Chapter 44: Supreme Archmages, Assemble

[Translator – Aren]

At the moment, I was lying flat on the floor.

Face down, ear pressed against the ground, I could feel the vibrations traveling through my entire body beneath the hood of my poncho. I kept my breathing as slow as possible, afraid even the sound of my gas mask might give me away.

I knew that the moment I started breathing heavily, my position would be exposed.

Unlike my pounding heart, my lungs moved in a slow, deliberate rhythm. Inhale, exhale. Again and again. Just like forcing a smile can make you feel happier, deliberately slowing my breathing kept my mind running at full speed.

That was when I realized my ears were ringing.

-Piiiiiiiii—.

A bullet must have passed frighteningly close, or maybe a gunshot had gone off right beside me.

Feeling the cold, reassuring weight of my rifle, I found myself remembering infantry drills from what felt like a lifetime ago. Crawling through wet, filthy dirt. The memories came flooding back.

Keeping my breaths steady, I began wriggling forward with the thick fog draped over my back. If someone saw me now, they’d probably mistake me for a giant green cockroach. 

I once read an internet rumor claiming that cockroaches briefly gain an IQ of 300 when their lives are on the line. Maybe I, Baek Jemin, belonged to the same species.

Inside my overclocked brain, thoughts exploded like bubbles.

The reason I hadn’t immediately used my Tongue-branch and Eyes-branch magic was because of what I’d noticed earlier.

When I used Eyes-branch, Stage 1 magic focused through Tongue-branch, Stage 1 magic the fog near Sergeant Bang Giseong’s corpse, one of the soldiers killed by the Seoul wizard, hadn’t completely parted. Instead of clearing away, it had merely thinned, making it impossible to pinpoint the wizard’s location.

Did my Eyes-branch magic lose effectiveness against other wizards? Did the effect weaken depending on the difference in skill?

I also started piecing together theories about the Seoul wizard’s abilities. Before she opened fire, I’d seen her throw a massive chunk of concrete. At the very least, she definitely possessed enhanced physical strength.

Heart-branch magic, then?

Countless assumptions and possibilities churned through my mind. That was when…

-Thud.

Heavy footsteps struck the still-intact floor tiles as something approached. A playful, sultry voice drifted through the fog. 

"Oppa, you really are like a cockroach. You already managed to run off?”

Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck.

The weak, inadequate, thoroughly ordinary part of me screamed in terror.

‘I’m going to die here. Fight back. Beg for your life.’

But the cold, hard logic of this Baek Jemin had already finished the calculations.

I wasn’t going to die immediately.

Because the Seoul wizard wanted my head.

According to Shin Nain, the wizard living in this department store behaved similarly to an Amalgam. She somehow opened people’s skulls and plundered their memories and information.

There was no room for negotiation or diplomacy. The fact she’d opened fire on us while we were coming up the escalator proved her intent had been murder from the start. This wasn’t a matter of if, but when. Still, there was one worst-case scenario I could likely avoid. Being executed on the spot.

If she wanted to know what a wizard from outside Seoul knew, cracking open my skull would be far more reliable than questioning me.

Which meant I wouldn’t attempt a reckless counterattack.

If I resisted too violently, she might simply shoot me. The fog was too dense, and the pain from my left-hand staff was fading. Betting everything on Eyes-branch, Stage 2 magic would be suicide.

Meanwhile, the footsteps continued to draw closer slowly and deliberately. As if she were savoring the moment or trying to terrify me. It was clear that she wasn’t in any hurry.

-Thud.

The vibrations were far too heavy to belong to an ordinary person. That wasn’t the weight of a human being. She was probably carrying the chunk of concrete she’d thrown earlier, using it as a shield again.

I pulled the rifle closer against my chest.

Despite the frantic pounding of my heart, my mind remained ice-cold. That was when I realized something.

Shin Nain hadn’t detected the Seoul wizard’s attack.

-Thud.

Which meant Shin Nain, with his Ears-branch magic, hadn’t heard the voice inside the Seoul wizard’s heart.

