Chapter 583 – All-Out War (1)
A sharp and heavy headache, as if piercing through the crown of his head, overturned his mind.
Veins bulged on his forehead.
His expression twisted at the unpleasantness of brain and spirit blending together.
The magic formula contained within the circle surrounding his forehead interfered with both internal and external nerves. The excruciating pain gradually subsided and died down after a few minutes.
Even though the magic circle had been dispelled, nothing seemed wrong, so it looked like the strange pain had completely vanished.
But it wasn't as though he was perfectly fine.
'...There are blanks in my memory.'
Through the fourth coordinate he had crossed space and seen a total of three worlds, but aside from the space where the Tower of White Night was located, he could not recall a single feature of the other two worlds.
Not even what conversations he had with the master of the Lepraegium Magic Tower... nor what he had seen inside the magic tower's power source.
It was hazy, like a thick fog.
At best, what lingered in his mind was───the experience of having located the domain of the Lepraegium Magic Tower, realizing its strangeness, meeting the master of the Lepraegium Tower and being expelled...
'The fact that only specific parts can't be recalled means it's not damage.'
Any forced injury inevitably leaves behind a filthy cross-section.
This was far too clean.
'Then it must be a seal.'
Ha.
Balrog let out a hollow laugh.
Truly laughable.
Not only had his identity been seen through in an instant and expelled from the space by some magic, but even his mind had been interfered with?
Even if he manifested his power through a mere human proxy with an ancient bloodline, to not even offer proper resistance?
"As expected."
Balrog removed his hand from his forehead. His pitch-black pupils glared up at the sky.
"A hindrance."
The Lepraegium Magic Tower, perched at the peak not only of the magic world but of the world itself, feigning loftiness, clinging to mysticism, concealing its insidious intent.
To face its master, an 8th-Rank Transcendent, a multitude of Transcendents was absolutely indispensable.
This incident only cemented his conviction.
'Though the master of the Lepraegium Magic Tower has discovered me, there will be no setback to the plan.'
Those riddled with secrets had never shown any major movements. Even in the unprecedented crisis of a runaway power source.
There must be some constraint.
If not, they would have already tried to exert more direct influence on the world.
Balrog Bessias had no doubt, great power, in whatever form, is inevitably exercised.
'I must prepare.'
Faster.
Balrog Bessias immediately inscribed a space magic circle.
With a surge of violet waves, his figure vanished from the crater lake.
***
The lowest floor of the unofficial laboratory shook under the vibrations of explosions. A shattered door. From the breached entrance poured shouts and screams.
"H-how, how can some inspector move this fast...?!"
"Avoid being directly targeted! First bind his feet with wide-range magic!"
"Magic's been cut, behind you!"
Slaaash!
With a tearing sound, blood sprayed far down the corridor. A corpse, split from the crown downward, fell apart left and right.
Those who had lost their composure fired magic recklessly in all directions.
"Thi... gyaaaaah!"
"I, I can't die here, urk!"
Amid the massacre, some of the insiders, their eyes trembling, clung to survival.
Even so, Adrian did not stop.
He moved as instinct whispered, as his emotions dictated. Continuously kicking off the ground, streaking in all directions, his afterimages trailed his path.
Dozens of lightblades carved diagonal lines.
Whirlwind
A storm of purple sword-energy swept outward in all directions.
True to the mechanics of intellect, the group led by Pielle barely managed to link up and inscribe high-grade defensive magic circles layered atop one another.
Unfortunately, the mages outside the perimeter were unprotected.
Crraaaash!
Without even a chance to scream their death-cries, bodies were shredded countless times over. The end of those who had pursued magical advancement through endless sacrifice.
Blood soared up to the ceiling, then fell like a rainstorm.
Step.
Adrian stepped over the corpses and raised his head. Between his blood-soaked hair, sky-colored eyes flickered with a chilling glow.
"Eight left."
Already more than two-thirds of the mages on the lowest floor had lost their lives.
Yet the enemy still stood.
Amid the spreading fear, Pielle spoke.
"Do not falter."
Kiiing.
A compulsory magic circle activated.
Some of the insiders who had been retreating froze in place.
"Erase him with saturation fire."
At Pielle's command, a total of eight wands and staves aimed at their target.
Without hesitation, from one side to the other.
Fire magic and wind magic intertwined, maximizing destructive force.
Kwooooom!
Vision was drowned in crimson.
The horrific heat transmitted through the air seared the mages' skin red and even evaporated some of the fluid in their lenses.
And then.
Magus Art – Flow Compression
Pielle's Magus Art, condensing the flow of fluids to manipulate them at will.
Whooosh, Kwaaaang!
From six directions, long and thin vortices slammed into the area.
The combustion reaction suddenly intensified, the flames grew more ferocious. Moisture in the wind touched the fire, bursting into steam explosions.
Nearby test tubes shattered, spilling the materials of enhancement experiments.
Unofficial test subjects, whose bodies had been preserved, flushed red, boiling from within until frothing blood spewed out.
Pielle fixed her eyes on the front.
