The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 96

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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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#096. Accomplices

Sung-jun explained the debuff he had cast on the entire Earth using his Teacher’s relic, the ‘Seven Veins’, while in China.

The fact that he had placed a debuff allowing firearms to deal damage to low-grade Corrosion Entities that would normally be immune to bullets.

Upon hearing Sung-jun’s explanation, Amano Jugo slapped his knee and said.

“Ah, definitely. I heard recently that the Self-Defense Forces were forming special units to explore the lower layers of dungeons.”

“Really? Jyugo?”

“Really. Our clan received a request to provide Awakened to join the special units in case of emergency.”

“If that’s true…”

Seeing Ayaka’s gaze directed at him, Sung-jun nodded.

“That’s the effect of the debuff I cast.”

“Then Sung-jun’s purpose is to use Pandora’s Box to enable civilians to gain awakening abilities?”

“That’s right. Even with Awakened forces available, replenishing Awakened power has become difficult now that there are no Pioneers. So we need to provide a means to supplement the depleting Awakened forces. Pandora’s Box is necessary for that purpose.”

“Specifically, what are you planning to do?”

“I’ll add functionality to the wide-range debuff I cast in China. I’ll randomly copy magic granted to artifacts inside Pandora’s Box and grant it to magic stones inside Corrosion Entities’ bodies. If you extract magic stones from monsters defeated with guns and make equipment, you can use the granted magic through that equipment.”

After finishing his explanation, Sung-jun took out a magic stone from subspace and granted magic to it.

Then he grabbed a coat hanger placed in the corner and transformed it into a staff form by infusing it with mana.

“It’s hastily made so the durability isn’t great, but if a professional makes it using monster materials, the efficiency will improve. Now I’ll insert the magic stone here…”

When Sung-jun finished his work and waved the staff, countless butterflies poured out from the staff’s tip, filling the room.

When Sung-jun waved the staff again, the butterflies filling the room instantly disappeared with a pop.

“I granted an illusion-type spell to the magic stone and implemented it as a magical tool by placing it in a staff-form weapon.”

“So, magical weapons that previously dropped as completed magical tools can now be made from magic stones extracted from monsters’ bodies.”

“That’s right.”

“How do you distinguish whether a magic stone you obtained has skills granted to it or not?”

“Magic stones with magic granted have different colors and forms. And…”

Sung-jun removed the magic stone attached to the staff and handed it to Ayaka.

Unlike ordinary magic stones, it had a gem-like form with a faintly glowing magic circle engraved inside.

“Try holding it.”

“Ah!?!”

When Ayaka grabbed the magic stone Sung-jun was holding, a window filled with text appeared before her eyes.

It contained descriptions of the magic stone she obtained and the suitable magical tool form for inserting that magic stone, along with blueprints.

[Illusion Magic Stone]

[Type: Magic Stone]

[Recommended Magical Tool Form: Staff]

[A magic stone containing illusion magic granted by Mage Ma Sungjun for testing purposes. When the caster waves it with intent, butterfly-shaped illusions of the desired number are summoned within the designated space. To cancel the spell, wave again with the intent to cancel.]

“…Certainly, if this appears when touching a magic stone, there’s no chance of accidentally throwing it away.”

“It should appear in a familiar form so even first-time users can easily understand its purpose.”

“Then you also created the content of this window…”

“It’s a type of illusion magic. So this magic stone has both the illusion magic that summons butterflies and the illusion magic that shows explanation windows to those who touch it.”

“Is the magic granted to magic stones completely random?”

“Not entirely. The grade of magic stones inside their bodies differs according to the strength of Corrosion Entities, and the strength of magic that can be granted varies according to that magic stone’s capacity.”

“Then defeating stronger Corrosion Entities would yield magic stones with stronger abilities granted.”

“That’s right.”

Then, Jyugo, who had been listening to Sung-jun and Ayaka’s conversation, joined in.

“Then wouldn’t it be better to just drop completed magical tools like before? Rather than obtaining magic stones, looking at blueprints, making suitable magical tools, and inserting them, dropping already completed magical tools would be more convenient.”

“That would certainly be more convenient for those receiving them…”

Sung-jun said with a sigh.

“It’s not the same from the giving side. Basically, the artifacts coming out of Pandora’s Box are magical tools stored in a ‘treasure trove’ containing magical tools made by previous mages called Demon Lords. For low-grade magical tools, there are usually plenty of the same items so they can be given repeatedly, but for magical tools containing high-grade magic, there’s usually only one in the treasure trove. Shirasaki Miyu’s ‘Grimoire’ and my ‘Lion’s Key’ are representative examples. If such unique magical tools are given away entirely, only one person can possess that ability.”

“If you use the method of copying to magic stones, that limitation is lifted?”

“That’s right. Of course, there’s the constraint that the magic stone’s grade must support it, but it’s possible to create multiple magic stones with the same ability. It’s a method of reinterpreting magic granted to original artifacts and copying it directly into magic stones inside monsters.”

The four people who heard Sung-jun’s explanation asked for his understanding and moved to the corner of the room to hold a meeting.

After talking for a while, they approached Sung-jun and said.

“We’d like to ask something.”

“Please ask.”

“Why are you asking for our permission?”

Sung-jun is strong.

Strong enough to defeat apocalypse-class Corrosion Entities one-on-one, beings that are like gods inside dungeons.

