hotmtlnovel Chapter 67
Chapter 67
Area 55. Sluice gate number 4 in the southern subterranean waterway.
Even in the 50th district, which was mostly abandoned in the city government’s development plan, the 55th district was supposed to be developed as a new water source for the city.
As a result, most of the district was designed with a focus on vast underground waterways, and even after the development plan was suspended, traces of it remained.
With no one to manage it, I walk all the way along the drifting water.
After passing through the empty site where the cold wind blew, I found the entrance down to the sewer.
As I grabbed the iron ladder with my gloved hand, I felt a faint chill.
Moss frozen wet sewage. A cold metal ladder that would freeze you if you grabbed it, and a chill that pierced your nostrils.
In the darkness where not even a small light comes in except for the entrance in the ceiling.
Only the flame of the tobacco in his mouth dimly illuminated the scene right in front of him.
If you use Magic Perception, there will be no restrictions on your five senses, but I decided to wait a little longer until my eyes adapt to the darkness.
The environment was desolate enough to make one suspect that he had entered a dungeon rather than a city.
Ordinary people would not be able to survive a day in a place like this, but the convenience of common magic will reveal its true value at times like these.
Warming the air around him and dulling his sense of smell only slightly improves Lennok’s senses.
After adding a shield on top of it, there was no way for the warmth to escape.
Tak Tak!
It was only after patting the ground with the feet of the sewer that I slowly moved on.
The damp moisture settled down and froze, making the floor quite slippery.
“I said it was an unidentified pillar...”
Looking back on Weian’s words, it is highly likely that what Dray suffered was some kind of barrier technique hung on the pillar.
It would be a way to prevent intruders from rashly touching the pillar, and to place a curse on a specific person on the condition that they take a specific action.
There is no way to win.
That such a pillar appeared at this time when the black magicians were holding their breath.
And, of course, at this point, the mercenary office received a request related to the pillar.
Are you intentionally leaking information? Or is it the design of someone who wants to prevent danger in advance?
In what direction will this problem, accidentally discovered in a power struggle between a city government agent and a black magician, turn the situation around?
“.........”
Even if you think about it alone, the answer will not come out.
You won’t be able to decide what to do next without first checking that it’s that pillar.
‘I put in contact with Evelyn. If I retrieve it and leave it to the investigation, I’ll be able to find out something.’
While Lennok thought so, he slowly raised his mana and spread it widely.
The magical powers that flow through the complex underground canal and become Lennok’s senses quickly read the road and engrave the information into his brain as it is.
Lennok moved slowly while checking the scene of the underground canal that was drawn like a map in his head.
Wei’an remembered where he had received the request, but he did not know where he had found the pillar.
It’s probably because Dray’s memory got confused as he quickly escaped the place after getting injured.
Of course, Lennok wouldn’t forget anything under such circumstances, but he couldn’t hold other people up to his standards.
Rather, it was right to see that the dedication of the office mercenaries, who safely took the team members out of the situation without additional losses, shone.
In the end, Lennok had no choice but to find it himself, whether he checked it within reach of his magic power sensor or jumped with his feet.
[Kiiiii...]
[Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaae [Kiiiii...!!]
Of course, it was also Lennok’s job to deal with the flying flies.
Bang bang
with groundwater !
[Reload Acceleration]
I put six bullets into the cylinder in an instant and raised the revolver.
Three spheres of unidentified shadows running towards Lennok are shot down by flames that rise in an instant and roll down across the sewer.
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
The word that a request came in to the mercenary office means that there is something left in it that needs to be dealt with.
And the object to be dealt with was not just the pillar.
Bodies dumped in an underground waterway and machines of unknown purpose.
The deep morale and grudge mixed in it unite together to give power to and revive those who have already lost their lives and engines.
As a result, the ghosts roaming the underground aqueduct were so bizarre that even Lennok’s strong reason could not stand his annoyance.
A corpse approaching, wielding a rotten arm that doesn’t move well in the cold air... Just looking at something similar to a ghoul makes me feel tired.
Even using magical power is a luxury.
If they shot their heads and pushed them off before they even got close to the shield, those that were once pushed down the sewer never came back.
‘At this point, it should be enough to be caught by the detection...’
As we enter the deep inside of the sewer, the spacious passage gradually turns into a narrow cylindrical shape.
The only thing that remained unchanged was the frozen stale water flowing down the center of the canal and the small sidewalks on either side.
As you go deeper, the waterways are branched out and diverged, and the main road gradually loses its shape and begins to take on the shape of dozens of branched branches.
