[ruuuumble—]
Thunder rolled across the sky.
[shrrrraaa! tatatatatata!]
Hailstones punched through the fog I’d cast and came knifing down.
A sudden weather anomaly.
It was happening because of Yang Seonho.
‘You could call that insane—but!’
She could high-speed “fly” by kicking subsonic shock fronts in midair. The shock waves battered the clouds and atmosphere—cloud banks, violently rubbed and compressed, spewed fierce lightning... and hail.
[Protective Ward]
I raised a ward to block the hail and moved my mana.
[viiiiiiiiin—]
A complex, dazzling array spread within the fog.
Seeing it, Dokgo Gyeom shouted at me.
"Just let me go! I’ll run on my own!"
He was wrapped in chains so thick and hard they looked like they’d anchor a ship. They’d even strapped a muzzle on him to stop a madman’s frenzy.
"No—you’ve misunderstood me. I didn’t come to rescue you."
I wasn’t a villain, and I wasn’t a righteous hero.
I’d come to snatch Dokgo Gyeom for my own interests.
[viiiiiiiiiiiiin—]
The spell I was {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} priming was [Gateway Creation], a dimensional gate. Not a difficult spell—but...
Even after I’d explicitly asked him to cooperate, Dokgo Gyeom kept radiating suspicion and hostility at me.
‘This guy... even knowing what I’m doing, he...’
If the subject isn’t friendly, this magic incurs a penalty.
A high-level hostile being forcibly moved.
‘Damn it. We’ll sort you out later.’
Worse, the special armored truck holding him was huge—and layered sealing arrays to block magic and esper powers were rejecting my casting.
Penalties on penalties.
‘Even so, about ten seconds and—’
I could complete the rite.
[seeeeeeeeeeeeek!]
If nothing interfered.
[System: ‘Heightened Vigilance’ activates.]
Sensing crisis, my brain spiked my perception.
Detection surged; my thoughts spun at insane speed.
[Parallel Thought] kicked in, and alongside the gatework I triggered a new spell.
If I used anything that needed tells or windups, I was dead.
[Extreme Haste]
Yang Seonho could traverse roughly 300–600 meters per second.
Air density and temperature would tweak it; in this weather, call it ~400 m/s?
Her altitude now: ~50 meters.
Calculate the time needed for an angry Yang Seonho to smash Kim Sinhwa.
‘Not the time for that.’
Bracing for the storm about to crash down, I roused my mana—
[KWAAAAANG!]
—yet instead of slamming straight down onto my head, she landed a bit away.
And the transit took about a second? No—maybe a few tenths more?
‘Good.’
At the same time, I recognized the first risk in my plan was cleared.
‘In the game, she would’ve just attacked.’
In-game, Yang Seonho would fire off area attacks mid-fight whether allies were there or not.
Not because she was merciless by nature.
‘Though, yes, she is merciless...’
But only toward a narrow set of targets:
The otherworlders branded [Illegal Trespassers], and the cultists who drag them into this world (to be precise, into Korea).
To every other human (especially Koreans), Yang Seonho was a kind, diligent civil servant.
Even so, the in-game Yang Seonho ignored allies and blasted AOEs because...
‘Her stats were tuned far beyond developer intent.’
No time for talk—I fired the prepared array.
[shrrrrrrrip!]
"Guo-o-o-ugh!" "Kekh!" "T-team leader!"
Figures yanked from the dim fog.
Golden mana chains from the array had snared civil servants by the neck.
Yang Seonho’s precious colleagues—and, above all, citizens of the Republic of Korea.
Call me a despicable bastard if you want.
Yang Seonho took one short breath.
"Do you want to die?"
[grrrrrrrrrm!!]
A savage discharge leapt off her body.
Static, birthed by friction with air as she moved at speed.
[Lightning Grounding]
Without answering, I cast a diverter for the current and, at the same time, unfurled the workings for [Gateway Creation]. Progress: a meager 20%.
