Conjoining Sorcerer (9)
The first-floor lobby was filled with chimera corpses.
The two sorcerers clashed amid the prison of scattered flesh.
But the one sent flying while spraying blood was not Lennok.
It was the Conjoining Sorcerer, Avesta Chapman.
“......!!”
A fatal wound.
The entire upper torso connected to his left arm exploded away.
The backlash tore through not only muscle and nerves, but even the area around his lungs and cardiovascular system.
The agony blurred his vision.
Grinding his teeth, the Sorcerer barely managed to maintain his balance.
‘My body won't move properly. The backlash is worse than I expected...!!’
The spell he had used was a killing technique that fused together every organ and internal system within Evan Martinez’s body.
Among the applications of Conjoining Sorcery that designated individual targets, it was one of the most certain methods of inflicting death and agony.
Once a target was locked on, activation was guaranteed.
And if the target was human, there was ordinarily no way to stop the spell from taking effect.
Yet Lennok had somehow avoided being “designated” as the target of the Conjoining Sorcery.
The spell’s power had been drastically reduced.
Instead, a backlash several times greater had exploded within the Sorcerer’s own body.
‘When did it happen? He was definitely being targeted until just now.’
The Sorcerer had used target-designation sorcery because he had already confirmed multiple times that Lennok could be designated.
He had captured him in the black market.
During their battle, he had injured Lennok’s right arm.
Everything he knew from experience had told him the attack would work.
That certainty made the backlash all the more devastating.
“Cough, cough...!!”
Blood and fragments of organs spilled from his mouth, staining the torn surgical robe crimson.
His body had become so grotesquely damaged that the fact he remained standing was itself miraculous.
Yet Lennok could not immediately press the attack.
He had avoided becoming the target of the spell.
But he could not avoid the supersonic strike the Sorcerer had landed.
The barriers had softened the blow, but the impact delivered directly to his solar plexus had still reached his internal organs.
“Urgh...!!”
Vomiting blood and stomach fluids, Lennok raised trembling healing flames.
Rubbing green fire across his abdomen, he forced vitality back into his damaged organs.
Opening his eyes with difficulty, he frowned at the staggering Sorcerer.
‘I couldn't kill him in one blow…’
The method itself had been simple.
One of Lennok’s greatest blessings and talents—
Target Designation Resistance.
The ability he had suppressed while acting as Evan Martinez.
The moment he collided with the Sorcerer, he activated it.
The backlash from Conjoining Sorcery was forcibly reflected back onto the Sorcerer.
‘Was my calculation wrong? The backlash should have been fatal.’
Complex spells such as Conjoining Sorcery suffered exponentially greater backlash upon failure.
Considering the Sorcerer had designated Lennok as the target, death should not have been surprising.
“Cough... bleurgh!!”
Staggering, the Sorcerer doubled over and vomited.
Blood and pieces of organs splattered onto the ground.
Then he grabbed a nearby chimera and activated a spell.
Craaack!!
Flesh from the chimera fused into his upper body.
A new body.
A replacement.
Even after restoring his form, he continued panting heavily.
His head lowered.
Blood dripping from his mouth.
Then suddenly his eyes flashed and he snapped upright.
“Evan Martinez...!!”
KWAAAAANG!!!
The Sorcerer slammed his foot down.
The impact caused waves of chimera corpses to rise and crash toward Lennok.
Focused on healing, Lennok reacted immediately.
He ignited flames throughout the wave and detonated them through property transformation.
[Scarlet Illumination]
KWAAAAANG!!!
A crimson pillar of fire split the tidal wave of chimeras apart and incinerated everything.
Within the chaos of flesh and flame, the two sorcerers rose and stared at one another.
“How absurd.”
The Sorcerer spoke quietly.
“So allowing yourself to be overwhelmed by the chimera assault was merely a way of guiding my judgment?
“If I hadn't looked like I was doing my utmost, you would have become suspicious.”
Lennok rubbed healing flames over himself one final time.
Then swallowed them.
The sparks traveled down his throat and tore through his insides with heat.
The boiling pain eased slightly.
“That was the only way you'd become confident enough to use Conjoining Sorcery on me. I never believed it was possible to avoid all of your spells. In that case, I simply chose for myself when and how I would take the hit.”
“So you can voluntarily avoid becoming the target of my spells...”
