The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 190

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

Episode 190
190
Lazard stared at Baltar with an expression of utter incomprehension.
In a flash, he’d torn through Damien’s throat and swept past.
So swift that even Damien hadn’t perceived it, and Lazard himself had barely caught a glimpse of the movement.
That’s why it made no sense.
Serpina was a renowned existence that even I knew of.
Though she was far diminished from her former glory.
An ancient witch, was she not?
So at least that would be comprehensible.
But that this hideous demon had defeated Damien without even allowing him to perceive the blow—that was incomprehensible.
Even if the power I’d granted to Niera and Damien was meager.
They were not servants so fragile as to fall so pathetically.
‘What on earth…’
Lazard, unable to comprehend even this.
Yet seeing him thus, Yoo Sung-hyun asked.
“That’s my victory again, yes?”
“…Yes.”
Though the words barely left his lips.
Lazard had no choice but to concede.
This couldn’t continue as it was.
His servants proved stronger than anticipated.
Perhaps I should grant them more power?
Such wavering crossed his mind, but Lazard soon shook his head.
Do not waver.
‘Once my most powerful servant emerges, victory is mine.’
It mattered not whether those two he’d summoned were truly his strongest.
For the servant who received all of my power would undoubtedly be the mightiest.
Surprising though it was.
Lazard was certain, for his discernment was as keen as his power was formidable.
‘That demon is stronger than expected, but it’s manageable.’
Slightly stronger than Serpina? No—nearly her equal in might.
Still within my calculations.
Thus Lazard summoned his third servant.
This time too, it took masculine form.
A vampire whose mouth was sealed shut, unable to speak at all.
Or rather, not quite a vampire—headless with a tail, it resembled a ghoul more closely, yet save for its mouth and tail, it bore the appearance of an ordinary vampire.
Its tail bristled with sharp spines like a syringe, and it too bowed its head, displaying its loyalty to Lazard.
“Bartolo. Go forth and bring me victory.”
“….”
He said nothing.
Instead, he answered with eyes brimming with unwavering loyalty.
As if crying out that he would surely emerge victorious, the creature ascended into the Arena.
Yoo Sung-hyun summoned from the Underworld as well.
This time, a knight bearing only bones clad in armor.
Leonik Evoke appeared.
Bartolo, who had climbed into the Arena, furrowed his brow.
Merely a skeleton, of all things.
Such was his expression.
Meanwhile, there was another who furrowed his brow equally.
His expression crumpled in an instant.
A certain demon knight now seized by astonishment.
-L-Lord! Surely you didn’t send me out first because I’m weaker than Leonik!?
He cried out as though the match itself mattered less than this revelation.
Meanwhile, the freshly summoned Leonik rejoiced, bowing his head as he proclaimed:
-The Knight of Ruin who shall deliver victory to my glorious master, Second Legion Commander! And mightier than demon knight Baltar! Leonik Evoke! I humbly present myself!!!
-You insolent wretch!!! Still a mere apprentice receiving training from our master!!!
-Hehe, the old master said it’s your turn now!
-Huh!?
Watching the two banter like a comedy sketch, Yoo Sung-hyun shook his head.
In any case, there was no time for this now.
Yoo Sung-hyun spoke briefly as he observed the two.
“Leonik.”
-Yes! I shall return victorious!!!
At Leonik’s resounding affirmation.
Baltar’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground.
Yet he said nothing to Yoo Sung-hyun.
After all, he was the Lord.
Still, Yoo Sung-hyun shook his head watching the two.
He had sent them together precisely because their power was comparable.
He hadn’t expected this reaction.
Serpina, Baltar, and Leonik—the three were evenly matched.
He had simply sent them together.
However.
“Hmm.”
Serpina too appeared somewhat wounded in her pride.
Did hierarchy perhaps matter among his Minions?
Such a thought was worth entertaining.
As I pondered when to settle their ranks once and for all.
Leonik’s ascent into the Arena swept away my contemplation.
While Yoo Sung-hyun was lost in thought.
Lazard gazed at the Skull Knight Leonik ascending the Arena, his expression tinged with bewilderment.
Strangely, none of them seemed to radiate formidable power.
Baltar had been the same just moments ago, and so had Serpina.
Yet the moment they unleashed their strength, they transformed into something far more formidable—a contradiction that left him studying them with suspicious eyes.
The instant Bartolo signaled the start with his orb, he lunged forward, his pointed tail leading the charge.
But Leonik severed that tail with sweeping cuts, his tyrannical swordplay carving through Bartolo’s neck and limbs before sliding backward like a phantom through the creature’s wake.
Screech—!
Thud-thud-thud.
The sound of the blade rang out only once.
Yet Bartolo’s limbs and tail lay severed all the same.
Witnessing this, Lazard sensed something amiss once more.
On the surface, Leonik appeared weak to him as well.
Yet in that moment of exertion just now….
‘He unleashed tremendous power.’
Was he restraining that aura in his normal state?
Unable to comprehend this contradiction, Lazard held his silence once again.
Yoo Sung-hyun seemed about to ask another question, but refrained.
He already understood that victory had been claimed.
As Leonik emerged victorious as well.
Lazard’s mind grew considerably turbulent.
If he considered only the fragments of power he’d just sensed, his finest servant would win decisively and with ease.
Yet what was this unease?
Thump—!
Thump——!
Thump———!!!
‘…Infuriating.’
That pounding rhythm rising with displeasure.
Lazard found it repugnant, grinding his teeth.
Grrr.
Frustrating as it was, the current Overlord possessed considerable servants.
Had Helena wagered with this knowledge in mind?
Or was he merely dancing in the palm of her hand all along?
Unknowable.
Yet now he had no choice but to move like a puppet.
