Chapter 966: The Prohibition (21)
CRASH!!!
A vast underground temple, hundreds of meters in radius.
Through purple corridors where Gravity Stones glowed, a glass-colored gauntlet ricocheted at tremendous speed.
The clash of two ultimate power users, who had reached Level 8, transcended space and will-thought.
Lennok’s counter, which deflected Maiya’s offensive and unleashed the Forbidden Armament, wresting away its ownership.
CRACK!!!
“Ugh…!!!”
Sou-ryu’s arm, attempting to grasp the gauntlet that had ricocheted at supersonic speed, shattered into pieces and turned to ice on the spot.
The Forbidden Armament, exploding with a glass-like radiance, refused even proper contact, let alone capture.
Sou-ryu, instantly reverting to his human form, quickly shouted.
“Neither magic nor will-thought interference works. We have to grab it directly!!”
“Alright, I’m going!!”
Freed from its crystal seal, the Forbidden Armament automatically chanted Manipulation Spellcraft without any restrictions.
The surrounding space twisted randomly, and the Sutu moved haphazardly, leaping tens of meters at a time.
WHOOSH!!!
“Come here now!! Quickly, into my arms!”
Ermont, scrambling along the temple wall, launched himself towards the Sutu from above.
Ermont, narrowly grabbing the Sutu, shoved his left hand into it and shouted.
“It’s not what I really wanted, but what can you do? Since it’s come to this, I might as well try being a manipulator— Ugh!!”
THUD!!!
At that moment, the giant body of the eagle-headed giant landed buttocks-first onto Ermont’s arm.
Felix, who had swapped positions with the Sutu, looked down with a bewildered expression.
“So this is what random spatial transfer is like. More disorienting than I thought.”
“Aghhhh!!! My arm!! My arm?!!”
Ermont’s left arm, pinned under Felix’s body, which weighed hundreds of kilograms, had become jerky.
It seemed doubtful whether even his bones or joints remained intact, let alone his arm.
However, Felix’s expression towards the loudly screaming Ermont was utterly cold.
“How about you put down that Gravity Stone in your hand before we talk?”
“Ah, seriously.”
Ermont lamented and instantly turned into a hard stone.
A new Ermont rolled out from behind the tumbling pile of stones, grumbling.
“Gemstone Spellcraft is great and all, but this is the problem. It’s so obvious what spell I’m using that it takes away from the fun of seeing the reaction.”
“As for me, I don’t understand how Gemstone Spellcraft, with a Gravity Stone as a catalyst, can nullify damage to that extent.”
Felix raised his hammer and stared at Ermont with a heavy gaze.
“That doesn’t look like gravity; it seems more like spellcraft related to mass.”
“Yes, I’m not understanding the principles; I’m just imitating the ability.”
Ermont laughed and quickly backed away.
“Originally, Gemstone Spellcraft didn’t originate from humans but from Long-lived Beings who were overflowing with wealth, especially ancient dragons. Don’t you think it’s too difficult for humans to understand which gem transforms into which ability?”
“That’s quite an interesting story.”
At that moment, Lennok, who had landed behind Ermont, asked.
“Would you care to tell me more about it later?”
“Screeech!! Maiya!!”
SWISH!!
Ignoring Ermont, who was convulsing as if he’d seen a ghost, Maiya sprinted along the inner wall of the temple corridor.
Pure speed, defying the force of gravity and running vertically, solely by the velocity of her sprint.
Maiya’s blurred figure kicked off the air, accelerated once more, and crashed directly into Ermont.
CRASHING BOOM!!!
“No, where are you aiming?! Please!! We’re on the same side!!”
Leaving Ermont, who was abandoning his broken body and screaming as he fled, Lennok, who had easily dodged the attack, turned his gaze.
Lennok smiled, seeing Maiya’s pale face, unable to easily maintain her balance even while standing still.
“It seems your sense of direction is paralyzed. Are you reaching your limit?”
“……”
“Enhancement of the Mind Imprint and amplification of will-thought using the Forbidden Armament. It’s a powerful force that forcibly expands the user’s vessel, but the user must bear all the power required.”
A forbidden armament crafted in Ars Nova. Moreover, it was made using the bloodline of an Ascendant and a high-level manipulator as materials.
It was clear that the moment Maiya obtained the Forbidden Armament, her combat power leaped to an entirely different level.
Indeed, Maiya not only manipulated space to counter Lennok but even unleashed Miniature Universes to shatter Lennok’s will-thought Domain.
However, the cost she had to pay in that process was entirely Maiya’s burden.
“An armament that allows one to do the impossible, but demands the full price from its user… truly, a forbidden weapon.”
