The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 145

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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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#145. Void Bomb

‘Duck here!’

The moment I bent my waist ninety degrees, I had no time to even feel the rough current of mana grazing past my hair before I had to straighten my body and evade another wave of mana that cut through the air like a blade.
While dodging the violent swirling currents of mana that churned like the inside of a spinning mixer, my black eyes remained fixed on a single point on the ground I had marked as the next safe zone, my gaze tense and unwavering.

‘Two…one…now!’

As the massive chunk of mana, compressed like a giant’s fist, crossed the space and passed over the location I had marked, the mana in the violently turbulent space stabilized temporarily.
And in that exact moment, my form emerged from the center of the stabilized space, having completed the teleportation magic.

‘Five seconds here. One…two…’

Those five seconds of breathing room did not mean time to catch my breath.
The moment I arrived at another stable zone, I had to read the changed flow of mana in real time and find a new safe point.
In the violent storm of mana that could erupt in any direction at any moment, I relied solely on my senses, reading where the irregular currents of mana were heading.

‘That one will curve downward. Right. Good. Since currents one, three, and eight curved down, this time four and eight will curve to the left.’

There was no guarantee that just because one specific current of mana moved in the direction I predicted, the mana elsewhere would move according to my thoughts.
Yet even within this complex turbulence, a certain degree of causality was at work, and what I was reading with my senses was precisely the flow that causality drew.
Rhythm and timing.
Sung-jun called it the fluidity of mana, but I called it the heart of mana.
For reasons I couldn’t explain, I had an intuition that this mana wanted to go in that direction right now.
Remarkably, my intuition was usually accurate, and thanks to it, I could precisely catch which locations stabilized for how long, even in the midst of the mana storm that swirled too complexly for the eye to follow.
However, there was one drawback to my remarkable feat: to those without the ability to see mana, my movements—which would bring tears and applause from any sensitive Mage—looked like I was dancing wildly in empty air.

“What is she doing right now?”

“How would I know? She looks incredibly serious though.”

My acrobatic movements, teleporting to dozens of locations in intervals of mere seconds, were so peculiar that even the Soldiers who had lost comrades in the fierce battle turned their heads in bewilderment.
But moments later, when I finally reached the first attack point and began my assault, everyone realized that every action I had taken was preparation for this very moment.

—Crack-crack-crack!! Snap! Crack-crack-crack!!—

The “Void Bomb” that Sung-jun handed to Seoa was not a weapon that operated by creating a massive explosion as its name suggested.
Instead, when the Void Bomb collided with the legs of a colossal Corrosion Entity—each leg the size of a building—the countless sealing spells that had wrapped around its surface crumbled, and like a black hole, it violently pulled all nearby space toward the center of its coordinates.
And that gravitational force mercilessly crushed one of the legs of the Apocalypse-class Corrosion Entity “Abyss Walker”—which had even withstood the shockwave from the Meteor Strike—as if compressing a thin aluminum can, erasing it from existence.

“What the hell!?”

“That massive leg… destroyed in one hit!?”

All the Soldiers on the Battlefield stood speechless, watching as the solid leg that had pierced through the 10-meter Steel Golems like tofu offered no resistance before being “erased” from space.
And as if to shatter the silence of the Soldiers, the Abyss Walker—which hadn’t even felt pain in the sudden catastrophe—unleashed an intense, agonized shriek powerful enough to tear apart the entire surrounding area.

“KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!”

Seoa’s eardrums ruptured from the proximity, blood streaming down, but she had no time to feel the pain.
Even if the legless Abyss Walker didn’t attack her, the intense mana fluctuations still shaking the surroundings threatened her life.
Moreover, as the Abyss Walker thrashed in agony, scattering the surrounding mana chaotically, she had to recalculate all the safe coordinates she had previously marked.
All while dodging the whirlwinds of mana passing relentlessly near her body.

‘I have to find the next location within two seconds. Don’t think. Trust your instincts. The moment I think, I die.’

A rhythm game player accustomed to the genre sometimes experiences that moment when notes fall incredibly fast and they suddenly think, ‘How am I even hitting these?’
The problem is that thinking itself becomes the reason they miss the notes.
Through instinct rather than reason.
Let the body react before the mind.
Only by surrendering everything to the “flow” that her body remembered in a state of complete absorption could she destroy the remaining seven legs.

‘Next!’

After five rapid consecutive teleportations, Seoa appeared on the opposite side and threw the red sphere once more.
Another massive leg was forcibly erased from the Reality Universe, and black, viscous Corrosion Entity fluid cascaded down like a waterfall.

‘Don’t dodge. Take the hit.’

She didn’t avoid the filthy fluid pouring down on her head.
She knew well that the moment she dodged to avoid the cascading fluid, the mana vortex filling the surroundings would instantly shatter the seals on the Void Bomb in her arms.
Standing motionless like a stone monument, Seoa allowed the fluid pouring from above to drench her completely, not even bothering to wipe it from her face as she closed her eyes and concentrated all her senses on her perception.

‘It doesn’t matter anyway. Mana can’t be seen with the eyes.’

As her visual information was blocked, her heightened mana circuits began to vividly illuminate the surrounding mana flow as if she could see it with her own eyes.
With her eyes closed, Seoa attempted three consecutive short-range teleportations before materializing beneath the lower abdomen of the Abyss Walker.

