Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 25

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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 25. The Scenarionist War
It was a scene that would never fade from memory.
Ignoring the Dragon God General’s attacks—which had slaughtered countless souls—a single sword stroke had obliterated him in a catastrophic explosion, and that terrible image remained vivid before his eyes.
‘The other Twelve Divine Generals were manageable enough, but the Dragon God General was different.’
It was impossible to draw near him.
It was a mission that could not be cleared.
His feet simply would not move, leaving him helpless to do anything but watch.
Everyone felt the same, including Yu Han-seop.
But then, suddenly, an armored man appeared and began charging toward the Dragon God General.
At first, he thought the stranger was throwing his life away.
It looked reckless, foolish.
But then……
‘That spectacle…… it was genuinely spine-tingling.’
It burned itself into the minds of hundreds of thousands watching.
A man who made the impossible possible.
A being who killed the Dragon God General and became a hero through his own hand!
…It gave him pause.
The man still seemed unaware of his presence.
Yu Han-seop, hidden in the thick undergrowth, watched Lee Hyuk-su approach with half-lidded eyes.
‘Just as I thought. A Scenarionist.’
Coming here was proof that Lee Hyuk-su was a Scenarionist who knew the location of the elixir.
Killing the Dragon God General had only been possible because of the Scenarionist’s power.
Could an ordinary human possibly kill the Dragon God General?
There was no doubt. Lee Hyuk-su was a Scenarionist.
Though…… perhaps not an ordinary one.
Much as he hated to admit it, the man surpassed him.
‘Perhaps his Creator revealed the Dragon God General’s weakness to him.’
Every Creator cultivated their Scenarionists differently.
It was likely the Creator had provided substantial aid.
Revealing weaknesses, granting high-grade equipment, or perhaps even enhancing the Scenarionist’s abilities through divine blessings and protection.
If that were so.
‘Then an ambush would work.’
No matter how strong Lee Hyuk-su was, he remained human.
As long as he was human, an unforeseen blade would take his life.
Yu Han-seop could not accept the existence of anyone stronger than himself.
The man was simply favored more heavily by his Creator.
It was fortune, nothing more.
Talent and effort—those would not surpass his own.
The same held true when he killed the Dragon God General.
Had he not merely charged in recklessly and made a single sword strike?
Could that truly be called skill?
Even if he allowed for a thousand concessions, it had only been possible because his Creator intervened so heavily.
‘To stand at the pinnacle of mankind, he must be erased here.’
He intended to cultivate the Yeomyeong Fraternity into his faith.
He planned to become a living god—to transcend Korea and encompass the world itself.
In that endeavor, this man was an obstacle.
If there existed a being more powerful than himself, he could never truly become a ‘god.’
‘Three, two……’
Lee Hyuk-su had drawn near.
Yu Han-seop waited for the moment, then burst from the undergrowth at the perfect instant.
Immediately, he extended his blade and struck at Lee Hyuk-su.
In a fraction of a second that he should never have perceived.
Clang!
……But it was blocked.
That was where it began.
Lee Hyuk-su raised the Lion King’s Great Sword to the side and drew it through empty air in one fluid motion.
The exchange of advantage reversed in an instant. Sensing danger, Yu Han-seop twisted his torso backward and barely managed to preserve his life.
‘What is this reaction speed……!’
He had not blocked knowingly.
It was instinct.
Every Scenarionist he’d hunted so far had died or taken a fatal wound on the opening strike.
A chance to counterattack?
He didn’t give them one.
They were too busy reeling from the sudden onslaught to think.
But Lee Hyuk-su didn’t falter—he flowed from attack to defense as naturally as water finding its course.
Thud!
He planted his foot, shifted his weight forward, and swung the great sword diagonally again.
Yu Han-seop, caught in an awkward stance, thrust his blade forward to meet it.
Clang!
‘How is he this strong…!’
His arm nearly tore from its socket.
The man wielded that great sword like a toy.
Yu Han-seop was hurled backward, skidding across the ground.
The ambush had failed completely.
He scrambled to his feet, regaining his stance.
In that same moment, his eyes met Lee Hyuk-su’s.
A chill ran down his spine.
Those eyes—not a flicker of doubt in them.
Yu Han-seop’s mouth opened unbidden.
“I mistook you for—”
He was about to apologize, to say he’d made a mistake, when—
Slash!
