Chapter 511: Counterattack

“Did they notice?”

A man in a steel helmet and magitech armor responded to Oliver’s greeting.

It was Eli, the branch manager of Nofton.

“Wearing a helmet and magitech armor, yet you have sharp eyes.”

“Thank you. I tend to understand people more by their emotions than by appearance.”

“That’s a bit creepy.”

“It’s a habit. I can distinguish now, but back in the day, it was hard to tell people apart by their appearance.”

Eli frowned beneath his steel helmet. Though there was nothing particularly offensive, a strange sense of discomfort arose.

“Why betray the Crime Firm?”

“Is that really what you’re curious about at a time like this?”

“Yes. When I return to Randa, I feel I must explain what happened to Gordon… since he did help us.”

“You talk as if you’re sure you’ll make it back to Randa alive.”

“Oh, I’m sorry if I upset you. But doesn’t planning based on certain death seem odd?”

“It’s fine. I’ve learned a lot about how arrogant wizards and warlocks can be while running this hotel. But your comrades are dead, and you won’t be any different.”

As if to back up his words, the gang members armed with magitech weapons and armor revved up their engines, amplifying the power of their weapons and gear.

A legion of steel filled the cramped space.

At that moment, Oliver raised his index finger.

“Probably not. My comrades, I mean.”

“What—

“—Branch Manager.”

At that moment, a gang member covered by a transparent cloak emerged from the steel army and whispered.

It was likely a report that Derek, Yareli, and Unner, whom they thought they successfully assassinated, had turned out to be dummies made from corpses.

The assumption was correct.

“They were just corpses?”

“Yes… just fakes with artificial mana and life force infused inside.”

Eli looked at Oliver as he nodded awkwardly, confused with the situation.

“Did you figure out from the start that we betrayed you?”

“Rather than realizing the betrayal, I suspected that it would happen.”

Oliver recalled the spatial magic shots that pierced through Hogg.

The green magic circle that formed in the air felt somehow familiar, giving him a deep yet grounding sense of trust.

He believed that not only on the way but also in the arriving city, thorough preparations had been made.

“So, I thought you all might betray us, and I acted in advance.”

“Embarrassing, really. All that expensive training and items to deceive a warlock’s eye and mask emotions were wasted… Where are the rest of your comrades?”

“They probably escaped the hotel and are on their way to the Skadi Faction’s wizards.”

Oliver answered while scanning the entire city with the Warlock’s Eye, which had been fully activated while wandering around the city.

Despite the absurd range, which drained quite a lot of mental and physical strength, it delivered results worth the effort.

He found traces of mana similar to Yareli’s ice magic and spatial shooting magic.

For the record, their location was slightly different from the data Eli had given him.

“Luckily, I was able to locate them during the pre-search. They should be arriving nearby any time now.”

“Ha! We knew you were a monster who made a name for yourself in Randa, but it turns out you’re not just strong. The rumors about you playing dumb to build your own power base aren’t exaggerations!”

At that shout, one of Eli’s gang members, clad in magitech armor and holding a magitech hammer, charged at full power.

The sheer output made the building shake as if it was about to collapse. In response, Oliver lightly tossed his quarterstaff infused with magic to counter the attack.

━━━━!

A shockwave similar to when he faced Hogg occurred, accompanied by an indescribable, thunderous sound.

Glass windows shattered. Normally, gang members would’ve been paralyzed by the shockwave. However, Eli’s subordinates interpreted the shockwave as evidence that magitech weapons were effective, and charged at Oliver en masse, clad in steel.

Their plan was to crush him through sheer numbers and weight.

It wasn’t a bad idea. If their equipment had been inferior, such a dense charge would have been easy prey for magic. But with magitech weapons, it was a different story.

To counter this, instead of deploying defensive or offensive magic, Oliver pulled out the miniaturized magitech hammer from his cloak.

It was a trophy from his fight with Hogg. In the brief moment, Oliver restored the magitech hammer to its original size, then infused his own mana into the weapon, adding to the mana already within it.

