Waiting for Me?

The ominous energy slithered up my wrist, baring its fangs right at me.

I instantly released every ounce of magic power from the tips of my toes and hurled myself backward. Crash! Because I couldn't control my magic power with any finesse, I slammed into the floor and rolled several times. Even though I'd retreated as quickly as possible, the tips of several fingers had disintegrated into powder far finer than sand, scattering across the ground.

'...! Sand?... No... This feels like I was broken down at the particle level. I've heard there are spells like this, but... these bastards really are all dangerous, aren't they?'

"Huff— huff— huff... Goddamn it!"

Fortunately, the mage who had cast the disintegration spell was breathing heavily, his rhythm completely thrown off. That insane casting speed paired with such vicious destructive power clearly required a massive expenditure of strength. A finishing move... So he'd been waiting for the exact moment I closed in?

'Well, at this point, it makes sense that he'd prepare countermeasures.'

Maybe I was the one who'd been too complacent. I caught a glimpse of another mage beside the panting spellcaster placing a hand on his head and emitting a soft glow. It was likely a spell meant to rapidly restore depleted mental or physical energy. Or perhaps mana recovery.

'They've coordinated their magic perfectly. This combination is tricky in its own way.'

And then the third spell that had been cast alongside the disintegration magic wrapped around my entire body. I felt something like sinister black bubbles crawling all over me.

'It's already taken effect... Was that the moment?'

Our eyes had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠briefly met earlier, and it seemed the spell had activated then. It was a troublesome spell that required eye contact to trigger, but once the condition was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠met, it would unconditionally affect any target that came within a certain range.

"Uwaaaargh! What the hell is this skeleton—! ...No, that's not it! I didn't kill him! I didn't!!"

'Why would you even cast a mental spell on a skeleton in the first place? Tsk tsk.'

Of course, if that was the only type of magic he could use, he didn't have much choice. Mental spells were powerful enough to incapacitate an opponent in a single successful cast, but they also carried the drawback of inflicting a severe backlash on the caster if they failed.

Still, it was fortunate that I was the one who took the hit. If Yeonhee had been struck by that spell... it might have caused all her summons to be forcibly dismissed at once.

'Their abilities are more unique than the quality of their magic power. They're just as troublesome to deal with as the four-man team.'

'First things first...!'

Boomboomboomboomboom—!!

Five bombs at once completely shattered their formation. The mages who had been about to follow up on me each reacted to the explosions in their own ways. While three of them blocked the blasts with magic barriers, one was sent flying far away as if he'd been repelled by the shockwave.

'Wind!'

"Ilwol! We'll take these three!"

I gave a quick nod. Jua and the summons had arrived at the perfect time, so without a moment's hesitation, I dashed straight toward the wind-attribute mage.

"Fuck! Why is this skeleton so fast?!"

'Whoa, dual casting already? Not bad at all.'

Completely different magic circuits formed over each of the mage's hands. Then, from his fingers and palm, something shot toward me as I charged straight at him.

Shooshshooshshoosh—!

It was the same razor-sharp blades of wind that had sliced off my shoulder spikes earlier, followed by five perfectly round air bullets fired like gunshots with a slight time delay between them.

Whish whish whish—!

'Ugh— damn, they're fast... but not impossible to dodge!'

I completely abandoned trying to track them with my eyes. Instead, I predicted their trajectories using only his posture, gaze, hand angle, and the flow of his magic power. My stats had already reached the point where I could dodge according to the paths I visualized in my mind.

Crack— ting!

Of course, the Wind Shots were so fast that I couldn't avoid them completely, but the damage wasn't significant.

"Damn it!! Wind—"

Crack!

By the time he tried to use another wind-based movement skill, my left fist was already buried squarely in his jaw.

Thud.

"Ugh...? M-my body..."

My punch had rattled his jaw perfectly. It wasn't a blow a mage with low physical stats could withstand. His legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground. I followed up by kicking his still-trembling chin once more. The mage flopped to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

'Not bad, this guy.'

Unlike the guys from Ilseom or the Blue Eye cultists I'd fought earlier, there was no need to inflict any more damage on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this mage.

'It's not like I enjoy carving people up.'

More than anything, his talent was too valuable to waste. Among all the hunters I'd faced so far, he was the first to actually land meaningful damage on me. And looking further ahead, there was another reason.

Whether the others knew it or not, someday we would have to fight together against the orc invasion. Looking even further, there were the Blue Eye who were clearly using the orcs, the Great Calamities sleeping across the world, and even Jo Giman and the Seven-Headed Dragon.

So it was better to keep talented people like this alive. As long as they weren't completely insane, anyway.

I gently turned the mage's face toward me and committed his features to memory.

'I wonder how Yeonhee and Jua are doing?'

