“This, this is… impossible…!!!”
With her Demonic Eye that could precisely observe the flow of mana, she was absolutely certain that Lennok had not employed any deceit.
However, despite this certainty, was it conceivable that her adversary was manipulating events from above Eolara’s head?
Simultaneously, the forms of Jordan and Weian, who had been sprawled behind Lennok, disintegrated into a misty blur and vanished.
A bolt of lightning descended directly in front of Eolara, who had unleashed a punch with all her strength.
BOOOM…!!
A swirling, finger-sized lightning entity emerged from within the illusion. Eolara reacted nearly instantaneously, putting some distance between them.
“With such trivial mana!!”
Lennok had entered a heightened state of alertness, surging his mana, but the mana he unleashed was shockingly feeble.
The initial assault served as nothing more than a diversion. Swiftly, she shifted her focus elsewhere, acutely aware of the imminent follow-up strike.
Her Demonic Eye allowed her to scan her surroundings with exceptional speed, enabling her to react swiftly.
Yet, Eolara found herself a fraction too late in recognizing the surge of energy behind her, heralding the approaching lightning bolt.
As a pale blue flash illuminated her terror-stricken face, she gasped, “Wait, this is…!!”
[Swift Thunder (翩雷)]
BOOOM!!!
A bolt of lightning, rapidly accelerating and intensifying in mana from a short distance, pierced through the giant’s form.
The intense burst of light in the clearing left everyone momentarily blinded.
In the wake of the dissipating radiance, a cascade of crimson liquid dripped heavily.
Swoosh!!
Facing Lennok directly for the first time, she realized that retaliating or evading was an impossibility. Yet, even as she made a swift decision,
A permanent scar of [Swift Thunder] already marked Eolara’s left shoulder.
Struggling to maintain her stance, her forearm had been utterly penetrated, blood oozing profusely.
Lennok’s unique magic, ‘Swift Thunder,’ stood among the most penetrative projectiles within his repertoire of spells. Its potency was such that it had incapacitated a terrorist-linked criminal named Daron, who had augmented his body with machinery.
Eolara, though undoubtedly a mana user of surpassing level 5, could not emerge unscathed from a situation where one arm lay utterly destroyed.
Furthermore, the aftermath of Swift Thunder began to infiltrate her body, wreaking havoc on her nervous system.
It was only then, clutching her left shoulder, that Eolara, with great difficulty, muttered her realization of how Lennok had outwitted her.
“A unique magic of this level… with a timing difference…!!”
“Have you noticed? You seem to know quite a bit about magic.”
Only now did Lennok, emerging near the school gate, allow a smile to grace his lips.
“You can’t see the truth even with the Demonic Eye.”
“……!!!”
Lennok’s body bore the weight of accumulated exhaustion from his encounter with Antares.
The enormous expenditure of both magical and mental energy, unleashed when he activated the Domain at full throttle, had left him in a decidedly inadequate condition for further combat.
Yet, with composure, Lennok had masterfully deceived Eolara. Her capacity for deception defied conventional logic.
However, the moment Eolara had unveiled her Demonic Eye, Lennok harbored unwavering confidence in his impending triumph.
“Seeing that you stopped Weian, it must be a Demonic Eye that observes and interferes with the flow of mana. From the moment you opened your eye, you’d be unable to rely on basic vision… It’s as if you’ve walked into the trap I prepared.”
Before Eolara, Lennok established a mana flow identical to his own, concealing vital signs with an illusion, its appearance disguised beneath Nick’s badge.
While Weian grappled with Devon, Lennok had already initiated his move, but Eolara remained too entranced by his voice to register the threat.
His intent was to deliver a decisive blow to Eolara by dispelling the illusion and activating his delayed unique magic, [Swift Thunder], when she attacked from the front…
“But you’re much better than that swordsman earlier. To think you’d react in that moment and only end up with one arm.”
“……”
“But the moment you’re hit, it’s over. You already know that, right?”
As Lennok spoke, it became evident that Swift Thunder was more than a mere spell with exceptional penetration.
Much like the time it had completely paralyzed Daron, who had transformed himself into a machine, the residual current directly infiltrated the target’s body, inducing full-body paralysis.
The roles had completely reversed since their initial encounter. The dynamics between the two had shifted significantly.
“This… like this…!!”
