novelraw Chapter 49 : Chapter 49
Chapter 49 : Chapter 49
Chapter 49. The Prodigal Son (5)
Rumble-
The dark clouds covering the sky above Doban Distilling gradually thickened as they gained density.
A strange weather phenomenon not befitting this clear day.
Of course, that itself wasn't a strange occurrence.
Clouds gathering and dispersing was something that happened quite often even on clear days.
Even so, these dark clouds were clearly strange.
Because they were formed at a suspiciously low altitude.
The altitude where the dark clouds were dense was at best the level of a 5 or 6-story building.
On top of that, the area these dark clouds covered was limited to exactly just above the front yard of the Doban Distilling main building.
In other words, it was exquisitely covering only the area where the battle was currently taking place.
However, neither the mafia side nor the Ha Do-yeol organization side recognized this strangeness.
It was natural.
In a situation where blades and bullets were flying right before their eyes, it wasn't easy to raise their gaze above their heads.
But at some point, they had no choice but to feel a sense of incongruity.
Although the situation above their heads was none of their business, the shadow thickening due to it was too plainly visible.
“Hm……?”
“Uh……?”
One by one, those who were fighting began to feel the strangeness.
Because the surroundings suddenly became dark.
Only then did they raise their heads one by one to look up.
Finally, they discovered the thick dark clouds blocking the pouring sunlight.
But none of them observed those dark clouds closely.
They were already distracted because of the battle anyway.
However, if they had looked into the clouds just a little closely, they would have been able to see.
The shape of a serpent swimming inside the clouds.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't a serpent.
It was a dragon.
It was Saya.
In other words, these dark clouds themselves were generated by Saya using the dragon's ability, ‘Weather Manipulation.’
And Saya being here meant Riman was also in the vicinity.
In fact, Riman was standing on the roof of a building not too far away.
“Is it almost complete?”
Riman was calculating the timing while watching the dark clouds gradually gaining density.
If the density of the clouds exceeds a certain level, it falls as rain and the clouds break apart, but if the density is low, sufficient output cannot be produced.
The moment reaching exactly that boundary line was the timing Riman was aiming for.
‘Did it take roughly 3 minutes up to here.’
It took about 3 minutes for Saya to generate dark clouds of that range.
It was quite a long time, but it couldn't be helped.
Saya was still a baby dragon.
The important thing was that no matter how much time it took, he could cover that range.
Rumble-
And the density of the dark clouds soon reached a critical level.
The time had come.
Riman’s skin absorbed the mana in the air, and his brain called upon images necessary for magic.
‘Bronze tentacles, soaring bamboo, spinal cord of an iron pillar.’
Images overlap to create meaning, and meaning forms magic.
Black electricity spewed out from Riman’s palm.
Crackle……!
The wildly flowing electricity took on an elongated form at once.
Soon the lightning formed the shape of a long spear.
[Lightning Spear]
A spear of condensed electricity was completed.
Riman threw it up toward the sky with all his might.
Javelin throw.
The Lightning Spear left Riman’s hand.
Being massless, it soared up too lightly and fiercely.
Whish!
The Lightning Spear plunged into the dark clouds Saya had made.
At the same time, the inside of the dark clouds, which were extremely tense, began to fluctuate.
Sizzle……!
Sudden intrusion of a high-energy body.
Due to that, the moisture particles constituting the dark clouds turned into plasma and were torn apart into positive and negative charges.
And the mana contained in the dark clouds accelerated this physical phenomenon several times more.
Structure accelerates toward instability.
Instability creates energy.
Soon, electric power hundreds, thousands of times the amount of the Lightning Spear began to fill inside the dark clouds.
The dark clouds, which were merely thick, turned into high-energy thunderclouds in an instant.
Zap, zap……!
Electricity that the dark clouds couldn't fully contain flowed out intermittently.
Even at this point, there was no one who didn't notice something strange.
But belated realization was of no help in a situation like this.
Because Riman was already extending his mana into the dark clouds.
A massive amount of lightning filling inside the dark clouds.
Riman grabbed and gripped that lightning with his mana.
And after one deep breath.
Riman pulled the lightning down below the clouds with force.
Like a dam collapsing and a torrent bursting out.
The electricity trapped inside the dark clouds poured down to the ground.
Hundreds of streaks of pitch-black thunderbolts poured over the heads of the mafia and Ha Do-yeol’s gang members.
“…Damn it.”
There was no time to leave a long last will.
Finally, the lightning strikes descended.
KABOOM!!
Hundreds of streaks of black lightning struck the ground.
Thunderous sounds that seemed to tear ears swept the city center, the ground shattered, and those directly hit by the thunderbolts were roasted black.
Whether they were Ha Do-yeol’s gang members or mafia, they all rolled over becoming corpses without exception.
Manifestation of magic, timing, result; everything was implemented according to Riman’s intention.
Seeing this scene, Riman felt a cold sense of elation climbing up his spine.
‘…Success.’
Creating new magic by combining Saya’s weather manipulation ability and his own magic.
That experiment succeeded perfectly.
He confirmed that the synergy of Saya’s ability and Riman’s magic could exert sufficiently effective power.
‘Let’s name this technique [Heavenly Thunder] for now.’
Naming created magic was basic.
That way, the phenomenon could be captured as a concept and subsumed within the system of thought.
[Heavenly Thunder].
Certainly, the power was tremendous.
But apart from that, supplementation in terms of practical use was needed.
Because considerable time was needed to make the dark clouds to execute this magic.
And if the target was inside a building, it was difficult to expect sufficient damage.
That was why Riman dragged the Vietnamese mafia into this board.
