The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 105

Fierce battles continued near the Third Mana Stone Warehouse.

“Kuhahaha! Good! Very good! This is a festival! Isn’t it exciting! Huh? Huh? Lord of the Mado Family!”

In the center of the monsters that filled the sky and the earth, Parade roared wildly.

His expression showed that he was enjoying this situation, unable to contain his excitement.

“Why aren’t you answering? Am I the only one excited? Huh? Am I the only one having fun?!”

Parade’s mana spread in all directions. The mana permeated the corpses of the monsters that filled the surroundings.

“If I’m the only one having fun…”

Then, the bodies of the monsters, which should have stopped breathing, began to move.

“That won’t do! Ahahaha!”

Monster Tamer Parade.

His second arcane magic, Raise Dead. A dark magic that breathes mana into dead monsters, resurrecting them as undead.

“Go! Go and destroy everything!”

The monsters resurrected as undead began to move again.

They flew in all directions to cut off the breath of the mages who filled the surroundings.

Some using their beaks.

Some with sharp claws.

Some with their huge mouths wide open.

They targeted the mages using their unique and powerful weapons.

The number of undead monsters added was a staggering 132.

It was a quantity that surpassed the number of mages currently guarding the Third Mana Stone Warehouse.

“Hahahaha! Let the festival of blood begin!”

Including the normal monsters that were not undead, there were over 300. In terms of pure power, it was almost a five-fold difference.

“Damn it!”

“They’ve resurrected again…!”

Everyone was biting their lips with serious expressions at the overwhelming difference in power, when suddenly.

“Fall back.”

Shin In-hyuk muttered quietly.

At the same time, mana swirled around Shin In-hyuk like a tornado.

The mana was so dense and vast that the surrounding air seemed distorted.

“Whew. So that wasn’t your full power earlier.”

Parade couldn’t help but be impressed by the enormous amount of mana.

“If they resurrect even after being torn to shreds like this…”

Shin In-hyuk clapped his hands together.

Clap-!

The sound of the rough clap echoed.

At that moment, all the sounds in the world stopped.

“I’ll erase every last speck of flesh so that there’s no chance of resurrection.”

And the moment Shin In-hyuk spread his hands wide again.

‘All Elemental.’

‘8th Circle 4-Attribute Composite Magic.’

‘Creation of Heaven and Earth.’

The light in one space disappeared.

A mysterious magic that fused four attributes.

The magic itself.

It settled right in the center of the undead army.

And that area became a space of nothingness.

“Wow!”

Parade clicked his tongue and applauded.

He never imagined that he would completely erase about 150 monsters in one blow.

“Truly amazing! Just like the rumors!”

The transcendent magic that could freely mix and use four attributes, All Elemental.

He was momentarily stunned by the power of the magic that surpassed the 8th Circle [a high level of magic].

And Shin In-hyuk was not one to miss that opening.

‘All Elemental.’

‘8th Circle 2-Attribute Composite Magic.’

‘Scorching Wind.’

A wind and fire attribute composite magic.

A fusion magic that combined the speed of wind attribute magic and the power of fire attribute magic flew towards Parade.

‘Oh no!’

Parade’s reaction was 0.1 seconds late because he was off guard.

And in a fight of this level, 0.1 seconds was a huge opening.

‘At least a critical hit.’

Shin In-hyuk was inwardly confident of victory when he saw the Scorching Wind approaching Parade’s face.

Suddenly, a shadow stretched out and swallowed the Scorching Wind that had reached Parade’s face.

“Oh. What’s this? Nice backup. Thanks, Shadow.”

Parade chuckled as he looked at the shadow that filled his vision.

The shadow that had swallowed the Scorching Wind glared at the chuckling Parade and then scattered into the air.

“…Tsk.”

Shin In-hyuk’s brow furrowed.

To think that the Scorching Wind would be blocked so easily.

‘What the heck is that shadow magic?’

It was a type of magic that Shin In-hyuk had never seen before.

It swallowed magic, erased mana, and strengthened monsters.