Area 55 is a vast area that is within three fingers of its width alone among the areas of the 50th.
Even if the search continued with the number 4 gate as the standard, there was a limit to the range of Lennok’s magical power detection.
Of course, the radius was so vast that it was unthinkable at the level of an ordinary wizard, but if it still doesn’t fall under Lennok’s sensory sphere, maybe there’s something wrong with it.
I didn’t think it would have moved that far from the Krimgal Mercenary Office.
In the end, Lennok, who was worried, slowly turned around and started walking back the way he had come.
‘I can think of two possibilities.’
Lennok’s head spins rapidly, drawing conclusions that can be drawn from this situation.
‘It could have been hidden by a high degree of concealment, or someone else might have retrieved the pillar.’
We cannot ignore the possibility that other mercenaries or officials noticed the existence of the pillar and used their hands while Dray was in a coma.
Although Lennok had assumed this possibility to some extent from the beginning, he still had no choice but to go this far in order to personally confirm it.
However, if a security spell powerful enough to curse a mercenary the size of Dray was placed on it, it would mean that it must exist inside the waterway.
It is more plausible to speculate that it is still hidden within the canal than to have been recovered.
‘I’ll have to look around the water gate one more time. If I can’t find it this time, I have no choice but to hand it over to the agent.’
If there was an urgent need to work on the pillars, I would have to search the other sluice gates in the vicinity to find at least a trace, but I didn’t have the time to invest.
Location tracking through dummy data mixed with cryptographic keys.
A second operation based on the results is scheduled for a week later.
Considering that the operation started outside the city, there were not one or two things to prepare.
Thinking so, Lennok looked down at the huge torrent of water that flowed through sluice gate number four.
Aaaaaaa!!
The water, gathered together in countless waterways numbering hundreds of branches, pierces the damp air and flows down.
Despite the cool air of the underground waterway, the water once flowing does not freeze.
Despite the lack of development, the underground aqueducts in Area 55 still collect all kinds of wastewater from all over the Balkans, and endlessly discharge the filth out of the city.
Considering that pollutants form in uninhabited lands, including undeveloped areas, it was not so strange.
Invisible problems are always put on the back burner, and slow deterioration is quickly forgotten.
‘I can’t see it... I can’t see it.....’
Lennok, who found a new question in his thoughts, suddenly woke up and waved his hands.
[Aqua Control]
So to speak, a common magic created to control a small stream of water.
However, at the moment of using magic, it is modified in various ways, greatly increasing the existing magic tolerance and greatly increasing the controllable quantity.
As a result.
Kwagwagwa!!!
The floodgates that flowed like a mighty river split the waterway on both sides, revealing the bottom.
Even though he succeeded in splitting a river with his bare hands, Lennok’s expression is calm.
Lennok’s gaze, which quickly scanned the bottom of the sluice gate, was fixed on the bottom of the protruding waterway.
In the midst of them, Lennok found a bright silver stake and finally relaxed his expression and smiled.
Awesome...!!
As soon as Lennok catches sight of it, unknown characters engraved on the surface of the pillar disappear with a bizarre sound.
At the same time, the negative magic power filled in the pillar leaked out explosively and began to wet the sewer all over.
Hey ...
‘It’s not a bad result.’
In the case of certain magic or spells, the more stringent the conditions are, the stronger the effect becomes exponentially.
The person who installed this pillar must have greatly improved the function of the concealment technique under the condition of being ‘invisible’ and evaded magic detection.
After the Krimgal mercenary office left, I thought that maybe they might have moved the pillar instead of recovering it, so I tried it, but the result was certain.
‘There weren’t that many options left... but anyway, this is it.’
coo!!
Dig up the ground with impact magic, pull out a pole with magnetic control, and lift it into the air.
It looks more like a stake than a pillar.
However, the densely carved letters and shapes of magic circles on its surface clearly show that this object is by no means a simple iron stake.
If you think about it simply, black magic. It would be correct to think that it was also for some process that inevitably had to be done in the city.
If you sit here right now and analyze the stakes, it wouldn’t be impossible to figure out anything with Lennok’s eyes...
‘It would be much more efficient to quickly hand it over to Evelyn and have him look for other pillars.’
It cannot be guaranteed that there will be only one such pillar.
According to the magic theory that Lennok had learned so far, the magic that proceeds using objects in this way often involves a wide range of objects or large-scale processes, and requires a large amount of preparations.
If this was really the result of a collaboration between a warlock and a terrorist organization, it wouldn’t be strange if these pillars were hidden all over the city.
