Chapter 882: The Eye That Sees Fate (18)
“Thirty disposable ignition stones, 6.2 million cell.”
In a dark room with a flickering old light, only a greasy voice echoed quietly.
A fat man was placing all sorts of items onto a round table, like one found in a gambling den.
Lennok, sitting opposite him, watched with a blank expression.
“Ten Alamite flints, 8 million cell. Three small mana igniters, 7.8 million cell.”
“……”
“Twenty-five Girard Co. custom lighters, 4.5 million cell. One Alpha-Cell cartridge flamethrower, that one was already paid for in kind.”
Click, click.
The man flicked a lighter on and off, as if to show it worked properly in front of Lennok’s eyes, before bending down below the table again.
“Tobacco leaves imported directly from the plant city of Lalabelly. Twenty grams of a quantity reserved only for the finest premium cigars.”
With every word the man spoke, various items appeared and disappeared from the table, emitting all sorts of strange odors.
Even the fat man presenting the items himself winced slightly.
“Painkillers and stimulants, hormone suppressants. Fire-resistant skin anesthetic. Mana projection ray prevention cream. And finally…”
Thud!!
A solid metal bracer, designed to be worn on the forearm.
Its peculiar feature was the several angular pipes extending from the outer arm, resembling exhaust ports.
“A combustion array device made exclusively for pyrokinesis. It’s a used item, been through five owners and eight modifications.”
The man explained.
“It works by inserting a tube into the body and forcibly venting heat outside. But be careful with the output control.”
“……”
“The performance is top-notch, but its adhesive force is so strong that the slightest misuse might not just vent heat, but a chunk of your flesh… Hey, are you listening to me?”
The man asked with a hint of suspicion, seeing Lennok’s silent, unfocused gaze on the table.
It was as if his eyes had no focus at all.
“Ah, my apologies.”
Only after the man finished speaking did focus slowly return to Lennok’s eyes.
Cold sweat trickled down Lennok’s forehead as he glanced at the man.
“It’s difficult to maintain concentration for long periods. I was listening, so please continue.”
“…You don’t look so good. Where’s your mind at?”
“That’s the problem. I left it somewhere else.”
“What?”
“It’s nothing. More importantly, it’s impressive you managed to acquire this.”
As he naturally brought it to his forearm, it tightened and adhered on its own, as if adjusting to the wearer’s size.
Kuuuuu…!!
The exhaust ports vibrated slowly, emitting heat, and a heat haze shimmered over his forearm.
Lennok stroked the exhaust ports on his arm and smirked.
“I did request it, but this isn’t an item that appears on the market very often.”
“Indeed. It was even harder to find because there isn’t much equipment made exclusively for superhumans.”
The man said, wiping away his sweat.
“The price went up because of that, so keep that in mind. Including the commission, the total should be about—”
“Here.”
Clang!
Lennok placed a heavy pouch on the table and pushed it toward the man.
“Check the amount first. If it’s correct, we’re done here.”
“…Alright.”
The man hesitated before pulling the pouch over and opening it. He looked slightly surprised and immediately closed it again.
“No need to look further. How much extra did you put in?”
“Enough to keep your mouth shut about this deal.”
“……”
Leaving the silent man behind, Lennok stood up and began to stow the equipment piled on the table into his pockets.
Click, click!!
He took out a cigar, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a lighter.
It had been a while since he’d lit a cigar without using magic, so his hand fumbled slightly.
“I’m not asking you to keep it a secret for life. I don’t expect that much.”
Lennok said as he collected the medicines stacked on the table.
“This is the fee for you to keep quiet about this transaction from other brokers or the deep web for about fifteen days. If it’s not enough, let me know.”
“…I see.”
While the man glanced down at his wrist, Lennok gathered his things and stood up.
As Lennok was about to leave the room, the man, as if suddenly remembering something, asked.
“You don’t seem to be an acquaintance of mine, but you seem quite familiar with how we do business here.”
“……”
“You bought a lot of ignition equipment. Are you going to set something on fire?”
“…That’s right. I’m thinking of starting a very big fire.”
Lennok smirked and turned his gaze.
He stopped just as he was about to leave the room and casually leaned against the back of the door, crossing his arms.
“There’s plenty of firewood in this city, after all. All I needed was a spark.”
“……”
“I wasn’t sure about preparing the materials, but this seems to be the minimum I need. I suppose that’s a relief.”
Fwoosh!!
