Castrated in 24 Hours #073
The air was cold. What kind of magic could it be? Water School magic was something almost no mages in this country bothered to learn, so that was out. Which left Ice School magic—the kind personally taught and systematized by the Far North Elves.
If you asked which spell in particular—
“Ice Bolt!!!”
Kang Sian shoved An Yooncheon forward in the direction the voice had come from. Several short ice spikes glowed. The shining blue lethal weapons slammed into his back at high speed.
“Kraak! Kraaagh!! Kraaaagh!!!”
An Yooncheon let out screams that bordered on shrieks. His back, now riddled with ice spikes, was drenched in blood. Before long his head drooped. He wasn’t dead, but he had fainted on the verge of death.
Kang Sian clicked his tongue at the sight of An Yooncheon, who hadn’t even bothered to wrap his body in mana. The bastard’s drug habit had clearly destroyed both his judgment and his reflexes.
“Uh… uhh…”
On the other hand, An Yooncheon’s friends were still panicking. The girl who seemed to have cast the spell, Jung Seohye, looked especially rattled. Lim Hana, of course, was an exception—she was still trembling from the aftereffects of the drugs.
That was why Kang Sian simply tossed An Yooncheon aside like trash. It was both a report card saying he’d made good use of him as a shield, and a declaration that they were the ones who had turned him into that state. After all, Kang Sian had been the one provoked first, attacked first, and nearly hit with a lethal spell first.
‘W-why…?’
From An Yooncheon’s perspective, it was an unbelievable betrayal by the friends he had trusted without question. So, to avoid being labeled traitors themselves, they tried to approach him. If left like this, he would definitely die from excessive bleeding or shock.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Kang Sian had no intention of letting that happen. He stepped right beside the fallen An Yooncheon, daring them with the implication that they’d have to go through him if they wanted to save their friend.
“Y-you crazy bastard!!”
“So, have you finally decided to pick up your toys again?”
Of course not. Since he had attacked their friend, they had every reason to fight back.
“……”
“I asked if you’ve made up your minds. Are you all mute?”
Kang Sian strode toward them with an incredibly oppressive glare, driving them back. In the end, another ice spike was fired. Without any self-suggestion, the spell’s quality was low. The tip was far too blunt.
Kang Sian let it graze him on purpose.
Thud.
The ice spike fell weakly to the ground. Kang Sian gently touched the spot where it had hit.
“Ow.”
It was purely for show. Since it had flown so slowly, it hadn’t actually hurt at all.
“Damn it, fall back for a second.”
Seeing the mage’s blunder, another friend stepped forward. Park Gyuhan. In his hand was a metal rod. It looked like it could be a magic wand, but it was clearly a more physical weapon. When he pressed a button in the middle, the rod extended and a blade sprang out from one end.
“Oh, that’s pretty cool.”
It was a lightweight self-defense spear. Durability might be questionable, but it was faithful to the essence of a weapon. The guy spun the spear with a whoosh and slowly approached Kang Sian.
Perhaps his confidence rubbed off on the others. The girl holding tonfas, Kim Taerin, also stepped forward. The rest of the friends behind them shifted into combat stances as well.
What a tear-jerking display of friendship. To go this far for a friend.
Step by step, both sides closed the distance.
Kang Sian gently pushed mana into his arms and legs. The addicts prepared their attacks with predictably sloppy judgment. However, due to their lack of skill, they couldn’t properly infuse their weapons with mana. All they had were low-efficiency spells with basic enchantments.
‘Cold magic on the blade… if I get hit, I’ll get at least second-degree frostbite.’
Still, it was threatening enough. Kang Sian widened his field of vision. The enemies rushing in at the front. The moment they entered range, the spear and tonfas swung toward him.
“?!”
“Huh?!”
He quickly stepped back. Using his slowed perception of time, the sluggish attacks sliced through empty air. Disappointment flashed across their faces as they prepared follow-ups, but Kang Sian was already closing in at blinding speed, as if it were his turn.
A hasty guard was raised. Unless someone had physical abilities on the level of Cheon Mari, close-range defense was useless in front of Kang Sian.
His fist slammed dead center into Park Gyuhan’s face. A sickening crunch rang out as his balance was thrown off. He had just enough physical ability not to fall, but the pain was obvious on his face.
It would’ve been nice to land another hit, but there wasn’t time. Kang Sian twisted his body and pivoted, slamming his fist into the stomach of the tonfa girl, Kim Taerin, right beside him. She coughed violently, eyes bulging from the unique agony of a blow to the groin.
That still wasn’t enough. He slapped one of her ears with his open palm. A piercing ring—like being struck by the Emille Bell. Her eardrum flipped inside out and the world began to collapse around her. Then he drove his opposite fist down from above, smashing straight into the crown of her head.
A brutal impact. A brutal shock. Her face slammed into the ground and blood sprayed out.
“Krrgh.”
“No! Ice Bolt!!”
