The Criminals' Pleasant Rebellion (2)
Already caught?
Apparently Hwang Ju-hyeon and Lee Ye-rin had left behind far denser mana traces than we had.
Even with Kim Gabyul—a specialist when it came to Black Mana—on their side, the fact that those two had been spotted first suggested their mana control was still pretty rough. Or maybe the other team had already completely read our traces, knew exactly where we were, and simply decided to bag the louder pair before the residual mana faded.
Either way, our plan stayed the same.
"We'll head over right away. Whatever you do, don't answer them."
"Are those two always like that?"
"Well, it does feel like they bicker every time they meet, yet somehow they still hang out together every single day."
That was just how it worked. The closer you were, the more you fought… something like that.
"We should get moving as well."
Moon Seyeon gave a small nod.
We slipped out of the building and moved with absolute stealth, cloaking both our presence and our mana as thoroughly as possible.
"There they are."
Moon Seyeon murmured, black mana concentrated in her eyes. Following her gaze, I saw Hwang Ju-hyeon drawing every eye with flashy golden mana and bold movements while Lee Ye-rin supported him from the shadows. Their coordination was surprisingly solid. Hwang Ju-hyeon met the enemy head-on with flashy yet stubborn force; Lee Ye-rin kept the opponents in check and maintained perfect positioning. The two of them were holding their own quite well in a two-versus-four fight—though the other side was clearly playing defensively and conserving strength.
"We'll approach as quietly as we can. There's a high chance Kim Gabyul will notice us midway."
"Got it. How do you want to hit them?"
Moon Seyeon turned from the battle to look at me.
We could focus-fire one target, or unleash a wide-area spell and strip every barrier at once. Both options had pros and cons. The first would give us a numerical advantage and make the fight easier, but the remaining three might counterattack. The second could drive all four to the brink of retirement in an instant—yet it required large-scale magic laced with Black Mana, which meant Kim Gabyul would almost certainly sense it.
In short, the first path offered lower risk and lower return; the second offered high return at high risk.
I chose the safer route. I still lacked the skill to cast magic while completely hiding my mana from Kim Gabyul, and although Marbas had taught me large-scale spells, I had barely practiced them.
I explained my thinking to Moon Seyeon.
"So you can use magic? Black magic, obviously?"
"Haha, that goes without saying."
She hesitated only a moment before deciding.
"Just hit all four with magic. Not because I want to watch you use black magic or anything—it's simply more efficient."
The words tumbled out of her in a rapid-fire stream.
"…Is that so?"
"Yeah. I'll pin them down. You cast then."
Moon Seyeon crouched low and began drawing a massive magic circle into the ground, secretly pouring Black Mana into it. From the circle burst grotesque monsters covered in writhing tentacles: dog-like creatures with no heads, only clusters of independently thrashing tentacles sprouting from the neck; enormous snake-like beasts; winged horrors whose wings were pure tentacles and whose mouths bristled with teeth; slender-man-esque figures whose limbs drooped and undulated like soft tentacles. The variety was endless.
"Demonic beasts…?"
Still summoning, Moon Seyeon shook her head.
"They are demonic beasts, but different. I modified them myself with black magic. You could call them creatures."
"They look even more horrifying than regular demonic beasts."
"It's my personal taste. Respect it."
"…Understood for now."
[What a unique sense of taste.]
If even Marbas called it unique, that was saying something.
"Let's go."
Moon Seyeon closed the circle and stood. More than ten of the tentacled horrors now surrounded us. Each looked completely different, yet they shared one trait: pure, unfiltered creepiness.
Right… scenes like this had appeared in the original novel. Back then I never understood why the characters freaked out so hard over a little grossness. Seeing them in person, I understood instantly.
And that wasn't all. The way she summoned these creatures was identical to how I called the demonic butterflies from my hideout. These weren't spontaneous summons from the Demon Realm—they were ones she raised herself.
"How exactly do you plan to hide all of this?"
"There's a way."
