The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 53

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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 53
Episode 53
I had discovered the specter, but there was no need to concern myself with it now.
I simply charged toward the shadow standing before me—a figure that looked identical to myself.
I ran with a low, grounded stance.
I could move with arrow-like swiftness.
At the sight of me rushing forward, nearly skimming the ground, the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant flinched, its body trembling.
Like me, it too adopted a low, grounded running posture.
Yet compared to my movements, it could not flow as smoothly.
It was incomprehensible.
It had surely replicated everything about me.
So why couldn’t it reproduce the same movements?
The Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant felt such confusion bloom, but it cast the thought aside.
It simply charged forward, drawn by the sight of my eyes glowing with a soft teal luminescence.
‘As expected.’
Just as I had anticipated.
Though it had replicated everything about me, it could not replicate my abilities.
Because within it existed the memories and experiences of countless specters.
The Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant could not replicate that.
As we drew close enough to collide, I slid low and swung my blade, while the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant hastily raised its sword to defend itself.
Clang——!
A sharp metallic ring pierced the air, and the wind created by the impact scattered outward.
I collided with the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant, then slid back and quickly regained my stance.
The Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant—that shadow-like creature—could not recover its posture.
The impact was too great, and my pivot was too swift for it to react.
From behind the shadow, I swung my blade.
The Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant, unable to see, attempted to roll forward and evade the strike.
But before the sound of the blade cutting through air, it sensed the teal spear materializing, and upon perceiving it, the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant’s eyes widened in shock.
Surely it hadn’t retrieved the sword it was swinging mid-motion and activated a skill.
Already committed to its forward roll, the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant realized it could not evade and braced itself instead.
Because it had replicated all my skills, it knew well.
That skill was one that could not be defended against.
If evasion was impossible, then one must endure.
The teal spear pierced through the shadow’s shoulder.
Thud——!
A violent impact swept through its body.
Darkness engulfed it.
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of 『One Strike』 is activated!]
[Darkness damage is applied.]
[Partial resistance to dark damage.]
[『Remnant of the Elder Shapeshifter』 renders all sight and senses impaired for 1 second.]
With resistance, I managed to partially mitigate it, but still—one full second.
All my senses drift untethered through the void, perceiving nothing.
With my five senses severed and unable to discern anything, the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant curled its body inward, assuming a defensive posture.
Simultaneously, it deployed Blood Veil to activate a defensive skill.
Merely one second, one could say—yet for me, it was a window of extraordinary opportunity.
The Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant had cast Blood Veil, but—
I surged forward instantly, tearing through its Blood Veil with my blade, then summoned bone arrows to assault it while my sword sang through the air.
As bone arrows and sword strikes cascaded in succession—
Dark arms sprouted from the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant’s body, one after another.
Four arms in total manifested.
Seeing this, I swung my blade again.
Screeeech——!
The sound of the blade cutting stretched and elongated as if time itself had warped.
Then, behind the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant, a reaper wielding a scythe materialized, and the second had elapsed.
As all sensation returned to the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant—
It sensed the aura of death behind it and attempted to evade, only to realize it was an entity that could neither escape nor block.
And it now understood this attack was born from the Seal of Death.
The reaper that appeared behind it transformed five of its arms into scythes and wrenched them downward.
The scythes carved through the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant’s neck without mercy.
“…!”
Screeeech——!
Excruciating agony coursed through its neck and ravaged its entire form—
Yet its neck did not sever.
Slashed and torn, yet the neck remained intact.
Only the pain and damage applied.
The Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant swung its blade toward me, but it never reached.
With effortless grace, I raised my sword to parry its strike while bone arrows found their marks through the gaps in its defense.
The Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant conjured bone arrows of its own and fired them, but my blade intercepted every single one.
“…!”
Unable to speak, yet the arms continued to accumulate upon its body.
When that count reached three—
Its movements noticeably sluggish.
One of the effects inherent to the Seal of Death.
The Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant could never withstand me even at full power.
But now, with its movement speed diminished?
Whoosh!
Screeeech——!
A shallow cut this time.
Its movements grew sluggish, and the final slash cut deep.
That alone was damage enough to send tremors through my body in shock.
Soon, I had five arms.
Sssssss.
Ssssssss.
The two new arms tightened around his throat, and inescapable death approached from behind.
As death grasped those arms, they transformed into a scythe.
The Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant, seized by the illusion of thrusting its neck toward a guillotine, trembled violently in both eyes.
A scythe falls to condemn its own neck.
No—it tightens around its own throat.
It thrashed against that terror.
But death could not be evaded.
Nor could it be delayed.
Only fear multiplied.
Thunk——!
The sound of a guillotine’s rope snapping echoed.
Its neck was severed by the falling blade of condemnation.
“….”
By the Reaper’s second scythe, the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant lost consciousness.
Pain surged through it, and my body trembled from the massive damage.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[The 『Elder Shapeshifter’s Remnant』 is afflicted with the stunned status condition for 1 second.]
Yoo Sung-hyun seized the opportunity without hesitation.
Unable to mount any meaningful resistance.
The Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant, overwhelmingly trampled and defeated, bowed its head toward Yoo Sung-hyun.
As if pledging absolute loyalty.
With that, I drove my blade into its heart.
Squelch!
Watching the Elder Shapeshifter’s remnant—so perfectly mirroring myself—calmly offer up its heart, I felt a peculiar emotion stir within me.
Because it resembled me so closely.
It was strange.
“Hmm.”
In any case, this was a trial.
I should finish it properly.
[You have defeated the 『Elder Shapeshifter’s Remnant』.]
[You have cleared the Second Class Advancement Trial with no hits taken.]
[You have obtained the title 『Monster Prodigy』.]
