The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 69

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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 69
Episode 69
They handed over a Unique-grade skill book without hesitation.
None of the NPCs I had encountered thus far had done such a thing.
Except for those connected to Overpalace.
In other words, even if not quite at the level of Overpalace itself.
Could this person not be an important figure belonging to an organization of comparable standing?
As my thoughts reached that conclusion.
I found myself in a somewhat awkward position.
It wasn’t as though I had done anything particularly wrong.
But after all, wasn’t I the successor—or perhaps the heir—to Helena, who had been called the Dark Mage and the Demon King? In any case, something along those lines.
‘What if they view me unfavorably?’
Should I flee?
All I had done was accept a commission and complete it.
Perhaps I was worrying needlessly.
After all, the reputation of Dark Mages had improved considerably thanks to Overpalace.
I could only trust in that.
As I thought things through to that point.
Plinky was about to say something.
“Ah! And…”
But those words could not be fully spoken.
—Grrrraaaaaaah—!(Enemies!)
—Screeeeeee—!(Enemies!)
Kalisha and Anemor roared simultaneously.
To Plinky’s ears, it was merely a cry, but I could understand them.
Though they were creatures I had only just turned into undead today.
I could already comprehend what that signified.
I could understand the speech of all spirits.
My eyes gleamed with a teal-blue light.
From the bank of the vast and deep Trin River, a column of water erupted skyward.
Fwoooooosh—————!
The water column shot up as if to touch the heavens, and piercing through it came an enormous shadow.
It was somewhat different from the Riverside Trolls I had captured—twenty-three of them.
The webbed feet and fins, even the scales characteristic of aquatic creatures, all matched, yet this one was far more massive than any of the others.
Most notably, it possessed tusks both savage and enormous.
At a glance, it was no ordinary creature.
[You encounter the Field Boss, 『Rigus, the Riverside Troll Chieftain』.]
As expected.
It was a Field Boss.
The moment it appeared, I stepped forward protectively in front of Plinky.
Protecting Plinky takes priority.
As Yoo Sung-hyun stepped forward, Kalisha and Anemor unleashed a savage aura, threatening the troll.
-Grrrraaaaaaagh——!(How dare you! Who do you think you’re showing your fangs to?!)
-Skreeeeeee——!(I’d tear you apart and it still wouldn’t be enough!)
Rigus, the leader of the riverside trolls, initially seemed somewhat intimidated by their overwhelming pressure.
But soon, consumed by rage, Rigus roared back in fury.
“Guuuaaaaaaagh——!”
They were locked in a mutual display of threats.
Yet numerically and in sheer momentum, Yoo Sung-hyun’s side held the advantage.
The troll stood alone, having already lost all his subordinates, while Yoo Sung-hyun had Kalisha and Anemor—both field boss-class undead—plus dozens of Ash Crows circling overhead.
If they clashed, the outcome was obvious.
Rigus seemed to understand this; he didn’t rashly charge forward.
He merely gnashed his teeth in frustration.
The reason the Ash Crows, Kalisha, and Anemor weren’t attacking Rigus wasn’t because he was formidable.
‘Wait.’
Yoo Sung-hyun had told them to wait.
This wasn’t someone who normally held back his forces.
But there was a reason for the delay.
The moment Yoo Sung-hyun stepped forward to protect Plinky.
Plinky’s eyes gleamed with something she desperately wanted to say.
Did she have something she wanted?
“You had something you wanted to say, didn’t you?”
At Yoo Sung-hyun’s question, Plinky burst forth as if she’d been waiting for permission.
“Oh! I’m not interrupting, am I?! It seems like a tense standoff, but thinking about it… you all look calm enough that I can speak, right? Right? So, um, if it’s alright with you, would it be possible if I…”
As Plinky spoke in a rush, she rummaged through her dimensional pouch and pulled something out.
A blue liquid sloshing inside a glass vial.
The liquid shimmered with an otherworldly aura, housed in a rather exquisite bottle.
There was no need to ask what it was.
Yoo Sung-hyun’s eyes had already identified it.
[Plinky’s Special Mana Potion]
But it wasn’t just one.
[Plinky’s Special Dark Magic Enhancement Potion]
[Plinky’s Special Undead Enhancement Potion]
[Plinky’s Special Resistance Enhancement Potion]
[Plinky’s Special Mana Enhancement Potion]
She’d pulled out five different types of potions in total.
And not just a few of each.
By rough count, she’d retrieved five of each variety.
That came to twenty-five potions altogether.
The total came to as many as twenty-five.
When Yoo Sung-hyun’s eyes met Plinky’s, I wondered what was going on.
“If you don’t mind… could you fight after drinking this?”
