Crossing and Accelerating (2)
Paris was burning in a scene that seemed to be straight out of a movie. Eleanor and Lee Na-hee were down in the street, looking up blankly at the sky.
“Na-hee, are you okay?”
“Ah…huh.” Eleanor looked at her friend anxiously. Her face was subtly changed as if she was wearing a mask, and her eyes were dyed red. It was the same as when she had been fighting in the Korean countercurrent.
“I should also use it.” Lee Na-hee put on a mask herself as if everything was fine. Eleanor only grew more concerned for her friend. However, Lee Na-hee was trying to hide her face, which was heated by her bold actions against Kang Shin-hyuk. There was no room for any deeper conversation between the two, as waves of monsters overflowing the streets would soon reach them.
“Where are you heading?” Eleanor watched a monster jump over their friends from a nearby building and pierced it with her lance. At that, Lee Na-hee murmured.
“Can we head to my father’s shop?”
“Yes, then let’s go there.” In response to Lee Na-hee’s selfish remark, Eleanor nodded without hesitation. In front of them, Karen was shouting.
“It won’t be so bad on the Champs-Elysees! There will be a lot of superhumans there!”
“Oh, when did you…?” Lee Na-hee noticed Karen was also wearing a mask, disguised with red eyes and black hair. Lee Na-hee glanced over at Eleanor, who was sulking slightly.
“I thought I might be able to use this mask in the future, so I asked Shin-hyuk to give me one. I thought Karen could use it, since she’s with us.” Eleanor was proud of the gift she had received from Kang Shin-hyuk, which was clear by how she ran her fingers over it as she spoke. Lee Na-hee suddenly had an urge to boast about kissing Kang Shin-hyuk to see her expression but suppressed it. It had just been a surprise attack she had done all on her own, after all. However, her face reddened as she remembered it, which made her glad she was wearing the mask now.
“Did that guy make it properly? Is enchanting not such a big deal to him…that idiot.”
“What are you talking about so suddenly, Na-hee?”
“Oh, nothing. Let’s go.” Outside of the HQ of the association, the monsters appeared to be only S-rank at the highest. Eleanor, who didn’t need to hide her power thanks to the mask, was able to deal with most of the enemies with a single lance strike.
“Karen, can you check what’s going on in the UK?”
“I checked, nothing seems to be wrong there. The same goes for Korea.”
“There must be a limit to the monsters’ ability to mobilize. Only France is dealing with this many gates at once.”
“…That monster, I’ll get it.” The three wandered the streets fighting monsters while making their way to Champs-Elysees. It seemed that the number of monsters was high around the HQ.
“Tsu!” Fortunately, the monsters around them had a lower rank overall. Lee Na-hee produced the short staff she placed in the garter ring around her left thigh. She wasn’t very confident in her magic except for enchanting, but in fact, she was fairly highly ranked among those in the Magic Department. In particular, she was perfect for dealing with miscellaneous mobs, but Lee Na-hee couldn’t help but note that she was more effective with Claire’s magic gun.
“By the way, Na-hee, do you keep that staff on your thigh?”
“Yes, it’s the perfect place to hide it secretly, right?”
“Only for that reason?”
“It’s cool to take it out like this too, right? Actually, I thought about putting it in my chest for that reason, but it was too big.” Eleanor watched her with excitement. It was fortunate that she hadn’t done that instead. If Kang Shin-hyuk were there, he would’ve known that Lee Na-hee wasn’t actually a pervert, just that she suffered from having the taste of a middle schooler.
“We’ve arrived.”
“…Well?” The group arrived at the store they had found the day before after sorting out the weak monsters in the area, but they stopped short of entering it. Something felt off.
“What’s inside?”
“Ellie?”
“Be careful, Na-hee.” Karen blocked Lee Na-hee while Eleanor stepped inside. They could hear her laughter after a moment.
“Ellie?”
“Don’t come in.”
“No, I want to come in.” Eleanor spoke firmly and tried to push her away, but the smooth French caught her ear.
“I was waiting for you.”
“Wow…” Lee Na-hee leaned over to see the owner of the voice, stepping back in surprise.
“The stalker caught up to us here?”
“I was counting on you showing up here. Don’t you think we’re destined to be together?” The illusionary magic around the store disappeared, revealing the figure of Nathan Bodin standing among the ruins. Nathan’s trait was the S-class [Magic Interference]. Similar to Bomber girls [Magic Transformation], it was suitable for dissipating magic that hung around an area.
“Damn that fate, you just broke into someone’s house. I don’t think that stalker temperament of yours will get any better.”
