The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 106

The man who introduced himself as The Fist grinned and stared intently at me.

“Well then, now that introductions are over…”

He abruptly lowered his center of gravity.

“Shall we begin!”

He kicked off the ground fiercely.

The man flew towards me.

He didn’t feel particularly fast.

If anything, he was slow.

‘…Is this a trap?’

He was so slow that I even started to doubt him.

‘Just in case, I’ll block with all my power.’

Since it could be a trap, I focused as much as possible to block his attack.

I moved my mana towards the man who was swinging his fist at me.

But what was this?

‘…My mana isn’t moving?’

My mana wouldn’t move.

Instead of moving, it felt like my mana was binding my body.

My body wouldn’t listen to me.

Mana was restricting my body.

“Kuhahaha!”

Thwack-!

The man swung his fist into my unguarded face.

A heavy pain shook my mind.

But it wasn’t unbearable. While falling from the impact, I used one leg as a support to stay up.

“Oh. You held on?”

The man dusted off his right hand and smirked.

“Usually, they’d be knocked out cold. You’ve got good endurance.”

Then, he moved his right and left feet alternately, taking steps.

And the next moment.

Whoosh-!

His left fist filled my vision.

It was an uppercut aimed directly at my chin.

I immediately leaned back to get out of the fist’s trajectory.

“Amateur!”

But I couldn’t avoid the following right hook.

Thwack-!

I was hit directly by his fist, and my body staggered.

A sharp pain shook my mind.

“You endured that too? So you didn’t skip your physical training?”

The man clapped as if he was impressed.

I spat out the blood that had come from a wound in my mouth.

“…Is this a mana sealing barrier?”

“You’re quick to notice. Kehehe.”

The man laughed even more maliciously.

“That’s right. You can’t use mana in here.”

The man clenched his fist and threw a one-two punch into the air.

“Ah, don’t think it’s a cheat barrier. I can’t use mana either.”

The man continued to punch the air. The sound of his fist cutting through the air was quite brutal.

“…A barrier that designates a target, pulls them in, and forces them to fight with pure physical strength without mana.”

“Exactly. How is it? It’s a fitting effect for the name Gladiator Colosseum, right?”

The man stopped punching and smirked.

Then, he ran towards me again and threw a punch.

A four-hit combo using both fists.

I barely dodged the attack.

“I’ve used this barrier to take care of 170 mages. Now, including you, it’s 171.”

But I couldn’t avoid the following roundhouse kick.

I crossed my arms to block his kick.

Thwack-!

His kick sent me flying, guard and all.

My body was thrown to the ground.

A brutal pain ran up my spine and shook my mind.

“Kehehe.”

The man stomped on my fallen body. Then, he applied force.

“Kuh!”

A terrible pain, like my bones were about to shatter. A shrill scream escaped my mouth.

“That expression! That sound! I love it! Kuhaha!”

The man rubbed his foot left and right, applying even more force.

“Kuaaaak!”

The pain intensified.

“The screams and despair of a mage who realizes they can’t use mana are always so sweet to hear.”

The man laughed loudly again, took his foot off my body, and then kicked me like a soccer ball.

My body floated up with the impact and flew through the air.

Then, I crashed into the ground. My body rolled across the earth.

“Cough, hack.”

My head was spinning.

I coughed involuntarily, as if my trachea had been impacted.

“The feeling of beating elites like you is always exhilarating.”

The man looked down at me.

A dark jealousy, consumed by inferiority. I could catch a glimpse of the darkness in this man’s abyss.

“Do you hate me? Do you resent this situation?”

The man twisted his lips as he stepped hard on my fingers.

“That’s why you shouldn’t have neglected your physical training like me. Then this wouldn’t have happened. Kehehe.”

The Gladiator Colosseum.

A barrier with the power to pull in a designated opponent without question and freeze all mana.

As someone who possesses such a barrier, he must have never neglected his physical training.

No, he must have focused on physical training more than anyone else.

He must have trained his body to the extreme to beat to death the opponents he pulled into the barrier.