“…?”
Wasn’t it normally Yoo Sung-hyun who made the requests?
Why had the roles reversed?
It was confusing, though.
It didn’t matter.
“I’d be delighted.”
“Oh! Thank you so much!!! Please, try it right away!”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Without hesitation, I drank Plinky’s special mana potion first.
[You have consumed Plinky’s Special Mana Potion.]
[Mana recovers by a total of +15%.]
‘What is this….’
Just the mana potion alone left me astounded.
It restored 5% more than the effect of the Tricolor Whistle.
Could the others be the same?
[You have consumed Plinky’s Special Dark Magic Enhancement Potion.]
[For 10 minutes, Dark Mage-series skills are enhanced by +5%.]
[You have consumed Plinky’s Special Undead Enhancement Potion.]
[For 10 minutes, all stats of directly summoned undead increase by +10%.]
[You have consumed Plinky’s Special Resistance Enhancement Potion.]
[For 10 minutes, all resistances increase by +5%.]
[You have consumed Plinky’s Special Mana Enhancement Potion.]
[For 10 minutes, maximum mana increases by +10%.]
‘Insane.’
This wasn’t something Yoo Sung-hyun would normally use.
But there was no choice now.
Each one of these potions corresponded to at least Epic-grade quality.
And five of each type were being distributed right now.
I didn’t know the value of potions like these all that well.
But the thought that each one was worth at least hundreds, or perhaps even over a thousand, made my hands and feet tremble.
A Unique Skill Book, and now potions of this caliber?
No matter how much of a billionaire I’d become.
My heart was still that of an ordinary person.
Swallowing hard, I looked at Plinky.
As if asking: are you really sure about this?
But Plinky’s eyes gleamed as she spoke instead.
“Can you raise those creatures too!??”
I understood it was simply a question.
But I couldn’t just let it pass.
If I’ve received this much, there should be an exchange, shouldn’t there?
Snap!
Yoo Sung-hyun raised his hand and flicked his fingers.
A teal-colored heart materialized in his palm, its pulse reverberating through the air.
The Riverside Trolls that Plinky had butchered—leaving only corpse fragments—began to swell and bubble as darkness roiled within them.
Black darkness filled the gaps where flesh and bone were lacking, and the Riverside Trolls were resurrected.
Or rather, they returned alongside death.
Though they resembled zombies, their regenerative prowess from life remained intact—their bodies appeared whole and intact, leaving Rigus, their former boss, with nothing but his jaw hanging agape.
His subordinates, whom he thought were dead, had been brought back to life.
And as enemies.
How was he supposed to react to this?
He couldn’t know, but confusion engulfed him entirely.
“Wow! Wow! Wow! I was thinking about those two, but these undead are completely different from the others!?!?”
“Well, I suppose they are.”
“Wow!!! They’re really amazing!!! I’ve never seen undead like this before.”
Plinky’s eyes sparkled as though entranced by rapture.
I thought this might be a bit dangerous.
But like an irresponsible uncle who boldly orders chicken while babysitting his nephew, indulging in guilt-free pleasure.
Yoo Sung-hyun nodded as if to say it didn’t matter.
Since things had come to this.
“Would it be alright if I used the skill book I just received here?”
I asked a question that might have been somewhat presumptuous.
Since I’d already consumed potions and received buffs.
I wanted to test out the new skill.
Yoo Sung-hyun asked despite the impropriety.
Plinky quickly nodded dozens of times in response, as if delighted.
“Huh!? That’s what I was hoping to ask!?”
“Oh? Then.”
Yoo Sung-hyun accepted all the prompts that came to mind for using the skill book and immediately unlocked the skill.
After all, it was an exclusive Dark Mage skill.
The skill obtained this way.
『Self Within Darkness』
→《Unique》
→[Lv Max][Complete Form]
[Sustained Effect][Passive]
→Exclusive skill for Dark Mage class jobs.
→Awakens the self within darkness, simultaneously enabling the use of different types of magic.
‘Huh.’
A very straightforward explanation.
But the impact was equally powerful.
A skill capable of casting different spells simultaneously.
In simpler terms, double casting.
And it was a passive skill at that.
Wasn’t this among the highest tier of Unique-grade skills?
Until now, I hadn’t been able to cast spells simultaneously either.
Simultaneous casting had been impossible.
But not anymore.
‘If I layer Corpse Poison first, I can use Corpse Explosion and Explosive Poison at the same time?’
Just how devastating would that explosion be?
I should test it immediately.
I had Plinky, after all.
I could have reasoned that explosions were dangerous and postponed the experiment.
But I didn’t.
I deliberately mobilized the additional Riverside Trolls that had been summoned through Anemor.