‘One more time!’

The colossal ankle of the Corrosion Entity—which tens of thousands of Steel Golems had failed to even grasp—was being mercilessly shattered by a single Young Girl.

“Damn it! Is this the time to lose focus?! You idiots! Seoa is fighting with her life on the line! Do what you can right now!”

As thousands of high-level Corrosion Entities, which had maintained their distance to avoid being crushed beneath the massive feet, sensed danger to their parent body and began rushing toward Seoa’s position, Captain Cooper, detecting the enemies’ movement, roared out orders to his subordinates.
Based on Seoa’s movements so far, it appeared she would need ample space to attack her enemies, so they were to prevent the other Corrosion Entities from advancing into the area where she was maneuvering.
The Soldiers, who had lost their composure under the overwhelming force of Seoa’s relentless assault, now positioned themselves in front of the Corrosion Entities charging toward her.

—Crash!!!—

“Not a single step forward!”

“Hold the line! If we hold, we win!!”

“Show the pride of the world’s strongest U.S. Military!”

At that very moment, the sound of another leg of the Abyss Walker, struck by Seoa, flying away echoed across the battlefield.

“Damn it! Half its legs are gone and it’s still walking!”

Unfortunately, the optimal attack route Seoa had calculated was not one that would sever one of the enemy’s legs entirely and cause it to lose balance, but rather a sequence of attacks that struck both legs evenly, allowing it to barely maintain its balance.
However, with the enemy having already lost four legs, it was only a matter of time before it lost balance and collapsed to the ground.

“This is it!”

Seoa cried out without realizing it, and the moment her mouth opened, she was forced to swallow down the nausea rising through her throat.
The viscous, black bodily fluid covering her entire body emitted a stench so revolting it was beyond imagination.
With superhuman willpower, Seoa forcibly straightened her waist, which was trying to bend, and hurled another crimson sphere toward the enemy’s leg.
It was one of the remaining four legs that were deeply embedded in the ground, desperately supporting the massive body.

—Crack crack crack crack!!! Screech! Snap!—

As another leg vanished without leaving even fragments, accompanied by the sound of carapace harder than steel being forcibly torn, the colossal body of the Corrosion Entity, which had been advancing desperately despite losing half its legs, began tilting sharply to one side.
And in that moment, the bodily fluid, unable to withstand the pressure on the remaining supporting leg that was desperately bearing the weight, erupted like a fountain as the Abyss Walker’s massive body slowly descended to the ground.

‘No!!!’

All the soldiers who witnessed the scene were about to cry out in victory, but there was one person whose face had gone pale as she stared at the collapsing form of the Abyss Walker.
Yeonse-a.
She stood directly beneath the massive body of the falling Abyss Walker—the very spot where she had single-handedly severed five of the creature’s eight legs.
Worse still, she couldn’t escape using teleportation magic.
The timing for the mana at her next teleportation point to stabilize required her to wait another three agonizing seconds.
Three seconds was more than enough time for the falling Abyss Walker’s body to flatten her like a sheet of paper.

‘Hold on! You still have one leg left! Please! Don’t fall! Hold on!’

Perhaps her desperate prayer reached the heavens—the Abyss Walker, losing its balance as it fell, drove its sole remaining left leg down against the ground with tremendous force.
In that precious moment gained, Seoa’s eyes caught the completion of the mana stabilization and the appearance of the safe zone beyond. She executed a short-distance teleportation at the fastest speed she had ever managed since birth.

-CRASH!!!-

Her form vanished from beneath the Abyss Walker’s belly, and the creature’s body collided with the ground—a hair’s breadth of separation, mere tenths of a second between them.
Having escaped death by the narrowest of margins, Seoa gasped for breath and cast her gaze about, searching for the next safe zone.

‘Could this be my chance?’

The undefended belly of the Abyss Walker came into view.
That massive, exposed abdomen seemed to beckon her to strike, as if inviting her to attack.
Seoa thought of the five remaining Void Bombs in her possession and wondered if she could end this battle herself.

‘If I threw them all at once…’

Unfortunately, that was a miscalculation on her part.
Sung-jun had given her the Void Bombs with the intention that she throw them in sequence—not that she use all of them at once.
This was due to a unique property possessed only by Void Bombs.
Unlike conventional explosives, whose destructive power increased with greater numbers, the Void Bombs’ “negation of existence” had a peculiar characteristic: it negated even the effects of other Void Bombs detonating beside it.

‘No. I’ll stick to the plan.’

Fortunately, Seoa was not swayed by the temptation that flickered through her mind.
Instead, she adhered to the original strategy, methodically removing the Abyss Walker’s remaining three legs.
Her Teacher’s command was not to eliminate the Abyss Walker, but to buy him time until his preparations were complete.
For Seoa, the commands of her Teacher, Sung-jun, were absolute divine decrees that must be obeyed under any circumstance.

‘Teacher, I’ll buy us time as you instructed. Please finish this.’

As Seoa hurled a crimson void bomb toward the remaining legs of the fallen Abyss Walker, deep within Atlas, Sung-jun sat with his eyes closed, locked in fierce negotiation with the demon within.

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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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