novelraw Chapter 59 : Chapter 59
Chapter 59 : Chapter 59
Chapter 59. Tracker of the Mountain Sea (3)
One minute ago.
A car approaching Doban Brewery came to a stop.
There were two people in that car.
Riman and Ji Byeong-seo.
They were on their way to discuss the lease of Doban Brewery.
Ji Byeong-seo asked.
“Excuse me, why did you suddenly ask to stop the car?”
“The feeling of the air touching my skin is unusual.”
“What?!”
To be precise, a faint but constant vibration was being felt in the mana in the air.
And the epicenter of this ominous vibration was……
Swish—
Riman's gaze turned toward the Doban Brewery building.
He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but something was happening over there.
Riman opened the car window and said.
“Saya, go ahead and scout first.”
“Shaha!”
Pat!
Saya quickly slipped out of the car and flew up into the air.
Simultaneously, Riman activated sensory sharing with Saya.
Soon, all the information Saya saw and heard began to flow into Riman's mind.
The view of Doban Brewery looking down from the sky appeared on Riman's optic nerves.
The first thing seen was the half-collapsed main building.
That was a trace of the last battle, so it wasn't something to worry about.
And two men standing in the front yard.
One was Ha Myeong-yeol, and the other was……
“Who is that?”
The moment he muttered that.
Tzzzzzz……!
A black shadow began to cover the front yard of Doban Brewery.
And what popped out from there was—
Tuhwak!
A giant snake with a chicken head, Gyeryong.
“Gyeryong?!”
Why is that popping out here?!
“No, a crazy summoned beast… why?”
Summoning is also clearly a branch of magic.
So, the fact that it suddenly appeared here meant……
“…A Mage has come?”
The word ‘why?’ crossed his mind several times.
‘Where on earth did things get twisted for a Mage to get entangled in this matter?!’
He couldn't even guess.
Because in the game, there was no event of encountering a Mage at this point in time.
‘…Did the future change because I caught Ha Do-yeol too early?’
Many questions crossed his mind, but there was only one thing to do now.
Saving Ha Myeong-yeol.
Riman's purpose for coming here was to lease the building of Doban Brewery as a pharmaceutical facility.
And the owner of Doban Brewery was Ha Myeong-yeol.
Even for the sake of the original purpose, Ha Myeong-yeol had to be saved.
“Saya!”
Riman commanded Saya through his mind to save Ha Myeong-yeol.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!
Like that, Saya grabbed Ha Myeong-yeol by the collar and pulled him away, saving him from Gyeryong.
And while this was happening.
Instead of stepping onto the battlefield, Riman quickly ran calculations in his head.
‘The opponent is likely a Mage.’
Moreover, if he could summon a creature that cleanly, he must be a formally educated Mage.
An opponent who could never be taken lightly, no, perhaps the strongest opponent he had faced so far.
‘By the way, if it’s summoning… is he from Sanhae?’
Along with Arche and Gnosion, one of only three Magic Towers in the world, Sanhae Magic Tower.
This Magic Tower located in China specialized in magic commonly called ‘Outer Arts’ (Oe-beop).
Magic belonging to Outer Arts included Summoning, Spirit Arts, Necromancy, Puppetry, etc.
It was a branch of magic where the caster summons and manipulates a separate entity to manifest spells, rather than doing it themselves.
And what that person was using was Summoning among them.
Magic that summons extraterrestrial life forms and commands them according to one's will.
‘Since he’s wearing a hood, I don’t know who the caster is, but…….’
If he could summon a creature as huge as Gyeryong, there was only one strategy Riman should take.
‘One Hit Kill.’
He had to project maximum firepower in a single shot to kill or neutralize the summoned beast.
Of course, the best thing would be to attack the Summoner himself.
Because if only the caster is killed, the summoning is automatically dispelled.
A case like Saya, where the summon remained even though the caster died, was a very unique case.
However, since the Summoner himself also knew this weakness, he wasn't an easy point to attack.
So, attacking the summoned beast before the caster was the standard approach.
