21st Century Archmage

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Fwip fwip fwip fwip fwip fwip!

“Chaaaaarge!”

“Hold the line! Guard your positions at all costs!”

As the sounds of battle rang out all around me, I floated in the air, stunned. A core part of Altakas’ forces, the 7th Circle half-liches, had simply vanished. I was floored, even though I was the person who did it.

‘It attacked on its own. The Staff of Despair…’

No one would believe me even if I told them. Even an 8th Circle mage like myself couldn’t wipe out a group of 7th Circle mages in a single blow. But when I harbored murderous intent towards them and willed their deaths, the Staff of Despair unleashed a mana attack on its own, showing me very clearly what an 9th Circle magic item was like.

‘I have to quickly wrap things up.’

Our side was holding the upper hand in the Skyknight battle raging in the sky. With the help of the paladins, the human coalition was safely dispatching the Death Wyverns and Death Skyknights animated by dead souls. Adding to that the power of the spirits summoned by the elves, the situation was progressing very favorably for us.

However, I couldn’t rest assured. There were still a thousand Death Wyverns in the air, and the surviving monsters and Dark Empire soldiers were still running towards the fort walls, ferocious Death Knights among their number.

Ziiiiiiing.

At that moment, I felt someone’s gaze on me, pricking my skin despite the considerable distance between us.

‘Huhu…’

Altakas was flashing me a wry smile. He looked calm, but I could clearly feel that he was tense.

My lips curled into a smile. My time to get revenge had finally come. If not for him, my paradise would have been peacefully completed long ago. If not for him, the beastmen who had followed me unflinchingly would still be here. It was time to end our brief, hateful acquaintance.

“Bebeto, I’ll be back. Absolute Shield!”

I couldn’t take Bebeto into a duel with Altakas, so I shielded him with the absolute defensive spell only an 8th Circle mage could cast. With the magic circle on his armor and the power of my spell, he should be able to endure on his own for quite some time.

“Blink!”

And then, I cast Blink, the spell that would take me where my gaze landed. The space around me distorted, and my body transcended space to reach Altakas.

* * *

“Oh, my poor bones…”

A groan seeped out of Aidal’s lips. He hadn’t had a proper fight with anyone in over 100 years. Before, fully grown men would pee themselves at the sound of his name, but the world had changed. He barely survived the spine-chilling experience of nearly getting his head cut off because he was being gallant about another 8th Circle mage. Even while casting Blink to flee, his eyes were fixed on Altakas, groaning all the while.

‘I really, seriously can’t endure any more!’

It wasn’t a joke—this was a battlefield where death came and went like the spring rain. Having had his fill of his first taste of what it felt to be powerless, Aidal gathered his mana. His mind was dominated by one thought: using Warp to get out of here, and then hopping back to Earth without looking back. The value of his Golden-Eyed Reaper name and pride were nothing compared to the value of his life. He poured mana into his staff.

Flash!

The moment he was about to say the incantation, he suddenly felt a powerful storm of mana from the rear. Aidal’s head whipped up towards the intense smell of mana.

“Eh?”

And then, he saw it. A mana attack superseding time and space to erase the designated target with the pure strength of mana.

“K-Kyre!”

His eyes widened to the size of saucers. His disciple Kyre was unleashing a mana attack, something even Aidal would be hard-pressed to cast. And the boy was obviously using the mana used by black mages, yin-attribute mana.

Drip.

Cold sweat ran down his back. 

His relationship with Kang Hyuk started somewhat as a joke. He took in a disciple out of regret for his magic, which would disappear from the Earth with his eventual passing, and put a dimensional teleport bracelet on the disciple as an experiment. 

If Aidal had really wanted to punish the mages who sent him to Earth, he would have gone back to Kallian himself. But it was a pain and he didn’t want to abandon the comfortable lifestyle he’d grown used to, so he sent Kang Hyuk here as a lab rat after transferring his magic knowledge  and the new mana breathing technique even Aidal hadn’t gotten to use.

But now, that disciple of his was erasing the half-liches with 9th Circle mana quantity directly before Aidal’s eyes, using a mana attack even Aidal did not dare to carelessly cast.

His expression changed rapidly, going from pride as a master who should congratulate his disciple’s ascension to the 8th Circle, to a mage’s jealousy towards a genius who had done in several years what took others 100 years of hard effort to achieve. 

For a moment, his gaze towards Kyre was complicated.

“Uhahahahahahahahahahaha!”

But he didn’t simmer for long, and a full-body laugh came bursting out of the archmage.

“If there’s any mage out there more outstanding than me, come out, I dare you! Who else would be able to turn their disciple into an archmage like that in just a few years? Hahahahaha! It’s all thanks to his amazing master, of course! Hahahahaha!”

Aidal laughed heartily. But in a corner of his heart, jealousy bloomed, and the laugh seemed a little forced. Now, there weren’t just one, but two, no, three 8th Circle mages.

