The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 34

I stared in awe at the giant turtle, easily twice the size of an elephant.

‘Is that a turtle or a snake?’ I wondered.

The shell shimmered with a unique, jewel-like emerald green.

Its four feet were rough, like the bark of a tree.

So far, it was undeniably a turtle.

The problem was its head, tail, and tongue.

How could its head and tail be so long? It looked like a snake with a shell.

Stretching its neck and flicking its tongue, it was truly serpentine.

‘First time meeting, right? Nice to meet you,’ I said, greeting the Emerald Turtle, which was glaring at me and flicking its tongue.

Thump! Thump!

Was it displeased with my relaxed demeanor? It stomped the ground hard with its front feet, glaring at me.

As expected of a large monster, its imposing presence was considerable.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The Emerald Turtle scraped the ground with its front feet, like a bull seeing a red cloth.

It was clear it was about to charge at me any moment.

Someone unfamiliar with the Emerald Turtle might think, ‘What’s a turtle going to do by charging at me?’

I understand that perception.

Because turtles are generally perceived as slow.

But this one isn’t just any turtle.

It’s a C-rank monster that holds mana within its body [Mana is the energy source for magic].

If you judge it to be slow based on its appearance, you’re in for a big surprise.

‘It’s coming.’

It stopped scraping the ground. And a moment later.

Kuuuuuung-!

The ground where it stood shattered, and its massive body, reflected in my retina, spun around.

‘It’s fast!’

It was rapidly growing larger.

It was flying towards me at an incredible speed.

‘Leg strength enhancement.’

I immediately wrapped mana around my lower body, enhanced it with all my might, and leaped away.

By launching myself vertically, I escaped the Emerald Turtle’s charge range.

Thump!

A booming sound accompanied by dust echoed from the spot where I had been standing.

It was an incredible display of destructive force.

‘It seems faster than what I read in the books.’

Its speed and power seem to be greater than the information I had.

It seems to be a particularly strong individual among the Emerald Turtles.

‘I’m going to have a harder time than I expected.’

Just as I thought that, another booming sound echoed.

Dust spread out like ripples from the Emerald Turtle’s center.

Its body flew towards me again.

I once again moved my body vertically, perpendicular to its charge direction, avoiding its body slam.

Thump!

The Emerald Turtle, which had crashed into the ground, bounced off like a ball and flew towards me.

‘Here it comes. Double charge.’

It moved like a spinning tennis ball.

‘This is much faster than I expected!’

Its speed was so fast that even with my leg strength enhanced to the limit, I couldn’t avoid it.

I had no choice.

‘Barrier.’

The Emerald Turtle’s body was flying like a ball.

I created a barrier in line with the direction the Emerald Turtle was rotating.

I twisted its trajectory.

Kkkkkkk-!

As expected of a C-rank monster.

It had tremendous power.

‘What kind of power is this…!’

It was a barrier I had created with all my might.

It was hard to even deflect its charge, let alone stop it.

This was my mistake in miscalculating.

I had no choice.

‘Resonance enhancement.’

I immediately used the resonance ring to strengthen the barrier.

The barrier, which had been scattering mana remnants with friction, became sturdy at once.

And soon, it perfectly deflected its charge.

Thump!

The Emerald Turtle crashed into the ground, and another booming sound echoed.

Just like before, the Emerald Turtle hid its form, shrouded in dust.

A normal person would prepare for the previous brutal charge.

But that’s a poor strategy.

‘After using the double charge, the Emerald Turtle loses its strength for a moment.’

The mysterious charge that flew like a tennis ball earlier cannot be used recklessly.

That’s how much strain the double charge puts on its leg strength.

The Emerald Turtle cannot use its charge for about 6 seconds.

I immediately used Wind to clear the dust and ran towards it.

‘Well, just because it can’t charge doesn’t mean it has an opening.’

Immediately after using the double charge, the Emerald Turtle curls up and focuses only on defense.

It focuses on defense until its leg strength recovers.

It was a troublesome monster in many ways.

Tap-

I placed my hand on its shell.

And with my eyes closed, I felt the mana flowing through the Emerald Turtle’s carapace [The hard outer shell of a turtle].

