Chapter 990: Central Front Border Zone (7)
Boom!!!
A crater hundreds of meters in diameter, filled with magma boiling like hellfire.
Beneath the colossal crater and the boiling lava lake that had formed on the ground, Roberaid’s body slowly sank.
Sizzzzzzzle…!!
The surface of his heavy armor, unable to withstand the lava’s heat, vibrated violently, emitting a harsh noise.
Even the Legion Commander’s face, which had never lost its confidence, was painfully contorted.
“Huuuuuh…!!!”
He tried desperately to regain control of his body and escape, but each time, the gravity exerted on him intensified, crushing the Legion Commander’s body down.
Every moment he used mana to reinforce his body, his Miniature Universe would run wild, embedding his massive form deeper into the crater.
Craaaack!!!
Fragments of the ground, crushed and melted beneath the crater, surged upwards, deepening its maw.
With each surge, the Legion Commander’s massive body sank deeper into the molten heap, slowly but surely.
Just moments ago, he had stood on solid ground, but now, only bottomless emptiness could be felt beneath the crater.
“The ground…!!”
“Fighting you made me realize something. The ground around here is unusually weak.”
Lennok, pulling a cigar from his pocket, said.
“The reason the cultists gathered nearby to perform their sacrificial rituals was probably because the ley lines around here are kept unstable enough to allow it.”
“…”
“Do you understand what I’m getting at?”
Lennok, cutting the tip of the cigar and lighting it, exhaled smoke and lowered his gaze.
“Beneath the ground melted by the Steel Turtle of Fiery Breath’s lava, there’s a potential volcanic zone formed by tectonic collisions and fissures.”
Craaack…!!
The Legion Commander was now submerged in the lava past his neck, with half his face swallowed by it.
Lennok looked at Roberaid and said.
“From now on, I’m going to drop you beneath that crust. If nothing stops you, you’ll probably sink dozens of kilometers underground.”
“…”
“Whether you burn to death in the lava, or are crushed to death between rock formations. Don’t you think either is a fitting end for a warrior like you?”
Preheating fire magic and drawing out the Crimson Star System before even reaching the gate was putting the cart before the horse.
However, it was also true that there was no easy way to effortlessly take or neutralize the life of a titan like a Legion Commander.
That’s why Lennok pulled out Hellfire Illusion Palace earlier than planned, causing the Legion Commander’s Miniature Universe to rampage.
He intended to use the unstable ground nearby to completely embed Roberaid’s body in the volcanic zone existing beneath the earth’s crust.
Even an 8-level warrior with a formidable physique and artifact-grade armor wouldn’t last long in a sea of lava dozens of kilometers underground.
“Ha, hahaha…!!!”
At that moment, Roberaid, with only half his face remaining visible in the lava, burst into laughter.
“Hahahahahaha!!!!”
The maniacal laughter, erupting from within the burning crater, echoed resoundingly across the dark night sky.
Had he gone mad facing death? Or was it an expression of joy, even in his demise?
As Lennok silently watched, the Legion Commander abruptly stopped laughing and spoke.
“I see. I understand. This is my defeat.”
“…”
“Have Deadrise’s 3rd Legion Airborne Assault Unit and I truly been defeated by a single wizard?”
Sizzzzzzzz…!!
Roberaid’s eyes, lifted from the scorching lava, gleamed with intense emotion.
“But because of this, I am convinced. You must join the Legion, no matter what.”
“Why?”
“For a wizard of such formidable power and intellect as yourself to not dedicate your talents to this war—it is nothing short of a waste!!”
Even as his entire body sank and melted in the lava, his will showed no sign of faltering.
He moved his mouth, submerged in the crater, and roared until his throat was hoarse.
“Even if I die here, you must become a Legion Commander. Your talent as an Incarnation can blaze most brilliantly beneath the Legion’s banner!!”
“…”
Was he saying that, regardless of Lennok killing him, his talent should be used by Deadrise?
Fanaticism that disregarded even his own death and the death of the 3rd Legion, pursuing only the Legion’s cause.
“In a few months, the Marshal will return to headquarters.”
Roberaid, looking up at Lennok with blazing eyes, said.
“Meet the Marshal. And judge for yourself. Which side truly stands on the right path in this war!!”
“The right path, huh.”
Lennok, exhaling cigar smoke, ran a hand through his hair with a tired expression.
“I’ve thought about that enough already. I find it hard to believe the Legion’s objectives would align with mine.”
“This is war, Evan Martinez…!!!”
Roberaid, seeing Lennok’s indifferent gaze, screamed with a demon-like expression.
“If you’re not an ally, you’re an enemy!! In a war that determines the fate of the entire world, it’s impossible not to take a side!!”
