Chapter 967: The Prohibition (22)
Before he acquired the Incarnation Spellcraft, Lennok struggled with handling avatar bodies.
Transcendent intuition. Perfect mind. A wizard’s reason.
Because he possessed talents and aptitudes that defied imitation, even though he could wield all systems and spellcraft, Lennok’s very existence could not be ‘imitaited’.
A low-grade avatar body incapable of using spellcraft was useless from the start, while a high-grade avatar body projected from Lennok himself was impossible to construct.
That was why the Incarnation Spellcraft he obtained in Military Spirit City Yorta created an Incarnation Body based not on Lennok himself, but on the essence of a combatant.
This was unavoidable because Lennok’s own ego possessed an absolute nature that no other being could infringe upon.
Conversely, this meant that to control the Incarnation Body, Lennok had to split his own consciousness in two for manipulation each time.
Even at close proximity, it required a significant expenditure of consciousness, but the cost increased exponentially with distance.
Once the distance extended to kilometers, merely sustaining the incarnation consumed an enormous amount of vitality.
For Lennok, who had simultaneously utilized various identities, the Incarnation Spellcraft was an ability he needed above all else.
Yet, in return, it was the ability among all spellcraft Lennok had mastered that demanded the most immense expenditure of consciousness and reaction.
Therefore, when using the Incarnation Body, he always had to carefully calculate the timing and the cost.
After concluding the battle between Adamant Thunder and Cheonbeon, he once again moved the Incarnation Body, which had been undergoing extensive adjustments to natural spellcraft.
Using summoning magic to call forth the Incarnation Body and buy time to descend into the Underground Temple.
Though he had hesitated for a long time, there was no doubt that this very moment was the opportune time Lennok had sought.
“That mask…”
An ominous presence settled in the collapsing Underground Temple’s center. A dark red gaze gleamed beyond an obsidian mask.
The figure of a man stood as if suspended by invisible spiderwebs, leisurely caressing a gauntlet.
“[The design isn’t to my taste. I don’t care for the size either.]”
A low, indiscernible tone, yet it was clear that a faint satisfaction permeated his voice.
“[It’s mixed with impurities from changing owners. It’s so unpleasant just holding it.]”
During a desperate moment when the Forbidden Armament’s ownership shifted back and forth.
An unknown spellcaster who nonchalantly intruded onto the battlefield and seized the gauntlet.
But no one in Pandemonium was unfamiliar with that man.
“[It’ll require adjustment to use.]”
“No, Victor!!!”
Ermont, who had been crawling on the ground, shrieked.
“What in the world are you doing here?!”
“[Why, am I not supposed to be here?]”
Shhhk…!!
With a light gesture towards the ground, Victor’s figure glided elegantly through the air.
His movements defied gravity, as if he hung suspended on invisible threads, traversing like a spider on its web.
Holding the dazzling, glass-colored Sutu in one hand, he moved forward, his shadow robe fluttering.
The dark red gaze beneath the mask flashed, looking down at the other members.
“[You ask as if I’ve come somewhere I shouldn’t.]”
“No, it’s not that…”
Ermont tried to reply, dumbfounded, then rolled his eyes.
Catching the Archmage’s unexpressive gaze, Ermont subtly changed the subject.
“Of course, we’re fellow organization members helping each other out, aren’t we? It’s not strange at all. I was just so happy to see you that I misspoke.”
“[…]”
“How should I put it, seeing you again brings tears to my eyes, or perhaps I want to atone for my foolish mistakes one by one, even now. Anyway, isn’t it good that things are good?”
Victor ignored Ermont’s words, quietly examining the gauntlet.
Ermont, who had been rambling on, broke out in a cold sweat and shrieked.
“I’m sorry! Please save me!!”
“[Honesty is good.]”
“…”
“[But you were wrong from beginning to end.]”
Victor sneered, staring down at Ermont.
“[I didn’t come here to save the likes of you.]”
“…Huh?”
Ignoring Ermont’s retort, Victor stepped onto the Magic Scribes.
Kugugung…!!
