Chapter 87 - Battle City (7)
10 min read ·
Raziel was dumbfounded at the sight of Yo-han being carried away by the Gnomes and tried to regain composure to stop him.
"Stay right there! ...Ah!"
But Elsea, the original owner of the body, emerged from within.
"Aaah! Raziel-nim! It's a Gnome! A real Gnome!"
With her elegant, cold, pretty face and sparkling eyes, she scooped up the Gnome that had blocked Raziel's path and lifted it high.
"It's even cuter than I imagined! I want to build it a little house in our convent garden and raise it!"
The Gnome, instantly subdued by Gnome-grappling, flailed its short arms and legs, tearfully crying out for Yo-han.
"W-Waaaaah... M-Master... Gnooome...!"
"...E-Elsea, now is not the time for this."
Raziel calmed Elsea and pried open the hands gripping the Gnome.
Thud.
"Hieeet!"
The Gnome fell and landed on its rear, then scurried off in a mad dash to catch up with the other Gnomes.
It wasn't as though Elsea's interest in the Gnome was the reason they lost him.
Raziel let out a quiet sigh.
"Haah...."
That detestable demon would have interfered with the pursuit regardless.
Raziel gazed in the direction Yo-han had fled, then turned to the side.
With cold eyes, Raziel glared at the red-haired Duchess Gremory, who had taken the form of a young girl and was gathering crimson magical energy in her hand.
"...What are you scheming?"
Gremory withdrew her magical energy and spoke in a soft voice.
"We happened to cross paths and get acquainted~ I simply became interested."
There was no reason to hide it, and lies didn't work on Raziel anyway.
"Don't you think he's cute? All prickly like a hedgehog with his quills raised?"
Raziel's face went blank.
"Hah?"
That man who spewed vulgar words and mocked Raziel even in the face of death, a hedgehog?
'A hedgehog!'
A savage-tongued wolf would be more fitting.
'Woof woof... Grrr... Yap yap....'
The image of Yo-han's weary face looking up at Raziel with a smirk surfaced in the angel's mind.
'...Well, he does bark like a dog, so I suppose it fits.'
Gremory smiled alluringly with a gentle expression.
"Though, looking at the situation... I suppose I should withdraw for today."
".........."
Just as Raziel had given up pursuing Yo-han because of Gremory, Gremory had also lost Yo-han because of Raziel.
They were angel and demon.
Gremory had only intervened to save Yo-han.
She wasn't the type who enjoyed fighting, so with Yo-han gone, there was no reason to clash with Raziel.
Besides, if they fought in earnest, regardless of who won, the collision of power would cause civilian casualties.
Neither Raziel nor Gremory wanted that.
After all, one was a demon, and the other an angel who cherished humans.
Raziel and Gremory.
Proud blue eyes and alluring red eyes regarded each other for a moment.
And then, without further obstacle.
A flock of white doves fluttered, and Gremory vanished without a trace.
Soon after, Elsea's body shrank, returning to its original girlish form.
There were two reasons Raziel had backed down so easily.
The first, naturally, was to avoid putting strain on Elsea's body.
A gentle voice flowed once more from <The Book of the Angel Raziel>.
[Elsea, how is your body?]
"...I'm a little tired, but I'm fine!"
[I'm glad to hear it.]
The divine descent of the angel Raziel, borrowing Elsea's body.
Being a powerful spell, it naturally caused mental and physical fatigue, but since it was angelic magic, no separate price was required.
However, just as Yo-han had guessed, there was an inconvenient condition...
An essential prerequisite for casting the spell existed.
'Pure prayer.'
And so, even at this very moment, girls belonging to the Sacred Maiden Convent in Finland were taking turns maintaining the prayer needed to sustain the spell. In three rotating shifts.
As long as the prayer continued, Elsea was invincible.
Of course, since it involved containing an immense amount of the divine within her body, the longer it was maintained, the greater the physical toll, but still.
