“I’ll make them pay for making me angry.”
Yujin gritted his teeth the moment he was revived.
Though it was just Bimbap breaking free from the illusion of Isanghwa, the fact that he had to put a knife to his beloved’s neck left a bad taste in his mouth. It was time to figure out how to find Isanghwa and hunt her down.
“Sir, do we really not need to wear gas masks?”
Emilia covered her mouth as she spoke up.
Isanghwa’s poison was still lingering in the air. She worried that if they didn’t quickly put on gas masks, what had just happened would repeat itself.
“No need.”
There was only one gas mask brought along anyway, and even that was useless—the filter had broken down. Besides, the situation had changed, so there was no reason to wear it now.
Clink!
Yujin pulled out a needle dagger.
Thrust!
He pierced his left hand.
“Ah! W-what are you doing!?”
Emilia was horrified to see him injure himself. But despite how barbaric it looked, there was a reason. Enduring the pain piercing through his left hand, Yujin spoke.
“Pain blocks the illusion.”
The most stimulating sensation is pain. Like pricking oneself with a needle to stave off drowsiness. Only sharp, rough pain can keep Won-gak’s intrusion at bay.
“But it only lasts a short time.”
Five minutes at most. Judging by the power of Isanghwa Yujin had experienced earlier. But he wasn’t self-harming just to buy five minutes. There was a mage nearby who could use magic.
“Emilia.”
“Yes?”
He called her, and she tilted her head in confusion.
“Can you use magic without a staff?”
Her staff was probably stored inside the train. Five minutes wouldn’t be enough time to run all the way to the train. So if she was going to use magic, it had to be without her staff.
“Now? But without my staff…”
Worry clouded Emilia’s face. Magic is the power to transform phenomena from their original state. If miscast, irreversible accidents could occur.
“I know. But there’s no time.”
If Emilia didn’t cast magic within five minutes, they’d fall back into Isanghwa’s illusion and be trapped again. Realizing there was no time, she swallowed hard and asked,
“What kind of magic do you need?”
Her eyes held determination, as if she knew she had to do something.
“I want you to blow away all the pollen in this area.”
Rather than clumsily casting a protective barrier, it was better to simply scatter all the toxic air here. This area was in the middle of a plain, with no nearby settlements to speak of.
“It’s an area-of-effect spell, so you don’t need delicate control.”
It was the perfect request for Emilia without her staff. She seemed confident she could do it and immediately began. Taking a deep breath, she put her hands together, touching her thumb and middle finger. Between them, a triangular gap formed—the basic magic formation, the Sambang-jin.
“Introitus.”
The essence of magic is to defy natural laws and alter phenomena. But the mages of this continent ‘summon’ phenomena. That is, they superimpose imagined phenomena onto reality through a specific procedure.
“Summon…!”
As Emilia chanted, changes began. At the apex where the middle fingers met, a ring of light appeared. Another ring appeared at each of the triangle’s other two vertices.
“Three circles, huh.”
Naturally, to defy the laws of time and summon the desired phenomenon requires a price. Nature resists the maintenance of such phenomena and to overcome this resistance, a mage must pierce a hole with their own magical power. The number of circles equals the mage’s rank. The difference with divine magic is that it borrows power from a god, so there’s no natural resistance and no need for circles.
“Three circles is average.”
For a teenage mage student, it’s standard. Of course, gifted prodigies have more circles. For example, the witch who was a companion to the Hero’s party had seven circles at that age.
“I wonder how many circles she has now.”
Regardless, the circles were summoned smoothly. Now all that remained was to give form to the summoned phenomenon with a name. At this stage, the incantation was in the language of the goddess, just like divine magic.
“Ventus desertum… (Wind of the desert)”
Finally, Emilia uttered the incantation. The goddess’ language was complicated, even the specialists sometimes got confused. It was no wonder mages and clerics were treated as elite in society.
“Præsens dextrem tendere (Extend your merciful hand).”
Emilia’s voice trembled as she chanted. It was understandable that she was nervous. A single mispronounced word could cause the magic to go awry. That’s why staffs usually handle the incantation process. But she would have to cast many spells on her own going forward.
So she had been told she needed to be able to perform some magic without incantations from the very first day. Of course, Emilia would improve with time, as she had a lot of training ahead.
“If you mess up, I’ll bleed too,” Yujin whispered, trying to ease her tension.
He gently wrapped her hand, soft enough not to interfere with the spellcasting. Emilia raised her eyebrows in surprise but continued her chant.
“Ventus éxīgo právitas! (Wind, expel the impure!)”
With the last incantation, the circles began to spin. Each ring rotated, forming holes within their borders. The rings distanced themselves from one another, drawing trajectories that formed a larger circle.
“What is this…?”
Emilia’s eyes widened at the sight. Since she usually used magic with her staff, this was her first time seeing such a spectacle. Normally, Emilia wouldn’t have witnessed this.
“It’s the fourth circle.”
Because of the Sinlu Stone, an additional hole was pierced. The number of holes pierced in the natural world corresponds to the amount of magical power. The Sinlu Stone seemed to have been used up purifying Emilia and accumulating her mana.
Thud!
The shockwave radiated from the holes created by the spinning rings.
Whoosh…
The shockwave spread in all directions. The strong wind expanded the circle’s area, sweeping away the cloud of pollen that had been weighing on their minds.
“Wow…!”
Emilia looked up at the sky with a bright face. The sky, previously clouded with yellow dust, began to show its original blue hue once more.
“I did it! Sir!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Yujin calmed Emilia, who was jumping for joy at her accomplishment. The influence of Isanghwa’s illusion that had trapped their minds was now gone. But they couldn’t relax—the root of the problem, the monster, was still alive.
