Chapter 821: The Knot (8)
Private military company Deadrise. The Second Legion Headquarters, overseeing the Far Eastern Zone of the Central Front.
Among the organizations that had grown by indiscriminately absorbing all manner of warlords, this branch was particularly vast in scale.
This was due to the Far Eastern Front’s recent tumultuous changes, which forced Deadrise to undergo several unavoidable clashes and mergers.
Not only were there the Eyes of Blue attempting to advance towards the Central Front from the Eastern Continent, but also the corrupted and maddened Headro Warlords.
Even the rampaging Mad Apostles who distinguished neither friend nor foe, and the Order Alliance’s erratic spellcasters who appeared on the battlefield to commit bizarre acts.
Currently, the Second Headquarters could not escape this trend either, and even now, hundreds of corpses lay strewn outside its gates, forming mountains.
A chilling groan echoed.
A desolate landscape where people died, and died again, rendering the value of life utterly numb.
Every moment spent enduring and working here felt like one’s emotions were being steadily eroded.
Upon such a mountain of corpses, a man clad in a pristine white coat sat, listening to the reports of his staff officers.
“The Memorial Tower collapsed?”
“The specific circumstances are yet unknown, but as of now, it is almost certain information.”
The staff officers, gazing at the man’s back, reiterated with tense expressions.
“The colossal tower that pierced the skies above the Military Spirit City has vanished, and we’re hearing that the surrounding atmospheric pressure is wildly fluctuating as a result.”
“…………”
“We have cross-referenced this through a Shaman currently stationed at headquarters, so it is likely accurate information.”
“Ah… I see. So Yorta is located near the Eastern Continent.”
Only then did the man scratch his head, as if realizing why the staff officers were making such a report to him.
Blood scabs flaked off onto his pristine white long hair with each scratch.
Turning his head towards the staff officers with a vacant expression, the man asked.
“Are you reporting to me because I’m the closest General? Do I just head over there?”
“…How could we possibly presume to formulate an operation for Commanding General Song-ha?”
The staff officers, horrified, quickly waved their hands.
“However, other factions will also have obtained this information and begun to move. They will surely try to verify for themselves what happened in Yorta.”
“…………”
“The Second Headquarters intends to personally select a search party and dispatch them to Yorta. We informed you of this fact to request authorization for the search party’s formation—”
“Why bother painstakingly picking out each person?”
The man called Song-ha tied up his long hair with one hand and abruptly stood.
“I’ll go myself. Just wait a little.”
“C-Commanding General!!”
“T-That’s not it…!! Please calm down and listen to us!!”
The staff officers, flustered, frantically grabbed the man called Song-ha by the pant leg.
Even within Deadrise, which had expanded by absorbing various warlords, superhumans bestowed with the title of ‘General’ were exceedingly rare.
This was because increasing or decreasing the number of Generals was not permitted without the Marshal of Deadrise’s authorization.
Furthermore, rank hierarchy was determined not only by an individual’s combat prowess but also by their contributions within the organization and various aptitudes.
And this man, who was flailing his arms before the staff officers, was a superhuman who had attained the rank of ‘Commanding General’ – a position held by only three individuals among Deadrise’s Generals.
He was a monster who had become a General purely on the strength of a single talent and ability, disregarding all other criteria.
“I’ve finished everything Ethan asked for. I waited three days for the remnants of the Headro Warlords, but no one’s coming anymore.”
Song-ha pointed to the mountains of corpses piled at his feet.
The staff officers, knowing this massacre was wrought by him alone, all fell silent.
Song-ha, observing their reactions, began to stretch, his white coat fluttering.
“If I run from here to Yorta, I’ll get there in two days. It won’t take long, so I’ll be back quickly.”
“C-Commanding General…!!”
“I just need to go to Yorta and ask what happened, right?”
At Song-ha’s words, which sounded like a decision had already been made, the staff officers gave up and began to persuade him through other means.
“…Could you please wait a little while we try to gather more information?”
“If an incident of this magnitude has occurred, information will soon begin to leak to the outside.”
“We need to ascertain the situation precisely, formally organize a unit, and then—”
“No, I need to go now.”
Saying so, Song-ha leaped lightly, soaring over the heads of the staff officers.
His limbs were unnaturally long. Wearing a pristine white coat and clothes, his limping gait made him seem to stretch even further.
