Chapter 962: The Prohibition (17)
Anathema’s residence, buried beneath the underground sewers of District 55.
A massive temple entombed beneath the residence, and the Forbidden Armament preserved at its center.
At the entrance to the labyrinthine temple, Lennok encountered Ermont and raised a hand with a smile.
“It seems you still haven’t learned your lesson after making such a fool of yourself in front of Myeong.”
[Ice Coffin]
Crrraack!!
Hardy rings of ice clamped onto Ermont’s arms and legs, freezing them in place.
Lennok folded his arms, looking down at Ermont, who was instantly crammed into an ice chest as if trapped.
“Still impersonating Jawoon Audis? You must really like that body, don’t you?”
“Van, do you know him?”
“He’s an ancient black wizard.”
Lennok replied to Felix’s question, who had approached him.
“He’s a wraith that possesses and parasitizes human bodies, and currently, he’s affiliated with Pandemonium.”
“Pandemonium? This idiot is a member of Pandemonium?”
Peshia scowled in displeasure, glaring at Ermont.
“I met him once before because of the Nether King, but things got complicated back then, so I couldn’t kill him.”
Lennok, who had been staring at Ermont with a chilling gaze, chuckled.
“Seeing him reappear before me, it seems he’s finally given up on life.”
“Haha, hahahaha……”
At Lennok’s cold words, Ermont gave an awkward laugh, avoiding his gaze.
“Well, you see, there’s a story behind it.”
“A story about why you should die by my hand?”
“No, no, no!!! Please, consider it.”
At Lennok’s indifferent response, Ermont desperately pleaded.
“I don’t know about Grand Wizards who aren’t bound by the flow of time, but for me, returning to this city is a rare occurrence.”
“……”
“Despite Pandemonium’s inhumane forced labor, shouldn’t I be praised for trying my best not to even set foot in Vulcan?”
“What insane nonsense is this crazy bastard spouting?”
Peshia asked, dumbfounded, but Lennok was, in fact, grasping the passage of time through Ermont’s words.
His encounter with Baegon, who claimed to be Myeong’s disciple, and Ermont, had happened shortly after his return from the Machine City.
Considering what Lennok had experienced since then, it wouldn’t be a lie for Ermont to say it had been a long time since he visited Vulcan.
Rather, from his perspective, he might even feel secretly wronged to have run into Lennok the moment he returned to Vulcan.
“No, and why is a Grand Wizard so diligent? Don’t you even have a Sabbath or something?”
Ermont, sensing Lennok’s reaction wasn’t sharp, immediately grumbled.
“If you’re a Magic Tower Lord, shouldn’t you be giving lectures at academic conferences, basking in glory, wasting time on personal research, and taking some nice kickbacks from your disciples?”
“I see clearly what you think of other wizards.”
“Van.”
Felix said with a displeased expression.
“This man seems to have already forgotten what he was just trying to do to us.”
“He’s pretending to forget.”
“……He looks like a swindler adept at sophistry.”
“An accurate assessment.”
Click!
Felix raised his hammer.
“I’ll smash his head in.”
“Waaahhh! Save me!! Please save me!!”
Towards Ermont, who was flailing and begging for his life, Felix advanced with his hammer raised.
His body bound by the ice rings, he was a pitiful sight, his hands clasped together, tears welling in his eyes.
But Lennok knew that Ermont’s outward reactions couldn’t explain his entire being.
“It hasn’t even been a full day since Anathema’s death was officially announced.”
Lennok said, watching Ermont struggle from behind Felix with his arms crossed.
“The fact that you’re here means you moved to obtain information about the residence immediately after the summit ended, at the very least.”
“……”
At that moment, Ermont’s desperate flailing stopped abruptly.
Lennok confirmed this and asked with a smile.
“Where are the others? What are they doing?”
“……Hahaha.”
Ermont tilted his head back, quietly murmuring.
“As expected, my acting was a little clumsy, wasn’t it?”
Boom!!!
At that instant, the Chilling Binding of Ice that held Ermont exploded, flashing with light.
It was a blinding flash so intense that Felix, bringing his hammer down, had to deflect the shockwave directly.
From behind the burst of light, Ermont stood up, his complexion perfectly fine.
“My apologies. I haven’t shed a tear since I took over this body.”
“……”
“Perhaps it’s because I’m borrowing the body of someone who had no blood or tears to begin with, but even my tear ducts seem to have dried up.”
Ermont, straightening his collar, turned and winked at Lennok.
“I’ll be taking Anathema’s treasure. Wouldn’t it be more useful for impoverished lawbreakers like us, rather than a Grand Wizard who grew up with everything?”
