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Blink–
As soon as Moon Issak realized something strange was happening and turned around to look, but the room suddenly went dark. I had no idea what happened at that moment.
However, when the lights came back on, I was comfortably ensconced in familiar arms, free from Moon Issak’s detestable grip.
“Dawon-ah!”
“……”
“Seo Dawon?” Filled with joy, I tried to look back, but Moon Issak’s chilling cry cut me off. He scowled at the space behind me–glaring at Seo Dawon–with a shocked expression.
Dawon ignored Moon Issak’s bloodlust and gripped me even tighter; something cold touched the nape of my neck.
I wanted to see Seo Dawon’s face, but I could only look straight forward. The Mage breathed deeply, and there was so much emotion in each silent inhale. I couldn’t bear to tell him that his embrace was too tight.
“Haah… How dare an undead enter my sanctuary?”
“……”
“I guess your brain rotted after you died, hm?” Moon Issak cleaved through the silence with his furious shouts.
His face was distorted with rage–to an intensity I had not seen before. He looked back and forth between Seo Dawon and me. Then, he raised his right hand above my chest, and as he did, stigmatas appeared on the back of his hand. 1 I felt a tingling sensation creeping across my skin.
My anxiety started to build and I tightly gripped Seo Dawon’s hands around my waist. Only then did Dawon slowly release his embrace.
“Dawon…” I started.
“Wait a minute.”
“…Huh?”
The Mage gently cut me off, and stood in front of me without showing me his face.
As soon as Seo Dawon stepped forward, Moon Issak’s black hair began to shine silver, as if it were reacting to his presence. Not only that, but after Moon Issak briefly closed and reopened his eyes, his irises glowed mysteriously. It was like the sparkling opalescent eyes Han Kiseok had shown me when showcasing his attributes as a Mage of the ‘Rationality’ skill tree.
In addition, Moon Issak’s feet were floating 10 centimeters above ground. However, Seo Dawon was unaffected by this unusual change and calmly raised one hand.
It seemed that Seo Dawon’s steady calmness was an unendurable provocation for the investigator. Moon Issak glared at me from beyond the mage, smiled, and began to speak vulgarly, “Choi Lee-kyung, you were so cute. Your crying face is really my cup of tea.”
“……”
“Why–are you feeling a little uncomfortable because I used him a little?”
“……”
“Haha! Seo Dawon, I never thought I’d see the day when you’d make an expression like that, hm?”
I didn’t know everything Moon Issak had done to me; my memories were still sparse and patchy. The events that occurred while I was under Moon Issak’s control remained blurry, buried in the depths of my memory.
I shuddered when I recalled those fragmented days–days where I felt completely disassociated from the passage of time. Anger and pain rose within me; I wanted to spit in that mocking bastard’s face.
“[Blizzard].” However, Dawon had been ignoring Moon Issak and instead preparing his own skills. I pressed down on my desire to retort and stepped back.
Moon Issak, with that discomfiting smile still on his face, quickly rushed at Seo Dawon. “[Blessing Counter].”
“……!” I was on the verge of screaming as I witnessed their confrontation. Moon Issak, as if using the [Blink] skill, constantly evaded the range of Dawon’s skills and rushed towards the Mage.
On the other hand, Seo Dawon continued to respond half a beat behind. And finally, Moon Issak’s hands, bathed in white light, firmly grasped Dawon from behind. I looked in despair at Dawon’s arm, which was missing below the elbow.
Moon Issak made a triumphant expression when the Mage stumbled, “No matter how strong an undead you may be, you must know that you can’t recover in a sacred field, right?”
“……”
“Look carefully, Choi Lee-kyung. Don’t turn away.” As he spoke, Moon Issak raised his arm high.
Of course, I tried not to fall for his provocation. However, he was right: the fact that Dawon’s cut arm hadn’t recovered felt somewhat ominous.
‘No way… Is Dawon-ie being forced to fight a futile battle just because I summoned him?’
I bit at the tips of my nails as I stared at Seo Dawon’s back; the mage was shaken by Moon Issak’s attack.