Grabbing one of the mage's legs, I began walking slowly while watching Bae Jua's battle.

"Aaaargh!! This is so fucking annoying!!"

Hmm... she was struggling. More precisely, she couldn't find any opening to attack. The mage who'd used black magic on me had already been subdued by the summons and still hadn't regained his senses. But the combination between the deadly disintegration mage and his support caster was preventing her from closing the distance.

"Jua, you got this~! If it's too hard, just say the word! I'll jump in right away!"

"Rock Fist!! I said I'm fine!"

Jua was clearly pissed off. She was fundamentally a support mage who created large rocks at perfect timing to help her teammates. Her offensive options were Rock Fist—which summoned fist-shaped rocks from the ground or walls—and a throwing type that created rocks in midair and hurled them. Both had the weakness of short range.

The mage she was facing also needed to get close to be effective, but if they both rushed in together, the one who would suffer more was Jua. Rocks could at least be dodged, but the disintegration magic was so fast that even I only noticed it after it had already been cast. On top of that, the support mage was helping him reuse that vicious skill repeatedly, so it was inevitably burdensome for her.

Her robe was already riddled with holes, as if sections had been burned away into ash.

I glanced over. 'Looks like she has some kind of plan...'

Even so, she was scattering magic power across the ground, trying to find a way to turn the situation around. Jua shouted at the disintegration mage with pure rage.

"How long are you going to keep running, you bald bastard!!"

"What?! I'm not bald, I just have a wide forehead!!"

"Baldy! Chrome-dome! Hairless wonder!!"

"Hehehe... I'll kill you..."

"Don't get worked up, you idiot!!"

His hairline was clearly receding in a perfect M-shape, but the disintegration mage seemed unwilling to accept reality. Even in a world ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠full of magic, hair loss remained an unsolved problem.

His partner tried to calm him down, but once the baldness trigger had been pulled, the mage pretended to circle wide around the perimeter before suddenly channeling magic power into his legs and charging forward at high speed.

"I'll peel off every last inch of your scalp!!"

A man's ultimate attack to create a fellow bald comrade!

Jua panicked and immediately turned tail to run.

"Kuhahaha! Stand still!!"

But the moment the disintegration magic began to form in his hand, a fist-shaped rock suddenly erupted from the ground.

Wham—!

"Uwaaah!"

The two mages chasing Jua barely avoided the first rock, but as they moved, more rocks burst up in succession. In the end, they were struck and sent flying high into the air.

"Hehehe— How's that?"

It was clearly far beyond the range of Jua's normal spellcasting. So the two mages must have let their guard down and chased after her without worry.

'She added a trap option... When did she learn to do that?'

Anyone who handled magic power could develop their abilities in various ways through effort, but adding extra conditions to a single ability like that wasn't easy.

"Uuuuugh... Please spare us..."

Getting hit by a rock of that massive weight was like being struck by a truck. These mages had probably suffered serious internal injuries.

"Don't be too scared. It was just a light spar," Jua said in what was meant to be a reassuring tone. But the rocks still floating in the air seemed to be demanding something else instead.

In the end, she received five intermediate potions from each of the defeated mages. With a bright smile, she ran back to our side.

"At least I didn't take their runes."

"Who said anything?"

"You were looking at me like I was some kind of evil person. In a situation where everyone else is dying, I only took potions? Aren't I basically an angel? Right, Yeonhee?"

"Uh... um... Yes, yes. T-that's right."

"Thank goodness. I was nervous about whether we'd actually have to kill someone to get a result."

Yeonhee nodded to herself as she spoke.

'The four-man team still hasn't finished?'

Surprisingly, they were struggling. Their opponents were the middle-aged men who had first claimed to discover the mimic. The four-man team held the advantage in every aspect, but they couldn't land a decisive blow against the middle-aged party wrapped head to toe in high-quality gear.

'Not the best matchup. Assassins have a hard time against proper warriors.'

But after about five more minutes, the leader of the middle-aged party raised both hands and signaled surrender.

"Phew... Uncle, I told you to just give up. Why make us waste all this energy?"

"Hehe, well, you have to at least try... My mimic..."

"This is annoying."

The four-man team grumbled a bit, but they didn't treat the older men disrespectfully just because they'd won.

Now all that remained was...

'The four-man team, the bear beastman, and a well-balanced ordinary party...'

"Who should we fight?"

"Let's ask Ilwol~"

"Yeah... Ilwol, who do you want to fight?"

I immediately pointed at the bear beastman party. They were clearly the weakest of the remaining groups. Fortunately, the four-man team seemed eager to fight the last remaining party.

The battle against the party led by the bear beastman began in accordance with the mimic's signal.

And ten minutes later.

"Uwooooo... W-we lost..."

It took a little time, but Yeonhee and Arin had subdued them with just the two of them.