Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 58

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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 58 THE END
The confrontation between Kankun and Adorra.
If one measured only raw power, Adorra’s victory was overwhelming.
She had mastered death itself, conquered it, and ascended to stand above it.
She had shattered the walls, transcended every limit, and reached the pinnacle.
Having climbed this far, Park Chan-woo could see that Adorra’s stature had long since surpassed the position he himself had occupied when he’d reached maximum level in the past.
In short.
‘She’s a Transcendent Being.’
The Witch of Death, Adorra, had become a Transcendent Being.
What was a Transcendent Being?
It was a realm of mystery that humans could never touch.
Even if they yearned with mad desperation, reached out their hands with longing—
Even if they twisted their bodies and thrashed about, suddenly straining with all their might—
Even if they prayed endlessly, clung to hope, and dreamed forever—
…humans capped at Level 99 could never, ever become a ‘Transcendent Being.’
That was humanity’s curse.
So long as one remained human, one could never reach beyond.
Park Chan-woo was among those who had tasted that despair.
So he knew better than anyone.
About Transcendent Beings.
About how terrifyingly tremendous they truly were!
The Heart Sword that Kankun had awakened?
Overcoming fear, strengthening the body?
Such things alone could never reach the realm of ‘transcendence.’
They were already in different classes.
Having overcome death, Adorra reached the 10th Floor in an instant.
Kankun, by contrast, appeared long after Adorra had already arrived there.
This difference in speed alone made it crystal clear who was stronger and who was weaker.
And yet, there were variables.
‘Adorra’s feelings toward Kankun would act as a significant variable.’
Adorra would not kill Kankun.
Kankun, meanwhile, would desperately seek to kill Adorra.
This difference in resolve could alter the nature of the battle.
There was a non-zero chance that Kankun could achieve victory against Adorra.
However.
Once the battle began, the course of events proved somewhat disappointing.
Kankun had walked straight into Adorra’s trap.
‘Kankun has lost.’
Kankun’s attacks would never reach Adorra.
Park Chan-woo was certain of it, and that certainty soon became reality.
‘The Nine Shields. And the curse hidden within them.’
She hadn’t merely been defending.
Adorra had created the Nine Shields and, simultaneously, installed nine spells within them.
She had cunningly concealed them to activate only once all nine shields were shattered.
The nine shields were sacrifices meant to trigger the Black Magic.
The notion of casting magic through magic as a sacrifice struck Park Chan-woo as remarkably clever.
‘She prepared the Black Magic on the premise that all nine shields would be broken. If Kankun had failed to shatter them all, Adorra would have suffered severe damage in return.’
Shiver.
Park Chan-woo’s body trembled faintly.
How intricate. How elegant.
The process of deriving countless calculations into a single outcome bordered on artistry.
Adorra didn’t merely excel at wielding death—she was a genius in magical interpretation as well.
He’d never seen a Mage use Black Magic quite like this.
She had laid conditions predicated on Kankun shattering all nine shields, created herself as the sacrifice, and unleashed potent Black Magic.
Had Kankun’s assault failed, Adorra would have become the sacrifice for that magic and sustained considerable damage.
At minimum, she’d have lost an arm.
The Nine Shields were sacrifices designed and generated by precisely calculating Kankun’s power.
What an extraordinarily complex Black Magic it was!
‘So what Black Magic was actually activated?’
Park Chan-woo had become completely absorbed in Adorra’s artistry.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
I had no idea what Black Magic she was attempting to conjure with such elaborate preparation.
Soon Kankun’s body came to a halt mere steps from Adorra.
Yet this too was far from a simple “stop.”
‘Ah!’
Park Chan-woo let out an involuntary exclamation.
Black Magic was, in the end, just one thread of magic itself.
Mages pointed fingers at Black Magic for running counter to truth, but just as they wielded magic by offering up magical power, formulas, and incantations as sacrifice, Black Magic was nothing more than a special form of magic that presupposed an immense sacrifice.
