Chapter 182
“Boom!”
Blood spurted from his shoulder.
He threw his hands up in the air and shouted.
“Quick, quick, run……!”
I didn’t stop there, I kept pulling the trigger.
-Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
Tokarev continued to breathe fire.
But
-BANG!!!
With a metallic clang, the bullets ricocheted off the ground.
The one who grabbed him by the shoulders caught his breath and managed to control his expression.
“Hmph, hmph…… haha, I didn’t expect you to start shooting at me, I could have gotten really hurt if I let my guard down.”
He smiles, not even flinching when a gun is fired in front of his nose. It’s ugly to try and act calm now.
Whether it was because he was an arms dealer or because he thought he was safe, he quickly regained his composure.
In that short time, he’d already created a shield of magic around himself.
No, he’d already prepared it, because there’s no way he could have created such a solid shield in an instant.
At the same time, I felt a chill from below.
I shove Julie away and roll to the side, and a jet-black spike rises up from where we were standing.
“Eugene Han Corleone, I already know about you from Zhu Ying-Dal. Started out as a Corleone Hitman at a young age. A man who took out former Corleone executives, dealt with the Triad’s Awakened, and has recently been solidifying himself as Corleone heir apparent.”
Huh? This is what the world thinks of me?
“My original target was only Julie Rodman, but if I can plant a ‘seed’ in you as well, it wouldn’t be bad…… No, it would make things even better.”
Seeds……?
Uh, maybe?
“By seeds, do you mean the seeds of evil?”
For the first time in his life, his relaxed expression turns to one of disbelief.
“How do you know?”
“Ha, I’m starting to understand.”
When I first met Julie at the academy, I hadn’t been exaggerating when I called her a “crazy bitch” and tried to avoid her.
She was a real bitch.
She was still playful and moody, but not in a cute way.
She was the one who went on a rampage in the second half of the academy, awakening as a True Master and leaving many people injured or dead.
In-game, it’s implied that it was just because she couldn’t get over her blood rampage…….
Now that he’s targeting Julie and preparing the “seeds of evil,” things are starting to make sense.
So it’s all because of these guys, right?
“Well, that’s good to know.”
I’ve been racking my brain lately trying to figure out how to stop Julie’s rampage, and this eliminates that problem, right?
I can just stop it at the source.
“That’s great. What do you mean?”
“Uh, just. I thought things were going well!”
I point the gun at him again and he gives me a look of incredulity.
“Didn’t you notice that just now, your attack didn’t hurt me──”
“You think this is a pistol?”
Even with this huge, huge muzzle?
Quang───!!!
A bang completely different from the one before rings out, and a huge puff of smoke rises.
“Kaaah!”
Unlike before, when he was leisurely holding on, his body was shaken and he was pushed back.
“What the fuck did you do──”
“That’s two shots.”
Kwaang──!
The shield shakes violently.
It doesn’t penetrate, but the impact knocks the guy inside backwards.
Unable to bear the sight, I hear a sigh from behind me.
“Anyway, didn’t I tell you, Corleone blood, no matter how young. You’d better not let your guard down.”
“You…….”
“You haven’t forgotten our purpose, have you?”
The sharp glare shut him up, then his eyes arc with satisfaction.
“From now on, I’ll deal with him, and you’ll capture Lady Rodman.”
“Pfft, I can’t help it.”
“Well, then, let’s do it.”
With those words, he slowly turned his body and blocked the line of fire between me and Julie.
He formed a staff in his hand and pointed it at me.
“I want to know what you’re in such a hurry to do, when she can just trample him, slowly.”
“Trample? Who?”
Julie isn’t even worried.
She may look like that, but she too has the seeds of a hero, and she’s the vice student council president.
She should be able to hold her own against a guy who’s already lost a shoulder to a bullet.
I just smirked and watched him do his thing.
Given that he’s talking about erasing memories, I’m guessing most of his magic is mind-affecting.
“Let’s start lightly, Eugene Han Corleone.”
──Panic.
The tip of his staff turns purple at the same time.
For a moment, I feel a lightning bolt in my head, and I automatically grimace.
“Hahahaha, a spell to bring back your most horrific memories. I hope you find pleasure in that horror!”
……I wonder what he’s saying now.
“My most horrible memory?”
“Mmm, what?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think that one works for me.”
A trait that allows you to remain calm in any situation. Looks like the effect of 【Hitman】 has been activated.
“I see. You want to taste lead bullets, too, don’t you?”
Although it’s not a lead bullet because it’s made of Aura, it still hurts the same when it hits……so it’s actually similar, isn’t it?
“That’s okay, there is still plenty of Aura out there……so let’s just pound it until it works!”
I swung my fist as hard as I could at his shield with my gloved hand.
Quang──!
But the shield doesn’t budge at all, only the surface is vibrating as if it were thick tempered glass.
“Kahahahaha, what do you think you can do with a cotton bat fist like that?!”
I’m not expecting to see any buffs to Corleone abilities, as nothing has come of it yet. But does that mean I’m stuck sucking on my fingers?
No, it doesn’t.
“I can do this.”
I breathe lightly as I stand in front of his shield and then I unleashed an aura skill with all my might as a red glow emanated from my palm as I transferred the flow of aura to my hand.
Anxiety flashed across his face.
“What the hell is that…….?”
“Why don’t you take a chance?”
I bring my heated hand to the surface of the shield, which begins to glow redder and redder.
“It’s a technique that worked on the scales of a dragon, there’s no way it won’t work on someone like you.”
Swoosh……Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
It was one of those techniques that could break through any shield, as long as you took the time to melt it slowly.
Soon enough, his shield began to sizzle and cracks began to appear.
