episode_0194

The two red eyes began to glow ominously. Just as the creature, which could be said to resemble Mu-X-Risk, glanced around.

[…]

*CRASH!*

Suddenly, a platinum-colored beam of light shot out from one side, striking the creature head-on.

It was an attack with considerable power, even at a glance.

“That’s…”

The location was somewhere hundreds of meters away from here? When I turned my head, wondering who it was, Eileen spoke in a flat tone.

“It’s the Saintess’s power. Usually, when facing a monster, there’s no other form of magic of that caliber, but…”

Just as she trailed off, the monster, having flapped its wings to clear the smoke spreading in the air, violently swung its tail.

Unlike its overall reddish body, its tail, somehow stained with an unsettling jet-black color,… astonishingly spat out bodily fluid.

*Splat!*

“Ugh.”

I frowned at the instinctive feeling of unpleasantness, but such an emotional reaction was only possible because I wasn’t the target of the attack.

The purple liquid, menacing even from a distance, looked like it could melt any ordinary building in an instant.

*Hiss!*

It actually displayed that much, no, even greater power. If Eileen’s words were true, the golden barrier, likely deployed by the Saintess of France, began to crumble in an instant.

‘I should help.’

I didn’t know much about her, but I sensed that this monstrous variant was not something an ordinary S-rank Awakened could handle alone.

Not just because I heard it from Eileen and Gwon Hwang… but also due to the undeniable gap in magic power I’d keenly felt since the monster’s appearance.

‘…This is insane.’

I frowned, conjuring ice in one hand. That thing was a monster even beyond the giant I’d annihilated in Cheorwon.

I’m not even sure if ten or so Ryu Jinseongs could take it down.

Still, if there’s a fortunate aspect, it’s perhaps that the forces gathered here aren’t entirely bad?

“Eileen.”

Lowering my stance, I placed my hand on the ground and erected an ice tree, speaking to Eileen.

“Just in case, I’m asking: can you fight in the air?”

When I briefly looked up at her, a hint of displeasure was evident on her face.

I wondered if her pride was hurt by such a question, but…

“You’re a close-range combatant, aren’t you?”

It couldn’t be helped, could it? I’ve never seen a close-range Awakened capable of aerial combat other than Yang Chan-ho.

They all, every single one of them, can’t fly, falling far short compared to us mages—though many would protest if I put it that way. In any case, our enemy right now was a flying creature.

“…If I use the recoil from explosions, I can stay in the air for a certain amount of time.”

“Can you maintain that for ten minutes?”

“…”

At my indifferent question, Eileen bit her lip, unable to bring herself to answer.

She glanced down at her iron rod, then soon muttered weakly.

“…It can’t be helped, can it? I’ll support from the ground with long-range attacks, so you’ll have to directly pin the creature down…”

“Me? How?”

I cut her off and shrugged, making Eileen’s face twist as if she’d bitten into something foul.

Her gaze seemed to say, ‘How can you say that when you haven’t even tried?’ But it was the truth.

No one could deny that I had objectively achieved remarkable growth in a very short period.

But that didn’t mean my abilities were on par with Special S-rank.

At the very least, I was still weaker than Eileen…

And I was a mage, after all.

If I faced something like that head-on, my body wouldn’t last. Though it’s awkward to say this when I even have super-regeneration.

“Anyway… please take on the role of holding that monster back head-on.”

I said that, gesturing with my eyes toward the growing ice tree, and Eileen’s expression went blank as if she’d roughly grasped my intention.

Originally, the ice tree was made to shoot straight up, but this time I deliberately angled its body when constructing it. So that if need be, she could run up it to reach the sky.

‘Well, she might fall.’

That’s none of my business.

She’s a Special S-rank villain, isn’t she?

I trusted her to handle her balance just fine. I gave Eileen a look of deep trust, and she narrowed her eyes, clicking her tongue.

“…You use people roughly. Is it because we’re from the same place? You’re a bit like the Cult Leader.”

“I’d prefer you not compare me to that crazy bitch.”

I shook my head, my face serious. Eileen chuckled at that, then spun around, re-gripping her iron rod.

“Let’s see…”

And with a rather relaxed tone and voice, she casually uttered:

“Anyway, we have to stop that thing.”

“…”

“You… since I’m going to the front, you’ll have to finish it properly. Like a mage, unleash some serious firepower.”

It was before I could even subtly make an evasive remark about not being able to guarantee it.

*CRASH!*

Before I could even register the movement, Eileen vanished from my sight. Only belatedly did I realize she had stepped on my ice tree.

“…Huh.”

