The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 311

This is the worst.

‘For a cadre to attack at this timing…’

Currently, I’ve exhausted all my strength to stop the abyssal sea’s rampage.

My current combat power is less than 40% of my usual.

The probability of winning against a cadre in this state isn’t high.

Maybe around 5% at best.

‘And it has to be Rapid of all people…’

No, considering the opponent is Rapid, the win rate is probably less than 5%.

For me, in my current condition of less than 40%, Rapid’s speed is like a nightmare.

I have almost no means to react to that speed right now.

At best, all I can do is use my Divine Eye to sense and block attacks.

Other than that, there are no means of counterattack or evasion.

Without a means of counterattack, defeat is all that awaits me.

‘If only Miho was in a normal state…’

Miho is in an even more exhausted state than I am.

Miho is not in a condition to fight right now.

To put it bluntly, Miho is more of a hindrance right now.

‘Miho, you should rest inside for now.’

I used ‘Factio’ [a spell or technique] to reverse summon Miho.

During the reverse summon, Miho showed signs of resistance, but I ignored it and completed the reverse summon.

“A summon that can be freely summoned and unsummoned… interesting. I’m a little envious.”

Rapid remained relaxed even after seeing Miho disappear.

In contrast to Rapid, my expression grew more serious.

‘At this rate, it’s a guaranteed loss.’

There is no hope.

The scales of victory are rapidly tilting towards Rapid.

“…How did you know to come here?”

I asked, looking at Rapid, who was still licking his lips with an interested expression.

A hopeless situation.

It was a desperate measure to buy even a little time.

“Ah, that?”

Rapid sheathed his dagger, stood straight, and pointed to the sky with his free hand.

“They said they saw it with a satellite.”

“It should be impossible to identify a person’s face with a satellite camera.”

“That’s right. It’s impossible to identify a face with a satellite camera. But…”

Rapid lowered his hand and took out another dagger from his waist.

He twirled the daggers in each hand, showing off his skill.

“You can at least confirm that someone is fighting a huge battle with monsters here, right?”

He took out a third dagger and started juggling.

“Are you saying you identified me by watching the battle?”

“No, not exactly.”

The daggers increased to four, then five.

The daggers soon numbered over ten.

“Look behind you.”

The man juggled and pointed his chin behind me.

There, a drone was floating in the air.

“By the way, that’s a drone from the Jeju Island military base.”

“A military drone… Hacking the Jeju Island military base’s drone to check the battle area. Sending it here to identify my face. Is that it?”

“Wow. You’re smart? That’s exactly right.”

Rapid retrieved the daggers he had been tossing around one by one.

Now, Rapid held 15 daggers in each hand.

“But, if that’s the case, then you found me at most 1-2 minutes ago… Were you near Busan? No, it doesn’t make sense that you flew from Busan to here in one minute…”

It was another question to buy time.

I already knew that with this man’s ability, it wouldn’t take him even a minute to get here from Seoul.

“Was I in Busan? No way. Didn’t you see the news? Of course, I was in Seoul.”

“From Seoul to here… You’re saying you came in 1-2 minutes?”

I pretended to be surprised and made a fuss.

Rapid grinned, seemingly pleased with my reaction.

“You think it would take a minute?”

“Less than a minute…? How fast do you have to be…”

I pretended to be shocked.

The man’s expression became even more vivid.

He must have liked my surprise.

‘I get a sense of his personality.’

If he has this kind of personality, it’s enough to just praise him a little.

He seems to have considerable pride in his speed, so if I focus on that and gradually fill his ego…

‘I can buy at least 5 minutes.’

And in 5 minutes, my condition will recover to some extent.

It’ll only be about 60%, though.

Even that is a blessing.

With 60% condition, I can at least try to counter.

“How can you move so fast?”

I used words and sentences that the man would like.

The man thinks he’s overwhelmingly strong and is arrogant.

He’ll take the bait to taste the vanity I’m offering.

“Curious? This is top secret, so I shouldn’t tell you carelessly…”

As expected.

