C154
"Can you handle it? His Schema will not be at the level of cadets."
"Even so, we have no other choice, right? I have to do it."
Rian slowly advanced with the Ogent's symbol, the greatsword, hanging on the ground. On the contrary, Tess moved to the side as if to get out of Falcoa's line of sight.
It was a standard two-person formation, but Falcoa didn't seem to care.
If he, who was known as the 'demon of the battlefield,' were to be manipulated by these novices, how much would those who lost their lives to his blade laugh at him?
Rian said honestly, holding out his greatsword.
"Come at me. I'll take you on."
But before he could finish speaking, Falcoa was already close by. It was an instantaneous acceleration beyond imagination.
“Keuhahahahaha!”
The tip of Rian's nose wrinkled as he defended himself against the long sword that was struck vertically. It was not a collision between swords, but rather a shock from a blow by sledgehammer.
"What is it? Already giving up?"
Falcoa wildly slashed at the greatsword. Rian's knees buckled with each impact. Eventually, he couldn't endure and put his knee to the ground.
"Urgh!"
The muscles in the arm holding the straight sword spasmed. At that moment, Falcoa's kick struck his solar plexus.
Rian's body rolled away on the ground like a ball.
“Rian!”
Tess let out a regretful shout. The situation already seemed to be over. However, contrary to Falcoa's expectations, Rian suddenly sprang to his feet.
In addition to physical strength that went beyond common sense, tenacity was also one of Rian's strengths.
"Phew, I've got a general idea now. You're at this level, huh?"
Falcoa's eyebrows twitched. However, Rian didn't stop there; he pointed his greatsword directly and provoked his opponent.
"Good. The real fight starts now. Come at me as much as you like."
“Kekekek, I’ll kill you.”
The corners of Falcoa's mouth were torn all the way up to his ears.
He was exactly as he was when he was called the demon of the battlefield.
-------------------------
Shirone opened the door and entered the building. Unbefitting a place used by a mercenary band, a tidy living room was revealed, and potted plants were lined up under the window where the sun shone.
“Where is Jis’ sister?”
Shirone went around each room. When he opened the third door, he froze, gripping the doorknob.
A pleasant fragrance came from the room. A red carpet was laid, and above it, beds and desks were arranged to standard.
Shirone looked at the woman sitting on the bed. He had only vaguely thought she would be here when he heard Tess' words, but the shock of actually encountering her was immense.
"Oh, you came, Shirone. Have you been well?"
"Marsha noona..."
Marsha was undoubtedly the head of the organization that kidnapped Yuna. Yet, she was smiling with a face so warm it was impossible to entertain such thoughts.
“Did you get home safely that day? Have you made up with your friend?”
Shirone swallowed the answer that was stuck in his throat. Marsha seemed to know he was coming but had not handed over Yuna.
"You already know, don't you? You must have heard everything."
“Oh my, why are you doing this, Shirone, it’s scary. Are you angry with this noona? I'm sorry for deceiving you back then."
As Marsha approached coquettishly, Shirone retreated the same distance away.
“Whoa, you really seem mad. What should I do for you to forgive this noona? Should I kneel and beg here? I'll do it if you want me to."
“Please give Jis’ sister back. That’s all I ask for.”
"Aha! So that's it? Oh my, you should have told me sooner. I misunderstood and thought you were picking a fight with me. Though, good-natured Shirone wouldn’t do such a thing. What a relief."
Shirone was confused. Who is this person? She couldn't understand her behavior, as if she was experiencing a different world and situation.
"Where is Yuna?"
“She’s on the second floor. If you want to take her, go ahead."
Shirone turned around. He didn't want to think about Marsha anymore. He just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.
"Oh, right. Shouldn't you take some clothes to cover her?"
Shirone's steps halted abruptly. When she looked back, Marsha was smiling mischievously.
"It's a bit awkward to see a stranger naked, right? That's why I'm telling you in advance. Don't be too shocked. She might have gone mad. My men were too rough."
As Shirone's eyes grew colder, Marsha spoke more quickly.
"I saw it from the side, too, and the screaming was no joke. Well, I wouldn't have been able to endure that either. Now that I think about it, I think I went too far. But Shirone, you know what? It was all upon my order? Still, I think you’ll understand. Because you’re good-natured Shirone, yes?”
Shirone just kept his mouth shut. That fact brought great happiness to Marsha.
“How are you feeling, Shirone?”
"What do you mean, 'how do I feel?' What do you want to hear?"
Shirone could no longer find any value in respecting Marsha. But this seemed to be a delightful event for Marsha.
"Hohoho! You really seem mad? Why are you angry at me? You said that one day, my kleptomania will be okay. But your thoughts have changed now, haven't they? Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d scolded me harshly back then? Then maybe I wouldn’t have kidnapped Yuna. To be honest, you were really unlucky."
Shirone completely turned towards her. Now it wasn't just about Yuna. Marsha had done something she should never have done.
"Huh? Answer me? How do you feel? About to go mad? Feel miserable because this noona you once adored is like this? Now thinking there's nothing left to believe in this world?"
"Like that, the feelings of others...… Do you have to listen to it with their own mouth to be relieved?"
Marsha's laughter stopped as Shirone asked.
