Outer God (5)
Past, back when I'd stormed into the Ma Tower.
My goal had been to execute the bastard who'd messed with Shin-nim, so the damage hadn't been too bad. Most of the facilities were intact, and I'd left the mages alone as long as they didn't get in my way.
But this time was completely different.
"It's a total wreck."
Everything in sight was a mess—not just most of the facilities destroyed, but the magic circles mangled beyond easy repair. And that wasn't all. Chunks of flesh and bloodstains littered the corridors midway, screaming that a massacre had gone down here.
"You okay?"
"...A little sad, but I'm fine."
I turned and saw Yu Hana with a gloomy look. Just yesterday, her classmates had been alive and well, and now they were gone overnight. Of course she'd be sad. But surprisingly, she kept it together. People in this line of work had that side to them. Constant threats made them numb to death.
"Ah, over there."
"?"
Something moved at the far end of the corridor. At first I thought survivor, but no—a grotesquely twisted limb and bloated torso came into view. Like a zombie that'd taken a radiation shower. Designed to kill living things, it charged on all fours like a beast.
[Grraaah!]
Slash!
The knight golem's sword cleaved it in half. But shockingly, it didn't die. Even separated, it lived on, screeching even more frantically.
[Kieeeek!]
[Kiik?]
[Kirreeek!]
Calling its buddies? Similar cries echoed from down the hall in quick succession. Then a dozen or so zombies swarmed in, not just scampering on the floor but kicking off walls and ceilings with insane agility.
[Gigi-gik! Gigik!]
But they were just mob-level trash. A few swings from the knight golem, and they were diced mid-air. Rumor-rank at best. No way these punks took down the Ma Tower's mages.
"Let's keep moving for now."
"Yeah."
[Gigi-gik.]
Top priority: rescue the students. Whoever unleashed these zombies wouldn't have let them roam free, so the kids were probably clustered where the zombies were thickest.
[Kieeeek!]
"A real party, huh."
We encountered zombie packs several times passing through the Ma Tower's sections, numbers swelling each time. This was the way.
"What's down this hall?"
"The grand hall."
Grand hall. Not ideal for defense, but with every student a mage, a wide-open space might play to their strengths. Had to check it out.
"Hear that?"
"Yeah, sounds like a fight. And right on cue."
As we neared the grand hall, the noise ramped up. Shouts and explosions nonstop. Time to pick up the pace.
"You two stay here."
"...Got it. Take care of my friends."
We split up here. I handled 90% of the party's firepower anyway; the rest split among the others. Solo was faster and cleaner. Yu Hana got it, nodding.
"Let's go."
[Shwooom~]
Anyway, I parted from Yu Hana and the knight golem, zipping along on tentacles. I stomped the surging zombies and punched through blocking walls.
A gyeol-gye?
About five minutes in, the wrecked grand hall doors appeared. One slab torn off, zombie and mage corpses piled nearby. Nothing special so far, but the gray smoke leaking from inside was suspicious. Weird mana vibe. Magic? Hard to say.
"Looks risky."
Diving into smoke you couldn't see through? Not smart. But in a crisis, you roll the dice. Better to minimize casualties if a fight was inevitable.
I plunged into the smoke-filled grand hall.
"...."
Space-expansion magic at work. Soccer-field sized, and a mini-war raging inside. Mages on the right, zombie horde on the left, clawing to kill each other.
"Wipe 'em out!"
"Left barrier's breaking!"
[Kieeeek!!]
But the mages were overwhelmingly outmatched. A few Legend-rank among them, most Folk Tale. Zombies were Rumor-tier scrubs. How were they winning?
The smoke.
Simple answer: the gray smoke filling the hall sucked mana from everything but buffed the zombies.
That explained it.
Wondered why the Ma Tower fell so easy. Defensive spells absorbed by the fog, mana issues crippling casts—mages without weapons were zombie chow.
"Time to help."
Frontline holding for now, but who knew when it'd collapse. Better intervene quick.
Sliced my wrist, drew a blood-red magic circle, slammed a spell into the zombie cluster.
"Deep Sea Chariot, pile the enemies' corpses at your feet."
⟨ Punisher ⟩
The hall's center split, a sinkhole forming. Seawater gushed up, and from some deep passage, massive something crawled forth.
[Ki, kiik?]
[........]
Heavy iron shell, eight legs trampling foes, claws firing beams—the Deep Sea Chariot, none other than the Punisher.
Isn't that name kinda long?
Such thoughts crossed my mind, but no voicing them. Go-seo said deep-sea names were self-given. Asking "Why's your name so cheesy?" to its face? Rude.
[Uuu....]
[Kidding, thanks for coming.]
Anyway, distractions aside. The summoned Punisher—er, Non-Retreater—cleaned house fast. Eight legs crushed, claws snapped. A few zombies merged and grew huge, but no issue.
[Ki, kieeeek...!]
Boom!
Punisher's beam turned them to dust. In under ten minutes, 90% zombies down. Mages looked stunned but grateful, no complaints.
"Wish I could say it's over."
No such luck. Real fight just starting.
"...."
"...."
Far left of the hall. A sharp-featured woman sat on a bench, legs crossed. Face screaming pissed. Could fight now, but I tried talking.
"You a mage hunter too?"
"Can't you tell? I'm the baaaad guy here to kill all the mages."
She shook her pipe, belching thick gray smoke from the end. Hall got grayer.
"Cthulhu crew? Heard you've been wild lately."
"...."
"Your summon looks tough... Ugh, such a pain."
"If only you had a heart, it'd be easy."
She sighed smoke-mixed breath.
No heart, really.
Checked zombie corpses—no hearts. That explained their weakness: missing the key ingredient.
And that chick...
I activated my mana eyes on her. Smoke ate mana indiscriminately—why was she fine?
Answer hit quick.
"You're a witch, huh?"
"Sharp one. Those idiots still think dispelling'll work, the morons."
Her mana felt normal-human low. But manipulating fog and casting? Witch confirmed.
A witch...
Go figure, people all the same. Good witches, bad ones. Latter was her; former...
"Quit scheming and fight already? Wanna wrap this up."
"Cocky."
"Why wouldn't I be?"
She gestured—my neck nape tore. Dodged, but grazed. Turned: fog blade.
"You're in my palm already."
"...."
She played coy, no direct hit. Targeted Punisher first. Hundreds of blades spawned around it, blendering away.
[!!!!]
"Ow, my ears."
Punisher's shell held, but scratches accumulated. It charged anyway, but fog chains bound it still.
[....!]
Kaboom!
Judging it needed more, Punisher spread claws and fired full-power beam. Mana-packed blast wrecked half the hall in dust clouds.
"Heh, not enough."
[?!]
Her spot was rubble too, but her voice persisted. Blinked—she was back, limbs fog-wavy. Dispersed and reformed.
[Uuuu...]
[Good job, head back.]
Punisher knelt to the witch's barrage, crumbling to powder. I waved it off, prepping for round two.
"Still not quitting?"
"Eat shit, lady."
"...Rude brat."
Seemed invincible at a glance, but nah. Rock-paper-scissors style: know the counter, bit of power, easy win.
[In the primordial earth...?]
"Hold up..."
Chanting deep-sea magic, a familiar voice from behind. One I shouldn't hear now. Thought she'd left An-san—what? Misheard?
"Hi there..."
"...."
Glanced back, half-expecting it, sighed. Right next to me, where no one had been seconds ago, stood Kim Gwa-jang in gothic dress, massive scythe in hand.