Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 76

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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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Chapter 76. Magic Enchantment
Through the Second Night, everyone had come to understand a rule.
The X mark on the chest was the Escapee’s Mark, and all Escapees were not human but Doppelgängers—a principle that had become common knowledge.
There had never been a single exception.
Moreover, the Doppelgängers were rapidly gaining intelligence.
By now, even in conversation, there was no way to tell who was human and who was a Doppelgänger.
Without the mark on their chest, everyone would have fallen into chaos.
So then.
“Doppelgängers are to be killed.”
Yi Hyeok-su’s eyes sank like an abyss.
He could not have been mistaken.
……The “Prophet” standing before him right now was a Doppelgänger.
And a Doppelgänger in human form is only completed after it kills the human it has cloned.
Which meant that this Doppelgänger had killed the Prophet.
No, wait.
Perhaps the Prophet was still alive.
It takes an hour for a Doppelgänger to complete its cloning.
If an hour hadn’t passed yet……
Whoosh!
A greatsword streaked past his ear with the speed of a flash.
Though a straightforward thrust, even the slightest delay in reaction would have severed his neck.
‘…So it comes to this after all.’
Park Chan-woo inwardly clicked his tongue.
It was a reaction he’d anticipated to some degree.
He couldn’t hide the mark on his chest, so naturally Yi Hyeok-su could mistake him for a Doppelgänger.
He’d thought it through, but the man’s reaction was far more violent.
No questions asked.
Who would have thought he’d attack without even a word of conversation?
Crack!
As Yi Hyeok-su brought the King of the Dead’s Greatsword down in a diagonal slash, a black aura engulfed the surroundings.
Haaaaa!
Within the black aura, skull-like forms took shape.
Even dodging the blade, the black aura pursued Park Chan-woo with frenzied intensity.
Park Chan-woo hastily stepped back to widen the distance, but the black aura showed no sign of stopping.
A powerful aura of death.
The problem was that what he felt was far from everything.
‘Could it be?’
Park Chan-woo’s brow furrowed.
The magic Yi Hyeok-su had just unleashed felt somehow familiar.
‘It shouldn’t be a type of magic that humans can use, should it?’
But it was absolutely not a kind of magic that humans could use.
More precisely, no ‘living human’ could use it.
This magic belonged to the dead.
And not just any dead.
‘How is he using the magic of the King of the Dead?’
The King of the Dead!
It was the Shadow Suffocation—one of the death magics he wielded.
A powerful magic that suffocates and kills anything the black aura touches, existing at a far higher level than ordinary death magic with far more concrete application.
Possessing both physical and magical effects, it cannot be blocked by ordinary means.
‘Neither Bokshil’s Flower of Life nor the Death Devouring Method will work.’
Countering magic with composite effects was always troublesome.
In the current situation, evasion was the only option.
At least it was fortunate that the speed wasn’t particularly fast.
But how could Yi Hyeok-su be using the magic of the King of the Dead?
‘…Could it be because I equipped him with the King of the Dead Set?’
The First Night.
In the “Water-Loving Knight” where Park Chan-woo faced off against Andariel, a superior demon and game master, he had once forced Yi Hyeok-su to purchase and equip the King of the Dead Set.
It seemed that because he’d worn equipment related to the King of the Dead from the start, he’d obtained the class of the King of the Dead.
‘I need to block it somehow.’
The magic of the King of the Dead—impossible to block by ordinary means.
But Park Chan-woo was no ordinary Mage.
Whoosh!
He yanked a Hand Axe from his inventory and seized it.
One of the two Hand Axes he’d used during his sparring match with Im Chang-yeol of the Seoul Union.
He’d kept one stored in his inventory.
It wasn’t a weapon from the Abyss, so it wouldn’t work on monsters—but his opponent was Yi Hyeok-su. A human, after all.
“……A Hand Axe?”
Yi Hyeok-su’s head tilted slightly as he watched.
The Prophet he knew was a Mage.
One who toyed with demons, who laid waste to entire positions with vast elemental magic—a Grand Mage of the highest order.
And now that pillar of magical power suddenly wielded a hand axe?
‘A Doppelgänger, then.’
If it had copied other people, it would be entirely possible.
Powerful Doppelgängers did indeed learn several completely different skills.
Of course, this was Yi Hyeok-su’s mistake.
He had no idea that Park Chan-woo was a Magic Swordsman.
“Heavenly Punishment.”
As the King of the Dead’s Shadow Suffocation crept closer, Park Chan-woo opened his mouth, axe still gripped in his hand.
Crack!
In an instant, lightning descended from the sky.
But the bolt struck neither the approaching shadow of death nor where Yi Hyeok-su stood.
Crackle-crackle-crackle-crackle!
Brilliant lightning enveloped the Hand Axe.
The aura of thunder so fierce it could shatter worlds swirled around the axe itself.
《One of the hidden abilities of the ‘Magic Swordsman’ class is revealed!》
《The ‘Magic Swordsman’ can imbue their ‘weapon’ with magical power.》
《The ‘Hand Axe’ is imbued with the ability ‘Heavenly Punishment.’》
A special ability of the Magic Swordsman had manifested.
Being a Magic Swordsman meant more than simply wielding blade and spell.
“Imbuing a weapon with magic……?”
A Magic Swordsman could imbue their weapon with magical power.
But doubt filled Yi Hyeok-su’s voice as he watched the scene unfold.
It was something he’d never seen before.
Since the Abyss had appeared and numerous Mages had emerged, none of them had ever used magic in such a way.
Even monsters that wielded magic couldn’t do this.
It was an art absolutely impossible for any ordinary Mage.
A miracle that only a Magic Swordsman could achieve.
Slash!
