The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 22

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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 022
Choi Kang-mok’s eyes narrowed to slits.
‘Tower infiltration….’
He’d actually pulled off what existed only as rumor.
Standing before him, he felt the true depth of the Busan Guild—Korea’s strongest force.
Mayo’s expression turned blank and vacant.
-Who on earth is that ruffian?
‘Clearing the EX-rank takes priority right now.’
Choi Kang-mok condensed an energy bolt in one palm.
He’d already secured the location of the next resurrection stone.
“Did you come from Busan?”
“Would you tell if you were me?”
“I would. I’ve got a black box.”
Choi Kang-mok pointed upward with his finger.
Necromancer Jo Ju-won glanced up briefly.
“A drone for dungeon footage?”
So what? What does that matter?
That’s what you’d call a black box.
It records accidents, but it doesn’t prevent them.
“You actually trust that thing?”
Choi Kang-mok felt somewhat exasperated.
For someone to have pursued him this far meant the Busan Guild had backed a capable fighter.
Yet his mind wasn’t working this sharply.
“Don’t you need a final insurance policy too?”
“What?”
The moment one inherits EX-rank status, every awakener becomes a hunter seeking your head.
Because killing an EX-rank grants you EX-rank awakening.
“Say you inherited EX-rank. You think the Busan lord would leave you alone?”
At Choi Kang-mok’s words, Jo Ju-won fell silent for a moment.
The intoxication of the word EX finally gave way to harsh reality.
‘He’s right.’
If he could secure that footage, it would serve as minimal insurance.
‘Proof that the Busan Guild ordered the attack on the EX-rank Awakener.’
‘Hm?’
In that instant.
A slate-gray energy bolt came hurtling in.
‘What are you doing?’
Crackle!
Two bursts of slightly ash-tinted energy bolts.
‘They weren’t aimed at me?’
Jo Ju-won’s brows furrowed sharply.
‘Abandoning me to destroy the resurrection stone?’
Was he insane, or had he truly lost himself to the obsession of clearing this floor?
Boom!
[The resurrection stone has been destroyed.]
The sheer destructive force was palpable.
Jo Ju-won let out a quiet laugh.
“Indeed, worthy of someone the Seoul Guild backs with such conviction.”
Jo Ju-won muttered with derision.
He must have used a high-grade scroll.
‘To produce such destructive power at that level… how much must he have spent?’
Jo Ju-won reasoned logically.
He’d likely employed magic in scroll form.
It hardly mattered.
What mattered was that he would die here.
“By the command of the Busan lord, I’ve come to kill you.”
Choi Kang-mok’s lips curved upward.
He’d wanted to hear those words.
“An EX-rank Awakener rotting away in Seoul is too wasteful.”
That power would be claimed for Busan.
Jo Ju-won drew upon his strength.
“Rise.”
This was a floor where ghouls appeared.
Ghouls began emerging from beneath the earth.
Black light rippled across the ghouls’ bodies.
At a glance, they appeared far more formidable than ordinary ghouls.
Their levels synchronized with the necromancer Jo Ju-won.
For reference, Jo Ju-won’s level had reached 72.
Given that the Busan Tower had been cleared up to Floor 39, Korea’s highest level was 78.
He was a skilled fighter approaching that threshold considerably.
‘Strange. There are fewer ghouls than I expected.’
It was slightly odd.
Yet it didn’t change the situation.
No matter how EX-rank, the level was merely 16.
Overcoming such an overwhelming level gap would be difficult.
Especially on Tower Floor 8.
[The title ‘Master of the Dead’ effect is applied.]
The ghouls’ levels receive a +5 modifier.
They are ghouls of level 77.
A [!] marker appeared above each ghoul’s head.
It meant that Choi Kang-mok had been recognized as an enemy.
Kuwoooahhh—
Kraaahhk—
The ghouls began walking toward Choi Kang-mok.
Jo Ju-won’s lips twisted into a bloodthirsty grin.
“I’ll kill you.”
