Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 116

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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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Episode 116. Half-Human Half-Demon
Avatars.
Those who had made contracts with the lords of the Abyss and demons.
But beyond simple contracts, there existed a rare few Avatars who underwent “demonification.”
We called them “Half-Human Half-Demons”—beings caught between humanity and monstrosity, neither one nor the other.
Caught between humanity and monstrosity, neither one nor the other.
No one knew the process by which one became a Half-Human Half-Demon.
Yet all Half-Human Half-Demons shared a terrifying ability: they could brainwash other Avatars and command them like puppets.
They were more powerful than any other Avatar, obedient only to their Creator’s will—living dolls, nothing more.
Humanity had no choice but to hunt them down with desperate fervor.
Leave them unchecked, and they would metastasize into movements.
They would bloat their ranks in an instant, gathering Avatars like refuse, plunging the world into chaos.
Order would crumble, nations would collapse, and despair would spread like a plague, only multiplying the number of Avatars—an absolute evil incarnate.
‘Already?’
…The timing of its appearance was far too soon.
Such a creature shouldn’t have emerged until after the war between races.
Yet some Creator had fabricated one in merely two months.
To reclaim the Champion’s seat.
But that couldn’t be the whole reason.
Park Chan-woo, who had lived through the future, knew better than anyone that creating a Half-Human Half-Demon was not simple.
Most Creators lacked even the capability to attempt it.
What could the real motive be?
To guarantee victory, they had even prepared 150 sacrifices.
‘The Creators are under the impression that Agzos is the Avatar of a Demon King.’
One of the 108 Demon Kings had entered into an Avatar Contract with humanity!
This was the common theme of posts that had set the Creator Community ablaze.
Earth—a world the Demon Kings had taken notice of.
Humanity, which had utterly defeated both the Tower of Arrogance and Aheta.
With these two pieces of evidence converging, Creators were pouring investment into Earth with renewed vigor.
……The purpose of that Half-Human Half-Demon was becoming clear.
Beyond their ability to brainwash Avatars and subordinate them, Half-Human Half-Demons possessed one more shared power.
‘Half-Human Half-Demons devour Avatars.’
They consumed the corpses of Avatars.
In doing so, they stole their strength.
If it could absorb a Demon King Avatar, the growth would be extraordinary—which explained the recklessness.
Whoever they were.
Park Chan-woo nodded to himself.
《Betting will now commence!》
Crush 150 opponents and capture the Half-Human Half-Demon.
If he thought positively about it, that meant a guaranteed minimum win streak of 150 consecutive victories.
It was only natural that this would draw the attention of even more Creators.
Furthermore.
‘Killing a Half-Human Half-Demon grants a title and a special box.’
Typically, one received the title “Demon Slayer.”
Along with it came what was known as a “Demon Box”—an item obtainable through no ordinary means.
Park Chan-woo had witnessed Half-Human Half-Demons before, but had never claimed that reward himself.
Han Shin had always swept them away.
A complete monopoly.
Likely, Han Shin had been hunting for the Demon Box.
So how could he not be curious?
What prize could be so valuable that Han Shin, a fellow Avatar, would pursue it with such ruthless intensity?
‘This should be interesting.’
Fortune had rolled into his lap on its own vine—it was only natural to prepare a feast.
The method of preparation was simple.
Betting.
This Colosseum existed solely to settle matters through wagers.
Ding!
《A new betting format has been added.》
《Place your wagers on Champion “Nameless” ‘s final win streak record.》
《You may bet up to a maximum of 170 consecutive victories.》
《The closer you get to the threshold, the higher the rate of Coins you can acquire.》
* * *
Earth 666 Abyss.
The place that had captured the unprecedented attention of every Creator writing in the ‘Earth category’ at this moment.
The massive Champion deathmatch unfolding there set the community ablaze, burning away the silence of the past few days.
―A Half-Human Half-Demon and one hundred fifty Avatars as sacrifices!
―Certainly, even a Demon King’s Avatar couldn’t defeat this.
―Demonizing an Avatar—that’s clever enough.
―And yet they opened it with additional betting.
―Does the Creator of Earth 666 Abyss think this battle has a chance of winning?
―Impossible.
―Absolutely impossible.
The Champion’s display of power certainly surpassed the current level of humanity by an immeasurable distance.
But that was all there was to it.
A Half-Human Half-Demon was a monster of an entirely different caliber.
And with one hundred fifty Avatars draining the Champion’s strength, there was no way he could possibly win.
The outcome was obvious.
Betting or not, the Balzac Alliance would triumph by an overwhelming margin.
―The game’s a foregone conclusion—there’s no point in betting.
―The Half-Human Half-Demon alone would be enough.
―Though the Win Streak Record betting does have some appeal.
―He’ll collapse before even reaching the Half-Human Half-Demon.
―Human stamina is too pitiful.
The Champion, the Nameless One, will fall before reaching Balzac.
He currently holds a 16-win streak, but 154 Avatars have entered the arena.
He must first defeat 153 Avatars, excluding Balzac.
In an endless series of consecutive battles against them, the likelihood of exhaustion and collapse was high.
No matter how much of a Demon King’s Avatar he might be.
Yet the Creator of ‘Earth 666’ Abyss, presumed to be a Demon King, clearly knowing this fact, opened additional betting.
Confidence?
Or perhaps more eccentricity.
―I’ll bet on it.
