[Be careful!]
A magic formula that was both the foundation and the end of fire-element magic.
A ‘Fire Sphere’ came flying in.a
‘Damn it……. Just what rank is that?’
The formula itself was extremely simple, but depending on the quality of mana infused into it, the rank varied wildly—a peculiar kind of magic.
The moment Diesel’s group noticed the mass of fire and scattered in all directions, an explosion erupted from the sphere by a hair’s breadth.
‘Ugh……!’
Kwa-gwaaang……!
Along with a tremendous roar, scorching heat burst outward.
The blazing high temperature instantly melted every floor and pillar within the sphere’s radius.
From that single spell alone, it was enough to estimate what level of mage Heavyskull was.
‘At least 3-star.’
Two stages higher than Diesel right now.
A level evaluated as the highest realm one could reach through training alone.
“We should’ve gone out like this from the start.”
Heavyskull continued coldly.
“There’s no solution more reliable than violence, but those corporate bastards just can’t seem to understand that.”
Pajijik!
This time, bluish sparks scattered in all directions like dust.
Where they passed, flames flickered, taking the shape of screaming faces.
‘A combination of an Electro Field and the fire-element Enjōhon (Blazing Soul)…….’
Both were extremely high-tier spells among lightning and fire magic.
Combining spells from different elements was a realm impossible even for Diesel right now.
‘This is pretty dangerous…….’
Perhaps sensing a powerful spell being prepared, Matafil shouldered his weapon and shouted.
[We have to block it!]
Click.
A 14.5mm high-velocity armor-piercing round—capable of punching through steel plates as if they were plastic—finished its firing preparation.
A monstrous weapon that would require constant effort just to lift for an ordinary person.
If fired without proper cyberware, the immense recoil would shatter not only the shoulder but even the ribs—a rifle reserved for so-called ‘barbarian-style cyborgs.’
The muzzle spat fire at a terrifying speed.
Tududududu……!
“Hm…….”
The armor-piercing rounds flew precisely toward Heavyskull’s skull.
But they were blocked by something and bounced off futilely.
The ricocheted bullets left circular impact marks everywhere amid a chilling noise.
‘It’s not just a simple magic barrier.’
The energy pouring out from his wrist.
‘A strength amplifier.’
Magic cyberware that enhanced the wearer’s manifested barrier dozens of times over.
‘It’s protecting against magical damage as well, not just physical.’
Just how expensive was that equipment?
Judging by the color of mana radiating from the barrier, it seemed to be at least on par with the defensive magic systems mounted on Titan.
“To break this, you’d need to bring in orbital weaponry.”
At the mocking remark, Matafil shouted angrily.
[Pinkbit, link the portals!]
The instant the words ended, the space in front of the cyborg distorted.
Then, dozens of portals tore open at once—jjeoeok!
It was a sight like standing before a desk lined with dozens of monitors.
Though each portal formed in a different position, they all focused on the same subject.
Heavyskull, manifesting magic on the fifth floor.
“Try blocking this too.”
Indeed, the weakness of such a barrier was that it could not protect evenly in all directions.
If bullets poured in simultaneously from every side, no matter how expensive the equipment, some part would eventually be pierced.
To stop the magic that skull was about to unleash, a single shot slipping through would be enough.
Matafil’s muzzle split into several with soft tuk, tuk sounds.
And at the same time—
Tududududu!
Dozens of rounds were fired toward all the open portals.
“As if I’d forget about that rabbit bitch.”
But just before the bullets crossed the space—
Phaaang……!
Along with a peculiar sound, a dense teal-colored wave swept across the area.
‘So that’s why he hadn’t used it.’
A wave emitted from a spatial coordinate disruptor.
Judging by the density of the light, it was several times stronger than the disruptor used by the weapon Titan.
Even Diesel, unaccustomed to the sensation of magical space, felt a hint of nausea.
“Ugh……!”
Pinkbit, hit head-on by the disruptive wave, collapsed clutching her head.
Along with her, the portals flickered, then popped out of existence.
“Damn it……. Pinkbit!”
“Ah…… aah……!”
The Baekto Tribe Beastman thrashed in agony, red blood flowing from her ears.
Matafil hurriedly injected a stabilizer into her.
‘Her life isn’t in immediate danger.’
More important was accurately grasping the situation right now.
