The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 156

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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 156
The barbarian warrior unit led by Atublang was formidable.
And the mobile turrets—the minions—lent wings to their advance.
Without the support of scientific civilization, it was virtually impossible for awakeners at Earth’s current level to halt their momentum.
The front lines began to crumble. A relentless tide of conquest.
Countless villages and cities burned, and civilian casualties snowballed beyond measure.
Al Hirab, the Saudi monarch, bit his lip.
“Their advance is too swift.”
No matter how strong the barbarian warriors were, no matter how the minions supported the battlefield, this was wrong.
The pace was abnormal.
It was as if someone who knew this terrain intimately was commanding them.
“It appears there are traitors among us.”
“Traitors?”
Not all Earthlings sided with Earth’s interests.
There were those seduced by Atublang’s overwhelming strength.
And there were factions that had rebelled against the existing order.
The most prominent among them was the Chambit Revolutionary Army.
“The Chambit Revolutionary Army has sided with them.”
“Worthless scum.”
The Chambit Revolutionary Army was a radical anti-establishment faction that had long exposed the corruption of existing civilization.
They called themselves the “True Inheritors of Light” and subscribed to an extreme meritocratic ideology.
True to their villainous nature, they desired an order centered entirely on awakeners, and they confessed to feeling a “profound sense of liberation” in the brutality of Atublang and the barbarian warriors.
They provided classified intelligence to Atublang.
The locations of major weapons within Saudi Arabia, the operational ranges of rankers, even tactical predictions based on scientific weaponry.
Based on this intelligence, the minions were repositioned.
The mobile minions derived from the turrets intercepted missiles, neutralized weapons, and effectively sealed off the entire modern weapons system.
[Breaking News: Saudi front collapses in vain…]
[Breaking News: Barbarian warriors advancing with unstoppable momentum]
[Breaking News: Middle East Alliance awakeners crumbling mercilessly]
To anyone’s eyes, victory belonged to the barbarian warriors.
At that moment, Ibrahim, the leader of the Chambit Revolutionary Army, sought out Atublang directly.
He knelt and pressed his lips to the ground, displaying the utmost reverence.
“I pay my respects to the War Commander.”
“What is it?”
Atublang’s gaze was unkind.
Earthlings who had betrayed Earth—garbage, all of them.
For now, he tolerated them because they were useful, but one day he would sever all their limbs.
Yet Ibrahim found even that gaze honorable.
Contempt born from overwhelming power.
It was the very gaze he had yearned for all this time.
‘I’m still weak.’
Contempt was inevitable.
Yet he welcomed that gaze with something akin to joy.
“An EX-Rank Awakener could potentially make a move.”
Ibrahim cited several precedents regarding the danger and delivered his warning.
At that, Atublang’s expression darkened.
“What? You’re telling me to be cautious of a single Destroyer?”
“Yes. EX-Rank Awakeners are dangerous.”
Atublang rose from his seat.
“Come closer.”
“…Yes!”
Ibrahim was moved.
He believed this great Warlord would praise and encourage him.
On his knees, he crawled forward like a dog toward the Warlord.
Atublang quietly raised his fist.
With a motion as gentle as if petting a head…
—Boom!
With an explosive sound, Ibrahim’s head burst open.
Like a crushed watermelon.
Blood and brain matter scattered as his kneeling body collapsed.
On the ground remained only the split skull, like a broken watermelon rind.
Atublang shook the blood from his fist and muttered with displeasure.
“How absurd.”
Be cautious of a single Destroyer.
To Warlord Atublang, such words were far too insulting.

* * *
Choi Kang-mok’s eyes grew serious.
‘I wanted to practice Dispel magic….’
Conveniently, ‘minions’ that were perfect for real combat training had revealed themselves.
Interception, dispelling, defense—they were entities that cast precise magic against science itself.
A perfect opportunity to experience Dispel magic in actual combat.
…Yet now was not the time. The damage to Saudi Arabia was too severe.
Choi Kang-mok opened his mouth.
“I intend to deploy a purification spell that applies the principles of interception magic.”
The eyes of Saudi Arabia’s monarch, Al Hirab, gleamed.
An EX-rank Awakener had rushed here, setting everything else aside.
“I am grateful for the friendship of a dear friend.”
He confirmed once more.
“So you’re saying you’ll destroy the towers using interception magic?”
“I’m planning to attempt a purification spell that applies the principles of interception magic.”
“Yes, thank you, my friend.”
He didn’t understand what the difference was, but one thing was certain.
The EX-rank Awakener was a friend.
Wasn’t a true friend one who helped in times of difficulty?
Many were withdrawing their support for Saudi Arabia.
The savage warriors were simply too strong to aid Saudi Arabia.
The trend was to hastily send many rankers back to their home countries and strengthen their own border defenses.
Yet the EX-rank Awakener had come here.
Despite it having little to do with the ‘South Korea’ he held so dear.
“No. I just didn’t like those bastards.”
They dared to kidnap Kang Hye?
That crossed the line.
A warning came before Dispel magic practice.
Al Hirab marveled inwardly.
‘The EX-rank Awakener’s way of speaking is always like that.’
He never sought credit.
He had always maintained that stance in South Korea as well.
Saving countless lives of the marginalized and non-Awakeners, yet he never once positioned himself as a savior.
Moving for the benefit of the entire nation, yet never once coveting the title of hero.
That was how Al Hirab saw Choi Kang-mok.
“To apply interception magic effectively, it seems advantageous to employ smaller, lighter magical principles.”
“Should I understand this to mean that ICBM warheads are better when lighter?”
“Similar.”
I had accumulated practical experience through repeated combat.
Now I had grown quite confident in interception magic.
It’s not even striking across dimensions. This is simple.
[Skill, Meteor Form (EX) activated.]
Meteor Form applies to Energy Bolt.
This is sufficient for interception.
‘I’d like to try the science staff too….’
No matter how I think about it, it’s frustrating.
Why did he have to come all the way here and create such an urgent situation?
If I had stayed at the main base, I could have leisurely practiced Dispel magic and experimented with new artifacts.
New magic. New staff.
I can’t use any of it now.
[Skill, Energy Bolt (S) activated.]
Based on my ability to comprehend and interpret structure, I fixed the coordinates.
Followed by spatial liberation.
The Energy Bolt materialized directly above the tower.

