Chapter 991: The First Gateway (1)

The First Gateway, arrived at to obtain a fragment of the Veil, a catalyst to distort its orbital cycle.

A colossal beast’s carcass sat there, as if guarding the Gateway leading into the Central Front.

Wooosh…!!

Waves of mana, emanating from the beast’s bleached bones, surged like a fierce wind across the plains.

But instead of heading straight for the beast’s carcass, Lennok lingered around the hill for a long time.

“Wrong.”

Closing his eyes and stretching his hand into the air, Lennok, who had been caressing an invisible ‘flow’, stood up.

As soon as he found the First Gateway, Lennok had attempted to intervene with the flow of power in the vicinity, but all his attempts failed.

‘I can feel its presence here, but it’s not a concept that can be physically touched.’

Lennok’s eyes deepened as he gazed at the Veil, shimmering like a transparent curtain.

‘Acquiring a fragment of the Veil directly from this spot is impossible right now.’

The First Gateway was both a passage into the Veil and a tangible path leading to Ars Nova itself.

The closer one got to Ars Nova, the more violent the collisions became, and the Veil grew thicker.

With Lennok’s sensitivity, he could pierce through the thin Veil draped around the Gateway, but he couldn’t forcibly tear off a fragment.

‘In the end, I’ll have to acquire a fragment of the Veil directly from inside the Gateway.’

It would be ideal if he could obtain the fragment without taking risks, but at this point, the chances of things going that smoothly were low.

However, the reason Lennok didn’t head directly to the Gateway, even knowing this, was that he understood the need for greater caution from now on.

‘The Conjunction Spell Master is an 8-level Trait-type Spellcaster. If we clash, it’s highly likely to be a very different opponent than before.’

The reason Lennok could gain an advantage over other 8-level superhumans after reaching that level stemmed from his Root Mindscape.

It was also possible because he leveraged the Kaleidoscope’s mindscape, which illuminated future possibilities, and his talent that wasn’t bound by any specific magical lineage, allowing him to gain a compatibility advantage in almost every battle.

The ability to acquire various powers and spellcraft and deploy them against suitable opponents according to the situation and conditions.

Without looking far, his victory against Lieutenant General Roberaid was also the same.

Wasn’t it because the Hellfire Illusion Palace had a compatibility similar to the Legion Commander’s Miniature Universe that he could so easily exploit a weakness?

However, against a Trait-type Spellcaster, such analysis and strategy were unlikely to work.

‘Should I have demanded more information from Olivera?’

The First Gateway itself wasn’t a hidden location, so he had judged that he could obtain relevant information on site.

But with Angel’s communication cut off, the situation had become complicated, and the lack of information was undeniable.

“…It’s not like there’s no other way.”

Murmuring to himself, Lennok sat down on a hill with a clear view of the Gateway and reached into his pocket.

Click!

The Eye of the Wellspring. An artifact shaped like a human eye, carved from a gemstone.

It was the Chogyeon spell-armament that Lapis had given him at the very end, during the Adamant Thunder and Cheonbeon incident.

Hadn’t she said it possessed the power to record all creation, and that it functioned as the thirteenth Lighthouse itself?

During the summit, Lennok had modified it into a scope for a magic gun and used it, but afterward, he had recovered the artifact and kept it in its original form.

“…”

Lennok stared silently at the Eye of the Wellspring, then gripped it tightly.

This was proof that Evan Martinez had joined the Lighthouse Keeper’s mission.

For Lennok, it was an item with complex meanings in many ways.

Though he had never been bound by the Eyes of Blue, it was true that he had somewhat sympathized with Lapis’s chosen answer.

Lapis had respected Lennok’s will not to be bound by the Watchers’ karma, giving him this eye and letting him go.

When she fully awakened as a Lighthouse Keeper and handed Lennok the relic of Chogyeon, whose regret was she trying to sever?

Ironically, after leaving the Eyes of Blue, Lennok found himself thinking about Lapis more often.

Despite her wishes and his help, was his judgment to send Lapis to the world’s boundary correct at that time?

Was Lapis, who had fully sent off Chogyeon and inherited its mission, truly the Lapis Falsia he remembered?

“…”

Nothing was eternal; everything kept changing.

Lapis was merely following the conclusion that Chogyeon had long faced, inheriting it and changing.

Lennok smiled bitterly, stopped his thoughts, and carefully poured mana into the artifact.

Kiiing…!!

Receiving the mana, the Eye of the Wellspring rotated gently, emitting a soft glow.

A spell-armament that responded to the user’s mana, awakening its functions and gradually expanding its abilities.

Among the artifacts Lennok currently possessed, it was no exaggeration to say this treasure was one of the top three in terms of its exquisite craftsmanship.

He held the transparently glowing Eye of the Wellspring up to one of his eyes.

