Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 81

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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 81. Final Magic
Park Chan-woo reached his conclusion quickly.
‘This has something to do with the Black Witch.’
The moment the intruder appeared, demanding the Star of Arrogance and the Wish.
The Star of Arrogance was a jewel so obscure it wasn’t even registered in the Mysterious Compendium.
Knowing its name meant, in other words, a deep connection to the jewel’s owner.
Moreover, this being was aware of the Wish that Adora had awakened.
Only the Black Witch could meet these conditions.
But the Black Witch could hardly have burst forth from the depths of the Abyss, which meant this man was a subordinate acting on her behalf.
‘She used the Black Witch’s body to conceal an identity beneath human guise. So that the Lords of the Abyss, including Aheta, wouldn’t notice.’
Through the Black Witch’s smallest finger, Adora had obtained the qualifications of a Lord of the Abyss.
Of course, it was a false qualification.
Adora was a witch, and a witch could never become a Lord of the Abyss.
But the Black Witch possessed the power to turn ‘falsehood’ into ‘truth.’
Similarly, disguising an entirely different race as ‘human’ would also be possible.
This was why the intruder had been able to walk freely through the Second Night thus far.
The problem was the intruder’s true identity.
‘He’s wielding magic while keeping his power sealed at a human level. The flow of mana is remarkably intricate. It’s an art impossible unless he’s a dragon.’
Watching the magic unfold, Park Chan-woo couldn’t help but admire it inwardly.
Even something as simple as fashioning wind into blades and launching it was controlled with extreme precision.
As if he were casting a thousand spells at once, commanding every inch of the domain wrapped in wind.
Mana density, control, spatial mastery.
Every element was flawless artistry.
Wind blades woven tightly pressed down on Yi Hyeok-su.
There was no space to dodge, no way to escape.
Spread wide, yet there was no wastage of mana.
Mana efficiency ten times that of an ordinary mage.
Only dragons could achieve this.
Only the dragon race, blessed with mana, could wield magic of a different dimension as naturally as breathing.
‘Why would a dragon become the Black Witch’s servant?’
Park Chan-woo was certain.
This man was a dragon.
The intruder that the Moon Lord Aheta was searching for, and simultaneously the servant of the Black Witch who had traveled far to find him.
He hadn’t hesitated to transform into human form to recover the Star of Arrogance and the Wish.
Yet that made it all the more puzzling.
‘A proud dragon transformed into human appearance. He lowered his dignity to carry out the Black Witch’s orders…….’
The arrogance of dragons surpassed imagination.
They followed none but the Dragon God Sephiro.
They revered Sephiro as their absolute sovereign and deity, regarding everything else as creatures lower than insects beneath them.
Yet the dragon before him was different.
He followed the Black Witch, entering this place in human form.
Why?
‘…In any case, entering with human qualifications means he can’t exceed human strength. At least there’s that small mercy.’
There were constraints.
The dragon had imposed them on himself.
Because of that, a thread of hope remained.
The Lords of the Abyss deeply despised anyone invading their own created abyss.
Particularly, if monsters of another race invaded, war could break out.
The Abyss and the Twelve Races maintained a delicate balance, neither openly breaching the other’s domain.
The dragon surely knew this, so he would do everything to avoid being discovered by Aheta.
He wouldn’t be able to exert power beyond the limits humans currently possessed.
Crack!
That was the moment.
Yi Hyeok-su’s blade pierced through the dragon’s chest.
‘…Yi Hyeok-su is a tool among tools.’
Park Chan-woo’s eyes gleamed.
He couldn’t believe Yi Hyeok-su was already applying that moment of enlightenment in actual combat.
His adaptability and improvisational skill were nothing short of extraordinary.
At this level, calling him a genius seemed insufficient.
‘He hid his body within the shadows. He’s truly mastered the Lion King’s Authority.’
Shadow Movement is the Lion King’s exclusive domain.
But at the same time, it’s far more difficult to use than simply casting magic.
Yi Hyeok-su had simply feigned casting Shadow Suffocation, and when the dragon-kin raised a wall to block his view, he’d quickly hidden himself within the shadow itself.
From the start, he’d prepared for the possibility that Shadow Suffocation would be blocked by the dragon-kin’s magic.
And yet, seeing it happen, she still couldn’t quite believe it.
Was that truly something one could improvise in such a fleeting instant?
It was too much to chalk up merely to Enlightenment.
Rather—
‘Could he have seen my movements and simply copied them?’
Had he watched her apply Heavenly Punishment to the Hand Axe, and in that same moment conceived of hiding his body within shadow?
The back of her head prickled.
Her skin crawled.
Even if he were the Lion King’s favored disciple, there was no way Shadow Movement could have been taught to him already—if Yi Hyeok-su had awakened to it and mastered it on his own…
And if he’d foreseen from the beginning that her magic would be blocked, preparing a countermeasure in advance?
‘Ha.’
The absurdity of it drew an involuntary laugh.
What manner of talent did he possess?
Yi Hyeok-su the Sword King was a monster.
Not merely a monster, but a mad one.
He’d simply died as the Sword King because he’d never received proper training.
Had Yi Hyeok-su grown and learned properly, he might well have claimed the title of humanity’s greatest.
In truth, the past version of Yi Hyeok-su was a late bloomer, wasn’t he?
His mother had lain on a sickbed, and after a long period of wandering, he’d only then taken up the sword again.
But now.
There was nothing to hold Yi Hyeok-su back.
Rather, Park Chan-woo had given him wings.
If there were a protagonist in this world, it would be Yi Hyeok-su.
It could only be Yi Hyeok-su.
The one destined to save the world in the end.
