The atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive.
Lennok’s expression tensed as he realized that Agnetta was not merely delivering a message.
‘This is… almost like a complete reproduction of the memories and feelings from that time.’
Was it about capturing the sensations she had witnessed and felt, then manipulating the surrounding environment to manifest them as remembered?
The precision of this manipulation technique was almost unbelievable, as if one were witnessing it firsthand.
This was why she had been chosen as a herald of Pandemonium.
The air quivered slowly, and then a faint voice emerged.
[I heard you rejected the offer.]
“……”
[I think it’s a waste of time to even discuss this… but I believe you are worth the effort.]
A voice that embodied both masculinity and femininity, agelessness, and an unwavering certainty. There was nothing discernible in that tone except for an eerie, madness-like conviction.
[It’s an irrational world, isn’t it?] the voice persisted.
[But that’s not a reason for this world to deserve destruction. Living and breathing is more precious and valuable than anything. It’s like a journey across a great river called fate.]
Surprisingly, the voice from one of the world’s top international criminal organizations’ was gentler than anticipated.
[At the end of the journey, I was certain. There must be an end to a person’s journey, but the world’s time must continue…]
“……”
[Even if this world does not wish for it.]
A chilly silence followed.
His words carried grandiosity, peering far into the future, and Lennok found himself unable to fully grasp their meaning.
Numerous questions swirled within him, yet Lennok ultimately chose to remain silent.
In this moment, it was Agnetta simply replaying the words of the Pandemonium leader.
[I heard you are looking for a way to handle space and time. If you are seeking such a talent, there must be a reason.]
As he contemplated, the voice continued.
[You might find a decent answer in the sect’s sanctuary.]
“……!”
[Whether you truly agree with our intentions, I don’t know… but it doesn’t really matter.]
The voice seemed to peer into Lennok’s emotions, punctuating its words with a chuckle.
[Let’s consider this a gift in anticipation of the coming day.]
Whoosh!
At that very instant, a brisk wind swept through, and the heavy, oppressive pressure that had been weighing down on them vanished.
When Lennok gazed upward, Agnetta had already distanced herself, adjusting her eye patch.
“Hoo…”
The cigarette between his lips had burned down to the filter.
With a wry smile, Lennok exhaled a puff of smoke, and there was a rustling behind him.
Boom!
Evelyn, as if showcasing her strength, had hurled Thuran’s massive corpse and now stood behind them.
“Is it done?”
Without a word, Agnetta retrieved a lengthy cord from the giant’s lifeless body and wound it around Thuran’s form.
With her ten legs, she effortlessly hoisted his body. With a flick of her finger, dozens of cocoons suspended from the trees tumbled to the ground.
Simultaneously, Agnetta gently placed the Mauser aside and remarked,
“Don’t trust the Vulcan City Council too much. I’m telling you this because I like you, Evelyn.”
“……”
“Those senile old men are, in a way, dirtier and more repulsive than us.”
Evelyn maintained her silence, her countenance unyielding.
She was acutely aware that the order and security of the vast city she had strived to maintain might prove to be nothing more than a fleeting illusion, vanishing in an instant.
Nevertheless, her steadfast commitment to living honorably and preserving her inner goodness stood as a testament to Evelyn Marcia.
Agnetta, too, appeared to believe that a lengthy conversation was unnecessary, and she wore a faint smile beneath her eye patch.
“I hope when I meet you again, you’re not just a puppet of those old men.”
With those parting words, she vanished from the spot, carrying Thuran’s lifeless form, gradually fading away.
“……”
Evelyn silently fixed her gaze on the place where Agnetta had disappeared.
Lennok, too, wore a complex expression and contemplated the words she had left behind.
Until the wizards encased in cocoons regained consciousness and began to struggle, the dead forest was enveloped in profound silence.
***
The man walked above the clouds.
Whooooosh!
The ceaselessly turbulent wind brushed against his cheeks, yet the sky felt invigorating.
No matter how adverse the weather, once above the clouds, the world always appeared remarkably tranquil.
It’s the same with life.
No matter the difficulties and challenges, once a certain threshold is crossed, they can no longer affect the mind and body.
As he strolled with his hands clasped behind his back, whistling softly, an unfamiliar voice emanated from his embrace.
