Chapter 60 – LV.Twelve Mage Oh Haengun – [Two]

I don’t know what plan Kim Jongil had when he did this. I don’t know if he intends to flee to the provinces to escape the enraged Orc, or if he plans to obtain a Meteorite Fall Spell Scroll and wipe out Happy Village in one go. Also, it’s true that it would be fine to live in this village instead of Happy Village.

Still, I have to fight. Not because I don’t want to be taken away quietly, but because that’s the way to handle things smoothly.

The enraged Orc will surely invade. Whatever preparations Kim Jongil has made, blood will eventually be shed.

Regardless of whose blood it will be, I can’t just stand by. I won’t be the one who caused all of this.

I saw men with weapons right in front of me.

Like the boys who came from the neighboring village, they were also emaciated. I saw their faces. At this close distance, I could even see how many wrinkles they had. Their appearances clearly showed traces of hardship while not eating properly.

Confusion appeared on their wrinkled faces.

Seo Yun fiercely, with amplified Strength, struck the chest in front of her. Even a sparring sword is like a lump of iron. I felt ribs breaking, and the man collapsed with a groan.

Just as I had easily knocked down the two standing on either side.

“Drop your weapons!”

Seo Yun turned her head toward the sound. She saw a man holding a gun.

Meanwhile, Kim Jongil’s voice came from behind. As if frustrated by the man’s shout, he gave an order.

“You idiot bastard, just shoot!”

Hearing that, Seo Yun thought. Yeah, judging by the warning, it seems he definitely doesn’t intend to shoot right away.

That was admirable, but on their side, they probably couldn’t ignore their Commander’s words.

Sure enough, the gun barrel turned toward me.

Well, then there’s no choice. Seo Yun drew her Burning Sword.

Kim Jongil shouted again.

“Shoot!”

The gunman’s finger moved toward the trigger.

Watching the back of his hand twitch as if convulsing, Seo Yun thought. So he’s going to shoot after all, what should I do?

It doesn’t make sense to block a bullet when even arrows are impossible to block. However, I’ve thought about this for such situations. Thanks to a memory of reading some novel, it was a possible idea. Can I do it now?

The gun barrel pointed at me flashed. Of course, the important content is inside.

Seo Yun focused her Spirit beyond the gun barrel.

She felt the fire dwelling inside. Concentrating… the moment a spark formed…

She extinguished the fire.

An expression of ‘Huh?’ appeared on the face of the man who pulled the trigger. He probably thought it misfired. Now it was possible to guess that the bullet was jammed inside.

Seo Yun rushed in and drove the Burning Sword into the man’s shoulder.

Screaming miserably, the man collapsed. That scream was drowned out by the ‘Bang!’ of a gunshot.

That fucking bitch. Seo Yun glared at the middle-aged woman who had just shot her. She seemed to have aimed for the head. The pain felt in her ear made Seo Yun grit her teeth.

As if trying to shoot again, the woman loaded another round. Seo Yun tried the attempt she just succeeded at again. Focusing her Spirit…

Fire blazed inside the woman’s gun, but this time she missed the timing. Of course, she couldn’t catch every fleeting moment.

The finally fired bullet pierced through her side.

Once again, a burning pain spread throughout her entire body. Seo Yun bit her lip and thought. The price for failure is high, but well, it was my first attempt anyway, and with one success and one failure, isn’t the result pretty good? I’ll have to practice later or something.

Anyway, with the Burning Sword leading the way, she rushed at the woman too. The woman’s eyes widened. Clearly a reaction of not understanding how she could come running after being shot. The woman, perhaps frozen in surprise, stood rooted to the spot and didn’t even try to avoid the sword.

“Kyaaak!”

She gave her a sword stab in the thigh. She could see leather and bone burning simultaneously.

The woman, who had seemed tough, rolled on the ground screaming a tearing scream.

“What are you doing! Shoot all at once, you idiots!”

