Chapter 726: Chapter 726
Chapter 726
Shall We Get Started for Real? (1)
“Khk!”
Ismogen unleashed his energy, blocking the sudden attack that had been fired at him.
Boom!
The mana of the Dragon Cannon clashed with Ismogen’s energy, creating a powerful shockwave. At the same time, his body was pushed far back.
Ismogen immediately reached out to counterattack. But he had no choice but to stop the release of his energy, thinking he shouldn’t destroy the weapon.
Momentarily startled by the sudden attack, he cautiously examined the Dragon Cannon.
The Dragon Cannon remained still, showing no signs of movement.
“What, what is this? Was it pre-programmed? Or did it detect an enemy and attack automatically? Is… is that even a real technology?”
He didn’t know a thing about the Holy Empire’s new weapon. So, all he could do was imagine various possibilities.
Either way, it didn’t seem like trash. It only looked like junk, but the power it had just displayed was tremendous.
Though he felt slightly uneasy, he couldn’t destroy it recklessly. After witnessing its power firsthand, he was strongly compelled to take it with him somehow.
Ismogen stared at the Dragon Cannon with a tense expression. The Dragon Cannon feigned innocence, as if it had never attacked in the first place.
Feeling slightly more at ease, he stepped forward again to inspect it once more.
Click.
The cart carrying the Dragon Cannon suddenly rolled slightly backward.
“…?”
Ismogen approached again in confusion. The cart moved back once more.
Creak, creak, creeeak.
Each time Ismogen tried to approach, the cart shifted left and right, dodging him.
“What is this…?”
Focusing his mind, Ismogen examined the flow of energy. Streams of mana seemed to be flowing out of the weapon and operating the cart.
Unconsciously, he shouted,
“S-Stop!”
Thunk.
The weapon that had been so annoyingly evasive came to a sudden halt. Ismogen widened his eyes in surprise.
“Did it understand me? Does it have a spirit inside?”
Fascinated, Ismogen spoke again.
“Don’t attack anymore! I’m going to examine you!”
As if it understood his words, the Dragon Cannon remained still. Impressed, Ismogen stepped a bit closer.
The Dragon Cannon suddenly spewed fireballs.
Boom! Boom! Boooom!
“Khk!”
Ismogen hurriedly dodged the incoming fireballs. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
“Does it recognize enemies?”
What kind of incredible technology had been used to make the weapon move on its own? How could it be so sure he was an enemy?
Perhaps a spirit really was involved. Countless hypotheses swirled through his mind.
Moreover, the amount of mana it discharged was extraordinary. If hit head-on, even a High Priest like him could suffer serious damage.
“This is dangerous. A dangerous weapon.”
Ismogen, for the first time in his life, felt fear.
A weapon capable of fighting a Transcendent? It was absurd.
And yet, it was said that this weapon was currently being mass-produced in the Holy Empire. It was practically the artificial creation of Transcendents.
Up until now, the Salvation Church had suffered repeated defeats at the hands of the United Human Army because of beings like dragons.
But now, with weapons like this emerging, this war was surely going to end in defeat.
‘I must take it!’
He had to take it and figure out what kind of technology was used to make it. Only then could they devise countermeasures and develop a similar weapon for the Salvation Church.
If he succeeded in seizing this, it would be a greater feat than plunging the continent into chaos.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Dragon Cannon moved about, relentlessly attacking Ismogen. As the power of its strikes continued to grow, cold sweat dripped down his back.
‘This is at least the power of a 7th-Circle Mage. Incredible.’
Ismogen grew flustered. He had no idea how to subdue the thing.
Clack! Clack!
Meanwhile, the Dragon Cannon moved with dazzling agility. The problem was it moved too dazzlingly.
Clang! Claaang!
With every motion, the cart it was mounted on broke further. One of the wheels had already flown off long ago.
It wasn’t just the cart. Even parts of the Dragon Cannon itself were starting to fall off due to its violent movements.
Seeing that, Ismogen became desperate.
‘Is it because it doesn’t have an operator? Or does the weapon just have poor durability?’
If it broke down completely like that, seizing it would be meaningless. It had to remain intact if he wanted to understand what technology it used.
Clenching his teeth, Ismogen pressed on toward the Dragon Cannon. But the closer he got, the more violently the weapon thrashed and fell apart.
Boom! Boom!
The Dragon Cannon’s attacks became even more intense. The mana bursting from the weapon split apart and flew toward Ismogen.
Eventually, several streams of mana struck him.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
“Khk!”
Blood trickled from the corner of Ismogen’s mouth as he trembled.
“What kind of attack is this…?”
Even though he had drawn upon his full power to block it, the impact still shook his insides. What was more astounding was how freely the weapon attacked, despite being just a machine.