The stone pillars supporting the temple creaked and swayed, and a low resonating hum echoed.
The Archmage, head tilted, and the obsidian-masked manipulation spellcaster faced each other across the crumbling sanctuary.
“…”
The two spellcasters stood silently, gazing at each other in the heart of the Underground Temple, where fragments of Gravity Stone vibrated.
Only then did Ermont realize Victor’s true purpose, quickly shutting his mouth, while Soryu’s face hardened as he let out a cold breath.
“The worst situation. Of all times…”
The Magic Tower Lord who boasted the worst notoriety in Vulcan, and the manipulation spellcaster who held the most unique position in Pandemonium.
Though the two had shown no discernible connection to each other, Soryu had a strong inkling about the current situation.
Several months ago, in Military Spirit City Yorta, the unprecedented incident where the Memorial Tower collapsed, unleashing curses and vengeful spirits.
The fact that Victor might also have been present at that scene, where Croken Asylus was identified as the culprit.
If that information was true, it wouldn’t be strange for Victor, who contributed to Yorta’s collapse, to be interested in Adamant Thunder, who had overturned Machina.
“Victor.”
Maiya, having seemingly reached a similar conclusion to Soryu, immediately spoke, composing her tired body.
“Not here. Retreat.”
“[Don’t order me, Maiya Lonsdale.]”
Victor retorted coldly, turning his head to glare at Maiya.
“[You’re exhausted and barely standing, yet you presume to give advice?]”
“You know what kind of battle he had with Cheonbeon.”
Despite Victor’s sharp words, Maiya replied without losing her composure.
“He’s a monster who places no limits on his output. If things go wrong, he might abandon his objective and obliterate the temple.”
Though she hadn’t anticipated Victor’s presence, if he hadn’t handed the Forbidden Armament over to Adamant Thunder, then it was fine.
The problem was that now that the Forbidden Armament was back in their hands, there was no telling what that wizard might do.
He seemed fatigued from continuous battles, his reactions slowed, and his mobility lost, but that didn’t mean Adamant Thunder’s magic had weakened.
Given the situation, it wouldn’t be strange if he unleashed high-firepower magic he hadn’t used before, completely wiping the temple off the map.
But even with Maiya’s explanation, Victor let out a cold snort and turned his gaze away.
“[I told you. That’s your problem, not mine.]”
“…”
“[So just stay put and wait in the back.]”
Victor tossed the gauntlet he held high above his head and let out a grim laugh.
“[I’ll show you what I’ve become capable of, right here.]”
“He’s insane. For such a trivial reason, right here…!!!”
Just as Felix, horrified by Victor’s outrageous declaration, raised his hammer.
Pang!
Victor brought his left and right hands together, spreading out Magic Scribes and beginning to form hand seals.
Pang!
Following his gentle, caressing hand gestures in the air, black Magic Scribes extended outwards in all directions, prying open the surroundings.
Seeing Victor forming hand seals above the temple, Adamant Thunder also extended a hand forward, preparing an incantation.
As he formed hand seals, lightly tapping the air, ripples of lightning spread in succession, emitting dazzling lightning radiance.
Crack, crack…!!!
It was as if constellations of lightning connected in the air, transforming into a complex magic circle.
The two spellcasters, facing each other between sky and ground, each chanted different spells, raising their Will-thought.
Each time the two spellcasters’ hand seals intertwined and rotated, the air around the temple was diagonally bisected and pulsed.
Kugugugu…!!!
“Uwaaaah…!!”
The magic power and Will-thought pressing down on the Underground Temple mixed and spun wildly.
The unsettling precursor phenomenon that appeared just before a high-level spellcraft was used, as if time itself had frozen.
Ermont, instinctively realizing this was a clash of Will-thought projected at full power by the two spellcasters the moment they met, immediately clapped his hands over his ears and prostrated himself.
From Adamant Thunder’s fingertips, seven bolts of lightning, joined together, exploded into full bloom.
Lightning-Attribute Unique Magic. Property Transformation Chain Resonance.
[Seven Thunders Unleashed (칠뢰종)]
Kwaaaaaah!!!