As Kim Jongil was shouting, Seo Yun swung the Burning Sword. This time, the sword strike was aimed not at a person but at the tent pole.

The tent collapsed. Seo Yun swung the Burning Sword above her head, cutting away the leather that was about to fall on her.

Others in the tent floundered as if trapped in a net. In this situation, only Seo Yun was free.

As people struggled to escape the collapsed tent, the tent rippled accordingly.

Seo Yun grasped their movements with Soul Sight and was about to drive the Burning Sword into their shoulders, thighs, and such when…

Footsteps were heard. Not just one or two, but the sound of dozens rushing at once.

Seo Yun, raising her head, sighed inwardly. Of course, in this commotion, others wouldn’t just stay still.

“What’s this?” “What…”

Villagers were gathering. Some of them held weapons, and among the weapons were several guns.

Instantly surrounded, Seo Yun glared at them all and gripped her sword.

She would swing the Burning Sword at all of them. Wherever it hits on their bodies, it would be terribly painful, and the probability of death would be high, but she couldn’t show mercy. It’s not that kind of situation from the start.

And above all, she knows that doing this would cause less injury and fewer deaths than letting the enraged Orc invade and swing a giant Warhammer.

On either side of Happy Village’s main gate are two Stone Statues that look like they belong on medieval European buildings.

With leathery wings, the statues resemble giant bats or medieval dragons—they are Gargoyles.

They are items provided by the village stonemason. Long ago, Happy Village’s Mage Oh Haengun drew Magic Circles on those statues with Meteor Magic, making them his subordinates.

The Mage’s telepathic wave awakened the two statues.

The two Gargoyles guarding the main gate flew up. Stone wings lifting their rocky bodies into the sky seemed impossible to anyone’s eyes, but an unknown power transmitted from somewhere made that unscientific flight possible.

Kang Junseok looked at the girl while holding a gun.

She was a girl said to have been kidnapped from another village. A girl possessing all kinds of useful Magics.

That girl, whose in-game profession is Priest, was an incredibly precious existence not only in the game but also in reality.

They brought such a precious girl from a large village. Even to Kang Junseok, who is ignorant of circumstances between villages, it seemed trouble would follow.According to Kim Jongil, he had devised some sort of countermeasure, but he said it would remain a secret until the day itself.

However, I received instructions to pack my belongings in advance. Given that I didn’t have much in the way of belongings to begin with, it wasn’t particularly difficult, but as I packed my bundle, curses welled up inside me. In the end, are we just going to flee far away?

I didn’t know whether we’d flee to Gyeongsang Province or Jeolla Province, but it was clear that a path of hardship lay ahead. Still, what could I do? I had no choice but to follow orders.

Naturally, I also had to comply with the order to point a gun at the kidnapped girl.

Three years ago, when I was working part-time at a convenience store and bowing and scraping even to middle and high school customers, I could never have imagined doing something like this. But upon closer reflection, it seemed that fundamentally, nothing had really changed. Humans are ultimately like a flock of sheep—when others follow, you follow too.

Kang Junseok moved his finger to the trigger. The girl was running around wildly, making it difficult to see her exact features clearly, but judging by her build alone, she was small.

He hesitated to shoot that tiny girl. As he was hesitating, his eyes met Kim Jongil’s, who had just emerged from the collapsed tent. It was chilling. Perhaps because blood was streaming from the back of his hand, his eyes were bloodshot.

Those beast-like eyes seemed to be demanding why he wasn’t shooting and just standing there. He felt afraid.

Well, then there was no other choice.

Kang Junseok pulled the trigger… Something seemed to be stuck inside, and the bullet didn’t fire. A firearm malfunction? Whatever. It was actually for the better.

In any case, to show that he had at least tried to shoot, he pulled the trigger several more times.

But bang!—a bullet fired from another direction struck the girl’s shoulder.

Empathy kicked in, and Kang Junseok closed his eyes, only opening them again after a moment.