Black Magic simply simplified magic’s intricate process, revealing itself in a more one-dimensional and destructive manner.
But the magic wielded by a Transcendent Being—that was different in every conceivable way.
The moment Park Chan-woo grasped the true nature of the Black Magic Adorra had cast.
His eyes began to shine.
‘Wish! It’s Wish!’
It was no mere Black Magic.
It was Wish—magic that “draws forth phenomena.”
Three “hierarchies” exist within magic.
They were not simply divided by grade, but rather selected through more complex processes.
These were carefully distinguished into three hierarchies.
The first hierarchy, simply put, is the magic that ordinary Mages employ.
The second hierarchy is the miracle that transcends magic itself—”Wish.”
And the final hierarchy is what is called Incomprehensible: Absolute Magic.
All Mages, and even ancient dragons, were bound to end their lives within the first hierarchy.
Those who had reached “Wish” could be counted on one hand across all worlds, and the only monster Park Chan-woo knew capable of wielding Absolute Magic was the Transcendent Dragon Sephiro.
Yet the magic Adorra was now using was undoubtedly “Wish.”
Magic that wrought miracles!
The magic interpreted the user’s intent and desire of its own accord, then manifested phenomena.
Where ordinary “magic” required the Mage’s every effort to wield, “Wish” wielded itself according to the Mage’s intention.
So what else could this be but a miracle?
…Magic was manifesting automatically.
Beyond the realm of ordinary magic, countless phenomena intertwined and wove together, binding Adorra and Kankun.
‘Beautiful.’
Park Chan-woo was overwhelmed by the sight.
Magic was performing magic.
Magic was interpreting Adorra’s desire of its own accord and adjusting accordingly.
Adorra’s desire was simple.
Reconciliation with Kankun.
And to achieve that reconciliation, “Wish” had frozen Kankun in place.
Moreover.
It sought to show Kankun a way to quell his rage.
Even Park Chan-woo was curious what method could possibly allow Kankun to reconcile with Adorra.
How “Wish” itself had interpreted that was equally mysterious.
Then, the result appeared.
Thwack!
…Something pierced through my chest.
The Heart Sword. The blade that Kankun had awakened—the one he’d made me awaken—tore through my heart.
Along with a sharp pain, I felt a strange emotion wash over me.
‘…Was I the condition?’
Kankun had poured his hatred into me instead of onto Adorra.
As if he hoped she would carve into her soul the same anguish he felt.
The sorrow of watching one’s tribe utterly annihilated, of losing what one cherished most.
It seemed “Wish” had interpreted his rage as being resolved through my death.
It had deemed me the one most precious to Adorra.
Strength drained from my limbs.
The sensation of my body collapsing.
Adorra’s eyes as she gazed down at me.
I looked back at her and opened my mouth one last time.
“Beaut…iful…….”
Not death.
Wish and the witch who wielded it were truly beautiful.
……I too, desperately wanted to possess that beauty.
* * *
Adorra stared at Park Chan-woo’s collapsing form with vacant eyes.
Wish—a magic that had come to her naturally since conquering death itself.
The spell manifested of its own accord, answering to her desire.
As Wish immobilized Kankun, Adorra found herself hesitating.
Was shaking hands now the right choice?
How could she make him understand that the tribe’s annihilation was never her intention?
It was only a moment.
A fleeting second of doubt had birthed irreversible consequences.
“Taste the despair I have known…, witch!”
Kankun’s voice tore through the air.
Blood streamed from the corners of his mouth as he forced his paralyzed body to move.
The overload nearly shattered his skull, yet he had no choice but to speak these words.
He needed her to feel the despair he felt, to share in his anguish.
……
Adorra was not looking at Kankun.
Her eyes remained fixed on Park Chan-woo, clouded with confusion.
Why had this happened?
Because of that brief moment of uncertainty?
Or because she had entrusted everything to Wish?
“I must save him…….”