As he shined it on the Gateway through the lens, his vision rapidly expanded, and things that had been invisible became visible.

Lennok, turning the artifact like a telescope and focusing it on the Gateway, muttered casually.

“…A city.”

The carcass left behind by the beast. A small city built upon its bleached bones as a foundation lay below.

A Gateway City, constructed for people to live in, with ribs as pillars and the spine as a roof.

In terms of area and population, it was slightly smaller than Kaiushyu, a medium-sized city Lennok had visited before.

It must have been that forces, merchants, and refugees traveling through the Gateway gathered, and over a long time, a residential area was formed.

It was essentially the first entrance to the Central Front and a transit point.

‘The entrance to the Gateway… isn’t visible from here.’

The term ‘First Gateway’ referred to the Gateway City built beneath that gigantic beast’s carcass.

The city built under the beast’s bones was, in essence, the entrance to Ars Nova.

But if the Gateway was a passage to Ars Nova, there must be a designated space for entry and exit.

‘Do I have to pass through the Gateway City once to cross the Veil? It’s not illogical, but…’

Lennok’s objective wasn’t to immediately cross the Gateway into the depths of the front, but to acquire a fragment of the Veil.

And as Lennok viewed the Gateway through the Eye of the Wellspring, he witnessed a vast, shimmering heat haze rippling over it.

Wooowoong…!!

The transparent haze rippled as if spreading to both sides of the Gateway, making space-time vibrate.

It seemed to reflect the scenery on the other side without any function, yet at certain moments, it blocked all information like an inviolable barrier.

Something powerful, unseen and unfelt, was preventing Lennok’s senses from reaching behind the Gateway.

That haze, extending to both sides of the Gateway with a peculiar resonant sound, was precisely the [Veil].

It must be the conceptual barrier itself, directly installed and managed by high-level Long-lived Beings of Outer Tribulation City Kundara.

‘Is this as far as I can go for now?’

Although he had only confirmed traces of the Veil through the Eye of the Wellspring, Lennok wasn’t particularly surprised by that fact.

As Claris had explained, the Veil was essentially a Star-Patterned Ritual Garment spread across the entire continent, using the Shadow of the Star as a medium.

It was a barrier that existed semi-permanently as long as night existed on this planet, but precisely for that reason, its true form couldn’t be properly seen during the day.

He probably wouldn’t be able to confirm the true nature of the Veil until nightfall.

‘Waiting here until nightfall wouldn’t be difficult, but…’

Now that he had arrived near the Gateway, he tried contacting Angel, but still received no response.

Ultimately, to reconnect with Angel, he would have to find a way inside the Gateway City.

“…No choice then.”

Lennok sighed, having made his decision, and began to walk.

He traversed the hill on the prairie wind, heading straight for the provisional fortress erected at the city’s entrance.

“Halt. Stop there.”

The moment he approached the fortress, soldiers on guard stretched out their hands towards Lennok.

“Stop channeling your mana and extinguish your will-thought. There will be a brief inspection.”

“Not just suppressing my will-thought, but extinguishing it?”

Lennok tilted his head with an expressionless face and instead, drew up his mana.

“Do you typically say that to everyone passing through the Gateway?”

Whoosh!!

The lingering mana, carried on the wind, transformed into a scorching heat wave.

The art of mixing pure mana with will-thought to convert it into an attribute.

“…!!!”

A vague yet skillful pressure, showcasing a superior spellcaster without revealing their true identity.

The soldiers’ expressions instantly changed as they realized their opponent was a powerful high-level wizard.

“Our apologies. You must be a Central Front official.”

The soldiers, whose attitudes instantly became respectful, bowed their heads.

Perhaps in other places, but here, it was a battlefield where all sorts of superhumans and monsters clashed.

It was reasonable to assume that such a high-level wizard was an executive-level figure from a major faction.

“Currently, the guard unit is on alert for victims of the Infernalization Ritual. Excuse me, but may we check your belongings?”

“Infernalization Ritual?”

One of the soldiers, exchanging glances with his comrades as if he felt a need to explain, spoke.

“It refers to the sacrificial rituals performed by cultists. Victims are rampant around the Gateway, as they clumsily mimic the Guido Cult.”

“…”

“Especially magic users who fall victim to this ritual transform into murderous monsters, requiring extreme caution.”

Cultists, human sacrifice, and the Infernalization Ritual, then.

There seemed to be a lot of talk about the atrocities committed by those who clumsily imitated the cult.

This behavior by cultists was a concern not only for the soldiers gathered here but also for Deadrise’s Third Legion.

“I think I saw some of those Infernalization Rituals on the way here.”

Lennok took out a red-tinged pendant from his pocket, showed it to the soldier, and asked.

“Is the faction involved with a pendant like this?”

“…!!”

“This is…”

It was a ritualistic ornament found on an altar while helping the search party subdue the cultists.

