Magic Tower (7)

――Pweoooong!!!!!!!

Flames soared like a dragon. The magic stone explosive contained a magic formula that left behind flames that disappeared after a certain time within the blast radius. This meant it could be used easily in urban areas or forests. It burned to its heart’s content and then vanished like a ghost.

“Hakeuk, keuk.”

I chuckled and cast a barrier on Clark. I shot a shockwave backward, sending Clark flying far away. Clark, after rolling on the ground, looked around incessantly before settling down and watching me. I was a bit worried that some riffraff might bother him, but with the barrier, he should survive just by cowering. He was a 34th circle mage to begin with.

“Weak.”

The pain of my skin burning overwhelmed my entire body. But. It was weaker than Peca Polis. This level of fire couldn’t stop an Archmage’s thoughts. Although it was a weapon I had modified, it was focused on mass production, so the power of the spell itself was pathetic.

I stirred up the wind and gathered the flames in one place. As the hot air subsided, a mage engulfed in flames was revealed. My appearance was somewhat grotesque, with my clothes and flesh stuck together, wearing a faint smile.

“……!”

I absorbed the flames. The fire died down. I quickly reconstructed my burned face and fixed my gaze on the rats. Even though they were hiding their bodies with concealment spells, our eyes met precisely. They flinched and drew their knives.

“Ha….”

In the end. Just a bunch of muggles relying on tools. I molded the absorbed flames into a ball and fired it into the air.

―Hwaaaaaak!!!

“Aaaagh!!! Aaaaaagh―!!!”

The fireball that directly hit one of them turned the rat into a charcoal briquette. I increased the power at the same time as absorbing it. There was no way they could withstand this power without protection spells. The concealment spell was dispelled, and a corpse fell to the ground.

“Shit, fuck!”

“Attack!”

Two on the right. Two on the left as well.

First, I had to deal with the closest one.

“Die, you bitch!”

One of the guys on the right charged at me. He swung his knife at my neck. He was aiming precisely for the carotid artery. These bastards. Assassins. Judging by the fact that they were using magic stone explosives, they must have stolen them from military supplies, which meant they were at least former soldiers.

Anyway, if I got hit, it was an immediate retirement. Without even blinking an eye, I reached out and blocked the knife with my bare hand.

―Kwajik!

With my bare hands.

“Haeuk.”

I raised the corners of my mouth as if they were about to tear from the tingling pain of the knife piercing my palm. The guy who stabbed the knife seemed dumbfounded that I would block it with my bare hand and prepared for the next attack.

“What the fuck! It won’t come out!”

However. I put strength into my grip, and the knife wouldn’t come out easily. I even used Mana to fix it in place. I watched the blood flowing down my wrist and adjusted the blood flow.

At that moment.

The remaining three charged at me simultaneously.

Kung! I kicked the guy who stuck to me in the stomach, sending him flying. I pulled out the knife stuck in my hand and gathered a lot of blood, scattering it in all directions. The rats scoffed, drawing their swords. Back alleys where poisoning was as common as blood-sprinkling. A paltry attempt to obstruct vision.

But what they didn’t know was.

‘I’m a little short on blood…’

The blood wasn’t sprinkled for the purpose of obstructing vision.

‘…Should I draw a little more?’

In my slowed thoughts. I saw a man swinging his sword at my right arm. I adjusted the angle and trajectory, sticking out my arm so that it would be cut off precisely below the elbow.

―Seokeong!!

Smoothly, without the sound of bones grinding. My right arm fell to the ground. Blood poured out, staining the floor. The smell of the dark red blood was so rancid it was nauseating. But. Before I could even clench my lips in pain, an attack came from the left.

―Pueook!

My side. Cut diagonally. The pain of cutting through the skin was accompanied by a slight metallic taste. I staggered, swallowing the blood flowing from my chewed and burst lips. It felt like my intestines were slightly protruding.

―Peoeok!

This time. The guy in the very center kicked me, sending me flying far away. I was kicked in the solar plexus and rolled on the ground all the way to where Clark was. Clark’s eyes shook like crazy. His pale face looked like he was about to burst into tears any second.

“…You only make weapons, but you don’t have any substance. Ptooey.”

“Your face is pretty good, shouldn’t I get a load off before I go?”

“Please.”

“Your face is still the same.”

“I’d rather fuck a brick than stick my dick in a pussy melted and stuck together by fire.”

They stood on the pool of blood I had spilled, chuckling. A bubbling, dark red pool. Above the ominous pool of blood that was still rotting in real time.

“Th, there.”

I said, drawing out blood to avoid going into shock. The rats rolled their knives and gave me the finger. Their faces were full of confidence in their victory.

“What’s a bitch about to die saying? Why, are you asking to be saved?”

I waved my hand to stop Clark from approaching me. At the same time, I created a barrier over his eyes, blocking his vision. Clark panicked because he couldn’t see, but remembering my words not to doubt me, he quietly cowered in the corner.

“You can’t, stand there.”

One was out of range… but it didn’t matter.

“Does anyone know how much we can get for selling that little brat?”

“I think we can get at least one gold coin. His face is pretty and he’s delicate, so he’d be perfect to sell as a rentboy. But cut off his wrists and tongue, you fucking idiot. Don’t you know what happened last time when you glossed over it?”

The guy in front came out as a representative to finish me off.

“….”

My only remaining left hand.

I struggled to lift it and flicked my fingers.

――Jeojeojeok…

“First, let’s check if he has more money…”

****

Kwajik.

