Conjoining Sorcerer (1)
“I had intended to finish everything before the patient’s anesthesia wore off, but that esper’s power was stronger than expected.”
Lennok lay bound atop the operating table while the Conjoining Sorcerer stood with his back turned, organizing surgical instruments.
As he cleaned scissors and forceps, the Sorcerer Lord muttered thoughtfully.
“Gravity types are troublesome for this reason. The concepts of attraction and repulsion, spatial distortion, and temporal compression are all intricately intertwined, making analysis difficult.”
“The moment I failed to kill him during the first pattern, it was obvious things would end up like this. I delayed unnecessarily and threw my schedule into chaos… What a nuisance.”
Instead of immediately dealing with Lennok after binding him to the operating table, the Sorcerer Lord reviewed the battle that had just taken place.
He looked perfectly normal on the surface, but this man too was a thoroughly twisted madman.
Yet rather than focusing on the Sorcerer Lord himself, Lennok turned his gaze and examined the operating theater.
The operating table placed within the pink operating room.
Various tools prepared for the Conjoining Sorcerer’s surgeries.
And Lennok did not miss how the pale-pink walls and ceiling writhed as though alive.
“So the term Life Territory literally referred to a living territory.”
“Hmm?”
“This operating theater. It was a living organism itself.”
Lying bound atop the operating table, Lennok looked down at the Sorcerer Lord and spoke.
“It exists as a Territory, but because it’s a living organism, it was also treated as a summon. That’s why something as absurd as summoning a Territory was possible.”
The technique Balak Oedon used at the end manipulated the entire gravitational field and lifted it into the air.
It was destruction on the level of a strategic weapon, altering terrain itself before smashing it down.
Even Lennok, merely watching, was left speechless by the monstrous force—enough to instantly understand why Balak said he spent such a long time stabilizing his powers.
But the Sorcerer Lord did not confront Balak Oedon’s ability head-on.
Instead, he summoned his specialty-type installed Life Territory, the operating theater itself, and used it to receive the falling wreckage whole.
The Territories gained upon reaching Level 8 were not powers freely deployed and dismantled like Self-Image Domains.
They were Territories constructed within specific regions and used as strongholds and fortresses.
The reason the Sorcerer Lord could summon such a Territory and use it as a shield—
Was because the operating theater, being a living organism from the beginning, qualified as a target for summoning magic.
“Well, yes. If someone wishes to die, I usually grant their wish, but I came out midway through surgery.”
Nodding as he turned around, the Sorcerer Lord spoke.
“As someone who swore the Oath of the Divine Physician, a patient’s safety is important. If I fail to complete surgery as promised, troublesome restrictions follow.”
“So you avoided killing Balak Oedon and withdrew instead?”
“There was no reason to gamble on whether I could kill that gravity-type esper within the allotted surgery time.”
The Sorcerer Lord answered while wiping down each cleaned surgical instrument.
“Espers are the type that reacts most extremely to the shackles of geasa. Since he imposed a geas amplifying his powers specifically against me, I also had no desire to fight on terrain favorable to him…”
Within the operating theater’s silence so deep it hurt the ears, the Sorcerer Lord continued.
“A target-designation geas does not stop once activated. The moment I forcibly broke the target designation by summoning my Territory, that esper would have begun suffering backlash from the geas. I even nullified the final attack where he raised his output, so by now he’s probably little more than a rag.”
“……”
“There wasn’t enough value in killing him anyway. As long as he’s unable to interfere for a while, that’s enough.”
Softly stroking the edge of the scalpel, the Sorcerer Lord stepped aside and spoke.
“More importantly, once I secured such a valuable specimen, I had no desire to waste unnecessary sorcery.”
“……”
On another operating table opposite Lennok lay the Master of the Blaiver Magic Tower, bound exactly the same way.
As though the anesthesia injected earlier by the Sorcerer Lord had not worn off, he remained silent with his eyes barely open.
As if time itself had stopped for him, even his breathing was faint.
While Lennok stared at the unconscious Tower Master’s face, the Sorcerer Lord gathered all the surgical instruments and stood before Lennok.
Behind the mask, inorganic eyes pierced straight through Lennok’s face.
“Evan Martinez. I knew you were an unusual mage, but seeing you directly only makes you more fascinating. You’re an extremely attractive specimen.”
“……”
“You are definitely captured as a target of my sorcery, yet I cannot project into your interior at all. Normally, by the moment someone enters my operating theater, I should already have scanned them down to the cellular level.”
When acting as Evan Martinez, Lennok intentionally loosened his target-designation resistance.
Because target-designation resistance itself was essentially symbolic of Bolt’s talent.
Yet even after releasing the resistance, reading Lennok’s inner nature or origin was still impossible.
The Sorcerer Lord instantly sensed the subtle dissonance caused by that difference and intuitively realized it stemmed from Lennok’s ‘specialness.’