-Thud, thud.

The voices Shin Nain heard were only the inner thoughts of us Supreme Archmages members.

-Thud, thud, thud…

At that moment, I rolled my tongue around inside my mouth.

Evasion, death, 5 minutes, path.

...It wasn’t easy.

Even in this dense fog, using magic to avoid death carried a significant burden. The tip of my tongue throbbed painfully. There were simply too many possible outcomes or perhaps the scope was too broad. Either way, I could feel that I was forcing my Tongue-branch magic to focus into place.

I revised it.

Evasion, fatal injury, 5 minutes, path.

The fog began clearing sharply.

I tightened my grip on the rifle, pulled one knee forward, and pressed an elbow lightly against the floor. At last, I was ready to move.

Even so, it was the kind of thing that weighed heavily on the mind, so I decided to go on the count of three.

One, two…

"Oppa, what are you doing?”

I exploded into motion.

Moving as swiftly as a bipedal cockroach.

As I ran, only one thought shot through my head.

Shoot, you idiots!

It was a perfect signal.

The moment I launched myself forward, gunfire erupted.

-Ratatatatatatata—!!!

Bullets poured out of the fog.

The shots ricocheted from walls and ceilings. Muzzle flashes scattered through the dense mist, impossible to locate.

Inside that storm of gunfire, where I couldn’t even tell where the bullets were coming from, my eyes searched for the places where the fog was parting.

I alone sprinted through the rain of bullets.

Ting, tiiing…

Ricochets and impacts blended together with the gunfire.

Two opposing emotions battled inside of me.

‘It’s okay now. Just create distance.’

That was just wishful thinking.

I chose cold, ruthless logic instead.

‘She’ll catch up soon. You can’t shake her off.’

In that case, after 28 years of life, I, Baek Jemin, had only one option left.

I was about to put on the greatest desperation play of my entire career.

A stunt that could only work inside fog this thick. I rolled my tongue inside my mouth.

Evasion, physical impact, fatal injury, injury, 5 minutes, me.

The tip of my tongue tingled faintly, but it was manageable. Well, no, actually it wasn’t really manageable. One didn’t get to use Eyes-branch, Stage 2 magic, for free after all.

But right now, for the next 5 minutes, I was practically invincible.

That realization made me look back.

And then immediately throw myself into a roll.

-Whooosh!

Something massive swept over the back of my head.

Even a glancing hit would’ve peeled the skin from my body. The sheer weight of it disturbed the air enough that I could feel it brush against my back.

I rolled across the floor in the most pathetic way imaginable before scrambling into a crouch behind a display counter that was somehow still standing.

Peeking around the corner, I could make out a chunk of concrete embedded in a pillar through the drifting fog.

The haze prevented me from seeing clearly, but one thing was obvious. The Seoul wizard was annoyed. She was flaring directly toward my position.

But she couldn’t rush me immediately.

Because beyond the fog, the Supreme Archmages members listening to the voice in my head had opened up with suppressive fire.

Deafening gunshots shook the entire department store. Bullets flew everywhere.

The shots weren’t particularly accurate, but accuracy wasn’t the point.

They forced the Seoul wizard to crouch down. Then she casually ripped the concrete slab out of the pillar and raised it like a shield.

"Ah, are you for real?!”

-Thud, thuuud—.

The sound of bullets slamming into solid concrete was horrifying.

Fragments broke away and rained down like dust. Watching that, I immediately raised my rifle.

This was it.

My finger settled on the trigger, and the fog churned.

Within the swirling fog, red footprints appeared, rapidly advancing toward me.

They stamped themselves across the floor and rushed toward me.

The instant I saw them, I abandoned the shot without hesitation. Still crouching awkwardly like a duck, I bolted.

-Craaash!

Something pale punched straight through the display stand I’d been hiding behind.

Using the fog like a cloak, I crawled low and took another look.

The Seoul wizard was smashing the spot I’d just occupied with her concrete slab. Striking again and again, obviously filled with irritation and rage.

-Boom, boom, boom!