What exactly was the identity of that magic?

Shin In-hyuk’s eyes narrowed with doubt.

“Now then, let’s fight again. The strongest mage in Korea.”

Parade licked his lips and raised his mana again.

At that moment, the air cracked open.

‘8th Circle Dark Magic.’

‘Monster Gate.’

Monsters began to pour out of the crack in the air.

“Let’s see if your mental strength breaks first, or if my monsters disappear first. Let’s find out.”

“…”

Shin In-hyuk frowned as he looked at the hundreds of monsters pouring out.

“Tsk. It seems like Parade is going berserk, but is it okay to leave him like that?”

Meanwhile, Shadow, who was hiding in the shadows, spoke to Tkish.

“It doesn’t matter. Let him be.”

Given the situation, it wasn’t a bad thing for Parade to be using his full power.

No, it was actually good.

The more Parade rampaged, the easier it would be for them to achieve their goal.

“More importantly, when will the Shadow Sanctuary be completed?”

“It will be completed in about 3 minutes.”

“…That’s just right.”

At that moment, a gust of wind blew.

Kaaang-!

At the same time, the sound of swords clashing rang out clearly.

“Why are you clicking your tongue like that, as if you’re in a bad mood?”

It was the sound of Tkish’s barrier and Min Ga-yeon’s three swords colliding.

Kagagagak-!

The three swords, surrounded by a whirlwind, scraped at Tkish’s barrier, creating a friction sound.

“Why? Are you a little upset that things aren’t going your way?”

Min Ga-yeon twisted the corner of her mouth.

At the same time, the whirlwind surrounding the three swords changed shape.

‘Wind God Sword.’

‘Form 4.’

‘Shave.’

To cut.

A technique that puts everything into cutting.

Min Ga-yeon’s sword possessed a cutting power that could cut through not only air friction but also mana.

Swish-!

The sword instantly cut Tkish’s barrier in half and split Tkish’s body in half.

Min Ga-yeon took a stance again, watching Tkish’s body fall to the ground in free fall.

Even though the fight was over, she showed no sign of letting her guard down.

And as if responding to Min Ga-yeon’s fighting spirit, Tkish’s body, which had been cut in half, began to turn into mist and scatter.

“If you ask a question, you should at least wait until I answer, shouldn’t you?”

And a moment later.

Tkish’s body, which had been cut in half, completely disappeared, and he reappeared in front of Min Ga-yeon in his original form.

“Seriously, this is ridiculous. Are you some kind of immortal?”

Min Ga-yeon frowned and glared at Tkish.

“I’m not immortal. But I’m close to it.”

This was the fifth time.

Whether she cut his head off or split his body in half, Tkish was resurrecting without any problems.

He would turn into mist in the blink of an eye and return to his original form.

It felt like a dream.

“…Hoo.”

Min Ga-yeon took a deep breath.

It was to regulate her breath and mana, which had been excessively consumed while using Form 4.

Silence descended with Min Ga-yeon’s silence.

“If you’ve given up, how about quietly letting us pass?”

Tkish sneered coldly.

“Nonsense. I’m not letting you go.”

Min Ga-yeon gently gripped her sword again and lowered her stance even further.

“It’ll all be over in 3 minutes anyway.”

The magic circle that Shadow was preparing, the Shadow Sanctuary, would be completed within 3 minutes.

Once that was completed, they could escape from this place immediately.

“So, let’s not waste each other’s energy.”

This operation was a failure.

It was just a waste of effort to use any more power.

If possible, he wanted to get through this without using any more power.

‘I’ve already wasted 5 of my life stocks. I want to avoid any more consumption if possible.’

Moreover, Tkish’s arcane magic was a charging type.

He didn’t want to lose any more life stocks.

“3 minutes is more than enough time to kill you.”

Min Ga-yeon, who had regained her breath, swung her sword again.

Kaaang-!

The sound of the sword and Tkish’s magic clashing echoed again.

“…You’re really being annoying to the end.”

