Chapter 1468

<Chapter 1468> 1468. Dark Moon

As I entered the operating room, I nervously looked around.

This was no ordinary operating room. There were none of the usual surgical tools you’d expect. No scalpels in sight.

“No need to be tense. We don’t call this an operating room for nothing… but there’ll be no cutting flesh or messing with intestines here.”

“…How exactly do you repair a mana conduit? Not asking for specific techniques, but I’d like a general overview of the restoration process.”

“A mage’s mana conduits aren’t physical organs or nerves. Dark mages have their special dark core, but regular mages don’t. It’s more like an expansion of the spirit… creating virtual nerves called mana conduits centered around the astral plane. You probably understand this better than me.”

“Some people argue that mana conduits are essentially spiritual nerves.”

“That’s not entirely incorrect. Since mana conduits are closely tied to the spirit.”

Both opening the astral plane and using mana conduits require willpower. Calling them spiritual nerves isn’t far off.

“Does repairing broken mana conduits mean you can also create them?”

“Not quite. Your conduits are merely fractured, not completely gone. This is restoration, not creation from nothing. I’m simply rebuilding the pathways based on the original design. To use a building analogy, the foundation is already there.”

“I get it. So restoring mana conduits means… manipulating my spirit?”

“It’s not directly altering your spirit. Think of it as pruning the branches extending from it. Why so scared? If you don’t want to proceed, we can stop.”

I did feel uneasy.

In the original game, this happens instantly… but this isn’t a game.

Still, the mana conduits must be restored if I want to grow stronger.

“I’m doing it.”

“Lie down on the operating table.”

I lay down and stared at the ceiling lights.

That familiar sense of impending doom crept up on me again. Memories of receiving mana injections surfaced, causing me to unconsciously clench my fists.

Lana Gomez fiddled with the machines beside the operating table. The machines hummed quietly as she attached two electrodes to my forehead and temples.

“What are you doing?”

“This stabilizes the spirit. Basically, anesthesia. If your will interferes with the mana restoration process, it could complicate things. Take a nap – when you wake up, all 16 of your mana conduits will be fully restored.”

“…”

I closed my eyes, but didn’t feel any effects of anesthesia.

“My spirit is too tense. Yes, your mental barriers are impressive, but please relax. Open your mental barriers and accept the resonance. Sleep – you must be tired after just getting back from work.”

I relaxed my body.

Decided to calm my mind. Closed my eyes tightly and prepared to accept whatever spiritual resonance it was.

Then I felt something trying to enter my mind through the electrodes. This must be the spiritual resonance she mentioned.

‘So this is what it feels like. Is my resonance perception really this weak? Can something like this actually knock me out?’

I wondered.

Maybe chemical anesthesia would be more reliable.

“Headache inducing. Usually takes about 10 seconds… Stop overthinking. Just focus on your breathing slowly. Accept the resonance.”

Lana Gomez’s monotone voice started sounding soothing. I began feeling sleepy. This must be normal.

Following her advice, I focused on my breathing and drifted off to sleep.

My consciousness sank into water. Still, warm water like a swimming pool. Comfortably drowsy. Yet, I could still faintly hear outside voices despite being underwater.

“Hurry up… you’re late…”

“Mom… this is… real…”

“…Trust me… see…”

“Mages… Cavalier…”


“Ah, Mom…!”

As the 34 original Mana Routes and the 16 repaired ones activate, all 50 routes power up in unison. In an instant, the magic circuit is completed.

[MICROWAVE]

“Milaa?”

Lana Gomez turns around, glove halfway off, to see her shock-frozen daughter. Mila just stands there, blue hair trembling as she stares at me with wide eyes while invisible waves of heat start distorting the air around her.


He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then his body began to swell up and with a *pop*, it exploded.

*Kerplunk*.

Blood and guts splattered everywhere. Mila’s small intestine hit Lana Gomez’s shoulder and slid down. With her daughter’s blood and innards all over her, Lana Gomez’s eyes wavered.

