Book 16 Chapter 45

Science VS Psychic Powers,

Ain's technology is the best in the world (10)

Nils and Lista finally arrived at the hangar.

Greta Viser had not removed Nils's biometric code from the weapon use authorization list.

Did she believe he would return to her someday…? Nils swallowed a bitter gulp.

"Where is the Heart Bomb?"

Though Nils had never been to this facility before, checking the inventory of this hangar was not very difficult since the module usage was similar to an artifact.

"Over there. Fortunately, the bomb's specifications and methods haven't changed much since I was here."

To operate the Heart Bomb in an emergency even within such a safe zone, Greta Viser had also prepared a repulsion field bomb.

"I'll deploy this field around the Heart Bomb."

"Will it be effective?"

"It can't stop an explosion as powerful as the one that hit you back then. Nothing can stop that. But it can block an explosion powerful enough to restore your body to normal without the protection of the Holy Sword. Come on, Lynn is fighting alone right now. Hurry!"

Nils, who had plugged the control module (one of the artifacts Nils possessed) into the Heart Bomb and finished adjusting the explosion's size, gestured to Lista.

"Nils."

As Nils moved away from the bomb and Lista moved closer, they crossed paths, and Lista spoke.

"Are you really sure you won't be harmed?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You've looked sad ever since we came here. I was worried you might give up on life, using a faulty field as an excuse."

At her words, Nils's entire brain went numb for a moment, then he let out a faint, inexplicable wry laugh.

"Are you worrying about others even in a situation like this? Don't worry, Hero. I have an obligation to restore not only you but Link to normal."

* * *

'It's impossible to peel this off with force…!'

Pabeltikan's grip, pulling Lynn somewhere, was strong enough to crush even steel plates.

'Then…!'

Was that all?

'Friction, by reducing the coefficient of friction to the extreme…!'

Obstacles like repeatedly appearing bulkheads while being dragged easily broke Lynn's delicate body and more.

'While simultaneously changing the barrier wrapped around my lower body to ice attribute…!'

Blocking such obstacles with the Joryuhen-type magic in her right hand, she deployed the Osarius Rosary.

'…I need to create a viscous fluid with dual attributes of water and poison magic. There's no other way!'

As the barrier surface froze and became covered in a slippery, viscous fluid, the coefficient of friction converged to 0.

'Success…!'

As a result, Pabeltikan's hand, which had been forcefully dragging Lynn, lost its target and flew off on its own.

But there was one more problem.

The entire floor had disappeared. In other words, as soon as she escaped Pabeltikan's restraint, she was exposed to a complete state of gravity.

'Rune engraving conversion… Plate!'

However, for a genius magician, this was not even a problem. The frost covering her lower body gathered, forming a foothold.

"Hmph. I don't know what you're planning by turning off all the lights so gloomily, but it makes no difference to me whether there's light or not."

The constellation of power, the Osarius Rosary, resonated with its owner's gesture, continuously taking on new forms.

"Osarius-style Hand Seal, 2nd star. Myungchung (Clear Blue)."

It was a wave of electricity that washed away the darkness. One of the spells developed by Lynn, who had refined the lightning attribute to its extreme.

Originally, lightning attribute magic was a practical attribute specialized for combat.

However, Lynn focused on the 'speed' inherent in the lightning attribute and created a spell specialized for detection and targeting, which was this 'Myungchung'.

Zzzzzzt, zzzzzzt, zzzzzzzzzzzt…!

The current that instantly spread in all directions formed illumination with its lightning flashes while also physically pinpointing the enemy's location.

"Turning off the lights was not to gain an advantage in vision."

The light of the Geumyungjang (Brocade Camp Staff) reached its peak, following its owner's will.

"It's because I diverted the reactor's power to 'these' instead of this facility."

Lynn pointed the Geumyungjang at various dark spots in the underground where a voice echoed, and the current also concentrated along the staff's vanishing point.

"What the, this crazy…?"

Reflected within that festival of currents was… a vast, sprawling graveyard.

An ancient, or perhaps, a far future graveyard?

And buried in that graveyard were not people, but ships. The warships of the <Ones Who Came>.

"The small ship on the far left is the Belte-class patrol boat R-77. It was a warship belonging to the Golden Fleet led by Terbel, the Sun of the Azure Sky."

Like a museum, about 10 warships were neatly arranged underground… and lights rotated in each of their bridges.

"There are other warships, but what I want to boast about is that Calito-class battleship 'Mybaselmwon' at the very end."

That signified a truly dangerous fact. The fact that those ancient ships were operating.

"It was the flagship of the Crimson Fleet led by the Crimson Sun, Shurigan. Though it looks small due to 80% of its hull being heavily damaged, it was originally a warship of the same class as the Teritos, a symbol of the Blue City <Terbenople>, or the 'Lynn' military base buried in Harvadonia."

Though they could not fly through the sky with their massive hulls like in the age of myths, their countless muzzles all moved in unison, aiming at Lynn.

"Now, shall we see if you can block all the bombardment from a total of 17 warships of the <Ones Who Came>?"

The coordinates are fixed. It's impossible for Lynn to move anywhere from her current foothold.

'What…!'

