The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 34

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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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#034. Zhao Xin

His appearance was as sudden as a storm, and his presence was as calm as the eye of a storm.

The gaze of the man suspended in mid-air turned toward the three people below.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

The first to break the silence was Park Hyeon-jo.

He readjusted his grip on his iron mace and spoke in a mocking tone as if he knew the man.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Lord Zhao Xin . Did you get promoted or something?”

The man floating in the air, Zhao Xin, looked at Hyeon-jo and slightly furrowed his brow.

“You know me?”

“It’s natural for someone of the Eight Origin Realm like yourself to not remember a Four Origin Realm nobody like me, but isn’t it natural for weaklings like us to remember the few strong ones on this continent?”

At Hyeon-jo’s words, Zhao Xin’s gaze finally turned to the four beads hanging at his waist. He concluded with an emotionless expression.

“A deserter warrior.”

It was natural for Zhao Xin to say that.

All Awakened currently remaining in China were moving under the strict control of the Tianwu Guan intelligence department.

Just as Zhao Xin himself had come here after receiving a summons from the central command.

But Hyeon-jo’s reaction, as if he had no idea about his appearance, was clear evidence that he hadn’t received orders from the Tianwu Guan.

And that was tantamount to meaning that Hyeon-jo was an Awakened who had fled beyond government control.

Moreover, Zhao Xin was well aware that most of the cowards who survived the Beijing incident had become deserter warriors.

Watching Zhao Xin’s hand slowly move toward the sword at his waist, Hyeon-jo licked his lips that had dried from tension.

Should he turn and run right now?

A moment of contemplation flashed through his mind, but he soon dismissed the thought.

Recalling the speed at which the man had approached them earlier—a speed impossible to follow with the eyes—it seemed impossible to escape from that man’s grasp even if he fled with all his might.

So Hyeon-jo chose dialogue instead of flight.

“Do I look like I deserted because I wanted to?”

“All the deserter warriors I’ve met said the same thing.”

Hearing Zhao Xin’s voice, which showed not a trace of sympathy, Hyeon-jo realized that he had no intention of considering his circumstances.

And at that moment, Seoa, who had been standing behind Hyeon-jo, mustered her courage and stepped forward, blocking Zhao Xin’s path.

“Wait a minute!”

“Move aside, kid. This is Tianwu Guan business. It’s not for outsiders to interfere.”

“I don’t really know what deserter warrior means, but this person is currently part of our group.”

Seoa didn’t back down at all and began smoothly spouting lies.

“We’re Awakened from South Korea, and that’s our colleague from the Japan Awakened Association. And right now we’re carrying out a very important special operation.”

Zhao Xin’s gaze turned to Shirasaki Miyu, who stood holding her magic book, ready to cast spells at any moment.

He looked Shirasaki Miyu over for a moment, then nodded.

Then he spoke as if such things didn’t matter to him.

“That’s your business. I have the legitimate right and reason to dispose of deserter warriors according to Tianwu Guan regulations.”

“If you attack this person, it will disrupt our operation! Besides, Shirasaki is a top-ranked member of the Japan Awakened Association. Do you think you can handle the consequences of interfering with a cooperative operation between both governments?”

Perhaps deciding to be bold, Seoa’s voice grew louder.

And Shirasaki Miyu, satisfied just to be able to fight a strong opponent regardless of the reason, showed her willingness to fully support Seoa’s position.

Then Zhao Xin, glancing at her as she seemed ready to fight at any moment, snorted.

“Sorry, but that situation won’t arise.”

“What?”

“Your story only holds up under the premise that witnesses remain.”

Having finished those words, Zhao Xin’s hand moved toward the sword hilt at his waist.

However, he couldn’t complete the motion.

Before he could enter combat stance, Shirasaki Miyu moved first.

With an eerily delighted smile on her lips, Shirasaki Miyu was distorting the surrounding air with the magical power emanating from her entire body.

‘Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight!’

How strong the man before her was didn’t matter much to her right now.

A sensation like the excitement of encountering an overwhelmingly powerful boss in a difficult game had seized her entire being.

And sensing that alien aura, Zhao Xin reflexively created distance while looking at Shirasaki Miyu.

