The Archmage’s Swordsmanship Is Too Strong - Chapter 6

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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6
Episode 6. The Mathematics of Collapse
***
Magic Resistance.
Beginners despair the moment they hear the word, mistaking it for an absolute shield against magic. As if spells simply don’t work.
But to me, who has touched the principles of the 9th Circle, resistance is merely a thicker wall.
There is no spear that cannot pierce.
Only insufficient force.
“Your Highness—!”
The creature stamped the ground again.
The red helmet clattered with a vicious, grinding sound.
A simple charge, yet its weight rivaled a tank.
A direct confrontation is out of the question.
This body would crumble to dust from even a glancing blow.
I need to change the flow.
I gripped the Short Sword in reverse and fixed my gaze on the earth beneath my feet.
“Entangle.”
Rustle—!
The ground responded before the incantation ended.
Through the damp soil of Donggureung, pale grass roots surged up like serpents.
Not a standard Entangle.
This place is a royal tomb of the Joseon dynasty.
A blessed land where royal essence and earth meridians had been preserved for centuries.
“Krrrgh?!”
The creature’s ankles locked in empty air.
Roots thick as an adult’s forearm coiled around its shins and thighs, tightening and rising.
Not mere plants.
Nature’s chains infused with the sacred energy that dwelt in this earth.
For the undead, bonds that inflicted searing agony with mere contact—the opposing force.
“This is no burial ground for your kind.”
Sizzle—!
Black smoke rose from the cracks where the roots touched the armor.
The creature thrashed in agony, roaring.
“Gnaaaaaah! Gnaaaaaah!”
It was bound fast.
The more it struggled to break free, the deeper the roots burrowed into its joints and marrow.
Now was the moment.
Before it tore through the bindings, I had to drive in one certain, devastating blow.
I held my breath.
I spun my Mana Core to its limit.
My blood vessels screamed and ballooned.
“Tree of Sephiroth.”
Invisible branches of mana spread through the air.
A formula of overlap and cascade that split from a single root.
I layered opposing attributes that would crush its resistance, stacking them one upon another.
A unique property only I could achieve.
“Fire, Wind, Lightning.”
Whoooosh—
Three Circles spun simultaneously.
Wind howled across the blade, flames erupted, and between them, blue lightning tore and seared.
Triple elemental fusion.
Any ordinary artifact would have shattered by now from the mana output alone.
The newly purchased Short Sword glowed crimson, unable to withstand the heat.
“Airi. Adjust Quick Slash output upward to 15%.”
[Warning. Dangerous.]
[Your current physical durability cannot withstand the recoil. Mana Backflow probability exceeds 85%.]
[Weapon destruction imminent.]
Red warning windows flooded my vision.
I ignored them.
A broken arm is a problem for later. If I don’t finish this thing now, it’s my neck.
“I don’t care. I’m ending this now.”
I drove my heel into the earth.
Explosive acceleration.
Ignoring the sensation of my ankle ligaments stretching, I hurled myself forward.
My vision narrowed. Only the creature’s helmet came into sharp focus.
I swung the mana-infused blade like a baseball bat.
“Goodbye.”
It felt like an earthquake.
The instant the sword’s edge touched its helmet, three compressed elemental forces detonated simultaneously.
The explosive force of flame, the cutting power of wind, the penetrating force of lightning.
Screeeeeeeech—!
A sickening metallic shriek tore through my eardrums.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the red Helmet that should have been impenetrable.
The threshold of Magic Resistance had been shattered.
Helmet fragments scattered in all directions.
It had broken through.
Now I just needed to sever the body itself.
In the moment I tried to pour in more strength—
Crackle—
A lightness shot through my fingertips.
The Short Sword vanished.
More precisely, the blade had shattered under the explosion’s force.
My body pitched into empty air, the broken hilt still clenched in my fist.
‘Of course cheap equipment won’t cut it.’
Ultimately, the weapon couldn’t handle its wielder’s output.
“Your Highness—!!”