'Seventy percent of the space is exposed to extreme heat and pressure. Evading is impossible.'
Explosions spared no direction.
Once engulfed, there was no way to avoid the abrupt change in temperature.
Even with a sword-barrier, his muscles would surely be burned to the point of impairment.
And yet.
Not even the cursed flames conjured by Carindin Lerhar and Maybel Risonia Siller, first members of Black Hour and its highest executives, had ever managed to burn Adrian.
The mage at the front, struggling against stinging eyes, glanced around.
"Where───"
Fwoosh!
At that instant, slicing through the steam, Adrian kicked off the ceiling and shot past his side. A trailing afterimage of his sword carved open the mage's chest.
Through bone, deep.
Before blood even seeped from the cross-section, the lightblade quivered.
New Moon
"?!"
Pielle immediately altered her running calculations, countering. Without sparing her magic power, she poured everything into maximum force.
Claang!
The condensed blade of flow, visible even to the eye, clashed against the immense crescent sword-energy.
The moment of impact, both shattered, roof tiles and fragments of air scattering in every direction.
In that brief window, Adrian claimed another insider's life.
"Six."
Adrian whispered low as he walked slowly forward.
The dwindling numbers.
To Pielle, it sounded like a death notice.
"...Elder."
"Seize him."
As if waiting, a total of twenty high-grade magic stones glittered in midair. Mages of the Bohemirn Magic Tower split into two groups.
One group inscribed circles, the other activated portable ones.
The moment the numerous binding circles were supported by targeting circles, their formulas recognized Adrian.
Dozens of mana chains stretched out in spiraling arcs.
Linked Light
Crack.
The high-grade circle could not withstand the draw of [Silendar]'s sword-draw and split cleanly in two.
Past the scattering sparks of mana, Adrian burst forward in sudden acceleration and leapt low.
An elemental barrier blocked his path, but he paid no heed.
Slaaash!
Not a single sword-strike could be blocked.
Thud.
Two mages, bodies split diagonally, collapsed to either side.
"Four."
"...Ha."
Pielle let out a hollow laugh.
Her eyes twitched.
Not from anger or absurdity, but sheer bewilderment.
'What is this speed? It's on a completely different level than years ago.'
She was not like Elder Hiram, now dead, though also an authority on unofficial experiments in material magic, especially biological.
She was not merely specialized in research but was also a high Magus with abundant experience.
Beyond experiments, dozens, even hundreds had perished by her hand. Once she had even acted as a force of the Bohemirn Magic Tower.
And yet she could not keep up. Truthfully, it was difficult even to perceive him.
Clearly.
Sensing the flow of speed through Magus Arts and responding with wide-area spells was the best she could do.
'If this is the gap he shows against me... there is only one possibility.'
The human extreme.
On par with Angelo, the strongest of the Council of Elders of the Bohemirn Magic Tower's Itium.
Having reached that thought, Pielle swiftly unfolded her mana. Within an artificial flow, her unique magic manifested and shone.
The fluids flowing in all directions gradually condensed, moving sluggishly. Their size diminished, but their weight multiplied severalfold.
Pielle's domain.
She leveled her staff at Adrian, who came charging once more.
The stronger the external force, the stronger the fortress repelled. Within her domain, the currents of fluids moved reflexively.
──! ─! ────!
A hazy storm flared up each instant, blocking every sword strike. Only the fierce whistle of blades of wind lingered at her ear.
"Sendra, we're abandoning this place. Prepare."
"Huh? Ah, understood, Elder───"
Crunch!
Faster than the domain could react, a lightblade pierced through. Impaled through the center of her back, Sendra spewed blood in torrents.
As her knees buckled and she collapsed, a whisper came from behind her body.
"Three."
"Stop!"
Kwooom!
Above their heads, a condensed sphere of fluid crashed into the ground and exploded. But Adrian's form had already vanished.
──Slash!
From behind, a kick struck a mage's head sideways.
Strength drained from his body.
Adrian grabbed the collapsing man by the nape and used him as a shield.
"E-Elder, wait, just──!"
Carried on swiftly flowing wind, minute droplets surged in. Thud-thud-thud! Holes riddled the subordinate's body.
Reading the trajectory, Adrian slipped past without a scratch, smirking.
"When I severed my master's right arm, you acted proud as if you were a mighty one. And yet you can't land a single hit. And still you call yourself an Elder of Itium?"
"You...."
"Two."
"This mere experiment dares!!"
Baramoa, who served at Pielle's side, flew into a rage, manifesting his own Magus Art to its extreme.
But Adrian was faster.
Wild Dance
Slashed to ribbons with consciousness still intact, Baramoa was instantly killed. His sundered staff rolled across the floor with him, sinking into the pool of blood.
Step.
Adrian reached Pielle's immediate vicinity and lowered his gaze.
"Now one."
"..."
Only the sound of breathing lingered.
Silence pressed heavy.
Cold sweat trickled down Pielle's temple as she asked.
"Who's behind you. Who saved you, and raised you to this point?"