As expected, the soldiers recognized the pendant and exchanged glances.

With grim expressions, the soldiers, lost in thought, cautiously asked Lennok.

“Are you… perhaps the wizard who helped the search party with their mission?”

“Has the information already reached the Gateway City?”

“Command has relayed information about you. Thank you for rescuing the search party.”

The soldier immediately saluted Lennok and nodded.

“The Commander is waiting. We will escort you.”

Was it because Lennok had displayed himself as a high-level wizard and presented the ritualistic ornament first that he avoided suspicion?

Getting into the Gateway City more easily than expected wasn’t a bad thing.

However, there were still questionable aspects regarding the provisional fortress guarded by the security forces.

‘There are no traces of the Order Alliance.’

If the Conjunction Spell Master had taken control of the First Gateway as rumored, then spellcasters from the Order Alliance should also be present.

But the gate leading to the Gateway City was guarded by soldiers from the search party, not the Order Alliance.

Had the Conjunction Spell Master handed over all duties to the search party? Or was the Alliance simply not paying any attention to the Gateway?

As Lennok walked across the bridge towards the city, following the soldier, contemplating various possibilities, that very moment.

Shushuk…!!

A chilling sensation ran down Lennok’s spine, and he immediately raised his hand.

His movement, based on intuition rather than logical reasoning, activated the Eye of the Wellspring.

Lennok’s steps halted abruptly as he focused the artifact on the provisional fortress just before entering the city.

“…”

Lennok, silently looking up at the provisional fortress, asked the soldier.

“Were this provisional fortress and bridge originally facilities within the city?”

“No. They weren’t here when the Blaiver Magic Tower Lord managed the area.”

The soldier, crossing the bridge casually, replied.

“When the Conjunction Spell Master arrived, he said it was to guard the entrance to the Gateway City, and he had it built in a single day.”

“…”

“We also don’t know how a provisional fortress of this size was constructed and placed here in just one day…”

“I see.”

Lennok gave a casual reply to the soldier, who was about to elaborate, and looked up at the fortress through the Eye of the Wellspring.

The anomaly of the provisional fortress, invisible to the naked eye. The grotesque truth glimpsed through the lens.

Upon the gate, built with foundation stones and bricks, sat a gigantic, sticky mass of flesh.

Cracklekrakle…!!

A grotesque form, with its upper body grafted to the gate, its entire surface wrinkled as if all its hair had been plucked and dried.

It writhed, extending veins and flesh beneath the provisional fortress like a living creature, breathing.

[Gurgle…!!]

The stitched-together flesh giant let out a silent scream, its mouth gaping wide.

It wasn’t merely camouflaging and hiding the shape of the fortress wall. That flesh giant was also part of the gate.

The Eye of the Wellspring revealed not the interior of an object, but the essence of its soul.

It proved that the provisional fortress, which should have been inorganic, was a chimera created by modifying a living creature.

It also proved someone’s skill in modifying a living creature into a provisional fortress, and keeping it alive even then.

“…”

The Conjunction Spell Master was not abandoning or neglecting the management of the Gateway.

He had, in his own unique way, modified living creatures and entrusted them with the task of monitoring the Gateway City.

This was the truth Lennok finally confirmed, despite his excellent spiritual perception, as he lacked the ‘eye’ to see souls themselves.

As Lennok realized this and slowly lowered the Eye of the Wellspring.

The writhing flesh giant on top of the gate and Lennok’s gaze met head-on.

A calm male voice flowed from the giant’s unfocused mouth.

[I thought the discussions regarding the Lighthouse’s affairs were long concluded.]

“…!!”

Swish!!

The upper body of the giant, attached to the flesh, stretched out at an incredible speed, instantly reaching Lennok’s face.

As the giant’s flesh, previously attached to the gate, crawled down to the bridge below, the bridge shook violently from the impact.

Creaklecreak…!!

Slurp!!

“W-what in the…!!”

[I wondered why I kept feeling a disturbing gaze.]

Ignoring the soldiers who couldn’t even comprehend the source of the shock, the flesh giant merely crawled up to Lennok and stared at him.

Moving its wrinkled and bloated lips, the giant let out a low male voice.

[It was your doing.]

“I didn’t expect this kind of reception upon arriving at the Gateway City.”

Lennok said, looking at the mass of flesh before him.

Though feigning composure, Lennok’s mind was racing, understanding that things had gone awry the moment the flesh giant, integrated with the gate, perceived him.

But having realized who was speaking to him, he couldn’t back down now.

Lennok finished his thoughts, slowly tilted his head, and asked.

“Conjunction Spell Master. Is this how you usually greet guests?”

The Grand Spell Master of the Order Alliance. An 8-level Trait-type Spellcaster. The administrator of the First Gateway.

The Conjunction Spell Master had directly sent his consciousness down before Lennok.