Chapter 883: The Eye That Sees Fate (19)

Whoooosh….

A burning dump, filled with acrid smoke.

Within the smoke that completely obscured her vision, Evelyn slowly lowered her stance before the fallen Lennok.

“Haa… Just how did things end up like this?”

Crouching down, Evelyn muttered as she wiped her face with one hand.

Uncharacteristically, her face was fraught with distress.

Lennok pushed his upper body up and casually covered one hand with the other.

He had to block Partisha’s ears within the ring to be able to speak with Evelyn.

“How much time do we have?”

“Three minutes. We need to clean this up and leave within that time,” Evelyn answered quickly.

“I haven’t returned to public office, so I can’t cover for the movements of other factions. They’ll be coming for you soon.”

“I see.”

“Putting aside the attempted assassination charge on Vice-Mayor Weinstein, what are you planning to do about Lapis?”

Evelyn asked immediately, not waiting for Lennok to speak.

Slightly biting her lip, Evelyn stared at Lennok with an intense gaze.

“Why, at that specific moment… did you make that choice?”

“…Calm down. You won’t be able to hear a thing if you’re that agitated.”

Lennok shook his head with a bitter smile.

Three minutes. In that time, he had to explain the situation to Evelyn and make her understand the decision he had made.

Instantly organizing his thoughts, Lennok quickly began to speak.

“Vice-Mayor Weinstein betrayed us right after we entered District 19. She never intended to show us the inside of the restricted zone from the start.”

“…”

“During our escape, our clash with the Vice-Mayor was discovered, and a warrant was issued for my arrest. I half-shattered her mind, so there’s no way they’ll call off the search.”

Activating the array on his forearm and venting heat, Lennok said, “So I just decided to entrust the job to someone who could handle the fallout.”

“That’s… truly absurd,” Evelyn muttered, unable to hide her bewilderment.

“That’s a grandiose way of saying you just dumped your troublesome work onto your other identity, isn’t it?”

“…Your phrasing is a bit crude. It was a delicate division of labor, considering the necessary aptitudes for the right time and place.”

“…”

Evelyn looked like she was about to retort angrily but clamped her mouth shut. After making a face of someone desperately holding back, she let out a small sigh and nodded.

“Fine, I get it. Rather than run and wait for the wanted order to be lifted, you’d rather drag in a bigger problem to muddy the waters?”

“If I use Adamant Thunder’s notoriety to obscure the true nature of the incident, not even the Central Council can avoid having its attention divided.”

Lennok replied, pushing himself to his feet.

Meeting Evelyn’s gaze, Lennok spoke with a serious expression.

“All that’s needed is for me to personally bring this situation to a close.”

“…A close, you say.”

In that moment, Evelyn’s expression turned serious.

“To speak so confidently, have you finally learned Incarnation Spellcraft?”

“…”

“To exist and intervene in different spaces and times, you literally have to create another version of yourself. There are only a handful of spellcrafts capable of such a feat.”

Evelyn, who knew both Van and Evan, seemed to have already guessed how Lennok had revealed both identities simultaneously.

“Come to think of it, even in the Samsara Labyrinth, you showed a great deal of interest in the Incarnation Spellcraft Rapperd used.”

Checking the time on the terminal on her wrist, Evelyn spoke quickly.

“Back then, you said it would be difficult to learn due to various problems. But you succeeded in learning it after all, didn’t you?”

“The Incarnation Spellcraft Rapperd uses is a miracle based on faith, so its lineage is a bit different,” Lennok replied.

“But it’s true that I was inspired by watching it. It helped me organize my thoughts in many ways.”

“Aha, so you didn’t learn it from Rapperd?”

Evelyn’s gaze sharpened instantly.

“Oh? Then where could you have learned the spellcraft? Could it be you paid a visit to Yorta, which is rumored to be the origin of Incarnation Spellcraft?”

“…”

Only then did Lennok realize Evelyn’s question was a highly condensed leading interrogation, and he subtly averted his gaze.

Perhaps because they had known each other for a long time, but it felt like Evelyn’s intuition had grown unusually sharp lately.

If he responded even a little carelessly, he would be pierced by the arrowhead-sharp tip of her tongue.

Evelyn glared at Lennok with a displeased look, then shook her head with a dejected expression.

“Haa… I’m sorry. To be honest, I don’t have any right to say anything about this.”

“…”

“I was the one who left Lapis in your care and disappeared. You had no choice either… No, still, did it have to be this way?!”

Even as she tried to blame herself for her mistake, Evelyn couldn’t seem to accept the idea of throwing both Adamant Thunder and Evan onto the board at the same time.

“About 40 seconds left.”

Lennok smiled, took her outstretched hand, and stood up.

“Can you explain why you haven’t been in contact?”

“There’s going to be a top-secret meeting within Vulcan soon.”

