The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 139

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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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The Return of an EX-Rank Mage Episode 139
A staff rested in Bessius’s hand.
In other words, this was not a no-item match.
‘I distinctly confirmed it.’
The mock battle application form.
It clearly stated ‘no-item match.’
Choi Kang-mok asked innocently.
“Is there a problem?”
“You said no-item match!”
“When did I?”
Bessius’s face drained of color, turning ashen.
“You deceitful bastard!”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
Bessius spun around sharply.
He shouted toward Kang Pal-do, who drifted like a phantom in observer mode.
“It’s all recorded, right? We agreed to a no-item match! Broadcast it to the whole world!”
This was a golden opportunity. I could expose the EX-rank Awakener’s despicable tricks to the entire world.
Even if I lost, I’d have an excuse.
‘It wouldn’t be a loss due to skill difference, but due to cowardice.’
Then there’d be no shame.
Kang Pal-do grinned wickedly.
A close-up of Bessius’s aggrieved expression!
The live viewer count was skyrocketing in the tens of thousands.
“Hehe.”
That’s right.
The no-item match agreement was all recorded.
He simply hadn’t broadcast it until now.
Kang Pal-do glanced subtly toward the EX-rank Awakener.
‘This EX-rank Awakener bastard…’
Honestly, Kang Pal-do was quite furious at the moment.
Day after day, his luck was being mined away.
‘Still not dead? Fine, I’ll keep mining by feel.’
During meals, before sleep, even on the toilet.
Constantly summoned.
As a content creator, he’d achieved tremendous success, but his overall quality of life had plummeted vertically.
‘Good, this is revenge.’
Kang Pal-do opened his mouth.
“Yes, that’s correct. We did agree to a no-item match! I’ll upload it after the stream ends!”
Though Kang Pal-do spoke with confidence, Bessius felt oddly uneasy.
‘Something’s fishy!’
I thought about it rationally. My opponent was an EX-rank Awakener.
Antonio had acknowledged the EX-rank Awakener as a world-class lord.
And such a person was going to do a live broadcast with an uncontrollable YouTuber mixed in?
‘He’s far too composed.’
His cowardly schemes were about to be exposed to the entire world, yet he showed no agitation whatsoever.
Clearly, he was plotting something.
But not knowing what it was made things even more confusing.
‘Or not?’
Was Kang Pal-do merely speaking that way, but actually siding with the EX-rank Awakener?
Was he planning to conduct a one-sided biased broadcast?
This should have been coordinated from the start.
‘No, get a grip! If I waver, it’s over!’
This was psychological warfare. Lords would do anything to win in war.
Strategy, trickery—they spared no means.
‘Sociopaths who think that as long as the objective is achieved, anything goes! That bastard must be the same!’
I reminded myself not to judge through the lens of a pure mage like myself.
Magical combat is a battle of the mind.
Even a slight lapse in concentration halves magical efficiency.
Casting speed and accuracy both diminish.
It’s not for nothing that mages are called top-tier difficulty.
‘This is all part of that bastard’s plan.’
In a previous internal report from Real Madrid, the EX-rank Awakener was described as someone who valued ‘planning.’
A madman obsessed with plans, muttering like self-hypnosis that everything was going according to plan.
‘Then, I simply won’t play along.’
Then it would be him who wavers instead.
And gradually, a sense of composure began to settle within me.

* * *
Kang Pal-do’s live broadcast triggered an explosive reaction across the globe.
The mock battle with Bessius had certainly been a hot topic, but what truly captivated the masses was something else entirely.
EX-rank Awakener Choi Kang-mok. His face had been revealed to the public for the first time.
[EX awakened person wakes up face]
“That was bold as hell lol”
└But why is he so handsome?
└That’s crossing a line
└Is that a filter?
The public erupted in excitement.
[Isn’t this basically a declaration of ‘come at me’?]
└Revealing my face = Welcoming assassins lol
└You can’t do this without overwhelming confidence
[Summary]
└EX-rank Awakener reveals face
└He’s handsome
└”I’ll show you what happens to Bessius, assassins welcome” absolute confidence move
└I’m lowkey intimidated;;;​
The lords of each city did not take this matter lightly.