‘…Is that an Awakener’s Association ranker? A magic book user type… I think I’ve heard of her before. Shirasaki… was it Shirasaki Miyu?’

Wondering why a Japanese ranker had appeared in this wasteland near Yanbian, Zhao Xin raised both hands to indicate he had no intention of fighting.

“Fine. Let me hear your story first. I’ll decide whether to fight or not after that.”

The reason he backed down was simple.

Killing the girl before him wouldn’t be particularly difficult, but there was no need to create international problems by killing a ranker from another organization.

Of course, he didn’t know that the Awakener’s Association was treating Shirasaki Miyu almost like a discarded child due to her being uncontrollable.

He was simply assuming from her high ranking that the Japan Awakened Association had deployed her for an important operation.

Seeing the man back down, Seoa fell into brief contemplation.

About whether she should tell the man who was demanding an explanation of the ‘operation’ she had made up about Sung-jun’s plan.

She recalled the teaching Sung-jun had given her.

-You don’t know unless you use future sight, but if you do use it, you must absolutely depend on that future. Every action trying to defy fate becomes an action that determines that fate instead.

-So you mean that since we’re currently riding the flow, we should leave everything to the future sight?

Having made her decision, Seoa turned around.

“Shirasaki, please ask the coin whether we can tell that person about our plan.”

Then Shirasaki Miyu nodded and tossed the coin while forming a question in her mind.

Clang-!

But the coin that fell to the ground was absurdly standing straight up, showing neither heads nor tails.

“The coin…?”

“It’s standing? What does this mean?”

“I don’t know either. Does it mean either way doesn’t matter?”

The three began whispering among themselves to interpret the meaning of the coin standing perfectly upright.

And after heated debate, they were able to reach their own conclusion.

“It seems like we should tell him, but not right now.”

“That’s quite an ambiguous interpretation.”

“The result itself is ambiguous. Can’t be helped.”

“I’ve been curious since earlier… what exactly is that coin?”

Zhao Xin, who had somehow changed to respectful speech perhaps out of some respect for his opponents, asked Seoa.

Instead of answering, Seoa looked at Shirasaki Miyu once again.

“Ask if we can tell him about this too?”

“Teacher said so. From the moment we start using future sight, we must absolutely depend on the future sight.”

Watching the three people who were about to toss the coin again to decide whether to explain to him, Zhao Xin couldn’t help but feel absurd.

‘What are these people? Some kind of emerging cult? The name would be… Coin Religion or something?’

While Zhao Xin was having these ridiculous thoughts, the coin finally showed tails and fell to the ground.

Then Seoa looked up and said to Zhao Xin.

“The coin says we shouldn’t tell you.”

Zhao Xin immediately plopped down on the ground.

Because his intense curiosity about these peculiar individuals had grown stronger than his anger at being refused.

“Interesting. Now I’m curious enough that I need to see for myself what you’re trying to do.”

Right at that moment, another Awakened came running from the distance and reported to Zhao Xin.

“Colonel Zhao! Everyone has assembled!”

“Good. I have something to handle here, so wait for the next orders. If any commands come from central command, inform me immediately.”

As his subordinate immediately returned to the assembly point, Zhao Xin began a strange wait, watching the three people who had started tossing the coin again, wondering what they were asking about.

It seemed like simple observation, but his mind was fiercely analyzing their every move.

And after considerable analysis, Zhao Xin was able to organize several pieces of rough information about them in his mind.

First, they absolutely trust the revelations given by the coin.

Second, that coin is likely an artifact with mysterious abilities.

Third, they appeared at the timing when Corrosion Entities were moving toward this location all at once. There’s probably some connection.

Fourth, they keep tossing the coin until it shows heads. As if they’re waiting for something. What exactly are they waiting for?

Having speculated that far, Zhao Xin realized they were waiting for a specific ‘timing’.

And in this current situation, there was only one event that could be considered the ‘timing’ the Awakened were waiting for.

The optimal timing to begin battle with the Corrosion Entities gathering toward this place.

‘What if that coin is a divine artifact that reveals the future…?’

The man who reached that hypothesis held his breath and watched the coin.

The moment that coin pointed to heads, something would definitely change.

