Thud Thud Thud Thud Thud!!!
As soon as Daron’s tail fully regenerates, his massive form burrows into the sand, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Simultaneously, geysers of sand erupt around Lennok, creating a mesmerizing yet assaulting sight.
BoomBoomBoomBoom!!
Screeeeech!!
Like a scorpion extending its tail from its burrow to target its prey, Daron’s tail shoots out from the sand.
Fwaaaaang!!
Lennok manages to block it by stacking shields, but the speed is so ferocious that the air around him twists.
‘If mana interference works, I could restrain him for a moment…but this is a headache.’
Having completed the scan, he knows that Daron relies on physical modification rather than mana for his power, speed, and reflexes. Magic-induced physical enhancement won’t work on him.
Through magic engineering, one can improve physical abilities by remodelling their body into machinery. However, it comes with a significant drawback: the modified parts of the body are no longer compatible with mana. This is why few people in the lawless District 40s of Vulcan undergo body modification, as the cost and limitations are significant.
After his tail is blocked once, Daron stiffly raises it and fires a flare.
“Hahahahaha!! You seem to have a useful artifact, well then, try and block this!!”
Daron mistakes Lennok’s shield for an artifact, which is understandable. It’s more plausible to assume a sand wizard possesses a powerful artifact than mastery of shield magic, especially when facing someone like Daron who focuses more on body modification.
Lennok sees an opportunity in Daron’s ignorance.
Zzzzzing……!!
The tip of Daron’s regenerated tail splits into six sections, and a blue heat ray shoots out, targeting Lennok.
It’s a laser purely designed for military use, untainted by any magic.
While it’s been a long time since Lennok encountered technology without magic engineering, he can’t ignore it.
Sliding his body to the side by making the sand beneath him slippery, Lennok immediately summons mana to scatter the sand hidden underground into the sky.
Fwaaaaaaaak!!
[Wind Bloom]
He conjures a brief but strong wind, causing the clumps of sand to scatter and creating a massive sandstorm in the area.
Hwiiiiing!!
“Huh??”
Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, Daron hesitates for a moment, and the surroundings are instantly darkened by the thick sand dust, blocking even the sunlight.
As a superhuman who doesn’t manipulate mana, Daron is limited in his actions when his sight is blocked, unless he has special abilities or modified parts that detect body heat or bioelectricity.
Lennok points his revolver at Daron and quickly forms a hand seal with one hand. It’s his trademark magic, which he often uses without chanting, but this time he’s adding a special weapon to it, requiring more focus.
This will be his first time using it in real combat.
Grumble……!!
A strange noise emanates from the yellow-tinted sky.
At the same time, a flash of lightning, but the light piercing through the sand dust is not the familiar blue; it’s a blindingly white light.
Lightning magic [Thunder Calling] Property Change.
[White Thunder]
Kwaaaaaaa!!!
A white pillar descends, piercing through the filthy sandstorm.
The pure magical power feels almost holy, as if seeking to purify the filth around it.
The reasonable misunderstanding that he is a sand wizard, and the sense of crisis as his sight is robbed in an instant.
Through a single shotgun blast, a lethal blow falls from the sky as he distracts Daron by aiming for the tail, forcing attention only on the ground.
The first move may have been accidental, but the casually stacked moves coalesce into divine punishment that splits the skull.
Then comes the property change, a privilege known to level 6 wizards. And it was mixed with the property change of the electric series, so its firepower must have reached a state of certainty.
Even if it didn’t hit properly, the aftermath alone was enough to ensure a fatal injury.
While thinking so, Lennok, who had calmed the sandstorm, twisted his mouth as he saw the flashing red light beyond.
Under the hot desert sun, the tail that had been flashing was turned into a pile of ash, leaving only the skeleton, and the left arm and leg had disappeared without a trace as if they had never existed.
A gruesome sight where the flesh that had been covering half of the face had completely melted away, revealing the metal skeleton underneath.
But it was strange in itself that he was now glaring at Lennok with his machine-made eyeballs.
He must have avoided a direct hit by flinging his body to the side at full power as soon as he felt the strangeness, but that alone can’t explain how he survived the firepower of [White Thunder].
Was the firepower not enough?
That can’t be. Isn’t it a lightning strike that is twisted with property change and burns anything in one shot?
It’s not a firepower that can be endured with human durability.
Let alone with the regeneration alloy that is damaged by the firepower of a shotgun.
Then the answer is one, something other than Daron’s ability intervened in this battle.
Lennok nodded his head as he saw something similar to a half-broken shield disappearing around Daron’s body.
From a distance, it looks like a transparent cube and shines like a gem under the hot desert sun.
‘No…… Actually, its structure is closer to a gem.’
You can tell as soon as you see it. It’s not like a gem, it’s actually a magical formula with the structure of a gem.
A three-dimensional and elaborate structure. And it’s packed with rich and deep magic, specialized in protecting the inside stably.
Considering that it blocked even White Thunder’s hit, it’s not only resistant to high firepower but also to the level where there is no electrical conductivity.
To use such a protective magic formula, Daron has to be a wizard himself or have an artifact equivalent with him.
As expected, once the gem barrier disappeared, Daron, who slowly rose, had a gem that he hadn’t seen before in his hand.
A huge crystal the size of a fist. It seems to have lost its beautiful light and looks completely worthless, but if it was a proper item, it would have been of great value.
Perhaps that crystal played a big role in saving Daron’s life.
“Hoo…….”
Daron, who slowly dropped the artifact he had been holding in his hand, looked at Lennok with a completely different face than before and spoke as if spitting out.
“You’re not a typical sand wizard.”
“……”
“That lightning was not a power that can be summoned by a typical artifact. If it wasn’t for the gift from the boss, I would have died here…….”
