Chapter 56

◈ Chapter 56: How to Shoot Mana Like a Cannon

"Oh, before you go. Kinzo."

I stopped him just as he was turning to leave.

"Yeah?"

"The woman who killed Captain Karasuma... she's the one with silver hair."

"What...?"

"You still don't get it?"

"Get what?"

"Captain Karasuma didn't show up until long after he'd already died."

"That's the part I can't make sense of."

"It was like he was moving after death."

"So... you're saying..."

"Figuring out who the killer is, that's the easy part. The real problem comes next. Someone inside the Imperial Army is working with her."

"Got it. I'll find out who."

"I trust you on this, Mago."

"But if... if I catch the spy before you get back... you might not be here anymore when I return."

"What?"

"Because the moment I find them, they're dead."

Kinzo just shrugged and jerked his thumb back over his shoulder. Marjelo was standing there, her fist still embedded in the wall she'd just shattered into rubble.

*

"Yura, why the hell did you provoke that White Hair guy?"

The Demon King asked her outright.

"Because that bastard knows my magic. You're the only other person alive who knows what I can do... I was planning to either kill him or take him with me anyway. So I used my magic right in front of him. But he had a counterattack ready, didn't he..."

She answered with a face full of irritation.

"Right now, he's a dangerous pain in the ass. Especially since he got his hands on that old geezer's magic tool from the Entertainment District. Killing one Special Forces member and writing on the wall? That wasn't the main event. Just a warning."

"So I'm asking you again. Why bother warning him at all?"

"Because I've got a spy buried in the Imperial Army. That's how I found out about White Hair's magic in the first place. We both know each other's secrets now. If we're not going to tear each other's throats out, that bastard would be smart to just stay put. He felt the difference in our power firsthand. That should be enough to keep his mouth shut."

"And that's your excuse?"

"Yeah. The Imperial Army boys, all puffed up thinking they've got their first victory..."

"Yura, you might not understand this. But I've been the villain for over a hundred years now. At least from the humans' perspective."

"What are you suddenly talking about?"

"Well... villains have rules, you know. Unspoken ones. Like not going after your enemy's family or comrades for no damn reason..."

"What's your point?"

"Nothing. Forget it. It won't come to that anyway."

*

"Kinzo! How long has it been...!"

Oscar grabbed Kinzo and pulled him into a tight hug.

"You actually made it back alive. I was worried sick!"

"Honestly, without Miss Marjelo's magic tool, I'd have died a few times over. When my arm got blown off, I really thought that was it."

"That actually happened?"

"Compared to when I got cut in half at the waist, that was nothing."

"What the hell happened to you out there...? Anyway, Miss Marjelo's magic tool has to be incredible."

"No kidding. Not even a scar left now."

"Oh right, Kinzo. You know Mago's the captain of the 15th Unit now, don't you? That bastard uses his rank to push us around like crazy. You should've seen the hell he put Amon through."

"And you bastards got to watch all that without me? Damn it... where are Amon, Louise, and Bell, anyway?"

"Out hunting. For supplies."

"Huh, is that so?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Who's seen the revolver blueprint?"

"Blueprint?"

"And the ammunition blueprint too."

"So who's seen it? Captain Simena, Mago, and the guys from the Technical Team. That's it."

"Right, right. Got it."

"Yeah? Something wrong?"

Oscar must have picked up on the shift in my mood.

"Nothing happened."

"It doesn't sound like nothing..."

"Oscar, why did you enlist in the army in the first place?"

"Huh? Out of nowhere?"

"Yeah, out of nowhere. I'm just curious."

"Me? Well... it's nothing special."

"Come on, what was it?"

"I ran a weapon shop back in my hometown. You know? Half of it was thinking I could put my skills to proper use in the military. The other half was hoping that if the war ended, I could use my Imperial Army experience to expand my business. That was my reason. Why?"

"Where was your hometown?"

"Southwest of the Empire. Cross the sea and you'll find it."

"Cutena?"

"Yeah, Cutena."

"Wait... that's not part of the Empire..."

"Technically, I'm a foreigner."

"So no patriotism, huh."

"Exactly. None. I told you, I joined for a purpose. The Special Forces wasn't part of the plan, though. I was just planning to make weapons in the rear until the war ended."

"Joining the army just to build a business... you're even crazier than I thought."

I had to admit, Oscar might be the most cold-blooded bastard in the whole 66th Class. You'd have to be that fearless to pull something like that.

"That kind of thinking only works because you had no intention of fighting. And it worked out exactly how I planned."

"Yeah, I get it. See you around."

I moved away from the Technical Team.

"Now I've made a full round."

Only one thing left now—cross-reference what I'd gathered against the testimonies Captain Simena would collect during the emergency assembly that was coming up.

—

I blew off half of the Ghost King's body with a bomb.

She hadn't died, but that was barely two weeks ago.

How the hell was she already moving again?

There's no way someone else can use the same magic as her.

In my past life, she said it herself.

"I am the world's only necromancer."

If I take her word for it, she meant she was unique even back then.

There's no one else who can wield the same power.

My thoughts spiraled until I smacked my forehead with the scabbard.

"Just forget it all."

The Special Forces and Kinzo would figure it out.

"My job isn't investigation."

I stared at the waterfall in front of me.

It crashed down in a clean, steady stream.

A lake lay further below.

I quickened my pace.

The waterfall, cascading from the cliff, followed the watercourse and slowly killed its own clamor.

The stream grew thinner. Shallower.

Until it pooled in one place.

Crystal clear water, shimmering in turquoise.

The lake was pristine and vast.

Far bigger than I'd expected.