“That’s not for you to decide.”
Lennok raised his hand.
“First, I’ll kill you, and then I’ll confirm the faces of the bastards moving with you.”
[Self-Shadow Incantation]
[Swift Thunder Narrow Flight]
There was no prelude.
From beneath the shadow of Lennok’s raised hand, lightning rotated silently and shot out at supersonic speed.
It pierced Ermont’s glabella at an invisible velocity.
Cwaaang!!
The lightning from Swift Thunder Narrow Flight, which had pierced Ermont’s body, collapsed the temple wall, made of gravity stone, like dominoes.
In an instant, one side of the wall was hollowed out, and a tingling electrical current swirled over the ruins.
Crackle, crackle…!!!
Only after all the destructive actions had ceased did the sign of lightning settle in that place.
“Insane……”
Even Peshia, observing, felt a momentary chill at the unreal incantation speed.
The power of the specialized spell, which twisted fragments of lightning to maximize penetration, was, head-on, virtually impossible to defend against.
Yet, even after blowing Ermont’s head off with a single gesture, Lennok’s expression remained unchanged.
“P-phew! I-I’m alive.”
Sure enough, Ermont’s corpse hardened and shattered, and a new Ermont rolled out.
Flattened like a frog on the floor, Ermont grinned obsequiously, subtly observing Lennok.
“Now, you understand, don’t you? Inside this temple, you cannot kill me.”
“Gemstone Spellcraft, then.”
The Gemstone Spellcraft Ermont was using was the power of Jawoon Audis, the original owner of that body.
It was an extremely useful spellcraft that varied in ability and system depending on the gemstone used, proportional to the difficult condition of having to consume and discard expensive jewels as expendables.
Ermont knew this, which was why he hadn’t discarded Jawoon Audis’s body and was still using it.
“Are you using the gravity stones of the temple as a medium for the spellcraft?”
“The purity of the gravity stones Anathema collected in this temple is incredibly high, you see. Inside this temple, I can spam the spellcraft without any mana waste.”
As long as there were enough catalysts, the mana consumption of the Gemstone Spellcraft was virtually negligible.
If the entire temple could be used as material for the spell, it was no wonder Ermont displayed such confidence in front of Lennok.
“Even though this body’s original owner accumulated a great deal of karma, there’s a reason I can’t discard it, you know.”
Ermont grumbled as if he’d been waiting for this.
“It’s just not cost-effective, you know? If I’m going to switch bodies, there shouldn’t be a performance downgrade, should there? It’s surprisingly hard to find bodies that offer that kind of ‘ride comfort’.”
“You talk as if you’re switching cars.”
“Now, come.”
Ermont extended one hand and beckoned Lennok, then declared.
“How long do you think you can keep up with me, constantly resurrecting like a leech?!”
“……”
Despite his confident words, the content of his declaration was remarkably humble.
Even in this blessed environment where he could use Gemstone Spellcraft without limit, he didn’t spout nonsense about being able to defeat Lennok.
Ermont’s exceedingly wise judgment, accurately understanding his own capabilities.
“He’s an interesting one. He’s spouting such humiliatingly obsequious words with such confidence.”
Peshia murmured with a curious expression, gripping her spear.
“I’d heard Pandemonium was full of crazies, but seeing it in person is something else.”
“Van, he’s intentionally stalling for time.”
Felix nodded with a profound gaze.
“I’ll deal with him; you should retrieve the Forbidden Armament as quickly as possible.”
Even to someone unfamiliar with Ermont, it was clear he was spouting pointless nonsense to hold Lennok back.
This was because Ermont hadn’t entered the temple alone; he had other companions, and they were working to steal Anathema’s legacy on his behalf.
In that case, wouldn’t it be rational for Felix and Peshia to handle Ermont while Lennok retrieved the Forbidden Armament?
“If they had made significant progress in stealing Anathema’s artifact, that man wouldn’t have shown himself to me in the first place.”
However, Lennok chuckled and shook his head even after hearing Felix’s words.
“The act of appearing first, attracting attention, and provoking me is itself a way to make me head towards the temple first.”
“……What do you mean?”
“Either the temple’s resistance to the Forbidden Armament is stronger than they expected, to the point where they need my help, or……”
Lennok took a step forward, extending his arm to the side, and murmured.
“They weren’t even aiming for the Forbidden Armament to begin with.”
Whoosh!
As he extended one arm to the side, he simultaneously cast two spells of different attributes.
The moment the cold flame, created by combining Forged Flame and Ice Wheel, burst from Lennok’s fingertips.
Azure flames flashed with blue light, melting the surrounding gravity stones and causing walls and ceilings to collapse.
