Chapter 781: Ghostly Journey (7)

Pandemonium’s herald, a hybrid of an ancient race.

Watching Agneta traverse the imaginary dimension by tightrope-walking on mana threads, I once pondered.

How could one freely cross the imaginary dimension with only human power and talent, without being a hybrid of an ancient race?

The conclusion reached after research was simply that intervening in the imaginary dimension wasn’t possible with just manipulation spellcraft.

Even Lennok could only briefly evade by using Feigenbaum’s Ring.

Though he dealt with it indirectly through the power of his Self-Generated Domain, the False Illuminated Star, it was a field he had never been able to directly touch.

The secret lay not in the manipulation spellcraft Agneta used, but in her very origin as a hybrid of an ancient race.

Lennok realized this and created a new substitute to intervene in the imaginary dimension on his behalf.

‘Mimicking the mana thread patterns Agneta left behind, embedding them in an artificial body, and manipulating them with algorithms.’

The artificial body used in the Necromancy Department project, and the pseudo-summoning spellcraft algorithm directly created by Davi.

Borrowing the Property Transformation Naiyab of the Order Alliance used to become a summon, he created an artificial summon.

Finally, by adding the power of Lennok’s Mind Imprint, the False Illuminated Star, he imbued it with the ability to observe the imaginary dimension.

The talents and will-thoughts of opponents Lennok had encountered and passed by.

A highly complex process of remembering and mimicking all of those, taking their characteristics and forging them into a new meaning.

The Specialized Artificial Summon, the Seamster of the Imaginary Dimension, was a new weapon born in this very way.

Boom!!

The Seamster and Camlodal’s body faced each other on the sluggish, sinking swamp.

As the multi-meter-tall hawk-nosed giant and the bull-headed monster confronted each other, their mere presence cast a colossal shadow upon the ground.

“Eight arms. Forty fingers. No legs… it sacrificed mobility to focus on maximizing performance, it seems.”

Camlodal, who had been quietly watching the Seamster while holding his hammer, slowly tilted his head.

“It looks less like a summon and more like a clumsily mimicked spider chimera. It doesn’t seem particularly specialized for combat either. Is this how Specialized summons usually are?”

“Perhaps that’s all a mad monster can see.”

But even as Lennok retorted, he secretly admired Camlodal’s sharp perception.

Indeed, though the summon took a human form, it was an entity strongly influenced by Agneta’s abilities and appearance.

Did he possess such insight that he could vaguely discern its essence without knowing any specific circumstances?

“Perhaps. Among the Apostles, there are often those who try to assume similar forms.”

Camlodal replied, slowly walking forward without much reaction.

“Among the Outer Sea Gods, I’ve heard that the one who mirrors himself in the moon often mimics the form of a spider.”

“Ah, the monsters who make you their toys and send down their will.”

Lennok sneered.

“You claim to serve the doctrines of myriad gods, yet you don’t even properly know their appearances? How pathetic.”

“Heh heh… long ago, during the Holy War, there were many disbelievers who boasted so arrogantly.”

This time, perhaps finding Lennok’s provocation difficult to ignore, Camlodal let out a gloomy laugh.

Gripping his hammer firmly with both hands, he lowered his stance and spoke.

“We built the cult’s temples upon the graves of those apostates and used their bone fragments as cornerstones.”

“Is serving the incomprehensible truly something to be proud of?”

Lennok let out a chilling scoff and raised one hand.

Simultaneously, as if mimicking Lennok’s movement, the Seamster also raised an arm and sharply extended it sideways.

“No matter how I look at it… it seems like nothing more than a trivial reliance.”

Specialized Summon.

Three commands were input during the creation of the Seamster of the Imaginary Dimension:

To await in the imaginary dimension before activation.

To produce and store mana threads while awaiting.

To fully obey the caster’s commands after activation.

Immediately after summoning, the manipulation itself is entirely handled by Lennok and Davi.

What was important was the Seamster’s inherent ability and the advantage Victor could gain in combat through its very existence.

And, once the massive quantity of accumulated mana threads began to be properly utilized—

Shwiiiiing!!

Mana threads dangling from the summon’s fingertips extended across the swamp, grabbing hold of the corpses of already deceased monsters.

Crrrack…!!

Tens, hundreds of dead monster corpses were pulled by the mana threads, rising like puppets.

Manipulation-type Unique Magic: Forced Muscular-Nervous System Manipulation [Toy Manipulation (玩具作庶)] – An applied art of manipulation spellcraft that reanimates broken things and exploits them until their utility is exhausted.

Strictly speaking, it’s a degradation and mimicry of a puppeteer’s ability, but it was a spell Lennok had never used due to its enormous mana thread requirement.

However, with the Seamster now summoned, the pre-stocked mana threads were more than sufficient.

Gwooom!!

