The Fourth Wave (2)
"...Enhancement magic is cheating."
The orc that had rammed Lee Si-hyun slammed its foot into the earth and launched itself at her again.
"GRAAAH!"
The ground detonated under its charge, but Si-hyun still hadn't shaken off the impact. She couldn't even push herself upright.
Do I go first? Even if I did, the orc's axe would fall before I ever reached her. A Magic Bullet wouldn't stop something closing that fast, not in a single shot. At this rate, I'm too late.
The orc hiked its axe high and poured on speed, bearing down on her.
What the hell is she thinking?!
Just run. I kicked off the ground and sprinted straight for her. But if I kept going like this, the axe would land first.
Then I'll catch up even if I have to force it...!
Reaction Acceleration (E)
A low hum rolled through the air, and everything around me slowed. The orc charging toward Si-hyun. A leaf drifting down through empty space. Even the falling arc of the axe about to split her open — all of it burned itself into my vision with crystalline clarity.
I clenched my teeth and drove my foot into the ground. One step. Two. In that stretched-out world, only my body kept moving forward. The instant the orc's axe began its slow descent, I threw myself the rest of the way and seized Si-hyun's arm.
"Si-hyun!"
I pulled her into my chest and rolled us sideways.
The axe-head smashed into the dirt where she had been lying a heartbeat before. Earth and shattered stone erupted in every direction. I kept rolling with her locked against me, my back slamming across the rough ground until the air punched out of my lungs — but I couldn't afford to stop. I hauled her up and ducked us behind the nearest thick tree, then looked down at the girl in my arms.
"Si-hyun. Stay with me."
"Nnh..."
She let out a thin sound and her eyes fluttered open. Conscious, at least. But the collision with the tree had left her face bloodless, and the fingers pressed to her side were trembling.
"You okay?"
"Yeah... it hurts a little, though."
...She does not look okay at all.
I opened the shop at once.
The price stung, but I didn't waste a second thinking about it. Buy.
A small glass vial of red liquid appeared in my palm. I pulled the stopper and brought it to her lips.
"Drink."
"What is this...?"
"A recovery potion. Hurry."
She didn't ask again. She swallowed it down, and as the last of the red liquid disappeared, a faint light wrapped around her body. Her ragged breathing evened out, and strength slowly returned to the hand that had been clutching her side.
"Thank you."
She said it with a faint smile.
"How do you feel?"
"It still hurts a little, but I think I can move."
I let out a short breath.
"That's good enough."
"But this... where did you even get it? Something this effective has to cost a fortune..."
"Is this really the time to worry about that?"
A massive impact thundered from directly behind us. The tree we were leaning against shuddered hard enough to send a rain of leaves pouring down. I shoved myself to my feet and peered past the trunk.
The enhanced ogre. Two orcs. And behind them, the goblin shaman still holding its staff aloft. The red lines were still tethering their bodies together.
At least we dropped the archers ahead of time. We'd avoided the worst-case scenario of arrows coming in from every direction on top of everything else. The real problem was that enhancement magic. Killing the shaman would end it — but with the ogre and the orcs standing in the way, even getting close looked like a nightmare.
I stared at the crimson threads wound around the orcs and the ogre.
Unique Trait Insight is analyzing the structure of the magic.
The tangled currents of red mana snapped into focus, every thread suddenly sharp and readable. A disbelieving laugh slipped out of me.
It can do this too?
I followed the flow with my eyes, tracking it slowly — and then I stopped. At the goblin shaman's feet. The heart of the magic circle, where dozens of crimson lines overlapped into a single point.
There...?
Unlike everywhere else, the mana there was trembling, irregular. The red energy pouring from the shaman gathered at that one spot first, then split and fed out to the ogre and the orcs. A junction holding the entire spell together. And because so much power was concentrated there, even a slight break in the balance would twist the whole current out of shape.
If I wreck just that...
A path opened through a situation that had looked hopeless.
"Si-hyun."
"Yeah."
I pointed at the ground beneath the goblin shaman.
"Not that thing. I think we need to hit the magic circle under its feet first."
"The magic circle?"
"See the part glowing red in the center?"
She narrowed her eyes and looked.
"...Yeah."
"If we smash just that spot, I think the enhancement comes apart."
"Really?"
Her eyes went wide.
"Probably."
"Probably?"
She looked at me for a moment, then let out a small breath.
"...Well. If you're saying so, I'll trust you."
She's going along with it surprisingly easily.
She turned her gaze back to the heart of the circle. Hitting a stationary target shouldn't be hard. The problem was that the shaman wasn't going to just stand there and watch.
"Kiiiek..."
As if it had read our intent, the goblin shaman tightened its grip on the staff. The red lines that formed the circle heaved, and a thin barrier unfolded over the center.
Of course it wouldn't just hand that over.
"Si-hyun."
