‘Mmm!!’
A sinister aura crawled up my wrist, baring its teeth at me.
I instantly unleashed magic power from my fingertips and stepped back with all my might.
Kwah-tang!
Due to my lack of precise magic control, I dropped to the ground and rolled a few times.
But even though I had retreated quickly, a few of my finger joints turned into powder far finer than sand and scattered on the floor.
‘…! Sand?… No… this feels like it’s been completely disintegrated at a particle level. I’ve heard of such magic… These guys are all dangerous, aren’t they?’
“Huff-huff-huff… Damn it!”
Fortunately, the sorcerer using disintegration magic seemed out of breath. The crazy casting speed and brutal destructive power of the spell clearly indicated a significant expenditure of energy.
A finishing move… Were they lying in wait for my approach?
‘Well, in a situation like this, they must have prepared.’
Maybe it was my complacency that got me into this.
I caught a glimpse of another sorcerer beside the panting one; he placed a hand on the other’s head and began to emit light.
That was likely a type of magic aimed at rapidly restoring depleted mental strength or energy.
Or it could even be mana recovery.
‘With sorcerers coordinating like this, it’s going to be tricky.’
And then, a third spell that had manifested alongside the disintegration magic enveloped my entire body. I could feel dark, sinister bubbles crawling over me.
‘I’m already caught… Was it at that moment?’
As our gazes briefly met, it was clear he had already cast a spell on me.
It was a tricky type of magic activated only upon eye contact, but once the conditions were met, it could be definitively applied to any target within a certain distance.
– You have been affected by black magic that contaminates memories.
– The trait [Calm] is activated.
– You strongly resist mental-type status conditions!
– [Corrupted Memory] is returned to the caster!
“Ugh! What the! …No, no! I didn’t kill anyone! I swear!!”
‘Why on earth would you cast a mental-type spell on a skeleton, tsk tsk.’
Of course, it might be a choice they had to make, given they only had spells targeting that direction.
Mental-type magic is powerful enough to incapacitate an opponent in one go if successful, but it also carries the downside of the caster facing the backlash if it fails.
Fortunately, it’s me getting hit instead of Yeon-hee. If she had gotten caught in this spell… the summoned creatures might have all been released in a crisis.
‘The quality of their magic isn’t bad, but their abilities are unique. They could be just as troublesome as the four-member group.’
[Skeleton Bomb]
‘For now…!’
Kwah-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!!
I disrupted their formation with five bombs. The sorcerers trying to deliver follow-up attacks on me hurriedly dealt with the bombs in their own ways.
Among them, there was one who, unlike the others who defended with magical barriers, was sent flying far away.
‘Wind!’
“Il-wol! We’ll take care of these three!”
Nod.
Just in time, Joo-ah and the summoned creatures joined in, and we charged straight toward the wind attribute sorcerer without hesitation.
“Why is this skeleton so fast!”
[Wind Cutter x Wind Shot]
‘Ha, dual casting already? What a guy.’
Different circuits were drawn from the sorcerer’s hands, and something was released toward me as I ran straight.
Pussssssh–!
A sharp blade of wind that had once sliced my shoulder and spherical air bullets shot out at staggered intervals, five in total.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-!
‘Whoa! It’s fast… but not fast enough for me to dodge!’
I blocked my sight and predicted the trajectory just by analyzing the sorcerer’s posture, gaze, and the angle of his hands and magical energy. I was in a state where I could dodge according to the outlined path in my head.
Crack-
Ting-ting!
Of course, the Wind Shot was too fast for me to avoid completely, but the damage was not severe.
“Damn!! Wind mo—”
Smash-!
Just as he tried to use wind to evade again, my left hand connected perfectly with his chin.
Thud—
“Uh…? My body…”
My fist shook his chin precisely. There was no way a sorcerer with reduced physical abilities could endure this hit.
With his strength leaving him, I kicked the wobbling chin of the sorcerer, who slumped to the ground.
The sorcerer fell limp to the floor like a marionette with cut strings.
‘Not bad for this guy.’
Unlike the crazy Ilseom and the Blue-eyed Organization members, I didn’t need to deal any more damage to this sorcerer.
‘I’m not a guy who enjoys slaughtering.’
More than that, I was reluctant to waste a talent like this. Among all the hunters I had faced, this was the first one who had been able to deal damage to me.
And looking further ahead, I could think this way.
Others might not realize it, but someday we would have to fight alongside against the orc raids as a team.
Looking further, the Blue-eyed Organization clearly used orcs, great beasts sleeping across the world, and Jo Gi-man and the Seven-headed Dragon.
So it would be best to keep talents like this alive as much as possible, unless they were complete idiots.
Swoosh—
I turned the sorcerer’s face around to etch his memory into mine.
‘Are Yeon-hee and Joo-ah fighting well?’
Grabbing one of the sorcerer’s legs, I slowly walked over to watch Bae Joo-ah’s battle.
“Aah!! This is really infuriating!!”
Hmm… She was struggling. To be more precise, she couldn’t find an opening to attack.
