Chapter 76 - Best Condition (4)

"Hah... hah..."

Staggering along, I opened my coat and looked at the crumpled metal pentacle. It was all bent out of shape.

[The Dented Sixth Pentacle of Mars]

There had been no protective magic left on it. Still, the pentacle inside my coat must have taken the hit first and softened the impact.

... This pentacle really did take good care of me.

Not that it didn't still hurt like hell.

Chanting a healing spell and clutching the spot where I'd been hit, I walked through the back alley and thought.

'... Did I dismiss Grizzly too soon?'

When Grizzly was close, he could read my thoughts to some extent and act on them. Even at a distance, though, he could follow my orders and act independently.

Just as he'd hunted down the ranch workers in Kim Miryeo's underground workshop and slaughtered them all.

"Hah..."

My current predicament was the classic weakness of a fantasy summoner: summoning a powerful creature, only to be that creature's sole weak point.

That made running far away and leaving Grizzly free to fight on his own a perfectly good strategy.

There was just one thing that worried me...

As I walked along with a hand against the wall, a footstep sounded ahead in the alley.

STEP.

A white man was walking toward me, looking like any ordinary foreign tourist. But...

Was it because the fight earlier had sharpened my senses?

"..."

I felt his gaze discreetly sweep over me.

The foreigner wore wireless earbuds and pretended to be on a call—no, it was probably a real call. He casually turned his body to conceal his movements and slipped a hand inside his coat.

I acted immediately.

POP!

Grizzly burst the foreigner's head, and his body collapsed.

SPLAT.

Blood spread through the rain-soaked alley. The man's hand, holding a pistol inside his coat, went limp.

I narrowed my eyes at the corpse.

If this were America, people carrying guns in back alleys might be commonplace. But this was Korea.

"..."

Which meant the corpse before me was another attacker.

Exactly what I'd been worried about.

The old spearman and the long-haired magician had ambushed me the instant they saw me. They'd clearly been targeting me.

I didn't know why they'd attacked, but it was obvious enough. They'd probably picked up information somewhere and come for my grimoire.

Then again, I'd killed plenty of people. They might have a grudge.

Honestly, their reasons didn't matter. What mattered was that they were trying to kill me.

And since they'd prepared a full-scale ambush, those two might simply have been the first to step forward. There could be more enemies.

I'd considered the possibility that, if I ran away and left Grizzly fighting alone, someone might target me while I was defenseless...

But I hadn't expected an attack this soon.

I studied the corpse through narrowed eyes.

... How had they found me so quickly?

Had they already set up a perimeter throughout the neighborhood?

Perhaps they'd been ordered to shoot any man they saw wearing a white coat.

PITTER-PATTER. PATTER-PATTER.

The rain that had been falling all this time soaked my body and sent ripples across the puddles.

"...!"

... An image flashed through my mind.

The stream of water that had approached me just before their first attack.

My eyes widened.

'A detection spell!'

I looked up at the rainy sky, clenching my back teeth as my mouth twisted.

'Damn it... I made a mistake.'

Even if it meant taking a risk, I should have made sure to kill that long-haired magician.

My fists clenched.

They planned to monitor my position with detection magic and wear me down by having their men chase me relentlessly. Then they'd appear at the end and finish me off, like aristocrats on a hunt.

Even when I fought, I usually won in one hit with a surprise punch from Grizzly or a spell I'd prepared beforehand.

Was that why I'd made a bad judgment call in such a close fight...?

I closed my eyes briefly and exhaled.

"Whew..."

... Enough of that.

Regrets and second-guessing could wait.

I calmly opened my eyes again.

The fight wasn't over yet, after all.

I'd made a mistake, but I wasn't dead. Next time, I'd kill him for sure.

"Gyaa..."

I stroked Grizzly's head, took the pistol from the corpse, and spoke.

"Eat."

My stamina might be dropping, but Grizzly's couldn't. Not with the fight ahead.

CRUNCH. CRUNCH-CRUNCH.

With my position being detected, though, I couldn't linger anywhere long enough to let him eat slowly and chew every bite.

I caught my breath for a moment and made a plan.

The greatest threat right now was...

I pictured that absurd old spearman, who'd blocked a blow from Grizzly, even if it had cost him his spear.

Honestly, the long-haired foreign magician wasn't that much of a threat.

Of course, he was the most magician-like magician I'd ever seen. Since it was magic, there must have been groundwork and preparation involved, but growing plants in an instant, launching blades of water, and freely manipulating water to the point of making it rain was straight out of fantasy.

But could any of that take down Grizzly? No.

The long-haired magician's spells couldn't stop him. It wasn't that the man lacked skill. I'd put him around the level of Edward Coffin, the necromancer who'd attacked the campground.

Come to think of it, just as the long-haired magician had made it rain to use his magic more effectively, Edward had blanketed the campground in fog that turned corpses into zombies.

... Was I simply unaware because I'd taught myself magic from grimoires?

Was creating favorable conditions with field magic—laying down an area effect—the trend among modern magicians?

"..."

A thought briefly crossed my mind.

I'd think about that more later.

Anyway, the problem was the old spearman.

If Grizzly ignored everything else and charged in to kill the long-haired magician, the spearman would charge in to kill me too.

It would effectively be the two of us stabbing each other with knives, determined to take the other down.

If today were Tuesday, I could try it, blocking the attack with [The Sixth Pentacle of Mars], the spell that prevented fatal wounds.

... But today was Monday, so that strategy was impossible.

Well, that was fine.

Tuesday had its magic, and Monday had its own.

