The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 77

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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 077
The Pyongyang Guild members moved with perfect synchronization.
As Shin Young-chul raised his right hand sharply, three mages simultaneously released their mana.
A magic circle bloomed beneath Choi Kang-mok’s feet.
“Botanical Shackles.”
“Botanical Shackles.”
“Botanical Shackles.”
A combined spell.
The power was incomparable to using it alone.
Crack!
Deep green vines burst through the ground and instantly coiled around Choi Kang-mok’s limbs.
I checked my shield just in case, but it hadn’t lost a single point of durability.
How times have changed.
‘Oh…’
Watching the vines bind my body, I found myself admiring them instead.
I stood motionless without dodging or deploying a shield.
‘Not even a scratch on my shield?’
There was a time when I nearly died to slime poison.
I’ve truly grown.
‘Now I don’t even need to worry about being defenseless.’
Choi Kang-mok quietly savored his own growth.
But what he truly focused on was something else.
[A minimum Friend-or-Foe Identification (10) is required to activate ‘Apprehension’.]
[A minimum Shield (10) is required for the durability of ‘Apprehension’.]
-Would you like to use Mayo’s new ability, Apprehension?
[※Verifying activation conditions for Apprehension skill…]
[Friend-or-Foe Identification (10), Shield (10) → Conditions met.]
All conditions were satisfied.
Shin Young-chul sneered at Choi Kang-mok, ensnared by the green vines.
“Heh heh, you can’t move an inch, can you?”
Botanical Shackles is a ‘forced stun skill’ that absolutely restrains anyone below level 80.
A skill that activates based solely on level judgment. Its effect is certain.
‘The operation is a success. His movements have stopped completely!’
Of course not.
I was simply standing still while concentrating on Mayo’s new ability.
“As long as we keep him breathing, we can take him away.”
Then Comrade Lee Tae-gwang will inherit the EX Awakening.
Our homeland will stand tall as a radiant nation under the great leadership.
“Consider meeting me your misfortune.”
EX Awakening was far too precious an ability for South Korea to possess.
His profession was an assassin. His current level was 92.
His body transformed into black light and shot forward—or rather, it didn’t.
‘Huh?’
It was Shin Young-chul whose movements had frozen.
“S-Sub-commander, comrade!”
“My body won’t move.”
“Don’t panic!”
Circular rings had appeared around their bodies.
‘When?’
Who, when, how?
I hadn’t even noticed.
But I wasn’t panicked.
“These pathetic rings—I’ll just shatter them with brute force!”
At most, it was magic from a mid-tier awakener.
Level rank supersedes technique.
Overwhelming it with level rank would do the trick.
“Grrrrgh!”
I panicked.
No matter how much force I exerted, they wouldn’t break.
[Activating skill: ‘Escape Restraint.’]
An assassin-exclusive skill that dispels any form of restraint.
But escape was impossible.
The more I struggled, the tighter the rings constricted around my torso.
As a mage, Choi Kang-mok couldn’t resist his academic curiosity and asked.
“You were giving it your all, weren’t you?”
“Don’t mock me!”
Choi Kang-mok was deeply satisfied.
I could sense that they weren’t pretending to struggle with some hidden strategy—they were genuinely attempting escape with everything they had.
‘Rings made from Shield (Tier 10).’
A brilliant conceptual shift—repurposing a defensive spell into a binding mechanism.
The durability was flawless, without a single crack.
“I didn’t expect to bind ten people simultaneously.”
Even a master of restraint magic would find this difficult.
Moreover, complete suppression without a single injury.
The world of magic truly is boundless.
‘I can immobilize moving targets!’
For Dil-jjik-nu, this was the ultimate support spell.
When attacking moving enemies, a stray magical fragment could mean instant death.
Striking a stationary target was far safer.
‘I should practice this against those wyvern hatchlings too.’
Would it be alright to practice against Christine?
Just then, someone vaulted over the wall.
A bear-human.
It was Han Sang-hyun, the Seoul Guild’s vice-captain and tank.
“That should be fine….”
“Ah, you’ve arrived?”
Han Sang-hyun surveyed his surroundings.
They looked like North Korean Awakeners, but their movements were completely immobilized.
What was peculiar was that not a single scratch marked their bodies.
“How is this even….”
This was the age of Awakeners.
An age where no one knew who wielded the greater weapon.
Restraint was skipped entirely—death came swiftly instead.
Yet they were subdued without a single wound?
Such a thing was impossible unless there existed an overwhelming disparity in power.
‘Even their mana froze solid?’
How? I couldn’t fathom it.
If I had to classify it, it would be something like a wide-area binding stun disabling skill.
Mayo fluttered about, muttering.
-Subdual complete. Quieter than anticipated. If they didn’t even have time to feel pain, that’s fortunate.
–
For us,
it’s worked out well.

