Chapter 271 |
Silence fell.
Oren narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared at Renok.
From his perspective, the proposal Renok had thrown out was utterly unexpected.
But Renok thought there was no need to complicate things in a situation like this.
The eight families within the citadel had formed the foundation, yet the power structure divided neatly into two factions.
Renok intended to investigate the internal affairs of the eight families and secure Samyeong's cooperation, on the condition that he take on the role of kingmaker in this proxy war.
At that moment, the shadow veil that had blocked the surrounding noise collapsed.
The warriors, freed from their restraints, rushed desperately toward Renok.
"Hahahahaha!!!"
The cold, arrogant expression he had worn until now was gone, replaced by endless shoulder-shaking as he leaned back in his chair.
After laughing for a long while, Oren slowly caught his breath and muttered.
"Heh heh heh... Listening to you makes me truly feel how the prestige of the Eightfold Star Citadel has fallen to the ground."
"..."
"I wonder how things ended up like this... It's so amusing, utterly amusing..."
Muttering to himself in a daze, Oren's eyes suddenly focused, and he replied coldly.
"But it's not enjoyable."
Thud!!
In that instant, the pitch-black shadow that rose from beneath Oren's feet enveloped the entire audience chamber once more and transformed its form.
The ceiling of the tree palace soared straight up into the sky, casting a massive shadow over the changing audience chamber.
Whoosh!!
Renok crossed his arms and silently gazed up at the shifting scenery of the tree palace.
To remodel his lair to this extent using incantations—sorcerers' domain-building abilities were indeed not to be underestimated.
"Family head!!"
"How can you be alone with an outsider like that...!!"
The Samyeong warriors, pushed out to the palace grounds, desperately called out the family head's name.
Oren ignored the shouts echoing from all sides and rose from his jade throne.
Flutter!!
The lavish feathered cloak draped over his shoulders resembled a crow's wings embroidered with sharp edges.
As he stepped forward, long wings sprouted from his back, lifting and shaking his body.
"For a condition proposed by someone who rolled in from outside the citadel, it's awfully presumptuous."
Sssss...
As he extended his hand, the shadows gathering at his feet transformed into a gnarled tree staff.
The moment he gripped the staff, Oren's mana surged outward, instantly pressing down on the vast palace grounds.
Wooooong!!
"I suppose I should confirm today if you have the skill to back it up."
A clear smile still lingered on Oren's face as he spoke.
Only then did Renok realize the emotion in Oren's expression and smirked.
"Samyeong family head. You've had no interest in the proposal I made from the start."
"..."
"You won't engage in any conversation without first testing my abilities?"
It wasn't incomprehensible. He couldn't decide to alter the family's long-held policy of cautious observation based on a few words alone.
But was it an illusion that the smile on Oren's lips seemed closer to combative spirit than mere curiosity?
"I've been curious for a long time about the level the cartel executives have reached."
Oren laid the staff horizontally in his hand and continued.
"That lightning glow you used to kill the defrocked monk... Show it to me right here, right now!!"
Wooooong!!
In that instant, the shadows in the audience chamber surged up all at once, swirled around Oren, and rotated.
Pulsing like sticky tar, they slowly but surely soaked the space, adding color to it.
Even Renok, who had some knowledge and sense of shadow magic, couldn't help but admire the manipulation skill.
A sorcerer who could handle mere traces and remnants of light with such freedom—this was the first Renok had encountered.
"I figured something like this might happen at some point."
Renok also drew up his mana and grinned.
"It was the right choice to come alone."
The mage with azure lightning flashing from both hands clashed with the Samyeong family head almost simultaneously.
Kaaaaang!!
The electric light exploding from his fingertips overlapped with the shadow's blast, slamming heavy shockwaves in all directions.
Rather than ending with one clash, the mana that should have escaped the sorcerer's control after manifestation lived and moved, splitting into dozens of lightning threads, then transforming into hundreds of shadow projectiles.
The relentless torrent of mana.
The two sorcerers twisted the mana in their hands, unconcerned by the sharp intents grazing their limbs mercilessly.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!
[Thunder Cascade]
[Shadow Beast Unleash: Obscurity]
The thick currents bursting between Renok's fingers traversed the air in the blink of an eye, turning into lightning streaking across the ground.
The shadow rising from Oren's feet rotated from all directions, morphed into the form of a massive beast, and charged forth.
The ground filled with shadows and the ceaseless lightning flashing in the air flickered and submerged endlessly, seizing each other's domains without a single step back.
Kakakaka!!!
