Chapter 695: The Witch and the Magic Tower (9)

[Filename: 34ag23magi7lm1.vi8]

The central network of the mega-city Vulcan City Government.

The flip side of the cybernetic world where the city’s entire data circulates. The deepweb existing outside the central network’s security firewall.

A nameless video file was uploaded there, in a place where millions of data points were uploaded and vanished every second.

Few users would open a video with a clear mind in this place, overrun with all kinds of electronic drugs, cursed spells, crime videos, and hacking tools.

But if that video was uploaded to a board exclusively for ‘Jewel-grade’ members, that’s a different story.

In this place, where even viewing a board and uploading posts are managed with differentiated permissions, it’s rare to be able to upload a video, not just a simple post, to a board revealed only to a select few members.

Naturally, comments began to appear beneath the video post.

“What’s this?”

“How many days has it been since a video was uploaded here?”

“Look at the filename. Looks like it was uploaded right after encoding finished.”

In the meantime, someone who had dissected the video file commented again.

“3 minutes long, 1.7 TB capacity. Not electronic drugs or device codes, then.”

“That much capacity for that playback time?”

“Means the internal video compression is immense. Anyone want to check first?”

“No. I don’t want to die.”

Even as they spoke, the video playback counter displayed below the post began to surge rapidly.

Before 3 minutes had passed, those who watched the video one by one began to comment.

“Damn it, this is…”

“This is bad. It’s not something you should be seeing.”

As if the unsettling reactions only fueled their curiosity, the views and playback count increased at an astonishing rate.

“It’s a combat recording. Looks like military. Who’s the opponent?”

“It’s full of noise, hard to make out clearly.”

The short 3-minute video showed nothing but sharp lightning flashing from beyond a blazing battlefield.

The noise and errors throughout the video were so severe that nothing could be discerned, except for the fact that someone was indiscriminately dying.

Only occasional desperate screams and a strange resonating sound, like magic echoing, provided the meager audio for the video.

But even in that video, filled with noisy lumps, there were those who recognized something and commented.

“The part flying around 1 minute 51 seconds. It’s a Power Suit component. A military-grade item manufactured and exported from District 33.”

“Military Power Suit. If it’s exported from District 33, then Hedross, Machina, and Marmadio would be the main users.”

“Among them, we can search by looking for regions that have recently suffered heavy casualties.”

A board viewable only by those with reliable records and identities within the Deepweb.

Furthermore, even uploading a post or commenting requires a certain level of authorization.

Those exchanging information in such a place quickly began to trace the video’s origins and uncover the essence of its meaning.

“Machina’s Third Mechanized Troops. All presumed to be wearing military Power Suits. And they were annihilated in some incident a month ago.”

“Some incident? A month ago?”

“A month ago, that would be… the time when Adamant Thunder was rampaging through Machina.”

Only then did those who realized what this video was showing fall silent.

The true identity of the short 3-minute video.

It was a fragment of the combat record from the very battle where Lennok single-handedly massacred the Third Mechanized Troops.

“So this is why the noise is so bad. His appearance isn’t clear, making it hard to identify.”

“But this is virtually the first time such a detailed combat record has been leaked. This will be valuable data.”

“Look at this. He’s not just using lightning, but a variety of attributes. There were rumors about Adamant Thunder’s magic system, but this is truly…”

Once the video’s identity was confirmed, the view count and playback numbers continued to climb, and more comments began to appear.

As traffic instantly converged on the post, hackers drifting through the network naturally took notice of it.

“…”

A man in a dark room, with hundreds of monitors lit up, also paused his hand as he watched the video.

The man replayed the video several times, contemplating for a long while, then, as if making a decision, quickly typed on his keyboard.

Hundreds of unknown program codes overlaid each other on the monitors, instantly bypassing the deepweb post and accessing the internal developer tools.

He began to download the massive video file recorded within at high speed.

Clack, clack.

The blue download bar illuminated the pupils of the man, who was biting his lip in nervousness.

In an eerie silence, just as the man had almost finished downloading the video by bypassing the deepweb.

[Gotcha~!]

A small fox-like form, which had popped out from beside the monitor, suddenly began to devour the download bar.

Crunch, crunch!!

“Wh-what?!”

The fox continued to devour the loading bar, disregarding the man who sprang to his feet in surprise.

At the same time, hundreds of monitors installed in the room rapidly malfunctioned and shut down.

The man’s face turned pale as he belatedly realized his computer was being hacked in reverse and destroyed.

“No!!”

[You’ve been watching us for a long time, haven’t you?]

Having devoured the download window, the fox on the other side of the monitor stared at the man.

[Even if it was a dummy video blurred with noise, I knew a tenacious organic being would surely be interested.]

“It was, it was a trap!!”

The man, understanding the fox’s words, slumped back weakly into his seat.

“No way. I checked it over and over again…!!”

[Mirror Diver hackers are cowardly and hard to catch, but you’re uniquely stupid among them?]

Shaking its five tails, the fox slowly swelled in size, rolling across dozens of monitors.

[The data you diligently collected. I’ll make good use of it. Thank you.]

“No, no…!!”

