Chapter 969: The Prohibition (24)
The dark cathedral, where the half-destroyed Anathema’s temple and the pouring debris had vanished.
The silent scene of the chapel, dimly lit by layers of candles, and wooden chairs lined up neatly around it.
Suddenly, a scream echoed through the space.
“It’s gone!”
Crash!!
“It’s gone!!”
Bang! Bang!!
“I said it’s gone!!”
Ermont, who had been frantically overturning the wooden chairs in the chapel, wailed.
“Uwaaaah! My Curse-Eating Ghoul, which I worked like a dog for two days to get!!!”
“…Just give it up, Ermont.”
Soryu, who was sitting with his head bowed weakly on a chapel chair, replied.
The ring he had been wearing on his finger had also vanished without a trace.
But unlike Ermont, Soryu’s expression, having lost the Ice Seal, appeared much calmer.
“It’s absurd that Adamant Thunder aimed for the artifact and even managed to steal it in that situation. You still haven’t given up on it.”
“Damn it, don’t act so detached. Do you want to maintain a prince’s dignity in this situation?”
“Well, if it were you, would your thoughts even reach that far when a black hole is opening right in front of your nose?”
Cold air flowed from Soryu’s lips as he leaned against the chair with a pale expression.
Crackle…!!
The chair and his body stiffened, transforming into cold ice and crumbling as parts of him seemed to melt and turn into ice. It was as if he was stuck to the chapel chair, somehow enduring the collapse of his own body.
It was the excessive use of his Ice-attribute bloodline ability to survive the battle with Adamant Thunder.
Now that the Ice Seal had been taken, he was directly bearing the backlash of his power.
Soryu, his brows furrowed in pain from the cold gnawing at his entire body, spoke in a low voice.
“At the point we only realized it after escaping, we weren’t qualified to possess that artifact. For now, we’ll have to be satisfied that the Forbidden Armament has come into our possession.”
“No!! I absolutely needed that cute toad to properly use black magic!”
“I have no idea what’s cute about that toad, which is full of malice…”
Hylaea shook her head beside Ermont, who was clutching his cheeks and screaming.
“From where I’m standing, it looked ominous enough to transfer a curse at any moment. Have your eyes rotten from living too long?”
“Hylaea. How can you say that? Its venomous glare, looking ready to bite its owner at any moment, is its charm!”
“…”
It was difficult to empathize with the aesthetic values of a black wizard who had stubbornly lived for hundreds of years.
Hylaea sighed, adjusted her eye patch, and immediately turned her gaze away.
“Ugh, toad-toad.”
A madman crawling on the floor, searching for a toad but instead finding a snack box, and Soryu catching his breath, leaning against a chair.
Maiya Lonsdale silently leaning against the back door of the chapel. The Blood Elder crouching by the organ, muttering to himself.
An atmosphere of utter exhaustion and weariness hung in the air, as if a great storm had swept through.
That meant the events in the underground temple had been a considerable burden for the members gathered here.
“Oh, my stomach hurts. What is this? We worked like dogs for two days just to benefit that guy, didn’t we?”
[You might have a twisted mouth, but at least speak straight.]
At that moment, a chilling telepathic voice echoed directly behind Ermont.
A shadow-robed figure stood in the center of the chapel on the first floor of the old cathedral in District 21, arms crossed.
[If it weren’t for me, all of you would have died right there.]
“…Victor.”
The gleam of an obsidian mask shimmered faintly beneath the hood, and red eye-glow seeped from within the mask.
It was Lennok, raising his head, surrounded by the members of Pandemonium.
[Not only did you struggle against a single wizard, but you were also busy contemplating how to escape, yet you’re all talk.]
“…”
[I resolved your problems for you, shouldn’t I be the one receiving a reward instead?]
Shriiiing…!!
As Lennok said so and pushed back his glove sleeve, the glass-colored Sutu revealed itself.
A beautiful glass-colored radiance illuminated the chapel with a soft resonant hum, like the ringing of a bell.
The Forbidden Armament, which had been wildly shaking the space all along, was now eerily quiet in his hand.
