Fame (2)
Fame (2)
It was a sudden battle, but I had no intention of avoiding it.
They were the ones who started this. They were the ones who declared they'd kill me.
"I'll tear you to shreds and feed you to livestock." It might sound like a generic threat, but as I looked into their eyes, I could tell—
They meant every word.
The intense contempt in their gaze and their demeanor made it clear.
Those words came straight from the depths of their heart.
'Of course, I'd run into another lunatic.'
The only silver lining was that they didn't seem particularly strong.
Maybe it was because I'd just faced a monstrous aberration.
Or maybe they really were just weak.
The truth wouldn't be known until the fight began.
"Ahaha...! Unbelievable. A relic of calamity chose you, a worthless maggot, over me?"
Lost in their own thoughts for a moment, they quickly snapped back to reality.
"Right... That must be it. A relic that chooses a low-tier mage? Keh heh heh. 'Calamity-grade' my ass! It's just as worthless as its owner!"
Regaining their earlier confidence, they sneered at me.
"A duel! How dare a piece of trash like you try to deceive me! You'll pay for this with your life!"
Whoosh.
They spread their arms wide. From their long sleeves, thorny green vines sprouted forth.
'An ambush?'
I didn't let my guard down, raising Lantern to block any incoming attack. But the vines weren't aimed at me.
"GAAAH!"
"Why us?!"
"SOMEONE HELP!!"
The Management Bureau employees who had been handling the machinery behind me screamed as the vines suddenly lashed out at them. The thorn-covered tendrils coiled around their throats. Whether the thorns were poisoned or not, their skin quickly turned black where pierced.
"What the hell are you doing?! These are Bureau personnel! Stop this at once!"
Oh Soo-hyeok, the section chief who had introduced himself earlier, shouted furiously.
"Quit squirming and stay still, you insects."
The response was ice-cold. This madman didn't even blink after attacking dozens of people. Instead, he looked at Oh Soo-hyeok with annoyance.
Watching this, I felt a slight unease.
The look in his eyes now was completely different from the one he'd given me earlier.
When he looked at me, I saw emotions—
Disdain, jealousy, rage.
All those negative impulses.
But when he looked at the Bureau employees, there was nothing.
Just indifference, like stepping on ants on the street.
Like swatting away an annoying mosquito.
"What you're doing now is making an enemy of the Management Bureau! Mage Ju Gi-hyeok! Cease this immediately!"
"Blah, blah, blah. So noisy."
"JU GI-HYEOK!!"
Oh Soo-hyeok roared as Gi-hyeok stared back with mocking eyes.
"You really think the Bureau would dare touch me, the future head of the Joo Family, just because I crushed a few bugs?"
Hearing his arrogant words, Oh Soo-hyeok clenched his fists.
"Damn it...! You mages...!!"
There was nothing he could do. All he could manage was to dodge the vines trying to grab him while helping the remaining employees.
There was no way to save those already being dragged away.
The gap between a mage and a magician was just that vast.
"GAAAH! Chief! HELP!"
"I don't wanna die...! Save me! Please! SAVE ME!!"
"WAAAHHH! MOM—!"
The screams of the Bureau employees echoed everywhere.
"Shut up."
Ju Gi-hyeok clenched his outstretched hand.
CRUNCH!!
The vines coiled around their throats tightened violently.
A moment later, the screams stopped.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Dozens of heads hit the ground.
The headless corpses remained suspended in the air, still tangled in the vines.
"Disgusting..."
I frowned at the sight.
This was only the second time I'd seen people die right in front of me.
I didn't feel nauseous or sick. I'd come here prepared to kill if necessary, so there was no reason to be shocked. I already knew this was dangerous, life-threatening work.
But that didn't mean I had to like it.
"Get ready."
Bzzzt—
As if delighted by my command, Lantern began to tremble.
Whoosh—
A flame ignited within her, and shadows writhed beneath.
"Relying on a tool instead of magic? Truly, you're nothing but a maggot. No different from a common magician."
Heh heh.
Mocking me, he suddenly flicked his fingers.
Swish—
The vines returned to him, dragging the headless corpses along.
Snap.
With another flick of his fingers, Gi-hyeok spoke.
"Great Revival."
BOOM—!
A massive tremor shook the ground as the corpses began to change. The blood that had been gushing out stopped, and the wounds from the vines closed up. Their limp limbs stiffened, standing upright as they planted their feet on the ground.
