Friend
Friend
In this world, there exists a magic called Summoning.
It doesn't take long to learn, nor does it require exceptional talent, which is why many magicians practice it.
However, high-ranking mages and skilled magicians avoid Summoning.
Not because the magic itself is weak—but because the price is too steep.
Equivalent Exchange.
In Summoning magic, this principle is held sacred.
The beings summoned from other realms demand a part of the summoner's body proportionate to the power they provide.
But this applies only to low-tier entities. Summoning higher beings requires a far greater sacrifice—not just flesh, but fragments of the soul, or even one's very existence.
That's why those already powerful shun Summoning. They have no need to pay such a price for strength. Summoning is dismissed as the magic of talentless, low-ranking magicians.
But that doesn't mean no one practices it. Summoning allows one to wield power beyond their natural limits—at a cost. It's a magic specialized for mutual destruction.
"Kuhahaha! Die!"
Even high-ranking mages, when cornered, will pay the price to drag their enemies down with them.
Just like the great pirate Wang-jik, who had summoned the legs of the Kraken.
But even Wang-jik, a veteran of countless battles, had failed to anticipate one thing.
"What the—?!"
He never imagined his opponent would summon something far greater.
An angel.
As the celestial being stretched out its slender hand, the space around it began to distort grotesquely. The Kraken's legs writhed instinctively, trying to escape the phenomenon, but it was futile. The twisted space collapsed inward, leaving behind a void.
BOOM!
A massive chunk of the leg vanished without a trace, and the remaining mass, unable to support its own weight, crashed to the ground.
"What the hell is that?!"
Wang-jik's face twisted in fury. Only five legs remained now. To prevent further losses, he had to end this immediately.
"Move! Kill that bastard!"
At his command, the Kraken's legs twitched violently—but instead of obeying, they trembled as if resisting.
Yet the contract had already been made. Once a price was promised, the terms had to be fulfilled. That was the law of this world.
WHOOSH—!
All five colossal tentacles surged toward the angel at once. To crush a being no larger than a truck, five skyscraper-sized masses of flesh tore through the air, their passage deafening.
KABOOOM—!!
"Did I get him?"
Wang-jik bared his yellowed, bloodstained teeth in a grin—but his smile soon twisted into horror.
"Huh?!"
The five massive legs hadn't so much as scratched the angel. A thin barrier of holy light surrounded it, woven from divine mana. The Kraken's assault couldn't breach it, leaving the tentacles frozen mid-air.
"What the hell are you doing?! Get serious! Crush that thing!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Driven by his maddened orders, the tentacles hammered against the barrier relentlessly. The earth shook with each impact, yet the angel remained utterly unmoved.
Squelch... Squelch...
Realizing brute force wouldn't work, the Kraken gathered its remaining strength. The five scattered legs coiled together, spiraling violently until they fused into a single, monstrous appendage—one large enough to swallow the earth whole.
"Kuhaha! That's it! That's the price I paid! My everything—my very soul—was worth this!!"
The colossal tentacle blotted out the sky as it descended, its force enough to topple mountains.
And at that moment—
The angel's wings, which had been still until now, finally moved.
KABOOOOM—!!
The angel's wings and the Kraken's slimy limb collided mid-air. A shockwave erupted, rupturing eardrums as greenish fluid and chunks of flesh sprayed in all directions.
The victor was clear.
[!!!!]
A grotesque scream, boiling up from the depths of the abyss, shook the very air as it tore through the world. It was the Kraken's cry of agony—its flesh torn asunder.
Naturally, the angel's expression remained unchanged.
"...Impossible."
Wang-jik muttered weakly as he stared at the scattered remains of the Kraken.
The battle was over. Now, it was time to pay the price.
Squirm.
The massive fragments of the Kraken's flesh, strewn across the ground, twitched with eerie vitality. Drawn by instinct back to the depths, the flesh surged like a crimson tide, swallowing everything in its path as it returned to the sea.
And Wang-jik's ship—along with Wang-jik himself—was no exception.
"NO! NOT YET! I'M NOT DONE YET!"
Laughing at his desperate flailing, the Kraken's slimy remnants coiled around him like serpents, crushing his body. In the face of death, he let out a maddened scream toward me.
"You! Pay your price now! If you summoned something that powerful, your sacrifice must be a thousand times worse than mine! Show me! Show me your soul being torn apart, screaming in agony for eternity! Before I'm dragged into the abyss, SHOW ME!"
