Chapter 284 |
A car-sized block of ice hurtled through the sky before crashing mercilessly to the ground.
In the midst of chilling winds where heavy ice shards fell like hail, the two superhumans unleashed their full mana.
"Haaaaah!!!!"
Thick wooden vines surged from beneath the ruined mansion's foundation and lashed out violently at Renok.
This was not mere plant manipulation; these were vines that had been cultivated and hardened through meticulous mana infusion.
Their density far surpassed that of ordinary steel, and the leaves bore edges sharper than any blade.
Like a giant's fist, five branching vines extended from a massive wooden arm, whipping at Renok and slashing through the air like a lash.
Thud thud thud thud thung!!
Renok did not just block with a shield; he drew forth violet chains from all directions and swung them wildly.
[Eightfold Emission Overlap]
[Multi-Unification]
Charrarararak!!!
Eight chains of gravity erupted from every side, seizing the wooden arm from multiple angles and using its own weight against it to drag it toward the ground.
The brute strength matched its enormous bulk, and its speed with those vines was unbelievably swift.
The shockwaves that poured from every swing of Ibon's arm were not for show.
Kwaaang!!
Shockwaves and noise overlapped endlessly, resounding like a majestic waterfall that echoed everywhere.
"To dare challenge the main house alone...!!"
With one hand manipulating the massive wooden arm she had raised, Ibon formed hand seals with the other in an instant.
Renok spotted it and immediately hurled a bolt of falling thunder at her, but Ibon completed her incantation just as swiftly and sneered.
"I'll make you realize right here how arrogant that decision was."
Jjeojeok!!
At that moment, at the base of the eight-story mansion's lowest pillar—where the basement would be—cracks suddenly spiderwebbed out, and something heavy began to rise from below.
A colossal wooden giant, several times the size of an ordinary human.
Its upper body resembled a human's, but its lower half was bound to the earth by thick roots as it glared at Renok.
[Grooooaaar!!]
It pounded its house-sized fists together, sending out a fierce shockwave that scattered the falling ice chunks like hail.
Even Renok, who deflected the blast in front of him and countered, let out a sharp laugh.
"So that's why the mansion didn't collapse even after I shattered the sewer line. It was propping up the entire structure?"
"Confirm it with your own body!!"
Thud thud thud thud!!
As the wooden giant raised both hands overhead, thick tendons burst from its root-bound lower half and began to absorb all the earthly energy from the ground.
The soil cracked and withered in an instant, but in contrast, waves of power rapidly gathered in the giant's hands.
Whiiing!!!
It concentrated the region's geokinetic force into a focused bombardment.
Taking it head-on would have cost Renok no small amount of mana.
In other circumstances, he might have twisted the force aside, but there was no need in this situation.
The area was littered with objects to aid his mobility.
Kagagak!!
With a flick of his finger, a long sheet of ice that skidded through the air rushed toward Renok.
He leaped onto the ice sheet gliding over the frozen ground, linked himself to it with mana threads, and then charged straight across the terrain.
"Turn to dust!!"
With Ibon's resounding declaration, the light gathered above the wooden giant split into hundreds of beams and rained down on the ground.
Thud thud thud thud thud!!!
Chunks of thick ice scattered, intertwining with the immense heat in a downpour that painted the earth like hell.
On ground too chaotic for any bare body to stand for even a moment, Renok alone rode his ice sheet, weaving through the waves of heat.
Kwaaaah!!
Amid the flames that scorched the earth with geokinetic fury, a small, mana-condensed ice sheet bobbed and accelerated rapidly.
Even in the storm of heat and cold that made it impossible to see ahead, Renok's movements never faltered.
In Renok's vision, red and blue auras spun wildly and formed a vivid violet magic eye.
Until then, Renok's lack of mobility had been due to the aftereffects of mana addiction syndrome.
If he could resolve that issue even briefly, plotting an optimal path anywhere was no challenge.
Chwaaak!!
Renok plunged under the wooden giant's roots in an instant, released the mana threads in his hand, and formed hand seals with both.
Creation-series unique magic
[Freezing Formation]
[Liquid Casting Transmutation]
A high-difficulty spell that required hand seals and incantation.
But in this moment, it was worth the cost.
As the seals and incantation built simultaneously, thick ice chunks scattered everywhere shot toward the wooden giant.
Along with them, the ice masses reshaped like molten iron on the spot, binding the giant's limbs and forming a massive prison.
[Frost Dominion Binding Realm]
Jjeojeok!!
The thick ice bars twisted, ensnaring the wooden giant and spreading chill deep into its core, freezing it solid.
Realizing that not only its movements were restrained but also the roots' absorption of geokinetic energy had slowed, the giant let out a desperate roar.
[Grrrrraaaah!!]
Kuuuung!!
"You...!!"
Panicking, Ibon tried to tear away the bars to free the wooden giant, but Renok's incantation was not over.
Pajijijik...!
Between the shadow veil that blanketed the mansion's sky, a pure white bolt of lightning flashed.
Lightning-series unique magic attribute shift.
[White Fall]
The brilliant white flash twisted and spun, striking the wooden giant's crown.
Kwaaaaah!!!