The headless corpses moved in perfect unison, lining up before Gi-hyeok. Positioning them as shields, he grinned viciously.
"Die under the weight of my greatness."
Whoosh—
The revived corpses moved at his command, raising their hands toward me.
Fwoosh.
Fireballs the size of heads ignited in their palms.
'Can they use magic from when they were alive?'
It didn't seem like actual magic. Just pure flames meant for destruction. At least, that's how it looked to me.
And naturally, they were no threat.
Fwoooosh—!
I raised Lantern to block the incoming fireballs—
But then, I felt the ground shift beneath me.
"Si-woo! Watch out!"
Ha-rin's warning came just as thorned vines burst from the floor, aiming straight for my heart. Thanks to my vigilance, I managed to throw myself backward in time.
Sssk.
Then, in the corner of my eye, I saw Gi-hyeok's vicious grin.
"!!"
In that split second, the vines that had missed me changed direction and shot toward me again.
This time, aiming not for my heart—but my head.
There was no dodging this.
Not that I needed to.
CRUNCH!!
Chomp. Chomp.
The shadows surging from Lantern seized the vines and devoured them whole.
"Good job."
I stroked Lantern in praise, but my eyes remained fixed on Gi-hyeok.
'The fireballs were just a distraction.'
Carelessness leads to death. Knowing that all too well, I had dodged the first attack the moment I felt the ground tremble. But while mid-air, the second attack—redirected mid-flight—was impossible to evade.
'Was this all part of his plan?'
If so, I needed to reassess him.
"Oh? You blocked that?"
Creating openings and exploiting weaknesses—
That kind of attack only came from extensive combat experience.
"But can you dodge the next one?"
Snap.
He flicked his fingers, and the earth shook.
Thud. Thud.
Two enormous thorned vines erupted from the ground.
"Guh...!"
Oh Soo-hyeok, who had been watching the fight, gasped and stumbled back.
I couldn't blame him.
The vines that had emerged were so massive they barely qualified as vines anymore.
If something that size crushed you, you'd die like an ant under a boot.
But to me, it wasn't frightening.
The reason was simple.
"I'm yawning."
Compared to the aberration I'd just fought—
A monster that had charged through a barrage of attacks like a mad beast—
A vine the size of an apartment building was nothing.
It was obvious which was more dangerous.
And I'd survived that aberration.
Something like this wasn't even a problem.
"Keh heh. Even your last words are just bravado. Fitting."
Mockery.
"Now die."
The vines surged toward me.
SWOOOOOSH—!
The sound of air being split as the massive vines descended. Their goal was clear—crush me under sheer mass. At that size, dodging was impossible.
"Too slow."
Not that I needed to.
I slowly raised Lantern.
From my feet, darkness stretched outward like a living thing, writhing as it expanded. In an instant, the shadows swallowed the surroundings, spreading so vast that even Gi-hyeok's grotesque vines looked small in comparison.
[Kikiki—! Kihihihit—!]
From the abyss-like darkness, dozens—no, hundreds of grotesque maws bloomed like flowers. Each one bared razor-sharp teeth, their lips curling into thin arcs as they voiced their hunger.
[Can we eat?]
[Can we eat?]
[Can we eat?]
[Can we eat?]
A chilling chorus of overlapping voices scraped against my eardrums. With an indifferent gaze, I stared past the vines at Gi-hyeok and gave a simple command.
"Devour them."
The shadows moved.
Like a swarm of ravenous locusts, they descended upon Gi-hyeok's vines, gnawing them down to the roots. The speed was staggering—by the time the vines reached the ground, they had already been completely consumed.
"What the hell...?!"
Gi-hyeok's face twisted in panic.
The shadows, having expanded massively, now shrank back. No—compressed would be more accurate.
Smaller.
Even smaller.
Gathering all the surrounding darkness into a single point, they forged a spear of pure void—one so dark not even light could pierce it.
"Dammit...! Block it! BLOCK IT NO MATTER WHAT!"
At Gi-hyeok's command, the headless corpses stepped forward as shields. Small incantations layered over their bodies, reinforcing their defenses.
But did that make them tougher than the aberration from before?
"Fire."
FWIP—!
At my command, the shadow-spear shot forth.
THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD—!
Like an arrow, it pierced through every corpse in its path—
SCHLUCK—!
"GURK—!!!"
—and impaled Gi-hyeok straight through the heart.