Lee Hyuk-su charged.
There was no word for it but a lethal rush—a descent unto slaughter.
He came like an enraged bull, aiming for Yu Han-seop’s throat.
‘This… he’s this strong?’
His assumptions crumbled.
Lee Hyuk-su’s power vastly exceeded what Yu Han-seop had anticipated.
The gap between them—the sheer caliber—was different.
It wasn’t mere brute force; his instincts were transcendent.
The way he extended his blade to intercept attacks just before impact was almost breathtaking.
Less man than beast.
Like watching a king among beasts.
Each time he received the great sword, Yu Han-seop’s body screamed.
Bones fractured. Muscles tore.
He couldn’t match him in strength, speed, technique—nothing.
‘A monster!’
Lee Hyuk-su was a monster.
He hadn’t killed the Dragon God General with the Creator’s help—he possessed the strength to kill the Dragon God General himself.
A wall.
For the first time, Yu Han-seop faced an insurmountable wall.
《The durability of ‘Silver Knight’s Sword (7Lv, Epic)’ has worn down.》
《The durability of ‘Silver Knight’s Sword (7Lv, Epic)’ has worn down.》
《The durability of ‘Silver Knight’s Sword (7Lv, Epic)’ has worn down.》
And that wasn’t all.
His highest-grade weapon shrieked with each collision against Lee Hyuk-su’s blade.
You could see the edge chipping away with every contact.
Meanwhile, Lee Hyuk-su’s great sword remained pristine.
《The durability of ‘Silver Knight’s Sword (7Lv, Epic)’ is nearly exhausted.》
He couldn’t comprehend it.
‘Is that great sword a higher grade than my Silver Knight’s Sword?’
Nothing beyond Epic had ever been discovered.
Yet all of Lee Hyuk-su’s equipment shared the same color and form as that great sword, as if forged as one.
Snap!
《’Silver Knight’s Sword (7Lv, Epic)’ has been destroyed.》
Time seemed to stop.
The shattered blade turned to dust, scattering on the wind.
A swordsman without a sword knows only one ending.
Lee Hyuk-su’s great sword was now inches from Yu Han-seop’s throat.
“What are you? How can you possibly be this strong?”
He shouted in a trembling voice.
Even if one received the Creator’s aid, one’s fundamental nature—one’s essential character—would not change.
The temperament inherent in a person: their nature, their emotions, their bearing when facing a blade.
To Yu Han-seop’s eye, Lee Hyuk-su was born a swordsman.
He seemed made for nothing but wielding a blade.
And yet, he possessed treasures in abundance.
Every piece of equipment Lee Hyuk-su wore surpassed anything Yu Han-seop owned.
What manner of Creator would one have to contract with to be handed such treasures from the very start?
“L-look, I’m sorry about the ambush, all right? I was wrong about you. We’re the same Scenarionist, aren’t we? Scenarionis help each other. No—let’s make an alliance instead. If we allied, we’d be unstoppable—”
“…Scenarionist?”
Lee Hyuk-su’s brow twitched.
Yu Han-seop was certain Lee Hyuk-su was a Scenarionist.
“Yes, a Scenarionist! Think about it. We’re destined to be leaders of humanity. Beings who stand above mankind! There’s nothing to gain from us fighting each other.”
“Then why did you throw people to monsters to be devoured?”
Lee Hyuk-su opened his mouth, his gaze as cold and fathomless as an abyss.
Gulp.
The moment Yu Han-seop beheld that look, his entire body trembled like an aspen leaf.
“W-we are chosen ones. We can save humanity. So it’s a matter of small sacrifice for the greater good, see? So if we just make this alliance and cooperate—ack!”
Suddenly, a surge of agony tore a scream from Yu Han-seop.
His right arm, burning as if seared by flame, seized in his grip.
Thud!
In the next moment, his arm lay on the floor, severed.
Witnessing this, Yu Han-seop gasped in fresh horror.
“My—my arm! My arm!!”
Yu Han-seop convulsed in agony.
Watching Yu Han-seop writhe on the ground, Lee Hyuk-su spoke.
“I don’t associate with Scenarialists.”
Part of him wanted to sever the man’s neck entirely, but he could not bring himself to commit murder.
He still felt resistance to taking a human life.
Yet he could not simply leave a Scenarionist alive.
It was because of the warning the Prophet had given him in the Abyss that first night.
