Chapter 690: The Witch and the Magic Tower (4)
Five Flame Pillars holding the same position as Tatiana Chiglet.
One of the Warmages, who had led wars as the foremost figures of the Magic Tower, arrived in Vulcan.
Not only did they successfully track Tatiana, but they even targeted the moment she took out the Phoenix Hall to attempt a Re-summon. There was no doubt that their plan and strategy were quite intricate and meticulous.
‘A former Warmage. Probably one of the seasoned soldiers hardened by real combat.’
Lennok, having left the bar, snapped his fingers, and a monster bike sprang up from beneath the shadows as if rebounding.
VRRROOM!!
Mounting the bike, which had warmed up in an instant, Lennok twisted the throttle, activating the automatic driving algorithm. The bike immediately spun around and shot off in the opposite direction, hurtling down the road.
A fox running displayed on the bike’s system screen as Davi quickly spoke.
“Coordinates entered. Preparing for approximate estimation!”
“I interfered with the Re-summoning process and forcibly skewed the location coordinates, but there’s a distance error based on Vulcan’s map,” Lennok said quickly. “Roughly, it’s around the 13km radius of the Sector 46 industrial complex. I’ll need to use mana sensitivity around there to find Tatiana.”
Lennok’s figure quickly tapped the screen, guessing the location even before the algorithm’s calculation was complete.
Davi asked, sounding puzzled.
“Since we succeeded in interfering mid-way, shouldn’t there be no need to rush?”
“Tatiana’s condition seemed worse than I thought,” Lennok replied, lost in thought. “Even if she was caught off guard, she fell victim to the Re-summon attempt too easily. There must be a reason for that.”
A Saint Wizard who has perfected their Hierarchy can, in some way, subtly resist forces that forcibly designate them.
No matter how much she was caught by surprise, it was strange for a wizard of Tatiana’s caliber to be subjected to a Re-summon without any resistance. It was evidence that Tatiana’s condition was not good enough to resist the opponent’s Will-thought.
Davi, understanding Lennok’s words, immediately reacted by increasing the bike’s speed.
“Coordinates set. Optimal route calculated. Algorithm activated.”
SKRRRT!!
The bike, having swiftly exited Sector 49, sped across the unpaved road. Its frame blurred above the tires, which rotated as if smashing the ground.
“…Found her.”
Lennok, who had extended his mana sensitivity to detect Tatiana’s presence, immediately frowned. Tatiana’s presence, felt within his sensory range, was rapidly moving away in the opposite direction from the bar.
She must know she was forcibly dragged out by a fellow Flame Pillar, yet she showed no intention of returning.
“Could she be on the Magic Tower’s side? She might be trying to trick Master!”
Lennok shook his head, ignoring Davi’s grumbling about how unreliable smart organic beings were.
“If that were the case, information about the Phoenix Hall wouldn’t have leaked to Pandemonium’s intelligence network. There’s no possibility of Tatiana betraying us now…”
Lennok’s stream of conjectures abruptly stopped.
SCREECH!!
Lennok, having estimated Tatiana’s Re-summoned location, stopped nearby and used his mana threads to snatch an item that had fallen to the ground. It was a symbol of the Cerberus Annihilation Squad: three skull patterns with red eyes.
Was it a coincidence that this item had fallen near where Tatiana was Re-summoned?
“…”
He quickly pieced together various seemingly coincidental situations and memories in his mind. The attitude of the Cerberus Annihilation Squad member who first approached Tatiana in the bar and spoke about the satellite factory. And their movements, approaching Tatiana first after leaving the bar.
It didn’t take long to reach a conclusion.
“The Flame Pillar who tracked Tatiana hired the Cerberus Annihilation Squad. From the very beginning, the fact that they were Central Front squad members already…”
It meant they were also part of the group that had flowed into Vulcan, tracking the Witch of Conflagration. If so, their conversation with Tatiana about work… wasn’t a simple request, but an attempt to provoke a reaction from Tatiana?
“Davi, contact Jenny and ask her to find information about Tentacion Corporation’s satellite factory. There’s something there.”
