The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 47

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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 47
Episode 47
I cast the skill.
Yoo Sung-hyun felt control over his body slip away.
He couldn’t move a single finger.
In that state, the surroundings melted away like an unfolding image, painting a new landscape in their place.
A cutscene, as it were.
Also called an event scene.
Yoo Sung-hyun recognized this as the cutscene that appeared when he summoned the Demon Knight.
‘Oh.’
The landscape that emerged as Kah-hoo-koo’s Second Warehouse dissolved away was a vast plain.
Or should I call it a wasteland?
Tens of thousands of soldiers stood upon barren, untamed earth.
The footprints of iron-shod boots pressed clearly into the hard soil.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
The tens of thousands advanced as though they were a single living organism.
Watching another army rush toward them.
Man against man, the two armies clashed and intermingled, colliding without distinction between friend and foe, each wielding different weapons in desperate struggle.
Clang! Clang!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
With each swing of a weapon, the metallic ring echoed from all directions, and crimson blood sprayed outward in every direction.
The red blood scattered across the untamed wasteland soon darkened to a sickly crimson.
The battlefield was saturated with malice, and blood spread in all directions.
Could the earth no longer absorb the blood?
Perhaps it was revulsed by the blood carrying the ugly depths of these humans’ hearts.
The blood that had soaked into the earth began to surge back up.
Glub, glub.
Not a soul among the tens of thousands in the chaotic battlefield noticed this anomaly.
They only vented their malice, their ugly expressions turned toward harming one another.
Swinging weapons at each other, thinking only of annihilating their opponents.
The blood that surged up spread like a lake itself.
Spreading so wide that a colossal lake of blood encompassed the entire battlefield, spreading the stench of blood in all directions.
The distinctive iron scent and the nauseating blood clung stickily even as soldiers trampled through it.
Yet no one noticed.
For the stench of blood and the sticky grip upon their feet were not matters anyone would heed.
Then, when all were oblivious, something rose from the center of the blood lake as though the blood itself were surging back.
Glub glub.
As though taking form, it absorbed all the blood from the lake with ravenous hunger.
Only then did they realize something had gone terribly wrong, and the metallic clamor that had filled the battlefield fell silent.
The form that appeared at the center of the battlefield resembled a massive human heart.
That heart, the size of a human head, emanated an unsettling dark radiance.
As the black heart pulsed, it beat with a sickening rhythm.
Around the heart, revolting crimson blood began to spread outward.
Rather than dispersing in all directions, the crimson blood formed vessels—blood vessels materializing in the empty air as if tracing their own paths.
Thump! Thump!
With each pulse of the heart, the rhythm surged and swelled.
Soon, blood vessels proliferated throughout the entire form, and around those vessels, bones composed of crimson blood began to take shape.
As bones and vessels formed, blood from the lake of crimson fluid surged around the skeletal frame, and the blood enveloping bone and vessel transformed into muscle.
That towering figure, three meters tall and dwarfing any human, did not cease—it continued drawing blood from the crimson lake to drape itself anew.
Over the dark crimson exterior that had already formed.
Layering blood upon itself once more.
Garments and armor materialized.
Now fully human in form, the figure reached toward the lake of crimson blood, and a spear surged forth from its depths.
Wielding the spear through the air.
A crimson wave that could cleave the world rippled outward, sweeping away tens of thousands of soldiers in a single stroke, refilling the now-desiccated lake of blood.
Having slaughtered every last soldier, the figure moved with the gait of a butcher.
Its direction: toward Yoo Sung-hyun, who had witnessed it all.
Squelch. Squelch.
The footsteps of the approaching figure were sluggish and repugnant.
With each squelching sound, blood stains marked the ground vividly, forming footprints of gore.
Soon the figure stood before Yoo Sung-hyun.
From the footprints composed of blood, crimson fluid flowed forth, inscribing a magic circle.
A glowing blood-red magic circle materialized, resonating with its surroundings and casting crimson light, while a blood-hued mist spread through the air.
The figure’s form grew more distinct, and the visage of a demon knight manifested into the world.
Uuuuuuu!
[You have summoned 『Baltar, the Crimson-Blooded Demon Knight』.]
[For the first time in the history of the Eternal World, you have summoned a demon knight.]
[You have obtained the title 『Demon Knight Summoner』.]
[**Warning**]
[The demon knight possesses a more distinct sense of self than other summons.]
[It may disobey commands, and considerable effort will be required to control the demon knight.]
‘Hmm?’
I’d succeeded in the summoning and obtained a title.
That was good.
But the warning appended afterward grated on me.
A stronger sense of self than other summons, capable of disobeying orders?
If it even had a cutscene, it would certainly be powerful.
But did they balance that strength with a demerit?
