Madrich, his expression heavy as he looked down at Lenox, raised a trembling arm and flicked his fingers.
Instantly, the massive ghost ship embedded in the naval base wall began to collapse rapidly, from the keel to the deck.
Kwaaa kwa kwa kwa!!
The ‘Netherworld Barrage Ship,’ a manifestation of his mental image, was eroding reality as if it were a tangible thing.
However, now that it was clear the naval base was where Madrich stored his military spirits, it could no longer exert much power.
Madrich quickly realized this and intended to dismantle the domain he had deployed, minimizing the damage.
Wooddeudeudeuk!!
Various structures of the rapidly collapsing ship grabbed the giant’s limp body and were quickly sucked into the naval base.
[Constant Thunder]
Lenox didn’t miss the opportunity and immediately launched a huge sphere of lightning, slamming it into the naval base wall. Surprisingly, the ship’s structures acted as a massive shield, blocking Lenox’s attack.
Kwaaang!!
Immediately after, the structures began to continuously change shape, quickly repairing the base wall the ship had destroyed.
Lenox, who had descended from the collapsing ship’s deck, understood Madrich’s intentions and smiled.
“So, you’re saying if I want answers, I should come inside?”
He stepped over the corpses of the military spirits that had been knocked down by the tidal wave and walked towards the naval base, rummaging through his pockets.
Click!
He took out five ampoules from his pocket and injected them into his shoulder. He left the syringe needles stuck in his muscles and chewed down on an elixir.
He mixed a potion he had opened at his waist with the rainwater and drank it, then poured a mixture of medicinal herbs used for tobacco into his mouth.
As Lenox walked forward, his mouth moving, the ampoule cylinders stuck in his shoulders and chest dangled.
Rinsing his mouth with the pouring rainwater and spitting it out, Lenox slapped his cheeks a few times with both hands. Finally, he took out a huge scroll and slung it over his shoulder.
Click!
He took out a charging shotgun with four slowly rotating barrels and held it in his other hand, then slammed an impact magic into the rusted gate of the naval base.
Kwaaaang!!
The iron gate burst open, and dozens of gray eyes shone eerily from the dark interior of the base.
The source of power where Madrich Onion had stored all the military spirits he possessed during his lifetime.
Lenox knew very well what it meant to walk into that place of his own volition, but he chuckled.
His condition was at its peak. He forcibly pulled up his depleted mana and temporarily forgot the pain in his body.
“Let’s get started.”
Lenox lit a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and let out a satisfied sigh. As he walked inside, the iron gate slowly closed.
Through the gap in the closed door, a bright blue flash began to flicker.
* * *
Under the damp, sunken night sky, the abandoned naval base looked as if it would collapse at any moment.
A bleak wind blew, and the sound of waves occasionally echoed, breaking the silence.
The base looked so eerie that it seemed like a ghost would jump out and scream at any moment.
However, in the naval base, which seemed to have already been swept by a storm, a series of deafening roars erupted, replacing the silence.
Paahhh!
Long corridors connected various parts of the naval base along the coast.
At the same time as bright blue lightning flashed in various places, a huge explosion erupted, sweeping away everything inside the base.
“Uwaaaahhh!!”
The military spirits, who had been lying lifelessly in the dark corridors, rushed towards Lenox.
The polearms and firearms they held rotated gracefully, emitting and detonating mana in various directions.
Kwa kwa kwa kwang!!
A spectacle of immense firepower and flashes of light constantly covered and swept over everything.
The number of flashes of light that crossed his eyes was so fast and intense that even Lenox’s senses couldn’t count them all at once.
An 8th-level supreme military spirit mage. A repository where all the power of that mage was gathered in one place.
This abandoned naval base was Madrich Onion’s greatest weakness, but conversely, it was also a gathering place that allowed him to exert his most powerful force.
It wasn’t just about one mage; by using the military spirits under his command, he could turn an individual’s power into a force comparable to an army.
The 8th-level mage’s combat abilities and judgment were involved in the military spirits’ battles, dramatically raising the level of group combat.
Dududududu!!!
Blades extended through the gaps, pressing down on the shields deployed in all directions and pushing back the carapace shields [shields made of hardened armor].
