astrologer right there.”

“There was no reason to. Wasn’t it all planned from the beginning?”

“…”

Meyer, speechless, gave a hollow laugh.

“…You already figured it out?”

“I gathered that much, that they were sharing the project’s legacy with the Elder Council. The Chairman didn’t seem to intend to hide it, either.”

The Chairman and the other Senators had not directly seen the Outer God’s eye that illuminated this place.

However, from the astrologer’s madness, they inferred the fact that her divination had illuminated somewhere beyond the Outer Sea.

That’s why, realizing Lennok was wary of the Outer Gods yet still held interest, they had offered for him to meet the Senator who had been encroached upon by an Outer God.

To be honest, the Central Council likely had its own intentions for arranging this meeting.

It would be a lie to say Lennok wasn’t interested either.

‘The permit for establishing a Magic Tower won’t hurt to have, even if I don’t need it right now.’

He didn’t have much thought about it at the moment, but if Lennok were to properly start teaching the Ouroboros magic system, it would be a different story.

Establishing the foremost ivory tower in this colossal city, gathering all talent and aptitude to complete a single sphere of influence.

[Heheheh…]

“…”

It seemed like a plan that the spirit, emitting a suspicious laugh from within his arms, would like much more than Lennok would.

“Originally, I followed you out to explain the situation separately to you, but…”

Meyer sighed and lifted his gaze.

“There’s no need for a long-winded explanation. Just know one thing.”

“What is it?”

“The current Chairman of the Senate is a great man who values the Central Council’s continued existence above all else. He is a person willing to endure anything for it.”

“…”

“He’s one of the city’s founders, who has defended the council for decades. He wasn’t originally like that, but he apparently changed significantly after experiencing many things.”

Did that mean that what he said to pressure Lennok through the deal between Machina and Vulcan wasn’t entirely false?

“Even this meeting, held concerning you, might be a means to unify the fragmented opinions within the Senate.”

“I understand that they wish to use me as leverage.”

DING!!

Lennok, who had opened the elevator door and ushered Meyer inside, replied.

“Let’s hear about the deal first. Could you explain about that Senator?”

“Leisen Azamaha. Do you remember him?”

A somewhat unfamiliar name. But one he had heard before.

Lennok, quickly finding the name in his memory, nodded.

“He was the Senator called the City Council’s Mouthpiece, wasn’t he? I recall he colluded with black wizards, embezzled slush funds, and was arrested by Agents.”

Leisen Azamaha.

A Senator who had been famous even when Lennok first arrived in this city, a powerful figure who utilized media well and gained popularity with a friendly image.

Thanks to that, he often took on the role of representing the council’s decisions, earning him the nickname ‘City Council’s Mouthpiece’.

He recalled that Leisen was arrested by Agents for colluding with the black wizard Craig Tillian and embezzling the Central Council’s slush funds.

Although he had never seen his face directly, Lennok had also heard his name and remembered it during his encounters with black wizards alongside Evelyn Marcia.

Meyer nodded.

“A recent audit revealed that Leisen had embezzled more slush funds than initially discovered.”

“…”

“And during the investigation of Leisen, we discovered that he had already reached an irreversible state.”

“Meaning he’s already been encroached upon by the external power?”

“It’s not something I’d recommend. To begin with, Leisen isn’t even what you’d call a normal human anymore. But despite that, the reason the Senate brought this matter to you is…”

Meyer said.

“Leisen seems to want to meet you personally.”

WHIRR!!

At that moment, the elevator doors opened, revealing a landscape of lush, dense forest.