Chapter 681: The Oldest Bloodline (3)
Armand 3’s utterly unexpected declaration of desertion.
At the sudden words of the clone, who had set out to find a new self, the other Armands were aghast.
“What nonsense…”
“Absolutely not!! You are my clone!!”
“Talk all you want. From now on, I’ll live as I please.”
The Armand clones stood on edge, as if ready to fight each other, with the underground cavern before them.
Lennok watched them and opened his mouth, as if dumbfounded.
“I’m sorry, but the magic I just cast wasn’t an attempt to guarantee the clone’s self-identity.”
“What?”
“That’s impossible.”
Armand 3 frowned.
“This magical power flowing through my body right now, it was truly a breath that awakened my soul. Are you trying to deny my identity after giving me such power?”
“……”
He seemed to have acquired a rather sentimental way of speaking.
Was it truly due to some strange side effect of the enhancement magic?
“What I meant by ‘fortunate’ was…”
Lennok said, drawing up his magic.
Two streams of lightning rotated in the air and struck down simultaneously.
[Thunder Remnant Body]
[Thunder Accumulation Strike]
[Thunder Remnant Body]
[Twin Calamities of Eightfold Tribulation]
Crackle!!!
The enhancement magic struck Armand 1 and Armand 2 directly on the crown of their heads, instantly inflating their abilities in different directions.
“Ugh!!”
“The power…!!”
“Adamant Thunder!! Why them…!!”
Armand 1 and 2 gasped in disbelief. Armand 3 cried out, his expression flustered.
Lennok looked at the Armand clones and said.
“It was so I could compare the three revised versions of the enhancement magic I developed simultaneously.”
“……Excuse me?”
“If the three clones have identical abilities and magic, wouldn’t it be easier to compare them by casting different enhancement magic on identical samples?”
“……”
Only then did the clones realize why Lennok had cast enhancement magic on them and checked if it was properly maintained, and they fell silent.
He wasn’t worried about the enhancement magic weakening or the clones gaining identity as a side effect.
It was purely an idea to compare the revised versions of the magic Lennok had developed and to experiment with their efficiency.
From the very beginning, Lennok had only intended to research his own magic through Armand’s clones.
Armand 2 mumbled, dumbfounded.
“No, no, why research me at this particular moment…?”
“It’s rare to have an opportunity to test such a sample in a real combat situation.”
Lennok smiled.
“And it’s not something I can experiment on my own body, is it?”
“……”
Lennok had long recognized the utility of Thunder Remnant Body and had been steadily researching ways to increase its power and efficiency.
Increasing power and reducing fuel consumption, or increasing reaction speed and decreasing sensitivity.
By subtly changing the lineage or properties of the abilities enhanced through Thunder Remnant Body, he was refining versions to be useful in various situations.
Of course, the enhancement magic he had researched was used to empower the vanguards who accompanied Lennok.
But its ultimate purpose was, naturally, for Lennok himself to use.
In battles between transcendent superhumans and monsters, Lennok himself was struggling to secure even a single extra opportunity in close combat.
Opportunities like this, to experiment on such identical samples simultaneously, were rare.
“Each revised version has different output and efficiency, but they will all last about 10 minutes. In other words, you don’t have much time to compare the samples.”
“……”
“What are you doing?”
Lennok smiled and tilted his head.
“Why aren’t you moving faster?”
Kwaaang!!
A massive underground cavern with jet-black walls.
Amidst the shadows where darkness had settled, three diverging flashes of light sped rapidly.
Paahhh!!
As the flashes plunged into the cavern’s inner corridor, shouts erupted from all directions.
“Intruders!!”
“Raise the defenses and activate the magic circles!!”
“Initiate deceleration and interception. Vanguards, move out first!!”
People clad in black Dopo robes sprang out from various points in the corridor, gripping dense black magic and forcefully unleashing it.
Magic thrown in all directions across the corridor coalesced will-thought, rising into massive barriers, and pouring down black flames like rain.
Dudududu!!
But the resistance of the black wizards was suppressed by several young men with identical faces, who simultaneously charged at them.
Udeudeudeuk!!
A particularly large young man pushed the barrier, making it tilt, while the other two leaped onto its knee and shoulder.