The gloomy flashes of light that formed between the blades and spear shafts relentlessly lashed out, desperately trying to tear at Lenox’s flesh.
“Die!! Die!! Die!!”
“Become nourishment for him!!”
“We want the living!! We need a living heart!!”
The killing intent the military spirits emitted was too sharp and deadly to just stand there and parry.
He blew away the blade that crossed over his head with a lightning stake, and he raised a lightning barrier to block the mana bullets aimed at his side.
He pushed back the military spirit charging at his shoulder with a four-shot shotgun and pulled up the muddy water under his feet, freezing it solid.
The arrows that sharply targeted the areas under his arms, inside his thighs, and between his collarbones, which were difficult to perceive but extremely vulnerable to injury, were tangled and dropped by releasing mana threads.
He waved his hands and twisted his shoulders slightly, but his pace didn’t slow down at all.
With each step, Lenox’s body disappeared from that spot and leaped several meters forward, passing through and detonating countless military spirits.
Each time he disappeared and reappeared, he changed his hand gestures and postures, forming seals and completing them fluidly, then slammed them down from above.
Every time he caressed the air, clenched his fist, and pointed at someone, mana went wild, flashes of light flickered, and everything around him was swept away and burned.
Kwaaaaaaaa!!!
“Kkeuhaaaaak!!!”
“Haa, aaaa!!”
“I can’t catch him, I can’t see him…!!”
“He passed through!!”
“Unbelievable, how can a mage have such mobility…!!”
[Azure Night Gathering Lightning]
[Raging Steel]
[Ice White Pillar: Thousand Glare]
Patcheutcheutcheut!!!!
The middle of the island was turning into a flood zone. For a mage proficient in both lightning and ice magic, could there be a better environment to toy with an opponent?
Simply by letting lightning flow through the water-soaked ground, he could electrocute their strong bodies, and he could freeze their already sufficiently soaked bodies solid from their toes.
[Water White Snow]
Pa bap bak!!
Dozens of streams of water that rose from the puddles transformed into the shape of tree branches and pierced into the bodies of the military spirits.
“Kkeueueueuk…!!”
“Damn it, I can’t move…!!”
“No. If I stop here, I’ll be hit by the next attack…!!”
Kkadeudeudeuk!!!
The blades of water pierced through the weakened counterattacks, which were isolated on all sides and alternately stuck with electrocution and freezing.
It didn’t end there; they froze while piercing through, swelling in volume, and clung to the torn flesh, stealing life force.
He teleported, leaped behind the frozen military spirits, and detonated impact magic, causing their bodies to shatter and break apart with surprising ease.
“Cut off the frozen parts!!”
“If we kill them before their whole body freezes solid, it’ll be fine!!”
He cut off his stiffly frozen shin with his own hand and dodged an attack aimed at Lenox’s back on the spot.
At the same time as the papyrus floating above his head flashed twice, Lenox’s body teleported through space in mid-air.
He instantly leaped across a space of nearly ten meters, grabbed the collar of the military spirit who had been shooting arrows from the back of the corridor, and burned him with [Fire Construction].
“Kyaaaaak!!”
12-fold deployment of small fireballs
Flame Resonance
[Red Chain Passage]
[Double Fire Wheel]
[Red False Army]
Kwaaaaaaaa!!!
The flames that clung to one military spirit’s body quickly spread to the other military spirits, causing them to move their limbs in agony.
Every time the military spirits, engulfed in flames, thrashed in pain, the flames spread in all directions, filling and extending throughout the corridor.
Hwaaaak!!
The flames that erupted throughout the naval base brightly illuminated the surroundings, revealing the scenery of the dark base.
The sight of people writhing while hanging alive on the walls of the base.
Those who had already lost their minds and gone insane were no longer human.
They were military spirits who had decided to dedicate their souls and bodies entirely to the mage according to their contract with Madrich.
Weeeeeeeng…!!
Beyond the constantly rotating purple magic eye, the thick iron chains that bound all those military spirits came into view.
And the point where all those chains converged.
The underground hangar of the naval base.
Lenox, having confirmed that, reached his hand above his head without hesitation.
Pajijik…!!