But magic on a scale to eliminate a summoned beast that big in one shot was still difficult to cast……
‘No, even if it’s difficult, I must catch him.’
One of the things Riman needed most right now was access rights to magic theory literature.
Normally, obtaining that right was extremely difficult, but if he secured the Mage's person, it wasn't impossible.
Moreover, the opponent was an entity presumed to be a Mage from a Magic Tower.
He had to catch that one.
Riman racked his brains desperately.
‘…Good.’
A method came to mind.
Riman said toward Ji Byeong-seo in the driver's seat.
“Open the fuel tank cap for a moment.”
* * *
Back to the present.
Wong Chen was urging Gyeryong on.
“What are you doing now! Getting caught by just one damn snake……!”
Gyeryong stopped moving, and Wong Chen's gaze was focused on Gyeryong.
Because of that, Wong Chen didn't notice what was flying from behind his back.
Piiing!
Something long and sharp flew toward Wong Chen.
It was a liquid arrow shot by Riman.
[Water Fragment Arrow]
Swaaek!
It flew straight, aiming for Wong Chen's back.
Pakang!!
And impact.
The Water Fragment Arrow shattered into pieces and scattered in all directions.
Momentarily, a thin mist spread around.
However—
“What is this?”
Wong Chen was fine.
The arrow had been blocked by the barrier he was wearing.
Of course, the barrier cracked, but that was all.
Wong Chen's gaze soon turned toward Riman.
“…What are you?”
“You shouldn't be paying attention to me right now.”
“What?”
“The arrow I just shot wasn't made of water.”
Pabak!
Flames sparked from the tips of Riman's ten fingers.
* * *
[Water Fragment Arrow]
Magic that powerfully shoots an arrow made of water.
It was Water Flow lineage magic boasting fierce penetration power and considerable range.
But the [Water Fragment Arrow] Riman just shot was not made of water.
Just before this battle began, Riman first opened the car's fuel tank cap.
Contained within was about 50 liters of gasoline.
Riman used [Water Control] to draw out every bit of gasoline inside the fuel tank.
Gulleong—
Soon, a large droplet of gasoline floated in the air.
Riman began to flow mana into the floating oil droplet.
Rotating, stretching, and compressing.
The process was done carefully.
Because this was oil, not water.
The target of Water Flow lineage magic is strictly ‘water.’
Therefore, applying Water Flow lineage magic to oil causes errors.
Since water and oil were different in everything, from molecular structure to density and physical properties.
Ultimately, they were substances with absolutely nothing in common except being ‘liquid.’
So if Water Flow lineage magic is projected onto oil, it inevitably creaks somewhere.
But Riman was different.
Senses reaching the extreme and magic talent engraved in the body.
That enabled the modification of magic on the spot.
He reassembles and optimizes Water Flow lineage magic to fit the physical properties of oil.
As a result, Riman's will is projected onto the material wholly without disturbance.
Shurururu—
It changes.
The sphere of oil turns into a line, and the line soon takes the form of an arrow.
A giant arrow close to a pike was created.
Like that, the arrow's loading is complete.
Now Riman's gaze heads toward the target.
That mysterious Summoner distracted by Saya.
The tip of the arrow made of gasoline points at the caster's back.
Kkigigik—
He pulls.
Tension bunches up tightly inside the shaft.
And soon, he releases the formless bowstring.
Piiing!
The elasticity and stress trapped inside the shaft shoot the arrow violently.
The arrow flying at a terrifying speed impacts accurately on the Summoner's back.
Pakang!
However, the arrow was blocked by the barrier and shattered into pieces.
But Riman didn't care.
Because it was what he had expected.
It wasn't a day or two that Summoners went around wrapped in barriers.
Anyway, if he could catch the guy with this one arrow, it would be good, and if not, it didn't matter.
That was why he made the [Water Fragment Arrow] with oil.
Pabak!
Pitch-black flames sparked from the tips of Riman's ten fingers.
Seeing that, Wong Chen muttered.
“What is that again……?”
S-euk—
Gyeryong also turned its gaze toward Riman following its master.