‘fun.’
For Lennok, who has transcendent resistance to designated spells, this type of curse and spell cannot have any effect.
So Lennok was genuinely curious about what they were up to with the unapproachable institution of power that was the city government.
If they had declared war in such an unconventional way, they must have believed to some extent, and they thought that they could at least partially predict the odds, so they would have started.
Personally, I wanted Lennok to see and learn from their behavior.
Lennok had never thought of the city government of Balkan as a reliable ally.
Now that the pillar has been found, the immediate business in the underground water canal is over.
After handing this over to Evelyn, the agent will investigate this and later explore the traces left at the site.
Thinking so, the moment Lennok turned his head in the direction of the water gate exit.
In an instant, a strong presence appeared in Lennok’s sensory sphere.
A sudden and sudden appearance, as if a spark suddenly rose from the air.
[Lururu~ Lalala~~ Uluru~~]
At the same time, a leisurely hum is heard from the far darkness.
jerk jerk.
With the sound of slow footsteps, someone appeared through the murmur of the water gate and the low darkness.
A sword hung at the waist. A loose-fitting suit that didn’t go well with him.
Pale skin showing through the collar.
Most notable of all is the joint in the form of an android that is placed on top of the neck instead of a human head.
Only the red eyes shining faintly beyond the visor that covered the eyes only helped to infer the direction of that line of sight.
The robot head inspector, who was humming along, stopped when he saw Lennok.
A natural mechanical sound that was infinitely closer to human voice came out.
[Ah, I suddenly felt a strange magic power, so when I came back, there was a new customer.] After
saying that, he nodded with satisfaction.
[Thank you so much for this. I couldn’t eat anything for half a day and I was just rummaging in this gutter. I never thought it would be hiding right under the floodgates. Thanks to that, work has decreased.]
“Work decreased?”
[okay. My client told me to get that very thing. How much more money to throw at a subject that wants crap. What if you threw me in this filthy cold town and told me to take care of it? Funny bastards.]
“.........”
[But it can be said that Manson’s professional spirit is to faithfully provide the service that customers want. In that sense, I’ll take that pillar.]
.....He’s talking about a man with a steel head, as if a screw has come off somewhere.
Lennok didn’t reply, he was lost in thought, then he remembered something and asked.
“Are you the one called Mad Manson among freelancers? I think I heard the name together with the striker.”
Lennok’s magic control ability is already far beyond the level of other ordinary wizards.
There was no way that only the consumables of a Freelancer could do something that other wizards couldn’t even dream of.
In order to interfere with his magical power, you really have to bring a treasure called a relic.
If so, it is highly likely that this phenomenon of meddling with his magic is indirectly changing the environment around the area rather than directly targeting the wizard Lennok.
“Is it a way to slow down the movement of magic itself so that the magic composition slowly collapses? Considering that it is not designated as a target, it is not something that was intentionally created.”
Lennok concluded as he placed his hand on his waist.
“Super power. Or, it must have contained the efficacy of a unique animal and plant equivalent to it. If it’s something that can be useful in battle like this, the price must be exorbitant.”
[..........]
Hearing Lennox’s words, Manson stopped his babbling for the first time and looked at him.
[what? My head is spinning so well that it would be a shame to kill it here. It’s also the fact that he found the pillar before me...]
“..........”
Manson, who was tapping his hard jaw with the sword resting on his shoulder, said.
[Don’t you want to work with me? I don’t know who got the request and jumped into this job, but there’s no point in surviving here anyway. My client is a very high person.]
“A high person?”
[okay. There’s so much more to do besides this, I personally wish there was at least one smarter guy like you. If you say you want to come under me, I might be able to talk to the client well.] He’s
a high-ranking person...
Manson didn’t bother to tell the client’s name here, but Lennok, who knew roughly what was going on, immediately said that. I noticed the identity of the employee.
‘It seems that Reisen smelled it and rushed at it.’
Does Evelyn know about this? Whether the agent knew or did not know that he was moving in a different direction from Reisen and whether an alternative was prepared was more important than I thought.
It seemed that it shouldn’t take any longer.
The mad
Lennok didn’t respond anymore, but gestured silently, and Manson, who recognized the gesture, let out a deep sigh.
[Haa..... That’s why talking to people who think they’re proud is tiring. You just wasted time for no reason.]
“Let’s finish it quickly.”
[okay. I don’t even know anymore Just rip your skin off your face and take it with you, and I’ll take care of it for you....!!!]
I’m sorry!!!
As if the roomy attitude he had so far had been a lie.
