Chapter 891: The Eye That Sees Fate (27)
“Jump…!!”
FWOOOOSH!!
A gale-force wind blasted past them as if in a collision. The floors of the tower blurred past Lapis and vanished above her in an instant.
Lapis reflexively tried to shout, but realizing her center of gravity was shifting, she drew upon her mana.
Kiiiing!!
If she landed without preparation, she’d be turned into a bloody pulp, leaving not even a recognizable shape behind.
Whether she reinforced her body with mana or used a spell to absorb the shock, some form of intervention was necessary.
Yet, even knowing this, Lapis hesitated to chant a spell.
‘If I use my mana here—’
She might not have enough for the crucial ritual at the Eightfold Fortress.
The ritual at the fortress was to meet the consciousness of Chogyeon at the world’s boundary.
It was a grand undertaking, and even if Lapis were to pour her entire being into it, success was not guaranteed. The amount of mana and will-thought it would consume was immense.
If she wasted it now just to escape this immediate crisis, she might not even be able to begin the ritual later.
Not just for her own sake, but for the sake of the others who were moving to save her—
‘…I.’
Thinking that far, Lapis looked back on her situation and let out an empty laugh.
‘What in the world am I doing?’
She had come to District 19 after consulting with the City Council, only to clash with the Vice-Mayor and find herself pursued throughout the entire city.
Kidnapped by Adamant Thunder and trapped in a tower, she was now hesitating even at the moment of her escape, thanks to Evelyn’s help.
It seemed feasible at the time. The variables were controllable back then. What meaning did such excuses hold now?
She was trying to conserve mana for the ritual, but there was no guarantee the Eightfold Fortress would willingly grant her access to the rift to the Outer Sea.
Trying to account for everything was an endless task, and worrying about every possibility could keep her up all night.
She had grown weary of fearing an unrealized future and forsaking the present, a burden she had carried as a bearer of the Lighthouse Keeper’s duty.
Right now, she had to focus on one thing: sweeping away the crisis before her with all her might.
For no one else but Lapis herself.
Kiiiiing…!!
Drawing upon her mana, Lapis imbued her voice with will-thought and opened her mouth.
A promise had been made, and the trust was not yet broken.
If the other side knew this was the last chance, then they would surely be here.
That simple belief was all she needed.
“Partisha.”
“Lady Lapis!!”
Kiiiiing!!!
In that instant, an illusion unfolded before Lapis’s eyes, as if two different fields of vision were overlapping.
A pure white crane appeared as if summoned from thin air, swooping Lapis onto its back and soaring into the sky.
Lapis, who had been falling with her eyes squeezed shut, smiled brightly and hugged Partisha’s neck.
“I knew you were nearby…!!”
“Yes…!!”
Swish!!
The moment Partisha tilted a wing, a sharp glint of magical energy grazed past the two of them and vanished.
“Lapis Falcia…!!”
“Stop right there!!”
The tower’s mercenaries were running vertically up the shattered outer wall.
Th-th-th-thud!!
“Hey, Lighthouse Keeper!!”
Soo-ryun, clutching her glaive, and Mila, a shotgun slung over her back, leaped down along the tower wall.
They moved with incredible speed, planting their feet precisely on the crumbling outer wall to keep pace with Partisha.
“You can’t leave the tower’s domain!! Do you want to die?!”
Mila shouted, her face pale with shock.
Although they were following Van’s decision, the tower’s mercenaries had never intended to kill Lapis.
There was nothing to gain from killing her here, nor did they bear any malice that would justify taking such a risk.
However, the intentions of the wizard who had imprisoned the Lighthouse Keeper in the magic tower were likely another matter.
“If Van finds out…!!”
“I know.”
Lapis replied, pressing down her fluttering hair with one hand.
“Thank you for your concern. But this is something I have to do.”
“Lapis…!!”
Soo-ryun looked at Lapis with a conflicted expression as she ran out onto the outer wall.
“Why on earth…!!”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Soo-ryun.”
Lapis bowed her head to Soo-ryun.
“But I don’t have much time.”
“……”
“Before this miracle that chanced upon the city disappears, I want to finish everything I can.”
With those words from Lapis, Soo-ryun seemed to understand everything.