"Number 77, Verden."
At the wholly unexpected name, Pielle's eyes widened.
"...What?"
"If you ever met an Elder of Itium, my lord told me to deliver these words. And so, I deliver them to you."
[Silendar] lifted skyward.
"You should have confirmed the corpse."
Like a thunderclap, the lightblade fell.
In the sluggishly approaching time, Pielle's lips parted.
"Ah, I don't know."
She had no idea what was happening.
Pielle, who had pursued knowledge her entire life, harbored doubt until her very last breath.
From her left shoulder to her right flank.
Split through to the heart at once, she lay her body upon the laboratory floor. Soon, the light faded from her eyes, life drained away.
"Every mage from the Bohemirn Magic Tower above has been dealt with. The survivors subjected to human experimentation have been rescued. Looks like it's over here as well."
Grave, who had reached the lowest floor, wiped blood from his shortsword. He too was drenched in gore, the upper levels in ruins.
Compared to the spectacle Adrian had wrought, it was but a drop in the ocean.
"This isn't the end, but the beginning."
"Hm?"
"Two still remain."
Angelo and Sandir Paen.
The mighty beings Adrian wished to personally cut down. The pinnacle of magic, and a Transcendent from a century past.
"That's the problem. In any case, the unofficial laboratory is finished, so we need to move quickly."
Spoils could wait.
Casting a glance at Pielle's corpse, Grave took the lead.
"Soon, the Bohemirn Magic Tower's main forces will descend."
***
Because he had used the Prisoner of Kernadel, Balrog's personal mana was almost entirely untouched. The mental shock had long since been recovered from.
With no need for rest, Balrog returned directly to the Bohemirn Magic Tower.
But the atmosphere was off.
External personnel went about their day as usual, while insiders were restless.
Especially in the tower's highest levels.
"L-Lord Tower Master!"
Angelo, Tilon, and Crodon rose to their feet.
Their faces were lined with tension.
Balrog asked.
"What is it."
"Well...."
Angelo reported directly.
The collapse of the national brainwashing project, and the destruction of the unofficial laboratory at the northern border.
As proof, he presented the disappearance of the magic circle at the captains connected via Coercion to Lauen Seedger, Pielle, and others.
"...And yet you simply stood by and watched without responding?"
"Because the culprit is strongly suspected to be Black Hour, we refrained from moving rashly to avoid needless losses of power───"
"Silence."
A voice steeped in wrath, and Coercion stirred to his will.
"...!!!!"
"?!!"
"...?!!!!"
Unendurable agony swept over them, forcing the three to slam their heads down. As though their souls themselves were being torn, they couldn't even scream.
The most horrific moment, birthing suicidal urges against their will.
"Huff, huff...."
Barely released from the force, they heard Balrog speak.
"Their location."
"We've detected the fleet of Black Hour that attacked the unofficial test site. We're tracking the coordinates in real-time."
"Elder Luminaria and the Array of Spectrum are on standby, Master. And the Saturation of Jinche is nearly prepared."
"To preserve secrecy and structure, all are internal personnel."
At once they stood, answering with steady voices, though cold sweat still beaded on their skin.
"Dispatch the Array of Spectrum. Erase Black Hour's fleet completely."
"Your command will be done."
Tilon immediately used a tower artifact to make long-range contact. It was no lie that they awaited orders.
Moments later, the fleet of the Bohemirn Magic Tower shifted space to the northern border.
Balrog turned to Crodon.
"Sandir Paen?"
Crodon pointed at a map.
"Here. The moment the disturbance arose, I fixed his position."
Black Hour would never have attacked the unofficial lab with meager strength.
Therefore, sending Sandir Paen to cover variables was the proper move.
The battlefield would be populated only by insiders anyway.
Whoooom!
Balrog stretched out his arm.
Borrowing the power of a ring-shaped artifact, he pinpointed two distant coordinates and unfolded teleportation circles remotely.
To send Sandir to the northern border.
Though the situation was abrupt and urgent, Balrog Bessias made a rational judgment without the slightest shake.
It was then.
Claang!
Suddenly Balrog's hand was repelled. His mana scattered.
"What...?"
The space magic circle collapsed.
***
When Verden had infiltrated the Grand Hall of Black Hour to steal the [Hourglass of Perpetuity], the Sages of the Society had prepared a special measure to cling tenaciously to Amwol's heels.
A disposable artifact to nullify teleportation from afar.
A trump card with limited uses.
But the chance never came.
For Dahit Wethroel, wielding the ancient artifact [Horizon Observer ], had returned to the Grand Hall unbound by space.
That trump card now shone.
───Holy one, two teleportation circles have been detected at specific coordinates. They've been blocked, and the coordinates confirmed.
───A massive spatial surge detected nearby, senior.
Through the communicator came reports from the Grand Hall and the fleet. The Bohemirn Magic Tower was moving in force.
'So Balrog has returned.'
Predicting the internal situation of the tower, Verden rose to his feet.
There was no longer any need to wander the frontlines drawing attention.