Seven bolts of lightning, each shimmering with a different color, converged and rotated towards each other, instantly consuming half of the Underground Temple and rising as thunder.
“Summoning magic.”
Kiiing!!
Space split open behind Victor, and two withered arms burst forth from beyond the Imaginary Dimension.
“[Khehehehehe!!!]”
A hook-nosed giant, its face emerging from the rift, wrapped Victor as if embracing him with eight arms.
In front of Victor, the eight arms crossed, each forming hand seals with both hands.
The Idiosyncratic-type summon, the Tailor of the Imaginary Dimension, performing a quadruple layered resonant incantation of manipulation spellcraft with eight arms.
Manipulation-Attribute Unique Magic. Property Transformation Quadruple Layered Compressed Resonance.
[Puppet Proxy Elucidation (傀儡代闡): Gluttony (貪食)]
Pa-jik!!
A temporary sub-dimension, created by the layered incantation of manipulation spellcraft, received the lightning as a cradle.
The moment the ultramarine rift, compressed like the Milky Way, swallowed the seven branching lightning bolts tearing through the air.
An unpleasant roar, as if space itself was being torn apart, erupted, and starlight bloomed in the center of the dark temple cavern.
Pyuuuuuung!!
A collision so intense it hardened the expressions of not only Soryu, who witnessed the two spellcasters’ standoff, but even Maiya, who had already warned them.
A soul-shaking impact enveloped the underground cavern, and this time, the temple truly began to collapse.
“Uwaaaah!!! Save the black wizard!!!”
“Ermont, snap out of it!!”
Peok!!
Ermont, his nose bleeding profusely, snapped his head up, his eyes wide and unfocused, and screamed.
“What is this now?! It doesn’t hurt when you hit me like that!! Or, wait, maybe it does hurt now, because I don’t have spellcraft?!!”
“Use your spellcraft. We’re escaping before the temple completely collapses!!”
“…Huh?”
Only then did Ermont, gaping blankly, realize that Victor had absorbed the lightning in order to completely collapse the temple.
Maiya immediately bit her finger to draw blood and formed hand seals in the air.
As the blood scattered from her finger spun and surged, it simultaneously formed a gate in the air and swung wide open.
[Blood Magic Eightfold Gate Manifestation]
[One Son Arrives, Other Son Projects (一子到來 他子投影)]
[Ascension Gate Simple Manifestation (昇天門 簡易具現)]
[Reverse Flow Step (逆川步)]
Jjeojeojeojeok!!!
A colossal blood-red gate unfurled above the collapsing ceiling of the temple cavern.
Realizing it was an escape route Maiya had created using blood magic, the members immediately moved.
“Ermont!!”
“I got it!!”
[Ice Sculpting (氷結造形): Stairs]
As Soryu scattered cold energy to build stairs leading to the blood-red gate, Ermont deployed his Gemstone Spellcraft.
[Chanting Jade Stone (唱玲石): Spellcraft Resonance Multiple Deployment]
[Ten-Sided Jade (十面玉): Catalyst Conversion]
The ice stairs instantly transformed into solid gemstone stairs, raising their hardness and strength to the extreme.
Kwoogwaga!!!
The ground on the opposite side of the temple surged diagonally upwards, engulfing Victor and the other Pandemonium members as it rose.
The gemstone stairs rapidly ascended towards the blood-red gate unfurled on the ceiling.
However, Peshia and Felix, standing beside Adamant Thunder, did not merely watch.
“These arrogant bastards, trying to save only themselves…!!”
Kwajik!!
Peshia, gripping her spear shaft, mounted the side of the gemstone stairs and charged like a madwoman, her face demonic.
Felix, clutching his hammer, steadfastly smashed the supports and axes buttressing the stairs.
“Damn it, they’re coming!!”
Ermont, looking down at the ground with a terrified expression, yelled.
“If we don’t dodge, we’re all dead!!”
Flash!!
Immediately after, a brilliant blue lightning spear shot up from the ground, diagonally severing Ermont’s gemstone stairs.
A colossal lightning spear, dozens of meters long, rotated counter-clockwise, traversing the temple cavern.
