The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 325

Reversal and Providence.

The interplay of forward and reverse forces.

The balance and neutrality between opposing actions warp the laws of this world.

The laws of time collapse.

The flow of mana ceases.

The laws of physics crumble.

The breakdown of common sense—the balance between reversal and providence—shatters the very fabric of reality.

That is perfect neutrality.

It is the master-level domain of the Vaitener Style Magic 7th Circle.

‘How… mana…’

The Black Magic King’s pupils trembled slightly.

Mana is stagnant.

He cannot use magic.

He has lost his magic.

‘You… what have you done?’

Magic is everything to the Black Magic King.

Losing magic is akin to losing everything.

‘Answer me, Shin Ha-yul! What did you do!’

No matter how powerful one is, they cannot remain composed when everything they possess is negated.

It was only natural for the Black Magic King’s emotions to surge.

‘In this space, no one can use magic.’

Shin Ha-yul pushed off the ground.

Clenching his fist, he approached the Black Magic King and swung.

Thwack-!

The Black Magic King couldn’t evade Shin Ha-yul’s punch.

‘Ugh!’

The Black Magic King groaned, feeling a sharp pain on his face.

‘My body isn’t moving as I want it to.’

The Black Magic King, who could wield magic that was nearly omnipotent.

The Black Magic King, who could accomplish anything with magic.

In a world devoid of magic, he is more helpless than anyone else.

Thwack-!

The Black Magic King’s neck twisted as if broken.

He was struck directly by Shin Ha-yul’s kick, his neck tilting with his body.

An indescribable shock reverberated through the Black Magic King’s brain.

‘My mind… is fading…’

It wasn’t a kick powerful enough to cause a knockout with a single blow.

Shin Ha-yul’s current physical abilities are only marginally better than an average person.

One reason is his poor physical condition, but the main reason is that the mana within Shin Ha-yul’s body is also stagnant.

Perfect neutrality affects not only the Black Magic King and the mana in the air but also the mana within the caster, Shin Ha-yul.

Shin Ha-yul’s current physical abilities are only slightly better than an average person.

Shin Ha-yul’s kick is currently very ordinary.

It lacks the power to knock someone out with a single blow.

‘I feel like I’m going to… lose my mind.’

The reason why the Black Magic King’s mind is fading now is not because Shin Ha-yul’s kick was powerful.

It’s because the Black Magic King’s physical resilience is below that of an average person.

Thwack-!

Shin Ha-yul’s fist landed squarely on the Black Magic King’s forehead, who was half-tilted and falling.

A fist descended from above.

The impact caused the Black Magic King’s body to collide with the floor.

Drip, drip.

Blood dripped from Shin Ha-yul’s fist.

There was the Black Magic King’s blood, but also Shin Ha-yul’s blood mixed in.

Since it was an ordinary fist not strengthened by mana, it was natural for the fist to be injured by the force of impact.

The Black Magic King lay sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily.

‘That’s all you’ve got…!’

Shin Ha-yul clenched his fist tightly.

From his fist, already torn from the continuous blows, even darker blood flowed out.

‘With that level of mental fortitude, how dare you!’

He’s furious.

He’s so angry that his head feels like it’s about to explode.

‘Get up.’

Shin Ha-yul stepped on the Black Magic King’s chest.

‘Sein-nim [referring to Sein Vinoche] endured your curse nine times without a sword, with his bare body.’

Thud-!

The sound of ribs being crushed echoed loudly.

‘Get up, I said.’

Shin Ha-yul slightly lifted his foot and then stomped down.

‘Cough!’

A groan of pain burst from the Black Magic King’s mouth.

Shin Ha-yul’s expression became even more ferocious.

To lose the will to fight just because he can’t use magic.

‘You piece of…’

He can’t stand that this weak-willed person was looking down on Sein Vinoche with such arrogance.

He feels like he’s going crazy with anger.

Shin Ha-yul climbed on top of the Black Magic King.

He took a mount position and raised his fist high.

Thwack! Thwack!

He alternated his fists, swinging them down.

‘Have you given up already?’

Blood spurted from the Black Magic King’s face, and blood flowed from Shin Ha-yul’s torn fist.

‘If you don’t want to fight, just die.’

Shin Ha-yul picked up a stone lying nearby.

And he tried to lift it, putting his strength into it.

However.

‘……’

The stone didn’t budge.

This world is in a state where all the laws of physics have collapsed due to ‘perfect neutrality’.

It is impossible to lift a stone in a world that has stopped.

