Chapter 958: The Prohibition (13)
District 49. Felix’s personal underground training room.
The presence of a high-ranking Deadrise general, conspicuously located in the outskirts of the mega-city.
Felix himself had never for a moment considered her an ally; she was a dangerous murderer.
“Ghost Lady, why are you here… No, that wasn’t it.”
Felix, who had instinctively reached for his weapon and summoned his mana, slowly quelled his surge of power.
“Is that not something I should be curious about?”
Why Peshia Grisbern, who was known to be dead, was alive.
Why she had come here to help Felix with his training, following Lennok’s words.
Perhaps none of those were things Felix should know.
That’s why Lennok had secretly summoned the Ghost Lady to this remote training room, wasn’t it?
“Bird-brain, you’re smarter than I thought.”
Peshia, watching him with a sullen expression, let out a cold laugh.
“That’s right. It’s not something you should be curious about.”
“……”
“Don’t ask anything. Don’t even be curious. Just listen to this wizard, and you’ll–”
“Before building the magic tower, I captured the Ghost Lady and handed her over to Olivera. I recovered her recently.”
“Hey!!”
Lennok ignored Peshia’s furious shout and explained.
“I picked her up thinking she’d be useful in many ways, and it seems a place to use her came up sooner than expected.”
“Hmm…”
“Peshia Grisbern is a physical ability user who reached Level 8. A soldier with countless real combat experiences from the Central Front.”
Lennok said, pointing at Peshia, whose expression was contorted.
“Moreover, she’s a foolish sensory type who ignores theory and relies on talent when learning martial arts.”
“Who are you calling foolish, you bastard!!”
“She’ll be a good teaching tool for imparting the sensations you need for this training.”
“……”
Lennok continued his explanation, completely ignoring Peshia, who was screaming at him.
Felix, who had been alternating glances between Lennok and Peshia, speechless, eventually let out a sigh with a complicated expression.
“You… as always, you far exceed my expectations. Do you even exploit someone like the Ghost Lady if needed?”
“Conversely, it’s precisely because Peshia Grisbern is such a person.”
Lennok nodded calmly.
“A heinous criminal who elicits no sympathy even if worked to death, is quite a convenient existence.”
“I understand what you mean. But…”
Felix hesitated and asked.
“Is it alright not to tell Tatiana?”
Peshia Grisbern was the one who sacrificed Tatiana’s fellow wizards to launch a satellite above Vulcan.
Naturally, the animosity between the two could not be resolved through mere conversation or agreement.
There was no guarantee that Tatiana would not bear resentment, no matter how Peshia Grisbern was handled.
Lennok also knew that fact, so he nodded readily.
“I’ve already spoken with Tatiana. It would be wise to seek her agreement, as she is a crucial asset to the Tower, to avoid future problems.”
“She agreed to let the Ghost Lady into the Tower?”
“She understands that there are situations where you cannot distinguish between friend and foe based on necessity.”
“……”
“I also intend to respect Tatiana’s wishes as much as possible.”
Lennok said, then nodded towards Peshia.
“At the very least, Peshia Grisbern will not receive preferential treatment within my magic tower.”
“I see… I understand.”
Felix slowly nodded.
“You’ve gone to such lengths for this training, so I shouldn’t hesitate.”
“What a ridiculous thing to say, bird-brain. Were you planning to refuse Adamant Thunder’s words?”
Peshia scoffed at Felix.
Loosely holding her spear, she rested the blade casually on Felix’s shoulder.
Shing!
As the spear blade slid against Felix’s shoulder, a chilling slicing sound echoed slowly along the edge.
Hearing that sound, Peshia’s eyes gleamed wildly.
“If you’re told to do it, you do it. Why so many questions? Wasn’t this damned troublesome training your request in the first place?”
“……”
“Adamant Thunder seems to have a surprisingly good temper, contrary to rumors. If it were me, I would have ripped your beak off the moment you talked back.”
Peshia’s eyes curved long as she gazed at Felix’s beak.
“Well, pretending to care for your subordinates is also one of the qualities of a superior. I missed out on promotion because I couldn’t do that, though.”
“Are you boasting about that now?”
Lennok’s incredulous retort.
But Felix, surprisingly, nodded firmly, as if he agreed with Peshia’s sharp words.
“That’s not wrong. It’s true I’ve relied on Van’s abilities and temperament.”
“……”
“From now on, I will cast aside all distractions and focus on the training. I will definitely achieve results, even if it costs me my life.”
“Easy for you to say. Who can’t flap their mouth off?”
Peshia brought the spear blade closer to Felix’s neck and smirked.
“Prove it. Prove you’ve reflected. Otherwise, I’ll kill you.”