The creature burst from the smoke.
Half its helmet had sheared away, exposing a grotesque skull beneath, but it didn’t slow.
If anything, its killing intent deepened.
It tore its roots free from Entangle by sheer force and whirled its broken Hwando through the air.
Distance: two meters.
In my hands: only a shattered hilt.
[Successor, you are disarmed. Please retreat!]
“No.”
There’s nowhere to retreat to. I’m pressing forward instead.
I concentrated what mana remained into my feet.
“Leap.”
The ground buckled beneath me.
Explosive ascent.
The creature’s blade grazed past my toes.
My body rose light as a feather.
A sensation of weightlessness defying gravity.
In an instant, I’d reached five meters above it.
Its crown of skull lay directly beneath my feet.
It tilted its head up, crimson eyes flaring, and fixed me with its stare.
But the advantage of the air was mine.
I reached down toward my waist.
A heavy object dangling beside my bag.
A backup Wooden Sword carved from ebony.
The one I’d grabbed from the corner of the Hunter Shop purely because of the label reading “superior natural attribute conductivity.”
Metal repels the spirits of nature, but wood embraces them.
For this moment—wielding Donggureung’s ley lines in concert with Entangle—wood served better than steel.
The backup plan becoming the finishing blow.
Mid-air, I twisted my body.
Adding rotational force.
This was no mere wooden cudgel.
Add to it the precise mana control of a 9th Circle mage, and it becomes a maul that can shatter steel.
“Lock.”
As I whispered the words, the Wooden Sword filled with azure light.
Mana seeped between the wood’s grain, raising its density.
An enhancement spell that pushes physical hardness to its absolute limit.
This blade would now be harder than diamond.
‘This will be enough.’
I surrendered my body to gravity.
Free fall.
Acceleration built, and wind lashed against my ears.
The target: its exposed skull.
I held my breath.
Every muscle in my body, what remained of my mana, and a handful of squeezed Aura.
Everything poured into the blade’s tip.
Fancy technique wasn’t needed.
The simplest, the most crude, and therefore the strongest single strike.
‘Hard Strike.’
I roared.
The bare skill name became an incantation, and the world screamed.
Crack—!
The sound of a cannon detonating.
The wooden blade struck its crown with full force.
The shockwave rippled outward in concentric circles.
The sound of shattering was crisp and clear.
Its red eyes went dark.
Fragments of the Helmet scattered, and the white skull crumbled like a sand castle.
The spine compressed, ribs burst outward.
Overwhelming, brutal force.
The massive armored form dropped to its knees, then toppled forward as a cloud of dust rose into the air.
I barely kept my wavering legs beneath me.
My wrists throbbed.
[Combat concluded.]
[Target confirmed silenced. Subjugation successful.]
Silence descended.
Only ragged breathing cut through the pre-dawn air of Donggureung.
Ding—!
[Level increased.]
[Lv. 1 → Lv. 10]
[All Stats rise significantly.]
Warmth enveloped my entire body.
The blessing of the level-up repaired my shattered muscles and refilled my depleted vitality.
A explosive growth that leaped nine ranks at once.
Life flowed back into veins that had been as dry as kindling.
“Haah… haah…”
I lifted my head and looked at the sky.
The Gate’s crimson-tinted sky was slowly returning to its natural color.
‘It’s over.’
I moved through the rubble of bones.
Two spheres wrapped in black fog rolled across the ground.
Drop Items.
[1 Unidentified Artifact.]
[1 Unidentified Weapon.]
‘I’ll need appraisal.’
Usually they drop stripped bare, but ones shrouded in black fog like these are the real deal.
At least Rare grade or higher.
Spoils worthy of an elite monster.
The scattered blue Mana Stones scattered nearby looked quite valuable too.
In cash, roughly eight million won.
Or more, ten years from now.
Cheap for a life, but not bad as starting capital.
I swept everything into my bag haphazardly.
The Gate hummed as it prepared to close.
Space began to warp.
“Let’s go.”
