Chapter 290 |
The Common Magic System did have a movement spell called Blink, even on Dexter.
However, it wasn't true spatial translocation in the genuine sense. Instead, it worked by filling the body with mana and propelling the user forward at high speed.
If used with a wall blocking the path ahead, it was an unstable incantation that could crush and burst the body without a second thought.
On top of that, filling the entire body's muscle fibers with mana meant bearing the aftereffects of Mana Addiction Syndrome across the whole form.
That was why Renok hadn't bothered with the Common Magic's [Blink] even after securing enough mana to use it.
But the spatial leap Renok was envisioning now was different.
Just as Enakpil's Five Fingers transported Renok, it would precisely capture the space where Renok existed and move it wholesale.
With this method, there would be no mana lingering in the body, allowing evasion maneuvers without worrying about mana addiction.
"There's still a lot to solve... but I've definitely taken the first step."
Considering how much mana and mental power a very localized spatial manipulation had consumed, it would require no small amount of further research and time investment.
But the fact that it wasn't mere intuition-based coincidence—that he could clearly recognize space as a concept and manipulate it as an incantation system—held tremendous significance for Renok.
From the time he first opened his eyes in this world, when even floating a flame on his fingertip had been difficult.
How many events had transpired until he could finally perceive the components of the world?
He sensed that he could advance further. He could grow much more.
He intuitively sensed that the path to ascension before him had not yet been severed.
This single proof had confirmed it for him.
As Renok let out a light sigh and tried to revert the twisted spatial fragments,
Shiiiiiik!!!
The space in his hand rapidly returned to its original state, and an enormous amount of heat began to pour out.
Kwaaaang!!
The flames bursting from Renok's hand pierced straight through the corridor of the abandoned building, shattering everything around.
Renok, who had instantly raised a shield to withstand the backlash, scanned the traces of destruction with surprised eyes.
Dabi, who had finally spoken up after climbing onto Renok's head, said,
[It seems the friction heat from the spatial manipulation's side effect condensed and exploded.]
"...Friction heat?"
[I found a similar case when I secretly hacked into the citadel lord's access rights and recorded it. Would you like to see it?]
With that, Dabi raised a front paw and projected a transparent hologram before Renok's eyes.
The rooftop of a building. The space that should have been a helipad cracked open, and people walked out from within.
Large-scale spatial translocation. A technique commonly known as teleportation.
But just before the spatial rift closed, it twisted strangely and emitted an eerie heat.
The massive heat pouring from it began melting human flesh on the spot.
"..."
[The cause is presumed to be friction heat between isolated spaces due to failure to control the spatial twist.]
"I see..."
[It's a spatial element technique, and one handling central coordinates rather than personal ones, so it's the mistake of a highly skilled sorcerer. Cases like this are extremely rare.]
So, it was a side effect from the blunder of spatial sorcerers capable of handling worldline coordinates themselves.
Not only did Renok lack that level of skill, but in this city, even those who could handle spatial incantations were hard to find, so it made sense that the data was exceedingly scarce.
Renok nodded, recalling a similar phenomenon from his memories in an instant.
"So that's why the Ibon family head and the proselytizer looked in poor condition. Being exposed to firepower like this would cause a sharp drop in combat ability, no surprise there."
Amrita's Scale, the incantation that sacrificed lives for spatial movement. He'd thought overloading the incantation itself might cause issues, but he hadn't anticipated this phenomenon.
"Looking at it this way, my understanding of space still feels insufficient. Is the sensation different when using it as an artifact versus direct interference...?"
[I think the direction is correct, but to reduce trial and error, we might need more data.]
"Indeed, I can't learn incantations while tanking friction heat with my body..."
But rather than dwelling on the risks, Renok had a completely different idea and clapped his palms together.
"If I handle this right, it could even be weaponized."
[...]
"The power itself is weaker than pyrothermal magic, but for exploiting perceptual gaps, it seems pretty useful, doesn't it?"
Forcibly failing spatial manipulation and turning the aftermath into a weapon.
The kind of idea a mad wizard, not a mad scientist, would have.
Dabi silently swished its tail and smacked the back of Renok's head.
*
Renok only left the abandoned building after demonstrating spatial perception and manipulation a few more times.
It took some time to erase the traces so no one would notice the friction heat from the failed spatial manipulation and handle the aftermath, but there were no issues.