A small flame flickered to life in Lennok’s hand as he crushed a disposable ignition stone.
But even after the stone was instantly consumed, the flame remained, burning in his hand.
Lennok’s eyes glinted coldly as he stared at the roaring flame.
“At least I met a broker who finishes the job before betraying me.”
“…!!”
The moment the man heard those words and his face changed drastically, Lennok swung his hand.
As the small flame spun and plunged into the table, the entire room erupted in an explosion of fire.
Flames clung to the man’s body as he screamed in agony, rolling on the ground.
“Ugh, uwaaah…!!”
Thump, thump, thump!! Thump, thump!!
Immediately after the screams, someone started pounding violently on the door from outside.
THUMP!!
The sound intensified as if they were trying to break the door down, but it didn’t budge, as if it had been hardened solid.
In the brief moment Lennok had grabbed and released the doorknob, all the hinges had melted, sealing the gap.
“I thought no one was supposed to come to this apartment complex today, but it seems we have guests.”
Lennok smiled, turning towards the door.
“Then I should open it for them. I can at least do that for you.”
Kurrrrk!!
Lennok’s mana circuits, forcibly expanded by absorbing the Outer Sea’s mana, pulsed violently.
Mixing his will-thought with the savagely surging, uncontrolled mana, he transformed it into the principle of real flame.
Lennok placed his finger on the solid iron door and, as if wiping it down, swung his hand.
The flame that blossomed from his fingertip split open like an eye, unleashing a dazzling barrage of fire.
Proprietary Flame Magic
[Explosive Flame Sphere]
[Dual Manifestation - Dual Carve]
[Crimson Hunter’s Gaze]
[Direct Burn]
BOOOOOOM!!!
A red radiance pierced through the door, shooting like a beam in a straight line through the hallway beyond.
Lennok, grasping the blazing flames, twisted his wrist as if turning a key, and the beam erupted explosively, incinerating the corridor.
[Aaaaargh!!]
[Hot, it’s so hot…!!]
The screams of the mercenaries burning to death without even getting a proper look at Lennok’s face.
Only after their desperate cries had completely vanished did Lennok turn back to the burning room.
“I believe I bought your entire day for this transaction. How strange.”
Looking at the broker, who was trembling with a deathly pale face, Lennok smirked and pointed to the door.
“D-Damn it…!!”
Lennok stepped on the head of the broker crawling on the floor to escape, pressing down as he asked.
“Did you think it would be more profitable for you if I was captured here, so you could collect the bounty from the warrant?”
“D-Don’t be ridiculous!”
The broker gasped for breath, his head still pinned under Lennok’s foot.
“You think I’d break the unwritten rule for that…?! I wouldn’t be able to work as a broker in this city if I did!!”
“Then?”
“It’s because of you!! You’re fighting that man without knowing your place!!”
Even with his neck being mercilessly crushed, the broker shook his head desperately.
“Do you really think you can win against that wizard?! Don’t be absurd. It’s impossible…!!”
“……”
An undeniable fear was mixed in the broker’s shouting voice.
“Rather than die at the hands of Adamant Thunder, it’s better to… here…!!”
“You intended to kill me here and offer me up instead? Don’t make me laugh.”
Lennok finished the broker’s sentence and shook his head.
“If you wanted to avoid getting involved, you could have just refused the deal from the start. Why act as if you had no choice?”
“Ugh, ughhh…!!”
Chiiik!!
Activating the array device on his forearm, the pipes trembled violently, spewing out intense heat.
Instead of letting the ignited mana fester until his blood boiled, he forcibly discharged it to lower his body temperature.
It was an auxiliary device originally created for high-level pyrokinetics who couldn’t even control their own abilities, but it was certainly useful for Lennok now.
“Still, you didn’t tamper with the goods. I suppose you were worried I’d notice and ruin your plan…”
Lennok, who had been touching the heated exhaust ports, slowly brought it closer to the broker’s face.
Chiiik!!
“Kuaaaargh!!”
The intense heat on his face made the broker scream as if he were being torn apart and he began to convulse.
“I’ll spare you for now, since you’ve saved me some trouble.”
“Kill me, just kill meeee!!”
He pulled the exhaust port away just before the broker stopped breathing.
Squeezing out a bit of the fire-resistant skin anesthetic he had just bought from the broker and applying it, the convulsing body gradually began to stabilize.
After confirming this, Lennok nodded and stood up.
“The effect is certain. Well then…”
Click, click!!