“Well…”
Lennok’s words instantly pierced through how Maiya could exert such powerful force.
But Maiya, with her hand on her hip, did not waver even as she struggled to maintain her balance.
Instead, with a sunken gaze, she simply stared at Lennok’s flickering form.
“It was actually your reactions that were slowing down little by little.”
“……”
“Like how you were caught by me to steal my Inner Core, and just now, your reactions have been dull, almost to the point of stopping.”
Seeing Lennok not reply, Maiya’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“To suddenly reduce the combat consumption to this extent, were you that unwell?”
Her opponent was a grand wizard who had just returned a few days ago after a decisive battle that half-destroyed a satellite city and the Cult’s Sixth Apostle.
She had thought he might be low on reserves, but she never imagined he would stop abruptly like a broken machine.
His reactions were so heavy and sluggish that the divine power he had shown just moments ago felt like a lie.
A perilous fragility, as if a dying candle flame stood before her, was perceptible.
It felt like a miracle that he was still confronting Maiya with such a body.
Adamant Thunder’s critical condition, though possibly exaggerated, was certainly not a lie.
The moment Maiya, convinced of this, slowly gripped her short sword and drew upon her will-thought.
“Summoning spellcraft, you see, is surprisingly demanding on concentration.”
Lennok, with a bitter smile, took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and mumbled.
“……What?”
“If I want to use it when it’s absolutely necessary, it takes a bit of time to get the hang of it.”
Lennok slowly tilted his head, his gaze blurring as if leaving the underground cavern to look at something far away.
“Indeed, it must be because I’m handling a power that diverges from my origin.”
“……”
[Maiya, over here!!]
Were the Apostle’s Carapace Shield and the lightning giant Lennok summoned truly powers so unsuited to him?
While Maiya hesitated at the incomprehensible answer, Sou-ryu, who had returned to human form, exhaled a cold breath towards the ceiling.
WHOOSH!!!
Following the cold air Sou-ryu exhaled, dust clouds froze, forming an ice path above the temple ceiling.
The Forbidden Armament cannot be caught using magic or spellcraft.
Retrieving it is impossible unless a living human hand grasps the armament directly.
The moment Sou-ryu, stepping onto the ice path without hesitation, accelerated as if sliding and launched himself towards the Sutu.
“Where do you think you’re going, you ice bastard!!”
Peshia, kicking off the ground, shattered the ice path as she surged up, kneeing Sou-ryu in the stomach.
CRUNCH!!
BOOM!!
“……!!”
His speed was so immense that Sou-ryu couldn’t even transform his body into ice and took the hit directly.
But Sou-ryu, maintaining consciousness despite the piercing pain in his stomach, immediately transformed his body back into ice.
Because the moment Peshia realized she had successfully struck Sou-ryu’s body, she swung her spear, shattering his form.
CRUNCH!
“Whether it’s you or that black wizard, you’re both remarkably good at self-preservation.”
Peshia, who had instantly shattered the ice-formed body, sneered as she watched Sou-ryu regenerate a few steps away.
“You must have such abilities to brazenly sneak in and commit theft, right?”
“The bloodline ability passed down through Kabahim’s blood is not a universally beneficial blessing.”
Sou-ryu, wiping away the blood flowing from his ice-transformed lips, replied.
“Talents forged through the processing and selection of a bloodline often come with genetic diseases.”
“……”
“Because not being cursed was more important than being blessed… I gave up the throne.”
Sou-ryu, who had lowered his head as if exhausted, had eyes that gleamed eerily.
“If you’re not prepared to be cursed, you won’t receive any blessings.”
“Hey, Prince. I’m not really interested in your pathetic family history.”
Peshia laughed.
Peshia, walking down the collapsing ice path as if it were flat ground, slung her spear over her shoulder and said.
“What’s important is that I find your attitude of trying to gain an advantage without even fighting disgusting.”
“I know it’s not a soldier’s way. It might seem that way to the Ghost Demoness who was active on the Central Front.”
Sou-ryu, with a cold expression, cast his gaze behind Peshia and said.
“But we are not soldiers, nor knights, nor thieves.”
Sou-ryu, placing the hand wearing the Ice Seal against his neck, tilted his head back.
“We’re just criminals who want a lot.”
“That’s why your shameless words are so disgusting, you bastard!!”
BOOM!!!
Immediately after Peshia’s shoulder blurred, gripping the spear in a reverse grip, the spearhead flashed in the air and embedded itself in Sou-ryu’s head.
A chilling spear throw, aimed at shattering his brain and killing him before he could even use ice transformation.