As more mana was injected, the magitech hammer became overloaded. Still, Oliver didn’t stop there and altered the nature of the mana.

The violent change completed in an instant, the magitech weapon shook furiously as blue steam and electricity burst from it.

Fshh! Fshh! Fshh!

“Don’t be scared! There’s a limit to its output. If he pushes it too far, it’ll burn out!”

“Oh, exactly right.”

Oliver unaware of the etiquette against responding, replied. After all, how could he not be impressed when an enemy gang member saw through his intentions?

Oliver swung the overheated, electrically charged hammer with all his might using his left hand.

Not at a person, but at the opponent’s magitech weapon.

The engine roared madly, and the electricity crackled ominously. The gang member hesitated for a moment, and naturally, the magitech weapons clashed.

Boom━!

The collision of metal against metal.

Everyone braced themselves for an enormous shockwave, but the impact was less than expected.

Instead, the hammers held by Oliver and the gang member started resonating, sharing vibrations and electricity.

Zzzzzzttt!!!

Unleashed electricity and shockwaves intertwined to form a transparent, spherical pulse.

It resembled a soap bubble that looked like it would burst at even the slightest touch.

Not missing the timing, Oliver injected more mana, and the pulse that had expanded to its limit exploded, releasing a torrent of electricity in all directions.

The combination of radial shockwaves and electric discharge.

Around them, the gang members saw the menacing blue electricity approaching and instinctively raised their magitech weapons. This was a huge mistake.

The large amounts of electricity spread via the shockwave were aimed not at the people but at the magitech weapons.

Starting with the hammer held by Oliver, each magitech weapon connected by electricity began to increase in output, altered their properties, and released more electricity, forming a linked network.

A spider web of electricity that formed instantly.

The magitech weapons, beyond the control of their users, moved wildly and quickly overheated. Soon the engines would stop—

“—Hot, hot!!”

One of the gang members screamed in a panic. It was the same one who had first clashed with Oliver. Unable to bear the rapidly rising heat of the magitech weapon, he let go.

“Oh… You shouldn’t have let go.”

Oliver spoke as if disappointed. Ideally, he would’ve grabbed it with his other hand, but that hand had already sustained burns, so it was impossible.

As a result, the overheated magitech weapon fell with a thud right in front of Oliver, and since it had already reached its max output, the weapon exploded.

A cyan and crimson explosion erupted, burning and shattering the gang member in an instant. But that was just the beginning.

Magitech weapons connected by electricity shared the blast impact, and like a chain reaction of dynamite linked by a fuse, they started exploding one after another.

Crackling electricity, screeching gears, and gauges pulled to their limits.

The intricate weapons quickly turned into valuable bombs and exploded in rapid succession, merging into one massive explosion that blew away an entire floor of the hotel.

“Gheaaaaahh…!”

It was chaos: red and blue flames, the stench of scorching metal, thick smoke, the tremors shaking the building, and shards of glass and concrete everywhere. Eli barely survived amidst it all, gasping for air and releasing an indistinguishable cry.

Thanks to positioning other gang members ahead of him, he was further back, sparing him from the electricity blast. Thus, he barely clung to life.

Though the magitech armor he wore had lost all function, turning into nothing more than heavy scrap metal, there was still room for optimism.

After all, if the explosion was this intense, even that monstrous guy couldn’t have come out unscathed.

Hopeful thoughts ran through Eli’s mind as he tried to stand.

No matter how powerful a wizard or warlock might be, they were still inherently human. The physical body couldn’t stray too far beyond human limitations.

Sure, there were tales of some transcending the human form, but Dave hadn’t mentioned anything like that.

Could someone in the heart of such an explosion survive? Death was inevitable, and even if they were somehow alive, they couldn’t be unscathed.

In that case, the contract was as good as fulfilled.

“I can get support…! With that, I can rise again! I’ll sever ties with those Randa bastards who trapped me here, and go independent…!”

