#517

Curtain Call (3)

When Lennok obtained Logia's memories, he didn't expect much.  

Pandemonium and the Special Operations Agency, Aegis.  

As an informant moving between both organizations, Logia likely held sensitive information, though he had ultimately exposed his identity and allowed himself to be subdued by Lennok. His understanding of his own psyche was lacking, as evident by his self-destructive failure against Victor, a man who couldn't even unleash half of his power.  

Perhaps it was fitting to compare him to Turan, the White Lion from Blaver's Magic Tower, who had also ended up as Doctor's puppet. Despite having a powerful body and a twisted mind that craved others' souls, he misused his abilities in a depraved way, leading to a fate worse than death. Doctor might have sensed a similar aura in Logia, even jokingly warning him to be careful.  

Despite his innate talent and aptitude, Logia’s poor control and understanding of his abilities prevented him from reaching greater heights. Therefore, Lennok thought the information in Logia’s memories might offer more recent insights rather than profound secrets of Pandemonium or Aegis.  

But the scene unfolding before Lennok’s eyes was unlike anything he'd seen before, even after battling Pandemonium for years.

A ruined, desolate city lay in front of him, shrouded in dense fog, as if isolated from the world. The atmosphere was empty, like standing at the end of the world. In the midst of the void, Fame and Commander stood silently. Yet, their gazes diverged slightly. Unlike Commander, who seemed disinterested in anything around them, Fame looked over his shoulder, as if taking in the view of the fallen city. It was as though he wanted to preserve the memory of these ruins for a long time.  

"Will you be alright?"  

After a long silence, Fame was the first to speak.

As Lennok subtly shifted his gaze toward what Lennok was observing, he let out a small chuckle.  

"Still watching, I see."  

"...Doesn't matter," replied Commander, without even glancing at where Lennok was looking.  

"I've wrapped up all the loose ends in this area. This is the last one."  

"So, this is the last one..."  

"Besides, you were the one who brought that werewolf here, weren't you?" Commander remarked nonchalantly.  

Fame nodded.  

"The road to the outer frontline was rough, so I needed help from a local."  

A "local"... Lennok finally understood why Logia had encountered both Commander and Fame. Perhaps among the various 'tasks' Fame handled across the continent, there was one where he required Logia's assistance.  

"If a message needs to be delivered, it doesn't matter who the messenger is," Commander said.  

"As long as it reaches its destination correctly, the process in between is of little importance."  

"Even if you don't know who receives it?" Fame questioned.  

"You wouldn't be able to tell if it reached its intended destination."  

"No. It will reach it," Commander replied firmly.  

"Countless times of ruin and two failures have proven that."  

"Interesting," Fame responded with a grin, folding his arms.  

"Is that a personal anecdote?"  

Commander didn't respond immediately, his gaze drifting toward the ruins Fame had been staring at. Finally, he answered,  

"It's not just my story."  

Understanding the weight of Commander's words, Fame fell silent, as did Lennok. Lennok now had a faint sense of what Commander's words implied.  

‘Commander knew I would delve into Logia's memories.’  

He knew someone would witness this moment through Logia's memories, even if he didn't know who it would be. And he also understood that the message would reach the intended recipient.  

Fame's question had been about the reason behind this certainty, and Commander had subtly implied that his confidence stemmed from personal experience—possibly even hinting at his true identity. Fame's curiosity wasn't focused on Logia himself but rather on the information that could be revealed through him.

A chilling intuition, a certainty that bordered on foresight.

The conversation between Fame and Commander transcended the very concepts of timelines and possibilities.

'Fame and Commander had agreed to show these memories to someone, though they didn’t know to whom.'

But why?

This desolate city and the dialogue they shared—did it truly hold such significance that it needed to be conveyed in this way?

To drive a wedge of certainty into doubts that had already crystallized as intense suspicions?

As Lennok sank deeper into thought, the conversation in the memory continued.

"Are you trying to mock contradictions in the discontinuity and infinity of time? Even great failures must be tiring," Fame said.

"Repeatedly making the right choice is a miracle founded on contradictions and dualities. You know this," replied Commander.

"That's why we must leave these memories behind, even if only in this way. During this brief respite where we permit Jinwa's corruption, the transmission through words will lose its meaning."

Fame stared at Commander for a while, then shook his head.

"I have no regrets. No illusions, either."

"..."

"But even so, it’s true that I am putting off reaching the end of the path. Are you really alright with this?"

It was the first time Fame's smile faltered, but Commander responded with a faint smile of his own.

