Hunting the Black Mage II
"Sage! What the hell is going on here?!"
"What the hell are you doing?"
"What are these kids?!"
The horrific sight of children turned into gruesome corpses. It was honestly too awful to look at with eyes wide open, but the villagers still held such thick trust in the black mage that they hesitated to act right away.
I waited for them to accept the situation before making my move. Time was on my side anyway.
"This... this is the bracelet Elisha had when she was adopted last week..."
A woman's voice came from beside me. She was wearing the same uniform as the orphanage staff I'd seen earlier, so she must work there too. Probably a lot of the kids here were ones she'd been taking care of.
As more and more people started getting angry one by one, it was like their brainwashing was breaking—they began charging at the black mage.
Ah, they really shouldn't just rush in like that...!
You never step carelessly into a mage's domain. It's like walking into intricately designed magic traps, the equivalent of fighting dozens of enemies at once. Especially in a black mage's territory—who knew what filthy tricks he'd set up? It was beyond imagination.
BOOM!
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a corpse at the feet of someone charging toward the black mage exploded. Luckily, the guy didn't die, but he was pretty badly hurt.
The villagers' trust in the black mage hit absolute zero.
Now it's really time to clear this.
Even after I caught the black mage, this would prevent the nightmare of my tower rep taking a hit.
"Rise."
As the black mage chanted some spell, the shriveled, mummy-like corpses stirred with some unidentified magic. They slowly stood up, shambling toward us in their pale, zombie-like forms.
Sorry, kids, but I had no choice—I drew the Blade of Flora and Fauna.
...I'll just think of it as giving them peace.
On the black mage's command, the undead closed in fast. With a single leap, I closed the gap and bisected one. My sword strike was flawless in form, but a strange sensation—not like cutting a corpse—traveled up the blade.
Tougher than it looks. Black magic effect?
These corpses raised by black magic had a durability unlike normal ones. They felt different from the puppets of that previous black mage I'd taken down.
At least this meant I wouldn't have the disaster of the timer starting mid-fight while dealing with him.
As I sliced down another undead approaching me, the vigilantes were gathering behind.
"Let's protect our village ourselves!"
"Let's go!!"
"We can't let a little kid fight alone!"
Uh... I'm not a kid. I got my ID a few years ago—clearly an adult...!
...Anyway, they might be helpful, so I didn't stop them.
The vigilantes who drew their shamshirs hesitated at the child-like undead. But as veterans guarding the village, they pushed through with sheer resolve, taking down one or two at a time.
"I can't let that happen."
With the black mage's mutter, one nearby corpse vanished without a trace. More like it turned into some black liquid form and gathered over his hand.
Felt like he was prepping some powerful spell that consumed corpses.
As his incantation ended, a purple barrier enveloped the undead. Some kind of defense magic?
To gauge his full power, I swung at a nearby undead.
SCREEECH!
The Blade of Flora and Fauna can't pierce that shield...!
The blade was actually the weakest in my arsenal, so no big deal, but even it was sharper than any normal sword. In other words, the vigilantes' blades wouldn't touch the undead now.
As expected, they were busy just blocking so the undead couldn't attack. And right then, the undead—boosted by black magic strength—got dangerously close to the villagers.
The black mage smirked wickedly and clenched his fist at the sight.
...Exactly like when he'd used that corpse explosion earlier.
The undead near people—including the ones I'd bisected—started flickering all at once.
"No...!"
This would wipe out the villagers. But I wasn't in a position to save them either. It was already too late for me to reach them.
A powerful jet of water blasted the undead away from the villagers just before explosion.
"Whew... That was close."
It was Kim Ha-yeon. Good thing the vigilante had pulled her out in time. Saved us from a massacre.
Now our side had more firepower—odds up from 99.9% to 99.99%? No intention of losing to some dismemberment-obsessed black mage anyway. More significant figures meant better.
I polymorphed my left arm and leaped at the black mage. Kim Ha-yeon smoothly supported with water magic.
A massive water jet hurtled toward him with ferocious momentum. Just as it was about to hit, he shielded himself with the same barrier he'd given the undead.
The torrent shattered the barrier without care, but he slipped through the gap and dodged.
