The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 230

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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 230
If I cannot be stronger than him, then I will make him weaker than me.
Cadellon, whose combat style embodied this philosophy, was a debuff specialist battle mage.
“I’m actually specialized in weakening damage output.”
He decided to actively engage in magical “exchange” with this anomalous magical entity.
I had to maintain my concept well.
That alone was the path to survival.
“It appears you have some difficulty deploying defensive magic within your own body.”
“….”
I regarded Cadellon carefully.
His attire was impressive.
Somehow, they’d all changed into fundamental robes.
‘They’ve become more serious.’
Perhaps because several had fallen.
They seemed to have grown more earnest in their magical exchanges.
My fundamental mindset was that of a “panda,” but I was willing to engage in proper magical discourse with those who conducted themselves with the courtesy and dignity befitting true mages.
“Indeed. Deploying standard defensive magic within one’s body is no trivial matter.”
Defensive magic wasn’t entirely impossible.
Occasionally, certain physical techniques could function as defensive magic.
But defensive magic of the type that fixed energy bolts in place was extraordinarily difficult.
“What if I attempted to weaken your damage somewhat?”
“Hmm.”
I couldn’t help but regard Cadellon with suspicion.
Weaken my damage, he says….
‘I have a feeling he’s going to stab me in the back after saying that.’
I’d never met anyone who claimed they’d weaken damage and actually followed through.
Yet a thirsty man will still dig a well.
If he truly weakens it, I suppose I’ll trust him once, even if it’s foolish.
Cadellon spoke.
“I’ll need some practice first.”
“How can I assist you?”
“Could you deploy defensive magic and fix it in the air? I’ll attempt to reduce the damage of that magic.”
My brow furrowed.
“Reduce the damage of defensive magic?”
Wait a moment.
This reeks of a con.
Reducing the damage of defensive magic instead of attack magic?
Cadellon realized his mistake.
Now his only objective was survival.
His survival instinct erupted.
“Ah, I got carried away admiring your defensive magic and misspoke. Reducing damage through defensive magic is indeed a bit odd, isn’t it?”
“…Yes.”
A shame.
I knew exactly what happened when a magical anomaly wielded magic with genuine intent to harm.
On the surface they appeared identical, yet they were unmistakably distinct.
‘If I set it as defensive magic, at least I could practice properly….’
Still, touching that madman’s concept would spell disaster, so I decided to hold back.
“Try fixing an offensive spell in midair. I’ll reduce the damage directly through debuffs.”
Choi Kang-mok, willing to be fooled once, manifested an energy bolt in empty space.
Hoping there might be something far superior to Christine’s damage reduction formula.
“Debuff. Damage Reduction.”
I concentrated.
I needed to earn the favor of this magical anomaly.
Then at least I wouldn’t end up like Falcon….
“Gack.”
I tried to reduce the damage.
I simply cast a debuff on the magic.
[Mock battle participant ‘Cadellon’ has died.]
[Immediate revival impossible]
[30 days required until revival.]
Raymond laughed softly.
“Couldn’t withstand the rebound.”

* * *
Raymond was delighted by his disciple’s growth.
The world needed to know of his disciple’s genius.
He spoke deliberately, ensuring Kang Pal-do would hear.
“My disciple’s body develops in harmony with magic, and his magic advances in turn with his physical evolution. He truly embodies the definition of a magical anomaly!”
No matter how I looked at it, he was a genius.
And that genius was my disciple.
“Though I must credit my teachings for much of it.”
Kang Pal-do enthusiastically played along.
“Raymond! What exactly did you teach him?”
“Heh heh, well, you see…”
The audience reaction was explosive as well.
-What is this?
-He got debuffed but why did he die?
-Rebound?
-Why is he dead lol lol lol lol lol
The system AI couldn’t interpret such advanced magical principles.
Even that mad Raymond had his uses occasionally.
“Your disciple learned body inverse field conversion magic earlier, didn’t he?”
Kang Pal-do fell silent for a moment.
Was that really body inverse field conversion magic?
Wasn’t it just pure physicality?
“That physical change affected his magic as well.”
“So physical changes can influence magic? Is that normally possible?”
In truth, even Raymond had never seen this before.
“With appropriate talent and excellent instruction, it’s possible. Besides, my disciple already possesses considerable expertise in Haeju, doesn’t he?”
“That’s true.”
Though he did destroy everything to master Haeju.
“The opponent’s magic happened to be curse-based, so it reacted more effectively.”
“He didn’t do it intentionally?”
“Even I don’t know that much.”
Whether he deliberately responded more aggressively to curse-based magic,
or whether it happened naturally, I cannot say.
If it was intentional, he’s a brilliant tactical mage. If it was natural, he’s an exceptional embodiment-type mage!
Either way, he’s an outstanding disciple.
‘You fraudsters. Are you watching?’
Those fraudsters accessing through indirect routes.
Witness the excellence of my disciple.
You don’t have a disciple like this, do you?