He saw the girl, as if she hadn’t just been hit by a bullet, running fiercely and stabbing the young man who had shot her with a knife. But that wasn’t the end of it.

Another gunshot rang out. This time, the bullet struck the girl’s back.

This time, he thought she would really fall, but the girl just swiftly turned her back and glared at whoever had shot her.

Perhaps because it was a pistol bullet that had just hit her, her body didn’t even sway. It felt as if the blood that had just splattered was a lie. It didn’t even feel real.

Watching the girl gripping her knife and charging again, Kang Junseok was utterly terrified. If she had just used a flashy Magic Spell to knock everyone down, he could have accepted it, but this situation was completely incomprehensible.

Then, he saw three people aiming at her simultaneously from different directions. Even under that terrifying threat, the girl didn’t flinch and kept running.

Just as the three were about to fire—

Thud, a sound echoed. Not just once, but multiple times.

This village also had its own Fortress Wall. It was roughly built from the debris of collapsed buildings, and between the walls, there was something resembling a gate.

From that direction, a continuous roar echoed. Thud, thud… He had never heard it in person, but he imagined that this was the sound of a battering ram striking a gate.

And then the gate collapsed. The massive monster that had broken the gate was revealed.

“Monster…?”

Someone muttered, but Kang Junseok, having played fantasy games to some extent, could give a more accurate name.

It was a Golem. He also knew that Mages controlled them.

Did it come alone? No. Behind a heavy tank, there are always infantry protected by its massive frame.

Behind the giant Golem, pale bones were visible. They were Skeletons. It was clear that they too were controlled by a Mage. They all carried K-2 Rifles. They said Happy Village was doing well, but it was absurd that even the firearms given to Skeletons were better than theirs.

The Golem that had broken the gate advanced. Skeletons wielding assault rifles followed behind it.

The Golem’s movement speed wasn’t particularly fast, but the idea of stopping that rocky giant was impossible. With every step it took, the thud, thud sound continued to echo.

Amidst this, screams erupted from the surroundings. While everyone was distracted, it seemed the girl had stabbed another person with a Burning Sword.

There was no time to worry about that now. The Golem was crossing the village.

Someone brave climbed into a truck and hastily started the engine. Then, driving as if to ram into the Golem, they charged, but the Skeletons behind it didn’t let it happen.

Bang, bang! After a few gunshots, the truck powerlessly crashed into the Golem. The truck’s wheels couldn’t keep rolling. The Golem pushed the stalled truck aside with both arms.

Someone shouted as if screaming.

“Fireball Scroll! Bring the Fireball Scroll!”

As instructed, someone brought a scroll made of leather.

He knew where that scroll came from. It was purchased from something—not human, but a monster called a Mage.

Scrolls that activated instantly were too expensive, so they had only managed to buy two, but the scroll brought now seemed to be the kind that required reciting a long incantation to activate.

The man holding the scroll likely wasn’t familiar with the English written on it. Moreover, in the urgency of the moment, he seemed anxious. He recited the Spell over and over again.

Finally, the Fireball was launched—after the girl, running around in all directions, had taken down over seven villagers, and the Golem and Skeletons had drawn even closer.

Even from this distance, the explosive pressure was palpable.

The fireball, drawing a red glowing line through the darkness, struck the Golem’s lower body and exploded. While the explosion didn’t seem capable of shattering the rock, it appeared to have burned the tar-like substance at the joints.

The Golem’s body crumbled.

“Great shot—”

Someone cheered, only to have a bullet embed itself in their mouth and fall.

It seemed the Golem’s body had absorbed the full force of the explosion. The Skeletons behind it were unharmed. Those Skeletons were now using the collapsed Golem as cover, firing in all directions.

Amidst this, a shadow fell from the sky. Bat-like membranous wings—for a moment, he thought demons had invaded, but upon closer look, they were Stone Statues.

