Do Your Own Revolution

#031.

The scenery of the slums that I returned to after two years hadn’t changed much.

Makeshift buildings haphazardly constructed with rotting wood and all sorts of waste materials.

Dark streets without a ray of light, blocked by these temporary structures.

People emanating a musty stench, and gangs extorting money from these people.

As always, it was a filthy and dangerous place.

However, if I had to point out a few changes, it would be the number of gang members watching me from every alley.

According to Valks gang’s principles, it was common for one member to manage one alley, but now that number had increased to two or three members.

This didn’t happen in the original story.

I interrogated Saul’s senior gang member, whom I had restrained with magic, about the reason.

“You bastard, why should I tell you…!”

“Arghhhh?! I-I’ll talk! I’ll tell you! Please…!”

After a brief commotion, the man with one arm missing started explaining with a friendly attitude.

“W-well… Two years ago, a gang member was murdered. But that…”

The gist of what he said was this.

A gang member was killed.

And not just any member, but a mid-ranking one who had over a dozen subordinates under him.

However, the strange thing was that no one knew who killed him.

“The body was found in the sewers, and it was so eaten away by rats and insects that we couldn’t even guess how he died. We suspected some kids from that neighborhood, but none of them would open their mouths…”

A complete mystery death.

The gang took out their anger on some beggars in the alley, turning them into corpses, but even then, his explanation was that they couldn’t find the culprit.

“That dead gang member’s name was Hans, right?”

“H-how did you know that…?”

Why? Because I was the culprit, that’s why.

Thinking that, I could roughly deduce the situation.

In the original story, the protagonist defeated the Valks gang five years from now.

Until then, the Valks gang was supposed to grow steadily without any incidents.

‘But Hans’s death changed the situation.’

An action leader of the organization died.

And the boss, Valks, not only couldn’t avenge his dead executive but didn’t even know who the killer was.

‘No, he probably knew but buried it.’

But that alone wasn’t enough.

The members below distrusted Valks, and other organizations eyeing the interests of Grey Quarter seized the opportunity.

Once authority starts being undermined, it keeps getting challenged.

Just as I said when I killed Hans, the Valks gang was continuously being challenged from the outside.

“That’s why there are so many guys out there. We don’t know when Jake or Dallas’s guys might raid us, so we were ordered to maintain strict surveillance…”

“Yes, yes. Thank you for explaining.”

I twisted the magical power chain around the man’s neck, cutting off his breath.

He probably didn’t even feel pain, let alone realize he was dying.

I threw the man’s corpse in a corner of the alley and activated the adjusted magic imprint.

The imprint glowed with a red light.

However, unlike before when all seven strokes glowed, only four strokes were glowing on my arm now.

‘I deliberately deactivated the three strokes above. There’s no point activating them now since my magical power can’t handle them, and it would just waste magical power unnecessarily.’

I recalled the formulas contained in the deactivated magic imprint.

[Solar Wind Manifestation], [Focused Heat Shell], [MOAF], [Solar Ray], [Heliosphere].

…And that final magic that would eventually be unlocked.

Using any one of them in the city would cause chaos and expose the magic imprint’s identity.

I can’t do that when I haven’t even started the modification work yet.

“Hey. Th-that!”

“What’s with that corpse, isn’t that Jake?”

“This crazy bastard, killing our member right in Valks’s front yard!”

The Valks gang members who had been tailing me from the hospital immediately jumped out.

Two moved forward, while the other two went to report to the organization.

This was even better.

I could sweep away all the ones rushing in and then go after Valks and the others.

“Kill him!”

The gang members surrounding me fired their concealed pistols.

Most of the flying bullets were small-caliber pistol rounds and hunting ammunition.

They couldn’t penetrate my fully activated barrier.

“Wait, that…!”

“Magic! It’s magic!”

Seeing the translucent barrier surrounding my body, the Valks gang members’ faces showed dismay.

The basic formula stored in the first imprint, [Barrier]

Unlike the barrier received at Elcidore, this was a special defensive formula that covered all directions – front, back, left, and right.

“So far, twelve have gathered.”

The next formula was detection magic, [Eye of Horus].

When I focused on the main threats like guns and weapons, I could clearly see the gang members hiding behind walls and inside alleys.

‘As soon as they realized I’m a magician, they seek cover and wait for an opportunity…’

It was a formation that well reflected the character of the gang’s boss, Valks Frederick, who had a military background.

‘But it’s nothing compared to the Magic Corps.’

While this formation might have been threatening in the early stages of learning magic, it’s neither a threat nor anything at this point.

I immediately activated the attack formula.

Dozens of small magic circles spread around.

From the red glowing magic circles, dozens of fireballs appeared.

A variation of the basic fire attribute attack formula [Fireball].

It was a form that minimized the size while extremely increasing the number of attacks.