[Doctor.]
The voice sounded somewhat absent-minded, yet the emotions hidden within its tone remained inscrutable.
[The furnace theft failed. Geonis and Thuran are dead.]
“Hmm.”
[I did retrieve Thuran’s body as promised… Will you share the results of your research with me when it’s complete?]
“Of course, Agnetta.”
The man responded cheerfully.
“Thuran was an excellent warrior, worthy of respect for his peculiar taste for human flesh. Didn’t he realize that his twisted appetite was eating away at his potential? If only his direction had been slightly different, he would have reached much higher than he did.”
[What are you planning to do?]
“I’ll make him a new head.”
The doctor chuckled.
“If it’s just a severed neck, it’s easy to interpret the biometric data stored in the muscle tissues and create a clone. But a clone won’t match the original body’s performance, so I’ll cut off the clone’s head and attach it to the original body.”
[…….]
“Of course, I’ll need to tweak the brain to my liking in the process. It wouldn’t do for him to crave human flesh again once he’s revived. Aren’t you curious?”
Bang!
Coming to a halt above the clouds, the man lightly tapped his foot, creating a massive ripple that split the clouds, revealing the landscape below.
A medium-sized city drenched in rain.
The expressions of the people on the streets looking up at the sky were clearly visible to the man.
“Whether the talent embodied in the flesh can be interpreted with theories and principles understandable to humans.”
[Not really.]
Agnetta replied with indifference.
[Even if Thuran is resurrected fifty times, he doesn’t seem like he could beat the old crocodile.]
“That’s right. It’s for the sake of catching up to that man that such cumbersome research is needed.”
The man delved into his coat and retrieved a small flask.
“There are many paths to a great goal. I am waiting for the day to face that crossroad, preparing for my role.”
[Do you want to kill the old crocodile?]
“Hahaha!!”
The man erupted into hearty laughter.
He hadn’t anticipated her empathy.
As a descendant of an ancient race that traversed pseudo-dimensions, born with an awareness of spatial discontinuities, her sensibilities were markedly distinct from those of others.
Her innate precious talent remained intact precisely because she could perceive things from a different perspective.
He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for her situation, but instead of sharing such trivial sentiments with Agnetta, he nonchalantly changed the topic.
“Well, it’s not the time for this conversation. I have things to do too.”
He glanced down at his feet, content with the swirling contents within the flask.
In cities with populations ranging from tens to hundreds of millions, unlike the mega-cities, it was not uncommon for control to be vested in a few superhumans.
The practice of entrusting their safety to individuals who transcended human limits and making them guardians of the city had a surprisingly long history.
And the middle-aged man, standing with his arms crossed amidst the rain-soaked city, was merely a part of that history.
“Humbert, the old tyrant ruling the city…”
The man, peering down at the middle-aged figure, chuckled.
“He’s just a mad old man locked in his own castle. Today’s quota will be over soon.”
***
After delivering Thuran’s body and rescuing the wizards from the tower, including Mauser, it didn’t take long to assess the situation.
To be precise, it didn’t take long for the tower authorities to comprehend the gravity of the situation and send a responsible representative.
Evelyn’s reputation as Missile and the testimonies provided by her godfather, Ainz, who had a vague sense of the situation, played a significant role.
Though the remaining wizards within the tower were initially skeptical, they soon accepted the reality after witnessing the corpses of the sanctuary’s elders and the surviving individuals.
The fact that Lennok and Evelyn had prevented a potentially catastrophic explosion of the furnace at the tower also played a vital role.
Importantly, the person entrusted with resolving this incident from the Blaiver Tower headquarters was someone well-acquainted with Evelyn.
“This is really disgraceful.”
Mauser rubbed his eyes and spoke with fatigue evident in his voice.
The shock of learning that, apart from himself, the entire delegation from the mechanical city had perished and that he had inadvertently traded Thuran’s body as a hostage must have been overwhelming.
His complexion, visible above his bushy beard, appeared ten years older and utterly worn out.
“It’s embarrassing that I’m barely managing to resolve this situation with the help of others, when I should be personally ensuring that the towers in the West Continent are functioning properly…”
“It’s not your fault, Master Mauser,” Evelyn responded in a soothing tone.
