The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#017. Grimoire

‘How about it, partner? Do you feel like fighting this opponent?’

‘Yes! It’s fun! I’m excited. I feel like my blood is boiling.’

With an expression completely different from her usual lazy demeanor, Shirasaki Miyu rushed forward like lightning and extended her hand.

Her eyes flashed with the madness of a lunatic, but what was contained within was the trembling and excitement of a child who didn’t know how to handle emotions.

-Kwakwakwakwakwakwang!!!-

Confirming that each spell had power equivalent to a 7th circle attack spell, Sung-jun also cast acceleration magic on himself and moved quickly while neutralizing the attack spells.

He cast magic of exactly the opposite attribute to the incoming magic, forcibly killing the power of the launched projectiles.

Then Baphomet, seeing Sung-jun’s magic, poured out exclamations to his master.

‘Haha! Amazing! Truly incredible! I never imagined such a high-level mage could exist in the human world!’

‘Is it that impressive?’

‘It might be hard for you to understand since you borrow magic rather than use it, but what that guy just did is an advanced technique that even most grand mages would have difficulty succeeding at. Even in the world I originally lived in, mages capable of such counter spells could be counted on one hand.’

‘Does that mean I might lose?’

‘No way. The opponent is just a human mage. No matter how skilled they are, magic used by a mere human cannot stop Lord Baphomet!’

It was natural for Baphomet, who had returned to grimoire form, to shout with such confidence.

Despite the extremely fierce battle that had begun, Sung-jun was only using low-circle magic to continuously nullify his opponent’s spells and hadn’t cast any particular attack spells besides that performance.

Seeing Sung-jun’s combat style, Baphomet arbitrarily concluded that Sung-jun was a mage specialized in spell countering.

‘Amazing talent. To counter all consecutively cast spells with silent casting, what’s the principle? Does he analyze magic circles that appear during spell activation in real-time to identify the type of magic being cast?’

After thinking for a moment, Baphomet erased that possibility from his mind.

For fast spells, the time the incantation appears in the air is just about 1 second.

Unless one was the creator who made the spell, interpreting magic circles made by others so quickly would be realistically impossible.

It would be like grasping all the contents written in a book just by looking at the table of contents.

***

‘The spells themselves are quite old, but the casting method is fresh.’

The girl called a ‘mage’, the first being other than Sung-jun to use magic on the planet Earth, was actually drawing Sung-jun’s strong interest.

The spells she used were mostly from several generations ago, now obsolete spells.

But this situation itself of ‘being able to fight a mage’ was a vivid thrill that Sung-jun, who had only faced monsters, felt for the first time in a long while.

Perhaps it was because of that time when he couldn’t use magic due to lack of mana while receiving teachings from his Teacher.

If he had been able to use magic, teacher and disciple would have repeated real combat-like sparring every day.

So this current battle was nothing less than Sung-jun’s first real magical duel in his life.

Of course, since the spells she used were mostly ones he had learned directly from his Teacher or ones discarded due to utility issues, his initial interest quickly faded.

‘Why does she only use such obsolete spells?’

Then his Teacher’s voice echoed in Sung-jun’s mind.

‘That’s why it was discarded. Magic using grimoires has the advantage of being able to easily use various spells regardless of proficiency level, but… it had the fatal flaw of being unable to enhance already written spells.’

‘Ah, I remember. It was definitely the method attempted by Grimloc, the 13th Demon Lord.’

‘As expected of my top disciple. You remember well. Up to the 13th Demon Lord, successive demon lords tried to increase the number of spells to counter Silermantis. Among them, the “essence of various magic” created by Grimloc is the grimoire, and that’s probably one of the seven great magic books he created.’

‘…Why does that child have such a legacy?’

‘You’ll find out when you later recover my legacy. One of the Pioneers who came to Earth will have a legacy related to that secret.’

Of course, he wasn’t actually having a conversation with his Teacher’s soul.