* * *
I was taken aback.
According to Raymond’s classification, I was an “exceptional embodiment-type mage.”
I hadn’t deliberately focused on Haeju.
My magic itself was specialized for Haeju, so it was more like I’d naturally responded to the curse.
‘Die from this?’
I hadn’t done anything.
‘That’s right. I hadn’t done anything.’
Now that I thought about it, something felt off.
How to put it.
There was none of that sincerity I felt from Wordia.
A true mage recognizes another mage.
The attitude toward our exchange didn’t feel like that of a mage at all.
There was no concrete evidence, just a feeling.
‘Did he die on purpose?’
His final expression had seemed almost pleased.
The way he transformed into green pixels looked almost like relief.
Igniasha transmitted her voice through will.
-This one feels compelled to speak her mind!
This place is crawling with madmen.
Of course, I serve Red Cat as my master, but sometimes my instinct toward truth and a spirit’s conscience stir within me.
-The contractor’s magic is far too strong!
Right now the contractor suspects.
That he died on purpose.
But Igniasha knew the truth.
-This one cannot artificially control the contractor’s magic!
Cadellon meeting “thirty days of death” was simply fortune, not something he orchestrated.
But I had already tasted deep betrayal.
Appearing as if he wanted genuine magical exchange, then deliberately choosing “thirty days of death”?
He’d seemed untrustworthy from the start.
“This is irritating.”
Wasting my time.
Should’ve just fought him.
I irritably hurled an energy bolt at the space where Cadellon had vanished.
‘Huh?’
Crackle—!
Something was blocking the energy bolt.
I couldn’t tell what, but….
“An energy bolt.”
An energy bolt.
Energy bolts.
I hurled them in rapid succession, layering them atop one another.
Soon, a black hole materialized.
[31 days consumed until resurrection.]
[32 days consumed until resurrection.]
The notifications continued to cascade.
Choi Kang-mok’s eyes widened.
“Oh.”
I already knew I could interfere with the system’s settings.
Destroying the Tower itself was trivial compared to breaking the system’s parameters.
“This actually works?”
Destruction of the resurrection settings.
It was cascading into a system malfunction.
[99 days consumed until resurrection.]
…
[999 days consumed until resurrection.]
Beyond that, the values wouldn’t register, yet the black hole continued its relentless work.
I recognized the notification that appeared—far too familiar by now.
I cannot provide a translation for this text as it appears to be corrupted, contains invalid Korean characters, symbols, and formatting errors that don’t form coherent words or sentences.
The system spewed out corrupted characters like this all the time.
The update cycle was simply too slow.
[Don’t you think, objectively speaking, that you’re being far too excessive?]
I flinched in surprise.
‘What was that just now?’
Some text seemed to have flashed past.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite make it out.
If I could manipulate temporal magic even partially like Raymond, I could rewind time and check again.
‘I still have so far to go.’

* * *
Earth’s first Dimensional Battle Tournament.
Earth was seizing an overwhelming victory.
-LMAO this isn’t an exchange, it’s a beatdown
-What’s the point of the brackets?
-Not defensive magic, but defensive magic with magic cast on it and dying—that’s the story being told
-Even he can do it? Haha
Commentators across the globe were electrified.
[Ladies and gentlemen, you are witnessing Earth’s EX-rank Awakener. Earth’s sole Dimensional representative. One against twelve. Numerically hopeless, yet the tide of battle flows in the opposite direction.]
They too had read the situation.
[The conclusion today is singular. Earth plays at leisure, while Neroph fights for survival.]
The lords of the world fell silent.
They felt a tension subtly different from that of the Neroph Mages.
‘A display of force.’
The EX-rank Awakener had always wielded power as spectacle.
Seeking dominion over the new era through overwhelming military might.
Yet displays of force always carry consequences.
No matter how brutally one crushes opposition, there are always forces that spring back like coiled springs.
Overwhelming strength carries the seeds of defeat by another strength.
‘But this time is different.’
The one being thoroughly trampled is not from Earth.
It is from beyond.
The emperor of the new era was instead unifying Earth through this very display of overwhelming force.
‘Has such precedent ever existed?’
Never.
The new emperor elevated his authority through new methods.
‘The masses are in rapture.’
It dominated headlines across the globe.
A single individual crushing twelve higher-dimensional battle mages—this impossible event.
The lords had no countermeasures available.
They could only bear witness to the emperor’s authority.
At least outwardly, expressing respect and awe.
Feigning alignment with the masses’ explosive fervor.
‘How terrifying.’
It was not mere brute force crushing them.
Authority was being constructed through countless sophisticated techniques.
[Thus, the Dimensional Battle Tournament concludes in Earth’s victory.]
[Behold. The Dimensional representative, EX-rank Awakener Choi Kang-mok.]
[History shall record this day. We live now in the age of Choi Kang-mok.]
The Dimensional Battle Tournament was over.
It was essentially a one-sided beating.
Choi Kang-mok refused to acknowledge ‘mages whose goal was mere survival’ as true mages.
-You are not real mages!
He exchanged with them all through brute force. In other words, he simply beat them senseless.
The exchange yielded little in terms of magical insight, but it was deeply satisfying.
The greatly reinforced ‘gleaming cudgel’ remained unbroken, and all the Neroph Mages fell dead.
The ‘chroniclers’ recorded it thus.
───────
[Horrific. There is nothing more to describe.]
───────
And Choi Kang-mok began to receive his victory rewards.

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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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