Hiss…!!

Sounds of something exploding repeatedly came from below the room, and acrid smoke billowed out.

The man’s computer, unable to withstand the overload, began to melt down.

Leaving the man kneeling with a look of despair, the fox giggled and slowly leaped out of the monitor, disappearing.

[Master.]

Davi’s tail twitched in Lennok’s arms as he was busy tidying up the pub.

[Another one took the bait. This time, it’s from the Mirror Diver side.]

‘This time, it took longer than I expected.’

Lennok thought so, stroking Davi’s ear.

There was no other reason for secretly leaking the Third Mechanized Troops’ combat records and observing the reactions.

It was to publicize Lennok’s magic system before officially establishing his Magic Tower, and to then inversely capture those who showed particularly strong interest in it.

It would have been a difficult task without the help of this Cybernetic Spirit, who was suspiciously well-versed in the Deepweb, but once they started, it yielded quite a lucrative profit.

Especially shadowy hacker groups like Mirror Diver had thoroughly avoided entangling themselves with Lennok until now.

If they managed to achieve results by breaking through their unusually strong vigilance, then Davi must be doing a good job.

While Lennok thought this, a meeting regarding the current issue was underway in the pub.

“We knew about Peshia Grisbern’s return, but her exact location hasn’t been pinpointed.”

Killeyan, who had just finished his interrogation in the basement, explained, flipping through a memo.

This was the result of persistently extracting information from Halfman, the Magic Tower Pyromancer Lennok captured.

However, obtaining new clues beyond cross-referencing the current circumstances proved equally difficult.

“He said he accompanied Malacia and traced her to Vulcan, but due to an immediate clash with Tatiana, he didn’t directly contact Peshia.”

“If Peshia’s return to Vulcan is certain, finding her is our priority.”

Lennok nodded.

“She’s almost certainly staying near the Satellite Factory, observing the situation.”

“High probability. But… isn’t it a bit hot?”

Killeyan said, tugging at his shirt.

“It feels somehow muggier than before…”

“…”

At his words, everyone’s gaze naturally turned to the pyromancy beads on Lennok’s left arm.

Flames wrapped around the beads on his forearm were still flowing like living currents.

“Although I’ve managed to bind its form, it seems to have a greater impact on the surrounding environment than I expected.”

Lennok said, touching Jenny’s laptop, which was on the counter.

All the whiskey Tatiana had spilled on the keyboard had evaporated, leaving only a subtly sticky sensation.

“The whiskey has already dried up completely.”

“Huh?! Wa-wait!!”

Jenny’s face instantly crumpled into a grimace as she snatched up the laptop, as if remembering a forgotten fact.

“No…!! If this breaks, I’ll have to back up a week’s worth of data from scratch!!”

“S-sorry.”

Tatiana glanced nervously at Jenny and mumbled an apology.

“I don’t have any money right now, but if I withdraw it under my name from the Magic Tower’s bank…”

“Ah, no. That’s not the important part right now.”

Leaving the two of them sputtering, Lennok silently looked upwards.

He had realized that the pub’s air wasn’t just dry from evaporated whiskey, but was subtly changing.

“My lips are drying out.”

Jordan added, as if understanding Lennok’s thoughts.

“If even my dull body can feel it, that means it’s a dangerous item.”

“Now that you mention it, it does feel drier. This is also related to that item, right?”

Jenny clicked her tongue, tapping on her laptop.

Such a strong impact even without forcibly extracting heat from the Solar System, as Lennok had shown earlier.

More than just being hot, it was a peculiar sensation of all moisture in the pub gradually drying up.

Simply by its presence, it was absorbing moisture from all directions, changing the environment.

Lennok looked at the Phoenix Hall’s pattern and asked Jordan.

“Are there many items in the pub that shouldn’t lose moisture?”

Jordan pondered for a moment, then nodded.

“Most alcohol does. Especially wine, it’s extremely sensitive to storage conditions, isn’t it?”

“The taste would change quickly if left for too long.”

Lennok said, averting his gaze.

“I think we should take some measures first.”

KIRIRIK!!

Lennok, drawing upon his mana, began to strongly pull out and overlay his will-thought onto his left forearm…

At that moment, thin threads covered the crimson sun pattern, transforming it into something like a bandage wrapped around his forearm.

Chaaaak!!

The form of thin thread coils intricately woven together in a consistent pattern, like knitting.

At that moment, the dryness felt inside the pub noticeably subsided.

An indescribable, faint sense of déjà vu. The feeling of a precarious, increasingly unstable situation seemed to vanish.

Jordan exhaled in relief.

“It’s back. If the humidity stays like this, I won’t have to clear the shelves every time Van comes.”

“You completely sealed the power inside?”

Lennok nodded at Jenny’s question.

“No matter what material I use, I won’t be able to suppress it for long. I plan to wrap it with mana threads, keeping periodic replacement in mind.”

The mana threads Lennok manipulates can be freely adjusted in tension, hardness, elasticity, and length. Dealing with mana at the particle level, it was not difficult for Lennok to weave mana threads and control the flow of the contact surface.

