Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 97

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 97. Revere
The deliberation was brief, the decision swift.
Five minutes remained before Agzos’s rampage would end.
Within that window, he would capture the Great Conqueror Khan.
No—it wasn’t simply a matter of killing or letting live.
Khan had to die.
He was certain of it now, having stood before Khan face to face and spoken with him.
‘He’s no use to anyone.’
Not to humanity’s future, nor to his own.
Khan belonged to a breed that helped no one.
Khan was arrogant, self-righteous, and cruel.
No different from any other Creator.
For a Great Conqueror whom warriors revered, he was bitterly disappointing.
“Haha! Amusing words indeed. You’ll kill me?”
Thud!
Khan rose from his seat.
A smile full of intrigue played across his face.
In that instant—
Ding!
《Your ‘Legendary Quest’ has been modified.》
《An unforeseen new ‘possibility’ has emerged—one that did not exist before.》
《The challenger now faces a ‘new myth’!》
The quest had changed.
Not legend, but myth.
Sublime and absolute heroic tale.
Its beginning had been announced.
‘A beast’s heart dwells in that one.’
Interest flickered in Khan’s eyes.
Though he had won victory after victory against the guardian warriors, Khan was nonetheless the master of this realm—several tiers above them.
Yet this creature before him felt no fear.
It had been so from the start.
Those eyes held not the slightest trace of reverence.
They were the eyes of one who had crossed the line between life and death countless times.
Only a warrior with a feral nature—one who feared not death, refused to submit, and followed no one—could possess such eyes.
In his long centuries, Khan had encountered such creatures a handful of times.
They were compelling quarries, yet he could never break them.
He had tried persuasion, coaxing, even threats—but the wildness bred into them could not be shed.
This one would be no different.
‘If I don’t kill it, it will bite me to death.’
Even severed of limbs, if it yet drew breath, it would tear at him with its jaws.
Only by stopping its breath entirely could Khan grant it a final mercy.
For all that, this human challenger was his liberator—the one who had freed him.
And Khan had never suffered one who raised a hand against him to live.
“Agzos, my loyal and faithful warrior. Do you truly believe you can kill me?”
Khan spoke with leisure.
The palace gatekeeper Agzos had indeed been a warrior of remarkable devotion.
Though he now stood transformed, obeying that beast’s command, the reverence etched deep within his soul could not be cast away.
All warriors of Valhalla were the same.
They could not betray Khan.
No matter how their forms changed or how forcefully they were subdued, the loyalty Khan had inscribed upon them ran infinitely deep.
They had been trained from birth to follow Khan in all things.
Agzos stood foremost among them in faithfulness.
To guard the palace’s gate was, in other words, to show the greatest loyalty to Khan.
Khan had watched over him since birth.
He had trained him, honed him with his own hands.
So long as that soul remained intact, how could Agzos possibly kill him?
Then, in that instant—
Boom!
Agzos stamped the ground and launched himself forward.
At full speed.
Swift as light itself.
Slash!
…Kankun’s neck severed.
* * *
The moment the Legendary Quest completed.
A ‘message’ materialized before everyone’s eyes.
《A new legend has been recorded!》
《The ‘Legendary Quest’ is complete.》
《Bow your heads in reverence.》
《All participants who honor the completion of legend shall receive the title ‘Witness of Legend.’》
The meaning was simple.
Stand in awe!
Show your respect and lower your head.
To the one who completed legend.
Honor them, and the title shall be yours.
Every participant who saw the message descended into chaos.
“The Legendary Quest is complete?”
“So what exactly just happened?”
“Wow, a title!”
“Thank you! Thank you!”
Strictly speaking, they hadn’t even truly witnessed anything.
No one knew who was doing what, where, or how.
Yet across all the Abysses encountered thus far, never once had challengers been elevated in such a manner.
It spoke to just how extraordinary a Legendary Quest was.
Moreover, merely bowing one’s head granted a title.
Who it was or what the circumstances were—none of that mattered.
“We respect you!”
“You are magnificent!”
Everyone lowered their heads without exception.
A title that was already difficult to obtain.
Whether the reverence was genuine or hollow, whether sincerity mixed in or not, a single gesture of bowing would suffice.
It was essentially a free title.
Who would refuse something free?
There was no reason not to bow.
《Your reverence has been confirmed.》
《You have acquired the title ‘Witness of Legend’ (Intelligence +1).》
“Wow!”
“Incredible!”
“They’re actually giving it?”
The moment the title was genuinely awarded, gasps of wonder rippled through the crowd.
Though the stat bonus itself held nothing remarkable, they had raised their Intelligence with a single bow.
Intelligence was particularly known to be the most difficult stat to increase among all abilities.
