The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 163

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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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Episode 163
163
A teal aura surged forth from Serpina’s body first.
It pierced through the walls of the Labyrinth.
Then.
Whissssh.
The surrounding landscape transformed.
This was the Labyrinth, yet not the Labyrinth.
Though clearly underground, I could sense the atmosphere around me and gaze up at the sky.
Yoo Sung-hyun understood simultaneously.
The scenery I was witnessing now was perhaps closer to an illusion.
Just like when I summoned Baltar and Dracanoss.
An event scene unfolded.
Whoooooosh!!!
Darkness descended upon the surroundings.
The teal aura that had been piercing the ceiling mere moments ago vanished like a mirage.
What filled this space was a dark night sky.
Not a single star shone, nor even moonlight appeared—only pitch-black darkness filled the sky.
A crack formed in that melancholy and desolate night sky.
Crackle. Crackle-crack.
The fissure grew wider and wider.
The crack soon dispersed like dark clouds scattering in the wind.
And through the dark clouds drifting and vanishing into the melancholy, desolate night sky.
Shimmmmmer!!!
Radiant and beautiful, yet solitary moonlight alone filled the world.
A cold north wind blew in.
Making the solitary moonlight even more lonesome.
Beneath that moonlight, a solitary woman walked forward slowly.
Tap, tap, tap.
With each step of the woman’s footfall.
The moonlight scattered and dispersed in the fierce wind, shining brilliantly around her.
The woman emerged from within it.
And knelt before Yoo Sung-hyun, bowing her head as she parted her lips gently.
“The dark night has ended, and Serpina Nightbloom, reborn in the brilliant moonlight pierced by the biting wind, greets you.”
Along with her gentle voice came an air of profound composure.
At her oath of loyalty, a system message appeared before my eyes.
[『Homunculus, Individual Name—Serpina Nightbloom』 evolves into 『Witch of Wind and Moon, Serpina Nightbloom』.]
From the Witch of Night to the Witch of Wind and Moon.
So that’s why the presentation unfolded that way.
I marveled briefly to myself and gauged Serpina’s newfound power.
I’d need to see it clearly to be sure.
But given that it evolved through transcendent death,
‘It’s slightly below Anemor, but above Kalisha?’
It was stronger than Anemor, who held the position of Death Legion Commander, and stronger than Kalisha, who didn’t.
I had to admit it was truly formidable.
Wait.
Then what about Helena?
With that thought, I turned my gaze toward Helena’s body beside Serpina.
She was wrapped in a light resembling a pure white cocoon.
Had she not yet evolved?
Was she absorbing power?
Since the system message offered no further explanation, should I simply wait in silence?
As I pondered this,
Crack, crack.
The pure white cocoon of light shattered, and a teal-colored aura burst forth, just as it had with Serpina.
But then—
“Ugh.”
The scale was entirely different from when Serpina had emerged.
A brilliant light so intense it was difficult to even open my eyes.
I struggled to face that radiance head-on.
From within the shattered pure white cocoon of light, a teal-colored aura surged forth, intermingling with a sinister darkness and a pure white celestial light identical to the cocoon itself—all blending together.
What on earth was that?
That collision of five-colored, brilliantly shining light—
It resembled the birth of a god from mythology itself.
“Ah.”
I let out a soft exclamation.
The light consumed the surroundings and remade this world anew.
Whoooooosh———!!!
Though just moments ago I had returned to the Labyrinth,
Everything transformed in an instant.
It wasn’t the same as when Serpina emerged—the outside becoming like the inside.
It felt as though the world itself had changed.
Rumble, rumble, rumble———!!!
As if the entire world trembled,
I felt the space itself quaking.
Yet this world revealed itself defiantly, standing firm and unyielding.
From the heavens descended a pure white light, chaste and noble.
But as if betraying that very sky,
From the depths below, an abyss reached out with greedy hunger for that light.
It stretched forth its hands ceaselessly, writhing to devour even a fragment of that radiance.
CRASH———!!!
WHOOOOSH———!!!
SWAAAAAAH———!!!
Between the celestial light and the abyssal darkness, locked in eternal tension.
Witnessing this realm was like—
—gazing upon a world freshly born, still wet with creation’s dew.