“It’s hard to imagine that a direct disciple of the Tower Master would not only collude with Pandemonium but also sacrifice others as food for a murderous maniac. I had my suspicions, but I never imagined it would be this bold.”
The number of victims sacrificed to the cannibalistic Thuran in this incident exceeded fifty, including members of the Elders who became prey while unconscious and the rapidly increasing number of missing individuals within the tower, including the delegation from the mechanical city who had disappeared near the volcanic region.
It was revealed that the cave where the mechanical city’s delegation disappeared had been a result of Geonis manipulating the heat to steal the furnace’s fire, causing an outlet to rupture and extend to the volcanic region.
Reportedly, the intense heat had melted and burned the underground bedrock, forming new minerals.
“That may be so. But that doesn’t excuse me becoming a burden in this incident. I should have clearly foreseen that scoundrel Geonis would tamper with the furnace…”
Behind him, there were large bundles, twice as tall as Mauser, swaying as his body trembled.
Though he couldn’t immediately transport the bodies of his fallen comrades, Mauser insisted on personally carrying their belongings back to the city.
As the two were about to bid farewell to Mauser and leave, he suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, I almost forgot to give this to you.”
Mauser delved into his beard and produced two elongated objects.
“……”
As Lennok marveled at the astonishing spatial storage ability, Mauser handed each of them one of the items he had been carrying.
“These are some of the products our delegation brought as trade items for the Tower visit.”
He presented two shotguns with cylinders emitting a striking blue magical energy.
“Their basic power is no different from other shotguns, but they can temporarily amplify power and range through charging with mana. They are special products encouraged by the workshop to promote gun use among magic users.”
“I don’t use guns, though…”
Evelyn attempted to decline with a wry smile, but Mauser insisted firmly.
“Just accept this for now.”
“……”
“I may not have much to offer in return, but if you ever visit the mechanical city, I’ll make sure to repay you. This is a token of that promise.”
Having expressed this, Mauser shouldered his load and departed for the mechanical city. His steps seemed incredibly burdened, as if he were atoning for his inability to protect his colleagues and for neglecting to assess their fate while focusing on repairing the Tower’s furnace.
As the two observed his retreating figure in silence, a voice tinged with boredom suddenly came from behind.
“Did that old man leave already? I heard the furnace inspection isn’t finished yet.”
“……The basic stabilization of the power source is complete, and he said that’s as far as he can go. If more is needed, contact the mechanical city.”
“Damn, I hardly know anyone in this area…”
The voice yawned and then muttered apathetically.
“Well, if you say so, it must be right, whatever.”
“Is it okay to talk like that?”
“I don’t know. It’ll work out somehow, right?”
A woman with vibrant red hair and sharp eyes, scratching her head, spoke up.
In her mouth was a cigar much thicker than the one Lennok was smoking.
She was one of the five Flame Pillars guarding the Blaiver Tower, a renowned wizard known for her flamboyance and prowess in artillery.
The Flame Witch, Tatiana Chiglet.
Lennok had come across her name in newspapers; she was a prominent figure and one of the active wizards on the central front.
As Tatiana, with her disheveled hair, met Lennok’s gaze, she grinned.
“I heard about you from the kids. You’re the wizard who humiliated a dead priest, right?”
“I never humiliated anyone.”
Despite Lennok’s response, she disregarded it and carried on, idly picking at her ear.
“Those idiots never listen when I say not to underestimate those not from the Tower. They only pretend to understand after someone dies.”
Her speech was rough and assertive.
Tatiana’s crimson eyes glinted sharply as they locked onto Lennok.
“The booklet that Geonis had. You ate it, right?”
“……”
“That actually belonged to our master. I’ll pretend I don’t know, so just do me one favor.”
“What is it?”
“The tobacco you’re smoking. It’s not a store-bought product, is it?”
While toying with the cigar in her mouth, she raised her hand.
“It looks damn delicious. Tell me how to mix it.”
“……”
Faced with her audacious and unabashed request, both Lennok and Evelyn remained silent.
Blaiver Tower, one of the five Flame Pillars safeguarding the old traditions and regulations.
Without a doubt, the Flame Witch was an eccentric personality beyond imagination.
