Chapter 30
I cut down Moraiots with my sword. Before dying, Moraiots launched a thorn at my blind spot, but I dodged it without looking.
Then, I walked thirteen steps from Moraiots to a tree and hid behind it. Dozens of seconds later, three Mazok arrived and found Moraiots’s corpse. I stabbed the back of one Mazok who didn’t notice me and threw a dagger at another who turned at the sound. Just before the third Mazok cast a spell, I called its name.
“Xenof Iro Sing.”
Caught off guard by a stranger knowing its full name, Xenof froze, and the spell failed. I rushed Xenof and slit its throat. Knowing the next Mazok was highly cautious, I moved forward to prevent the bodies from being discovered.
I didn’t crouch or check how many enemies approached, only staring at my wrist. On it was an A157WA-1D Casio watch I bought with a D-rank Lottery Coupon. Reading the digits was unfamiliar at first, but I quickly got used to it. I turned at the set time. Simultaneously, a small twig snapped opposite me.
I had set a simple trap. It wasn’t lethal, barely even a prank. The trap was just a piece of wood precariously hung with spiderwebs, set to fall at a Mazok’s feet as they passed. Since I acted the same each time, the Mazok always behaved the same, falling for the trap every time. That brief moment was enough.
Thus, I killed the one-eyed Blaosh, the mace-wielding Yesiren, and the tall Dolra. I annihilated Moraiots’s vanguard and defeated Shirund’s main force.
All except Shirund Zen himself.
“…Intriguing.”
White horns starting behind the ears curved around the forehead toward the sky. Blue-gray skin, magenta hair, red eyes. Above all, the crown-like horns marked the Zen family, renowned for wisdom and cunning, once one of three royal Mazok houses.
Shirund wasn’t tense, even with my handgun aimed at him. Even knowing the handgun was Terra’s Black Magic.
“Use it, Black Magic user. If your Black Magic works, I’ll admit defeat today. But if not, you’ll realize there’s a wall your dark power can never surmount.”
Instead of answering, I shot at Shirund’s forehead.
With a piercing crack, the bullet, separated from its casing, spun through the barrel’s rifling toward Shirund.
—Clang!
But a translucent green barrier enveloped the bullet. Distorted by the bullet’s trajectory, the green barrier stopped a hand’s breadth before Shirund’s head.
Shirund tilted his head slightly to see me, as the distorted barrier obstructed his view. His hair swayed over his neck.
“Pity.”
As I thrust my sword, Shirund raised a finger and said.
“→Rabue, Rud Rionesa.”
A massive green beam from Shirund’s fingertip engulfed my body.
∞
I knew famous Mazok magic. The spell Shirund used to block the bullet was called ‘Arrow Shield.’ Originally meant for arrows, it shouldn’t be strong enough for bullets, but Mazok magic could be enhanced by the user’s Magical Power.
The spell Shirund used to kill me was ‘Light Ray,’ a spell he’d once used on Rebilton. Not a mere beam, it destroyed targets with intense force and heat, a Combat Magic of the Zen family.
Since Arrow Shield was well-known, I knew its weaknesses. I targeted those.
First, Arrow Shield was an enhancement magic requiring pre-casting to take effect. Attacking before it was cast could kill Shirund with the handgun.
‘Then just change the order, right?’
Kill Shirund first, then the other Mazok.
After five failures, I found the perfect ambush spot to target Shirund at the rear.
But the shot aimed at Shirund’s back was blocked by Arrow Shield again. Considering Shirund couldn’t have anticipated the attack, I had to consider two things. One, Shirund was extremely cautious, pre-casting Arrow Shield. Two, with Shirund’s Magical Power, he might ‘always’ have Arrow Shield active. The latter was more disheartening, but the order of killing Mazok became less important.
Arrow Shield had another limitation.
‘It doesn’t completely block attacks. What if I shoot from just a hand’s breadth closer?’
But I knew finding a better ambush spot was hard. Shirund’s eyes were different from other Mazok. Unless I stayed out of his field of view, he spotted me behind trees. It wasn’t just seeing Magical Power.
‘Then what if I close the distance with a sword and shoot?’
I was grateful even Shirund met my drawn sword in kind. But Shirund’s swordsmanship wasn’t on par with other Mazok.
“With such meager skill, you dare wield a sword?”
My incomplete Mazok Hunter’s Sword crumbled before Shirund. He perfectly blocked every ambush and transitioned to offense. I could barely defend. Shirund’s sword didn’t just anticipate one move ahead but three or four, and that wasn’t his limit. My low swordsmanship skill meant he didn’t need to show more.
‘…I can’t close the distance.’
Shirund constantly minded the Glock 45 in my left hand, never allowing me within Arrow Shield’s safe range. If I forced the Glock 45’s aim, my left wrist was inevitably severed.
‘…Not at all.’
At some point, I realized I’d died more to Shirund alone than to all other Mazok combined, sweating coldly.
‘This is a Madowon elder Mazok.’
I used every method available. I disrupted Shirund with a flashlight’s bright beam, set traps with firecrackers for openings, insulted him. But Shirund was robust, swift, and unshaken.
Each time, Shirund mocked me.
“Weak, Black Magic user.”
Even after observing Shirund hundreds of times, I couldn’t identify habits, wounds, diseases, or weaknesses. He was clearly on a different level from anyone I’d faced.
‘A puzzle I can keep challenging.’
I gained insight into my magic.
‘But what if the puzzle has no answer?’
The key was that I didn’t give up. I died, died, and died again, facing Shirund. I fought with my left arm severed, my throat pierced, kneeling at Shirund’s feet. I strategized how to face him next and clashed again.
After dozens more deaths to Shirund, I planned to hide the handgun in a tree hollow, grab it, and shoot.
But the plan failed absurdly.
“→Ter, Tua.”
With a light gesture, Shirund made my hidden Glock 45 spin into his hand. He used a simple trick magic called ‘Grasp.’
Shirund sniffed the handgun and grimaced. The Zen family’s Mazok had not only sharp eyes but noses.
“You thought you could hide this metallic stench?”
Shirund aimed the handgun at my forehead.
I suddenly had an epiphany.
“Aha.”
Shirund reacted, unusually.
“…What?”
“Nothing. Go on.”
“You mock me.”
Shirund fired.
I finally found the puzzle’s answer.
∞
“→Ter, Tua.”
Shirund sniffed the handgun and grimaced. The Zen family’s Mazok had not only sharp eyes but noses.
“You thought you could hide this metallic stench?”
“So the Zen family’s nobles have not just sharp eyes but noses too?”
“I don’t speak of eyes or noses. Just superior senses.”
I smirked at Shirund.
“Do you know what that is?”
“It’s a handgun, a Glock. Handguns are simple to use. This one’s loaded, so just pull the trigger.”
“You don’t understand at all.”
Shirund grimaced.
“You mock me.”
Shirund pulled the trigger. The fired bullet separated into casing and slug, but the slug hit the ‘tail of another bullet’ I’d lodged in the barrel.
The second bullet’s powder ignited, but the explosive energy couldn’t exit the barrel. I’d tightly blocked it with mud and a bent cleaning rod used for gun maintenance. The energy naturally went backward, severely damaging the slide structure of the gun’s upper part. The slide shattered, and internal parts flew toward the user’s face. A broken recoil spring gouged Shirund’s eye. Arrow Shield doesn’t activate for one’s own attacks.
I was already moving the moment Shirund fired. From experience, I knew what to watch most when facing Mazok. My blade pierced Shirund’s jaw and soared above his white crown.