“But don’t be too upset. Even without this barrier, you wouldn’t be my match. I’m a 7th Circle mage.”

The man laughed heartily and took his foot off my body. He seemed to be in a very good mood.

“…What’s the reason for targeting me?”

I asked in a dying voice.

“The reason for targeting you?”

The man chuckled and paused for a moment. He seemed to be thinking about how to make me even angrier.

“It’s a request. A VVIP client offered an astronomical sum to have you eliminated.”

The man squatted down and brought his face close to mine.

“So you should have just stayed low and lived within your means. You got like this because you were so cocky.”

I could see a sense of glee in his pitying gaze.

“This VVIP client… who is it?”

“Why? What are you going to do with that information? Get revenge? How? You’re going to die here anyway. Are you going to become a ghost and curse me?”

The man twisted his lips as if he was very amused.

“….”

I just stared silently into the man’s eyes.

Perhaps my gaze pleased him even more, as the man’s smile deepened.

“Well, since you’re going to die anyway, I don’t mind telling you. But unfortunately, I don’t know either. This is a subcontracted mission from higher up.”

“…An assassination carried out without even knowing who the client is. In the end, you’re just a dog of the Black Magic Tower.”

“Oh ho. You’re dying, but your mouth is still alive? Kehehe. Interesting.”

The man slapped my cheeks with his palm.

Then, he grabbed my hair and lifted me up.

“Don’t be cocky. If you don’t want to realize that there are things much more painful than dying, with your own body.”

A fierce glint.

The bloodshot eyes of a murderer, gleaming with murderous intent, pierced my pupils.

“And I’ll tell you this because I think you’re misunderstanding. It’s not like I don’t know who the client is at all. I didn’t hear the information directly, but I do have an informant within the tower.”

The man let go of my hair and stood up.

“The VVIP client is one of your siblings. I heard they formed a connection four years ago.”

The man’s lips curled into a smirk.

“Kehe. It’s a mess with family members biting each other like this. As expected, mage families are dirty. Don’t you think so too?”

The man licked his lips.

He had an expression that showed he was looking forward to my despair.

“…I see.”

But I’m sorry about this.

I won’t be able to show him a despairing expression.

“Thank you for the good testimony. This gives me solid evidence to pressure him.”

“What?”

I stood up from my spot. I brushed off the dirt on my clothes, turned my neck from side to side, and then stood in front of the man.

“You, what are you? Why are you so fine…”

The man asked with a bewildered expression at my unharmed appearance and calm expression.

“Why am I fine? Because it was all an act.”

“…An act?”

“Yes. I was pretending to be hurt until now.”

I took a stance and then threw a punch at the man.

Whoosh!

The sound of my fist piercing the air rang out sharply.

“…!”

The man raised his guard with a surprised expression.

Thwack-!

My fist collided with the man’s arm, and a shockwave rang out.

“Wh, what kind of power…!”

The impact was so great that the man’s guard was broken.

I took advantage of the gap and struck the man’s stomach with my left fist.

Thud!

“Cough!”

The man was pushed back about 2 meters by the impact.

“You, you…”

He drooled from his mouth, clutching his stomach and glaring at me.

“I needed information about the client. So I acted a little. Villains tend to spill everything when they think they’re on top, right?”

I smiled faintly.

“Thank you. You showed a typical third-rate villain reaction. You’re acting exactly as you look.”

“You little…”

A vein popped out on the man’s forehead. It seemed like he had lost his reason at my words just now.

The man stepped towards me.

Then, he immediately threw a straight punch.

It was a heavy straight punch at first glance.

Clack-!

I caught the punch as it was.

“You, you…”

“Your punch is weak. That’s why you should have focused on training from the start.”

The Vaitener system is a magic system where the body grows along with the growth of the circle [A system where a mage’s physical abilities increase as their magical power grows].

No matter how much this man had trained his body to the extreme, it was no match for me.

From the moment I entered this barrier, the outcome was already decided.

“Ah, right. I forgot to tell you this. Thank you for using something like the Gladiator Colosseum.”

I smiled even more brightly, looking at the bewildered man.