There is no way to survive other than blocking that vast barrage. But Lynn had already consumed a considerable amount of magic in her previous battle with Greta.

'What the hell, this crazy…!'

This crisis of Lynn's, who was hastily deploying a barrier while swallowing dry saliva, was all Greta Viser's battle design. Greta placed a hand on her helmet and spoke.

"Order to fire issued to all fleets."

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thudung… The caliber of the guns on the warships differed from Pabeltikan, which prioritized mobility.

These were siege weapons.

They were heavy weapons designed to crush the irrational power of the old kings who had dominated the entire world in darkness before the dawn of creation.

'The barrier…!'

The barrier Lynn deployed at that moment, drawing out all her magic, could truly be described as a miracle.

However, it couldn't hold.

The light shells from other warships could be somewhat blocked, but 'Mybaselmwon''s main cannon had a muzzle diameter of 10 feet, and its destructive power was beyond description.

'With each hit, the barrier develops cracks as if it's about to break…!'

The time it took to reload the main cannon was approximately 4 seconds. It was clear even to Lynn, the caster, that she couldn't withstand the next attack.

Is this the end of life?

However, beyond that desperate calculation, she lacked the energy to unfold a new move. This was the difference in power compared to the 'currently strongest,' who could wield all ancient weapons with the [King's Flesh].

"Pyeondeji Gyeolja Ji Chae Ryeong (遍地結子之菜零)."

But as everyone knows, Lynn never exits history until the final journey of the hero's party.

"Yeobeomsu Sesaenghoehaek Jigwa (與凡樹所生懷核之果)."

Because in all those crises, the young archmage was never alone.

"Agusai-i-wi-sik (我俱賜爾以爲食)."

Without a single error, in just 2.7 seconds, the Holy Word of Creation, recited at superspeed using a foreign tongue, firmly enveloped Lynn in a sacred circle.

It was the power of the Seven Verses of Creation.

Its precise name was the Hymn of Faith and Love, and the power of Creation it relayed to this world was protection and healing.

'It's warm. And magic is returning to my core…'

The barrage of light could not violate that light of Creation. Rather, it seemed as if the cannon shells intentionally avoided a direct hit, which was not unreasonable.

The Hymns of Creation were the commands of Creation.

Because the weapons of the <Ones Who Came> were fundamentally created not to disobey, but to obey the commands of Creation.

"Lynn, your magic is recovering! That bastard, Link and I will handle him!"

Friede appeared on her broom. On her shoulders were Pipi and Sval! Sval flew over and affectionately rubbed his fluffy cheek against hers!

"Link, Link, Link!"

Lynn wasn't the only one surrounded by the Hymn of Faith and Love's barrier. The light, which completely enveloped even that enormous body, thoroughly protected the diving Link from the warships' barrage.

"Number 2641."

A hand-to-hand battle began between Greta Viser, who had been walking among the warships to ascertain the cause of this strange phenomenon, and Link.

"I am the one who gave new life to you, the most useless scrap metal in the world, and now you bare your fangs at me? There's a limit to ingratitude. Even beasts acknowledge favors as favors."

Link's physique was menacing in itself!

Was this a natural result, as he was an artificial modification, a so-called 'chimera,' created to counter demons, who were the strongest of the six great demon races and infamous as avatars of the <Forgotten Kings>?

Link engaged in a power struggle, hands clasped, with the same strength derived from the same physique as Greta Viser's mounted giant, Pabeltikan.

'Even Pabeltikan's bombardment is useless against that barrier…'

In that state, Greta Viser, who had fired a command shot at Link, once again focused on the phenomenon unfolding before her eyes.

[DANGER!]

Meanwhile, flames spat by a dragon, a spell embodied with such power and momentum, attacked Greta.

"Active Suction Field, Walpurgis."

Pabeltikan, momentarily shaking off Link and facing the flames head-on, absorbed the approaching danger with the gun barrel that grew from its chest.

'The source of that power must be coming from that priestess. I'll change the primary target for subjugation to that priestess.'

Was two barriers all she had? That priestess had not deployed a barrier around herself.

"What?!"

Dracuto's flames were reflected directly from Walpurgis's muzzle, striking Friede, the caster!

Would the tide of battle be decided this way? No.

Because that muzzle had not precisely aimed at Friede.

"!"

Once again, an arrow from the White Spear Bow Serwebon, flying through a blind spot in her vision, applied a subtle but fatal brake to Pabeltikan's movement towards Friede.

[DANGER!]

Was it trying to prevent her from identifying the danger?

[DANGER!]

The Sun Bird flapped its wings boisterously in front of Pabeltikan's HUD, as if toying with its vision.

[DANGER!]

As 12 emergency interception gun muzzles were exposed on both sides of Pabeltikan's helmet, Pipi immediately left the battlefield without any regret.

[DANGER!]

Finally, with her vision clear, Greta realized why Number 2641 had not rushed into this opening, and why the Sun Parrot had immediately retreated.

'The atmosphere is vibrating… This is.'

More precisely, the coordinates where Pabeltikan stood were wriggling frantically, like a mirage.

[DANGER!]

More precisely, the entire dimension was trembling as the blade of the Extreme Satellite Sword, Surpen, aimed at the trajectory that included Pabeltikan.

"---Temporal Annihilation!"