The Sorcerer steadied his breathing and raised a trembling hand.
Though still suffering from the backlash, his appearance had already fully recovered.
Failing to kill him in a single strike meant physical restoration was not impossible for him.
Lennok wiped the blood from his lips.
Watching the Sorcerer walk sideways, he thought:
‘It would have been ideal if I had finished him before he realized the existence of Target Designation Resistance…’
The backlash only worked because the Sorcerer had designated Lennok directly.
If he stopped targeting Lennok and instead manipulated space itself—
For example, by fusing and distorting the surrounding environment—
Lennok’s body could be torn apart without resistance.
And it was difficult to believe that an 8th-level Trait-type sorcerer could not perform spatial fusion.
Regardless of whether he was suppressing the ability under the identity of Treadburn, this tactic could only be used once.
That was why killing the Sorcerer in a single blow would have been ideal.
“I admit it.”
The Sorcerer stared at Lennok with murderous eyes.
“You really are a vicious sorcerer to hide such an ability until the very end. I don't know whether it's an item or a blessing, but it clearly isn't a power you can use whenever you want. If it were, you would never have needed to lure me into using target designation. So you deliberately dictated the timing, took the hit, and attempted to kill me through a single backlash.”
The Sorcerer slowly formed a seal with one hand.
“If I simply stop designating you as the target, then the problem disappears.”
Raising his restored right hand, he whispered:
“Now I shall show you one of my masterpieces.”
“The things you call masterpieces look like crude chimeras to me.”
Lennok replied expressionlessly.
“If that is your idea of awakening aptitude, I see no reason to keep watching.”
“The chimeras deployed in the first-floor lobby were disposable laborers created for transportation. The aptitude they possess extends no further than primitive survival instinct.”
The Sorcerer shook his head.
“The Conjoining Sorcery I use upon living beings concerns a greater possibility. The aptitude itself becomes subject to the influence of my spell.”
Kiiiiing!!
At that moment, the serpent-shaped chimera beneath him released powerful mana.
Realizing the target was not himself, Lennok's eyes widened.
The chimera twisted.
Then cast a spell.
“Come.”
Spell Conjunction
Water Lineage Unique Magic
[Soryu Nakcheong]
[Baekdang Rain]
Swaaaaaaaa!!
Rain began falling throughout the vast first-floor lobby.
Water poured over the flames burning the operating room’s outer walls.
Not enough to extinguish them outright.
But enough to suppress them rapidly.
“...What?”
Lennok’s face stiffened as droplets ran down his cheek.
A Water-Lineage unique spell.
Something the Trait-type Conjoining Sorcerer should never have been capable of using.
“Using Conjoining Sorcery to place a chimera’s aptitude under your influence means...!!”
“The forced activation of the spells and abilities possessed by the original human materials.”
The Sorcerer spread his hands beneath the rain.
“It’s disposable. One-time use only. And every chimera used must be offered as a sacrifice. But surely even you can see the value of such research.”
Sacrificing chimeras.
Forcing the abilities of the superhumans used as ingredients to activate.
The result of forcibly “conjoining” the abilities of others to himself.
Not controlling the spell itself.
But forcing the activation process.
Turning living beings into literal power switches.
A grotesque and horrifying concept.
And there was no chance that this single chimera was the entirety of the Sorcerer’s so-called masterpiece.
“You understand now, don't you?”
Sluuurp!!!
A toad-shaped chimera emerged from the ceiling and opened its mouth wide.
Blood trickled from the Sorcerer’s lips as he smiled.
“Round two begins.”
“...!!!”
Spell Conjunction
Gravity-Type Innate Ability
[Reverse Gravity]
Buuuuuuuuung!!!
Lennok.
The Sorcerer.
Even the corpses scattered across the lobby.
Everything rose into the air.
Within the inverted gravity field, they were hurled upward toward the higher levels of the Life Territory.
KWAAAAANG!!
They smashed through the first-floor ceiling and landed in a long corridor of flesh.
The instant they landed—
[Dark Magic: Seion’s Thorn Sphere]
[Cross Society Sacred Spell: Manifestation of This Age]
A gigantic thorn sphere spun while radiating dark mana.
A radiant cross sealed off the opposite end of the corridor.
The moment Lennok recognized the source of the strange familiarity—
“What are you looking at?”