The blade that turned into a flash of light from Manson’s hand was aimed precisely at Lennok’s neck.
The grayish gas that was sprayed while smashing the ampoule.
At the same time, a sharp blow pierced through the cracks revealed in the crumbling magic of Lennok without even a hint of doubt.
The high-level swordsmanship, which captures the contradiction between the battle and defense that the trajectory is curved so that it is difficult to predict, but the speed is rather accelerated, is aimed at Lennok’s carotid artery.
Kaaaa!!
Once again, it was blocked by the shield and bounced off in vain.
[.......!!]
It seems that the effect of the gas that Manson exploded was really outstanding.
He paused for a moment and stuttered, asking if he hadn’t thought at all that Lennok was still holding on to his magic.
[No how...?]
Lennok replied.
“If it’s a method of destroying the structure of magic by confusing the structural properties of magic, rearrange the magic accordingly.”
Lenock’s words are easy, but it is a transcendentally difficult solution, like drawing the same picture in succession while matching the ever-changing brush size.
Even more so when you consider that the composition of magic is so sophisticated and complex that it cannot be compared to drawing a picture.
However, Lennok captured all the movements of magical power that changed in real time and arranged them anew every moment, using magic casually.
Shock magic rained down on Manson’s head, who couldn’t even realize the ridiculous tuning ability.
Aaaaaaang!!
[Keah!!]
A new type of Manson who falls down as if his hair was caught by an invisible hand.
Lennok didn’t miss the chance and pulled out two whips of gravity and swung them, but Manson reacted quickly even at the moment he fell to the ground.
He doesn’t know how to use magic, but he understands empirically that once he’s trapped, it’s over.
While rolling over on the floor, hit the ground with the top of your foot and launch your body to the side.
At the same time, the moment when Manson’s feet touch the ground, balancing the sword in his hand and turning it around.
Once again, his form disappeared from Lennok’s eyes.
Awesome!!
Was it the body that moved first this time, not the sword?
Moving up, down, left, and right through the narrow passageway of the sewer, changing the center of gravity as if there was no gravity.
A high-angle maneuver that makes it difficult to guess not even the direction, but the location.
It’s not just to dazzle Lennok’s senses and steal his sight.
A closed space underground. After clearly understanding that it would be difficult to use high-powered magic in a place like this, Lennok continued to force an easy choice so that it would be difficult to take such a risk.
The fact that he was able to move like this in this damp, dark sewer is a testament to what a fighter Manson truly is.
wheeiyi profit!!
A run that is as smooth and cold as a rushing wind.
As soon as he changed his body into a single sword and accelerated, Manson’s body was already standing behind Lennok.
A slash that cuts down in an oblique line at the same time as stepping out.
The majestic mana on the blade and the shape of the blazing flame make it difficult to dare to guess its power.
However, there was not even a hint of bewilderment in Lennok’s gaze as he turned his head in time for that moment.
Fuck!
At the same time as he twists his fingers, Manson’s legs slide as if he has stepped on an invisible icy road, and the blade soars into the air like a
lie .
A swear word came out of Manson’s mouth as he realized that it was starting to boil.
Lennok looked down with delight as he was endlessly bewildered by the number of unpredictable numbers.
Did I mention earlier that it’s good to pick the head of a guy who rebels to the end?
Lennok also liked the way he made fun of his mouth in that way and then flirted with his hands and feet in the end.
Of course, there is no room for Manson to think about this situation.
Even in the midst of that, the control that managed to balance somehow, catch the blade that was deflecting, and slash it on the top of Lennok’s head made Lennok, who knew nothing about swordsmanship, naturally admire it.
“It’s already too late.”
At some point, the shotguns in Lennok’s hands spewed fire, turning everything into nothing.
[Recoil control]
[Overlapping fire]
Taaaaaang!!
A modified shotgun that has been modified by Palmer to increase firepower to the limit of durability at the cost of increased recoil.
Two huge flames emanate from the muzzle and shoot as if being sucked into Manson’s left shoulder.
Manson, who held out his blade wholeheartedly, was unresponsive to Lennok’s final arrangements.
[Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!]
I can’t stop once I’ve moved.
As I kept missing and slipping, all my attempts to somehow land the blade were futile all at once.
Manson’s new model flew back a good ten meters and plunged into the water.
woooooong!!
Watching Manson’s body disappear under the floodgates in a huge splash of water, Lennok grabbed his shotgun.
“Whoa......”
Did you get rid of the intruders with this?
At least right now, there won’t be any more checks coming in to take the pillar.