Then I saw her pull something from her coat. The moment I noticed it, I immediately ducked behind a mannequin and another display stand before sprinting away in the opposite direction.

Every step crushed shards of dull glass, ruins of Seoul, beneath my combat boots.

And then a chilling sound spread throughout the entire department store.

-Beeeeeeeep.

The distinctive signal tone of a walkie-talkie. A moment later, the woman’s slightly hoarse voice echoed through the darkness.

[Hey, soldier-oppas, do you know what a curse is? It’s something I learned.]

Inside the darkened department store, only one woman was laughing as she wandered around.

I sprinted as quietly and quickly as possible through the maze of displays and mannequins.

My rifle tucked beneath my right arm, I still avoided the red footprints pursuing me and weaving through the fog.

-Tap, tap.

With the sound of fingers drumming against something, the Seoul wizard’s voice grew increasingly sadistic.

[You know, as long as you have the principle of equivalence and substitution, it doesn't matter if you turn those things off. If mine’s on, yours turns on too.]

At that moment, a cold chill crawled down my spine.

Then inside the darkened department store, a deafening chorus erupted.

-Beeeeep.

-Beeeeep.

-Beeeeep.

Walkie-talkie signals rang out everywhere. Above, below, and all around us.

Apparently there were still survivors who had kept their radios switched off. 

The Seoul wizard’s attention shifted toward them. The red footprints pursuing me vanished. Cruel as it was, there was nothing I could do to help soldiers whose locations I didn’t even know.

Right now, I was already using Eyes-branch magic just to stay alive. I couldn’t afford to waste it trying to track down scattered troops.

Not when the Seoul wizard already knew I possessed Eyes-branch magic.

She’d clearly realized I didn’t know where the soldiers were.

At the very least, she’d figured out they belonged to a different group. Had she realized it because I never attempted radio communication? Or because wizards typically didn’t move together with soldiers?

Either way, she’d learned how to hunt using false compassion as bait. Just like any survivor who had managed to stay alive in a Seoul filled with monsters. 

The moment I started searching for the soldiers with Eyes-branch magic, she’d find and kill me.

But fate had a twisted sense of humor. 

The lingering radio signals suddenly cut off. And the last transmission had come from somewhere very close to me.

In an instant, red footprints flooded the area.

There was only one place left where I wouldn't be discovered. Behind a pillar near the railing.

10 seconds.

Within those 10 seconds, I darted behind the pillar faster than a cockroach fleeing a shoe. Then I heard sobbing. The Seoul wizard’s heavy footsteps no longer sounded leisurely.

-Thudthudthudthud...

I placed my finger on the trigger.

A moment later, the concrete slab swung through the air. It smashed through display stands and mannequins that had been providing poor cover. Not yet. I needed to wait until she relaxed.

"Hwaaaah…Aagh!”

"Wait, soldier-oppa, I’ll give you a kiss. Come here!”

"Aagh, uwaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Now.

I shifted my grip on the rifle and lunged out from cover.

And finally I understood why Shin Nain hated the Seoul wizard so much.

"Hmm~ smooooch~."

"Agghrrr... Khhhrrgghhhhh…”

It wasn’t a cute little kiss.

The Seoul wizard had extended a tongue stained with ominous blood and smeared it across the face of a soldier whose gas mask had been removed. Eyes merged with eyes. Facial features blurred together. The skull softened and melted. Everything was being stolen.

The soldier’s hands flailed desperately, trying to tear her away, but a man who had already lost his head could only claw at empty air. 

A magic that stole everything. Memories, experience, knowledge, wisdom, fresh brain cells, and the central nervous system. It only left behind nothing but scraps.

—A twisted inversion of Tongue-branch magic, which originally symbolized acceptance and transformation.

It took exactly 1 second for me to understand all of that.

The moment I pulled the trigger, the cluster of overlapping eyes turned toward me.

Smiling, the Seoul wizard slammed the chunk of concrete she was carrying down in front of herself to use as a shield.

-Ratata!

Bullets either buried themselves in the concrete or ricocheted away.

