Conjoining Sorcerer (7)
The Curtain draped over the Gate entrance.
The moment Lennok saw the Conjoining Sorcerer appear from behind it, he immediately turned around.
Fwoosh!!
The flames blooming behind Lennok’s back rotated and compressed at tremendous speed.
They became an invisible crimson flash and pierced straight through the Sorcerer’s body.
[Silent Blaze Flash]
Booooom!!
A crimson radiance exploded outward through the giant magical beast’s skull.
But the Conjoining Sorcerer merely raised one hand and crushed the incoming spell.
A miraculous feat.
With a single gesture, he erased Lennok’s magic as if wiping away dust.
“Excellent.”
The Sorcerer looked at the remnants of flame fading from his fingertips.
His gaze settled indifferently upon his half-charred palm.
“There is something different in your flames from the Tower Lord’s.”
“...”
“A versatility not confined to the Flame-Heat lineage... an infinitude encompassing both magic and sorcery... I see.”
Half-closing his eyes, the Sorcerer examined his burned right hand.
“Now I understand what my clone saw. Have you imprisoned that aptitude inside the cage called fire?”
“Considering you learned Jindun’s barrier arts, you could not have been unaware of it yourself...”
The Sorcerer glanced toward Lennok.
His eyes gleamed with curiosity.
“There is something extremely dangerous hidden within you. Is that why you prevented the results of your examination from reaching me?”
“Even after coming this far, that’s still what interests you?”
The clone’s final words before its death had not been wrong.
Unlike the clone, the Sorcerer had not confirmed it through proper analysis.
Yet he had still vaguely grasped the nature of Lennok’s talent in an instant.
Simply by receiving and observing one spell.
An overwhelming intuition capable of measuring potential from a single exchange.
Proof that the person standing here was truly Avesta Chapman himself.
“Don’t rush, Evan Martinez.”
The Sorcerer casually clenched and opened his fist.
The tattered flesh of his palm regenerated instantly.
“Risking our lives in battle is something we can do at any time. I cannot abandon a moment like this for such wasteful behavior.”
“...”
“The situation has moved so quickly that both of us have overlooked many things. Haven’t we?”
The Sorcerer asked leisurely.
“There are things that should be confirmed before this ends.”
The Conjoining Sorcerer had appeared the moment Lennok obtained a fragment of the Curtain.
And Mikal Zellich had immediately betrayed him and sided with the Sorcerer.
Yet despite the entire situation being overturned in an instant, Lennok remained calm.
He lit a cigar and slowly turned around.
Exhaling smoke, he spoke.
“You were waiting for me from the beginning.”
“Of course. Did you think I would simply ignore a mage who walked into my Territory of his own accord?”
The Sorcerer shrugged.
“At first I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t understand what you hoped to gain while accepting the risk of being caught by my sorcery.”
“...”
“I deliberately gave you forty-eight hours of grace, yet instead of fleeing, you remained in the Gate City. Even after entering my operating room, you refused to escape and instead stirred up my Territory.”
Tilting his head, he continued.
“I had my clone investigate you, but obtained nothing. Then the moment its identity was exposed, you destroyed it before even my perception could catch it. I admit it. Your patience was remarkable. Even among cold and composed sorcerers, repeatedly tightening and loosening pressure like this usually creates openings.”
The Sorcerer approached slowly.
“Allowing your escape from the operating room. Letting you touch the Tower Lord. Ignoring your theft of medication and your meeting with Zellich. All of it was part of that process....And in the end, I finally caught one thing.”
His indifferent gaze settled upon the drifting stardust.
“So your true objective was the fragments shed from the breaking Curtain itself.”
Even after learning Lennok had escaped, the Sorcerer had not immediately pursued him.
Instead, he pressured him under the guise of examination.
Even after the clone died and information was lost, he focused on surgery.
Relentlessly cornering Lennok, then loosening the leash again.
All to uncover his true objective.
‘So there had been clues after all.’
It was not impossible to understand why Zellich stood on the Sorcerer’s side.
Bernard had asked for the recovery of Zellich’s remains.
He had never asked for Zellich himself to be saved.
Perhaps Bernard had already considered the possibility that Zellich was not truly on the Brigade’s side and saw no need to burden Lennok with unnecessary doubts.