—Kill every Scenarionist you find. That is how you save humanity. How you save yourself.
—If you cannot kill them, at least sever their limbs. Once a Scenarionist becomes useless, the Creator will dispose of them accordingly.
Lee Hyuk-su understood now why the Prophet had commanded him to kill every Scenarionist on sight.
Yu Han-seop had abandoned all the people of the Yeomyeong Fraternity who had trusted and followed him.
He had thrown them to monsters to be devoured for his own gain.
This was what Lee Hyuk-su had come to understand while killing the monsters and saving the people.
‘Scenarialists are truly unnecessary.’
Conversing with Yu Han-seop made his ears feel as though they were rotting.
The absurdity of it—lurking in hiding to ambush, then speaking of alliance.
Just as the Prophet had said, Scenarialists were beings unnecessary for humanity’s survival.
Above all else… the Prophet was Lee Hyuk-su’s god.
How could he disobey the Divine Word? Lee Hyuk-su was resolved to fulfill the Prophet’s commands to the fullest extent.
“It h-hurts! It hurts so much!”
Leaving Yu Han-seop writhing behind him, bleeding freely, Lee Hyuk-su turned his back.
He felt not a shred of pity.
‘The Prophet told me. Become a savior.’
Of course, Lee Hyuk-su had no intention of becoming a savior.
But he did have the courage to challenge the most difficult trial.
If he cleared this Aquatic Abyss and received the thousand-point reward, Korea—his mother lying in her hospital bed—would be safe.
He quickened his pace forward.
* * *
A moment later.
A man appeared before Yu Han-seop.
“P-please… save me…”
From the massive blood loss, Yu Han-seop’s complexion had turned deathly pale.
His face looked as though he might expire at any moment.
The man who had appeared looked down at Yu Han-seop and spoke.
“…An interesting one has appeared.”
“Please… help me…”
Crack!
The man’s foot came down on Yu Han-seop’s throat.
Bones twisted and snapped with a sickening sound, and Yu Han-seop died instantly.
His corpse crumbled to dust and evaporated.
The man turned his head, following the direction in which Lee Hyuk-su had vanished.
“I naturally assumed he was a Scenarionist.”
But he wasn’t.
If he had been, the man would have killed Yu Han-seop with a single stroke.
Currently, all the Scenariionists in the Aquatic Abyss were at odds with one another.
War had broken out among them.
“Not a Scenarionist, yet possessing such power and equipment…….”
The man stroked his chin and smiled.
It was the joy of discovering one of his own kind.
A pure master of raw strength.
In all his life, he had never felt an emotion quite like this, and it shook him.
…That there existed someone beyond himself who had honed their power to this degree.
And what’s more—his talent was nothing short of dazzling.
Properly refined and cultivated, he could easily rise to the ranks of the strongest.
The equipment he wore was far from ordinary either.
‘It must belong to the Lion King.’
He had assembled a complete set of items that shouldn’t exist now, couldn’t possibly exist now—and yet the man insisted he wasn’t a Scenarionist. This only piqued his interest further.
“For now…….”
The man pondered briefly.
If he left Lee Hyuk-su alone, the man might challenge the Water Deity.
The Scenariionists could never stop him.
Not unless he intervened.
Of course, the Water Deity was a monster Lee Hyuk-su couldn’t handle alone—the Water Deity operated on an entirely different scale than someone like the Dragon God General.
Left to his own devices, Lee Hyuk-su might very well die.
A kindred spirit, discovered at last.
If he thought of the future, if he wanted to achieve his grand ambitions…….
“……Should we try getting along?”
Time was on his side, after all.
Unlike the other Scenariionists, the Toxic Mist Swampland—where what he sought lay hidden—was safe.
The swamp couldn’t be approached without poison resistance, and the guardian protecting the treasure was no trivial matter to sneak past.
‘The Necromancer. The one who commands death.’
No one could steal from it.
The Necromancer, master of death, would rain endless attacks from within the toxic fog.
But beyond the Necromancer itself, the paths through the swamp were a labyrinth.
The roads shifted moment by moment, impossible to map.
Even if someone somehow reached the center and defeated the Necromancer, the Treasure Chest wouldn’t open. Only he knew how.
Layered with triple and quadruple security—how could anyone possibly steal it?
The man laughed heartily and turned his feet in the direction Lee Hyuk-su had gone.

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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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