The Mage (3)
"What the hell are you doing messing around with someone else's fiancée!"
Rick roared at me. I flashed him a nasty grin and shot back,
"She says she can't be satisfied with yours."
"Shut your damn mouth! Crush him!"
A massive clump of mana erupted from Rick and slammed down from above, trying to pulverize me. I angled the tip of my two-handed sword and let the force slide off at an angle. That alone was enough to shatter the blade completely.
I immediately summoned two shields, one in each hand, and tossed one over to Jung Ayeon.
"Help me if you get the chance!"
"Understood!"
Then I charged at Rick again. Blood spraying from the corners of his mouth, he began hurling a barrage of spells at me.
"Sink! Rise! Shatter! Sever! Pulverize!"
A colossal wave of mana surged forward to drown me. I crouched low, raising my shield at a diagonal to minimize the impact. At the same time, I twisted aside from the spikes erupting beneath my feet, grabbed one, and snapped it off. I hurled the broken spike at an incoming orb of energy. The spike shattered on impact, and the orb vanished with it.
I immediately slammed my shield into the ground and vaulted onto it. Right after, blades of condensed mana rained down, hammering against the shield. Gathering starlight in my right hand, I kicked off the side of the shield and launched myself straight at Rick. A split second later, mana condensed where I'd been standing, warping the shield with a violent crunch.
Cheonma Laser
Looking at his pattern, this guy really doesn't have a mom.
'Is her name Kos by any chance? This is seriously fucked up.'
The moment I closed in on Rick and prepared to unleash the starlight, a number floated above his head. At the same time, a shard of mirror appeared. I used it to peer into a future from before my regression.
In that future, the instant "I" tried to fire the Cheonma Laser, Rick chanted something. The beam suddenly bounced back toward "me."
The second I returned to the present, I made the motion of firing the starlight. Rick grinned like he'd been waiting for exactly that and began his chant.
"Reflect!"
But I already knew what was coming. Instead of actually firing, I landed calmly on the ground and immediately threw a natural punch with my other fist. It looked a lot like a boxing switch-hitter stance.
My fist suddenly bounced off something in midair, followed by the sound of something shattering into pieces. Only then did Rick's smile vanish, and a red number appeared above his head.
"Wha—how?!"
"What? You didn't see that one coming, you orphan bastard?"
And when I actually fired the Cheonma Laser—
"That's why I have insurance!"
"......What?"
"I can only use it once, though!"
Rick let out another sinister laugh.
"Transfer."
"The fuck?"
The Cheonma Laser I'd just fired suddenly vanished into a newly formed hole in the air. Another hole appeared right in front of me. And from that hole, the very same Cheonma Laser came flying straight back at me.
"Die by your own technique!"
"A portal? Gabe you son of a bitch, drop the third movie already!"
I rapidly condensed mana in my left palm and aimed at the base of the incoming Cheonma Laser, detonating it. The beam veered slightly upward, but it gave Rick enough time to start another chant.
"Pierce—"
"Young Master! This shall be this lady's final act!"
"Ugh!!!"
Thankfully, Jung Ayeon squeezed out the last of her strength and summoned a single small bird that raked its claws across Rick's eyes. The summon vanished the moment its power ran out, but it was more than enough to cancel his spell.
I quickly gathered mana in my right palm and slammed it into Rick. This time it was a clean hit.
But—
-Crunch.
"Re...turn."
Rick had grabbed my hand and barely managed to finish his chant. Then something changed in him. The wounds I'd given him earlier began to slowly fade away. Torn clothes. Shattered teeth. Broken ribs. Everything was reverting to its original state, exactly as he'd looked at the start of the fight.
"You fucking bastard, what the hell is Echo Bow?"
"This is insurance too."
"In Korea, medical insurance is more than enough!"
Rick let out a ominous chuckle and pointed his wand at Jung Ayeon. I tried to cancel his spell by punching his face with my remaining left hand, but he didn't even flinch and stubbornly continued his chant.
"Disappear."
The shield I'd given Jung Ayeon began to slowly dissolve. Meanwhile, just as I tried to condense mana in my right palm again—
"This is how it's done, right?"
Rick tossed his wand into the air and thrust his now-empty palm toward me. Blue mana was condensing in that hand.
Cheonma Repulsor
"You thieving bastard! That's myCheonma Repulsor (Heavenly Demon Repulsor)! That shit's copyrighted!"
"No, it's not."
Rick's palm made contact with my body.
"This is Cheonma Repulsor (Genius Mage Repulsor)."
"You piece of shit."
An explosion erupted from Rick's palm and sent me flying. Though the power was weaker than when I used it, it was unmistakably the Cheonma Repulsor.
I flew straight toward Jung Ayeon's side. She was currently unable to move, and I'd been thrown quite a distance away. In that worst-case scenario, Rick grabbed his wand again and began another chant.