Park Chan-woo swung the Hand Axe straight ahead.
The black current that touched the axe—Shadow Suffocation—cleaved cleanly in two.
Snap—!
《You have negated ‘Shadow Suffocation.’》
《The ‘Hand Axe’ has lost its durability and vanishes.》
It disappeared after channeling just one spell.
It wasn’t a weapon from the Abyss, and it was merely a crude hand axe at best, so the outcome was inevitable.
If anything, it was remarkable that he’d blocked the King of the Dead’s magic with such a crude weapon at all.
“…….”
Yi Hyeok-su was speechless.
Shadow Suffocation could not be stopped.
It was only a matter of time—everything that touched it was destined to wither away.
And he’d stopped it with a single hand axe.
Using a technique he’d never seen before: Magic Enchantment.
Could a Doppelgänger really use such a technique?
“Do I still look like a Doppelgänger to you, Yi Hyeok-su?”
Park Chan-woo shrugged as he posed the question, having read Yi Hyeok-su’s thoughts.
Continuing to fight would benefit neither of them.
Yi Hyeok-su said nothing in reply.
“Since it’ll take you quite a while to use ‘Shadow Suffocation’ again anyway, why don’t we talk for a moment?”
“……How?”
At the same time, Yi Hyeok-su’s pupils trembled slightly.
The Doppelgänger knew the exact name of the magic Park Chan-woo had used.
Moreover, it had grasped that Shadow Suffocation had a long cooldown before it could be cast again.
Knowledge he’d never shared with a soul.
But the creature had gone beyond mere knowledge—it had mastered the very method to neutralize the spell.
That’s when Park Chan-woo spoke, as if it were nothing at all.
“I’m not a Doppelgänger.”
He was the real Seer, not a copy.
The truth of it.
No matter how much a Doppelgänger might “duplicate,” its limitation was simply to absorb the knowledge of its target.
It had knowledge without experience.
Therefore, using that knowledge to anticipate the future, to prophesy—that was something no Doppelgänger could do.
Much less apply something like Magic Enchantment on top of it.
Unless, of course, it were a “Doppelgänger Lord.”
“……The X mark on your chest is the Escapee’s Mark.”
Yi Hyeok-su managed to speak, his voice strained.
“That’s right. I’m an Escapee.”
Park Chan-woo admitted it readily enough.
Yi Hyeok-su’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Every Escapee is a Doppelgänger.”
“Except for me, that’s also true.”
“There are no exceptions.”
“Yi Hyeok-su. Do you really think I’d clear the Second Night by conventional means?”
“…….”
“If that’s what you believed, then you’re disappointed.”
Yi Hyeok-su shook his head inwardly.
…He hadn’t believed that at all.
The Seer had been an extraordinary being from their first encounter.
He’d entered with special treatment from Game Master Andariel, turned the game itself upside down, and in the end hadn’t he even killed Andariel? No—more than that.
When the Reaper holding scales appeared—the Grim Reaper of Covenant—and slashed Andariel’s heart, a chill had run down his spine.
“You’re telling me you’re the real ‘Seer,’ and that you alone are the exception in this ‘Second Night’?”
“Only I am the exception. Yi Hyeok-su.”
“…….”
He spoke with such absolute certainty it was absurd.
His head throbbed.
Looking at that bearing, he was undoubtedly the Seer.
No mere Doppelgänger could have recognized his magic, let alone grasped its cooldown time. It was impossible.
“How is your mother recovering?”
“……Damn.”
Clink.
Yi Hyeok-su sheathed the King of the Dead’s Greatsword.
Now that they’d spoken this far, he had no choice but to believe.
Yet not all his doubts had been dispelled.
“Why did you suddenly appear before me?”
“There’s something you need to help me do.”
“Another party contract?”
“Yes.”
Park Chan-woo nodded.
To proceed with the Legendary Quest, he needed one party member of the same race.
And the most trustworthy party member he could rely on was Yi Hyeok-su.
They’d already formed a party before, and he was certain this man wouldn’t stab him in the back.
That was when it happened.
‘Ah!’
A single word flashed through Yi Hyeok-su’s mind.
Yi Hyeok-su asked.
“……Don’t tell me you’re the one undertaking the Legendary Quest, Seer?”
“Oh. Sharp as ever.”
“Hah…….”
Yi Hyeok-su pressed his right palm to his forehead.
Now he truly had no choice but to believe.
A man who alone bore the mark of the Escapee.
Moreover, anyone who possessed the capability to undertake the publicly announced Legendary Quest would have to be none other than the Seer.
The word “extraordinary” barely captured it.
The Seer was truly an incomprehensible existence.
Yet why the Seer insisted on staying by his side remained shrouded in mystery.
Yi Hyeok-su’s expression hardened.
He then asked in a tone of utmost seriousness.
“Why me, of all people?”
Among so many others, why him specifically?
If raw strength was all that mattered, Han Shin would be the better choice.
If a pack mule was needed, there were far more manageable candidates.
So why, then, him?
He’d harbored the same question during the First Night.
Now, at last, he voiced it aloud.
Park Chan-woo smiled thinly.
“You’re similar to me.”
“…I’m similar to you?”
They were nothing alike.
Not in appearance, not in behavior, not in temperament.
Yet Park Chan-woo spoke with genuine conviction.
“Yes. You resemble me.”
Resemble him?
“In what way, exactly…?”
“You’re suspicious by nature, possessed of a stubborn outsider’s disposition, and you bore into a single field with obsessive intensity. Beyond that, once you’ve convinced yourself you’re right, you don’t care what anyone else says.”
“…”
“It’s a compliment.”
“…”
Yi Hyeok-su’s expression shifted subtly.
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, it didn’t sound like a compliment at all.

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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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