Chapter 29 - The Magic Now (1) (1/2)

The Magic Now (1)

“Yoo Ji-yeon.”

“Please call me ‘sister.’”

“How can you still joke around in this situation?”

“The more difficult it is, the more positive we should be.”

Yoo Ji-yeon gave a little laugh as I lie there bleeding. She seemed relaxed.

The attack on the Great Crack was unsuccessful.

To be precise, the team I was leading failed.

Even though I requested for more manpower, the guild did not permit it.

They refused my request because they didn’t want to pay that many hunters for this mission.

As a result, thirty veteran hunters were wiped out.

We could have cleared this crack without any casualty if we had ten more hunters, but the guild chose to get more profit than listen to my words.

“Yoo Ji-yeon, please go out. Leave me here. It would be better if a witch survived, not an analyst. Wouldn’t it be better for public opinion? It would be better than an analyst who failed the attack and drove his hunters to death. Tell them we all fought hard but were wiped out together.”

“I hate you. I told you to call me ‘sister.’”

“Stop kidding. If that monster pops out, you might not be able to escape anymore, too.”

I coughed blood. There’s not much time left. Thanks to that damn Excellent Insight, I can even analyze my body condition.

Two hours.

Then, I will stop breathing.

However, Yoo Ji-yeon seemed to have no intention of listening to me.

She was still smiling brightly.

Before I could say another word-

Qiao-!

A giant snake appeared, breaking through a wall.

It had a man’s arm on its mouth.

It’s the monster that swallowed all my colleagues.

“I don’t like this… leave me alone!”

The torn arm fell to the ground. The snake’s tongue flicked in and out rapidly.

A thick scent of blood filled the narrow space.

Yoo Ji-yeon stood up slowly, with her face calm and relaxed.

She stood proudly in front of the monster, like a soldier.

“It’s a mage’s natural enemy…” I warned her, spitting out blood.

You can’t do this.

I should tell her to run away, but I could not speak anymore.

I helplessly watched her from behind.

“Does it have a magic void? No… magic works, but I can’t use them… I don’t know if something is disrupting the mana sequence, or if it could block all magical skills and traits. Because of it, all our hunters died. The wizards could not support them.”

Yoo Ji-yeon’s fingers were bouncing as she spoke.

She was proud of her magic, but unfortunately, even her skills didn’t work.

Mana didn’t gather in front of this monster, making witches and wizards unable to perform magic.

“Just run away… It hasn’t seen us yet. It’s just attracted to the scent of my blood. Take advantage. Run away while I buy you time. You’ve done everything you could.”

“…”

“Hurry!”

Despite my warning, she did not back down. However, she changed her posture a little and started to cast magic again.

“No. I can’t let anyone die in front of me again.”

Unbelievably, with only a slight change in her gestures, mana began to forgather around her.

“I haven’t told anyone… but I’ve used this in the past. Once,” she said.

Mana began to surround her like a storm. Light purple energies filled the quiet interior.

The foolish snake rushed with its fangs bared toward Yoo Ji-yeon.

“That’s not so scary,” she said.

With Excellent Insight active, I checked Yoo Ji-yeon’s magic.

Unmatched.

It was something unprecedented, something on a different level of unfolding. The skill correction – there was none like this in history.

It was as if it had been learned from another world.

The monster that devoured thirty hunters could not survive the storm.

It slowly began to be torn apart in pieces, until it was dissolved into nothingness.

I swallowed unconsciously.

The greatest mage.

It suits her.

“Let’s go,” she said.

“Yes, sister.”

* * *

“Well, Si-woo?”

“Sorry.”

I was carried away with old thoughts. When I raised my head, Yoo Ji-yeon, much younger than in my memories, was staring at me innocently.

“Oh, okay. You’re supposed to be in class today, but you can leave because you’re in the senior class, right?”

She took the apple in my hand.

“By the way, what do you mean that your magic is not working?” I asked her.

“Right. I need your help.”

She clapped her hands.

“Look at it.”

Yoo Ji-yeon began to gather mana in the usual way she does.

We were in the Academy’s training ground, so there was nothing wrong with using magic during the conversation.

With Yoo Ji-yeon’s stance, I was visually confirming that her mana flow was no different.

Soon, the magic will be formed.

However-

“Ahh!”

Yoo Ji-yeon stumbled backward. The mana she gathered scattered; the magic she was creating dissolved.

“Ouch… Did you see it? It keeps going like this. I use magic like I always do, but now it breaks down before it is finished.”

“…”

“Why would it do that? I think you can help me… Si-woo?”

I was speechless. The Traveler was, too.