He was just recalling his Teacher’s voice as a way to organize his memories.

In other words, the voice he was hearing now was something closer to a ‘memory’ borrowing his Teacher’s form.

And within that memory was also information about the fatal weakness that grimoires possessed.

‘This is getting boring… shall I surprise her a bit?’

Sung-jun cast the same spell that Shirasaki Miyu had just used, ‘Icicle Spear’.

However, that 3rd generation spell was incomparably superior to the 1st generation spell written in Baphomet.

If the 1st generation was simply a spell that created and launched ice spikes, the 2nd generation added rotational force to increase penetration power.

And the 3rd generation introduced the concept of ‘dimensional compression’ to enhance projectile speed by more than five times.

-Shuuuuuung!! Kwang!!-

Sung-jun deliberately aimed slightly off target.

Though it didn’t penetrate Shirasaki Miyu’s body, the spell pierced through the dense forest behind her, creating a straight path.

And at that moment.

“Wa… wait!!!!!!!!!!”

An urgent voice echoed from the grimoire in Shirasaki Miyu’s hands.

It was the voice of the grimoire, the living magic book.

“Stop! The battle is stopped!”

Though the voice was shouting that, Shirasaki Miyu, the grimoire’s owner, seemed to have no intention of stopping the fight.

Instead, with an even more excited expression than before, she rushed toward Sung-jun like a child who had discovered a desperately wanted toy.

“Stop, Miyu! He’s not an opponent you can handle!”

“I don’t want to!”

The grimoire was structured to unconditionally follow the user’s commands, befitting an artifact designed thoroughly as a tool from the beginning.

Therefore, contrary to the grimoire’s will, if its owner wanted it, the battle had to be forcibly continued.

“More! Stronger enemies! Something stronger and more frightening! Show me!”

Sung-jun realized that her taste was for ingenious spell choices that didn’t match the old-generation spells from earlier.

A child who had been a battle maniac since birth.

A madman who could only feel alive in the midst of battle.

Ironically, that talent was now shining in this kind of world.

Seeing the unbelievable fighting spirit contained in that small body, Sung-jun began to seriously raise the tempo of battle.

“Wa, wait! Please! Please don’t kill her!”

“Your master seems to be thinking of killing me though? Sorry, but I’m not the type to avoid fights that others start. And deals are made with those who have something to deal with.”

“Spells! I’ll tell you spells! If you’re also a mage wannabe, you must be interested in new spells, right? I know all the spells in the world! Besides the spells this child showed, countless other spells are sleeping within me!”

“How many?”

At Sung-jun’s question asking for a specific number, the grimoire stopped answering as if dumbfounded.

“How many, I asked.”

“7… 777! There are 777 spells written within me!”

What Sung-jun sent in response to the grimoire’s answer was not interest, but cold cynicism.

“How ridiculous to talk about all the spells in the world with just 777. Besides, even based on when you were created, that wasn’t all the spells in the world, was it? The 13th Demon Lord divided all the spells that existed at the time and wrote them in seven magic books.”

Hearing that answer, Baphomet shouted in a voice filled with shock.

“How… how do you know that?! Could it be… could it be you…! What are you? What’s your identity?!”

And at that moment, Sung-jun, annoyed by Shirasaki Miyu rushing at him like a gnat, used acceleration magic to approach her and placed his hand on her stomach.

“Just sleep for a while.”

-Kwaaaaaaaang!!!-

The numerous defensive spells placed on the grimoire to protect the user all shattered at once, and Shirasaki Miyu’s body shot out like a cannonball.

And Sung-jun slowly approached her as she lay unconscious in the deeply carved pit.

Then he spoke to the magic book that was fluttering its pages and buzzing around her.

“My name is Ma Sung-jun. The 22nd Demon Lord. And the true successor who inherited the name of the ‘Demon Lord’ who created you.”

***

“You’ll spare me?!”

“Yes.”

“Then… recovering me or eliminating this child…”

“What benefit would that give me?”

