Conjoining Sorcerer (13)
“Haah, haah......!!”
Angel ran across the frozen ice road, gasping for breath.
The moment he escaped outside the fortress carrying the unconscious people on his back and shoulders—
A fireball falling from the sky slammed directly into the spot where Angel had been standing.
KWA-AAAAANG!!
“Uwaaaah!!”
Even while screaming, Angel slid a long distance across the icy ground.
Having narrowly escaped the center of the blast, Angel collapsed onto the ground and let out a sigh of relief.
“Huah, huah!!”
“You worked hard, Angel.”
Bernard, covered head to toe in soot, lightly patted the shoulder of the collapsed Angel.
“The evacuation of the city's residents is finished. There won't be any casualties.”
“Puhahat!! Hahaha......!!”
Angel took a rough breath before suddenly bursting into incredulous laughter.
“Even after joining the cartel, I never thought I'd be putting this much effort into relief work............... Guess you really do have to live a long life.”
“It would have been impossible from the start if the other factions stationed in the city hadn't cooperated.”
With a complicated expression, Bernard turned his gaze toward the gateway city.
“That just shows how much what's happening inside that city right now............... is an emergency beyond all standards.”
“......”
At those words, Angel also fell silent and looked toward the devastation rising beyond the city.
A magnificent blaze connecting earth and sky as it burned.
The dark crimson pillar of fire soaring above the gateway city pierced the cloudy heavens and rotated.
KUOOOOOOO.........!!!
Countless fiery petals beyond measure wrapped around the gateway city, raging and burning.
The petals fluttered as they filled the land below and even devoured and incinerated the clouds in the sky.
A magical-power resonance-induced rampage.
A sea of mana that had swallowed the gateway city and overflowed beyond it.
The flame flower blooming at the center of the gateway city fully blossomed, erupting into a pillar of fire.
Petals divided into millions of branches spread outward and gathered together again, constructing a majestic Flame Pillar.
A radiance and heat that did not permit approach—nor even prolonged observation.
If someone kneaded the sun and hurled it down upon the earth, would it look like that?
Even if one uprooted a pillar of hell itself and burned heaven and earth, it would not seem this perilous.
The one-on-one duel between Conjoining Sorcerer Avesta Chapman and Treadburn Evan Martinez.
By now, everyone knew which side had emerged victorious in the battle between the two sorcerers that had used the entire gateway city as its stage.
“I had already guessed after the Sixth Seat of Oedon ended up like that, but this... I can hardly believe it even seeing it myself.”
Looking back at Angel with an uneasy expression, Bernard asked,
“That monster rampaged once in Vulcan and the city still functioned normally afterward?”
“......That's true.”
Just by looking at the scene from several thousand meters away, one could understand the level Evan Martinez's power had reached.
Even Bernard, who had witnessed countless miracles and mysteries as an explorer, had never before seen such talent.
That was why he couldn't believe that a wizard of that caliber had fought with everything he had and still lost.
“Judging purely by the scale and magnitude of that magic, he's probably among the greatest sorcerers I've seen in my entire life.”
“......”
“And you're saying Vulcan's Bolt fought that wizard once and won...”
Bernard muttered in a baffled voice.
“So there was a reason the cartel bowed its head so quietly. Just what kind of monster is living in that city?”
“We weren't exactly bowing our heads.............”
Angel protested as if wronged, then followed Bernard's gaze.
“But the Treadburn I fought in the past wasn't this strong. Especially the Domain he used...............”
A vast sea of distant petals covering the entire sky above the city.
Beautifully glowing like cherry blossoms, yet reducing everything they touched to ashes.
Silently staring at the flame flower blooming at the center of the city, Angel muttered blankly,
“His mana reserves have increased since then. That's why the size of the Domain has grown proportionally as well.”
“......”
“I don't understand it either. After losing to Van, perhaps his true power became even stronger............”
The duel between Treadburn and Bolt that had shaken the entire megacity.
Yet contrary to Angel's worries, Treadburn had not lost even the slightest bit of his might after his defeat to Bolt.