“This is no mere performance.”
“Yes. It’s an intentional warning.”
They read profound significance into the timing of an EX-rank Awakener revealing his face.
He had assassinated Antonio before the eyes of Europe’s leaders.
Not a single one had intervened, and none had sought retribution.
Spain had not only failed to seek revenge against the EX-rank Awakener—it had surrendered instead.
Real Madrid, once one of the World’s Three Major Guilds, had thus exited into history, and Barcelona had filled that void.
And the Majorca Lord, once a peripheral figure, had suddenly risen to prominence.
Each lord offered their own analysis.
“The destruction of the Tower could arguably be interpreted as a systemic mechanic.”
“In other words, he seems intent on demonstrating his combat prowess against Bessius, a world-class ranker… ahem, against Bessius himself.”
It was far too deliberate and calculated to be packaged under the single word ‘audacity’.
In truth, whether Choi Kang-mok revealed his face or not mattered little to the lords.
What mattered was his behavioral pattern itself.
“Still, we must focus on one crucial fact: whether he kills Bessius or not.”
A fact once proven in the territorial war with the Pyongyang Lord.
An EX-rank Awakener could even destroy ‘resurrection settings’.
“If he kills Bessius….”
“It would become an opportunity to cultivate negative sentiment. We could gain justification for restraining the EX-rank Awakener.”
“But what if he stops at a moderate point instead? What if he succeeds in displaying his power?”
“Then we’d reach the conclusion that the EX-rank Awakener is a terrifying figure even from a diplomatic perspective.”
However, there was one thing that captured their attention.
“I’m uncertain whether the destructive power can be controlled when targeting individuals….”
“If that were possible, that would be true terror.”
The key figures found sniping far more terrifying than bombardment.
In some respects, it wielded far greater power from a political and strategic standpoint.
As the lords continued their conference, Choi Kang-mok smiled faintly.
In truth, I hadn’t given it much thought.
I hadn’t meticulously calculated the timing.
It was simply… my disciple came back victorious, so the master had to step forward?
Or perhaps, I wanted to add Bessius to the list of mock battle losers?
The mock battle would begin shortly.
‘This is my first time using Meteor Shower on a person.’
-Yes, first experiences are always thrilling, aren’t they 🙂
-Something feels… like it will bloom beautifully. My heart is racing a bit.
[The mock battle begins in 10 seconds.]
[Transferring to a designated location.]
Choi Kang-mok and Bessius were engulfed in light.
This too had not been coordinated beforehand.
Bessius bit his lip.
‘Damn it!’
I’d been too naive.
Expecting an EX-rank Awakener to fight fairly was my fatal mistake.
‘He’s calculating to fight from a distance.’
Space liberation.
Since he has ballistic missiles.
‘Hmph, but I’ll win this time.’
After winning, you have to wave your wand and show ‘kkkkkkkkkkk’.
I was equally underhanded.
‘I’ve already cast [Veil of the Void] beforehand.’
The Veil of the Void—a curse of the perception-inhibition category.
I’d already applied it before the mock battle started.
It was a mock battle-exclusive spell, specially modified to continue applying even during the mock battle.
Christine had also been thoroughly beaten by this magic.
My opponent was so absorbed in his own plans that he didn’t even notice the curse being cast.
‘My opponent must be an expert in precise, refined long-range magic. I define myself as using sniper magic.’
Regardless of what others perceive—bombardment or whatever.
What matters is that the mage himself perceives it as ‘sniping’.
The most important element of sniping is naturally precision.
The Veil of the Void obscures the light of that precision.
‘If I win this time, would it be the first defeat of an EX-rank Awakener?’
My heart pounds.
I can deliver my opponent their first defeat.
I can’t hold back.
I will win, no matter what.

* * *
Choi Kang-mok wasn’t unfamiliar with the Veil of Emptiness.
To begin with, this curse had been successfully dispelled in Haeju at the EX-Rank Shop’s 35th Floor.
Compared to that time, this version’s quality was inferior.
It was a kind of reverse sense of threat.
