Chapter 85 - Battle City (5)

Having dealt with the rampaging magicians, Shin Doryong was racing to answer a request for reinforcements reporting Ioannis's appearance. He narrowed his eyes and glanced at the men who had been following him across the rooftops, watching him.

They were the Sword Brotherhood, Namgung Su's private army, dressed in black cloth and armed with swords.

'They aren't actually doing anything, but...'

Whether they were gathering information amid the chaos or waiting for their moment to act, they kept roaming the places where magicians were wreaking havoc.

'... A bunch of crows.'

Keeping them in the corner of his vision, Shin Doryong ignored them and ran on.

Just then, someone hurried out of an alley. It was Lee Munryong, a robust old man carrying a spear.

Shin Doryong's eyes narrowed. He had known the man was in Seoul, but hadn't expected to encounter that familiar face.

The Greatest Under Heaven and the former Greatest Under Heaven.

Their eyes met.

"You—"

"Oh! Good to see you. I've got to help my client, so take care of this for me!"

After that hasty greeting, Lee Munryong dashed toward the shopping mall.

"What?"

Footsteps echoed from the alley, followed by a furious shout.

"Wild Loose Cannon! I'll kill you!"

They were Chinese martial artists who practiced breathing techniques. They had come to Korea seeking grimoires, spotted Lee Munryong, and attacked him.

"Y-you! Shin Doryong!"

... Well, they held a grudge against Shin Doryong too.

"Haa..."

Shin Doryong sighed and swung his twin swords, knocking aside the hail of bullets.

RAT-A-TAT!

Then he dealt with this new batch of criminals.

* * *

The shopping mall hall fell briefly somber after a fire extinguisher put out the Greek fire.

Mia broke the silence. A beautiful, black-haired boy vampire with delicate, feminine features, he was Ioannis's lover, attendant, and secretary. Despite his cute appearance, he was the clan's second-in-command, responsible for directing its vampires.

His voice shook with anger.

"Master's—"

His pretty face twisted, and a vein bulged on his smooth forehead.

"I won't forgive any trash who hurts Master's feelings!"

CLICK.

Mia roughly leveled his assault rifle and sprayed bullets at the gnomes celebrating with the fire extinguisher.

"Hehe! This gnome's a first-class firefighter gnome who puts out all the fires!"

"Then this gnome's a first-class fire engine gnome—Aaaaargh!"

RATATATATAT!

Bullets pelted one gnome, knocking it facedown.

"Waaaaah!"

The extinguisher hugged by the other gnome was punctured.

BANG! FWOOSH! HISSSSS!

"Huh?"

White gas blasted out, sending it flying.

"Whaaat!? Waaaah! I'm flying! M-Master!"

White powder spread through the shopping mall hall!

"Gah! Cough! Gnome!"

I shouted in alarm as the first-class fire engine gnome became a flying gnome. Unfortunately, I couldn't spare it any more attention.

Snapped out of their stupor by Mia's gunfire, the vampires pulled their triggers. Bullets rained through the white powder screen.

RATATATAT!

Round two had begun in earnest.

'... Damn it!'

I hastily ducked and ran.

"Graaaah!"

Grizzly swept an arm through the smoke toward the heads of the shooting vampires.

SPLASH!

Blood spurted as three vampire heads flew off at once. A gap briefly opened in the barrage... but there were still too many of them.

"Aim for the magician!"

The hail of bullets tore the shopping mall hall apart. I'd have loved to whip out my Glock 17 and go bang, bang myself, but they outnumbered me too heavily for that exchange to pay off. I was barely managing as it was. The instant I stopped, I'd be riddled with holes.

... Ioannis and an entire unit of gun-toting vampires. This was dangerous.

'Should I keep Grizzly beside me and whittle down their numbers with hit-and-run attacks as I flee?'

Then things became even more complicated—and dangerous.

"Grrruff!"

Amid a mass of footsteps and beastlike barking, an old man appeared at another entrance to the hall, leading a pack of ghouls.

"Kim Yohaaaaan! I'll kill you!"

Chairman Kim, master of the grimoire <Cultes des Goules>, had gathered ghouls and joined the battle to take revenge on Yohan.

"Ioannis! He's mine to kill!"

He charged in to avenge the loss of his entire power base in a single day during the building massacre.

