Episode 05
D-Day
“Hah…! Hah…! Ngh…!”
The backlash from repeatedly forcing short-range teleportation began to pound against the back of Seongjun’s head like a pulse.
He stopped for a moment—
And looked ahead.
Something enormous.
So massive it could be seen even from afar.
It hovered over Seoul, lightning-like energy bursting from its entire body as it tore the city apart.
A balance breaker.
A term that belonged in games—
Yet nothing described it better.
This was not on the same level as the giant creature he had defeated at Lotte World.
This was something else entirely.
A presence that crushed the will to fight just by looking at it.
Like a shrimp before a whale.
Like standing before inevitable death.
His instincts screamed:
Run. Get as far away as possible.
And yet—
Seongjun ran toward it.
Because at the center of that destruction…
Was his home.
And—
His master.
“Why the hell did it have to appear over our place?!”
There was a teleportation spell he had learned.
One that could cross any distance instantly.
But—
It required a pre-marked coordinate.
And Seongjun had never been able to cast magic before today.
So instead—
He relied on mid-range teleportation.
Calculating each jump manually.
Again.
And again.
Please… be safe.
The best-case scenario?
That his master had regained her magic as well.
If she had—
Then even the monster he had just defeated would be nothing to her.
But the thing in the sky—
Was beyond that.
Even Master… might struggle with that…
Not because he doubted her.
But because—
That thing exceeded the very concept of strength he understood.
He clenched his teeth.
Even if the worst happened—
He would at least retrieve her body.
And then—
[Do not come any closer. Stay away.]
A voice.
A young woman’s voice.
Echoed directly in his mind.
Seongjun froze.
[You’re late… you rotten brat.]
“M-Master?!”
[You’re speaking out loud, aren’t you? I can’t hear that from this distance. Use magic.]
He covered his mouth instantly.
Then—
Used the communication spell she had taught him.
[Can you see what I’m doing?]
[Of course not. You were slow to respond, so I guessed.]
[…You knew I could use magic?]
[If I can, then you can too.]
At that moment—
Dozens of magic circles appeared above the colossal monster.
Far larger than anything Seongjun had ever created.
Overflowing with unimaginable power.
And then—
They fired.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAAAAANG!!!
Beams of light rained down mercilessly.
The monster roared.
“GROOOOOOAR!!!”
Only then did Seongjun realize—
He had misunderstood her warning.
It wasn’t the monster that was dangerous.
It was her.
From afar, he could only watch.
Clenching his fists.
As a battle beyond comprehension began.
***
BOOOOOOM!!!
The sky split.
Buildings lifted into the air.
Each movement of the colossal creature shattered skyscrapers like toy blocks.
And every flick of his master’s slender hand—
Unleashed spells beyond imagination.
Seongjun watched.
Like a child seeing a miracle for the first time.
“Melkades’ Eye.”
A spell that paralyzed enemies using the gaze of a giant one-eyed entity from another dimension.
That was how the book described it.
But what his master cast—
Was something else.
CRACK! CRUNCH!
The serpent-like monster’s body began to turn to stone.
It roared—
And tore off the petrified portion itself.
[Master! That spell—]
[Melkades’ Eye. You know it.]
[The one I know only paralyzes!]
[That’s because it uses a lesser contract. This is the original.]
[With the true Melkades… petrification is possible.]
And then—
She began to teach.
Even in the middle of battle.
How to twist spells.
How to counter attacks.
How to maximize output.
Her explanations were so complex—
That even Seongjun, whom she once called a genius in theory…
Struggled to follow.
[All contract spells have an ‘origin.’]
[A true source you can bind with.]
[Even archmages can only form one or two such contracts in a lifetime…]
[But there is a shortcut.]
[Inheritance.]
[A master passes their contracts to their disciple.]
Her voice softened.
[On this world, I was nothing.]
[No magic. No knowledge. No one believed me.]
[Except you.]
Seongjun remained silent.
[You listened as if my words were truth itself.]
[You practiced meaningless motions as if magic were real.]
[Even in a world without mana… you believed.]
Her voice carried something deeper now.
Pride.
Affection.
He was her only disciple.
The one who never doubted her.
The one who chased her stories like they were legends.
The one who saved money to buy her clothes—
Instead of spending it on himself.
Even to Minas Trias—
A great archmage who once led thousands—
He was special.
“Etch this into your eyes, my disciple.”
“I will show you the essence of magic.”
And then—
She changed.
No longer an old woman.
But a young witch.
Radiant.
Timeless.
Just as she had once described.
She raised her hand—
Toward their home.
“Come, partner.”
The window shattered.
A staff flew into her grasp.
Adorned with a massive gem.
“A mage’s staff is a tower of magic circles in itself.”
Seongjun held his breath.
Because what came next—
Would no longer be a battle.
It would be something else.
A clash beyond human imagination.
“#^@#^$^$&#$%#%#&@&”
An incantation beyond language.
Her staff shone.
The serpent monster lashed out.
But—
She raised one hand.
And blocked it.
Blocked it…? No…
A spell that would take lesser mages days to cast—
She deployed ten of them.
At once.
With one hand.
And the other—
Was preparing something far greater.
What kind of spell is that…?
The monster attacked relentlessly.
Magic. Physical force. Curses.
But she countered everything.
Effortlessly.
And then—
The spell was completed.
Seongjun stared.
“…I can’t… understand it?”
His greatest talent—
Was analysis.
No matter the spell—
He could decipher it.
But this—
Was impossible.
It defied logic.
Structure.
Meaning.
It was—
An incomprehensible paradox.
