The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 34

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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 34
Episode 34
The dungeon boss here—a spirit with a level higher than Adum?
Its level is only 25 at most.
How is that even possible!
Manhu’s thoughts spiraled in turmoil.
Yet he couldn’t voice them aloud.
Through the thickening air.
—Shhhhhhh, haaaaaaah.
The spirit’s breath was freezing the surrounding atmosphere solid.
The power of the spirit, now a soldier of death, transcended imagination.
It surpassed even its previous strength.
It had grown capable of far more than when facing Sung-hyun.
The terror of death.
As fear overwhelmed everything.
“Kyaaaah!”
Amir, who hadn’t launched the first strike, raised her bow and fired an arrow.
Unable to endure the fear, she aimed at the spirit.
But Spirit Barfur caught the incoming arrow with his index and middle fingers as though it were beneath contempt.
Tap.
—Tsk, surely you weren’t planning to attack me with such a pathetic toothpick?
Along with Spirit Barfur’s words, a System Message appeared.
[Party member ‘Amir-Lv.26’ is attacking you.]
[You are entering a state of complete hostility.]
[Party member ‘Amir-Lv.26′ has left the party.]
[This user bears infamy.]
[Attacking them will not accumulate infamy.]
Two had already entered a state of hostility.
Sung-hyun observed this, his gaze fixed upon the goblin undead and Spirit Barfur.
As his intent was conveyed.
All the soldiers of death bowed their heads, heeding Sung-hyun’s will.
—We shall obey the master’s command.
—Kekek! Kekek! Kerrhuk! (All things follow the Lord’s will!)
—Kefuruk! Kehek! Kek! (We shall obey the master’s command!)
Before the overwhelming presence of Spirit Barfur, who wielded terror in all directions, and the blind loyalty of the goblin undead, everyone’s pupils trembled violently.
Jinu, who had been calmly facing the hobgoblin, was no exception.
As everyone’s pupils quivered intensely.
The first to regain composure was the boss monster, Adum.
“Kekek! Kerrhuk!”
The meaning was unclear, but the sound carried unmistakable hostility.
Seeing how the other hobgoblins reacted to Adum’s words,
it seemed he had issued a command.
But it hardly mattered.
The goblin undead had moved first.
The Death Soldier goblins undead moved swiftly, striking before the hobgoblins could act.
Using their small frames to their advantage, they displayed remarkable mobility and began attacking ahead of the hobgoblins.
Three Death Soldiers were assigned to each hobgoblin.
-Kerrhook! (For our master!)
-Kekekekek! Kekek! (Ahahaha! Let’s kill them all and make them our juniors!)
-Kerrhuk! (We all become one!)
Dodging every attack the hobgoblins threw at them, they pressed their assault with their superior speed.
First, they aimed low with their blades at the knees and shins, reducing the creatures’ mobility.
As the hobgoblins failed to react and had their knees and shins repeatedly pierced, they began to limp. The Death Soldiers then moved with dazzling speed to obscure their vision, and in that opening, drove their blades into the creatures’ abdomens.
Within mere exchanges, the hobgoblins were being slashed to ribbons.
“Krukk….”
“Puaeck!”
“Keeeek!”
“Krrkk.”
From all around came the sound of rattling breath as hobgoblins spewed blood.
The level difference was so vast that they didn’t die from this alone.
But judging by the terror and agony etched into their eyes, death would have been preferable.
The boss Adum was no different.
While other hobgoblins fought in groups of three,
a full eight Death Soldiers were attached to Adum.
Some wielded shields, dodging attacks while defending, while others struck relentlessly.
They darted in from all directions, deflecting attacks with their shields, and whenever an opening appeared, they drove their blades in without mercy.
Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk!
“Kraaaaaaack!”
Cold steel pierced flesh, and Adum’s anguished roar echoed as the blades sank deep.
As these eerie sounds reverberated through the cave,
there were those in the group watching the spectacle with expressions of disbelief.
Manhu’s party and Jinu were no exception.
Seeing them like that, I spoke to them gently.
“I should have been less obvious about it.”
Even if I hadn’t revealed myself, the Child Ghost would have told them anyway.
But after they found out, I was far too conspicuous.
So I said something.
At my words, Manhu fell silent,
and the rest of the group asked him in trembling voices.
“….”
“W-what do I do?”
“S-should we attack?”
Even in that brief moment, Manhu’s mind raced.
He hadn’t attacked yet.
If he withdrew now, he wouldn’t die regardless.
If Sung-hyun launched a preemptive strike first, Sung-hyun would accumulate notoriety as well.
He wouldn’t do that.
‘…If I cut ties with these bastards…’
As Manhu entertained such contemptible thoughts.
Sung-hyun looked at Manhu and swung the sword he held.
Manhu’s eyes instinctively followed the blade’s movement.
“Are you thinking of surrendering and giving up?”
Sung-hyun spoke while observing Manhu’s pupils being drawn toward his sword.
The moment Manhu’s eyes met Sung-hyun’s gaze.
