The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 42

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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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#042. Landing in Japan

The process of Sung-jun’s group traveling to Japan via the maritime route proceeded more smoothly than expected.

The Chinese Government, wanting to put Sung-jun in their debt, tried to arrange as many escort ships as possible while also gathering intelligence on the situation in the Japanese archipelago, but Sung-jun only requested a single escort ship to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.

Since the Japanese Government’s functions were operating more normally than expected, foreign warships entering their territorial waters could become an international incident, so the Chinese Government reluctantly accepted Sung-jun’s request.

And finally, the day of departure arrived.

Sung-jun departed for Japan with his disciple Yeonse-a and the Japanese Awakened Shirasaki Miyu, leaving behind Hyeon-jo who had decided to remain on the Chinese mainland.

And having left the port, Sung-jun immediately experienced firsthand why humanity’s maritime trade had been completely paralyzed since D-day.

‘Even a grandfather warship couldn’t win against this.’

While land-based Corrosion Entity groups had a triangular balance structure with low-grade Corrosion Entities as the main force and decreasing numbers as grades increased, marine-type Corrosion Entities consisted of powerful individuals with the weakest being at least grade 5 or higher.

Among them, the grade 7 individuals that could be called the main force each possessed enormous size and combat power capable of tearing through a warship’s thick hull with their teeth.

Against warship-sized monsters charging underwater at nearly 70 knots while baring their teeth, humanity’s anti-submarine capabilities were not particularly effective countermeasures.

Moreover, armaments like naval guns designed to attack enemy warships or coastlines were helpless against monsters underwater.

To deal with the large Corrosion Entities charging toward his vessel, Sung-jun used the attack spell he had employed against the Yejigwi, Void Heaven Spear.

“Void Heaven Spear.”

As Sung-jun chanted the activation phrase, multiple dimensional gates opened above the water surface and massive metal pillars shot down beneath the waves.

Then enormous water columns erupted upward and the sea around the ship began turning red in an instant.

“That’s incredible power no matter when I see it. Why didn’t you write that spell in the Grimoire?”

When Shirasaki Miyu, who had been watching the battle beside Sung-jun, asked, Sung-jun replied.

“Void Heaven Spear isn’t a spell made of a single technique, but a composite spell created by combining multiple techniques. It’s a spell that can’t be implemented with a Grimoire that has limitations on spells that can be cast at once.”

A spike-shaped iron pillar created with elemental magic is strengthened with transformation magic, then transferred to a vacuum subspace using dimensional magic.

The transferred iron pillar is accelerated dozens of times in a state without air resistance to about 24,000 km/h, which is 20 times the speed of sound, then fired by summoning a dimensional gate toward the target – this was Void Heaven Spear, a spell similar to a pseudo-railgun.

Thanks to its tremendous penetrating power and mass, Void Heaven Spear had the power to completely crush high-grade Corrosion Entity bodies regardless of water depth.

“And don’t be too greedy. I’ve put in as many spells as possible that can be cast with at least single or double casting.”

As promised beforehand, Sung-jun had upgraded Shirasaki Miyu’s artifact Grimoire to its limit with spells he knew that could be cast through the Grimoire.

Not only spells created by previous Demon Lords, but also evolved spells he had learned through fighting the Yejigwi.

Thanks to this, Shirasaki Miyu’s combat power had grown incomparably from before Sung-jun upgraded her grimoire.

Now, even if Sung-jun fought her directly, it would be difficult to guarantee a 100% victory.

This was a gap that arose from differences in pure combat sense, unrelated to the firepower or grade of usable spells.

‘If we fought under the constraint of using the same spells, there’s a possibility I could lose.’

Shirasaki Miyu, as Sung-jun evaluated her, was literally a ‘genius of battle.’

If there was a method to victory in any type of fight, Shirasaki Miyu could achieve victory with nearly 100% certainty.

Sung-jun believed her true strength lay not in the power of the Grimoire containing countless spells, but in precisely that insane genius of hers.

-Kwaaaaang!!-

Sung-jun shook his head as he saw a slightly smaller water column erupting from where he hadn’t attacked.

There stood Sung-jun’s disciple Yeonse-a, with both hands extended forward and an exhausted expression as if she might collapse at any moment.

‘That one is complicated to explain in its own way.’

Surprisingly, the magic she had used was the multi-cast spell Sung-jun had used to attack the Corrosion Entities underwater – Void Heaven Spear.

Of course, the durability of the summoned metal rod, firing speed, casting time, and accuracy were all far inferior to what Sung-jun had cast, but the spell she cast definitely had the same casting principle as Void Heaven Spear.

Sung-jun couldn’t help but feel inwardly astounded watching Seoa’s genius in copying that complex spell using literally just intuition.

‘That’s not a spell that should be copyable just by feel…’

As he began proper magic lessons with Seoa, whom he had accepted as a disciple, Sung-jun learned that her magical talent was concentrated in specific areas.

Namely, that she possessed talent surpassing Sung-jun when it came to attack magic.

If Sung-jun was a mage with a dodecagonal balance capable of handling all magic from the 12 branches including dimensional, mystical, elemental, and summoning, then his disciple Seoa could be called an attack-specialized mage who showed tremendously fast learning speed for spells specialized in ‘direct attacks’ regardless of branch.

