Chapter 866: The Eye That Sees Fate (2)
At the edge of a quiet, mist-covered lake.
The lake, so vast that the distant horizon was invisible, was a massive body of water occupying a corner of the undeveloped district.
As a side effect of the pioneering project, the water that had collected here only ever rose, never draining, yet the lake never rotted, nor did its water grow murky.
This was because the mixture of preservatives and radioactive pollutants sunk at the bottom of the lake permitted no bacteria or microorganisms to approach.
A lake of death that appeared endlessly clean, but conversely, allowed no life to inhabit it.
At this lake, considered one of the most dangerous environments even within the undeveloped districts, Lennok waited for someone with Evelyn.
Whirrr!
Evelyn, who was operating the motor with one hand while on the yacht, scowled fiercely.
“Antares?”
“It seems only a handful of people within the mercenary group know the exact details,” Lennok replied, sitting opposite her with a cigarette in his mouth.
“Felix must have known because he walked the pilgrim’s path with Antares. The vice-captain, Stella, is likely aware as well.”
“I thought his roaming the continent meant he had no lingering attachments to that matter.”
As if she had never expected it, Evelyn let go of the oar and sank deep into thought.
“In the first place, is the solution Felix wants something Antares also desires?”
“Well… I don’t know for sure what Antares is thinking as he travels the continent.”
As he flicked the ash from his cigarette over the lake, the powder was purified and vanished as if washed away.
Lennok, who had been watching the strange sight, spoke again.
“However, Antares isn’t one to meddle in things he already knows.”
“……”
“He might even think that his own end is something that shouldn’t be changed…”
Was that why Felix, without telling anyone else, had planned to meet Lapis alone and ask for her help for Antares?
If he was a seer who believed there was value not in what was known, but in what was unknown, he wouldn’t have wanted anyone’s help.
Even Lennok couldn’t guess what Antares was thinking.
Only the time and place written on the note Stella had passed him served as Antares’s answer.
Evelyn, after a moment of silence, asked.
“So… you accepted?”
“That’s just a secondary reason.”
Lennok took a drag of his cigarette and retorted.
“Since I’ve cooperated with Antares and his mercenary group several times, there’s no reason to refuse him first. But what’s most important is…”
Swish!!
Watching the fog slowly lift in the distance, Lennok nodded.
“Lapis’s own will, of course.”
From the end of the empty lake, he felt something approaching.
A bizarre sense of dissonance, as if something was clearly there yet unseen.
As Lennok’s gaze fell upon the distorted horizon, it seemed to simultaneously reflect somewhere else with a strange shimmer.
Craaack!!
A white boat shot up from the surface of the lake, which shattered like a mirror, revealing its form.
It was a boat made of ornately carved ivory. It was quite small, barely able to fit three or four people.
With a mystical appearance, as if an old palanquin had been remodeled into a boat, Lennok slowly brought a hand to his face.
“It’s been a while since I used this identity.”
Flick!!
Watcher Evan. Or is it Evan Martinez now?
As Lennok, his face now transformed into that of the fire wizard that Lapis and Evelyn remembered, looked up, Evelyn stared at him blankly, her mouth slightly agape.
“…That’s some incredible disguise magic. It’s the first time my kinetic vision couldn’t even capture the moment of transformation.”
“The speed of a Face Shift is proportional to mana control, not mastery,” Lennok said dismissively.
“Even a Great Wizard wouldn’t be able to see through it, so don’t worry.”
“Hey, I wasn’t worried.”
Even as she said that, Evelyn kept glancing at Lennok, finding it quite fascinating.
“It’s not so much that you drastically change your face, but that you give a completely different impression… Even seeing the before and after, I can’t quite get a feel for it…”
Lennok smiled wryly at Evelyn, who was staring at his face with a peculiar intensity.
“It’s a magic that changes perception itself. No matter how good your eyes are, you won’t be able to distinguish it visually.”
