Chapter 847: Handover (15)
CRASH! BANG!
“…Ugh, Aaaaargh!!”
Leaving Lennok standing inside the lab, the young man scrambled out on all fours and sprinted wildly down the hall.
His face, drained of all color, was pale as he gasped for breath, fleeing like a madman.
Lennok leisurely followed him out into the corridor.
From the darkness of the unlit research wing, magical remnants distorted with each step.
“It’s been a while since someone tried to run from me like that. Usually, I kill them before they can turn their backs.”
“A-Adamant Thunder!!!”
The young man stammered, his voice trembling, unable to even properly look back at Lennok.
“Why is Adamant Thunder here!?!!”
Intense noise that even the surveillance system couldn’t verify. An unnervingly calm demeanor and overwhelming knowledge of magic.
Even with the series of clues and circumstances presented before him, he didn’t deny reality.
Perhaps it was because he already knew that entering this lab alone was no difficult feat for an Archwizard.
“Ugh, Aaaah…!!”
He let out an indistinguishable scream or moan and sprinted madly towards the lobby.
The young man snatched the phone from the reception desk and, with trembling hands, began to dial a number.
Click!
As soon as he heard the phone connect, the young man shrieked.
“This is Hayward from Research Wing 8! Open the lab immediately and call for backup! There’s a monster in the lab!!!”
“…”
“Can’t you hear me?! Stop the lecture and contact the City Council for backup—!!!”
Lennok’s voice came from the other end of the receiver.
“Backup?”
“Aaaaargh!!”
The young man, who had identified himself as Hayward, threw the phone away, his expression as if his heart had plummeted.
Lennok, who had silently appeared behind him, smiled down at the fallen Hayward.
“You haven’t answered my question yet.”
“Ugh! Ugh…!!!!”
“I don’t know why you’re so surprised. Wasn’t Evan Vylun the owner of this research institute?”
Lennok asked, feigning ignorance, and gestured with his hand. A silver glow flowed from his fingertips, transforming into a staff.
Lennok leaned naturally on his staff and spoke to Hayward, who was trembling, unable to even breathe.
“Evan Vylun is a researcher affiliated with the Magic Tower. If he built a research institute to conduct joint research, I don’t see why I couldn’t visit it at least once.”
“…”
“There’s only one reason you’d be so surprised, even knowing who I am.”
Lennok said, then asked, pretending not to know.
“The Vylun Research Institute. It wasn’t built after confirming Evan’s intentions in the first place, was it?”
“…!!”
Lennok slowly approached Hayward, who stammered, unable to respond.
Thump, thump—
The slow, deliberate sound of the staff tapping against the hard corridor. The abrupt cutoff of the phone’s dial tone amidst the profound silence.
Only the chilling blue gaze of the wizard’s mystic eye fell from the deep darkness.
A sharp chill pierced his chest. Lennok looked at Hayward, whose face was frozen as if his heart had stopped, and asked,
“Why did you create a research institute using Evan Vylun’s name?”
“Th-that’s…”
“I want to hear it from the person on site, not the City Councilman who planned the institute’s establishment. Tell me.”
Applying pressure with sheer force amidst the darkness, he projected his Mystic Eye to pierce his mind.
Once he was certain he had pushed Hayward’s mind to its limit, he posed one crucial question that made escape impossible.
The pale, terrified researcher’s lips slowly parted.
“To… to create wizards…”
“To create wizards?”
“N-I don’t know the details either!!”
Hayward suddenly shrieked as if having a seizure.
“I was only told that a critical task, one that must be carried out concurrently with public magic research—”
WHIZZ!!
At that moment, a faint flash of light flickered behind Lennok.
From dozens of meters away in the darkened research wing corridor, a heavy surge of power manifested and swept forward simultaneously.
But instead of targeting Lennok, it circled him and aimed for Hayward.
“With something like this?”
Lennok casually flicked a finger, and the beam of light sharply bent, exploding in mid-air.
BOOM!!
“Aaaaargh!!”
Herrified by the light exploding before his eyes, Hayward stumbled backward, foamed at the mouth, and passed out.
He must have understood that the force that just approached was by no means benevolent.
Lennok, who had been looking at the unconscious Hayward, straightened up, leaning on his staff.
He had sensed something watching him from beyond this research wing, where no other presence could be felt.
“I don’t particularly like being tested.”
Lennok’s words, uttered naturally, were not kind.
“Come out now, or I’ll kill you.”
“Excuse me.”
WHOOSH!!