Although he might not be able to control his body properly due to aftereffects now, once recovered, Sung-jun possessed strength that couldn’t be defeated even if all of Japan’s Awakened forces were mobilized.

“Even if Sung-jun forcibly pushed through with this matter, we wouldn’t have any means to resist. Of course, we don’t know what the Japanese Government’s stance would be, but at least the four of us alone couldn’t stop what Sung-jun wants to do. Nevertheless, we want to know why you explained your plan to us.”

“Because it’s troublesome.”

“Excuse me?”

“Certainly, as you said, I have enough power to forcibly push through what I want. But for me, who had difficulty moving even a finger until just now, immediately recovering Pandora’s Box was impossible.

The problem was that there were too many people in this room. If all those people started searching the room, Pandora’s Box would be discovered quickly, but if all those people learned about Pandora’s Box, it would be difficult to keep them quiet.”

“So you asked to send people up before explaining…”

“That’s right. With all attack team members except you having left the dungeon, I was given two options. One was to forcibly recover Pandora’s Box even if it meant fighting all of you. The other was to explain honestly and coordinate with you.

What would have happened if I had chosen the former method? In a situation where I requested everyone except the four Clan Masters to leave, if only I returned to the surface?”

“It would cause serious misunderstanding.”

“Conversely, if I had requested everyone leave except me, would you have granted that request?”

“…It would be difficult to say yes to that.”

“So this was the only method available to me. To honestly tell you my plan and ask for your cooperation.”

“Specifically, what kind of cooperation are you referring to?”

“I’d like you to coordinate your story with mine. Report that we searched for Pandora’s Box but couldn’t recover it, and instead it seems the artifact drop method naturally changed when the Dungeon Master died.”

The scenario Sung-jun prepared was straightforward.

There was a need to investigate the computer-shaped artifact to confirm whether the ‘black rain’ problem was resolved, but that artifact was in a very unstable state with risk of massive explosion.

So while Sung-jun, who was knowledgeable about magic, analyzed that artifact, the four strongest members of the attack team served as Sung-jun’s monitors.

And Sung-jun’s request was to report that they safely confirmed there was no explosion risk and all returned to the surface together.

“The additional part that needs explaining there is the change in drop method I described. From now on, instead of magical tools, magic stones must be extracted from Corrosion Entities’ bodies to craft magical tools, and materials processed from Corrosion Entity corpses should be used as materials.”

“Then Pandora’s Box…”

“Disappeared along with the Dungeon Master when it was destroyed. Originally, the Dungeon Master’s authority was used to make monsters drop in magical tool form, but when the Dungeon Master maintaining that fell, only the core authority contained within, not the magical tool form, came to be granted to magic stones inside monsters.”

“May I ask one more thing?”

When Sung-jun nodded, Ayaka said.

“Honestly explaining to the Japanese Government and asking for cooperation…”

“…Would be difficult.”

“Why do you think so?”

“For the Japanese Government, directly obtaining and using Pandora’s Box would be much more convenient than operating it that way.”

Certainly, if Pandora’s Box were brought to the surface, the Japanese Government would have the advantage of utilizing the vast artifacts inside without the risk of monster hunting.

Moreover, since the Dungeon Master fell and the threat of black rain disappeared, there would be no need to risk sending adventurers into dungeons.

Conversely, if Corrosion Entities had to be defeated to obtain magical tools according to Sung-jun’s plan, there was the disadvantage of having to continuously deploy already insufficient Awakened forces to dungeons, so Sung-jun thought the Japanese Government wouldn’t cooperate with his plan.

“Ultimately, my plan asks you to choose one of two paths. One is a path where citizens can safely become Awakened, but the Japanese Government monopolizes those benefits. The other is a path where citizens are put in danger, but the entire world fairly shares the same benefits.

Whatever method the Japanese Government chooses, that choice will inevitably be criticized. If they choose the former, they’ll be criticized by citizens who were put at risk. If they choose the latter, they’ll face criticism from people worldwide.

So I want to eliminate the choice itself. If we say it was already that way when we arrived, no one can blame any specific target.”

“…We just need to keep that fact secret.”

“That’s right.”

“…If we refuse…”

“Honestly, coming down here, eating, sleeping, and fighting together with you, I think we’ve become reasonably close. I’m also grateful to all of you for fighting alongside me this far.”

Clenching and unclenching his still slightly trembling fist, Sung-jun said.

“But whether that gratitude is valuable enough to accept losses for all humanity is something I’ll have to calculate when that situation comes.”

“…We agree with Sung-jun’s plan. Actually, we had no intention of opposing it from the beginning.”

It was a natural decision.

According to Sung-jun’s words, hunting stronger Corrosion Entities would likely yield higher-grade magic stones, which meant their status as one of the Four Major Clans would be maintained exactly as before.

Having obtained agreement from all four people, Sung-jun immediately spoke to his accomplices.

“Then let’s start by taking out Pandora’s Box.”

“Taking it out… did you happen to know where Pandora’s Box was located?”

“Rather than knowing… I was looking at it. Pandora’s Box has been in the center of this room from the very beginning.”

Following Sung-jun’s gaze to look at the center of the room, Jyugo burst into laughter with a deflated expression.

Then he slid the tabletop of the large table in the center of the room to the side.

There, a large treasure chest the size of a young child was naturally revealed, as if it had been the table’s base from the very beginning.

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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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