Chapter 850: Handover (18)
Whitestone National Park, located between Sector 35 and Sector 36.
A quiet factory, a short distance from the research institute hidden between the boundaries of the Area.
A power generation facility built to produce and supply electricity to the entire national park.
Thousands of meters away from that facility, hundreds of troops surrounded and besieged it.
Clunk, clunk!!
The whirring of magic-infused artillery could be heard everywhere, and hushed voices quickly crisscrossed the communication network.
Soldiers in full exosuits formed ranks, armed and ready, besieging the power generation facility.
“Hmm…”
A red-haired woman, hidden in the bushes a little ahead of them, tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
After staring at the distant facility for a long time, the woman picked up the pale pink visor at her feet and asked,
“Are you sure it’s there?”
“Based on the mana readings, yes.”
A boy, still looking youthful, answered with a grimace.
“We can’t identify any mana patterns, so it’s almost certainly him. It’s as if he doesn’t even bother to hide.”
“…”
The boy muttered with a wry smile.
“It means he doesn’t care whether we intervene or not…”
“Theo. Watch your mouth.”
The young man standing beside the boy said calmly.
“He might be listening. It’ll be too late after lightning strikes your head.”
“Ugh…”
“It’s over 6 kilometers from here to the power facility. And you’re saying he might still be listening?”
Yellow Visor asked, incredulous. His natural voice, without modulation, flowed clearly through the helmet.
The young man turned to Yellow Visor and replied.
“He’s known for his poor health, but he’s a wizard with senses so keen they surpass that. You would have been found out immediately too.”
“…Right. He immediately recognized my earth-shaping spellcraft and scoffed at it.”
Yellow Visor nodded, a heavy expression momentarily crossing his face.
“I couldn’t respond properly. It was more fear than anger…”
“He’s a madman who can’t stop fighting even with a chronic illness. It’s not strange.”
The Jade Visor, standing in the rear with arms crossed, offered comfort in a soft voice.
“The City Council speculates that Adamant Thunder’s health might be far worse than imagined. They believe the reason he keeps operating on the front lines is connected to the way he transcends Tiers.”
“He’s insane. Does he have to seek out fights just to maintain his current state?”
“It’s just speculation in the report, nothing certain. But it’s undeniable that Adamant Thunder is broken, just like other monsters who transcend Tiers.”
“…”
A tense atmosphere settled among the Aegis members.
A great wizard who could only maintain his sanity through a madness bordering on ruin.
They now truly realized that the wizard they might have to face was a monster more dangerous than any superhuman.
“Whatever happens, we must prevent the core technology of the research institute from leaking. Especially if the secretly researched matters at the institute fall into Adamant Thunder’s hands, none of us will be able to escape responsibility.”
“Hah, I don’t want to die like a dog…”
Not all Aegis members served for the noble mission of protecting the city.
The reason they joined the special agency was mostly due to deals based on personal circumstances, making it impossible to avoid orders.
It wasn’t fear of dying in battle that made them hesitate. It was the unwillingness to be consumed by a meaningless death.
They had to plunge in, not to win, but to delay their defeat, even if just by a little.
And to obstruct an opponent they could never hope to defeat, even if they died and came back to life.
In the gloomy atmosphere, Green Visor nudged the shoulder of the man standing next to him.
“Hey, Druid. Don’t just stand there idly, say something.”
“…”
A tall man, well over 190cm, with a beast-hide hood pulled over his head, glared at Green Visor.
Green Visor merely shrugged, tilting his head.
“You said you fought Adamant Thunder earlier. Is there anything you can tell us, or anything you learned?”
“…His lightning.”
Ipasa, the Druid, mused for a moment, then muttered.
“Don’t get hit by it. It hurts.”
“That’s it?”
The other members, who had been looking at Ipasa, muttered in disbelief.
“Lightning-attribute spells are the fastest magic in the Pure Spellcraft System, excluding the Luminous System. It’s virtually impossible to dodge all of them.”
“Rather, teach us how to get hit without it hurting.”
“I don’t know that kind of thing.”
Ipasa said, scratching his head with an annoyed expression.
“The moment the lightning hit, the very foundation of my spellcraft was shaken. I felt my will-thought being severed.”
“…What?”
Ipasa snorted lightly and turned his head.
“If it was that bad for me, who doesn’t use mana, you mundanes won’t be able to endure it.”
“Hmm…”
Realizing the meaning of his words, the Aegis members fell silent for a moment.
If a Druid who uses Nature Spellcraft felt that way, then the fate of mana users would surely be obvious.
“Should we wait until Black arrives, after all?”
“No, there’s no time. From kidnapping Hayward and Professor Raphael, he’s clearly planning to use them for data restoration. If those two are together, they’ll get results quickly.”
Professor Raphael is not only not a resident of Vulcan, but also one of the foremost authorities in mana theory analysis.
“It’s not impossible. If we forcibly cut off the facility’s power supply, we can delay his plan.”
“Infiltrate the power generation facility, damage the power core, and depending on Adamant Thunder’s reaction, assess the situation and rescue the professor.”
“Never fight him head-on. The premise is to flee the moment you encounter him.”
