Chapter 711: Breaking and Entering (4)

Deadride subordinate corps’ garrison facility. Satellite manufacturing plant temporary control room.

Dozens of soldiers stood silent, watching one person.

A communication soldier, bursting from down the hall, urgently shouted a name, then quickly fell silent.

“Starkton-nim…!”

“I see it without you shouting.”

A middle-aged man with a blunt expression, arms crossed, replied.

The soldier, who had rushed out, lost his words looking at the scene unfolding beyond the control room screen.

Dozens of monitors overseeing the garrison facilities around the factory.

From beyond the transmission screens, half of which were already broken, a gigantic metallic wave was seen surging.

An overwhelming area-of-effect ability that forcibly resonated only metallic substances, hand-picking them from an endlessly sprawling field of waste, sweeping the ground.

On another screen, a pure white frost mist congealed, thoroughly freezing the garrison facility.

And on another, a beast with pure white fur was madly smashing temporary structures and supplies.

Starkton, without taking his eyes off the screen, asked.

“Where is Peshia-nim?”

“Still no contact…!”

“All adjacent garrison facilities are destroyed, so she can’t use communication devices.”

Starkton nodded.

“We’ll have to go out and meet her.”

“But considering their movements, we’ll be tracked immediately!”

“Indeed. We never thought the facility inside Sector 59 would be discovered so easily.”

A bitter smile hung on Starkton’s face as he shook his head.

“We underestimated the Witch of Conflagration too much. Or should I say, I didn’t know Adamant Thunder was so resourceful?”

“…”

Starkton, who had been granted full authority in place of Peshia, had not focused solely on satellite production without any preparation.

Originally, Sector 59 was designated a restricted area, a rough terrain difficult to access without explicit permission from a designated manager.

Even if one located the factory, without authority, entering would inevitably cause a disturbance.

In that case, Starkton only needed to gauge the intruder’s presence by observing the commotion outside the sector and react accordingly.

Even if the Witch negotiated with the Council and gained authority, it would take time, enough time to complete the satellite.

As long as the Witch was in Vulcan, he believed seizing the Phoenix Hall and using it as the engine’s power source was only a matter of time.

He never imagined that she, who should have no connection to Vulcan, would join hands with the city’s most dangerous wizard.

“Considering the timing, they must have moved as soon as they pinpointed the factory’s location. They had access rights to the restricted area from the beginning.”

Just as Deadride had, they too obtained access to the restricted area through irregular means.

They had been deliberately supplying materials from outside the city to conceal the location and timing, but with things like this, it had all been for naught.

“Didn’t they say Adamant Thunder was an outside director for the Cartel? So the Cartel executives rampaging on the battlefield must be due to his power…”

“Garrison facility 83% annihilated…! Distance remaining to main force: 10km!”

“At this rate, the factory’s location will be compromised. Shouldn’t we go out and prepare an interception…!”

“No. It’s already too late.”

Starkton sharply cut off his adjutant, who was about to give an order.

“If they’ve confirmed the flow of materials transported from the garrison facilities, the factory’s location is as good as discovered. There’s no reason to unnecessarily disperse our forces.”

“Th-then…!”

Starkton glanced at the soldiers, who were staring at him expectantly, and nodded.

“Gather here and hold out until Peshia-nim returns. All personnel, prepare for combat.”

“All troops, battle stations!”

“All personnel except development staff, gather in the operational area!”

Clank!!

As soon as Starkton’s words fell, the soldiers guarding him rushed out into the corridor in perfect order.

Starkton, the last to leave the control room, walked through the empty corridor and opened the door to the research lab in the deepest part of the factory.

Whoosh!!

A room reeking of blood. In a space stained with a gruesome, blood-red hue on the ceiling and walls, two people stood with their backs turned.

Starkton asked.

“Solcier. Are you ready?”

“Of course, Mylo.”

Solcier, a young man with a gentle expression, turned his head and replied with a smile.

He gestured to the slick-haired man standing next to him and nodded.

“Our Flame Pillar has just finished preparing the Jak-hon. It should be enough for you and me to use.”

At that moment, the man called Flame Pillar drew hot flames from his bare hands.

Whoosh!

A strange sight, like drawing hot lava from a furnace.

But the man’s expression, touching the flames with his bare hands, showed no hint of pain.

Kiiiiyaaaah!!!

Starkton turned his gaze from the desperate screams echoing from all directions.

“We need to hurry. There’s no time.”

Beyond the crude window frame built behind the door.

A metallic wave, large enough to engulf the entire factory, undulated and surged.

No one present was unaware that this was a wave of death, incomparable to anything seen before.

“Adamant Thunder is coming.”

Flame-type Unique Magic

Property Transformation Manifestation Emission

[Crimson Link]

[Karmic Fire]

[Forty-Fourfold Transformation Overload]

WHOOOOOOSH!!!

Crimson flames trailed behind the armored vehicle, spreading like wings.

[Branching Eruption]

Flames falling onto the surging metallic wave exploded like a volcano, spewing hot air into the sky.