It moved in unpredictable ways, as though it had a consciousness. He couldn’t believe it, even while facing it head-on.
Ismogen and the Dragon Cannon were locked in a fierce game of chase. In the process, the distance between them and the mercenaries grew farther.
Clang! Claaang! Clunk! Crrrk!
The cart carrying the Dragon Cannon was now completely wrecked. And yet, the Dragon Cannon continued to move, as if sliding across the ground.
Its belly scraped against the floor, breaking apart even further.
“Dammit! What the hell is this thing!”
Ismogen continued to chase after the Dragon Cannon. His appearance had become quite disheveled.
Unable to attack out of fear of damaging the weapon, he had been struck multiple times. His robe was torn, and wounds covered his body.
Clunk! Clang! Craaack!
The Dragon Cannon’s body was gradually breaking down as well. It couldn’t withstand the aftereffects of the mana erupting from within.
Watching the weapon crumble, Ismogen grew increasingly desperate. He had no idea how he was supposed to haul it away.
The Empire’s new weapon truly was terrifying. He had to steal it and uncover the technology behind it at all costs.
Driven by that determination, Ismogen relentlessly pursued the Dragon Cannon until he suddenly noticed something strange.
‘These parts that fell off… aren’t they just basic sheets of iron and scraps of wood?’
They looked crudely nailed together. There weren’t any special magic circles or complicated components.
Just as confusion began to overwhelm him, the Dragon Cannon came to a stop. Ismogen quickly caught up.
“What is this? Why did it stop? Don’t tell me it’s broken? Or did it run out of mana?”
Since he didn’t even know how it moved in the first place, he had no way of knowing why it had stopped.
If it was broken, all the trouble he went through would’ve been for nothing. All he could hope for was that it had simply run out of energy.
“Anyway, I’ll have to drag it back. I’ll kill the remaining ones and get out of here quickly.”
It was a relief that the weapon had settled down. Ismogen released his energy to bind the weapon and pull it along.
“Hm?”
Ismogen frowned in confusion. Though he had pulled with his energy, the weapon resisted.
“What… What is this?”
Was this lifeless object actually resisting being dragged? Did it truly have a will of its own?
Perplexed, Ismogen summoned even more energy. Only then did the weapon begin to budge little by little.
Rrrrk…
The distance between Ismogen and the Dragon Cannon shrank. He stared at the weapon with increasingly suspicious eyes.
No matter how he looked at it, something felt off. For a weapon, it was acting far too much like a living creature.
Then, a voice echoed from within the Dragon Cannon.
“Happy now that you’ve caught me?”
“The weapon… spoke?”
“Shall we get started for real now?”
“…?”
In the moment Ismogen’s thoughts went blank—
Boom!
The Dragon Cannon exploded completely, and from within it, Ghislain leapt out.
“What… is this…?”
Ismogen’s eyes filled with shock and disbelief. He had never imagined, not even once, that there might be a person inside.
In an instant, Ghislain closed the distance and swung his staff with great force. Ismogen barely managed to lift both arms to block.
Boom!
“Urgh!”
Coughing up blood, Ismogen was sent flying backward. The attack had come so suddenly that he hadn’t had time to properly muster his energy.
Ghislain looked at Ismogen with an intrigued expression.
“Well, look at that. You’re a bit different, huh?”
He was clearly different from the High Priests of the Salvation Church Ghislain had fought in his original era.
“You’re a true Transcendent, aren’t you?”
His opponent wasn’t a half-baked Transcendent. The movements he’d shown in that instant made it clear this was someone who had received proper combat training.
Ismogen, who had already assumed a fighting stance, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and asked,
“…I don’t understand.”
“What, that I was inside one of the Holy Empire’s new weapons?”
“What was your purpose for hiding in that thing?”
The power the Dragon Cannon had displayed rivaled that of a 7th-Circle Mage. That was exactly why the idea that someone had been hiding inside it had never crossed his mind.
A Transcendent who had surpassed human limits, and a mage at that, arrogant and prideful to the core.
And yet, such a man had holed himself up inside a weapon for days on end, pretending to be a machine. No one on the continent would ever believe it.
Why would someone in such a lofty position stoop to such madness?
Even if there was a reason or purpose behind it, pride and reputation would never allow it. No, it simply wasn’t possible. That’s the nature of a Transcendent.
And yet, inside the weapon really was a Transcendent. As a fellow Transcendent, Ismogen found it utterly incomprehensible.
Ghislain chuckled and answered,
“Why did I hide? To catch someone curious enough to come poking around, of course.”
“Don’t tell me…”
“Yeah. You. I’ve been curled up inside that thing for days just to catch you. It was so uncomfortable I thought I’d die.”
“You really… stayed inside that thing all that time just to catch me? Fooling everyone else too?”