The fragments of lightning that swirled at his fingertips disappeared on the spot.
At the same time, a thunderous sound that tore through the eardrums filled the entire space of the base and erupted.
Lightning-type unique magic
Multiple Resonance Emission of Sacred Might
[Base Lightning Extending Pillar]
[Broad Lightning Deviation]
[Hundred Shot Thunder Rain]
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!!!!
Numerous pillars of lightning poured down from the night sky, piercing through the dilapidated ceiling of the naval base.
The immense firepower, enough to turn living humans and superhumans into a pile of ashes, lined up and fell according to Lenox’s gestures, illuminating the path.
The military spirits also tried to block the falling rain of lightning and advance, but even their desperate struggles only intersected with the mage’s form as he teleported past.
He climbed onto the railing of the stairs leading down to the basement, firing a gatling gun and scattering cluster bombs on the ceiling, creating a fireworks display.
A chaotic battle where Lenox himself and the military spirits were mixed with the mana and heat they were emitting, making it impossible to see even an inch ahead.
But even amidst that, Lenox’s magic eye shone brightly, unerringly pointing out the path ahead and predicting the next move.
Kkiiiiik!!
At the end of the stairs, at the end of a vast corridor. A hangar blocked by a thick iron door.
He gathered the direction of the lightning that had been striking down relentlessly, and he gathered the bodies of the military spirits he had killed and thrown them towards the hangar door.
He added impact magic, bound them with gravity chains to accelerate them, and created waves along the water flowing under his feet to slam them.
[Spiral Lightning Kill]
Pajijijijijik!!!
The light of dozens of lightning bolts gathered at Lenox’s fingertips rotated in a spiral shape and transformed into a blade of lightning.
“Madrich…!!”
He gritted his teeth and pulled up the remaining mana, creating the ultimate penetrating power.
He slammed the blade of lightning that was raging in his hand into the iron door of the hangar as if throwing it.
“I’m here!!”
Kkwaaaaaang!!!
Even the iron door of the hangar, made of thick steel several meters thick, couldn’t withstand its resistance and crumpled like paper.
The flash of the Spiral Lightning Kill, which had disappeared while rotating through the dark hangar space.
Lenox’s magic, which seemed to have lost its power and vanished, burst out as if making a last-ditch effort, illuminating the inside of the hangar.
The figure of a giant slumped down, sitting on something to support his body.
More than a dozen military spirits were supporting the giant’s massive body, creating a human throne.
Four military spirits stood stiffly in front of the desperate chair.
Each of them had their heads bowed, holding different iron chains and polearms in their hands, waiting for Lenox.
Madrich Onion looked down at Lenox and smiled weakly.
[I was wrong.]
“Hoo, hoo…!”
Sweat and blood were already mixed and streaming down Lenox’s face as he gasped for breath.
A fierce battle where even with shields, carapace shields, perfect strategy, and combat prediction, he couldn’t prevent blood from splattering.
The immense exhaustion of physical and mental strength that even all kinds of drugs and doping couldn’t prevent.
It was as if he had shattered more than half of the military spirits that an 8th-level military spirit mage had gathered throughout his life in this place.
[Even while searching for answers, the vessel of your true self is overflowing. How can a mage’s power built up alone be so extraordinary?]
Madrich sighed.
[I’ve seen countless monsters through long wars, but you are the most incomplete and dangerous answer.]
“…Stop with the useless talk. We still have things to say to each other.”
Lenox’s eyes turned to the other four military spirits standing stiffly in front of Madrich.
Each of them had a quiet, complete aura. But what stood out more than that was that the chains tied around their necks were not just one.
The chains of the countless military spirits that Lenox had killed and eliminated so far. The evidence of that spiritual subordination, which could be confirmed with his magic eye, was tightly bound around the four military spirits.
Lenox, realizing the meaning, nodded weakly.
“Even the traces of a spirit that has lost its power and faded away can be incorporated into another military spirit, and its power and memories can be reorganized.”
The mist that seeped into the bodies of the military spirits was the power of other military spirits that Lenox had killed and eliminated so far.
Madrich was instilling that spiritual power into the surviving military spirits, further increasing their power.