〈Ar.〉
〈CCTV hacking complete. In three minutes, guards will swarm in from the south entrance.〉
〈How many?〉
〈Quite a lot. Around forty, and they’re well-armed. The bigger problem is that in twenty minutes, Cheonrang agents will arrive.〉
Twenty minutes until megacorp agent support.
They had to get out of here somehow before then.
〈And, Master…….〉
Ar displayed an image on Diesel’s artificial cornea.
‘…….’
A dark space. A woman was slumped in front of a monitor emitting a faint light.
‘Kang Da-hee…….’
Though the image was blurry and her face hard to see, Diesel recognized her instantly.
〈Location?〉
〈The fifth-floor monitoring room.〉
In a way, the whereabouts of the most important target had been confirmed.
Now the problem was…….
‘This damned magic…….’
The Electric Field Heavyskull was manifesting.
A powerful electric field that restricted the target’s movement.
It was a high-output lightning-type spell Diesel himself had used to awaken the demi-god Baekung.
Back then, Diesel had barely managed to complete it with the help of an auxiliary generator, but now Heavyskull was manifesting it with his own power.
On top of that, it was combined with the fire-element spell ‘Enjōhon,’ which hunted down its victims…….
‘Immobilize them, then spew fire that tracks the target. It’s an inescapable combination.’
[Diesel! What’s the next plan?]
Fortunately, because it was such a powerful spell, it took a bit of time to deploy the formation.
He had to use this precious time somehow.
With that, Diesel suddenly sat down cross-legged on the spot.
[W-what are you doing?]
[Listen carefully.]
[What?]
[Guards are flooding in from the south entrance. They’re well-armed, about forty of them.]
[…….]
[Stop them by any means necessary.]
Then he dragged the case Pinkbit had been holding and placed it in front of him.
[What are you planning to do?]
[From now on, I’m going to try something pretty dangerous.]
He then looked at Matafil with a serious expression.
It meant that he would be completely defenseless and needed to be protected no matter what.
[…….]
[You said you trusted me.]
[That’s right.]
[I’ll trust you too, so hold out.]
[Ha……!]
Matafil burst out laughing and lifted his weapon.
[When we get out, buy me a drink.]
[I’ll pour it until you puke.]
Click.
As the case’s lock was released, a pure white light poured out.
‘So this is the Type-19 lightning spirit core…….’
A shining oval sphere, small enough to grasp in one hand, was growling with tiny sparks all around it.
It felt like staring straight at it for too long might blind me.
‘There’s no time.’
Originally, I had planned to slowly analyze it and accept its power, but right now every second counted.
To subdue Heavyskull, I had to absorb this core immediately.
‘It has to work properly.’
With the core in front of me, I gently closed my eyes.
Then, among the Mana Meditation techniques I had learned from Kang Da-hee, I recalled the method of a certain ominous magic tower.
A region where dense mana clouds had formed semi-permanently due to the aftermath of the last corporate war.
Because of that, a place in northwestern Romania where eternal night persisted, home to a secretive organization.
The Umbra magic tower.
‘I was told it could be dangerous…….’
What I was about to attempt was the Umbra magic tower’s meditation that forcibly devoured mana, ‘Ravenous Void.’
‘Who came up with that name.’
I had thought it sounded a bit overdone, but the moment I actually tried it, I realized that wasn’t the case at all.
‘Ugh…….’
The instant I shaped a space to accumulate the mana core, an insane hunger surged up.
Even though I had slightly adjusted the intensity since it was merely a space to stack stars, it was still this bad.
‘Now I get why Umbra magic tower mages are shunned…….’
The mages of the Umbra magic tower were infamous for absorbing others’ mana like vampires.
If they lived with this kind of hunger every day, it was only natural they’d go insane unless they replenished their mana that way.
‘I can’t rush it too much.’
The urge to absorb all the mana of the core right in front of me assaulted my mind, but I desperately suppressed the desire.
This artifact wasn’t an ordinary lump of mana—it was the core of a Type-19 spirit.
If I took all of that in at once, I’d definitely burst without being able to digest it properly.
Thinking that, I cautiously grasped it in my hand.
Sparks flailed violently, to the point where it went beyond stinging and felt painful.
Along with it, I felt a small pulse, like a beating heart.
‘Normally, I’d have to absorb it slowly over several hours, but…….’
This was an extremely special situation.
That was why I had chosen the extreme technique called Ravenous Void.
This meditation literally allowed me to absorb by ‘devouring’ greedily.
