Chapter 710: Burglary (3)

Just by standing there, an unsettling sensation made the surrounding air feel as if it was endlessly slowing down.

At the same time, the superhumans of the corps, realizing his identity, recoiled in terror.

“A-Adamant Thunder…!!”

“The comms officer is down!!”

“Damn it, no way he was aiming for this…!!”

They desperately pulled their triggers, and the vanguard superhumans of the corps gritted their teeth and threw themselves forward.

“Too late. Move!!”

“Kill the wizard!!!”

At this range, escape was impossible.

Everyone knew there was no other way but to risk their lives and kill Lennok.

Rat-a-tat-a-tat!!!

Bullets rained down on Lennok, followed by the charging superhumans from behind the barrage.

Leaning on his staff, Lennok watched them, a faint smile on his lips.

“Quick judgment. This isn’t just about extensive experience.”

In this rapidly unfolding battlefield, every single one of them shared the same judgment about what danger to prioritize.

It was proof that they hadn’t just gained practical experience, but had thoroughly ingrained combat training for these difficult superhuman battles.

A single move that revealed how exceptional and agile the organization and combat prowess of Deadrise’s subordinate corps truly were.

But before Lennok could finish, Iron-Plated Wings burst forth from the air, crushing all their attacks.

KWA-OOOOM!!!

Between the thick, iron-plated wing sections, the surface had been strengthened to its extreme limit with fragments of an Apostle’s carapace.

It withstood all impacts simultaneously without a single scratch.

Even as over a dozen vanguard superhumans threw their entire bodies at it almost simultaneously, its overwhelming weight didn’t budge an inch.

“Urgh!!!”

“Th-those wings… I’ve definitely seen them somewhere…!!”

At that surreal outcome, the other superhumans screamed, instinctively sensing death, and someone mumbled blankly.

“You don’t seem to know much about these wings, do you?”

CLACK!!

The wing sections split open like gigantic hands, and from the cracks, musket muzzles protruded.

KIIING…!!

In the instant the musket barrels, charged with intensely condensed magic power, vibrated madly and resonated.

As if stretching its own head, it split and amplified into dozens of muzzles, emitting light.

While hundreds of soldiers stared blankly at the dozens of expanded musket muzzles amidst the storm of heat.

“Then there’s nothing more to see.”

TAAANG!!!

The fierce magical radiance bursting from the musket split into hundreds of fragments, sweeping across the entire area.

“……!!!”

Hundreds of soldiers and superhumans were swept away by the storm, screaming soundlessly.

Only shadows, thrashing and flailing convulsively, danced amidst the magical light, then vanished without a trace.

At the impact zone, where the ground itself had been erased, only scattered, unidentifiable ashes drifted.

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!!

Meanwhile, Tatiana, holding a machine gun, swiftly cleared out the remaining soldiers in the garrison facility.

Her Pyromancy, unleashed in a barrage, used the spark imbued into the bullets by the authority of the Phoenix Hall as a medium.

As Lennok directly assisted the spark beside her, the firepower and density were beyond expectation.

Perhaps it wouldn’t have been difficult for her to clear the garrison facility on her own.

But the reason Lennok insisted on moving with her to subdue this facility lay elsewhere.

CLACK!!

Past the comms officer, who was unconscious with hands clamped over his ears, he swiftly spun the communication device’s dial.

-Reinforcements are moving to the front now!! Hold on a little longer!!

-Aaaaargh!!

-Grrrrrrrr…!!!

Excited voices, screams, non-human roars, and strange rupturing sounds intersected from all directions.

As Lennok rapidly spun the dial, assessing the situation, he grabbed the microphone the moment he heard a rough beastly breathing.

“Meryllda. Do you hear me?”

-…Adamant Thunder?

The beast, belatedly recognizing Lennok’s voice, awkwardly spoke in a human tone.

Sounds of things being smashed and blown up, and sporadic tapping, followed as she evidently couldn’t find the location.