* * *
The tower wailed its siren.
[Bombardment alert! Bombardment alert!]
The tower trembled, emitting crimson light.
As the red glow touched the ground, countless minions surged upward.
They formed a semicircular formation at regular intervals.
Without any command, they synchronized their breathing to a steady rhythm and began chanting an incantation.
“■■■”
“■■■”
A language mostly incomprehensible.
Yet one thing was unmistakable.
“Dispel.”
“Dispel.”
A variant of Dispel magic.
The tower and minions united in resistance against the Energy Bolt-Meteor Form.
The Energy Bolt sphere became subtly smaller than before—noticeably so.
And its descent speed visibly decelerated.
[Bombardment alert! Bombardment alert!]
[Bombardment alert! Bombardment alert!]
Crimson light.
And once more, countless minions emerged into existence.
“■■■”
“■■■”
Successive layered Dispel magic.
Layered Dispel.
The sphere had grown smaller, slower, and all this information was transmitted to Atublang in real time.
Through system calibration.
‘Hmm?’
A window materialized before his eyes.
A real-time feed implemented through the system itself.
A turret was under attack from something.
‘Merely?’
A small sphere.
And it was shrinking further.
Just before impact with the turret.
‘What a ridiculous fool.’
Dozens of screens opened simultaneously within Atublang’s field of vision.
Similar situations began unfolding across numerous turrets.
Dozens of different windows. Yet the similar images made his head throb.
“Stop!”
It wasn’t just one turret under attack.
Approximately seventy turrets across all of Iraq were being assaulted simultaneously.
An overwhelming torrent of data crashed into Atublang’s consciousness like a tidal wave.
‘Ugh.’
Yet he could not show weakness before his warriors.
He ordered the advance halted and camps erected.
“Today we will violate the males we’ve captured.”
The weak are violated. That is the way of warriors.
Camps were erected in an instant.
The ‘males’ were sent into the tents.
‘My head aches terribly.’
It wasn’t merely the volume of information.
The visual data itself inflicted damage.
I don’t know why. It feels as though my skull will shatter.
“P-please, spare us.”
“We’ll do whatever you command.”
“Please, let us live.”
Atublang flicked his fingertips, and a razor-sharp shockwave rippled through the tent.
With the sound of skulls cracking, the ‘males’ heads snapped backward in succession.
A single gesture killed them all.
At that moment.
The diminished energy sphere struck a turret dead on.
‘What is this petty thing, daring to pester me with warnings like this!’
The window shattered.
His vision bleached white as an ear-splitting roar tore through the air.
“Gasp!”
Another barrier shattered.
Electric-like pain spread beneath my skin.
I felt a sensation as if my insides were twisting.
“Gasp!”
Crackle-pop-pop-pop!
Dozens of barriers were engulfed in a crackling gray static all at once.
“Ahhhhh!”
As a Savage Warrior Commander, it was shameful, but I couldn’t suppress the scream.
Crackle-pop-pop-pop!
Electronic noise pierced through my brain. Tears of blood streamed from my eyes.
It felt like my brain was burning away.
Fragments of shattered barriers clawed at my consciousness.
-Snap!
A sound of something breaking echoed inside my head.
Collapse.
I fell to the ground.
Savage Warrior Commander Atublang, deceased.
Cause unknown.

* * *
Choi Kang-mok’s frustration eased slightly.
‘So the turrets are boss-class monsters.’
Typically, a boss monster appears once per field.
But this?
Dozens of bosses scattered across a single field.
‘This is a first for me.’
I hadn’t used Dispel magic, and I hadn’t drawn my new staff.
But this was an experiment in its own right.
I deployed ‘Interception Magic’ against dozens of boss monsters.
There was a slight time lag, but as close to ‘simultaneous casting’ as possible.
Simultaneous application of Interception Magic.
Entry into a new realm.
Mayo expressed pure admiration.
-Incredible calculation speed.
-The
Combat
Mage’s true power shines in this moment.
Layering ‘simultaneity’ onto Interception Magic.
From every angle, no matter how I looked at it,
A true mage.
That’s what it meant to be one.
Choi Kang-mok destroyed nearly seventy turrets with precision strikes executed in near-perfect simultaneity.
[Turret destroyed.]
…
[Turret destroyed.]
Nearly seventy notifications bloomed across the interface in rapid succession.
[Awakened One, ‘-‘ is running rampant.]
The turrets were completely neutralized.
The moment the turrets were ‘deleted’, the minions vanished in tandem.
Then came an unexpected notification.
‘What?’
I’d attacked the turrets—so why this?
Even for Choi Kang-mok, this was an interceptive magical phenomenon difficult to comprehend.
[Barbarian Warlord, Atublang has been defeated.]
A small orb materialized in Choi Kang-mok’s possession.
‘Huh?’

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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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