The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 90

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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 090
[Attacking this facility is prohibited by default.]
The key word is ‘by default’.
For reference, the Tower is also a facility that cannot be destroyed by default.
[Special settings apply to the stronghold zone.]
[Within the zone, damage dealt by stronghold attackers is reduced by 99%.]
Approximately 300 meters around the Magic School, emerald-green magic circles carved into the earth spread across the urban landscape.
Soon after, a pale green barrier rose up, creating a translucent dome that seemed to envelop the entire school.
Clearly a safe zone. Yet an unwelcome System Message arrived for Choi Kang-mok.
[You have been designated as a stronghold facility attacker.]
[A powerful debuff has been applied!]
[Damage –99%!]
Boom-crack!
The energy bolt I fired struck the building directly, but the result was pathetic.
Only one corner of the building’s wall crumbled slightly.
“Oh…!”
My face brightened.
Heat bloomed within my body. As if the experimental environment had been prepared, anticipation surged.
“They’re reducing my damage?”
-A meaningful loss. Now I can conduct experiments far more aggressively.
-Now it’s time to show those who wagged their tongues carelessly.
–
Our
power.
Why had I crossed into China and taken on considerable risk to scout the surroundings?
To understand the structure of this place and attack from the greatest distance, most effectively, and most safely.
Because my own magical damage had become unmanageable.
I had reached a level where I could generate physical force in the surroundings through driving force alone.
Dil-jjik-nu’s magic devastates enemies but also shatters the mage themselves.
But they’re reducing damage?
I muttered without realizing it.
“Safety measures complete. Test subject confirmed. Research analysis environment optimized.”
I naturally recalled summoning high-ranking spirits.
A spell I had always postponed researching. Now the conditions were finally in place to use it.
-With the 99% debuff in effect, I can unleash magic freely without shattering myself.
“High-ranking spirit.”
A wide-area spell of multiple attributes unfolded.
Granting another magical attribute like penetration to this spell was difficult.
This single spell alone was a high-difficulty specification that demanded complete concentration.
‘One step at a time. Let’s proceed carefully.’
Now that I have breathing room, this is my opportunity.
I can experiment with high-tier spirits more than once, and even combine them with energy bolts.
The scope of my research and analysis has expanded dramatically.
Above the Magic School, massive magical formations painted intricate patterns across the sky.
A burning spirit brought down a blazing sword, and emerald winds tore across the school in a devastating torrent.
Bricks and glass shattered, and the Magic School’s structures crumbled like sandcastles.
A small child-like figure wearing a blue hat stretched both arms wide and yawned enormously, unleashing a waterfall that cascaded downward.
The water-attribute waterfall and fire-attribute flame collided, yet their power amplified instead of canceling out.
This was a phenomenon I hadn’t discovered before.
‘Opposing attributes clashed, yet they grew stronger instead?’
Thanks to the Damage -99% buff, Choi Kang-mok had far more composure than usual.
Because of the Damage -99% buff, I could observe with far greater ease and precision.
Where the overwhelming magic had swept through, the landscape had transformed into a primordial stone age before human civilization.
Just as human civilization had risen against natural disasters, the Magic School lay destroyed.
“….”
“….”
The Shenyang Guild members waiting nearby stared upward in stunned silence.
“Clean it up immediately!”
“Clean it up, you say…? Surely not that…?”
“You mean that, sir?”
The situation had already become a disaster film.
A supernatural catastrophe was unfolding—what could humans possibly do to manage it?
No one could be blamed.
It was a crisis beyond any possible response.
And it wasn’t over yet.
“What is that now….”
A golem-shaped spirit emanating green light appeared.
A colossal body composed of rock and sandstorms intertwined.
With each step it took, even the remaining stone-age relics crumbled into dust and scattered.
All the Shenyang Guild members could do was watch.
“These spirits seem similar to the ones that appeared during the Seoul Tower reconstruction incident….”
“If that’s the case, then this isn’t over yet.”
After the basic elements finish, light and darkness remain.
The polar extremes of magic still linger.
And I was anticipating it more than anyone.
‘The attributes are being orchestrated so precisely they don’t clash with each other. If that’s true, then light and darkness—the ultimate opposing forces among all opposites—….’
I sensed it instinctively.
If I could witness and experience that collision, I would ascend to the next level of growth.
A true awakening as a mage.
That moment was approaching.
Within the ruins choked with thick smoke.
A black specter emerged, baring its crimson maw.
That figure, wielding a razor-sharp scythe, cast a colossal shadow over the Magic School.
[Damage threshold exceeded.]
[Fundamental destruction in progress…]
[Debuff nullified.]
Choi Kang-mok flinched in shock.
‘This is bad!’
I had been relying on the -99% damage debuff!
Choi Kang-mok, who had been observing the spell, frantically launched the high-tier specter skyward.
There was no way to control it any longer.
Pure white light flickered between the darkened clouds.
The spell had already left my hands.
Along with it, the enlightenment that had been precariously within reach vanished as well.
Choi Kang-mok bit his lip.
“A -99% debuff, you said….”
Enlightenment was right before my eyes.
[The Magic School has been completely destroyed.]
[Restoration is impossible.]
Why grant a buff only to strip it away?
This is far worse.

