Chapter 563 - First Round (1)
The underground prison, Kernadel, was once renowned for its strict security, but that reputation could no longer be found, not even a trace.
The citadel guarding the prison's entrance, protected by the third wall, had collapsed into ruin, and more than half of the area within the second wall had been destroyed.
The only intact area was the citizens' district between the first and second walls, but even there, as numerous heinous criminals burst outside, heavy casualties occurred.
"How could such a thing...."
Bishop Lena.
She served as the bishop in charge of the church at Riverungr of the City Union, Kailiens, healed Adrian who had been half-crippled, later became involved in the Glorious Dead incident, participated in the Bone Dragon Subjugation in the Beldirn Republic, and was recognized for her merits.
At the recommendation of Archbishop Joseph, she was undergoing the advanced stage of High Bishop, one of the steps toward becoming an Archbishop of the Luas Papacy, a talented figure.
She let out a deep sigh as she looked upon the terrible tragedy. So many had died, and collecting the corpses alone had taken all day.
"Truly, a tragedy."
One of the Seven Archbishops, Joseph, gripped the True Cross and offered prayer, mourning for those who had met death in the course of duty.
Joseph asked.
"Bishop Lena, did you send word to the magical community?"
"Yes, Archbishop. To the Arkenad Magus Nation, Bohemirn Magic Tower, Diamoon Magic Tower, Helion Magic Tower, Ostea Magic Tower. I sent to all the magical groups of the Western Continent. But, I heard rumors recently that the war with Black Hour has resumed..."
"Even if the Tower Union cannot assist, the Magus Nation alone is a powerful ally. With cooperation from neighboring countries, the escaped criminals will soon be captured in full.... Yet, of equal importance is finding the culprit. But, the reasons and identity remain entirely unknown."
No one had witnessed the culprit, nor was there any discernible motive for the destruction of Kernadel. There were no clues at all.
"Hmm?"
Sensing an unusual energy, they looked to see the distant sky turning pitch black. Instinctive fear, and foreboding.
The anomaly was approaching closer and closer to Kernadel.
"Archbishop...!"
Not only Bishop Lena, but the priests and paladins of the Luas Church immediately assumed defensive posture, yet Archbishop Joseph swiftly restrained them.
"Lower your weapons. I shall personally vouch for his identity."
"Well, if the Archbishop says so."
The faithful suppressed their wariness and stepped back.
Soon, as the heavens became entirely shrouded in darkness, and in the blink of an eye all that darkness vanished, a being stood before the Archbishop.
"Joseph."
"It has been about two years, Tower Master."
The appearance of the Dark Warton Tower Master, the Necromancer, left all dumbfounded. After all, was he not the longest-lived transcendent in the present magical world?
"Ah, h-hello!"
Bishop Lena tried to greet him, but bit her tongue. Her nerves had made her tongue stiff. Her face flushed crimson with embarrassment.
The Tower Master paid no mind, acknowledging her greeting with a brief glance.
Joseph asked.
"I did not expect to meet you here. But what brings you so suddenly?"
"While attending a meeting in the Magus Nation, I heard the news of Kernadel. Since it was on my way back, there was no reason not to stop by."
"Ah...!"
He was offering his aid.
It could not be anything but welcome. With the transcendent of death present, finding the being who wrought the massacre in Kernadel was only a matter of time.
"Where are the corpses?"
"I will guide you."
The temporary storage where the dead were laid to rest.
Inside, corpses covered with magic items preserving their condition filled the place.
The Tower Master himself lifted the cloth and examined the victims. The cause of death was a sharp spearhead that pierced the heart.
Death whispered.
"Tell me of your emotions in life."
The Dark Warton Tower Master's magic seeped into the cold bodies, half-rotting, half-preserved. Soon, the dead would open their eyes and answer his question.
They would voice their resentment.
But... strangely, the corpse was silent. As quiet as a foggy valley. In the heavy silence, the Tower Master spoke calmly.
"The body has been completely killed."
"Eh?"
"You are to focus on handling the criminals who fled from Kernadel. For now, set aside thoughts of finding the culprit."
The Tower Master left his counsel.
"It will not be easily borne."
***
Isabella, beholding Sandir, instinctively widened her eyes. It was as striking as the sudden bite of Gluttony's fangs in ambush.
The existence of the forced magic circles engraved upon his head and chest was one thing, but the essence reflected in his eyes... was unlike that of ordinary beings.
That man.
He looked like an emotionless doll, without expression. Not eerie, but rather chilling was the correct term.
Kwooooooaaang!
An explosion thundered from the city center. Black smoke rose, and the screams of citizens rang endlessly from that direction.
From there, she sensed at least the magical reaction of a lower 6th rank.
Daunt was under attack.