There’s no way that man’s personality wouldn’t take the bait.

“Okay. I’ll be generous. As a last gift before you die…”

Just as the man was about to reveal his magic while casually waving his dagger.

“…”

He suddenly stopped talking and frowned.

“It’s noisy. I’ll do it myself.”

Then he said something out of the blue. Judging by the fact that his gaze wasn’t on me, he must be talking to someone else.

The man is wearing an earphone, so he’s probably talking to the person on the other side of the earphone.

‘Is it Hermes?’

And the person on the other side of the earphone is most likely Hermes.

“Ah, geez. You’re nagging so much. I got it. I got it.”

The man clicked his tongue repeatedly and frowned.

‘It’s dangerous.’

That expression. That reaction. That tone.

It’s certain.

I don’t know what Hermes said, but Rapid decided to follow Hermes’s opinion.

Rapid won’t listen to me anymore.

“Sorry for changing my mind. The nagging was too much.”

The man focused his gaze on me and twirled his dagger.

“Well, you’ll lose all curiosity after you die anyway. Don’t be too resentful.”

Then, he spread the daggers he was holding in all directions.

The daggers were scattered around me and the man.

Rapid was left with only one dagger in his hand.

The remaining 29 daggers were scattered in all directions, flying in the air.

“Then, goodbye.”

I was wary, thinking it might be telekinesis, but there was no sign of mana imbued in them.

Beyond not being imbued with mana, the daggers themselves were not crafted in any way.

They were just ordinary, well-sharpened daggers, nothing more, nothing less.

‘What is he going to do with those daggers…’

That’s what I was thinking when.

“… !”

A warning bell rang in my head.

It’s dangerous. Evade it.

My senses were constantly sending out red alerts.

I immediately activated the Divine Eye at the maximum output I could muster and moved my body.

Whoosh!

Rapid thrust his sword into the spot where my neck had been a moment ago.

He brushed past my body at lightning speed, with the dagger he was holding in his right hand extended.

Swish!

A red line was drawn on my neck.

‘It grazed me.’

I dodged it, but it seems it was impossible to avoid it completely due to the speed.

I feel the unique heat of a cut wound on my neck.

Perhaps it’s because adrenaline surged, but there’s no pain yet.

Judging by the amount of blood flowing, it’s not a serious wound.

I managed to evade it well.

‘The problem is from now on…’

I turned my gaze to the spot where Rapid had passed.

Rapid should be flying far away due to the acceleration.

I need to reorganize my stance before he changes direction and comes back.

That’s what I was thinking when I completely fixed my eyes on the direction Rapid had passed.

“Peek-a-boo!”

Contrary to my expectations, Rapid had completely changed direction and was flying back towards me, making eye contact.

With a clear mockery intended to tease me, he swung his sword.

‘I can’t…!’

I can’t dodge this!

I didn’t even have time to think.

Before that, Rapid’s dagger reached my neck.

With my stance broken due to the urgent movement, I can’t respond to his high-speed attack.

‘I’ve been cut.’

The scene of my head separating from my body and flying into the sky flashed through my mind.

I was properly hit.

There was no time to react.

I was defeated.

While realizing this and feeling self-deprecating.

“Open your eyes! I grazed you on purpose! It’s just starting, it’d be disappointing if you gave up already!”

Rapid shouted, laughing gleefully.

And.

“That’s 3 hits!”

Rapid, who was behind me just a moment ago, was now in front of me.

Just like before, he swung his dagger towards my neck.

Swish!

Again, even though he could have completely cut off my neck, the man only swung his dagger to slightly graze my skin.

“4 hits, 5 hits!”

That was the beginning.

“9 hits!”

The start of the trickery.

The man moved around me, attacking me from all directions, changing direction.

Sometimes from behind, sometimes from below, sometimes from above.

He flew in from all directions and swung his dagger at me.

“15 hits!”

Around the 15th attack, I started to see how the man was attacking me.

