Echo of the Shadow (1)
Lapis’ unconventional declaration. But no one was surprised to hear that.
The other observers standing beside her seemed to think that this day would come someday.
“Are you okay?”
Lennok asked.
“I heard that Eun-won, who is entangled in the central front, is not ordinary. Once you set foot near the tent, it may be difficult to get out again.”
Not all of the strong people of the continent are obsessed with the legacy of Arsnova.
There were quite a few monsters who thought that the prestige of the central city, which had fallen decades ago while holding the wealth and honor of all continents, was an illusion.
It is said that even the ascended differ in opinion as to what meaning will remain in the depths of the city, where no one has reached, blocked by the tangled wires.
It was unsure whether it would be meaningful to step into a place where all forces and powers were entangled and stuck.
There’s no way Lapis didn’t know that either.
“As I watched the Hanghasasa Labyrinth up close, I was also convinced.”
the girl laughed
“Ascendants are not simply qualified transcendents, but Pandemonium also has its own reasons and meaning…If that’s the case, we can’t just sit still.”
“….”
“I am not talking about jumping right into the middle of the central front. It will take some time to carve out a beachhead from the Eastern Continent to the frontline and grasp the situation.”
“Right.”
“So when that time comes….”
Lapis paused for a moment and slowly raised her head.
The lighthouse keeper smiled and held out his hand to Lennok and Evelyn, who looked down at her in silence.
“Will you two join me on my way?”
The Wind Blows.
It was the wind that buried everything that had happened in the labyrinth on the northern continent between the mounds of soil.
I’m going to start a new choice right here. Lapis said that he would not look back.
From the moment she jumps into a war that shakes the entire continent, she doesn’t hesitate even though she knows that she herself may not be able to stop it.
Lapis was clearly aware of the fact that only those with such determination could reach Arsnova.
Only then did Lennok raise his head, realizing that he had to bury everything that had happened with Jindun in his memory.
“….”
slow but never slow.
Lennox’s mouth opened.
* * *
After escaping from the snowfield, Maiya looked back at the collapsing labyrinth and turned her head.
With one arm, he dragged the fallen Zaun’s body, and with the other hand, he rummaged in the snow.
After neatly recovering her belongings that she had previously buried outside the snowfield, she immediately took out her communicator.
Beep!!
“Can you hear the doctor?”
[…] … .]
“Doctor?”
[…] … don’t look Because I’m listening.]
The voice of a mature man felt somewhat languid.
Maiya frowned at the faint sense of alienation in her voice.
“What are you doing to make me feel bad? Since you just came out of the labyrinth, take the coordinates. Report while moving.”
[wait…. It’s because I can’t figure out the situation right now.]
She snorted after realizing that the doctor’s condition was strange.
“What are you saying to the subject who has been watching the situation outside the labyrinth so far?”
[Whoa… … The after-effects of forbidden alcohol, a reinterpretation of human sacrifice, are not to be taken lightly. If I hadn’t written my hand beforehand, I might have died at the third gateway.] It is
very dangerous to pierce Jindun’s entire ideological area and transfer consciousness between them.
In addition, it was a very risky gamble to kill the medium that shared consciousness in order to send Maya into the cradle at the end.
No matter how powerful and effective the forbidden art of human sacrifice is, it is natural that the side effects will vary depending on who the target is.
And the moment the doctor cast the forbidden technique of repositioning on Lennok, he had a hunch that he could end up dying.
[A wizard named Evan… … . The bowl itself is ridiculous. From the moment I designated him as a target, I felt like my whole body was being eaten up by moths.]
“….”
Maya couldn’t deny that and kept her mouth shut.
At least, it was clear that Lennok’s appearance, which she faced with the leader in the innermost part of the cradle, was too cold to hear such words.
What kind of power will the wizard, who remained at the cradle of Jindun until the very end and reaffirmed his achievements, appear next?
It was clear that she had an ominous imagination just thinking about it, but she forcibly shook it off and stood up.
“…I guess. I’ll be moving west for now, so call me when you wake up.”
[i get it. Maya, if you get in touch with the leader, let me know. I recognized that the plan was successful, but I can’t reach you.]
“Is it a day or two that the leader disappears without a word?”
If Jindun’s remains were recovered and disappeared, it wouldn’t be strange if he didn’t shine his nose for several months.
I was used to the attitude of Dr. Maiyana and the leader who maintains mysterious activities to the extent of being bizarre.
“I took the money for clothes and food…. I have no choice but to throw away the rest.”
Put on the thick fur coat you prepared in advance and pack the necessary snacks while leaving the North Continent.
A situation where you have to take care of the body of this suspicious jeweler until you join the coordinates designated by the doctor.
Maiya, who has lived as an enforcer for a long time, quickly sorted out what she needed and what to throw away, and prepared to leave the snowy field.