His face flushed with humiliation.
“Damn it!”
He was supposed to endure such mockery in silence?
No! That was impossible.
Level 25 at best.
He was ahead in levels.
To provoke Manhu in such a situation?
‘He’s not provoking me without reason.’
The goal was to enrage him and provoke Manhu into recklessness.
If he charged in a fit of anger, defeat was certain.
But if he didn’t fall for it, victory would come naturally to Manhu.
Sung-hyun shook his head and commanded Spirit Barfur to move.
Spirit Barfur turned toward Nuel and Amir behind him.
This was the opportunity.
‘I’ll seize the moment when that cursed spirit separates!’
The spirit’s priority was protecting Sung-hyun.
But it obeyed Sung-hyun’s will.
As Spirit Barfur turned toward Nuel and Amir.
Both of them turned pale, trembling like aspen leaves as they began casting skills.
“Ahhh! E-energy arrow!”
“F-fire wall!”
A powerful mana-infused arrow shot forth toward Spirit Barfur.
A wall of flames erupted to block the spirit.
But Spirit Barfur dismissed it as trivial, swatting his hand as though brushing away a fly.
Crack, snap.
The arrow shattered instantly from Barfur’s gesture.
As if he were merely a toy arrow.
Barphor gazed at the wall of fire blocking his path and, as though annoyed, blew it out like extinguishing a candle.
-Whoosh.
Crackle, crackle, whoosh.
The wall of fire that had been roaring and blazing vanished with just that single breath, and Nuel’s complexion turned ashen as he’d been preparing an incantation while the wall blocked their view.
Amir beside him felt the same.
Just as they were about to cry out for Manhu’s help.
Manhu’s rapidly sprinting figure entered their field of vision.
His target was Sung-hyun!
And they could understand it then.
If the summoner dies.
The summoned creature disappears too.
They just had to endure until then.
But.
‘C-can we even endure this?’
‘…Ah.’
Nuel and Amir had the same thought simultaneously, and they swallowed hard as Spirit Barphor approached.
They knew well enough that it was merely a monster, just fragments of data.
So why was it?
Their entire bodies had gone rigid as if they were facing a real ghost.
This was unbearable.
It didn’t take long to realize that.
They could only hope that Manhu would achieve victory through their sacrifice.
With that thought, they closed their eyes.
‘If I just kill the summoner, it’s over.’
Manhu wasn’t unaware that Sung-hyun’s true form was also exceptional.
But even so, he was a Necromancer.
His defense would surely be pathetic.
While commanding the undead, I as a Swordmaster would hold the advantage.
Trusting in that, I ran swiftly and swung my blade toward Sung-hyun.
[Party member 『Manhu-Lv.29』 is attacking you.]
[Entering complete hostile status.]
[Party member 『Manhu-Lv.29』 has left the party.]
[This user bears infamy.]
[Attacking will not accumulate infamy.]
Simultaneously, System Messages appeared before Sung-hyun’s eyes.
But finding them bothersome, I quickly dismissed them and raised my blade.
Clang!
Manhu wielded his blade with all his might using his Swordmaster class skills.
Yet Sung-hyun merely raised a single sword to block it.
I did block it, but not through sheer force alone.
I lost track of Manhu’s sword trajectory and fluidly redirected my blade to deflect his strike along a path that would neutralize it.
Perfectly.
Then came the swordmaster’s follow-up skill.
The skill Manhu had just activated was one that unleashed five consecutive sword strikes simultaneously.
Since it forced five rapid slashes in a single exchange, blocking all of them without a defensive skill was nearly impossible.
Even with a defensive skill, the sheer power could shatter it!
Yet here I was, blocking with nothing but my sword, no skill whatsoever.
This should have been beyond my capacity.
Or so one would think.
Clang! Ting! Clang-clang! Screech!
‘This madman!!’
Sparks erupted as blades clashed through the air. I deflected the downward strike from the upper right, and as it bounced away, I smoothly parried the horizontal slash aimed at my middle right, sending it spinning back.
The deflected strike, now automatically redirected by the skill’s trajectory, came at me from the lower left to upper right. I spun my body and twisted my wrist, bending my blade like a serpent to absorb and repel that strike as well.
I curved my sword to ensnare the incoming blade and deflected it once more.
Finally came the overhead slash.
Against the vertical strike descending from directly above, I positioned myself at a diagonal upper-right stance and raised my blade to meet it.
The two swords ground against each other, sparks dancing between them as both of us froze in place.
‘He blocked all of them?’
All five consecutive strikes—blocked without a single skill?
Manhu swallowed hard, his eyes blinking rapidly as he stared at me.
Was this even possible?
Could a skill truly be countered without using a skill?
The thought struck him.
Then our eyes met—mine lowered to a dangerous level.
Dark and black, my pupils held something else within them.
A teal luminescence flickered in their depths.
Manhu found himself entranced by that mysterious gaze, staring blankly.
‘What… what is this?’