"Rain down."
Countless spears of mana began forming in the sky. Rick sneered at us.
"If you want to protect even a useless bitch like her, then watch. I don't mind if her limbs are gone."
"You crazy bastard! Just buy an onahole then! They're great value these days!"
"Die!"
Rick's last words weren't a chant, yet the countless spears hanging in the sky began plunging toward the ground anyway.
Without the slightest hesitation, I wrapped myself around Jung Ayeon.
"Y-Young Master! Run away now!"
Jung Ayeon desperately tried to push me away. But the harder she pushed, the tighter I held her, making sure not even the slightest bit of danger could reach her.
And then the rain of spears fell.
It didn't take long for every last spear to reach the ground. But the short downpour left a horrifying result. My entire body was now riddled with spears like a human porcupine.
It was getting hard to breathe. Both shoulders and arms had been pierced clean through and wouldn't move. My legs could still move somehow, but running looked impossible. Still, at least Jung Ayeon hadn't taken a single scratch. That was enough.
"Y-Young Master! Why?!"
"Fuck, I turned into Sonic."
Jung Ayeon spoke to me through sobs. Right on cue, the mana spears Rick had created vanished, and the empty space was immediately filled by a flood of my own blood.
"Fuuuuck... this hurts like hell."
"Why the hell did you do that!!!"
My body trembling violently, I turned back toward Rick. My arms wouldn't move, but I could still channel mana through my hands. I manifested a longsword in my left hand, but it clattered uselessly to the ground.
I turned my head toward Jung Ayeon.
"Jung Ayeon."
"Why did you do that..."
Jung Ayeon was starting to cry in earnest. This wasn't what I'd wanted.
I swallowed the bitter feeling in my chest and continued.
"I don't want to lose."
Jung Ayeon didn't even bother wiping her tears. She just kept crying her eyes out. I slowly approached the weeping girl. I couldn't wipe her tears since I couldn't move my arms, but—
"So don't lose either, okay?"
"......"
I gently bumped my forehead against hers. Then I lifted my head and gave her a small smile.
"It's a promise."
And with that, I turned back toward Rick.
A massive amount of blood was pouring out of my body. The blood pooled on the ground, quickly forming a small puddle. Inside that puddle was another me. Maybe it was the dizziness from losing so much blood, but I felt like my reflection in the puddle was staring right back at me.
Then my reflection asked: Do you regret it? Do you resent becoming a wreck just to save Jung Ayeon? Do you now wish you'd chosen to run away instead of protecting her?
So I answered: No. I don't regret anything. It was the best choice.
My reflection smiled. I was smiling too.
Situations that can't be understood through reason breed fear. And that went for Rick as well.
"What the hell are you laughing at?!"
Rick raised his voice to drive away his fear, like a dog barking on high alert.
"You've already lost! I won!!!"
One dying lump of meat who couldn't even use his arms, and one genius mage without a single scratch on his body. To anyone looking, the former was obviously going to lose. Yet strangely, it was the latter who looked far more terrified.
"Tear apart!"
Rick chanted in an attempt to push down his rising fear. It was like a religious fanatic clinging to their god, desperately trying to escape the situation through magic.
Many people want to overcome their circumstances by relying on someone they believe in. A child relies on their parents. Citizens rely on their king. A believer relies on their god.
But I have no absolute being or powerful person to help me. All that's here is one tearful girl and one half-dead corpse.
That's why I believe in myself. And in Jung Ayeon.
I slid under the mana blade flying toward my waist, dodging it. At the same time, I bit down on the sword's hilt with my mouth, lifted it into the air, and swung my left leg in a wide arc behind me. The moment the spinning sword in midair pointed its tip at Rick—
I slammed my left heel into the pommel with all my strength.
-Thud!
"Ugh!"
The longsword became a harpoon, shooting forward and piercing straight through Rick's stomach. Grimacing in pain, Rick spat out another chant.
"Strike!"
A whip of mana sliced through the air and flew at me viciously. I leaned back and manifested a dagger in my right hand, kicking the whip away. Immediately after, I created another dagger in my left hand and kicked it toward Rick.
Rick twisted his body slightly to dodge, then immediately counterattacked.
"Harden."
Suddenly, blue mana wrapped around my entire body. I couldn't move, as if my whole body had been petrified. If I could still move my arms it might have been different, but right now that wasn't an option.
While I struggled desperately to break free, Rick sneered as if delivering the final verdict.
"Pierce."
"You bastard, at least have some conscience and don't use petrification!"
A massive spear of mana flew toward me.
"It's over!"
"I'll fucking turn you into a TS version of Barbie! Alive! Or even if you're dead!"
In that final moment, I closed my eyes.
But... there was no pain.