As I watched his desperate struggle, the angel approached me.
Tap.
The celestial being knelt before me, folding its holy wings respectfully.
Flap, flap—
The forbidden book on the back of my hand fluttered its pages like wings, insistently demanding something.
"You want your price?"
Flap, flap!
It trembled excitedly, as if delighted by my question.
"What will you take?"
Flutter, flutter—
Like a shy maiden, the book crept closer, carefully curling its aged pages as if to press against my lips—
Tap.
"Don't touch me with that dusty body."
Flap?
"You're filthy."
At my indifferent rejection, the book slumped dejectedly. Abandoning its lewd attempt, it instead plucked a single strand of hair from the bandages wrapped around my head, handling it as if it were a priceless treasure.
"...That can't be real..."
Wang-jik, half-buried in the Kraken's flesh, let out a hollow sigh as he watched.
There was no way summoning an angel came without a price. Surely, Si-woo had sacrificed something far greater—something of immeasurable value.
"No way...!"
That had to be the case.
"...Just a single strand of hair?"
As the book carefully tucked away the strand like a sacred relic, Wang-jik's spirit shattered.
"...I see. This is why I hate geniuses."
His eyes, filled with hatred and envy, bore into me. Even as the Kraken's flesh dragged him into the abyss, he couldn't tear his gaze away.
But in the end, what filled his heart wasn't rage—just an indescribable emptiness.
"My entire life, my soul, my everything... wasn't even worth a single strand of his hair."
As his ship sank into the inky black depths, Wang-jik slowly closed his eyes.
Such was the end of a man who dreamed of ruling the seas.
"It's over."
I watched as the angel dissolved into golden particles, vanishing into the air. Then, slowly, I turned my head.
From within Lantern's shadow, the mages of the Gu family emerged, still trembling.
As I stepped toward them, Lantern flitted back to my side, rubbing against me as if demanding praise. Thanks to her thorough protection, the mages didn't have a single scratch on them.
"Wh-what just happened?"
"Senior, were you trapped in the shadows too?"
"I don't know... It was just dark, and then—ACK!"
The moment I got close, the shifting shadows lashed out like tentacles, suspending them in mid-air. Lantern circled me eagerly, and I gently stroked her cold surface.
"You bastard! Let go right now! Do you even realize the situation?!"
Suddenly, Gu Hyeong-seop, dangling from the shadows, started shouting. His audacity was staggering—just moments ago, he'd been begging for his life.
"Hah! You don't recognize them, do you?! Look around! See who's here now!"
At his triumphant yell, I quietly surveyed the area. His words weren't empty. Dozens of mages were closing in from between the harbor's containers, surrounding me.
An ambush? They were waiting for the fight to end.
My gaze lowered as I tightened my grip on Lantern.
"Kuhaha! The Gu family's elite combat unit! Kneel and beg for forgiveness now! Maybe I'll be merciful enough to overlook your earlier disrespect!"
Despite being bound ridiculously by the shadows, Hyeong-seop acted as if he'd already won. Ignoring his noise, I focused on the strongest presence at the center of the encirclement.
"Hey! Are you ignoring me?!"
Just as he thrashed wildly, the shadows coiled around his legs and gagged him. At the same time, the ambushing mages revealed themselves.
"Quite the crowd."
From behind the containers, mages emerged—and among them, a man radiating overwhelming mana strode forward leisurely. Clearly, their leader.
"Hm?"
But something about his hair color seemed familiar. Maybe it was just my imagination.
"Young Master! Teach this bastard a lesson!"
"Senior, read the mood."
"What the hell are you yelling for?"
"Does it look like the Young Master is here to fight?"
The man stopped in front of me. Only then did I recognize him.
"Hey. Si-woo. What are you doing here?"
A grinning face greeted me.
"...I don't know what you're talking about."
"You think wrapping your head in bandages is enough to fool me?"
It was my manual labor buddy—Gu Se-chan.
"More importantly, why are you here?"
"Me? I came to help a friend."
Misinterpreting Se-chan's words, Hyeong-seop's eyes welled up with tears of gratitude. He glared at his junior triumphantly.
"See?! The Young Master came to save us!"
THUD!
Before he could finish, Se-chan's fist smashed into Hyeong-seop's face, sending his head snapping to the side.
"Who the hell said I was your friend, you piece of trash?"
"...Huh?"
Hyeong-seop still didn't understand.