Chrrrk……!!
With his words, Daron, who bent his waist deeply, crouched down and lowered his posture.
The tail, which was only a skeleton and was shaking, slowly regenerates and digs into the heated desert sand.
“If I can exclude a wizard like you, things will be much easier. I’ll tear your limbs off here……!!”
Looking at Daron, who crouched with a murderous look and supported himself with the heated sand with his only remaining arm, Lennok let out a deep sigh.
As the realm of magic grew, the limit of the power he could wield also increased, but conversely, if the opponent also had skill, he would recognize and be wary of Lennok’s power.
Therefore, he tried to take advantage of the gap between the outward appearance of Lennok and his actual skill, and determine the match in a moment.
He was successful in half-killing Daron, but conversely, he sparked his fighting spirit.
It’s annoying, but Lennok quickly accepted the situation.
He couldn’t kill him in one shot because of an unknown artifact, but from the moment he hit White Thunder, the game was largely in his favor.
Even if the fight starts again from the tilted start line, it won’t take long to determine the outcome.
‘I have to align with Chen breaking the encirclement and arriving at the truck.’
Thinking so, Lennok slowly raised his mana.
At that moment, Daron’s body disappears as he digs into the sand below.
The sand barrier, which seemed to have been caused by Lennok earlier, now covers him in the opposite direction.
Kwaahhhh!!
Simultaneously, a whip of steel stretched out from below, like a snake’s tongue, bending and twisting through space, quickly closing the distance.
Had he not pushed his mana detection to its limits, he might have exposed a flaw in an instant.
A speed that is hard to believe comes without using mana. This is the power of a body modified to its extreme.
Kwajjjjjj!!
As the outer edge of the multi-layered shield shrinks, a rough mechanical sound reverberates from beneath the sand.
“You rely on a pathetic shield for a wizard, but you won’t be able to land your magic again…!!”
Daron’s words, which seem desperate, are not wrong.
Even though he had developed the Thunder Calling spell close to a modification through steady research, he couldn’t get rid of the subtle signs of its activation.
But that was when Lennok was getting bogged down by the limitations of Common magic.
Unaware of this situation, Daron would still rush forward after seeing the white lightning that split the sky in two.
Under the scorching desert sun, a dirty sandstorm blows, and the sharp reflection of metal tortures the eyes.
Kagagagak!!
The movement of the tail thrusting from beneath his feet easily exceeds a dozen times in a single breath.
Every time it reveals itself above the sand dunes, the red glowing artificial eye crazily moves to find Lennok’s weakness.
At the same time, Lennok responds by pulling out his revolver and shooting flames all around to reduce Daron’s angle of attack, while focusing his shield.
In unavoidable moments, he slips on the sand beneath his feet to scramble the target point, momentarily changing the situation and delaying the moment his shield breaks.
Daron, too, follows in an instant, roaming above the sand like wind.
Kwajjjik!!
The end of the slender tail splits into multiple angles, opening up like a flower and tightly grasping Lennok’s shield.
Ziiiiiiing……!!!
A distinct red laser pours out from the center.
“Die quietly, you wizard bastard!!”
Kwahhhh!!!!
Artillery fire from the short range.
The heat concentrated on one point begins to whittle away Lennok’s shield, exposing its core in an instant.
Lennok, realizing Daron’s intention in that moment, clicked his tongue quietly.
‘It seems he’s figured out how I block his attacks. He plans to pierce through the weakened part of the shield and aim for my body.’
Even while his laser’s heat spatters around, melting even his own flesh, his wild appearance, laughing and hammering at Lennok’s shield with both arms, is nothing short of a berserker.
But if one doesn’t know that behind this seemingly lost laughter lies a meticulous battle calculation, one would surely die here.
One shouldn’t be fooled by the sight of him being apparently covered in steel and machinery.
Despite his background and nature, or his character, he is an outstanding warrior simply based on his physical skills.
He doesn’t lose his offensive momentum and breath even while freely manipulating the metal body that is not originally attached to humans. His fighting spirit is clearly felt even in this dirty air.
His fierce and refined aura alone suggests he must be a high-ranking officer within Falcon.
Tututututut!!
But Daron’s fierce attack, which seemed to melt his entire body, turned into mere ashes the moment Lennok flipped his palm and released his mana.
The laser that was just fiercely burrowing into Lennok’s shield suddenly got deflected in a strange direction.
As if waiting for that moment, Daron’s machine gun and fist that stretched out were also blocked with a blurry shockwave.
Kwahhh!!
“What……!!”
Lennok’s shield is essentially multi-layered.
By widening the gap between the shields and adjusting the angle, the two refracted squares interfere with the concentration of the laser’s heat, twisting its direction.
Immediately, Lennok fired a bullet from his revolver at the gap that appeared in return.
Tatatang!!
Only two bullets out of a full magazine fired like a burst hit Daron’s body.
The reflexes to dodge bullets at close range were monstrous, but the view Lennok was aiming for was a little farther.
The bullets lodged in his left thigh and flank quickly freeze, eating away and stiffening Daron’s body.
“Damn, this is…!!”
For a man whose body is mechanized, he has a rich emotional expression.
His grotesquely twisted face. All sorts of wires and circuits peeking beyond the torn flesh.
Honestly, Lennok didn’t particularly dislike people who were honest with their emotions like that.
It was a way of life that Lennok, who opened his eyes to this world, could never choose.
Perhaps it could be seen as a kind of admiration.
But if the result of that vividly lived life is to kill people as a high-ranking officer of a terrorist organization, he’d pass.
And right here, right now, is the place where the trajectories of the lives they have lived collide, revealing the outcome.
Lennok has never once failed to prove his worth.
(To be Continued)
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