―Let’s see—will he reach sixty wins?
―Let’s enjoy watching his final desperate struggle.
* * *
The Half-Human Half-Demon Balzac Alliance and the Champion, the Nameless One.
The outcome of the two battles was obvious before they even began.
The Champion had absolutely no chance of victory.
Thus, simple betting on victory or defeat held little demand.
However, betting on guessing the Win Streak Record attracted quite a few participants.
Adora gazed at the Colosseum from the territory of the Second Night.
As a Creator, she could grasp every detail of the situation even without being there.
Before the match began, Park Chan-woo had asked her to open additional betting here.
She had opened the additional betting as he requested.
‘……it isn’t easy.’
To Adora’s eye, this battle.
Wasn’t easy at all.
No matter how powerful Agzos might be, his opponent was formidable in his own right.
Even in a straight one-on-one fight it would be difficult, and he still had to overcome 153 Avatars.
‘Mana will run dry first.’
The Mana required to maintain summoning.
The Mana needed to move while maintaining it.
To wage 154 consecutive battles while Synchronized with Agzos would require even greater mental fortitude.
And there was one more fact that gave Adora considerable cause for concern.
‘Synchronization with shadow can, if mishandled, corrupt the user’s mind.’
Agzos and Char’parm.
Though divided, they were ultimately a single unified entity.
Park Chan-woo, Synchronized with Agzos, would inevitably feel the influence of Char’parm as well.
But the contamination level of ‘Char’parm’ was beyond imagination.
As Adora, who had once been a witch of the deep abyss, could well understand.
If he were to fight in that state for an extended period, even Park Chan-woo’s noble spirit would crumble.
He might even become corrupted.
Or else consumed by Char’parm.
Even if he drove himself to madness and claimed victory, would Park Chan-woo truly remain Park Chan-woo?
‘…Forty Coins remain in my current reserves.’
Though Park Chan-woo had warned her against reckless gambling.
If he lost and died anyway, this Abyss would have no reason to exist.
If she lost these forty Coins, Adora would be bankrupt as well.
But her hesitation was brief.
Adora placed her bet without restraint.
Ding!
《Betting 40 Coins on a 170-Win Streak.》
* * *
《The match has concluded.》
《The victor: ‘Unnamed One’!》
《With 54 consecutive victories recorded, the championship remains secured!》
Whoosh.
In that instant, Agzos’s form flickered briefly.
A classic symptom of Mana depletion.
His Mana Regeneration was falling behind his consumption rate.
Nearly forty Avatars had been slaughtered already, yet the number remaining was far greater still.
‘I can use the Star of Arrogance to recover Mana only once.’
Using it now wouldn’t even reach Balzac.
Though Agzos’s summoning maintenance supposedly consumed modest Mana, unbroken combat multiplied the required reserves exponentially.
Even at 644% Mana Regeneration, the gap could not be covered.
“What’s wrong? You’re looking worn out.”
“Kill us all if you can!”
Endless jeers and mockery.
Whether brainwashed or not, their collective madness was unmistakable.
‘Sustained Synchronization for this long truly isn’t sustainable.’
Park Chan-woo deliberated for a moment.
Whether to entrust the combat entirely to Agzos.
After all, Agzos could continue fighting alone even without his Synchronization.
But Agzos’s combat style was monotonous.
It couldn’t adapt to variables the way Park Chan-woo could.
It merely executed commands as given, making it risky to entrust fully.
Yet if he sustained Synchronization any longer, Mental Contamination would occur.
Mental Contamination demanded even more vigilance than Mana exhaustion.
It was a chronic weakness endemic to all Summoners who wielded other beings.
A kind of inescapable curse.
And yet.
‘Agzos. Char’parm.’
Mental Contamination was unavoidable, but there was a way to dramatically reduce Mana consumption.
‘Surrender your bodies entirely to me. I become you, and you become me.’
《Synchronization Rate increases!》
《Synchronization Rate: 500%!》
《Mana consumption decreases significantly according to Synchronization Rate.》
《Warning: Synchronization Rate this high will trigger Mental Contamination.》
* * *
“Gaaahhhhh!”
Crackle.
Screaming, the last Avatar burned and vanished.
《The match has concluded.》
《The victor: ‘Unnamed One’!》
《With 169 consecutive victories recorded, the championship remains secured!》
Every sacrificial piece, every Avatar prepared, lay dead.
Balzac regarded the shadow warrior in silence.
He had thought it sufficient, yet it had proven wanting.
But more than that—
“You… aren’t human.”
Balzac was certain.
With each clash, the creature’s true nature revealed itself bit by bit.
That shadow was no human.
It was something merged with humanity.
At the start, they had been separate.
Separate, yes—but somewhere along the way, they had become one.
Balzac considered it.
What did one call such a thing.
Hisssss—.
Black smoke coiled upward around Agzos.
There came too the strange cry of some beast.
What had been separated was now completely fused into a single whole.
In that instant, Balzac’s skin crawled.
He did not comprehend it himself, but the tension was undeniable.
Balzac, who should never have known fear, felt it now.
But what was this tremor coursing through him.
“Ah… ah….”
Balzac nodded slowly.
Now he understood.
The creature had changed gradually with the passage of time.
And now, in this moment, it had evolved completely.
Yes. It had evolved.
Into something.
“Are you… like me.”
A Half-Human Half-Demon, just as he was.

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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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