Chapter 107: Return Part 2

The named mutant entity, Ver Leblanc, stared intensely in one direction.

Most of her emotions had been erased, and she had developed solely for survival. Yet even she felt a sense of “crisis” at the birth of something ominous in the far distance.

At that moment, she sensed the presence of someone from her own lineage. De Duchante.

“Duchante.”

“What’s going on? The command authority of our Mind Channel was suddenly taken.”

“You’re not asking because you don’t know.”

“Has a true final form finally appeared?”

“Similar, but different. Aside from the two who died earlier, none among us have reached the final form.”

“Then… from outside?”

“For now, I suspect it may be the work of those who killed the two Masters.”

“……”

Death was a familiar thing. And to grieve over it was a wasteful act.

Thus, the two mutants did not mourn the loss of their two long-time comrades.

But the sudden emergence of a final form….that was a different matter.

“What are you planning to do?”

“We’ll observe the situation and accept it if we can. But…”

“If capture is possible, capture it. If not, eliminate it.”

“Exactly.”

The unprecedented situation where the command of the Mind Channel had been seized by an unknown entity.

All the mutants began moving in unison toward the direction where the incident had occurred.

***

Something is coming.

Jun felt it instinctively, but he didn’t have the luxury to worry about it right now.

His heart felt like it was about to explode.

Barely, his mutant body was holding on, but it felt like walking a tightrope that could snap at any moment.

It’s still holding for now. But… can I withstand the shock when I fully separate the circle and the attribute?

Impossible.

Even Jun’s hardened mutant heart was beginning to show signs of strain.

If he were to separate the circle and the attribute in this state, it would certainly cause further complications.

This meant that Marshar’s calculations had been wrong.

“……”

The circle containing the [Mana Body] held far more power than expected, and the backlash from it was fiercer than anticipated.

But it wasn’t something Jun could blame Marshar for.

After all, Marshar had no knowledge of the [Mana Body].

I need to find a solution.

There had to be something. Some other method.

– It’s hard to explain in words, but… I felt like I was gradually getting closer to something. I almost reached it.

I think I’m going to become a true mutant. That’s the kind of intuition I had.

Marshar’s advice echoed in Jun’s ears once more.

What if I push the mutation further from this state?

If he did, he might be able to restore his heart, which had already suffered so much damage.

If he crossed that threshold Marshar had warned about.

How far has my mutation progressed by now?

He felt gazes from far away.

Some of the named monsters from the remaining five bloodlines must have arrived first and were now observing the situation.

Jun could also sense the presence of other mutants.

It was proof that he was becoming more deeply entangled in the sea of information known as the Mind Channel.

Is this the threshold Marshar was talking about?

He had reached the point where he could even locate other mutants.

If he pushed any further, Jun would inevitably become a full mutant. With no way back.

His emotions would be erased, and he would become obsessed with efficiency.

But… there’s no other way.

Having already separated the circle and attribute significantly, stopping now would certainly lead to a rampage.

It was truly a dilemma. A situation with no way forward or back.

Jun looked down at his hands.

He saw the Predator he had brought from the sanctuary.

Let’s give it a try.

Whether it would work or not, he had no idea.

A gamble without any proper theoretical foundation.

But it was the only possible path to survival.

Jun waved his hand, drawing in the corrupted mana around him.

And then he drove it into his heart.

However, it couldn’t just be rammed in mindlessly.

It had to be kept separate from pure mana, but at the same time, it had to accelerate the mutation of the body.

It was an absurd level of mana control, but [Mana Body] made it possible.

“Urgh…!”

A sea of information swirled violently.

To absorb that much information all at once, emotions had to be completely suppressed, and one had to move like a machine.

Accordingly, Jun’s emotions gradually faded, and as they did, his battered heart began to recover.

Then, just as all emotions vanished and even the sense of crisis about the mutation began to transform into a sense of calm—

[Steadfast Will], [Unwavering Heart]

The two skills activated, and Jun’s hand barely managed to reach toward his heart.

Fwoooosh!!

The Predator, which had often gone hungry since falling to the fifth level due to a lack of mana, began to thrash wildly like a fish in water as it absorbed the corrupted mana.