"There isn't as much to learn from foolish failures as one might think."

"..."

"All I know is that even when you do your best, regrets remain. So act according to what you believe."

Commander spoke as he brushed past Fame.

"If the answer isn't reached, all promises will eventually dissolve into foam on the far shore."

Logia's memory ended there.

The landscape Lennok had been observing through Logia’s perspective faded abruptly, everything around him distorting and then flinging him back.

Bzzzzt…!

"Ugh...!"

Lennok snapped back to reality, feeling as though he’d just awoken from a shallow sleep, sprawled across the train floor.

His mind buzzed with an irritating noise that scratched at his brain, but the memory he had just witnessed remained vivid.

With a deep, frustrated sigh, Lennok gripped his head, wincing, and slowly exhaled.

"Haah..."

Conversations between those transcendent beings always felt just beyond his reach.

It was as if they inhabited a different conceptual framework, anchored on a timeline apart from everyone else.

Still, Lennok sensed he was beginning to understand what they were trying to convey.

‘Commander has decided on his next target.’

Ascendant Jinwa.

The ancient creature, who had existed among the Ascendants for ages, was the one who created the continent's common language.

Lennok knew a fair amount about Jinwa, though he had neither seen him nor heard much firsthand.

Even Sabrina, the Word mage, had shared information and rumors about Jinwa with Lennok in their settlement.

Rumors spoke of Jinwa’s behavior becoming increasingly erratic, almost mimicking that of foreign entities.

Perhaps those rumors connected in some way to Commander’s moves.

The location Fame and Commander had referred to, the outer frontline, was it somehow tied to the Ascendant Jinwa?

‘The crystal orb… probably only has a few uses left.’

The intensity of the memory Lennok had just accessed seemed to have weakened the orb.

Its surface had partially melted, making it difficult to replay Logia’s stored memories many more times.

After a moment’s contemplation, Lennok decided to return to Vulcan later to analyze the memories in more detail in his lab.

Simply recalling and organizing the conversation between Commander and Fame was taxing enough; there was no need to strain himself further at this point.

“Davi, where’s Evelyn?”

“I confirmed an update to Missile’s signal in the Agent Database. It seems they ceased tracking after reporting to the higher-ups.”

“I see…”

Perhaps baiting them with Logia and making an escape had been the right choice after all.

Since Evelyn was cooperating with Aegis’s operations, she likely couldn’t push further once the traitor’s whereabouts were secured.  

Even so, her recent confrontation had been challenging for Lennok, enough to warrant caution regarding her pursuit.

Evelyn Marcia—an exceptional warrior, a skilled hunter, and a transcendent archer. It was hard to imagine her yielding, let alone breaking, compared to anyone Lennok knew.

Her combat prowess, techniques, and actions, grounded in sound judgment and intelligence, had inspired Lennok greatly. 

He’d even entertained a scenario of battling her once, wondering what conditions would be necessary to claim victory if he faced her at full strength.

The answer had long been clear to him.

‘If I deploy the Domain, I have more than a 50-50 chance. If I add Ouroboros on top of that, I can secure an easy victory. The real challenge is reaching that point, though.’

No matter how powerful, shrewd, and technically refined Evelyn might be, Lennok’s realm had already surpassed concepts that could be simply compared by force.

If he managed to deploy either Kaleidoscope’s domain or Ouroboros, his chances of defeat would drop significantly.

If he deployed both, as he had once attempted against Amrita, he would almost certainly win.

But given Evelyn’s known skills and agility, it was highly likely the battle would unfold in a way that prevented him from deploying his domains at all.

While her inertial bias's output and conceptual range were less than Lennok’s Domain, her deployment speed was incomparable.

With her versatility in attacking from multiple angles during the brief moment he would need to deploy a domain, victory over Evelyn was uncertain, even if he fought with everything he had.

Facing her in his current condition—injured after his fight with Amrita, while posing as Victor—was a huge gamble.

Though he didn’t anticipate losing, he couldn’t guarantee victory over such a challenging opponent.

He hadn’t expected to face her in this manner at this point, which had left him slightly on edge as well.

The thought of meeting Evelyn again in his guise as Van filled him with a daunting sense of dread.

“It seems like every time I get involved with Pandemonium, things always end up this way…” Lennok muttered, sighing as he removed his mask and rubbed his face.

“Once I get back, I’ll need to rummage through the Black Palace Workshop’s stockpile.”

“I’ll add it to the auction list in advance,” Davi responded.

“The underground auctions alone may not be enough. I might have to leverage connections with Dyke Corporation as well.”

