Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 146

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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 146. The Final Battle
Aurum stretched his body.
By now, the traces of combat were scattered all around him.
Even though five hundred spirits had been desummoned, his body still felt sluggish and heavy.
It was the result of a prolonged tedium.
He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d torn through something properly.
Aurum knew what he was lacking.
‘Tension.’
This heaviness came from the absence of that edge.
There was no one in the Fox Den who could threaten him.
“……At last. He’s come.”
……But then, it arrived.
A presence that could make him tense.
He felt it.
A powerful wave of Mana.
The total quantity of Mana was less than his own, yet the spells this one wielded defied the law of Mana totals.
Perhaps…… a power close to Divine Power.
It meant the ability to refine and use Mana efficiently was an art form unto itself.
But that wasn’t all.
‘He’s imbued the Holy Sword with magic.’
He saw it.
He saw it clearly.
The Heavenly Punishment wreathing the Holy Sword.
But the Holy Sword of the Fox Den was merely a tool designed to strike demons.
It had no other function, and no additions could be made to it.
To begin with, Spell Enchantment was an impossible technique by common understanding.
Magic worked by igniting Mana into action.
To imbue ignited Mana somewhere and maintain it was an entirely different matter.
That couldn’t be called ‘magic’ at all.
Similarly.
‘One who has made the impossible possible. Yet I am the same.’
Aurum too could exercise a comparable function.
He couldn’t use magic, but instead he wielded spirits to accomplish feats equal to magic.
“Spirits, hear me.”
Wheeeee!
Countless spirits materialized in his hands, beginning to gather and settle.
If the challenger’s — that Ten-tailed Fox’s — Miracle is Spell Enchantment, then Aurum’s Miracle is Spirit Bestowal.
He could imbue spirits wherever he wished, enhancing his capabilities.
And that wasn’t all.
“Become a blade.”
Whoooosh!
The spirits merged together, transforming into a single form.
And then the spirits became a ‘sword.’
……In this way, Aurum could also create a Spirit Sword using spirits.
It was a sight that would have horrified ordinary spirit summoners.
Spirit summoners could at best summon spirits and command them.
Transforming spirits into other shapes, strengthening one’s body with spirits — such things were beyond their imagination.
‘This will be entertaining.’
Miracle against Miracle.
A moment of considerable anticipation.
Aurum did not move a single step from where he stood, waiting for the Ten-tailed Fox to overcome every Trial.
He waited for him to walk here of his own will and challenge him.
Would the new challenger indeed — would the Ten-tailed Fox answer the call to the Final Battle?
‘You will be different from Yu Jin-seo.’
She had never done such a thing even once.
Every time, she’d been too busy fleeing.
‘I pray you do not disappoint me.’
If even this new challenger were to run, Aurum had resolved to destroy this Fox Den.
He would kill every fox and forcibly become the master of the Fox Den, then venture beyond this world.
And he would bring annihilation to all creation.
Aurum lifted his gaze to the sky.
For an instant, his eyes met those of the divine being.
‘I want it.’
Such desire had been foreign to him for ages.
Aurum was a being who had achieved everything through his own power, holding all things within his grasp.
He had never once harbored the thought of stealing ‘another’s’ possession.
Yet this divine being—he coveted it.
He couldn’t say why, but that ‘divine being’ seemed like the answer he’d been seeking all along.
Yes, as if…… he might become a ‘true king’.
As if he could transcend even the Ten-tailed Fox and become something greater—the true master of all foxes.
So he resolved to take it.
Along with the Ten-tailed Fox’s heart.
* * *
Ting!
《1,130 challengers now follow you.》
《1 ‘Nine-tailed Fox’ now follows you.》
《70 ‘foxes’ now follow you.》
《The abilities of the ‘Holy Sword’ user have increased substantially!》
《You have achieved the feat ‘Everyone’s Faith’.》
《You have achieved a Hidden Scenario. 10 Black Stars have been awarded as a bonus.》
《As a reward for achieving the Hidden Scenario, your ability levels now match those of ‘Aurum’!》
The preparations were complete.
With Yu Jin-seo’s unwavering support, at last he had won the trust of everyone who dwelt within the Fox Den.
Not merely the Holy Sword users, but the other foxes as well.
From Hoya and the other attendants to the distant foxes who had been watching from afar.
“…Together, let’s capture Aurum.”
Yu Jin-seo spoke.
Her eyes burned with resolve.
For the first time, she harbored the thought of confronting Aurum—that wondrous Nine-tailed Fox.
If they failed, there was no tomorrow.
Aurum would inevitably kill Yu Jin-seo.
Having come this far, there was no choice but to see it through.
But Park Chan-woo shook his head.
“I’ll handle this alone. Everyone, withdraw beyond the Domain.”
“…Aurum is far more powerful than you realize. The spirits he commands are of a different order than ordinary spirits. You cannot face him alone.”
Yu Jin-seo spoke with concern in her voice.
But he knew.
That Aurum’s spirits were no ordinary creatures.
Rare beings that had evolved alongside Aurum over ages.
Ordinary spirits possess weak self-awareness—they obey their summoners, yet merely follow commands.
Transformation and improvisation are beyond them, but Aurum’s spirits accomplish everything of their own accord.
“Aurum will come alone.”
Yet Park Chan-woo was certain.