Rumble…!
The ground of the village trembled. Though the tremor was weak, it was meaningful that it began shaking the moment Emilia’s magic succeeded.
“Isanghwa is approaching the village.”
“Huh?”
Emilia was terrified again at the news. They had just freed their minds from the monster’s magic, but now the main monster itself was drawing near.
“Good.”
Yujin thought it was convenient. It saved them the trouble of searching. He had almost wondered if they’d have to walk all the way to the Ender Belt. This specimen seemed highly evolved, even capable of moving on its own.
“Emilia.”
“Yes?”
Yujin lifted her legs and back to speed up their movement.
“W-what are you doing!?”
Emilia’s face flushed red from being suddenly picked up. To an outsider, it might look like a somewhat compromising embrace. But now, moving quickly to defeat the monster was the priority.
“Hold on tight.”
“Hold on tight? What—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Yujin pushed off the ground.
Thud!
Leaping into the sky while still holding her. Running straight might be faster, but first, they needed to see how far the enemy had advanced. From about twenty meters up, they looked out over the village and the surrounding terrain.
“There it is.”
Something huge was approaching, visible even at this distance. Its form was hidden in the mist of pollen. But not its tentacles—those were unmistakable.
“Tentacle type? Annoying.”
Ordinary humans can only block attacks coming from one direction at a time. Opponents also have limited attack directions. But a monster with tentacles has no limits on attack range.
“So there’s a specific combat method for fighting monsters.”
The problem was, Yujin had been fighting mainly in human battles for so long, his weapons were limited to throwing knives and daggers. Sure, these materials could still handle the monster, but the fight would be troublesome. Though when had monster hunting ever been easy?
For Emilia, this would be her first real experience fighting a monster.
“By the way, don’t look down.”
He warned Emilia as he remembered.
“Don’t, don’t let go! Yes!?”
She trembled, clutching his clothes, apparently having already looked down. That’s why he told her not to, but it was too late now. Still, they were about to descend to the ground anyway.
“Coming down.”
“Ahhh!?”
They fell swiftly, obeying gravity. After landing on the ground once, Yujin used his legs to leap back into the air, repeating the jump three or four times. By then, Isanghwa was within visible range on the horizon.
“Ah. Ahh…”
Emilia collapsed as soon as her feet touched the ground. Maybe the new way of traveling had scared her, but they had no time to waste.
“Get up. The monster will be on us soon.”
“Waaah…”
She stood, still pale from fear.
“Let’s get ready.”
They didn’t land near Isanghwa deliberately. There was something to prepare before engaging her. Though a mutated specimen, her body was still fundamentally plant-based.
“What preparation?”
Emilia asked, confused. Yujin showed her his sleeve.
Clatter! Crash!
The hidden throwing knives spilled out. Excluding those already used, there were 40 left. Within those 40, they had to take Isanghwa’s life.
“From now on, inscribe fire-attribute magic circles on these throwing knives.”
“Huh?”
Emilia was surprised at his command. Her gaze shifted toward the monster visible on the horizon. Even now, it was advancing to strike the village.
“Is there enough time?”
“Better to start now than waste time wondering… Why wouldn’t you be able to?”
“I can do it.”
As soon as Yujin said that, Emilia got to work. His words sounded like a challenge to her ability. With no ink, she pierced her own index finger.
“Ahh!”
Blood welled up, serving as her ink. She began drawing fire magic circles on each throwing knife with the blood. As she inscribed the circles, she asked,
“The power will be weak. Is that okay?”
“Enough.”
For plant-type monsters, elemental affinity mattered more than power. Wood can’t withstand fire—there are elemental opposites. This was also a method learned in the East Continent’s Five Elements theory. By now, the monster on the horizon was 800 meters away.
At its speed, it would be within combat range in under a minute.
“How many left?”
Without looking away from the knives, Emilia answered,
“Twenty!”
“One minute left.”
Yujin drew out his dagger. The twin daggers from the needles—called the Hammer and Nail. They vibrated the moment he gripped their hilts.
“Look, they’re refusing because I’m not their owner.”
Relics were tools made by unknown methods. Sometimes they acted as if they had a mind of their own. These ‘sentient’ ones usually had intelligence comparable to a dog.
‘Here.’
He flowed mana into the daggers. Like throwing meat to a dog, the relics responded positively to mana. The vibration from the hilts stopped.
Hum…
The blades began to glow softly. It seemed they had finally accepted Yujin as their rightful user. Now the close-combat weapons were ready, so Yujin turned to Emilia.
“Ready?”
“All set!”
She came over carrying a bundle of throwing knives. He took them back and slid them into his sleeve. Just as he put the last knife away,
Shhaaak!
The monster’s roar echoed. He looked up and saw Isanghwa a hundred meters away. More precisely, a flower-bud shaped creature using tentacles as legs.
Kshaaa…!
Each roar caused the flower bud to open, revealing hundreds of teeth. At the grotesque sight of Isanghwa’s flower petals spreading to expose its teeth, Emilia tugged at Yujin’s clothes.
“…Can we really defeat it?”
Though frightened, she was trying to hold it in. Having come this far, she wasn’t about to give up. Moved by her courage, Yujin gently ruffled her hair.
“Uh…”
Emilia accepted the gesture and blushed. Hopefully, that calmed her fear of the monster somewhat. He withdrew his hand from her head.
“The question was wrong.”
Turning back to face Isanghwa, and releasing the throwing knives from both hands, there was only one answer for a battle-ready Emilia.
“We have to.”
Just like the Hero said a hundred years ago.