But Tatiana, looking at the bandage Lennok had created, clicked her tongue in amazement.

“You can extract mana threads this uniformly without manipulation magic? Why don’t you just say you have a spider as an ancestor.”

“Well, if I really had a spider as an ancestor…”

Lennok smiled bitterly as he said that.

He knew that the skill of a spider hybrid who learned manipulation magic wouldn’t be at this level.

There was a messenger in Pandemonium, born a true ancient hybrid, with an innate talent for manipulation spells.

An inhuman talent that goes beyond simply manipulating objects or mana, walking a tightrope across hypothetical dimensions.

But instead of mentioning that fact, Lennok simply touched his left arm, which was moderately wrapped in mana threads.

He hadn’t wrapped his hand, just in case, but at this rate, it wouldn’t be strange for him to look completely bandaged.

If he wrapped his bandaged arm with mana threads one more time and tied it around his neck-

“…”

Everyone was speechless at Lennok’s appearance, looking like a patient with a walking stick and a cast.

“He looks like he shouldn’t be wandering around.”

“It feels a bit awkward to ask for help now… Is he really okay?”

“Shouldn’t we be helping Van instead?”

Lennok chuckled, seeing the three of them deep in serious thought.

“My movements are slightly 불편, but it’s not like I can’t move.”

Lennok tapped his bandaged forearm, changing the subject back.

“I’ll regularly replace the mana threads and use this as bait to lure out Peshia.”

“The Satellite Factory?”

“After tracking its location, we’ll lure Peshia away to create distance and then raid the factory to destroy the engine.”

From Deadrise’s perspective, they’ll try to produce the satellite by any means necessary, so if they hint at the existence of the Phoenix Hall, Peshia will naturally be drawn out.

If they raid the Satellite Factory and destroy the engine at that point, the entire plan would collapse.

The task itself isn’t too complicated. It’s just that the conditions necessary to perform it haven’t been met yet.

“As long as we have the Phoenix Hall, there are many means we can consider. If we succeed in the operation just once at the right time…”

At this point, where they haven’t lost the core component most vital for satellite production, they also have choices.

The others naturally nodded at Lennok’s words.

“I’ll lure Peshia and buy time. Van, can you scout the location of Tentacion Corporation’s Satellite Factory for me?”

Tatiana said without hesitation.

“I don’t know much about Vulcan’s terrain. If possible, I’d like help from someone from the city.”

“If the rumors are true, Peshia is a warrior with a natural talent for killing people.”

Lennok asked.

“I’ve faced a warrior who fought by possessing the spirits of ancestors. They wielded diverse abilities regardless of Hierarchy. Can you buy time against something like that?”

“Not dying and somehow maintaining the situation is a War Mage’s quality.”

“…”

“And since I asked for it. Isn’t it only natural that I take on the most dangerous part?”

Knowing it’s dangerous, if she believes it must be done, she won’t hesitate.

Tatiana’s attitude wasn’t bad, but Lennok shook his head at her words.

“I won’t assign personnel based on responsibility or emotion. Naturally, efficiency and aptitude come first.”

“Ugh…”

“But going into the operation with just the two of you is certainly a problem.”

“You’re thinking of increasing the operational personnel? Well, it would definitely be easier if there was a vanguard…”

“Should we contact Antares?”

Jenny raised her phone and wiggled it, but Lennok shook his head.

“Antares would be effective against Peshia, but I won’t be able to reach them.”

When they met during the random box incident, Antares was already preparing to leave Vulcan.

It wouldn’t be strange if they had already gone far to the other side of the continent by now.

Jenny also tapped her phone a few times, then turned off the screen as if she’d expected it.

“The phone’s already off.”

“More importantly, there are people who would lend a hand just by mentioning Deadrise’s name. You saw them earlier, didn’t you?”

Lennok pointed towards the basement.

“Even Dyke Corp. wouldn’t welcome the return of their competitor, Deadrise.”

“…I don’t dislike Dyke Corp., but I’m not sure how much help they’d be in this matter.”

Of course, Panua and the management team are excellent, but that’s only in terms of their business acumen spanning both legitimate and illegitimate sectors, and their work efficiency.

There isn’t much room to ask Dyke for help in matters requiring force to deal with and handle superhumans.

“Not Dyke.”

Lennok said, picking up his coat.

He nodded at Tatiana, who awkwardly stood up from her seat.

“Get ready. It’s not too late to think after we meet them outside.”

“Who are you going to meet, exactly?”

Lennok smiled at Jenny’s question.

“There are people who dislike Deadrise far more than they do, and who would readily lend a hand in this matter.”

“Dislike?”

Jenny pondered for a moment, then looked up with a slightly surprised expression.

“You don’t mean…?”

The Triad who dominated Vulcan’s underworld.

Deadrise, Palgung Fortress, and the corporate conglomerate Cartel.

Unlike the Fortress, which lost its power and changed its name, Cartel was still madly sucking up underworld capital.

And they would certainly react very sensitively to Deadrise’s presence.

Lennok, his left arm slightly covered by the coat draped over his shoulders, opened the door, leaning on his staff.

“I’m going to meet Olivera Ron Maize.”