Fiddling with a portable lighter in his hand, he stood before the blacked-out window.
Even without closing his eyes, he could feel the numerous fierce presences packed tightly in the vicinity.
Lennok tossed the lighter in his hand, caught it, and smirked as he drew upon his mana.
“Shall we begin?”
BOOOOOM!!
One side of the old apartment building exploded, and a violent flame shot up in a long stream.
A figure fell from the end of the long, trailing red radiance, then began to sprint rapidly along the wall.
“There he is!”
“He killed the broker and escaped! Open fire!!”
Shooters who had been waiting in the building opposite the apartment and on the ground simultaneously aimed their muzzles and pulled their triggers.
In an instant, the deafening sound of gunfire echoed through the middle of the street.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!
But the target, far from being intercepted and falling despite the barrage of over a thousand bullets, actually increased its speed.
The other shooters clicked their tongues at the sight of Lennok sprinting as if using the flames scattering behind him as a propellant.
“How is he so fast…!!”
“Damn it, is he even a wizard?”
“We can’t hit him with our current firearms. The slightest deviation from his trajectory and he’s out of the aiming range…!!”
“Send in the containment squad! We need to at least narrow his path so the shooters can get a hit!”
Kagagak!!
At that moment, a dozen black figures simultaneously blocked Lennok’s path, descending vertically onto the apartment wall.
Superhumans in fire-resistant suits and respirators watched Lennok, each gripping their weapons.
“Eyes of Blue. A flame wizard.”
“Who are you?”
Just as Lennok frowned, the woman at the front drew a sharp sword.
KWAAANG!!
The woman’s swinging blade collided head-on with Lennok’s form, which was descending like a wildfire.
The apartment wall cracked and dented as if being crushed, and as her body’s center of gravity was pushed far back, the woman spoke.
“A warrant has been issued for your arrest on suspicion of the attempted assassination of Vice-Mayor Amy Weinstein. Please cease your resistance and accompany us.”
Kagagak!!
Glancing at the glinting sword clashing with the flames, Lennok asked.
“Warriors of the Light. Did you join hands with the broker because of the warrant?”
They were neither underworld mercenaries nor a special agency of the City Council.
They were publicly recognized superhumans of the light, like the Turyeonmun of Integrity, who had been in seclusion under the Prohibition Edict.
Judging by their orderly presence and mana, they were undoubtedly a superhuman group focused on honing their martial arts.
As if Lennok’s words were not wrong, a faint hint of admiration seemed to mix into the woman’s voice.
“I respect your judgment in understanding and navigating the city’s dynamics in just a few days. Your ability to accurately identify your opponents even in a situation like this is exceptional.”
Even while being pinned against the building wall and sliding down, defying the flow of gravity, she hadn’t lost her fighting spirit.
The woman’s eyes glinted sharply above her respirator.
“I acknowledge that you are a distinguished wizard in both martial and scholarly arts, but you will never defeat Adamant Thunder.”
“…!!”
Kuaaang!!
She swiftly parried the irregularly exploding and falling flames with elegant swordplay.
Her blade, moving as smoothly as flowing silk, instantly cut off his footing and forcibly broke his balance.
Her swordsmanship was elegant enough to mark Lennok’s accelerating sprint single-handedly in such an unstable environment.
As if on cue, the other warriors also closed the distance towards Lennok, instantly forcing his body to a halt.
Screeeech!!
At the very edge of the old apartment wall, where a dozen people had come to a precarious stop just before falling, the woman spoke.
“How about formally responding to the warrant, investigating this matter, and discussing a way to recover the Lighthouse Keeper? This is advice given out of genuine concern for you.”
“I don’t know what nonsense you’ve been spouting. Why do you think I’m going to fight Adamant Thunder?”
“Because all of your actions thus far point to that future.”
The woman slowly readjusted her grip on the sword and replied.
Standing vertically on the building wall, it was a strange sight where every part of the scenery was tilted except for her balanced posture.
“Ransacking hideouts to gather information, deliberately exposing your tracks to deal with pursuers, and procuring equipment through a broker. Are these not all the actions of a warrior preparing for a decisive battle?”
“……”
“I sympathize with your sense of responsibility to fulfill your duties even after losing the master you served, but it is a futile effort. He is not the type of man to spare a challenger.”
“I see.”
Lennok smiled.
Proprietary Flame Magic
Property Transformation: Emission Manifestation
[Linked Fire]
[Innate Flame]
Fwoosh!!
