The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 141

About an hour had passed since the start of the open raid finals.

The Korean team was currently divided into three groups.

A four-person team including Adela and Ji Sun-chan was in the lower boss room, Area A.

A five-person team including Kang Shin-woo, Jin Hee-yoon, and Ma Jin-seok was in the mid-level boss room, Area B.

And Shin Ha-yul was heading to the upper boss room, each carrying out their assigned tasks.

Everyone was proceeding with the strategy as planned, without any particular variables.

At this rate, they would easily win the championship.

“Hmm. That’s a shame. It looks like Ha-yul went through the opposite passage?”

“……”

However, things in the world don’t always go as planned.

A variable occurred in the lower boss room, Area A, where the four-person team including Adela and Ji Sun-chan was carrying out their attack.

And it wasn’t just an ordinary variable, but a very big one.

“It’s a shame, but there’s nothing we can do. I’ll postpone fighting Ha-yul for later, and focus on you for now.”

They had encountered the British four-man team led by Kyle Ventia.

“I wanted to fight you again too.”

Kyle pointed his sword at Adela.

Adela was all that was in Kyle’s eyes, which were burning with competitive spirit.

“……I thought you would go straight to the mid-level boss room.”

It was a completely unexpected encounter.

Whether it was Kyle Ventia or Dahlia Salentia, they were expected to go to the mid-level boss room without fail.

To think they would meet like this in the lower boss room.

“I was originally going to. That’s the most logical strategy.”

Kyle lightly gripped his rapier and took a stance.

“But. The opponent is none other than you guys, right?”

A wind blew.

A storm-like wind befitting his nickname, the Knight of the Gale.

The wind enveloped Kyle’s body, forming a shape like armor.

“I’ve learned the hard way that the standard approach isn’t the best option when facing you.”

A wind blew.

Carried by the wind, Kyle’s body cut through the air.

Kyle, who had flown right in front of Adela, swung his sword.

An all-out attack from the start.

Adela didn’t react to the attack. She wasn’t even looking at Kyle, let alone counterattacking.

But this wasn’t because she couldn’t react, but simply because she didn’t react.

Defense wasn’t Adela’s role in this party.

There was no reason to react.

Kaaaaaang-!

An octagonal shield was created in the path of Kyle’s rapier.

“Hey, handsome British guy. Isn’t that a bit too much to ignore me like that?”

Ji Sun-chan.

The shield of this party had moved to fulfill its original role.

“If you treat me like I’m not there, I’ll be sad?”

Ji Sun-chan pretended to cry with a ‘sniff sniff’ sound.

Kyle’s eyes flashed.

“……Right. Now that I think about it, you were there too.”

He had been so focused on Adela that he had completely forgotten about him.

Ji Sun-chan, a defense-specialized mage.

This man was not someone to be ignored either.

“You were there too, you say… Did you really forget about me? That’s….”

Ji Sun-chan grinned, looking as if his pride had been hurt.

“I’m seriously angry!”

Ji Sun-chan swung his fist at the octagonal shield, the Octa-Gate.

Kaang!

Ji Sun-chan’s fist struck the inside of the Octa-Gate hard.

‘Octa-Gate, launch!’

At that moment, the Octa-Gate flew forward.

“Whoa!”

Kyle’s body, which had been facing the Octa-Gate with his rapier, was pushed back.

The power was so strong that Kyle couldn’t withstand it.

Kkkkkkkkkk-!

Kyle was able to regain his footing only after retreating about 4 meters.

“Wow. What was that? I don’t think I’ve seen that before.”

“Of course you haven’t. It’s the first time I’ve used it.”

At those words, Kyle looked surprised.

“You really don’t have any openings. To hide such a move until the very end.”

“Our leader is very cautious.”

Ji Sun-chan erased the Octa-Gate and shrugged his shoulders with his now free body.

“I’ve been wondering all along. Where did you get that arcane magic for that shield? I heard your family isn’t a family of mages.”

“It’s not arcane magic?”

Ji Sun-chan used magic again. This time, it was a slightly different pentagonal shield, a Penta-Gate.

It perfectly blocked the wind magic that Maia Nerontia was sending from the side.

Even though it was a fairly powerful magic that Kyle had prepared while buying time, Ji Sun-chan’s shield didn’t budge at all.

It was a perfect guard.

Perfect defense.

“If that’s not arcane magic, then what is it?”

“Arcane magic means acquiring magic from the past and making it one’s own intellectual property, right?”

Ji Sun-chan erased the Penta-Gate again.

