Chapter 868: The Reincarnator Watched by a Magic God — Victor
"My Lord, according to intelligence gathered by Tenkyo and Black Butler, the location this individual frequents most in the physical world is a pub along this very street."
The setting was a quiet cobblestone avenue somewhere in London. Jin Yue'an walked half a step behind, clutching her tablet, continually cross-referencing internal communiques routed through the Paradise.
Relying on the current operational scale of the Paradise, Black Butler and Tenkyo had long outpaced conventional information brokers in surveillance efficiency.
Dossiers on apex Reincarnators across all sectors were systematically cataloged within Tenkyo's analytical database.
Because Kaito Shirogane sought an operative capable of securing Phase manipulation techniques from the Toaru universe, Tenkyo and Black Butler had spared no expense overnight, purchasing critical intelligence on the operative codenamed [Victor] from Morse of the West District.
Armed with those parameters, cross-referencing orbital satellite telemetry with the microscopic nanite arrays Tenkyo had seeded throughout the atmosphere, they had swiftly triangulated Victor's historical haunts.
Kaito and Jin Yue'an arrived in the historic city of fog within minutes.
Perhaps because Reincarnators had grown increasingly accustomed to venting their powers across the physical plane, the moment Kaito set foot on the stone pavement, he parsed a distinct atmospheric shift.
Dense mana saturated the cold night air.
"My Lord, beneath this ground... there appears to be an extraordinarily dense energy signature..."
Though Jin Yue'an knew Kaito was incapable of missing such details, she reported her observations with disciplined precision. Set within her eye sockets was an amber gemstone mystic eye—far from an apex artifact, yet finely tuned for analytical energy tracking.
Jin Yue'an was not a combat-oriented operative; she had modified her mystic eye to build herself into an auxiliary specialist. During spatial deployments, she formed a cohesive vanguard unit alongside Hongchen and several veterans.
Backed by the Paradise's overwhelming logistics, her recent assignments had unfolded smoothly.
Kaito looked up at the pristine, silvery moon overhead. The historic mantle of London's thick fog had been scoured clean by the supernatural authority of Reincarnators.
Evidently, the operative codenamed Victor possessed genuine capability, explaining why he had brazenly snubbed Yoko's invitation.
Among pinnacle Reincarnators in the West District, few ever dared reject Yoko's banner. It was hardly surprising that such an uncooperative thorn would be casually sold out by Morse.
Yoko was an open, magnanimous monarch, but the subordinate knights surrounding her throne had zero tolerance for those who dismissed her sovereignty.
Jin Yue'an tapped her screen. Tenkyo had quietly compromised the municipal surveillance grid across the borough, rapidly narrowing down their search radius.
Against a top-tier magic-side Reincarnator, weaponizing technological arrays to track physical displacement was the cleanest vector.
Kaito strolled along the weathered flagstones. This avenue carried significant age; the local authorities had spared it from modern redevelopment, preserving an antique, cobblestone ambiance.
Glancing at the rusted lampposts casting pools of dim yellow light across the pavement, Kaito's lips curled into a faint smile. This Victor was undeniably intriguing.
Not only had he covertly woven an expansive bounded field and ritual arrays beneath the urban bedrock—artificially elevating local mana density—he had also anchored esoteric spells into the architecture itself.
Without relying on satellite telemetry from Tenkyo and Black Butler, Kaito could see that scattered throughout this district were forty-three individuals bearing the exact physical visage of Victor from the dossier.
Metamorphic sorcery, Polyjuice Potion brews derived from the Harry Potter cosmos—decoys deliberately engineered to scramble technological surveillance grids.
Even wide-area sensory authorities like Kaito's Mantra Network faced subtle interference.
The man lived like a hidden king who had remodeled his hometown into a private stronghold, blending seamlessly into the background where foreign trackers would struggle to corner him.
Jin Yue'an received fresh telemetry from Tenkyo, reporting simultaneous sightings of Victor across multiple blocks, flagged as avatars or clones.
Before she could speak, Lord Mercenary Tao had already stepped toward a modest pub tucked along the right side of the street.
The lanterns framing the entrance were dim and unassuming. Jin Yue'an hurried after his footsteps.
Pushing through the heavy wooden door, Jin Yue'an froze. Scattered across the tavern sat a dozen patrons—men, women, elderly, and young, clad in disparate garments. Yet every single face was identical.
All bore the bearded, middle-aged blond features of Victor from the briefing.
Ignoring the unblinking stares tracking their entrance, Kaito strolled casually to the counter and tapped his knuckles against the polished mahogany.
"Pour me a glass."