Of the two who leaped into the air, one’s figure vanished on the spot, stabbing the black wizards in the back.
The other ruthlessly plunged into the ranks of the wizards attempting incantations.
Kagagak!!
“Kuaaaak!!”
“You’re too fast!!”
“Impossible. The power is preposterously high for the available magic…!!”
The three young men ruthlessly killed the screaming black wizards from all directions, breaking through.
Behind the quickly collapsing remnants of the black wizards, a wizard leaning on a staff leisurely advanced.
Kwajik!!
“Guh…!!”
The battle ended quickly.
The three men’s combat did not stop until they had broken through the wide corridor and reached a plaza where a grand staircase was located.
Crackle, crackle!!
With each step, a powerful current of electricity emanated, faintly illuminating the dark plaza.
The three Armands slowly reined in their respective distinct presences.
“Haa, haa…!!”
Though their degrees of exhaustion differed, they were all panting with intensely fatigued expressions.
Lennok was the last to walk into the plaza, and he nodded towards the three.
“You’re probably more tired than you expected. No matter how efficient the enhancement magic, drawing out the subject’s vitality is unavoidable.”
“……”
“I anticipated it, but the second revised version is indeed the most efficient. The other two still need adjustment.”
Thunder Remnant Body grants the user powerful physical enhancement and the properties of lightning and thunder.
However, the revised versions created by adjusting the efficiency and power of the original Thunder Remnant Body were still very much under research.
Of Thunder Accumulation Strike, Twin Calamities of Eightfold Tribulation, and Three Extremes of Thought, only Twin Calamities of Eightfold Tribulation truly aligned with the purpose of combat.
The other two had separated their pros and cons excessively, making them somewhat detached from their original purpose.
“The idea of dividing detailed stats according to purpose doesn’t seem bad… but it appears more research is needed.”
“……”
Despite Lennok’s calm contemplation, Armand’s clones did not respond.
Instead, with subtle signs of exhaustion, they subtly exchanged glances and widened the distance between them.
They looked so awkward, it was hard to believe they were clones split from a single original.
It was a strange sight, as if they weren’t fellow clones, but competitors to be wary of.
Davi, observing from Lennok’s arms, shook her head.
[It’s nothing short of a farce. Their identities are so immature… they seem to lack much worldly experience.]
“……”
What would the clones’ reaction be if they knew they were receiving life advice from a Cybernetic Spirit who was only a few years old?
Instead of telling them, Lennok silently and cleanly withdrew the Thunder Remnant Body magic cast on Armand’s clones.
Crackle…!!
“Ah!!”
“Ugh…”
With dying groans, Armand’s magical power rapidly shriveled, and his expression changed dramatically.
At the same time, the Armand clones, bowing their heads, merged into one, returning to Armand Martins himself.
Armand absently patted his own body, then sighed and covered his face with one hand.
“Phew…”
“How do you feel?”
“……Terrible.”
Armand answered weakly to Lennok’s question.
“It was a ghastly experience.”
“The enhancement magic I cast is, of course, a type of power that can be directly retrieved and withdrawn at any time.”
Lennok chuckled, toying with his staff.
“It’s unlikely for a clone’s new self to awaken due to such enhancement magic… You were mistaken from the start.”
“Yes. I understand what you mean. I felt an uncontrollable surge of impulses within me.”
Armand staggered to his feet and replied.
Running a hand through his hair with a pale complexion, Armand fumbled to pick up a dropped knife.
“I think the impulses I wasn’t even aware of grew larger due to the enhancement magic, went beyond my control, and I mistook it for gaining an identity.”
“A plausible conjecture.”
Armand’s clones didn’t awaken new selves after receiving Lennok’s enhancement magic.
Superhuman abilities are innate powers most affected by the organic connection between body and mind.
Thus, in Armand’s case, who uses clone abilities, he controls and manipulates his clones through the identity of their shared physical body.
However, when the clone who received Lennok’s enhancement magic became different from the other clones, Armand’s mind began to misinterpret its identity.
The clone’s sudden actions and abruptly changed manner of speaking were side effects arising from Armand’s own mind misjudging the clone.
Lennok had pointed out that fact to Armand upon his return after deactivating Thunder Remnant Body.
“This time, I resolved it directly, but what if an enemy were to use the same method?”