One round hit her left thigh before the shield came up, that was all.

Without hesitation or a trace of regret, I turned and ran.

At that moment, the height of the clearing fog changed.

‘Get down.’

It was pure instinct.

I stumbled as if I’d missed a step, my body tilting forward, when something was thrown from behind me.

Apparently there was a wall directly ahead, because I clearly heard the impact.

-Bam.

The soldier with the crushed, mangled head hit the wall with his limbs twisted at unnatural angles, leaving a smear of blood behind him, as he slowly slid downward.

I adjusted my footing and ran right past him.

I hadn’t seen his name, but I’d seen his rank insignia. Private First Class.

That was when I heard a familiar voice.

"Baek Jemin! Get down!”

I threw myself to the ground at the pastor’s shout.

Looking back was pure reflex. Not because I couldn't control my curiosity. Because I knew that simply running forward wouldn’t shake off the pursuit.

And thanks to that, I saw the Seoul wizard charging forward behind her concrete shield and the grenade slamming into that very shield.

The explosion came the instant I turned my head.

With the ringing in my ears returning full force, I grabbed hold of my unsteady legs and kept running.

Through the fog, I spotted the familiar faces of the Supreme Archmages.

Lee Sejun was casually tossing a grenade up and catching it like a baseball pitcher warming up. Shin Nain was quietly humming a hymn.

Pastor Park Yohan had his K2 tucked under one arm and aimed in my direction. With his free hand, he was gripping Hamza by the back of the neck.

The pastor shouted.

"That bastard’s losing it!”

Only after I stumbled back into the group, looking ready to collapse, did I realize how hard I was breathing.

It would’ve been stranger if my heart weren't about to explode. My legs were shaking uncontrollably. The problem was that the hand holding my rifle was trembling too. Not from fear.

It was simply the result of a delicate gentleman like myself being forced into a series of violent evasive maneuvers.

"Jemin-ssi, this is why people need to exercise! Magic runs on stamina too!”

"Huff, huff…”

Lee Sejun grinned confidently as he gripped the grenade like a baseball pitcher preparing to throw a fastball. I didn’t even have the energy to answer.

I raised a hand, caught my breath for a moment, and shared what little I’d figured out.

"It’s not Eyes or Ears. Tongue and Heart. Not sure about Hand.”

Shin Nain stopped singing his hymn and glanced over.

"Jemin-ssi, you figured that out?”

"She’s vulnerable to detection. The ambush when we came up the escalator proves it. She probably focused on that route because it was the most likely approach.”

I swallowed dryly and absentmindedly brushed a hand against my gas mask.

The Seoul wizard was an experienced hunter.

I realized it too late. When she contacted us through Sergeant Bang Giseong’s radio, she deliberately gave off the impression that she was more humane than expected. She’d used the soldiers like props in a WWE match, making us anxious and impatient.

The dead escalator was also an easy landmark in the dark department store, an environment where it was difficult to pinpoint locations by sound or sight alone.

I figured out her tactics too.

Using the fog, the indoor terrain, and the physical enhancements granted by Heart-branch magic, she ripped apart absurd obstacles like chunks of concrete and used them as shields. Ordinary bullets were blocked by those makeshift barriers. Then she’d charge in at terrifying speed, close the distance instantly, and force a close-quarters brawl.

One thing was certain, though. She wasn’t an Eyes-branch or Ears-branch wizard.

If she were an Ear-branch wizard, she would’ve found me long ago while I was crawling around. And if she were an Eyes-branch wizard, she’d have been far more cautious. Which raised another question…

Had she fought Eyes-branch and Ears-branch wizards before? Was that why she fought this way, using psychology to pressure and overwhelm her opponents?

Either way, she was someone who had to die.

But there wasn’t enough time to explain all of that.

"She specializes in ambushes and relentless pressure. Be ready for close combat.”

At least having Shin Nain around was one small blessing.

That Shitmaster could understand everything without me having to spell it out.

The slight furrow between his brows behind the gas mask lenses, aligned with his urgent but disciplined, by-the-book movements, was proof enough. Lee Sejun clipped the grenade back onto his belt and shrugged at Hamza.

