I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 66

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 66. Hidden Stage—Decayed Black Mage’s Hideout (2)
〚Hidden Stage: Decayed Black Mage’s Hideout
Type: Unique
Rank: A-
Description: Once a great pioneer who entered the Abyss first and rose to the rank of Archmage, the death of his sworn companion gnawed at his soul. He eventually fell into darkness, becoming a dark sorcerer who transcended mortal lifespan. But when a mighty being from his organization met its end, he was forced into a life of flight. His greed, however, knew no bounds, and he dared to touch what should never be touched—and thus he decayed. Barely clinging to life, he retreated into a hideout prepared long ago, now merely maintaining his remaining existence.
Objective: Defeat the Decayed Black Mage (0/1)
Success Reward: Dark Sorcerer’s Treasure and ???
Failure Consequence: Underground Aqueduct Monster 〈Shin Ju-ha〉 Generated〛
The message materialized before my eyes as an enormous chamber revealed itself. In its center, suspended within a colossal magical apparatus, an elderly man floated with his eyes sealed shut.
“Is that the Decayed Black Mage?”
I swallowed hard, tensing every muscle, and advanced slowly toward the sorcerer. The moment I drew close enough—
Flash!
The old man’s eyes, which seemed locked shut forever, snapped open, and our gazes met.
His eyes held a grotesque inversion—whites and pupils reversed. The instant I witnessed him muttering something incomprehensible, my instincts screamed, and I threw myself backward.
Simultaneously, black thorns radiating dark magic erupted from the ground where I’d stood moments before.
My skin crawled.
“What is this?”
《First Circle Dark Magic—Black Thorns of Binding》
I turned my attention to the Spirit Guide. He continued moving his lips, seemingly unaware of his own words.
《A delightful dark spell that pierces the limbs with thorns, inflicting hellish agony while binding the target. The countermeasure: only four thorns are summoned, and they always target the arms and legs. Wrap your limbs in mana for defense, then shatter the thorns.》
I nodded. Though I couldn’t fathom what he truly was, his words held merit.
I gripped my blade again and pressed forward. The moment I crossed the threshold of distance, the sorcerer’s eyes fixed upon me once more, and his lips moved.
Simultaneously, a magical circle of black mana materialized beneath my feet. Without hesitation, I launched myself skyward while wreathing my body in ashen mana.
I’d done this before when I obtained The Sun’s mana—enveloping my entire body in power—so it came naturally.
The thorns shot toward my arms and legs, intent on piercing through—
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
They couldn’t even scratch the mana of Pride, colliding uselessly against it. My arm moved in response.
My blade flashed, shattering all four thorns completely. Not cutting—shattering.
The thorns were not living things. They were something like metal forged from dark mana, though their durability fell short of true steel.
As I dismantled his dark magic, the sorcerer’s face contorted as he watched from within the apparatus.
‘Merely this much?’
Honestly, even with Misfortune’s response and all the power I’d accumulated, this couldn’t be the end. The Hidden Stage’s basic rank and grade were higher than any incident I’d previously faced.
It would require at least a B+-rank Hunter to even attempt a clear, and an A-rank Hunter to solo it.
Of course, such assumptions applied only to ordinary circumstances. This situation was different. With proper strategy, I could clear this myself.
It paralleled the Dungeon Blackhole incident, where I’d exploited the Giant Ants’ weaknesses—barely clearing it by using Flowing Water, a skill that countered them.
This time too, I would clear this Hidden Stage.
‘That Spirit Guide seems to be a reward meant to aid me here.’
He appeared to be a kind of assistant designed to make clearing this Hidden Stage easier.
‘The old man cannot escape that apparatus.’
The central apparatus was supplied with liquid from dozens of containers filled with various fluids, prolonging the old man’s death indefinitely.
‘I’ll sever all the corridors connected to the central mechanism.’
Once the liquid supply was cut off, the old man’s life would naturally end as well. I quickly counted the number of connected corridors with my eyes.
Nineteen in total. Quite a lot.
In that moment, the old man moved his mouth within the liquid once more, and I immediately tried to evade—
“Grraaahhh!”
Unfortunately, this dark magic wasn’t the type I could dodge.
〚Skill: Dark Magic. 3rd Circle—You have become the target of the Curse of Blackened Blood.〛
〚Your life force decreases by 0.01% per second until it falls below 10%.〛
What in the—
Heave!
Before I could even process the shock, something inside my body died. Simultaneously, that dead thing erupted from my mouth.
Gag!
The moment blood spilled from my lips, something else within me met its end, this time pouring from my nose.
“This is insane.”
The moment I hastily retreated beyond the old man’s range, the Spirit Guide’s mouth opened.
《3rd Circle Curse-type Dark Magic—Curse of Blackened Blood. A dark magic created by a demon lord after capturing a vampire, a creature closer to demons than the demonic race, and conducting experiments. It forcibly inflicts the status ailment of death upon the blood within the body, reducing life force. The only countermeasures are purification skills of Unique rank or higher, or recovery through potions.》
In other words, this was something I couldn’t block. I currently possessed neither Unique-rank potions nor skills.