To drag Ha Do-yeol’s gang members out of the building.
And to keep them held within a certain area until just before [Heavenly Thunder] poured down.
To maximize the effectiveness of this one magic shot, Riman had put meticulous effort into this setup.
Like that, [Heavenly Thunder] finished its splendid debut match.
Both the mafia and Ha Do-yeol’s side took devastating damage from this.
But he couldn't completely annihilate them yet.
Because some mana users withstood the lightning strike somehow, and a small number of troops inside the building were still intact.
And above all, the main target, Ha Do-yeol, hadn't even shown his face on the battlefield yet.
There was only a flashy prelude, but the main fight hadn't even started yet.
And this main fight wasn't something Riman could fight alone.
Because manpower to sweep up the remnants while rummaging through the grounds and buildings of Doban Distilling was absolutely necessary.
And that manpower was already prepared.
Thud-thud-thud!
The police SWAT team led by Inspector Park Jae-il entered inside Doban Distilling.
* * *
“…Crazy.”
“Why is something like that… possible?”
Immediately after [Heavenly Thunder] poured down to the ground.
Park Jae-il and his subordinates doubted their eyes.
A scene where hundreds of streaks of lightning scorched an area the size of a playground.
Even those lightning bolts were black.
A scene too surreal.
It seemed as if a part of the apocalyptic landscape was projected intact into reality.
Indescribable chills swept down their spines.
But emotions are emotions, missions are missions.
They are the police SWAT team.
Ruining an operation due to momentary emotions was not in their dictionary.
Park Jae-il recalled Riman’s instructions.
-Lightning is the signal. Breach immediately right after that.
‘Did he mean this.’
Although the scale of the lightning was tremendous beyond imagination, lightning is lightning anyway.
It was too obvious that now was the breach timing.
Park Jae-il sent a radio message through his earpiece.
“All personnel, breach.”
Thud-thud-thud!
Park Jae-il and the SWAT team members breached toward Doban Distilling from multiple directions.
Their actions were agile and skillful, and their equipment was faithfully suitable for that.
Bulletproof helmets and vests, assault rifles, grenade launchers, and even tactical shields.
Inspector Park Jae-il’s current position was the captain of the police SWAT team of the relevant station.
Therefore, he could mobilize elite troops of this level.
Breaching into the front yard, their muzzles aimed at those still alive.
Remnants who luckily survived amidst the baptism of lightning.
Park Jae-il’s troops pulled the triggers toward them without hesitation.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
“Argh!”
“Gack……!”
After finishing the cleanup in an instant.
They divided into several teams and finished preparations to breach inside the building.
Thud-
And threw flashbangs into the building from various directions.
Bang-bang-bang!
Explosions and flashes swept the inside of the building.
Immediately after that, the SWAT team attempted to breach without giving a gap.
And killing and suppression began straight away.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!!
The bursting gunshots were chaotic, but the movements of the members were extremely restrained.
Efficiency creating maximum results with minimum movement was steeped in their gestures.
Like that, Park Jae-il and his subordinate members carried out their duties quickly and accurately.
But even at that moment, Riman wasn't entering inside Doban Distilling.
Instead, others rushed in.
Vroom!
Several vans gathered in front of the main gate all at once.
Car doors opened, and people holding guns poured out.
Surprisingly, they were also members of the police SWAT team.
Those wearing the same uniform as the members who entered just now.
They were also personnel belonging to the same station as Park Jae-il.
But they were a different faction from Park Jae-il’s members.
Currently, the inside of the police station in this area was split into several branches.
Among them, the biggest faction was exactly the police chief’s line.
In other words, the power of those colluding with Ha Do-yeol’s side was the greatest.
Park Jae-il’s faction was the side opposing that.
Those who arrived now were the chief’s faction.
And the fact that they rushed into Doban Distilling……
‘It must mean the chief is involved in this board right now.’
There are two possibilities.
Either the chief deployed police forces to protect Ha Do-yeol.
Or the chief is also isolated inside there.
Riman quietly gazed at the footsteps of the running members.
Riman’s keen senses carefully analyzed the tempo of those steps.
A person's movement reveals that person's emotions.
The tempo and stride of their footsteps were disrupted.
The emotion revealed there was urgency.
Therefore, it was more reasonable to see it as coming to rescue their superior rather than coming to protect a boss of a violent organization.
Riman sent a radio message to Inspector Park Jae-il via earpiece.
“The chief’s faction SWAT members are breaching.”
“As expected.”
“So about that, the probability that the chief is currently inside Doban Distilling is high.”
“……!”
Park Jae-il gulped without realizing it.
In such a melee, no one can be held responsible no matter who dies.
Even if the chief dies.
‘If done well…….’
Strength went into Park Jae-il’s hand gripping the gun handle.
At the same time, a faint smile rose on the corner of his mouth.
‘I can get rid of that old man.’
But rather than the chief, the situation faced right now was the problem for now.
A situation where members of the opposing faction were rushing in from behind their backs.
If those members start intervening in this melee, the scenario of killing the chief practically goes up in smoke.
Park Jae-il asked Riman.
“From which direction are those members coming in now?”
“Don't worry.”
“What?”
“Because I will handle it.”
Stomp.
Finally, Riman walked inside the main gate of Doban Distilling.
What unfolded before Riman’s eyes was the spacious front yard and the SWAT members running across it.
Sizzle-
Riman approached their backs and gathered the surrounding mana.
Saya, who was swimming in the air, also descended to Riman’s side.
“Let’s go, Saya.”
As if responding to this, Saya’s scales rustled.
The atmosphere began to vibrate faintly again.