Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 53

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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 53. You’re Quite Special
A man who had suddenly become Adora’s closest confidant.
Though he carried himself with the bearing of a formidable Mage, in truth he was no different from a vagrant.
All he did was sprawl about and sleep.
In short, he was living off Adora’s favor without lifting a finger.
Adora wielded the power, while that Mage hoarded all the Sacred Relics for himself.
For those struggling to acquire Sacred Relics, the sight was infuriating.
Yet if one shifted perspective, this could become a golden opportunity.
‘Could anyone with a dark-class become Adora’s closest confidant?’
‘A hidden piece. A secret condition for joining Adora’s inner circle!’
‘It’s obvious! Adora is building the Legion of Death to climb the tower together!’
They arrived at their conclusion.
Ability was irrelevant.
Joining Adora was the sole condition to monopolize her favor.
Look at it this way.
Wasn’t that Mage reaping every conceivable benefit simply because he’d joined first?
Adora was unmistakably building an army.
The evidence was clear.
Crunch.
Shriek!
…She walked alongside hundreds of resurrected creatures even now.
An Undead legion beyond mortal reach.
Gulp.
The three men who approached swallowed hard.
The very beasts that had slaughtered challengers until now flanked Adora’s sides.
They dripped saliva and loosed grotesque shrieks, as though ready at any moment to lunge, tear limbs from bodies, and swallow heads whole.
The backs of their knees trembled.
It would be a lie to say they weren’t afraid.
Yet they could not show it.
‘If I turn my back, I’ll truly be devoured.’
‘I have to join Adora’s legion.’
‘If I just endure, my life will flourish.’
This was a trial.
Without question, it was the condition for becoming Adora’s closest confidant.
Adora desired a legion that feared not death.
Once they joined, the Witch of Death would personally cultivate them as soldiers.
All they need do was catch the scraps of honey that fell along the way.
A sweet future would be assured.
Through a surfeit of Coins and countless other rewards, they might even rise to the apex and control South Korea itself.
Since the Abyss had emerged, all humanity had come to understand one thing.
That an era of Survival of the Fittest had arrived.
Those with the power to oppose the Abyss would stand at the pyramid’s peak!
For some, the Abyss was terror.
For others, it was opportunity.
“…….”
Adora regarded them with indifference.
The three men had entered the domain of death seeking their chance.
Without hesitation, their eyes gleaming.
Under Adora’s gaze, they spilled forth words with desperate fervor.
“Command us as you see fit.”
“We wish only to stand beside you, Adora.”
“We shall not idle. We will run with every fiber of our being!”
As time passed, the three men grew convinced.
The fact that she hadn’t killed them yet meant she would accept them, didn’t it?
Adora was merely testing their resolve.
Of course, compared to that idling fool who merely takes his fill, those who show passion and run with effort would please her more.
They relentlessly sniped at Park Chan-woo, displaying their own fervor.
Then.
Adora extended her hand.
“……!!”
The three men shuddered in unison.
Adora’s outstretched hand.
An invitation to do well together, surely.
A promise to induct them into the Legion of Death.
Ah.
Just as they’d hoped.
A rosy future bloomed in their minds.
All they had to do now was gracefully accept the gift Adora was offering.
She’d feed it to them with their mouths wide open.
Rapid ascension was theirs for the taking.
He smiled at the thought of himself living large outside the Tower, strutting about without a care.
This single moment of courage had become the foundation for his life’s reversal of fortune.
The three men exchanged glances.
The only question left was who would grasp that hand first.
‘First come, first served.’
‘The amount of honey dripping down is fixed. The one who eats it first wins.’
‘These bastards have no intention of giving way!’
Yet none of them seemed willing to compete fairly.
It would look strange to settle this with rock-paper-scissors here.
…The one who grasped first would be the victor.
“I’ll go first…!”
“Hnh!!”
They all thrust their hands forward at once.
The bald man, Main, was the first to seize Adora’s hand.
The bald man smirked at the other two, curling one corner of his mouth in derision.
‘Slow.’
Actions over words.
By the time you were thinking, you should already be moving.
That was his way of surviving in the Abyss.
This time was no different.
While the other two were still deliberating, the bald man had already extended his hand.
As a result, he earned the honor of grasping Adora’s hand first.
The man bowed his head toward Adora.
“Thank you. I will serve you faithfully…huh?!”
An instant.
Shudder-shudder-shudder!
The bald man convulsed violently.
Foam spilled from his mouth, and his eyes rolled back until only the whites showed in their sockets.
For about three seconds he thrashed like a fish freshly caught, before his body went limp.
“Wh…?”
“He… he’s dead?”
The remaining two men stared in disbelief.
A handshake usually meant something positive.
Yet the moment the bald man had grasped her hand, he had crossed into the next world.
And worse.
Crack!
Crackle-crackle-crack!
His limbs snapping into place, the bald man rose again as one of the Undead.
He had joined the Legion, true enough—but what good was joining the ranks of the dead as an undead soldier?
Swish.
Adora extended her hand once more.
Grasping that hand meant death.
Death, and becoming Undead.
The two remaining men’s minds went blank.
The Undead had already encircled them.
There was no hole to escape through, no way to refuse her hand.
“…….”
Adora stood unmoved, regarding the two men as she held out her hand.
Take it and die, or become food for the Undead.