Fwoosh…?

It seemed even the creature was confused by this unfamiliar kind of food, but soon enough, it resumed absorbing the corrupted mana without hesitation.

Then, Jun’s fading rationality slowly returned.

“Haah… haah…!”

That was close.

Had he been even a moment late, he might not have made it back.

But the result was undeniable.

My heart has recovered a little.

This process would have to be repeated several more times.

Fear briefly crept in….that he might no longer be human by the end of it, but he continued to absorb the corrupted mana again.

A second time, a third.

It worked.

Feeling his heart had fully recovered, Jun immediately focused on the circle and the attribute.

He would now completely separate the two, which had been partially disconnected.

Booooooom-booom—!

A series of invisible explosions erupted from deep within him.

And at that exact moment, the mutants who had been observing Jun began to move.

***

“What’s he doing?”

“Looks like he’s undergoing the ritual to become ‘one of us’.”

“Though… it kind of looks like he’s resisting, too.”

The two mutant entities, Ver Leblanc and De Duchante, had reached near the western castle gate before they realized it. And now, they were staring at the unknown being.

“The scales are unmistakable…”

“He’s reached the ultimate form.”

“But why is he rejecting it?”

“No, look. He’s absorbing our mana.”

“…I can’t make sense of it.”

Deprived of most emotions and capable only of logical, efficient thought, they were thrown into confusion.

They simply couldn’t comprehend the actions of this unknown being.

However—

“…Terminate him.”

Upon seeing the unidentified mutant repeatedly place a hand over his heart and absorb the corrupted mana, Ver Leblanc gave the order.

“Not capture?”

“He’s clearly devouring our mana. His goal isn’t to become one of us.”

“…I see. Understood.”

They didn’t know what that act truly meant, but whatever it was, the correct response was to eliminate the threat.

Not that it would be a total loss.

If they could secure his body, they might obtain the long-sought clue to the “ultimate form”.

With that judgment, Ver Leblanc issued a command through the Mind Channel to all mutants.

Kill the threat.

The mutants who had gathered over the past half-day let out monstrous howls and charged at the intruder in unison.

“What about us?”

“We wait. Don’t forget what happened to Lu Badna. He was struck down by lightning and killed.”

“Right. Understood.”

The plan was to wear down the target using the lowest-ranked mutants, and then have the heads of each clan move in to finish him.

At that moment, another clan leader called Moon Bennett who had been silently watching from nearby, finally emerged from the shadows.

“What’s the chance he could use our Mind Channel to disable the lower-tier mutants?”

“Impossible. Even if he wants to use the knowledge we’ve left behind, there’s no way he could process that much information all at once. And even if he somehow could, it would take a long time.”

“I see. But Leblanc… how do you explain that?”

“…?”

Leblanc followed Bennett’s gaze and for the first time in a long while, she felt a surge of emotion.

It was unmistakably confusion.

Kyarrurur!

Khaaak!

The lowest-ranking mutants had begun to turn on each other.

Whip—

Leblanc’s gaze snapped toward the intruder.

Coincidence, or inevitability?

He too was looking straight at Leblanc.

“…Get out of the way!”

The moment came right after. He reached out his hand.

***

It worked.

Jun coughed up a mouthful of blood as he took in the scene he had created.

The mutants, who had been approaching with menacing force, suddenly began to brawl among themselves.

That was close.

As he absorbed the corrupted mana and walked a fine line—

Jun had tapped into the Mind Channel shared by the mutants and collected the incoming information.

Of course, it was only possible for a very brief moment, so he selected just the two most essential functions.

One of them was the attack command.

He had issued an order for them to attack one another within a designated target range.

Named entities don’t follow my commands. But…

He could still block the commands they were receiving.

And the other function was perception.

In other words, he had gained the ability to locate the named entities.

That’s enough.

He reached out his hand and began chanting a spell aimed at the spot where three named entities had grouped together.

[Lightning Call: Transformation – Thundercloud]

Dark clouds gathered in the pale sky, and lightning immediately struck down.

The three named entities moved swiftly, escaping the range of [Lightning Call].

