The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 103

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

Episode 103
103
The violent explosion flipped the earth, carving out a massive chasm as if the land itself had been torn asunder.
In reality, such devastation would have been impossible from a mere explosion alone.
But this was within a game.
The sheer force left everyone paralyzed, incapable of even the slightest movement.
Save for Yoo Sung-hyun, the trio at the vanguard and all those who had rushed to join the battlefield stood frozen in place.
A sight beyond words.
Even the usually boisterous Merlin had lost her smile.
The silence of the others followed naturally.
Not a single exclamation or cry escaped anyone’s lips.
All eyes turned skyward, watching the devastation unfold as if on a grand screen, their tongues hanging in awe.
Yoo Sung-hyun himself was equally astounded.
‘The power is greater than I anticipated.’
I’d never detonated such a massive contingent of the Death Legion in a single chained skill before.
It was understandable to be surprised.
Perhaps the Necromancer truly was a profession that bloomed on the battlefield?
I gazed down from above at the considerable numbers of the Death Legion that had been obliterated.
As if searching for something specific.
‘But where is the Legion Commander?’
After scanning the area for some time, I finally spotted something in the distance.
A form resembling the Skeleton Knight.
Yet something else caught my eye—something strange.
A pale, teal-hued silhouette clinging directly beside the Skeleton Knight.
Upon seeing that familiar form, one I’d known my entire life, I tilted my head in confusion.
‘Ghost?’
Why would Ghost be there?
4.
The earth trembled finely, and stones scattered in all directions.
Cracks split the ground as if an earthquake had struck.
Yet the Skeleton Knight standing upon that trembling earth advanced without hesitation, unmoved by the chaos.
His sword and armor remained steadfast upon him.
-….
The fierce roar that once swept across his entire legion was gone.
The voice commanding obedience, screaming orders to tear and destroy, had long since faded.
The intelligent eyes that once pierced through the battlefield—those too had vanished long ago.
How long had it been?
I did not know.
Once, I roamed these lands, sweeping through countless villages and cities.
When all that remained was a barren wasteland where nothing lived, I fell into slumber.
I awoke once more.
Why?
I cannot say.
My soul is already lost, my reason already shattered.
I simply awoke.
So I kill every living thing upon this land.
For what purpose?
-….
I cannot say.
Yet one thing is certain.
There is a reason I awakened in the place that made this land resound.
Thus I raised my blade and issued commands to my soldiers.
Soldiers now faded and diminished beyond counting.
Even with only a fraction remaining.
It matters not.
Each I slay only swells my forces further.
The Skeleton Knight’s eyes gleamed with an abyssal darkness.
Beside him, a specter—visible only to Yoo Sung-hyun in this teal-tinted world, bearing the exact likeness of the Skeleton Knight—bowed its head and muttered.
-A new master has appeared, and yet such disgrace is displayed. I wish his very soul would simply vanish.
I trembled at the dark history my own body was committing.
-Nocturnium seems to be nearby as well. If that brat sees me like this, I fear I’ll lose all semblance of reason. Please, someone stop me.
5.
The Calamity Legion.
A calamity itself, true to its name.
An endless tide of forces.
Individual units were insignificant, yet when tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands converged, they became a wave that swept all before it.
Dust accumulates into mountains.
Was there a situation more fitting for that saying?
Fortunately, the number of players was considerable.
Otherwise, the players would have been pushed back long ago.
Of course, the efforts of star players capable of one-against-a-thousand feats also played a role.
Kurosawa Ren, wielding his blade like a tempest and spreading shadows to drive back the Calamity Legion.
Jun-hyuk, commanding multiple elements and launching wide-area attacks against the Calamity Legion.
And Merlin, wielding spears of light and detonating brilliance in all directions to sweep through the Calamity Legion.
With the Demon King Yoo Sung-hyun summoning creatures from the Underworld to command another legion and dominate the battlefield.
There was never any danger of being overwhelmed.
Since the explosive chain reaction, Yoo Sung-hyun had refrained from using wide-area skills.
Yet his ranking remained incomparably distant.
[Contribution Ranking]
[1st Place 『Yoo Sung-hyun』 – 69,415 Points]
[2nd Place: Merlin – 22,884 points]
[3rd Place: Jun-hyuk – 17,827 points]
[4th Place: Kurosawa Ren – 17,614 points]
[5th Place: Trang – 13,161 points]
…(continued)
Even without deploying area-of-effect skills, the gap only widened.