‘This is troublesome.’
A summon that wouldn’t obey its summoner.
I recall a disobedient red dragon from an old manga about raising and evolving monsters.
Could Baltar be of that same ilk?
No, I shouldn’t jump to negative conclusions from the start.
He might listen well enough.
His first impression wasn’t terrible, after all.
Yoo Sung-hyun observed Baltar’s appearance as he thought this.
‘Hmm.’
Crimson skin, and scars scattered across every corner of his body visible between the gaps of his armor.
Five massive horns, clearly visible even beneath his helmet, radiated a menacing presence.
Despite his massive frame, he possessed strikingly beautiful features.
Yet his cold gaze and sharp contours felt quite intimidating.
A decidedly unpleasant expression.
As if brimming with grievances, he scowled at Yoo Sung-hyun.
The already oppressive face now exuded palpable pressure.
-Ha! A pathetic human like you as my master? What a world of difference from the previous Overlord! Do not even dare entertain the notion of controlling me!
These were the first words of Baltar, the blood demon knight with crimson skin.
His tone suggested refinement.
Yet discrimination and contempt lay beneath every syllable.
Where was I even supposed to begin educating him?
‘This is troublesome.’
I hadn’t actually experienced anything like this before.
Spirits had always shown me favor, and people had always been kind to me because of my appearance—such was Yoo Sung-hyun’s experience.
This treatment was entirely unprecedented, leaving me utterly at a loss.
A bewildering situation with no clear path forward.
Just as Yoo Sung-hyun stood perplexed.
Baltar cried out.
-I see you can open a gateway to the Underworld. Send me there and never summon me forth again. This is no request—it is a command. Engrave it upon your mind.
“Hmm.”
As Yoo Sung-hyun grew increasingly bewildered.
Baltar contorted his expression as if demanding the Underworld gateway be opened at once, preparing to speak again.
-Tartar! What manner of behavior is this!
“Huh?”
A slight drop in temperature near my right shoulder prompted me to turn my head.
There, perched upon my shoulder with a delighted expression, sat a petite woman.
Lustrous crimson hair tickled my ear, and her spectral essence chilled my shoulder.
A woman wearing a bonnet befitting medieval nobility, with black netting draped down to veil her face in a semi-transparent manner, held a black parasol as she voiced her displeasure.
‘Helena?’
Helena had appeared so suddenly.
More importantly—Tartar?
Could the two of them actually know each other?
However, Helena’s words never reached Tartar—or rather, Baltar.
-Ugh! This is so frustrating!
Words spoken in a spectral state could only be heard by Yoo Sung-hyun or others in the same spectral form.
It was only natural that Baltar couldn’t hear her.
But.
‘Baltar was a summoned creature before Helena?’
-Of course! I raised him since he was little! Look how badly behaved he’s become! I need to teach him a lesson!
Seeing Helena so unusually excited,
Yoo Sung-hyun felt the frustration he’d been carrying moments ago dissolve, and laughter escaped him unbidden.
A soft chuckle slipped out.
Baltar watched Yoo Sung-hyun and narrowed his eyes to slits, glaring at him.
His voice dropped low, like a beast growling a warning.
-Send me to the Underworld while I’m still being reasonable.
[『The Crimson-Blooded Demon Knight, Baltar』 releases his aura.]
A clear warning.
Even the system message was announcing it.
But Yoo Sung-hyun possessed a formidable weapon.
-…Say it like this.
Helena, looking absolutely determined, relayed various pieces of information to Yoo Sung-hyun.
Yoo Sung-hyun nodded and spoke.
“Hmm, Tartar. How dare you treat me, the disciple of Helena, the former Overlord, in such a manner. Are you saying you don’t care if your secrets are exposed to the world?”
-Ha! How dare you impersonate that name, the mother of ten thousand demons!!
Baltar, utterly enraged, cried out, and the situation teetered on the brink of eruption.
Yoo Sung-hyun continued.
“Tartar, when you were young and followed Belladrina around, you saw Belladrina’s undergarments….”
-Wha! Ugh! Ahhhhhhh! Ah! S-stop right there!
Baltar reacted as though scalding water had been poured on him, startled out of his wits.
But Yoo Sung-hyun’s words were far from finished.
“And later, when Belladrina rejected you and you tried to dispose of those undergarments but couldn’t bring yourself to, and then after you set your sights on Sabilia and began a relationship with her, you still couldn’t throw them away—surely you wouldn’t mind if that became common knowledge?”
-Ah, ahhh!!
“Hmm.”
The effect was extraordinary.
Truly, it was a sordid and pathetic tale befitting a demon.
Yet the dignified and intimidating Baltar had been reduced to this.
‘Perhaps his overwhelming dignity makes his weakness all the more effective?’