Kim Ha-yeon looked pretty shocked.
"No way! The black mage is this strong?"
"How strong we talking?"
She was helping plenty well, right? If she was pretending to struggle to squeeze something out of me, I'd say nothing doing.
"Black mages on floor 15 get eaten alive by C-rank hunters. A normal hit from me should've one-shot him on graze..."
How insane is Mystic difficulty...?
But no quitting now. That'd make all my extra reward hustling pointless.
I charged without stopping, thrusting my vicious claws at him.
SCREEECH!
Not him—like scraping stone. A new barrier he'd conjured right before impact blocked perfectly.
With so many corpses vanishing cleanly, it looked like a resource-heavy spell. Triple-layered barriers in vivid colors.
Kim Ha-yeon, recognizing it, explained the ridiculous specs.
"That's... an elemental shield blocking all physical attacks!"
TL;DR: 100% physical resist, 100% magic resist except specific elements. Normally one per caster, but three? First she'd seen. You'd need three different elemental mages to clear.
"Exactly! No way a dump like this village suddenly gathers mages with different elements. Impossible to stop me now!"
"...Okay, hold still."
"...?"
He was right, actually. Mages get one element. Problem was, I wasn't a normal magic awakener.
I'd picked up some white dragon's grimoire and learned all the basic elemental spells in it.
Matching his barriers' colors, I started chanting three spells. Drained a ton of mana, but whatever—I'd conserved plenty so far.
"W-wait! No way!"
Yeah, that no way.
Three different elemental spells formed over my hands: wind blades, icicles, gravity-defying rocks. They slammed into him sequentially.
His precious barriers shattered—he couldn't even dodge. Aghast at the triple elements, he backpedaled.
Won't let you escape...!
I closed in instantly and swung the Blade of Flora and Fauna. He smirked.
"...?"
Suddenly, sand whipped up like a gust, blinding me. My blade sliced empty air.
Teleport? He was right there...
As the sand cleared, purple-armored legs stood there. An axe came crashing down.
BOOM!
I leaped back, dodging, and got a full look. Aggressive armor and axe—far from a mage. His face, approaching to finish me, burned with rage.
"Forcing me to use all my hoarded corpses... and death energy. I'll crush you at full power-!!"
Like a berserker, he wildly hacked with the axe. Easy to dodge, but no end in sight.
Guess I'd pull my trump card too?
"Hahaha! Running like a bug! No dragon could block this spell!!"
"Oh? For real?"
The moment his weakness brag ended, I polymorphed to full dragon form in one go.
Been a while since I busted it out for combat.
"Uh...?"
Real dragon appears—he panicked. I didn't miss, charging a focused precision laser breath right into his face.
KABOOOM-!!
Hit dead-on, he flopped like a dulahan, headless and limp.
The onlookers gawked at the otherworldly fight, but I just slumped in relief—finally, extra rewards.
Sunset in the evening. The villagers threw a feast to honor their new hero.
Bread, dried meats, dairy from processed milk—a lavish spread. They were partying hard with booze.
...Naturally, a glass of sweet date palm wine scented the air at my spot.
Hm... Come to think, I haven't touched booze since this body change.
Never been a drinker anyway—Korean stuff just tastes like alcohol. But this wafted sweet date aroma.
How often do you get exotic like this? I lifted the glass to my lips.
Kim Ha-yeon spotted it and grabbed my arm in shock.
"Wait! You can drink?!"
"Hey, I'm twenty-five. Totally fine."
I took a sip despite her protest.
"Tastes good?"
A bit fiery—strong proof. But the sweet aftertaste was perfection. I chugged the rest and refilled for another.
"Whoa~! This hits! More—bring it all!"
Face warming, but I could handle more. Can't stop at two glasses of good stuff!
"Dragon-nim, let me pour one."
"Ah, thanks."
"What you did today was incredible! Who knew he was the sage. Any longer and the village would've suffered huge. You really saved us."
"Ehehe."
Booze with praise as a chaser? Twice as tasty. Ended up downing five on hero talk alone.
"Haa... Not okay at all..."
"Fine... still can drink more..."
Kim Ha-yeon just sighed at me sprawled drunk on the floor.