That might be why Tatiana fled the Magic Tower with the Phoenix Hall. If so, it also explains why Tatiana, instead of returning to the bar after being caught in the Re-summon, was moving alone. She too had realized that the Cerberus Annihilation Squad had been hired by the Flame Pillar and intended to interrogate them directly.
Lennok reached that conclusion and immediately twisted the throttle.
“I need to catch up quickly. It’s raining.”
Not only did they swiftly track Tatiana to Vulcan, but they were also meticulous enough to hire the Cerberus Annihilation Squad to provoke Tatiana and observe her reaction. Their delicate intention to target Tatiana’s attempt to take out the Phoenix Hall for the Re-summon, and even specify her location.
The opponent must be a seasoned wizard who survived countless real battles. Considering Tatiana’s current poor condition, the outcome will probably be decided quickly.
Lennok’s bike instantly sped away, following the direction Tatiana had disappeared.
SWISHHHH!
A dark, rain-soaked alley.
A ruin where torn garbage lay scattered and a dreadful sewer stench wafted. It was a filthy, unpleasant wasteland that most people would avoid in such harsh weather.
Amidst such piles of trash, Tatiana staggered, barely managing to keep her balance.
CRUNCH!!
“The Witch of Conflagration, who supposedly burns people alive, is nothing special after all,” said a young man, laughing, as he forcefully kicked Tatiana’s shoulder. “They said your old war wounds festered, and it wasn’t a lie. To think you’d be so powerless just because of a little rain.”
“…”
Tatiana silently raised her gaze, fixing on the skull-patterned dagger dangling from the young man’s waist. Dozens of people surrounded her, each holding grotesque bladed weapons. Crude armaments seemingly designed only to painfully slice human flesh. At the hilt of each weapon, without exception, hung three skull patterns.
“Everyone misunderstands, but killing a Warmage isn’t impossible at all,” the young man whispered. “Especially when they’re injured and exhausted, and in an environment like this pouring rain?”
The young man grabbed Tatiana by her collar and said, “If you had just obediently walked out of the bar, things would have been much easier. You knew from the start it would come to this.”
“The habits of trash who count dead bodies on the battlefield are obvious,” Tatiana said, spitting out blood and managing a strained laugh. “If you offer them a weakness, their eyes go wide, and they desperately try to stab it—”
The young man didn’t listen to Tatiana’s words and simply punched her repeatedly.
THUD! THUD! THUD!!
The young man, who had silently pummeled Tatiana with a smiling face, spoke, “You’ve completely lost your mind from rolling around the Central Front for too long. Do you really think you’ve survived this long purely by your own skill?”
THUD!!
The young man kicked Tatiana, stood up, and put his hand on his waist. “Yes, they all die so futilely. They only realize how lucky they were, right before they screw up and die.”
“You’re right. Actually, I’m no different,” Tatiana laughed. “But after seeing guys die like that a few times, you learn, whether you want to or not.”
“…What?”
HISSS…
Subtly hidden by Tatiana’s body, amidst the piles of trash. A faint spark, untouched by the pouring rain, was visible underneath. It was the single cigarette Lennok had given her when she was Re-summoned. The moment the unextinguished spark at its tip caught the young man’s eye.
The spark that had risen from the cigarette’s tip instantly swelled, beginning to incinerate everything in the junkyard.
[Armor of Conflagration No. 14]
[Designated Incineration]
[Calamity Regalia]
BLAZE!!
The flames rising from behind Tatiana transformed into a colossal sphere of fire, encompassing a radius of several tens of meters. Within it, an extreme determination incinerated everything without exception, save for the caster herself.
“AGHAAAHHH!!”
Starting with those who had been silently observing from behind the young man, they began to burn away, one after another…
Their feet burned, flesh and muscle melted and flowed, and bones turned to ash and crumbled. Designated Incineration, a method of execution where one burned to death while still conscious.
Horrific screams echoed from all directions, and the young man who had been threatening Tatiana was no different.
“HAA, AAAGHHH!!”
The young man’s limbs burned away as he roughly screamed in a hoarse voice. His smiling expression was gone, replaced by a pale, trembling face as he convulsed, seemingly on the verge of death.