The sky had already darkened. He walked the shadowy night streets, gazing at the low-hanging moonlight.
Even as he walked, Renok continued discussing spatial manipulation with Dabi.
As a cyberbrain spirit, Dabi could directly access the megacity's various databases and was adept at compiling or organizing given information.
It had played a major role in classifying the magic Renok used and quantifying specifics like mana consumption or incantation speed.
While it couldn't engage in high-level deliberations on magic through debate like with Aris, it was more than sufficient for helping compare the efficiency of concepts or theories Renok conceived.
[Mana consumption is much higher than expected. Comparing peak output alone, it's on par with the highest-grade destruction spells you use, master.]
"It's hard to worry about efficiency right away. First, I need to focus on expanding the manipulable spatial range."
[If you expand the manipulation range to include your body, simple calculations show 94% mana depletion after just two activations.]
"...If that's the best, then no choice."
For now, the goal was to extend the spatial manipulation range enough to encompass Renok's body.
Once he surpassed that benchmark, he could invest in reducing mana consumption and manipulation speed for efficiency.
Establishing an explicit system and familiarizing himself with the process would naturally lower mana use and incantation speed.
"Space translocation itself isn't aimed at long distances anyway."
He just wanted to resolve the lack of mobility that even saint-realm ascenders hadn't addressed.
A few meters per use would suffice. With that level of mobility, Renok's combat prowess would advance by leaps and bounds.
The key was compressing the process for practical short-range spatial leaps in battle while minimizing mana consumption.
If he could reduce it to about a sixth-level high mage's mana cost, it might serve as a finishing move mid-combat.
If efficiency improved further, using Blink dozens of times in battle wouldn't be impossible.
It was close to fantasy now, but the mere possibility was something.
Before researching the citadel ruins, such a thing had been utterly inconceivable, but now Renok dreamed of it with clear hope.
"Should I have paid more attention to gathering time-related artifacts...?"
At least, if he'd manipulated time a bit with items, the gains from the ruins wouldn't have been so meager.
He had some promising acquisitions, but the regret was inevitable.
After all, time's power might play a decisive role in resolving the fundamental penalty Renok inherently bore.
[Your artifacts now weren't exactly sought out deliberately either, master.]
Dabi replied in its crisp tone.
[It might be best to accept the statistical data that time-related items are extremely rare.]
"..."
Renok silently reached into his coat and fiddled with Dabi's small snout.
As Dabi twisted in protest inside the coat, it suddenly came to its senses and said,
[Master. A message arrived.]
"What?"
Renok normally turned off all phone notifications, setting Dabi to react only to a few critical emergency contacts.
In this line of work, he couldn't afford to botch things because of phone alerts.
For Dabi to react despite that meant...
[Recorded message: Evelyn Marcia]
"..."
Renok's gaze sank low as he looked at the name.
He'd been planning to seek out Evelyn soon anyway, but he hadn't expected her to leave a message first.
Now that he knew the ruins' secrets and the apostles' existence through Walter Martinez, sharing info with her was the best move.
Since they both knew they were in Blue Eye, a more serious discussion should be possible...
With that thought, Renok held the phone to his ear and pressed play.
[Ban, are you listening? Sorry for leaving a message like this.]
Evelyn's smooth voice flowed out immediately.
[I heard what happened at the Eightfold Star Citadel. I planned to enter the citadel around when you finished the proxy battle, but I had to leave the city suddenly and couldn't explain. But it was urgent, so no choice.]
After a slight hesitation, she continued.
[Blue Eye issued a mobilization order. Lapis is gathering watchers from various places herself. Something big seems to be brewing on the Northern Continent, but I don't know details until I hear more.]
[I'll enter the beacon soon, and contact might not work well after, so I'm saying this now.]
A brief silence, then Evelyn spoke.
[Recently, the city council's movements have been suspicious. If info isn't reaching my ears properly, it's probably national defense or diplomacy related, but I don't know exactly.]
"..."
[You might not be able to leave the city before the mobilization order reaches you. Delete this message immediately upon confirmation, and if that happens—]
Tuk-!
Renok, walking with the phone to his ear, halted abruptly.
Understanding the ominous gesture, Dabi immediately drew up mana, and Renok calmly scanned the surroundings.
The dark night street flickered only with garish neon signs.