Creation-type Unique Magic: Applied Alchemy – Dual Alchemy
[Azure Flame]
Cwaaaaaang!!!!
As the gravity stones of the temple melted in response to the cold flame unleashed by Lennok, Ermont’s expression completely changed.
“W-wait, wait!!!”
“If you’re surviving with spellcraft using gravity stones, then I simply need to melt all the gravity stones around you.”
Lennok smiled and extended his hand toward Ermont.
“Shall we see how many more hidden cards you have?”
“Aaaargh!! I’m sorry! I don’t have any!!”
The moment Ermont shrieked pathetically and rolled on the ground.
Craaack!!
A path of cold ice spread across the floor, and someone incredibly fast grabbed Ermont by the collar and slid away.
Screech!!!
The person who narrowly dodged the blue flames sweeping through the corridor raised their gaze.
“Soryu!!”
Ermont called his name as if he’d been waiting, grumbling wildly.
“Damn it, you’re late! I almost died, seriously.”
“You’re busy flapping your mouth all day.”
Soryu, having stood up, looked down at Ermont with a cold gaze and retorted.
“Can’t you even handle a simple task like guarding the temple’s exterior?”
“Simple task? Does this look like a simple task to you? This is a momentous occasion of a lifetime!”
Ermont shouted loudly, sprawled on the floor.
“Then you deal with that wizard, or do whatever you want.”
“……Right. That’s why I came out myself.”
Soryu’s cold eyes turned towards Lennok, who stood far away.
“Don’t overuse your spellcraft. If that man reads your abilities, we might all die right here.”
“I think my hand has been completely revealed.”
Ignoring Ermont’s sullen complaint, Soryu slowly began to walk.
Crackle……!!
Soryu’s entire body became covered in white frost, scattering cold air.
Peshia, seeing the unnatural sight of a sharp blizzard seeming to come alive, rested her spear on her shoulder.
A member of Pandemonium and a royal of Kabahim. A possessor of an ice-attribute innate ability.
Lennok smiled as he watched Soryu, with an expressionless face, walk out in front of him.
“Quite a confident attitude for a thief who’s broken into a vault.”
“Let’s make a deal, Adamant Thunder.”
Soryu said, looking at Lennok with cold eyes.
“I have something I want to tell you about this matter.”
“A deal, you say.”
Lennok tilted his head slightly.
“I don’t think that’s what should be coming out of your mouth right now.”
“Currently, the space-time within this temple is unstable and warped, suppressing the effects of magic power and will-thought.”
Soryu said, unperturbed.
“That’s because the Forbidden Armament, having lost its master after Anathema’s death, is running wild.”
“Running wild?”
“Fully automated activation of manipulation spellcraft without using Magic Scribes as a medium. That alone is causing the surrounding space to repeatedly transfer and collapse randomly.”
Soryu glanced at the gauntlet stored in the center of the temple, his gaze turning cold.
“According to The Doctor, that Forbidden Armament was created using the bloodline of an Ascendant as material.”
“……”
“Even if not the Ascendant themselves, it’s a forbidden artifact crafted by grinding down talent and capacity comparable to one. In this situation, even moving normally through the temple is difficult.”
An Ascendant’s bloodline, he said.
Soryu didn’t elaborate, but Lennok felt he knew who that Ascendant referred to.
While Lennok was briefly lost in thought from the unexpected information, Soryu, as if waiting, spread both hands.
“With Anathema himself deceased, two items are needed to suppress the spatial transfer and collapse and to approach the Forbidden Armament.”
Flash!
A spiteful poisonous toad and a ring scattering cold air appeared in Soryu’s hands.
“The artifact that devours resentment and curses, spitting them out as magic power, the Curse-Eating Ghoul. And the relic with the highest ice-attribute mystery, the Ice Seal.”
Soryu said, holding up the poisonous toad and the ring.
“Both are powerful artifacts, but the important one is the Ice Seal. It has the ability to engrave the user’s name on an ice crystal tablet, granting the ‘Blessing of the Snow-White Robe’.”
“……”
“If you use the Ice Seal to suppress the random spatial transfers within the temple and feed Magic Scribes to the Curse-Eating Ghoul, you should be able to acquire the Forbidden Armament.”
“That’s a long explanation.”
Lennok asked.
“So, what do you want to say?”
“I’ll help you retrieve the Forbidden Armament using these two items.”
Soryu said with an expressionless face.
“In return, I’d like you to let us leave safely from this situation.”
“……”
“I didn’t expect ownership of Anathema’s legacy to be transferred to you immediately after the summit. I intended to take the item before ownership was decided, but for the cautious Slain, that decision was incredibly fast.”