But just before the young man’s breath was extinguished then and there.
The colossal sphere of fire surrounding Tatiana compressed in an instant, transforming into a crimson curtain wrapped around her.
WHOOSH!!
The raindrops falling on her head evaporated before even touching the heat radiating from the Calamity Regalia, rising as steam.
Tatiana, having instantly completed her magnificent cloak of fire protecting herself, bowed her head towards the young man and asked, “The location of Tentacion Corporation’s satellite factory engine room. You know it, don’t you?”
“GRAH, UGHH…!!”
“If Melter hired you, he would have told you to lure me. Tell me where it is!!”
The young man, trembling in pain and drenched in rain, looked at her with unfocused eyes and spat. “B-bullshit… We’ve already, made preparations…!!”
“…”
“Khuh-huff…”
At that moment, the young man’s face turned purplish and he completely lost consciousness. Although he was still breathing, he couldn’t endure the shock of his entire body burning away for long.
Tatiana watched him, gritted her teeth, and was about to slap his cheek to wake him when a sharp voice echoed from behind her.
“You look like you’re in a lot of pain, why don’t you stop?”
CRASHHH!!
A semi-circular shockwave slammed into Tatiana, instantly flinging her body into the depths of the junkyard.
“…!!”
Following Tatiana’s flames, as she lay overturned amidst the foul-smelling garbage, the surrounding trash also caught fire.
A blurry figure entered her vision as she swept back her disheveled red hair and looked up. A woman with a mask completely covering the lower part of her face and long black hair reaching her ankles. In her skinny hand, she held a massive scythe larger than herself, and three skull patterns dangled from her waist.
The woman with the scythe looked at Tatiana and sneered, “Oh, you incinerated everything in such a short time. How cruel.”
“…”
An incredible strength that didn’t directly touch the burning cloak of fire, but instead used a shockwave to push her away. The speed of that single strike, which repelled the Calamity Regalia, was momentarily close to the speed of sound.
A powerful superhuman, incomparable to the young man Tatiana had just faced.
But the moment Tatiana turned the flames of her Calamity Regalia to guard against her, a blue glowing net covered the entire junkyard, instantly suppressing Tatiana’s mana usage.
CRUMBLE!!
“Vulcan’s technology is truly convenient.”
“…!!!”
A gray-haired man appeared behind Tatiana, holding an unknown mechanical device in his hand.
“Achilles Corp.’s Spell Interception System. It’s much better than I thought. While it can’t subdue a wizard completely, it can suppress a specific spell like this—”
HISSS!!
The cloak of fire burning on Tatiana’s shoulder gradually lost its power and diminished.
“It can even block the activation itself.”
Tatiana glared at the man, feeling a strange sensation as if her own mana was not subject to her control.
“Melter…!!”
“Wouldn’t you call me Halfman, Tatiana?” The gray-haired man, called Melter, smiled at her expression. Clicking a small oil lighter in his other hand, he said, “I don’t want a disgraced wizard calling me by my name.”
“…”
“The time limit is about ten minutes. Burning 300 million cells worth of compressed preserved mana to seal a specific spell isn’t cost-effective, but it’s not bad for the price of catching a traitor who fled with the seal.”
A wondrous ability that erased the only defensive magic she had, which used highly compressed amplified heat to protect her body.
“…I have no intention of explaining my situation in detail now,” Tatiana said, getting up with an exhausted look and turning to Halfman. “Tentacion Corporation’s engine room location. And the ‘material’ used as a component inside. Where are they all?”
“Yes. I knew you’d look for the engine room. That’s why you ran away with it, right?” Halfman, setting down the mechanical device he held behind his back, nodded. “Don’t rush me. I was going to take you there anyway. It will require processing, but for a vessel like you, it won’t take long.”
“…”
“Malacia. Prepare.”
The moment the woman with the scythe, called Malacia, took a step forward at Halfman’s words.
WHOOSH!!
Her body, sliding then and there, instantly sprang up behind Tatiana. She casually draped her long black hair over Tatiana’s shoulder and let out a ghastly, ghostly laugh.