But it didn’t matter.

“Phew. Aside from turning into a mutant. This really is perfect.”

A body incomparably tougher than a human’s.

In this state, he could cast magic over and over without collapsing.

I probably don’t even need a golem core anymore.

It was a power he wouldn’t be able to use again once he left this place, but it was more than enough to get through the current crisis.

As Jun extended his hand once more, lightning crashed down over the three named entities, now scattered in different directions.

But they weren’t going to go down so easily.

Was it because of what had happened to the harpy-like named entity? They were highly sensitive to the very buildup of mana now.

No… more likely, it’s because of that purple mist.

That purple mist was sensitively detecting mana, and that information was being relayed to the mutants through the mind channel.

If that’s the case… then I’ll eliminate that corrupted mana.

With the seal lifted, he could now manipulate mana freely.

He gathered all the corrupted mana in the area at once.

“How?!”

A scream, almost like a cry of despair, burst from the shocked named entity.

Rumble!

Once again, the spell Jun chanted struck down as lightning.

“Bennett’s down!”

The mutant who had arrived first and had been spying on Jun all along collapsed. Black smoke was rising from its body.

“An assassin should always be watched carefully. You were the most annoying one, so this works out.”

Under normal circumstances, that one wouldn’t have been so easy to kill.

It was a creature that lurked in the shadows, waiting for the perfect timing and rarely revealed itself.

But once Jun had intervened in the mind channel, he had been able to predict its every move, moment by moment. That made it possible to hunt and kill it.

“Well then, let’s start the hunt.”

The roles of prey and predator had reversed.

Recognizing this shift, Jun tightened his grip on the mana again, and even the named entities felt that the moment of decision had come.

***

The purple mist that had always hovered over their heads vanished, and lightning struck.

Bennett is dead.

Leblanc, realizing this instinctively, was seized by a sense of despair.

It had been a long time since she’d felt such emotion, and yet it only reinforced her belief that emotions were utterly useless.

Ironically, however, that very despair helped her recognize the core problem of the current situation.

We relied too much on our environment.

Now that the purple mist and the mind channel had become difficult to use, they were left in this state.

It felt like fighting with one’s eyes closed.

We can’t fight like this.

They had to clash with everything they had, all at once.

She realized that trying to gather information in the current situation was meaningless.

[Duchante. What about Bardna’s mana cylinder?]

Hiding once again in the purple mist, she reached out to Duchante through the mind channel. He responded almost immediately.

[I have it.]

[Absorb it.]

The mana cylinder from the harpy-type mutant killed by the intruder’s lightning.

When Leblanc ordered him to absorb it, Duchante, unusually, hesitated and asked,

[…You’re really going to do this?]

[Yes.]

[…Understood, Leblanc. It’s been an honor.]

That was the last communication from Duchante.

Afterward, Leblanc approached Bennett, who had died in the darkness.

Grief was a luxury.

As if to prove it, she opened Bennett’s chest without hesitation and pulled out the mana cylinder within.

Unlike the ones from the lowest-tier creatures, this cylinder contained far more concentrated mana.

Leblanc absorbed it as it was, then sent signals to the remaining two heads of the houses.

She sent Ban Ducas of the Ban family to stall the enemy and finally summoned Kum Zened, the head of the Kum family.

“Leblanc.”

“You’re here.”

“I didn’t think it would end like this.”

“If we get another chance, let’s meet again.”

Kum Zened split open his own chest.

What Leblanc was attempting was simple.

She would absorb the mana cylinders held by the heads of each lineage and use them to enhance her own body.

It was unfortunate that Dru Ludna who had defended the west, had no cylinder to offer, but there was no helping that.

The enemy was simply that powerful.

The other heads acknowledged this and accepted Leblanc’s decision.

Now having absorbed the mana of two lineages, Leblanc stood face-to-face with Duchante, who had brought Bennett’s cylinder.

“For our subjugation.”

“For it.”

Finally, after absorbing the last two cylinders, Leblanc turned her eyes toward her enemy.

Just as she had expected.

Ban Ducas whom she had sent now lay fallen. He was skewered by an ice spear summoned by the intruder.