Into the Creations 1928

Chapter 1928 – 1928. Dark Moon

I could see a wraith. That perplexed me. Especially since the wraith flying near me wasn’t a materialized one made of dark mana. Unless you had a special ability like Niklas’s spirit sight, seeing a wraith was nearly impossible.

‘Is it because I’ve seen a wraith once before?’

If I hadn’t known at all, I wouldn’t have been able to see it. But perhaps it was because I had already observed a wraith that I could see it now. Or maybe there was another possibility.

Anyway, I ignored the wraith. A non-materialized wraith wasn’t much of a threat. At most, it would stick to my body and cause fatigue.

Whoooosh.

I stirred my mana.

I took out a tungsten bullet from my pocket and drew a magic circle in front of me. I tossed the tungsten bullet into the center of the magic circle.

[Railgun]

The bullet was launched along the power rails laid out in the magic circle. It broke the sound barrier in an instant and flew straight towards the death knight. The death knight swung its sword and deflected the bullet. The impact sent the death knight flying backward and crashing down.

‘Its swordsmanship is excellent. Was it true that death knights are created based on the souls of great warriors from their past lives?’

But it wasn’t unscathed. The death knight’s sword was shattered, and its right arm was gone. Undead as it was, it didn’t seem to feel any pain and charged at me.

I levitated myself with telekinesis. The necromancer Niklas pointed his finger at me. Skeletons that had been scattered everywhere rushed towards me. As they did, the skeletons merged together, growing in size.

In an instant, they transformed into a giant skeleton over 10 meters tall. Then, the dead appeared from all sides, cursing at me.

My body grew heavy.

My mana flow became unstable.

My vision blurred.

If this were a game, it would be like having four or five debuffs applied at once.

But my mind was clear.

A heavy body? I could just move my body with telekinesis.

An unstable mana flow? It wasn’t like it was destroyed. I just needed to control the flowing mana more carefully.

Blurred vision? My senses were already sharp. Even if my most important sense, sight, was blurred, I could vividly feel my surroundings.

My astral expanded, and the mana within my body moved as I intended. The mana that had burst out of my body became an invisible formula, rising into the sky. The formula and mana resonated, forming a magic circle with lines of pale blue light.

When the magic circle was perfectly drawn, I chanted as if pulling a trigger.

[Ice Strike]

A huge block of ice appeared through the magic circle and fell towards the giant skeleton. The giant skeleton, as clumsy as its large body, couldn’t avoid it. The giant skeleton tried to catch the glacier with both hands.

However, the giant ice emerging from the magic circle hadn’t fully manifested yet.

With a diameter of over 10 meters and a height of over 50 meters, the ice, which could easily be called a glacier, crushed the giant skeleton with its weight.

Crack!

The giant skeleton’s massive bony body collapsed. Cracks started to appear from its knees, then its shin bones, shoulder bones, and ribs.

“It’s still holding on. Will it hold on to this too?”

[Gravity]

Gravity amplification.

It was a level 1 spell used moderately, so the increased gravity was only about 30%, but that meant the weight of the glacier increased by 30%. That was enough. The giant skeleton was crushed by the glacier.

I landed on the ground. I felt a cool chill. It wasn’t bad, as it felt like my heated body was cooling down.

“…Who are you?! Leon Schneider can’t use elemental magic of this level! Where is the real Leon Schneider?! Are you a spy from another country?!”

Niklas’s tense voice reached me.

I curled up the corners of my lips. I could feel Niklas’s tension. He had already revealed his hand. Curses using wraiths, death knights, giant skeletons.

His dark mana must have run out by now.

“Does it matter if I’m a spy? You’re going to die here anyway.”

“Do you not know who I’m affiliated with? Even if I die, the 6th Legion will not disappear. The 6th Legion will start an investigation, and they will eventually find you.”

“So, you’re asking me to spare you?”

“…I’m proposing a deal.”

“I don’t need it.”

[Ice Spear]

I grasped a spear of ice in my hand and walked towards him.

“Death Knight!!”

Niklas shouted. The tattered death knight, missing an arm and a sword, rushed towards me.

I threw the ice spear.

KWA-AAANG!

The ice spear pierced the death knight’s chest and exploded. It instantly expanded in volume, turning into snowflakes and shattering the death knight into pieces.

“It’s not hard to deal with a death knight that’s nothing more than a tattered rag.”

Niklas looked at me with a determined face.

“…I am a necromancer. I will become a wraith and curse you. You will never be able to sleep peacefully again.”

“I doubt it. I think I’ll sleep just fine.”

[Absolute Polymorph]

I transformed my right hand into a hand cannon and aimed it at Niklas.

KWAANG!

The hand cannon spat fire. When the smoke cleared, Niklas’s upper body was gone.

Absolute Polymorph wasn’t limited to transforming into living beings. It could also transform into machines. The problem was that it was unknown what kind of problems it could cause to one’s mind.

I turned my hand back to normal and levitated myself with telekinesis, flying into the air to finish things up. Passing by the glacier stuck in the middle of the wasteland, I saw Kevin running away in a panic.