However, the expressions of the other members watching the gauntlet were subtly stiff.
“Victor. We weren’t informed about you in this plan.”
Soryu, leaning back exhausted in his chair, lifted his gaze.
His expression was pale and rigid from fatigue, but his eyes were cold.
“How did you know about this operation and come here?”
[I received Hylaea’s message.]
Lennok replied leisurely, arms still crossed.
[I heard there was something urgent that needed to be handled near Vulcan.]
“No. Hylaea didn’t explain the plan to us verbally.”
Soryu said in a cold voice.
“Immediately after Sabrinah fell into a state of suspended animation, we’ve been refraining from any verbal or written communication for a while. There’s no way you could have found that place with just that one message.”
[…]
“Where did the information leak from? Did you tail one of the members?”
Upon Anathema’s death, Hylaea had devised a plan to retrieve the artifact from his residence.
She had handpicked the members of Pandemonium who could move immediately and summoned them to Vulcan.
During that process, it was The Doctor’s role to prepare the necessary items and means for the temple’s conquest.
However, none of them had been informed that this Idiosyncratic Spellcaster would participate in the operation.
It would be a lie to say they didn’t have suspicions about Victor’s presence, who appeared at the most critical moment of the plan and only took the crucial item.
But Lennok didn’t flinch at Soryu’s sharp questioning, letting out a cold sneer instead.
Given Victor’s identity and nature, there were plenty of ways for him to get out of being interrogated like this.
Because he openly flaunted an arrogant and self-righteous attitude, he felt no qualms about giving emotional motives and reasons.
[It is only natural for me, a Manipulation Spellcaster, to retrieve artifacts of related lineage. It was power that should have been mine from the beginning.]
“…”
[I was simply acting on my own information, intending to steal Anathema’s artifact.]
Victor, a cold smile escaping from behind his mask, stroked his left hand and said.
[I never imagined the operation Hylaea mentioned would be this.]
“Hylaea.”
“He’s not lying about not knowing the operation.”
Hylaea, removing her eye patch, switched her personality and replied to Soryu’s words.
“At least to my eyes, he doesn’t seem to be fabricating a lie.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Ermont, who had been rummaging through the chapel floor and found a snack box instead of a toad, asked.
The black wizard, looking dejected, tossed a cookie into his mouth and tilted his head.
“I’ve never heard that our nun could act as a lie detector.”
“Because this plan, from the very beginning, was entirely devised and presided over by me.”
Hylaea replied in a calm voice.
“It’s not about reading his inner thoughts, but about verifying the variability of the plan as it’s progressed so far.”
“…”
“I can’t know how the outcome will change, but it’s possible to detect if the plan could have actually changed if Victor hadn’t intervened.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about?”
Hylaea was a dual personality with the Talent for Duality, capable of simultaneously perceiving both sides of everything.
She could see the plan both ‘succeeding’ and ‘failing’ simultaneously, and read whether one side changed according to Lennok’s testimony.
Ermont, understanding Hylaea’s words only after a brief explanation, made a dumbfounded expression.
“…Isn’t that even more amazing than a lie detector?”
“It’s not an ability I can use anytime. To use it like this, I have to be aware of and lead the entire plan.”
Hylaea’s expression, glancing at Lennok, turned complex.
“And the variable must be something even I never anticipated.”
“…”
“By the way, could you stop gobbling down those snacks and put them down? My surface personality eats them one by one whenever she’s depressed. She’ll be very sad if they’re all gone.”
“Ugh, they’re surprisingly tasty, couldn’t you just buy a new box?”
“They’re a top-tier product sent by Freya from Torquepaz. Besides the price, even if I ordered them now, it would take half a month—”
“In short, Hylaea’s ability isn’t meant to be used this way to begin with.”
Soryu, ignoring the two who suddenly began squabbling over snacks, spoke.
“It’s only in special situations like this that she can confirm whether the other party is lying or not.”
[…]
“If the plan wasn’t leaked, then who gave you the information? Who else knew about the existence of this Forbidden Armament?”
[Prince. You seem to be mistaken.]
Lennok threw his head back and laughed.
