Sagosul Girl (3)
Black mages come in many varieties.
In the early days of his first round, the ones Julian hated most were the necromancers who raised the dead. After any decent fight the whole area would be carpeted in stinking corpses, and cleaning up took forever. He’d also grown to hate them even more after vomiting in front of Meyrin.
In every round after that, Julian killed every necromancer the moment he found them. It wasn’t that he looked down on life—his body simply reacted on its own. He cut them down before they could become a nuisance. In any case, he had confirmed time and again that those who dabbled in black magic in this world had no hope of rehabilitation.
Meyrin had told him exactly that.
It was the moment his sword hesitated.
“Is… is it really that bad? I’ve been filled with hatred before, too.”
The man before his blade was a black mage. No—more than that. He was a boy from a village Julian had once known. He still had no idea why the boy had suddenly become a warlock. Now his limbs were completely paralyzed by Meyrin and Julian, and he was begging for his life.
“J-Julian… you’re going to kill me? I-I want to go back. I… I want to share the meat pie my mom used to make… with you again…”
Crunch.
Julian bit his lip. He remembered it perfectly—the smile on his mother’s face, the warm scent drifting from the oven, the soft sunset light pouring into that tiny house.
“I… I remember your name. It’s Yuka…!”
“Julian! Nooo!”
Meyrin’s scream cut through the air like a warning. Julian didn’t understand. He had no idea what it meant to speak their names aloud.
“R-right! Yuka… Julian! You’re sparing me?!”
Cough!
Blood spilled from the boy’s mouth as he smiled. It was not the warm smile Julian remembered from that house.
“!?”
The corners of his mouth stretched impossibly high, fangs erupted, and the laughter that poured out sounded exactly like a demon descending into the world.
“Euh, a, aaahahahahaha?!”
Hadn’t he once said necromancers were the worst? The record updated quickly. Now it was these creatures.
Warlock.
People often assumed the word had something to do with war. It didn’t. The term came from the ancient wǣrloga—wǣr meaning oath, loga meaning liar. Mages who had broken their promises.
What promise had they broken? The one unwritten rule every living being in this world agreed upon. Those who crossed that final line. Those who formed contracts with entities that felt nothing but ecstasy at the transgression.
The boy’s arms and legs were paralyzed, yet something had activated because of Julian’s earlier action.
The warlock laughed again, drunk on the same joy as the entity he had contracted with. He trampled every line drawn in the world, leaving filthy footprints across a pure white snowfield that no one was allowed to enter—
“Aaaaaaaaack!”
He laughed with his mouth torn open to its limits.
Riiip!
The mouth stretched far larger than his own face. Julian froze like ice.
“……!”
The sight burned itself into his trembling pupils. Could something like that still be called human? Could it even be called a child of nature?
“Julian!”
Meyrin activated the spell she had prepared. A simple whoosh—nothing grand, just enough to shove the two of them away from the boy.
“……Cough!”
Julian’s mind cleared at once. The remaining haze was swept away by Meyrin’s soccer kick to the back of his head.
Thud!
“Urk!”
Julian still didn’t understand. “Why… why does that matter?”
“Because they devour anyone who shows them pity. Even the smallest gesture of kindness—they never let it slip away.”
Julian shook his head hard to clear it. I should have killed him.
“Sorry, Meyrin. I’ll… I’ll finish it.”
He had come as the hero. He had to do something. He couldn’t let them all die like this.
“What are you going to finish? He’s already dead.”
“?”
She was right. The boy’s grotesquely enlarged mouth had flipped inside out like a sock pulled off wrong and was now swallowing its owner.
“Why… why is he eating himself?”
“He used demonic magic, but the target escaped, remember?”
“Escaped?”
Julian looked down at his own feet. It wasn’t even that far.
“His limbs are paralyzed so he can’t move. Since he can’t reach the target, the spell decided there was no target. And when there’s no suitable target nearby, the first to die is the caster.”
“……!”
They used magic with a risk like that?
“You said they were covered in hatred,” Meyrin said, lowering her staff. “But do you know who they hate most in the end?”
He didn’t need the answer. One look at that grotesque feast told him everything.
Chomp. Chomp!!
Crunch… crunch…!
Julian had never seen eating like this. When someone eats, it should be built on pleasure and joy. This was not eating. This was destruction—an act of annihilation determined to leave not a single scrap of its target in the world.
And the target was…
“Himself.”
Exactly. The hatred of warlocks was aimed at the entire world, but its true root was self-loathing. Beings too weak, too dependent on evil, too pathetic to even end their own lives with their own will—those were what became warlocks.
Crunch… crunch…!
After the sound of every bone being pulverized, all that remained on the floor was a lone mouth, still clicking its teeth as if trying to chew on something that no longer existed.