The vampires were enough of a headache already. Now ghouls too?

My face twisted involuntarily at the absurdity.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Chairman Kim!"

Chairman Kim—the name of the man he'd tried and failed to kill in that building. Yohan's eyes opened wide.

"Then die!"

Grizzly immediately swung its arms in rapid succession.

"Graaaah!!"

POP! PA-PA-BANG!!

The charging ghouls burst apart in an instant. Chairman Kim was struck too, sent flying with broken bones and blood spilling from his mouth.

"Aaaaaaargh! Ioannis!"

An incredulous expression crossed Ioannis's face. Charging in like that despite getting beaten every time was a talent in its own right.

Still, his adorable idiot of a disciple had created a small opening. Targeting Yohan directly, Ioannis leaped forward and blocked his path.

"...!?"

My eyes widened at the sight of Ioannis closing the distance in a single bound. The standoff that had begun on the moving bus continued.

Then bullets rained down on us both. These weren't from the vampires.

RATATATATAT!

Footsteps sounded at another mall entrance as mercenaries appeared and opened fire. Ioannis spun his sword to block the bullets, and I quickly backed away.

Hearing the commotion, participants in the battle royale for the grimoire were converging on the mall.

"Vampire blood's worth money too! Shoot them all!"

Hard, leader of the mercenary band, narrowed his eyes at Yohan, the white-coated man facing Ioannis. If the head of the Madas clan, a towering figure of a bygone era, was targeting him personally...

'... That bastard's the grimoire's master.'

And what did it matter if he wasn't? If he wasn't, he wasn't.

Hard extended his right hand, spreading his thumb, index finger, and middle finger to point at Yohan. Rather than inscribing a rune, he amplified its power through a hand sign to cast rune magic.

"Tyr (ᛏ)."

The power of the rune—signifying strength, whirlwinds, twisting, and the name of the one-armed war god—surged forward. Like a palm-force blast, a mass of force slammed into Yohan's side.

"Guh!"

The unexpected attack shoved me backward, nearly knocking me over, but I somehow braced my legs and held on.

"...!"

The instant the huge man extended his hand, I'd recognized a magical attack and dodged sideways, but I was a beat too late. It hit my flank.

I couldn't fire palm-force blasts, but I could answer with my Glock 17.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Hard dodged the bullets. Though he didn't show it, Yohan's immediate counterattack surprised him.

"—!"

'Tough as fucking nails.'

Was that coat magical protective gear? Could it be the work of that bitch Dress, the robe maker? Or was it breathing techniques? Physical enhancement magic?

Whatever it was, that wasn't an ordinary person's durability.

Meanwhile, Ioannis closed in on Hard, who had barged uninvited into his enjoyable fight. This would also eliminate a rival seeking <Mysteries of the Worm>.

Hard frowned at the enchanted Damascus steel sword in Ioannis's hand. Fighting him one-on-one while he held a sword was suicide. That was common knowledge in Europe.

After World War II ended and Ioannis lost the backing of the Nazis, countless Vatican paladins had tried to kill him. Every one of them had died by that sword.

Without hesitation, Hard touched his thumb to his ring finger and extended the others, casting rune magic through the hand sign.

"Thorn (ᚹ)."

A magical rune barrier disarmed Ioannis, knocking the sword from his hand high into the air.

The combat runes etched into Hard's body shone. Now it was bare hands against bare hands. Vampire or not, there was no particular reason Hard should lose.

Then Ioannis's fist drove straight into his jaw.

"—!?"

Ioannis effortlessly dodged and parried Hard's fists, pummeling him and sending him flying in moments. Hard crashed into the mall wall.

"Unarmed combat. A magician's basic self-defense."

Ioannis caught his falling sword as he spoke.

"And even when I was human, I never lost at pankration."

Pankration—ancient Greek boxing combined with wrestling.

While Ioannis was beating Hard senseless...

"■■■!!"

Grizzly roared and swung an arm through empty air.

THWACK!

Something burst, and a headless corpse collapsed. A candle dropped from its hand, looking like a shriveled mummy's hand coated in wax.

'Hand of Glory—an artifact that makes you invisible when you light its candle.'

That magician, a fairly accomplished assassin, had been caught up in the battle and killed just like that.

"..."