It wasn’t just about enhancing the mana, physique, or brute force they possessed.
It was about rewriting and strengthening the memories and minds of life that had been instilled into a person’s body as a military spirit.
“If it’s easier to interfere with the hierarchy of superhumans on a spiritual level, it’s not hard to understand why so many military spirit mages have formed cities and lived together.”
[You’re right. When you reach the pinnacle of military spirit magic, it becomes possible to adjust the total amount of fate that a spirit possesses.]
“…”
[A strong desire for revenge is, in other words, a strong thought. By grabbing onto that and adding it to another spirit, it’s possible to forcibly increase the vessel and inflate the power it contains.]
Madrich calmly agreed.
[Of course, as you said, there is the inconvenience of having to rewrite the memories and minds of these people entirely, but what does it matter? After all, it’s just proof that people’s memories and minds are that weak and meaningless.]
Madrich smiled.
[Earnest wishes and desires come from minds and memories that are built up as precariously as sand. They are just illusions that can collapse and change into something else at any time.]
“…”
[That’s why I have always… wanted the truth that cannot become an illusion.]
Pook!!
At that moment, a pure white pillar that rose from the floor pierced through the giant’s chest.
The pillar, piercing through the giant’s limp body, quickly swelled in size and height and soared into the sky.
Dududududu!!!!
At that moment, the ground that the two were standing on shook violently, and cracks spread out.
The base’s underside, made of solid iron plates, cracked and broke, bending as if something was rising from within.
Even the colorless waves that clearly emanated from the cracks that could not be hidden.
The moment Lenox noticed the intention and raised his head, something rose from the basement of the base with a shock that turned the world upside down and stretched out towards the night sky.
Spiritual Realm Hierarchy Unique Technique
Military Spirit Technique Gathering Monument
[Dead Self Soul Shaking: Tathagata Crossing River]
[Opening Gate Consoling Spirit]
An ivory tower that shone pure white in the moonlight.
It rotated, sloping between the majestic pillars, forming the shape of a giant screw, and unleashed its power in all directions.
[Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!]
The sight of hundreds and thousands of skulls stuck between the slopes of the tower.
And the desperate screams inside, as if hundreds of people were screaming at the same time.
The rain and storm that had been falling incessantly were nowhere to be seen.
The night sky was as silent as if it had lost its sound. Only the faint starlight that had risen in the sky illuminated Lenox’s eyes.
The sight of a huge memorial tower endlessly stretching towards the dazzling full moon in the middle of the night sky.
At the top of the tower, which should have been built to comfort the dead, and was now being used to imprison and subjugate military spirits.
A young man with a somewhat familiar face sat perched, looking down at Lenox.
[You’re having an endless dream, Ban.]
The young man whispered in Madrich’s voice.
[If there is no path to go next, then laying that bridge is the only way. I will not waver.]
Instead of answering, Lenox stared at the memorial tower that had risen before his eyes.
The sight of it rising towards the moon, not comforting the dead, but constantly causing them pain and using their resentment as power.
It wasn’t hard to understand what Madrich wanted.
“You were gathering those who couldn’t become military spirits in the basement of this abandoned naval base and using them in this way.”
[…]
“Do you really believe that this scene is the path to the next step?”
Is he trying to open a path to the next step by using those who couldn’t even become military spirits as fuel?
It was nothing more than a reckless gamble, sacrificing the present that he had already obtained for an uncertain future.
He had seen countless people who had been consumed by madness in ignorance and fear, but this was the first time he had encountered a madman who so concretely resented the next step and burned the present.
That was why he had to show an answer that was appropriate for the choice Madrich had made.
As he said that, Lenox slowly raised his wrist to his mouth.
“Then I’ll show you a part of the answer I’ve chosen.”
It had taken a long time.
He had skipped over vague promises, hopes, and uncertain possibilities and finally obtained Lenox’s own magic system.
Magic eye and mental image, magnetic field and military spirit magic. He had been running until now to obtain the one and only truth that encompassed all kinds of magic and techniques.
It was still infinitely unstable, but he had somehow managed to get the basics in place.
A new turning point that no one had chosen.
The direction of that beginning was about to reveal itself in this place.