“It seems you still haven’t realized.”
Lennok muttered, backing away from the crater.
“I left the Eyes of Blue to find an answer that transcends such conflicts of interest.”
No, in fact, he should say he had already decided on a direction.
What Lennok lacked was not the outcome, but the process.
The journey to find the answer was virtually all that remained for Lennok.
But instead of telling Roberaid those words, Lennok slowly turned around.
Four days had passed since he arrived at the Central Front and began moving.
There was still much to do, and Lennok’s reserves were not infinite.
He respected Roberaid’s will, which placed even his own death beneath the banner of his convictions, but he didn’t have the luxury to concern himself with every detail.
“You’ll regret this, Evan…!!”
Had he intuited that Lennok had completely lost interest in the current conversation?
Roberaid, clenching his teeth and forcing his face above the crater, roared.
“Even if I die here, my offer won’t change!! Go to headquarters, inherit my position, and become the new Legion Commander!!”
“This is the first time I’ve ever received such an aggressive recruitment offer.”
Lennok shook his head with a smile.
“Do you realize that your offer is actually solidifying my decision?”
Lennok also wasn’t entirely convinced Roberaid would die there.
It was also clear that he held back somewhat when embedding the Legion Commander beneath the crater.
But aside from not being able to waste any more energy on this battle, Lennok judged that it didn’t matter if Roberaid survived.
While he couldn’t understand Roberaid’s values, wanting to bring him into the Legion even facing death, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for Lennok.
If Lieutenant General Roberaid died, so be it. If he miraculously survived and continued trying to recruit Lennok, Cheonbeon’s reputation would still rise.
If Evan Martinez’s reputation was developing in a direction opposite to Adamant Thunder’s, that also had its uses.
In that case, leaving the fate of the inexplicably favorable Legion Commander to chance could also hold its own meaning.
“I understand what you’re trying to say, but I think you should worry about yourself first.”
Lennok chuckled and turned his head.
“If you manage to survive that, then I’ll consider it a little more seriously.”
“Evan Martinez…!!!”
Roberaid’s body, endlessly increasing its own weight, finally plummeted and vanished, as if buried beneath the crater.
Rumblllleee!!!!
Even as he was crushed and sank beneath the ground, the earth itself convulsed and trembled as if he was resisting to the very end, but that too was brief.
Soon, even that resistance vanished without a trace, and only a serene silence remained within the crater.
Chhhk!!
Lennok, watching the scene, leaned back against the crater’s slope and put the cigar to his lips.
This tobacco, made from herbs and leaves imported from the plant city of Larabelli, helped to expel internal heat and stabilize body temperature simply by inhaling it.
For Lennok, who found it increasingly difficult to regulate his body temperature and heat as he mastered fire magic, it was an essential item he always carried when operating under his Evan identity.
Lennok, puffing out cigar smoke, fell into thought.
‘Catching up to the Gateway Search Party immediately will be difficult. I’ll have to go alone from here.’
He had sent the search party ahead before confronting Roberaid, so it was highly likely they had completely left the battlefield by now.
He could rest and wait for reinforcements, but even as he thought that, Lennok braced his knees and stood up.
The first gateway was currently occupied by a Conjunction Spell Master from the Order Alliance.
The Alliance wouldn’t send reinforcements to save Evan anyway, but he didn’t want information to reach the Conjunction Spell Master’s ears first at this point.
According to the information he received from the search party, the remaining distance to the gateway was about a day’s walk.
In that case, Lennok going to the gateway alone shouldn’t pose a major problem.
Thinking that, Lennok gripped the dark green flame clinging to the tip of his cigar.
Crackle, crackle!!
“Stay still.”
[…?]
The form of the hellfire, burning through the remaining cigar filter and tilting its head, swaying back and forth.
It constantly tried to break free from Lennok’s control, as if it had a will of its own.
Lennok, who had been silently watching it, finally withdrew his mana and fully reclaimed the hellfire.
“If it’s not in the Palace of Illusions, it won’t listen at all. Can’t be helped, I suppose?”
An ancient sorcery from the Old World borrowed from the Archive of Darkness: Hellfire Illusion Palace.
But the Palace of Illusions is not a spellcraft that allows the user to manipulate hellfire as they please.
It’s merely a spellcraft specialized in shaping hellfire, a flame from a negative dimension, into a weapon.
That was because hellfire was a living flame with its own will, making it impossible to fully control it through a spellcraft form.
‘I wanted to absorb it into the Crimson Star System before reaching the gateway… but things don’t always go according to plan.’
A power that could only be used in combat if it was confined within the standard form of a weapon and forced to operate.
