The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 261

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

Episode 261
261
1.
The Lich Lord.
A sovereign obsessed with invading Lumencia, the City of Seven Lights.
Or rather, that was how it was known.
The drab, ominous ash-gray castle visible across the distance from Lumencia was none other than the Lich Lord’s Castle.
Though it lay within sight, few players had actually reached the Lich Lord’s Castle.
The path was anything but simple.
It took a full two months just to obtain the Quest needed to enter the castle.
And beyond mere tedium, the difficulty was substantial.
Countless players failed despite consulting guides.
The number of those who entered the Lich Lord’s Castle remained sparse.
Moreover, not a single player who had entered the castle had ever encountered the Lich Lord himself.
No players had met the Lich Lord yet, and the final Quest concluded upon defeating the semi-boss remaining within the castle.
Players assessed that none would reach the scenario’s end until discovering a hidden Quest.
Yet despite knowing this, countless players couldn’t abandon the endeavor—the narrative of hero and demon lord was simply too compelling.
Besides, they might be the ones to obtain the hidden Quest.
They rushed forward with fervent determination.
However, the primary reason most couldn’t proceed directly to the castle even after spending two months obtaining the Quest was a single raid monster standing before the castle gates.
It was the very reason the Prism Effect party had recruited additional members.
Spectral Knight Razak.
Since Razak served as the gatekeeper before the Lich Lord’s Castle, they had sought new party members.
Yet the Prism Effect party members could only stare in astonishment.
Was it because of Yoo Sung-hyun’s overwhelming firepower, melting undead with beautiful violet flames?
No.
“Wow… is this really right?”
“…He’s certainly impressive.”
“Why is someone of his caliber still not in a guild…?”
“Does he have some circumstances? Or perhaps he prefers traveling in small numbers like us?”
The four members’ astonishment at Yoo Sung-hyun’s overwhelming performance stemmed from something else entirely.
They already knew of his reputation, so his firepower wasn’t the shock.
After witnessing Yoo Sung-hyun’s firepower, they all checked the information displayed in the party window.
Then the party member window appeared.
『??-Lv.220-(????)』
『Ir-Lv.242-(??????)』
『Stella-Lv.242-(?????)』
『Flodin-Lv.242-(?????)』
『Bask-Lv.242-(?????)』
Despite a twenty-level gap, Yoo Sung-hyun’s firepower surpassed them all.
Everyone couldn’t help but be astonished.
‘Ah, so when they said Demon Lord, they meant the Rapid Guild’s Demon Lord.’
‘So he’s just a newbie who recently climbed up.’
‘Well, that makes sense then.’
‘No wonder he didn’t know.’
Seeing Yoo Sung-hyun’s level and recalling their initial reaction, I understood.
It made sense.
After all, a user in their 220s who had just reached the seventh region wouldn’t necessarily know about the Demon Lord.
Still, despite being level 220.
‘What kind of firepower for the 220s level…’
‘I thought it was a high-tier class, but it’s more impressive than I expected.’
‘This is no joke.’
‘That’s incredible.’
The range and power were truly extraordinary.
Everyone marveled at it and swept through the monsters in their respective zones.
Yoo Sung-hyun finished first, naturally, and the rest followed at roughly the same pace.
Once the combat had progressed to a certain point, everyone gathered around.
They assembled together.
“Phew, the closer we get, the stronger they definitely become.”
Everyone nodded in agreement at Ir’s words.
Yoo Sung-hyun also nodded belatedly.
Honestly, I hadn’t felt much of a difference, but I responded as if I understood.
Since it had been a while since party hunting, it was fine either way.
It was a bit frustrating, truth be told.
But the efficiency was better than expected.
‘The regenerating mana is more than enough to handle it.’
Since we were party hunting, it was especially nice that we didn’t need to use excessive mana—everything fell with moderate consumption.
If the Prism Effect party had heard this, they would have been shocked.
To think that much firepower came from consuming only that much mana.
In any case, Yoo Sung-hyun was quite satisfied.
After a brief rest like that.
We advanced diligently once more toward the Lich Lord’s Castle, which had drawn near before we knew it.
How much longer did we walk?
“Yoo Sung-hyun, we’re approaching the zone where Razak appears, so you need to be careful.”
Party leader Ir spoke to Yoo Sung-hyun.
Yoo Sung-hyun nodded at those words.
I remembered that Razak was the gatekeeper, so I advanced toward the castle with some tension when a cold wind blew from somewhere.
A chilling breeze swept across us.
I was the first to notice the change.
“Everyone, be careful…!”
The first to react to Yoo Sung-hyun’s urgent cry was Stella, who served as the party’s tank.
She hoisted a shield even larger than herself and deployed a defensive barrier, unfurling a dome-shaped shield that enveloped all party members.
Whoooosh!
The translucent azure dome held firm against the onslaught.
Above it descended a piercing blade of pure white frost, sharp as winter’s bite.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!
The grinding friction that threatened to shred the barrier erupted into a deafening roar that rippled outward.
The shield that had seemed so steadfast in protecting her allies began to fracture, cracks spreading across its surface.
Stella’s eyes widened in shock as she witnessed the damage.
Her barrier was shattering from just a single blow.
It was enough to stun anyone.
In that moment, Ir, the party leader, assessed the situation and shouted urgently.
“Scatter!”
With that cry, the cracks that had formed on the barrier spread instantaneously across the entire dome.
And almost simultaneously, the piercing white blade infused with frigid energy shattered through the barrier, attempting to strike down the party members beneath it.