"Hamza-ssi, you know the drill, right? Pull the pin, shove it in her mouth, boom. Express ticket to heaven. Okay?”

"O-okay.”

"Okay, my ass. Don’t you know that suicide won’t get you into heaven?”

Hamza started trembling as Pastor Park Yohan dragged him along by force.

Now that we’d regrouped, I believed things would be easier.

But my still-active Eyes-branch magic showed me the shifting fog. The fog below waist level had cleared completely. Above that, the air was packed solid with mist.

"Get down!!!”

We shoved one another aside and hit the floor.

I slammed down onto the ground with a splat and looked up just in time to see something hurtling overhead. It was the chunk of concrete that had been shattered by the grenade. The concrete projectile flew off and smashed into something with a deafening crash.

Only then did I realize we’d been separated.

In fog this dense, even a short distance might as well have been miles. At least this time the pastor and Hamza were nearby. Pastor Park Yohan had thrown himself expertly between a cluster of mannequins and was groaning while rubbing his lower back.

"Ow, ow, ow. I’m too old for all of this.”

"Pastor, Hamza…”

Before I could finish, I heard footsteps. Fast.

The Seoul wizard who’d just thrown a massive chunk of concrete now moved with terrifying lightness and ferocity.

She knew how to flow across broken rubble like water running over stones. The sound of pebbles rilling and cracked surfaces splintering blended perfectly with her footfalls as she charged.

The sounds overlapped.

And so did my movement as I rolled over while clutching my rifle.

As I wriggled across the ground, my eyes met the Seoul wizard's, who was charging through the fog.

Her face, after literally eating an entire human head, looked bright and cheerful. Her eyes shone with energy, showing no trace of fatigue whatsoever, but the most important thing was this. She was ridiculously fucking fast.

Faster than I could shoulder my rifle or tuck it under my arm.

Before I could blink, she had already leapt into motion, leaving footprints on the wall itself as she ran along it, sliding downward while sprinting straight toward us.

There was no time to hesitate.

Without even bothering to aim or trying to fire from the shoulder, I pulled the trigger.

I kept pulling.

Even knowing the rifle was shaking and the muzzle was wandering wherever it pleased, I just kept firing.

Shell casings flew out. Bullets buried themselves in walls or ricocheted away.

But despite blood pouring from her left thigh, the Seoul wizard merely staggered a little before continuing forward with a crazed grin.

I heard the pastor and Hamza shouting behind me, but the outcome looked hopeless.

-Click, click, click, click…

The sharp smell of gunpowder mixed with the fog. The empty chamber fell silent.

I was out of ammo.

That was when the Seoul wizard burst out laughing and charged.

In front of her, Pastor Park Yohan scooted backward on his backside and shouted.

"Faith!”

At that moment, while scrambling across the floor, his hand bumped into a mannequin.

Seeing it topple, Hamza screamed and bolted like a startled deer.

"Aaagh! Angel-nim!”

As Hamza crashed into everything in sight, the abandoned mannequins became tangled together and toppled one after another.

One of those falling mannequins happened to collide with the pastor’s raised knee.

-Thunk

It bounced away. The mannequin staggered forward and, by sheer coincidence, collapsed across a display case. The now-empty display case caught the mannequin's upper body. 

And that position happened to be directly in the Seoul wizard’s path.

Of course, she paid it no attention and tried to use the mannequin as a stepping stone.

That was when the mannequin, unable to withstand the weight and pressure, gave way like rotten wood.

Just as the Seoul wizard planted her foot on it and launched herself forward, the mannequin collapsed with a crunch beneath her, like the ground itself had vanished.

"Huh?”

Even the Seoul wizard looked dumbfounded by this development.

I was probably making the same expression.

Only one person reacted differently.

Pastor Park Yohan burst out laughing inside his gas mask and tucked his K2 beneath his arm.

"Those who believe shall be saved!”

Ratata!

The pastor wasn’t exactly a great shot.