‘I should take a hit like this to avoid complacency.’
Instead of dodging such trivial matters, I fully deployed my Deception Disruption ability.
I disrupted the conversation being recorded by Kang Pal-do, and manipulated the contents of the mock battle application.
Indeed, real combat is the best practice.
I thought it would be fine even if I failed, but fortunately everything went according to plan.
-When using sniper magic, it seems like it would be quite an annoying curse.
If necessary, I can dispel it through Materialization.
I’m capable of dispelling curses up to the Legendary tier.
I pride myself as an all-weather, orthodox Dispel Specialist.
However, I deliberately didn’t dispel it.
‘I happened to want to test something.’
Meteorization-Energy Bolt → Success.
Meteorization-Energy Floor → Success.
Meteorization-Energy Floor Precision Control → Success.
What remains now?
Meteorization-High Spirit.
I’ve already secured Raymond’s cooperation.
-Professor, please help ensure Bessius doesn’t die.
-So, in Meteorization using High Spirits, you mean…?
Raymond rarely showed uncertainty.
He said he wasn’t specialized in “protecting” someone himself.
-The Lucky Mine worked because it’s inherently a survival-specialized mine, but this time is a bit…
-I’ll provide stabilization fragments refined from unbreakable stone at any time.
-I think we might be able to save him.
In real combat, it’s difficult. But in a mock battle, it’s possible.
Fundamentally, the “resurrection setting” applies.
In such circumstances, I should be able to preserve his life somehow.
-You must only use Meteorization with High Spirits.
-If you add anything else, that aspiring mage will definitely die.
I’ve already prepared countermeasures.
And thanks to the Veil of Void, the coordinates are scrambled as well.
Landing a direct hit would be dangerous, so it’s better to strike slightly off-target.
Actually, this works in my favor. Everything is proceeding according to plan.
[Skill, ‘High Spirit’….]
[High Spirit’s rank is ascending….]
[SSS+ ▶▶▶ EX-]
And the result was shocking.
Seven colors of light tore through the air and descended.
The spirits falling from the heavens obliterated the entire mock battle field, reducing it to rubble.
The Veil of Void? Coordinate distortion?
Meaningless.
The entire battlefield had been erased.
Everything except for a radius of about ten meters around Choi Kang-mok was destroyed.
“Gasp, damn it, I almost died.”
Kang Pal-do, still in observer mode, collapsed to the ground.
The moment his spectral state dissolved and his feet touched the mock battle field,
Crack! The ground split open.
Soon the entire field crumbled with a deafening crash!
The space itself collapsed.
We were forcibly returned to reality.
Kang Pal-do barely managed to speak.
“W, we’ve been sent back to the NPC-Exclusive Magic Lecture Hall….”
This place isn’t intact either.
Everything is shattered everywhere.
Until moments ago it had been pristine and orderly, but now it lay half in ruins.
It looked like a place abandoned for about a hundred years without maintenance.
“This place is wrecked too…?”
Further ahead, I could see Bessius barely clinging to life and gasping for breath, with Raymond sprawled beside him.
Bessius was muttering.
“…Damn it, and you call that a snipe?”
After a long moment, a notification sounded.
[Mock■battle ….]
Crackle- crackle-
The system window was glitching.
The distortion continued for quite some time.
I focused on the notification.
‘The text is corrupted again.’
This situation is far from ideal in many ways.
Before Meteor Form and High Spirit could fully manifest, the field was destroyed.
I never got to use it to its full potential.
A failure.
Yet the notification that followed was shocking.
“…What?”
[Mo ■ Jeon Jjupjjop]
[30 Wins/0■/0♪♬]
I cannot provide a reliable translation for this text as it contains numerous corrupted or garbled characters that don’t form coherent Korean words. The string appears to be damaged or improperly encoded.
The characters were still corrupted, but the meaning was unmistakable.
“Gold rank?”
I wasn’t entirely sure, but nearly twenty wins had been credited to my record.
A brilliant golden radiance gleamed across my record—incomparably more lustrous than Bronze.
Magnificent. Like a true mage’s insignia.
“…Did it go according to plan?”

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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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