A long tachi, as elongated as his curved legs, swung wildly at his waist.
“Come to think of it, I heard Ethan traveled to Yorta a long time ago.”
“…Are you referring to the Marshal, sir?”
“I need to leave before I forget. I’ll be back.”
As the staff officers exchanged pale glances, Song-ha began to leap down, treading on the mountain of corpses.
Thump, thump, FWOOSH!!
Song-ha’s body, which seemed to be merely bouncing lightly, explosively accelerated on the spot and instantly vanished beyond the headquarters.
The staff officers stared at his disappearing form for a long time, unable to utter a proper word.
“…I told you we shouldn’t report this to the Commanding General.”
“Considering the importance of this incident, the formation of a search party absolutely requires a superhuman of General-grade or higher. Are you suggesting we handle this without authorization from above?”
Yorta’s Memorial Tower was a core facility of the city and a crucial foundation that served as a wedge for the tiered sections.
At the point the tower collapsed, it was impossible to completely hide its repercussions.
The atmospheric pressure around Yorta had changed so drastically that by now, related information must have spread throughout the Central Front region.
Therefore, for the staff officers not to report this fact to headquarters would be tantamount to dereliction of duty.
The problem was that the one currently at the Second Headquarters was Commanding General Song-ha, who had been awaiting orders from the Marshal.
Even to the staff officers loyal to Deadrise, Song-ha was by no means a possessor of normal sensibilities.
His unrestrained and chaotic personality was unsuited to the legion’s discipline.
Nevertheless, his unique position, holding the Commanding General rank and receiving direct orders from the Marshal, made him all the more burdensome to the staff officers.
“It would have been better if someone like Lieutenant General Deimus had been here….”
“Don’t you know that the Generals’ activities have decreased since Major General Grisbern’s disappearance? We have no choice right now.”
“Discard the search party formation plan. First, we’ll clear up the traces of the engagement that occurred in front of the headquarters.”
“For now, post this matter on the headquarters’ public communication network. Once other available Generals confirm it, there will be follow-up measures.”
One of the staff officers sighed and began to sort through documents.
“If the Marshal left something in Yorta, then perhaps this incident could turn into a dramatic achievement for us.”
Several days had passed since Croken Asylus single-handedly toppled the Memorial Tower and disappeared.
At the site of the collapsed tower lay mountainous debris of bedrock and the ruins of a canal that had crumbled between them.
The river’s flow was blocked by the tower’s fragments, causing floods, and nearby facilities and buildings tilted precariously.
The living and Military Spirits, who had flocked from every tier to witness the situation unfolding in the city, teemed with no room to spare.
Far from the ruins of the collapsed Memorial Tower was a mausoleum.
A sanctuary for the dead, its walls filled with colossal tombs and divine statues.
In the center of this sanctuary, a wizard was held in isolation, as hundreds of people and Military Spirits came and went, observing and monitoring his condition.
[Spiritual Stimulation Failed. Designation Impossible.]
[Summoning and Incarnation Impossible. Soul-Body Observation Unable.]
Woooooosh!!!
All sorts of bizarre thoughts and wills floated above his head, swirling around Lennok’s body, only to fall away without eliciting any response.
[He shows absolutely no reaction, regardless of consciousness.]
[Interference is impossible with spellcraft systems that manipulate souls.]
[It’s like dealing with an inanimate object. How can a living human be like this…. ]
Shamans, Military Spirit Wizards, and Spirit Mediums, who performed spellcraft on the living throughout Yorta, came one after another, shaking their heads in disbelief before retreating.
“There is an incredibly powerful wall of will. I simply cannot overcome it.”
“He’s a spellcaster incomparably stronger than myself. If I try to do anything more here, my own mind might shatter instead.”
“I give up. I have no desire to end up like a dog, messing with a madman like that.”
It was a situation where some who tried to touch the wizard bound within the transparent hemispherical barrier recoiled in horror, while others couldn’t even bring themselves to touch him and simply gave up.
In fact, the more experienced and renowned a Spirit Medium or Shaman was in their field, the quicker they were to give up.
The Thousand Ghosts, who were holding Lennok captive under the spirits’ orders, shook their heads in utter disbelief.
“This is ridiculous….”
“Those guys affiliated with the tower had to deal with that?”
“Look at him. He’s openly staring at us.”