The image of the Domain, far stronger and more dangerous than it had been on the day he fought desperately to save the Lighthouse Keeper.
Crushing and incinerating everything on the battlefield while never once concealing itself.
It was exactly as Angel remembered.
Perhaps, from the very moment he arrived at the Central Front, he had already known things would turn out this way.
Bernard glanced at Angel, who had fallen silent with a complicated expression.
“You're an ice ability user, aren't you? Can you break through those flames and approach Treadburn?”
“Are you insane? You want me to go through that and reach Treadburn?”
Angel extended a hand with an incredulous look.
KWAJIK!!
Ice spread from his hand, but failed to overcome the flames near the fortress and melted away.
“Those aren't flames that burn matter. They burn properties themselves. If I force my way through, my ability itself will be ruined.”
“......”
“Unless Treadburn personally opens a path, nobody can approach the gate.”
“......Huh. Can't be helped.”
Letting out a low sigh, Bernard pulled a terminal from inside his coat.
“What are you trying to do?”
“If the First Gate has ended up like that, it means Treadburn himself has no intention of hiding it.”
Bernard replied indifferently while tapping at the terminal.
“In half a day, information about this will spread throughout the entire front line. We need to verify the situation first and inform everyone.”
“By situation, you mean......”
“Starting today, only one rumor is going to spread through the gates.”
Leaving behind Angel, who wore a bitter smile, Bernard turned away and muttered,
“Evan Martinez............ defeated the Conjoining Sorcerer of the Spell Federation.”
***
Everything before his eyes burned away into dark crimson shapes.
Even the masses of flesh desperately struggling within the sea of flames eventually lost strength.
The Life Territory deployed by the Conjoining Sorcerer lost its vitality and began turning into a handful of ashes.
The full bloom of the Domain, Thousand-Mile.
The power of a Domain strengthened through the restriction called preheating was a miracle capable of burning heaven and earth.
But the true value of this Domain lay in its semi-permanent duration, something no other Domain could match.
FWOOOOSH!!
Among the Kaleidoscope Images, it was a Domain elevated through the extremely demanding condition of consuming additional time after deployment.
Thousand-Mile, deployed under temporal restrictions, was no longer bound by time once it fully bloomed.
A Domain that literally ignored the influence of time and continued semi-permanently while burning its target.
One of the highest-output Domains in Lennok's possession relentlessly poured destruction upon its target until complete annihilation.
Lennok had already decided which Domain he would use against the Conjoining Sorcerer before the battle had even ended.
KUAGAGAGAGAGA!!!!
“......Ah.”
Buried at the center of the flame flower burning heaven and earth, the Conjoining Sorcerer's entire body was being shredded apart.
Millions of petals brushed against him and rotated, grinding and burning him without pause.
His body was completely incinerated by the Domain's flames and then regenerated through immortality.
The cycle of regeneration and incineration repeated endlessly, exposing him to agony that tore through his brain.
Even the Sorcerer's body, fused with immortality, was nothing more than firewood before the endlessly burning flames.
Before the superiority of the laws Lennok had established, even the foundation of his innate ability burned away and vanished.
“You................”
KUOOOOO.........!!!
From within the immeasurable storm of fiery petals, a battered Lennok walked toward the Sorcerer.
Clutching his blood-soaked side, staggering as though he might collapse at any moment, yet still maintaining his balance.
The moment the gazes of the Sorcerer being shredded by the majestic flames and the blood-drenched Lennok met—
PAAAT!!
The two suddenly found themselves standing in the center of a magnificent hall of flames.
Looking back and forth between himself and Lennok, both now restored to normal, the Sorcerer immediately understood.
“......A consciousness space.”
“You understand quickly. Maybe that's because you're a sorcerer of the same level.”
A simulated consciousness space arbitrarily constructed by modifying or linking the consciousness of high-ranking transcendents.
“I borrowed the image of the consciousness space used by the Blaiver Magic Tower and modified it slightly.”
Lennok spoke.
“Manifesting something that already exists is more efficient.”