For him, who had just begun to learn enchantments properly, one of these guns was enough.
common magic. Among them, if you cast a lightweight magic and a reduction magic with a relatively light capacity, you can get a melee weapon that can be taken out and used at any time while satisfying both portability and convenience.
Lennok has long dreamed of bridging the gap in the use of magic in this way, but only now has he succeeded in putting some of his fantasies into practice.
If you equip not only a shotgun, but also various types of firearm accessories, ranged weapons and consumables one by one, it will be possible to overcome the fatal weakness of lack of mobility with overwhelming combat utility.
Just thinking about it makes my heart feel full.
While Lennok thought so, he lifted the pillar that floated in the air and moved on.
I picked up my cell phone, sent a simple message to the agent’s contact information I had received in advance, and immediately grabbed hold of the ladder leading out of the canal.
[Come to think of it, I forgot to ask one.]
Until I heard Manson’s voice echoing in the distance.
“..........”
Was Lennok’s hands complacent? It can’t be.
I don’t have good body vision, but the moment I fired the shotgun, I confirmed that not only my left shoulder was completely blown out, but even the tin can hanging above my neck was shattered in half.
I didn’t just look at the body being pushed into the waterway for no reason.
It was not at a level where it was ambiguous whether or not to die, but it was clear that it would be a blow close to instant death for a tolerable superman.
Even so, to throw a message like this is fine... As he is also an excellent freelancer, it would be correct to think that he had at least a means of lifesaving.
Meanwhile, Manson’s words continued.
[What’s your name? With that level of skill, there’s no way I wouldn’t know.]
“Half.”
Manson, who had been silent at Lennok’s plaintive reply, smiled darkly.
[....Right. I’ve heard of it. Hehehe...]
“.........”
[Looks like they’re holding on to the same thing. I don’t know if I’ll see my face again sooner or later.]
“Is that so?”
[Today’s meeting was quite enjoyable. Next time I’ll dress up nicely so look forward to it.]
Shoot aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i
It’s quite grotesque for a way to get hit by a shotgun and promise the next one.
Manson’s voice, which expresses aspirations that are difficult for listeners to understand, is drowned out by the roaring sound of water flowing into the canal.
Lennok sighed and immediately moved out of the canal.
Mad Manson. An excellent swordsman and cunning freelancer.
Even if you look at that desperate swordsmanship, the ability you showed now is not all of your skills.
However, it was Lennok who walked out of this spot on his own two feet, and Manson, who had been humming until eight minutes ago, was stuck under the water.
Finding the basis for victory is not difficult.
Manson knew all too well that this narrow sewer passage was a relatively unfavorable environment for wizards.
Convinced that a wide range of spells and high-fire magic could be self-infested in a place like this, Manson tried to use the environment to the limit to pressure Lennok, and the attempt seemed half-successful.
Gas injection that would never be used in a vast space. Blocking attacks using three-dimensional maneuvers.
An ordinary wizard would have collapsed at the point where his magic did not work properly, and he would have run away from a single action without even noticing Manson’s movements.
However, Lennok conversely melted the ice where he was going to land, set a trap, and made the sword attack miss, avoiding it, and finished the battle with the shotgun.
In real-time psychological warfare, strong mental strength and judgment that can reverse opponents without any slippage.
And a perfect magical talent to back it up.
Time, circumstances, and opponents don’t mean much.
The only thing that matters is what kind of judgment and what kind of victory to win at that moment.
In that sense, the battle with Mad Manson was an appropriate level to remind Lennok of the sense of battle he had forgotten.
‘The next time we meet, it won’t end like this.’
If it’s Reisen’s side who really hired Mad Manson, there’s no way to solve the current situation with just that one.
Perhaps, in the course of the operation, we may have to endure more various obstacles and checks.
It seemed difficult and arduous at the thought of it, but Lennok wasn’t too concerned.
This incredible artifact of Enakfil’s five fingers allows Lennoc to always go all out and leave room.
High-level movement magic. Although consumable, Lennok was well aware of how great it was to put it in this small item called a pencil, and how it had infinite uses.
Lennock knows better than anyone else when to use variables that are difficult for the other party to predict.
Of course, in the process, it is unavoidable that the body is shaved off due to the side effects of the tobacco smoked in succession.
Sometimes, whenever my body creaks like this, I have no choice but to rely on the power of the elixir.
“.....I’ll have to ask Ibelin if I can get something similar.”
If you are an agent, you must have some stake in all the precious things that come and go from the city government.
Thinking so, Lennok walked through the cold wind blowing through Area 55.