In any case, Raziel continued in a gentle voice.
[Elsea, unless they pick a fight with us first... let us postpone killing Yo-han.]
"I don't mind either way, but... why the sudden change?"
The second reason Raziel had backed down so easily was the decision to postpone killing Yo-han.
[...Setting aside his mockery, he didn't use Outer God magic even in a moment where he could have died.]
He had used an Invisible Vampire, a beast from beyond, but that was an exception, as it was a Familiar that automatically came under his command once he became the master of <De Vermis Mysteriis>.
...He was controlling the grimoire, not being controlled by it.
And he was not only the master of <De Vermis Mysteriis> but also of <The Lesser Key of Solomon>.
Raziel decided to observe him a while longer.
***
The Gnomes carrying Yo-han had come underground to avoid any other humans that might be outside, and were moving diligently when.
"Tiwaz (ᛏ)."
A surging mass of Rune Magic force struck the Gnomes.
"Hieeet!?"
CRASH! CLATTER!
The Gnomes went flying like bowling pins, and Yo-han, who had been carried above them, naturally tumbled across the ground.
A black-haired man of Nordic appearance.
Hard, the wizard and leader of the mercenary band, looked at Yo-han lying on the ground.
"In the end, it's the dog that clings on till the very last that gets to tear off the meat. Am I right?"
He had been knocked down by Yoannis, fled underground, and then spotted Yo-han and given chase.
Ambushed while being transported by the Gnomes.
"Haah...."
I immediately drew the Glock from inside my coat while still on the ground and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Ba-bang!
Hard had anticipated this and already raised his left hand, pressing his index finger and thumb together in a circle with the remaining fingers folded.
"Raidho (ᚱ)."
Runes carved into his body, reinforced through hand signs and spoken word.
The protective rune created a shimmering barrier that deflected the bullets' trajectories, sending them grazing past.
At the sight, the corner of my mouth twisted involuntarily.
'Fuck... every Tom, Dick, and Harry can block bullets.'
Not literally every Tom, Dick, and Harry, but since most of the wizards showing up to capture me were top-tier combat wizards.
They tended to have countermeasures for firearms.
I staggered to my feet and ran while keeping him in check with the gun.
Bang! Bang! Ba-aang!
...Could it even be called running? My body was tired, and I limped along.
Regardless, I quickly scanned my surroundings, assessing the situation and my position. Then I spotted a certain door.
[Electrical Room]
.
.
.
Hard cautiously pursued Yo-han, focusing on the sounds.
Bang! Ba-ang... click.
...Out of ammo.
Hard's eyes went wide. He wouldn't miss this chance.
How foolish, mindlessly firing a gun with an exhausted body and wasting all the ammunition.
He burst out and closed the distance, chasing Yo-han.
Yo-han saw Hard and fled into a room with a panicked expression.
"......!?"
Hard gripped his hand axe and followed after Yo-han.
'Cutting off your own escape route.'
In the end, when lives were on the line, a civilian's true colors showed.
The room was a typical underground facility with electrical cables strewn everywhere.
Yo-han drew a One-Handed Sword but couldn't even gauge the distance to his opponent.
"Haaah... haah...!"
He swung wildly. Then he threw away the sword he had just drawn and stumbled backward, hurling random objects.
A panic attack driven by sheer terror.
At that moment, something was thrown precisely at his head, and Hard swung his hand axe to cleave it in two.
Sploooosh.
It was a water jug, and its contents spilled out.
Yo-han stopped throwing things.
'...What?'
Then Hard noticed something was off.
Looking closely, Yo-han's eyes were not panicked at all.
Dark, calm eyes gleamed coldly, as though regarding prey.
"Baecheong-oroedeawonsu sipalda-okjebumyeong okjimyeongnoejeongho-ryeong...."
What Hard had assumed was incoherent muttering from someone in a panic, Yo-han's lips were moving quietly, and his hands shifted into specific forms.