But there was no one left in that spot.
Yoo Sung-hyun, Ir, and Flodin had teleported backward, while the others had simply moved away from the impact zone.
And before them appeared a spectral steed swirled with white, azure, and black, upon which rode a single phantom knight.
[You have encountered the Raid Monster, 『Phantom Knight, Razak』.]
[The raid has begun.]
Yoo Sung-hyun found it somewhat strange that the usual cautionary message was absent.
But that wasn’t what mattered now.
Razak had launched a sudden ambush.
And as he watched his party members, he raised his blade without any change in expression, as if this were routine.
Just as they braced for another attack, another message appeared before them.
[The Raid Monster, 『Phantom Knight, Razak』 summons his soldiers.]
With that message came a sweeping surge of frost.
A tempest of icy wind erupted from Razak, engulfing the surroundings.
A storm so fierce that one could barely open their eyes to see even an inch ahead.
Yet within it, a sound rang out clearly.
Crack, snap!
Crackle, crack!
Snap! Crack!
The sound of ice shattering and something splitting apart.
And though his companions could not see it, Yoo Sung-hyun could see it clearly.
‘They’re emerging from beneath the ground.’
Even as he found the ability quite intriguing, Yoo Sung-hyun prepared himself.
The number of soldiers was far greater than he had anticipated.
So he wasn’t merely a gatekeeper after all.
And it made sense why Prism Effect had been searching for new party members.
An opponent of that caliber would certainly be a burden.
However.
‘The Inferno Road is more useful than I expected.’
It just so happened that Yoo Sung-hyun was playing a flame mage.
The matchup was perfect.
Just as Yoo Sung-hyun was delighting in this internally.
Ir cried out urgently.
“E-everyone, brace yourselves!”
Ir appeared flustered by the unexpectedly large number of soldiers.
That’s when Yoo Sung-hyun stepped forward.
“I’ll handle the soldiers.”
“B-but…!”
Just as Ir was about to object.
Flodin spoke up.
“Let’s do it Yoo Sung-hyun’s way!”
She had already witnessed sufficient firepower, and more importantly, Yoo Sung-hyun held the advantage in matchup compatibility.
That’s why Flodin called out so quickly.
Though Ir was the party leader, Flodin also held the role of issuing orders, so Ir had no choice but to nod in agreement.
It was far too many soldiers to face alone.
Precisely because of that, they had to trust Yoo Sung-hyun.
“I’m counting on you!”
At Ir’s words, Yoo Sung-hyun simply nodded and created a massive wall of violet flames, trapping all the soldiers within it.
The other party members, trusting Yoo Sung-hyun to handle that area, charged toward Razak.
While the Prism Effect party desperately rushed at Razak, Yoo Sung-hyun, standing behind the violet flame wall, was dispatching Razak’s soldiers with remarkable ease.
For Yoo Sung-hyun, soldiers of this caliber were nothing.
So I watched with some leisure, observing the Prism Effect party.
‘There aren’t many parties with coordination this smooth.’
I decided to watch how they fought.
Stella, the tank, reached Razak first.
The skill she used first dyed her shield a pale blue in an instant, and then she struck Razak with the shield.
CRASH!!!
The impact was strong enough that I felt a faint tremor even where I stood.
I thought it might be an offensive technique.
But Razak’s eyes changed as he took the hit, focusing solely on Stella.
It was an aggro skill.
Immediately after, he brought his sword down toward Stella, and she blocked it with her shield.
SCREECH!!!
A sharp grinding sound echoed as Stella’s expression rapidly hardened.
Though she had blocked it, some damage seemed to have transferred through, as Stella soon couldn’t bear the pain and gasped.
“Ugh.”
A brief scream cut through the air as healing magic flew in from behind.
Stella’s shield, bearing the brunt of Razak’s blade energy, glowed with purification magic.
From behind Razak, Bask emerged wielding two crimson-glowing daggers, crossing them in an X-shaped slash aimed at Razak’s throat.
However.
Clang! Clang! Clang!!!
Razak’s shield defended the position flawlessly, and Bask’s voice rang out tinged with frustration.
“Damn it…!!!”
With those words, Razak swung his shield while Bask raised both hands holding the daggers to defend, but.
“Gah!”
Overwhelming damage swept across his entire body.
Healing magic arrived just in time and enveloped Bask, yet.
It couldn’t fully heal all the damage he’d just taken from the counterattack.
Such tremendous damage from what seemed like a casual shield swing.
But there was no time to be shocked.
After sending Bask flying, Razak moved again to attack Stella.
The aggro was still locked onto Stella.
True to her role as a tank, Stella deployed various defensive skills.
Razak then unleashed that same blade energy that had shattered the barrier before.
A keen, brilliant white blade energy crashed down upon Stella, spreading across her shield bristling with defensive skills.
“Ugh!”
Stella held her breath and blocked the blade energy.
And behind Stella, a brilliant white light flashed brilliantly.
A massive pillar of light descended from the sky onto Razak’s head.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
A veritable baptism of light.
Yet as if that weren’t enough, Razak’s eyes blazed with an ominous glow as he shattered the pillar of light and stepped forward.
So this is what a gatekeeper truly is.
Just as that thought crossed the minds of the Prism Effect party members.
Violet flames erupted around them, wrapping around Razak.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh——!!!
Unlike the baptism of light, Razak raised his shield and exhaled a chilling aura to defend.
And toward that Razak, Yoo Sung-hyun walked forward.
“The, the soldiers are…? Huh???”
As Ir asked about the soldiers and looked back to where they had been.
There was nothing there anymore.
Yoo Sung-hyun spoke to the astonished Prism Effect party.
“Now I shall join the fray.”
Words more reassuring than anything else.

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