At Blue’s briefing, the other members also quickly geared up and rose.
At that moment, the Aegis members, who had been gathered in one place, instantly spread out around the power generation facility, creating distance between themselves.
Whoosh!!
Hidden among the shadows of trees and rustling bushes, they infiltrated the power generation facility, each taking a different path.
Crackling…!!
The moment they entered the factory, a faint hum reached their ears, but no one had time to pay attention.
[Begin!]
Flash!!
The moment they infiltrated the power generation facility, the members simultaneously began running in different directions within the factory.
They poured all their mana into strengthening their bodies, opening their senses wide.
Receiving all information seen and felt around the facility with their entire bodies, they transmitted only the optimal judgments for mission success via communication.
[This way is far from the power core. I’ll move to draw Adamant Thunder’s attention.]
[Called the stationed troops waiting. They’ll enter from behind and block the path.]
[I’m close to the power core. Going first-!!]
Dozens of messages crisscrossed the communication network in an instant, and all that communication transformed into meaningful action.
Silent corridors. The facility’s control systems running unattended.
Walking quietly beneath the wires packed densely on the ceiling and walls, the members slowly closed the distance, and the moment they simultaneously drew forth their mana.
CRASH!!!
At that moment, with a thunderous roar that shook the entire factory, communications were abruptly cut off.
A terrifying static electricity that made their skin tingle. A stinging sensation that made their hair stand on end and their hearts pound.
The members scattered throughout the power facility suddenly turned their gaze at an unexplainable, ominous sense of déjà vu, at that very moment.
[OOOOOH!!!!]
With a majestic roar, a wave of thunder and lightning exploded, piercing through the entire power facility.
Zzzzzzt!!!!
It was as if a gigantic bolt of lightning seized the entire facility and lifted it clean off the ground.
The tingling property of lightning was imbued into the metallic walls and steel plates, instantly transforming the entire facility into a conduit and hall for flowing currents.
Whoooosh!!!
Wires strewn everywhere indiscriminately snapped and swayed, and sparks erupting from their severed ends clustered together, transforming into specific shapes.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!!
[…Toads?]
[Ribbit-ribbit.]
Toad spirits, born with the property of lightning, devoured the rampant electricity everywhere, swelling their bodies.
Dozens of toad spirits rapidly multiplied in the facility’s corridors and lobby, paying no mind to the intruders, instead putting their mouths to the severed ends of wires scattered everywhere.
[Gulp, gulp.]
The sight of the toad spirits instantly swelling their bodies as they devoured the sparks bursting from the wires.
The members watching that sight hastily reconnected to the communication network and exchanged the information they had gathered.
[They’re not real spirits.]
[They’re elemental spirits born randomly in a space where attributes temporarily overflow.]
[Impossible. There was nothing like this just a moment ago!!]
[Adamant Thunder has detected our infiltration. No, this might even be-]
At that moment, the toad spirits, having grown in size by consuming electricity from all directions, began emitting powerful electrical discharges from their bodies.
Zzzap, zzzap!!!
From that impact, the ceilings and walls throughout the power facility shattered, and control devices and converters installed everywhere were helplessly destroyed.
CRASH!!
[W-what is this…]
Far from protecting the power facility, he was directly destroying it, sending fragments showering down indiscriminately.
All sorts of components, including screws, steel plates, girders, and springs, fell helplessly to the ground, producing noise, and almost simultaneously began reassembling themselves on the spot.
Clatterrr!!
An army of steel, forming bodies by conglomerating broken parts, rising with crackling blue lightning.
Mechanical soldiers, assembling their limbs with flashing blue electric eyes instead of actual eyes, instantly blocked the facility’s passages.
Above them, a lightning veil covered everything, and tingling currents bounced off the floor and walls, painting the factory in blue light.
Zzzap, zzzzzzt…!!!
Flashing lightning fragments clustered together to form masses, then moved around as if possessing their own will, indiscriminately scattering small bolts of lightning.
The lightning spirits and the steel army, created in an instant, indiscriminately unleashed their power, then simultaneously turned their gaze towards the Aegis members.
A hostile reaction, as if they had discovered an unwelcome intruder in this hall of lightning, where powerful currents surged.
[Over 300 artificial spirits and mechanical soldiers combined. Over 30 types of spellcraft estimated to manifest using steel and electricity as a medium.]
[We can’t break through the barrier. Pull back the stationed troops. Opening the comms network!!]
[Lightning attribute bestowed. This is a Property Transformation of space, corresponding to the highest tier.]
[No way…]
The members, facing the lightning spirits and mechanical army, muttered in disbelief.
[He never intended to use the facility’s power like this from the start. Rather-]
[He turned the entire power generation facility into his own fortress in that short amount of time?!]
“A good start.”
CRASH!!
Lennok muttered, watching the mechanical soldiers explode on the monitors.
Dozens of monitors located in the power facility’s control room.
Monitoring equipment created to oversee power leaks and overload in the power core, but now merely displaying the intruders being relentlessly beaten.
The countless mechanical forces rising, using the parts Lennok himself had smashed to create them.
The lightning spirits created by transforming the power facility’s current, and the lightning veil being constructed to cover the entire facility.