Adorra whispered softly to herself.
She had to save him.
He could not die here—not like this.
Adorra turned her body.
Then she moved toward Park Chan-woo.
But she had no idea how to save him.
Would turning him into the undead work?
No—no, that wouldn’t do.
She could hardly call that living.
Adorra understood death to some degree, but of ‘life’ she knew nothing at all.
She reached out her hand slowly.
Park Chan-woo’s body was cooling rapidly.
―How… beautiful…….
His final words lingered in her ears.
Beautiful? What was beautiful about this?
His own death?
Or her—her appearance?
Adorra did not believe herself to be a beautiful being.
Therefore, those could not have been his words.
“What am I to do…….”
Everything was chaos.
Adorra could not gather her thoughts.
As a result, her ‘death’ began to spread throughout the entire tower.
Whoooooosh!
“Ghk!”
“Ugh—hack!”
Every soul stepped into the Death Domain.
Im Chang-yeol and Kim Byung-han, everyone remaining in the tower—the entire Seoul Alliance and beyond.
Thud!
Thud!
All at once, they lost consciousness and collapsed.
The one mercy was that none of them had died—not yet.
She yearned for life over death.
They had merely been swept away by her overwhelming power and lost their senses.
Squeak!
It was then.
Boksseuli burst forth from Park Chan-woo’s embrace.
At the presence of that divine beast, Adorra could only freeze.
Soon after, Boksseuli licked the pierced chest of Park Chan-woo.
So be it.
Whoosh!
A flower of pure light bloomed.
“The Life Flower……?”
Kankun repeated the name in a daze.
The Life Flower.
The miracle wielded by the human warrior—the very gift that had granted him enlightenment, that had allowed him to overcome death itself.
The being he’d thought had vanished.
“Wait…….”
Kankun realized something had gone terribly wrong.
His body, somehow, was free.
Clang!
Kankun placed his blade on the ground.
Step, step.
Then he walked forward slowly.
When he reached the figure sprawled nearby, he removed Park Chan-woo’s helmet.
……
Kankun’s expression froze.
The face inside the helmet was unmistakably that of the human warrior he knew.
“…Warrior. Why are you……?”
Here?
Didn’t you leave the tower?
Kankun’s mind reeled.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that the being Adorra cherished was the same human warrior who had given him enlightenment.
Still less had he conceived that he would kill that man with the Heart Sword.
“…My chest. It’s tearing apart. Is this what it means to have feelings……? Is this how much it hurts?”
……
When Adorra spoke, Kankun found himself unable to answer.
Only then did he understand.
That even witches could feel.
And.
“Then…… I will…… surrender my feelings again. Then I won’t hurt like this anymore.”
……That the witch was about to abandon her emotions once more.
That she meant to use them as a sacrifice to revive Park Chan-woo.
Wish read Adorra’s desire.
If Wish could work a miracle alongside the Life Flower, surely it could call even death back to life.
Besides, Park Chan-woo was not yet truly dead.
He was only approaching that certain threshold.
Shiiiiiii!
Wish responded to Adorra’s emotion.
To manifest her wish into reality.
Wish entered Park Chan-woo’s body.
It wrought a miracle to pull him back from death.
But.
The miracle did not occur.
Rather, it could not.
Wish now understood: reviving Park Chan-woo required more than a simple miracle.
Something vaster, something stronger, something more overwhelming was needed.
Adorra perceived Wish’s intent.
“…I will give it.”
For Park Chan-woo’s life, Adorra offered Wish itself as a sacrifice.
This meant losing Wish.
She would never be able to use Wish again.
Yet she had resolved to bring Park Chan-woo back to life.
Soon, brilliant light poured forth from every inch of Park Chan-woo’s body.
“Th-this……!”
Kankun stumbled backward in shock.
……In that instant, a phenomenon beyond miracle itself——
Unknowable, indescribable phenomena began to unfold through Park Chan-woo’s form.

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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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