“…I see. You have your reasons, things you cannot speak of, don’t you?”
“……”
“In that case, I too will simply do what I must as a member of this tower…!!”
Fwoooong!!
The shaft of the glaive bent strangely as it surged forward, as if to sever the crane’s wings.
The wind, split by the spear arts, slammed into Partisha’s body, instantly twisting its flight path.
Kagagak!!
“……!!”
Partisha’s body shook violently and blood began to seep through its feathers, but it did not stop.
“This is going to hurt a little, Lighthouse Keeper…!!”
Kagak!!
Mila, sliding down the outer wall, raised her shotgun, drew on her psychic power, and fired a blast of buckshot.
Soo-ryun gripped the glaive’s shaft with both hands and spun it in a wide arc, while Manson and Weian, who had jumped down after them, charged forward, their mana flaring.
Drei’s security unit moved in perfect unison, swarming between floors with firearms and harpoon nets.
Jenny appeared on the debris of the ruined outer wall, looking down at them with an icy gaze.
“Lapis Falcia. I warned you, didn’t I?”
“…Jenisia.”
Click!!
Kiiiiing!!!
From the tower’s rooftop, Tatiana began her chant, while down in the courtyard, Felix landed and hefted his hammer.
From the sky and the ground, Level 7 superhumans were closing in, while elite mercenaries aimed their will-thought at Partisha.
“Finishing this before Van gets here is the only courtesy I can offer.”
Jenny nodded and let out a sigh.
“A shame.”
It was a dead end, with nowhere to run, nowhere to escape.
Their coordinated power had instantly seized control of both the ground and the sky, narrowing any path of retreat.
Lapis nodded, her expression one of grim resolve.
“Partisha. I’m going to use my Ability. I’ll steal the eyes of everyone gathered here, so I’m counting on you for what comes next.”
The consumption of mana and will-thought, the deteriorating vision from overusing her Ability—those were all problems for later.
She would draw out the power of Chogyeon with all her might and temporarily take the sight of everyone present.
If she could shut down their vision for even a moment, Partisha could secure the minimum distance needed to fly.
Just as Lapis, having made her decision, closed her eyes and began to form hand seals.
“No, Lady Lapis.”
Partisha shook its head.
“The time has come.”
“Time…?”
“That man has arrived.”
Fwoosh!!
In that moment, a hot breath washed over them, like a slow tide caressing their skin.
It inflicted no direct harm, but the resonance of an intense will-thought transmitted a heat that seemed to burn down to the bone.
Just as Lapis felt it and her entire body stiffened.
[Scarlet Flame, Heaven’s Reach]
[Scorching Massacre]
A massive spear of flame slammed diagonally into the lower floors of the magic tower, blasting away all the mercenaries who were charging at Lapis.
KWAAAAAAAANG!!!
“Son of a bitch!!”
“No way, don’t tell me…!!”
A massive throwing spear had fallen without a hint of warning.
But those who were thrown back felt the forlorn flame magic emanating from the spear and their faces hardened.
They knew at a glance who the master of this flame-heat spellcraft that had pierced the lower tower was.
At that moment, a voice echoed from the sky.
“Quite a crowd you’ve got here.”
A young man with an expressionless face stood at the tip of the diagonally embedded spear, looking down at the ground.
A thick array device was strapped to his forearm, and a thick cigar was clamped in his mouth.
He was surrounded by an invisible curtain of heat, a vast haze shimmering endlessly around him.
Kugugugugu!!!!
No one present could immediately grasp the sheer amount of mana radiating from his body.
In the instant the tower’s courtyard was filled with the searing heat of his magic, everyone fell silent.
The young man massaged his neck with one hand and muttered.
“I wasn’t the only one who set the appointed time, was I?”
Tatiana, her expression ghastly, drew upon her mana and screamed.
“Evan Martinez…!!”
District 38. A scrapyard where only unmanned cranes occasionally moved.
A space abandoned and forgotten after the closed-off District 50s became a giant garbage dump.
A ruin where bare steel frames were piled up, forming a massive mountain of scrap metal.
Atop this metal mountain, a black-haired young man with a cold expression sat, gazing at the sky.
Crackle, crackle…!!
Above his turbid eyes, which stared into the dark clouds, a faint blue light of lightning flickered.