“So the Tower Master's words were true. You really are the heretic who inherited the will of the previous Tower Master.”
The Sorcerer looked at Lennok calmly.
The excitement he had displayed before Thousand-Mile bloomed had vanished as though it were a lie.
He accepted the ending with astonishing composure.
After silently staring at Lennok, the Sorcerer revealed an emotionless smile.
“This battle was nothing but miscalculations from beginning to end. I couldn't understand how someone in that condition managed to endure until the very end................”
“......”
“It was Jindun's barrier technique. You had already prepared for my spell from the very beginning.”
Instead of hatred or anger, the Sorcerer merely reviewed the already concluded battle.
Had he already understood that no method could reverse the outcome now that the battle had been decided?
Lennok did not bother denying the observation.
The ten great barriers he had spread across his entire body before encountering the Sorcerer.
The Jeongryun Barrier specialized in defense and harmony.
The Yuseon Barrier specialized in detection and vigilance.
The Chulseong Barrier specialized in exclusion and rejection.
And above the total of nine great barriers—
The true ability of the Divine Separation Barrier he had deployed last.
Lennok knew the Sorcerer had already noticed it.
“The moment the barrier is deployed, it records and stores the body's metabolic state and physical-function data, then isolates it.”
Lennok answered.
“If physical abilities are lost, the stored information is retrieved and reproduced with mana. As long as the barrier remains active, the body can continue functioning normally.”
“So it was an ability created to continue fighting until the very moment of death, regardless of injury.”
“The drawbacks are that it can't reproduce anything beyond the state that was recorded, and the mana consumption is enormous because physical functions are recreated through mana. It would've been impossible to maintain without the Red Star Domain, but............”
FWOOSH!!
Igniting pale green flames, Lennok continued.
“Once I ended up fighting you, I knew I'd have to take that Conjoining Spell head-on at least once.”
A characteristic-type Conjoining Spell that had reached Level 8.
Martial skill great enough to contend directly against Lennok.
The ability to freely command thousands of chimeras.
A variety of one-time-use spells from different disciplines.
Super regeneration obtained through fusion with immortality.
Even the sensory perception needed to manipulate space itself through fusion.
Among all the powerful opponents Lennok had faced, none had ever wielded such dangerous abilities with such completeness and versatility.
Had he not begun the battle by triggering the spell's backlash through target-designation resistance, the fight would have been vastly more difficult.
That was why Lennok had never lightly dismissed the possibility that he would need to personally endure the Sorcerer's Conjoining Spell at least once.
The blood vessels and muscles in his side, lower back, shoulders, and arms.
The reason he had been able to continue fighting despite injuries to his internal organs.
Until the battle ended, he had replaced bodily functions with the Divine Separation Barrier's ability.
Afterward, he restored himself using the Healing Ember.
Once Thousand-Mile Heavenly Fragrance was activated, every spell within the Domain gained enhancement efficiency dozens of times greater.
At this moment, he could amplify the Healing Ember's effects and heal his wounds at least somewhat.
“I once researched how to kill something that doesn't die.”
As Lennok gestured, the Hall of Flames rotated around them.
FWOOOOOSH!!
“I could have used the power that killed an Apostle against you. But if I had, the ending probably wouldn't have been like this.”
The branching point of the Kaleidoscope he awakened as an Apostle of the Sea of Nothingness after joining the cult.
If he had used the Naked Sea Palace, he could have killed the Sorcerer while ignoring his immortality.
Yet even knowing that, Lennok chose Thousand-Mile and opted to grind the Sorcerer down head-on.
The reason he had been able to use the Sea Palace against Amrita and Daolai was because the Apostle Selection Ritual had provided an extremely powerful catalyst.
Without such support, using the Sea Palace would require extensive preparation involving the cult's powers and authority before battle.
And even then, he would have suffered overwhelming aftereffects immediately after deploying the Domain.
“Fighting inside your Life Territory forced me to endure the constant supply of chimeras, but in exchange it also limited your ability to use large-scale spells.”
“......”
“You realized that in the end and tried to relocate the battlefield—”
“By then, preparation of your Domain had already been completed. I understand.”