But he did manage to hit her in the shoulder.

That was when I finally snapped out of my stupor.

An opening. I immediately corrected my posture and dropped the empty magazine.

Then, while reloading, I shouted.

"Supreme Archmages, assemble!”

-Clack.

Eyes-branch, Stage 2 was powerful, but if the target wasn’t in sight, I couldn't stop them. If the Seoul wizard rushed me during a single blink, I'd die instantly. I had to save it for the decisive moment. 

So I used Eyes-branch, Stage 1 instead.

As the rifle locked into place, I rolled my tongue inside my mouth.

My trust in Eyes-branch magic had now reached 100%. It had carried me through hails of bullets. It had kept me alive through the Seoul wizard’s relentless pursuit.

And more importantly, there was something fitting about this. I was a man who wielded the proper form of Tongue-branch magic, while she wielded its twisted inversion.

Evasion, hostile attack, department store wizard, 5 minutes, me.

"I’ll tank."

Those who pursue power by sacrificing others are third-rate.

The pain of others? Compared to my pain, that’s insignificant.

How could anyone challenge the pinnacle with such paltry offerings?

In an age where people won’t settle for anything less than the best, it’s foolish to treat even yourself as disposable while expecting to satisfy others or magic itself.

Only my pain had value.

That was why I offered only my pain.

—That was who I was, the Great Archmage Baek Jemin!

-Ratatatatata!

I charged forward while firing wildly.

I didn’t aim.

I was just spraying rounds to force the Seoul wizard onto the defensive.

Shot through the left shoulder, she immediately leapt backward to widen the gap.

But before she could flee, I stepped forward.

Even so, there was no way I could overcome the difference in physical ability.

The Seoul wizard also knew that. She looked at me and smiled with the corners of her eyes.

"I’ll be back soon, Oppa~.”

And then the moment she turned to run, a heavy fastball tore through the fog.

A grenade with the pin already pulled barely grazed past the Seoul wizard.

Anticipating the explosion, I instantly dropped to one knee.

Fortunately, there was a convenient meat shield standing in front of me. Namely, the Seoul wizard.

The blast erupted.

Even through the ringing in my ears, I could hear shrapnel slicing through flesh.

But she didn’t die.

I could see her trying to escape while groaning and screaming.

At that moment, Shin Nain stepped out of the fog, shouldering his rifle and aiming it in a standing firing stance.

"Almighty Lord in Heaven, guide my muzzle toward the demon!”

Gunfire and bullets rained down together.

Most shots missed. A few struck her thighs and legs.

I didn’t know the limits of her regeneration, but she wouldn’t be dodging much for the moment. Even so, she could still escape. So this time I charged, closing the distance until I was almost on top of her.

As bullets and grenade fragments tore into her body, I finally understood the bizarre symbiosis sustaining her.

And then I remembered something from long ago. Back when Monk Cheonghwi was still with us, he’d once debated with the pastor.

Both of them had argued that Alteration-type magic was a secret art meant to complete humanity.

If that were true, then was the twisted form of Alteration-type magic before my eyes becoming stronger by rejecting humanity?

Amid the mixture of damaged flesh and intact human features, I could see ribs writhing inside her body like insects.

The Seoul wizard glared at me with a mixture of fury and hatred. Then her eyes curved upward again.

She stuck out her tongue through her tattered lower jaw.

Blood was flooding between her organs and muscles, yet somehow her voice remained perfectly clear.

"You oppas aren’t very good at magic, but you’re pretty strong, huh~?”

That was the signal.

Her ribs twitched. Then the skin along her back split open as a white spine burst free and began to writhe. I took a brief look at how she was still standing after practically ripping out her own spine. The answer was absurd. The muscles enhanced by her magic were serving as a skeleton in place of her actual bones.

In the span of an instant, red footprints appeared all around me. Closing in from every direction.

With my rifle tucked beneath my arm, I began repeating the same motions over and over. Ducking, stepping back, advancing, and so on.

-Whoosh!

The spine-tail whipped past my poncho sleeve like a giant hornet’s stinger. A single graze was enough to slice the fabric clean through.