That tiny difference had ultimately divided the judgments of Lennok and the Sorcerer.
“If you learned everything through Zellich, you should have known I was collecting the fragment long before now.”
Lennok asked.
“Why didn’t you interfere while I was extracting it?”
“Because the method of extraction reveals your objective.”
The Sorcerer smiled.
“You used barrier arts to collect and preserve it as a catalyst. It seemed to consume quite a bit of mana.”
“...”
“I was tempted to wear you down beforehand. But throughout the entire extraction process, you deliberately kept your distance from Zellich.”
“Mikal Zellich repeatedly asked about your goal, yet you never answered him until the very end. Impressive. Or perhaps cautious is the better word.”
Slowly clapping his hands together, the Sorcerer looked at Lennok.
“A week ago, there was another infiltrator who entered my Territory seeking a fragment of the Curtain. A Mystic Eye user from the Cartel. Would it be mistaken of me to think you are doing exactly what she attempted?”
As expected.
The moment Lennok approached the Gate entrance, the Sorcerer had sensed the familiarity.
A suspicion he had suppressed solely because Treadburn had survived after losing to Bolt.
The Conjoining Sorcerer had finally realized that Evan Martinez and Bolt had been working together from the beginning.
“It was surprising. I said anyone with an interesting talent or sorcery would do, but I never imagined they’d send someone of your caliber.”
The Sorcerer’s eyes narrowed.
“Evan Martinez. An archmage defeated by Bolt, leaving the Eyes of the Blue only to bow his head before him. Call it obedience or submission if you want.”
Lennok slowly turned toward him.
“Those words mean nothing to me.”
“Hmm...”
A strange light flickered in the Sorcerer’s eyes.
“I see... You really mean that. It isn’t mere bravado. You genuinely think and act that way. Though because of that, I’m curious about what happened in Vulcan...”
Removing one glove, the Sorcerer tossed it aside.
“I cannot simply overlook what you’ve done here. Especially if you intend to take away a fragment of the Curtain.”
“Is that the statement of the First Gate’s administrator?”
“Do you know what the [Doors] scattered across the continent really are?”
Removing his mask and the other glove, the Sorcerer approached.
His eyes held no emotion.
No presence.
No intent.
Only a powerful sense of alienation.
Before Lennok could fully consider the meaning of the question, the Sorcerer answered.
“They are objects made from the corpses of dead Ascendants.”
The secret of the [Doors] that the Celestial Seer had once revealed.
The reason passages connected to the Outer Sea could function as Doors at all.
The Sorcerer revealed it without hesitation.
“This Gate is the same. The corpse of a dead Long-Lived serves as the Door of the Curtain. Do you know why?”
He did not wait for an answer.
As if questions themselves were unnecessary.
“In ancient times, death was not the end for us. Within the cycle of eternal reincarnation, life and death were not endings but blessings that continued onward. They were pathways to another world.”
Walking slowly, he continued.
“The final stage of this life and the beginning of the next. That is why the remnants left behind by a dead life were regarded as doors connecting two worlds.”
He stopped.
His voice sank lower.
“It is a meaningless story now. But that... is the origin of the ‘Connection’ pursued by our Federation.”
Long ago.
Before the ending of this world had been decided.
Before causality closed and destruction became inevitable.
Perhaps in that age of infinite possibility, death had truly not been a simple end.
Why the Conjoining Sorcerer knew such secrets.
Why he could explain such ancient mysteries to Lennok.
There was no time to ask.
Rumble...!!
Behind the Sorcerer, the chimeras moving throughout the lobby had turned their murderous gazes toward Lennok.
Hundreds of different chimeras trembled violently.
Breathing harshly.
Radiating sticky killing intent.
[Huff... huff... intruder...!!]
[Kill... kill... kill him...!!]
Drool and tears streamed down their faces as they convulsed.
The Sorcerer glanced at them.
“I could explain endlessly why I do this. Why I remain here at the Gate. But I do not seek further understanding or respect from you. That would conflict with the meaning of the Great Connection pursued by the Federation.”
The area around the Gate entrance filled with chimeras.
Lennok and the Conjoining Sorcerer stood facing one another amidst the sea of monsters.
“So I shall ask only once.”
The Sorcerer spoke.