“As expected, it seems impossible to understand without directly laying hands on your body.”
“If you’re interested in my body, there’s something I’d like to propose.”
“A proposal?”
“I heard you’re considered an exceptional doctor even in the Center.”
Bound atop the operating table, Lennok tilted his head and met the Sorcerer Lord’s indifferent eyes.
“I suffer from a very old chronic illness. In exchange for examining my body and gathering your data, would you treat me?”
“……”
“Evan Martinez. You seem to be misunderstanding something.”
Adjusting his mask, the Sorcerer Lord shook his head as though dumbfounded.
“The reason I established an operating theater at the gate and receive patients is not volunteer work. To begin with, I am extremely selective about the patients I take.”
“……”
“In that sense, you do not appear to be a patient requiring my help. More importantly, as I already said—”
The Sorcerer Lord’s eyes flashed with inorganic light while looking at Lennok.
“You are not my patient, but my specimen. A specimen that may become an exceptionally rare case in my research regarding sorcery targets.”
“……”
“So until the surgery is complete, quietly keep your mouth shut and wait.”
The Sorcerer Lord slowly approached Lennok and spoke expressionlessly.
“Because besides you, there’s another guest from Vulcan I’m expecting.”
“You expect me to trust that when I have no idea what you’ll do after the surgery?”
Lennok asked with a smile.
“I’d rather settle things right here and now.”
Fwoosh!!
The moment he spoke, black-green flames ignited at Lennok’s fingertips.
The Sorcerer Lord’s expression shifted slightly upon seeing the Hellfire.
“A negative-dimensional flame. To use sorcery while ignoring restraints… the integrity itself is certainly interesting.”
The moment he saw the Hellfire Phantasmal Palace, the Sorcerer Lord seemed to immediately grasp its nature and principles, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
“A concept that bypasses certain laws through shortcuts. Most such powers are close to dark arts. Come to think of it, there was once a transcendent who collected such dark arts…”
Muttering while lost in thought, the Sorcerer Lord soon smirked as though realizing something.
“I see. You met the Ascendant of the Old World?”
“……What?”
At the Sorcerer Lord speaking that name without the slightest hesitation, Lennok instead found himself speechless.
Others could barely even utter those words aloud carefully, yet the Sorcerer Lord seemed completely unconcerned.
The Sorcerer Lord crossed his arms and tilted his head as though Lennok’s reaction was unsurprising.
“From the Federation’s perspective, it isn’t particularly shocking. Though there are only a few left now, and I hear almost none of them can still communicate properly. You were fortunate. But that sort of talent does not interest me. What I wish to see is something more… special.”
Thunk!
The Sorcerer Lord naturally pressed down on Lennok’s shoulder, tightening the restraints further as he spoke.
“So I’ll take my time and find out what exactly lies sleeping inside that body.”
After saying that, the Sorcerer Lord picked up his surgical tools and turned away from Lennok without hesitation.
“Where are you going?”
“I already told you. The surgery for the patient I was handling still isn’t finished.”
The Sorcerer Lord answered indifferently.
“The important procedures are complete. I only need to finish suturing the incision site. Once that’s done, I’ll have a little free time, so wait.”
“……”
With those words, the Conjoining Sorcerer exited the operating theater carrying the cleaned surgical instruments.
He sliced open one wall as though making an incision, then vanished into the writhing corridor beyond.
He captured and bound Lennok and the Tower Master, yet took no further action and simply left to finish surgery?
Even after seeing Lennok use Hellfire, the Sorcerer Lord displayed no wariness whatsoever.
Because from the moment Lennok entered this operating theater, the Sorcerer Lord likely believed victory or defeat no longer mattered.
Yet tied to the operating table, Lennok pondered the meaning behind the Sorcerer Lord’s words.
Ascendant of the Old World.
A being Lennok himself only became aware of recently, aside from the Leader and the High Priest.
Yet the Conjoining Sorcerer already knew of him.
Was it because of the Spell Order Federation’s goal of weaving together all sorcery in the world, or due to the Sorcerer Lord’s own unique intuition?
“K-Kuhk…?”
At that moment, the shoulders of the Tower Master bound to the operating table opposite him trembled weakly.
The Master of the Blaiver Magic Tower had regained consciousness at some point and raised his head toward Lennok with a cold smile.
“So you brought Hellfire out of Nox Biblio. You’ve obtained a treasure beyond your station.”
“……”
“To think the owner of the library permitted you that Ember… It seems he took quite a liking to you.”
“There’s no reason for me to tell you how I obtained the Ember.”
Lennok answered expressionlessly.
“But I do know this Ember holds immense value.”
“Puhahat!! Naturally.”
Unable to hold back his laughter, the Tower Master spoke.
“Let us make a deal, Evan Martinez. If you share that Hellfire with me, I’ll help you survive this operating theater.”