The disguise magic Lennok used was the result of countless modifications, to the point where the original common magic was no longer recognizable.
As it was a core technique supporting his multiple identities, Lennok had spared no investment of research and time.
As a result, the disguise magic, perfected upon reaching Level 8, had entered a divine realm where even Lennok himself would find it difficult to distinguish without mana.
“Stop staring and get ready. It seems they’ve spotted us too.”
“Before that, why don’t you change the cigarette you’re smoking?”
Evelyn stood up, looking slightly awkward as she chided him.
“What’s the point of changing your face and identity if you’re holding a cigarette only you smoke?”
“…I know.”
With a sullen look, Lennok tossed the cigarette and pulled a thick cigar from his coat.
He skillfully cut the end, lit it, and placed it in his mouth.
Click!
“This one is a high-end product released recently, with a strong aroma. This should be enough.”
“……”
Evelyn stared at the satisfied Lennok as if dumbfounded, then sighed.
“Fine. Who am I to stop you.”
Thump!!
In that time, the small white carved boat that had appeared from the other side of the lake closed the distance and drew near.
A faint presence, like that of a ghost, that couldn’t be felt at all despite being seen with one’s own eyes.
But as Lennok and Evelyn fixed their gazes on the carved boat, it gradually became clearer.
A sense of substance, as if it had only just laid its full existence down upon this lake after entering their complete field of vision.
It was proof that a fragment of a Transcendent’s ability, activated by the act of ‘looking,’ was taking a more definite form and gaining substance in this very place.
At the bow of the carved boat, Evelyn spotted a figure and spoke with a faint smile.
“Lapis, welcome to the megacity.”
“…Evelyn.”
Swish!!
She walked forward, the hem of her white clothes, which fell to her feet, brushing the deck.
Her abundant blue hair was tied up, and with an elegant air, she carefully adjusted the ornaments on her hands as she looked down at them.
Though she had grown tall enough to be called an adult without it being awkward, her calm impression, unbefitting her age, remained.
Lapis stepped down from the white carved boat onto the yacht without hesitation and gave Evelyn a light hug.
Evelyn smiled as she stroked Lapis’s hair.
“What’s this? We just saw each other not long ago for the Paradox siege operation.”
“That was then, and this is now. And…”
Lapis let go of Evelyn with a bashful look and turned her gaze toward Lennok.
Her eyes, as she looked at Lennok, seemed to be filled with a strange sense of emotion.
“I truly didn’t think you’d be able to persuade him to come. How…”
“I told you before. This guy would at least pretend to listen if I went to him,” Evelyn answered with a sudden shrug of her shoulders.
“He’s hard to call out, but once I met him, I was confident I could persuade him.”
“You tried to meet me with such flimsy grounds?”
“But you accepted, didn’t you?”
“……”
Lennok stared at Evelyn as if dumbfounded, but he didn’t bother to deny her words.
It was true that he still felt indebted to Evelyn.
“I see…”
Lapis looked back and forth between Evelyn and Lennok with strangely sparkling eyes.
Evelyn patted Lapis’s shoulder a few times before immediately standing up.
“Now that I’ve seen you’ve arrived, I’ll be on my way. I should disappear quickly before I draw any attention.”
“Are you going to proceed as we discussed before?”
“Yes. I’m going to clean up any factions or elements within the city that might pose a threat to Lapis beforehand.”
Evelyn nodded and began to gather her mana.
“Nothing good will come of us being seen together. Besides, now that Evan is here, I can trust him and go back to take care of things.”
In a situation where the granddaughter of Heavenly Sight was visiting the Vulcan City Council, there wasn’t much a high-ranking official like Evelyn could do.
Although she was supposedly spending her days without proper duties after being fired from the Agents, her affiliation itself had not changed.
Even if she wasn’t on active duty, an official supporter of the Eyes of Blue on the level of Hyeon-gung was highly likely to cause strife.
One misstep and it wouldn’t be strange for it to create unnecessary conflict for both Lapis and the Agents.
