Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Guardian
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When Lee Si-woo didn't show up even after all the porters were dead, Baba clicked his tongue in disappointment.
“He's not taking the bait? Tsk, that heartless bastard.”
“Don't worry about it. We weren't expecting much anyway, were we? At least we got through the magic traps without any losses. That's a win for us.”
Lime, who had been scouting inside, fluttered his right wing and called to the group.
“Magic traps have been disarmed. Let's go in.”
Bin stepped forward with the rifle squad and said,
“We'll take the lead. And you, sniper, wait outside the warehouse. Radio in the moment you see Lee Si-woo. He's a mage, so don't take any pointless shots. Just keep an eye out with your scope. Understood?”
The sniper saluted stiffly at Bin's command, climbed onto the warehouse roof, set up his rifle, and lay prone.
Pleased with his efficiency, the Gray Fox gave his shoulder a light pat.
Bin gave the rifle squad a hand signal to advance and was the first to charge forward.
*Shhh.*
Thanks to the light weight characteristic of their rat-kin tribe, the mercenaries moved with such agility and stealth that the sound of their boots was barely audible.
Soon, having reached the depths of the warehouse, Bin spotted something suspicious and raised the barrel of his gun.
In the center of his sights was a massive figure, lying arrogantly on its side.
A taut body with muscles that seemed compressed to their limit, greenish skin, and angry tusks that pierced its upper lip, jutting toward the sky.
Recognizing the creature, Bin pulled the trigger and screamed at the Gray Fox at the same time.
“Gray Fox! Orc! It's an Orc! Requesting immediate back—”
The bullet is faster than the word.
Before Bin could even finish his sentence, the muzzle flashed, and countless magic bullets shot across the warehouse.
Amidst the hail of bullets, the green-skinned monster took a starting stance, like a sprinter on the blocks.
Its calf muscles swelled violently, like a drawn bowstring.
*BOOM!*
The creature's form shot forward like a green cannonball.
Contemptuously deflecting the bullets raining down on its skin, the monster reached Bin in an instant.
*Thwip.*
The monster gripped Bin's head in one of its cauldron-lid-sized hands and gave a hideous grin.
*CRUNCH.*
Bin's head was brutally crushed, like an apple in the grip of a wrestler.
Seeing their captain's corpse collapse sideways like a rotten bale of straw, the squad members unleashed a torrent of bullets with cries that sounded like screams.
But it was useless.
If a mage was someone who created Circles with mana to wield magic, then an Orc was one who tempered their body with mana, elevating their physical form to the realm of magic.
Tough durability, explosive strength, an unyielding fighting spirit, and an honor that held promises as sacred as gold.
Lebein, a 7th-Circle Master and the head of the Phoenix Magic Tower, had once said.
If there was any race in the Main Dimension worthy of being called a warrior,
it was the Orcs, and only the Orcs.
*CRACK—!*
A straight punch, shot out like a lancer's charge, pierced through a mercenary's abdomen and burst out his back.
Behind a mercenary whose jaw was trembling at the sight of his comrade being skewered by a fist right before his eyes, a wave of heat radiated out.
“He used an Orc as a gatekeeper? Is that Aman bastard completely insane?!”
As Baba cursed, an awl-shaped flame erupted from his left hand.
[1st-Circle Elemental Magic: Fire Awl]
The Fire Awl, radiating a sharp heat, shot toward the Orc with ferocious momentum.
With a heavy grunt, the Orc blocked the Fire Awl with a cross guard.
*Sizzle!*
Along with the acrid smell of burning flesh, a puncture wound, as if gouged by an awl, and a burn, as if seared by fire, were left on the Orc's forearm.
Despite the wound that would have made an ordinary person faint from pain alone, the Orc grinned.
It was a smile that suggested he hadn't feared the pain, but rather, had missed it.
The Orc opened its mouth.
“I am the wind, my steps cleave the earth.”
[Phase 1 Body Fortification Art - Elemental Type: Wind Step]
A gust of wind swept through the windowless warehouse.