I slid the wooden sword back into my belt.
Leaving the shattered skull’s remains behind, I walked toward the exit.
Whoosh—
***
I pushed through the blue barrier and returned to reality.
The cold dawn air flooded deep into my lungs.
In that moment, relief washed over me—I was alive.
“I made it out···”
My heart plummeted.
The world spun.
The solid ground tilted sharply beneath me.
Hhhhmmm—!
A high-pitched ringing filled my ears. Not simple tinnitus.
It was the sound of Mana flowing backward through my veins, hammering against my eardrums.
“Airi···.”
The words wouldn’t form. My tongue had gone stiff.
[Warning! Mana Backflow detected.]
[Aura circuit overheating. Body temperature rising rapidly.]
[Skill usage restriction recommended.]
A ball of fire surged up through my chest.
A scalding sensation burned down my throat.
It felt as though I’d poured molten lava into my stomach.
The edges of my vision blackened, then flickered white.
“Mana Backflow? Me?”
Stumbling, I dropped my bag.
My hands trembled uncontrollably—I could barely manage the zipper.
I pulled out a Potion I’d bought from the Hunter Shop.
I uncapped it and poured the contents down my throat.
Gulp, gulp.
The bitter liquid burned as it went down.
The fire wouldn’t stop.
Even though my body grade had risen to Level 10 from the recent level-up, it wasn’t enough.
The recoil from the collision between magic and Aura was devastatingly powerful—potent enough that even my reinforced veins couldn’t withstand it.
It was like a dam had burst and I was trying to bail out the water with a cup.
I’d already exceeded the limit of that triple incantation.
The reckless manipulation of Aura, combined with the recoil from the final Hard Strike.
A novice Hunter’s body was never meant to handle this.
Grrrrgh—
I felt my organs twist inside me.
A phantom pain of dislocating bones overwhelmed my entire body.
Everything went dark.
Thud.
My legs gave out.
I collapsed onto the bench, sprawling across its cold surface.
The chill of the wood touched my cheek, but my body burned like an inferno.
[Danger threshold exceeded! Consciousness cannot be maintained.]
[Immediate medical intervention required!]
Airi’s urgent voice buzzed in my head.
But somehow, I found myself laughing.
“Don’t make such a fuss.”
I was familiar with this.
Before my return, I’d endured this pain every day on my way to reaching the 9th Circle.
You cannot grow without pushing past your limits.
To me, Mana Backflow was nothing but a daily trial—a badge of honor.
While others were rushed to the hospital, I collapsed on the floor of the guild’s research lab and reconstructed my Mana circuits.
“Call the Hunter emergency rescue service.”
[Understood. Transmitting location···.]
I had insurance.
I wouldn’t die from this.
The problem was time.
At this level of Mana Backflow, he’d be unconscious for at least a day, possibly two.
He couldn’t afford that wasted time.
He wouldn’t squander hours doing nothing but sleep.
He seized hold of his fading consciousness by force.
“Airi, open it.”
[···Successor? I don’t understand what you mean.]
“The Successor’s Altar. I’m talking about the Successor’s Altar.”
[In your current state, it’s dangerous. You need rest.]
“Shut up. Before I lose consciousness, dump my mind into the altar.”
Let the body in the real world rest; let the mind train on.
Madness, yes. But the efficiency was unmatched.
He would grind even this agony into data and consume it.
[······Understood.]
In that voice, he detected what sounded like the faintest sigh.
Perceptive for an add-on, wasn’t she.
His mouth twisted into something like a smile.
His eyelids grew impossibly heavy, yet his mind burned cold and sharp.
As darkness swallowed him whole, one image surfaced again: that cold, deep-blue floor.
Donggureung wasn’t finished.
Neither was the pain, the Mana Backflow, nor the consciousness slipping away.
All of it had to be used.
Not a single second could be allowed to flow in the Evil Divine Dragon’s favor.
“Here it comes.”
The moment that thought crystallized, consciousness snapped away.

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