-Don't Shoot
“Kraaagh!”
“Kraakh!”
The chimeras’ shrieks came from somewhere not too far away.
I quickly looked around and saw several chimeras moving up ahead.
This time, too, they seemed to have been made with orcs as the base; they were huge.
Just like at the terminal, it looked as if both kinds of chimeras were present here as well.
Of course, they weren’t combinations made only of zombies or orcs. They were chimeras mixed with lizardmen, crocodiles, and rhinoceroses as well.
The creatures were walking with their backs turned to us.
They kept looking around while smashing everything in sight.
It seemed they were searching for people.
“What should we do? Attack right away?”
Gil asked in a calm voice.
It was a little unexpected that Gil would ask first like this.
Had he gotten over the chaos from earlier? Or was it because the species making up these chimeras weren’t zombies?
“We should. Let’s follow them quietly and attack.”
For now, I answered calmly as well.
“Isn’t there a way to capture them without killing them? Then we might be able to purify them.”
Hearing what Gil said next, it seemed the desire to return the races turned into chimeras back to normal was still there.
If it were possible, I wanted to do that too.
But it wasn’t just a matter of possibility. In actual combat, there were far more things to consider.
We had to consider the overall situation, as well as the time it would take to clear the area.
We also had to factor in the number of chimeras, our mana, and the total amount of Cheon Danbi’s purification ability.
“First, let’s get closer and assess the situation.”
“Yes. Understood.”
We used magic to conceal our presence and carefully approached the chimeras.
Seeing them up close, the chimeras were indeed in a state where no reason remained at all.
Of course they were. They hadn’t been purified yet.
The gray energy wavering around the chimeras was powerful and viscous. They seemed far stronger than the ones we had run into at the terminal.
Perhaps it was because of all the rain that had fallen so far.
Still, since there were no zombies mixed in, they shouldn’t have regenerative abilities.
I briefly looked up at the sky. A drizzle was falling.
With rain like this, even if I used freezing magic, deadly ice spears like before probably wouldn’t form.
If I flash-froze them, capturing them alone seemed possible.
I was signaling Gil with my eyes and raising my mana when it happened.
Suddenly, gunshots rang out as if tearing through the air.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Even with barriers around us, we instinctively stepped back.
It was a natural human reaction.
But the chimeras were different.
Instead, they shrieked even louder, jumping up and down in excitement.
“Kraaagh!”
“Kraaagh!”
“Kraaaagh!”
The chimeras, who had been shrieking and looking around, began crowding into a bent alley.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots sounded in succession.
It had to be from inside the alley the chimeras had charged into.
“Who’s shooting?”
“Could it be soldiers?”
Since there weren’t enough mages, were the police and soldiers responding with guns?
Yu Jaeseon had said there were only two mages, including himself, out in Chinatown, so it wasn’t unreasonable.
But it was reckless and useless.
You couldn’t kill strange creatures with guns. Far from killing them, all it was doing was provoking the chimeras.
“Check your barriers again, and let’s move carefully.”
We headed for the alley as well.
I took the lead, Gil followed behind me, and Cheon Danbi came at the very back.
Our barriers were bulletproof, but we were humans who could die if we happened to be shot, so we stayed alert as we turned into the alley.
But once we entered the alley, there was no need to worry about being hit by bullets.
The inside of the alley was packed full of enormous chimeras.
There wasn’t a single gap, and I couldn’t see the other side at all.
Even if we hadn’t had barriers, at least there was no chance of being shot.
Instead, it seemed the chimeras were taking the bullets head-on as they advanced.
Of course, bullets lodging in their bodies didn’t faze them. Their bodies were made of black magic, after all.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The chaotic gunfire still continued, but this time it was mixed with people’s screams.
“Aaagh!”
“Damn it! These damn monsters don’t die even when they’re shot!”
“Get away! Agh! Help me!”
“R-run!”
“Aaagh! Fall back!”
The chimeras were already attacking people.
Between the gunshots, I heard dull thuds, and glimpsed blood spraying everywhere.
This was enough to grasp the situation. The chimeras had to be dealt with.
I immediately stirred my will and extended a wave of mana.
‘Freeze!’
I activated freezing magic throughout the alley.
From the tips of my outstretched fingers, frost-like freezing energy flowed out and enveloped the chimeras.
But surprisingly, unlike usual, the chimeras did not freeze at once.
Instead, they jumped as if burned and turned their heads to look back at me.
“Kraaagh!”
“Kaaaagh!”
“Kaaaagh!”
Gray energy surged violently from the enraged chimeras.
That gray energy and the wave of freezing mana I had extended twisted around each other, clashing like two dragons biting into one another.
The air swirled, dyed in a mixture of gray and white light.
It was an energy of black magic as powerful as a storm.