At her gesture every monster crawled into the mouth of the giant snake-form creature. Their presence dropped dramatically once inside.
"This is…"
"I gave it the traits of a demonic beast famous for having almost no presence."
The snake, belly full of its siblings, burrowed into the earth and slithered toward the battlefield.
Wouldn't tunneling like that destabilize the ground? Well, the government could deal with it. They built this city for exactly these kinds of exercises anyway.
"We should move too."
"Very well."
"Police team, you may now depart."
We entered the city.
"It's cleaner inside than I expected."
Go Sang-hyuk muttered.
I glanced over my teammates.
Short black hair—Go Sang-hyuk. Solid build, greatsword specialist.
White hair—Kim Gabyul. Divine magic and swordsmanship as her main weapons. The swordsmanship she had displayed during the earlier demonic-beast invasion had been extremely high-level. Her combat power was nothing I needed to worry about.
"The trail runs in a straight line here!"
Lee Jiwoo's eyes lit up in rainbow colors—not a metaphor; they genuinely glowed with every color of the spectrum. Her Spirit Eyes. Sharing the spirits' vision, she could see the thieves' mana traces as vivid colors.
"I can feel it. It's faint, but there's definitely a Black Mana residue."
Following Kim Gabyul and Lee Jiwoo's lead, we sprinted deeper into the city until both of them suddenly stopped.
"The trail splits in two here!"
Lee Jiwoo said, eyes still rainbow-bright.
"What do we do?"
"Kim Gabyul, can you tell where the Black Mana is coming from?"
Her golden eyes scanned the traces.
"Black Mana from the left. I've never felt this particular signature before—probably Moon Seyeon. Baek Sejin's mana is there too, though extremely faint."
She frowned.
"But the right side has zero Black Mana… so Baek Sejin must have gone left, right?"
She clearly believed Baek Sejin had taken the left path. That would put Moon Seyeon and Baek Sejin on the left, Hwang Ju-hyeon and Lee Ye-rin on the right.
"I really hate black mages."
Go Sang-hyuk muttered. Honestly, I felt the same. Especially when the opponent was Baek Sejin. Just imagining him using black magic against us was enough to make my skin crawl. And now there was this Moon Seyeon person who also wielded Black Mana…
Time for a vote.
"Let's vote. Palm up if you want left, back of the hand up if you want right."
Only Kim Gabyul wanted left. Everyone else chose right.
"Right it is, then."
While we pursued Lee Ye-rin and Hwang Ju-hyeon, I asked Kim Gabyul—who shared a class with them—about their abilities. Hwang Ju-hyeon was a martial artist; Lee Ye-rin was a wind-magic specialist.
[Hwang Ju-hyeon is a martial artist? This should be fun.]
Go Sang-hyuk's voice brightened with anticipation once he learned that.
"The trail cuts off! They should be nearby."
The moment she spoke, Lee Jiwoo summoned every spirit she had. Fire, water, wind, and lightning spirits—four of them—shot into a single building, racing from top floor to basement and back. Spirits that could pass through walls were perfect for this kind of search.
"Found them!"
Lee Jiwoo opened her eyes.
"Hurry, this way!"
She sprinted toward one of the houses. We followed.
"They're in the basement."
We arrived at an ordinary-looking home.
"I'll take point."
Go Sang-hyuk stepped up to the door, drawing the greatsword from his back with a flourish. The instant he reached for the handle—
BOOM!
"What the hell—!"
A thunderous crash sent Go Sang-hyuk flying backward along with the shattered door. He had used the greatsword as a shield, so he was unharmed.
The one who had demolished the door—Hwang Ju-hyeon—saw us gathered outside and curled his lips into a grin. Golden smoke the same color as his hair began rising from his fists and legs. A moment later a sky-blue-haired girl shot up from the basement and the two of them soared into the air together.
"You crazy bastard! I told you to stay hidden!"
"They already found us, what was I supposed to do?!"
Their bickering drifted down from above.
"Conserve your strength! We've got the advantage!"
I raised both hands, flames roaring to life in my palms.