‘He’s using the scattered daggers around him as stepping stones to change direction.’

Where the man flew at lightning speed while swinging his dagger, the daggers he had scattered were located.

The man used those daggers as stepping stones to change direction, while scattering the dagger he was holding nearby.

He rushed at me while holding the dagger he used as a stepping stone.

It was a very strange sight.

‘…How can daggers scattered in the air withstand that acceleration and act as stepping stones?’

They should be flying far away with the daggers, but how can those daggers withstand Rapid’s speed and power?

“20 hits!”

While I was pondering, the man’s attacks exceeded 20 in total.

In the meantime, the man still only swung his sword enough to graze my neck.

Even though he had more than 20 chances to kill me, he did it on purpose.

The man left only wounds on my neck, as if mocking me.

“This is… the last… 30 hits!”

That was the 30th strike.

Since it was the last strike, I thought he was going to cut my neck, but.

The man’s dagger only grazed my neck again.

There were dozens of small scratches on my neck that the man had inflicted.

“I was just going to kill you. But I have my pride. I didn’t think it was right to go back on my word. So I showed you directly.”

The man stood tall in front of me and grinned.

“How is it? Do you understand what my ability is?”

“…”

Indeed.

I thought it was too much effort for a trick to manipulate me.

So that’s what it was.

“Yes. I think I understand roughly.”

“Really? You figured it out?”

“Yes.”

I’ve seen it 30 times, how could I not know?

“What is it?”

“Isn’t it an acceleration adjustment magic that can be used on yourself and objects?”

“…”

Rapid exclaimed with a surprised expression, “Wow~.”

“You’re the first one to figure it out at a glance. You have an amazing eye for detail?”

Rapid clapped his hands, laughing.

“That’s right. My ability isn’t a physical enhancement ability, but acceleration adjustment. It’s the ability to control the speed of my body or objects. What I did just now was fix the position value by forcibly making the acceleration of the object’s dagger 0, using it as a stepping stone, and reflecting the acceleration energy I applied…”

The man started to reveal his secrets.

He said that it’s impossible to create speed from nothing with acceleration adjustment.

That to adjust acceleration, you have to give an acceleration value.

That he uses his body as a trigger to give that acceleration value.

The theory of acceleration adjustment magic, which is difficult to understand at once, came out one after another.

…Of course, I’m not included in the category of ‘if you’re average’.

“How is it? Do you understand?”

“Yes. I understand it clearly.”

I understood it clearly.

How this man’s acceleration adjustment unfolds.

‘…With that method, it’s not like there’s no way to respond.’

The man has to step on that dagger every time he changes direction.

That means that if I can figure out the position of the dagger, I can predict the man’s attack trajectory.

‘No matter how fast he is, if I know the trajectory, I can dodge it.’

I can do it.

I can assume all the hundreds of attack routes from the 30 daggers and perform the best evasion continuously.

‘I’ve also gotten used to his speed to some extent because of that playful attack just now. If I can find the man’s breathing and habits, I can counterattack.’

The unique breathing and habits that everyone has.

Rapid’s attack is simple and linear, so there’s no way he doesn’t have habits. If I can figure that out, I can turn the tables at once.

‘I’ll kill Rapid by using his speed in reverse.’

Speed is equal for everyone.

If I use Rapid’s speed in reverse, I can deal with him with little power.

Let’s wait for that moment.

I sharpened my mind and focused on the man’s every move.

“Hmm.”

Rapid frowned.

He doesn’t seem to like that I’ve regained my composure.

“I thought you’d be frustrated that there’s no answer. This is a bit unexpected. Did you find a way?”

“Yes. After listening to you, it doesn’t seem like much. I think I can win.”

“You’re saying funny things. My ability is nothing?”

As expected, it was as easy to provoke him as it was to praise him.

Unconcealed anger began to show on Rapid’s face.

“Okay. Then try to block it. I’ll acknowledge you if you block it.”

Just as Rapid, who was heated up, was about to take a stance again and scatter his daggers in all directions.

Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-!

Suddenly, monsters jumped out from all directions.

The sea had calmed down, and the monsters that had calmed down with it began to get excited again.

“Oops. This was a monster-dense area. I should have been a little more restrained.”

They must have been corrupted by the tainted mana that Rapid was scattering, and they turned ferocious.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. There’s no way those guys can hurt me.”

Rapid shrugged, looking at the monsters that filled the surroundings. He had an expression that monsters were no problem at all.

‘Certainly, with that speed, a monster attack would be nothing.’

He just needs to avoid the monsters’ attacks.

But.

‘Why now…’

I’m not like that.

I don’t have the same speed as Rapid.

I can’t fully respond to the monsters’ attacks.

No, I can respond to the monsters’ attacks, but it’s more accurate to say that I can’t respond to Rapid’s attacks that will come in that gap.

‘…It’s dangerous.’

The light of hope that had just bloomed was extinguished in an instant.

In the chaotic battle that will unfold with the monsters’ participation, it’s impossible to predict Rapid’s attack route 100%.

‘I have to deal with the monsters first.’

If I don’t deal with the monsters first, I have no chance of winning.

‘But how? How do I deal with the monsters? Is there a way to deal with the monsters without showing an opening to Rapid…’

That’s when I was racking my brain.

Whoooooooosh-!

‘This sound is…’

I heard the sound of something piercing the air and falling near my ear.

A sound similar to when Rapid was approaching earlier.

The sound of something the size of a person piercing the air and making a forced landing.

‘Could it be enemy reinforcements?’

It doesn’t feel like a mage, there’s no sign of fly magic.

Judging by the fact that they’re breaking through air resistance with their bare body and free-falling, it can’t be a mage.

If it’s not a mage, the opponent is very likely a black mage.

‘Could it be Destroyer…?’

That heavy weight and falling speed. The giant man who is said to be the strongest in terms of power among the black magic tower cadres.

Could it be Destroyer?

If so, there’s really no chance of winning this time.

Even if the world turns upside down, I can’t win a 2:1.

That’s when I was biting my lip.

‘…’

I suddenly noticed Rapid’s expression.

His expression isn’t good.

His gaze is sharp like a blade, not like he’s looking at reinforcements.

‘Is it not enemy support?’

The friction sound of piercing the air was loud.

Among the sounds of something coming down, cutting through the wind, the unique friction sound of metal rang out clearly.

Is it the sound of drawing a sword from its sheath?

Is it my imagination?

It was a familiar sound, as if I had heard it somewhere before.

‘Where did I hear it?’

That’s what I was thinking when.

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing-!

The sound of something sharp cutting through the air rang out loudly.

And immediately after that.

“The sea… is…?”

Unconsciously, the sea was cut in two.

“Did you dodge it? Not bad speed.”

Behind me, I heard a familiar voice along with the sound of someone landing lightly on the sea.

“For a mage, you were quite decent. I’ll give you a compliment.”

A voice that was dignified, elegant, and charismatic.

“…I didn’t hear that someone like you would appear.”

Rapid’s voice hardened.

“Sein Vinoche.”

Splash, splash.

She walked forward, stepping on the water, and stood tall in front of me.

“What. Don’t think too unfairly. I also found out just a little while ago.”

She pointed the sword she was holding at Rapid and smiled as if she was having the most fun in the world.

“That I would come here.”

She smiled and slowly swung her sword from left to right.

Then.

Swoosh-!

This time, the monsters’ bodies were separated into top and bottom.

‘What is this again…’

The sea vertically.

The monsters horizontally.

Sein Vinoche’s sword created two sword strikes that divided the world into exactly four parts.

“It’s a bit quieter now.”

In the silent world where the monsters’ cries had disappeared.

Sein Vinoche slowly sheathed her sword. Then, she turned her body halfway, turned her gaze towards me, and smiled slightly.

“How is it, Master? Don’t you think I’ve improved a lot since the last time we met?”

It was the same playful smile I often saw in France before.