Eolara clenched her teeth, her Demonic Eye locked onto Lennok, who approached methodically.
The swirling mana surrounding Lennok abruptly solidified in an attempt to disrupt the operation of her magic.
Fizz-!!
Simultaneously, the same-colored mana erupted from Lennok’s left eye, shattering everything.
“……!!!!!”
Observing Eolara, who could do nothing more than gasp in silence, Lennok remarked,
“Was it something like this?”
Eolara’s Demonic Eye possessed the ability to disrupt the flow of mana within her field of vision.
This was how she had used her Demonic Eye to incapacitate Weian’s mana sensitivity and land a precise strike.
Yet, how could one explain the slow rotation of the pupil in Lennok’s left eye?
Lennok was unwinding the solidified power of the Demonic Eye surrounding him, mirroring the technique Eolara had employed.
“If you show it to me for long enough, I can imitate it on the spot. It’s harder than you think to imbue meaning by seeing… but I memorize the flow of the already activated Demonic Eye and reverse-engineer it. Like this…”
“Choke…!!”
With her solitary functional arm, Eolara desperately clutched at her throat.
Her complexion paled to a deathly hue, and she weakly thrashed about as if suffocating.
“Have you been killing everyone who looked into those eyes like this?”
Lennok chuckled.
“Whatever reason you acquired the Demonic Eye for, it’s not something that mere Cartel members should be using. Right here and directly-“
Lennok’s words abruptly halted as he refrained from reaching for Eolara’s eyes.
A formidable presence suddenly registered on Lennok’s senses.
Simultaneously, he pinpointed the source of the descending force from the heavens.
Clicking his tongue, he retreated a few steps.
An indistinct form plummeted from the sky at extraordinary speed, landing squarely in the middle of the sports field.
Kuuuuuuung!!!
A considerable mass. Tremendous velocity. The resilience to effortlessly absorb the resulting shock.
All the damage from this impact was transmitted directly into the sports field’s surface, upheaving the bare earth and creating a massive cloud of dirt.
Thud thud thud thud!!
A colossal wave of soil mercilessly swept outward, reaching even Lennok.
[Upper Ground]
Lennok, having anticipated the aftermath and raised the ground to shield himself, fixed a fierce gaze on the instigator of this chaos.
“Sorry for the late night.”
A colossal figure, dominating even the dimly lit streets with his imposing stature.
Despite wearing a shirt, his forearms strained with prominent muscles, an oddly contrasting choice of clothing.
Sporting sunglasses even in the dead of night, and his slicked-back hair, he resembled more of a retired businessman than a typical gangster.
However, contrary to his outward appearance, the mana emanating from the man was nothing short of monstrous.
Goooo……
The sound of mana spinning, imperceptible to the ears, swirled around him.
The intense pressure of potent mana weighed heavily, asserting dominance over the space and permeating outward.
The dust whirling nearby traced a slow, circular pattern in sync with the man’s will.
Merely standing there, his presence was potent enough to subdue the surrounding mana.
At the very least, he was a Level 6, or possibly even higher.
The man raised his head and spoke to Lennok, his red eyes gleaming behind the sunglasses.
“I heard my men were doing things they weren’t told to do.”
“……”
“Late greetings. You don’t know my name, so shall we start with this?”
With these words, the man flicked a business card from his coat.
Refusing to show any sign of weakness, Lennok allowed the business card to fall to the ground.
The writing on the business card, lying on the ground, was clearly visible.
[Virgil O’Reiden]
[President of Planning and Business]
A shabbily-made business card, lacking a company name or proper contact details.
Yet, the title of President was undeniably legitimate.
Virgil O’Reiden.
A high-ranking member of the Cartel, standing right before him.
Once again, Lennok confirmed the overwhelming and tangible presence of mana emanating from Virgil’s body. He discreetly reached into his coat.
‘There’s no chance of winning right now.’
While he’d need to engage to assess Virgil’s specific capabilities, it was evident that this man far surpassed Eolara.
The strategy that had worked on her was unlikely to be effective.
If Lennok were in perfect condition, the fight wouldn’t be entirely unfavorable, but engaging now would undoubtedly be suicidal.
As Virgil hinted at stepping back from confrontation, Lennok knew he needed to be ready to employ the five fingers of Enakphil, just in case.