Wong Chen commanded.
“Kill that one first.”
Hu-uk!
Gyeryong lunged at Riman with its beak first.
Riman was not agitated and aimed the tips of both hands' fingers toward it.
Ten fingers, ten flames formed at their tips.
The flames burning toward the sky began to clump and condense roundly at some point.
And—
[Firefly Fire (Hyeonghwa)]
Pishut!
The flames left his fingertips at a fierce speed.
Bullets of flame smaller but faster than [Flame Bullet].
But compared to the massive frame of Gyeryong, it was an attack no different from gnats.
However, the moment the ten flames flew near Gyeryong.
Hwareuk!
The size of the flames began to grow terrifyingly.
“What……?!”
“I told you, it's not water.”
The oil arrow Riman shot was blocked by the barrier and shattered into pieces.
But the scattered gasoline became vapor just like that and permeated into the air.
And the flames Riman shot ignited that sensitive flammable gas.
Oil feeds the fire, and fire spreads into the oil.
That wide space where the oil vapor had spread fills with black flames in an instant.
Flames of a size Riman couldn't create with mana alone expand terrifyingly through the support of the oil vapor.
Hwa-a-a-ak!
A massive lump of pitch-black flame instantly swelled its body and covered the atmosphere.
Pure black flames emitting not a single point of light.
A minute perplexity spread on Wong Chen's face.
“Black flames……?”
But confusion is confusion and response is response.
He overlaid a barrier on top of the barrier and made the space between them a vacuum state.
He created a heat shield on the spot.
That wall completely blocked the heat of the flames Riman kindled.
Wong Chen muttered while looking at Riman's flames.
“This… he uses techniques I've never seen or heard of.”
Wong Chen formed a new hand seal.
The shape of the hand soon becomes a symbol, and the symbol pulls up the will inherent in the conscious world and projects it onto the world.
Tz-tz-tz-tz—
Gyeryong's feathers, which were lying flat, stand up like saw blades all at once.
It intended to shake off and scatter this massive fireball.
However, there was no way Riman would just watch that.
Riman extended his mana and grabbed the fireball he kindled.
[Coloration (Chaehwa)]
Magic that manipulates kindled fire.
The extended mana grips the black flames.
A dizzying control connecting from shoulder to fingertips, and from fingertips to flames is felt.
A feeling as if even consciousness and imagery are heating up.
Simultaneously with the completion of seizing the flames like that.
Riman projects the image kindled in his mind onto the flames.
The shape of the fireball changes.
Hu-u-u-uk……!
Clumping, tightening, rotating, and soaring.
The flame pillar that soared high soon bends down toward the ground again.
At that moment, the tips of the flames that were stretching out indiscriminately are arranged in one direction and take on a specific shape.
From the indefinable to the definable.
It transitions.
It concentrates.
Looking at those black flames, Wong Chen's expression hardens palely.
“…Dragon?”
What Riman created by manipulating the flames was the shape of a giant Black Dragon.
The very appearance Saya would reach if he properly became an adult.
Gyeryong and Black Dragon.
One side white, the other side black.
As the black and white giant bodies raised themselves, the mana in the atmosphere began to vibrate violently.
Their gazes cross.
The two face each other.
And there was no need to bother explaining which of the two was overwhelmed.
“Karak……!”
Gyeryong's body stiffened once again.
Fear rising from the bottom of instinct made its body rigid.
Of course, the thing in front of its eyes was not a real Black Dragon, just an image projected with fire.
But Gyeryong had seen a real Dragon, Saya, just a moment ago.
The fear felt at that moment began to spread again now.
And this itself was Riman's intention.
This shape of the Black Dragon itself was created under Riman's thorough calculation.
Pareidolia.
A psychological mechanism that seeks to extract a clear and specific image from an ambiguous shape.
Gyeryong found the appearance of a Black Dragon in the shape of the fireball, and what resulted was real fear.
And fear stops movement.
Towards the frozen Gyeryong, the flames in the shape of a Black Dragon swooped down.
It was the moment the Black Dragon swallowed Gyeryong.