The moment I checked the status to see if Zaun was still alive for the last time.
“Damn it….”
Opening his chest, she frowned in silence.
“Should I call the doctor again?”
The edge of the heart of Zaun, where Maya’s gaze reaches.
The existence of the large jewel that originally replaced the heart was revealed only in the empty chest.
* * *
It wasn’t long before Lennok and Ibelin, who exchanged greetings with the watchers and parted ways, were able to quickly escape the forest.
In between, Lennok’s stamina caused her to take breaks, but Evelyn seemed to enjoy picking out edible grass clippings from the nearby ecosystem.
“Look at this, it tastes pretty good. If you can put up with a slight stomach ache, it seems to be a good grass to eat.”
“It’s a grass that causes stomach pain to a superman like you… … I just want to receive your heart.”
“Hehe.”
Evelyn, who casually ate the grass, said while fixing the backpack on her back.
“He is a good person. yes?”
Lennok also immediately noticed who he was talking about and laughed.
“A good leader. I know.”
Lapis, who is only covered by the prestige of being a blood relative of the Heavenly Dog, basically does not have the temperament befitting an ideal leader.
A character that is weak and incompetent to play the role of the head of an armed group.
Nevertheless, Lapis succeeded in growing the organization called Blue Eye in a short period of time and building strength based on the solid support of the watchers.
This is because they have the will and reason to embrace talents with diverse personalities while not losing their center in the process.
“I have a very good eye for people. It’s probably because you have those kind of eyes that Evelyn immediately accepted you as a watcher.”
“…is it?”
Evelyn smiled shyly and scratched her cheek.
But Lennok wasn’t really talking empty words.
Even if Lapis herself can’t be a rational head, it’s just a matter of attracting talented people into the organization who can make her into such a person.
In that sense, Lapis’ eye for seeing people was truly outstanding.
Thousand dog’s blood. A lighthouse keeper with far-sighted eyes.
It was regrettable that her eyesight was being displayed not only in the future, but also in the way of seeing people who were much better and superior than her.
“I don’t know how much talent I inherited from Cheon Gyeon, but if things go on like this, it won’t be long before a force that can be counted on one hand in the Eastern Continent will be born. By then, perhaps even Balkans won’t be able to ignore Lapis… … .”
“Ugh, when the city council gets involved with the autonomous territory issue, I get a headache too.”
Evelyn frowned slightly and sighed with a look of abandon.
“I can’t help it. It’s something I’ve been prepared for since the moment I came home after paying my annual leave… … .”
“It won’t be as big a problem as you think. Considering that the ban was lifted right before I left the city, there’s no way the Balkans will be quiet.”
Lennok smirked.
“Maybe we don’t have the energy to care about diplomacy with the Dominion.”
“…I’ll go back to the city and think about it.”
The two soon arrived in a small town nearby and immediately bought a train ticket to the Balkans.
As agents play such a big role externally in large cities, it seems that there are small branches of agents in other cities as well.
There is no way to recognize the two of them if they change their faces with appropriate camouflage magic and hide their magical powers.
Lennok sat in the crowded terminal, feeling quite relieved.
Evelyn said that she would stop by the agent’s branch for a while to find out the situation in Balkan, so it was to kill time.
Lennok’s eyes, which had been flipping through the free newspaper lying nearby without thinking about it, sank deeply when he saw an article the size of a gate in the first issue.
[Ascendant Zaegis Ethernor passed away. The collapse of the Hanghasa Labyrinth has been confirmed.]
[This is the second ascendant’s death in the past five years. Where is the situation on the continent heading?]
‘Is the news already starting to spread?’
Not surprising.
Aside from Jindun’s unique hermit-like tendency, there was no one who didn’t know about the existence of the Hanghasasa Labyrinth.
If such a labyrinth collapsed and the survivors who returned alive from the labyrinth open their mouths, information spreads in an instant.
A 9th level ascender who transcends royalties. There weren’t many ways to hide the death of such a transcendent.
However, it is surprising that the news spread to such a small city within three days of the collapse of the labyrinth.
Lennok did some more digging through the papers to find out how far the information on the matter had spread.
[This is the first time that the death of an ascendant whose life or death was unclear has been officially confirmed.]
[Who was the last person to meet Jindun?]
[All those who returned from the labyrinth spared their words. Does the greedy grave robber have no conscience?]
“….”
Lennok frowned in silence at the title of the article, which seemed oddly cheap as it went backwards.
Apparently, most of the survivors of the labyrinth didn’t even know who the last people to pass through the gate were.
[There is a strong suspicion that the lighthouse keeper was involved in this incident based on the testimony of many eyewitnesses… … ]
[The Dominion of Philenom dismissed it as knowing nothing about this incident.]