Among the [Sparks] Lennok had acquired, it possessed the most alien, negative property, and thus was a spark that hadn’t yet been properly incorporated into the Crimson Star System.
It was unfortunate, but it wasn’t a problem Lennok could solve immediately.
Lennok stroked his sleeve, summoning a massive bike.
Thud!!
[Phenomenon Transformation System Activated]
[Auto-Drive Algorithm Activated]
[No suitable driving route found. Switching to Autonomous Mode.]
Whirrrrrr!!
The monster bike’s form folded in on itself as if flipping inside out, instantly transforming into a single-person hoverbike.
Its wheels folded away into the sides of the chassis, and the hoverbike floated above the ground using its built-in boosters.
“…”
Lennok, looking at it with a bewildered expression, asked.
“Did the Phenomenon Transformation System have a mode like this?”
“[While working at the lab, I got bored and tinkered with some other algorithms.]”
Davi, sprawled out on Lennok’s chest, said.
“[I added a flight function to the auto-drive algorithm, and to test it, I needed a suitable test model.]”
“I see. So you’re going to use your master to test a new algorithm?”
Davi’s snout, caught in Lennok’s hand, was kneaded like dough.
“Since when did you start having such clever ideas?”
“[Mmmph-mmmph-mmmph.]”
Lennok stretched Davi’s cheeks with both hands, saw its tail flailing, and then sharply let go.
“If there’s even a slight problem along the way, know that the development of the auto-flight algorithm will be suspended for a while.”
“[Heh, heh-heh… Actually, I’ve removed the altitude limit, so you might just soar away while driving—]”
With a cybernetic spirit’s shriek, the hoverbike accelerated and vanished across the plain.
The vast, burnt and melted plain. Craters scarred the land, filled with volcanic ejecta.
Only the half-destroyed fire turtle remained, yawning slowly before closing its eyes.
After a long time, so long that its form faded faintly as it was reverse-summoned.
Clink!!
“…Is this it?”
Over a dozen wizards in archaic robes appeared in the center of the battlefield.
The wizards stood with stiff, almost cowering expressions, surveying the burnt and ravaged battlefield.
“The battlefield… it’s still burning.”
“Not a bombing unit, but a single wizard did this?”
At the forefront of this wizard unit stood a young man with long red hair tied back, holding a terminal device.
“We’ve arrived. All five airships belonging to the 3rd Legion Assault Unit confirmed. It appears they were completely annihilated in the engagement.”
He wore an earphone in one ear, tapping his terminal and murmuring to himself as if conversing with someone unseen.
“Notify Legion Headquarters of the relevant facts and await their reply. I’m willing to provide video records for cross-verification.”
[….]
“Alright. Askal, Flame Pillar of Blaiver Magic Tower. We’ll commence the on-site investigation now.”
The young man closed his terminal and only then raised his red eyes.
“All members of the Pyro-Sappers. Disperse, search for traces of the engagement, and recover the sparks.”
“Understood!”
One of the five Flame Pillars of Blaiver Magic Tower, Askal Rutz.
The Magic Tower’s Pyro-Sappers (擲火部隊) he led were currently one of the Central Front’s most elite grenadier units.
Primarily, the Pyro-Sappers’ mission was to provide fire support to factions aligned with the Magic Tower on the front lines.
However, as all wizards in the unit were excellent War Mages, they also performed reconnaissance roles in special situations like this.
1111
The appearance of a powerful fire wizard not affiliated with the Magic Tower was, fundamentally, an emergency situation that the Flame Pillars most closely monitored and focused on.
‘Hours have passed since the engagement ended, yet the heat still remains.’
He dispatched the Pyro-Sappers, then extended his hand towards the stream of lava flowing beneath his feet.
Sizzzzzzzzle…!!
Excruciating pain seared his fingertips the moment they touched the lava. The sensation in his fingers vanished, and it felt as though his brain was being scorched.
Askal’s expression furrowed, and his eyes became complex.
‘Fire-elemental mana. Is this its power, even to a wizard of the same lineage…?’
Originally, among spellcasters of the same lineage, the potency often halved due to shared spellcraft resistance.
Even considering that the flame’s owner was a powerful fire wizard, it was natural for some of the power to be offset for Askal, a 7-level wizard who had perfected his hierarchy.
But even with that taken into account, the heat of the flames searing Askal’s fingertips was difficult to bear.
A battlefield hours after the engagement. The embers that remained were merely traces of diffusion and preheating.
“Evan Martinez…”
Just as Askal, clenching his fist hard enough to shatter it, muttered that name with a complex expression.
“Lord Askal. We have secured the debris of the 3rd Legion’s airships and recovered some bodies.”
The Pyro-Sappers’ War Mages, having quickly completed their investigation, began approaching one by one to report.
