The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 188

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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 188
188
0.
Within a Castle shrouded in oppressive darkness.
Lightning crashing beyond the windows illuminates the shadowed interior.
Crack——!
The azure brilliance of the bolt seeps inward, casting its glow upon a woman with luxuriously rich crimson hair and a man with ashen silver locks collapsed before her, bleeding profusely.
The man’s visage, illuminated by that blue radiance, was utterly devastating.
Not a single inch of him remained unscathed.
Countless lacerations covered his entire body, and his garments bore tears and charred sections reduced to ash.
A fist-sized cavity had even been driven through his chest, as though a stake had been driven there.
Yet the mere fact that he had not perished instantly and now gasped for breath, managing to raise only his upper body before the woman, revealed just how superhuman a being he truly was.
In stark contrast, the red-haired woman standing serenely before this mangled figure appeared as though she had merely stepped out for a spring stroll, her appearance immaculate.
Helena, standing there with an air of composure, smiled faintly as she watched him attempt to rise, and spoke.
“It would be better if you simply collapsed quietly.”
“…Heh, after disposing of all my Minions, that’s quite a vulgar thing to say.”
The man, despite her refined bearing, sneered at her vulgarity, wiping the blood trickling from his lips.
Helena tilted her head slightly as she observed him.
“You suit the role of a lord quite well.”
“…There exists no one more suited to lordship than I.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Helena tilted her head with an amused smile.
She would simply observe him in silence.
Helena opened her mouth.
“Yet you command your Minions to torment the weak and defenseless around you?”
“…That is precisely the virtue of a true lord. The weak must sacrifice themselves for the lord, and all things should naturally rest within the lord’s grasp. To not even understand this, despite claiming lordship.”
Helena did not so much as blink at his disagreeable words.
Well, that was precisely why she had come personally to kill him.
Yet Helena merely laughed at his words with genuine amusement.
“Ahahaha. How amusing.”
“…What is so funny.”
“That despite being so utterly weak, you still maintain the dignity of a lord.”
“….”
“Hmm, so what should I do with you.”
Helena pondered his fate as she spoke.
Had he sensed her deliberation?
“Do you dare decide whether to let me live or die? My body will recover. I shall tear your limbs asunder and quench my thirst with your blood. This shall surely come to pass.”
“Hmm, impossible.”
She declared his hateful words with a single, definitive statement.
One cannot know until one tries.
Had that man come to the same realization?
“…How frustrating. But if you let me live, I could handle any successor that emerges for you in the future with my own hands.”
“Hmm? A successor?”
Helena asked with evident amusement at his sudden proposition.
The man, seeing Helena’s interest piqued, cried out with eyes blazing crimson, streaked with bloodshot veins.
“Yes, if they were your successor, I could tear them to shreds in your stead.”
With those words drenched in hatred and murderous intent, cracks spiderwebbed across the Castle.
It was enough to gauge the man’s true power.
Yet Helena, indifferent to his display, lost herself in thought before speaking to him.
“Hmm, I don’t think so. Care to wager on it?”
She spoke with a smirk playing at her lips.
For a moment, the man wondered if he’d misheard her.
He’d just threatened to tear her successor to shreds, and she was proposing a wager?
It made no sense.
Did proposing a wager mean she’d spare him?
The man questioned her, watching as she spouted these incomprehensible words.
“…What are you scheming?”
“Scheming? How rude. I’m being sincere. I don’t yet know who my successor will be, but I’m fairly certain it won’t be any of my disciples. Even if one does emerge, it’ll be quite some time from now. But regardless, if they were my successor, I’m confident they’d be more than a match for you.”
“….”
The absurdity was so complete that even rage eluded him.
It was simply too preposterous.
Yet this was, in fact, an opportunity.
The only chance to survive this demonic woman.
His eyes burned with such intense yearning it was plainly visible.
Reading that fervent gaze, Helena extended her hand.
Then.
A soft sound.
From Helena’s fingertip—specifically her index finger—a single tiny droplet of blood emerged.
It floated in the air, suspended by her will alone.
The man’s eyes trembled violently at the sight of that droplet.
Surely not?
With precisely that expression, he looked at Helena.
Helena smiled broadly and spoke.
“Then I’ll give you the blood you so desperately crave. If you defeat my successor, it’s yours to claim. But if my successor wins, that blood goes to them instead. Understood?”
With those words, she sent the droplet toward the gaping wound in his chest.
Then, like a blooming flower, Helena’s blood multiplied and filled his chest cavity.
The man’s eyes widened as he felt that overwhelming power surge through him.
With this strength alone, he could ascend to an even higher existence.
Feeling that possibility, desire bloomed within him.
Helena, observing him, spoke.
“Then I’ll have our successor awaken once they satisfy the conditions in the Labyrinth. Sleep until then. And don’t forget to pass my blood well to our successor.”
With those words, Helena exerted her power.
The man with ash-gray hair was buried beneath the Castle’s foundation along with an enormous stone coffin, and the Castle itself sank into the Labyrinth Gap.
Watching this unfold, Yoo Sung-hyun thought that the Helena of the past was truly remarkable.
‘Incredible.’
Drifting in the ethereal state unique to event scenes, Yoo Sung-hyun observed the spectacle.
That man was certainly not weak.