Shin Ha-yul frowned and took his hand off the stone.

And he brought his hand to the Black Magic King’s head.

‘If I can’t pick up a stone and smash him with it…’

He just needs to lift the Black Magic King’s head and smash it against a rock.

Shin Ha-yul lifted the Black Magic King’s body high and slammed it down onto a sharp, protruding rock.

Soon, the Black Magic King’s skull would be shattered, and his brain matter would scatter.

Shin Ha-yul was sure of it.

However.

‘This is…’

That didn’t happen.

Even though the Black Magic King’s head was smashed against the rock, it didn’t leave any scars.

It was as if he had hit his head on a soft cushion, not a rock.

He was perfectly fine.

Shin Ha-yul frowned.

‘Is it because of the collapse of the laws of physics?’

Currently, this space is in a state where all common sense is distorted due to ‘perfect neutrality’.

Time has stopped, mana has stopped, and the laws have collapsed.

Perhaps the laws of physics of all things, including the rock, have changed, and the amount of impact itself has disappeared.

‘If this is the case…’

It means that it is impossible to kill the Black Magic King using rocks or building debris.

‘Does that mean I have to cut off his breath using only my body?’

Just now.

Shin Ha-yul was in a hurry to cut off the Black Magic King’s breath.

He wanted to torment him a little more before killing him, but.

He suppressed his anger and tried to finish him off.

What’s the reason?

The answer is simple.

‘Can I finish him off before perfect neutrality ends without a separate weapon?’

Because there is no time.

Shin Ha-yul did not reach perfect neutrality through proper training.

He only reached perfect neutrality after a series of coincidences and with the help of Tay Rovin.

Since it is an imperfect state that was forcibly pulled up, perfect neutrality cannot be maintained for long.

He felt that implicitly, so he hurried to deal with the Black Magic King.

Shin Ha-yul unleashed indiscriminate violence on the fallen Black Magic King.

Starting with kicks and punches, he used his elbows and knees to strike all the weak points of the human body.

Thwack! Crack!

Impact sounds and bone fractures echoed from the Black Magic King’s body.

His face was swollen, and his arm was bent at an odd angle.

It was a severe injury that would make you think he was really going to die.

The Black Magic King’s breathing began to fade.

The Black Magic King was slowly dying.

‘Just a little more…’

There’s only a little bit left.

If he destroys his body a little more, if a little more time passes.

The Black Magic King’s life will end there.

Shin Ha-yul breathed heavily and swung his fist.

Swinging a fist requires considerable stamina.

Since Shin Ha-yul’s current body is not much different from that of an average person, it was natural for him to face physical limitations.

‘Die!’

Shin Ha-yul clenched his teeth and punched down.

With the momentum to crush the Black Magic King’s face.

He punched down with all his might.

Wham-!

A full-force punch, adding weight and gravity through a jump.

The fist crushed the Black Magic King’s nose bone.

Was that the final blow?

‘……It stopped.’

The Black Magic King’s breathing stopped.

His pulse stopped, and his body movements stopped.

The Black Magic King’s physical activity had completely stopped.

‘Is it… over?’

Shin Ha-yul collapsed to the ground.

His body wouldn’t listen to him.

He had swung his fist to the limit with his body in the worst condition.

There was no way his body would move properly.

‘It’s… over.’

But whether his body moved or not, it didn’t matter anymore.

The Black Magic King was dead.

The match was over.

There was no need to move anymore.

Just as Shin Ha-yul was sighing in relief.

Whoosh-

The wind blew.

Thud!

The remains of the tower collided with the ground, raising dust.

‘It hurts!’

‘It hurts me too!’

Mana cried out.

The stopped flow of mana returned to its normal orbit.

Perfect neutrality was lifted, and everything returned to normal.

‘Kuh!’

Shin Ha-yul groaned in pain.

The fact that perfect neutrality was lifted meant that the balance between reversal and providence in Shin Ha-yul’s body was broken.

In other words, Shin Ha-yul’s body had entered a state of rampage, just like before.

Dark blood flowed from Shin Ha-yul’s mouth.

The internal mana rampage manifested in the form of spitting blood.

‘My head feels like it’s going to break.’

Shin Ha-yul’s mind began to fade.

The mana rampage caused his brain to shut down.

Thump, thump-!

At that moment.

The sound of a heartbeat echoed from somewhere.

Slowly, and gradually faster.

As if a stopped heart had started beating again.

The pulse gradually began to quicken.

Thump, thump, thump.

And soon.

The pulse began to beat regularly.