“……”
“It wouldn’t be a bad deal for you either. Surely you don’t believe you can escape this Territory through your own power alone?”
Pointing toward the operating table binding his own body, the Tower Master continued.
“All matter inside this operating theater is connected to the Territory. The bed you lie on, the belts restraining your body, the air and moisture you breathe… all of it is life belonging to the operating theater itself.”
The Tower Master’s face darkened momentarily as he spoke.
“Everywhere, you are under this Territory’s surveillance. Even the air that entered your respiratory organs already belongs to this Territory. This disgusting operating theater is a gigantic museum created precisely for that ‘purpose.’”
“A museum, hm.”
“Hellfire. According to records from the Old World, it is a power opposing mental force through yin properties.”
The Tower Master stared greedily at Lennok’s hand.
“It’s an Ember with many potential applications. If you hand it over, I too shall cooperate in preserving your life.”
“Preserving my life while making me worse off than dead?”
“You enjoyed meaningless wordplay the first time we met as well.”
Lennok slowly rose from his seat as he spoke.
Clank, clank!!
He stood up while effortlessly ignoring the belts and restraints binding his body.
“That confidence comes from believing you won’t die inside this operating theater, doesn’t it?”
“……Wait.”
The Tower Master stared in disbelief at Lennok rising while ignoring the restraints.
“How are you…?”
“Was this the anesthetic the Sorcerer Lord used on you earlier?”
Opening a cabinet and taking out a vial, Lennok produced a small ampoule from inside his coat.
He injected the drug into the ampoule and stabbed it into the Tower Master’s neck.
“Kraah!!”
“Sleep quietly. It’ll become troublesome if you keep talking unnecessarily.”
“Impossible…”
Even as the anesthetic took effect and his eyes fluttered, the Tower Master gritted his teeth and muttered.
“The restraints of the operating theater are fusion between will and mana… a force impossible for a sorcerer to escape alone…”
The method the Sorcerer Lord used to bind Lennok was restraint through Conjoining Sorcery.
Therefore, merely activating target-designation resistance briefly allowed Lennok to free himself.
The fundamental reason Lennok willingly allowed himself to be captured inside the operating theater.
It was possible because Lennok had already become convinced through the Sorcerer Lord’s words and actions that the Conjoining Sorcerer could not kill him immediately.
“As expected, you know an oddly great deal about the Conjoining Sorcerer’s abilities.”
Lennok gazed coldly at the Tower Master.
“I am curious why you possess such knowledge, but… this isn’t the time to ask.”
When Lennok touched the operating-theater wall the same way the Sorcerer Lord had earlier, one side split open like an incision.
Confirming nobody stood within the organ-like winding corridor, Lennok immediately stepped forward.
According to Bernard, the operating theater was a Territory installed surrounding the gate entrance.
And fragments of the Curtain could only be obtained near the gate entrance itself.
Things had diverged greatly from the plan, but regardless, Lennok had managed to enter the operating theater without arousing the Conjoining Sorcerer’s suspicion.
“Ah.”
At that moment, Lennok stopped before leaving the operating theater and turned back toward the Tower Master.
The Tower Master, staggering from the anesthetic’s effects, raised his gaze through clenched teeth.
“W-what…”
“Come to think of it, there’s one thing I absolutely need to do.”
As he spoke, Lennok placed a hand atop the Tower Master’s solar plexus.
“Time is tight, but necessary things must still be done.”
Wooooong!!
As he tapped the Tower Master’s solar plexus and formed a seal with one hand, heat gathered above Lennok’s palm.
A bizarre phenomenon, as though forcibly drawing out a specific energy from within the Tower Master’s body.
“……!!”
Fwoooosh……!!
The flames flowing from the Tower Master’s body gradually transformed into pale-green fire radiating warm heat.
The Tower Master stared blankly for a moment before suddenly screaming in horror.
“W-What are you doing!!”
“That healing flame you used earlier.”
Lennok placed his hand against the Tower Master’s chest and whispered quietly.
“It looked extremely useful.”
“You dare…!!!!”
A horrifying sensation of the [Ember] residing within the Tower Master’s body being forcibly extracted after losing in innate elemental control.
Only then did the Tower Master realize Lennok’s intention, and his face twisted hideously between fury and drowsiness.
“No, no…!!! I’ll kill you. Don’t do it!!!!”
“I’ll make good use of that Ember.”
“AAAAAAAH!!!”
Flame-Heat Attribute Unique Magic Property Transformation Theft Manifestation
[Elemental Dominion]
[Flame Absorption]
Pale-green light flashed brilliantly, and after even the Tower Master’s screams faded—
Lennok stepped out through the half-open operating-theater door.
“Well then…”
Gazing in satisfaction at the pale-green flame quietly burning in his hand, Lennok walked into the corridor.
“Shall we begin immediately?”