But instead of collapsing, spewing blood, Sou-ryu shattered his body like an ice sculpture.
WHOOSH!!!
Simultaneously, a violent blizzard raged around his body, beginning to sweep past Peshia.
The raging blizzard headed towards the Forbidden Armament, which was randomly teleporting in the air.
Only then did Peshia realize Sou-ryu’s true intentions and turned her gaze with a bewildered expression.
“This bastard, turning his own body into a blizzard…!!”
Even for a bloodline ability user of an elemental affinity, transforming and regenerating one’s body into that element is the optimal method.
However, manipulating one’s body by dispersing it into particles, as he was doing, was effectively beyond the human realm.
It was probably possible because the Ice Seal Sou-ryu possessed was enhancing his bloodline ability.
WHOOSH-!!
While Peshia retrieved her spear and leaped over the ice path, Sou-ryu, transformed into a blizzard, surrounded the Forbidden Armament and drew upon his magical power.
Even if he were to return to human form and grab the Forbidden Armament now, he would simply be caught by Peshia, who was right behind him.
Sou-ryu’s will-thought was also greatly depleted from using the Ice Seal. At this point, he had to set the stage and trust the rest to others.
Ice-attribute Bloodline Ability
Snow River White Command [설하백령] Full Activation
[Suppressing Frost Spring [抑位霜泉]]
WHOOSH!!!
A chilling blizzard swirled around the Forbidden Armament, freezing the entire area above it.
An extreme super-low temperature, capable of suppressing not only heat but also the movement of particles.
The movements of the Forbidden Armament, which had been rapidly teleporting around the temple, gradually began to slow down.
FLASH, FLASH!!
The Sutu, which had been moving too fast to be clearly seen, became distinct enough to be captured by the naked eye.
[Maiya…!!]
“Going.”
Sou-ryu’s whole body trembled, scattering intense cold and freezing the surrounding atmosphere.
As if responding to Sou-ryu, Maiya, who had leaped tens of meters through the air, instantly landed in front of the Forbidden Armament.
The moment Maiya, without hesitation, grabbed the gauntlet and was about to leap onto the temple.
“I won’t allow that!!!”
WHOOSH!!!
Felix, who had propelled himself into the air like a catapult, swung his hammer from behind Maiya.
Maiya, noticing the intensifying wind pressure, placed her short sword against the hammer’s face and rotated its blade.
BOOM!!!
A heavy shockwave erupted, but Maiya merely coughed lightly, not wavering in the slightest.
A marvel, perfectly deflecting the hammer’s impact with just a short sword in mid-air, without any footing or support.
It was the pinnacle of artistry, practically deflecting and absorbing any force applied to her body.
“You’re that mercenary I saw on the Pilgrimage Path. I remember you because of your unusual appearance.”
Maiya, flipping her body in front of Felix, whose expression had hardened in disbelief, muttered weakly.
“Your presence here means everyone else failed, doesn’t it?”
“……No!!”
Felix, gritting his teeth, gripped the hammer with both hands, drew upon his magic, and shouted.
“I am here precisely so we don’t fail again!!!”
CRUNCH!!!
Dorye’s magic surged up the hammer’s handle, coiling around it, and struck down relentlessly towards Maiya.
Seeing the hammer’s heavy glow approach, Maiya raised her hand with a pale face.
The same type of attack. If it’s merely an increase in power, there’s no need to change her response.
This time, instead of deflecting Felix’s attack, she would counter it, severing the tendons in both his arms.
But the moment Maiya gripped her short sword and received the hammer, she realized it contained no force at all and her expression hardened.
It wasn’t a feint or a trick.
A sense of unease, a bending of physical laws, where the full force was exerted but no proper impact was felt.
This is-
Inner World Miniature Universe
Mind Imprint Activation
[Impact Transfer]
Felix’s powerful blow, flowing past Maiya’s body, struck the Sutu that was revolving behind her with his hammer, sending it flying far away.
CRACK!!!
The Forbidden Armament, rapidly moving away from the temple’s upper reaches, plummeted towards the ground.
Maiya, realizing that the rapidly spinning Sutu was falling towards Lennok and Ermont, who were confronting each other on the ground, irritably turned her gaze.
“You had a hidden trick up your sleeve. A Miniature Universe…!!!”
“It’s not a very helpful ability in a fight against a powerful individual like yourself.”
Felix nodded with a bitter smile.
Felix Magat’s Miniature Universe, Impact Transfer, acquired upon reaching Level 7.
It was a power that changed the position of applied and received impact, but Felix had almost never used this ability in actual combat.
The amount of impact that could be transferred through the Miniature Universe’s ability was proportional to the amount of magic power and will-thought one possessed.