At the same time, I leveled my rifle and rested my finger on the trigger.

The Seoul wizard immediately crossed her arms, trying to protect her heart and head.

But she realized something a moment later.

A feint.

I never actually pulled the trigger.

Instead, there I was, Baek Jemin the Great Archmage, gripping the rifle with both hands and smashing the buttstock into her leg.

-Thud!

My role was simple. Lock down her mobility.

That was what I had decided.

I retreated again and raised my rifle. This time the Seoul wizard didn’t fall for it. She immediately lashed out with her spine tail.

But my eyes showed me exactly where to move.

I lowered my body, maintained my grip, and kept my finger over the trigger.

-Whooosh!

The chilling sound of air being torn apart was answered by gunfire.

-Ratata!

It was completely insane.

I, Baek Jemin, an ordinary human relying entirely on my eyes, my future sight guiding my every movement, was fighting a physically enhanced wizard who had reached a higher realm through symbiosis with a monster, with but an AR-15 tucked beneath one arm.

Even knowing my poncho was being shredded apart, even knowing death was closing in…

I kept going. Feints overlapping with movement. The will to flee collided with the will to capture the enemy before me.

Shell casings bounced across the floor. Muzzle flashes erupted. And every time they did, blood and flesh followed.

Thanks to that, we Supreme Archmages were able to establish our positions.

While I fought a creature that swung its spine like a tail, split the air with its fists, and shattered flooring with a single kick, the others successfully completed their repositioning.

The first to join me was Pastor Park Yohan. Having regained his footing, he raised his rifle and took aim.

"Best of the Best, take this!”

A hail of gunfire filled the air.

I stepped backward for a moment to catch my breath.

Evasion, physical strike, fatal injury, 5 minutes, me.

Now the plan was simple. Avoid friendly fire. Close the distance. Keep her pinned. It was complete insanity but possible. And because it was possible, it was magic. Dopamine was flooding through my veins.

Meanwhile, the Seoul wizard tried to escape the crossfire, but someone was already waiting beside a display stand on her flank.

Shin Nain had calmly finished reloading and settled into a firing stance, aiming without any hesitation.

He didn’t say even a single word.

Then he began shooting at the Seoul wizard with careful, deliberate precision. One round at a time.

There was no escape.

The Seoul wizard staggered with every bullet that hit her. She couldn’t find an opening to flee.

Then she looked toward me with a bizarre smile on her face.

Her ruined jaw hung in tatters. Her tongue stretched out grotesquely. Blood-mixed saliva dripped from it in thick strands, but I knew exactly what she was thinking.

She was targeting my magic.

My eyes.

That was when I heard Lee Sejun shout.

"Jemin-ssi, your back!”

Before I could even respond, the weight of a grown man landed on my shoulders.

That bastard Lee Sejun had used me as a stepping stone.

Using me for momentum, he vaulted forward and momentarily cleared the Seoul wizard’s head.

Rifle aimed the entire time.

But the tail of the Predator Spine symbiote was faster.

The spine-tail that had been targeting me suddenly changed targets, going after Lee Sejun.

He managed to adjust his grip and bring up his rifle like a shield, but he couldn’t avoid being knocked away by the impact.

Still, it was an opening.

The moment the Predator Spine’s tail became distracted by Lee Sejun, I immediately pulled the trigger and charged forward.

-Ratatata!

Side, chest.

Bullets punched into her exposed internal organs, spraying blood. Without the Seoul wizard’s evasive movements and the Predator Spine’s interference blocking my aim, this was only natural.

All the tricks she’d been using until now, offering up less vital flesh, taking hits on her arms and outer muscles, and minimizing the area that could be struck, became meaningless in the instant.

The pain and damage finally overwhelmed her. I saw uncertainty flicker through her eyes.

Before her desire to flee could even form, her body staggered first.

I bet everything on this. If she were capable of dodging by reading the direction of my muzzle, then I couldn’t give her a chance.

I drew my combat knife with my left hand. My right remained on the trigger. The rifle stayed tucked beneath my arm as I charged.