The speed of a transcendent S-rank expert moving with full intent was beyond imagination.

In mere moments, she traversed the body of the tree, reaching its branches and then its very tip.

[…]

The monster’s gaze, which had been focused on spitting at the Saintess, moved for the first time.

The moment its reddish pupils grotesquely rolled and captured Eileen’s form.

“—”

*RUMBLE!*

A thunderous roar, powerfully striking my eardrums, shook the entire city. I once again trailed Eileen’s movements, half a beat too late.

She swung her iron rod, but how many times it had caused explosions in those short one or two seconds, or how much skill was embedded within it…

To grasp such things in real-time, the level of combat tested the limits of my perception.

“Tsk…”

*CRACK, CRACKLE!*

At this rate, I too had no choice but to overload my magic power. I enveloped my entire body in ice, and my two pupils were covered in silver light.

In this state, while Eileen held the monster, I had to land an effective blow…

‘Will it work?’

I wasn’t sure. I lacked confidence. Gwon Hwang, Baek Ayun, and Cheon Soyul also noticed the situation and got into battle stance, but was this much power enough?

Could we truly exert enough strength to defeat that monster? Unease agitated me, but I steadily gathered my magic power nonetheless.

First, it was ice magic, purely based on my fundamentals, without mixing in other energies.

It would be great if I could approach and infuse absolute zero, but that would be difficult.

The best strategy I could choose from a distance was a rapid succession of attacks. I never had the arrogant thought that ice alone would resolve it from the start.

First, I needed to freeze the creature and pin it in place. To fix the target.

“!”

At that moment, I signaled to Cheon Soyul nearby with my eyes. Even without words, my intention was conveyed, and she immediately clenched her fist.

*CRACKLE!*

Lightning, swirling furiously, instantly condensed in her grasp. Electrification, bearing a more aggressive nature than any other elemental magic, was one of the greatest weapons we could use right now.

*THUD!* I stomped on the ground. The fan-shaped ice barrier, like a frozen tsunami, began to surge towards the sky.

The monster and Eileen were maintaining a very close distance.

A situation where she too could inadvertently get caught in my ice.

However, the position was advantageous. The sentient ice tree extended its branches, where silver leaves rustled, pulling Eileen towards itself and protecting her.

*CRUNCH!*

[SCREEECH!]

Thus, the ice naturally covered only the monster, freezing it.

It wouldn’t last long, but that was enough.

In the distance, Cheon Soyul’s two eyes were briefly tinged white. More precisely, it was a color mixed with gold…

It was lightning-element magic, most specialized for anti-monster combat.

At least as far as I knew, there was no technique more suitable for incinerating monsters than that.

Cheon Soyul extended her arm silently. Aiming at the sky, she subtly curled her thumb.

With a hand gesture mimicking a gun, she moved her lips.

“Bang.”

And then, a flash covered the sky. It was the result of lightning, soaring up as if alive, opening its maw and covering even the sun.

[…]

The monster’s two eyes, which had been tearing at its frozen body, widened greatly.

However, Cheon Soyul’s lightning was too swift for it to react belatedly.

*BOOM!*

Thus, results were quickly achieved. The lightning consumed roughly half of the monster’s upper body, leaving nothing behind where it had passed.

After that, it was a period of one-sided combined assault.

The personnel on the other side, including the Saintess, also seemed to agree that this was the perfect opportunity, initiating a fierce attack. Eileen, too, moved across the branches, delivering explosions with her iron rod.

Buried under attacks of all colors, the variant’s form was no longer discernible.

No counterattack came. It probably didn’t have the luxury.

I felt a sense of relief that things were unfolding more easily than expected.

Because it had been so terrifying, and because its magic power seemed extraordinary to me…

To be honest, I had anticipated a very long and arduous battle.

‘This is a bit… anticlimactic, isn’t it?’

Perhaps we could reach a resolution even faster than expected. Wouldn’t it be better to actively join in during this opening?

With that thought, I flew upward. After all, ice magic was most effective when injecting cold directly into the target’s body at close range.

“…What is it?”

However, it seemed there was no need for such a thing. The moment I arrived on the battlefield, I had to let out a breath, overcome with significant disappointment.

At the end of the direction Eileen aimed her iron rod with a tense expression.

[…]

The monster, resembling some kind of insect and possessing an appearance that instinctively made one uncomfortable, was already dead.

*Thump, thump…*

Along with an inexplicable heartbeat sound.

‘What the—’

The moment I frowned and was about to re-enter a state of tension, a sharply bent hand shot out from the corpse.

As silently as an assassin making no sound.

*STAB!*