As soon as Lennok’s words finished, something abruptly rose from the far end of the research wing corridor.
It wasn’t from the corridor floor, but from the soil in a small garden located within.
A man in a suit wearing a brown visor immediately stepped forward before Lennok and bowed his head.
“I greet the great Archwizard. My apologies for any offense.”
“With that clumsy Earth Construction Spellcraft?”
“…”
Lennok scoffed, looking at the silent brown visor.
“A crude idea that only preserves output, without any application. I’ve heard of it before.”
No, in fact, he hadn’t just heard of it.
Lennok had directly confronted them before, under the identity of Victor.
“Aegis. So you’ve been hiding here, acting as guard dogs?”
A superhuman organization created under the City Government after the Lifting of Prohibitions, an elite combat unit comparable to the Agents.
They were human weapons, physical ability users with spellcraft embedded into their bodies, guarding the research institute.
“…I didn’t realize the Archwizard knew so much about our specialized agency.”
FLASH!
At that moment, doors throughout the research wing burst open, and multiple figures entered with lightning speed.
Blue and green visors stood at the forefront. A jade visor chanted spellcraft from the rear, and a pale red one appeared silently behind Lennok.
They maintained their distance, watching Lennok cautiously, but did not express hostility.
The jade visor, possessing the strongest magic, spoke.
“This research institute is one of the most sensitive classified locations for the City Council, and various specialized agencies, including ours, take turns guarding it.”
“So?”
“…I understand you’ve bypassed our surveillance to reach this institute, but could you please leave for today?”
Her tone was calm, but it was clear, even without looking closely, that the jade visor was tense.
Not just her, but every Aegis operative who had entered this research wing was tensed as if they might collapse at any moment.
“This institute isn’t ready for visitors yet, and we have no intention of fighting you.”
“…”
“Please, we ask for your clemency.”
Lennok looked at the jade visor and let out a chuckle.
“You have a proper posture. Did you hear something from somewhere?”
“…”
“I was going to cut your throat if you acted presumptuously, but… clemency, you say…”
Lennok had never fought Aegis under his Van identity, so their extreme caution was unusual.
He had a guess. They probably heard about Adamant Thunder directly from the Agents, another specialized agency.
At the time, Aegis had even collaborated with Evelyn Marcia on operations, so it wasn’t incomprehensible if they had heard various testimonies about him.
“But no.”
“May I ask why?”
Lennok smiled.
“Because I bought Evan Vylun’s talent. Wouldn’t it be problematic if the results, which should belong to the Tower, were to leak out to a place like this?”
“…”
“I don’t know if they knew this would happen the moment they used that name…”
WHOOOOSH…!!
As Lennok spoke, an intense magical radiance began to swirl around him.
Even without imbuing his will-thought, an overwhelming pressure seemed to crush all the forces present.
As the Aegis operatives stumbled, seemingly unable to believe it, yet solidified their stances, Lennok spoke.
“Either way, what I must do remains unchanged.”
“…We will report this to the City Council and inform them of your opinion. For now—!!”
“For now?”
At that moment, dozens of shields flickered above Lennok’s head, spinning violently.
A silver shadow struck down on the shields but failed to penetrate the barrier, simply bouncing off.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Seeing new shadows appear around the research wing corridor, Lennok said with amusement,
“Your colleagues seem to think otherwise.”
“Aegis, what have you been doing all this time?”
The one who launched a surprise attack on Lennok was a man with an impassive expression and pale silver hair fluttering around him.
He turned to the jade visor, his voice chillingly devoid of emotion.
WHOOSH!
Simultaneously, dozens of superhumans appeared in the research wing corridor, radiating a keen intensity towards Lennok.
What was peculiar was that all of them possessed the same pale silver hair as the man who first appeared.
Holding a sharp straight sword in one hand and gripping a chain at his waist, the man spoke to Aegis.
“The target is a special criminal who has violated all Class 1 Public Security Regulations of Vulcan. We intend to apprehend and detain him, so cooperate.”
“Crescent. Are you out of your mind? This is a battle you cannot win.”
The jade visor’s tone immediately turned cold as well.
“Adamant Thunder is a distinguished guest protected by the Council in exchange for establishing a Magic Tower. What’s the point of an operation without superior approval?”
“Victory?”
The man retorted with an emotionless face.
“Why must we calculate victory when following orders?”
“…”
“Specialized agencies obey the Council’s regulations. We do not calculate life or death. We exclude emotion and pain.”
The man’s voice was astonishingly monotone, and his face, as he looked back at his operatives, was devoid of emotion.