The Sorcerer nodded.
Since his goal had been to fuse the Life Territory with the First Gate, even he could not use large-scale spells freely within it.
Moreover, after the Territory was trapped inside Thousand-Mile Heavenly Fragrance's barrier, he also had to consider potential damage to the Long-Lived's corpse.
Lennok had known this from the beginning.
Even understanding that fighting inside the Territory was disadvantageous, he deliberately engaged the Sorcerer there.
And in the end, he succeeded in fully blooming the Domain and finishing the battle.
CRACK!!
The Sorcerer's left shoulder in the consciousness space scattered and disappeared.
The Sorcerer struggled to support himself and rise, but failed even to maintain his balance.
THUD!!
“This is.......”
What did it mean that the Sorcerer's body inside the consciousness space could no longer endure and was disappearing?
The moment he realized the answer—
“The flames of Thousand-Mile do not stop after blooming.”
Looking down at the fallen Sorcerer, Lennok spoke.
“The incineration targets were everything that existed within the barrier immediately after the Domain's deployment. You and your Territory never had any way to avoid being burned.”
“......”
“You're already dead. I'm only preventing reality's outcome from affecting this consciousness space.”
“I see. So this was bonus time from the beginning.”
Had the Sorcerer realized it as well?
The man who had struggled to stand simply flopped onto his back within the consciousness space.
Scratching his chin, he said,
“If I'd known this would happen, I would've fused with a different vessel instead of Mikal Zellich. I shouldn't have trusted my regeneration and taken your magic head-on.”
“......”
“I thought this day might come someday, so I prepared many things. Yet I couldn't even use half of them............ What a shame.”
Even while facing his own defeat and death, the Conjoining Sorcerer remained astonishingly detached.
Rather than denying or rejecting Lennok's words, he calmly accepted them and analyzed the situation.
Perhaps that was fitting for someone who had spent his life capturing countless humans, turning them into chimeras, and using them.
“If you delayed things because there was something you wanted to ask, finish it quickly.”
CRUMBLE...............!!
The Sorcerer's right arm instantly turned to ash and scattered.
Looking at his vanished arm, he spoke indifferently.
“As you said, it doesn't seem like we have much time.”
“......”
Only the form of the Sorcerer remained in the consciousness space through the will of Lennok, the Domain's owner.
The Sorcerer understood that even that could disappear at any moment.
The reason Lennok answered the Sorcerer's battle review questions was because he likewise wanted answers from him.
“You were one of the pillars supporting the Great Connection within the Spell Federation.”
Lennok asked,
“What happens when a Grand Sorcerer dies?”
“A suitable successor is selected to take the position.”
The Sorcerer answered.
“The spell itself isn't inherited. The new Sorcerer's own spell becomes the basis for adjusting the Great Connection.”
“And the adjustment process?”
“Complicated. Not something that can be explained with words. There are rituals that weave together Word Spirits to stimulate spirituality............... Innate-ability aptitude is also required.”
CRACK!!
Both of the Sorcerer's legs vanished.
“The final approval passes through the Alliance Leader, but he doesn't directly interfere with the Great Connection. His role is merely to provide the stage.”
“......A stage?”
“If all the spells in this world were connected into a single network, wouldn't you need a place to set that network?”
The Sorcerer smiled faintly.
“That is the role the Alliance Leader fulfills. To begin with, that's all he knows how to do.”
“......”
The leader of the Spell Federation, one of the greatest powers on the Central Front.
Lennok felt as though he had just learned an extremely important secret.
No—
Was it merely his imagination that the Sorcerer's explanation gave him a strange sense of familiarity?
Perhaps the 'stage' prepared by the Alliance Leader was—
CRUMBLE!!
Before Lennok could finish the thought, the Sorcerer's upper body vanished.
Abdomen.
Ribs.
Heart.
Collarbones.
Shoulders.
Organs, skin, and bones alike turned into ash and scattered.
“This is the end, Evan Martinez.”
“.......”
“It was a short time, but I enjoyed it. The talent you showed me was wondrous, but the answer you seek was even more remarkable.”