CRACK-BOOM!!!

Tatiana, kicking the steering wheel, gritted her teeth as she saw the factory in the distance.

“The satellite factory…!”

A sturdy structure, uniquely prominent amidst the mountains of trash and waste.

It was shaped like a thick cylindrical pillar, spewing acrid smoke from various points.

The heat rising from above the factory distorted like a shimmer, creating a bizarre sight that blurred the dawn sky.

But Lennok turned his gaze, more concerned with something else than the factory.

“We’ve come all this way, and I still don’t see the launchpad. They might have hidden it completely behind the factory.”

He had expected to find either the factory or the launchpad, and finding one should naturally reveal the location of the other.

Especially, there must be a secure transport route to move the satellites manufactured at the factory to the launchpad.

Yet, around the factory, there were only mountains of trash, and no path leading to a launchpad was visible.

“And there are too few people in the factory…”

Considering that the personnel allocated to subordinate corps garrison facilities ranged from dozens to hundreds, the forces guarding the factory should also be considerable.

But why was only the factory’s location left isolated at this point?

With powerful barriers and magnetic storms inside the restricted area, it was difficult to ascertain the truth even with mana sensing.

Considering that Deadride executives couldn’t possibly be unaware of this, perhaps…

Lennok, lost in thought, gazed at the sky and muttered to himself without thinking.

“Could it be…?”

“Van, what do you mean?”

Rumble, rumble…!!

With a tilt of one hand, the metallic wave surging beneath their feet began to accelerate.

The moment the wave of Lennok’s Electromagnetic Flow Domain, which had soared as if leaping through the field of waste, directly enveloped the front of the factory…

The metallic wave passed straight through the factory’s scenery without touching anything.

RUUUMBLE!!!

The armored vehicle, tilted above the collapsing metallic wave, plummeted upside down.

The armored vehicle tumbled amidst scattering metal fragments, striking the driver’s and passenger’s seats.

CRASH-BOOM!!

Screech!!

After a long while, the armored vehicle came to a stop, flipped over.

Behind the armored vehicle, the factory that had been standing perfectly fine moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, what came into view through the window was a vast theme park, almost a ruin.

Its immense width seemed designed to accommodate tens of thousands of people. Over the wide, flat ground, broken rides, commercial buildings, and various facilities exuded a grim atmosphere.

The remnants of a city expansion development plan, now completely abandoned.

Before their eyes was evidence that even this vast incinerator had been designed decades ago as a street for people to live and frequent.

“Hmph…”

Lennok, sitting in the passenger seat of the overturned vehicle, let out a bitter smile.

The moment he struggled to unbuckle his seatbelt and gripped the passenger door handle.

CRUNCH!!

A military boot appeared beside him and stomped, crushing the passenger door handle.

At the same time, a hard voice spoke.

“There’s a saying that in a battlefield, the greatest sin is ignorance.”

Clank!!

Hundreds of superhumans appeared simultaneously, surrounding the overturned armored vehicle.

Each of them equipped with anti-magic gear used against high-level wizards, heavily armored with fire-resistant insulation covering their entire bodies.

Superhumans equipped with gear that could withstand even a hell of flames for a while aimed their weapons at the armored vehicle.

“Even Vulcan’s most battle-crazed wizard can’t properly deal with a spell he’s never seen. Isn’t that right?”

Starkton, standing at the forefront of these superhumans, muttered as he stepped on the armored vehicle’s underside.

“That’s why we left this city and headed to the Central Front. To learn what cannot be seen in one continent, and to master methods of dealing with it.”

Whoosh!

In Starkton’s hand, a greatsword of blazing crimson blood.

The blood-red flames rising from the blade coiled around his bare hand, yet did not scorch his skin.

Before Lennok could reply, Starkton gripped the blood-red greatsword with both hands and plunged it forcefully into the armored vehicle.

Immediately thereafter, the armored vehicle exploded with tremendous force, scattering its debris everywhere.

CRASH!!!

Even as he was directly hit by the armored vehicle fragments, Starkton’s eyes and senses did not miss Lennok’s presence until the very end.

Whether Lennok had remained inside the armored vehicle until the last moment.

Whether the target he killed was truly Lennok himself, not an illusion or a decoy.

Beyond leaving no after-effects, he observed death with every sense heightened even at the moment of taking a life.

In the final moment when the armored vehicle exploded and scattered, Lennok was undoubtedly lying inside that armored vehicle.

With the blazing fragments standing like a tomb, Solcier and Duren approached behind Starkton, who had plunged his greatsword into the ground.

Solcier held a long spear, and Duren had blood-red flames burning behind him.

The flames surrounding the three of them fiercely combusted, as if squeezing out immense magical power.

Solcier looked at the armored vehicle fragments where Lennok was buried and asked.

“What about the Witch?”

“She’s not here. I suppose she changed her movements just before the attack.”

“We need to find her.”

Duren, the Flame Pillar, slicked back his hair and said forcefully.

“She has the previous Magic Tower Lord’s Phoenix Hall.”