Since he had used a glove from the Black Palace Workshop as part of his deception by putting it on Logia’s hand, he would need a new one.

Nothing would be more ridiculous than having Evelyn suspect him due to missing a glove when they met again as Van.

“I’ll need to adjust the altered aura and life signals a bit. If my current disguise magic can’t filter it out, I’ll have to change the pattern.”

Despite Lennok’s life signals being twisted in a way that made detection difficult, this distortion ironically made him easier to identify.

If he didn’t solve this issue, maintaining his multiple identities would become problematic.

Though he’d been away from the city for a long time and achieved various results, there were still many issues that needed resolution.

“At least we’ll make it in time,” Davi said with perked-up ears. 

“At this pace, we’ll even have a bit of breathing room once we get back to Vulcan.”

“The calculations finished faster than expected. I thought it’d be tight, but I should be able to wrap up preparations…”

The construction of the Eyes of the Blue lighthouse, the mid-term assessment of Pandemonium, and another event scheduled at Vulcan.

He had anticipated such complications when splitting his identities, yet the fatigue from the process was inevitable.

However, instead of dwelling on the tasks ahead, Lennok lay down on the train floor, closing his eyes.

As the scenery of the distant metropolis came into view, the night of final calculations in Byrutz was slowly fading away.

***

“I’m telling you, we have nothing to do with it over here.”

Assistant Director Pallad O’Conn spent the entire day glued to the phone, handling one call after another.

Though he held a respectable position as a high-ranking government official, it had been a while since he’d been this diligent in his duties.

But the calls he was receiving were from such high levels that he had no choice but to handle them personally.

“Yes, Senator, I understand.”

“...”

“Taking Missile was entirely Aegis’s decision. We had no involvement in her choice…”

“...!!”

“We only received the report afterward; we couldn’t verify any actions during the operation…”

Bang!

Pallad slammed down the phone, leaned back in his chair, and covered his eyes with both hands.

“Damn it… Why are we being blamed for Aegis’s operation failure?!”

Pallad shouted at the empty office, breathing heavily as he grabbed his coffee cup.

As he downed the now-cold coffee like water, a dry, indifferent voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

“Still handling things in that frustrating way, aren’t you, Assistant Director?”

“...!!!”

“Still dedicating your days to dealing with those old fossils on the city council?”

A silver-haired, wrinkled, yet slender woman in a thick coat leaned against the window with a cigarette in her mouth, looking his way.

The moment Pallad saw her, he sprang up from his seat.

“Director Greta…!”

“I’m here.”

“Where the hell have you been, you crazy old hag?!”

“...”

“You haven’t shown your face for years, and you’ve already been dismissed from your post ages ago. Just get lost already.”

Pallad pointed to the office door with a cold expression.

Greta ignored his gesture, pulling a document from her pocket and placing it on his desk.

“A reinstatement form directly approved by the city council. The ink is still wet.”

“A… reinstatement form?”

With trembling hands, Pallad picked up the document and read it thoroughly.

As he put the paper down, his expression was filled with an indescribable mix of disbelief and frustration.

“You… didn’t you just rant to me about those old council geezers…?”

“Did I?”

“And then you just ran over to them to get your reinstatement papers?”

“Let’s not get bogged down in trivial details.”

Greta deflected smoothly, then asked, “Where’s Marcia? I came to ask her something.”

“She hasn’t returned yet. Probably killing time somewhere, as usual.”

“Is that so?”

Greta exhaled a puff of smoke and threw herself onto the office sofa.

“Then I’ll just wait here until she arrives.”

“...Suit yourself.”

This was someone who had been the director of the agency but had vanished without a trace for years.

A peculiar individual with little regard for the organization’s structure or the way things worked.

Pallad had long since stopped expecting normal behavior or responses from her.

After all, hadn’t he been the one keeping the agency running in her absence?

“Mind brewing some coffee? My throat’s a bit scratchy after that cigarette.”

“Why are you back? And, for that matter, what have you been up to all this time?”

“Oh? Haven’t you heard?”

Greta chuckled.

“I’m the one who created Aegis and trained the agents. Now that the job’s done, it’s time to return to my original position.”

“...What?”

“Hm, now that I think about it, maybe that was classified information known only to the city council’s upper echelon?”

Greta casually stroked her chin and laughed.

“Let’s keep this between us. Though, Marcia probably already knows.”

“Wait, wait… You were the director of the agency. Then you suddenly disappear, only to reappear now saying you helped create Aegis?”