While research on stat mechanics remained ongoing, it had already been established that Intelligence bore a close relationship to immunity and skill proficiency.
That was not all.
《The legendary conqueror Kankun emerges in the territory of the ‘Second Night’!》
《The ancient being ‘Kankun’ was once the rightful master of this land.》
《The dominion held by the ‘Lord of the Moon Aha’eta’ begins to wane.》
《The entirety of the ‘Second Night’ domain is blessed with Valhalla’s Blessing, and the health of all participants bearing the ‘Witness of Legend’ title is partially restored.》
《The ‘Doppelganger’ horde weakens.》
《The ‘Second Night’ ends in one hour.》
《Upon the end of the ‘Second Night,’ rewards are determined by final Contribution Points.》
They had gained a title—remarkable enough—and now their health was restored as well.
Everyone was already exhausted beyond measure.
The ‘Second Night,’ stretching beyond twenty-four hours, had driven all participants to their absolute limit.
None of them had been able to sleep.
Maintaining vigilance with wide eyes for an entire day proved far harder than anticipated.
With the constant threat of Replication by Doppelgangers lurking at every turn, and fellow human participants equally untrustworthy.
“So the Doppelgangers have grown weaker?”
“It’s our last hour! Everyone move!”
All participants whose health had been restored began to move with urgent purpose.
Every Fugitive, every Doppelganger grown weak—it was the golden opportunity to sweep up Contribution Points.
To miss this chance would be the height of foolishness.
A sound body houses a sound mind, as someone once said.
As the weary flesh recovered, so too did the spirit return to life.
And in that same moment.
Chaos was not confined to the Second Night alone.
The Creator Community.
A virtual space where all Creators exchanged opinions with one another.
There too, the current situation had become a matter of heated debate.
—Did I just see that wrong?
—It can’t be. A Legendary Quest was cleared?
—Did Aha’eta just stand by and watch?
—The Lord of the Moon’s reputation really has gone as far as it can go.
—Well. It seems humans do have talents that haven’t been revealed yet.
—Once the Second Night ends, we’ll be able to confirm it through the Doppelganger.
—Ah, I should have invested more Coins.
Reactions of every conceivable shade.
Yet the common thread was one of shock.
Who could have imagined that a race so wretchedly weak would liberate and accomplish a Legendary Quest in merely the Second Night?
It was a shock on the same scale as when humanity first conquered the Tower of Pride.
Because…….
Aha’eta, the Lord of the Moon, was no ordinary Creator.
She was a lord lauded as a genius when it came to crafting the Abyss.
She stood shoulder to shoulder with the highest-ranked lords, and she was also the Creator most despised by the Twelve Races.
Yet she had been conquered by humans—a race everyone dismissed, deemed the weakest of all.
To lose territory through a Legendary Quest was akin to shame for the lords of the Abyss.
—They couldn’t even find the intruder?
—What is Aha’eta doing?
—She won’t make our investment meaningless, will she?
—The Doppelganger shouldn’t be completely annihilated.
—It’s frustrating not being able to see.
Investors who had directly poured Coins into this venture were practically tearing their hair out.
There was a possibility they could lose all their investment if, by some chance, the Doppelganger was entirely wiped out, or if Aha’eta suffered a severe blow in the Second Night.
Of course, even if the Legendary Quest were cleared and territory seized, Aha’eta remained the Lord of the Moon—lord of countless territories.
Nothing serious should come of it, but humanity’s capacity for generating variables was remarkable.
Unforeseen circumstances were occurring with alarming frequency.
One could not simply rest easy.
Yet all of them, beneath their serious deliberations, were fixated on something else.
A fact that every Creator observing this situation genuinely wondered about.
—A human who liberated and resolved a Legendary Quest.
—Who is it?
—Is it the same existence as the one who conquered the Tower of Pride?
—There’s no way they could handle both at once.
—But what if it is the same person?
—……Then the next Interracial War would be worth looking forward to.
—True, such a being would definitely stand out.
—If only I could make such a creature my Avatar…….
—…One must find them first, by any means necessary.
Every Creator had begun to wonder about Park Chan-woo’s existence.
Where once it had been mere curiosity, now it had blossomed into an obsession that bordered on madness.
‘He’s doing well, it seems.’
Watching the Creator Community, Adora allowed herself a small smile.
She had a sense of who was being discussed.
There was only one human capable of all this.
Park Chan-woo.
Resurrected through Kankun’s heart and will, he had forged a legend.
It was hardly surprising.
Each step he took would come to be enshrined as a great legend hereafter.
This was only the beginning.
Adora slowly left her own comment in the Creator Community.
―You are not the sort I could make into an Avatar. Wake up from your delusions, you vermin.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————