‘I don’t know much, but it seems those things were also sent by the Mage.’

Their long, hook-like fingers were also pulling the triggers of K-2s.

The entire village was already in a state of emergency, but now, with gunfire raining from the sky, everyone had to run around to avoid it. It was chaos.

Amidst this, the girl showed no mercy to those fleeing, stabbing them with her knife.

“Ah!”A burning sword pierced through a man’s shoulder and emerged. The pain alone was enough to make a person faint. Collapsing like that, he looked as if he were dead.

Kang Junseok’s body trembled.

This time, the man who fell was a friend he usually got along with well. Seeing even him collapse, Kang Junseok clenched his fists.

The fact that she was an abducted girl was forgotten. Now, finally, rage surged. That fucking bastard, if he was going to get caught anyway, he should have behaved quietly instead of pulling this shit just to save his own skin…

Anger nurtured murderous intent. Kang Junseok threw the gun that seemed jammed and picked up another one.

As he raised that gun, his eyes met the girl’s. He felt the rage that had just surged moments ago extinguish.

He was seeing the girl’s face for the first time now. She was a beautiful girl. The first he’d ever seen in his life…

Her small lips parted.

From that mouth flowed a low, yet clear and distinct warning.

“You lot, if you’re going to get fucked up, you’d be less fucked if you got fucked up by my hand. If you don’t even want that, drop your weapons and get down on the ground.”

Kim Jongil shouted as if driven by malice.

“What are you doing? Shoot!”

Kang Junseok was in the midst of carefully aiming the newly picked-up gun at the girl.

Now the girl was looking at everyone around her. She spoke so that all of them could hear.

“I’ll say it again. All of you, put down your weapons and get down.”

Of course, no one obeyed the words of a small girl. Even though a burning sword was in her hand and several people had already fallen by that blade.

No matter how scary the Wolf is, sheep, after all, are supposed to follow the words of their existing shepherd, aren’t they? Kang Junseok also remained still, neither firing his gun nor getting down on the ground.

Light seeped into Kang Junseok’s eyes.

A dazzling light in the dark of night.

Amidst only Farming lights illuminating the village, a new light source appeared, illuminating half the village.

That light source appeared behind the girl’s head. That was also something he was seeing for the first time in his life… To describe it as it appeared, it was a burning ring.

And within the flames, not only red but also yellow was mixed. The burning ring also gave the impression of a golden ring with a scorching red heat blazing around it. That golden light was brilliant.

With that light as a backlight, the girl shouted.

“Get down!”

At that shout, everyone’s bodies froze.

Kang Junseok continued to stare blankly at the girl.

Then, he met the girl’s eyes once more. Her lips seemed to twitch as she looked at him, but he couldn’t pay attention to that now. Even the murderous intent that had just arisen in his heart was now nowhere to be found.

Looking at the girl with the Halo, Kang Junseok thought. He couldn’t accurately describe that appearance, but he could say it simply. It was Divinity. A girl who was not human was there.

Only the thought that he should obey her words came to him. Kang Junseok kept thinking. Yes, certainly, right now, that’s the right thing to do. Whether it’s because he doesn’t want to shoot the small girl or because he fears the future repercussions.

Kang Junseok threw down his gun. Then he knelt and fully prostrated himself.

It seems he became the first sheep to yield to another shepherd’s staff. Another village man glanced at him, was astonished, and then cautiously followed his action.

When two did it, three followed; when three did it, six began to follow. Eventually, everyone around prostrated themselves. Except for Kim Jongil, who had been slumped over since earlier, clutching his wrist.

“Hey! You motherfuck—”

Kim Jongil, who was about to shout something, screamed. The girl who had approached him plunged the burning sword into his crotch.

Since ancient times, many have died from shock during castration; with that, he might really die. Indeed, Kim Jongil collapsed, foaming at the mouth with his eyes rolled back.

The moment he saw that, what Kang Junseok felt was an intense sense of relief.