‘The Emerald Turtle is a C-rank monster that possesses mana. 70% of the mana it possesses is used to protect its carapace.’

To penetrate this carapace, you need at least a 5-circle level magic [Magic is categorized into circles, with higher circles indicating more powerful magic].

In other words, it’s impossible for mages below the 4th circle to break through it.

‘You could deal damage with 3-circle magic if you aim for the head, but it’s impossible to counterattack by exploiting the gap in that crazy charge.’

It was a truly troublesome monster.

‘It’s funny even when I think about it again. How did they think of putting this as a named monster?’

It seems like they just put it there for show.

But still, how could they put such an impossible-to-attack monster there?

‘Well, I guess I’m not one to talk, since I’m the one who decided to attack it.’

It’s a wash.

Whether it’s the teachers who put this here, or me who decided to attack it.

‘Its mana is quite unique.’

Feeling the mana emanating from the Emerald Turtle’s carapace, I slowly synchronized my mana with its mana.

‘With this, the first condition for interference is achieved.’

At that moment, its body began to move.

It took about 6 seconds to recover.

‘Let’s step back and aim for the next opportunity.’

I immediately moved away from it.

It stretched out its neck and tail, glared at me, and scraped its front feet on the ground.

Wham!

And then, another charge.

After that, it was a repeat of the previous clash.

‘This time, I’ll avoid it perfectly without a barrier.’

I avoided its charge, induced it to do a double charge.

After the double charge failed, I approached the curled-up monster and touched its carapace.

‘Magic formula structure also identified.’

After repeating this exchange about four times.

I finished identifying the second condition for interference, the magic formula.

‘Location information also identified.’

Since it was standing still while curled up, the third condition for interference was also cleared.

‘Range is also not a problem.’

The interference range of 30cm was also resolved.

‘Preparation complete.’

All conditions for interfering with magic were cleared.

‘Hoo…’

There were 3 seconds left before the Emerald Turtle moved.

There was plenty of time.

Whoooong-!

With a deep breath, I rotated the interference ring.

Mana flowing through the interference ring flowed into the Emerald Turtle’s carapace, following my hand.

‘Interference.’

I used the identified magic formula as a base value and added the location information.

Based on the knowledge I had acquired from Mimir’s Well [A place of knowledge or wisdom], I implemented the interference magic formula on the spot.

‘The center of the carapace where I’m touching. Weaken the strength of the area within a 30cm radius.’

My mana, perfectly synchronized with the Emerald Turtle’s unique mana, seeped into its carapace.

‘Interference successful.’

The green light within a 30cm radius quickly faded.

‘Resonance ring. Enhance.’

Feeling the weakened carapace, I rotated the second ring that was spinning with the interference ring.

Following that.

‘3rd circle, Icicle Lance.’

The ice lance, enhanced by the resonance ring, pierced through the Emerald Turtle’s carapace.

That was the end.

The Emerald Turtle couldn’t even let out a death cry and simply stopped breathing.

[Emerald Turtle subjugation successful]

[Kill points + 200]

‘Yes.’

The message that appeared on my terminal made the corners of my mouth dance.

* * *

At that time.

At the Mado family’s mansion.

Shin Inhyuk was watching the Battle Survival Test video in his study, smiling.

Shin Hayul was sitting on the Emerald Turtle’s corpse, operating the auxiliary artifact.

Looking at that scene, he couldn’t help but smile.

‘I never thought he would actually succeed in taking down the Emerald Turtle alone…’

Kim Seokhyun, who was standing next to Shin Inhyuk, let out a hollow laugh.

‘It’s true that the Emerald Turtle is weak against ice, but how could he do it with just 3rd circle magic…’

‘Well, I don’t know either.’

Shin Inhyuk’s smile deepened.

Kim Seokhyun’s surprise grew even greater.

It was shocking that Shin Inhyuk, an 8th circle mage, answered ‘I don’t know’ after seeing a mere 3rd circle magic.

‘Even I don’t know about things I haven’t studied. Especially magic outside the norm like Hayul’s, which is different from modern magic.’

Shin Inhyuk chuckled, reading Kim Seokhyun’s expression.

