Chapter 876: The Eye That Sees Fate (12)
“But it’s not exactly a rare occurrence either.”
“……”
“Lapis Falcia. Why did you come to Vulcan alone? Did you think there wasn’t a single person in this city who would want the life of the leader of the Eyes of Blue?”
The man asked, his voice echoing slightly.
“I came after an official consultation with the Vulcan City Council-”
“Naive. That wasn’t a rational decision.”
The man stared at the speechless Lapis from behind his glasses.
“No matter how urgent it was, you shouldn’t have accepted the City Council’s terms. The organization you built has become too powerful for anyone to ignore, yet its core is incredibly vulnerable and exposed.”
“……”
“Anyone who wants to interfere with the Eyes of Blue would want to get their hands on you. Are you going to tell me you came to Vulcan without knowing that?”
“No.”
Lapis quietly shook her head.
“Nevertheless, I have something I must do. That’s all.”
“I see. So you knew it was a misjudgment but couldn’t overcome your personal desires?”
The man nodded and pulled a green test tube from inside his lab coat.
He opened the lid and downed the contents. A drop of saliva fell from the corner of his lips, instantly melting the asphalt and raising a foul, poisonous fog.
It was a type of drug that turned all bodily fluids into a potent poison.
“Then I won’t hesitate. I’ll take you and hand you over to the Council.”
The man who strode toward Lapis was incredibly tall.
His eye level was higher than even Partisha, who protectively embraced Lapis with a tense expression, forcing one to look far up to meet his gaze.
“It seems you’ve misunderstood my answer.”
But Lapis replied, her expression still composed.
“The reason I was able to visit Vulcan wasn’t because I trusted the City Council.”
“What?”
Fwoosh!!
At that moment, the flames surrounding Lapis and the man slowly distorted, parting to either side.
The flames split apart like a path being forged through the melting asphalt.
The moment the man, sensing an indescribably chilling will-thought from beyond, turned his gaze.
A voice came from behind him.
“You’re not a mercenary.”
“……!!!”
Immediately after, the acrid smoke of a cigarette filled his nostrils.
A young man with an expressionless face, a thick cigar in his mouth, was standing behind the man before he knew it.
He held a few cards, a wallet, and several terminals in his hand, his irritable expression one of someone scrutinizing them.
“No ID or registration, all the numbers on your terminal have caller ID blocked, and you haven’t contacted any brokers. Why even carry a phone at this point?”
The man, realizing that most of the belongings the youth was casually examining and tossing aside were his own, immediately reached out his hand.
“Give it back……!!”
Boom-boom-boom-boom!!!
The man’s hand, swung with a cloud of poisonous fog, was deflected by dozens of explosions that erupted before the youth’s eyes.
It was an extremely precise manipulation, throwing small embers in advance and detonating them with a time lag to parry each of the man’s attacks.
As the man stared at his half-burnt, crushed right hand and turned his gaze in dumbfounded astonishment.
[Explosive Flame Orb]
[Soaring Sublimation Pierce]
Kwaang!!
A fireball falling from above instantly slammed the man’s body into the ground.
“Kagh……!!”
Seeing the man collapse, a black scorch mark seared between his neck and back, Lennok asked.
“If you’re not a mercenary or a freelancer, you must belong to an organization. Which is it?”
“Kuhk……!!”
The man, his face pressed into the molten asphalt, finally directed his gaze beyond the fiery path Lennok had walked.
Bodies, looking exactly like his own惨혹한 state—horribly burned to death—were strewn across the road.
Only then did the man realize this wizard had wiped out every pursuer and mercenary in the vicinity, and he let out an empty laugh.
“Heh, heheh… to think you killed all the pursuers in that short time… What an absurd talent for killing. Where did a wizard like you even come from?”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“……So that’s it. Of course, the Lighthouse Keeper wouldn’t have come to Vulcan alone without some kind of backup….”
Swish!!
The man, who was muttering to himself with a bitter smile, was decapitated by a sharp flash of light.