“If you really want it, I can do it. So why do you care about my feelings? Are you afraid I'll be disappointed?"
"Don't be ridiculous! I'm mocking you!"
"Really? Then should I tell you what I think of you right now?"
Marsha's face hardened. She looked like someone who had been robbed of the option to speak, waiting only for Shirone's answer.
"I don't hate you. You're still a good person in my memories."
Marsha's expression changed in real-time. Her puzzled face gradually turned into disappointment and finally into anger.
"Stop talking nonsense. If that's really how you feel, can you forgive me? Can you smile at me like you used to, after I trampled on Jis' younger sister?"
"No. You did something you absolutely shouldn't have. If you really did that, I will never forgive you."
"Haha! Don't tell me you think I'm lying? But what should I do? I mean, it's real. Go up and check."
"Even if it's true, I don't hate you. But….”
Shirone looked at her and bit his lip.
“I'm just sad that you, who knows the pain better than anyone, would do such a thing."
Fire sparked in Marsha's eyes. Her face contorted menacingly and her teeth gritted.
She wouldn't have felt wronged if she really had trampled on Yuna. She couldn't stand it. Shirone, who seemed to know everything about her, was annoying.
"You! You really make me angry!"
Shirone hastily backed away. Marsha's zone, who penetrated with Synesthesia, was sharp enough to give a tingling sensation.
A star-shaped zone.
It was a unique sense only for the offensive type among the four types.
In preparation for Marsha's attack, Shirone confronted with a defensive type. But Yuna on the second floor got caught.
The city was a fairly difficult environment for mages. It was not a matter of simply reducing the radius of the spirit zone.
To express it as a warrior, it was like throwing away the long sword that was used as the main weapon and fighting with a short sword.
'What kind of mage could she be...'
Shirone observed Marsha and cast Photon Magic in advance so that she could immediately evade any attack.
But Marcia's magic exceeded Shirone's expectations. When she squinted her eyes and let out a piercing scream, a loud noise invaded his eardrums.
“Ugh!”
Shirone was shocked and stumbled. There was a twinge of pain, as if a needle had penetrated his ear and come out from the other.
'Sonic Cannon. She was a sound mage. This is dangerous.'
Sound mages are those who study sound. Even if it is not a human voice, it vibrates the air to create various sound waves, and the representative attack magic was Sonic Cannon demonstrated by Marsha.
The sound pressure of the sonic cannon exceeds 150 decibels. It's powerful enough to rupture eardrums and cause deafness at close range.
Because the magic is directional, amplifying the wavelength of sound, it doesn't spread over a wide radius like a laser. But because it's invisible, it's one of the more difficult magics to counter.
'I'm at a disadvantage here.'
Just as Shirone and Amy's effectiveness was drastically different depending on the situation and environment, for Marsha, who handles sound, fighting in an enclosed space was like a walk in a garden.
Shirone racked his brain to overcome the current situation. The method he finally chose was high-speed teleportation in the narrow space.
Mixing Patrol and Rainbow Drop, he moved around the room, disrupting Marsha with a complex pattern of flashes.
As soon as he had her at a disadvantage, Shirone cast Photon Cannon. However, Marsha easily dodged the magic rushing coming from the blind spot by turning her body.
'How?'
Unless she had eyes in the back of her head, there was no way to detect an attack from a blind spot.
No, even if you had good eyesight, it was impossible to avoid Photon Cannon from this distance.
"Hehe, surprised, aren't you? Surely that's not all you've got?"
"Could it be... Sonar?"
"Wow, just like someone who graduated from a magic school. You've been studying hard, haven't you?"
Sonar is the ability to read sounds. Originally, the use is maximized only underwater, but mages can materialize their zones into any medium as much as they could through their omnipotence.
The search capabilities of a Sonar expert are said to far exceed those of a typical radar in terms of density.
Therefore, it was natural that she could react at the same time as Shirone cast Photon Cannon.
"'Amplification magic is annoying. It's so uninspiring.'"
Shirone tilted his head. It was an issue that he could easily overlook, but upon reflection, it was strange. No mage would disparage the magic they've mastered.
"But I like this one."
If you have mastered Sonar, there is no need to amplify the sound. As she spread her arms, the air in front of her vibrated, and Sound Cannons flew in from both sides.
Shirone hastily cast Teleportation. But the sound was faster than his reflexes.
The high-decibel sound waves scrambled his brain, and his spell was undone. For a mage who had to concentrate his mind, sound magic was truly dangerous.
Marsha enveloped the entire building with a Side-Looking magic (사이드루킹 마법).
Like a dolphin, this powerful detection magic fired sound waves and read the echo, allowing her to accurately measure presence, direction, and distance regardless of obstacles.
Shirone was cornered. The sound cannons were impossible to defend against. Moreover, Marsha was easily dodging even the Photon Cannon thanks to the instantaneous detection of Side-Looking.
'It's really strange. Sound-based magic is highly specialized. How can Marsha, who is a mercenary, wield sound magic?'
Mages specializing in sound spend their entire lives studying and collecting sound alone.
Even if they had innate talent, this was a difficult magic to perform without academic knowledge.
"You have quite an interesting expression. I can clearly see the emotion, 'How can you do this?' written all over your face.”
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Tags:
Infinite Mage (Novel)
