NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51: General Atelon
Zakar froze as the General's words echoed in his ears.
The question struck him like a blade drawn silently across the skin. He could hear the weight behind it. The demand for truth, the suspicion of deceit.
[Name: General Atelon ]
[Type : Glass General ]
[Rank : S rank ]
[Extraction Possible]
[Luck; 53%]
'What's this? Extraction?' He muttered and he felt a cold memory hit him.
General Atelon stood tall before him, his posture rigid, his eyes glinting like polished shards of glass.
Even though the rift behind him had just settled into completion, his aura showed no signs of exhaustion. Instead, it sharpened, cutting through the air with invisible precision.
Zakar tried to steady his breathing. What does he mean by 'energy'? Did he notice something during my fight with Lemon? Or… does he suspect me of holding something I shouldn't?
"I…" Zakar's voice trailed as he searched for the right words. "I don't know what you mean, sir."
Atelon tilted his head slightly, his lips curling into a smile devoid of warmth. "That's a poor choice of words, boy. A player of your caliber should know exactly what kind of energy brushes against him. Unless… you're hiding something."
The air shimmered. A faint sound like the tinkling of fine glass struck by a fingernail spread around them. Zakar stiffened. He knew danger when it breathed down his neck.
[System Detected: Glass Magic Manifestation.]
[Warning: Host is targeted by Glass System Magic.]
Zakar cursed inwardly. "Glass…?"
The General didn't move much. Just a flick of his finger, and suddenly the ground beneath Zakar lit up with translucent lines, forming patterns like mirrored cracks across stone. Within a heartbeat, jagged walls of glass erupted upward, boxing him in on all sides.
Zakar sprang back instinctively, but the cage rose faster than his reaction. Shards speared upward, knitting into a crystalline prison that reflected his own image dozens of times over. His own confused, angered, and tensed face stared back at him from every angle.
"You think you can walk among us without scrutiny? Without me testing the truth for myself?" Atelon's voice resonated strangely, bouncing from reflection to reflection until it felt like he was speaking from every direction.
"I don't trust you, boy. Lemon's madness doesn't just appear from nowhere."
Zakar clenched his fists. So this bastard wants to test me? Or maybe he just wants to cut me down…
[Host cannot unleash advanced abilities while bound by Glass System.]
[Suggestion: Stall. Observe weakness. External aid probable.]
"Tch… always relying on some kind of weird system bound. Damn! How many times in a day!!" Zakar muttered under his breath, then shouted louder.
"General! What the fuck do you want from me?! If you think I'm hiding something, then spit it out!"
Atelon's smile widened. With a sweep of his hand, the glass walls twisted, bending like water. The reflections began to move independently towards Zakar.
Then through his mirror, images laughing, frowning, sneering back at him. Then, in a sudden synchronized motion, they all raised crystalline weapons: swords, spears, axes, all carved from sharpened light and shadow.
Atelon ordered coldly. "Nothing!! You should just die. That was what Caslurk was supposed to do!!! Seems like I will have to do it myself."
The reflections lunged.
Zakar barely ducked in time as a spear pierced through the air where his throat had been. He rolled sideways, but the glass floor beneath him splintered, trying to trap his feet. He stomped hard, shattering it, but the pieces only rebuilt themselves instantly.
'Damn it. He's controlling everything in here. This is his domain.'
A blade swiped across his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. His reflection smirked at him, its movements precise and mocking.
"You think you're clever, General?" Zakar roared. He ducked under another swing and slammed his fist into one of the mirror warriors. To his shock, the figure shattered into shards but instead of vanishing, the shards formed a thousand razor pieces that whirled around him like a storm.
[System Warning: Host is in critical danger.]
Zakar grit his teeth. "No shit!"
The storm slashed at him, nicking his arm across his skin. His body twisted, dodging the worst of it, but he knew he couldn't keep this up forever.
Atelon's voice cut through the chaos. "Pathetic. You can't even withstand a fraction of my power, yet you dared to fight Lemon? What nonsense. I will carve it out of you, piece by piece. I will nake you have a severing end."
The shards closed in, faster, sharper. And then, suddenly...
A sound echoed. Not the tinkling of glass this time, but the heavy, blunt thud of flesh striking flesh.
Atelon staggered. His concentration faltered. The shards lost their formation, dropping like useless fragments of sand.
Zakar blinked, confused. His eyes darted to the side and there, beside Atelon, stood an old man. His back was hunched, his clothes ragged, his hair a silvery mess that spilled down to his shoulders. His face was wrinkled, worn by time, yet his fist was still pressed into Atelon's side where he had struck.
Atelon gasped, clutching his ribs. "You—old fool…!"
The old man's voice rasped, rough yet steady. "You generals… always drunk on your own power. Always forgetting restraint. Is this how you treat the children you're meant to protect?"
Zakar froze. There was something strange about the old man. His aura wasn't overwhelming not like Atelon's raging presence but it was deep, steady, immeasurable. It also similar to something he had felt before.
Atelon snarled and raised his hand, summoning blades of glass around him. "Stay out of this, old man! This boy is dangerous. He reeks of corruption!"
But before he could strike, the old man straightened. His form rippled, the frail frame stretching, twisting, reshaping. His rags dissolved into robes woven from shifting colors. His hunched back straightened, his hair darkened into rich strands, and his wrinkled skin smoothed into sharp, noble features.
Zakar's eyes widened. "What the hell…?"
Atelon's face drained of color. "You… Carene?!"
The old man no more but the female figure now standing tall and radiant smiled faintly. Her eyes glowed with an ageless light, her very presence forcing the shards of glass around them to still and fall harmlessly to the ground.
"Yes," Carene said simply, her voice now filled with calm authority. "And you, Atelon, have overstepped your bounds." The General stared at her in shock.