“Wizards who stay on the battlefield for a long time are famous for slathering themselves with Geas to enhance efficiency.”
Malacia whispered, “Now that you don’t have the ‘spark,’ aren’t you unable to use magic properly?”
A Level 7 Saint Wizard. The reason why she, a Warmage called the Witch of Conflagration, was struggling against the Cerberus Annihilation Squad was not for any other reason. Her magic, which had been adjusted to extract maximum output under specific conditions while being battered and bruised on the Central Front, was now so damaged that its power would weaken if those conditions were not met.
Her fellow Flame Pillar, Melter Halfman, had noticed this fact early on and borrowed Achilles Corp.’s Spell Interception System to intercept the Calamity Regalia she had constructed.
The cigarette she used as a magical spark. If she was desperate enough to consume even a cigarette ember as a material for incantation, it was clear she had few means left to fight.
“A Warmage specialized in collective firepower. You probably don’t have many spells left for one-on-one combat either.”
Malacia, with her hands behind her back, lightly wiggled her fingers, and the blade of the long scythe in her hand precisely pointed at Tatiana’s throat. Just a slight twist of her wrist, and it would easily pierce her neck and sever her windpipe.
“It’s admirable that you tried so hard to escape, but you should have managed your hand better until the very end… Then you wouldn’t have been caught so futilely.”
“…That skull pattern.”
Ignoring the slippery sensation of the long scythe at her throat, Tatiana lowered her gaze. The skull pattern of the Cerberus Annihilation Squad dangled from Malacia’s slender waist.
But Tatiana perceived an unfamiliar inconsistency in that ornament, different from Malacia’s own.
“The focus of the red eyes doesn’t align. The lower jaw part is worn away from being roughly handled.”
“…”
“If it were one of those idiots obsessed with the number of heads they’ve severed, they would cherish and maintain that emblem, right?” Tatiana asked, “You’re not with the Cerberus Annihilation Squad, are you?”
Malacia grinned, then crushed the skull pattern hanging from her waist with her skinny fingers.
CRUNCH!!
“Heh heh, was it too obvious after all?”
“…”
“Flame Pillar. Look. You can’t deceive me with trash scavenged from a dead squad member’s corpse.”
Halfman didn’t respond. Instead, he just clicked the oil lighter in his hand.
“It’s unpleasant to act like such a worm that cuts off heads and carries them around, even if it’s for work.”
Malacia flicked her tongue and quietly whispered to Tatiana, “I prefer to work for a military corporation that sells death in a more sophisticated way.”
“…!!”
A military corporation operating on the Central Front. Before Tatiana could respond, having realized the meaning of those words, Halfman sharply cut her off.
“Malacia. That’s enough. There’s no need to say more.”
Halfman took out something like a small stamp gun and nodded to Malacia. “It’s a bit early, but we’ll finish the processing here. Get ready.”
“That’s something I hate, it looks painful even just watching… but I guess there’s no choice.”
“…!!”
The moment Malacia’s damp hand stroked Tatiana’s neck, her entire body stiffened with an unknown viscous substance.
Halfman brought the stamp gun to Tatiana’s forehead and drew up mana.
SCREEEEE…
An unknown resonating sound erupted, and at the same time, a strange energy began to concentrate beyond the stamp gun.
“We’ll extract your consciousness and fill it with a new substitute,” Halfman explained. “You don’t have to worry. You’ll be able to watch everything we do from the other side.”
Halfman, having charged the stamp gun with mana, slowly pulled the trigger. Achilles Corp.’s Spell Interception System would only function properly for a short time, less than ten minutes. There was no need to waste time and give Tatiana a chance to use Calamity Regalia again.
As Halfman pulled the stamp gun forcefully, Tatiana’s gaze turned to her own blood flowing down her neck.
CLICK!!
Immediately after the sound of the trigger, all surrounding scenery fell silent.
“I don’t know why everyone insists on taking the long way around.”
Before anyone could properly perceive the strangeness of the gap, someone’s voice was heard right beside them. Lennok, wearing a coat and leaning on a staff, was toying with the stamp gun in his other hand.
“Is this how things are handled on the Central Front these days?”