“Our directive is to eliminate intruders in the research institute. Who the opponent is makes no difference.”
“What are you doing in front of me?”
As Lennok chuckled at the farce of two different specialized agencies, Aegis and Crescent, squabbling over him, the silver-haired man turned his head.
“Adamant Thunder Van. I’ve heard you’re the greatest Warmage in this city.”
“I’ve never participated in a war. You seem to have picked up a false rumor.”
“But rules aren’t meant to be broken depending on the opponent.”
CLANG!
The moment that form, leaning as if it would collapse at any moment, strongly gripped its straight sword and melted into the darkness.
WHOOSH!
The young man’s body blurred, elongating, and collided forcefully with Lennok from the front.
Shields shattered and scattered, their fragments scattering like broken glass.
Just as the young man’s body, pressing down with a crushing sword strike and closing the distance, was about to accelerate like a streak of moonlight…
“Annoying. Are you trying to put on a show for me?”
GRIP!
Lennok’s hand clamped onto the young man’s head with a single grasp.
With a light, effortless gesture, he had so easily stopped the young man’s acceleration.
Lennok calmly stared into the inorganic eyes visible through the scattering silver hair and spoke.
“Artificially designed composure. When you think about it, the City Council makes a lot of ridiculous attempts, don’t they?”
“…!?”
At that unreal outcome, the young man himself paused, momentarily unable to comprehend the situation.
Then, the young man’s body was sent flying backward at several times the speed he had charged towards Lennok.
CRASH!!!
“Ugh…!”
A violent collision that shattered the research wing corridor wall and door, exposing the room inside.
Lennok snatched the silver hair of the man, who lay writhing, covered in blood, and lifted him.
“You seem to be mistaken. It’s not me doing shady things, it’s you.”
“…!!”
“It’s Evan Vylun’s place to justify his actions by invoking principles and regulations.”
Dragging the fallen young man with one hand, Lennok used his staff-wielding hand to tap on the intact research equipment and computers.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!!
WHOOOOSH!!
With just that, the equipment in the research wing activated, displaying all sorts of data and images on the screens.
“Hey, what are you doing!”
The pale red visor shouted in alarm, but Lennok replied without looking back.
“Because I figured your answers wouldn’t be very satisfying unless I looked into it myself.”
“Stop…!
The man, whose hair was gripped by Lennok’s hand, struggled to shout, and Crescent’s operatives rushed towards Lennok.
Solid straight swords and thick chains at their waists. An unnaturally faint, inorganic presence even in the unlit laboratory.
But the sword strikes wielded by these superhumans quickly pressed in on Lennok, pounding against the lab’s steel plates and iron doors.
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD!!!
They blocked the research equipment Lennok was touching, shook the floor to disrupt his balance, and aimed for his joints and vital points in reverse order, rushing in with killing intent.
At the same time, they precisely controlled their distance, forcing a short gap, even considering the shields protecting Lennok.
Among the dozens of movements rushing towards him, not a single judgment was amiss.
One person’s misjudgment is a losing move, but if dozens make the same judgment as one, that itself becomes a colossal force.
And the will of the absolute majority, thus created, becomes an unyielding power—
“Break.”
[Fluttering Thunder (翩雷)]
CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!!!
The moment sharp electrical currents, scattered from Lennok’s fingertips, spun and churned among Crescent’s operatives.
The explosively surging lightning of Fluttering Thunder became thunder that illuminated the entire research wing, crushing the operatives.
ROOOOOAR! CRASH! BANG! CRASH!
The wizard, gripping the incessantly flashing lightning in one hand, casually struck down the superhumans who rushed at him.
Lennok himself, however, showed no interest in the operatives, focusing solely on recovering deleted data and sealed documents.
As the Aegis operatives remained silent at this absurd display of power, Crescent operatives, whose bodies were scorched, let out painful screams.
“Guh…!”
“Aaaargh!!”
“How can magic exert such physical force…!!”
Even understanding that their balance was broken by a single spell, they did not lose their will.
The silver-haired superhumans, covered in blood, desperately tried to stop Lennok from touching the research equipment.
Their persistence, though not threatening, was annoying enough that Lennok tapped his staff.
Lightning-attribute unique magic
[Slaying Martial Thunder (誅傷武雷)]
A mass of lightning, surging from the silver staff, split and fragmented, colliding thousands of times in an instant.
The lightning, scattered like an explosion before their eyes, pierced through the entire research wing, indiscriminately penetrating the ceiling and walls.
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
“Gah…!!”