The sorcerer who had used black magic on me was already subdued by the summoned creatures and was still unable to recover. However, she was unable to close the distance against the deadly offensive sorcerer and his supporting support sorcerer.
“Bae Joo-ah, fight well! If it gets tough, just say so! I’ll bring in reinforcements!”
“Rock Fist!! Just let me have this already!”
Joo-ah was clearly fired up.
Fundamentally, she was a supportive sorcerer who could summons large rocks at just the right time to help her teammates.
The offensive type incorporates rock fists from the ground or walls, and a throwing type conjures rocks in the air to toss, but both had the weakness of limited range.
And the sorcerer she faced had a style which activated only upon close proximity, but if they both approached to attack, Joo-ah would end up taking more damage. The rocks would at least have a chance to avoid, but the disintegration magic was something I had only grasped after being hit by it.
Furthermore, since the supportive sorcerer kept assisting him with such vicious skills, it must have put a heavy burden on her. Joo-ah’s robe was already burned and full of holes as if it had been turned to ash.
Glance—
‘It seems like she’s got something up her sleeve…’
Still, she was trying to scatter magic power across the ground, working hard to seize the situation. Joo-ah shouted in anger toward the disintegration sorcerer.
“How long are you going to run away, you bald head!!”
“What?! I’m not bald! I just have a wide forehead!!”
“Baldy! Hairless! Fuzzy wuzzy!!”
“Hohoho… I’ll get you for this!”
“Don’t get so excited, you idiot!!”
It was clear his hair was receding in an M-shape, but the disintegration sorcerer didn’t want to believe reality.
No matter how much magic was rampant in this world, baldness was still an unresolved challenge.
The supportive sorcerer, who was combined with him, tried to calm him down, but the now-triggered bald sorcerer pretended to dash to the side dramatically and suddenly charged forward using his magic for speed.
“I’m going to peel your scalp off!!”
A desperate attack from a man trying to create another bald comrade! Bae Joo-ah panicked and began to run away.
“Kwaha-ha-ha! Stop right there!!”
But just as his disintegration spell was about to activate, suddenly, a rocky fist shot up from the ground.
Pooorrrkkk—!
“Uwaah!”
While the two sorcerers chasing after Joo-ah narrowly avoided the first rock that shot up, a sequence of rocks swiftly rose from their new positions, ultimately striking them and sending them soaring into the air.
“Hehehe- How about that?”
It was clearly far from Bae Joo-ah’s spell range. So, the two sorcerers must’ve thought it was safe to follow her.
‘She added a trap option… When did she become capable of that?’
All magic handlers can branch out their abilities depending on their efforts, but adding additional conditions to a single ability like that wasn’t an easy feat.
“Ughhh… save me…”
When a huge mass of rock collided with you, the impact was akin to being hit by a truck. These sorcerers would probably suffer severe internal injuries.
“Just a friendly duel, don’t be scared.”
With reassuring words, Joo-ah addressed them, but the rocks hovering in the air were instead demanding something else.
Ultimately, receiving five mid-tier potions as spoils from the defeated sorcerers, she broke into a wide smile and dashed back towards us.
“Still didn’t steal the runes, though.”
“Who said that?”
“Don’t give me that look like I’m some evil person. With everyone else dying around us, would I only take potions? I’m practically an angel! Don’t you agree, Yeon-hee?”
“Uh… um… Yeah, yeah. Th-that’s right.”
[Baek Ah-rin and 3 others – Victory over Kim Sang-jun and 3 others]
“Thank goodness. I was worried we’d have to kill someone to get results.”
Yeon-hee nodded alone as she said that.
‘Is the four-member group still not done yet?’
Surprisingly, they were struggling. Their opponents were a party of middle-aged men claiming to have spotted the first mimic.
The four-member group was superior in every aspect, but they couldn’t land a decisive blow against the middle-aged party, who were all bundled up with good gear.
‘They’re in a difficult position. It’s tough to face off against a group of traditional warriors with an assassination-type approach.’
However, after about five more minutes had passed, the leader of the middle-aged party waved both hands, signaling surrender.
“Phew… Listen, old man. Why not just give up instead of wasting energy uselessly?”
“Ho ho, I have to try my best at least… my mimic…”
“Annoying.”
Though the four-member group expressed some irritation toward them for a bit, they didn’t treat the older men rudely just because they had achieved victory.
And what remained was—
‘The four-member group, the bear beastman, a well-balanced ordinary party…’
“Where to go?”
“Let’s ask Il-wol first.”
“Sure… where do you want to fight, Il-wol?”
I immediately pointed out the bear beastman party. They were probably the weakest of the lot.
Fortunately, the four-member group seemed eager to fight the last remaining team.
– Hee-hoo-hoo, no need for lengthy words. Let’s fight! No, please fight!
At the mimic’s signal, the battle commenced against the party led by the bear beastman.
And ten minutes later.
“Uhhh… We lost…”
It took a bit of time, but Yeon-hee and Ah-rin managed to overwhelm them, just the two of them.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