Kwaaaaang!!
Violent thunder and lightning overflowed in the air, instantly incinerating everything in the vicinity.
Jjeojeojeojeok!!
The stairs, unable to withstand the lightning spear’s firepower, shattered and broke apart, but their fragments absorbed the impact and temporarily obscured their vision.
“Victor. You quickly get on-”
Ermont hastily pulled out a gem and channeled magic, but Victor ignored his words and launched himself through the fragments of shattered gems.
A jet-black figure plummeting amidst the dazzling, glowing gemstone fragments.
The obsidian mask swaying beneath his robe, and the Archmage’s gaze, met at that moment.
The Archmage smiled and raised his hand.
Bzzzzzt!!
A blue magic circle explosively unfurled, and a condensed mass of thunder and lightning surged upwards.
That monstrous wizard, using even a magic circle to enhance the power of his lightning magic.
Soryu realized that this was a firepower magic Adamant Thunder hadn’t used until now, powerful enough to completely annihilate the temple and then some, and he tried to shout something.
But then he saw the glass-colored Sutu gleaming at Victor’s fingertips as he fell, and he held his breath.
“[It’s time.]”
“…!!!”
The events in the Underground Temple, which began with an unexpected encounter, would end with an unexpected method and outcome.
All that was needed was a single justification to bring this situation to a close.
And the means themselves had been possessed since the moment he shed his Incarnation Body.
Victor, turning in mid-air, slid his left hand into the glass-colored Sutu.
Click!!
With a soft metallic click, the Sutu tightened around his left forearm.
The moment the black Magic Scribes extending from his fingertips pulled the Sutu, infusing it with magic power.
A glass-colored radiance exploded behind Victor’s head like a Halo, and a soul-shaking impact struck his mind.
Jjeooong!!
“[…!!!]”
He had anticipated it somewhat while observing Maiya use the Forbidden Armament, but the recoil was beyond imagination.
Perhaps the very soul dwelling within this Forbidden Armament was intensely rejecting the act of being used.
Yet, despite that, what escaped from beneath the obsidian mask was less a groan of pain and more an intoxicated whisper.
“[So this is what it feels like.]”
Piiiiiiiiing…!!!
The moment he forced his hand all the way into the Sutu, seizing its control.
A sense of omnipotence, as if clutching the world in one hand, resonated vividly through his mind.
The Idiosyncratic Spellcraft, most difficult to wield because it governed the laws of the formless and the thoughtless, yet for that very reason, considered special.
In that case, he would have to properly demonstrate the true worth of this ability to all the others watching him here.
Kaaaang!!
As he clenched his fist with the glass-colored Sutu, hundreds of black Magic Scribes embedded themselves throughout the Underground Temple.
The Magic Scribes, falling like rain, aimed not for the wizard standing on the ground, but for the fragments of Gravity Stone scattered around.
Pa-ba-bak!!
The moment the black Magic Scribes embedded themselves into the Gravity Stone fragments, a violet radiance was extracted from the Gravity Stones and surged up along the Magic Scribes.
The violet light, drawn from all over the Underground Temple through hundreds of Magic Scribes, converged at Victor’s fingertips, channeling through the glass-colored Sutu.
The violet light spun, coalescing into a spherical orb, and around this orb, space-time began to distort and bend.
Kwawooong!!!!
The violet orb, rotating within the glass-colored Sutu, instantly turned jet-black, sucking in all the surrounding light.
A strange phenomenon, as if an extremely powerful gravitational condensate was pulling and crushing everything around it.
Just as the others, witnessing the inexplicable phenomenon, were in disarray, Maiya, the only one who understood its principle, spoke with a trembling voice.
“Could it be, extracting the properties of the Gravity Stones…!!!”
The property present in Gravity Stones that strengthens gravity.
The manipulation spellcraft’s ability to forcibly ‘extract’ and condense that very concept and property.
The moment Maiya realized it and tried to shout something, raising her gaze.
A miniature black hole, released from Victor’s hand, swallowed the Underground Temple, drawing in all the surrounding light.