A dazzling pillar of light pierced the giant's head in an instant, burning straight to its roots.
"Kyaaaah!!"
Ibon Family Head, caught in the radiant white barrage, screamed in shock.
The excess firepower that pierced the giant vertically reached even Renok, who watched from below the roots.
Renok seized the remnants of the falling thunder that crashed before him and scattered them everywhere.
Cold air.
The white currents riding the ice shards' debris swept through the mansion grounds in an instant.
As if searching for something.
'Where is it?'
Ibon Family Head's condition was not great; that much was clear.
During her escape via Amrita's Scale, the cult's translocation ritual, Renok's interference must have wounded her.
Yet she dragged this out without borrowing Walter's power—what did that mean? Renok already knew the answer.
The hidden sanctuary in Ibon's ruins. And Walter, who had not shown himself yet.
Before the proselytizer could unleash a greater catastrophe through the old world ruins, everything had to be settled.
"Baaaaan!!"
Ibon Family Head's desperate cry toward Renok.
Ignoring her outburst cleanly to focus on the search, Renok suddenly sensed a stark dissonance in her demeanor and nodded.
"I see."
For Ibon Family Head's personality, charging in to attack Renok even at the roots would have been no surprise.
Yet instead of rushing, she only wailed desperately—what did that signify?
Directly beneath where the wooden giant had stood.
Deep in Ibon Family Head's mansion basement. Even deeper in the sublevels.
[Sink Hole]
Tudung!!
Beneath the wooden giant's bisected corpse, the earth split, relentlessly digging through damp soil.
As the soil and root remnants churned rapidly, a fragment of a golden barrier emerged, and Renok smiled.
"Found it."
Only then did Ibon Family Head charge at Renok in haste, but it was too late.
Pajijik...!!
A strike precisely targeting the golden barrier's perimeter curved and fired.
An electric barrage aimed solely at Walter, impossible to evade if meddling nearby, swept the underground.
"Nooooooo!!!"
Ibon Family Head wailed desperately and dashed toward the hidden ruins.
But what emerged from the heavy dust was not the bishop's shattered corpse.
Kwaaaaah!!
From impossibly high in the sky, a blinding radiance struck the ruins, repelling Renok's magic entirely.
"...!!"
"Walter!!"
And before the pillar of light, Walter stood with a benevolent smile.
"Did it... succeed...?!!"
Ibon stammered.
"The citadel lord's authority at last...!!"
"Yes. It's breached."
Backlit by the erupting brilliance, Walter smiled softly.
"Truly, blood ties are not to be underestimated. A body little more than a corpse, revived briefly just by infusing a son's blood... In this world where miracles breathe, nothing is impossible."
He extended a hand slowly toward the light pillar and continued.
"Behold. The traces of the old world... The rift in this stifling reality!! This is proof that we, as beings closest to the divine, can draw near to god!!"
"...I see."
Renok nodded.
"Traces of the old world. Sending signals beyond through cracks in the closed world... So that's your 'proselytization'?"
The spacetime-disrupted ruins. The sanctuary managed by the citadel was essentially a rift in the closed world.
Walter's proselytization meant propagating the cult's will to the outer sea through such sanctuaries, communing with the apocalyptic entities they revered.
That explained their efforts to unseal the sanctuary's security barrier.
The information coalescing in Renok's mind sorted itself, filling gaps and forming a natural conclusion.
"Such sanctuaries, one per citadel's three families... Unlikely to be natural occurrences."
Given the city council's deep involvement in the citadel's continuity, it was not impossible.
The origins of Balkan's shadows. Why the triad had their hierarchy guaranteed until now.
The truth of how this world reached this state began to reveal itself to Renok's eyes.
"You're not surprised. Understandable."
Walter chuckled.
"A mage who completed the hierarchy would roughly grasp what my words imply."
"..."
"Aren't you curious about the end of human limits in greed and the defiance of fate through tyranny?"
Walter spread his arms toward Renok.
"Join the cult. We can walk together."
"Walter!!! What are you saying?!?"
The battered Ibon Family Head bellowed.
"Kill that bastard now!!"
But no one heeded her desperate shout.
The sky darkened by the shadow veil. The pale pillar of light crashing down.
Amid the shattered mansion ruins, Walter looked down at Renok.
With an unnaturally radiant smile, he said.
"Among the mages I've seen lately, you're the most exceptional. Wasting that great talent on this withered citadel borders on sin!"
"If that's your view, you've misjudged me."
Renok laughed.
"I don't act for the Eightfold Star Citadel. I'm merely seeking the right answer for myself between this world's end and its continuation."
"Then you must come with me all the more!"
Walter exclaimed gleefully.
"Come to the cult headquarters with me, and I'll reveal everything. The truth of this world, the ascenders' follies, the proper path to the future!!"
"No. I don't need it."
Renok shook his head calmly.
"I couldn't agree with the cult's answers from the start. Worshiping outer sea monsters as gods and entrusting fate to their paltry mercy isn't an answer."
"..."
"It's mere respite. Not from the approaching future, but from one's own choices."
Looking up at the silent Walter, Renok slowly raised his mana.
"This world doesn't seem suited for sweet dreams."