The EX-rank Awakener will soon be mine.
My mouth curled upward, my chest heaving with anticipation.
The mere thought of the future was intoxicating.
Yet there was one thing he had overlooked.
-I will intercept them.
The mythic-grade artifact Mayo.
“Can that even intercept?”
-Yes. Because they are attacks.
-Especially those
directed at my
master.
The hostile ability summoned by the necromancer.
In other words, those “ghouls” were attacks aimed at Choi Kang-mok.
Green magical circles bloomed around Choi Kang-mok.
-Last time I had to hold back, so hehehehe!
When breaking the eavesdropping ability, it was in reality, so I had to control my power.
But this place is the Tower.
Mayo unleashed maximum output.
“Hmph! Parlor tricks—”
Beams of light poured from the magical circles, piercing through the ghouls.
Bodies tore apart, shattered, and scattered into black smoke.
“….”
[You have defeated a ghoul.]
….
[You have defeated a ghoul.]
Even Mayo seemed slightly unsatisfied.
-So that was all they were.
-When connected to a user, the numbers sometimes exceed expectations.
Mayo’s body trembled slightly.
Rather than simply boasting about its interception ability, it wanted to convey that by synchronizing with its master, the “defense” had increased.
But it could not say so aloud.
Instead of speaking, it displayed words above its body.
-You are magnificent.
-#UnaffectedGenius #HighSpecIsAlsoRomance #HoldMeWithThoseSameHandsThatJustIntercepted #IWitnessTheFirstSexyEXInThisWorld #MayoILoveYouISoWantYou
Choi Kang-mok was concentrating with singular purpose.
Now was the time to focus on clearing Tower Floor 8.
He couldn’t afford to miss an EX-rank clear just because enemies stood before him.
[Resurrection Stone destroyed.]
Beams of light generated from the magic circle eliminated the ghouls.
Energy bolts destroyed the Resurrection Stone.
Jo Ju-won was bewildered.
‘What exactly did the Seoul Guild provide support for?’
It seemed they had received support beyond standard specifications.
How could that possibly be the performance of a level 16 Awakener?
‘That’s not what matters right now.’
Support or whatever else—none of it mattered.
He had to operate under the assumption that all of this stemmed from the EX-rank Awakener’s abilities.
‘There’s no time to probe further.’
He hadn’t been fighting at full strength from the beginning.
He wanted to slowly crush that supposedly magnificent EX-rank Awakener beneath his heel.
He wanted to humble that arrogant pride.
But now things had changed.
‘That bastard must be approaching his limits soon.’
A level 16 Awakener pulling off damage like that?
Of course the backlash would be severe.
Surely he would need recovery time.
‘Then the advantage shifts to us.’
Ghouls never tire.
He decided to press the assault without pause.
[Activating skill, ‘Big Ghoul’.]
Corpses and fragments of ghouls lay scattered everywhere.
With support from the Busan Guild, materials were abundant.
[Combining materials.]
[Using Keritos Horn, Minotaur Hoof… and more.]
Ghoul fragments scattered across the battlefield converged together.
They stuck and adhered, forming a single shape.
A colossal ghoul more than twice the size of ordinary ghouls.
The ‘Big Ghoul’ was born.
And with its creation, one of Tower Floor 8’s conditions was satisfied.
[Boss Monster, ‘Big Ghoul’ has been born.]
[Hidden condition satisfied!]
Just as Choi Kang-mok was about to destroy another Resurrection Stone, his concentration shattered.
‘What?’
An undiscovered clear condition.
In most cases like this, the clear rank increases.
Naturally, the rewards improve accordingly.
It’s already an excellent EX-rank clear, so what more could be added?
Just thinking about it sent a thrill through me.
I wasn’t the only one thrilled.
[‘Big Ghoul’ receives hidden boss monster adjustment.]
[Level increases by 3 times the number of destroyed resurrection stones.]
[Destroyed resurrection stones: 6]
Big Ghoul’s level rose by 18.