“……”
“They wouldn’t listen to your control as they did just now, or in the worst case, they might try to attack you directly.”
Armand lowered his head in silence.
“It would be good to subtly make your clones different on a regular basis, to instill confidence in yourself even if the conditions change. I don’t know much about superhuman abilities, but…”
Lennok said, picking up an old walkie-talkie from a black wizard’s corpse.
“Ultimately, it’s a power that starts from believing in oneself. I’ve seen many who went mad because they couldn’t do that.”
“……I understand. Now that I know my superhuman ability has a blind spot, I need to try harder. Thank you for the advice.”
“……”
Watching Armand nod, seemingly having accepted it, Lennok separately extracted and organized the magic pattern of Three Extremes of Thought.
Though he said that, Armand 3’s sudden deviation was clearly unexpected.
‘Three Extremes of Thought was basically a revised version created to enhance reflexes and thought speed.’
As the only one among the three revised versions to support mental abilities, there might be other reasons why Armand 3 exhibited abnormal behavior.
Further research into the directional adjustments made when creating Three Extremes of Thought seemed likely to yield significant results.
Lennok quickly sorted those thoughts and lifted the retrieved walkie-talkie.
“If you’ve calmed down, look at this and talk.”
Beep, beep-
Pressing the button, an unknown signal tone leaked out, then abruptly cut off.
“It’s working fine, but the communication isn’t connecting.”
“Is the communication network cut off?”
“If it were, a message indicating no connection would have appeared.”
“Then…?”
“Someone is intercepting the communication midway.”
Armand’s expression hardened slightly as he understood Lennok’s words.
“It must be the black wizards allied with Leisen Azamaha.”
“Take this and find the spot where the signal tone connects for the longest possible duration.”
Following Lennok’s instructions, Armand retrieved several working walkie-talkies from the black wizards’ corpses and began sending transmissions from various locations using his clones.
The clones, even after merging once and then splitting again, still seemed somewhat awkward.
While I don’t want to agree with Davi’s words, it truly is nothing short of a farce.
But this irony is proof of the inherent precariousness that all superhumans fundamentally live with.
That is why the Superhuman Awakening Vanguard, an organization that shouldn’t exist, was born and is running rampant on the Central Front.
For some innate superhumans, the talent they were born with might be nothing short of a curse.
“Mr. Van.”
Armand 9 waved to Lennok from across the staircase.
Lennok immediately raised the walkie-talkie he was holding and pressed the button.
“Can you hear me?”
[Yes. I can hear you through the walkie-talkie.]
“Good. That far is within the range where the walkie-talkie works properly.”
If the black wizards’ leadership was intercepting the walkie-talkie communication, they needed to find out the effective range.
By estimating the boundary where communication was hijacked, and then reversing the direction, they could pinpoint where the communication blockage began.
Armand understood Lennok’s intention and immediately moved.
“This way.”
“Kwaak!!”
Armand, who had dealt with a black wizard hiding on the railing with a dagger, climbed the stairs as he was.
Armand tilted his head at Lennok, who silently watched the stairs from below.
“Aren’t you coming up?”
“……”
The moment Lennok flicked his staff, a mass of oil pooled on the floor rose up and supported Lennok’s feet.
Whoosh!!
In an instant, Lennok effortlessly skipped hundreds of stairs, was placed on the second-floor railing, and the oil mass splatted back down.
Armand looked at the scene and bowed his head as if he had made a mistake.
“I’m sorry. I knew you had recently been injured…”
“……I’ll be careful from now on.”
Lennok immediately led Armand’s clones and sped through the corridor above the stairs.
An underground structure so solid and precisely designed that it was hard to believe it existed beneath a pungent, sandy plateau.
“To be able to build such an underground structure with only a small number of personnel… there was a reason Senator Leisen entrusted them with slush funds.”
Armand mumbled, astonished.
“You said it was made by solidifying oil. Is there a reason why they chose this material for this location?”
“Well… I think it’s probably because they intended to use it as a catalyst.”
“……A catalyst, you say?”
“If you consider that, it makes sense why they were hiding near here and storing slush funds.”
Lennok said, turning his gaze.
“If the black wizards had succeeded in transforming this sand pile using solidified oil as a catalyst…”
He lightly scraped the wall with the tip of his staff, and transparent, crystal-like fragments fell from it.
