Chapter 892: The Eyes That See Fate (28)
A colossal spear of fire slammed down, as if to pierce through the lower levels of the Magic Tower.
And at the end of the spear shaft stood a wizard, his face impassive as he looked down upon the tower.
Draped in explosive flames that flared like wings, his scattering hair was dyed a brilliant red.
“Evan-nim…!!!”
The moment Lapis turned her head and called out to Lennok, a fireball fell from above and exploded, blocking her vision.
Booooom!!
Tatiana, who had been forming hand seals while standing on the rooftop, glared at Lennok with a sharp gaze and spoke.
“How brazen, to enter the Tower’s domain all alone.”
“…”
Lennok offered no reply to Tatiana’s words.
He merely turned his gaze to look at her on the rooftop.
That alone was enough for Tatiana to feel a chill run down her neck, even in this heat.
‘I can’t see the bottom. This is an unbelievable amount of mana…’
Even though she was watching him from this close, with her mana detection raised to its absolute maximum, she could not perceive his limits.
It was a dizzying feeling, like dipping a hand into a fast-flowing current and feeling not the riverbed, but the sensation of being sucked in instead.
A Saint Wizard who had perfected her Order. Even for Tatiana, who had faced countless monsters on the Central Front, it had been a very long time since she had felt anything like this.
‘His maximum mana might be more than half of Van’s. The rumors about him using this city as firewood to build his power must have been true.’
As a fellow flame wizard, Tatiana understood exactly how Evan had augmented his mana.
Flame-type spellcraft was fundamentally a self-reinforcing system that inflated its power and scale through the stacking of spells.
Though it might take some time to ignite and preheat, it possessed a high ceiling that overwhelmed other spellcrafts in terms of range and scale.
But that was only possible when the caster could control the augmented will-thought and mana.
Flame magic that began to grow on its own would become a blaze that consumed the caster himself as kindling.
It wouldn’t be strange for a wizard to be devoured by the very flames they nurtured if they lost even the slightest control over their will-thought, mana, or spellcraft.
And yet, this wizard had succeeded in taking everything he had burned while traversing the city’s underbelly and making it entirely his own power?
“I have one thing I’d like to ask.”
At that moment, Jenny looked down at Lennok from the edge of the tower wall and asked.
“On what basis do you choose your fights?”
“…”
“I’m not aware of everything you’ve done in this city, but there’s something that doesn’t quite add up. You rampage with such deliberate violence, yet your detailed judgments are a series of enigmas.”
Jenny’s low voice echoed across the quiet tower courtyard.
“If you were born with purely monstrous talent, you wouldn’t have needed to take such a roundabout way. The secret to your power lies there, doesn’t it? For instance—”
Jenny’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“You’re deliberately imitating the things Van did in this city.”
“…An interesting thought.”
At Jenny’s sharp observation, Lennok couldn’t help but laugh.
The series of actions Lennok had displayed in this city under the name Evan Martinez.
Most people, their gazes stolen by his overwhelming track record, had never considered the blind spot that Jenny had pinpointed the moment she first saw him.
It was far from the reason Lennok was fundamentally pursuing, but it wasn’t entirely wrong, either.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!!
Gripping the wings of flame that flapped wildly in his hand, Lennok’s body slowly began to rise.
“I suppose I could explain what I’m doing, but…”
Lennok nodded and twisted his hand.
“Everything has its priorities.”
Kagak!
The two wings crossed, twisting their direction, and in that instant, they exhaled a breath of fire from the impact.
Lennok and Lapis’s forms shot upward from their spot, accelerating at an incredible speed.
“Get them!!”
Mila shouted and immediately leaped from the wall, breaking into a sprint.
Leaping off the structures on the ground, Mila accelerated as if flinging her own body forward to catch up to Lennok.
Using shockwaves created by her superpower as footholds, she somersaulted through the air, dodging the whipping tendrils of flame and aiming the muzzle of her shotgun.
[Forged Flame]
She collided head-on with the flames that burst from the fingertips of Lennok, who had spun his body around.
The intersection of mana and mental power. With a shock that distorted her vision, her balance instantly crumbled.
The hyper-compressed flame slammed down like an explosion, driving Mila’s body into the ground.
BOOOOM!!
“…!!!”
Even though she had luckily fallen onto an awning in the courtyard, the impact was so heavy she couldn’t breathe for a moment.
Did it even hit him properly? Had her superpower even activated in time?
It was a sense of powerlessness, of being crushed by sheer force in every aspect, so much so that she couldn’t even remember the moment of impact.