In an instant, the Seamster manipulated the corpses of dead monsters all around the swamp, encircling Camlodal.

A grotesque gesture, as if beginning a colossal puppet show, using the entire swamp as its stage.

“Hahahahaha…!!”

At the sight of the Seamster, with its eight arms crossed as if embracing itself, Camlodal burst into maniacal laughter and surged his magical power.

Simultaneously, the colossal hammer in his hand vanished at an invisible speed.

CRAAASH!!

That single, light diagonal strike. With just that, the overturned ground cracked open, creating a massive crevasse.

Shockwaves rising from the fissures ripped apart the rushing monster corpses.

Shwiiiiing!!

Amidst the flesh fragments being crushed all around, Lennok propelled himself forward using mana threads, rapidly accelerating.

His shadow robe flapped as he shot low over the ground as if flying, and Camlodal slammed his hammer down as if to snatch him.

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!!

Dull pillars of light repeatedly crashed down, glowing, and a single jet-black figure plunged through them at tremendous speed.

Dozens of mana threads spread out in all directions rose sharply, cutting through everything around them and wrapping around the Apostle’s body.

Crrrack!!

As his skin split and bled, and the monster’s body, having lost balance, reeled violently on the spot.

With his balance still broken, Camlodal flipped his body halfway around and swung his hammer with full force towards Lennok.

Lennok’s figure, which had climbed onto his shoulder to prepare an incantation, was struck directly by the hammer’s face on the spot.

CRAAASH!!

He was slammed to the ground and crushed far faster than the speed at which he had surged forward.

“…!!”

Lennok, having spread mana threads like a spiderweb beneath his feet and maximized their elasticity, absorbed the impact.

Beyond his gaze, as he adjusted his mask, purple mystic eyes faintly glowed.

“Fast and precise, but lacking in weight.”

Camlodal said, nodding.

“That’s a characteristic of Specialized manipulation spellcraft. I still don’t know how that spellcraft works, but it’s rare for its output to be significant.”

“You seem to know about manipulation spellcraft.”

“Is there anyone on the Central Front who hasn’t heard the name of that spellcraft?”

Camlodal shook his head at Lennok’s words.

“What position that monster, who dared to challenge ascension using mere string games, held in Ars Nova. Everyone who knows, knows that fact.”

“…”

“If your art lacks something that transcends strength and mass, then you will have to answer for your arrogant words—!!!”

Sliiiice!!

The moment Camlodal said that and stepped forward.

The bull-headed monster’s left forehead split open, completely exposing its contents.

It had the shape of a brain, but with a grotesque appearance, damaged as if tangled threads were strewn about.

A hideous sight, as if someone had forcibly opened the lid and meddled with it, only to ruin it.

Only then did Camlodal realize that Lennok had secretly layered mana threads, stringing them invisibly all around, and he tilted his head back.

“You layered severance spellcraft to turn mana threads into blades. How troublesome—!!”

Whump!!

Before he could even finish speaking, Camlodal’s forward-leaning leg directly struck Lennok.

The strange phenomenon of Camlodal’s message being heard in his ear simultaneously as he was crushed by the kick.

Immediately after blinking away and sliding over the crushed moss, the hammer, as if it had been waiting, followed, pulverizing the ground.

Thud-thud-thud!!

Even burying its face in the ground and swinging it, the power was monstrous enough to make the entire ground tremble with its force and speed.

A monstrous strength and immense mass, enough to remind Lennok of Gillian, whom he had fought before.

Therefore, he was undoubtedly an even more formidable opponent to face with manipulation spellcraft.

Whizz-whizz-whizz!!

Lennok, repeating flight and blinks at spider-like speed, riding on the mana threads spread throughout the swamp, and…

Camlodal, catching up to Lennok while moving, continuing their offense and defense at ultra-high speed.

Kwaaa-gwaaa-gwaaa!!

With just a light passing impact, the entire swamp lake shook, spewing out water and ooze.

[Grrrrooooan…!!]

[Whine, whine!!]

Monster beasts, hiding and observing the clash of transcendent beings, screamed piteously and rolled around everywhere.

Unable to evade the rain of descending mana threads and the hammer’s face, they were crushed to death.

[How can this be….]

The battle continued without a single pause, so intense that even the Shrine Maiden’s soul couldn’t tear its gaze away.

She knew Camlodal’s power, but the fact that a mere spellcaster was keeping pace with the combat of an Avatar utilizing Apostle spellcraft at full power was truly astonishing.

A Specialized spellcaster.

And the unbelievable fact that he was engaging in close-quarters combat using manipulation spellcraft, which is extremely difficult to apply in battle.

He even went beyond merely responding to Camlodal’s fierce assault, attempting to seize the initiative in their exchange.

Shwiiiiing!!