“…”

“It seems they’re gathering Level 8 Apex-level ability users to discuss something, and I was summoned to the Senate because of it.”

“A meeting…”

“…I’m sorry. It really is my fault.”

Evelyn’s expression momentarily clouded with a faint guilt.

She was likely blaming herself for leaving the bodyguard duty to Lennok and not intervening until things had gotten this far.

But at this point, Lennok had no intention of dwelling on Evelyn’s fault.

Evelyn was also an archer who had transcended the hierarchy to reach Level 8. Even if she was unemployed after being fired from the Agents, no one would treat her power and prestige lightly.

Being forcibly summoned for a meeting and having to be away against her will was rather a matter of course.

If anything, if she had defied the summons and stayed to help Lennok, it would have raised unnecessary suspicion and complicated the situation.

“Then those warriors who came with you are…”

Evelyn nodded at Lennok’s words.

“They’re the scheduled participants for the meeting. They started discussing you after the main talks ended, so I jumped in.”

As the smoke slowly began to clear, he could feel presences rapidly approaching from the surroundings.

The other warriors were heading this way, following the point where Evelyn had landed.

There wasn’t much time.

Lennok tapped Evelyn’s shoulder and whispered quietly, “Lapis is in the Magic Tower. If you make contact with her, you’ll know where to go.”

“…”

Although he had left Lapis at the tower under his identity as Adamant Thunder, Lennok had no intention of letting Lapis escape the tower and head to the fortress alone.

He had assumed there was a good reason why he couldn’t reach Evelyn, so he knew she would eventually make contact, even if belatedly.

From the very beginning, Lennok had a job set aside for this archer.

“I’ll leave the timing to you. Can you do it?”

“…What do you take me for?”

Evelyn gave a bitter smile and tilted her head back.

“A diversionary tactic is basic for an intelligence agent. Don’t worry.”

“Good.”

Lennok smiled, took a step back, and patted his own chest.

“Not too hard. Can you manage that?”

“Well, I can’t promise that.”

Evelyn grinned mischievously and raised her fist.

“I might mix in a little emotion, so you’d better brace yourself…!!”

With those words, Evelyn channeled her mana and slammed her fist into Lennok’s solar plexus.

BOOOOM!!

As Lennok caught Evelyn’s fist with both hands, a violent shockwave erupted, sending his body hurtling down the street.

Simultaneously, the blast of wind cleared away the acrid smoke rising from all sides, and the other warriors who spotted Evelyn immediately landed beside her.

“Evelyn Marcia…! Are you alright?”

The woman leading the warriors shouted urgently at Evelyn, who stood with one hand clenched into a fist.

“I’ve contacted the operations room. We’ll call in a medical team right now…!!”

“…No need for a medical team. It’s already over.”

Slowly lowering her hand, Evelyn turned, her expression having become placid.

She nodded, her gaze sharp as she looked down the alley where Lennok had disappeared.

“He fled that way, so tighten the encirclement. I managed to land a hit, but the damage probably wasn’t significant.”

“…And you?”

“This is as far as I go. I have something I need to do.”

Only then did Evelyn smile bitterly and turn to leave.

“I don’t know if this is the right thing to do, but I suppose I have to play along until the very end with the job he took on for me.”

Swishhh…!!

Smoke trailing from his entire body, Lennok’s form, which had been sent flying down the alley, flickered and blinked out of existence.

Flicker! Flicker! Flicker!

He repeated spatial transitions on the spot, like a flickering light in the air.

In that spot, he instantly corrected the center of gravity and balance of his body, which had been sent tumbling chaotically.

Kachak!!

“Hoo…”

In the outer construction zone of District 45, far enough away that the magnificent vortex of fire that had used an entire old apartment complex as kindling was barely visible.

Amidst the half-built, abandoned steel frames and piles of concrete from which dust billowed, Lennok slowly composed himself.

“My senses are slowly returning.”

The mana that had been uncontrollable as he increased his maximum capacity with the Outer Sea’s power was gradually coming under his command.

It wasn’t yet at a level where he could fully grasp all the overflowing mana and control it at will, but at this rate, he might be able to cast Blink in the middle of a battle.

Just as Lennok had that thought, put a cigar in his mouth, and raised his lighter, Partisha’s voice reached him.

“Adamant Thunder of Vulcan… I had only heard vague rumors, but he truly is an unbelievable monster.”

Partisha, who had been watching the situation from within the Guide’s Ring on Lennok’s finger, spoke up now that there were no prying eyes.

“I have rarely heard of a human who wields such a malevolent reputation.”

“…”

“There are plenty of powerful superhumans and brilliant geniuses, but how can every single person you meet speak of that wizard with such trembling and fear…?”

Her voice, emanating as a quiet light from within the ring, was noticeably intimidated.