“Now you want permission to back out?”
“I have no intention of fighting you. Can we not simply move past this by my cooperation in retrieving the Forbidden Armament?”
“Hey, Ice Guy. Do you really want to die?”
Boom!!
Peshia irritably slammed her spear shaft down, glaring at Soryu.
“Why are these thieving bastards who crawled into someone else’s vault acting so high and mighty?”
“……”
“I don’t know where you learned to beg for your life with such a stiff neck. Are you some kind of royalty or something?”
“Ohh.”
Ermont exclaimed, intrigued.
“How did you kno—”
Thwack!!
At Ermont’s ill-timed blunder, Soryu abruptly threw a chunk of ice, embedding it in his face.
Soryu, turning away from Ermont who lay sprawled, covered in ice fragments, shifted his gaze to Lennok.
“I’ve been observing the temple’s barrier and space-time collapse patterns for a full day. I can be of help.”
“……”
“If you wish, I’ll swear an oath using Geas right here.”
“I see.”
Lennok tilted his head, smiling.
Indeed, if a superhuman as intelligent as Soryu helped conquer the temple, things might become easier.
If he were to insist on fighting here, risking the temple’s collapse, the Forbidden Armament might not be retrieved intact.
Lennok slowly walked forward to Soryu.
“Geas isn’t necessary. I’ll ask only one question, so answer me.”
“What is it?”
“The Curse-Eating Ghoul and the Ice Seal you mentioned.”
Lennok asked, looking at the artifacts placed beside Soryu.
“Are those originally your items, or artifacts you obtained in this temple?”
“……”
At that moment, Soryu, who had maintained his composure throughout, fell silent.
He had been answering without hesitation as if anticipating Lennok’s reactions, but now, for the first time, he seemed to be at a loss for words.
Ermont, who had been chewing on the ice in his mouth, also had a subtly changed expression.
Realizing the opponent’s reaction was unusual, Felix raised his hammer and asked.
“Van, what does that mean? Those artifacts were originally in this temple?”
“I don’t think an organization like Pandemonium would be satisfied without any gains.”
Lennok said, looking at Soryu’s fingertips.
“At the point where you proposed such a deal to me, I thought you already had significant gains and were planning to withdraw.”
“……”
“Showing the Curse-Eating Ghoul and the Ice Seal so openly and explaining the method was probably to make it seem as if those items were yours from the beginning, but……”
Crackle!
As Lennok slowly stretched his neck, lightning flashed across his shoulders.
“If you had the means to retrieve the Forbidden Armament from the beginning, you wouldn’t have been working on this for an entire day. It seems I’ve hit the mark.”
The Curse-Eating Ghoul and the Ice Seal. Both artifacts had been sealed within Anathema’s temple from the start.
Soryu and Ermont hadn’t been working for days to acquire the Forbidden Armament from Anathema’s temple.
From the beginning, they had already obtained the artifacts they truly wanted and were moving to take the Forbidden Armament as an additional prize.
“……The Ice Seal was originally a national treasure used by Kabahim’s former king as the royal seal.”
Soryu said quietly.
“To be precise, its legitimacy lies with me, not with you, who killed Anathema. Discussing ownership is meaningless—”
“That’s not something a prince exiled after losing a succession war should say.”
“……”
This time, Soryu’s composure finally fractured, a faint crack appearing in his expression.
“That’s not information you could have learned from Ermont’s blunders.”
“Did you expect no one to know your identity while operating under Pandemonium?”
Lennok smiled, watching his reaction.
“You’re hardly in a position to talk about legitimacy while openly using Kabahim’s royal bloodline ability.”
“……”
“Your quick wit in fabricating a deal and concealing the truth on the spot to survive this situation is commendable, but—”
Lennok’s eyes, meeting Soryu’s, gleamed with chilling sharpness.
“I don’t think that’s a reason to let you live.”
Ice-attribute Unique Magic
[Ice-White Pillar]
[Combined Bloom]
Ice horns surged from beneath Soryu’s feet, impaling and erupting through his body in an instant.
Cwaaaang!!!
“Noooo!!”
The chilling ice horns proved that the deal Soryu had proposed had completely fallen apart.
Ermont, who had shrieked belatedly, cleared his throat, sensing Peshia’s gaze fixed on him.
“Well, it was the sort of cunning plan a banished prince would cook up, wasn’t it? Even I was completely fooled.”
“……”
“It’s a bit late, but can this poor black wizard who received nothing from this incident finally go home?”
“……”
“……”
A quiet silence fell between the two.
Ermont sprang up and bolted, and Peshia raised her spear.
“Stop right there, you blabbermouth!”