Realizing that the green gust was the Orc's moving form, Baba raised his right hand to quickly cast a spell, but lost his concentration to a stabbing pain.
For a moment, the image of Lee Si-woo treating his hand like a toy flashed through Baba's mind.
*WHAM!*
A brutal straight punch smashed into Baba's face.
However, the punch that had effortlessly finished off a mere mercenary couldn't even leave a scratch on Baba's face.
A thin, blue membrane enveloped Baba's body.
The Mana Shield had absorbed the impact.
‘A single blow wiped out ten percent of my mana... Shit, if I take a few more hits like that, I won't have enough mana to attack and will have to just run away.’
Lime, who had been gliding near the warehouse ceiling, couldn't just watch Baba get hit. With a beat of his wings, he unleashed a sharp gust of wind.
“Die—!”
[1st-Circle Elemental Magic: Blade Wind]
The Blade Wind, powerful enough to easily shatter the concrete floor, struck the Orc's back.
Red blood trickled down from a long gash.
Without a Mana Shield, the Orc had to block magic with nothing but the pure durability of its flesh, making injury inevitable.
And it was because of this weakness that the Orcs' Body Fortification Art was looked down upon compared to magic.
“Nice! Let's keep racking up the damage! Huh? Wai-wait! Behind you! Watch your back, Baba—!”
Baba, who was preparing another Fire Awl, whipped around at Lime's words.
And there he saw it.
A giant hammer flying toward his chest.
*WHAM—!*
The horizontal blow sent Baba's body swaying back and forth like a reed.
The blue barrier surrounding his body flickered precariously, like the flame of a candle with a spent wick.
Having lost a third of his remaining mana in that single blow, Baba screamed in terror.
*KYAAAAK!*
The 3-star Lizard-kin Talent, Scream, rattled Lee Si-woo's eardrums.
Feeling a wave of dizziness, Lee Si-woo shook his head and stepped back. Baba seized the opportunity to retreat.
“What the—you! How the hell did you get in?! Th-the sniper should have been on watch!”
Lee Si-woo pointed his index finger at Baba and said,
“Let's just say I have exceptionally good instincts.”
Thanks to his Danger Sense, which activated without fail whenever a scope seemed to catch him, and his superior physical abilities, Lee Si-woo had easily been able to get behind the sniper and take care of him.
*Pew! Pew! Pew!*
Magic Arrows shot out in rapid succession from the tip of Lee Si-woo's finger.
Baba scoffed at the translucent arrows of energy flying toward him and twisted his body. Dodging some and blocking others with his body, Baba sneered.
“Magic Arrow? Look at this cheeky little bastard. Don't tell me... you're a novice who hasn't even learned a single school of magic?”
Magic Arrow was a spell threatening only to non-mages; to a mage of the same level, it was nothing more than a basic spell that posed little threat.
Sure enough, two Magic Arrows shaved off a mere four percent of Baba's mana before disappearing.
Considering Baba had already taken significant damage and his total mana pool was reduced, it was pathetic attack power.
And this was why mages were so desperate to learn school magic or modified magic like homages.
Because named spells boasted far greater power compared to common spells of the same level.
“So? You think I'm a pushover?”
Lee Si-woo, his entire skin now dyed silver, swung the giant hammer.
This heavy hammer, purchased for 300 million at a weapon shop in Granada, weighed over 100 kilograms—a brutal weapon that most people wouldn't even dream of wielding, even with mana.
But Lee Si-woo was different.
When his body, enhanced by the Mineralization ability, was combined with an elf's mana control, even this monstrous weapon could be handled with ease.
*WHOOSH—!*
As the immense weight of the hammer passed over his head, Baba's mouth went dry.
A sense of crisis washed over him—if he allowed even a single hit, it would be over.
Was it the reality of being cornered by a fledgling who could only use Magic Arrow?
His pride wounded, Baba's eyes glinted with a murderous light.
“You pathetic bastard... I'll show you the battle of a true mage.”