That was exactly when it happened.

-Whoooooong-!-

Behind Zhao Xin, from a distant place far away, a red flare decorated the night sky.

A signal that the groups of Corrosion Entities gathered nearby had begun fighting.

Zhao Xin was puzzled.

Because his subordinates were keeping their distance from the Corrosion Entities according to orders.

The original command from Tianwu Guan was to wait while maintaining distance, so if Corrosion Entities approached, they would retreat rather than fight back.

Then who?

‘If it’s not Tianwu Guan warriors or the group here, does this mean some third party has started fighting the Corrosion Entities that flocked from all over China?’

His question didn’t last long.

Seoa, who saw the flare shot into the sky, began pressing Shirasaki Miyu.

“Teacher must have started fighting! Is it time yet? Is it still showing tails?”

‘Teacher?’

Was that young girl’s teacher who had blocked him earlier now fighting those monsters?

Having figured that much out, Zhao Xin slowly stood up.

To go beyond mere speculation and directly witness the situation with his own eyes.

However, before he could even take a step, Hyeon-jo and Shirasaki Miyu blocked his path again.

“You cannot go.”

“What is this? Are you expressing your death wish through actions?”

Hearing the man’s voice dripping with killing intent, Shirasaki Miyu shrugged her shoulders and showed him the tails side of the coin.

In a tone as if doing so was completely natural.

“Can’t help it. The coin said so.”

Watching that absurd action, there was only one conclusion Zhao Xin could reach.

‘They’re just simply crazy bastards.’

***

-Kwaaaaang!!!!-

“Kuweeeeeeeek!!! Kwaeeeek!!”

At the same time.

Sung-jun was frantically unleashing wide-area magic toward all kinds of monsters charging at him.

Hundreds of thousands of Corrosion Entities that had gathered from across the Chinese mainland at tremendous speed were charging at him madly, as if trying to drain Sung-jun’s stamina as much as possible before Yeojiggwi arrived.

“Kwaaaaaaaaaaak!!!-!”

Sung-jun extended his hand toward a group of small Corrosion Entities rushing like a pack of starving rats.

Then wide-range gravity magic activated, and with a roar as if space itself was being crushed, hundreds of monsters were pressed to the ground like burst tomatoes.

Before Sung-jun could even turn his head to observe the results he had created, a bearded old man-shaped Corrosion Entity with a staff leaped behind Sung-jun’s head at near-teleportation speed.

And scattered dragon-shaped blood-red energy behind Sung-jun’s back.

Then the giant magical hand Sung-jun had summoned grabbed the neck of the approaching dragon and threw it toward the enemies.

Instantly, the bodies of enemies hit by the blood energy swelled like balloons and burst in a chain reaction, but Sung-jun wasn’t allowed even a moment’s leisure to confirm the identity of the old man’s attack.

Before the old man’s attack was even finished, a lion-shaped beast with a giant shell on its back was charging toward Sung-jun’s side, opening its mouth as if to swallow him whole.

-Wiiiiiiing!!-

When Sung-jun waved his hand, a giant portal opened right in front of the lion with an eerie sound.

Then the lion’s body that had leaped toward Sung-jun was shot directly toward the portal’s exit that opened where enemies were clustered.

“Kuheooooooong!!!”

A situation where the more enemies attacked, the greater their own damage became.

Sung-jun was deliberately choosing only spells of that type to prevent opponents from recklessly attacking him.

And after a while, Sung-jun, who had been ‘deflecting’ countless attacks, could finally catch his breath seeing the fierce attacks gradually subside as he intended.

‘Success?’

However, at that moment, Sung-jun realized his thought was mistaken.

He felt that the reason the enemies’ attacks stopped was because something was slowly walking toward where he was now.

-Step. Step.-

Sung-jun saw a single human silhouette walking from far away.

An existence that made him think this might be exactly what ‘death’ would look like if the word could take form and walk around.

A being that resembled humans but could never be defined as human.

Walking death, the determiner of fate, one who pronounces death upon all living beings.

Crossing through space split to both sides like the Red Sea from the Bible, the Apocalypse-class Corrosion Entity ‘Yeojiggwi’ was slowly walking toward Sung-jun.

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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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