‘Death was right in front of me.’

Darkness flickered from the center of the pulse.

‘If it had been just one minute later, I would have crossed the threshold of death. It was chilling.’

Shin Ha-yul’s pupils trembled.

‘Perfect neutrality, huh.’

With trembling eyes, he slowly raised his head.

Darkness was approaching.

It was slowly approaching, uttering a familiar voice.

‘I was truly surprised. To think there was magic that could steal my magic itself.’

The darkness soon took the form of the Black Magic King.

The body that was like a rag just a moment ago was nowhere to be seen.

He had regained his original, neat form.

‘It’s a shame. If that world could have been maintained for just 30 seconds… no, 10 seconds more, I would have died.’

The Black Magic King looked down at Shin Ha-yul with a blank expression.

‘You lost, Shin Ha-yul.’

The Black Magic King’s two eyes filled Shin Ha-yul’s retina.

‘And I won.’

He had every reason to hate Shin Ha-yul, who had beaten him to the brink of death.

But there was no anger or murderous intent in the Black Magic King’s eyes.

All that was felt was a terrible emptiness.

Only emptiness remained in his eyes, where the darkness had disappeared.

‘I will place a curse on you.’

A black hand slowly approached.

Shin Ha-yul tried to move his body to avoid it, but.

‘My body…’

His body wouldn’t move.

Both his body and mind were beyond their limits, and he was not in a state where he could move.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

The Black Magic King’s right hand slowly approached.

The Black Magic King’s palm filled Shin Ha-yul’s retina.

‘The future where you will deal with Veil Stole with that power.’

5cm.

3cm.

‘Don’t worry. You won’t even remember that you are cursed by me.’

1cm.

‘Sleep peacefully.’

Just before the Black Magic King’s hand reached him.

Whoosh-!

The wind blew.

A sharp wind.

A magical wind forged with mana.

It passed as if dividing the space between the Black Magic King and Shin Ha-yul.

The Black Magic King pulled his hand back and looked in the direction the wind had come from.

‘Sophia Anechepri.’

Sophia Anechepri was reaching out with a dying expression.

‘……I see. In that world just now, mana stopped, and the activation of the curse itself was temporarily nullified.’

The curse that had forcibly shut down Sophia Anechepri’s body had temporarily stopped working.

It had temporarily stopped working because of the perfect world that Shin Ha-yul had created just now.

‘I won’t… let it go… your way…’

Sophia gasped for breath and recited her resolution.

‘Your eyes have come back to life.’

Looking at those eyes, the Black Magic King frowned.

‘Is it because the curse was temporarily lifted? It’s the same look you had 10 years ago, when you were bothering me.’

The curse that was eating away at Sophia Anechepri’s body was eating away not only at her strength but also at her mental fortitude.

That was the reason why her mind became unstable.

But now, the curse that had been consuming her body had temporarily stopped working.

Sophia had regained her iron will.

‘But. That’s all. Only your eyes have returned. In your current physical condition, you can’t stop me. You can’t protect Shin Ha-yul, or even your own body.’

‘……I know.’

Sophia staggered and stood up.

‘I know I can’t stop you alone right now. But…’

Even while staggering, she stood firmly on the ground with both feet.

‘What if there are two of us?’

Sophia glared at the Black Magic King.

No, beyond the Black Magic King.

She stared at someone.

‘Hoo. That feels refreshing.’

A familiar voice.

The beautiful voice of the genius who had been tormenting the Black Magic King until just now.

‘Is it because I took a mask? My condition isn’t too bad.’

A beautiful metallic sound rang out.

Her unwavering heart, as strong as her sword, filled the world like a resonance.

The Black Magic King turned his head.

‘You can lie down if you’re tired, Sophia Anechepri.’

Sein Vinoche is standing there.

Holding a sword, she is smiling brightly with unfocused eyes.

‘It seems like I can handle him alone.’

A dying corpse is smiling more brightly than anyone else.

‘……Don’t pretend to be strong. You can’t even hold your sword properly.’

‘Ah. Is it about this?’

As if she didn’t even have the strength to hold a sword anymore, Sein’s hand was empty.

‘Don’t misunderstand. It’s just that I don’t need a sword anymore.’

Sein Vinoche drew her sword.

Clearly, she wasn’t holding a sword.

But she was holding a sword in her hand.

‘Just a little bit.’

Holding a sword that exists but does not exist.

She possessed a strength that exists but does not exist.

‘I can see the normal now.’

Sein Vinoche.

Her life began to shine.