However, I had plenty of potions. My life force decreases by 0.01% per second? My blood dies every second?
“I can drink one potion per second, you bastard.”
I immediately pulled out the highest quality potion from my inventory and threw it into my mouth. The rate at which my blood was dying slowed, and the sense of helplessness vanished.
I gripped my sword tightly once more and, this time forgoing any reconnaissance, charged directly into the old man’s range.
The old man, as if fully aware of my intentions, glared at me with murderous intent while moving his mouth several times faster than before.
Whoosh! Ominous black flames materialized above my head.
Crack! Dozens of jet-black ice arrows appeared behind my back.
Sizzle! The ground between me and the corridor melted away, revealing cursed earth that my instincts warned was lethal to the touch.
“Damn it.”
Only then did the difficulty truly sink in. Surrounded on all sides. There seemed to be no easy escape.
I hastily reverted Man-byeon from its sword form and immediately projected the highest-ranked shield.
At the same moment, thunderous flames rained down from above, and ice arrows streaked toward me from behind.
《2nd Circle Elemental Dark Magic—Black Flames of the Abyss. Jet-Black Ice Arrows. Earth Laden with Despair. The Black Flames of the Abyss deal damage and immediately inflict one 1st Circle curse that never extinguishes until dispelled. The Jet-Black Ice Arrows deal damage and immediately trigger Jet-Black Corrosion, rotting the flesh. Earth Laden with Despair continuously inflicts 1st Circle-level mental attacks on anyone who treads upon it.》
Hearing the Spirit Guide’s explanation, each attack was a formidable trap. Yet I could see a path forward.
‘There’s no way to dodge cleanly anyway.’
Then I should choose the option that deals the least damage. Without hesitation, I charged forward.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
It felt like treading through a swamp. My ordinary shoes melted instantly, and even my soles, protected by Pride’s mana, accumulated damage bit by bit.
Simultaneously, countless mental attack messages flooded my vision, but the Supreme Soul handled them all, so I dismissed the notifications.
Yes, this is right. A little foot pain is far better than taking a fireball or being pierced by ice arrows. I’ll just think of it as walking on a bed of nails.
The fireball crashed down where I had been standing, and I immediately held my shield behind me to block the dozens of incoming ice arrows.
Crash! Bang! Crack! Boom!
“If it were any stronger, I would’ve died.”
An advanced SSS+ grade shield had been completely reduced to rags. That old man—they said he was a Grand Mage, but he wielded elemental dark magic far more skillfully than curses or basic sorcery.
《…can be countered. The critical point to note is that the opponent reached the Grand Mage tier through elemental magic. Though he has decayed, his experience and knowledge grant all elemental dark spells at least one tier higher in potency. Therefore, evasion should take priority over counterattacks.》
Even my Spirit Guide agrees. But this time, my judgment was correct. I transformed Man-byeon back into a blade and severed the Corridor hovering directly above my head.
Crack!
The Corridor shattered, and the liquid within spilled onto the floor. Simultaneously, the liquid level in the central apparatus containing the old man dropped slightly.
‘So this is the strategy!’
My prediction was spot-on. Now I had to endure as long as possible and deal with the remaining eighteen.
——-!!!!
The old man in the barrel, sensing his life was in danger, convulsed with rage and began chanting an enormous barrage of dark spells at the same speed as before, unleashing them toward me in rapid succession.
Apparently showing no mercy, he instantly deployed three elemental dark spells.
“Ha…haha. Damn it.”
Lightning. Frost. Lava.
Each one was a 4-circle spell. This is insane—and he’s supposed to be decayed! Supposedly clinging to life by a thread!
4-circle magic is at minimum the level only high-rank A-rank Hunters can wield. Combined with that old Grand Mage’s knowledge and experience buff, it’s practically 5-circle in effect.
5-circle magic is a realm even S-rank Hunters cannot reach. Only America’s SS-rank Hunter, known as the Five-Colored Mage, can cast such spells.
Curses spilled from my lips unbidden. Of course, the old man had squeezed this beyond his limits. He looked decades older than before—truly on death’s doorstep.
“If I can just block that…”
Damn it all…how do I block that? Each one carries destructive force I cannot withstand.
My mind spun faster than ever, searching for a way to break through this deadlock.
The Mythic-grade item I bought from Gold Ring? It’s not suited for defense.
My Domain’s runes? The effect of stealing and amplifying fortune is useless in this situation.
The Water-Flow Technique? I’m sorry, but my swordsmanship hasn’t reached the level of deflecting magic yet.
Golden Tower items? Merely advanced-grade equipment. Blocking 5-circle magic is impossible.
The Authority of Equivalent Exchange? No matter how much stronger I become or weaker he becomes, I cannot stop this.
Gulp.
There was…no way. The old man seemed to realize this fact as well, his withered face twisted into a satisfied smile as he glared at me.
The old man’s feeble hand rose. The moment those impossibly thin, fragile fingers pointed toward me.
Three spells surged forward.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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