There was a reason why the usually boisterous Merlin had been quietly spamming skills all along.
Her face bore no signs of tension or anxiety.
Yet it didn’t look particularly pleasant either.
Within that expressionless visage, one could discern a faint glimmer of anger.
For those who’d known Merlin, it was an extraordinarily unfamiliar sight.
She’d always been cheerful and boisterous.
Even Jun-hyuk and Kurosawa Ren, who’d faced her quite often, were watching cautiously—seeing her like this for the first time.
To be honest.
‘I don’t even have confidence I could defeat those summons the Demon King commands.’
‘…If those underlings formed a team without those officers….’
Jun-hyuk and Kurosawa Ren were already nervous facing Sung-hyun’s summons alone.
If those summons were also individually ranked?
Both of them would’ve fallen far below 3rd or 4th place—outside the top five entirely.
The mere thought was horrifying.
Wasn’t Merlin thinking the same thing?
‘She’d been the best until now.’
‘Her pride must be shattered.’
As the two of them made these assumptions.
Their speculation wasn’t entirely off the mark.
‘I can’t even keep pace with his footsteps.’
The more I fight, the more I feel it.
If I charged at Sung-hyun right now?
A hundred losses out of a hundred fights.
Even adding a thousand or ten thousand more, I’d lose every single one.
In all likelihood, I wouldn’t even be able to reach Sung-hyun.
These officers look formidable enough to break through.
That young man manipulating the surrounding battlefield to sweep the front—I might be able to hold my own against him.
But that horrifying mole-like summon, the slime-like woman who transforms her body freely in combat, and that demonic knight wielding blood-red power—
Against those three, I’d fall without mounting any meaningful counterattack.
I cannot face even one of them.
So if I fought Sung-hyun one-on-one, would I have a chance?
I do not.
‘He’s truly extraordinary.’
Growing up receiving praise within the Guilds certainly contributed to this.
Objectively speaking, Merlin’s talent was extraordinary.
Her Legendary-tier class was impressive, but her truly exceptional gift lay in her innate ability to wield weapons and read the flow of battle.
That was the source of her power.
Yet looking at the summoned creatures before me now—and even at Yoo Sung-hyun himself—I could glimpse such talents in abundance.
In fact, they all appeared to be several steps ahead of me.
I was seeing things I couldn’t even comprehend yet.
My words grew sparse, and my expression hardened inevitably.
But it wasn’t frustration or anger.
Quite the opposite.
There was only one reason her expression had grown so rigid.
‘I have to commit every detail to memory.’
With that thought, I tried to absorb everything unfolding before me.
Yoo Sung-hyun hadn’t said anything to stop me, after all.
I desperately tried to learn whatever I could.
Amid the battlefield swirling with countless thoughts, worries, and ideologies.
Yoo Sung-hyun observed the battlefield intently, assessing the situation.
Fiora transformed into a small dragon mid-combat, unleashing breath attacks and sweeping through enemies; Nocturnium summoned colossal arms to devastate the surroundings and detonated hands for wide-area destruction; Baltar spread crimson blood as he carved through everything in his path; and Barphor, befitting the First Legion Commander, tore through the Calamity Legion himself, turning the tide of war by dominating the undead.
Naturally, the viewers were in an uproar.
-Wait, this is completely different from the Anemor raid?
-Is this even the same person????
-This is insane;;;;
-I can’t believe they’re even the same level????
-Everyone who backed Merlin, come out;;;;
-This isn’t even a game;;;;
Of course, Yoo Sung-hyun wasn’t watching the chat.
Such opinions were irrelevant.
My mind held only one question: how could I win this war?
That was all that mattered.
Baltar, Barphor, Fiora, and Nocturnium—these four were fighting desperately, but that overwhelming absolute force was unstoppable.
For now, we weren’t being pushed back.
“Hmm.”
From above, the numerical disadvantage was unmistakable.
And watching the enemy numbers gradually increase.
If this continued, we’d soon begin losing ground.
I had to find a solution.
Should I step in and unleash a wide-area attack?
‘No.’
Wide-area attacks.
I still had plenty in reserve.
I’d been waiting, so all the cooldowns for Explosion had already reset, and the same applied to Ebony Descent and Black Sun.
However, even if I use this, I can’t completely overturn the tide of battle.
I can seize a momentary advantage.
But to squander most of my mana for that brief window?
That would be foolish.
What is the optimal choice, then?
Isn’t it already decided?
“All four of you—hold this position.”
-…Understood, my lord.