Grizzly was more or less finished eating. Staying in one place was dangerous, so I tucked the pistol inside my coat and moved on.

There was no telling when or where a bullet might come flying.

An incredulous smile crept onto my lips without my realizing it.

As I stepped forward, I felt anew just what kind of world I'd entered.

A world full of bastards who didn't even bother obeying the law, where I, a serial-killer magician myself, couldn't claim its protection—

"... The wild, huh?"

—a world of utter lawlessness.

Under the circumstances, deserted places were more dangerous. I left the alley and emerged onto a bustling main street crowded with people.

"Ugh, where did this rain come from all of a sudden?"

I'd thought through all sorts of things, but ultimately there was only one thing to do.

If they'd come to kill me with everything they had, then I'd use everything I had to kill them and protect my peaceful life.

My black eyes shone calmly. Drenched by the pouring rain and drawing people's stares, I slipped into the crowd.

* * *

In a makeshift workshop set up on a rented hotel floor, Alphonse emerged after washing his rain-soaked body. He placed a still and other alchemical tools on a table and prepared the solutions he needed for his magic.

Behind him, Lee Munryong inspected his broken spear and spoke.

"A famous magician-blacksmith from Northern Europe made this. It broke on the job, so is this a workers' comp thing? Will you reimburse me?"

Alphonse ignored him, apparently unwilling to engage. Lee Munryong shrugged and looked elsewhere.

Though no droplets were falling into the large silver dish in the room, ripples appeared in a specific pattern. He didn't understand how it worked, but he was told it indicated the location of their target, Yohan.

"You sure we don't need to chase him ourselves?"

"The detection spell is active, and the mercenaries I brought from the school are pursuing him. It's fine."

Alphonse briefly stopped working to answer Lee Munryong.

"A magician is one who is prepared. A true elite magician always remains in peak condition."

Alphonse checked the solution in a flask and shook it.

"And he's less of a pushover than expected. It's safer to wear him down before attacking."

"Hmm... Peak condition, huh?"

Lee Munryong rubbed his chin, thinking of Yohan.

Rest, then attack an exhausted enemy. It made sense, but...

"He strikes me as the sort you shouldn't give even the slightest breathing room."

Well, judging by the silver dish, Yohan had been moving continuously since the attack at seven that evening. It was now three in the morning.

Ordinarily, it might be different, but moving through the rain in the low temperatures of midwinter would certainly have drained a great deal of his stamina.

And the rain continued to pour.

Then a scream came over the radio.

["The target is currently—Aagh...!"]

It wasn't just one person. Screams rang out one after another.

["A-aaargh—!"]

VROOOM!

The water in the silver dish shook and splashed. The ripples, steady until now, turned into churning waves.

Alphonse's eyes widened, and Lee Munryong spoke in the tone of a man whose suspicions had been confirmed.

"...!"

"Looks like he's making his move in earnest."

Alphonse dipped his fingers into the silver dish to detect Yohan's location.

"... The same place as before. He was there at the start, too. Is that where his workshop is?"

He gave a faint sneer.

"Ha! He's finally worn himself out and exposed the rabbit hole he runs to."

Alphonse fastened the flasks he'd made during his rest to his waist and put on his coat.

It was time to hunt.

Alphonse and Lee Munryong moved quickly, arriving at the deserted street near Yohan's secret workshop. It was normally empty anyway, but the pouring rain made it even darker and more dismal.

SHHHHH...

There, Lee Munryong looked at Yohan, the white-coated man standing boldly in the middle of the street.

His rain-soaked body was heavy, and his lips had turned blue from the drop in his body temperature. He was nowhere near a normal physical condition, unlike the two of them, who'd rested comfortably in a warm room.

From the looks of things, he probably hadn't had proper food or water all this time either.

"Hungry and exhausted."

Lee Munryong rested his spear on his shoulder as he spoke. He wondered why Yohan had suddenly chosen to act like this.

"You couldn't beat us even when you were in better shape. What do you think you'll do in that condition?"

Lee Munryong expected Yohan to ignore him, but an answer came.

"Hungry and exhausted... You're right. But..."

I looked straight at them as I spoke.

"Does a lion hunt when it isn't hungry? Does a cheetah run just to show off its speed?"

My calm voice carried the throaty rumble of a beast just before it sprang.

"Hungry and exhausted? That's peak condition in the wild."

I clenched my chattering teeth against the cold and smiled ferociously at them.

And then, unable to contain himself at Yohan's bravado, Lee Munryong burst out laughing.

"Pfft—hahahahaha! You lunatic! Employer! Watch yourself!"

His eyes gleamed as he took a proper grip on his spear, sharpening every sense in his body.

"He hasn't run away! He's come to hunt us!"

"Gaaaaa—!!"

A three-meter-tall transparent monster, its shape exposed in the rain, lunged at them.

Lee Munryong moved too.

Thrust and dodge. Thinking of nothing else, he bought time.

Ultimately, it was the same as their earlier fight. The outcome would be decided by the battle between the magicians.

Alphonse glared at Yohan with a displeased expression, then drew his sword again.

A one-on-one confrontation had been arranged.

"Very well. I'll teach you what a true magical battle is."

"I'm curious about that."

I immediately pulled the pistol I'd retrieved earlier from inside my coat.

"What?"

I pulled the trigger faster than he could swing his sword.

'LoveLovePrettyBoys.'

He was always shitposting on [Mephisto Market], but his advice had been right.

If you don't have a decent attack spell, just use a gun.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gunshots rang out in rapid succession through the rain.