They exhaled a faint verdant mist.
-Gwoooarrgh!
-Kueek!
-Guwoooarrgh!
Though each lacked intelligence, it was a horrifying sight for Rigus, who had once been their commander.
Would he truly have to kill his own subordinates with his own hands?
Rigus had that thought for a moment, then shook his head vigorously.
No.
Rather, it was a blessing.
Now I could grant my subordinates eternal rest with my own hands!
I would lay them to rest and unleash my fury upon those who desecrate death itself!
Rigus expressed that rage through a roar.
“Gwoooarrghhhh!”
A mighty roar that shook the very earth.
That roar alone was enough to send shivers down the spines of Kalisha and Anemor.
One could sense the depth of his fury in that cry.
Rigus charged forward, extending his long claws like blades to grant his subordinates eternal rest.
Shwing! Shwing!
Since they were claws rather than sharp blades, they tore through with a crude, rending sound as he plunged into the midst of the Riverside Troll zombies.
The faint verdant mist corroded and dissolved his body.
But he paid it no mind.
Shallow wounds that would regenerate soon enough.
Granting his subordinates eternal rest was far more important than tending to such trivial injuries.
“Gwoooarrgh!”
In that moment, he cried out like a warrior.
Rigus watched as flames ignited across his subordinates’ bodies.
The ignition wasn’t limited to just their flesh.
He saw sparks flaring between the pale green wisps of poison as well.
Unable to fully comprehend the phenomenon, Rigus couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion.
“Wha—?”
Those were Rigus’s final words.
BOOOOOOM————!
An indescribable inferno swept outward, consuming everything on the ground in its path.
It swallowed Rigus, who stood closest, and even a portion of the Trin River itself.
The overwhelming heat collided with the Trin River, and violent steam billowed upward.
HISSSSSSS———!
Yet despite the river’s intervention, the explosion’s heat remained unquenched, generating a powerful updraft.
The explosion cloud and steam born from the blast rode the updraft in a single surge, forming a towering column of smoke.
The shockwave from the explosion rippled outward across the surrounding terrain.
RUMMMMMBLE————!
Tremor, tremor, tremor.
The earth shook as if struck by an earthquake, and in the most violent areas, the ground split open.
It was truly overwhelming in its destructive force.
Yet within that overwhelming explosion, two people sheltered behind protective barriers conjured by two massive ash-grey ravens exhaled sharply in awe.
“Wow….”
“Hah….”
There were no other words to speak.
Before such a magnificent spectacle, anyone would be speechless.
It wasn’t quite the power of a nuclear detonation.
I can say that with certainty.
But wasn’t this the strongest power I could currently unleash?
Even Anemor and Kalisha, who had already submitted to my command and were safe from the blast, trembled as they recalled memories from their past lives.
If the darkness within me had existed before my confrontation with Anemor.
Wouldn’t I have been able to defeat Anemor far more quickly?
I found myself making such speculations.
[You have defeated the Field Boss, 『Rigus, the Riverside Troll Chieftain』.]
[You have gained experience!]
[The corpse cannot be found.]
[『Death Legion』 cannot be used.]
Along with the confirmation message, a notification I’d never seen before appeared.
It said the corpse couldn’t be found and that Death Legion couldn’t be used.
The Riverside Trolls I’d created with Anemor were in the same state.
So great power truly comes with great responsibility?
‘If caught in a simultaneous explosion, even the existing Death Legion becomes difficult to revive.’
Another new lesson learned.
If they’re completely pulverized, there’s no resurrecting them.
It’s a bit wasteful, I’ll admit.
But honestly, it’s fortunate.
The explosion was triggered only by the creatures I summoned from Anemor.
I shouldn’t use this fusion explosion unless it’s a truly critical moment.
I declared a temporary seal.
And now that I’ve confirmed the power of my shadow self, I was thinking of heading back.
Just then, Plinky’s eyes sparkled as if to say something, but she suddenly scrunched up her face and let out a deep sigh.
“Sigh. I’m afraid I need to get going. I would have loved to spend more time with you, Yoo Sung-hyun, but alas. Oh! And if you ever need more potions, please don’t hesitate to visit me!”
With those words, Plinky handed me something, and as I accepted it with a puzzled tilt of my head, she was already walking away.
Plinky stretched out her hand and waved it grandly before disappearing further into the distance.
I wondered if she’d be alright going alone.
But thinking of the potions she’d given me, I figured nothing would happen to her and let it go.
What exactly did she give me anyway?
[Alchemist’s Tower Seal – Heir of the Sage, Plinky]
“…?”
It seems I’ve received something quite significant.
It seems I’ve received something quite important.

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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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