Pallad pressed his temples as he spoke.

“And Evelyn knew about this?”

“Why else would that strict woman lend her support to us?”

Greta picked up a nearby newspaper and lay back comfortably.

“Even with two of the most cooperative monsters on our side, things always turn into a mess when it comes to Pandemonium… Not that I didn’t expect it to fail.”

“...”

Pallad, who had been staring in stunned silence with his mouth agape, finally spoke.

“So… passing off their mission failure onto us, too?”

“Heh heh.”

“Die, you crazy old hag!”

With a yell, Pallad lunged, trying to throttle Greta, while she dodged him, laughing. Thus began a desperate chase between the two elderly officials, but both were out of breath in less than five minutes and slumped onto the sofa, gulping down water without a word.

“Get me some coffee.”

“Shut up. Please…”

Pallad, his face blank and eyes lost, gazed at the ceiling of the office and asked, “What do you need to ask Evelyn?”

“If I planned to ask her directly, wouldn’t I have come looking for her?”

“No.” Pallad replied with a calm, steady gaze. “Tell me here. Right now.”

“…”

“I don’t care what you’ve been up to all this time. But if you’re planning anything, I need to stop you.”

“Oh…” Greta let out a cold laugh. “Since when did you care so much about the agents? Doesn’t suit you.”

“…”

“The other agents who died because of your failed missions… they’d be heartbroken to see you like this, wouldn’t they?”

“It was Evelyn’s own choice to leave the agency.” Pallad cut Greta off firmly, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. “She had every chance to come back, yet she hasn’t. Her heart’s not here anymore.”

“Is that so?”

“Missile has served the city well, far more than you ever did.” Pallad’s voice was heavy. “Let her go, Greta. Let her live the way she wants to live.”

“…”

“We don’t know how much time she has left.”

Greta’s expression shifted slightly in surprise at his words.

“Look at you, talking like that. People do change with age, huh?”

“…”

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

Greta, saying this, naturally pulled out another cigarette, and Pallad casually lit it for her.

Blowing out a puff of smoke, Greta chuckled. “But you know, that ending you’re talking about—it might not come as fast as you think.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Even the city council is giving a vagrant like me time to prepare,” Greta laughed. “Those old men, so absorbed in looking out for themselves, still have enough room to think about the future. That’s how I see it.”

“…”

It wasn’t grounded in any concrete evidence or reason—just a strangely contradictory sense of trust.

Trust in a burdensome superior or someone he despised more than any cherished colleague or friend.

“So, I’m not going to play the role of a compassionate superior. At least on that point, my stance is different.”

Greta waved her hand dismissively with a gaunt expression as she smoked her cigarette.

“If there’s something I need, I’ll use it all up and scrape the bottom of the barrel—who cares about anyone else’s circumstances?”

“Greta…”

“Agent has fallen into this sorry state because it’s mired in that loser mentality.”

With a stern expression, Greta stood up and strode toward Pallad’s desk.

Whoosh!

With a sweeping motion, she scattered the towering stack of documents and tossed her cigarette onto them.

Fwoosh!

The papers caught fire instantly, and Pallad leaped up, grabbing Greta by the collar.

“Don’t spout nonsense…!! Who gave you the right…!!”

“I gathered plenty of data while training the Aegis agents.”

Greta smiled even as Pallad held her by the collar.

“The agents I’ll create from now on will be the finest elite in the great metropolis.”

“...!!”

“So, tell me where Marcia is.”

Greta brushed off Pallad’s hand and, staggering slightly, slumped into the office chair.

With the burning pile of documents casting a glow behind her, she resembled an ancient ghost resting in that chair.

“The wretched wolf who straddled both Pandemonium and Aegis has lost his mind. The last person to face him was a sorcerer of unique qualities. I need Marcia’s help to find his whereabouts.”

No expression remained on Greta’s face.

“I’m not asking her to help with Agent’s work, Pallad. This is simply about cleaning up after the mission she accepted.”

“…”

“So stop hiding it and tell me where she is. That’s a direct order from the director.”

Faced with Greta’s resolute tone, Pallad sighed, taking the cigarette from his mouth.

He tossed a smoldering ember into the burning pile of papers and replied.

“She mentioned going to an expo.”

Greta’s eyes widened slightly, the intense atmosphere of their exchange dissipating in an instant.

“...An expo?”

“Yes, something called the Arcane Engineering Expo, hosted by the city government.”

Pallad scratched his head roughly.

“She said she was going to see a friend’s thesis presentation.”