“So don’t show them mercy. There is no salvation for those who hate themselves.”
After seven rounds, Julian no longer showed even a shred of mercy to warlocks.
“If it’s me~ run away.”
He knew exactly what kind of end the people before him would meet.
“What…?”
“Why, why us—aaaack?!”
Shrrrrrrrr—
The chains the warlocks had summoned all reversed course, flying toward the casters who had called them.
Even though Junil stood right in front of them, every single chain locked onto its own summoner. First, these chains of offering did not activate against anyone stronger than the caster. Second, because there were no offerings inside the academy—the designated area—the spell registered as a failure. Third, the built-in rule: upon failure, the caster becomes the offering.
Clang!
All of them were instantly bound.
“C-crazy?!”
“Let go! Let goooo!”
“Uaaaaah!”
Clack!
Junil struck another pose. Isilen, who had been watching the chain spectacle with a blank face, got poked in the side by Junil and reluctantly copied him.
Clack…!
“What the hell are you guys?! You came here just to do this?!”
“Why aren’t the chains going after that bastard?!”
The bound warlocks screamed in agony. They knew better than anyone what happened to those caught by these chains.
“Please! Please spare us! Sagosul! You must know how to deal with this, right?!”
The leader of the Pollak-ers begged desperately. Since Sagosul even knew about the side effects of black magic, maybe he knew how to undo it. That faint hope was their only lifeline.
“W-we only acted for a greater cause!”
Junil was dumbfounded but let the man keep talking. The chains would slowly torture and kill them on their own anyway.
Then came a completely unexpected attack.
“?!”
Junil actually choked. What the hell is this lunatic saying?
Some of the Constellations already knew. Junil was extremely sensitive about real estate. Actually, everyone was. That was the problem.
Is this guy doing it on purpose?
Junil was genuinely rattled. Even if the rooftop looked empty, drones had been circling for a while and several helicopters had already arrived. Everything was being broadcast. Isilen’s barrier was useless against the overwhelming will to air this live—especially since the condition of “having business with the World Boss” had been met.
“So you’re interested too?! Uahaha! It’s simple! We only pass judgment on districts where real estate speculation forces have united! The key here is the school district! That’s why the academy became our stage!”
The man was trying to secure a cause—claiming he would stop the insane skyrocketing of real estate prices.
After playing the hero for seven rounds, Julian had learned one thing: the truly terrifying villains weren’t pure evil like the Demon King. They were the ones with a cause.
“Don’t you agree with our ideals?! You think we should leave prices like this?!”
The man was trying to secure that cause on live television.
Rumble…!
The presence of the offering was drawing closer. The red demonic passage inside the academy was rising to the rooftop.
Beeeeeeeeeeep!!!
WORLD BOSS SUMMONING IN PROGRESS
[World Boss Summoning in progress… 10.5%]
It seemed the World Boss was going to use them as offerings. With just this many offerings…? Junil swallowed dryly.
The leader of the Pollak-ers, sensing his end, rolled his eyes back and screamed even louder.
His words were cut short.
“Stop the summoning! Kill all the offerings!”
Yu Jihun’s shout was followed by Kang Hae-il, Lee Suyeon, and Kim Ri-el flying onto the rooftop. They were trying to disrupt the World Boss summoning.
Yu Jihun created hundreds of ice swords in the air. Lee Suyeon spread a protective barrier over the team. Kim Ri-el flew up with compressed air bullets wrapped around both hands. And Kang Hae-il charged with the strongest firepower, his entire body blazing.
Fwoooooosh!
Cancel the summoning? Was that really the best choice?
Countless thoughts flashed through Junil’s mind in an instant. His decision was swift.
No, that won’t do.
His hand flew to his waist. A flash of light reflected off the blade.
Narrative Trick Hwando.
His slash moved like a living snake, bending through the air and neutralizing everyone at once.
“!?”
Lee Suyeon’s eyes widened first. When…? Her protective barrier vanished as if it had never existed. Then another slash flew in and shattered every one of Yu Jihun’s ice swords.
What the hell is this?
The problem was that the slashes themselves were invisible to their eyes. Next, Kim Ri-el’s wrist was sliced.
“Ugh…!?”
The last one was Kang Hae-il. He flew in on a completely different trajectory, trying to burn one of the warlocks—
Thud!
Junil’s foot, having flown in at some point, struck his abdomen dead center.
“!”
Kang Hae-il was sent flying straight through the window of the next building.
Kwaaaaaang!!!
After neutralizing every awakened’s attack attempt, the masked man landed lightly back on the rooftop.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
The scene was being broadcast live across every platform. It was the exact moment everyone learned who the true powerhouse was. News viewers erupted in cheers.