The Conjoining Sorcerer descended from above, wielding a flesh hammer.
KWAAANG!!
The hammer shattered against the Wheel-Still Barrier.
Blood sprayed outward.
Transforming into a strongly acidic solution.
[Bloodflow Manipulation: Acid Attribute]
Sssssss!!
Lennok shook the acid from his body and spun.
[Wheel of Fire]
[Jura Sal]
BOOOOOOM!!!
A wheel of flame collided with the thorn sphere.
Lennok accelerated through the flesh corridor.
Both he and the Sorcerer leapt across clouds of fire.
Dozens of worms wrapped around his legs.
Monstrous jaws bit toward his head.
[Keeeeeeh...!!]
The creatures died.
Then immediately activated stored spells through Spell Conjunction.
[Killing Body]
[Evil Suppression]
[Mass Destruction]
KAKAKAKAKAK!!
Shock magic and slashing attacks tore through the corridor.
Lennok threw himself away from them.
A goddess statue appeared in the hallway.
Bloody tears streamed from her eyes as she sang.
A tonal spell activated.
Enhancing the physical abilities of the chimeras while focusing their aggression entirely upon Lennok.
[Flame Spear]
Sssss!!
Lennok tore apart a chimera’s jaw with one hand.
A flame spear summoned through Substitute Incantation was driven into its throat.
Using the spear shaft as a foothold, he launched himself forward.
Knocking aside a hand emerging from the wall, he gritted his teeth.
‘There’s no end to this...!!’
Disposable spell activation through sacrificial chimeras.
Each individual spell possessed considerable power.
And their variety was staggering.
Even immediately after reengaging the Sorcerer, Lennok had already identified more than fourteen distinct spell lineages.
Even if each was expendable.
With this much stockpiled, the limitation meant nothing.
“Cough!!”
Amid the swarm of chimeras, the Sorcerer coughed blood and lowered his head.
Even while pressuring Lennok, he remained affected by the backlash.
If not now, accumulating damage on him would become difficult.
[Explosive Flame Sphere]
Crack!!
Dodging a maw of teeth, Lennok lowered his head and cast.
The flame sphere entered the creature’s stomach.
Its eyes turned crimson.
Then it exploded alive.
KWAAAAANG!!
Avoiding a spiked club, Lennok formed seals with both hands.
Sliding low.
Stacking his palms together.
Aiming downward.
[Triple Flame – Repulsion]
“Blood Flame Line.”
KUWAAAAAAH!!
Three Explosive Flame Spheres merged.
Their heat repelled one another.
A fan-shaped torrent of fire swept away the packed chimera horde.
Sssssss...!!
Krrrrrrrrr!!
The corridor walls could not withstand the heat.
The flesh melted.
A massive hole opened in the wall.
A violent wind rushed through the opening.
The suction began dragging both Lennok and the Sorcerer inward.
Fwaaaah!!
Clinging to the convulsing flesh around the crack, their fists collided again.
Bones and muscles slammed into one another.
Pababababak!!!
The instant Conjoining Sorcery activated, Lennok answered with Flame-Heat magic.
Ignoring the spell effect.
Striking the Sorcerer.
Then attacking again through Substitute Incantation.
[Fire Beneath the Night]
[Scorch]
Fwoooooosh!!
Flames spread across the Sorcerer’s entire body.
As the Sorcerer attempted to move despite the burning, Lennok whispered into his ear.
“The place where your Territory’s pulse becomes strongest. It was near here.”
“......!!”
Following a devastating strike, a whirlpool of flames blossomed.
The fiery vortex rotated violently.
Then hurled the Sorcerer through the opening.
[Heavenly Flame Whirlpool]
KWAAAAAAAANG!!!
‘It's huge...!’
Jumping through the hole after him, Lennok froze.
The open area beyond was far larger than he had anticipated.
Piles of human skeletons covered the ground.
Above them, a gigantic mass of muscle pulsed rhythmically.
Thump. Thump.
Thump.
A powerful heartbeat.
Massive blood vessels connected to the mound.
The heart of the Life Territory.
The core mechanism that transformed humans into chimeras.
The moment Lennok confirmed it, he clasped his hands together.
Mana surged.
“Declaration of Designation.”
Sun.
Burn.
Return.
Pierce.
Release.