Dressed in a crisp white shirt and a black vest, the bartender—sharing the exact same visage—offered a quiet nod without asking questions, rhythmically shaking a silver cocktail shaker.
Feeling dozens of piercing gazes boring into her back, Jin Yue'an felt a sharp prickle of phantom heat along her spine. Steeling her focus, she glided from the entrance to anchor herself behind Kaito's shoulder.
"My Lord, is his authentic vessel... hidden here...?"
Kaito rested his chin against his palm, his peripheral vision sweeping across the entire room.
Intricate golden runic patterns flickered within his pitch-black irises, stripping away every shred of esoteric mystery in an instant.
Cognitive interference, Metamorphic Transmutation, Puppet Sorcery, Polyjuice Brews, Soul-Splitting Thaumaturgy...
Within this single modest establishment, over a dozen distinct magical disciplines were openly displayed.
In Kaito's assessment, the utility of this operative named Victor far eclipsed that of Solomon from the Far Eastern Magic Association.
Solomon had fallen far too early; had he endured to this hour, he might have reached comparable heights. Given the violent growth velocity of Reincarnators, none could measure the limits of an operative blessed with sufficient time.
"Victor. Pour her a glass as well. Standard spirits will do."
Kaito spoke to the attendant. The barman blinked, silent, but the bartender shaking the silver vessel set his shaker down, pouring a crimson liquid into a crystal tumbler before sliding it across the wood:
"As expected of the Monster King of the East, Mercenary Tao. Those eyes of yours... Mystic Eyes, are they? I have never observed such an ocular signature... An artifact of World's Rarity?"
The crimson liquid was translucent, shimmering like fresh arterial blood beneath the amber lighting.
[Elixir of Immortality (Imitation)]
[Quality: Peerless Rarity]
[Description: The handiwork of Grand Alchemist Victor, carrying a faint trace of authentic immortality within the brew.]
[Usage Requirement: Constitution > 50, or possession of high-tier immortality.]
[Effect 1: Upon consumption, lifespan extends by 10 years.]
[Effect 2: If consumed with Constitution below 50, the user falls into a stasis slumber lasting 10 years.]
Kaito lifted the crystal glass, tilting it under the light. Suspended within the crimson fluid was a subtle, blood-like filament—the authentic active essence of the brew, while the surrounding liquid was merely an alchemical solvent.
Kaito drained the glass in a single draught. The flavor was neither sublime nor foul.
"Mediocre."
He delivered his verdict flatly.
Jin Yue'an furrowed her brow, studying the bartender. Her mystic eye caught the faint shimmer of mana cloaking his form, confirming the presence of an active spell.
Yet she could not pinpoint the authentic vessel; every figure seated within the pub radiated an identical soul signature.
The bartender slid a glass toward Jin Yue'an, nodding politely in acceptance of Kaito's critique:
"The palate is admittedly plain. I am an alchemist by trade, not a master mixologist."
A patron wearing a weathered bucket hat—an elderly Victor—rose from a nearby booth, taking a seat beside Kaito to smoothly pick up the conversation:
"Has Lord Mercenary Tao sought me out to recruit me beneath your banner?"
"Then I fear you have made this journey in vain. I hold no intention of joining Yoko's Avalon, nor do I intend to submit to your Paradise."
The elderly Victor tilted his head up. Specks of starlight ignited within his right pupil, the iris resembling a swirling galaxy. In an instant, Jin Yue'an's breath caught in her throat; merely gazing into that celestial eye felt as though her consciousness was being vacuumed into an infinite void, leaving her paralyzed and unable even to shut her eyelids.
"I... shall forge my own sovereign faction!"
Victor declared with bold conviction. Though spoken through an elder's vocal cords, the tone vibrated with unyielding vitality.
Kaito swirled the empty tumbler, entirely unfazed. As his foundation scaled higher, his tolerance toward operatives commanding authentic talent had expanded considerably.
[You have consumed item: Elixir of Immortality (Imitation)]
[You have been exposed to toxin: Elixir of Immortality]
[You have resisted this effect]
[Your lifespan has marginally increased]
[You are affected by ability: Compensatory Toll. For the next thirty minutes, your resistance and defensive modifiers against abilities originating from Operative UU37516679 are halved]
Simultaneously, every Victor seated within the pub rose to their feet in unison, closing in on Kaito and Jin Yue'an.
Snap!
Kaito's thumb and forefinger snapped together. A concussive detonation resembling a thunderclap tore through the room as an incandescent white shockwave blossomed across the floorboards.
Every clone of Victor, alongside Jin Yue'an, turned pale as blood wept from their ruptured eardrums, their balance collapsing as they crashed to the floor.
