The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 35

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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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#035. How to Use Death

Sung-jun desperately suppressed his madly pounding heartbeat as he glared at the Yeojiggwi.

Then he opened his mouth with a calmly settled voice.

“So it’s you.”

Sung-jun’s pupils dilated greatly.

And the Yeojiggwi, before Sung-jun’s mouth could open once more, spoke ‘in advance’ the words Sung-jun was about to say without missing a single character.

“Can you speak Korean?”

“No, this feels different from language use that comes from learning. It’s not simply reading the content, but using the exact tone and emotions I was going to use. This is…”

As if reading Sung-jun’s mind, the Yeojiggwi’s voice echoed across the wasteland, stealing and pronouncing the words Sung-jun was about to say.

“You came after ‘seeing’ what I was going to say in advance.”

“Interesting. Most who see my ability for the first time assume it’s mind-reading.”

The Yeojiggwi’s last words were not stolen from what Sung-jun was about to say, but were the Yeojiggwi’s own words.

And they were spoken in clearly audible Korean pronunciation, not the incomprehensible roars typical of Corrosion Entities.

The moment Sung-jun heard the Yeojiggwi’s fluent Korean, he was able to deduce another ability the creature possessed.

‘If it were simply mimicking the pronunciation of what I’m about to say, such fluent Korean would be impossible. Its ability isn’t simply seeing the future. It’s an absolute simulation ability that can complete even the incomplete parts of information acquired based on given data. Is that the true nature of its precognitive ability?’

As the hypothesis he had only vaguely suspected became reality, all the puzzles were completed.

The reason the Chinese Government suffered complete defeat despite deploying half their total Awakened forces against this creature.

It was because the ‘precognitive’ ability it possessed had compatibility so poor with Tianwu Guan Awakened who used martial arts abilities that it was close to the worst possible.

It meant that before even seeing the first trajectory of a sword technique the opponent deployed, it could completely grasp the ultimate form that martial art would develop into and even its countermeasures.

‘The Awakened who fell to this creature probably got hit by the perfected sword techniques of the martial arts they themselves deployed.’

Only one problem remained for Sung-jun.

Whether the Yeojiggwi’s ability to deploy techniques close to the ‘complete form’ of any technique the moment it saw them could also evolve the magic he used.

And there was only one way to confirm this.

“!”

The moment Sung-jun decided to use a spell, he cast the most powerful defensive spell he could use right now instead of the spell he had intended to use.

Then a flame arrow shot by the Yeojiggwi drew a trajectory like a cannonball and collided with the defensive magic Sung-jun had summoned.

-KWAAAAANG!!-

Clearly the same type of magic Sung-jun had intended to shoot, but a spell with power so strong it could hardly be considered the same magic.

Sung-jun showed an amused expression as he watched the 4th Circle spell Heat Flash Spear pierce through the 8th Circle defensive spell Diamond Heaven Barrier.

‘Did it see the future where I used Heat Flash Spear in advance and evolve the spell to attack preemptively? Even so, Heat Flash Spear isn’t this powerful a spell… It can evolve a 4th Circle spell to be this powerful? How exactly?’

After analyzing the spell the Yeojiggwi cast in detail, Sung-jun immediately realized what it had done to the spell.

Then he burst out in admiration at that ingenious idea.

‘It embedded a metal core rotating at ultra-high speed inside the flame. That’s right. If you embed a core heated to ultra-high temperature, the penetrating power becomes much better.’

Sung-jun recalled the list of spells he had organized in his mind before the battle.

Spells created by the Previous Demon Lords, but still with room for improvement.

And the ‘monster that sees the future’ that could create and use the ultimate evolutionary forms of any spells before even seeing them.

By combining those two, Sung-jun was trying to pursue a plan so absurd it was unbelievable as a method for facing an apocalyptic Corrosion Entity.

“Then let me learn a thing or two from now on. Please take care of me, teacher.”

***

What would be the safest way to fight an enemy with the ability to read the future?

Especially in a situation where misfortune so severe that dying at any moment wouldn’t be strange was dragging one’s fate toward certain death.

To continue fighting without dying under such overwhelming penalties, Sung-jun first sealed away all spells that had any probability of failure.

‘I can’t use lightning-type spells. If I cast them, sparks will probably fly toward me and kill me.’

‘Let’s exclude aerial bombardment spells too. There’s a risk the trajectory could change while falling and drop on me.’

‘Probability-based debuff spells are also excluded. Even with a 99.99% success rate, they’ll probably fail without exception.’

Sung-jun’s combat style was proceeding in the complete opposite style from when he faced the Chusalgu.

Combat that excluded his own judgment as much as possible and relied only on logical decisions made by gathering the information spread before his eyes.

While minimizing elements where luck could intervene as much as possible, Sung-jun was shooting out the spells he had prepared in advance to face the Yeojiggwi in order.

-KWAAAAANG!!-

The spell Sung-jun cast was a 7th Circle level attack spell designed to neutralize the opponent’s defensive magic, Heaven Piercing Heat Extreme.

A spell that, like an anti-tank shell, concentrated all explosive force at one point the moment it collided with defensive magic to pierce through widely spread defensive magic.

When facing this spell, the standard approach was to intercept the incoming spell with another spell or evade it instead of using defensive magic, but the Yeojiggwi showed the miracle of blocking a spell specialized in breaking protective barriers by conspicuously using a ‘defensive spell.’

‘Did it cast two defensive spells overlapping in spaced armor formation? An interesting form.’

Sung-jun immediately copied the magic formula deployed when the Yeojiggwi used the spell and stored it in his mind.

Then he cast the next attack spell toward the Yeojiggwi.

With exactly the same expression as when learning magic from his teacher in the past, savoring the ecstasy of ‘growth.’