[I am not here to report my actions to you.]
“…”
[Why should I tell you that fact? You did nothing until I acquired the armament, did you?]
Creak…!!
He slowly moved the fingers of his raised left hand, and the glass-colored Sutu vibrated with a faint light.
An uncanny sensation as it brilliantly illuminated the dark chapel space, momentarily making the surrounding space shimmer like glass.
Just as the other members realized that Lennok was already freely wielding the power of that Forbidden Armament, their expressions stiffened.
Click!
Lennok, instantly dispelling the glass-like distortion of space, spoke.
[I know this armament is Anathema’s relic, but I don’t understand its full history or how to use it.]
“…”
[I understand that The Doctor lent a hand. Bring all the information he provided for this operation.]
“Victor. The Doctor is—”
Just as Hylaea was about to respond with a tense expression, Maiya, who had been leaning against the chapel door with her eyes closed, spoke.
“If you’ve worked with The Doctor, you’d remember.”
As Maiya walked forward, all eyes in the chapel turned to her.
Maiya, walking to the center of the chapel, faced Lennok with an expressionless face and said.
“He is someone who regards knowledge as currency and a unit of transaction. He assigns meaning to the act of exchanging information and imposes laws upon himself; he’s a scholar.”
[…]
“If you want to obtain the necessary information, he’ll ask you to bring information of equivalent value, just like during the settlement.”
Maiya gestured towards the gleaming glass-colored gauntlet Lennok wore and said.
“Information about that armament’s abilities or the amplification rate of Manipulation Spellcraft should be sufficient.”
[So you’re telling me to offer information about my spellcraft and its secrets to The Doctor?]
Lennok whirled around, his red eye-glow flashing coldly.
[Wouldn’t it be more useful to send him the corpse of an Executioner impaled on a Magic Scribe?]
“Perhaps.”
Maiya nodded with an expressionless face.
“That’s just to explain that your proposal, as it stands, makes no sense.”
Groooowwwl!!
The mana of Lennok and Maiya, facing each other, shimmered chillingly.
A sharp Will-thought, as if they might cut each other down right there.
Crack, crack…!!
The wooden chairs in the chapel splintered from the heated mana, and the marble floor began to tear apart bit by bit.
At the moment the other members instinctively raised their mana due to the spiritual pressure of the two superhumans, which instantly devoured the surrounding space.
[Forget it.]
Whoosh!!
Lennok sneered, looking at Maiya’s trembling left hand.
[Fighting an Executioner with a damaged arm doesn’t seem very fun.]
“…”
Even Lennok, who had mastered Manipulation Spellcraft, felt a backlash that shook his soul the moment he put on the Forbidden Armament.
This was likely because the lineage of the Ascendant, used as material for the Forbidden Armament, rejected and pushed away the wearer.
For Maiya, who was not a spellcaster, merely enduring that backlash for a short time must have caused considerable damage.
Though she didn’t show it, it wouldn’t be surprising if the sensation in her left arm was completely ruined, rendering it unusable.
[Whatever you blabber, I’m taking this armament. You’re not going to complain now, are you?]
“There’s no disagreement about the ownership of the Forbidden Armament. It was never ours to begin with.”
Maiya said so, lifting her face.
“For now, the fact that the armament has come into our possession is enough.”
Ultimately, Victor’s own abilities were what allowed him to seize the Forbidden Armament from Adamant Thunder and escape.
Regardless of how Adamant Thunder might react later, Victor taking the armament was a foregone conclusion.
“It’s time. Glen’s airship will arrive soon.”
Maiya glanced at the chapel clock and turned her gaze.
“Let’s just say what needs to be said and finish this. It’s about the subjugation operation Deimus proposed.”
“…”
At that moment, the sharp atmosphere in the chapel turned into suffocating silence.
Ermont whistled, averting his gaze, and Soryu, half-melted, gave a wry smile.
Even the Blood Elder, who had been muttering to himself, ignoring the surrounding commotion, fell silent for a moment, his blood-red eyes flashing.
Because most of the members gathered here had just now confronted that wizard and fled from him.