It wasn’t long before his shields would be breached.
Sensing the urgency of the situation, he continued to cast psychic spells on me, but a mild headache wasn’t enough to stop me.
It’s good to know that I can take down even those who are above me.
“Hold on a second. I’m about to punch you in the face.”
It’s only after I say this that I start to see the fear in his eyes.
“Get away from me!”
Eventually, while he’s defending himself, he begins to channel a new amount of energy into the tip of his staff.
He’s not going to be able to keep quiet now, is he?
Unlike just now, when he was using psychic magic, the tip of his staff begins to spark, creating a huge frenzy, but──
“But it was fast, wasn’t it?”
With a yelp, an aura-covered fist finally slams through the shattered shield.
“Kheehee!!!”
With the fist in his face, the man twitched convulsively, then finally sagged, as if all his strength had been drained from him.
“That’s why I should have learned some other magic.”
Well, it was good enough for a backstreeter to have made it this far, but a specialized character like this……would be infinitely weaker in front of a counter.
“Whoa.”
Running a hand through my battle-haired hair, I surveyed the situation behind me.
Julie was locked in a fierce battle with Gary Frances.
She maneuvered through the air, her large wings still hidden but she wasn’t free to maneuver due to their formation, however the one-armed man was having trouble with that alone.
It’s like watching a game of mortar and pestle as she dodges between the firing shots with one hand.
“Wow, really. Is that what it takes to be vice president?”
I may have outclassed him, but Gary is still a war mage. As a war mage, he has a lot of firepower.
He’s not as easy an opponent as he seems, however, the biggest stake in her advantage against him right now is…….
“If he wasn’t such a third-rate villain, he’d be much stronger.”
Magic is a skill that is affected by mental strength. As such, it’s more about composure than excitement.
But what about him?
What is his current situation and personality?
I could tell by the way he grimaced every time he reached out to cast or maneuvered his magic.
I realized that my first ambush had worked.
“Julie Rodman, you bloody mosquito!!!”
He cries out in exasperation as she dodges between the bullets.
Focusing his energy toward the sky where Julie floats, he stretches out his left arm, and golden lightning wraps around it.
“Your face is a sight to behold, so I spared your life, but……burn as you are!”
Kwalung───!!!
With a tremendous thunderous sound, the thunderbolt stretches out towards Julie but at the same time, Julie’s red eyes shine as she spreads her arms wide.
“Blood Shield.”
The red blood from her arms coalesces to form a giant shield.
The two magics clash with a tremendous shockwave.
“Oh…….”
I’m tempted to stay and watch for a bit longer, but the look on Julie’s face, which is still contorted in pain, makes it impossible so I decide to intervene.
I put aura on my leg and pushed down as hard as I could.
──Aura style Ground shaking.
The ground shook violently at the same time.
This affected his concentration, causing a slight gap to appear, and I launched my aura at the creature.
Suddenly, a beam of magic erupted from his body.
“Kaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
He glowed like a madman.
A power that far surpasses the all-consuming aura of Corleone begins to surge from his body.
“Corleone, Corleone, Corleone, Corleone, Corleone, Corleone, Corleone!!! Damn you, Corleone, everything goes wrong when you get involved! Why, why, why are you so desperate to get in everyone else’s way!”
The visible mark on his mouth and the way he’s still chewing on something crushed.
Is that…… the seed of evil?
No, he’s chewing on that?
“Ha. You must be pretty dried up too, huh?”
What is the Seed of Evil?
It’s the standard corruption-for-power trope, where instead of tainting and destabilizing the eater’s magic, it gives them explosive power.
But what happens when you don’t just plant them, but take several at once, like popping pills?
The answer is right in front of me.
PURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
“Aaaahhhh!”
The magic in his body bursts out like a shockwave and Julie fails to block it.
His whole body jerks up, and he utters a language that is not human, but animal.
I look at him as he rises to his feet, his eyes darkening.
Of course, he wasn’t wrong.
No matter how this works out, he’ll still have to explain our relationship to his wounds.
In other words, he’s already backed into a corner, so he’s going to have to do something fast and get out of there.
……I didn’t think he’d take that much of that, though.
“Kahhhh!
Blood drips from his eyes, which are now completely blackened.
“Yeah, well, if it weren’t for me, you’d have succeeded. I guess you were just unlucky.”
Slowly, I watch his movements and check on Julie on the ground.
“Are you okay……?”
“Eh, I’m fine, but……what the hell was that?”
“That’s what you almost ate today.”
“What?”
Of course I stopped him.
“If he’s like that, there’s honestly nothing we can do about it, because it’s like he’s out of control.”
Indeed, the bullet wound in his right shoulder had long since healed.
“Well, what am I supposed to do, junior? There’s a way, isn’t there?”
“There’s a way, of course there is. Wait and see.”
“……what?”
Hearing my plan, Julie looks at me like I’m crazy.
“Junior, why do you joke in a situation like this……?”
“Why would I make a joke in a situation like this?”
Even I realize that this situation is dangerous.
No, honestly, it’s a little too dangerous.
To think that a mere student like me would be able to stop a Warmage-level powerhouse after eating a few seeds of evil is just too harsh.
“Senior, if it’s not possible with the power of students like us…….”
What the hell───!!!
With the sound of shattering glass, the dark surroundings began to brighten up.
Colorful wind lanterns and fairies lit up the surroundings. And along with it all, a red moon shone down on me and Julie.
“Eugene!”
“Julie!!!”
Reassuring voices from behind me, and I smiled as I heard them.
“We’re going to reach to our parents.”
Well, we’re still children so it was the most powerful thing we could do.