Beyond the transparent hemispherical dome, the wizard’s body was bound by thick chains of mist.
But Lennok, far from flinching at the Military Spirits surrounding him, was instead openly staring back and gesturing at them.
The Thousand Ghosts, who had inadvertently followed his gaze, gasped as they realized what Lennok was doing.
“That human… he’s practicing Military Spirit spellcraft while watching us.”
“…What?”
Beside Lennok, who was gesturing while observing the stunned Thousand Ghosts, nagging could be heard.
“No, I told you that’s not it. You need to move your senses that way.”
“…………”
“You got it wrong again. Are you even listening to me?”
Lennok casually ignored the ceaseless chiding in his ear, focusing on manipulating the Military Spirit before him.
[Wheeeh.]
A faint, ethereal spirit. A Military Spirit of the lowest hierarchy, with no discernible form.
Lennok, lying on the bed, carefully wiggled his finger at the Military Spirit.
Following his gesture, it flipped and twisted in the air, beginning to tumble around.
[Ugh!!]
But that was only for a moment; the Military Spirit couldn’t endure and burst, vanishing.
The spirit of a boy sat beside the bed. Grand Arbitrator Oris, looking excited, chided Lennok relentlessly.
“This is why you humans are so frustrating. You don’t understand the delicate way we spirits exist, not even a speck.”
“…………”
“Why are you staring like that? Wasn’t it your idea to ask me to teach you the knack of spirit manipulation in the first place?”
“…Not exactly.”
Lennok struggled to loosen the bandages covering his chin and replied.
“For someone revived from the brink of spiritual annihilation, you’re quite full of yourself.”
“…………”
Oris, as if hit in a sore spot, avoided his gaze and tried to act nonchalant.
His pathetic appearance, tortured to the brink of extinction by the Court of Soul Pacification, was nowhere to be seen.
“Well, thanks to that, you’ve also been granted a temporary reprieve in this mausoleum, haven’t you?”
Oris coughed awkwardly, crossing his arms as he spoke.
“If I hadn’t summoned the exiled spirits to resolve the situation, you would’ve long since become a bloated corpse at the bottom of the Headrain River.”
“Even when you speak… it’s utterly crude.”
With the Memorial Tower collapsed and the spirits of the Court of Soul Pacification gone, it was natural for the city to be in turmoil.
As the Military Spirits residing in each tier of Yorta ran wild, and the entire city was on the verge of plunging into uncontrollable chaos.
At the exact moment the tower collapsed, ancient spirits, awakened simultaneously, appeared and began to stabilize the city once more.
Powerful Military Spirits, exiled from the Night Parade like Oris. Ancient spirits who had slumbered in the underground tiers, rebelling against the Court of Soul Pacification’s decisions.
A strange coincidence: the powerful figures, completely forgotten in Yorta’s history, had largely reawakened and were reclaiming the city.
Recalling Croken’s words as he departed, this too must have been one of the intended outcomes.
Looking back, he had experienced something similar in the Machine City.
Machina, too, having failed in its Ascension Gate project, harbored many monsters lurking in the city’s shadows, observing the situation.
The Level 8 psychometric ability user, ‘Mastermind,’ whom he encountered in Machina’s shadows, was a monster so dangerous that even Lennok couldn’t gauge his true potential.
Considering him, it wasn’t strange that Yorta also had monsters with similar backgrounds existing beneath the city’s shadows.
However, even as Lennok understood Oris’s words, he raised his hand with an indifferent expression.
“If you want to boast so much, then first, remove these shackles. What kind of treatment is this for your savior?”
Clank!!
The thick chains of mist tightly binding Lennok’s wrists rattled wildly with his gesture.
“…Ahem, that is beyond my jurisdiction, you see.”
At Lennok’s words, Oris averted his gaze even further and began to cough violently.
“To be precise, it’s not I who is resolving the city’s chaos right now, but the spirits who were imprisoned deep underground in Yorta.”
“And?”
“Well… it’s obvious what they would think of you, isn’t it?”
“…………”
The ancient spirits currently resolving Yorta’s chaos in place of the Court of Soul Pacification knew nothing about Lennok.
All they had heard were circumstances about an outlaw who had infiltrated the sanctuary of the Infinite Void, awakened the Ascendant Dorye, and ruined the Infinite Void.
From their perspective, as they sought to resolve the city’s chaos, this was naturally something they could not overlook.