“That’s right. Is that weird?”
“You… have no pride as a Transcendent, do you?”
“I don’t bother with useless pride like that.”
“…”
Ismogen fell silent, staring coldly at Ghislain.
The bizarre nature of this man’s personality wasn’t important. The real issue lay elsewhere.
He had never left any traces behind. All of his previous schemes had succeeded.
Hadn’t he even managed to worsen the relationship between Count Bonedor and Count Schwarz?
He couldn’t comprehend the idea that someone had laid a trap targeting him from the very beginning.
“You laid this trap knowing who I am? It doesn’t seem like it was just meant to catch someone stirring up trouble.”
If he hadn’t been interested in the weapon or hadn’t intended to steal it, he never would’ve fallen into this trap.
To be caught by this trap, he had to have a reason to absolutely obtain the weapon. He was curious if the other man had truly known that.
Ghislain responded casually.
“A High Priest of the Salvation Church.”
“…”
“What? Hard to believe?”
“…How did you know?”
“I’ve fought your kind before. Only the Salvation Church would pull off a sneaky stunt like this.”
Ismogen couldn’t believe it. The Church wasn’t openly fighting anyone at the moment.
They had carefully been weakening the kingdoms without exposing themselves.
There hadn’t been a single report of someone being discovered.
“There’s something I don’t know.”
“A lot of things, actually.”
“You’ll be telling me how you found out. And… you’ll also pay for the crime of mocking me with such a crude trap.”
Hoooom…
Black energy surged out from Ismogen’s body in streams.
He was clearly furious. He had made a fool of himself, not realizing there was someone inside the weapon. Being duped by such a ruse was humiliating beyond words.
Now that he knew the weapon was a sham, there was no need to hold back his strength.
He planned to overwhelm Ghislain with sheer power and then extract every piece of information from him.
Boom!
Chunks of black energy shot toward Ghislain. In response, Ghislain swung his staff at the incoming waves.
Tatata-tatatang!
Each streak of black energy exploded as it struck Ghislain’s staff. But Ismogen’s attack didn’t end there.
Fragments of the explosions moved like they were alive, aiming for Ghislain’s blind spots.
“Not bad.”
Ghislain was genuinely impressed.
Ismogen’s combat style was excellent. It was clear he had undergone long years of training.
It seemed the Salvation Church of this era was doing a good job passing down its battle experience to its successors.
Both humanity and the Demonic Abyss had grown stronger through constant conflict.
Clangclangclangclangclang!
Ghislain deflected the approaching energy with one hand by spinning his staff. With the other hand, he drew a magic circle in the air.
Fwoosh!
Dozens of fireballs burst forth from the magic circle, colliding with the black energy and exploding.
As Ghislain knocked away all the black energy and advanced, Ismogen faltered and retreated.
“Th-This bastard… What kind of skill is this…?”
This wasn’t an ordinary mage. In fact, he looked even more adept with his body than with magic.
As a High Priest of the Salvation Church, Ismogen had undergone years of training before stepping into the world. He had learned how to fight both mages and knights.
He inherited the wisdom and experience of his predecessors. Unless his opponent was an exceptionally strong Transcendent, he had believed he wouldn’t lose in a one-on-one.
But his opponent was effortlessly blocking all his attacks.
“Grrr…”
Never before had he seen someone so powerful in both martial arts and magic. No, he hadn’t even imagined such a person could exist.
Ghislain’s staff began to blaze with a blue flame. He approached Ismogen at a leisurely pace, laughing.
“Not bad, but that won’t cut it. You don’t have much actual combat experience, do you? Instead of backing away, how about we really go at it?”
“You arrogant bastard!”
Furious, Ismogen summoned his full energy. His body was suddenly engulfed in black smoke, and the energy enveloping his arms extended outward like blades.
Boom!
Slamming the ground with his feet, Ismogen charged at Ghislain, swinging his arm, now shaped like a blade.
Clang!
Their weapons clashed, sending a shockwave that blew away nearby stones and dirt. Ismogen’s blade-arm dug into Ghislain’s staff, but the blue light held it back.
“You’ve learned quite a few things, I see. Are all the other High Priests like you?”
“Shut up!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ismogen’s eyes flared with fury. His other hand lunged at Ghislain’s side.
“You may have some martial arts training, but you’ve made a mistake. I’m stronger in close combat!”
“Yeah? Then I’ll just get some distance.”
As if he had expected that, Ghislain planted one end of his staff on the ground and vaulted into the air, avoiding the strike.
Then, with a small flick of his hand midair—
Boom!
Lightning crashed down from the sky toward Ismogen.
“Urk?”
Struck by the lightning, Ismogen once again felt that all too familiar sense, he had been outplayed.