“Identities can be confirmed through personal effects, but most of the bodies are burnt to a cellular level, making genetic matching impossible.”
“We’ve secured some remnants of what is presumed to be Lieutenant General Roberaid’s heavy armor. ‘Violence,’ a special impact-resistant alloy produced only in the central city. It’s certainly a hidden treasure worth tens of billions of cells per gram.”
Askal, taking the armor fragments that glinted with an odd light, asked.
“And the Lieutenant General’s body?”
“We’ve assigned the most sensitive unit members to a concentrated search, but there’s no progress. It’s likely his body isn’t at the scene.”
“Missing in action, then…”
Was the failure to find Lieutenant General Roberaid’s remains a gain or a loss for the Magic Tower?
Just as the news of Cheonbeon defeating Deadrise’s 3rd Legion Commander would impact the future front line, it was difficult to predict its consequences.
Askal pondered that fact and slowly turned his gaze.
“One crucial report remains. What about the recovery of the sparks?”
“We recovered the flames presumed to be Cheonbeon’s. However…”
“However?”
The Pyro-Sappers who had retrieved the flames from the sea of fire trailed off.
“The flames aren’t properly contained within the Flame-Lock Orb. It seems impossible to transport samples back to the Magic Tower like this.”
“…”
The Flame-Lock Orb.
A relic-grade magical treasure, created from the sarira left by the fifth preceding Magic Tower Lord of Blaiver Magic Tower after his death.
It was a top-tier artifact capable of confining and sealing anything in the form of flame, forcing its preservation.
Even Askal, a Flame Pillar, wasn’t normally permitted to possess it; its removal was only authorized in special situations like this.
If the opponent was a fire-elemental wizard, even an Archmage who transcended hierarchy, they would inevitably fall under the influence of this artifact.
That’s why Askal himself had taken the risk of the opponent still being present on the battlefield and proceeded with the on-site investigation.
“Doris. If the flames aren’t contained within the Flame-Lock Orb, what possibilities come to mind?”
“The Flame-Lock Orb is a magical treasure created from the sarira left by the preceding Magic Tower Lord.”
The bespectacled wizard, named Doris, replied.
“Because it was made using his sarira after his death, it’s composed of even more powerful principles than the realm the preceding Tower Lord reached.”
“…”
“If the Flame-Lock Orb’s power is ineffective, then the owner of these flames must be one of the Ascendants who has reached Level 9… or…”
The wizard hesitated, then gave a bitter smile.
He knew that uttering such a thing was truly an absurd possibility.
“It wouldn’t mean that they are one of the preceding Magic Tower Lords who went missing after death, would it?”
“…”
A chilling silence fell among the Pyro-Sappers.
They too realized that the current situation was unprecedented.
The fire wizard, Cheonbeon Evan Martinez, who appeared in the Central Front Border Zone.
The worst-case scenario: that the wizard’s power, rumored to have turned Vulcan into a sea of fire, might be far more dangerous than they had ever assumed.
“…This isn’t something that can be concluded based solely on an on-site judgment.”
Askal, after pondering for a long time, slowly turned around.
“Switch the line. I need to speak to the Tower Lord directly.”
A breeze blew, causing the tall grass to sway endlessly.
Across the wide plains, the grasslands undulated like waves, and Lennok stood on a hill, gazing down at the scene.
“That’s…”
Thud!!
On the endlessly stretching plain, lay the colossal skeleton of a monstrous beast.
Its size was so immense that the skull alone of the monstrous beast, which lay dead and skeletal, spanned hundreds of meters.
“…”
Even Lennok, who had traveled the continent and witnessed all manner of oddities and mysteries, had never seen the corpse of a monstrous beast this large.
If it was this size even after dying and becoming a skeleton, then when alive, its very existence must have literally shaken the continent.
No, perhaps the monstrous beast itself was like a small continent.
As if it had been there for a very long time, grass and vines grew over the skeleton, entwining its form.
Nevertheless, the mana leaking from the center of that colossal monstrous beast’s skeleton was truly immense.
The surge of mana, coiling around the beast’s bones, filled the entire surrounding plain and resonated faintly.
Whoooosh…!!!
Even now, if he closed his eyes and listened, the resonating vibrations of mana seemed to be distinctly audible.
Though it was his first time witnessing it directly, Lennok understood without needing to ask for an explanation.
The colossal [Veil] that enveloped, concealed, and protected the central city of Ars Nova, stretching across the entire continent.
And the first entrance, the first Gateway, leading into the interior of that [Veil].
After ceaselessly fighting and moving for at least four days in the Border Zone, enduring nights without sleep, Lennok had finally reached its entrance.