The ring on Baba's right middle finger—his inventory—emitted a faint light, and from it emerged a crystal orb and a boomerang made of reddish wood.
Gripping the crystal orb in his right hand, which was still not functioning properly from Lee Si-woo's grip, and the red boomerang in his left, Baba spoke in a grim voice.
“You'll regret making me bring out my magic booster and artifact.”
Lee Si-woo raised an eyebrow.
‘What? A 1st-Circle beginner has a magic booster?’
As Baba focused his mana into the crystal orb in his right hand, a Fire Awl materialized above it.
It was one and a half times larger and hotter than the one he'd used on the Orc.
Its power was so immense it made a mockery of the fact that his mana had been reduced by about forty percent from the successive surprise attacks.
Faced with the majesty of the greatly enhanced Fire Awl, Lee Si-woo quickly took a defensive stance.
‘Damn! It really is a magic booster. Heh, I was prepared to take them on two-on-one if I had to... That would have been bad. The Orc saved me.’
The Fire Awl shot across the warehouse, aiming for Lee Si-woo.
Not only its size and power, but its speed had also increased. In the blink of an eye, the Fire Awl was right in front of him.
With a thunderous roar, Lee Si-woo smashed the Fire Awl with his hammer.
*CLANG!*
Lee Si-woo gritted his teeth against the shock of the Fire Awl that traveled through the hammer.
His wrists tingled from a sensation like blocking a battering ram with an iron shield.
A normal weapon would have shattered from the blow, but the hammer, forged from mana-infused iron, was an artifact in its own right and barely held together.
‘Even if it's an artifact, it's made of cheap mana-infused iron. I don't know how many more hits from magic enhanced by a booster it can take. I need to get in close for melee com— Hmm?’
Before the thought could even finish, Lee Si-woo's Danger Sense activated.
Feeling a tickle on the back of his neck, Lee Si-woo quickly ducked his head, and the boomerang flying from behind grazed past just above him.
Having barely dodged the attack, Lee Si-woo looked up.
*Whoosh-whoosh-*
Seeing the boomerang circling nearby like a summer mosquito, waiting for an opening, Lee Si-woo let out a dry laugh.
“An autonomous attack artifact? Don't tell me, is that boomerang a spirit weapon or something?”
Baba, who hadn't expected Lee Si-woo to dodge the boomerang, was momentarily stunned. But not wanting to show weakness, he quickly cackled and bluffed.
“You little novice have some decent eyes, don't you? That's right, this is your elder's spirit weapon.”
“For a wandering mage, you have quite a few precious items. This is perfect. My pockets have been feeling a little light lately... I guess I'll have to make some proper spending money now.”
“Don't fuck with me, you little shit!”
“Hey, watch your language. Trying to act tough just makes you look weaker, you know.”
The moment he finished speaking, Lee Si-woo's silver body flashed as he dashed forward.
Baba and Lee Si-woo clashed once more.
The Fire Awl streaked across the warehouse several times, threatening Lee Si-woo, while he pressured Baba by firing barrages of five or six Magic Arrows at a time.
All the while, the boomerang diligently attacked Lee Si-woo, but Baba was bursting with frustration at his evasive skills, which didn't allow a single hit.
He dodged as if he knew in advance where the boomerang would come from, making Baba wonder just what the hell he was.
At this point, Lee Si-woo found himself thinking how pathetic Anetium had been, fumbling around despite possessing a cheat-level Talent like Danger Sense.
“Dammit! Get hit! Just get fucking hit!”
Baba once again poured mana into the crystal orb, summoning a massive Fire Awl.
This time, he invested a generous amount of mana into the spell's acceleration.
The Fire Awl flew much faster than usual.
But hitting Lee Si-woo, who was quicker than a rat, was impossible.
Of course, Baba wasn't a complete pushover, and he managed to land a hit once in a blue moon.
But even then, he couldn't gain an advantage, as Lee Si-woo cleverly dealt with the attacks by either blocking them with his hammer or, if necessary, taking a hit from the boomerang instead of the more threatening Fire Awl.