I needed eight more seconds.
And in eight seconds... if she committed, Yang Seonho could kill a seventh-tier mage eighty times over.
[pop!]
An explosive report at her feet.
Her body came at me at a ludicrous speed.
‘Damn it. Couldn’t you hesitate a moment.’
Her strategy against a mage holding hostages was simple:
《Break him before the hostages get hurt.》
If the opponent tried to cast?
《Break them before the spell goes off.》
[shyeeeeeeeek!]
No—no time! I didn’t have time to stop time!
[Counter]
Short on time, I ripped out the core clause of a defense and met her strike.
[KUUUUUUUUUM!!]
"?"
Yang Seonho looked at me like she was about to say, ‘You blocked that?’
‘Yeah. I blocked it.’
I gave a mute nod.
She wasn’t at full output, and I wasn’t a normal seventh-tier mage. I could last eight seconds.
‘Don’t open the distance.’
Mage versus brawler.
Normally, spacing out favors the mage. Not now.
Unless I got kilometers away, staying by the hostages was better.
And with [Extreme Haste] up, I could, in a limited way, track her moves.
"—!"
With a sound close to a groan, I dove into her guard—and built a spell.
[Lightning Strike—]
"Ha!"
She snapped her hips and took the textbook form of a straight punch—left hand drawn to the belt, right fist driving out.
[vwoooooom!!]
Again, not enough time to complete the spell.
I yanked the mana back from Lightning—no, there wasn’t even time for that. I abandoned the half-cast and assembled a new one on the fly.
[Projectile]
[PWOOM—]
"Huh—?"
Yang Seonho looked like she wanted to say, ‘You blocked me twice?’
Yes, she’d slowed for hostage safety—but that didn’t make this common.
At the same time, realization clicked.
‘Ah. This is...’
The [Spell Mastery: Protection School] I’d learned from the grimoire [Bongam Treatise] had braided with [Spell Mastery] itself—and I’d stepped into a new tier of technique.
A strange euphoria flooded in.
My head lit up.
‘So this is that thing from wuxia.’
No—not now.
I felt the killing intent not with sight but with sense.
Her focus drew into her left hand, still tucked by her waist.
There was...
Only her left hand. But she pinned her left thumb with her forefinger—then flicked, hard, and—
‘Gods, do something that makes sense!’
The air her thumb shoved became a bullet of shock—a pellet headed straight for my throat.
[Deflection]
A just-barely array bent the projectile’s path aside.
"Ha—!"
Yang Seonho bared her teeth in a grin.
A tiger’s grin—a great carnivore’s cruel, threatening smile as it looked upon prey.
"This too!"
She shouted.
Huh? What now? Don’t tell me—‘block this’?
Wait! Hostages! Hostages!
She didn’t need to, so she rarely did—but Yang Seonho had a special power too.
[grrrrrrrrrr—]
In game terms, she could spend Ki slots to attempt surreal attacks. Ki slots equaled her Mind stat plus one; a long rest refilled them and—
No—focus! So what is she using now!
Phoenix Angle? Yellow Dragon Fist? Vajra Strike?
I slammed mana into my eyes—maxed out my insight.
Her motion, caught by frames. A foot sliding slightly back. Her center dropping.
Footwork opening with [Willow Step], layered with [Path of Elements – Breath of Flame]. The [Master] title for [Skip Prerequisite Forms]. [Remarkable Prowess] for instant execution—meaning, that was—
‘Secret Art: [Firebird in Spring]?!’
Gyaaa—like I haven’t done this a hundred times!?
[Blazing Flame]
[KWAANG!]
"Parry!!"
The last word actually came out of my mouth—I almost bit my tongue.
I wanted to say “parry” (as in precise-timing guard or counter before a move resolves).
At a speed I barely believed, I did the math and struck the weakest seam of [Firebird in Spring] before the art resolved—snuffing it.
"U—?"
A short grunt from her.