‘What does it taste like?’
As I slowly brought it to my mouth, Matafil—who had been glancing over while keeping watch—turned pale.
“What are you doing right now…….”
Crunch.
The first bite was so tiny it was embarrassing to even call it a bite.
The moment I did, sparks started bursting—pababat!—inside my mouth, as if a small bomb had gone off.
‘Ugh…….’
There was some candy like this, I think.
The kind that pops the moment you put it in your mouth.
If you took that junk food, removed the sweetness, and stuffed it full of burning pain, that would be about right.
And unlike candy that ended in the mouth, I could feel everything as it went down my esophagus toward my stomach.
‘To the mana core…… properly…… it has to go…….’
I felt like I was going to lose consciousness from the pain.
I had taken such a tiny bite, yet it was already this bad.
It was unbearable, so I hurriedly injected a painkiller.
Then I immediately prepared the next bite.
‘There’s no time…….’
This time, I bit off a much larger piece than the first.
Pain surged in, beyond what even the painkiller could block.
“Kuhhh…….”
A rough breath escaped, sparks spraying out of my mouth.
At this point, I felt like I could even use the Brain Dragon’s breath that Betty had unleashed.
Just then, the guards Ar had warned about began to pour in.
[Whatever you’re doing, keep focusing!]
With Matafil’s precise shooting, the heads of several who entered first burst apart.
But I had no room to pay attention to my surroundings.
‘Hurry, the next…….’
Crunch.
The third bite, the biggest yet.
And accordingly, the pain was the greatest.
“Kyaaaah……!”
I screamed uncontrollably.
I hadn’t even consumed half of it yet.
How many more times did I swallow like that?
“Guhhh…….”
By the time it felt like my mouth and esophagus were melting and flowing down.
I finally devoured the entire core.
‘Now, control it…….’
From my sweat-soaked skin, furious static electricity snapped—tuk, tuk.
As massive amounts of mana flooded in, the walls that had been suppressing my limits shattered to pieces.
It felt like the vessel called the mana core was breaking and expanding.
‘Ugh, this pain isn’t trivial either.’
A tearing pain bloomed near my heart, like muscles being ripped apart.
But thinking of it as growing pains from an increase in total mana capacity, it didn’t feel entirely bad.
With my eyes tightly shut, I gathered the new lightning-type mana into one place.
The pure-natured mana that the Type-19 spirit had possessed.
‘Even after increasing this much, there’s still space left to use…….’
My mana core had already grown into a vessel capable of holding an enormous amount of mana, yet there was still plenty of room left to develop.
‘It’s absurd potential.’
I whipped the new mana like a raging current and guided it in a single direction.
Toward the pitch-black void meditation used by the Umbra magic tower.
Until now, with superhuman patience, I had suppressed that void’s attempt to suck in mana.
Now it was time to release everything.
‘Go on, eat.’
The moment I freely released the power I had been holding tight.
Like a black hole swallowing light, the mana the core held converged into a single point.
The terrifying surge shook the inside of the core violently.
The aftereffects caused even the surrounding mana to be affected, trembling along with it.
But there was no mana that could escape the powerful control I wielded.
[Diesel……! Is it still not done……?]
Meanwhile, the situation around us was spiraling out of control.
Matafil was using every weapon he had to block the entrance somehow, but the enemies were simply too many.
On top of that, the Electric Field Heavyskull was manifesting was almost complete.
[I’m fine, Pinkbit.]
Kwa-gwaaang……!
Suddenly, a huge explosion sounded nearby.
Even so, I couldn’t show the slightest agitation.
Because.
‘I have to concentrate.’
The mana star I was about to create was extremely special.
“What is this…….”
From above, Heavyskull—who had been weaving his magic—felt the suspicious mana waves spreading around me and muttered as he looked down.
“You……. What are you doing right now…….”
For the first time, fear seeped into the skull’s voice.
Then I opened my eyes.
Bearing newly born power.
‘With this, I can do it.’
In a highly elated mood, I rose to my feet.
Then I began to grasp the new power that had taken root within me.
‘Lightning-type Attribute Awakening.’
An ability that could only be obtained by absorbing, without leaving a single shred, all the mana of a Type-19 lightning spirit.
A secret art attainable only by fully completing a mana star with that lightning power.
Its name was.
‘White Lightning.’
Pajijijik……!
The lightning of the attribute-awakened White Lightning (White Thunder).
Burst out around me.