“You, you, you son of a bitch!!”

Lana Gomez shouted at me. She pulled something out of her pants pocket and pointed it at me. At the same time, her arms exploded with a *pop*.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

I looked at the object that had fallen to the ground along with her hands. It was a golden rod with runes etched on its surface.

“A magical artifact imbued with Blaze magic? So it fires compressed spells, huh? If it had activated, it would’ve been quite threatening.”

“Y-you ungrateful little shit!”

“Gratitude? Stop bullshitting. This was a fair deal. You told me to trust you, and I did. But all I got in return was a betrayal. Selling me to Caballia? You fucking cunt. I almost had to go through that shitty experimental life again because of you, Lana Gomez. I’m not letting you die easily.”

“You knew everything…?”

I approached Lana Gomez. She gritted her teeth and ran toward the door, bursting through it with her shoulder while shouting.

“Security! Emergency situation! Kill this guy imme… Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Lana Gomez’s right foot exploded. Her body tilted downward. I made her left arm explode too, then lifted her body using telekinesis.

“Shit, shit, shiiiiit…!”

As I briefly admired her distorted face, security guards appeared from the upper and lower floors. The moment they saw me, they started shooting. Bullets rained down, but they couldn’t penetrate my barrier. I made this barrier with 50 mana cores and put my heart into it. There’s no way some low-grade bullets could break through.

“Everyone in this building is going to die today.”

I slightly raised my right foot and stomped it back down. A magic circle lit up around my foot before vanishing.

[Electric Field]

Immediately after, electricity spread out in all directions from my feet. It coursed through the building’s floor, walls, and ceiling, spreading throughout the entire structure. The ones firing at me fell one by one, electrocuted.

“Stop! I was wrong! I admit it! I planned to sell you to Caballia! I officially apologize. Let’s call it even. Isn’t money what you want? I’ll give you all the money I’ve saved—about 3 billion credits. Don’t you need money too?!”

“I can make that much money anytime. Right now, I just want to vent this shitty feeling.”

“You killed my precious daughter! And the securities here too! You disgusting murderer! Let’s end this here! Stop, for your own sake! I’m telling you this for your benefit!”

“Just beg for your life already, you dog-like woman.”

“…Will you spare me?”

“No.”

I hung Lana Gomez on the second floor of the building. Every time the wind blew, her armless torso swung back and forth. The rope around her neck twisted her face into an expression of pure agony.

I walked openly among the onlookers. They whispered and murmured about how Lana Gomez’s clients were going to kill me.

I ignored them all. Word of this incident will inevitably spread.

‘The kid from Caballia who came to buy me will probably want to kill me too… but there’s no way they’d show up now after all this chaos.’

Anyway, I continued walking forward, feeling refreshed. No one blocked my path. Eventually, word of this whole event will spread, and later, Lana Gomez will be the one blamed. People will call her the one who betrayed her customers.

I emerged onto Eira Street.

Five dazzling police cars blocked my way. Armed London Guards surrounded me threateningly.

“Put your hands up and get down on your knees, you murderer bastard.”

A large man holding a sword in one hand waved it at me as he spoke.

I lifted the bag I was carrying. It was slightly bigger than a guitar case. The police flinched.

“Shit. What are you doing? Do you wanna die right here?”

“Move aside. I have something to deliver to Lady Freude.”

“…What?”

“Get out of my way, cop.”

“This fucker…”

“It’s an important item for Lady Freude.”

“……”

He clenched his teeth and glanced around at his fellow officers, who all shook their heads.

“Shit…”

He stepped aside.

I confidently walked past him.

This is the power of nobility.

Just mentioning her name, and the London Guards who protect Neo-London’s peace do nothing. They don’t even think about restraining me or seizing the item.

‘Impressive.’

The power held by the rulers of this city.

Authority.

It’s truly a desirable kind of power.