“Then the subsequent processes could also be handled using black magic.”
“……Jewel crystals?”
Lennok patted the dumbfounded Armand’s shoulder and began walking again.
The scenery of the dark corridor gradually brightened, and the space on both sides continuously widened.
The corridor, dotted with black solid matter, transformed into transparent crystal shapes.
Clink, clink!!
A room made of gigantic jewel crystals, curved into long disc shapes.
Scores of transparent glass pillars were densely packed throughout the dazzling jewel room.
Each glass pillar was filled with a deep green liquid, and dozens of humans floated, eyes closed, within that liquid.
“……”
Armand was speechless, his mouth agape at the unimaginable sight.
Lennok left Armand to himself and examined the people floating in the glass pillars.
“Their pulses are alive. They’re breathing normally. It seems to be a device designed for life support.”
“Th-this…”
“Are they powering the device by pouring oil? Solving both production and supply with one method, an efficient idea.”
Thud.
The moment Lennok touched the glass pillar with the tip of his staff, it shattered, and a body covered in green liquid fell out.
Crash!!
A naked man fell headfirst in front of Armand and tumbled wildly.
Lennok pushed the fallen naked man over with his staff and intently observed his face.
“Now that I look closely, he’s not just normal, he’s quite healthy. So why were they storing him in this way?”
“How could such large-scale human sacrifice possibly occur near Vulcan…!!”
Armand reached into his pocket with a trembling voice.
Armand took out his phone and frantically dialed, but no communication connected.
Lennok shook his head at him.
“I told you they’re intercepting all communications. And due to the geomagnetic storm, a call wouldn’t connect in an undeveloped underground area in the first place.”
“We need to call for a support team immediately!!”
“Will they just let us go?”
“……!!”
Watching the fidgeting Armand, Lennok leaned on his staff and stood up.
“And this isn’t a trace of human sacrifice. They seem to have prepared something, but the atmosphere is very different.”
If they were simply sacrificing humans, there would be no reason to meticulously preserve them like this.
Perhaps there was another purpose than preparing offerings for sacrifice.
Lennok thought so and pulled out a syringe from his pocket.
“Let’s wake him up and ask him directly.”
“What is that?”
“A potent stimulant that can make even dying beasts go wild.”
Lennok said, and plunged the needle directly into the fallen man’s heart.
“I don’t know why he lost consciousness, but once he gets this, he’ll regain his senses whether he likes it or not.”
Thwack!!
He plunged the needle in and pushed the drug inside.
An extreme method, injecting the drug directly into the heart.
A normal human would probably not regain consciousness on the spot, but instead, their heart would stop, and they would die.
But Lennok knew this and still injected the stimulant into the man’s heart, lightly tapping it.
This was because he was certain that these embalmed bodies before their eyes were not ordinary humans.
And the man who received the stimulant snapped his eyes open on the spot.
A chilling sight as dozens of people, trapped in the tanks, simultaneously opened their eyes and stared at Lennok.
“……!!”
Their pupils quivered and writhed as if thousands of insects crawled within them.
Unlike Armand, who clenched his teeth with a pale complexion, Lennok nodded as if he had expected it.
“So, it was this one after all.”
The strange presence emanating from this man and dozens of other bodies.
And the pupils that looked as if they would lose their self-identity and scatter at any moment were familiar from memory.
An entity where hundreds of collective consciousnesses, each believing itself to be a single individual, controlled and moved a body.
A superhuman ability whose true nature even Pandemonium could not clearly define, to the extent that it was called a type of mental contamination disease.
Glen, the collective consciousness possessor who had assisted The Clown and Freya in the Well of the Codex operation, had been dormant here.
The moment Lennok opened his mouth to ask the awakened Glen a question.
“I’m sorry, but that friend, you can’t wake him up here just yet.”
A muddied voice echoed from behind the two of them.
A tall man with unsettling eyes, obvious at a glance.
Unlike his somewhat sunken, deathly pallor, the smile on his face was utterly frivolous.
The man smiled, his eyes spinning as he looked at Lennok in a strange way.
“He’s a very sick friend. Why don’t you put him down for a moment and have a chat with me?”
Small gems clinked and clattered like coins in the man’s hand.