“Black-stained lightning, crash down like despair itself.”
That was when—
Another incantation spilled from the dragon-kin’s mouth.
But for some reason, a familiar word reached her ears.
‘Clan of Despair, then!’
Even among dragon-kin, there are lineages.
They would speak the name of the lineage they carried, invoking the Dragon Tongue as they cast.
The word “despair” that this male dragon-kin had just spoken was the name of his lineage.
The Clan of Despair.
Those among dragon-kin who were the worst specimens gathered there.
Now it made sense.
Why the dragon-kin would willingly serve as the Black Witch’s subordinate.
Even in the past, the Clan of Despair had pursued a single purpose.
War.
To incite war between the Abyss and the Twelve Races, and to rule over all!
The singular goal pursued by the Clan of Despair was to make it known that dragon-kin alone were the supreme race and to dominate everything.
Park Chan-woo knew of the Clan of Despair as a matter of course.
Because of them, Earth in the future had become a battlefield.
Of course, Earth at that time had already been transformed into a playground for the Twelve Races, but the Clan of Despair had tormented humans with an exceptional cruelty.
So the dragon-kin’s motives were transparent.
He meant to sow chaos using the Black Witch.
The only reason for him to subordinate his dragon-kin pride and serve the Black Witch was this.
‘The magic has been amplified. I cannot evade it.’
Magic amplification through Dragon Tongue.
Annihilation Magic obliterates its target utterly and completely.
It was not the sort of magic that Yi Hyeok-su, unfamiliar with dragon-kin combat, could possibly avoid.
Should it land a direct hit, Yi Hyeok-su would vanish without leaving even a speck of dust behind.
Park Chan-woo found herself wavering.
If she did not step in now, Yi Hyeok-su would die.
And even if she did intervene, could she truly triumph against the Clan of Despair?
Judging by the way he wielded magic, he was no ordinary member of his lineage.
Any being capable of wielding the Dragon Tongue in human form, rather than in their true shape, could hardly belong to an ordinary clan.
They had to be a dragon of considerable rank within their faction.
If they were an Ancient Dragon—if that were the case—Park Chan-woo couldn’t hope to win.
Ancient Dragons operated on a completely different level.
Abandoning the advantage of Non-existence to reveal himself could prove fatally destructive—a poison of his own making.
Even the Clan of Despair hadn’t yet noticed Park Chan-woo’s existence.
And now he’d surrender this overwhelming advantage to save Yi Hyeok-su?
Rumble.
CRACK!
Black lightning descended from the heavens in a crushing cascade.
It was impossibly fast.
The concentration of mana was in a different dimension entirely.
There was no time for hesitation.
He had to counteract that spell, even partially, or Yi Hyeok-su would die.
‘Heavenly Punishment.’
In that instant.
Rumble!
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
《Heavenly Punishment descends from the sky.》
《Magic Critical Hit (32%) applied.》
《Magic Double Casting (25%)! The spell manifests twice.》
《Despair’s Heavenly Punishment has been perfectly neutralized.》
《The fundamental magic of Dragon Tongue (Despair) is shattered by Annihilation Magic.》
……It was neutralized.
The critical hit and double casting had triggered simultaneously—a stroke of fortune.
Moreover, the hidden trait Annihilation Magic had undermined even the Dragon Tongue itself.
Such a thing was only possible because the Dragon Tongue was the dragon race’s fundamental magic.
“……What?”
The Clan of Despair tilted its head.
At the sudden appearance of Park Chan-woo.
But the reaction was not what he’d anticipated.
The Clan of Despair, initially bewildered, suddenly threw open its eyes in shock.
As though witnessing a miracle.
As though confronted with something impossible.
Then it spoke.
“……Sephiro…?”
……?
Wait.
Sephiro?
Why would the Dragon God Sephiro’s name suddenly emerge from nowhere?
And from the mouth of the Clan of Despair, of all beings—a dragon itself.
Then Park Chan-woo understood the reason.
Why the creature had addressed him as Sephiro was simple enough.
“Surely you’re merely indulging in play? Taking an interest in humans……?”
Play?
Interest?
Did it really think Sephiro had come to the human world for amusement?
“Though concealed beneath countless restrictions, if my perception does not deceive me—this mana, these Absolute Magics—they must surely originate from Sephiro’s own heart……! Ah, the Final Magic!”
……The Final Magic.
He had never heard that name before.
But from the creature’s shocked utterance, it seemed to be one of the Absolute Magics wielded by Sephiro.
Magic is divided into three broad tiers.
The first tier comprises the spells that mages conventionally employ.
The second tier transcends magic itself to produce miracles—known as Wish.
And the final tier is what is called Incomprehensible—Absolute Magic.
Of these, Absolute Magic could only be wielded by the rarest of beings.
Only Sephiro and the nine great Lords of Abyss are said to command it.
At least, that was what he knew to be true.
Yet the Final Magic was a name entirely new to him.
And to hear that it originated from Sephiro’s heart, no less.
Could it be magic that exists on a tier above Absolute Magic?
‘Is such a thing even possible?’
…It could be.
If it’s that transcendent dragon, the Dragon God Sephiro, it might actually be feasible.
“I—I’m terribly sorry. I’ve made a mistake……!”
When Park Chan-woo gave no response whatsoever, the dragon of the Clan of Despair cried out in a panic.
One thing was certain: he was laboring under a misunderstanding.
A grave one at that.
‘This is… an opportunity.’
One misstep and he’d die, true enough—but if he played this misconception right, he might gain something far more extraordinary in return.
This could be a chance that would never come again.
And Park Chan-woo had no intention of letting it slip away.

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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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