The birth of a new ghoul reaching level 93.
It was a new entity that transcended the ghoul species.
“This is the ability of a next-generation EX-rank Awakener.”
Jo Ju-won laughed as if he owned the entire world.

* * *
-Interception commencing.
-Anything approaching the user is… an enemy.
Mayo’s interception system flashed brilliantly, unleashing light.
The torrent of radiance pierced through Big Ghoul’s torso in an instant.
Countless holes riddled Big Ghoul’s body.
Black smoke and putrid fluid gushed from the perforations.
Yet Big Ghoul was undeniably a monster operating on an entirely different dimension from ordinary ghouls.
It swiftly regenerated the holes in its body, then lunged toward me with renewed ferocity.
‘It’s fast.’
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground trembled.
Big Ghoul charged toward me, burning with fierce malice.
Far faster than ordinary ghouls, its weight was terrifyingly substantial.
I calmly condensed an energy bolt at my fingertips.
‘Don’t panic.’
I had to remain composed.
Magic was my only means of counterattack.
A battle mage—no, any mage must maintain focus at every moment.
‘I need to target its flank.’
But Big Ghoul’s speed exceeded my expectations.
I opened my stat window.
───────
[Stat Window]
Strength: 10
Stamina: 10
Agility: 16
Intelligence: 20
※Remaining Stats: 10
───────
‘There’s no choice.’
It was time to invest the stats I’d been saving.
‘Since abilities rise significantly in 10-point increments.’
There was no time to deliberate.
I poured 4 points boldly into Agility.
───────
[Stats Window]
Strength: 10
Stamina: 10
Agility: 20
Intelligence: 20
※Remaining Stats: 6
───────
[You have achieved Agility 20.]
[Abilities related to Agility have increased significantly!]
I felt an immediate surge in my capabilities.
My feet felt lighter than air.
Choi Kang-mok, the mage who had invested in Agility, began sprinting to secure an optimal position.
Jo Ju-won savored his amusement.
“What difference does running make?”
Jo Ju-won’s mockery reached my ears, but
I had already traced a semicircle and seized the Big Ghoul’s flank.
A blind spot from the side.
I had found the perfect damage angle.
The Ghoul, momentarily losing sight of me, turned its head frantically searching.
‘Position confirmed. Focus on penetration.’
Being mentally linked with Mayo was tremendous fortune for me as a mage.
Mayo’s intercepting light barrage pierced through the Big Ghoul’s torso repeatedly.
That became my inspiration as well.
‘Manifest the penetration attribute.’
Over there.
I would pierce through to the resurrection stone in the tomb near the necromancer Jo Ju-won.
Destroy both the Big Ghoul and the resurrection stone in one strike.
I never doubted this would work.
For the damage angle I had identified, this strategy was entirely feasible.
Seeing this, Jo Ju-won burst into laughter.
So this is what he was scheming.
“Puhaha! Another energy bolt?”
Jo Ju-won burst into mocking laughter.
But Choi Kang-mok remained focused.
The mythic-grade staff Excalion’s “Boss Battle” option meant I didn’t need to worry about mana consumption.
Two energy bolts shot toward Bigguul.
Crack! Crack!
My magic pierced through Bigguul’s body.
Black blood erupted explosively, and a massive hole tore through its torso.
Riding that momentum.
Mana fragments without wings scattered toward the tomb where the resurrection stone lay buried.
‘Success!’
Precision control.
Penetration manifestation.
Mana fragment dispersal.
All my research converged into one.
Completed on Floor 8 alone—my first and certain success.
Overwhelming exhilaration crashed through my entire being.
[‘Bigguul’ has been destroyed.]
“You don’t actually think it’s over, do you?”
Jo Ju-won laughed as if bewildered.
“The undead don’t die. I just raise them again.”
A few holes could simply be repaired.
“Surely you didn’t miss something so basic?”
This is Tower Floor 8.
Truly a stage and field made for necromancers.
I should have expected as much.

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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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