That Aurum would not summon spirits to interfere.
Instead, he would merge with them and be reborn as something far more formidable.
Cygnus had witnessed this himself and relayed the account; the interference of spirits was not a concern.
But there was one thing.
‘Aurum is stronger than imagination can conceive.’
What Park Chan-woo most feared about Aurum lay in that ‘Spirit Bestowal’.
Granting spirits to himself and becoming endlessly stronger in the process.
Humanity’s conquest of Aurum came only in the distant future.
After the Nine-tailed Fox Yu Jin-seo became the master of the Fox Den and bewitched all of humanity, she gathered mankind’s strongest warriors, including Han Shin, and personally led the assault.
Nine masters, refined through selection and refinement.
Of them, only four survived the encounter with Aurum.
‘The average level of the assault team exceeded 80.’
At that time, Han Shin and Yu Jin-seo likely surpassed level 90.
The mightiest assault team struggled against Aurum alone.
Park Chan-woo must face that monster by himself.
‘Such an approach to assault became known only later.’
By maximizing the Holy Sword’s functions to command all followers, he could wield a force comparable to Aurum’s own.
But theoretically possible wasn’t the same as actually doable.
And here was why.
“I’ll fight alone.”
He had to fight alone, cloaked in everyone’s blind faith.
Even if Yu Jin-seo had bewitched all of humanity, the strongest were different.
Han Shin especially would never trust her.
The man was obsessed with strength, fixated on it like a sickness.
Beyond mere fascination, his obsession would drive him to seize control of the battle himself.
And the Fallen Saint Yu Jin-seo would refuse to yield either.
‘Right now, it’s possible.’
Only now, while they believed him to be Aurum, was it possible.
Before Yu Jin-seo had fully fallen.
Before she began viewing humanity as sacrificial offerings to exploit.
In this confusion, with only Aurum’s conquest filling his mind, Park Chan-woo could face Aurum alone and whole.
Yu Jin-seo’s pupils trembled faintly.
“But……”
“Trust me.”
She’d be worried, of course.
But he couldn’t explain the Hidden Scenario to her.
If he told her he’d gained power comparable to Aurum because of it, her faith in the “Ten-tailed Fox” would shatter.
In that moment, Park Chan-woo and Yu Jin-seo’s eyes met.
Soon after, Yu Jin-seo nodded.
“…I will trust you.”
Honestly, it seemed a world away from the Yu Jin-seo Park Chan-woo knew.
Was this really the same mad saint who’d crucified humans and tortured them to death?
The same Yu Jin-seo who’d led people into that hellish Abyss and savored their screams of agony?
‘Once Aurum dies and the Fox Den is cleared, all the foxes disappear with it.’
They were profoundly mistaken.
They believed he would save the foxes and let them escape this place.
But Park Chan-woo’s thoughts were otherwise.
He had no intention of letting the foxes out into the world.
Had he not already witnessed how terrible their wickedness could be?
That pure malice transcended the scale of even a typical Avatar.
He would never allow the foxes to leave this place.
They would meet their end here, together with the Fox Den itself.
Park Chan-woo shook his head and delivered his final words.
“Trust me. I am the savior of the Fox Den.”
The savior of the Fox Den—not of the foxes.
The distinction was unmistakable.
At the same time, all the foxes and people slowly began to retreat from the Domain.
Left alone at last, Park Chan-woo steadied his breath.
The moment had come.
Whoooosh!
Aurum’s Domain unfolds.
A curtain of blue engulfed Park Chan-woo.
The entire landscape shifted.
Overgrown thickets—a vista entirely unlike any Trial he’d faced before.
A babbling stream and a small cottage-like dwelling stood before him.
…This is the land of the Nine-tailed Fox, Aurum.
Ding!
《’Aurum’s Domain’ has been fully deployed.》
《’Final Battle’ begins!》
Thump.
Thump.
Park Chan-woo turned his gaze toward the approaching presence.
From the distance, Aurum—empowered with every spirit—drew near.
Under normal circumstances, this was a monster that would only fall to ten users of Holy Swords—to Yu Jin-seo and the nine strongest fighting as one, far in the distant future.
Now he had to defeat such a monster alone.
All the strongest who’d experienced Aurum before were utterly appalled.
-No, that creature is endlessly growing, an unstoppable monster.
Never again. I never want to fight someone like that again.
And yet… he had to admit it was quite something.
Even that arrogant Han Shin refused to deny it.
If he were merely a monster with an inflated Level, Han Shin would never have acknowledged him.
Pure skill itself—that was the meaning of an insurmountable wall.
To be honest, that was the first time I’d ever seen Han Shin acknowledge “the Abyss monster.”
A true master of the blade.
Legend had it his swordsmanship equaled Han Shin’s, or surpassed it.
Of course, this was before Han Shin’s completion—but even then, his swordsmanship was something that earned recognition from “ancient beings.”
His natural talent and intuition for the sword had always set him apart; he’d reached a level beyond peer.
So if one denied the curiosity, it would be a lie.
Would my blade reach him?
Park Chan-woo was a Mage.
But at the same time, he was also a swordsman.
Their stat levels had become nearly equal.
What remained was only the realm of pure skill.
And then.
“Ten-tailed Fox. Entertain me.”
Thump!
Aurum stepped forward before him.

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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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