'Why are those being controlled by the Bohemirn Tower Master here?'
The target could not possibly be the Patriarch. His existence was not merely undisclosed location-wise, but unknown to the world itself.
Thus, by elimination, it had to be Gluttony that was targeted. After all, just moments ago they had spoken of hunting monsters.
'From what I heard, Bohemirn Tower and Gluttony were supposed to be cooperating. Have their relations suddenly broken down?'
That seemed the likeliest case, though it was too soon to judge.
In any case.
Though out of contact with the Patriarch, she understood what needed to be done. Decisions on the field were left to each member.
Kwoooong!
The next tremor was even closer.
A five-story building with damaged foundation cracked and its core collapsed. People who could not flee in time covered their heads.
She extended her hand instantly.
Isabella's magic froze the falling debris in midair.
"To expose yourself to save others, that is beyond recklessness or stubbornness, you are altruistic indeed."
"Is this your doing?"
Feigning ignorance of the Bohemirn Tower, she tested them with a question.
Sandir replied.
"I lack the ability to pick out fragment of glass from grains of sand. What else is there to do? One must scatter the sand to pieces and then select one by one."
The grains of sand were Daunt's citizens, the fragment of glass, Gluttony's implants.
"So you attacked the city at random? Have you lost your mind?"
"Perhaps. To live in this world, who can avoid madness? Is that not what life is?"
Sandir bit into the last piece of meat, dropped the wooden skewer on the table, drank the remains of someone's beer, and continued.
"Ordinarily, I too would be picking out fragment of glass... but something interesting has appeared. Others can deal with that monster."
Sandir fixed his gaze upon the mage born of Gluttony. The man stood still, not even breathing.
Like prey hiding from a predator... until their eyes met, and then the mage bolted in panic.
"Dispose of him."
"Yes."
Two mind-controlled experimental subjects, who had been causing terror in the city, turned a murderous aura upon the mage.
Battle soon broke out, fierce winds whipping without pause.
Tok.
Sandir rose, planting an exceptionally sharp spear upon the ground. Facing Isabella, he stroked his chin.
"I may be ignorant of magic, but I felt a spatial ripple just now. From the circumstances, let me ask, did you take that monster's leader with you?"
"...And if so?"
"Then by capturing you, we may gain a chance at seizing the leader, whether by hostage exchange or otherwise. Well, that aside."
Sandir licked his lips.
"You shine quite brightly. From your expression, I seem to greatly displease you. Do you wish to kill me, then? What of it? Would you challenge me?"
"Shine? Challenge?"
She had no idea what he meant, yet it changed nothing. An enemy, regardless. His strange essence made him formidable, but no matter.
If she could deal with him, she would, and if not, she would stall.
Until the Patriarch arrived.
"Fine."
Isabella manipulated the debris floating in the sky.
"I'll challenge you!"
A downpour of mass was about to fall.
Kwaaajik!
Sandir's spear pierced Isabella's side, tearing away part of her flesh at the edge.
In a blink, he was upon her, shaking his head.
"Such narrow spacing is unfit for a mage. Once more, I'll say it. I gave only a light wound as a warning, but this time I shall───"
Bwoooomph!
Sandir, who had not even secured his balance, went flying, crashing through a building.
Isabella, who had kicked his head, sneered. The strike was born from her enhanced senses through the Ring of Rune, Exceed.
"Once more, what?"
"My, my."
Sandir slowly walked out from the thickly rising dust.
He had blocked with his palm in the instant, but the impact had exceeded expectation.
"Without any bodily reinforcement, yet such strength. And regeneration, too. Another monster indeed. Things grow ever more interesting."
Isabella, unwilling to exchange more words, unleashed her magic. The debris of buildings above came slanting down upon him.
Thud.
Sandir stepped forward with his left foot and bent his knee. He wedged the spear beneath his right arm and locked it firmly in place.
A stance akin to a cavalry's lance charge.
"How far, then, will you shine."
From Sandir's entire body, a faint azure light—pale blue—wavered.
"Let us see."
The ground crushed beneath his leg strength.
The spearhead pierced straight through, propelled by momentum.
Jeongcheon 貞穿, one strike, piercing the city.
***
Daunt, which had enjoyed its usual cold morning and peaceful day, became a scene of pandemonium before evening arrived.
The merchants' guild that governed the city could not even properly grasp the situation.
Though they had dispatched both the guards in charge of security and their guild's own forces, it was meaningless.
When they tried to stop the unidentified terrorists, not a few were killed or gravely injured without even having a chance to resist.
All over, the city collapsed.
In a moment like a natural disaster, citizens were at a loss. That held true not only above ground but also below.
Yet, as Isabella stood above, so did Adrian below.