“You’re saying some stuff you don’t mean. Oh, by the way, that mask is pretty cute. It’s a shame the expression doesn’t look right.” She had responded in genuine French, but Nathan ignored her words as if he couldn’t hear them and swept back his hair, saying whatever he wanted. Though he was a handsome man, it was a disgusting sight to see.
“So, a cute girl in a mask. I’m not in school now, which means things have changed a lot, you know?”
“Of course I know. Before you were an annoying stalker, but now you’re a criminal!”
“Na-hee, I know you’re angry but now… he’s dangerous.” Karen raised her head to look around, speaking through clenched teeth. She could sense a large number of monsters coming. It was too late to avoid them. In the sky, she could already see wyverns flying in.
“You mad man, have you joined Jormungand?” Lee Na-hee stared at him with contempt, but he nodded without hesitation.”
“Only they are able to recognize my potential and develop it properly.”
“You became a real idiot.”
“…”
“If my junior saw it, would he laugh at this third-class villain act?” Nathan Bodin shuddered at her sharp words. The topic of Kang Shin-hyuk seemed to disgust him. However, he was maintaining his power, which was why Eleanor was unable to move easily. It wasn’t enough to immobilize her, but it made it difficult for her to move.
“That boy… admittedly, he’s just lucky because he was born with the means to beat me. That strange and mysterious power.” That was spiritual power.
“But soon I’ll be able to handle it. It’s a shame I can’t compete directly with him since he’s trapped in an SS-class gate.
“He’s no asshole like you, there’s no way he’ll die.” It might’ve been a bit hopeful, but Lee Na-hee maintained a strong stance to hide her doubts.
“Because he even kissed me. Once he clears the gate, the next step…” Nathan Bodin’s magic exploded out. Five small round shield-shaped artifacts that Lee Na-hee usually carried around (nicknamed Pot Lid, they were remote-controlled defensive tools created in mimicry of Claire’s drones) wrapped around her. Karen brandished her rapier to block the front, while Eleanor broke through the loosening magical interference to stab Nathan Bodin.
-Kwaaaang!
Two sounds rang out. One was the sound of magical spears colliding against the shields Lee Na-hee controlled, and the other was the sound of the black mist that had formed to cover Eleanor’s lance before it pierced Nathan’s head.
“Shadow predator… did you sell your soul to the devil?” The mist scattered under her strong blow. Even though her attack had failed to connect, she remained calm. Her red-tinted eyes were filled with disgust.
“Eleanor R. Algiers… it was you.” Meanwhile, Nathan’s expression twisted. He could feel the transcendental power she had wielded in that strike. As she said, it was a shadow predator, an S-rank monster, that took the attack instead. He wasn’t one who could be easily destroyed with his exceptional defense. Nathan Bodin stepped back slightly, still instilled with the fear of losing the Crown of Two Kings to her, and fired off magic bullets at her flashing lance.
“I didn’t sell my soul. This is my escort. I’m being treated pretty well, Algiers. Unlike you, who was kicked out of your own country.”
-Ahhhhhh!
-Kiiii!
The monsters around them had narrowed the distance and surrounded them at once. Lee Na-hee lifted her staff, which rang out a warning of the troll approaching from behind.
“You must’ve practiced a lot. If only you weren’t a stalker, maybe we could’ve been friends.”
“Friend? I don’t need anything like that. Things have changed, I have no intention of accepting your complaining anymore.”
“Complaining?”
“Listen to me. You should be mine.” Two wyverns descended upon them, one aiming for Eleanor and the other for Karen. An ominous red line ran through their bodies, marking them as no ordinary wyverns. At the same time, Lee Na-hee felt a trace of power she couldn’t understand.
“I decided so!” Eleanor and Karen moved at once, intent on making Nathan regret his words. He activated his trait at maximum output to check the movements of the two. Eleanor was able to move against it despite that, but Karen was incapable of resisting it.
“Huh…!”
“Karen!” Lee Na-hee clenched her jaw and tried to manipulate the shields, but they were too badly damaged from before.
‘If only my junior were here, this would be fine… ah, really!’ Lee Na-hee, unable to witness her friend dying in front of her, protected her with her body. She decided that if Nathan Bodin’s purpose here was her, she wouldn’t try to kill them that way. But…
“Ah… all you have to do is leave her head. No, I want her heart too…”
“What?! You son of a bitch!” Her eyes opened wide at the unexpected remark. She didn’t want to die to this kinky asshole. She had to live somehow.
‘Move a little! Just a little! Enchant, enchant!’ Lee Na-hee squeezed her chest, trying to force out her power even a bit. If she could revitalize her shields with her power, even just a little bit, it would be enough.
Just one shield. At least one!
-By satisfying the conditions, the existing trait [Enchant (A+)] will evolve.
It was at that moment an unexpected message appeared before Lee Na-hee.