Pzzzzzt!

Lightning surged from my fingertips and gathered in the center of my palm. I threw the lightning bolt towards Kevin.

It hit. The blue lightning swept over his body and was absorbed into the ground. I walked towards the electrocuted man.

He wasn’t dead. Maybe a normal person would be, but Kevin was also a soldier with the rank of captain.

“You’ve been doing some interesting things.”

Kevin focused on his breathing and moved his mana. He spread mana throughout his body, awakening his paralyzed body from the electrocution.

“C-Commander…!”

“What is it?”

“Please spare me! I’ll tell you who’s behind me!”

“If you want to die peacefully, speak now. If you don’t speak within 10 seconds, you’ll become the mascot of the Lemen Prison.”

Kevin’s face turned pale.

Matthias, tied to a cross in the prison yard. His arms and legs were cut off, and he was just withering away. He couldn’t even die. They had guards watching him every day to make sure he didn’t die.

He wouldn’t want to end up like Matthias, whose family was executed in front of him, and who couldn’t even die, spending decades in that state.

Kevin sighed. His resistance had completely disappeared. He said weakly.

“…It’s Colonel Bergman from the 6th Legion’s General Staff.”

“The General Staff. More troublesome than I thought. He’s an elite, so why would he be interested in a place like Lemen Prison?”

“On the surface, it’s because of money. It’s lucrative to embezzle the budget.”

“On the surface? Does that mean there’s something else?”

“Yes. I was suspicious, so I investigated separately. Colonel Bergman’s family was running an artificial organ company.”

A company that cultivated and sold artificial organs. It wouldn’t just be cultivating ordinary organs. That wouldn’t be competitive.

“I see. So, the goal was to conduct human experiments if he got his hands on the prison.”

Considering the special nature of Lemen Prison, it was the perfect place to conduct human experiments. Even I was running the prison in a terrible way, and no one was interfering.

“…Can you spare me? I’ll be loyal from now on. I’ve been running the prison until you were appointed! I’m useful!”

“Be grateful that I’m giving you a clean death.”

If I had my way, I wouldn’t give him a clean death. He was the one who stabbed me in the back. But Kevin was the deputy warden. I couldn’t treat him the same way as Matthias, the gang leader. It was better to kill him cleanly here. That way, Colonel Bergman would have to take care of everything.

“Damn it… I was just trying to live a little better, and this is the result…”

I used magic while listening to his pathetic last words.

A bolt of lightning fell from the clear sky, taking Kevin’s life. I stepped over his corpse and headed towards the car. I had Flash in my pocket.

• • •

Three days had passed.

I was researching Flash, the potion that restored memories. It was too precious to use just once. I wanted to find out the recipe and mass-produce it if possible.

‘I’ve tried everything I could for three days… I don’t know anything.’

Magic was one thing. This was a potion. That meant that the ingredients and their ratios were more important than the method of making it with magic.

‘To find out the ingredients, I need an analyzer used by companies. The problem is that those things are hard to get even if you have money…’

There was no other way for now. I had no choice but to set some aside and use the rest.

Knock knock knock!

“Warden! It’s a big problem!”

A guard knocked urgently on the door. I shoved Flash into my pocket and said.

“You’re being loud. Speak slowly. Did the prisoners start a riot or something?”

Had I been too lenient with the prisoners lately?

The door opened, and the guard came in. He was sweating profusely.

“The 6th Legion Commander is coming to visit the prison in person!”

“The Legion Commander? Why?”

I was also taken aback and jumped up from my seat.

The Legion Commander.

One of the most powerful figures in the militaristic Haist Empire. In the Empire, even high-ranking nobles couldn’t hold their heads high in front of the Legion Commander. Moreover, the 6th Legion Commander was a member of the Imperial Family.

In terms of power, he was one of the top ten figures in the Empire.

Such a monstrous being was coming to a remote prison? It was like a nuclear bomb was about to drop.

‘Damn it. Did Colonel Bergman pull some strings?’

I clicked my tongue and looked at the guard.

“Exactly how many days until he arrives?”

“W-Well, he’s on his way in a transport plane right now! He’s scheduled to arrive at the prison in 30 minutes!”

“…Why are you reporting this now?”

“I just heard from the 6th Legion Headquarters!”

30 minutes.

Clean up the inside of the prison, silence the prisoners, forge the ledgers… There was a lot to do. Of course, 30 minutes wasn’t nearly enough. It would take at least two days.

I sat back in my chair, crossed my arms, and calmly said to the sweating guard.

“Just do as you normally do. There’s no need to make a fuss just because the Legion Commander is coming.”

“Y-Yes, sir, Warden.”

The guard, who seemed genuinely impressed, saluted me and went outside. His footsteps seemed lighter each time he came in.

‘Damn it. What do I do? I haven’t even gotten a proper taste yet.’

I felt anxious and put my hand in my pocket.

I felt the rough shape of the key, the World Door, and I calmed down a bit.

‘Should I just run?’