The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 58

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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 58
Episode 58
Before we could fully comprehend what was happening, we all followed Yoo Sung-hyun.
Before long, we arrived at the Duel Arena.
Yoo Sung-hyun had initially been confused about the directions, but the signage was clear enough that he found his way without much trouble.
By the time we came to our senses, we were already at the Duel Arena.
Longfeng glanced at the other two, wondering if this was really happening.
The other two, now regaining their composure, shook their heads in disbelief.
A newcomer dragged to the Duel Arena as an initiation rite—was this really happening?
We’d never heard of such a thing.
Even the reckless members of Luna Team had never gone this far.
They’d been aggressive, sure, but always with a certain roughness to it.
But to politely invite someone and then bring them to the Duel Arena—this was truly unprecedented.
In fact, we’d never even heard of such a thing.
‘He brought us straight to the Duel Arena?’
Something felt off.
We’d certainly intended to do something like this.
But for it to unfold this way felt genuinely strange.
Was this really going to be an actual duel?
Could an initiation rite even be conducted like this?
Longfeng, Hwawol, and Elzahar all exchanged bewildered glances.
Yet backing out now felt equally awkward.
Though Yoo Sung-hyun had spoken politely to them, this was ultimately a challenge to a duel.
Refusing now would only make them look cowardly.
But if he’d gone this far, what was he really after?
‘What exactly is he plotting?’
‘Hmm, what on earth is happening~’
‘This is absolutely ridiculous….’
While their thoughts grew complicated,
Yoo Sung-hyun’s mind remained perfectly clear.
‘I was told not to hold back if they provoked me.’
Honestly, I didn’t fully understand the concept of initiation rites.
But shouldn’t I demonstrate that I have the skill to raid solo?
And the most reliable way to prove one’s abilities is through direct confrontation, isn’t it?
That’s why I brought them to the Duel Arena.
I was willing to accept their initiation rite on those grounds.
Wasn’t that what “don’t hold back” meant?
Of course, it wasn’t.
But perhaps this worked out for the better?
‘The Duel Arena is perfect—we can demonstrate our abilities clearly without petty emotional conflicts.’
It was certainly a rational approach.
Though I did wonder if something was off when I saw everyone looking bewildered.
But what’s done is done—no use crying over spilled milk.
Yoo Sung-hyun began warming up casually.
A reaction came from the other side.
‘What do we do?’
‘Hmm, you should go first?’
‘You’re the weakest anyway.’
Pressured by Elzahar and Hwawol’s glances, Longfeng reluctantly stepped forward.
Yoo Sung-hyun spoke without even confirming it.
“Since you’re raiding alone, I have to fight all four of you at once, right?”
“Huh???”
“…?”
“???”
“Wait, hold on. Not me!”
Luna tried to explain urgently.
Perhaps her explanation was too incomplete?
He interpreted it completely differently.
“Ah, so it’s those three people then.”
It was like pouring an entire truckload of oil onto a burning house.
And naturally, those words became the trigger.
Luna tried to salvage the situation belatedly.
But it was already too late.
The water had already spilled.
“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant….”
“Yeah! Yeah! Team leader, no. No. If we exclude the team leader, it’s totally doable, right? We should step up for our senior, shouldn’t we?”
“Hmm, this is making me a bit angry~”
“…Yeah.”
Longfeng cut off Luna’s words, and even Elzahar’s usually composed eyes blazed with hot fury.
And Hwawol, who always spoke harshly, simply gave a short reply.
The appearance of someone whose anger had reached its peak.
Luna, realizing she truly couldn’t stop them now, quickly sent a message to Rapid.
No response.
With the situation threatening to split her head open and no way to stop it, she felt helpless.
While Luna stammered, they had already entered the Duel Arena.
The matchup was naturally Longfeng, Elzahar, and Hwawol as one team, while Yoo Sung-hyun stood alone on the other side.
“Ah, what do I do now???”
Luna somehow ended up in the spectator seats.
Some of the spectators recognized their faces.
They were far too famous.
Perhaps it was inevitable.
“Wait? Aren’t those three people from Rapid Guild’s Luna Team?”
“Huh? Really!? Longfeng, Elzahar, and Hwawol are all there!?”
“Everyone except Luna herself!?”
“But the opponent is just one person!? The arrogance is unbelievable!!!”