Even from an event scene perspective, I could distinctly feel his strength.
Helena was simply that formidable.
Yoo Sung-hyun stroked his chin at this realization.
Now I had to face such an opponent directly.
It would undoubtedly be grueling.
Yet Yoo Sung-hyun’s expression remained untroubled.
Rather, it was one of anticipation.
‘Just how strong is he?’
Lazard, the Blood Lord—someone Helena herself had to personally handle.
With that anticipation, Yoo Sung-hyun exited the event scene.
1.
As I emerged from the event scene with a sensation of weightlessness, the surroundings had transformed.
The landscape had changed entirely.
Just moments before, I had been inside the Labyrinth.
The place where the Belmore Branch Manager had handed me the Overlord’s Compass.
But now I stood in a completely different location.
A Wasteland stretching endlessly before me.
It resembled the Dune Wild Trail, yet I could discern it was fundamentally different.
Gazing at the vast Wasteland before my eyes, I realized this was the Labyrinth Gap I had departed from mere moments ago.
And not far from my field of vision stood a solitary, silent Castle.
It appeared to be an ordinary Castle.
Yet it was already familiar to me.
‘There it is.’
The Castle of Lazard, the Blood Lord.
That was precisely it.
Having steeled myself somewhat, I attempted to summon my Minions.
However.
[This is the location of the Third Class Advancement Trial.]
[You cannot summon Minions yet.]
[Once the Third Class Advancement Trial begins, you will be able to summon Minions in sequence.]
‘Summon Minions in sequence?’
An incomprehensible message.
I could understand that I couldn’t summon them yet.
You can summon them in sequence?
The phrasing seemed connected to the trials that would follow.
I didn’t dwell on it further.
The message had made its intent clear.
There wouldn’t be any sudden ambushes or tricks.
The man I’d seen in the event scene also appeared to value dignity.
Of course, that didn’t mean I let my guard down completely.
I proceeded through the Castle with appropriate caution.
I entered without any obstruction.
‘There really was nothing at all.’
As I naturally strolled through the Castle, taking in my surroundings, I found myself standing before the final structure—the Great Hall.
The battle would take place here.
That’s what I thought as I opened the door and stepped inside.
I came face to face with the Castle’s master, who sat upon a throne with an air of supreme arrogance, his crimson eyes gazing down upon all below him.
The same man from the event scene.
Upon meeting his gaze—
Let’s face him.
[You have encountered the Blood Lord.]
[The Blood Lord, a lord of ages past now forgotten even by vampires, has awakened.]
[According to the covenant of the previous Overlord Helena, you must engage in battle.]
[He is severely weakened.]
[The Blood Lord Lazard’s power is now calibrated to match the level of the user ‘Yoo Sung-hyun’.]
Numerous messages appeared.
The phrase about being calibrated to my level.
It would be similar to when I fought in the past.
Just how strong would the Blood Lord be, adjusted to my level?
With that thought, I prepared myself and was ready to engage immediately.
Lazard’s expression twisted sharply as he looked at me.
“You’re as vulgar as the previous Overlord.”
“…?”
“A true lord commands from the rear of the Battlefield with dignity, directing their forces. To fight directly is beneath all honor. Both you and the previous Overlord are utterly vulgar.”
“…Hmm.”
A sudden tirade.
But I had nothing particular to say in response.
I didn’t know about being vulgar.
But his words about a lord commanding from the rear weren’t entirely wrong, so I remained silent.
Though it wasn’t entirely right either.
I had no desire to argue the point.
As I stayed quiet—
“Vulgar as you are, you possess some wit. A lord’s strength is determined by the Minions who serve under them.”
Lazard snapped his fingers as he spoke.
Snap!
A sound of movement echoed through the vast Grand Hall.
A massive stone platform rose from the floor.
A flat stone slab, much like the Arena.
It was larger than I’d expected, and mechanisms were arranged atop it to allow each of us to fight.
And across from Lazard, a chair resembling a throne also rose.
Lazard nodded as if gesturing for me to sit.
Among all the enemies I’d encountered so far, he certainly possessed the most refined dignity.
I found myself seated in the throne that had materialized across from Lazard.
Then Lazard opened his mouth.
“I’m uncertain whether you’ve sensed it, but I am not particularly strong. However, I possess the ability to grant immense power to those who follow me by fulfilling the Minion’s contract.”
Listening to his explanation, it was certainly an ability befitting a vampire.
From his words, I could glean a hint about the Third Advancement Trial.
So that’s why he prevented me from summoning all my Minions at once.
I reached that conclusion internally.
Lazard laughed mockingly as he observed me.
“No matter how vulgar you are, you must have at least one or two Minions who follow you.”
“I do have some.”
“According to the covenant of the previous Overlord, our duel shall be decided through a proxy war between Minions.”
A battle between Minions.
This was developing quite entertainingly.
I nodded in approval at the prospect.
Lazard asked with a contemptuous expression.
“How many Minions do you have? I’ll match your numbers.”
Having sensed that I was merely level 150, Lazard spoke with confidence.
Even for an Overlord, such meager power would mean few summons worthy of being called Minions.
That’s why he offered so readily to match my numbers.
And after I counted my Minions internally,
I told Lazard:
“Around twelve.”
At that answer, Lazard
“…That’s quite a lot.”
His eyes trembled violently.

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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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