Open.
Flame-Heat Lineage Unique Magic
Sixfold Incantation Composite Resonance
[Lotus Flame: Flesh Advance Crimson]
Six spells activated simultaneously.
The flames burned away and became pure light.
A concentrated crimson beam erupted from Lennok’s fingertips.
The moment he slashed downward—the beam shot toward the heart.
[Radiant Piercing]
DOOOOOONG!!
A Flame-Heat ultimate art.
Upon impact, the heat expanded and vaporized the target completely.
Yet just before the attack struck—the Sorcerer threw himself in front of the heart.
Gathering nearby chimeras.
Fusing them together.
Casting his spell.
Their flesh expanded explosively.
Transforming into a gigantic shield before the heart.
Conjoining Sorcery Activation
Property Transformation – Hardening
[United Flesh Path]
KWAAAAAAAANG!!
The shield evaporated instantly.
Unable to withstand the heat.
The Sorcerer himself was hurled backward.
“Things never go quite the way you want.”
Perched precariously atop the heart, he shook his head.
“This is exactly why I didn't want to show you this.”
“That’s the decisive power keeping your operating room alive, isn’t it?”
Fwoosh!!
Lennok ignited flames on his fingertips and walked forward.
“And the reason you settled in the Gate City.”
“It isn't only your Flame-Heat magic that requires preparation before producing results.”
The Sorcerer laughed.
“I've paid an enormous cost to maintain this operating room. That’s why I never intended to reveal it. But I changed my mind. The backlash you inflicted on me was far more damaging than expected. At this rate, maintaining this heartbeat at normal levels will become difficult.”
“I have no idea what point you're trying to make.”
Lennok stared coldly at the heart.
Mana surged.
“Are you explaining all this because you want me to burn it down?”
“My Territory is alive. But it lacks several critical elements necessary to function as a living organism.”
The Sorcerer rested a hand on the beating heart.
A grotesque crimson mass pulsing atop mountains of skeletons.
“The skeleton that supports the body. The mana that prevents cellular collapse. The soul that should reside within life. Concepts I cannot grant to the Territory myself.”
“...”
“A lifeform lacking those three things is not truly alive. It is merely a biological machine reacting to stimuli. Do you understand what that means?”
Three essential elements of life.
An environment capable of supplying those missing pieces.
Lennok's thoughts reached that point—
And the answer became obvious.
At last he understood.
Why the Conjoining Sorcerer had established himself in this Gate City.
What he intended to add to this Life Territory.
“......You can't mean... the corpse of the Long-Lived...!!!”
“You understand.”
The Sorcerer’s fingers dug into the gigantic heart.
At that moment—
“What I am reviving as a living creature...Is the Curtain Gate itself.”
Conjoining Sorcery Activation
Life Territory Integration
[Muscle Conjunction]
[Skeletal Conjunction]
[Neural Conjunction]
[Mana Conjunction]
Craaaaaaaaaack!!!
The Life Territory surrounding the Long-Lived’s corpse collapsed.
Muscle and flesh flowed downward.
They fused with the ancient spine and skull beneath.
Flesh attached to old bones.
Muscles formed.
Nerves connected.
The mana sleeping within the bones began circulating through the newly attached muscles.
Then—the corpse of the Long-Lived rose above the Gate City.
And roared.
KWAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!!
[OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!]
***
Thud!!
Thud!!
Thud!!
The heavens and earth shook.
The ground beneath Lennok trembled violently.
The mountain of skeletons beneath him collapsed into a tidal wave of bone.
Krrrrrrrrrr!!
Balancing himself within the shaking chamber, Lennok spoke.
“So from the beginning...You were never uninterested in the Gate. Rather, you intended to place the Gate completely under your control.”
His eyes gleamed through sweat-soaked hair.
“Conjoining Sorcerer. You intended to revive the First Gate itself and turn it into your Life Territory.”
The installation-type Trait Territory Avesta Chapman had built within the Gate City.
The living operating room.
Its purpose had never been surgery.
It existed to fuse flesh and muscle with the Long-Lived’s corpse and revive it.
The Conjoining Sorcerer intended to merge the First Gate of the Central Front with his Life Territory and place it under complete control.
“In magical medicine, the exact moment death is diagnosed is not clear.”
The Sorcerer landed before Lennok.