Each time he moved, combining low-altitude flight and blinks, dozens of mana threads scattered and unfurled at that spot.

He unleashed unique magic and Property Transformation, mediated by mana threads, twisting his trajectory to an unpredictable degree.

To win the momentary psychological battle, he discarded hundreds of bundles of mana threads, then immediately replenished and redeployed them from the Seamster.

Camlodal, too, was striking back as soon as he perceived all the mana threads gripping, cutting, and pulling his body.

But even the slightest moment the Apostle’s body was held, Lennok fractured it to the extreme, turning it into a meaningful outcome.

Crrrack-crrack-crrack!!

A dizzying, high-speed battle, like tightrope walking with one’s life on the line.

Observing the direction of the Apostle’s body movement and its center of gravity in real-time.

The moment mana threads were applied, he manipulated attraction and tension in a way that subtly disrupted his balance, throwing him off.

Relentlessly breaking his balance and severing his extremities, until finally, he slammed the Apostle’s massive body into the sticky swamp.

[Grooaaaaaaar!!!]

The corpse of the toad monster whose head had melted from Lennok’s bomb swallowed Camlodal’s body whole.

Gulp!!

BWOOOOM!!

“Ooooooh!!!”

The monster’s exposed chest exploded, and the bull-headed Apostle’s figure burst forth.

As the Apostle let out a monstrous roar, ooze dripping from its split forehead, the mere vibration made the swamp tremble.

Lennok, hanging upside down from a tree, pulled out an ampoule and muttered in disbelief.

“Even with half its brain shattered, it still keeps moving like that. Is the physical durability of all Apostles like this?”

“He wasn’t originally the Apostle meant for this mission—!!”

Camlodal slammed his hammer onto the lake, causing the surface to explode and its water to evaporate from the impact.

Camlodal’s shoulder, having leaped by trampling and crushing the roaring monster beasts beneath his feet, pulverized tree trunks all around.

Thud-thud-thud!!

He responded, snapping and stepping on dozens of trees, breaking them into the swamp below.

“He once challenged the Order Alliance’s Conjoining Sorcerer, lost, and was dissected. Thanks to that, his slightly deranged mind was completely shattered.”

“…”

An Apostle, deployed in the re-war between the Alliance and the Cult, defeated and turned into a test subject?

As Lennok fell silent, realizing the implication, Camlodal laughed.

“Perhaps because they were Specialized spellcasters, they used extremely vicious methods. It was beyond what even our doctrine could comprehend, so we had no choice but to use him where he could fulfill his purpose.”

“That’s a worse-than-useless excuse. Did you want to report the Cult’s mistakes to me?”

“I’m not making excuses. I’m merely explaining why we cannot allow forbidden talents like yours to survive.”

Camlodal replied calmly.

“A congenitally twisted birth, a cursed life, and an unfortunate environment. An evil flower blooming atop thoroughly shattered talent. Isn’t that the very essence of Specialized spellcraft?”

“…”

“A power that leaves behind only harm, misunderstood in life and in death. Specialized spellcasters must be sick of hearing that, aren’t they?”

Whoosh!!

At that moment, Camlodal’s figure leaped away from the spot at incredible speed, vanishing.

Ultra-high-speed mobility disproportionate to his size, enough to momentarily elude even Lennok.

Immediately after Lennok, sensing he was being targeted, dropped into the air and changed his position with a blink.

“Got you…!!”

Camlodal twisted his body in mid-air and threw the hammer he was holding.

Whoooosh!!

The hammer, thrown at immense speed, missed Lennok by an absurd margin.

A sloppy attack, hard to believe it was aimed at Lennok.

In the fleeting moment Lennok realized what the target at the end of that trajectory was.

The hammer ruthlessly slammed down onto the head of the Seamster, who had been manipulating thousands of mana threads in one corner of the swamp.

Splat-crunch—!!

The ground exploded on the spot, tree trunks crushing under the impact.

Camlodal’s massive body descended once more over the presence of the summon, which had been utterly annihilated without a trace.

CRAAASH!!

At the same time, the countless bundles of mana threads that had been raining down everywhere snapped abruptly, as if by magic.

“The Seamster of the Imaginary Dimension, was it? Your summon. Its abilities are excessively strong.”

Camlodal, panting, turned amidst the countless shimmering veils of mana threads that had lost their source and snapped.

“If a mere summon possesses such abilities, then there must naturally be something it has to sacrifice.”

Camlodal picked up the hammer that had fallen among the debris and stared directly at Lennok, who stood alone.

“Excessively weak durability. Inferior mobility that prevents it from straying far from its summoned location.”

“…”

“If I had known sooner that the roles of caster and summon were reversed, the battle would have ended long ago.”

In a battle against a summoner, the standard approach is to target the caster, not the summon.