"Whether you intend to play king holds zero interest for me. I am here solely for a specific technique—one you likely already possess."
As Kaito spoke, the Primordial Dragon Eyes flared with brilliant golden light. The celestial starlight spinning within the right eye of every Victor extinguished in an instant.
His mystic eye had been forcibly suppressed!
Victor had completely failed to anticipate that counter.
"A... Mythic-tier Mystic Eye?!"
A voice echoed from the kitchen. Stepping through the swing doors wearing a white canvas apron, another Victor emerged, placing a tray of bread and preserves upon the bar.
He had parsed the exchange with clinical clarity: Kaito's casual snap had concussed everyone in the room, yet the fragile glassware along the mahogany counter hadn't suffered a single hairline fracture.
Mercenary Tao's control far exceeded the estimates in circulating dossiers.
This was a monster capable of wiping a metropolis off the map with a single blow, yet wielding the absolute precision of a martial god.
And those eyes... stripped him of every shadow.
Victor weighed his options for a brief second, concluding that challenging this titan was suicidal. He exhaled a weary sigh and dissolved his spells.
In a fraction of a second, the patrons collapsed across the floorboards reverted to their authentic mortal features.
The artificial moon and starry sky cloaking the neighborhood faded from the firmament.
A dense, chalky mist—far thicker than London's historical smog—settled over the borough.
Etched between Victor's brows was an inverted crimson cross.
Kaito sensed that Victor's physical durability far outstripped conventional spellcasters.
That biological resonance... belonged to a Saint.
"A respectable build, Victor. You are an operative of notable talent~"
Kaito took a bite of the bread before setting it aside. Accustomed to delicacies refined through the Chef skill, mundane rations held little appeal for his palate.
His off-handed praise only deepened Victor's unease.
Victor recognized that Kaito's demeanor was rooted in absolute supremacy.
His intricate bounded fields, his Saint lineage, and his municipal-scale illusions registered as zero threat in Mercenary Tao's calculations.
Hence, the man could converse with him with casual indifference.
Much like an adult offering unreserved compliments on a child's athletic sprint, without ever considering the child an equal.
This monster... has truly severed all ties with the rest of the Reincarnators!
Arrogant though Victor was—dismissing Yoko's invitations to pursue his personal throne—he remained exceptionally analytical.
Every defense woven into this district had been engineered with apex sovereigns as the baseline benchmark.
He continuously ran simulations: how he would mount a defense if top-tier operatives, Sovereigns, or the likes of Yoko and Mercenary Tao breached his perimeter.
His answer had been this layered stronghold:
An expansive magical bounded field, spell matrices amplified within its boundary, municipal-scale sensory disruption, and absolute cognitive control over the local populace.
The entire borough was his personal chessboard; he could project whatever reality he desired.
The telemetry collected by tech-side trackers was merely information he had intentionally leaked.
Yet now that Mercenary Tao had stepped into his parlor, the unbridgeable chasm was laid bare.
By that logic, Yoko likely inhabited the exact same threshold; otherwise, those two monarchs would have long since clashed.
Only parity in might could enforce mutual deterrence.
"No. You have misunderstood one vital detail: the only anchor holding us back is the fragility of this world."
Kaito spoke with serene detachment. Victor felt a sudden, sharp shock course through his cerebral cortex.
He's reading my mind!
Parsing the abnormal electrical charge within his nervous system, Victor hurriedly mobilized mental wards.
Because circulating intelligence had never classified Mercenary Tao as a magic-side specialist, he had neglected to engage anti-cognitive divinations beforehand.
Kaito offered a quiet smirk. Within his operational field, a magnetic web vastly eclipsing Victor's bounded field held total dominion over the sector.
At this proximity, the synergy between the Mantra Network and his 500,000 Horsepower Magnetic Field Rotation extracted surface thoughts in an eye-blink.
That was the foundational method by which he had pinpointed Victor's true coordinates so effortlessly.
"Victor... do you not find this world remarkably fragile? Hand over your Phase manipulation techniques. This reality... requires specialized Phases."
Victor's pupils contracted sharply. He had never displayed that specific technique before external parties; no intelligence broker could possibly possess that data.
Divination magic?!
Kaito's golden Primordial Dragon Eyes locked onto Victor, parsing every facet of his foundation into bare information.
Most conspicuous of all was a blood-red sigil burning behind his silhouette: [Gaze of the Magic God].
Through that crimson haze, Kaito could distinctly perceive the withered, spectral silhouette of an ancient monk hovering behind Victor's back.
As he had deduced: the Magic Gods of that cosmology had already set their eyes upon the Reincarnators.