On every screen displayed on the monitors, lightning bolts fell erratically, and fences of thunder and lightning violently rotated, binding everything that moved.
BOOOOM!!!!
The sight of the members helplessly swept away, unable to offer proper resistance in the storm of lightning and steel.
Though the Druid and the army guarding the research institute belatedly realized the anomaly and intervened, the situation remained unchanged.
[Retreat, retreat!!]
[Don’t touch it, you’ll be electrocuted!!!]
[Everyone remove your metal gear, cyborgs and prosthetic users flee immediately!!]
[No, the traps’ power-!!]
[Aaaaargh!!]
CRASH!!
Desperate shouts and screams erupted from all around the monitors.
Soldiers collapsing from electrocution and superhumans from the special agency attempting to infiltrate the power core while fleeing.
Chaos unfolded throughout the facility amid waves of dazzling lightning, too bright for the pixels to fully capture.
Raphael, watching the horror from behind, forgot his work and muttered to himself.
“…This is impossible.”
“What is?”
Waves of electricity densely covered and overflowed throughout the vast facility.
An overwhelming intensity of light, as if the entire power facility had sunk into a sea of lightning, slowly submerging.
It felt as if merely watching would blind him, yet Raphael didn’t take his eyes off the monitor for a single moment.
Even as his eyes rapidly became bloodshot, he couldn’t suppress his curiosity, instead leaning closer.
Raphael said, with a captivated expression.
“The mana conversion rate for lightning-attribute spells drastically worsens proportional to their power. No matter how much electricity is converted, projecting this level of Property Transformation in such a short time is absurd. A human’s mana dispersion speed simply cannot-”
“It’s not impossible.”
Lennok leaned back in his chair, replying with a weak cough.
Raphael flinched, as if regaining his composure, but Lennok ignored him and continued.
“There are beings for whom such a feat is possible purely with mana quantity alone. Monsters who are completely unconstrained by concepts like mana’s Property Transformation or efficiency…”
“…”
In terms of sheer mana quantity alone, there are monsters with overwhelming power that even Lennok cannot match.
Mana quantity, by nature, is a power constrained by the time one has lived, as much as by one’s talent.
After reaching Tier 8, he had never been greatly bound by the absolute quantity of mana, yet there were monsters who made even Lennok seem insignificant.
Transcendent beings who have been driven mad and remained stagnant for decades, even centuries, constantly accumulating power for dozens of times longer than Lennok has lived.
Such beings could wield transcendental power not just against a mere power facility, but against entire city-states.
Raphael’s lips turned blue at the words Lennok muttered so casually.
He certainly knew what kind of status a monster whom even Adamant Thunder spoke of in such terms held in this world.
“Therefore, your words are incorrect. Mana theory is precisely that: an academic field that is results-oriented, proving existing magic in the form of theories. It cannot encompass all exceptions.”
“Isn’t that the same for other academic fields as well…!!”
“The moment one forcibly breaks down Tiers, perfected under the Seven Stages of Self-Modification, and advances, rules and classifications lose their meaning.”
Lennok turned his gaze to the monitors.
“When you keep adding exceptions upon exceptions, creating your own laws… you eventually forget what you based them on in the first place.”
“…”
“And the moment you forget those internal rules…”
Lennok, kicking a rolling wire at his feet, said,
“It ceases to matter whether what you’re wielding is your own power or not.”
The mana Lennok expended to turn the entire power facility into a lightning fortress wasn’t even a handful.
Enveloping the entire fortress in lightning, electrocuting it, and creating the lightning spirits and mechanical forces was not Lennok’s doing, but a miracle achieved using the electricity stored within the power facility.
“That’s, that’s…”
Raphael also understood how Lennok had fortified the entire power facility and his expression twisted.
Unable to speak carelessly, he caught his breath and muttered.
“That’s not human. It’s not even life.”
“…”
“At the point where one thinks like that, can they even be defined as a living being…?”
“Perhaps.”
Lennok readily agreed.
“Forgetting the boundary between self and object, in a sense, might be akin to losing one’s qualification as a living being. That is the fundamental reason why many superhumans who reach Tier 8 break down.”
“…”
Where lies the criterion for distinguishing between living and non-living beings?
For superhumans capable of materializing and wielding their own will, will is the criterion.
But if one continues to wield that criterion outside of their body and mind, they often forget what their true self was.
To transcend Tiers and reach Tier 8 means to dominate that very concept, making it one’s own law.
That’s why many superhumans who reach Tier 8 either abandon their humanity or succumb to madness, unable to endure.
Raphael, perhaps agreeing with Lennok’s words, fell silent with a somber expression.
A demonstration that didn’t just explain, but perfectly wielded a concept transcending Tiers, possessed such power.
Lennok looked at Raphael, then suddenly asked,
“Do you understand why I’m telling you all this?”
“…?”
“You’ve subtly been putting off the work I assigned you, just watching over here.”
Lennok gave a chilling smile towards Raphael, who looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“It meant finish your assigned work before I get annoyed and go mad.”
“H-heup!!”
Raphael, instantly forgetting the serious atmosphere, quickly fled.