‘Ah, I apologize!’

Kim Seokhyun, realizing his mistake, bowed his head with a flustered expression.

‘It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.’

Shin Inhyuk, still with a pleasant smile, stared at the monitor.

He was quite skilled at butchering the Emerald Turtle’s corpse and preparing food.

‘He’s still the same. Considering his age, he might feel some aversion to it.’

‘I didn’t raise him to be that weak.’

‘…Ah, that’s right.’

Kim Seokhyun nodded, recalling Shin Hayul’s gifted education that started at the age of six.

‘Patriarch. May I ask you one question?’

‘What is it?’

Shin Inhyuk answered, his gaze fixed on Shin Hayul.

‘Why did Hayul-doryeonim [A respectful title for a young master] do something so conspicuous?’

It had been a question since he heard the news that Shin Hayul had started attacking the Emerald Turtle.

Why did Shin Hayul do such a thing?

‘Considering the checks from Ji Han-doryeonim and Se Ah-agassi [A respectful title for a young lady], it’s dangerous to be so conspicuous right now.’

Shin Hayul currently doesn’t have any power.

In that state, if he does something so conspicuous, he might receive concentrated checks from Shin Ji Han and Shin Se Ah, who are fiercely competing for the next family head position.

No, he would most likely receive tremendous checks.

‘Judging by the fact that he hid his 3rd circle until the Baek Sa Hyuk attack incident, it doesn’t seem like he’s unaware of his situation…’

If Kim Seokhyun were in Shin Hayul’s position, he would never do anything so conspicuous.

He would hide his power as much as possible until he had built up his strength and power.

He could be conspicuous after that.

‘I’m worried that Hayul-doryeonim might have lost his judgment due to being intoxicated by his own power.’

Kim Seokhyun said with a worried look.

Shin Inhyuk chuckled, looking at Kim Seokhyun.

‘Hayul lost his judgment?’

That couldn’t be.

Shin Inhyuk’s smile gradually deepened as he looked at Shin Hayul on the monitor.

‘Hayul is as calm as can be. He’s very calmly judging his situation and deliberately showing his power like that.’

‘Deliberately, you say?’

‘Yes. Trusting that I’ve agreed to protect him for two months.’

‘Ah!’

The situation is different from the mid-term evaluation.

‘He’s thinking of somehow improving his miserable position within the family during that time.’

Certainly, as long as Shin Inhyuk’s protection is in place, Shin Ji Han and Shin Se Ah cannot lay a finger on Shin Hayul.

‘But protection is only for two months. Considering the backlash that will come after that, doing something so conspicuous is poison.’

Now that he has done something so conspicuous, Shin Hayul will receive concentrated checks from Shin Ji Han and Shin Se Ah starting two months later.

‘Now that Hayul has returned to the family, whether he curls up or does something conspicuous, nothing will change. As long as Ji Han and Se Ah fear Hayul.’

As the two who had been in awe of Shin Hayul’s brilliant talent, they would not leave Shin Hayul alone.

‘Hayul knows that, so he’s trying to make a name for himself at this time. To build up a force to prepare for their attacks as soon as possible.’

‘Ah…’

Since he’s going to be checked anyway, he’s trying to build up his own power, even if it’s weak.

That’s why Shin Hayul has started his current actions.

‘And…’

On the monitor.

Shin Hayul was engaged in combat with someone.

‘Two months from now, he’s confident that the checks from Ji Han or Se Ah won’t be an obstacle to him.’

Even though his opponent was a 3rd circle user from a decent family that Shin Inhyuk remembered, he was no match for Shin Hayul.

His overwhelming pressure on his opponent was just like a direct descendant of the Mado family.

Not bad.

‘Why would he think that…’

‘Two months from now. If he wins the gold medal at the World Academy Olympiad, the tide will turn.’

Shin Hayul was confident.

He was confident that he could win the gold medal at the Olympiad in two months.

He was confident that he wouldn’t lose to Shin Ji Han and Shin Se Ah if he won the gold medal.

He was confident that he would be the next head of the Mado family.

And.

‘…Audacious guy.’

He was confident that he would become the world’s greatest archmage.