The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 198

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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 198
198
Words that made absolutely no sense.
Embris’s expression went blank upon hearing them.
Even his companions, who had been ready to charm the Kan Merchant Guild merchant at any moment, froze in place.
Was this right?
Embris tilted his head in utter bewilderment.
How long had they been out, and they’d already captured the mage?
“How much time has passed?”
“…About fifteen minutes since we left?”
“…And you’ve already captured them?”
Even accounting for those who left late.
It wouldn’t take more than a minute.
So they found and captured the mage within sixteen minutes?
In this sprawling city?
It made no sense whatsoever.
Even with investigation skills or detection abilities, it should be impossible.
“Are you messing with us?”
“…That… can’t be.”
I didn’t think it was a lie.
But the speed was absurd.
[…Already?]
[Yes, we happened to catch them quickly.]
Junu’s voice came through, followed by Yoo Sung-hyun’s.
From the way he spoke, it seemed they’d captured the mage in an almost ridiculous manner.
How could someone’s luck be that good?
That thought dominated my mind.
[…We’ll head back too.]
Embris replied and looked at his companions.
“…Let’s go back.”
His voice had lost its vigor.
His companions understood well enough, and they all trudged back the way they’d come with deflated expressions.
How on earth had they managed it?
Curiosity burned within me.
But the thought that we’d lost again made me return without enthusiasm.
I could see Junu and Yoo Sung-hyun’s party already waiting at the location.
And in the center of it all.
“P-please spare me.”
There was an NPC dressed as a mage, already terrified and trembling, bound and restrained.
Was this mage really the one who’d received a commission from the Kan Merchant Guild and released monsters into the Labyrinth?
Or perhaps it might not be?
While Embris harbored such expectations.
Zerod, who had hurried back after receiving word, exclaimed in astonishment.
“Th-this is indeed the real thing. Ho…, however did you accomplish this so swiftly?”
Even Zerod, who always maintained an air of refinement, turned to Yoo Sung-hyun in shock.
For Zerod to speak in such a manner.
It must be genuine.
Watching Zerod’s startled inquiry, Yoo Sung-hyun awkwardly scratched his cheek and replied.
“Well, it just happened to turn out this way.”
“Ah… thank you. You are truly remarkable.”
Even Zerod was impressed by such skill.
Junu’s party nodded at the sight, while Yoo Sung-hyun still wore a bewildered expression.
Embris’s party, witnessing this, felt genuinely incredulous.
They were not the sort to fall short anywhere.
Yet this was not even a victory.
They couldn’t even approach the competition?
Such thoughts consumed them.
‘…what on earth is this?’
Had Embris remained composed here.
She might have quickly discerned Yoo Sung-hyun’s true nature, much as Junu’s party had.
But successive defeats had wounded her pride.
Her vision had narrowed.
Her companions suffered the same affliction.
Separate from acknowledging Yoo Sung-hyun’s exceptional prowess.
The overwhelming disparity was simply too great.
Their competitive spirit could only ignite.
‘That’s right—combat will be different.’
Perhaps he excelled in investigation or pursuit.
In actual battle, wouldn’t they surpass him?
With such thoughts, they steeled their resolve.
Zerod reappeared, the mage’s interrogation concluded.
The final Quest was naturally singular.
“From interrogating the mage, we have learned how to launch a counteroffensive against the Kan Merchant Guild. Our guild will handle that aspect…, though we cannot undo the monsters already summoned. Therefore, our final request is….”
Zerod continued thus.
The final Quest was, as expected, to eliminate the hidden raid boss summoned within the Labyrinth.
Since all had awaited this Quest.
They welcomed it.
Embris’s party felt the same.
‘This time, we shall absolutely triumph!!!’
‘First place in contribution will be ours!’
‘Our party will win!!!’
‘It’s not really a competition, but we’ll win!’
Embris and everyone in her party burned with that same fighting spirit.
4.
After receiving the final Quest from Zerod.
All three parties combined and headed toward the Labyrinth.
Among them, Yoo Sung-hyun was reviewing the Quest.
The objective of the final Quest was simple.
→Eliminate the Hidden Raid Boss, 『Raplesine, the Carnivorous Flower of the Labyrinth』.
Who would have thought it would lead to a Hidden Raid Boss here.
But that wasn’t really the problem.
‘Hmm.’
A Hidden Raid Boss would normally warrant a live broadcast.
But this time, I wasn’t doing it alone.
So naturally, I had to give up on broadcasting.
During the last large-scale event, I had tried to do a live broadcast too, but stopped it because I was worried it might be handled in too strange a way.
And now I couldn’t do it again.
‘It’s a shame, though.’
But what could I do.
Asking the others for permission and saying I’d solo it felt awkward too.
There were rewards to be gained from the Hidden Raid Boss after all.
Even if the others were willing to yield, I felt it would be inconsiderate, so I was too embarrassed to even ask.
So Yoo Sung-hyun wasn’t even thinking about broadcasting as he went.
Then suddenly.
‘Fighting a Hidden Raid Boss together is a first for me. Or is this my first time fighting a Raid Boss itself with others?’
Now that I thought about it, that was true.
Even my first Raid Boss, Anemor, I had entered with a party, but I had soloed it.
And ever since, I had been raiding alone.
Collaboration was new, so I was a bit nervous.
But among the memories and experiences of the various Ghosts, there were instances of collaborating with others.
I could apply that, couldn’t I.
Either way, I had confidence in my firepower.
After thinking that far, Yoo Sung-hyun glanced at the Embris party, who was looking at him with a strangely burdensome gaze.