After a short while, Meryllda seemed to find the communication device and replied awkwardly.

-What, there was a comms device here?

“…….”

A single remark that made it clear how carelessly she had been slaughtering the subordinate corps.

But Lennok showed no emotion and confirmed only the necessary facts.

“We’ve secured two of the garrison facilities and confirmed our direction. Where are you?”

-Smashing the fourth one now. Direction… not sure. Just found out these comms lines even exist.

“I gave you fireworks. Did you use them?”

-Of course. I was just going to follow the scent, why?

Saying that, Lennok glanced up at the sky.

“We can’t see any light from your fireworks here. It seems there’s a problem.”

[Whaaaat?]

Lennok had been aware of an unsettling feeling since he started the battle at the second garrison facility.

It was already time for Meryllda and Anghel to have smashed through two or three garrison facilities and be advancing. Yet, there was still no light from the fireworks visible in the sky.

Realizing this, Lennok had immediately tried to explain the situation to Meryllda.

Because the further they moved from each other within the sealed zone, the less even communication between garrison facilities would work.

Lennok’s gaze, fixed on the fog-filled dawn sky, turned cold.

“It seems someone on Deadrise’s side knows how to use their head.”

He didn’t know what method was used, but as soon as they realized their subordinate corps were under attack, they blocked the light in the sky.

In this sealed zone, filled with magnetic storms, the only way to communicate was through the comms devices installed in adjacent garrison facilities.

‘Their precautions against the sky are excessively thorough… Are they that concerned about bombing?’

-So, now we just have to find the comms devices at each garrison and contact you?

“What we need to do hasn’t changed. As you raid adjacent garrison facilities, you’ll figure out the final destination where supplies are being transported.”

Originally, the plan was to use fireworks to ascertain each other’s positions in real-time and devise the optimal route for the assault.

Now that things have come to this, they had no choice but to continue operating individually from now on.

“Since Peshia is absent, there must be a subordinate officer coordinating the entire flow of the corps. We’ll need to find them.”

Milo Starkton and Benje Solcier. The Deadrise executives Tatiana had mentioned alongside Peshia.

It was highly likely they were directing the operation in Peshia’s stead.

-Alright. Then I’ll-

Meryllda’s voice, which had been speaking, abruptly stopped.

Immediately after, with a rough beastly breath, Meryllda muttered a low curse.

“What’s wrong?”

-The werewolf’s sound disappeared.

Meryllda replied irritably.

“…Killian sent a signal?”

Perhaps because they were both kindred demi-humans, Meryllda and Killian had abnormally keen hearing that reacted to howling.

As they delved deeper into the sealed zone, communication with the outside was cut off, making Killian and Meryllda’s howling the only means of external contact.

And the role Lennok had entrusted to Killian was to monitor Peshia Grisbern at the Casino in Sector 47.

-The howling just stopped. As we shared info beforehand, it might mean they’ve caught Peshia’s movement.

The fact that Killian’s presence, waiting outside the zone, had completely vanished.

What that fact indicated was clear.

-The Ghost Princess has noticed the anomaly.

“…….”

He knew they might not be able to keep her tied up in the casino for long, but her reaction was faster than expected.

Was she already aware of the anomaly occurring in this sealed zone, filled with magnetic storms?

Lennok, who had been silent, cut the communication and immediately boarded the armored vehicle.

Tatiana immediately floored the accelerator and shouted.

“Van, I’ll tie them down right now. You have the Phoenix Hall, so destroy the factory and the engine instead of me…!!”

“No. That won’t be enough. It won’t be very effective.”

Destroying the satellite engine versus capturing Peshia Grisbern and handing her over to Olivera.

If one had to be prioritized, it would be destroying the factory, but there was no reason to sacrifice Tatiana’s life for it.

Both had long served on the Central Front, but one was a physical superhuman and the other a wizard specialized in Conflagration spells.

It was obvious how different their combat abilities against individuals would be.

Even if Tatiana fought with desperate resolve to buy time, that time wouldn’t be long.

