The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 94

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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 94
94
3.
BOOM—!
CRASH——!
KABOOM———!
Successive deafening explosions echoed through the air.
A pungent stench permeated everything, and through the black smoke, figures came hurtling out.
It was Hindel, along with Flang, Adeline, and Lyaden.
Blood stains covered them in patches, and their appearances were utterly wretched.
The acrid reek of scorched explosions clung to them, mingled with the sharp, heavy metallic stench of blood.
It was nearly impossible to find a single uninjured spot on any of them.
Not one part of their bodies remained unscathed—a pitiful sight.
Yet in all their eyes burned an unwavering, fierce determination that refused to be extinguished.
In stark contrast, a voice cut through the smoke and explosions—one that seemed utterly baffled by the sight before it.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Amid the swirling smoke, the shockwaves from explosions, the rumbling collapse of the ground beneath them—a cacophony so deafening that even voices beside them were nearly inaudible—the footsteps of that presence rang out with crystalline clarity.
And that presence spoke.
“I cannot comprehend this.”
It furrowed its brow in utter incomprehension, observing them intently.
The hero’s party, relentlessly seeking out Helena.
If they had come to kill Helena, at least that would make sense.
But that was not their purpose.
They sought merely to converse with Helena, to find her again and again.
They had been at this for quite some time now.
And this time, they had even brought along someone who might interest my master.
It was utterly incomprehensible.
So I asked.
“What exactly drives you to seek out my master?”
Hindel answered that question.
“We wish to persuade her.”
“…Persuade her of what?”
“If one possesses such transcendent power, people cannot help but be consumed by fear. The unknown breeds terror. So if she were to step forward and act openly, would not everyone draw closer to her through understanding rather than dread?”
“….”
Displeasing.
To think they would disturb my master’s seclusion for such a trivial reason.
How contemptible.
It grated on me entirely.
The very act of seeking out my master, who lived in quiet seclusion, having turned away from the world.
That relentless conviction driving them forward, never ceasing.
Those eyes, brimming with an unbreakable will.
If I could, I would tear them apart into a thousand, ten thousand pieces this very instant.
But he is still a fledgling hero.
I alone would be more than sufficient.
Yet my master does not wish it.
Helena’s orders stand as well.
‘It continues to turn.’
The clock hand that appeared above my head from the very beginning.
As long as it exists, I cannot move rashly.
It seems like magic that activates as time passes.
But it could be a complex activation system that triggers upon specific actions.
And with each passing moment, I feel it more keenly.
A threatening aura drawing ever closer to me.
Tick, tick.
The clock hand moves, marking the passage of time.
Soon this threatening aura will transform like an angry wave and sweep over me.
When that happens, even I will face considerable peril.
Yet even with fatal wounds, I could threaten the hero and his companions as easily as flipping my palm.
Rather, once something activates and that cursed clock hand disappears, nothing will hold me back.
If that human and the hero’s party were together.
They would be truly threatening.
But that human I was wary of—my master took him away.
‘Soon now.’
They have endured stubbornly, but now they have reached their limit.
I held back somewhat due to the clock’s irritation.
But now I can finally sweep away the hero’s party, whose very presence keeps grating on my nerves.
Companions gasping for breath, ready to collapse at any moment.
And standing before them, the hero Hindel grips his sword with unwavering resolve.
As he raises his hand.
Crrrrrunch——!
A sight familiar to Hindel and his companions unfolds.
The surrounding Battlefield rises like the limbs of that existence.
It is not the sensation of clay kneaded like a golem’s arm.
It moves while maintaining the state of the surrounding terrain.
Because of this, the Forest nearby is dragged along, and trees crowd densely upon the arm.
An arm as massive as a small mountain.
A size far surpassing giants—so immense it was difficult to take in at a single glance.
It moves forward with such overwhelming mass to crush them beneath it.
“It comes—!”
At Hindel’s cry, his companions swiftly scatter beyond the arm’s reach.
But Hindel was different.
Instead, he soared skyward, leaving behind a long trajectory that resembled a comet.
Soon, I felt a crushing force descending upon me.
Even as that colossal hand pressed down, there was still considerable distance before it could reach me.
Merely by moving, the weight of the compressed air beneath it became viscerally tangible.
Yet Hindel overcame such pressure and swung his blade.
Power blooming from eyes that resembled the galaxy itself.
As he wielded the sword containing the Milky Way.
Meteors ascended skyward in reverse, as if a meteor shower were pouring from the heavens.
Tens, hundreds, thousands of stellar clusters stretched their tails upward in a magnificent spectacle, and countless sword strikes containing that meteor shower embroidered the sky.
Whoooosh——!
The countless meteor showers of sword strikes tangled and intertwined, becoming a single streak of starlight.
The meteor imbued with tremendous force collided with the mountain’s arm.
No, just before collision.
The immense forces and pressures they each harbored collided without even touching, crushing against one another.
The light contained within the meteor erupted, reducing the mountain’s arm to dust.
Yet the mass contained within the mountain’s arm could not be overcome by that light alone.
The overwhelming physical force leaking from that mass soon reached the meteor.
The meteor too could not fully release its power and dissipated.
Crackle——!
As both annihilated each other in collision.
Fragments of stone that had formed the arm rained down from the sky like hail.
Thud thud thud——!
Amidst the rain of stones, ranging from pebbles to boulders the size of a human head.
Hindel’s eyes shone brilliantly, like the luminous Milky Way.
I had thought him exhausted.
I had believed only his eyes remained alight.
Yet he harbored such power in reserve.
But now, truly, it is the end.
