Conjoining Sorcerer (6)
Click!!
Opening the case, Lennok took out a small syringe.
With practiced hands, he filled it with medicine, tilted his head back, and stabbed it into his shoulder.
Ignoring the pain shooting through his collarbone, he pulled out a medicine bottle and chewed down a handful of pills.
Crunch!!
A needle pierced the vein inside his elbow.
He connected a tube, inverted the medication container, and inserted it.
Ampoules, bottles, tubes—
In an instant, various devices dangled all over Lennok’s body.
[Have you gone insane?]
Even the brain of Mikal Zellich, watching nearby, instinctively moved slightly farther away.
But Lennok ignored the horrified reaction.
“These are supplies I found in the Conjoining Sorcerer’s pharmaceutical storage. He’s an excellent physician. There’s no need to worry about defective products or side effects.”
[Even so, what kind of lunatic injects that many drugs one after another... If you overdose on stimulants and cardiotonics like that, your blood vessels will burst and kill you.]
Zellich continuously sent mental waves in disbelief.
Perhaps because he had been a member of the Ability Awakening Brigade and possessed considerable expertise in drugs used to regulate supernatural abilities.
He clearly understood how absurd the doping Lennok was performing truly was.
[Stacking incompatible elixirs will devour your vitality. If you want to commit suicide, there are better methods.]
“It’s fine.”
Lennok chuckled.
He had already prepared an explanation for using Bolt’s combat methods while acting under the identity of Evan Martinez.
“I once saw an archmage from Vulcan stimulate himself this way. I understand the principle. What matters isn’t the dosage. It’s the ratio of the combination. If you account for overlapping effects and cancellation, administering them this way actually maximizes efficiency.”
Ampoule needles protruded through his shirt.
A tube wrapped around his forearm.
An insertion tube embedded in his neck.
He deliberately wounded his own body and poured foreign substances into it without restraint.
The moment the medication began circulating, his heart pounded violently.
His head burned.
His blood seemed to flow backward through his veins.
The heat crawling over his skin made even the surrounding air sting, dulling his sense of touch.
Yet in exchange, vitality that had never existed within his body before surged upward.
A furnace ignited in his abdomen.
“Hu...”
Exhaling hot breath, Lennok knelt on one knee and reached into his coat.
Flap!!
Papyrus Argenteus.
The artifact obtained from Jindun’s Cradle.
Spreading the enormous papyrus before him, Lennok formed seals with both hands.
Each time his fingers moved, intricate barrier formations emerged atop the papyrus and shone brilliantly.
Fwaaaaaa...!!!
“Heaven. Diamond. Immovable.”
Using his Spell Armament, he deployed three Wheel-Still Barriers specialized for defense and harmony around his entire body.
“Junjeo. True Word. Observation Speech.”
Three Flow-Line Barriers specialized in detection and vigilance spread outward in all directions before compressing.
“Baegal. Divine Bear. Expel Dawn.”
Three Expulsion Barriers specialized in rejection and exclusion manifested once more.
Above the nine barriers of Wheel-Still, Flow-Line, and Expulsion, he overlaid a tenth enhancement barrier and completed his qi.
“Manifest Divine Barrier.”
Kiiiiiiik...!!!
Nine great barriers wrapped around his body.
One Divine Barrier.
Beneath them, dozens of minor barriers revolved around him, isolating and protecting his body completely.
Not a single strand of energy was wasted.
Everything circulated inward, forming a grand formation that sought perfection on its own.
Thump!!
The moment he stepped forward, the writhing corridor of the operating room trembled violently.
Seeing Lennok covered in dozens of layers of doping and barriers, Zellich finally spoke.
[...What, are you heading to a war?]
“I may need to escape immediately after accomplishing my objective in the operating room.”
Wearing Nyx’s insignia beneath his coat and completely suppressing his presence, Lennok continued.
“There may not be time to prepare any further before reaching the Gate entrance.”
Placing one hand against the pulsating wall, he nodded.
“Follow me. We’re moving now.”
[Moving? There wasn’t even an open path here to begin—]
Craaaack...!!
Zellich’s question died instantly.
The moment Lennok touched the wall, the flesh itself began swallowing him.
A massive mass of living muscle absorbed him like a swamp.
Activating his target-designation resistance ability, he synchronized himself with the presence of this Life Territory.
That alone caused the living territory to recognize him as part of itself and attempt assimilation.
“There’s no reason to waste time following corridors now.”
Grabbing the tank containing Zellich’s brain, Lennok said,
“We’ll travel through the wall and head directly to the Gate entrance.”
[Wait! If the tank breaks then I—!!]
Before the protest finished, Lennok disappeared completely into the pink wall.
Craaaack!!!
Living flesh and muscle compressed him from every direction.
Without the barriers he had prepared beforehand, he would have been crushed into blood the instant he entered.
Yet even then, Lennok reached out and searched for direction.
The Conjoining Sorcerer’s Life Territory surrounded the Gate entrance.
And the Gate entrance was adjacent to the surface.
Finding the point connected to the surface by determining gravity’s direction was not difficult.