While Lennok calculated the position where he had concealed Weian and Jordan, Virgil continued speaking.
“I am very well aware of how powerful a wizard you are.”
“……”
“It’s said that your innate sense itself is completely different from ordinary sorcerers, beyond just the level of magic. The events that have unfolded here must be part of that.”
Lennok’s left eye, still fixed on Virgil, emitted a peculiar purple glow, but Virgil paid it no mind.
“As much as I would like to personally experience that power…”
Virgil glanced back at Eolara, who had been raised up.
She struggled to remain conscious but convulsed as if on the brink of fainting from shock.
“I would prefer if things ended here for today. What do you think, Van?”
“I’m not quite satisfied with that.” Lennok replied.
Accepting the offer too readily would only expose his vulnerabilities.
With an escape route in his possession, he had to maintain a semblance of strength.
“You start a fight and then your executives just walk away unscathed?”
“Well, I can understand your feelings but… fine.”
Virgil shrugged and responded.
“On my name, I promise not to lay a hand on the bar for the next fortnight.”
“……”
“Can you accept this?”
Virgil regarded Lennok, who nodded slightly, took a deep breath, and turned away.
Without looking back, he slightly crouched, poised to leap.
“To be honest, this incident is a bit odd for a time like this.”
“……”
“If I had been directly in charge of this matter, I wouldn’t have handled it in such a way. Even now, the report is just reaching the chairman.”
“……Vir, gil…”
Eolara attempted to restrain him with a faint voice, but he paid her no heed.
“You better be careful. Things have been quite messy so far… but it won’t be the same once it reaches the chairman’s ears.”
With those words, Virgil activated his mana and leaped.
His figure ascended dozens of meters into the night sky and vanished.
As Lennok gazed after him, Jordan’s voice emanated from behind.
“Van… you…”
“It took a bit longer than expected.”
Lennok, retrieving a cigarette from his coat, elicited a hollow chuckle from Jordan.
“……There’s no freelancer anywhere who can talk to Cartel members like that. They must have been rolling in this business for a good ten years, but how could you handle them so easily……”
“If they can’t handle the change in the nature of mana, then I can always have the upper hand in psychological warfare. Once I have the initiative, it’s just a matter of timing to decide the outcome. It’s not difficult.”
Lennok responded nonchalantly, but Jordan shook his head, well aware of how extraordinary that was.
“Does it seem like there are sorcerers who can fully capture such a psychological gap in a life-or-death battle? You appear as if you lack the very nerves to feel fear…”
“……”
“I can see how seasoned you are in such battles. Is this why Cartel has been so cautious?”
“Well… to be honest, it’s a bit difficult to believe that Cartel would have gone to such lengths officially.”
The only aspect that had piqued Lennok’s interest in this incident was Eolara.
If they were aware of Lennok’s reputation, they would recognize that overwhelming him with subordinates below his level would be futile. Yet, they set this kind of trap…
“It seems more reasonable to view it as a preliminary skirmish to gauge their stance against me.”
“Huh…”
“It doesn’t seem like things will go smoothly.”
The fact that a high-ranking executive had to intervene indicated a lack of unified consensus on their side.
While it was promising that he could glean insight into their internal dissension, aside from the promise not to interfere with the bars for a while, this incident had occurred without the chairman’s approval, which was somewhat surprising.
Lennok, about to retrieve a cigarette from his pocket, winced as he noticed the remnants of the Demonic Eye still lingering in his left eye.
‘I pushed it, thinking I couldn’t acquire it if not now…’
Though he had gained a new talent by reverse-engineering the flow of Eolara’s Demonic Eye, infusing mana into the eye, one of the body’s most sensitive parts, carried an entirely different significance for Lennok.
Mana poisoning.
Despite knowing he would suffer from this wretched penalty once again if he used the Demonic Eye, the opportunity was too valuable to pass up.
Natural Demonic Eye bearers were a rarity unless born with an innate predisposition, and most concealed or suppressed the activation of their Demonic Eye.
While Eolara’s Demonic Eye had been somewhat unstable and forcibly transplanted into one eye, he couldn’t abandon the prospect of becoming more formidable.
‘I’ll have to contact Yakson when I get back. I don’t want to rush her, but…’
Having traveled all the way to the autonomous region to meet her conditions, he now sought results.
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