Embarrassing as it was for its master, only now did I understand why Grizzly roared before fighting. Just as bats used ultrasound to perceive objects, Grizzly used sound vibrations to detect any hidden enemies.

Anyway, I looked around. Chance had given me a brief lull on the battlefield.

As though standing in the eye of a storm, I watched the fighting rage around me. The once-luxurious mall hall was wrecked, fouled with corpses and blood.

It looked like the Buddhist realm of the asuras—or Nintendo's Super Smash Bros.

In other words, utter chaos.

"Target the grimoire's master!"

Shouts from those hunting me rose from every direction. My body ached all over, and I was exhausted.

HUMMM.

<Mysteries of the Worm> vibrated in my hand.

FLUTTER.

'The Worm That Gnaws at the Night.'

It opened to the page containing the spell to summon a giant cosmic worm that ate through planets.

I looked down at <Mysteries of the Worm> with weary eyes.

Sure... if I was going to die anyway, summoning a giant cosmic worm and killing everyone was one option.

"Don't give me that bullshit."

Obviously, that was a fucking joke.

The plans I'd made so far might have been clumsy or flawed in places... but being cautious wasn't the same as being pessimistic. What kind of idiot included his own death in his plans?

I fucking loved myself.

My mother and father might abandon me, but I'd never abandon myself. I would never die at the hands of bastards like these.

I'd kill every last one of them, and tonight—

Blazing anger filled my exhausted black eyes, and strength returned.

—it was a meat feast!

Without hesitation, I slammed <Mysteries of the Worm> shut.

"You're getting a scolding later. Be ready."

At its master's low, firm, cold voice, <Mysteries of the Worm> vibrated happily.

H-HUMMMM♡

I straightened my knees and back, bringing my weary body upright.

I didn't know whether this would work... but it was far better than summoning a giant cosmic worm to take everyone down with me.

I recalled the sensation of using pentacle ritual magic. More precisely, I forcibly triggered the process by which a grimoire supported magic and supplied magical power.

<The Lesser Key of Solomon> and <Baopuzi> flew out of my coat and floated in the air.

<Mysteries of the Worm>. <The Lesser Key of Solomon>. <Baopuzi>.

The three grimoires, which normally supported only their own magic, answered their master's call and sent their power to me. I channeled the incoming power into the only magic I could currently use without a ritual, forcibly amplifying and expanding it.

RUMBLE.

Ioannis was the first to feel the change. He staggered slightly.

"This is—"

It wasn't his imagination. The mercenaries swayed and fell.

RUUUUMBLE!!

The earth's gravity pulled at their bodies, pressing them down. The building and the ground shook.

'Earth Spirit magic.'

A multitude of gnomes surged from the cracking floor and flailed about.

"Waaaaaah!!"

One mercenary stared at them in horror.

"R-redcaps!?"

A gnome jerked its head up and waved its arms.

"Not redcaps, gnomes! Completely different gnomes!"

In any case, the overwhelming mass of mystic power pouring from the three grimoires froze everyone's gaze for a moment, bringing the fighting to a halt.

Fallen flat, kneeling, or staggering, they stared in astonishment at Yohan—the only person still standing straight.

With the grimoires floating beside me, I spoke.

"Grimoire, grimoire, grimoire. Shut up already."

My low voice, laden with suppressed anger, echoed through the shaking mall.

"Those grimoires you're all so fucking obsessed with getting your hands on—"

I'd been minding my own business before being dragged into this. Furious beyond measure, I declared savagely:

"—They're already all mine. Now fuck off."

"■■■■■!!"

Until now, Grizzly's movements had been restricted by its need to protect Yohan. Taking advantage of the enemies' confusion, it went wild. Like a speeding truck, it pulverized and swept aside every mercenary, ghoul, and vampire in its path.

SPLAAASH!

Chunks of flesh and sprays of blood scattered in every direction!

Ioannis hastily grabbed Mia and rolled across the floor to evade it.

A single spell had changed the mood.

Then...

CRASH!

A large glass window in the hall's ceiling shattered, and an angel appeared.

Well, more precisely, someone with an angelic air.

Amid glittering shards of broken glass, Elsie, a beautiful silver-haired girl, cried out:

"A single noble white blossom! Saint Elsie makes her entrance!"

My eyes narrowed involuntarily at this ridiculous turn of events.

"And who the hell are you—!?"