* * *
The strength drained from Xi Yun’s legs.
Collapsing in place, he stared blankly at the System Message flickering across the screen.
“Complete destruction?”
He had already confirmed the details through the notification, yet his mind refused to process it.
[The outpost has undergone ‘complete destruction’.]
[Restoration of the outpost is impossible.]
He could accept that much.
[For the next 100 years, outpost creation is prohibited in the Shenyang region.]
It wasn’t merely the Magic School that had crumbled.
The entire city of Shenyang had been branded as an outpost-forbidden zone for the next century.
Every shred of possibility had been utterly obliterated.
“Lord! What are we to do!”
“We should send people immediately….”
Xi Yun muttered like a man possessed by madness.
“Send people to do what?”
Only then did reality crystallize before him.
The thread was already severed, and Beijing had lost all reason and justification to protect Shenyang.
Shenyang was finished.
“No.”
Xi Yun shot to his feet.
His eyes blazed with renewed intensity.
“Contact the EX-rank Awakener by any means necessary. Reach out to the Seoul Guild as well!”
“Sir?”
“Move quickly!”
“But….”
“No buts. We’ll all die here otherwise.”
Beijing would inevitably abandon Shenyang.
Cutting off the tail—their habitual tactic.
Before that blade fell, it was better to bow before the EX-rank Awakener and surrender.
Not humiliation, but strategy for survival.
“The only path to our survival is… surrender.”
Xi Yun lifted his gaze.
They still possessed one card.
Secret intelligence from within China. And concrete evidence that Beijing was behind it all.
‘We still have value to them.’
Korea.
A nation where the System guards the borders, the safest place on Earth.
If only he could reach that place, assassination and purges would no longer be concerns.
Xi Yun began to pray with desperate intensity.
May the EX-rank Awakener show mercy.

* * *
Lords across the globe tensed considerably.
Especially those who truly understood what ‘Nexus Points’ were—the shock was far more profound for them.
Among them, the most prominent figure was Foster, the Lord of London.
“An EX-rank Awakener deliberately destroyed a Nexus Point.”
“….”
The subordinate lords fell silent.
“Did they use some kind of special artifact?”
Foster shook his head.
Silence descended upon the conference chamber.
“Unbelievable as it sounds, they crushed it through sheer force.”
“….”
“And it wasn’t merely destruction—they rendered that entire region incapable of generating new Nexus Points.”
This was the age of the Tower civilization.
An EX-rank Awakener was, for all intents and purposes, a walking strategic weapon.
Foster continued, his expression darkening slightly.
“But here’s what truly terrifies me….”
He surveyed the entire conference chamber.
In truth, most of those present had already anticipated his next words.
“The Tower itself receives a classification similar to Nexus Points.”
In other words, theoretically, even the Tower could be destroyed.
What if an EX-rank Awakener harbored malice?
What if they toppled the Tower and returned to Korea, sealing the borders behind them?
“…Perhaps more terrifying than nuclear weapons.”
At those words, the conference chamber fell silent once more.
Yet there was also a glimmer of relief in the air.
It was fortunate that they had already established friendly relations with the EX-rank Awakener.

* * *
Hours earlier, experts within China had spoken in unison.
1. An EX-Rank Awakener would never cross Korea’s borders.
2. Even if they did, they would be arrested long before reaching Shenyang.
3. And even if they somehow managed to approach the Magic School, they could never destroy it. I won’t go into details, but the Magic School is protected so that it can absolutely never be destroyed.
Or so they claimed.
[???: The Magic School will absolutely never be destroyed]
└It got destroyed
└Is demolition magic real?
└That demolition magic flex was insane lol
└No way performance magic could pull off that kind of spectacle
And immediately after, another breaking news report spread across the entire world.
[【Breaking News】 Shenyang Lord’s Forces, Emergency Surrender to Seoul Guild!]
[【Breaking News】 Shenyang Lord’s Forces, Entering Korea]
Naturally, voices within China grew louder calling for the Shenyang Lord’s Forces to be eliminated.
Korea also did not welcome the Shenyang Lord’s Forces warmly.
They were terrorists who had attempted to destroy the magical research facility in Pyongyang, after all.
Choi Kang-chul, the EX-rank Team leader, spoke.
“They have their uses.”
“Got it. Do whatever you think is best.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
A brief exchange. Yet within it lay profound trust.
Choi Kang-mok trusted his older brother, and Choi Kang-chul thought only of what would benefit his younger brother.
“Beijing is behind this terrorist attack.”
“Well, everyone will probably think the same.”
“We should be able to extract evidence from the Shenyang Lord’s Forces.”
In truth, it was merely a matter of phrasing.
Euphemistically speaking, it was Beijing; bluntly put, it was China.
Everyone knew, but what was needed was irrefutable evidence.
“I’ll extract as much evidence as I can.”
“Thanks.”
The brothers’ discussion on that matter had concluded.
Yet between them, respect and unspoken trust remained steadfast.
A brief silence fell between the two.
The silence lingered. On the surface it seemed awkward, but both remained at ease.
Choi Kang-chul, organizing his thoughts, carefully opened his mouth.
“I wanted to bring up something really important now.”
“There’s something even more important left?”
“Yeah. I was thinking of discussing it when Kang Hye arrives, but….”
Why am I the only one left out of this conversation!
Though Kang Hye’s pouty expression was endearing, I couldn’t afford to indulge it today.
I was swamped with the Shenyang Guild’s surrender proceedings.
I needed to return to the Guild as soon as possible.
“I’ll explain everything now, so make sure you fill Kang Hye in on the details.”
Choi Kang-chul broached a rather startling matter.

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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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