The grotesque abyss and the noble heavens.
And between them, a phantasmal bud of rose-pink petals unfurling.
It neither surrendered to the celestial light’s radiance nor crumbled beneath the abyss’s grotesque grasp.
Instead, the bud consumed both the brilliant luminescence and the abyss’s hideous reach, swelling ever larger, its form expanding with each passing moment.
Shhhhhhh———.
And as that radiant light bloomed alongside the deepest darkness imaginable, the bud finally opened.
A mysterious woman emerged from within.
She appeared as both a primordial deity and a primordial demon.
ZIIIIIII———!!!
KUUUUUU———!!!
The world trembled as if vibrating in resonance.
As if blessing her birth.
Or perhaps cursing it.
Within that chaos of unknowable intent—
She stood with lustrous crimson hair like moonlight made of blood, a form as ethereal as the heavens themselves, and eyes as dark and fathomless as the abyss.
This woman approached Yoo Sung-hyun slowly.
“….”
I gazed at her in silence.
She smiled knowingly, her enchanting expression blooming as she parted her lips.
“Hello? Good to see you.”
Just as when we first met.
She offered her greeting.
And I, too, responded as I had then.
Without thinking.
“Hello, Helena.”
[『Homunculus, Individual Designation—Helena』 evolves into 『Lord of the Celestial and Abyssal Realms, Helena』.]
Lord of the celestial and abyssal realms.
She had transcended the Overlord class.
Yet she remained a lord nonetheless.
An absolute existence that encompassed the world.
One who held the masses beneath her feet.
Witnessing Helena’s transformation, I could only nod in admiration.
‘Helena is truly Helena, after all.’
Such was my amazement.
A system message appeared.
[The Overlord’s Authority dwells within the Witch of Wind and Moon, Serpina Nightbloom.]
[The Witch of Wind and Moon, Serpina Nightbloom receives the blessing of immortality.]
[The Witch of Wind and Moon, Serpina Nightbloom transcends her existing power and gains new strength.]
[The undead who transcend death respond to their master’s growth and grow infinitely themselves.]
[The Overlord’s Authority dwells within the Lord of Heaven and Abyss, Helena.]
[The Lord of Heaven and Abyss, Helena receives the blessing of immortality.]
[The Lord of Heaven and Abyss, Helena transcends her existing power and gains new strength.]
[The undead who transcend death respond to their master’s growth and grow infinitely themselves.]
After passing through all the transcendence processes.
Now I could gradually feel Helena’s strength.
From the strength I sensed.
‘Is she similar to Dracanoss?’
Dracanoss, who had displayed an overwhelming presence compared to my other subordinates.
She was similar to such a Dracanoss.
Created through transcended death and homunculus alchemy, yet similar to an ancient demon knight.
It was astonishing.
Unlike Dracanoss, who couldn’t remain active for long due to his deterioration.
Helena could act whenever she wished.
I had obtained the strongest card.
And yet.
‘Should I say it’s regrettable?’
Even so, she was Helena.
Similar to Dracanoss.
Having experienced Helena’s former majesty, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
“Hmm.”
“Huh? Why? Do I seem weaker than before?”
Helena opened her eyes halfway and looked at me.
She appeared somewhat angry, somewhat sulky.
I didn’t particularly deny it.
It wasn’t entirely wrong, after all.
I simply nodded in agreement.
“Well, that’s how it is.”
“Hmm~ Serpina, you think so too?”
“…H-How could that possibly be?”
Helena asked Serpina.
Serpina answered while trembling with fear.
The hierarchy was clear.
The difference in power was considerable, after all.
It couldn’t be helped.
Then it happened.
“No, Serpina. Yoo Sung-hyun’s right, you know. I did gain the dignity of a lord, but still… it’s true I feel a bit regretful.”
I thought she was joking.
But she admitted it readily enough.
Certainly, the Helena of the past was incomparable to what I was now.
“I should think of it as being reborn. What else can I do? At least I have a body now, so my soul won’t scatter.”
“That’s truly a relief.”
“Hmph, flattery won’t get you anywhere.”
Helena spoke with what seemed like a pleased tone at Yoo Sung-hyun’s words.
As the two of us conversed like this.