Of course, Baphomet was a powerful relic. If ranked, it would probably be among the top ten awakened relics even within Japan.

But that was only from an ordinary person’s perspective, not from Sung-jun’s position as a mage.

For Sung-jun, the grimoire left by the 13th Demon Lord, his distant predecessor, was nothing more or less than an old textbook that had long gone out of fashion.

Then Baphomet, seeing that Sung-jun truly showed no interest in him, spoke carefully.

“You’re serious. This is the first time I’ve seen a human who truly has no interest in me.”

“I’m not interested in spells I already know or old spells. Moreover, I have even less hobby of killing a girl who looks like a middle schooler just because she attacked me.”

“Then from now on…”

“I’m leaving. I have things to do. You continue living as you have. But if I may give one piece of advice…”

Sung-jun looked at Shirasaki Miyu, who was unconscious with her eyes closed, and said.

“The greatest talent has met the worst tool. You’ll think you made that child strong, but it’s the opposite. Rather, your limitations are suppressing that child’s combat talent.”

“Are you saying that I’m actually becoming a shackle for that child?”

“At least that’s how I see it.”

Having finished their conversation, Sung-jun returned to the camp where Seoa was waiting.

Then he spoke to Cha Hyeonho, who was looking at me with an anxious expression while standing beside Seoa.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was certain that you and Shirasaki-san would fight.”

He was mistaken, thinking that no battle had taken place at all.

This was because the extensive blocking magic he had deployed in advance prevented the sounds from the battlefield from reaching this place.

Instead of clearing up this misunderstanding, Sung-jun shook his head and told him that prediction was wrong.

“You couldn’t really call it a fight. If I had to put it in words, it was more like colleagues in the same industry having a technical discussion.”

Even while Sung-jun was conversing with Cha Hyeonho, Seoa was looking at Sung-jun with pitiful eyes, as if she had something she wanted to say.

Though Sung-jun inwardly guessed her feelings, he didn’t show it outwardly and spoke to Cha Hyeonho.

“Could you step outside for a moment?”

When Cha Hyeonho heard this request and went outside, only Sung-jun and Seoa remained in the tent.

“If you have something to say, say it. This conversation might be the last one between you and me. It would be better not to leave any regrets.”

“Can I… come with you too?”

“I knew you’d say that. But no. What I’m about to do is too dangerous, and it’s too treacherous a path for you, who isn’t even an Awakened, to handle.”

“I can handle it.”

“If you simply want to become an Awakened, find another way. You could go to Japan and receive Pandora’s power, or become a disciple of an Awakened from the Heavenly Martial Hall and awaken your abilities through training. At least the power I possess isn’t something you could learn.”

“You won’t know unless you try!”

The emotions she had kept dammed up like a reservoir exploded from her voice.

Then Sung-jun took out an old book from his bag and handed it to her.

He thought that giving her a chance to at least try was the only way she could be convinced.

“…What is this?”

“It’s a magic book. Specifically, a magic book that deals with the most basic theories. If you can cast even the simplest magic in this book, I’ll take you as my disciple. If it seems impossible no matter how I look at it, give up cleanly.”

Honestly, Sung-jun thought she would give up immediately upon opening the book.

Though he had written his own interpretations and annotations throughout, even the most basic magic theory would feel like advanced mathematics placed before an elementary student to someone who hadn’t grasped the fundamental concepts.

A complexity so bewildering that one couldn’t even sense where to begin.

That was the true learning difficulty of the ‘orthodox magic’ he had learned from his Teacher.

‘See? You can’t make heads or tails of it just by looking, right? Now give up cleanly and let’s end this here.’

However, at that moment, what Seoa said was a completely unexpected response.

“What about the timeframe?”

“Huh?”

“The timeframe. By when do I need to learn the magic in this book?”

Faced with the overwhelming impossibility of not being able to understand even a single sentence, she was looking up at Sung-jun with eyes that had found hope rather than despair.

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