“…”

“If we’ve used Jak-hon, failing to recover the Phoenix Hall would essentially mean a complete halt to satellite production.”

“Flame Pillar. Don’t order me around.”

Starkton replied with an impassive face.

“My job is only to guard the factory and repel intruders. Peshia-nim will assess the situation and decide when she returns.”

“If Tatiana Chiglet escapes, we might not even be able to pinpoint her location this time!”

“Since she entered the restricted area, she couldn’t have escaped far, could she?”

“…”

“Confirming Adamant Thunder’s death comes first. I can’t yield on this.”

Duren yelled, but Starkton didn’t budge.

“It’s dangerous to make reckless moves while the Cartel executives are still active. Stay on standby to ensure the factory’s location isn’t compromised.”

“You foolish soldiers…! You don’t even know who’s protecting the factory in the first place—”

[It’s a mirage, isn’t it?]

A transmitted voice echoed from within the blazing armored vehicle fragments.

At these words, spoken when no one had opened their mouth, the expressions of the three people dramatically changed.

“…!!”

Starkton and Solcier spun around like lightning, moving simultaneously.

They unleashed mana and will-thought together, blasting them into the armored vehicle fragments as if hammering them, tearing the crumpled metal sheets to shreds.

From within the crimson flames, burning fiercely with blood-red fire, a powerful magical energy slowly stretched itself.

Screech…!!

The armored vehicle fragments, melted like a tomb, slowly opened, and a calm voice began to follow.

[They say that when you mix spells with existing natural phenomena, their power is amplified manifold.]

“Shoot!”

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!

At Starkton’s command, the waiting soldiers pulled their triggers, and thousands of sparks erupted among the scrap metal and iron plates.

[A mirage spell that uses atmospheric temperature differences to refract light… There’s truly much to learn from the ancient Magic Towers.]

But even amidst the insane rain of bullets, Lennok’s words did not stop.

[It’s worth it just to watch their struggles to apply their own systems.]

“This is why I told you not to act until his death was confirmed…!”

“Solcier, move!”

Starkton and Solcier, gripping their blood-red flaming greatsword and spear staff respectively, leaned forward almost simultaneously.

Duren stumbled backward in a flustered manner.

But before the two superhumans could leap into the armored vehicle fragments, standing like a tomb.

A flash of light burst from within, instantly piercing Duren’s body.

“Gah!”

Duren bounced and crashed into the distance. Behind him, a wizard walked out, waving one hand.

While Starkton gritted his teeth at the sight of no wounds despite such a desperate offensive, Lennok, who had already torn off the blood-red flames circling Duren’s back, spoke.

“You call this Jak-hon, don’t you?”

Whoosh!

Lennok carefully examined the lump of blood-red flames held in one hand.

“A distinct presence, palpable to the touch. Heat surpassing fire, and something that can even be imbued into specific weapons…”

It burns itself without fuel, has a form without a catalyst, and possesses an image without form.

Evidence of an unreal fruition that sprouts branches and blooms fruit without roots.

Lennok already understood what this illogical result was based on.

Jak-hon. And what it meant to ‘scorch the soul.’

Lennok, quietly observing the blood-red flames, asked.

“It’s a forbidden weapon, isn’t it?”

“…!!!”

The wizards of the Magic Tower who were with Tatiana.

Deadride didn’t simply grind them up as materials for the engine.

Rather, they sought the aid of the Blaiver Magic Tower’s Flame Pillar to process their minds and bodies into living artifacts for use.

That’s why, at this point, they could gamble on a direct confrontation with Lennok instead of fleeing.

“So the Flame Pillar from the Magic Tower who came as reinforcement to the city had this objective from the start. After Halfman was caught, another one came as reinforcement?”

“Tsk…! What do you think will change even if you get your hands on it?!”

Duren, clutching his blood-stained side, shakily rose.

A clash almost instantaneous. A single exchange at point-blank range where their gazes could meet.

But that alone left Duren with an irreparable severe injury, and even the Jak-hon flames he was using were seized.

He could never defeat this wizard in a short battle of wits.

Duren, instinctively realizing this, desperately opened his mouth and began shouting at Lennok.

“Jak-hon is a will-thought weapon that operates by paying the Magic Tower’s authority and price…! Even if you try to wield it, you’ll only consume yourself—”

“I think I generally understand how to use it.”

“…What?”

The Jak-hon flames transferred to his hand tried to burn Lennok’s arm, but stopped as if blocked by an invisible force.

As mana was drawn up, the blood-red flames coiled around his bandaged left arm.

[Power source identified.]

[Compatibility analysis complete. Formal succession process resuming.]

[Re-entering Solar System.]

Soon, its mass instantly swelled dozens of times, transforming into a massive curtain.

WHOOSH!!!

The curtain of flames, rising above the four people’s heads, spread wide on both sides, transforming into wings of fire.

The flames, now in the shape of a gigantic firebird, glared at Duren, as if possessing intelligence and living movement.

Lennok nodded, looking at the pale and speechless Duren.

“You, you…”

“This is how it’s originally used, isn’t it?”