The fireballs that started spinning in place burned fiercely as if they would shoot out at any moment.

“Full volley.”

With a short incantation, the fireballs that had reached their critical point were fired simultaneously at the gang members.

As seen when the Knifehead members used Ice Spear, originally mages’ basic attack magic travels in a straight line.

However, the [Eye of Horus] I activated earlier.

When using this detection formula that simultaneously confirms target location and sets attack coordinates, even ordinary fireballs become guided missiles that track enemies on their own.

“Aaaaagh?!”

“Fuck, what’s this! Why is the magic curving?!”

“Fire, fiiiire–!”

The fireballs that stretched out in dozens of curved lines instantly burned the members and shattered the encirclement surrounding me.

“Over there!”

“A fire attribute magician?! Jake’s guys, what kind of monster did they bring…”

Meanwhile.

Over a dozen gang members who arrived late as reinforcements entered my detection range.

Gang members rushing in clustered together.

Instead of reaching out toward them, I grabbed Heresy’s handle from inside my clothes.

A magic circle formed at the black muzzle tip, with a fireball burning above it.

This time, without [Eye of Horus]’s assistance, it was a form focused purely on power and range.

‘Even without magic bullets loaded, if I use the auxiliary formula engraved on the gun…’

The fireball that was only fist-sized grew to the size of an adult’s head, and eventually became so huge it could completely cover my body.

“Uh, uuh!?”

“Hey, you crazy, what is that…!”

The gangs belatedly realized something was wrong, but the terrain wasn’t favorable.

The alley was narrow, and there were no side paths.

“Fire.”

The moment I pulled the trigger of the empty gun, the massive fireball flew toward the gang members.

With an air-splitting explosion, the gang members gathered in the alley instantly turned to ashes.

After the battle ended, all that remained in the alley were burned corpses, remaining flames, and soot.

After gauging the state of my magic imprint and remaining magical power, I clenched my fist.

“Finally got on the right track.”

A magic imprint adjusted to near perfection.

An enormous amount of magical power incomparable to the original protagonist.

Formula synchronization flowing like water, and combinations without a single hitch!

In the original [Revolution Empire], this was power that could barely be approached in the middle of the chapter.

To achieve this five years before the story starts, at the young age of ten.

Combining the items and weapons from my memories, I could obtain power on a different dimension from the previous protagonist.

‘For now, I’ll put off the detailed plans.’

I need to finish what I have to do now first.

Thinking that, I looked around the alley strewn with corpses.

“It’s quiet.”

There were no more gang members charging in for revenge, and the Valks gang members watching from the outskirts had disappeared.

But there was no need to be hasty.

“After stirring up this much trouble, they’re probably preparing to run away.”

When a similar situation occurred in the game, Valks’s behavior pattern was set.

He would probably pack up all the money in the safe and try to escape with his core members.

Leaving the expendables who could be replenished anytime as bullet shields, to plan for the future.

“In the original, they went through all sorts of trouble chasing after that, but it’s nice that I don’t need to do that this time.”

Muttering that, I recalled the map structure of [Revolution Empire]’s Chapter 1.

The distance between Valks’s residence and the alley where I was standing now.

After calculating that, I started looking for the passage with leisurely steps.

Even walking slowly like taking a stroll, it didn’t seem like I would miss Valks.

***

“Huff… Huff…”

A middle-aged man with a thick beard was running through the foul-smelling sewer.

The boss of the Valks gang that ruled Grey Quarter district, Valks Frederick.

He was now fleeing Grey Quarter district with only a few executives.

“Boss, what was that exactly? Why would a magician…”

“Jake’s guys must have pulled something! A magician suddenly, these crazy bastards…”

The executives’ voices continued, but Valks couldn’t be sure of anything.

‘Jake hired a magician to hit us? No, that doesn’t make sense.’

The magicians he had seen on the battlefield were beings who lived in a different world from them.

In other words, they weren’t the type to move for money offered by back alley gangs.

Then the most likely possibility was personal grudge.

And Valks had one thing he suspected.

‘The kid who killed Hans. Could it be…’

Although it was handled as an unexplained death, Valks knew the inside story of Hans’s murder.

A boy struggling with his father’s gambling debts, like any back alley vermin.

If that boy who killed Hans and ran away had returned?

Then he…!

Just as he was thinking that, a fireball flew from the opposite side of Valks.

One executive instantly turned to ashes.

Without even time to scream, that’s how he disappeared.

While everyone stopped, a small shadow appeared with footsteps.

Black hair and black eyes.

And the red magic imprint glowing brightly on his right arm.

“Found you.”

“…!”

“H-how did you get here!”

The boy looked at him and his subordinates with a broad smile.

And the moment he saw that face without shadows, Valks instantly knew his guess was right.

“Damn it…”

The back alley beggar who killed Hans and ran away.

That beggar had returned as a monster.