-Kahahaha! As expected of the Lord! This Baltar shall prepare a foothold for victory here!
-Hm, hmmm! I understand…. P-please be careful.
-First Legion Commander Barphor! We shall obey your command!
Nocturnium and Yoo Sung-hyun reluctantly obeyed despite their desire to protect the Lord, while Baltar laughed heartily and shouted with enthusiasm, Fiora expressed her concern even as she accepted the order, and Barphor’s dialect slipped through in his tension.
Yoo Sung-hyun entrusted this position to the legion commander and, utilizing the flight that still remained active, surged toward the rear of the Calamity Legion.
As Yoo Sung-hyun shot forward with blinding speed.
The viewers could only gape in astonishment.
-Huh???????
-What???????
-Streamer, where are you going?????????
-You’re leaving all your summons behind??????
-Does Necromancer really play separately from summons like this???????
-That can’t possibly be right?????
Of course, this broadcast belonged to Yoo Sung-hyun.
In other words, the camera had no choice but to follow wherever he moved.
[Rapid-Where are you going!?]
Even Rapid, who maintained strict separation between public and private matters, sent an urgent message in shock.
But Yoo Sung-hyun replied as though it were nothing.
[Yoo Sung-hyun-I need to take down the enemy commander. We have no chance of winning otherwise.]
[Rapid-What???]
[Yoo Sung-hyun-If we continue like this, most players will run out of mana and stamina, and we’ll be pushed back.]
It was sound logic.
Even Rapid had no rebuttal.
After that, Yoo Sung-hyun sent no further messages and simply flew onward.
How long had I been flying?
I descended toward the Calamity Legion’s rear lines.
Flying undead intercepted me along the way.
As banshees with semi-transparent fluid forms and gargoyles and other flying monsters rushed at me.
“Kyaaaaaaaa—!”
“Kieeeeeee!”
The moment I activated flight, I clenched my fist and conjured a cyan spear from thin air, hurling it without hesitation at a banshee while summoning dark magic bullets with my other hand, unleashing a barrage at the gargoyle.
Whoooooosh——!
Shhhhiiiing——!
The vengeful spirit of the dead cleaved through the air with precision, piercing straight through the Banshee’s forehead and shattering its skull, while the dark magic bullet embedded itself in the Gargoyle’s heart, crackling with destructive force as it reduced the creature’s body to dust.
The Banshee and Gargoyle scattered into nothingness in the empty air.
But surely this couldn’t be the end of them.
Countless creatures rushed toward Yoo Sung-hyun, determined not to let him reach their master.
Yoo Sung-hyun extended his index finger as he observed the swarm.
Then, from that single finger, a droplet of blood began to form—dark crimson and glistening.
Normally, bright scarlet blood would flow forth, creating hundreds of blood blades.
But something was different this time.
From blood so darkly crimson—almost tinged with violet—hundreds of blood blades materialized with an ominous sheen.
The blood blades received Yoo Sung-hyun’s command in unison.
Like loyal knights, they surged forth toward hundreds of Banshees and Gargoyles.
As hundreds of blood blades embroidered crimson lines across the sky, the Banshees and Gargoyles were drenched in dark red blood as the blades detonated.
Boom! Kaboom-boom-boom! Bang-bang!
But it wasn’t over—the Banshees and Gargoyles infected with blood poison plummeted simultaneously, and as they fell into the Death Legion below, another skill began to spread among them.
Blood Plague.
Every undead in this vicinity was engulfed by the blood plague, and the blood poison detonated in a chain reaction.
The ground was soon shrouded in a crimson mist.
All the viewers witnessed this spectacle.
For a moment, they forgot to type in the chat, simply staring blankly at the screen in awe.
After all, tens of thousands of monsters had been swept away in a single instant.
In such a situation, Yoo Sung-hyun could have been triumphant, but instead he remained composed and leisurely made his way forward until he reached a particular location.
A figure clad in tattered armor riddled with holes, wearing a dented helmet, and wielding a chipped sword.
Yet more dignified than any knight that had ever lived—the Skeleton Knight.
Yoo Sung-hyun had finally come face to face with the master of the Death Legion.
And.
-Huuuuh, to meet my successor in such a manner, yet you are but a foolish mortal who cannot distinguish heaven from earth!!!
Even the ghost of the Skeleton Knight was roaring in fury.
I felt a sense that this could yield far greater benefits than I’d anticipated.
A message appeared before Yoo Sung-hyun’s eyes.

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