Several spectators grew indignant at the fact that someone was facing those three famous members of Luna Team alone.
Someone murmured.
“Wait? Isn’t that person in the black robe over there the new rookie from Rapid Guild?”
“A rookie? Ah! That Demon King!?”
“Gasp!? A match between the Demon King and the three members of Luna Team!? I’m glad I came!!!”
“But no matter how strong the Demon King is, can a rookie really win against Luna Team’s trio?”
“Isn’t this like some kind of initiation rite?”
“Either way, this should be worth watching!!!”
The spectators, thoroughly excited by the matchup, shouted loudly.
Luna, hidden among those spectators, pulled her robe down further to conceal her identity and watched them with tears nearly streaming down her face.
Her large, glistening eyes seemed ready to shed tears at any moment.
But now she could only pray that Rapid would somehow receive her message.
She worried that if negative rumors spread about Rapid Guild because of this, it would be disastrous.
Yet Rapid remained silent.
Why wasn’t she sending any contact at all?
Growing frustrated, Luna had already resigned herself to the situation—it was too late to stop it now.
‘Sigh, no matter what, beating those three will be difficult.’
Even Luna, who had been the strongest rookie in Rapid Guild before Yoo Sung-hyun arrived, had no confidence.
She could win in a one-on-one match, but even against two opponents, victory was uncertain.
But against three?
Certain defeat.
Yoo Sung-hyun might hold out for a while.
But that’s all.
‘No matter how capable he is of soloing raids… those three alone have already succeeded in raids.’
Luna had also seen the footage of Yoo Sung-hyun.
It was impressive.
She’d never seen undead like that before, and their power was considerable.
But that was all.
To that trio, Yoo Sung-hyun’s undead were merely annoying and numerous monsters.
They would face no real difficulty.
Yoo Sung-hyun had likely grown considerably since that footage was recorded.
But even so, he couldn’t match those three.
Luna worried that Yoo Sung-hyun’s confidence might be shattered.
But this was a situation of his own making.
‘Sigh, should I postpone soloing raids for later?’
If only Rapid had been contacted, things might have been different.
Luna watched the situation unfold with a look of regret at the thought.
Wondering how she would console Yoo Sung-hyun after it was all over.
The victory of those three was as good as already decided.
Just as Luna thought so.
Those three held similar thoughts as well.
‘The audacity of this guy is unbelievable. Taking on all three of us at once? And he actually tried to include our team leader Luna too?’
‘What an arrogant newbie~ We need to teach him a lesson~~’
‘…I’ll kill him.’
All three were in a state of extreme fury at Yoo Sung-hyun’s attitude of trying to include not just themselves, but Luna as well.
They believed he had disrespected Luna, their team leader whom they acknowledged.
All three exchanged glances with one mind and one purpose.
Cooperation was something they found utterly repugnant.
But this time, they decided to stand united.
All three shared the same resolve.
Yoo Sung-hyun observed the three of them and thought briefly.
‘I should test them with the Legion Commander first.’
After all, these soulless undead would be the perfect opponents to test how far I could push them.
I needed to see how far the Legion Commander’s command and buffs would reach.
Though I didn’t know their exact strength, I estimated their actual combat ability to be similar to Kim Che-gun’s level.
They also had a mage and an archer.
With all that in mind, a teal-blue light flickered like flames in Yoo Sung-hyun’s eyes.
I recalled the memories and experiences of several spirits for strategic purposes.
“…?”
“Huh?”
“Hmm.”
All three flinched at Yoo Sung-hyun’s suddenly glowing eyes.
The atmosphere had changed.
Not a game-like feeling, but something instinctive.
All three possessed keen senses.
They could clearly notice the distinct shift in Yoo Sung-hyun’s aura.
How should I describe it?
‘What is this? It doesn’t feel like a user.’
‘Hmm? Does it feel like encountering a powerful NPC~?’
‘…Tch.’
It felt like looking at an NPC, not a user.
Like an inhabitant of this world, so to speak.
It was a feeling they had occasionally sensed from the executives of Rapid Guild when observing from a distance.
No, it was far stronger than that.
They had known he was no pushover from the start.
However, the sudden shift in atmosphere made all three of them tense.
So he really does have another trick up his sleeve?
All three of us need to prepare ourselves.
A system message from the Duel Arena materialized in the air.
[3]
….
[2]
….
[1]
….
….