“If we had fought fairly with magic, I wouldn’t have been able to win.”

This man is a 7th Circle mage.

He’s not an opponent I can beat right now.

If mana hadn’t been sealed, I would never have been able to win.

“Ah, if it wasn’t for this, I wouldn’t have been able to get past Seokhyun, so either way, you wouldn’t have been able to kill me.”

“Y, you…! Don’t get cocky! You little sissy!”

I let go of the man’s fist and went straight into his arms.

Then, I used my shoulder and back to strike the man’s body.

Bang-!

The man’s body flew into the air.

“You have two choices.”

The man’s body rolled on the ground.

“Either die by my hands, or have my guards, who are waiting outside this barrier, kill you after I release it.”

I twisted my lips, looking at The Fist, who was grinding his teeth while looking up at me.

“The choice is yours.”

* * *

Outside the Gladiator Colosseum.

Kim Seokhyun was having a serious conversation with Min Janghyun, the deputy commander of the Shadow Unit.

“Commander, this is…”

“It’s a special barrier.”

Kim Seokhyun placed his hand on the area where the barrier was thought to be and sensed the mana.

“Can we break through it?”

“We have to break through it somehow.”

Kim Seokhyun replied with a determined expression. If they couldn’t break through this barrier, Shin Hayul would die. They had to break through it no matter what.

“But even if we break through, the method…”

Min Janghyun was also a member of the Shadow Unit. As such, he knew how special this barrier was.

Even Kim Seokhyun wouldn’t be able to break through this barrier in a short amount of time.

“I can make my circle go berserk.”

“…Pardon?”

Min Janghyun asked back in surprise.

“These special barriers are usually sensitive to the mana in the atmosphere. If I make my circle go berserk and mess up the surrounding mana, there’s a high chance that the barrier’s structure will collapse.”

“That’s…”

It was true.

These personal isolation-type special barriers are greatly affected by the surrounding mana. If Kim Seokhyun, a 7th Circle mage, made his circle go berserk and caused the surrounding mana to go berserk, there was a high chance that the barrier would be released.

“But if you do that, Commander, your life…”

Min Janghyun held back his last words.

If all seven mana circles went berserk, Kim Seokhyun would most likely die. Kim Seokhyun knew this too.

But it couldn’t be helped.

As someone who was entrusted with the protection of Shin Hayul, he had to protect Shin Hayul even if it meant sacrificing his own life.

“When the barrier is released, I’m counting on you to take care of the young master.”

“Commander…”

Kim Seokhyun sat down on the ground with a determined expression.

“Yes. I will protect the young master even if it costs me my life.”

Min Janghyun saluted and stepped back.

“Patriarch. I’m sorry. I’ll go first…”

Just as Kim Seokhyun was apologizing to Shin Inhyuk for the last time and was about to make his mana circle go berserk, it happened.

Thump, thud-!

The air, the earth trembled.

At the same time, the mana fluctuated.

“Commander, this is…!”

Min Janghyun shouted in surprise.

“…Is the barrier being released?”

Kim Seokhyun’s eyes widened in shock. The barrier was being released.

‘Is it too late!’

Could it be that the assassins had finished dealing with Shin Hayul and released the barrier?

There was no other reason for the barrier to be released.

Just as Kim Seokhyun was biting his lip hard, it happened.

Whoosh-!

The trembling stopped.

And.

“Y, young master?”

Shin Hayul appeared from within.

“Seokhyun, uncle.”

He had bruises all over his body, but he looked fine.

“How on earth…”

It was a ‘how?’ with many meanings.

“I’ll explain in detail later. For now…”

Shin Hayul turned his gaze with sharp eyes.

“Please restrain this guy first. And give him first aid so he doesn’t die.”

Kim Seokhyun’s gaze followed Shin Hayul’s gaze.

“…!”

There, a huge man was lying on the ground, completely battered.

Judging by the situation, that guy must be the assassin.

And the fact that such a guy was lying there like that….

“You… you defeated a 7th Circle mage… alone?”

Kim Seokhyun’s pupils shook violently.