Perhaps I called for him when he wasn’t yet ready. Moon Issak’s attacks kept narrowly brushing past the Mage.
I tried to endure, but, when Seo Dawon’s left ear was torn off, I eventually couldn’t hold it in anymore and opened my mouth.
‘I need to call on another Servant.’
The problem, however, was whether or not I was in a state where I could handle calling two or more servants without succumbing to the drain on my vitality. Even I had to admit that my current physical condition was the worst it had been in a long while, so I wasn’t sure how many minutes I could maintain a dual summon.
However, when Moon Issak grabbed Dawon by the neck, I instinctively began to call out Kim Olim’s name. “[Kim Ol—.]”
“You can’t, Lee-kyung-ah.” Seo Dawon immediately stopped me.
Seo Dawon spoke clearly, as if he wasn’t being strangled, despite Moon Issak’s tight grip on his throat. Still, he wouldn’t look at me.
The strange and ominous feeling that had settled over the Mage seemed to have reached Moon Issak as well. With a cruel smile on his face, exerting so much strength that the veins in his hands stood out, the investigator’s eyes widened for a moment and mumbled, “What on…? This…?”
His words soon trailed off. At the very next moment, blood began spurting out of Moon Issak’s body like a fountain.
I witnessed one of Moon Issak’s arms silently being severed and falling smoothly to the ground. At the same time, his left ear was sharply torn. I realized that the wounds inflicted on him were the same wounds Dawon had suffered. As I looked between them, I could see their injuries were almost mirror images of each other.
“Fucker. Seo Dawon, you… What the hell have you done to me?!”
“……”
Moon Issak was clearly agitated. After spewing profanities, he raised his intact hand and reattached the severed arm. This sight wasn’t unfamiliar to me, as I had witnessed the clean regenerative abilities of a priest during the battle with Bae Jaemin.
However, I was surprised to see that Seo Dawon’s arm, which was left behind–far away–during their battle, had suddenly reattached and became intact as well. Moon Issak also paled a little at that. He could no longer muster the sly smile that he had displayed at the advent of this conflict.
However, he soon hid that agitation and told Seo Dawon, “How long will you continue with that crude deception?”
“What about you? You’re the one who used hypnosis.” Seo Dawon retorted with a low growl and a sneer. Moon Issak lifted his head and glared at me for a moment, but soon he charged at the Mage once more.
The battle continued at a sluggish pace.
Whenever Moon Issak attacked Seo Dawon, the Mage hardly reacted and simply took the hits. Then, after about two minutes, the same wounds would appear on Moon Issak’s body. When Moon Issak healed those wounds, the mirroring wounds on Dawon’s body also healed simultaneously. Naturally, in this situation, Moon Issak couldn’t attack boldly.
“How long are you going to keep up with this nonsense?!” Moon Issak continued to attack while airing his grievances. But, eventually, he stepped back and vented his anger in full because he couldn’t find a way to break this stalemate. His face was swollen with frustration.
Seo Dawon stood silently, without answering. Moreover, from that moment on, he didn’t even bother defending himself, just allowing Moon Issak to land his skills without any resistance.
It was as if the Mage was demonstrating that those attacks would always rebound back onto the investigator. At that time, Moon Issak, driven into a frenzy, plunged his fist through the reactionless Mage’s abdomen. However, he soon spat out vivid crimson blood as the same amount of force had now struck his own stomach.
“This… Fucker…” Eventually, Moon Issak staggered away from Seo Dawon.
However, something was strange. Seo Dawon stood still, merely staring at Moon Issak, but Moon Issak continued to engage in a battle of words with Seo Dawon, even though Seo Dawon wasn’t responding.
“…What’s going on?”
“Well, since it seems like he enjoys hypnosis…”
“Argh!” I turned around, startled, when I heard the Mage’s voice behind me.
There he stood, perfectly fine and looking down at me. I widened my eyes and alternated my gaze between the Dawon in front of me and the Dawon behind me.
Footnotes
Wounds inflicted on Christ’s body at the time of his crucifixion. Or wounds that are said to have been created on the body by a mysterious force that cannot be scientifically explained.