At that moment, intense flames erupted from Lennok as the center, rapidly surging in all directions.
The burning footprints left behind while running up the apartment wall at a right angle.
Following the flames left on the wall, the apartment wall itself began to catch fire and burn.
It was a bizarre phenomenon, as if he weren’t leaving footprints, but flames.
A large-scale, area-of-effect flame magic that used all the flames burning along the carved footsteps on the apartment wall as a catalyst for ignition and incantation.
[64-Layered Ignition: Overload]
Kugwagwagwa!!!
A vision of the surrounding landscape turning crimson hot arose.
The moment they realized this wasn’t just a trick of the eye, but that this entire space was actually becoming a giant, red-hot vortex.
[Fountain of Sinking Fire]
[Heaven-Slipping Fire Vortex]
The flames that coiled around the old apartment, using it as firewood, began to rotate violently, becoming a massive storm of fire tens of meters in size.
Kuwhaaaaaaaaak!!!
“Kyaaak!!”
The warriors, who were barely leaning against the apartment wall, were thrown off like toys by the intense heatwave.
“Too late.”
Fwoosh!!
Lennok’s body had already flickered like a handful of flames, escaping the restraints.
“Tsk…!!”
“Stop him!!”
The warriors turned to catch Lennok, but the speed and intensity of the wind felt like it would tear and burn their flesh.
“Wizard…!!”
Kaaang!!
Even in that chaos, the woman, who had exquisitely avoided the most intense zones of the heatwave as she fell, caught up to Lennok and thrust her blade in a reverse grip.
He used the array device on his forearm as a shield, and the blade slid between the exhaust pipes, sending out a shower of intense sparks.
Kagagagak!!
But the woman, despite having caught up to Lennok in an instant as they fell, couldn’t hide her look of dismay and shouted.
She had immediately understood the meaning of Lennok’s last words and that colossal vortex of fire.
“You’re insane. Do you intend to use this city as firewood to forcibly augment your power…!!”
“A privilege of a flame wizard.”
Lennok, who had pushed the blade away with a strained shrug of his stiff shoulder, laughed as he fell.
“Do I still look like I’m challenging a fight with no chance of winning?”
“…You.”
The woman’s gaze, as she stared at Lennok, became infinitely calm.
Because she knew that the words Lennok had just uttered as if in a declaration were not baseless bluffs.
She had a premonition that he might actually survive alone and face Adamant Thunder at the end of this city.
“I heard you were handling the Lighthouse Keeper’s protection all by yourself, but you are no ordinary wizard. What kind of work did you do for the Eyes of Blue to have such confidence—?”
[That’s enough.]
Fwoosh!!
At that moment, a hazy, distorted dark green radiance cleanly separated the two.
In the center of a heatwave so hot it could melt one’s eyes. A battle clashing while falling tens of meters towards the ground.
A green shadow, precisely targeting that point of stalemate, dropped down and instantly wedged itself between the two, raising its mana.
Clutching a black arrow in a reverse grip in one hand, and shouldering a heavy barrel that looked like a giant coffin in the other, it twisted its body.
Sweeeek!!
Lennok’s form, unable to overcome the sudden change in inertia, was flung out of the heatwave like an arrow and vanished.
The woman, caught between the barrel’s protective shield, immediately recognized her opponent and shouted.
“Hyun-gung…!!”
[That wizard is mine.]
Evelyn’s green eyes flashed as she gave the woman a slight wave of her hand.
[Stay back. I will take the lead.]
Kwaang!!
In a back alley where the tens-of-meters-tall firestorm could be seen in the distance.
Lennok, having fallen onto a field littered with trash, slid for another dozen meters.
“…Kuhk!!”
Chiiiiik!!
He cushioned the impact by layering mana over his body, but the still-uncontrolled mana ignited on its own, burning the surrounding trash.
In an instant, acrid smoke rose, obscuring the area.
“Cough, cough!!”
Just as he struggled to stand up, coughing, a sharp green glint flashed within the thick smoke.
Sweeeek!!
Something approached swiftly like an arrow from beyond the smoke, instantly grabbing Lennok’s arm and lightly tripping him.
[What in the world are you thinking?]
An urgent voice came from beyond the visor.
Lennok heard the words, smirked, and lifted his head.
“I was waiting.”
[….]
Click!!
Only after she removed the green visor was the face that had been hidden below the jaw fully revealed.
Evelyn, her face hardened, looked down at Lennok, biting her lip.