“….”

Kwadeuk, kwajik. Kudeuk. Keudeudeuk. The sound of flesh and muscle being torn apart, a sound that should never be heard, lingered in my ears. Primal fear consumed my body. The rat who had been rolling his knife and walking towards me swallowed hard and stopped.

“Don’t, turn. Around?”

At my words, he sweated profusely, licked his dry lips, and slowly turned his head. Then, as if his strength had given out, he slumped down and backed away.

“Wh, what is that. Sh, shit.”

An hungry ghost 餓鬼 that had risen from the pool of blood.

It was blocking the rats’ eyes and mouths and dragging them into the blood where it had been.

It was a type of summoning spell. It was also a type of blood magic 血法. The hungry ghost was a monster that imperfectly imitated ‘me’ using blood. The consciousness… probably didn’t exist. It only moved according to the caster’s commands and instincts, so you couldn’t even call it a living thing in the first place. If I had to compare it, it would be like an amoeba.

―Geueooo…

Thin arms and legs like toothpicks with a disproportionately swollen belly. And the body made of blood reeked of a disgusting smell.

The hungry ghost had already eaten two of them, and pieces of flesh and entrails were constantly spurting out of the pool of blood. I didn’t know what happened to the guy who was dragged into the pool, but judging by the pieces of entrails that kept popping up, it seemed like he was being ground up like in a blender.

“Hoo….”

It was the result of clumsily following a black magic related book I had read in the magic tower. The exact method of following it wasn’t written down, so I made it up according to my imagination… If I got caught, I might be interrogated for heresy. Regardless of its performance, I shouldn’t use it again.

I completely reconstructed my body. Not only my severed arm but also all the clothes stuck to my skin.

“It’s been a while, I’m stiff.”

It had been a while since I had bled this much. It was a little disappointing that it ended so quickly, but Clark was here and I had to prepare for tomorrow’s raid, so this was enough. I approached the rat who was sitting down and trembling, crouched next to him, and said.

“…Do you want to go in there too?”

―Pong.

Finally, the hungry ghost, having eaten all three, spat out a money pouch from its mouth. It wrinkled its face and roughly poured out the coins, as if it didn’t like the taste of them. The rat and the hungry ghost’s eyes met.

“Heu. What’s that smell?”

This guy pissed himself.

I placed my hand on the rat’s head and muttered.

“Hungry ghost. Return.”

It nodded. The hungry ghost dragged the charcoal briquette that had died first and disappeared into the pool of blood. I washed the money pouch covered in entrails and blood and said to the rat.

“Take that out from your waist.”

“….”

The magic stone explosive. When the rat couldn’t say anything and only trembled, I became frustrated and snatched the magic stone explosive myself.

“Now… put it in your mouth.”

I forcibly opened his mouth. I stuffed the magic stone explosive into his mouth.

“Goodbye. See you next time.”

I pressed the protruding button in the center. Then, a gray sphere that shone, beeped. The rat’s eyes shook violently. But, because of his limp limbs, he couldn’t move even a step.

I grabbed Clark’s hand, who still couldn’t see, and left the back alley.

“M, Mistress?”

“Yeah. It’s me.”

“Are you, okay?”

“Just forget what happened just now. More importantly, was it hard? Let’s go get a room at the inn right away.”

“I, I. Th, that. Clearly.”

While Clark was stuttering, not understanding the situation.

―Pweoooong!!!!!!!

The magic stone explosive in his mouth exploded, making a loud noise.

“Heuhik?!”

I buried the surprised Clark in my chest and stroked his head. Fluffy clothes and soft breasts. It was an excessively perfect appearance for someone who had just been burned. It was thanks to completing the reconstruction, but Clark had no way of knowing.

Clark blushed and soon quietly accepted my touch. I twisted his soft brown hair between my fingers and played with it. I enjoyed the silky texture and released the barrier on his eyes.

“Mistress, haa…”

His eyes opened. Clark let out a sigh of relief at my appearance, which had not a single drop of blood on it. Yujin, whose arm had been cut off and who had collapsed while spewing blood, was just an illusion, as if he was shaking his head incessantly and burying his face in my chest again.

“Were you worried about me?”

There was no answer.

Clark buried his face even deeper.

* * *

We entered the inn a little late.

By the time we came out of the back alley, the sun had already set. I frowned at the thought that the time to tease Clark had been reduced. But it was okay. The real ‘prank’ started from the night.

The inn was naturally a single room. Clark strongly refused and said he would get a separate room, but the excuse of saving money shut Clark up. He had already wasted time because of the money he had lost. He had no right to refuse.

“I’m sorry. Does it smell a lot?”

“Are you going to wash?”

“Yes. But, Mistress is always clean and smells good… Ah, th, the words I just said weren’t meant to be strange…”

“It’s okay. Do you want to smell?”

“Eueue…!”

I was wearing a negligee that I had brought from the magic tower. I was using it often because I thought it was more comfortable than I had thought when I wore it at the Holy See… but no matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t pajamas.

Well, depending on the type and how you wear it, it could be ordinary clothes, but the negligee I was wearing was a semi-transparent material that showed all my underwear, and there was no area above my cleavage, so it revealed my neckline and shoulders as they were. If I lowered the blanket, you would immediately see my uterine tattoo.

“I’ll wash first…!”

Because it was an expensive inn, it had a shower room attached. Clark entered the shower room and started undressing. It seemed like he was taking it off inside so that it wouldn’t be visible.

“Heuheum….”