"...Hand signs?"
A chill ran down Hard's spine.
.
.
.
I extended the ring finger of my right hand, gently clenched my left hand into a fist, and turned the palm to face the ceiling.
Magical augmentation through hand signs? I use them too.
To be precise, they weren't hand signs but Daoist mudras.
"...Oroedeawonsu-sokganglim sinbyeonghwageup-yeoyullyeong."
The incantation Daoist priests used to summon the thunder god Noegong, who strikes down lightning.
"Noegong-chuin."
A spell I had learned alongside the Breathing Technique from the <Baopuzi>.
There had been no opportunity to use it in the shopping mall hall, but here it was possible.
Of course, reciting this didn't make lightning shoot from my hands. Nor did it call lightning down from the sky.
But redirecting the flow of existing electrical current was possible.
Crackle... Snap...!
Sparks flew from the severed ends of cut cables near Hard.
'Severed cables... from when he was swinging the sword earlier!?'
Hard's face contorted. He hastily cast a defensive spell.
"Raidho (ᚱ)!"
BZZZZZZZZZT!
But streaks of blue electrical current pierced through the barrier and poured into Hard's body.
"AAAAAAAAAGH!"
Sizzle... THUD!
"...Chain Lightning."
A charred, nameless corpse collapsed.
I let out an exhausted breath and stumbled my way out of the electrical room.
"Haah...."
Scouting out the kill zone before anything else, I really was becoming a proper wizard.
"Ha... ugh... cough...."
A hollow laugh turned into a cough, and now, truly free of pursuers or obstacles.
I walked out of the shopping mall on my own two feet.
Passing through the wrecked city, I walked toward home.
...My tiny studio apartment, that is.
And then.
WHOOOOSH!!
"Everyone, it's dangerous! Please stop filming and step back!"
The familiar old building, the familiar floor, the exact spot where my tiny studio apartment sat was engulfed in flames.
Firefighters and onlookers milled about the area.
WHOOSH!
I stared blankly at the fierce blaze rising from the darkness.
".........."
A beat-up little studio apartment.
'I'll sign the lease for this one.'
It had been the first space of my own after leaving the orphanage.
I came to my senses.
"Ah...."
...Well, my secret Workshop had been ransacked, so of course this place got hit too.
I opened my coat to check what I had on me.
Fumble... fumble....
An empty pistol, a silver sword, a Pentacle, grimoires, a cellphone... damn, no wallet.
That meant I must have left it on my desk for a moment.
It would have been destroyed along with the Workshop when it was attacked. It was already gone from this world.
I could go to the bank later and get a new card reissued, but... would I even be able to?
Among the attackers who caused this chaos, some must have been captured by the Special Operations Division.
Through them, the Division might have learned that I was the master of <De Vermis Mysteriis>.
No, they would find out. ...At the very least, I'd be under suspicion.
If so, I had to assume that public services were no longer available to me.
...No, nothing was confirmed yet.
When I checked my phone, there were dozens of missed calls from Si-on.
".........."
...This was a terrifying callback to make.
***
At that moment, Si-on had pinned down a wizard who had come charging out of the shopping mall hall with dark, calm eyes, and spoke in an icy voice.
"Did you see a man with black hair and a white coat? Is he alive! Answer me. Now."
"I-I don't know! I'm telling you I don't know!"
CRACK. A painful sound came from the restrained wizard's arm.
"AAAAAAGH! I saw him! But I really, truly don't know what happened to him after that!"
Si-on's eyes narrowed into a pained squint. Worry filled them.
'...Yo-han-ssi.'
...Should she have gone in to help him directly back then, after all?
By the time she entered the shopping mall hall, wizards and mercenaries had come flooding out en masse, and dealing with them had cost her even more time.
She believed it was the right call as a member of the Special Operations Division, but....
".........."
She regretted it.
She was having thoughts she shouldn't be having.