“My magic isn’t like that. My magic isn’t derived from past magic… ancient magic. It’s magic I developed myself. Original magic.”

“Original… magic?”

“Yeah. Cool, right?”

Original magic.

It’s similar to arcane magic, but it’s a slightly different type of magic.

If arcane magic is a recreation of the past, original magic means magic created anew from nothing.

“That’s a lie.”

Maia coldly muttered with sharp eyes.

“Do you know how difficult it is to create original magic? It’s hard enough to create new magic, but to have that level of perfection… it’s impossible.”

Ji Sun-chan shrugged his shoulders.

“You don’t have to believe it if you don’t want to.”

Ji Sun-chan lowered his stance even further. It was as if he was bracing for some kind of impact.

“Whether you believe it or not, the fact that my magic is Ha-yul’s original magic doesn’t change.”

At those words, Kyle, Maia, and the other British team members’ eyes widened.

“S-Shin Ha-yul made that magic? Not magic made by the Blue Magic Tower or another research institute…?”

“Yeah. Ha-yul made it.”

The defensive magic ‘Gates’ that take the form of polygons.

There are a total of 5-sided to 32-sided shapes, and the strength increases as the number of sides increases.

The developer of this magic was none other than Shin Ha-yul.

It was an original magic that he created by analyzing Ji Sun-chan’s special mana traits.

“……That’s impossible. If that’s true, then Shin Ha-yul is already….”

Maia’s expression became even more serious. She felt genuine fear towards Shin Ha-yul, who had created that level of magic at the age of 18.

Seeing that, Ji Sun-chan grinned. For some reason, he felt good seeing them surprised.

“But you guys. How long are you going to just stand there and watch?”

Ji Sun-chan, who had been lowering his stance, casually changed the subject.

“Aren’t you forgetting that this match isn’t a survival, but an open raid?”

At that moment, Adela’s mana surged like an explosion.

“……!”

Maia and Kyle’s pupils dilated.

“You guys, don’t tell me…!”

Kyle trailed off, as if he had realized the situation.

“That’s right! Seniors!”

Ji Sun-chan smiled brightly and cast a spell.

“Okay!”

“Got it!”

Ji Sun-chan’s defensive magic, which covered all directions, 360 degrees.

The two seniors, including Adela, also hid themselves inside.

“Mai…!”

Just as Kyle was about to call out to Maia, having grasped the situation.

Woong!

Adela’s mana filled the space.

A soft moonlight began to shine in the artificial cave that should have been dark.

And then.

‘5th Circle Moon Attribute Magic.’

‘Lake Moon.’

It expanded.

Lake Moon.

As befitting its name, the moon reflected on the lake, it was soft and gentle.

The moonlight filled the cave.

Kuuuuooooooo-!

It annihilated the lower boss monster that had been sleeping in one corner of the cave in one blow.

[Lower Boss Room Area A Cleared!]

[Occupation Rate, Korean Team 100%.]

The Korean team’s subjugation was announced to all players as a notice on the open raid terminal.

And that notice was naturally delivered to Shin Ha-yul, who was standing in front of the upper boss room.

“Whew. I heard they ran into Kyle, but they handled it well.”

He whistled softly at the welcome news and took a step inside the upper boss room.

[Mid-Level Boss Room Area B Cleared!]

[Occupation Rate – Korea: 74.7%, USA: 22.7%, Iran: 1.3%…….]

At that moment, another piece of good news came.

This time, it was the news that the five-person team led by Kang Shin-woo had completed the attack on the mid-level boss room.

I was a bit worried since they had also encountered the American team.

Fortunately, it seemed that there were no major problems since Dahlia wasn’t there.

‘Now I just have to do well.’

Shin Ha-yul took his eyes off the open raid terminal as he walked.

Step, step.

The sound of stepping on sand was particularly loud. Crunch, crunch.

The more he advanced, the more sand there was.

After about a minute of walking.

When the surroundings were all sandy.

The monster revealed itself.

Kagagagagagak!

A series of sounds echoed as the thick, sharp carapace seemed to poke the soft sand.

A carapace that was a similar color to the sand.

A long tail that extended backward and curved upward.

Two huge pincers and six legs supporting its massive body.

‘Death Stalker.’

A Rank 5 Tier A-rank monster of the scorpion order, arachnid class, known as the Grim Reaper of the Desert.

The monster was thrusting its huge tail towards Shin Ha-yul.

“Please take care of me. Let’s fight fair and square.”