I needed more mana too.
“Gil! Send me mana! And Cheon Danbi, purify the alley!”
I gave orders to my teammates while continuing to extend the freezing magic.
“Yes!”
“Got it!”
The wave of mana Gil sent was immediately added to the freezing magic.
With the explosive increase in mana, the temperature in the air dropped sharply in an instant.
Only then did the freezing surrounding the chimeras begin to exert its power.
Crack! Crack!
They froze.
The chimeras froze exactly as they were, still charging in rage.
With thick arms raised, with crocodile jaws gaping wide, with lizard tails swinging, they turned into ice sculptures.
Neither Gil nor I let our guard down.
We continued pouring out waves of mana until the chimeras were completely frozen.
Before long, a chimera iceberg had formed inside the alley.
“I was a little late, wasn’t I?”
Around then, Cheon Danbi’s voice came along with the faint scent of medicinal herb smoke.
Cheon Danbi was releasing purification smoke from behind us.
“No. It’s fine even now.”
This time, I didn’t use wind magic and simply let the purification smoke flow on its own.
Then the energy of purification did not damage the freezing magic, but circled around it, removing only the gray energy.
That was when it happened.
Bang!
Another gunshot rang out from the far side of the alley.
The people over there probably couldn’t see what was happening on this side because of the chimera iceberg, but even so, it was absurd.
Why are they still shooting? Can’t they see the chimeras are already frozen solid?
“Don’t shoot! The chimeras have been subdued.”
I shouted.
Then I activated kinetic magic on my body, leaped over the chimera iceberg, and crossed to the other side of the alley.
Several people were lying collapsed on the street. It was hard to even count exactly how many.
They had been beaten and bitten by the chimeras, their limbs severed and their bodies badly mutilated.
The survivors were scattered and hiding here and there throughout the alley.
I also saw a man holding a gun behind a shop signboard, using it as if it were cover.
“Don’t shoot. I’m a mage.”
Saying that, I approached a little closer to the people in hiding.
Now that I looked, the people holding guns were neither soldiers nor police. They were ordinary civilians in plain clothes.
Where did all those guns come from?
The moment the question surfaced, the answer came to me. I thought of Chinatown’s underground organization. They were an arms smuggling group.
Sure enough, someone soon appeared to confirm that my guess had not been wrong.
“Mr. Mage? That is you, right? Wow! You came to Incheon? To save us?”
Hwangga emerged from behind a large food waste bin.
“Yeah. It’s me. Then are the people here right now members of Chinatown’s underground organization?”
“That’s right. They’re our organization’s people. If not us, who else would have guns?”
Hwangga answered as if proud.
When I looked around again, the people who had been hiding here and there slowly came out into the alley. Some even waved at me when they saw me.
They were probably people I had met in that basement before, but I didn’t particularly remember their faces.
“You did something foolish. Don’t you know strange creatures made of black magic can’t be killed with guns?”
“I know. Of course I know. But what else are we supposed to do? The mages are nowhere to be seen, and those monster bastards are rampaging everywhere. We had to at least try shooting them.”
It wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t right either.
If neither the mages nor the government were helping, then taking action themselves was correct, but they should not have recklessly challenged strange creatures like this.
“Then look at the result. Your comrades were killed by the monsters.”
“You sure say easy things, Mr. Mage. Of course it’s a pity for the people who died, but they were unavoidable sacrifices. You think these are the only people who’ve died? All of Chinatown is turning into a graveyard! But where the hell are all the mages, and why are they nowhere to be seen?”
At first, Hwangga had been happy to see me and spoke obediently, but as he continued, he grew increasingly agitated, until at the end he was practically shouting.
I had not yet properly examined the situation in Chinatown, but it seemed there was no doubt it was extremely serious.
Since morning until now, it seemed many things had already swept through the area.
Then again, although they were an underground organization, they were essentially closer to merchants, yet they had taken up guns and come out to fight themselves.
“There should be mages out in Chinatown, shouldn’t there? I heard a mage from the Bureau is evacuating the residents right now.”
“Really? I don’t know. We haven’t even seen a mage. So where are they?”
His answer was still crooked.
They hadn’t even seen a mage? Chinatown wasn’t that large of an area, so it seemed the scene still wasn’t being properly controlled.
“Don’t tell me you were hiding in the basement and only just came out.”
“That’s true. We were hiding underground until now.”
Hwangga replied with a slightly sheepish smile.
No, now that I looked at it, weren’t they the ones being more carefree here?
Their comrades had just been torn to pieces and killed right in front of them, yet he could smile?
I began to suspect that their noisy shooting against the chimeras had actually been a ploy to show people that guns were needed in a disaster like this, so they could sell weapons.
I deliberately narrowed my eyes and glared at Hwangga.