Manhunt (4)
A searing pain slammed into my skull. The wound burned hot, while my limbs grew ice-cold by contrast. Death was closing in real-time—and the ridiculous part was, this wasn't enemy-inflicted damage. I'd done it to myself.
Hoo... stay calm.
My mind flickered under the agony, but I gritted my teeth and endured. Time was short on every front. Hundreds of spells floated before me, ready to fire at any moment, and blood kept pouring out—overbleeding was a real worry. Ending this in ten minutes wasn't a joke. Drag it longer, and I'd really die.
"Here goes."
But the situation itself wasn't bad. Deep sea magic ran on blood as fuel. I'd offered the maximum I could give, so right now, I was stronger than ever. Even against a Saga-rank foe, I'd win for sure.
The earth sinks low, and the sky hides behind thunderous clouds.
The floor was filled with a blood-red lake—an amount no single person could bleed, like a massacre site. I used it all at once.
Deep sea energy spread in every direction, a massive magic circle blooming on my back.
Wave roars grow louder, and solid ground shrinks away.
Seawater surged from the magic circle, crashing like it was linked straight to the ocean—endless waves churning. The devouring sea brimmed with deep sea power.
This is the deep sea's domain, the mother's embrace.
Intruders shall meet their end in death.
As the incantation finished, the Ma Tower's upper floors submerged. Not stagnant water, but a ceaselessly cycling, wave-crashing ocean. The guy dodged by conjuring midair platforms, but the space itself was now under my control.
"You monster."
Thanks for the compliment? lol
With those words, he unleashed hundreds of spells. Rays of multicolored light sliced through the air—similar to the elemental magic I'd seen before, but incomparably superior.
Oh waters, rise.
Of course, it wasn't anything I couldn't block. With unprecedented will, I raised the sea. Massive pillars surged at my gesture, splitting into five prongs like hands that caught the hundreds of spells.
"I'll double it."
But he wasn't easy either. He reactivated the fading magic circles, firing spells in a barrage. What kind of mana reserves and chant speed was that?
Block it.
My palms shredded under the spell rain. They sank into the water, powerless, and the magic bombardment began. My body was already wrecked—I couldn't take direct hits.
I threw up a circular barrier around me to fend off the blasts.
"A stationary target is easy pickings."
"This guy...?"
Then he pulled something infuriating. While keeping up the barrage, he drew a massive magic circle near the ceiling. I couldn't drop my defense against the bombardment, but standing still meant eating that spell head-on. A forced dilemma.
"Think that'll work? Sword, cleave."
You think I'd just take it? I sharpened the waves into a single blade and swung at him. A water slash tore through the air.
"Urk!"
Krraaaack!
He threw up a defense spell on reflex, halting the grand magic and bombardment momentarily.
My turn now.
Spear, pierce.
I sharpened leaping droplets into dozens of spearheads and launched them. Aiming for one spot, they pierced his barrier and buried into his body.
"Not dead already, right?"
"As if...!"
Light burst from his necklace, unleashing shockwaves everywhere. My water spears shattered, along with the follow-up spells I'd prepped.
One greater than two, infinite greater than two!
He seized the opening and began chanting. I flung water thorns, but he'd finish before they hit. Better put up a shield preemptively?
The moment I decided, I spun the sea into a massive vortex.
Kneel before infinite magic!
Good call. Ten magic circles rose around him, spewing endless spells—beams rotating in a frenzy, like nightclub lights, but with devastating power.
"Trying to shatter space?"
"No reason to fight in a disadvantageous field!"
His beams wrecked ceiling, walls, floor indiscriminately. Only a couple targeted me; the rest tore at the space. It worked—the expanded realm cracked, seawater leaking out.
"Without the water... I'd win!"
"That's just you!"
I spread my will, seizing the sea. Dizzying pressure rattled my brain—like forcibly lifting something several times my weight. But shifting a few steps was doable, and that was enough now.
Surge forth.
"Wh-what!!"
The sea isn't one flow. It's countless intertwined currents—and the biggest we call waves or tsunamis. But not this moment.
One strike, all together!
Overwhelming physical force that didn't just cover space—it shook it to the core. He panicked, merging his ten circles into one blast.
The sea halted briefly. But as humans can't beat nature, he couldn't pierce the ocean.
"GRAAAAAH!!!"
Kaboom! Crash!
The tower wall shattered outright, seawater rushing out. Debris trailed in its wake. Luckily, the outer wall blocked it from flooding Anshan city. Though the first floor was totally submerged... whatever.
"Not my problem."
I approached the gaping hole and peered down at the first floor. The mage floated on the water, somehow unscathed—not even dragon fodder. Of course, he'd burned all his mana, weak enough to lose to a Rumor-rank yokai now.
"Time to die."
Daring to touch Shin-nim's flesh? He deserved death a hundred times over. Consciousness faded from blood loss, but I wasn't pathetic enough to fail revenge now.
I sent my will to Shin-nim, tuned my energy, and triggered the spell.
I offer this tribute.
Accepted~
As Shin-nim accepted, his body sank beneath the surface. Down, down—past Earth's core, to deeper depths. He'd stay crushed on the abyssal floor until she forgave him.
Toy I worked hard to bring~ Have fun playing with it!
Hubby bestest! Love you sooo much!! lololol
Shin-nim squealed in delight. She'd toy with that mage for days, then get bored and forget. She wouldn't waste time on a mere human.
Will she even remember who he was?
She'd acted sad in front of me, but probably didn't care. A barrier was just static shock to her. This intense reaction? Probably for me. Satisfied just seeing me rampage for revenge. Like a reader savoring payback in a revenge novel.
"Anyway, time to bail..."
Oh no, hubby's collapsing~
He was probably telling the truth. The dean and other professors would arrive soon. I'd become a murderer (for real), so I needed to escape fast for safety.
...But my body wouldn't move.
"Consciousness..."
Obviously—my condition was the worst. Slashed my artery, bled buckets, no immediate fix. Monster body let me last this long; a normal person would've died instantly.
What now?
No strength to move, reinforcements incoming. Shin-nim would handle it somehow, but it was still a mess. No grudge with the dean or profs? Didn't want to make needless enemies...
"Need a hand...?"
"???"
In this crisis—debating crawling away—a familiar voice drifted into my ears. Sleepy, draining energy the longer you heard it.
This voice...
"Why're you here..."
"Oh dear... passed out?"
I lifted my head slightly. There was Kim Gwa-jang, witch hat on, riding a broom. Then I blacked out, so details fuzzy. But I'd definitely seen him—and inwardly freaked.
Why're you wearing a skirt?
Skirt crossed the line, even if... yeah, Kim Gwa-jang had a crossdressing hobby, apparently.