As everyone hesitated at the sight of Mila, who possessed a particularly keen combat sense among their group, being so utterly overwhelmed.
“Ugh…!!!”
“Follow me if you can.”
Fwooooosh!!
Lennok, who had accelerated using an elongated jet of flame like a rocket, looked down at the ground and smiled.
“Even if you don’t hurry, I plan on showing everyone the finale.”
The flames, spraying out for over ten meters, shimmered and rotated like wings.
It reminded her of the past, when she had fled from the unmanned hotel while clinging to Lennok’s wings of fire.
But the wings of flame unfurled now were moving far more smoothly and flexibly than Lapis remembered.
Fwoosh!!
While flapping as gently as the wings of a living creature, they explosively and powerfully pushed the two of them upward.
The heat released by the burning flames stripped away the air resistance that accompanied their acceleration.
The folded wings, rotating more gracefully than even Partisha’s, accelerated and in an instant, they had escaped the entirety of District 49.
“Evan-nim…!!”
“Hold on.”
At the words of Lapis, who was clinging to his shoulder, Lennok glanced down and immediately veered in a new direction.
“This is far enough.”
Screech!!
Realizing he had exited the domain, Lennok retracted his wings and landed with Lapis.
They were on the boundary line near the District 50s, located at the outermost edge of District 49.
“E-Evan Martinez!!!”
Those who had been camped out in the border zone observing the situation all recoiled in horror.
Reporters and journalists covering the clash near the Magic Tower, brokers buying and selling all sorts of information.
Mercenaries and freelancers waiting on standby, hoping for a chance to make some money.
And even the executives of all kinds of organizations who had come to observe the situation.
All of them stared wide-eyed at Lapis as she dismounted, clinging to Lennok’s arm.
“It’s-it’s true!! He’s with the Lighthouse Keeper!!”
“He attacked the Magic Tower and rescued its master…?!!”
“He’s insane, does he really intend to become an enemy of Adamant Thunder!!!”
Ignoring the shouts of the people, Lennok clenched his fist, compressing the flame, and muttered.
“I can’t use it anymore. From here to the fortress, we have to break through on our own.”
“If it’s a matter of mana, I can assist you, Evan-nim—”
“It’s not a matter of mana, it’s a matter of power.”
Lennok shook his head at Lapis, who had begun to walk quickly beside him.
“The amplification rate has become too high. There’s no guarantee I can reach the fortress safely if I lose control of the acceleration.”
“That’s…”
Lapis wore a startled expression.
Understanding immediately what Lennok was saying, Lapis muttered in a daze.
“…Since the bounty was issued, you haven’t released the spell even once, have you.”
Due to the incident with the drug lord and the labyrinth, Lapis too was aware of what kind of spellcraft flame magic was.
An elemental magic with a fire-like property that grew in strength and power the more it was used.
And Evan Martinez was a man with greater capabilities than any wizard Lapis knew.
What did it mean that the amplification rate had grown so large that even Evan had difficulty controlling his own spellcraft?
It was proof that since the bounty was issued and Lapis had been kidnapped, he had been wielding his flames without once extinguishing them.
“Don’t worry.”
Lennok patted the shoulder of Lapis, who had lowered her head with a troubled expression.
“The preparations are all complete. All that’s left is to drag them into a field that’s advantageous for us and settle things.”
“…”
“I’m glad I made it in time. Once we fulfill the necessary conditions for the ritual at the sanctuary—”
At that moment, Lapis, with her head still bowed, spoke.
“Do we… really have to fight?”
“What?”
Even Lennok couldn’t properly see Lapis’s expression, hidden behind her dark hair.
Clenching her fist slightly, Lapis kept her head down and muttered while quietly following Lennok.
“Evan-nim… you still have things you need to do in this city.”
“…”
“Do you absolutely have to fight that wizard?”
Only then did Lennok understand Lapis’s words and stop walking.
He realized she was talking about Evan Vylun, something she had never once mentioned directly.
The fact that Lennok, who had been helping the Watcher, was also Evan Vylun, a researcher at Rebatenon Magic University.
The identity of the researcher who had published papers on magic theories, including Universal Magic.
Lapis had known this fact since she first met Lennok, and yet she had almost never mentioned it.
But now, as the situation hurtled toward its end, Lapis had brought up Evan Vylun’s identity out of concern.
If Evan and Adamant Thunder, who had cooperated regarding the Magic Tower, were to have a falling out over this matter—
“…”
No, that wasn’t it.