“Evan Martinez. Will you become a pillar of the Great Connection proclaimed by the Spell Federation? I do not know how much interest the Federation Leader would take in you, but I saw possibility. Boundless potential unrestricted by any single lineage. erhaps your entire life has been a miracle that embodies such aptitude.”
The Sorcerer’s gaze gleamed coldly.
“Beneath the Great Connection, you will understand both how magnificent and how meaningless that potential truly is. You will also understand that you yourself can become both a part of and a driving force behind that immense current. That is the answer the Federation offers in this war.”
If Lennok joined the Spell Federation and became one of the Sorcerers, the Conjoining Sorcerer would reveal both the full extent of his talent and the Federation’s purpose.
Yet he never once mentioned wealth, rank, honor, or worldly rewards.
Instead, he saw directly into Lennok’s deepest curiosity.
He recognized that Lennok still sought truths he had not yet uncovered.
And that he desperately desired them.
“Everything you have done in the Central Front will become the Federation’s responsibility. Your potential, your secrets, your origin, your vessel. All of it will be protected under the Federation’s name. A talent unrecognized and unacceptable everywhere else. A flower blooming from twisted soil. The Spell Federation can cherish and cultivate such things as precious treasures.”
Perhaps it was because the Conjoining Sorcerer himself had once been like Lennok.
A person born with a twisted talent unlike anyone else.
Someone who chased answers beyond reach.
That sense of kinship existed between them.
He understood Lennok.
Sympathized with him.
That was why he had explained a little about [Doors] and [Death].
Lennok understood that as well.
“Then let me ask the reverse.”
Even while understanding the implication behind the offer, Lennok answered.
“If you take responsibility for every chimera you created and atone for them all, would you join me?”
“...”
Instead of answering, the Sorcerer stared at him.
Even he had clearly not expected such a proposal.
“I already told your clone. It’s the same for both of us.”
Receiving the Sorcerer’s indifferent gaze, Lennok smiled calmly.
“Don’t you think we’ve already come too far to throw everything away and turn back now?”
Simply reversing the question demonstrated how worthless such proposals were for both of them.
Yet Lennok had not offered it merely as empty words.
The talent and intellect he had witnessed in the Conjoining Sorcerer ranked among the greatest he had ever encountered.
That was precisely why he already knew the answer.
“So that’s it.”
The Sorcerer nodded as if understanding.
“A difference in the values that sustain our lives.”
His rejection did not seem to bother him in the slightest.
“I already knew you possessed an unusually profound nature even among high-ranking sorcerers. But you remain difficult to understand.”
Rumbleeeee...!!!
At that moment, masses of flesh surged upward beneath their feet.
Each step the two sorcerers took caused living flesh to rise and form a stage in the center of the vast chamber.
As the mountain of flesh grew larger, both simultaneously began drawing up mana.
Craaaack...!!
Stretching a hand toward the howling chimeras below, the Sorcerer asked:
“Or should I conclude that even this compassion you show toward mere chimeras is part of your aptitude?”
“I’m not sure.”
Lennok shrugged.
“But every chimera you created...They were all begging to be killed.”
“...”
“I didn’t particularly like that.”
“Just like a Watcher.”
The Sorcerer smiled.
“Even now, you still walk alongside the future the Lighthouse Keeper dreams of.”
“No.”
Gathering flames into one hand, Lennok clenched them tightly.
“It’s the opposite.”
“I want the answer I pursue to contain their dream as well.”
Flash!!
Standing atop the rising mountain of flesh, both men thrust their hands forward simultaneously.
Fwoosh!!
The flames coiling within Lennok’s palm spun rapidly and transformed into a sphere of blue fire.
A miniature sun.
Gathering flames from all directions and compressing them into a violently rotating solar orb.
The Conjoining Sorcerer responded by seizing nearby chimeras and fusing them together.
Grotesque masses of flesh repeatedly merged and compressed through Trait-type mana.
The compressed sphere of chimera flesh collapsed under its own pressure and exploded before Lennok’s eyes.
Flame-Heat Lineage Unique Magic
[Supernova]
Conjoining Spell Activation
[Injunghwa]
The miniature solar sphere in Lennok’s hand collided with the compressed chimera sphere in the Sorcerer’s grasp.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Within the inferno that split the vast Life Territory in half, the two sorcerers moved toward each other simultaneously.