Below his left knee. After deflecting an approaching shadow blade by bending three shields at right angles, he flipped his finger to slam a massive ice pillar behind him.
Dozens of shadow needles shot immediately after embedded between the ice pillars, transforming them into hundreds of ice crystals.
The chilling cold of mana crystals. Inhaling it without waste, he sharpened his mind once more.
By now, Renok's left eye had flipped to an intense violet.
'Tricky.'
The sequence of Oren's attacks and counters wasn't unexpectedly fierce or extreme.
But the shadow incantations themselves, mixing offense, checks, and counters thoroughly, changed in diverse and flexible ways, making Renok's responses difficult.
Sharp thorns extended from shadow spheres rising from the floor, and beast maws protruded from the thorn tips, snapping at Renok.
He understood and wielded the nature of shadows, which lacked fixed forms, better than anyone.
This wasn't just from long training and combat experience—it stemmed from Oren's innate free-thinking ability.
The privilege of shadow incantations: adhering strictly to the basics of combat needed for a sorcerer while freely twisting the direction at the end of an assault.
It was a combat logic quite different from Parden MacQueen, who preferred overwhelming with raw power despite his versatile abilities.
"And you boasted so loudly, but this is all you've got!!"
Not content with manipulating dozens of shadow clumps at his fingertips, Oren began closing the distance toward Renok directly.
Gasps rose from the other warriors watching with mouths agape, but Oren paid them no mind.
Kakakakaka!!
[Mystic Scythe]
Rather, with fluid movements that even surprised Renok slightly, he attached a massive scythe to the staff in his hand and began pressing the attack.
In the sudden close quarters, Renok didn't panic but snapped his fingers upward.
The ice crystals scattering from the shattered ice pillars exploded from all sides, scattering a storm of chilling cold like a blizzard.
Ting-ting-ting!!
"Huuuuh...!!!"
But instead of stopping, Oren inhaled deeply and threw himself into the raging cold storm from all directions.
Only then did Renok understand Oren's intent and smiled.
Kaaaaang!!
A massive ice spear descending from midair blocked Oren's shadow scythe.
Immediately after, ice lances of the same size surrounded and slammed down on Oren, forming a gigantic ice prison.
Gazing down at the shadow scythe that had come right to his nose, Renok muttered.
"Now I see—your way of thinking is closer to a warrior than a sorcerer. Or rather, you've lived as a warrior while possessing such incantation talent?"
He'd roughly guessed when he saw Hyeon, who had picked a fight with him at the Samyeong main house, but now he was certain.
Warrior's combat style and sorcerer's manipulation ability.
Oren, the Samyeong family head, was a superhuman who had perfected himself by reaching the pinnacle in both aspects.
"Interesting. Are all saint-class ability users in the citadel like this?"
"The fun hasn't ended yet, so what nonsense are you spouting!!"
Oren shouted, deforming the shadow blade into a massive hand.
The moment the shadow's grasp tried to seize and swallow Renok whole.
[Binding Explosion]
Kaaaaaaaang!!
The ice prison encasing Oren exploded entirely, unleashing a tremendous shockwave.
Renok tilted his shield to deflect the aftermath and said indifferently.
"But closing the distance means your movements become that much easier to predict. With that level of incantation ability, is there any reason to narrow your options yourself?"
For Renok, who had succeeded in visualizing branch point observation locally through his magic eye, it was nothing but a blunder.
But Oren showed no concern for the intense mana heat bursting around him.
Instead, the cloak draped over his shoulders rose like massive shadow wings, wrapping around and protecting his body.
Flutter!!
As Oren's body emerged from within the cloak, he spread his wings and soared into the sky.
Renok stared up at him and asked.
"If gauging my level is the goal, isn't this enough?"
Battles between superhumans who had reached the saint realm.
They couldn't end without drawing out considerable power from each other.
But adding domains or inner cosmoses to swing that power would leave no trace of this massive tree palace.
He was curious whether Oren's hierarchy, blending warrior and sorcerer prowess, had culminated in inner cosmos or domain—but Oren surely wasn't aiming for that either.
Oren, gazing down silently at Renok, twisted his lips faintly.
"...Fine. I see you have the qualifications for your arrogance."
He slowly laid the staff horizontally and muttered.
"Let's decide the victor with the next three exchanges."
Kiiiiik...!!
From the tip of the staff pointed at Renok, shadows twisted into a spiral lance shaft.
Seeing that, Renok immediately drew up his mana.
"No need for three."
Crackle-crackle!!
Dabi glowed from within his coat, assisting Renok's incantation, while the alchemical essence melted into his body responded, obeying his will.