“Can we truly save Lady Lapis?”

It wasn’t death she feared, but failure.

Sometimes, another’s strength or malevolence is felt more keenly when heard about than when faced directly.

When every person met in the continent’s largest city unanimously foretells a tragic end, it is inevitable that anyone would be shaken.

If even Partisha, who had lived a long life as a long-lived species, lacked conviction, how would this wizard fare?

Partisha was not worried for herself, but for the wizard walking with her through the city’s darkness.

“You can’t expect success from the very beginning of any endeavor.”

Lennok replied, touching the flame of his lighter to the tip of the cigar in his mouth.

“When Lapis accepted the will of the Heavenly Sight and founded the Eyes of Blue, I don’t think she was certain of a future like this. This matter is no different.”

“That’s…”

“Perhaps when we actually meet Adamant Thunder, things will resolve more easily than we think. We won’t know until we get there, will we?”

Lennok smiled.

“The details were all different, but the cases I handled for the Eyes of Blue were generally like that. Try not to think so negatively.”

“…”

Partisha did not reply to his words.

She merely remained silent for a long time, as if in deep contemplation, before finally speaking with a strained voice.

“You are a strong person. To be able to say that even in a situation like this…”

“…”

“I think I can understand a little why Lady Lapis trusted and relied on you so much, even though you are not a Watcher.”

“…Perhaps. I’m not such a trustworthy person.”

Lennok gave a bitter smile.

He himself knew better than anyone that he was not as upright a person as Partisha’s impression or Lapis’s trust suggested.

“In the end, the fact that things got so twisted is the result of Lapis trusting me with the job. I’m just trying to clean up the spilled water.”

“Trust should not be determined by the minor success or failure of a task.”

Partisha’s voice, which had been wavering with anxiety, had become calm and stable.

“In the past, I was not like that. I could not fully trust the master I served, and unable to bear even the price of that, I abandoned my home.”

“…”

“A human who lives for less than a few decades is wiser than a spirit who has lived for centuries. It’s so ridiculous, it’s almost like the answer Kundara chose…”

The Outer Tribulation City, Kundara.

What could have happened in that city where long-lived species gathered to escape ruin?

Just as its name, Outer Tribulation (外迲), suggested, perhaps they were truly waiting for everything to end from outside of fate.

But for now, instead of questioning Partisha about Kundara, Lennok simply raised his gaze.

An endless, dark alleyway.

A lone girl with fluorescent hair, clearly recognizable even in the darkness, stood there, watching him.

A small frame, and a bizarre appearance, carrying a massive guandao that didn’t match her height.

The girl, with the long polearm that far exceeded her height slung loosely over one shoulder, asked.

“Done with your pity party?”

“…”

Her words and actions were a complete mismatch with her appearance, from top to bottom.

But Lennok knew very well who this girl was.

“It’s been a while since our Chairman and that vampire bastard have disagreed, but I, for one, agree with Virgil.”

Thump!!

As she gripped the giant guandao and slammed it down, a light shockwave rippled through the ground, blowing away the surrounding dust.

“I get that the city’s a mess, but does it make any sense to just let some bastard who set fire to our business and ran away go free? You think so too, right?”

“…The district I passed through was an old apartment complex where no one has set foot for a long time.”

Lennok retorted, puffing out a cloud of smoke.

“It shouldn’t have much to do with what you call your business.”

“No, it was our business, alright.”

The Cartel’s Third Director. Meryllda, a half-beast-kin and master of weaponry, replied.

“The plant-based drugs we were cultivating in that apartment complex. If you add it all up, it’s a pretty big sum of money.”

“…”

“The reason we turned a blind eye to brokers using it as a meeting spot was so it would look like a place where people lived, to avoid getting caught by the authorities. This kind of incident makes things difficult.”

As Meryllda gestured, red laser sights flickered in the dark alleyway.

The moment he realized they were the aiming sights of the Cartel’s secretly operated execution squad, Lennok shifted his body.

Thwack!!

A bullet grazed past Lennok’s shoulder and instantly pierced the sign behind him.

Crack!

Immediately after being hit, the sturdy iron post melted as if it were boiling.

A magic-embedded incendiary bullet usable in a rifle. And one with enough intense heat to melt its target whole.

“I won’t waste words. Get out of our territory,” Meryllda said, shaking her head.

“There’s no point in demanding compensation from crazy bastards like the Watchers. Just leave this city without burning anything else, and I’ll let you live.”

A Level 7 Saint-level ability user who had perfected her hierarchy.

A military force within the corporate syndicate led by the Cartel’s directors.

A big shot who most staunchly protected the prestige of the Triumvirate in Vulcan’s underworld.

But Lennok shook his head even at Meryllda’s menacing threat.

“That can’t be it.”

“What?”

“If you were moving because of your business, there’d be no reason to provoke me. Aren’t you trying to stop me from digging around the nearby districts?”