However, this by no means implied that Lennok had a reason to consider their circumstances and give them a break.
“These chains of mist.”
Lennok watched the rattling chains on his wrists as he spoke.
“The hidden body of Dorye, the Ascendant, in the sanctuary of the Infinite Void was also bound by precisely the same kind.”
“Ha, hahahaha…”
“If you don’t remove these by today, I’ll break them myself and leave.”
Of course, Lennok’s body had not yet recovered enough to break free from the restraints surrounding him immediately.
However, from Oris’s perspective, Lennok’s threat would not sound entirely false.
Naturally, the boy’s face twisted into an unidentifiable expression of distress.
“…Alright. I’ll relay that to the higher-ups and try to get it handled quickly.”
“Why are you holed up here, having ceded your position to the other spirits in the first place?”
Lennok took out a cigarette from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and spoke.
“When you first sought my cooperation, weren’t you spouting nonsensical bullshit about seizing Yorta’s power?”
“How dare you speak so….”
The moment Oris, looking indignant at Lennok’s blunt remark, lifted his gaze to retort.
A cold female voice echoed from behind the two.
“Oris Aisen has become too weak to exist as a spirit any longer.”
WHOOSH!!
At those words, the barrier containing Lennok sprang open, and someone walked in.
The moment she entered, the barrier sank into an inky blackness, completely blocking off all sight around the shrine.
The figure of a young woman, clad in flowing robes that concealed her entire physique.
Her expressionless face, bordering on severe, betrayed no emotion whatsoever.
She strode in casually, glancing at Oris as she spoke.
“When he was exiled from the Night Parade, he was the one among us who expended the most power. To still be in the form of an immature boy indicates the severity of that impact, I presume.”
“Who are you?”
“My apologies for the delayed introduction.”
The woman gracefully extended a hand and bowed respectfully as she spoke.
“Naimel. I have no surname. I am but a humble spirit, exiled from the Night Parade alongside Oris and imprisoned on the 17th underground tier of the Memorial Tower.”
“…………”
Even after hearing the woman identify herself as Naimel, Lennok felt a sense of incongruity and furrowed his brow.
This was because he felt an unexplainable, powerful sense of déjà vu from her demeanor, speech, and the aura of her spirit.
Naimel neatly ignored Lennok’s reaction and stroked Oris’s head.
“Once this situation is fully resolved, I intend to have Oris focus on restoring his spirit form. It is only fitting, considering his contributions.”
“Damn it, don’t touch my head!”
Oris grumbled and swatted Naimel’s hand away, but she merely withdrew her hand and turned her gaze, as if nothing had happened.
“More importantly, it is about how we will determine your disposition regarding this incident.”
“…………”
“A criminal organization that not only damaged the Ascendant’s body enshrined in the Infinite Void and collapsed the sanctuary, but also toppled the Memorial Tower….”
Naimel’s gaze suddenly became complicated.
“Matters of the surface are simply bothersome and complex. While we forgot the world, the outside has changed so much.”
The Myriad Ghosts’ Night Parade is one of the oldest ascension rituals performed on this continent,
and the spirits who participated in the Night Parade are beings worn down by the countless ages and the flow of time.
It was not strange for Naimel, being one of these ancient spirits, to be bewildered by the changes outside.
However, Lennok instinctively knew that her reluctance in this matter wasn’t solely for that reason.
Her strangely familiar mannerisms and gestures, her polite yet vastly self-aware speech, her flowing robes, and her strangely distinct presence.
Hadn’t he certainly traveled Yorta with a spirit possessing a similar aura?
Crucially, after confirming the slight ripple of Stigma towards Naimel, Lennok immediately spoke.
“You’re not from this city.”
“…………”
“And a long, long time ago, weren’t you affiliated with a certain religious organization?”
FWOOSH!!
At that moment, a chilling cold burst forth above the shrine where Lennok was confined.
A miraculous feat, as if instantly controlling the aimlessly flowing mist of souls all around and concentrating it into this space.
It surrounded and enveloped the area, as if to prevent anyone from hearing Lennok’s words.
In the center of the mist, Naimel appeared, her expression hidden by the wide sleeves of her ceremonial robes, radiating a sharp, cutting aura.
“You said you have no surname.”
Lennok looked at Naimel, who had frozen in place, and asked.
“Did you perhaps once bear the name Naydree?”