“Is that why?”

A familiar yet unnatural voice devoid of emotion.

At the question denying all his recent calculations, Eli felt a mix of shock and fear as he slowly looked up.

There, standing against a background of flickering shadows, was Oliver, his face torn on one side.

Oliver touched his face, then formed a magical circle in the air. He pulled out a mechanical arm made of mana and stitched up the torn part.

Surprisingly, beneath the torn face was another face, that of a very, very young boy. However, because of the flickering shadows behind him, he hardly looked human.

“Mon…ster?”

Oliver, who had patched up the leather mask he wore, spoke.

“Ah, did you see that? You weren’t supposed to see it… What should I do about this?”

Oliver was lost in thought briefly, then eventually shrugged and lightly lifted the now useless, heavy hammer.

***

“Are we there yet?”

Somewhere in Nofton’s outskirts, a man spoke.

His name was Victor, a wizard of the traditional Skadi Faction. He was urging a blonde woman sitting in front of the World Tree.

His innate build and dignified face gave off an oppressive feeling to anyone looking at him, but it didn’t faze the woman.

“You should know that rushing me won’t make it go any faster,”

she unexpectedly answered while connected to the World Tree.

Normally, while connected to the World Tree, the consciousness would be within the World Tree, unable to respond.

Although it was an incomprehensible phenomenon, Victor didn’t show any surprise.

That’s because he knew she wasn’t human, but rather Eve… more precisely, Lilith, the artificial intelligence of the World Tree.

Suddenly one of the three Eves that appeared in the world.

An Eve who inexplicably aided the warlock Puppet Immortal, who had no connection to the World Tree.

Perhaps for this reason, Victor, despite being considered a prodigy of the Skadi Faction, felt an overpowering sense of intimidation from her, the kind that he couldn’t resist.

At that moment, an urgent voice came through the communication device.

“Victor…! Chzzk!! …It’s hard for us to hold on! …Chk! Those traitors are stronger than expected…!”

The voice heard over the communication device soon faded out, replaced by the ominous roar of flames scorching the air, the chilling sound of cracking ice, and the sharp noise of something slicing through it.

After that, only screams and the sound of someone’s last breath could be heard.

Surely, the approaching enemies were just Derek, Yareli, and Unner—two students and a single staff member from the Tower of Magic.

Also, according to the investigation by Lilith and Victor, these three weren’t particularly dangerous. By their calculations, the wizards sent should have been enough to stop them.

Yet reality proved the opposite, causing Victor deep humiliation, as it reminded him of the traditional factions’ decline after the rise of the Tower of Magic.

At that moment, Lilith chuckled and spoke.

“Kukuku… I guess the rumor that the traditional factions are deteriorating is true. No wonder the Archive created the Tower of Magic and became independent.”

Victor and the other wizards present in the same space as Lilith glared at her, grinding their teeth.

The Fear that the Archive separated the branches sent to Randa still lingered like a fresh wound.

Enraged, Victor shouted.

“When can we fully subdue Eve!?”

“I’m not sure… Eve’s resistance makes it tough, but I should be able to do it soon. Though the wizards from the Tower of Magic will probably arrive before that.”

“Then you have some leeway. I’ll go wipe them out.”

With those words, Victor gathered his comrades and moved toward the intruding wizards from the Tower of Magic.

Though Puppet had mediated, they should have put surveillance on them. However, their minds were too clouded by past glory and wounds, preventing them from making a proper judgment.

That said, it was because Lilith had subtly led them to this point.

Left alone, Lilith spoke while connected to the World Tree.

“He’s coming to save you. Smashing people with a hammer… quite funny, isn’t it? So reckless.”

As she observed Oliver through the World Tree, Lilith emitted unknown killing intent, resentment, jealousy, and disappointment.

Her beautiful blonde hair momentarily turned into brilliant colors like blue, red, and plum, seemingly reacting to those emotions.