Looking at the Death Stalker, Shin Ha-yul rotated the Infinity Circle.

“You know? No using poison on each other, okay?”

He simultaneously drew up mana of the water and ice attributes, which were practically the Death Stalker’s weakness.

“Ah, the poison has already been removed, so you can’t use it even if you wanted to.”

The mana soon became a huge ice spear floating above Shin Ha-yul’s head.

Swoooosh!

It flew towards the Death Stalker.

* * *

Another 30 minutes passed.

[Korean Team, Upper Boss Room Area C Cleared!]

[Occupation Rate – Korean Team: 100%]

The news that the Korean team had defeated the Death Stalker was delivered to all players.

Most of them showed a bland reaction, like, ‘As expected of Korea.’

Considering Korea’s potential, it wouldn’t have been difficult for them to catch a Death Stalker with the poison removed. There was no reason to be surprised.

“Wow.”

“……”

However, the reactions of the British and American teams were quite different.

Surprise and shock.

It was a reaction of disbelief.

“Kyle. You said you met Adela Stewart and Ji Sun-chan in the lower boss room, right?”

“That’s right. I encountered a total of four people, including those two. I got completely wrecked after trying to probe them.”

Kyle smiled bitterly.

“You guys met five people, right?”

“……That’s right. We met in the mid-level boss room, Area B.”

Dahlia hadn’t seen it herself, but she had received a report that Sara’s team 2 had encountered Kang Shin-woo’s five-man team.

“……Then does that mean Shin Ha-yul cleared the upper boss room… by himself?”

“I guess that’s what it means?”

Kyle chuckled.

Since Shin Ha-yul wasn’t there, they had just assumed he would be acting with another team.

To think he was acting alone. And to think he was doing the crazy thing of attacking the upper boss room alone.

“……Kyle.”

Dahlia called out to Kyle with a serious expression.

“I really don’t mean to, but….”

“You’re suggesting an alliance?”

“……Yes.”

Both Kyle and Dahlia.

Both of them had a pride that was as strong as Shin Ha-yul’s.

Because of that, they had consciously avoided forming alliances until now.

No matter how strong or advantageous Korea was, their pride would not allow them to fight one against many.

That’s why they had refused the previous proposal for a grand alliance, pretending they hadn’t heard it.

But now was not the time to think about pride.

He had defeated the Death Stalker single-handedly.

It was hard to admit, but Shin Ha-yul was untouchable right now.

It was not the time to stand on pride. Even if it meant forming an alliance with the annoying British and the disliked Kyle, they had to respond somehow.

Forming an alliance with Kyle was the only way to respond to Shin Ha-yul right now.

Fortunately, this match was an open raid.

Since the main content was competition through occupation rates, alliances between teams were allowed to some extent.

“We form an alliance and fight in the last boss room. Is that it?”

“……Yes.”

The final boss monster, which could be called the flower of the open raid.

It was structured so that it could never be defeated alone, and it was so powerful that it overwhelmed all other monsters alone.

As it had overwhelming power, the points that could be obtained were also overwhelming.

If they fought there, they might be able to stop Korea from winning.

“Shouldn’t we at least try to struggle?”

“Yeah. We can’t just sit back and be defeated like this.”

Dahlia’s eyes shone with determination.

Kyle’s eyes burned with fighting spirit.

“Then, let’s gather the team and prepare to enter the main boss room….”

Just as Dahlia was about to quickly explain the plan.

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing-!

“Kyaaaaaaak!”

“Kuh!”

A chilling sound filled the arena.

It was like the sound of tens of thousands of broken radios buzzing at the same time, or the sound of tens of thousands of chalkboards being scratched at the same time.

It was a terrible noise that made it impossible to even think normally.

Pshshshshshsh-!

Fizz!

“What, what is it? Why is the terminal….”

At the same time, the open raid terminals that the players were wearing on their wrists emitted smoke and electricity and became unresponsive.

Thud!

Immediately after, all the lights in the arena went out.

In the artificial cave where pitch-black darkness had settled.

About 3 seconds of silence passed.

And when the goosebumps had completely subsided.

Kuuuuooooooo-!

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik!

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

A roar was heard.

The roars of countless monsters filling this cave.

As if they were angry at someone who had been controlling them.

As if they were cheering for having broken free from the chains of control.

It was such a vivid roar.

“……What the hell is this?”

“What’s going on?”

The monsters that were being controlled for the match were emitting a thick killing intent that they shouldn’t have been able to emit, filling the entire cave.