Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 51

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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 51. Automatic Hunting
There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
Park Chan-woo had no intention of solving problems for nothing.
He’d offered Adora advice in exchange for her procuring Sacred Objects.
Thanks to that arrangement, he could easily obtain high-grade Sacred Objects without hunting himself.
It was far easier than lying back and having food drop into one’s mouth.
“Do not fear your own power. Simply learn to command death naturally. Prove worthy of the title Witch of Death.”
“…Are you saying I haven’t been commanding death properly?”
“If you had mastered it, Kankun’s tribe would never have been annihilated. Isn’t that so?”
The fault lay entirely with Adora.
Had she properly wielded the essence of death, she could have exercised sufficient control to prevent Kankun’s tribe from being wiped out.
But because she’d failed to control it, his entire tribe had been destroyed.
And as a result, she’d been forced into direct combat with Kankun.
“Kankun overcame his own weakness through sheer will. Meanwhile, you still fear your own strength. Should the two of you meet again in this state, nothing will change.”
“Only the Black Witch can control a witch’s power.”
“You can do it too. If I guide you.”
Park Chan-woo spoke with absolute conviction.
Adora simply hadn’t learned properly.
In the world of witches, there was no need to control the power of death, and even if there had been, they would have relied on the Black Witch.
Dark Magic.
Magic that runs counter to truth itself.
From the perspective of a mage who dealt in truth, Dark Magic was an extraordinarily captivating field of study.
Especially since it was rare to encounter the witch—the very master of Dark Magic—right beside him.
Dark Mages existed, yes, but how could they compare to a founder of the craft?
‘When we clasped hands, I understood it. The mechanism by which Adora’s death operates.’
He’d sensed it dimly.
It wasn’t a simple matter of stealing life and killing.
It was magic constructed through far more intricate formulae.
‘Adora’s mana burns other mana.’
Mana.
Every living thing possessed it.
Adora’s mana had the nature of burning all mana it touched.
That was why he’d lost consciousness the moment their hands clasped.
Though Bokshil had saved him from death, a substantial portion of his internal mana had been burned away, causing him to lose consciousness.
Mana that burns mana.
Moreover, it operated as naturally as breathing.
How extraordinary was that.
The death magic she’d cast upon Kankun’s heart also operated by ‘burning the heart’s mana’.
That was why his chest had been scorched black.
‘Mana Burn is operating like a passive ability.’
There was indeed a similar form of magic.
Magic called Mana Burn.
Most mages believed Mana Burn existed in only one form, but strictly speaking, Mana Burn divided into three major categories.
Mana Drain, which absorbs an opponent’s mana; Mana Break, which burns only an opponent’s mana; and Mana Burn, which burns mana while killing the target.
Adora had the most vicious form of Mana Burn operating on her at all times like a passive ability—and it was magic vast enough to encompass the entire Tower if she wished.
An existence that naturally wielded magic of this magnitude from birth.
‘…Insane.’
Understanding better than anyone just how staggering that was, Park Chan-woo could only shake his head in disbelief.
Magic that manipulates an opponent’s mana was at minimum Unique Grade.
When used, its range was limited and its efficiency poor.
To wield destructive power on Adora’s level, the grade of Mana Burn would have to be Eternal.
‘Magic’s function requires formulae and mana. Dark Magic’s function, conversely, requires a sacrifice.’
That was why most Dark Magic was condemned.
But what of the witch?
What sacrifice had Adora made to wield ‘death’?
And why had the essence of death suddenly weakened?
There was only one answer.
‘…The condition of her power is the absence of emotion, it seems.’
To wield such enormous power, the witch had abandoned emotion.
She had made all feeling itself her sacrifice.
For witches, awakening emotion could only be considered a Great Sin.
Yet Adora had felt emotion watching Kankun, and now she had reached a point where Death itself was weakening.
To restore Death’s aura to its original state.
…she would have to erase her emotion.
Return it to nothingness.
“What must I do to wield Death properly?”
Adora asked.
Her opponent was no ordinary Mage—one who had removed Kankun’s weakness and even claimed Death’s magic itself.
The only one in the Tower of Arrogance to have transplanted a Domain here.
She could not treat him the same as other humans.
So she spoke with genuine sincerity.
About the solution to this problem.
How she might receive his aid.
The answer was simple.
……Kankun would simply have to die.
But that was neither a proper solution nor a true means of overcoming the trial.
Park Chan-woo extended his hand.
“……?”
Adora stared at the offered hand in silence.
“Keep me from losing consciousness.”
“…You’ll die in the attempt.”
Even if Bokshil stopped Death, mana would still burn away.
Push too far with repetition, and eventually all the mana in his body would burn until he perished.
Park Chan-woo knew this truth better than anyone.
Yet he kept his hand extended for one reason alone.
“I know. But I am the only one whose body has touched yours without dying. If I perish, you will solve nothing. Before I die, you must overcome this.”