"Yeah."
"I've got an idea."
After a brief thirty-second exchange, Si-hyun studied the thin red barrier, then nodded.
"Okay. Got it."
She stretched a hand toward the heart of the magic circle, and dozens of water droplets began to rise into the air around her. I confirmed it, then burst out from behind the tree.
"Grrrr..."
The orcs reacted first. Two pairs of blood-red eyes locked onto me in unison. I fired a Magic Bullet straight at the nearest orc's face. It jerked its head aside, and the blue round only grazed its cheek.
"GRAAAH!"
The enraged orc hiked its axe and charged. The second orc and the ogre slammed their feet into the ground right behind it. The lead orc closed the gap in a blink and raised its axe.
Unique Trait Insight is displaying the attack trajectory.
I twisted aside a fraction before the blow landed. The orc's axe buried itself in the dirt, and in the same motion I stepped onto the tree in front of me and launched myself upward.
"GRAAAAAH!"
The ogre caught up a beat later and swung its club with everything it had. The massive weapon smashed into the middle of the trunk, and the thick bole couldn't take the hit — it started to tip. I'd been waiting for that. I kicked off the falling tree and threw myself toward the next one.
Now.
I landed on a heavy branch and stretched a hand toward the goblin shaman. Blue mana gathered in front of my palm, condensing into the shape of a Magic Bullet.
"Kiiiiek!"
The shaman caught my line of sight and scrambled backward. In that same instant, the two orcs stepped in to block it, and the ogre's enormous body sealed off the firing lane completely.
Figured they'd try to stop me.
I held the shot and watched them move. In pulling back to cover the shaman, the monsters had naturally drifted away from the magic circle.
Sorry, but you were never the target.
I snapped my fingers around and aimed at the red barrier wrapped over the circle.
"Kiik!"
The goblin shaman understood at once and thrust its staff high. Red mana layered itself over the thin shield already spread across the circle, and the barrier thickened in a heartbeat. I watched it happen and drew my fist back.
"Won't work."
Heavy Strike (E)
Raw force condensed into my right arm, and I smashed the Magic Bullet hovering in front of me with everything I had. The instant my knuckles met it, blue light detonated. A long streak of azure afterimage slammed dead-center into the crimson barrier.
A crack. Then a spreading web of fractures. Then the whole thing shattered.
"Kiiiiek!"
The panicked shaman thrust its staff up again. The scattered red mana began gathering back toward the heart of the circle — but before it could rebuild the barrier, Si-hyun's voice cut in from behind me.
"Water Spear."
A sharply spinning lance of water tore through the air.
"Kiik?!"
The goblin shaman whipped its head around, but it was already too late. The water spear punched dead into the exposed heart of the magic circle. The red-lit array twisted violently, then split apart in every direction. A harsh crackle ripped through the air as the crimson threads connecting the ogre and the orcs snapped all at once.
"Graaah...?"
The red aura wrapped around their bodies began to bleed away at speed.
"Kiiiiek!"
The goblin shaman slammed its staff into the ground. The scattered red mana rushed back to its feet, sketching the lines of a new circle.
Trying to enhance them again.
But Si-hyun was never going to let that happen. Before the shaman could finish the incantation—
"Water Bind."
The water scattered across the ground surged up in thick columns. Dozens of split streams wound around the orcs' arms and legs, then coiled tight around the ogre's massive frame as well.
"GRAAAH!"
The orcs and the ogre thrashed, but the enhancement was already gone. They couldn't tear the water apart. Tangled in one another, they simply stopped moving — and through the gaps, the goblin shaman hung fully exposed, its own limbs bound in the same streaming coils.
"Checkmate, you bastard."
Dawn Ignition
A faint light bloomed from deep in my chest, and the mana that had been scraped down to nothing surged back in a rush. I stretched a hand toward the shaman. A blue Magic Bullet split the air and punched through its chest.
"Kiiiek..."
The staff slipped from the goblin shaman's fingers. It crumpled — but I didn't lower my hand.
Alright. Damage window.
I pulled mana back to my fingertips and shifted my aim to the ogre and the orcs. Blue rounds poured into the water-bound monsters without a pause.
"GRAAAAAH!"
They thrashed wildly, but there was nowhere to go.
"Water Spear."
Si-hyun joined in, shaping the droplets still hovering around her into a volley of razor lances. Water spears and Magic Bullets crashed over the monster pack together. Blue light and spray tangled into a single roaring surge and swallowed them whole.
A moment later, the scattered droplets fell like rain. Through the dense water-haze, a massive shadow slowly tipped over. The ogre hit the ground, and the earth gave one last heavy shudder. Around it, the orcs already lay still.
The final wave has ended.
The instant I saw the message, every ounce of tension left my body at once. I just collapsed onto the branch.
"...Haaah."
"...We did it!"