They had personally experienced what a monstrous, abnormal being that wizard they had faced in the underground temple was.
“Confronting Adamant Thunder in this operation was unexpected, but it’s also true that we confirmed some of his combat strength.”
Maiya looked around and asked.
“I’d like to hear each of your impressions on that. At least, I want to confirm your intentions before Deimus’s operation is formally devised.”
“Well… I’m not sure.”
A rare moment of bewilderment escaped Soryu, who was usually clear-headed.
Sitting on the chair, he exhaled cold air and shook his head.
“I never knew that man could wield ice-attribute magic so well. I heard he possessed multiple attributes, but it seems he’s reached a level where he’s virtually unconstrained by any single element.”
“…”
“All of my abilities and techniques were ineffective. Even if I had used the royal treasures, the result would have been the same.”
Soryu had brought treasures from the Kabahim Royal Family vault but hadn’t taken them out during the battle with Adamant Thunder.
If he had pulled out rare artifacts like the 1st World relic, the 666th Sacrificial Binding Artifact, it wouldn’t have been strange for Adamant Thunder to simply seize them before his eyes.
Hadn’t even the Ice Seal he was wearing been taken away so easily and futilely?
“He’s a powerful individual, a cut above even other 8-level wizards. It wouldn’t be surprising if, as rumored, he’s challenging ascension…”
“No, more importantly, he’s not crazy yet.”
Ermont vehemently argued, as if wronged.
“He was calmer than any wizard I’ve ever seen, who keeps spreading these baseless rumors that he’s lost his mind?”
“Ermont, for a wizard of that caliber to even be there isn’t normal to begin with.”
Hylaea calmly retorted.
“Why do you think the plan failed? The moment he, after subjugating an Apostle, wasn’t recuperating but instead hunting for spoils, he was already far beyond our expectations.”
[…]
“He might seem perfectly normal on the surface, capable of conversation, but his mind must already be rotten from the inside.”
Hylaea shrugged at Ermont, who let out a hum of annoyance.
“You know what usually happens to wizards who reach that level, don’t you?”
“…Hahah.”
At that moment, Ermont’s laughter died down.
He threw his head back, covering his face, and quietly said.
“Come to think of it, I don’t really want to know.”
“We were just lucky this time. The next time we fight Adamant Thunder, the situation will probably be completely different.”
Maiya said, unconsciously stroking her left arm.
“Adamant Thunder’s true strength lies in his power output and martial prowess, which far surpass those of spellcasters at his level. This time, due to a lucky alignment of timing and location, we were able to fight him with his output restricted, but—”
“If he fights within the Magic Tower’s Domain, the story changes, doesn’t it?”
Maiya being able to contend with Adamant Thunder over the Forbidden Armament was only possible because Lennok refrained from using high-level magic during the engagement.
Crucially, he didn’t even use the Lightning of Thought, which he was said to have used to subjugate Anathema.
To have such a result even with the environment and conditions of a wizard, who specializes in indiscriminately unleashing wide-area magic, so heavily restricted.
If they fought within a Magic Tower’s Domain where spatial restrictions disappeared, it wouldn’t be strange for lightning gods to descend from all directions.
“Furthermore, he had Peshia Grisbern as his subordinate. As you know, the Ghost Demoness is not someone who would bow her head to just anyone.”
Maiya said, arms crossed.
“Given that a Major General of the legion is cooperating with Adamant Thunder, we can’t ignore the possibility that Deimus might have other intentions—”
[You’re rambling too much.]
Victor replied indifferently.
[What do you want to say?]
“…Even considering various circumstances and reasons, Adamant Thunder is a dangerous existence, capable of surpassing all those situations and assumptions.”
Maiya’s eyes glinted.
“Unless there are harsh restrictions that limit his spellcraft or mana. At the very least, his mind must not be sound to even discuss winning.”
“…”
“Well, you’re not suggesting we wait for him to completely snap, are you?”
“Perhaps. At least, if those conditions aren’t met…”
A faint, bitter smile briefly touched Maiya’s lips.
“We’d have to bring even the Nether King himself and sit him down in front of Adamant Thunder.”