Worrying about his dual identity was merely a formal pretext.
Through this question, Lapis wanted to confirm something from Lennok.
She wanted to know something more than just the answer to her superficial question. About a secret Lennok had never directly spoken of, but for which the possibility had clearly existed.
“Lapis.”
He lowered his head slightly to meet Lapis’s gaze.
All around them, people watched Lennok and Lapis, exchanging information, recording something.
In the distance, the loud engine noises of vehicles and airships echoed.
But despite recognizing the rapidly changing situation, Lennok did not hurry. He opened his mouth calmly.
“What I intend to settle is not limited to a fight. That is merely part of the process.”
“The process, you say…?”
“The rift to the Outer Sea that exists in the Hexagonal Fortress. At its current size, the ritual cannot be properly conducted.”
Lennok took out an ignition stone from his coat and said.
“The rift must be stimulated to expand it closer to a [Gate]. For that, a clash of incredibly intense mana that surpasses all limits will be necessary.”
“…That’s.”
She knows what all the superhumans in this city are waiting for.
She also understands what fight she is trying to prevent.
But if this were all just a play to deceive the eyes of others, Lennok would never have even started this plan.
Hadn’t he set a stage far too flashy and grand to have been started for such a reason alone?
The long-foretold fight must not be an end in itself, but a process to advance to the next stage.
“I know you have questions about me.”
Lennok smiled as he stroked Lapis’s hair.
“But I will not answer them. That is not a particularly important matter to me.”
“…”
“But if you truly wish to know, then earn the right and see for yourself. If you can see it, then I will be able to show you.”
Slowly standing up, Lennok looked back at the flow of mana from the pursuers rushing up behind Lapis and said.
“Just as the Chogyeon of old did for me.”
“…You say such cruel things.”
Lapis gave a bitter smile.
“You know what outcome I desire from the ritual, yet you still say that?”
“…”
“You know how much I am indebted to you, Evan-nim…”
Lennok did not reply to her words.
He merely began to form a hand seal as he looked back at the mercenaries rushing toward them in armored vehicles.
“I understand. I’ll do it.”
Lapis, who had been silently watching Lennok’s back, slowly nodded her head.
“At the boundary of the world… I will perform the ritual and meet my grandmother.”
“Good.”
The moment Lennok slowly nodded and drew his mana upwards.
Two brilliantly rotating stars appeared behind the wizard’s back.
“Commence release.”
Kuuuuuoooo!!
Wrapped in the magic circle of a barrier art like a ring, the Flame-Heat Cores ignited, each burning with a different colored flame.
In the instant that mana pierced through the space between the two stars orbiting Lennok.
The mana exploded on the spot, beginning to grow by devouring the caster’s will-thought.
“Summoning Art.”
Inherent Flame Magic
Property Transformation Amplification Extreme
Crimson Star System: Solar Zenith
Second Star: Cheokgung
[Divine Vermilion Wheel]
[Steel Turtle of Fiery Breath]
Fwoosh!!
Flames surged up around the wizard’s body, swelling in thickness like a divine tree of fire to stand tall.
Thick limbs sprouted from the pillar of fire to support it on the ground, and a ceiling curved like an umbrella transformed into a hard shell.
Limbs like logs slammed down from atop the blazing shell, stomping on and shattering the entire street.
Finally, the head of a turtle emerged, opened its mouth wide, and let out a powerful roar.
[ROOOOAAAAAR!!!]
Thump! Thump! Thump!!
It breathed and roared, its entire body solemnly burning with every step it took.
Each time the colossal summon, a full 10 meters in size, stomped its feet on the road, everything around it erupted in flames, emitting acrid smoke.
“A-A turtle?!”
As Lapis looked up at the flame turtle, her expression so bewildered it made her earlier resolve seem colorless.
Thump, thump!!
The summon paid no mind to Lennok and Lapis who had summoned it, instead beginning to walk briskly the moment it appeared.
Lennok quickly climbed onto the turtle’s shell and extended a hand to Lapis.
“Get on. We’re riding this to the fortress.”
Belatedly coming to her senses, Lapis grabbed Lennok’s hand and barely managed to climb onto the edge of the shell.
Looking down at the receding street from atop the shell with a dazed expression, Lapis asked.
“Won’t… won’t it be too slow to get to the fortress?”
While there were exceptions to every rule, most summons possessed characteristics and abilities befitting their appearance.
A summon in the form of a turtle might have good durability or resilience, but the possibility of it specializing in mobility was low.