“Ghost Lady, you should be careful not to injure yourself.”
Stepping back slowly, Felix reached out and lowered his stance.
As he gripped the heavy hammer, inverted between thick barbells, a surge of heavy mana erupted from the bird-headed giant’s entire body.
“I will fight with all my might, thinking of you in your prime…!”
“Pummeling Antares’s lackey is always welcome.”
Peshia cackled, looking up at Felix, who was accelerating with a slick motion, hammer in hand.
“Come on, Eagle. I’ll flatten that beak of yours.”
“Come on, Eagle. I’ll flatten that beak of yours.”
[Victor. I have about two very good proposals. Contact me if you’re interested.]
“……”
[I’d like to discuss the specifics in person. Especially the first proposal, it will be very helpful to you.]
Hylaea, the broker who managed various Pandemonium operations, had directly connected this secret line to Lennok.
Lennok’s gaze instantly deepened as he scrolled up to check the transmission date.
‘Two days ago…’
Hylaea was cautious and rarely added superfluous compliments to most matters.
If she spoke like this, it must certainly be something beneficial to Victor’s identity.
Perhaps there was a reward among Victor’s abilities that Hylaea knew, one that could be specially enhanced.
But Lennok’s contemplation was immediately swept away by the roar erupting before his eyes.
Boom!!
Kaa-d-d-d-d-duk!!!
Spear and hammer clashed, and the sound of crushing metal exploded.
Every time the bird-headed giant and the spear wielder moved in the center of the training room, violent sparks rained down onto the barbells and dumbbells.
Bang!!
She parried the attack by wedging the spear shaft between the floor and the hammer like a toothpick, and used Felix’s forearm as a lever to avoid the hammer.
She threw the spear she held to the floor with a furious swing, and the spinning spear blade, ricocheting violently off the training room’s walls and floor, aimed for the back of Felix’s neck.
Tatataang!
Felix ducked to avoid the spear blade targeting his neck, then advanced and swung his hammer upwards, and a shockwave, created by the compressed air, slammed into Peshia’s body.
But Peshia caught the spear, which was spinning and flying from behind Felix, and vertically split the exploding shockwave.
Pwoooong!!!
The shockwaves, veering past Peshia’s sides, became a strong wind, knocking down the weights and dumbbells hanging on the training room wall.
Peshia, standing sideways with her spear lowered, mocked Felix, who was swinging his hammer.
“You’re holding back, that’s why you can’t do any better.”
It was clearly Felix who had the advantage in basic physique and overall power.
It was natural for Peshia, who had been rolling around with her hierarchy broken and was only just entering recovery, to be at a disadvantage.
Surprisingly, however, Peshia was leading the fight against Felix, displaying monstrous skill.
Using her spear and her body as levers to somehow deflect Felix’s raw strength, she relentlessly aimed for his blind spots, where he couldn’t even react.
Peshia was enduring by utilizing strength and weight that weren’t her own, all to observe the ‘mana’ Felix was drawing out with all his might.
Kaa-a-ang!!
She shoved the spear shaft between the hammer’s striking surfaces and kicked it, sending the spear shaft spinning in the air.
The moment Felix narrowed the distance, gauging the spear blade’s rotation speed, Peshia gripped the blade with her hand and plunged the butt end of the spear into Felix’s stomach.
Thud!!
The spear butt pressed deeply into Felix’s stomach, its outline visible even through his back.
It didn’t penetrate the flesh, but severed internal muscles and side nerves, causing excruciating pain.
However, Peshia’s palms, which had gripped the spear blade with bare hands, were also cut and drenched in blood.
In the fleeting moment that Felix’s usually steadfast eyebrows twitched, Peshia tilted her head close and whispered.
“Try to kill me. What are you hesitating for?”
“……”
“If I were you, I would have crushed my head by now. Antares, that old man, he’s really past his prime.”
Peshia laughed, shaking her blood-dripping forearm.
“Such a foolish beast is useless even as a pet.”
Thud!!
At that moment, with a sound like something snapping, black mana exploded from Felix’s body.
Unwholesome and bizarre mana, churning like ink, yet gnawing at Felix’s body like a demon.
The mana of the Level 9 Ascendant, Dorye, had regained life within Felix’s body and burst forth.
[Ohhhhhh!!!!]
The moment Felix’s voice, a bizarre crowing sound, mixed his physical voice and his Transcendent voice.
Felix, with Dorye’s mana coiling around his forearms, struck Peshia with invisible speed.
“Yes, this is it, you bastard!!”
At the same time, Peshia shouted and met Felix’s fist head-on.
Jjeoooooong!!!