Only for a moment, but her form broke. I—no complicated magic! Only snap-cast basics!
[Flash]
[Grease]
[Chains of Dominion]
[shaaak—]
I dropped [Grease], plunging the floor’s friction coefficient, and at the same time yanked the hostages with chains—and flung them into Yang Seonho.
Normally she wouldn’t trip or lose balance over this much—but...
A technique stifled pre-trigger, a blinding flash, and hostages bowling into her—
She couldn’t form clean motions, and she bled a whole three seconds.
"Ha—what a clown!"
She caught the hostages and eased back a step.
And that was my cue.
[viiiiiiiiiiiiiin—]
Eight seconds since her arrival.
[Gateway Creation]
[jzzzzzzzzzt—]
A [Dimensional Gate] opened in the ground and swallowed the entire armored truck holding Dokgo Gyeom.
"Kim Sinhwa!"
Yang Seonho called my name. She flung the hostages behind her—and came at me.
But this time, I was faster.
The instant the truck vanished, I slashed the [Dimensional Gate] with the [Blade of Flesh]—and—
[viiiiiiiiiin—]
[Blade Domain]
"Good—it works!"
I’d thought I could only realize it outside a managed zone, but I could manifest it here too. Magic that alters the nature of space itself.
[Cleave]
A space endowed with the power to cut, sever, rend, pierce, smash, and impose a specific state—death—rushed at Yang Seonho.
Not element or mana. A force that warped the laws of the world—rebuilt them—and so...
"Interesting."
She whipped out a fist-sized mana stone from somewhere and smashed the incoming space.
[krzzzzzzzzzt!!]
The mana bound in the stone detonated—and the space itself shoved aside.
"Come on—that’s just rude!"
But I didn’t need to hold it longer.
I wasn’t here to fell Yang Seonho.
I let the domain’s effect burn off on its own and cast anew.
[Mirror Image]
[Flight]
[fwudderrrrr—]
My robe snapped in the wind.
In an instant I spawned dozens of phantoms and rocketed upward.
If she truly committed to the chase, this wouldn’t even stall her—but she still had innocent hostages at her feet.
‘Time to try this.’
[Sonic Shock]
[Spreading Shock]
I imbued the shock with diffusion and spoke.
『Foreign Administration, and Mannse Ilwon Church—hear me.』
『I’m taking Dokgo Gyeom.』
『If either of you wants him back—』
『Come to Busan in six days.』
『On that day, with Cure Medical Care, I’ll lift the lid of the Bottomless Pit. From that black abyss, beasts like swarms of ravenous locusts will pour forth.』
"Who told you that you can order people around!"
Yang Seonho’s shout.
[KWA-A-A-A-A-AANG!!]
An armored truck came screaming like a missile.
Not one.
At insane speed, she hurled dozens of armored trucks—and one of them happened to be screaming right at me—aaaand I can’t dodge that!
[L-grade accessory ‘Mask of Carcosa’ unique function ‘Dreamlike Blur’ activates.
// Dreamlike Blur: Auto-casts [Blink].]
In the end, my survival kit had to bail me out of the kill zone.
[Blink complete. Reuse cooldown: 864,000 seconds]
[KWARARARARUM!]
A colossal vortex Yang Seonho had brewed.
I had no idea where she’d dragged those clouds from, but masses of cloud twisted grotesquely, vomiting thunder, hail, and torrential rain.
"Kim Sinhwa! Where did you go!!!"
[ruuuuumble!!]
Her shout hurled a shock wave bigger than lightning.
"Wow. Truly—relentless."
Had she already unraveled the [Blade Domain]? I’d cut the mana, so it would fade—but this fast?
"Still—mission accomplished. Got her attention."
At that, Jang Hyundeok looked at me, scandalized.
"Mage."
"Hm?"
"You don’t know how to make friends, do you? Even grade-schoolers these days wouldn’t..."
He sighed—eugh.
"Shut it. Drive."