The density of the lightning was impossibly precise and compact, making it unavoidable.
Immediately upon contact with the Slaying Martial Thunder, their magical energy vibrated violently, tearing apart the blood vessels throughout their bodies.
“Ughhhh…!!”
“M-my body!!!”
“Ah, found it.”
Amidst the operatives convulsing and collapsing, Lennok abruptly smashed the computer tower and pulled out a hard drive.
HISS…!!
The disc was scalding hot, as if exposed to immense heat and fused together.
It seemed to barely maintain its original form due to having too much data forcibly downloaded onto it.
But the moment Lennok lightly rotated his wrist, the hard drive began to repair itself as if time was rewinding.
As others stared blankly, forgetting their pain, Lennok put the hard drive into his pocket and said,
“Wizard Mass Production Project. This must be what Hayward was talking about earlier, related to creating wizards, right?”
WHOOSH!!
Immediately after, the sprinklers in the research wing ceiling activated, showering water down the dark corridor.
Crescent operatives lay strewn everywhere, while Aegis operatives remained silent.
“To get more detailed information, I’ll have to beat it out of them, wouldn’t I—cough.”
Lennok, leaning on his staff, looked at the Aegis operatives and suddenly broke into a cough.
“…?”
“…”
Lennok wiped his mouth and glanced at the sprinklers working above, shaking his head.
He seemed to have caught a cold during the brief moment he was caught in the rain after fighting Evelyn Marcia.
For a moment, he realized how weak and pathetic this body was, unprotected by shields and magic.
“Ah.”
Lennok immediately realized how this might look to others and forced a wry smile.
There was no sign of his face flushing due to the disguise, or any other cold symptoms.
Not only was he coughing mid-battle, but Lennok himself even appeared lost in thought, so surely—
“Could it be, his health is…”
“Is it worse than the rumors?”
The Aegis operatives muttered with serious expressions. Even Crescent operatives who hadn’t lost consciousness yet watched Lennok with sharp eyes.
“…What a waste of time.”
Lennok muttered, extending his hand, and Hayward’s unconscious form flickered, appearing at Lennok’s feet.
At this sudden action, the other operatives were surprised and moved to react immediately.
FLASH!
Lennok’s white robe fluttered, and his form vanished from the spot.
The disappearance was so complete that even the Aegis operatives, with their senses heightened, missed the movement.
Lennok, having left the research wing with Hayward, began to move towards the center of the research complex at incredible speed.
“No, he’s going to the auditorium! Stop him!”
The jade visor, realizing he was heading towards the auditorium located in the center of the research wing, cried out sharply.
Other operatives immediately rushed out of the research wing, but they couldn’t be faster than Lennok, who was spamming his Flash.
WHOOSH!
Lennok’s body, skipping over other still-lit research wings, flickered and vanished into the night sky, only to smash down through the circular ceiling from below.
CRASH!!
“Whoa, whoa!”
“W-what?!”
“It’s an attack! An intruder!”
Researchers who hadn’t yet heard of the situation rose from their seats in utter panic at Lennok’s sudden appearance.
Ignoring the chaotic auditorium, Lennok immediately turned his gaze towards the stage.
‘Hayward said he brought a lecturer to teach the researchers the necessary magic theory.’
And if that necessary magic theory was for research other than public magic.
Then that lecturer must undoubtedly be related to the Wizard Mass Production Project.
Having already secured evidence of the Wizard Mass Production Project, Lennok decided it was better to interrogate the related individual directly rather than search for more data.
To do so, he first had to find the lecturer currently giving the presentation.
“W-who would do such a thing in the Vylun Research Institute…?”
But Lennok turned his gaze, following the voice from the stage, and frowned as he looked at the hesitant middle-aged man.
A somewhat refined impression, yet a slightly frightened face. His deep but trembling voice lingered in Lennok’s memory.
“Professor Raphael.”
“…You know me?”
The scholar who had appeared at the Pandemonium’s interim meeting, the professor who had shown keen interest in Evan Vylun.
He was now the invited lecturer at the Vylun Research Institute, giving a presentation.
“Perfect timing.”
“Wh-what?!”
Violet chains surged from beneath Lennok’s feet, immediately binding Raphael’s entire body and forcing him to his knees.
“What is the meaning of this!!”
“You’re a professor who teaches magic theory, you said. I think you have something to tell me about this matter.”
Lennok gripped the violet chains tightly, looking at the profusely sweating Raphael.
“Well, adding one more criminal record isn’t something I’d worry about. Let’s move this somewhere else.”
“W-wait a minute…!”