However, since she couldn’t handle dimensional and protective magic well, which were essential for combat mages, she wasn’t yet at a level to fight on the front lines.

Without being able to use teleportation to evade enemy attacks and create distance, or protective magic to block enemy attacks, no matter how well one used attack spells, they couldn’t have value beyond that of a long-range artillery platform.

Sung-jun thought the reason Seoa couldn’t learn the divination spell ‘Coin of Fate’ was also due to her talent being specialized in attack magic.

‘Well, it can’t be helped. At least in the current situation, being able to use one branch of magic as well as possible would be more helpful than being able to handle mediocre magic across a wide range. Besides, considering when Seoa became my disciple, her growth rate is at an absurd level.’

Even considering a two-person team composition where Shirasaki Miyu would handle defense and Seoa would handle offense if necessary, Sung-jun focused on teaching attack magic that Seoa handled well rather than spells from branches she struggled with as they headed to Japan.

After two days had passed, the ship carrying Sung-jun’s group was finally able to safely arrive at the coastline near Kanazawa, Japan.

“Are you really sure we don’t need to take you all the way to the port?”

“This is close enough that we can travel the rest of the way using short-range teleportation magic.”

Since using short-range teleportation with the other two within visible range wasn’t particularly difficult, Sung-jun politely declined the captain’s offer to dock at the port.

Not knowing how the situation on Japanese mainland was unfolding, entering a Japanese port on a warship flying the Chinese flag could invite unexpected trouble.

Instead, Sung-jun planned to have the ship guide them only to where the coastline was visible, then use teleportation magic to land in Japan.

Then the captain who had guided Sung-jun’s group this far spoke to Sung-jun with a determined expression.

“Then we’ll head to a nearby port like this.”

The captain’s meaning was that they would go to a nearby Japanese port and apply for refugee status.

Since coming this far would have been impossible without Sung-jun’s magic, returning to China under their own power with Sung-jun gone was impossible.

A one-way voyage to a foreign country with no possibility of returning home.

All the soldiers who had brought the ship Sung-jun rode were people who had come with that resolve.

“Still, it won’t be that you can never return. If things proceed according to plan, someday humanity will be able to reclaim the seas as well.”

“We’ll pray in our hearts and wait for that day to come even one day sooner.”

Sung-jun finally shook hands with the captain who had brought him to Japan knowing that return to his homeland was impossible.

Then he took his companions and cast teleportation magic toward the coastline visible before them.

“This is… Japan…”

“GPS has been messed up since D-day so it’s hard to know if this is the exact location, but a veteran navigator used old surveying equipment to position us as accurately as possible, so there shouldn’t be much deviation. By location, it’s probably around here.”

When Sung-jun pulled out a map from his chest and pointed with his finger, Shirasaki Miyu and Seoa checked the map.

“Teacher, then how do you plan to travel from now on?”

“First we’ll have to travel on foot until we find a road. The most urgent thing right now is understanding the situation here. Shirasaki, do you know anything about Japan’s situation after D-Day?”

When Sung-jun asked, Shirasaki Miyu shook her head.

“No, I visited Korea before that happened anyway.”

“I suppose that makes sense. Then let’s first look for someone we can use as an information source locally.”

The group that departed from their position soon discovered a strange sight.

Pitch-black rice fields filled not with rice that was still unripe and green or well-ripened and yellow, but with black rice that looked burned.

It was a rice field with a bizarre form as if the land itself had been cursed.

“Teacher… this is…”

“It seems the apocalypse-grade Corrosion Entity that appeared in Japan has abilities that affect crop-type plants?”

Sung-jun’s reasoning was simple.

Along the path they had walked so far, grasses and trees that humans couldn’t eat remained in perfectly normal condition.

On the other hand, as a result of investigating the abandoned farmhouses in the area, crops that humans could eat were without exception blackened and withered.

As if they had been cursed.

Looking at strawberries that crumbled to dust as soon as touched, Sung-jun’s expression began to darken.

“If the Corrosion Entity’s curse affects not just new harvests but even previously harvested crops, the problem might be serious.”

“Serious how?”

“It’s been a little over 8 months since D-day happened. What do you think would have happened if Japan’s population of nearly 120 million spent 8 months unable to procure food?”

“That’s…”

“It might mean the Japanese mainland itself has become a giant tomb.”

Of course, without knowing the true nature of the curse, he couldn’t be certain that things had reached such an extreme situation.

Perhaps already processed foods might not be affected by the curse, and if the toxin affecting crops was the type that spread through water, already harvested crops might not be affected.

Nevertheless, since it was easy to predict that the food situation wouldn’t be good, Sung-jun moved toward the road with a tense expression.

And there, he discovered an unbelievable object rushing toward him.

“…A car?”

If the car Sung-jun saw had been a military vehicle, he probably wouldn’t have been so surprised.

Even considering the situation of the Japanese archipelago where fuel procurement via sea was impossible, operating military stockpiles through controlled fuel distribution like the Chinese and Korean governments had done wasn’t a difficult situation to predict.

However, the vehicle rushing toward Sung-jun’s group was clearly not a military vehicle, but a simple civilian vehicle.

A regular truck loaded with vegetables that looked like carrots and potatoes in the back.

In the driver’s seat, next to a kindly-looking driver wearing a straw hat, sat a man in armor that looked like something from fantasy, glaring in the direction of Sung-jun’s group.

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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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