Overcome it, he was saying.
That she could do this.
When would such an opportunity come again?
Everything that touched her died, but Park Chan-woo was the exception.
Yet opportunity was not infinite.
She would have to seize it with desperate resolve.
Park Chan-woo continued speaking.
“Use me to master Death. It is necessary if you are to approach Kankun.”
If she met Kankun in her current state, one of them would surely perish.
Even standing face to face was impossible.
No proper conversation could possibly take place.
Do not flee. Overcome. Command Death itself.
……
The Witch of Death, Adora.
She fixed him with a strange, piercing gaze.
A human willing to sacrifice himself to resolve her burden.
Remarkably, this man did not fear Death.
In all her life, among every living thing she had encountered, this was the first.
Never had she met one so composed in the face of Death.
Even the witches themselves had fled from her.
All that touched Adora died and faded away.
Kankun’s kin. Kankun himself.
She could not understand why she had been born with such power, why she must bear such a karmic burden.
There was only darkness.
She existed in pitch-black darkness.
Yet this human had extended his hand from within that darkness.
“Come.”
……
As Park Chan-woo urged her, Adora cautiously grasped the hand he offered.
《Death Authority spreads outward.》
《Bokshil counteracts Death Authority.》
《Death Authority dissipates, but extreme fatigue surges through the body.》
Shudder—
‘Hack—!’
Convulsing violently, Park Chan-woo lost consciousness once more.
* * *
There was a charred taste in his mouth.
His mind turned white, and it felt as though the blood in his heart were evaporating.
Mana burns.
It blazes, it roars aflame.
A spell that forcibly ignites the mana of one’s opponent.
Within her domain it activates automatically; at the slightest touch of flesh, it triggers with devastating force.
‘Even so, I managed three seconds this time.’
When they first shook hands, he lost consciousness immediately.
This time he endured for roughly three seconds.
Even his unconsciousness lasted a bit longer.
From two hours down to one hour and thirty minutes or so.
Yet it was hardly a trivial matter.
It was simply too agonizing.
The sensation was like being burned alive.
Of all the varieties of pain he’d experienced in his life, this ranked firmly in the top three.
If he blocked out his senses, might the pain diminish?
‘No, that wouldn’t help either.’
The burning of mana had nothing to do with ordinary sensation.
It existed in the realm of a sixth sense that transcended the five.
Repeating this was madness.
‘Four times a day should be manageable.’
Yet Park Chan-woo did not yield.
Instead, his eyes gleamed, and he asked Adora to shake hands again.
‘My mana burns and regenerates. In that process, only the purest mana remains.’
There was something to be gained from it, after all.
《Your mana is being refined.》
《Mana Efficiency increases by 2.4%.》
《Mana Regeneration ability improves by 3.87%.》
《The vessel that holds mana, emptied and filled countless times, grows larger.》
《Mana increases by 3.》
His Mana Efficiency, regeneration capability, and even his total mana all rose.
A miraculous effect achieved by Bokshil and the Black Witch together.
Park Chan-woo himself was curious how far it could climb.
‘This is an opportunity. A golden opportunity!’
It wasn’t only Adora who had seized an opportunity.
Park Chan-woo had one too.
No matter how agonizing it was, no matter that death lurked near, he could not turn away from it.
‘There are almost no ways to increase Mana Regeneration capability.’
Especially the aspect concerning Mana Regeneration—it was the envy of every mage.
No spell, tool, or equipment existed that raised Mana Regeneration.
One could raise it slightly by advancing one’s Mage Class Level, but even that ceiling was frustratingly low.
“…Again?”
Adora had moved beyond bewilderment into something like awe.
He was clearly not in his right mind.
Even though the agony was plainly visible, the moment his eyes opened, he asked to shake hands once more.
“You can’t manage it?”
“…No, I can. I will.”
But Adora herself knew there was no avoiding it any longer.
Adora, the Witch of Death.
A woman of remarkable talent, trained by the Black Witch herself.
To fail to command even her own death would be the height of foolishness.
Her hand, cold as ice.
A hand utterly without warmth, a hand that called forth death.
‘Argh!’
After that, Park Chan-woo lost consciousness many more times.
But still, he endured.
《The Layer Guardian of Tower of Arrogance 3rd Floor, ‘Basilisk’, has appeared!》
《Adora has successfully hunted the ‘Basilisk’.》
《The path to Tower of Arrogance 4th Floor opens before you.》
《All of Adora’s supporters receive their rewards.》
《You are Adora’s sole inner circle and a formidable ally.》
《Four Sacred Objects have been placed on display.》
《You receive ’15 Coins’ and 6 ‘Boxes of Arrogance’ as your reward.》
《Tip: Collect as many ‘Boxes of Arrogance’ as possible.》
《The more ‘Boxes of Arrogance’ you gather, the better your rewards become.》
Either way, Adora had handled the hunting herself.

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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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