His breath came ragged, his jaw and shoulders heaving.
It was painfully evident that Hindel too had reached his limit, cold sweat streaming down unbidden.
That entity, Nocturnium, had also perceived it.
‘Curse it, couldn’t even last ten minutes?’
Self-loathing bloomed deep within, but I cast it aside.
Though I remain unable to fulfill Yoo Sung-hyun’s command, I gave my all.
I have no regrets.
Only regret remains.
‘That I could never meet Yoo Sung-hyun again… how I wish I could have.’
The hero Hindel, whose eyes shone brilliantly to the very end.
Displeasing though it was, now it truly was over.
From afar, the party of heroes sensed Nocturnium’s presence and rushed forward once more.
Were they trying to save Hindel?
But it was too late.
Nocturnium was about to pour forth its power again as it gazed upon Hindel.
Screeeech—!
Craaack———!
A single shadow emerged through the space that was torn asunder and split wide open.
Shrouded in darkness at first, I could not discern whose form it was.
But as the darkness that had enveloped it bloomed away and the figure was laid bare before us.
Nocturnium’s eyes widened in a violent tear.
A young man clad in a dark robe, equipped with gear that appeared to be fashioned from soft white fur.
It was Yoo Sung-hyun.
The one Helena had brought with her.
Nocturnium stared at Yoo Sung-hyun in shock.
“Im, impossible. How, how could this be? How!!!”
What did it mean that Yoo Sung-hyun, whom Helena had taken with her, was here?
It should not be possible, but could something have happened to Helena?
It might be needless worry.
Yet as her retainer, this was not the time to remain idle here.
I had to ascertain whether Helena was safe.
Just for a moment.
If I focused for but a brief instant, I could discern everything within the Fortress.
But could I afford such time?
Yoo Sung-hyun gazed down upon the battlefield with an aloof expression.
At that composed and resolute gaze, Nocturnium flinched and looked up at Yoo Sung-hyun.
Was this the resolve to grant no opening?
‘I must prepare myself.’
My master could never have fallen to him.
But if Yoo Sung-hyun had truly fled from her, or even managed to hold her back for a moment.
He must have expended considerable power.
As Nocturnium’s imagination ran wild with such thoughts.
Yoo Sung-hyun surveyed the battlefield and considered.
‘What is this mess?’
It appeared that Hindel and his companions had been locked in fierce combat with Nocturnium.
Yet seeing Nocturnium in pristine condition.
They must have been pushed back considerably.
Judging by the infinitely hopeful expressions on Hindel and his companions’ faces.
I had arrived at a dramatic moment.
At first, I was somewhat bewildered when told I would be transported here.
But truthfully, I was pleased.
Before leaving, I was able to confirm the new skill I had unfolded.
“Is it now?”
“…?!”
Tick—.
Dong—!
Dong——!
Dong———!
The moment Yoo Sung-hyun finished speaking.
The sound of clock hands striking the hour rang out.
Followed by a grand alarm bell tolling through the air.
As the enormous bell hovering above Nocturnium’s head moved, it unleashed its majestic sound.
Certainly, a grand, vast, and profoundly resonant bell toll had rung—so why was it that
it sounded so ominous and sinister?
That bell toll announcing the hour soon ensnared Nocturnium, and the sounds of the bells wrapped around the surroundings like a living force, rushing toward him with intent.
The bell tolls, transformed into bizarre spectral entities like phantoms, no longer sounded like bells at all.
Kyaaaaa——!
Kiiaaaa———!
Kuaaaa————!
A mournful wail rising from hell writhing in agony struck Nocturnium with devastating force.
“Cough.”
Gushhhhh———!
As blood spilled from his mouth, tears of blood streamed from both eyes, blood flowing from his burst ears, and blood pouring from his nose as well.
That was not all.
Blood gushed like fountains from every opening in his body.
Rather than blood fountains, it was more like vapor—a thin mist of blood spraying even from the smallest pores.
The mournful wail from hell had ravaged all his internal organs; not a single part appeared intact.
Drip, drip.
Wipe, wipe.
Nocturnium hastily wiped the blood drenching his face with his sleeve.
Behind that, only his pupils trembling violently remained visible.
I was shocked by a power far beyond imagination.
I could never have imagined such an existence existed, save for Helena’s retainers and disciples.
The emergence of another transcendent being?
When all beings encounter incomprehensible phenomena, they are seized by terror.
Nocturnium was no exception.
Pupils trembling violently and a body quivering like an aspen leaf.
As fear spread through his body.
He tried to regain his composure and recover.
Yoo Sung-hyun’s eyes gleamed.
‘Recov… ery…?’
I was clearly trying to recover my stamina.
But that recovery only betrayed Nocturnium’s expectations instead.
Gaaaaaahhhhh——!
Blood erupted from every part of my body once more.
“Ugh…”
Already reeling from massive damage and disorientation, the healing had backfired catastrophically.
How was this even possible?
Nocturnium couldn’t comprehend a single thing.
Well, except for one.
I could tell that Yoo Sung-hyun, my opponent, was a being of formidable power.
‘Hmm, was that too much?’
Helena had said I could test my swordsmanship, so I even tested the most devastating effect, but looking at the situation now.
It did seem a bit excessive.
Well, it’s the past anyway, unrelated to the butterfly effect.
I thought Yoo Sung-hyun would be fine and drew my blade.
Now there was only one thing left to test.
The newly acquired Almighty-grade skill.
A skill whose name I was too embarrassed to reveal.
Helena’s devastatingly powerful swordsmanship.
As I unleashed that technique.
The light of the world vanished.

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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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