Those were their only two choices.
* * *
Park Chan-woo watched quietly as the three men pressed their challenge.
‘Courage is admirable,’ he thought.
Adora was pouring all her effort into mastering her domain of death.
That was why the realm of death had grown weaker.
It was the reason those who wielded darkness and shadow-aspected classes could draw close to Adora.
And Park Chan-woo had made no move to stop their approach.
‘All three are Avatars.’
Park Chan-woo was certain of it.
At this stage, only Avatars could possess classes aligned with darkness.
They had contracted with the Creator and acquired the corresponding classes.
If a class was related to the Creator—lord of demons—it would hardly be ordinary.
Avatars were the festering darkness of tomorrow.
He felt not a shred of pity for them.
Of course, someone might claim they’d become Avatars without much thought at the Creator’s urging, but that process could never truly be done ‘without much thought.’
Once one entered into the Incarnate Contract with the Creator, one’s own eyes would open to the contract’s terms—the very conditions that would poison all of humanity.
Those who became Avatars did so with full knowledge of that price.
Only those prepared to strike from behind at any moment could truly become Avatars.
So all three men were reborn as Undead.
‘It’s a pity Han Shin didn’t take the bait.’
Han Shin had stirred the mood, driving the three men to make their challenge.
But he himself had not drawn near to Adora.
Park Chan-woo would have preferred Han Shin to fall for it, but the man was proving cautious after all.
For just a moment, he’d considered asking Adora to kill Han Shin—but he’d immediately discarded the thought.
‘If I tell Adora to kill Han Shin, the Moon Lord Aheta will catch on somehow.’
The Creator whom Han Shin was presumed to have contracted with.
The Moon Lord Aheta stood above all but the most renowned Named Creators—a monster among them.
His status was easily comparable to that of the highest-ranking demons.
If Adora suddenly killed Han Shin, the Moon Lord Aheta would grow suspicious, and it wouldn’t be long before he sensed Park Chan-woo’s existence.
What came after that was painfully obvious.
Aheta would try to kill him through the Infinite Targeting Abyss, or in the Second Night, or by speaking of him to the other Lords of the Abyss.
Removing Han Shin would have to wait until after Aheta was ruined.
‘Still.’
Park Chan-woo looked at Adora.
Instead of simply killing them, he’d offered his hand and turned them into Undead.
Perhaps watching him keep falling unconscious, she wanted to confirm whether the death she wielded was functioning properly.
Or perhaps.
‘Does she wish to reconcile with Kankun?’
Could it be that she wanted to offer her hand to Kankun as well?
Park Chan-woo stroked his chin.
At first, he’d thought it was love.
He’d believed Adora longed for Kankun.
But now, observing more closely, it seemed the emotion wasn’t quite so simple.
It was far more complex, more intricate.
He’d never seen a Mage harbor feelings of this depth before.
“…….”
Adora gazed at her own hand for a moment.
Her expression remained blank, her eyes unreadable and devoid of emotion.
“……What is your name?”
Then she turned her head and asked Park Chan-woo.
Curiosity.
Until now, Adora had never felt such curiosity toward Park Chan-woo.
But after grasping the hands of these others just moments before, she understood it now with certainty.
Park Chan-woo was different.
Different meant distinguishable.
Yet Adora knew nothing about him.
Park Chan-woo opened his mouth.
“Park Chan-woo.”
“Park Chan-woo…… so that is your name.”
Adora rolled the name over in her mind.
It was the first time she had ever directly asked anyone for their name.
It was also the first time she had bothered to remember one.
Because.
Nothing remained after death.
Given her nature—dealing in death itself—there was no need to ask for the names of the living.
And yet.
This man, Park Chan-woo, was different somehow.
“Park Chan-woo. Will you take my hand again?”
As if she had grasped something profound.
Adora spoke.
Park Chan-woo readily grasped her outstretched hand.
“Ungh……!”
Every hair on his body stood on end.
The magical force within him surged anew.
But.
Park Chan-woo’s mind remained clear.
Unlike before, he did not lose consciousness.
Ripples stirred in Adora’s eyes.
At last, she could exercise some control over death itself.
He sensed he understood the crucial reason this had become possible.
Adora did not release his hand.
As a result.
‘Hack—!’
Park Chan-woo collapsed after all.
Adora had held his hand for over thirty seconds without pause.
Prolonged contact still seemed beyond his capacity.
Adora then laid Park Chan-woo gently upon the Muscle Spider’s back, and gazed down at his unconscious form with an inexplicable gleam in her eyes.
“You… are special.”
* * *
《The Layer Guardian of the 4th Floor of the Tower of Pride, “Skeleton Lord,” has appeared!》
《Adora has successfully hunted the “Skeleton Lord.”》
《The path to the 5th Floor of the Tower of Pride opens before you.》
《All of Adora’s supporters receive their rewards.》
《You are Adora’s sole closest associate and her mightiest supporter.》
《8 Sacred Relics have been displayed in the Showcase.》
《You are awarded 8 Coins and 21 Boxes of Pride.》
《The Tower of Pride acknowledges you.》
《The Tower of Pride extends a proposal to you.》
《Should you exit the Tower now, you shall receive 50 Coins, 100 Boxes of Pride, and one piece of Pride Equipment of your choosing.》
《Do you accept?》

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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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