[0]
Time seemed to slow as the final count felt drawn out to all three of them.
Because they were more focused than ever before, time appeared to flow more slowly.
Longfeng and Hwawol moved their bodies with heightened awareness, closing the distance between them.
And then there was Elzahar, who remained rooted to the spot as if planted in the ground.
The first to activate a skill was Elzahar, who stood motionless in place.
Whoooosh—!
Clang! Clang!
Boom——!
The sound of multiple chains moving and heavy iron gates closing echoed through the air.
I thought it might be a restraint-type spell.
But the target was none other than Elzahar herself.
Chains of ice erupting from the ground bound her limbs, while a massive ice prison materialized from the air and descended to enclose Elzahar’s surroundings.
Elzahar’s body, completely restrained.
Yet from that body, tremendous mana surged forth.
Roarrrrr——!
She had utilized her job’s unique characteristic—the stronger her mana and magical power became the more she was restrained.
Yoo Sung-hyun’s eyes gleamed with intrigue at this remarkable sight.
I still don’t fully understand the other two’s jobs.
Longfeng seems like a rogue, and Hwawol seems like an archer.
But I couldn’t understand why Hwawol, an archer, was closing the distance.
There must be some reason for it.
Yoo Sung-hyun opened the Underworld as well.
Shhhhh——!
A teal-colored aura spread in all directions as portals materialized in the empty space.
Multiple portals of that teal hue opened, and from within them burst forth Spirit Barfur, the commander of the Death Legion, along with twenty soldiers from his unit.
All of them had the appearance of ghouls devoid of intelligence.
However.
At a gesture from Spirit Barfur, the commander, intelligence began to kindle in their eyes as they ignited with teal-colored light.
Dedicate victory to my master! Fight with all your might against those two! Pay no mind to the mage positioned in the rear!
At Spirit Barfur’s command, the Knoll Ghouls surged forward with a speed that eclipsed all others.
Longfeng and Hwawol, who had closed the distance in a single bound, showed no hesitation as they swung their weapons toward the Knoll Ghouls that rushed at them first.
Longfeng, who appeared to be a rogue, gripped a pair of daggers in both hands and slashed rapidly through the air.
Each attack failed to connect with a single Knoll Ghoul.
As that attack repeated five times.
A bluish aura gathered in Longfeng’s twin daggers, and a formidable blade energy carved an X-shape through the surrounding Knoll Ghouls, cleaving them apart.
Screeeech!
Five Knoll Ghouls fell in a single strike.
Intentionally failing attacks to build stacks and enhance the next one?
How intriguing.
Yoo Sung-hyun’s eyes gleamed as he observed this.
A fascinating class indeed.
And Longfeng was not the only one dealing damage.
The Knoll Ghouls that rushed toward Hwawol.
I had assumed an archer would be weak at close range.
But that was not the case at all.
Ordinarily, a bow becomes quite ineffective when used in close combat.
However, Hwawol’s bow was different.
Whiiiing—!
Burst!
After closing in, she drew the bowstring to its limit and released the arrow.
The nearby Knoll Ghouls exploded into fragments.
Seven of them in total.
Two more than Longfeng had defeated.
What was curious was that with such destructive power, the arrow should have pierced through and destroyed the Knoll Ghouls behind it as well, yet like a shotgun, only those in the immediate vicinity were affected, with no trace of penetration whatsoever.
A close-range archer, then?
Both of them are quite unusual.
And among the unusual ones, Elzahar, who was bound in the rear, could not be overlooked.
Using the amplified magical power and mana from her restraints, she unleashed wide-area magic.
She fired a beam of frost so dense it seemed like condensed blizzard, sweeping through the Knoll Ghouls in an instant.
And with power still remaining, she attempted to engulf Yoo Sung-hyun as well.
However.
Boom!
Demon Beast Barfur’s arm intercepted it, and the magic dissipated entirely.
As most of the Knoll Ghouls vanished, Yoo Sung-hyun nodded and activated Death Legion once more.
The original twenty Knoll Ghouls doubled in number, and as he opened the Underworld, more Knoll Ghouls began to emerge.
Sixty of them in total.
But that was not the end.
Twenty Skeleton Mercenaries burst forth as well.
Yoo Sung-hyun’s forces had swelled to a staggering eighty.
Hwawol muttered at the sheer absurdity of such numbers.
“It’s like playing a damn game.”
It was high praise.

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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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