I walked slowly and dipped my toes into the water.

A deep drum-like pulse spread outward, rippling in calm, elegant waves.

Fish swarmed toward the center of the disturbance.

I closed my eyes carefully.

The lake's energy coursed through me immediately.

I could feel the ripples behind my eyelids.

They passed through me.

I sensed a few leaves floating like rowboats—more intensely than usual.

Stronger than when I activated the Lake from the ground.

I stepped forward and submerged half my body.

Still.

I focused on my arms, swaying with the buoyancy.

Gradually, a larger wave approached.

Just as I wondered if this was the effect of a Mana Gathering Place, something massive broke the surface.

"They never mentioned anything like this lived here..."

A lizard the size of a house rose from the lake.

Without hesitation, it lunged at me with its mouth wide open.

A split jaw.

Rows upon rows of teeth just inches from sinking into my flesh.

My fist connected with its snout.

The creature twisted its head and flipped backward.

I scrambled out of the water as fast as I could.

By the time I was fully on shore, it had recovered.

Clearly, it was about to charge again.

I drew the Red Sword and readied myself.

I bent my waist to its limit, shifting my center of gravity into the blade.

The moment it burst through the water and leaped, I swung.

My sword slammed into the lizard's skull with a thunderous impact.

It flipped again and splashed back into the lake.

Water sprayed everywhere, raining down around me.

"It's still..."

I could see its upturned belly—still breathing.

I reached for my left belt, drew the EX Revolver, and aimed at the center of the lake.

I fired.

A bolt of lightning erupted.

The creature stopped moving.

Even the fish floated to the surface, one by one.

I let out a long sigh and sat down on the ground.

I wouldn't be going back into that lake for a while.

"Target duration is twenty-four hours. Current duration? Fifteen minutes. I need to get about a hundred times stronger than I am now..."

A frown naturally creased my forehead.

Strengthen my magic by about a hundred times in just a few days.

"Yeah, like that's happening anytime soon..."

"Hey."

A voice reached me.

There was no one else here.

This space was supposed to be mine alone. But there it was—another voice.

Male, but with a fairly high pitch.

I turned my head to see who it was.

A fist was already flying toward my face.

It happened in an instant.

I barely managed to raise my left arm and block.

My fingertips went numb from the vibration.

It didn't feel like I'd collided with a human fist.

I quickly steadied myself and drew my sword.

Black hair.

About my height.

Arms made entirely of metal.

He was wearing white clothes, loose and flowing.

I'd seen it before.

To borrow his words from my past life, that outfit was called a dobok.

Instead of a belt, a black sash wrapped around his waist.

"You're the one who interrupted my meditation, aren't you?"

"Meditation?"

"Thunder. You're the one who made that sound, right?"

"How could a person possibly create thunder?"

I tried playing dumb.

But he just looked down, staring at the EX Revolver.

"I meant your magic tool made it, not you."

He knew.

"Black military uniform... Special Forces, huh? What business does the Special Forces have here? Why did you crawl all the way here just to disturb me?"

He shook his wet hair irritably, venting his frustration.

"One minute. Just one more minute and I'd have been done... And now I have to start all over again because of you..."

Above the lake.

He must have been training under the waterfall.

As if to say this was punishment for disturbing his meditation—

"Wait—"

He ignored my words completely and threw a punch.

I blocked with my sword, but it still pushed me back a full step.

The impact sent violent waves crashing across the lake.

"So that first block wasn't just luck after all..."

The moment he finished speaking, his right fist came again.

This time I twisted my head out of the way.

A loud ringing slammed into my eardrums.

I could feel blood trickling from inside my ear.

"During meditation, every sense is heightened. In an empty space, even the smallest sound feels enormous. Do you understand now? How much your thunder disturbed me?"

The man was relentless—breathing and talking simultaneously as if he had gills, swinging his arms without pause.

Every time his metal fist clashed against my sword, my whole body shuddered.

"'Every sense is heightened,' you say?"

"Why question that of all things?"

I deflected his metal arm.

We gained a moment of distance.

He bent his knees.

Then crooked his finger, taunting me.

"Come on. Let me see what the Special Forces can do."

"Is that personal curiosity? Or professional, as the Knight Commander?"

"What?"

"The Knight Commander position changes next year. Less than a month from now. You're the successor, aren't you?"

"How do you know that? Who the hell are you?"

His wariness spiked sharply.

"Did you come here to assassinate me?"

"If I wanted you dead, that lightning bolt would've landed on your head."

I raised the EX Revolver and aimed at his skull.

My finger rested on the trigger.

"Come any closer, and this time it's your head."

"Ridiculous."

He threw a straight punch from where he stood.

But even with his arm fully extended, he couldn't reach me.

I knew that, so I stayed put.

Yet an inexplicable impact slammed into my forehead.

A fist that shouldn't have been able to touch me shoved me backward.

I staggered for a moment before barely steadying myself.

His weapon was his body—nothing else.

For a martial artist, that was always the case.

No sharp weapons. No pointed edges.

Which meant I didn't need to use the Lake.

His next punch came.

He swung from the same distance, and it still landed.

A direct hit to my solar plexus.

It felt like he'd loaded air into a cannon and fired it.

He smirked, as if to show off.

Not using the Lake meant there was nothing to trigger my fear.

And in that scenario, I'd never lost to anyone.

When it came to pure physical strength—brute force against brute force—I'd crushed vampires four or five times stronger than humans.

Stamina against stamina—I'd outpaced a full-grown horse.

When it came to raw, complete physical ability—

I had never been pushed back.

And I never would be.

Especially not when the man standing in front of me was the traitor who killed Marjelo Arnis.