“Damn it! Where did this monster come from...?!”
On the other hand, Lee Si-woo's attacks were weak, but their effect was undeniable.
Thanks to the barrage of Magic Arrows, Baba's mana was slowly being depleted, like clothes getting soaked in a drizzle.
Soon, with his mana dropping below ten percent, Baba seemed to sense the end and shouted, his face pale.
“W-wait! Lee Si-woo! Let's negotiate! I get it, you're strong! So let's team up! Th-then we can easily take care of the Orc, Lime, and the Gray Fox! In return, just give me thirty percent of the money from selling the homage. H-how about it?”
Lee Si-woo, who had just been about to fire three more Magic Arrows, twisted his lips into an interested smile and said,
“Thirty percent is too much. I'll consider it for ten.”
“Ten percent?! Hey! That's too low!”
“Take it or die.”
“You son of a bitch!”
Terrified by the Magic Arrows that flew mercilessly the moment he cursed, Baba shrieked.
“Aaaah! W-wait! Stop shooting Magic Arrows! My Mana Shield is going to break! Sorry! Th-the cursing was just a habit! I didn't mean it!”
As things took a strange turn, the Gray Fox, who had been watching from a corner with the surviving mercenaries, grew frustrated, pounded his chest, and shouted.
“Lord Baba! Stop talking nonsense and put some distance between you! Do you really think Lee Si-woo will let you live after seeing your magic booster and artifact?! While you're fooling around, he's closing the distance!”
Startled by the Gray Fox's warning, Baba looked at Lee Si-woo and saw that the distance between them had indeed narrowed considerably.
With Lee Si-woo close enough for his hammer to reach him at any moment, a terrified Baba focused most of his remaining mana into the magic booster.
[1st-Circle Elemental Magic: Fire Awl]
This time, the Fire Awl was twice as large.
It was the result of dumping in all his mana without a thought for efficiency, and it looked quite menacing.
But as the massive Fire Awl flew toward him, Lee Si-woo's response was different from before.
Instead of dodging or blocking, he continued his charge without slowing down.
*BOOM!*
He blocked the Fire Awl with his left arm, and his Mana Shield rippled as his mana dropped by about seven percent.
Considering the Fire Awl had been enhanced to its limit by the magic booster, it was clear the synergy between his Mineralization ability and Mana Shield was greater than imagined.
His monstrous physical durability absorbed part of the impact, lessening the strain on his Mana Shield.
*THWACK!*
Lee Si-woo's head snapped to the side as it was struck by the boomerang. But the mana lost was a mere one percent.
It was damage he wouldn't have taken if he hadn't deliberately allowed the hit to maintain his momentum.
As his desperate attacks failed one after another, Baba screamed and stumbled backward.
But it was too late.
They were already practically on top of each other.
“Hup!”
Lee Si-woo twisted his waist lightly, pouring his body weight and mana into the heavy hammer.
The blow, carrying the weight of the 100-kilogram hammer plus Lee Si-woo's own body weight, mercilessly smashed into Baba's head.
Baba's Mana Shield held for a moment, sending a slight resistance through his fingertips, but it didn't matter.
Baba's head was already flying toward the Gray Fox like a golf ball struck by a club.
*Slump.*
Baba's body, now without a head, crumbled.
Beyond it, the Gray Fox could be seen stumbling backward, avoiding the head that had landed at his feet.
Lee Si-woo picked up Baba's crystal orb and the boomerang, which had fallen to the floor and was crying pitifully after losing its master, and put them in his inventory ring.
Although he couldn't use them now due to the master's imprint, Lee Si-woo smiled in satisfaction at the thought that he could either use them himself or sell them once he removed Baba's imprint.
‘Alright, next up is...’
Lee Si-woo pointed his index finger at the Gray Fox, then drew his thumb across his own throat.
Recognizing the gesture's meaning, the Gray Fox's whiskers trembled precariously.