However, the Yeojiggwi, who had grasped all of Sung-jun’s plans with its future-seeing ability, was rather accepting Sung-jun’s intentions while wearing a chilling smile.

‘Foolish creature. Does it think it’s the only one who tried to use my ability?’

Crossing countless universes, the Yeojiggwi had literally defeated countless enemies.

And among them, of course, there were those who knew its ability and attempted to ‘evolve themselves’ during battle in the same way as Sung-jun.

It was a familiar sight to the Yeojiggwi.

The conventional strategy of seeking growth by utilizing the opponent’s ability to fill one’s own deficiencies.

Whenever it met such opponents, the Yeojiggwi would rather draw out its ability even more so the opponent could grow rapidly.

After all, even if the opponent grew into a ‘complete form’ during the fight with itself, the result was always the same.

A fate already decided by death does not change.

The Yeojiggwi rather enjoyed the expressions those who tried such tricks made at the end when they met the inescapable fate of death.

Shock, despair, resignation, frustration, fear…

The various expressions made by those who met the despairing fate of ‘You grew to your growth limit, but your end was death.’

That was the supreme catharsis the Yeojiggwi craved with each invasion.

“Fine! If what you desire is growth, I’ll let you grow as much as you want! Become strong! Strong enough to defeat me! After all, only death awaits you at the end!”

“I know that too! You bastard!”

Sung-jun also knew.

Both the reason the Yeojiggwi was accepting all of his plans, and the fact that no matter how strong he became, defeating the Yeojiggwi was impossible.

Future precognition was that much of a cheat-like ability.

If it hadn’t seen a future where it died, preventing this fight from happening at all was the power of future precognition.

Knowing this fact better than anyone, Sung-jun had abandoned his fear of death and was focusing solely on the present moment.

At least excluding the fact that his death awaited at the end, the Yeojiggwi could be called a better teacher than any opponent Sung-jun had ever met.

While checking the spell list that didn’t have much left once more in his mind, Sung-jun began charging like a storm toward the final fate awaiting him.

***

Just how many spells had he shot out and how many spells had he blocked?

In his consciousness gradually falling into a trance, Sung-jun gave up counting.

Using the spells from the list he had prepared in advance to face the Yeojiggwi.

Following the established forms of ‘spells’ that the Previous Demon Lords had inscribed on Sung-jun’s body through his teacher Minastrias’s teachings.

These were no longer particularly important matters to the current Sung-jun.

-KWAAAAANG!!-

As another spell left Sung-jun’s hand and flew toward the Yeojiggwi, the Yeojiggwi countered with another magic.

However, that spell was not the perfected form of the spell Sung-jun had thrown, but a repetition of a spell Sung-jun had thrown earlier.

The completion level of the spells Sung-jun threw had begun rising to the point where the Yeojiggwi didn’t need to bother seeing the future and copying evolved spells.

The spells Sung-jun had begun using at some point.

They were not spells created by the Previous Demon Lords that Sung-jun had ‘learned,’ but original techniques that Sung-jun had ‘created’ using his own abilities.

‘Again. It’s trying to use those strange spells again.’

The Yeojiggwi was feeling stress.

Sung-jun, who had initially used only flawed spells, was throwing spells that completely ignored the techniques and laws of existing magic from a certain point onward.

If the earlier battle felt like an inadequately learned student asking a teacher ‘How would it be best to use this spell?’, the current battle felt like saying ‘Try evolving this too if you can.’

And the Yeojiggwi, despite having the ability to see the future, was completely unable to find evolutionary forms of the spells Sung-jun was casting.

‘At this rate…’

Of course, it wasn’t that it lacked confidence in winning.

Right now it was copying and fighting with the technique called ‘magic’ that the opponent was confident in to see the opponent’s despairing expression, but the true power the Yeojiggwi possessed was not merely that level.

The unique techniques of each race accumulated while destroying countless worlds.

The Yeojiggwi remembered every single technique of all the enemies it had defeated so far without exception.

However, his pride wouldn’t allow him to use that technique right now.

Yejigwi looked into the eyes of Sung-jun, who was casting spells with a crazed smile while bleeding all over his body.

‘An interesting fellow.’

When an opponent evolves and uses a technique you’re proud of in an even stronger state, most opponents can’t help but be shocked.

Surprise at the fact that there’s a higher level beyond the technique they’ve built up through long training.

And despair at how easily their opponent uses it.

However, Sung-jun’s face showed an expression different from any other opponent.

‘Greed’ that shone so purely it was almost blinding.

Ecstasy at the fact that despite all that effort, there was still more to learn.

In Sung-jun’s consciousness right now, there was no fear left regarding the apocalyptic Corrosion Entity he was facing.

Only curiosity about the ‘unknown magic’ unfolding before his eyes.

Seeing that emotion that was close to madness beyond obsession, Yejigwi revised his evaluation of the human before him.

“Certainly, you’re different from those so-called ‘geniuses’ who simply tried to use me.”

Yejigwi stepped back, creating distance from Sung-jun, and spoke.

“From now on, I’ll use techniques other than magic as well.”

“How kind. Wouldn’t it be more advantageous to use them right away without warning me first?”

“It doesn’t matter. Either way, your death is certain. However, my intuition is signaling that letting you use more magic would be dangerous.”

Sung-jun instinctively realized that his predetermined death was approaching.

The fact that his opponent had decided to face him with means other than ‘magic’ was tantamount to all his remaining chances of victory disappearing.

Feeling deep regret that the opportunity to learn more new magic was disappearing, rather than about the fact that his time to die was approaching, Sung-jun raised his head.

“Then.”

Yejigwi, who could read the future, continued Sung-jun’s remaining words.

“Let’s begin phase 2.”

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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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