The retainers who had been quite far away sensed that Yoo Sung-hyun’s resonance had ended and approached.
They were somewhat startled upon seeing Serpina, who radiated formidable power.
A new retainer had been created!
In that moment, they thought—truly, this is our master.
But then their gaze shifted to the woman standing beside Yoo Sung-hyun.
-W-what?! H-Helena, my lady?!
-Kyaaaah!!! Helena, my lady!!!
“H-Helena… my lady?”
The eyes of the three retainers trembled violently.
They had known that Yoo Sung-hyun was performing a resonance.
But they had never imagined that Helena’s physical body would already be created.
They could only be astonished.
Yet all of them found themselves unable to move toward Helena.
Their true master was unmistakably Yoo Sung-hyun.
Approaching Helena with joy in front of their master could, in a sense, be seen as idol worship.
So they had to be cautious.
But was Yoo Sung-hyun the type to fault them for such a thing?
Yoo Sung-hyun stepped aside slightly toward his retainers, as if inviting them to enjoy their reunion.
Helena too smiled at the sight of them and chided them gently.
“Ahahaha! Are you still acting like children?”
-Kyaaaaaaah! Helena, my lady!!!
-To think we would meet Helena, my lady, like this again…
“…It has been far too long…”
Even in my spectral state, I had conversed with them through Leonik.
I knew they existed.
But it had been ages since I had spoken with them like this, with a physical form.
Various conversations were about to unfold.
Helena shook her head and spoke to them.
“We can chat all we want when we rest at the fortress in the Underworld anyway. Why do it now while Yoo Sung-hyun is here?”
-W-well, that is…
—Ah, aaah.
“Krhm.”
“Remember this: your master is not me anymore—it’s Yoo Sung-hyun. If any of you become a burden to him even slightly….”
Helena didn’t finish her sentence.
But the moment everyone saw that terrifying gleam in Helena’s eyes, which they hadn’t witnessed in ages,
reason returned to them.
Rather than the emotional joy of meeting after so long,
the thought of receiving that severe punishment they’d felt back then—the kind inflicted when they became a burden to Yoo Sung-hyun—
made them all swallow hard and tremble.
They really didn’t want to experience such punishment again.
They were older now than they had been then.
They wanted to avoid it at any cost.
Seeing everyone suddenly tighten their discipline,
Yoo Sung-hyun shook his head, remarking that Helena was truly Helena after all.
She was no joke.
“Haha! Alright, alright, now that you understand, let’s do our best. So, Yoo Sung-hyun.”
“Hmm?”
“Shouldn’t we test how strong I and Serpina have become?”
It was so typical of Helena to know exactly what he wanted to do.
I nodded readily.
Helena spoke as she looked at me.
“Ordinary monsters are too tedious. Why don’t we go hunt a raid boss instead, as you call it?”
Watching Helena speak with an alluring smile, I nodded.
So where should we go?
To check how strong the Witch and the lord have become?
Well, two birds with one stone.
‘She asked me to contact her beforehand, didn’t she?’
I should do a live broadcast for the first time in a while.
1.
The Belmore Branch Manager, watching Yoo Sung-hyun from a distance, couldn’t help but have his eyes tremble violently upon seeing him create homunculi.
The sole successor of Overpalace,
Yoo Sung-hyun, who would become a great existence.
The homunculi he created were astounding.
The Witch he’d created at first was remarkable as well,
but the appearance of Helena, created afterward, was nothing short of overwhelming awe.
A dress as black as the deepest night and skin as pure as heaven itself, and the extraordinary power of a lord emanating from her.
Such a being had become the retainer of the successor.
And he could recognize the transcendent in that form.
“Ahhhhh!!! Aaaaahhhhh!!! The great Overlord of the previous era has descended in person and become the retainer of the successor!!!”
Of course, it was somewhat of an unusual interpretation.
The Belmore Branch Manager made his judgment and hastily withdrew from that place.
This could only mean that Yoo Sung-hyun was the true successor.
He longed to announce this joyous truth to the entire world.
Yet a far more pressing duty awaited him.
“Let us wait until the successor—no, our master—is ready to receive our tribute.”
He mused that such a day would arrive soon enough.
The Belmore Branch Manager pursued Yoo Sung-hyun.

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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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