It felt as though he’d been bewitched by a ghost.
That wasn’t entirely wrong.
I had drawn upon the memories and experience of Former Instructor Ghost Eddie to block every single attack.
But that was merely the beginning.
“Hmm.”
A single syllable.
Though the sound itself was simple, Manhu could read the emotion contained within it.
Boredom.
As he watched me, that sentiment flowing from my eyes and lips alike.
Something began to churn within him.
Jealousy and inferiority toward what he could never possess.
All of it combined together.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Manhu screamed and charged at Sung-hyun.
But Sung-hyun, having already grasped Manhu’s level, blocked every single one of his attacks.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Raising his sword to parry, Sung-hyun’s brow furrowed slightly.
He had expected this to be weaker than the skill-enhanced attacks from before.
Yet even though Manhu was mixing in different skills as well.
‘He’s just flailing about so recklessly.’
Sung-hyun shook his head with a sense of regret at the thought.
At that sight, Manhu grew even more indignant, cursing as he swung his sword, but it couldn’t possibly connect.
The gap was simply too vast.
Finding Sung-hyun impossibly distant, I began swinging my sword gradually toward Manhu.
In contrast, my sword began connecting with Manhu every time.
Slash! Swoosh! Swish!
“Ugh!”
Cut by the blade, he couldn’t maintain his focus through the damage.
Faced with my relentless assault, Manhu suddenly regained his composure, gritted his teeth, and retreated backward.
There was no way to win like this.
The moment he realized this and stepped back to devise a new strategy.
I looked at Manhu with disdain.
“…?”
At that gaze, Manhu looked at me, unable to comprehend.
I answered gently.
“You’re a Dark Mage, so shouldn’t you be maintaining distance?”
“Huh?”
As I spoke, I clenched my fist toward Manhu as if grasping at empty air.
A teal light gathered and began to coalesce.
I grasped the spear that materialized in that form and hurled it with tremendous force.
The teal spear flew at an incredibly rapid speed.
He had to block it.
Just as Manhu attempted to swing his sword.
Clang!
“What the—???”
Something struck his raised sword.
It was none other than an arrow crafted from pure white bone.
Unable to swing his sword and stopped by the arrow.
Manhu could only watch helplessly as the teal spear hurtled toward him.
‘Did he plan even this?’
Thud!
[Darkness damage applied.]
[For 3 seconds, all sight and senses become impaired.]
That message, visible only to Manhu, made his stomach churn violently.
All sensation vanished, as though he were drifting untethered through the void.
Nothing could be seen or felt.
Nausea threatened to overwhelm him at any moment.
He needed to evade immediately, yet his body refused to obey.
He couldn’t even sense the damage being dealt.
He had no idea how the situation was unfolding.
‘What in the world is happening??’
Three agonizing seconds crawled by in confusion.
Then sensation returned.
Mercifully, I was unharmed.
My health remained unchanged from before the darkness damage.
Ah! Now I had to escape by any means necessary.
That blade was certainly desirable, but not worth dying for.
Could I not simply flee?
As such hopeful thoughts filled my mind.
I felt a dark shadow descend over my head.
‘What—?’
A terrible premonition seized me, and despite my resistance.
My head lifted of its own accord, and in that instant, my vision filled completely.
A spirit with a face like a dark mole, its teal eyes blazing with malice as it loomed down upon me.
—Peek-a-boo.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
At Spirit Barfur’s words, I screamed and attempted to flee, but I could not evade the colossal hand descending upon my head.
Crunch!
The sickening sound of meat being ground echoed as my body was crushed.
“Gack—”
I didn’t need to see what had become of Nuel and Amir.
With that thought.
[Critical Hit!]
[Health has reached 0. Forced logout initiated.]
[Death penalty increased due to infamy.]
[One of the highest-tier items drops due to infamy.]
With those final messages welcoming my demise, I vanished.
A rather elegant ring fell in my wake.
Yet what Sung-hyun obtained was far more than a single ring.
[You have achieved victory in player-versus-player combat!]
[You have achieved victory against a user with a level difference!]
[You have obtained experience points!]
[You have cleared the 5-player dungeon, Adum Cave.]
[You have obtained experience points!]
[As a clear reward, you have obtained ‘Hobgoblin Warrior’s Greatsword of Adum’.]
[As a clear reward, you have obtained 20 Gold.]
[Level Up!]×5
[You have reached Level 30.]
[You have defeated an opponent of ill repute.]
[You have defeated an opponent who attacked first.]
[You have obtained the opponent’s item, ‘Bow of Correction’.]
[You have obtained the opponent’s item, ‘Robe of the Swift Novice Flame Mage’.]
[You have obtained the opponent’s item, ‘Ring of Speed’.]
[Upon reaching Level 30, a new skill for ‘Overlord’ has been unlocked.]
[You have obtained the Legendary-grade skill, ‘Sovereign’s Silence Decree’.]
I quite like this.
Sung-hyun couldn’t help but smile at the countless reward messages flooding his screen.

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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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