Tkish clicked his tongue.

If they clashed again like this, he would lose at least two more lives in two minutes.

He wanted to avoid that if possible.

To do that, he had to buy time somehow.

How could he buy time?

‘That would be good.’

Tkish’s eyes glowed darkly.

“Alright. Then how about this? If you quietly let me go, I’ll provide you with some good information.”

“If you’re trying to buy time with nonsense…”

“We’ve sent assassins to each team’s accommodation to kidnap promising talents.”

“What?”

Tkish laughed inwardly as he watched the green magic tower master, who was stiff with shock.

* * *

Immediately after the sudden explosion.

I managed to escape into the sky with Kim Seok-hyun’s help.

I let out a sigh of relief as I looked at the collapsing hotel.

“Young Master. Are you hurt?”

“No. I’m fine.”

If Kim Seok-hyun hadn’t blocked the explosion with a barrier at the last moment, I would have been seriously injured.

“That’s a relief.”

Kim Seok-hyun, having confirmed that there was nothing wrong with my body, let out a sigh of relief and lowered his gaze.

“Young Master. This is probably…”

“Yes. It’s probably the Black Magic Tower.”

Seok-hyun narrowed his eyes and scanned the area around the collapsing hotel.

“There are no life signs in the vicinity. If we could detect mana reactions, we could pinpoint their location, but…”

The mana was unstable due to the magic from just now, so it was impossible to detect mana right now.

I also used my Divine Eye to look around.

I couldn’t identify the attacker with my eyes either.

The surrounding mana was that chaotic. It was impossible to find the location of the attacker who was hiding their presence in this chaotic mana.

“Please be careful. Judging by the power of the magic, they are a 7th Circle level expert. You must not leave my side.”

“Yes.”

Kim Seok-hyun moved his mana with a very wary expression.

“Before calling for support, I’ll strengthen our defenses first.”

Dense mana soon formed a spherical barrier that surrounded the area.

Not just one layer.

Two layers, three layers. The barrier gradually increased to a total of ten layers.

‘As expected of Seok-hyun.’

A special mage specializing in stealth magic and barrier magic.

He was a 7th Circle user, but in terms of protecting a target, he was as good as any 8th Circle mage.

As long as Kim Seok-hyun was right next to me, there was no way I would be harmed.

I was so sure of it.

However.

My certainty was shattered without a trace.

“Ehehehehe.”

The vile laughter of a man who seemed to be the attacker pierced through the dust and reached my ears, and at the same time.

Kugung-!

The air vibrated slightly.

Mana imbued with corrupted mana quickly permeated the barrier and rushed right up to my face.

‘Fast…!’

That was all I had time to think.

The corrupted mana, which had quickly expanded its power, instantly wrapped around my body.

There was no time to resist.

It was that instantaneous.

And a moment later.

“Where am I…”

I was standing inside an unidentified colosseum, all decorated in black.

‘Seok-hyun isn’t here?’

I was even alone.

Seok-hyun, who should have been right next to me, had disappeared in an instant.

I activated my Divine Eye and looked around. The space itself was made of mana and magic circles.

It was a spell of a structure I had never seen before, and I could only see fragmentary magic circles, so I couldn’t say for sure, but…

“Barrier.”

This structure was definitely a barrier.

“You’re quick to notice?”

A man’s voice was heard through the space. A gruff, middle-aged man’s voice.

Thud, thud.

A man appeared with the sound of sand being stepped on.

A muscular man with a shaved head.

A giant with a height of 2 meters who looked like he could throw a punch.

“We’re about to compete, so we should introduce ourselves first.”

He stood 10 meters in front of me and swung his shoulders around.

“My name is Dan. Code name is The Fist.”

A ferocious expression reminiscent of a carnivore.

“And this is the Gladiator Colosseum. A sacred arena where only two people, me and the person I choose, can enter, and…”

He smiled wickedly, emitting a heavy aura reminiscent of an ancient dinosaur.

“It’s the execution ground where the 171st execution will take place.”