-That’s right, that’s right~ Demons are surprisingly concerned with their reputation, you know~
So Helena said.
Yoo Sung-hyun accepted it as such.
But would he truly surrender so easily?
The moment I entertained that thought.
[For the first time in the history of the Eternal World, you have subdued a noble-rank demon, ‘Baltar, the Crimson-Blooded Demon Knight’.]
[You have obtained the title ‘Master of the Demon Knight’.]
The system message appeared before my eyes.
Baltar dropped to one knee before Yoo Sung-hyun and cried out.
-Behold the rightful successor and disciple of the venerable Helena, Mother of Ten Thousand Demons!!
Yoo Sung-hyun stared at Baltar with an expression of utter bewilderment.
‘This actually works.’
-I knew it would come to this.
Helena, who had been standing on Yoo Sung-hyun’s shoulder with an irritated air, now nodded approvingly with her arms crossed.
Well, if I’ve subdued him, that’s good enough.
Let’s just move past this.
Baltar, already subdued, carefully lowered his head and asked.
-If I may be so bold as to inquire, but how did you come to know of that fact….
“Ah, well.”
-If it is difficult for you to speak of it, I shall hold my tongue….
After all, he was my subordinate and an NPC.
Yoo Sung-hyun spoke casually.
“Well, I can see Helena’s soul, you see.”
-Wha!? Ah, ah!! Truly!?
“Yes, she’s right here on my shoulder. She’s just become a bit smaller for now.”
-Aha, that must be because my power hasn’t fully recovered!
-Gyaaaaaahhh!!
At my words, Helena laughed, while Baltar gasped and fell backward, his body tumbling head over heels.
Watching this unfold.
‘He’s definitely… strong, right?’
The system gives titles just for summoning him, and another title for subduing him.
He must be incredibly powerful.
His aura certainly suggested as much.
But judging by his actions alone….
‘He’s making quite the fool of himself.’
I couldn’t help but have my doubts.
Helena, hearing my thoughts, laughed.
-Kekeke! Tartar may look like that, but his skills are extraordinary. That’s why he’s even dating Sabilia.
‘Hmm.’
-Anyway, he’s got the skills, so trust him once.
Helena flashed a bewitching smile and rose from my shoulder.
Her time was up again, it seemed.
-I’m going to rest a bit more then. Though it shouldn’t take long. I absorbed the memories of the mercenary band yesterday and recovered quite a bit.
‘Huh?’
-Well then, see you~
With those words, Helena vanished.
Yoo Sung-hyun committed her words to memory.
So there was such a secret hidden away.
It appeared that his power recovered the more he absorbed the memories of spirits.
Considering the memories and experiences Helena had given him.
It seemed plausible.
To think his diminishment was his own doing.
Yoo Sung-hyun turned his head with a hint of remorse.
-Y-you mean right now, here too, you’re w-watching me and m-mocking me? Ahhhhh!
Baltar, that simpleton, was seized by panic at the mention of a spirit’s presence.
Yoo Sung-hyun let out a small sigh at the sight of the foolish Baltar and shook his head.
Then the alarm he’d set began to sound.
Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!
“Ah.”
It was time for Kim Che-gun’s interview.
‘Time’s drawing near.’
I wanted to test out Baltar and the new skills I’d acquired.
But I’d have to test them in that dungeon instead.
And I should check the newly obtained titles while I’m at it.
-Oh no, what if Sabilia finds out? I d-did abandon him, but just knowing about it will make her despise me for sure.
First, I’ll throw that filthy Baltar into the Underworld.
2.
The Record-type Dungeon, Fortress of the Past.
It was a testing ground to gauge the abilities of users before their second advancement.
Any rookie from a major guild would come here without fail.
A place people deliberately entered to gain entry into major guilds.
Waiting for her party here was a user dressed in a large straw hat and hanbok from the Joseon era.
Joseon First Blade Kim Che-gun.
She let out a small sigh.
‘Finally, the Rapid Guild interview.’
Though she hadn’t passed yet.
How much hardship it had taken to reach this point.
She’d trained tremendously.
She’d come all this way to a distant land despite her family’s opposition.
And now she could finally take this interview.
“How moving.”
Someone approached Kim Che-gun, who wore a satisfied expression.
A person wielding both sword and shield, equipped with rather impressive gear.
This sword-and-shield warrior stood before Kim Che-gun.
“Are you perhaps the one scheduled to interview for the Rapid Guild….”
I hesitated, my words trailing off into silence.
Kim Che-gun nodded confidently and answered without hesitation.
“Indeed. I am none other than Joseon First Blade Kim Che-gun.”
“…How did you make a person’s nickname….”
“What did you say?”
“Ahem, it’s nothing.”
“???”

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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
—————