* * *
Choi Kang-mok spoke.
“I’ll leave the cleanup to the Seoul Guild.”
“…Yes, understood. I’ll conduct a thorough investigation.”
“By the way, Director, would it be alright if I subdued you as well?”
“Pardon?”
Shin Young-chul bit his lip.
Showing composure right in front of us?
This was an ability he’d never heard of or seen before.
Completely incapacitating this many people without any warning signs or sacrificial offerings?
It couldn’t possibly last indefinitely.
Yet there was only one reason he continued such antics.
He’d already assessed the EX-Awakened’s character.
‘He’s mocking us again.’
In South Korea, they call this kind of behavior a personality flaw.
In moments like this, one had to remain composed.
Shin Young-chul clenched his teeth even harder.
‘Still, it’s not over yet.’
He had to relay the information at least.
That was the best he could do right now.
[System mail is unavailable.]
‘Why this too!’
For some reason, even system access was being denied.
But he was a trained warrior.
He squeezed out his extreme concentration.
“Director, are you using your full strength?”
“I’ll try harder. Haaaah!”
The bear’s back trembled.
Han Sang-hyun’s toes, curled up tightly, quivered, and cold sweat streamed down his spine.
“All my strength is draining away. I can’t do anything.”
Eventually, Han Sang-hyun went limp.
At that moment, Shin Young-chul, desperately squeezing out his willpower, finally succeeded in sending a system mail.
[The EX-Awakened is an artifact combatant.]
An explorer? An interceptor tank? Absolutely not.
A combat specialist who fights professionally using artifacts.
In North Korea, they call such individuals artifact combatants.
[Mail has been successfully sent.]
The EX-Awakened he’d witnessed with his own eyes was an artifact combatant.
Come to think of it, during the past conquest of Daegu Tower 40th Floor, the artifact the EX-Awakened had lent out was said to have proven invaluable.
The EX-Awakened’s true profession was extremely valuable intelligence.
‘Accurate information alone can completely change strategy.’
Shin Young-chul waited for the restraint to break.
Restraints are not eternal.
Especially not one layered with large-scale, mana nullification, and physical resistance effects.
It would break soon.
‘The opportunity will come soon!’
He would make Longzill pay dearly for this.
He had prepared thoroughly for a counterattack.
‘But why on earth!’
He had only prepared thoroughly.
The restraint wouldn’t break.

* * *
News spread that the Pyongyang Guild was behind this infiltration incident.
South Korea united as one.
“The Seoul Guild designates this incident as an extremely heinous act of sovereignty violation…”
A national character that, even while fighting amongst themselves, instantly unites when a common enemy appears.
That unique cohesion worked perfectly this time as well.
Not only Incheon, but city guilds from across the nation—Daegu, Busan, Gwangju, and beyond—officially declared their solidarity with the Seoul Guild.
[Breaking News] Incheon Guild: “We cannot stand idle in this crisis. We will provide full support to Seoul”]
[Breaking News] Daegu Ranker Lee Kang-nam: “We should dispatch Tunnelers too”]
└But can’t we just go openly?
└Yeah North Korea digs tunnels and we just walk out in the open lol
The incident rapidly escalated into an international issue.
City guilds and Warlords from nations around the world began issuing statements in turn.
[New York Guild “An unscrupulous attack, a clear provocation against the EX system”]
[Saudi Guild “A foolish choice that invites the regression of civilization”]
[London Guild “We do not dissolve our alliance with Seoul. We will not stand idle.”]
Soon, the Warlords themselves appeared.
[American Warlord, “The international community must step forward and issue stern warnings…”]
[Saudi Warlord…]
[British Warlord…]
Even the government leadership, which had remained shadowy and inconspicuous until now, began to move.
Political influence that had nearly crumbled since the Tower civilization was being revived.
[Japanese Prime Minister “We cannot tolerate provocations that shake the order of East Asia.”]
[Chinese Foreign Ministry “We must consider measures at the UN level.”]
And all those gazes converged on a single guild.
The Pyongyang Guild.
More precisely, its master and North Korea’s de facto supreme leader,
Warlord Lee Tae-gwang.
‘Damn it.’
All I gained was the EX-Awakener’s class, and I’ve lost far too much.
The situation is dire.
‘There’s only one way forward.’

* * *
Lee Tae-gwang was a Lord with the ‘Territorial Sovereign (SSS)’ class.
This was a special Lord who could occupy towers in other cities and subjugate the lords of other cities as subordinates or slaves.
Based on this class, he had successfully brought all the city lords of North Korea under his command and now spearheaded North Korea’s growth.
He personally sent a system message to Lee Byung-gyu, the Seoul Lord.
[I sincerely apologize. Blinded by the greatness of the EX-Awakener, my subordinate made a foolish decision. I wish to visit South Korea personally and offer a public apology. Furthermore, I would like to discuss compensation for damages and the normalization of our future relations.]
The message was concise.
However, all North Korean terminology and conventions were thoroughly excluded—it was written entirely in South Korean dialect.
Bowing in the opponent’s language was itself a diplomatic message of surrender.
The Seoul Guild approved his entry.
[Breaking News] North Korea’s Supreme Lord Lee Tae-gwang Sets Foot on South Korean Soil! (Photos from the scene)]
[Breaking News] “He came alone… A sincere apology”
[Breaking News] “North Korea’s Number One, Set to Offer Official Apology in Seoul”
It was unprecedented.
North Korea’s top figure entering alone without any entourage.
Moreover, this was the first time since the division that North Korea’s leader had set foot in South Korea for an official apology.
Domestic communities were in uproar.
[Wow lol this is truly a generational shift]
└What kind of alternate history novel is this
└North Korea’s number one coming to bow his head;; who predicted this
└If this scene appeared in a novel, people would say it lacks credibility
└What’s with that posture lol
└Foster: I apologized first, didn’t I~ >_<
└Oh, this is so funny, it’s crazy hahahaha

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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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