Creation series unique magic: Alchemy application.
Double transmutation.
Crackle-crackle-crackle!!
The two streaks of lightning leaking from Renok's grasp twisted into a double helix, transforming into a harpoon the size of his forearm.
The intense brilliance that could blind eyes flashed.
The [Whirling Thunder], designed solely for penetration and afterimage, blended with the common magic [Alpha Light], taking on the form of a pure white aurora of extreme light.
Flaaaaaash!!!
The extraordinary brilliance cleared the shadows filling the courtyard, forcing even the shadows to retreat.
The warriors watching from all sides paled in an instant.
"..."
Oren's lip twitched momentarily, but neither sorcerer halted their incantations.
Intent raced through the air, claiming space, and mana followed a beat later.
The two lances, aimed in opposite directions from sky and ground, connected head to head like magnets.
Creeeeeak!!!
"Ugh...!!"
"Everyone, hold your positions!!"
The scene resembled light and shadow dividing the space into two lines.
The shock shattered the air crudely, sending heavy winds in all directions, while the other warriors struggled to secure their vision.
In that split second, Renok's composite magic, burrowing into the shadow lance, changed once more.
[Piercing Execution]
Rumble-rumble-rumble!!
A single streak of flash pierced straight through Oren's shadow mark, which struggled to maintain its form, penetrating to the end.
Rather than losing momentum, it accelerated in reverse, charging relentlessly toward Oren at close range.
"Hmm!!!"
By a hair's breadth, the lightning flash grazed Oren's shoulder, tore through the air, and soared into the sky.
The flash, surging unimpeded into the upper air, shattered the ceiling of the elevated tree palace, revealing the clear sky to the courtyard.
Flaaaaaash!!
Immediately after, the extreme light Renok had fired shattered in the sky, draping a small aurora over the tree palace.
"...!!!!"
Only then did Oren realize Renok's magic hadn't targeted him from the start, his eyes widening—but it was too late.
The sunlight projected by the extreme light began devouring Oren's shadow without mercy.
"I have some knowledge of shadows too."
Gazing up at Oren's frozen face, Renok muttered.
"Among all incantations, the specialty manipulation series is the most susceptible to environmental influence. You can cover the weakness, but you can't eliminate it, right?"
Unlike black magic, which drew out inner darkness, shadows were incantations realized using existing mediums as catalysts.
They were easier to manipulate than general black magic, with higher mana conductivity and better compatibility with special incantations.
Even accounting for that, their clear vulnerability to environmental constraints and sudden battlefield changes was a fact.
Weakening Oren's shadow right now wasn't the issue.
Renok had essentially shown Oren directly that he could overturn the board with a single gesture here.
Oren, suddenly stripped of all his incantation mediums and left defenseless.
The warriors began to move as well.
"You insolent fool!!"
"Protect the family head!"
"Stop!!"
The slackened air tensed to the extreme in an instant.
But Oren's shout halted everything.
"F-Family head...?"
"Why... that mage..."
"No one move."
Ignoring everything else around him, he stared at the floor of the tree palace where the shadows had vanished.
Even filling the sky with brilliant extreme light, as long as objects existed, shadows couldn't be avoided.
But what if the faint remaining shadows formed a specific pattern?
Combining the remnants of the real aurora with the invisible flow of mana would conjure one image in the mind.
The form of a shark-headed dragon.
The remnant of one of the gods worshipped by the Gido Order.
Along with the world-end tree pattern left by the black mage Craig, another symbol that had existed.
Renok had deliberately revealed a portion of his knowledge to Oren.
The true identity of the force manipulating things from behind this citadel.
"..."
How much did Oren know?
Having received the message Renok just conveyed, how much had he guessed?
Was he, as Renok thought, the right person to freely stir this rigid citadel's stage?
Renok's deep gaze met Oren's.
"Heh heh heh..."
Letting out a sinister chuckle, Oren released the staff he held.
The staff scattered and vanished into the shadows.
Sighing deeply as he looked down at it, he slowly descended to the ground.
"I've gotten old too. In the past, I would've seen it through to the end every time something like this happened."
The shadow wings fluttering from his shoulders showed no disarray.
Even under the intense sunlight pouring into the courtyard below, the shadows he controlled maintained a solid form, unaffected by the environment.
Separate from his surprise at Renok's extreme light, it was proof that Oren had perfected his incantations to a level largely immune to environmental influence.
But despite wielding such power and status, his expression remained complex.
"Follow me."
Oren turned his back and headed toward the rear of the audience chamber, with Renok slowly following behind.