The man’s breath was cut short, his smiling face severed from his neck.
“……”
Lennok, who had been staring expressionlessly at the head that rolled to his feet, turned his gaze toward the direction of the flash.
“It is said that the flames of a high-level pyromancer inflict the most vicious and maddening of all burns.”
A swordsman holding a long, curved blade was looking this way, smiling.
“Wouldn’t it be better to grant him a peaceful end rather than let him suffer needlessly while still breathing?”
“Who are you?”
“Polaris.”
The swordsman, holding the sword in one hand, answered as he spread his arms in an elegant greeting.
“Just another civil servant, common in this city.”
“……”
“The reward was far too generous for a simple capture job. I was curious what kind of important person they were after, and it seems there was a reason after all. The scion of an Ascendant is one thing, but another wizard so accustomed to killing….”
The swordsman’s eyes narrowed for a moment as he looked at Lennok.
“It’s bothersome. One monster like that is enough for this city.”
“……”
“One…?”
Behind him, Lapis tilted her head in confusion, but Lennok quietly gestured towards her and changed the subject.
“What exactly was the reward? Mercenaries and underworld organizations move for money, but the incentive for a city official wouldn’t be something like that.”
“Even if I told you, an outsider wouldn’t understand. It’s not a reward based on profit and loss to begin with.”
Dudududududu!!
At that moment, the blinding lights of a helicopter illuminated Lennok from the darkened sky.
Military helicopters flew over the burning street, surrounding the sky, while heavy tanks pushed through the collapsed concrete, crushing abandoned vehicles.
Hundreds of soldiers formed ranks in the buildings and on the streets, along with the high-ranking physical ability users commanding them.
There was even a small elite squad from a special agency, waiting in the rear in case of emergencies.
The special agency, Polaris.
The swordsman had bothered to answer Lennok’s question only to completely seal off any escape route.
“From now on, you’ll have to come with us.”
Clank!!
With those words, the tanks and helicopters, now in position, aimed their barrels at Lennok and Lapis.
“The containment perimeter has been established around District 21 and three adjacent districts. There’s nowhere for you to run.”
The swordsman nodded as he watched Lapis look around nervously.
“After the investigation is complete, you’ll be able to meet the Central Council as you wish. We won’t interfere after that, so for now, please come with us.”
“……”
Instead of answering, Lennok took a deep breath as he surveyed the army that had tightly surrounded the entire downtown area.
Right, maybe there was no way to escape once he was discovered.
The City Council’s response had been far too quick from the moment the bounty was issued, and Vulcan’s mercenaries, as always, had a knack for killing people and getting in the way.
Now that his position was exposed and he was surrounded without getting far, there was nowhere to run.
He could try to break through with force, but by now, traffic restrictions and checkpoints would have been set up throughout District 21.
Even if he fled to an adjacent district, he would be caught quickly.
The problem was that Lennok’s current condition could hardly be considered normal.
As a price for absorbing the Outer Sea’s mana to escape District 19, delicate control over his magic had become difficult.
The slightest lapse in concentration would cause his blood vessels to rupture, blood and bruises seeping onto his skin.
He could kill them if he had to. He could probably win if he tried. Dealing with a special agency and the army was still not a difficult task.
But could he fight while keeping Lapis completely safe against a superhuman force that had occupied all the nearby districts?
If Lennok were alone, perhaps, but this was something he couldn’t be sure of.
“……Mr. Evan.”
Lapis, seeming to realize this as well, forced a strained smile.
“Leave me and go.”
“……”
“If the Central Council understands the situation correctly, they’ll focus on securing me rather than you, Mr. Evan.”
“……”
“I’ll confront the City Council directly and buy some time, so please contact the Watchers and somehow-”
No, that was impossible.
Even if Lennok escaped alone and led the Watchers to Vulcan, the chances of Lapis being alive and well were slim.
At least, the old monsters of the Central Council that Lennok knew were not the type of people who would treat the Lighthouse Keeper with such decency.