Because Felix, a beast-kin, did not have a large maximum magic power capacity, the amount of impact he could transfer was not significant.
He had keenly felt that he possessed a Miniature Universe not specialized for combat, which was why he tried to strengthen himself by mastering Dorye’s magic.
“Still, if it can be of help to Van, then that is enough.”
But for purposes other than combat, like striking an opponent by surprise as he just did, it was sufficient.
Felix’s eyes, holding up his hammer, gleamed with strong will.
“That Forbidden Armament rightfully belongs to the victor who subjugated Anathema. For Pandemonium, it’s misguided greed.”
SWISH!!!
The Sutu, struck by Felix’s hammer and ricocheting from the temple sky, fell towards Ermont and Lennok.
“The situation has become rather coincidental.”
Ermont, buried among fragments of Gravity Stone, smiled, looking at Lennok who was staring down at him.
“Don’t they say heaven helps those who help themselves? It seems that armament has already chosen me as its master.”
“Being able to vocalize delusions so honestly could be considered a talent in itself.”
“No, you know I have a way, don’t you?”
Ermont said, tapping the Gravity Stone he was buried under.
The black wizard’s eyes, staring at Lennok, suddenly gleamed sharply.
“Gemstone Spellcraft, with a Gravity Stone as a catalyst. You still haven’t figured out what its ability is, have you?”
“……”
“And you, just standing there watching, it looks like your energy is finally running out.”
Ermont said with a wide grin.
“As expected, completely recovering within a few days of killing Anathema is simply absurd. If such monsters existed in this world, how could ordinary people like us even live in peace?”
“That item only functions effectively when used by a manipulator. Why do you want it?”
Lennok asked, feigning ignorance.
“Are you thinking of transferring it to a spellcaster who can use the Forbidden Armament?”
“No. Are you crazy?”
Ermont made a bewildered face.
“Why would I give such a precious item to anyone else?”
“……”
“If I just capture a spellcaster, make them learn Magic Scribe, and then switch to their body, I’ll be able to use that Sutu myself, won’t I?”
Ermont, gripping the Gravity Stone in both hands, drew upon his magic and grinned.
“Why would that masked man be so fond of me as to hand over such an armament anyway? I’d rather just gobble it up and live lavishly— Ugh!!”
CRACKLE!!!
The moment Lennok, feeling no further need to listen to nonsense, plunged lightning into Ermont’s brain.
Ermont’s body stiffened like stone and collapsed. A new Ermont began to run towards where the Sutu was falling.
“Hahahaha!! Wait for me, this time I’m really coming!”
Ermont, panting with his tongue hanging out like a dog, stretched his hand out towards the Sutu.
In the fleeting moment Sou-ryu suppressed the spatial transfer, the gauntlet was firmly grasped in both of Ermont’s hands this time.
THWACK!!
Something flew from behind Ermont and precisely pierced his chest.
Ermont, looking down at the long staff piercing his heart, spun his gaze towards Lennok and burst into laughter.
“Ahahaha!! No, you can’t, you can’t. I told you countless times you can’t kill me like that—”
THUD!!
Ermont’s body, holding up the Forbidden Armament with both hands, stiffened like a corpse and collapsed on the spot.
“U-Ughhhhhh…”
Ermont was convulsing on the spot, his limbs trembling.
Lennok watched Ermont and slowly walked up to his fallen body.
“The ability of Gemstone Spellcraft, which uses a Gravity Stone as a catalyst, is not the manipulation of gravity, but the substitution of mass.”
Lennok, tilting his head towards Ermont, said.
“Considering the versatility of the ability, it’s probably applicable only to inanimate objects.”
“H-how….”
“I happen to have an artifact with a similar ability.”
SHICK!!
Lennok, pulling out the staff he had thrust into Ermont’s body, Compassion of the Archangel, smiled.
“The very fact that you could apply such spellcraft to your body to nullify death is likely because your body is, in fact, close to an inanimate state.”
“……”
“So if I forcibly heal your body and make it register as living, you won’t be able to use that spellcraft anymore, will you?”
The ability of Gemstone Spellcraft, with a Gravity Stone as a catalyst, is the substitution of mass.
However, substituting the mass of a living human with that of a Gravity Stone to nullify death is an extremely difficult task, even with Lennok’s Mass Spellcraft.
Therefore, Ermont’s spellcraft could only be interpreted as being established through some kind of trick or difficult condition.
That’s why Lennok judged that the condition for mass substitution through spellcraft applied only to inanimate objects.