No passersby, just a chill wind brushing his thick coat.
Only then did Renok lean against a nearby wall and shake his head slightly.
'They were waiting from the start.'
He hadn't anticipated this right after leaving the Hexafold Citadel.
Moreover, this area was much closer to the central urban district than Balkan's outskirts.
He hadn't thought they'd set an ambush in a place fully under the city government's watch...
At that thought, a man in goggles burst from the wall Renok had leaned against, swinging a dagger.
Kagagak!!
Sharp mana light sparked like teeth between the jagged blades of the dagger.
Not to break Renok's shield, but to tear through the gap and strike his true body beyond.
But Renok's hand, slipping through the shattered shield, seized the man's jaw first.
[Bolt]
Pajijijik!!!
"......!!"
The man's body convulsed from the intense current seeping directly under his jaw, then went limp.
Unyielding endurance, not even a whimper.
His arm tingled from the forced quick motion. Shaking his wrist, Renok swiftly searched the man's pockets.
Seeing the unidentified full-body suit, Renok's expression hardened slightly.
'Not ordinary gear. Military?'
Faint mana circuits flowed through the entire suit, and embedded special elements were still interfering with visual capture of the man's form.
Considering how he'd emerged from the wall Renok had leaned against, it likely had phasing capabilities too.
Hard to tell if it was the man's ability or the suit's power.
With one sample insufficient, he'd need to gather more data.
Renok quickly turned his gaze, projecting mana into the empty street. Faint presences stirred within his heightened sensory domain.
Over ten in number. Hiding in buildings and streets, holding their breath, waiting for their target.
Spreading distance to avoid wipeout, varying altitudes. Evenly placing vanguard and rearguard, meticulously dividing the front line for encirclement.
Renok pondered, slipping his hand into his sleeve.
'The spatial positioning is meticulously precise... Impossible without intense training.'
Regardless of individual strength, superhumans forming groups for organization required training.
Separate from personal combat ability, learning group tactics had little relation to a warrior's talent.
The faint killing intent echoing through the street was that of hunters seasoned by such training.
Chiiik!
Renok lit another cigarette, gripped his revolver, and walked on.
Six steps ahead. As he passed a closed storefront block, the manhole underfoot exploded, and two people lunged from below.
Vanguard grabbing at his legs from beneath.
Immediately after, support fire from upper floors of front and rear buildings tightened the escape routes.
Dududududu!!!
[Support fire complete. Impact confirmed. Post-engagement review needed.]
[Visibility zero. Base sign lost. Second vanguard annihilated!]
[......!!]
The shattered neon glow faded, plunging the street into darkness.
The hidden ones flipped down infrared projection goggles to light their vision, but all they saw beyond was their bloodied, fallen comrades.
[...Target coordinates lost. Third vanguard engagement prep. Data acquisition rate?]
[Under 10%. Operation impossible with remaining forces.]
[Proceed.]
A resolute voice rang over the radio.
[No retreat. Secure Firm Thunder data here, no matter—]
Taang!!
[Foxtrot......!!]
The radio chatter turned chaotic as one sniper, focused on Renok with rifle raised, slumped forward, blood spraying from his brow.
Kwachik!
Renok, eavesdropping on the voices through Dabi, muttered,
"Found you."
Kneeling on one knee, he shouldered the sniper rifle, peering through the scope.
[Scanning structures within 50m radius complete. 3D schematic rendered. Firing angle calculation initiated. Auto-shooting algorithm secured.]
[All detected snipers confirmed firing possible at present.]
Kkiriik......!
As he slowly pulled the trigger, a subtle inky glow settled over the rifle's long barrel, assisting the shot.
[Aim Correction]
[Trajectory Adjustment]
[Ricochet Fire]
[Projection Scaling]
[Friction Reduction]
....
Charrrruk!!
Over eight types of shooting aid magic poured onto the rifle.
Despite the overload far beyond capacity limits, the barrel didn't waver.
[Silence]
With the silencing magic, the bullet streaking from the muzzle carried a dense shadowy aura.
Fired at speed beyond sound, it curved into the roadside drain on the ground.
Tutterturtung!!!
Bouncing over a dozen times inside the sewer without losing momentum, the ricochet reversed toward the building rooftop.
Moments later, the head of one sniper fixated on Renok tilted forward.
Kwachik!