Target, kill, department store wizard, 3 minutes, me.

I sprayed bullets while swinging the knife.

I could see the trajectory that would sever tendons. My body couldn’t quite keep up with what my eyes showed me, so I wasn’t able to inflict perfect damage, but that was enough.

Every time a cut opened across her flesh and blood poured out, her movements slowed.

I became certain of one thing.

The Seoul wizard had never fought a wizard who charged at her while simultaneously firing a rifle and swinging a blade.

Yet even as bullets tore through her flesh and organs, she still tried to kill me. 

When I slashed her hand, one of my gas mask straps was sliced clean through.

When I blasted rounds toward her abdomen, a backhand swing from her created enough wind pressure to force me backward.

Even while Pastor Park Yohan and Shin Nain tried to pin her down, she continued protecting her head by twisting her body. Eventually I ran out of ammo.

-Click, click, click…

Through the haze of gunpowder smoke, the Seoul wizard listened to that empty clicking sound as if it were a birthday song.

"My birthday’s today. Thanks for the present~.”

-Tap!

Ignoring her injuries entirely, the Seoul wizard charged. Her aim wasn’t my life but my knowledge, wisdom, experience, sense, and magic.

The momentum of the battle flipped instantly.

I didn’t even have time to think about blocking with the rifle stock.

It was nothing but pure evasion.

My poncho was shredded to rags in moments, and the attacks aimed at me became increasingly precise. The terrifying part was that nothing ever struck above my neck.

The Seoul wizard’s tongue flicked hungrily.

I, Baek Jemin, age 28, endured solely through the conviction that my first kiss could not end up being something like this.

That was when I heard Hamza shout.

"Sejun-ssi!”

That bastard Hamza. I thought he’d completely run for it. Apparently not.

Panting as he came springing up behind the Seoul wizard, Hamza pulled out the absurdly huge revolver hanging at his waist and threw it. Well, ‘threw’ wasn’t quite right, I was more like he rolled it like a bowling ball across the floor.

Either way, the massive revolver ended up in the hands of one man.

-Clack.

At the cold metallic sound of a cylinder locking into place, confusion flashed across the Seoul wizard’s face.

"One shot, one kill!”

Lee Sejun shouted dramatically, after which the revolver roared.

-Boom!

When the shot rang out, everything was still hanging by a thread.

The tail of the Predator Spine symbiote had managed to deflect the bullet, but the price was its own severed tail, which spun away through the air.

That was my moment. I swung the combat knife.

The blade bit into the line between her jaw and cheek. I felt it scrape against teeth as I drove it through with all my strength.

-Slash!

Blood and flesh exploded outward.

A long section of tongue was severed and sent flying in a spray of blood.

My left hand became drenched in the Seoul wizard’s blood.

But I didn’t stop.

The gap between her throat and skull. The opening where bone and muscle had already split apart.

I swung downward with everything I had.

At that moment, resentment surfaced in the Seoul wizard’s eyes.

I didn’t care who or what she directed her resentment towards.

I only needed to know one thing.

The ones surviving today were the Supreme Archmages!

-Slash!

Clutching at her nearly severed neck, the Seoul wizard staggered backward and fell onto her backside. But even then, she didn’t die.

Whether that was because she’d reached a higher level of Heart-branch magic or because it was a trait of the inverted Alteration-type magic, I couldn’t say.

But one thing was certain. The Seoul wizards were no longer escaping death.

Lee Sejun’s ridiculously oversized revolver rose toward the center of her forehead.

-Clack.

"One shot, one kill."

-Boom!

Her head exploded.

Only then did Shin Nain casually kick aside a spent casing and walk over.

"She’s dead.”

"Huff, huff…”

Only afterward did I realize I was gasping for air.

It had been exhausting and overwhelming…

And far too exhilarating. Unable to contain myself, I pulled off my gas mask.

The damp fog settled against my sweat-soaked face.

I looked around at the Supreme Archmages and grinned.

"We’re stronger than we thought, huh?"