There was no reason to sacrifice her life for something meaningless.

The experience and magic possessed by the Witch of Conflagration could be used for something more valuable.

“But there’s not enough time. This isn’t about efficiency!! If we don’t move, even at a loss…!!”

“Then we just need to move even faster.”

At the same time, Lennok slowly began forming hand seals with both hands.

Hand seal manipulation was incredibly rare for Lennok, who normally omitted even simple hand gestures, let alone incantations.

But as an 8th-level High-Hierarchy Superhuman began to fully chant a spell, the surrounding air began to change, following his will-thought.

Creation-type Unique Magic: Applied Alchemy

Triple Transmutation [Samjung Yeonseong]

[Reverse Gravity]

[Magnetic Control]

[Electronic Field]

[Electromagnetic Flow Domain]

As Lennok’s incantation ignited a powerful electromagnetic field, the mountains of trash strewn everywhere vibrated madly.

Drrr-drrr-drrr-drrrk!!!

Metallic waste and scrap metal responded to the electromagnetic field Lennok unleashed, rising and gathering around the armored vehicle.

CRACK!! CRUNCH!!

All sorts of scrap metal and trash clung to the underside of the armored vehicle from all directions, beginning to spin wildly and rapidly.

BZZZT!!

Currents and magnetic forces leaped between the scrap metal, fusing all the various metals together, surging up into a colossal wave of metal.

KWA-AAAAAAH!!!!

The entire vast field of waste rose like a wildfire, an overwhelming spectacle of metal surging across the ground.

Tatiana, gripping the steering wheel of the armored vehicle atop that wave, gaped.

“You… this is…”

“It’s a creation magic I made long ago, by applying the characteristics of Pyromancy.”

Lennok continued to form hand seals as he replied.

“Resonance and amplification that links the concept of combustion. A magic of scale that progressively builds power.”

Back when he first met Antares in the junkyard. Lennok had been diligently working on mastering Pyromancy and applying its principles.

The fruit of his trial and error, created to transcend the boundaries of common and unique magic, and forge new creation magic.

But the creation magic, chanted anew now, had become a magnetic magic of such immense scale, following Lennok’s growth, that it deserved to be called a grand spell.

The speed of his hand seals, which he had been forming with both hands, slowly decelerated until, at last, he lightly struck his palm with a fist, as if punctuating a sentence.

PIIING!!

Riding the powerful electromagnetic field, Lennok’s will-thought blended into the colossal wave of metal.

[GRRRRRRRR!!!]

[WOOAAAHHH!!!]

Responding to that will, over hundreds of mechanical soldiers began to stagger and rise upon the wave of metal.

Like assembling the dead from parts and bringing them to their feet, they were creaking robot forms, with dim, glowing eyes.

The mechanical specters, risen from the wave of metal, charged forth according to Lennok’s will.

KWA-OOOOM!!!

The wave of metal, carrying the armored vehicle, and the army of scrap metal that had risen beneath it, accelerated and shot forward.

Around the armored vehicle, riding atop the wave of scrap and trash, the scenery blurred past like colorful streaks.

The garrison facilities and Deadrise subordinate corps visible below were swept away and vanished like toys in the wave of metal.

Even their terrified screams and shouts were swallowed by the flow, losing their sound.

Doo-doo-doo-doo!!

As Tatiana stared at the hellish landscape of scrap metal unfurling beneath her feet, speechless.

“Found it.”

Lennok, looking around from atop the wave, his eyes gleaming coldly.

Beyond the surging wave of metal, the scenery of a facility resembling a factory began to appear.

The factory facility soared high above the mountains of trash.

“It’s visible now that we’ve forcibly gained altitude. There was a reason they blocked the sky’s view from that side.”

“You, what in the….”

“If we’ve been detected, there’s no need to hesitate now.”

Lennok stated calmly, gazing at the shapes of trucks and supplies being crushed and obliterated below.

“We’ll sweep through to the factory like this and end the operation.”