However, the Seamster isn’t a summon specialized in combat or spatial occupation; it’s closer to a support unit that aids the caster and supplies catalysts.

Furthermore, unlike Lennok, it couldn’t stray far from its summoned location even during exchanges of offense and defense, focusing solely on mana thread manipulation.

During that brief clash, Camlodal recognized the summon’s weakness and immediately switched his target.

Whoosh!!

At the edge of the broken and shattered tree trunk.

Amidst the wreckage, too broken to even string mana threads, Camlodal pointed his hammer at Lennok.

“Offer that foolish life to Paradise. By doing so, He will forgive your original sin.”

It was clearly not a recommendation for Lennok to convert to the Cult or to serve the Pontiff.

Camlodal had no intention of persuading Lennok, unlike the Shrine Maiden.

He merely needed to remove this troublesome heretic from the spot and accomplish his objective.

An intellect that pierced through the principles of manipulation spellcraft and exploited its weaknesses amidst the chaotic battle.

A martial prowess that skillfully mimicked the combat style of another Apostle’s body, even while controlling it.

Even the persistent tenacity to utilize a useless Apostle to its fullest for the Cult’s needs.

Even without having directly faced the true body of an 8th Apostle, one could tell how dangerous he was.

This was an Apostle bearing a single-digit number within the Guido Cult.

Is this the power of a special forces operative, among the top ten within a Cult served by hundreds of thousands?

Just like the 2nd Apostle Lennok had seen, the other single-digit Apostles must also be monsters comparable to Camlodal.

“Well, I’m not sure what forgiveness is.”

Lennok slowly shook his head, gazing at the colossal hammer descending above him.

“At the very least, the Pontiff you serve doesn’t seem to care about such things.”

Slice!!

At that moment, all of Camlodal’s fingers gripping the hammer were severed, and the hammer fell.

Mana threads, surging from somewhere, burrowed into the severed stubs of his fingers, slamming will-thought into his muscular-nervous system.

Thrummm!!

A will-thought so intense that its mere injection instantly paralyzed the entire Apostle’s body.

Camlodal, realizing it was the mana threads of the Specialized Summon, the Seamster, which he had been sure he’d destroyed, glared at Lennok.

“I don’t understand… you managed to re-summon it in that short time?”

“I didn’t re-summon it.”

Lennok smiled.

“I merely evacuated it beyond the imaginary dimension.”

Whoosh!!

At that moment, a fissure opened above Lennok’s head, and the Seamster popped out from beyond the imaginary dimension.

A grotesque face and appearance, shaking its wrinkled hawk nose. A hideously twisted, distorted smile.

Thousands of mana threads tied to its eight arms had, by now, perfectly constrained and bound the Apostle’s body.

“If one can freely move in and out of the imaginary dimension with a physical body, wouldn’t they be free from any physical pressure?”

An imitation still impossible for Lennok, but achievable for the Seamster, borrowing Agneta’s mana patterns.

The moment Camlodal’s attack was aimed at the Seamster, Lennok immediately moved the summon into the imaginary dimension, causing the attack to miss.

Immediately after the summon’s presence vanished, Camlodal misjudged that the Seamster had been destroyed.

The moment the Seamster’s existence was completely excluded from the battle, Lennok merely brought out the pre-prepared spellcraft in order.

“The Seamster is a summon biased towards support abilities, but it’s not merely capable of supplementing manipulation spellcraft.”

Whoooosh…!!

The eight arms attached to the Seamster’s body faced each other, each beginning to form different hand seals.

Manipulation-type Unique Magic.

A four-layer resonance incantation of manipulation magic, requiring infinitely precise manipulation.

And a warm-up that mixes different incantations for each chant, maximizing its output to the extreme.

The Specialized magic, fulfilling conditions that ordinarily shouldn’t exist, allowed him to acquire abilities not yet granted to Lennok himself.

Kiiiiiiing…!!

What bloomed from the fingertips of the eight-branched hands forming the seals was an indigo luminary, as if torn from the Milky Way.

Violently rotating counter-clockwise, it seemed as if its lid might open at any moment, scattering everywhere.

The essence of subspace manipulation spellcraft, which Lennok himself still couldn’t directly wield.

A projectile spell that projects subspace itself as an arbitrary virtual mass entity.

A rotation of light that explosively expands and excises the entire space immediately after activation.

Lennok aimed it at the forehead of the paralyzed Apostle, lifting his head and smiling.

“For Apostle spellcraft, that’s a trivial amount of power. If you want to retrieve the Shrine Maiden, you’ll have to bring a more useful body next time.”

“!!!”

“Or even your grotesque true body with tentacles would be fine.”

The moment Camlodal tried to shout something at him.

[Momentary Flash: Subspace Bullet]

The dark blue light coiled around the Apostle’s head, rotating, and swallowed the entire space whole.