The spells flew without fail. They must have launched them the moment an opening appeared. Sure enough, the tips were noticeably sharper than before—clearly they had focused this time. Getting hit would guarantee a fatal wound, but the solution was simple: just don’t get hit.
It was the same as before. He used the still-dazed Park Gyuhan as a shield. The guy was screaming from his broken nose, making him easy to grab. Thud, thud, thud—ice spikes slammed into his chest and stomach one after another. Screams layered over screams, and a precarious tightrope walk continued.
Hesitate and you die. Kang Sian punched the man’s back.
“Penetrate!”
A shockwave weaker than what he used on monsters erupted. He had no choice; using his full power would have killed the guy for real. The force sent Park Gyuhan flying forward. Naturally, the mages were right in his flight path.
“Uwaaagh!”
“Kyaaah!”
Kang Sian dashed through the gap. He had to take them out before they could cast again. The moment he reached them, he kicked the face of the female mage with glasses who was just trying to stand. Then he punched the male mage in the stomach as he charged in yelling that he couldn’t let this happen.
“Penetrate!”
The man slammed into the wall. His stomach flipped and he vomited. The moment Kang Sian turned his head to finish him off—
Whoosh!
“Huh?”
He felt a strange sensation in his side. When he touched it, he felt a small ice spike. Pulling it out, a trickle of blood followed. He looked to the side. The female mage was panting, palm outstretched.
“Ugh… ahaha… agh… I-Ice…”
The last one had been fired without self-suggestion, so it was small. But now she was clearly trying to cast it properly. Kang Sian walked over, kicked her once more, then grabbed a fistful of her hair. It was messy, but he was extremely skilled at it. After twelve years of chasing after troublemaking Cheon Mari and dragging her back by the hair, he had mastered the technique.
For reference, Cheon Mari had the kind of hair that was notoriously hard to grab—short and messy like a beggar’s.
“Mooommm!!! Kyaaaaagh—!!!”
“Shut up!”
He punched her mouth repeatedly. Like harvesting corn in the Great Plains, her teeth scattered across the floor. Even then she kept resisting, so he snatched her cracked glasses and hurled them down, then stomped them to pieces as a threat.
“Mooommm! Daaaddyyy!!! Please save m—”
With no other choice, he slammed her down with a shoulder throw. She must have fainted, because no more nonsense came out of her mouth.
“Ugh, fuck…”
They started the fight and then acted like victims. Kang Sian touched his wounded side and let his irritation show. His gaze then shifted to the last two remaining.
Lim Hana, on the verge of a complete mental breakdown, and Kim Yujae, who was holding her.
He rubbed his face.
“This is a complete shitshow. Disturbing someone who’s moving, fighting, bleeding, and then making out in public? Really?”
“……”
“Is every day a dream for you? Or a drug trip? What the hell are you doing all the way out here causing this mess?”
There was no answer. They simply stood up slowly.
Finally, a sword was drawn from Kim Yujae’s waist.
“Hah. Fuck. Seriously.”
“You wicked bastard. Not a single thing has changed from before.”
“What? Wicked? Are you insane? You guys picked the fight, threw the first punch, shot magic, and swung weapons—did that all happen on some other planet?”
He didn’t even have the will to think properly anymore. He simply accepted what he saw at face value. Kim Yujae was utterly convinced that he was upholding friendship and justice. He firmly believed everything was caused by the barbaric elf’s evil deeds, and that he had saved his girlfriend. Even though he had caused a scene, he believed that failing to do so would have meant letting an evildoer walk free.
It was a truly astounding, nose-clogging, company-bankrupting level of conviction.
And Kang Sian could tell exactly what that conviction was just by looking at his face. That expression, overflowing with superiority and confidence, clearly screamed that the guy was high on drugs and lost in delusional thoughts.
Just as Kang Sian was redistributing his mana to crush this final resistance—
Vroooom—!!
The roar of an engine rapidly grew closer. He turned toward the source of the sound and saw a motorcycle speeding toward them. He didn’t even wonder who it was. The moment he recognized it as a sports bike worth over a hundred million won, Kang Sian made a sour face.
Screeech!
The motorcycle came to a stop. The driver was revealed to be a tall woman. The combination of a white t-shirt and dolphin shorts made her figure stand out. Even Kim Yujae, who was supposedly devoted to his girlfriend, couldn’t take his eyes off her.
The woman responded to all the stares by gracefully dismounting the bike.
Crash!
As if. Her sandal got caught on the motorcycle and she tumbled over. The once-pristine white t-shirt instantly became filthy as she rolled across the ground.
“Aigo, aigoo.”
She kept letting out pained groans. The only silver lining was that the motorcycle itself hadn’t fallen over. Despite the unfortunate situation, the woman brushed herself off as if she were fine and stood up. She immediately removed her helmet and hung it on the handlebar. Then she untied the object she had secured to the back of the bike.
She lifted it high into the air and yanked the starter cord. With a tearing roar, the chainsaw blade began to spin.
“Who should I kill, Master?”
“……”
The crazy bitch who had gone out to buy rope had returned with a chainsaw instead.