He had considered that perhaps Ermont’s body was virtually in a cadaverous state, allowing for the substitution of mass between his body and the Gravity Stone.
Jawoon Audis’s body, currently occupied by Ermont, was a body that had once met death and been taken by a black wizard.
Therefore, instead of killing Ermont, Lennok used Compassion of the Archangel to, conversely, heal him and breathe life into him.
He was convinced that Ermont could no longer escape using Gemstone Spellcraft with a Gravity Stone as a catalyst.
“No…”
Only then did Ermont realize his spellcraft had been completely countered, and he shrieked in a shriveled voice.
“Bad luck, bad luck. How can a person be so unlucky….”
“You should say you’re lucky. Lucky to meet such a kind wizard who not only didn’t kill a thief but even healed him.”
Lennok said so, turning his back, holding Compassion of the Archangel.
“Because if I killed that body and your consciousness latched on again to start using spellcraft, it would become troublesome.”
“Ugh…”
“Alright, so ultimately…”
He turned his gaze towards the Sutu that had fallen in front of Ermont.
“It’s come to this.”
KIIING…!!!
A beautiful, glass-colored glowing glove.
A gauntlet, a Sutu, or a glove. Or perhaps all of them.
Whichever it was, it was excessively beautiful for a Forbidden Armament made from human material.
The moment Lennok silently reached out his hand towards the Sutu, slowly drawing upon his magic.
“Woahhh!! Seriously!!”
Suddenly, Ermont convulsed and pulled out a brilliant gemstone from his pocket, biting it.
“Damn it, if I hand over something like that to a monster like you, how am I supposed to live without my stomach churning?!!”
[Amazonite [천하석]: Spatial-Interlinked Exfoliation Blossom]
Simultaneously with the dazzling radiance of the gemstone pillar coiling around the gauntlet and surging upwards, Sou-ryu retracted his cold energy.
A supreme secret art of Gemstone Spellcraft, using an extremely rare gem as a catalyst to twist and cleave space.
The chill that had frozen and suppressed the atmosphere vanished, and the moment Ermont stimulated space, unleashing the Forbidden Armament.
BOOM!!
Once again, the Sutu, glowing right in front of Lennok’s nose, ricocheted far away.
“Van…!!!”
“Fuck, can’t you keep track of things properly?!!”
“Heh heh, so that’s what a powerful one possesses…!”
“Ermont, get ready. This is the last chance!!”
Felix, who had collided with Maiya’s shoulder, and Peshia, who fell through the collapsing ice path.
On the ground, the Blood Elder, bearing blood-red blades, sprinted as if crawling, and Sou-ryu, returned to human form, ran at full speed.
CLATTERING!!!
From all directions, four or more types of magic power and will-thought exploded, and the glass-colored gauntlet’s form shook wildly.
Ermont, his body inverted, looked at the Forbidden Armament that had surged upwards, clashing in the center of the crumbling temple, and burst into laughter.
“Puhahaha!! Now it’s all pointless, so let’s just make each other suffer to our heart’s content!!!”
“Indeed.”
“……Huh?”
At that moment, both Ermont and Sou-ryu simultaneously stiffened their expressions at Lennok’s unusually calm reaction.
But Lennok no longer paid them any mind, watching the gauntlet falling far away.
Because from the moment he received Hylaea’s message and encountered the Pandemonium members in the temple, Lennok had been thinking about how to handle this matter.
He had no intention of leaving an item he needed to others, relying on someone’s goodwill or a transaction.
If something was necessary, he would take it directly into his hands, move himself to set the stage, and create the outcome.
That was why he had used summoning spellcraft multiple times against the Pandemonium members, sifting through to identify the truly summonable target.
That was why he had forced himself to compensate for his depleted concentration and reaction, fighting Maiya who was equipped with the Forbidden Armament.
Even the moment he unfolded his will-thought Domain against Maiya, obscuring her sensitive perception.
It was merely a process to arrive at this very moment.
The moment everyone, sprinting in different directions, reached out their hands towards the falling glass-colored Sutu.
Someone, descending at incredible speed, snatched the gauntlet rotating in mid-air.
SWISH!!
As a jet-black shadow descended to the ground, a shadow robe spread wide open.
As he turned, hundreds of Magic Scribes unfurled, instantly supporting his body.
[A Forbidden Armament crafted in Ars Nova. Quite a decent armament.]
“……!!!!”
An obsidian mask covering his face, and jet-black gloves covering his fingertips.
The man, gripping the gauntlet with one hand, made his red eyes flash behind the mask.
[I’ll take this.]
Sou-ryu, realizing the opponent’s identity belatedly, muttered with a dumbfounded expression.
“……Victor?”