And even if they arrived in time, what would be the point of a war between a megacity and the Eyes of Blue?
It wasn’t that Lapis didn’t know this.
But in this desperate moment where she sensed the end, she was merely trying to prevent her own misjudgment from hurting Lennok.
Knowing that, Lennok could make his choice without further hesitation.
“No. This is my fault.”
Even as he explained the future plans to Lapis, he had hesitated until the very end to use the most extreme measure.
The one option that could turn this chaotically tangled situation on its head in a single stroke, but could also ruin everything.
“I’m sorry.”
“……Mr. Evan?”
Lennok smiled bitterly and tilted his head back, and at the moment Lapis turned her gaze in confusion.
Crack…!!!
A piercing bolt of lightning flashed across the dark, overcast sky.
Wrapped in a blue flash that stretched from one end of the sky to the other, it slammed down onto the rain-soaked ground.
Kra-koooooom!!!
A massive lightning bolt, dozens of meters in diameter, struck the heart of District 21.
The tremendous impact, as if there was no intention of controlling its power at all, sent all the tanks and artillery that had been surrounding them flying.
“Aaaaaargh!!”
“All units, fall back!!”
“He- he’s here……!!”
“That wizard has come!!”
Crackle, crackle……!!
In the middle of the rain-drenched intersection, a young man in a coat stood with his head bowed.
He held a silver staff in one hand, leaning on it as he weakly lifted his gaze.
The piercing blue glow flashing through his hair left long trails behind it, pressing down on the surrounding air.
Goooooooo……!!
At the manifestation of that overwhelmingly murderous intent, which words could not describe, everyone forgot the current situation and held their breath.
“Th-that person is……”
The moment Lapis, her eyes wide with a dazed look, saw the face of the slowly turning young man.
Fwoosh!!
The black-haired youth had appeared right in front of Lennok before she knew it.
“……”
The expressionless youth with flashing eyes, and Lennok, whose shoulders were trembling as if in pain.
The two wizards faced each other, surrounded by an immeasurable military force and a net of firepower. Just as Lennok was about to move his lips.
An intense electric shock erupted from the youth’s fingertips, explosively striking Lennok’s body.
[Constant Thunder]
Kra-koooooom!!!
A bolt of lightning shot out in a straight line, instantly slamming Lennok’s body to the end of the intersection and sending him flying.
Before Lapis could react to this unexpected event, the youth raised his hand.
“The scion of an Ascendant. The bearer of the Lighthouse Keeper’s mission.”
“Lady Lapis!”
Bzzzt……!!
Partisha felt an intense sense of dread and threw her body forward, but it was too late.
The moment a sharp bolt of electricity grazed Lapis’s neck and vanished, she instantly lost consciousness and her body collapsed on the spot.
“She’ll be useful.”
Thump!!
The youth caught Lapis’s falling form with one hand and slowly looked around with a smile.
“I’ll be taking this one.”
“A-Adamant Thunder……”
“He finally did it.”
“He’s insane, how could he……!”
Dozens, hundreds of superhumans cowered, unable to tear their eyes away from a single wizard.
It was an atrocity—intervening at a critical moment, throwing the situation into chaos, and snatching away the most important target.
But not a single person could challenge the madman’s actions, or even voice a protest. They held their breath and averted their eyes.
The blood-crazed grand wizard who had suddenly begun to operate actively in Vulcan.
Everyone standing here knew that his reputation was still built upon a foundation of heinous and vicious deeds.
It was impossible with the forces gathered here. They wouldn’t even be allowed to utter a single word.
That was why no one noticed that Lennok, who had been slammed by the lightning and sent flying, was lying on the ground with his eyes open.
‘…Yes.’
It starts now.
The only way to carry out Lapis’s ascension ritual, shake off the city-wide pursuit, and settle the score with the vice-mayor and the City Council.
And the one choice that could flip this bizarrely twisted board that had become so difficult to handle.
It was to entrust Lapis’s safety to the grand wizard considered the most insane in this city.