The illusion of cracks appearing in the air.
Peshia’s forearm veins, which had taken Felix’s blow with bare hands, burst open, scattering blood.
“This is that berserker’s magic power that drove him mad and killed him, right?”
But despite the intense pain flowing through her arm, Peshia grinned and firmly grasped Felix’s thick palm.
As if stealing Dorye’s mana flowing through Felix’s entire body, she scraped off the distorted, blackened mana particles from his fingertips.
“Give it to me. Let me try using it too.”
[……!!!]
Felix roared and kicked her, sending Peshia’s body slamming into the training room wall.
Kwaaaaaang!!
Go-oh-oh-oh!!!!
[….]
The bird-headed giant, his entire body stained black with Dorye’s mana, sank as if submerged in ink.
He exuded an overwhelmingly powerful and dangerous aura, incomparable to earlier.
Lennok, who had been watching with his arms crossed, asked Peshia, who was slumped against the training room wall.
“How is it?”
“It’s just disgusting and unpleasant. Is this an Ascendant’s mana?”
Peshia spat out bloody saliva and tilted her head sideways as she slumped down.
Dorye’s mana, unleashed by Felix, clung to her bloody arm as if contaminating it.
Zzzzzzt…!!
A nasty feeling of the berserker’s mana gnawing and encroaching upon her body, beyond just burning and melting her flesh.
Peshia frowned deeply, looked at it, and shook her head, saying,
“It feels like I’m being eaten away. One try isn’t enough to learn how to handle this.”
“I didn’t expect it to be over in one try.”
[Ugh…!!]
Felix’s face, his entire body stained black, was contorted with pain and murderous intent, making it impossible to tell what emotions he was displaying.
He seemed to be maintaining his sanity, but conversely, he appeared to be having extreme difficulty controlling his body.
Boom!!
With a light flick of his hand, the barbell rolling at his feet instantly turned to dust and vanished.
Such immense impact and heat, enough to vaporize a chunk of iron, performed with a single gesture.
Felix raised his trembling hand, aimed it at Peshia, and said,
[Van. Get away. Like this, immediately…!!]
“Hey, wizard.”
Peshia said with a bored expression.
“I’ll die if that hits me. What are you going to do?”
“Why are you asking me that? Die.”
“……”
Lennok smiled, seeing Peshia’s distorted expression, and reached into his pocket.
“As much as I’d like that, I suppose I should clean it up first.”
[Ohhhhhh!!!]
Felix clenched both fists, lowered his stance, and leaped with incredible speed.
Pwoooong!!
The phantom of Felix accelerating across the training room at supersonic speed.
But Lennok walked towards the charging Felix, extending his hand forward.
Kiiiiing!!
In the fleeting moment that Lennok’s and Felix’s shadows overlapped at invisible speed.
As a strange light flickered in the air, Felix’s massive body was flung diagonally and slammed into a corner of the training room.
Kwaaaaaang!!
As the hundreds of kilograms of the bird-headed giant’s massive body rolled across the training room, the ceiling and floor shook as if an earthquake had struck.
In the center of the wildly shaking training room, Lennok calmly turned and brushed his hands.
While Peshia glared at Lennok with a disgusted expression, Lennok rubbed his wrist and said,
“It’s over. Bring him.”
“You bastard, how dare you treat me like a porter…”
Grumbling, she dragged the fallen Felix by his feet and threw him in front of Lennok.
The moment she flipped Felix’s upside-down body to reveal his face,
Peshia realized that the feather Lennok had been holding was stuck in Felix’s forehead.
“…For someone who’s not a physical ability user, you’re annoyingly good at fighting.”
Peshia looked at the feather with a strange expression and asked,
“You didn’t use any spellcraft, so how did you beat him up and make him docile?”
The clash between Felix and Lennok had lasted less than a moment.
But Lennok had not only withstood Felix’s charge without magic but had also quelled Dorye’s mana.
His skill was so perfect that even Peshia, who had been staring intently right next to them, couldn’t discern his method.
“Because I’ve dealt with Felix and Dorye’s mana a few times before.”
“What?”
“Once you can account for the variables right before the collision, what spellcraft you use becomes largely meaningless.”
Lennok answered casually.
“So I just didn’t use any.”
“……I have no idea what nonsense you’re spouting.”
If he could read his opponent’s every move, then it would be understandable that any magic would lead to the same result.
But how could that possibly conclude that he didn’t need to use magic at all?
“If you can use anything, then conversely, you don’t need to use anything.”
Lennok smiled and nodded.
“Enough. Tell me your impressions of fighting him. How was it?”
“He’s a bust. Give up.”
“……”