Therefore, instead of officially intervening in this situation, Evelyn had decided to secretly protect Lapis from behind the scenes.
Lapis, who seemed to have heard about Evelyn’s decision beforehand, bowed her head as if ashamed.
“I’m sorry, Evelyn. I wish this wasn’t happening because of my stubbornness…”
“Well, this can’t even be called a hardship. I’m actually more worried about you.”
Evelyn shook her head with a faint smile.
“The City Council will try to squeeze something more out of you no matter what.”
“……”
“Be careful. Even if Evan and I can help with the visible dangers, making a deal with the City Council is…”
“Yes. Leave it to me.”
Lapis replied with a smiling face.
In her voice, a determination without a hint of wavering could be perceived.
“It won’t take long, either way.”
“…Right. You’ll handle it well.”
Seeming to think that warning Lapis now was pointless, Evelyn swept her hair back and nodded.
“Contact me when you reach the central district. I’ll see you later.”
Whoosh…!!
With those words, Evelyn’s form instantly scattered and vanished like mist.
It was a flawless concealment technique, making it impossible to tell where she had disappeared to on this empty lake.
“It’s always like this, but Evelyn’s presence is really… hard to perceive even with my abilities.”
“Let’s get moving.”
While Lapis was looking around with a fascinated expression, Lennok grabbed the yacht’s motor.
Since they had taken a boat to the center of the lake, they had to invest the same amount of time to return.
“Is it okay to leave that carved boat here?”
“Ah, about that…”
Lapis, glancing cautiously at Lennok, asked carefully.
“Would it be alright to use that boat to get to the lakeside? I have an attendant with me…”
“An attendant?”
Lapis had accepted the condition of visiting the city without being accompanied by a Watcher in exchange for meeting directly with the City Council to negotiate a treaty.
It was also possible for her to request Evan’s help in the process because Lennok had not officially accepted the role of a Watcher.
As if noticing his thoughts from his question, Lapis immediately answered.
“Ah, they aren’t a Watcher. If I had to classify them…”
“Lady Lapis.”
A clear female voice echoed from the carved boat.
“Is this man the heir of Jindun you spoke of?”
At the edge of the brilliantly white carved boat stood a single, noble crane with bluish feathers.
As the crane eyed Lennok suspiciously with a strangely stern gaze, Lennok chuckled involuntarily.
“A talking crane, what a high-grade spirit beast. Have you been taking something like this with you since I last saw you?”
“…‘Something like this.’ Truly rude words and actions.”
The crane’s eyebrow twitched subtly.
“I had heard you were of an unrestrained nature. But if you are a human that Lady Lapis cherishes, would it not be better to pay more attention to etiquette?”
“Pa-Patisha.”
“I don’t wish for a lecture on human etiquette from a spirit beast I’ve never met. Who are you?”
Ignoring the flustered Lapis, Lennok smirked and retorted.
“You seem to know a fair bit about me, talking about Jindun.”
The only people within the Eyes of Blue who knew or suspected that Evan had inherited the Jindun barrier techniques were the Watchers who had participated in the Hangeshami Palace operation.
The fact that the spirit beast before him knew this made it clear that Lapis had told it.
For an attendant to be so trusted by Lapis yet not have accepted the role of a Watcher, they must have a considerable background.
As the crane, called Patisha, was about to part its beak to answer Lennok’s question, Lapis spoke first.
“Sir Evan. Patisha is not a spirit beast, but a long-lived species from Kundara.”
“…A long-lived species from Kundara?”
Did this mean that one of those precious creatures, who hole up in the Outer Tribulation City and never come out, was serving Lapis as an attendant?
At the unexpected explanation, Lennok turned his gaze to Patisha, and Patisha proudly puffed out its feathers and said,
“I am one who left Kundara and devoted myself to the Lighthouse to repay a kindness received from the Heavenly Sight long ago, and I now serve Lady Lapis.”