Craaack!!!
The flesh compressed and ruptured around him.
The moment Lennok stepped through a crack while gripping the tank—
The wall split open.
And this time it spat him directly onto the surface.
Splat!!
“Found it.”
Solid ground beneath his feet.
Not a floor made of writhing flesh and muscle.
Standing before the vast first-floor lobby surrounded by living flesh on all sides, Lennok surveyed his surroundings.
[Ah... ahh...]
[Huu... huu...]
Chimeras wandered through the lobby, releasing strange groans and sighs.
They carried construction materials for the operating rooms, heavy steel beams resting on their shoulders and backs.
Apparently they had been given no commands other than transportation.
They completely ignored Lennok.
Passing through the moving crowd, Lennok looked toward the structure at the far end of the lobby.
The enormous skull of a magical beast.
Its size exceeded dozens of meters.
The same colossal corpse Lennok had seen before entering the Gate City.
Only bone remained.
Beneath its open throat, a transparent haze shimmered.
Hummmm...!!
The haze swayed like a curtain and emitted dazzling light.
The first Gate leading toward the Central City of Ars Nova.
The entrance to the Curtain.
The First Gate of the Central Front was none other than the corpse of this gigantic magical beast itself.
Walking into the open skull, Lennok stopped before the shimmering distortion.
“Huu...”
Facing the wavering haze, he slowly formed seals.
Every time his fingers moved, complex barrier formations engraved themselves onto the Curtain and rotated.
Kiiiiiik...!!
A grinding noise echoed like clock components being forcibly replaced.
The Curtain twisted and distorted.
A far more violent reaction than when he had attempted to collect fragments outside the Gate City.
The Gate entrance hidden within the giant beast’s corpse.
The point where the Curtain was most unstable.
The fracture where it naturally split.
Because of that, this was the one place where Lennok could directly extract fragments using barrier arts.
Barrier Formation Synthesis: Isolation Assignment.
Barrier Formation Combination: Catalyst Extraction.
Craaaack...!!
The circular barrier formation spinning in Lennok’s hands slowly carved into the Curtain.
The instant a fragment separated and entered the formation, it shattered into countless particles.
Ooooooh...!!
Stardust.
Radiant stardust falling before his eyes.
The particles accumulated in Lennok’s palm.
“Huu...”
Only after completing the process did Lennok finally release a deep breath.
Extracting a fragment while preserving the Curtain’s original properties and structure.
Even for him, it required extraordinarily delicate barrier manipulation.
The mana consumption had been immense.
Yet this was something that had to be done here.
A fragment of the Curtain.
Created using the Shadow of the Stars as a medium.
At last, Lennok had obtained the true reason he came to the Central Front.
[You...]
Zellich’s left brain spoke from the floating tank.
[You weren’t searching for a Gate to enter the Central Front.]
[Reaching the Gate entrance itself was your objective. Entering the operating room was merely a means to obtain a fragment of the Curtain.]
“That’s right.”
Lennok retrieved a transparent glass preservation case and carefully transferred the stardust inside.
Curtain fragments were top-tier catalysts required for rituals.
Proper preservation was essential.
After filling the case halfway, he stored it inside his coat.
“Our business here is finished. All that remains is leaving. Bernard and Angel should be waiting outside. I’ll hand you over to the Brigade and immediately leave the Gate City.”
Once he began using mana seriously, the Conjoining Sorcerer would undoubtedly notice.
But while operating on the Lord of the Blaiver Magic Tower, the Sorcerer could not leave.
The key was unleashing overwhelming firepower, blowing apart the outer wall of the surgical facility, and escaping.
If Yanikus moved according to the signal and created chaos, it would further divide the Sorcerer’s attention.
“It’s unfortunate that I can’t recover the ritual weapon, Mars, but this isn’t the time to worry about that—”
“Mikal Zellich.”
Lennok suddenly turned toward the silent brain.
“Why have you stopped responding?”
[...My apologies.]
After a moment of hesitation, Zellich answered.
[I lied to you.]
[I lied when I said I still wished to live in this form.]
[Ever since the failure of the immortal body experiment... I’ve been searching for a place to die.]
His mental waves began growing distorted.
Static invaded them.
Even the tone of the voice slowly changed.
[Perhaps it never mattered who fulfilled that wish.]
The left brain rotated slowly.
Behind Lennok’s silent back, a young man in surgical robes had appeared.
“You know, the thoughts of high-ranking archmages are remarkably difficult to read. Don’t you agree?”
“...”
“I alternated pressure and neglect. Tightened and loosened your nerves over and over while waiting for an opening... and yet we only meet properly at the very end.”
Avesta Chapman.
The Conjoining Sorcerer who should have been operating on the Lord of the Blaiver Magic Tower.
Not a chimera clone.
The original himself stood before Lennok.
“Specifically, I’d like to discuss that absurd fact that Bolt of Vulcan and Treadburn joined hands.”
“...Conjoining Sorcerer.”
“Before everything ends, let’s have one final conversation.”
The Sorcerer smiled and tilted his head.
“About the reason this Gate exists.”
“And about our ending.”