The black coat draped over his shoulders swayed slowly, and the silver staff planted at his feet emitted faint ripples.
After staring at the sky in silence for a long time, the young man muttered, as if answering himself.
“I had an appointment.”
Slowly lowering his gaze to the ground, the wizard chuckled.
“It seems I won’t be able to make it on time.”
Whirrr, clank!!
Below him stretched the mountain of the scrapyard.
Surrounding its gentle slopes, thousands of cyborgs glowed with red optic lights.
A mechanical army assembled for the sole purpose of surrounding Lennok and preventing his escape.
Lennok smiled.
“There aren’t many organizations with the gall to bring out such cheap robots before me. Who are you?”
[…]
“Gearside, or maybe Sybrid Echo?”
[A shame. We are neither.]
At that moment, a soft, beautiful voice flowed from the mouth of the lead cyborg.
It was the gentle, deep voice of a man, as if whispering a song to Lennok.
[However, considering today’s scheduled event, we thought some preliminary work was necessary.]
“Preliminary work, you say.”
Lennok glanced around and scoffed.
“What a grandiose way to describe a cheap trick to drain my mana beforehand.”
The cyborgs gathered here were not mechanical lifeforms with superior combat power or advanced algorithms.
They were simply products specialized in luring, absorbing, and discharging electricity-based magic, like moving lightning rods.
[Let me be clear, we are not doing this to defeat you or kill you. Let’s get that straight.]
The lead robot spoke in a voice tinged with amusement, as if trying to persuade Lennok.
[But for us to properly enjoy the event you’ve prepared, the balance needs to be just right for the spectators to have fun as well.]
“You’re going to adjust the balance?”
[I know. It sounds ridiculous. But we’ve placed our bet on the side with the lower payout.]
The robot laughed.
[If we can win this gamble by tossing in our lives, our will-thought, our minds… whatever. No, actually, we don’t even have to win. In fact, that could be said to be our goal.]
Clank, clank!!
With those words, hundreds of cyborgs surrounding Lennok resonated in unison, raising a powerful counter-field.
A measure to lure and absorb all electrical currents unleashed within this space.
It was fine if they didn’t win the fight. In fact, they desired to be shattered to pieces right here.
If by doing so, they could drain even a little of the wizard’s power in the forewarned confrontation—
“To say that merely crossing hands with me is enough… what a pathetic excuse.”
Lennok chuckled and raised his hand.
“Do you truly believe you can rig the game with such a pathetic trick?”
C-c-crack!!
In that instant, black mana erupted from behind Lennok like a fountain.
As if forcibly twisting open a black gate, grotesquely contorted fingers pushed through a crack and revealed themselves.
Thudududuk!!
The form of a massive demonic giant appeared on the mountain of scrap, its forearms bound in black chains.
[…This is.]
“But I do agree with one piece of nonsense you were spouting.”
As the cyborgs froze, facing that hideous appearance and its alien power they could not analyze.
Lennok slowly rose to his feet, pulling the staff from the ground as he spoke.
“I decide the time and place. When and where this begins is up to me, not you.”
[…]
“But this isn’t so bad either. If the stage must be changed, then perhaps it’s better this way….”
Lapis’s escape. The appearance of Evan Martinez among the magic tower’s mercenaries.
But to get the timing right, the moment the two wizards met had to be properly adjusted.
Lennok had deliberately created this scenario and announced a grand battle not just as a ruse to divert attention.
The rift to the Outer Sea that existed in the Eightfold Fortress. A faint crack that had failed to become a ‘Gate’ to the Outer Sea.
The final piece to meet the conditions for Lapis’s ritual depended on Lennok himself.
Considering what was happening at the magic tower, investing his time in these scrap heaps now might actually make things easier.
Moreover, he was quite intrigued by those ‘lightning rods’ intended to lure, absorb, and radiate electricity.
“Alright. I’ve decided.”
Kwoong!!
The ominous shadow of the demonic giant fell as it began to crouch, crossing its thick forearms.
Lennok, walking out over it while leaning on his staff, looked down at the base of the scrap mountain and smiled.
“I’ll play with you for a bit. Shall we see what kind of pathetic junk you’ve brought?”