“……”
“Though I am not yet a Watcher, my heart is in no way inferior to that of other human species. No, it would not be an exaggeration to say that I am the one bolstering the loyalty of the other Watchers.”
“You’re abnormally full of confidence…”
“Patisha was born in Kundara and is accustomed to etiquette and service, and has a keen sense for reading transcendent energies and will-thought.”
As Lennok gave her a look as if he was watching something amusing, Lapis bowed her head slightly.
“So, I hadn’t told her anything about you, Sir Evan, but…”
“She noticed the Jindun barrier technique placed on the Lighthouse first. I understand.”
Nodding, Lennok let go of the oar he was holding and stood up from the rowboat.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. This yacht is certainly too heavy to move with several people on board.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
“It wouldn’t be surprising if it sank immediately after boarding a well-built crane like that.”
“……”
Patisha’s eyebrow twitched furiously at those words, but she didn’t reply, perhaps acknowledging the fact that she was a bit too heavy to board the yacht.
Lennok helped Lapis onto the carved boat first and then boarded himself, and Lapis gestured as if she had been waiting.
Swoosh!!
The carved boat moved smoothly across the water’s surface without even properly unfurling its sails.
“Sir Evan.”
After confirming there was no problem with the carved boat, Lapis immediately turned to Lennok.
Slightly lifting the hem of her clothes, Lapis bowed her head deeply and said politely.
“Thank you so much for helping me with this matter. I don’t know what to say to express my gratitude…”
“I should make things clear on that front.”
Lennok replied nonchalantly, a cigar in his mouth.
“I’m interested in what you’re trying to do, not the Eyes of Blue. I still have no interest in the role of a Watcher.”
“…Still, the fact that you are helping me, Sir Evan, does not change.”
Lapis smiled softly with a look of utmost relief.
“That is enough for me.”
“……”
“You are a less honest human than you appear. What is so difficult about saying you came to help and receiving thanks-”
“Is your condition any better?”
Lennok ignored the needlessly interfering crane and asked Lapis directly.
“You didn’t look too well when I saw you last time.”
“Ah, that…”
Lapis trailed off, bowing her head slightly.
She must be recalling the time they had exchanged will-thoughts through the Lighthouse.
Lennok had contacted and spoken with Lapis while facing Deadrise’s general, Peshia Grisbern.
At that time, the will-thought of Lapis he had felt was excessively unstable, something Lennok also remembered.
“Yes, I’m fine now.”
Lapis said, gently stroking her own cheek.
Lennok silently watched her gesture as she unconsciously tried to compose her expression.
“No matter how we started, we can’t stop now.”
“……”
“I must also strive so that the time of those who devoted themselves to the answer I have chosen is not in vain.”
Lapis’s muttered words seemed to be repeated not for anyone else, but to persuade herself.
After confirming Patisha’s pitying gaze upon Lapis, Lennok opened his mouth.
“I heard what you want is a ritual to master the Heavenly Sight’s ability.”
“……”
“However, no matter how you hide it, the chances of the City Council not noticing are low. It could become very dangerous if they decide to intervene.”
Lennok said, looking at Lapis.
“I will help you, but I intend to move based on my own judgment, regardless of the ritual’s success. Understood?”
As the Eyes of Blue grew in power and became an organization that solidified its position on the Central Front, Lapis’s role as its focal point became increasingly important.
They were able to recruit skilled individuals from all over because many sympathized with the answer that only Lapis could provide.
Lapis must not die, at least not at this point in time.
Lennok was making Lapis aware of this fact and declaring in advance that he would act with that as his priority.
“I have no intention of complaining when I am the one receiving help. I will leave it entirely to Evan’s judgment.”
Lapis also nodded calmly as if she understood.
Sweeping her hair back, she smiled gently and looked up at Lennok.
“Above all, I trust you, Evan.”
“……”
“Ever since we first met in the Autonomous Region, always…”
Lapis’s gentle gaze was much more mature than before.
