Disturbance Handling Commission - Part 2
“Fuck... you? Did you break my spell?”
He looked to be in his early twenties. A woman lay unconscious in his arms, and it was obvious at a glance she wasn't in normal condition—he'd clearly acted on impulse to kidnap or detain her.
“Let that woman go.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“No relation, really. Just took the commission.”
“Fuck, did that bitch's sugar daddy commission you?”
“If her sugar daddy's a government official, maybe?”
His rage-boiled emotions spread through the ambient mana around us. The zombie-like wanderers turned their gazes toward us, fury igniting in their glazed eyes before they charged like true undead in a frenzy.
But I'd already scattered my mana on the way here. To shatter blood magic, your power had to overwhelm the caster's. Black magic was a brutal hierarchy of the strong devouring the weak.
'Meaning, against another black mage, submission is inevitable.'
The blood magic wasn't deeply imprinted, so I'd overlaid my mana to suppress the triggers exciting these people into fits. They collapsed limply in an instant, dazed reason slowly returning.
The problem was their disheveled appearances. Both the men and women who looked to have climaxed wouldn't take long to grasp their states.
So I snapped my fingers.
Snap!
With the sharp sound, I triggered an additional 'shock' on the blood magic stimulation points. Dialing it just enough to knock everyone out cold, I neutralized them. The curse sorcerer gaped in panic, pointing at me accusingly.
As I closed the distance, he gathered mana in his hand and spat,
“G-Get closer, and I'll kill this bitch!”
“Wasn't she precious to you?”
“P-Precious my ass—fuck, she dumped me! Dumped me just 'cause I'm a black mage!!”
'Tch, clichéd story. Hid his magic from her all this time, huh?'
His outfit gave it away. A bright-toned robe embroidered with gold thread knots signifying a 4th Circle mage. Only those who'd mastered all 4th Circle spells at such a young age could wear them—a mark of qualification.
I wore a robe with seven dark crimson knots myself.
Anyway, looking at him, I said,
“If you'd been upfront from the start, things might've turned out differently.”
“No, you don't get it!!”
“Yeah, I don't. But one thing I know for sure.”
“...?”
His face asked what? So, as a finale to finishing the blood magic reversal calculations, I snapped my fingers again.
Snap!
He sensed something off, his expression twisting in rapid confusion. Then I told him,
“That's not how you use blood magic.”
The reversed blood magic reflected back at the caster, warping on impact. His spell's core was 'pleasure' and 'amplification.' I'd swapped amplification for 'revulsion,' and as it hit him, his face contorted grotesquely. He crumpled, muttering to himself.
'Said it wouldn't break his mind if stimulated right, but maybe it was already too far gone.'
The breakup wasn't just because he was a black mage. Before the fainted victims woke, hoping to wrap things up, I signaled for backup. Just then, Go Yu-jin led her team into Seoul Station.
“I... I really loved you, Hye-jin. Loved you so much, was proud of the power I awakened to because of it. But you said I couldn't make you happy with this power... Fuck, why can that bastard?!”
I had no idea the full story, but maybe she'd turned to another guy? Whatever—it wasn't my business.
As I watched him mutter, mind polluted by blood magic,
“Kuh... heh... fuck... yeah, if it's like this, might as well all die... You too, Hye-jin, that bastard, this whole world. Everyone! All of it! Heh heh heh, yeah, just like that...!”
His body suddenly turned dark crimson.
'Rampage?'
A different kind. If before he'd controlled his power, now it was true loss of control. Such states unleashed power beyond one's limits, but the lack of restraint made it a massive hazard.
Surveying the expanding aura, I had no choice but to unleash my mana fully.
“Trying to interfere again?”
He grabbed the woman's nape, hoisting her up. His muscles bulged and writhed—berserk transformation with physical mutation.
His blood aura spread rapidly, so I formed a dome barrier with my mana to contain it inward. Sensing it, he morphed into a muscle-bound destroyer, veins bulging in eyes glaring at me.
“Gonna... kill... everything...”
Drool spilling, frenzied, he'd even forgotten the woman in his grip and lunged to bite her head.
“That woman's precious to you. You really gonna kill her?”
A light question to buy time. He paused mid-bite, checking her identity.
“Hye... Hye-jin...”
Head tilting as her name hit him—I seized the moment.
Activating the pre-laid mana pattern instantly, countless glyphs bloomed in the air, noose-like bindings constricting his body.
Then I launched myself in sync.
'Not my hobby using the body, but can't let the hostage die.'
Haste kicked in, spatial rift for a short leap. Under his forearm in a flash, I unwound mana from my hand into a thread, willed it solid, and swung.
Slash!
Clean severing sound. Reaching for the falling woman, I snapped my fingers—rift below her teleported her far away like I'd done.
But there was a price.
“You dare!!”
His enraged kick flew. More fury at losing his prize than the wrist pain drove him. The noose, meant to hold briefly, snapped like thread. His swung shin exposed his side.
'Might hurt... if it lands.'
No choice—pulled a memorized spell.
'Hard Shield.'
A casual thought summoned the heart-ring stored spell, deploying to block the incoming strike.
Crack!!
The shield webbed with cracks from one hit but absorbed the shock. Noose still bound the rest, so before follow-ups, I widened distance and warned,
“Keep the blood magic up, and your brain melts. Then you'll truly become that destroyer you've morphed into.”
A warning. Become a mindless monster or heed it. But he ignored, charging with full power—
A massive shadow dropped, slamming down to pin the destroyer.
Boom!!
Its struggles echoed through Seoul Station, but Go Yu-jin's rag golem crushed resistance effortlessly.
“Couldn't you have killed him outright?”
Her voice transmitted from the golem. I replied calmly,
“If we talk him down before he breaks, he can face human punishment and reform, no?”
“No way to revert a rampaging human.”
Not strictly true. Overwhelm with superior power to crush the rampage—you could subdue without killing. But it was damn hard, near impossible for most.
“What now?”
Go Yu-jin loomed over the shrieking mage losing reason, fist clenched to pulp his skull.
Just as it descended,
“A-Are you gonna kill him?”
Hye-jin's recovered voice. Go Yu-jin paused, glancing back.
“He tried killing you and'll lose all reason soon. Become no different from a monster.”
“S-Seung-ju... he's not a bad guy.”
What was their deal? Complicated as the mage said? Or some trigger drove him mad?
Awakeners gained mental quirks upon awakening. I tried understanding, but no clear answer.
Didn't know the story, and no reason to care.
“No time for sob stories. And you know rampagers harming civilians can be executed on-site, right?”
“I-It’s my fault!! I... I cheated!!”
Lovers confirmed. Her affair partner likely a 'legit' awakener from the sunny side—bitter irony.
'Getting dumped for being a black mage ain't pleasant.'
But as he fully rampaged, Go Yu-jin swung no mercy.
Boom!!
Skull crushed, brains and blood splattering everywhere, staining the area.
The woman collapsed, hand over mouth, tears streaming as she stared blankly at her dead ex. Too murky to judge right and wrong—left a bitter taste.
We cleaned up after. Blood magic victims woke post-purge of pleasure and rage. Government poured manpower, but 'Chantra' swarmed late, hogging credit.
Image-obsessed folks. Useful, but we slipped out for real gains, found the official. Busy, he grimaced at us but sighed deep at commission closeout, processing papers.
Short-lived chaos netted huge payout. As we exited,
Go Yu-jin eyed me. “Could you really have saved him?”
“Yeah. But even reverted, could he return to normal life?”
She pondered gravely, then shook her head and walked on silently.