By now, I understood well that the Embris party was burning with competitive spirit against me.
Even Yoo Sung-hyun had some sense of awareness.
But still.
“Hmm. Why are they burning with competitive spirit anyway? This is a collaboration.”
That didn’t make sense to me.
The part about wounded pride and such—I didn’t quite understand those things.
“Ahahaha! Seriously, Yoo Sung-hyun, you’re so funny when you’re like this, you know?”
At Yoo Sung-hyun’s words, Helena burst into hearty laughter.
He pondered how to explain.
Helena smiled softly and asked.
“So you’re going to go easy on them?”
“Huh?”
Yoo Sung-hyun questioned what she meant.
Helena laughed, saying she really did like Yoo Sung-hyun after all.
To such Helena, Yoo Sung-hyun replied.
“That’s separate. Don’t they want the same thing?”
“Precisely.”
I couldn’t understand burning with competitive spirit.
But that didn’t mean I intended to hold back.
Though I didn’t think of it as a competition.
At least in matters I undertook, I wasn’t the type to settle for mediocrity.
I had no intention of going easy.
How long had it been since we entered the Labyrinth?
As those disguised as merchants, positioned by the mage’s design, entered a specific sector of the Labyrinth.
Suddenly, massive plant roots appeared before our eyes.
It was certainly a speed we could have dodged or blocked.
Yet no one avoided or blocked it.
Why?
After the enormous roots appeared, they dragged us all into some kind of space.
It transformed into a vast garden-like expanse.
Then the roots suddenly released us, and a massive flower began baring its sharp teeth.
[You have encountered the Hidden Raid Boss, ‘Raphlesin, the Man-Eating Flower of the Labyrinth’.]
[The Hidden Raid will commence shortly.]
!!!WARNING!!!
This is a far more powerful boss than ordinary Raid Bosses!
Exercise caution!!!
It was the opening event sequence of a Hidden Raid Boss.
Junu’s party showed considerable surprise at seeing an event sequence for the first time, appearing flustered, while Embris’s party looked distinctly different.
Despite the event sequence unfolding, they showed no great panic, their eyes already gleaming with readiness.
Meanwhile, Yoo Sung-hyun was also somewhat taken aback.
It differed slightly from the Hidden Raid Boss messages I always saw.
‘So this message appears when you enter with adequate numbers.’
Since I always went in alone.
I had only ever seen messages telling me to flee or that it was too dangerous.
A simple caution message was rather novel.
In any case, once we defeated it, that would be that.
The moment the event sequence ended.
Each party adjusted their stance.
The first to move was none other than Yoo Sung-hyun.
Feeling his body regain freedom, Yoo Sung-hyun immediately activated a skill.
Helena and Fiora remained in standby for now.
The next fastest was naturally Embris.
The moment her body became free, she kicked off the ground and rushed toward Raphlesin with blinding speed.
Her allies did the same.
The slowest was Junu’s party.
They only began to respond after each member had regained control of their body.
While Junu’s party deliberated over which skill to use first.
Yoo Sung-hyun’s skill activated first.
A skill for maximum damage output.
‘What the…?’
She thought she had been fast.
But watching Yoo Sung-hyun’s skill activate first, Embris couldn’t help but admire him inwardly.
In that moment.
A strangely familiar skill caught her eye.
From the base of the colossal flower, an abyss unfolded.
Countless grasping hands surged forth from within, seizing Raphlesin.
[Grasp of the Abyss seals movement for 3 seconds.]
[Hidden Raid Boss, ‘Raphlesin, the Carnivorous Flower of the Labyrinth’ attempts to resist.]
[This skill cannot be resisted.]
“KIEEEEEEE!!!”
As the grotesque cry echoed and Raphlesin writhed in captivity, Yoo Sung-hyun unleashed a barrage of skills.
Embris’s party members were startled by the strangely familiar skill.
Embris herself, equally shocked, completed the skill she had been about to activate.
Blood erupted from Embris, forming a semicircle before transforming into a blade sharper than anything else, which she fired toward Raphlesin.
Yoo Sung-hyun activated his single-target Black Bullet and the Blade of Darkness from the shadows.
Raphlesin’s shadow stretched like taffy.
The black projectile fired from Yoo Sung-hyun’s hand flew toward Raphlesin faster than the blood-red blade Embris had created.
Whoooosh——!!!
Fuuuuuck———!!!
Kabooooom———!!!
The Blade of Darkness surging from the shadow pierced relentlessly through Raphlesin’s stem, while the Black Bullet obliterated its petals.
Two skills of devastating power.
Yet Raphlesin, undeterred, attempted to swing its stem to attack them.
But the Grasps of the Abyss rendered its body completely immobile.
Embris’s blood-red blade followed, flying toward the stem slower than those two skills.
The sharply honed crimson blade carved deep into Raphlesin’s stem.
Crunch——!!
“Kieeeeeee!!!”
Yet compared to Yoo Sung-hyun’s two skills, the damage output fell drastically short.
Though it would have been worth disassembling, Embris did not.
Perhaps recognizing Yoo Sung-hyun’s true identity through the sequence of skills now being unleashed.
Embris stared at him, eyes widening like lanterns, and muttered in disbelief.
“The… Demon King?”
Why would the Demon King appear here?!
Could that familiar sensation have been because he was the Demon King all along?
As Embris reeled from this shock.
Yoo Sung-hyun likewise startled upon seeing the system message that appeared alongside Embris’s skill.
[『The Blood Lord』 has discovered 『The Apostle of the Blood Covenant』.]
“…?”
What is this now?

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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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