For now, he must keep the dagger hidden in his bosom concealed.
Until they grew careless in their joy of victory.
With such thoughts, Lazard summoned his fourth servant.
This time, too, prepared to sacrifice it.
Blood took on the shape of a human form.
This time, a noble and elegant woman materialized, greeting Lazard with graceful courtesy.
“Artemya bows before the Eternal Blood Lord, Lazard.”
“…Artemya.”
Lazard regarded her respectful greeting.
And spoke.
“Endure as long as possible and draw out the enemy’s true strength.”
It was a bewildering command.
Not an order to achieve victory, but this.
Yet Artemya accepted Lazard’s decree without hesitation.
“…Understood, my lord.”
Perhaps she lacked the power to secure victory alone.
Her master had never once made a flawed judgment.
So Artemya accepted this reasoning and quietly ascended into the Arena.
From the opposite side, a teal-hued portal opened to summon a servant as well.
From it emerged something in the form of a very small girl.
Judging by appearance alone, perhaps ten years old?
Though in truth, far smaller than that.
A girl like a tiny slime, barely reaching a meter in height.
“…???”
Artemya turned her head to look at Lazard.
Truly just endure against this opponent?
Against something like that?
Her expression said exactly that.
Lazard too was momentarily bewildered, staring blankly at the sight.
And then.
-H-hello? Oh, nice to meet you.
A voice timid beyond measure.
Seeing this, Artemya turned her head back toward Lazard.
As if questioning whether that order was truly correct.
Artemya had never once disobeyed or doubted Lazard’s commands until now.
But this time, she could not help it.
Truly just endure against that opponent?
Lazard nodded nonetheless.
One could never be too careful.
At the same time, he thought.
‘Is this some scheme to deceive me?’
Deliberately sending out a weak servant for this purpose?
Yet the atmosphere among the other servants on that side differed from before.
Until moments ago, when the Skull Knight was summoned, the demon knight and Serpina had their mouths agape, claiming he was stronger than them, their expressions full of incomprehension.
But now, as this timid-seeming girl stepped onto the Arena.
He nodded, his expression saying it was only natural.
That girl is stronger than those three?
It was hard to believe.
I had to trust my own eyes.
Thinking as much, I simply nodded without changing my command to Artemya.
The moment both stepped into the Arena, the orb materialized.
And seeing it, that slime-like girl spoke.
-Well then, I look forward to this.
Despite her still timid appearance, Artemya felt bewildered yet resolved to take the most defensive stance possible.
As the orb signaled the start.
The slime-like girl’s both arms transformed into blades.
Her two legs became those of a cheetah.
Her upper body transformed into a physique that, whatever it belonged to, appeared remarkably superior.
Fiora’s form vanished, leaving deep footprints across the Arena floor.
So blindingly fast that Artemya couldn’t even react, but since her entire body was shielded by defensive energy, she felt momentarily safe.
A wet sound.
Artemya’s head drifted through the air, severed from her neck, yet it happened so instantaneously that not even blood spattered—and she could comprehend it.
That girl is a monster.
A monster even I couldn’t overcome with all my strength.
Realizing this, Artemya breathed her last.
The moment Lazard witnessed it all, his convictions crumbled.
A girl whose movements even I couldn’t follow.
Seeing Fiora like this, I wondered if my Minions could truly achieve victory.
But I’ve come this far—I cannot stop now.
My final Minion.
Lazard squeezed every ounce of his power, even wagering his life, to summon a new Minion.
A summoning unlike any before.
Even Yoo Sung-hyun’s eyes gleamed with interest upon witnessing it.
Wondering if the strongest Minion would indeed be summoned last.
Watching Yoo Sung-hyun’s expression, Lazard thought.
‘There’s no turning back now.’
Even Helena herself could not have anticipated this.
With this Minion, I will tear that successor to shreds in the end.
A Minion born from every ounce of my power.
“Sebastian!!! Answer my call and reveal yourself!!!”
At Lazard’s anguished cry, countless streams of blood converged before him, taking the form of a single figure.
A beautiful man with long, jet-black hair emerged.
He bowed his head toward Lazard and spoke.
“Ah, our sovereign lord. Answering that call, your loyal blade has arrived.”
At his unwavering loyalty—even radiating reassurance—Lazard finally smiled.
Now his victory was assured.
With that conviction, he cried out to Sebastian.
“Cut down that treacherous Overlord and his servants.”
“Yes, I shall do so.”
The vampire called Sebastian ascended into the Arena, radiating excessive confidence.
Yoo Sung-hyun smiled as he opened a teal-hued portal.
And in that moment.
Lazard sensed something amiss.
Certainly, Sebastian had risen into the Arena with a ferocious aura.
A servant more powerful than those Yoo Sung-hyun had summoned before.
Yet Yoo Sung-hyun’s servants gazed upon Sebastian with derision, laughing as though he were contemptible.
What was the source of such confidence?
Just as he was about to voice his bewilderment.
A sound echoed clearly from the teal portal.
Click, click.
Those footsteps—the very ones that had once ravaged this castle.
A nightmare?
No.
This was reality.
As Lazard’s eyes trembled violently.
From the teal portal emerged a woman with lustrous crimson hair, her appearance more noble and elegant than any being in existence.
As she walked toward the Arena.
Even Sebastian’s body quivered with dread.
“Hello? Lazard?”
“Y-yes, how, how are you—!? How do you appear here!!! Helena!!!”
Sebastian cried out in disbelief, his voice trembling.
Having already perished at Helena’s hands before, Sebastian trembled all the more, turning his head toward Lazard in desperation, seeking answers.
“…Was all of this your plan?”
Lazard could already be seen floundering in the abyss of despair.

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