But Lennok averted his gaze, pretending not to notice as he crushed the nearly finished cigar.
Regardless of how much Lapis trusted him, he couldn’t guarantee that he could live up to that expectation.
Lennok was not with them because he thought Lapis’s answer or the principles of the Eyes of Blue were right.
Nor did he think the legacy of the Heavenly Sight and the ability of the Lighthouse Keeper were the true answers for this world.
He simply understood intellectually that their existence was beneficial to the world’s survival, which was why he lent his strength from time to time.
Lapis probably knew this as well. She might even know why Lennok ultimately refused to accept the role of a Watcher.
But for Lapis to say she trusts him like this, it was probably-
“We’ve arrived. Over there.”
While they were talking, the carved boat had already reached the edge of the lake.
Since the polluted lake was located at the end of the undeveloped district, they had to travel a bit more after getting off the lake.
For that purpose, Lennok had prepared a means of transportation with Evelyn and had it waiting at the edge of the lake.
Lapis, recognizing it, pointed to the group of armored vehicles in the distance.
“Are those the vehicles you prepared, Sir Evan?”
“Yes.”
“There’s more than one?”
“The humidity of this lake makes it very easy for things to break. Especially complex equipment like vehicles.”
Lennok retorted, putting a new cigar in his mouth.
“I dragged these military vehicles from an abandoned outpost, so at least one of them should still be running fine-”
As he was saying that, Lennok, who was lighting his cigar, abruptly stopped talking.
Lapis and Patisha turned their gazes.
“Sir Evan?”
“Is there a problem?”
“The armored vehicles parked at the lakeside. I scavenged five abandoned military vehicles from the vicinity.”
Click!!
Lennok, who had released the safety with one hand and stood up, retorted.
“There are fifteen of them now.”
“…!!”
At that moment, on top of the trunk of a distant armored vehicle that turned towards them, a missile launcher shot up.
Dududududu!!!
Dozens of missiles were launched at the carved boat without any greeting or reaction.
As Patisha’s face hardened, Lennok raised his mana and reached for his sleeve.
Kwoong!!
A massive metal pillar, densely inscribed with complex formulas and characters, slammed down on the bow of the carved boat.
The end of the rectangular pillar had vents, and a complex ignition device was embedded on top.
It looked as if a giant lighter had been designed to be held horizontally.
Simultaneously, a complex crimson barrier formation began to spread out in all directions over the lake, centered on Lennok.
Fwaaat!!
“A-a barrier technique?!”
“I’ve made some progress in my research of the Jindun techniques since I quit the Watcher business.”
Lapis, who was about to prepare a chant to counter the missiles falling from above, whipped her head around in surprise.
“I’ve applied the transcendent concept of ‘Isolation’ to blaze magic, allowing me to rewrite its characteristics anew.”
Blaze-type unique magic was a school of elemental magic with a great many uses among those Lennok employed.
Moreover, having faced the combustion magic of the Old World used by the Blaiver Magic Tower Lord, Taigeuk Hwasin, Lennok had realized he could freely alter and rewrite its properties.
What was needed was to use the knowledge of barrier techniques inherited from another Ascendant to become a canvas upon which properties and traits could be rewritten in an instant.
“I’ll show you now.”
Kwang!!
The moment he kicked the ignition device, Lennok’s violently rotating mana arranged itself neatly.
Embracing the will-thought that burned like a flame, he transformed into a brilliant fire on the spot.
Combustion Zone - Property Transformation
Blaze Sculpting - Gunpowder Alchemy
[Saturation Armament No. 666: Gunpowder Depot Deployment]
[Contagious Annihilation]
[Blazing Ordinance Loading]
The instant the stream of fire extending from the ignition device shot across the water’s surface and erupted on the ground hundreds of meters away.
Dozens of fiery muzzles shot up from the clear lake’s surface, beginning to draw a vast formation centered on Lennok.