If they rode this to the fortress, they might be caught by the pursuers who would soon follow.
“In the face of overwhelming power, everything else becomes meaningless.”
But Lennok just grinned with a confident expression after hearing Lapis’s words.
“Don’t worry. Only those who lack mana have to strain their heads.”
“I think you have that backward— Kyaak!!”
Artillery shells and bullets aimed at Lennok and Lapis rained down on the turtle’s shell.
Dududududu!!!
But far from piercing the shell, the bullets melted instantly in the flames that erupted like lava from between the shell plates.
Like a living volcano, it ceaselessly spewed flames from its back, raising a giant curtain of fire above their heads.
“Hey, you crazy son of a bitch!!”
Vrooooom!!
Mila, who had mounted a small motorcycle, had already approached the summon and was shouting at Lennok.
“How could you summon something so ridiculously huge!! Are you planning to burn down all of District 49!!”
“That’s none of my concern,” Lennok replied leisurely.
“Who knows? Maybe if I destroy everything first, the redevelopment will go smoothly later?”
“You fucking bastard, so that’s how you’re going to play it?!”
She holstered the shotgun at her hip and shouldered a bazooka on one arm.
Steering the motorcycle by stepping on the handlebars with one foot, she leaned her body back and instantly loaded a missile.
Clack!!
Before one could be captivated by her agile and fluid movements, she abruptly aimed the muzzle and pulled the trigger.
BOOOOOM!!
A missile, accurately striking the turtle’s side, exploded violently.
It raised an intense ripple on the spot, shaking the summon’s body sideways.
[Uwooooorr!!]
As the fire turtle shouted with displeasure and shook its body, Mila burst into triumphant laughter.
“Hehehehet!! How’s that!! You can’t do anything if I attack the belly instead of the shell, right?!!”
“…”
Clack!!
Mila immediately received another missile from the armored vehicle following behind her, finished loading, and aimed for the belly.
In her crazed eyes, an unconcealable glee was visible.
“I’ll keep poking your belly like this until I flip you right over!!”
“Ridiculous.”
Fwoosh!!
Lennok, who had lit his fingertips and left an afterimage in the air as if wielding a brush, said.
“Did you think I would just stand by and watch?”
“Well now. That remains to be seen.”
Whoosh!!
From tens of meters up in the sky, the eagle-headed giant, gripping a hammer with both hands, plummeted down.
The sight of Felix, accurately judging the distance in the air where hot winds raged, and landing on the shell.
KABOOOM!!!
The turtle’s shell shook violently from the impact, but Lennok’s expression did not change.
“A long time ago, we fought together, combining our strength like this,” Felix muttered.
“This brings back many old memories.”
“…Wait a moment.”
Instead, it was Lapis’s expression that hardened as she held onto the shaking shell behind him to stay upright.
“The fact that all the Magic Tower’s mercenaries have left their positions, don’t tell me…!!”
These were the core forces that should have been stationed within the tower’s domain, protecting its related facilities.
What did it mean for powerhouses led by Felix and Tatiana to rush out simultaneously?
It meant that a force so powerful that they no longer had to worry about the tower’s safety had returned to the Magic Tower.
And that was, surely—
“You weren’t the only ones who weren’t late.”
Felix slowly tilted his head, his deep-set eyes fixed on Lapis.
“He has returned.”
Crackle-crackle…!!!
From the overcast sky, a brilliant blue lightning bolt surged and struck precisely at the peak of the towering Magic Tower.
BOOOOOOM!!
Amidst the dazzlingly bright and scattering fragments of lightning, a wizard in a black coat pushed himself to his feet.
“…!!!”
In one hand, he gripped a long metal rod that resembled a lightning rod, like a wand artifact.
Following the wizard’s hand gestures, dozens of lightning bolts in the cloudy sky bent in unison, their thunderous roars echoing.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!!!
“That’s…”
Using the lightning rod in his hand like a conductor’s baton, his hand gestures were fluid, as if guiding the lightning that crisscrossed the sky.
With each gesture, an intense bolt of lightning struck the top of the tower, dyeing its structure blue and adding to its color.
Crackle-crackle!!
The command of lightning strikes seemed intended to charge the Magic Tower that soared in District 49, as if imbuing it with an attribute.
At the wizard’s overwhelming yet bizarre actions, everyone lost their words and tilted their heads back in awe.
“…”
Reflected in Lapis’s eyes was the sight of Evan, riding on the back of the turtle, and Adamant Thunder, mounted atop the tower, staring at each other.