Lennok’s smile blurred for a moment as he looked at Meryllda.

“It looks as if you’re trying to stop me from reaching Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower.”

“…Tsk.”

Meryllda clicked her tongue in annoyance and spat out a quiet curse.

“This is why I hate smart bastards. Makes me feel like an idiot for putting on an act.”

If it was Virgil who was moving Meryllda and the Cartel’s forces now, then the situation was understandable.

Virgil was one of the few executives within the Cartel who knew Van well.

He knew that Adamant Thunder was suffering from considerable injuries from long battles, and that in reality, he wasn’t completely insane.

From Virgil’s perspective, it wouldn’t be strange for him to intervene to prevent Van from fighting Evan now, to avoid any unforeseen variables.

Lennok had immediately seen through the fact that the talk about the business was just a meaningless pretext.

“Yeah, Virgil said exactly that.”

Lifting her polearm, Meryllda walked forward and glared at Lennok.

“He said I can’t let you meet Adamant Thunder. He said you’re probably a very dangerous wizard who returned from a perilous war.”

“…”

Lennok’s expression changed slightly at Meryllda’s words.

Most of the things Lennok had handled as Evan Martinez had taken place far from Vulcan, so not many people should know about them.

Had Virgil already gathered some information on that front as well?

“To be honest, I still don’t know if you’re that great of a wizard, but…”

Thud!!

As she raised and gripped her guandao tightly, a strong wind pushed out from her.

In that spot, Meryllda’s own body weight seemed to increase drastically, creating the illusion that the ground around her was bending.

Swoosh!

Wielding the smooth blade as if to slice through the grain of the wind, Meryllda said, “The Chairman didn’t say anything, so I guess I’ll do it.”

“…”

“So, are you going to fight me, or are you going to get lost?”

Lennok glanced behind Meryllda and gave a subtle smile.

“I’ve just finished dealing with a warrior who handles their weapon well.”

“What?”

“A second time would be tedious.”

Fwoosh!!

As Lennok took a step forward, flames erupted behind him like a jet propulsion, spreading out.

The intensely burning four streams of fire split in four directions like wings of flame, pushing Lennok’s body forward.

KWAAAAANG!!

Lennok’s body accelerated at an incredible speed, shooting past Meryllda.

“Hey!!”

Enraged, Meryllda reacted instantly, swinging her polearm and chasing after Lennok.

“Get back here, you bastard!!”

District 21. An old cathedral located in the back alleys of a rundown street.

A quiet chapel, untouched by human feet.

A nun with her eyes covered by a blindfold sat before a pipe organ.

“Yes. The search of this area is complete. The police won’t be coming for a while.”

She gently pressed the organ keys, making the pipes resonate.

Following a steady rhythm, the nun matched the tones, only speaking when the sound was traveling.

“I’ve dealt with the remaining traces of mana and will-thought as you instructed. Even the investigator sent by the City Council didn’t notice.”

[It’s a new mana-shielding technology recently developed at the Elavain Magic Tower.]

At that moment, a deep male voice echoed from beyond the pipe organ.

A strange phenomenon where they exchanged their intentions through the medium of the organ.

The Doctor spoke in a voice that seemed to be putting on airs.

[It hasn’t been officially announced to the academic society yet, so even an investigator from the City Council would find it difficult to notice.]

“But why go to such lengths to have me remain in District 21? Even if they discovered our traces, we could just move our residence. It wouldn’t be difficult.”

[District 21 of the megacity remains undeveloped due to its unique topography.]

The Doctor replied.

[It’s located on the border between the central and outer districts, so there’s no significant investment, yet it hasn’t been completely excluded from development either. It’s an ambiguous place.]

“Then…”

[But it will be the best seat for watching the show that’s about to unfold in this city.]

“A show?”

[The Watcher, Evan Martinez. I met him once before, at the Samsara Labyrinth.]

Tick, tock.

The Doctor’s voice seemed to sink deeper from beyond the organ.

As if lost in deep thought, his tone was slow and retrospective as he looked back on his memories.

[A human who inherited the will of an Ascendant from the Cradle of Jindun. And a monster who has placed great constraints on the Cult’s movements.]

“…”

[I don’t know if his talent is comparable to Adamant Thunder’s, but the karma that man has acquired is in no way inferior to that mad wizard’s.]

“That is…”

[The opportunity to publicly witness a clash between wizards who have reached this level is exceedingly rare.]

An undisguisable hint of laughter mixed into the Doctor’s voice as it resonated from the organ.

[Hylaea. Prepare Agilon’s will-thought. So we can open the simulated ritual space and summon the other members of Pandemonium.]

The Doctor whispered.

[Whether the outlandish plan Deimus proposed is truly worth trying even once… what happens in this city will prove it.]