[Rewards have been enhanced.]
[Rewards will be granted after the event scene.]
The familiar system message appeared once more.
Before I could even finish reading the description.
As if transitioning between worlds, I felt a buoyant sensation wash over me.
I melded into the surrounding landscape.
My body became translucent and drifted upward.
Like a phantom.
I had seen many ghosts before, but this was the first time I had taken on such a form.
I looked around, struck by the strangeness of it all.
Yet something felt off.
I thought the landscape had shifted into something different as I merged with it.
But it was still Helena’s Garden.
The only difference was that instead of the dark storm clouds that had shrouded everything before, a beautiful night sky now stretched overhead, filled with starlight.
‘What is this?’
Could this be how it looked in the past?
As that thought crossed my mind.
A phantom bearing a striking resemblance to the Elder Shapeshifter I had seen earlier appeared, gazing at the scene with tears streaming down.
-Ah, ah. Ah….
Eyes glistening with tears, the phantom stared at the place.
Did they know this place?
As I pondered this.
Someone approached from the distance.
It was not Helena.
It was a very young man.
Dressed in a black robe, he walked toward the garden with a sorrowful expression, and though he gazed up at the beautiful night sky, his eyes burned with an intense, blazing light.
Dried tear streaks clung grotesquely to his face, and his eyes burned with hatred and thirst for vengeance.
Yet despite that burning gaze and those withered tear marks, his expression remained sorrowful and composed.
“Fiora, I know you’re there.”
At the man’s words, a shadow that resembled the Elder Shapeshifter—not quite a phantom, yet not quite real—darted out from behind a pillar.
It was the Elder Shapeshifter.
But unlike the remnant I had seen, this one radiated vitality and displayed emotions far more vivid.
Seeing the figure weeping just as the man with the dried tear streaks was, the man nodded as if to say it was only natural.
Yet the man spoke to them with unwavering resolve.
“I intend to seal this place. If I sever the space, even you, Fiora, the Elder Shapeshifter, will struggle to endure for long. Will you come with me? I will honor Helena outside. And I will build a palace for a new lord.”
“….”
The Elder Shapeshifter called Fiora shook her head.
Did she mean to stay here?
The man looked at Fiora with an expression of understanding.
“No matter how strong you are, if you remain here… you will perish in this severed space. Or rather, considering your nature, you may be reborn, but only your body will survive. Your existence will fade, and only your form will remain, reborn as a new Elder Shapeshifter. Will you still stay?”
“….”
At those words, Fiora could not answer readily.
She only gazed around the garden, observing the beautifully blooming flowers and the starlight.
Even as Fiora gazed upon that beautiful landscape, her eyes glistened as though tears might spill forth at any moment.
The man understood what lay in Fiora’s heart, so he spoke.
“This place, filled with memories of Helena and you, I intend to seal away in a space where it can be preserved completely. Should descendants or a successor appear in the distant future, I plan to open it then. Will you remain here regardless?”
“…I’ll stay.”
“…I understand. It has been a pleasure.”
The man asked nothing further.
He knew well how profound the memories held within this place were for Fiora.
He understood completely.
And so the man vanished from the garden, leaving Fiora alone as she gazed upward at the sky.
“…Master, will the day ever come when I see you again?”
With those words, she felt the space severing.
The world split apart, space warped and compressed, and she distinctly felt this realm being transferred elsewhere.
The beautiful, radiant sky that had poured starlight moments before was now filled with dark clouds, and the space was sealed.
Yet Fiora remained in the garden, curled upon herself, gazing up at the sky that had now vanished.
The same sky she had once beheld together with her master.
She felt her body withering as though consumed by flames.
In that moment, Fiora transformed herself.
She wove the burning flames entirely into her feathers, becoming a brilliantly luminous bird that embraced her burning form.
Fiora’s body withered away, becoming ash that remained in that place.
That was Fiora’s end.
Yoo Sung-hyun witnessed the entire process and could discern the truth.
‘It was after Helena died.’
He could not determine who the man was.
But for some reason, he wondered if it might be Black Star, who had sent a letter from Overpalace.
Such a thought crossed his mind.
Feeling the loneliness of those left behind, Yoo Sung-hyun turned away, moved by an inexplicable sense of sorrow.
There, Fiora’s spirit appeared, rubbing her head and body bashfully as she spoke.
-Ah, a-ah. I’m so e-embarrassed.
“….”
Was it merely his imagination that she looked like someone whose dark history had been exposed?
Wasn’t that supposed to be an incredibly sorrowful and poignant tale?
Yet here she was, embarrassed and flustered.
Yoo Sung-hyun found himself at a loss for words.
He simply let out a soft cough.
“Ahem.”
-I, I wish I had w-waited a bit longer if I’d known a s-successor would come….
Fiora’s spirit spoke with a hint of regret.
Yoo Sung-hyun assured her it was fine.
“If you don’t mind, would you come with me?”
Yoo Sung-hyun extended his hand.
At that sight, Fiora’s eyes widened.
A distant past.
A day so far away and so longed for.
The touch of that day came back to me.
-Oh? What are you doing here? If you don’t mind, would you like to come with me?
And at that sight, Fiora answered with tears glistening in her eyes.
No—she was recalling the past.
-Would that be alright for me?
“Of course.” —Of course.
Past and present overlapped.
The figures of Yoo Sung-hyun and Helena merged together.
And at the same time, seeing both her past master and her present master extending their hands, Fiora finally shed tears.
Simultaneously, she took the offered hand and answered as she had in the past.
-Very well, I place myself in your care. Master.
[‘Unknown Power’ has accomplished the impossible at your current level.]
[Intellect +10, Wisdom +10 permanently increased.]

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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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