Though his appearance seemed normal, he still had not fully recovered from the backlash.
“Not breathing. No heartbeat. Such superficial criteria are insufficient. What matters is harmony.”
“Harmony?”
“Bones and muscle. Flesh and skeleton. Nerves and mana. Once assembly is complete, the quality of the components matters little to the functioning of the whole.”
“...”
“The materials I gathered may be crude compared to the power this Long-Lived possessed in life. But ultimately, I succeeded in preparing the minimum requirements necessary for it to function once more.”
Black mana surged across both his hands.
“And I used my sorcery to ignore all rejection and force the conjunction.”
A feat possible only for an 8th-level Trait sorcerer possessing a living Territory.
Even after seeing the enormous beast corpse and the living Territory surrounding the city, Lennok had never connected the two.
Which left only one question.
“Why?”
“Because the First Gate is a dead Gate constructed from the corpse of a Long-Lived.”
“I already heard that it's a dead—”
“Conversely. The Second Gate is still alive.”
“......!!”
The revelation struck like lightning.
Yet the Sorcerer did not wait.
Walking past Lennok, he continued.
“Then what of the Third Gate? And the one after that? What happens after overcoming every obstacle and finally reaching Ars Nova?”
“...”
“The closer one draws to Ars Nova, the stranger and more incomprehensible the Gates become. The environment changes accordingly. Even mighty superhumans lose their minds beyond that point.”
Turning back toward Lennok, he said:
“The Federation has already accepted that advancing further into the Central Front is realistically impossible. A matter more important than even the war against the Cult. Therefore I intend to alter the very rules of the Front itself. By granting life to the dead First Gate. By breaking the restraints the ancient dragons of Kundara sacrificed themselves to establish. Every living thing beneath the Curtain would be affected.”
Lennok’s expression twisted.
“Even the humans living in the Gate City. Hundreds of thousands will die.”
“Will they?”
KWAAAAANG!!!
A tremendous explosion echoed.
The room suddenly tilted diagonally.
The mountain of bones beneath them rose violently.
Craaaack!!
The outer wall of the operating room opened wide.
The open sky appeared overhead.
Lennok immediately understood.
The Life Territory had fused with the Long-Lived’s corpse.
Its side had ruptured.
Revealing the outside world.
KUUUUUNG!!!
The colossal beast took a step above the Gate City.
Shockwaves exploded.
Entire districts vanished.
“AAAAAH!!”
“Save us!! Please save us!!”
Citizens fled in terror.
Flesh attached to the Long-Lived’s corpse multiplied explosively.
Spreading throughout the city.
Craaaaaack...!!!!
“I have just removed the cellular growth limiter placed upon my Territory.”
The Sorcerer walked forward.
“This operating room will continue expanding and reproducing. It will devour the entire city. And once that is complete, it will begin moving. A living Gate. A living city. Wandering throughout the Central Front.”
The distance between them had already closed again.
Meeting Lennok’s eyes, the Sorcerer asked calmly:
“Do you still wish to lecture me about the value of human lives?”
“......I see.”
After a long silence, Lennok answered.
Then turned away.
He looked past the Sorcerer.
At the enormous moving body of the Long-Lived.
At the ruined Gate City.
Watching the chaos unfold.
Then he took a powerful step forward.
FWAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!
At once, a colorless ripple exploded from beneath his feet.
It expanded at tremendous speed.
Passing beyond the operating room.
Engulfing the entire Territory.
The Sorcerer raised his head in shock.
At that moment, Lennok formed seals with both hands.
“You're not the only one who can reshape the environment.”
A tidal wave of flame erupted beneath Lennok.
It surged throughout the Gate City.
Fire blossomed upward like flower petals.
Spiraling.
Rotating.
Wrapping around the Long-Lived.
Burning fiercely.
“From this point onward, I will create the battlefield myself.”
Domain Expansion
Manifestation of Origin-Rank Mental Image
[Heavenly Flowers Fragrance Across Ten Thousand Miles]
“That’s impossible... The scale of this Domain...!!!”
The Sorcerer’s expression froze.
Months of preparation.
An entire Life Territory.
Swallowed whole by Lennok’s personal Domain.
Before he could even properly react—
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!!!!
A gigantic flower of fire engulfed the entire Gate City.
And began burning every visible landscape to ashes.