[Experts say that the floating island colony is likely to be swept into the vortex of political strife once again… … ]
“It’s so complicated….”
It is only natural that the balance of power in the North Continent is greatly disturbed due to the vacuum of the Ascendants.
Lennok was able to confirm through the newspaper article that a movement was naturally taking place to renew the balance.
In the meantime, due to the existence of Jindun, the North Continental Snowfield and the remains of the Hanghasa Labyrinth were unreachable.
The fight that will arise over the ruins of the ascendant will happen again on a much larger scale than what happened in the labyrinth.
But even as Lennok guessed that, he knew he had nothing to do here anymore.
It’s been too long since I left the megacities, and I still don’t know what the Balkans will look like after the ban is lifted.
If the encounter with Jindun had succeeded in giving direction and meaning to an age-old question, Lennok had nothing left to do here.
“I’m here.”
Evelyn slumped down beside Lennok’s chair and let out a small sigh.
“Whoa….”
“Is the situation very bad?”
“No, I don’t think there is anything big inside the agent….”
“Looks like it?”
“The situation itself in the city seems to be the way you thought it would be.”
“….”
It’s not hard to realize what Evelyn’s words mean when she smiles bitterly.
A clash of power between the positive and the negative where the prohibition law was released. In the aftermath, he was indirectly telling the fact that the Balkans were in an uproar.
“I might have to come back as soon as I go back.”
“Does the situation look very bad?”
“It seems that the situation is very different from region to region. Some places ended in a simple war of nerves, but it seems that there are actually wars going on… … .”
Evelyn glanced at her watch, picked up her coat, and immediately stood up.
“Time is up. let’s get moving Shall we buy something like a lunchbox before that?”
The two bought two packed lunches from a store near the terminal and boarded the train.
Evelyn climbed onto the designated seat where they could face each other and opened her lunch box.
Lennok smiled when he saw the lunch box full of all kinds of vegetables and grass roots.
“Still. Would such a diet be enough to replenish calories?”
“Aren’t you the one eating too little?”
Evelyn sneered as she pointed at Lennok’s lunchbox with a celery-studded fork.
Lennok chose the kind of Mieum that is easy to digest.
From the point of view of Lennok, who had been eating only preserved foods packaged in magic formulas in the labyrinth, he chose foods that did not burden his stomach as much as possible.
The two, who exchanged light comments on each other’s eating habits, finished their meal fairly quickly and took a break.
Virtually the first meal since breaking up with Lapis.
In order to return to the Balkans as soon as possible, he chose the fastest possible train service.
Aside from knowing that, Evelyn seemed a little dissatisfied with Lennok’s decision, but it couldn’t be helped.
Lennok’s head began to shake slightly as he stared out the window with his chin propped up in his chair.
The aftermath of the blood accumulated in the labyrinth had not yet been resolved, and as I boarded the train, I was drowsy.
Evelyn looked at Lennok with a slightly pitying eye and looked at her watch.
“I’ll tell the conductor and ask what time the sleeper is available for entry.”
“…are you okay. I just want to think for a moment.”
“You know that doesn’t sound very persuasive, right?”
Evelyn laughed at Lennok’s delayed reply.
Lennok lightly tapped Lennok’s shoulder and looked at Evelyn’s back as he disappeared over the train car, then slowly closed his eyes.
Although the fatigue of the body due to the schedule that was much longer than planned was considerable,
the overload of knowledge accumulated in his head from the conversation with Jindun was making Lennok’s head tirelessly tired.
No matter how excellent Lennok’s intelligence and understanding are, it is impossible to digest the knowledge of barrier art that Jindun has accumulated over hundreds of years overnight.
Just understanding the series of knowledge that had been hammered into his head, categorizing and organizing it as possible and impossible, was consuming all of Lennok’s necessary mental strength throughout the day.
How much time had passed like that? Lennok, who had been lost in thought with his eyes closed in a daze, suddenly opened his eyes.
In the middle of a strangely quiet train car. Across from Lennok, someone was sitting.
Black hair slightly covering her face while holding a newspaper.
Lennok called out his name with a slightly sleepy expression.
“Eveline…?”
“It will be a bit late. I made a little twist on the way back.”
“…!!!”
Lennok’s expression froze at the sharp male voice, completely different from Evelyn’s.
It’s not just because he’s a non-accompanying person.
It was because I still vividly remembered that unique timbre that seemed to boil somewhere even though it sank low.
What can be seen through the slightly lowered newspaper is a complexion whose age cannot be guessed yet is very ordinary.
Only the eerie magic that seemed to rise from the end of the abyss made us guess that the man was an outsider.
“A long time.”
The man grinned at Lennok.
“It’s the first time since the cartel, right?”
Genius Wizard Who Takes Medicine, Chapter 383