Kang! Kang! Kang! Jjeoeeong!
Moving faster than sound, their chained blows collided in sparks.
Adrian studied the man wielding the curved blade before him.
'These movements, it's surely Grimnax.'
The elite assassin organization that operated in the shadows of the continent's politics. A brutal murder syndicate that would kill anyone for coin, Grimnax.
Adrian had once slain a former executive of Grimnax, who came to kill Liam Arein at the request of the Eastern Great Lord during the previous competition,
and in the era of the Central Continent's Four Greats, he had clashed with them multiple times.
From those experiences, he could tell—the merciless swordsmanship, aiming only for vital points, was unmistakably Grimnax's.
'But why would a Grimnax expert be under mind control?'
Perhaps, like Adrian, he had been kidnapped and turned into a test subject.
The other two as well.
The black mage's poisonous gale rode the tailwind and surged forth.
The Grimnax assassin wore a respirator mask for protection, while Adrian's was only for disguise.
He struck the assassin down at once, channeled power into his sword, and broke the spell with sheer wind pressure. Then a massive hammer came flying in.
Thoom!
By not resisting, Adrian dissipated most of the impact, dragging his blade against the ground.
From left and right, assassin and hammer warrior charged.
Tsk.
Adrian spun, deflecting their strikes, flipped into the air, and—thwack!—his kicks smashed into their faces from opposite sides.
Then he swung his greatsword wide.
Chwaaaak!
Blood burst from the assassin's shoulder, and the hammer warrior's armor was damaged. Adrian quickly widened the distance and counted.
His foes were formidable, yet he had already invoked his extreme technique. His strength was second only to Verden.
'Assassin, warrior, mage. Without using secret arts, I can kill them in twenty exchanges.'
Yet hesitation lingered.
If mind control could be broken, they might regain sanity. Having suffered the same, Adrian felt kinship.
Of course, Grimnax, who valued human lives only in coin, was excluded.
Kwoooong───!!
Suddenly, a tremendous rumble came from above. Not only that.
He sensed an immense aura he could not ignore.
'What has appeared on the surface?'
Whatever it was, it was not trivial. At the very least, far more dangerous than these three. And on the surface was only Isabella.
Tap!
Adrian rushed straight for the exit of the underground marketplace. The people had already fled, leaving the passage empty.
Fortunately, the three mind-controlled followed immediately behind.
He dashed through the dim corridor.
Huff.
Retracing his steps, Adrian emerged above ground. Daunt, with dusk nearly fallen, spread before his eyes.
'...One-fifth of the city has collapsed.'
How little time had passed since the upheaval began, and yet such devastation.
As he reeled in rare dismay, an ice pillar shot up from the ruined city.
At once he sprinted that way. At last, he saw Isabella, wounded and bloodied, locked in fierce combat with a spear-wielding man.
The aura of a thrust pierced through an ice wall, unbalancing her, and then the real spearhead aimed for her slender neck.
Kaaang!
Adrian intervened, deflecting the strike obliquely. A slight numbness tingled his fingertips. He instantly counterattacked, knocking the man back.
"Phew, nearly got a hole in your throat."
Isabella panted heavily.
"Thanks later. That man, he's insanely strong."
"So it seems."
Even with Adrian's eye, it was hard to measure the exact realm.
The man, Sandir, rested his spear shaft upon his shoulder.
"Your comrade? Hooh, quite a fierce light. Interesting as well."
From his words, clearly not in his right mind.
Adrian raised his sword.
"You and she don't match well. I'll take him."
"Can you handle it alone?"
"No choice. He's not alone, either."
The three from the underground had nearly caught up. Meanwhile, Isabella, her wounds already regenerating, gathered magic.
"All right. I'll take the rest."
They switched battlefields.
Swaaaek───!
Adrian advanced. His strike focused not on cutting but on forcing back. He clashed with Sandir, stomping the ground toward the city outskirts.
"You want to move outside? To reduce unnecessary casualties? You, too, are altruistic. Good, I'll gladly oblige."
Sandir batted Adrian's sword aside with his spear shaft and sprinted back. Both landed atop the walls and reached the natural stage.
"It seems you are a swordsman who has reached the extreme. Since my return, this is the first time I've faced one of such skill. So I ask with respect."
Sandir tilted his spear.
"Will you challenge me?"
"..."
Adrian silently revisited the sensations of his exchange with Sandir.
The realm he had reached might be a form of the extreme like Adrian's own... or perhaps even beyond.
And.
'His left arm and right arm differ.'
As though grafted from another person, their forms and appearances were distinct.
Like an implant.
Indeed, it was said Bohemirn Tower had obtained Gluttony's technology through trade, so it was not surprising.
Yet.
That left hand, why did it seem so familiar?