With only half his face remaining, the Sorcerer tilted his head toward Lennok and smiled.
“The magic that dismantles the incomprehensible, and the Domain that binds time itself............ Either one alone would be the manifestation of an impossible ideal for sorcerers like us. Yet you've already obtained two such miracles.”
“......”
“But what's even more astonishing is that someone possessing such miracles lost to Bolt.”
Even as his entire face scattered away, the Sorcerer continued smiling.
“I'm terribly curious about the defeat you experienced in Vulcan and about Bolt's existence. I hope the Sorcerer who succeeds me can learn about you as well.............”
“Conjoining Sorcerer. That's enough lies.”
Unable to tolerate it any longer, Lennok stomped on the Sorcerer's half-remaining head.
CRUNCH!!
Looking down expressionlessly at the Sorcerer, who was still smiling despite having his face crushed, Lennok spoke.
“You fought this entire battle using only the left hemisphere of your brain. Did you think I would forget the existence of the other half? The right hemisphere you removed beforehand. There's no way you threw it away or destroyed it. You must have hidden it somewhere as the foundation for your resurrection.”
By the time Lennok had blown apart the Sorcerer's head, the right hemisphere was already absent.
It had likely been removed in preparation for fusing Mikal Zellich's right hemisphere to his own left.
But there was no way the Sorcerer had personally destroyed his original right hemisphere.
And if half of his brain remained alive, Lennok knew there was a real possibility the Sorcerer could one day return.
Yet even after hearing that accusation, the Sorcerer slowly shook his head.
“Evan Martinez. You don't understand how complex an organ the human brain truly is.”
“What?”
“The moment the right hemisphere is removed and disconnected, the information experienced by the left hemisphere is no longer transmitted to it. Because the corpus callosum that transmits information has been severed.”
The Sorcerer spoke.
“The battle between you and me today will not continue to that other me............ ‘I’ die completely here.”
“.......”
“Of course, that's an explanation based on neuroscience and brain medicine. Once you enter the realm of magical medicine, differences arise regarding the concept of consciousness, but—”
Meeting Lennok's gaze, the Sorcerer smiled transparently.
“As for the enjoyment of that mystery, shall I leave it to the me who survives?”
“......Avesta Chapman.”
“Whether he'll try to kill you, whether he'll feel goodwill toward you, whether he'll remember anything upon seeing you. I'm incredibly curious, but...”
The Sorcerer's head completely scattered and disappeared.
Only his voice remained, echoing softly.
“It would be boring to solve every problem before dying. Carrying at least one uncertainty with you to the very end isn't so bad, is it?”
Without answering, Lennok quietly closed his eyes.
The moment he opened them again, the consciousness space they had shared vanished.
Only the Sorcerer's remains, dissolving within the storm of flame petals, remained before him.
KUAGAGAGAGAGAGA!!!!!
The Sorcerer's body, incinerated down to the particle level, finally lost its regenerative ability and became a mere pile of ashes.
Skin and muscles.
Nerves and skeleton.
Even his mind and soul burned away in the end.
PAAAT!!!
Together with petals scattering in all directions, the remains dispersed completely.
A rain of dazzling petals began falling across the dark skies of the gateway city.
High above the city, the flames covering the entire barrier shimmered like a mirage and descended like a curtain of fire.
Dividing earth and sky, the flames illuminated and melted everything like warm sunlight.
Was the ending the Sorcerer accepted at the very end truly the complete death he had spoken of?
Even after failing to achieve his goal and collapsing at the gate, he remained detached until the last moment.
Whether it was the relief of someone who had already found his answer, or lingering attachment he still concealed, it didn't matter.
From the moment he learned of the right hemisphere's existence, Lennok had already been manipulating the board to prevent his own information from leaking.
Silently staring at the place where the Sorcerer had vanished, Lennok staggered and turned away.
Separate from the Conjoining Sorcerer himself, the Life Territory still remained intact.
Now that he had won the final battle against the Sorcerer, there was still a reward waiting to be collected from within it.