‘I will definitely be the first to reach the 9th Circle!’

His hibernating determination as a mage sprang to life once again.

* * *

“Kukuku… So the little rookie was still alive.”

Altakas and I were floating face to face. Both of us were at the 8th Circle, the stage at which one could stay aloft with their will alone instead of using Fly. With just 20 meters between us, a distance we could span in a single moment, Altakas sneered at me.

“Awfully ironic coming from a body-less deadso who’s wearing another person’s skin. Hey, dungy fly, can’t you just fuck off already? You’re wasting the mana you’re breathing right now.”

“Y-You!”

Altakas was never my match in terms of verbal swordplay to begin with. A few words from me had him red-faced.

‘You jerk, I’m not scared anymore.’

Not long ago, I was scrambling to flee out of fear. But by the grace of God, I now had the power to proudly go toe to toe with him.

“Let’s decide things once and for all. Don’t hide with parasite magic like a fucking coward and fight me until one of us disappears from Kallian for good. If you still call yourself an 8th Circle archmage, that is.”

I continued to throw barbs at his pride, bringing up the past and blocking off his desire to flee. In truth, he could still escape right now if he really wanted to. If he holed himself up somewhere, I would never be able to find him.

“Kukuku. You’ve clearly forgotten what fear is. From the looks of it, you had an enlightenment and rose to the 8th Circle, but I shall show you that not all 8th Circles are the same.”

Flaaaaaash!

As soon as he finished, yin-attribute mana surged from his body.

‘It’s different.’

His turbid energy was worlds apart from the yin-attribute mana I possessed. His mana was not the pure yin-attribute mana that made up the world. It wasn’t a refreshing spring bubbling deep within the mountains, but the murky air of a factory belching pollution.

It was disgusting. He might have been human at one point, but he was far from human now. He was an evil pest who had to disappear for those who dreamed peaceful dreams. Even now, countless people were shedding their blood here because of him.

Flash!

As rage stirred within me, the 1 meter long Staff of Despair turned black with the fury of pure yin-attribute mana.

“…The Relic of Tarkania, I see. Hooh, I didn’t think it would appear at a place like this.”

To my surprise, Altakas recognized the Gold Dragon Tarkania’s relic. It was probably passed down as a legend among black mages.

“Want it?”

“Kukuku. Naturally. As long as it catches my eye, it’s mine. It belongs to me, the great Black Magic Swordsman Altakas.”

No one was thinking of giving him anything, yet this guy was throwing a party all on his lonesome. There was only one thing I had to say to him.

“You’re absolutely swimming… in bullshit…”

“You bastard!”

Altakas bristled at my smirking provocation.

“Stop yapping and let’s get to it already.”

Whap!

I pointed the Staff of Despair, a weapon far more terrifying than any sword, at Altakas’ head.

“A rookie who doesn’t know his place dares…” Altakas gritted, gnashing his teeth. His eyes turned as red as the eyes of the three-headed mutt that was said to live in hell.

“Allow me to make the first move, then!”

I charged.

I could understand now why people threw truckloads of money at luxury brands. After becoming an 8th Circle mage, a mana shield automatically cast itself around me. Being an 8th Circle mage was a luxury brand above all luxury brands, one that gave you an automatic aura money could not buy.

* * *

Reaper Scans

* * *

Sch-sch-sch-sch-schwip!

Perhaps fueled by his confidence from reaching the 8th Circle, the young man named Kyre rushed heedlessly forward.

‘D-Dangerous!’

Anger had filled him from head to toe, but Altakas wasn’t a mindless bottomfeeder who would fall apart because of anger. His hand cut through the air like Blink magic, ten Aura Swords forming in the wake of his swing.

Sch-sch-sch-sch-schwip!

Not getting careless, Altakas jumped back and imbued his sword with mana. He couldn’t secure a quick win using 8th Circle magic right now anyway; he had expended quite a bit of mana facing Aidal and couldn’t use a surefire spell, so he was hoping for a close-combat fight using physical weapons instead, and Kyre kindly acquiesced.

Claaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

Altakas and Kyre’s mana collided in midair, canceling out with noisy sparks.

‘Ah!’

Altakas was momentarily shocked. Kyre might have reached the 8th Circle, but he didn’t think the boy would have enough mana to do anything to him, a magic swordsman who had survived for hundreds of years. But against all expectation, Kyre’s mana cleanly eliminated the Aura Swords Altakas created.

“Hup!”

With a grunt, he turned more mana into Aura Swords.

* * *

‘Hooh!’

As expected of an 8th Circle magic swordsman, dozens of Aura Swords appeared with a grunt from him. Each and every one of them was as powerful as a blade made from the culmination of every ounce of a Blade Master’s strength.

But even that was meaningless.

Whumpf!

I lightly swung the Staff of Despair topped with the strange, melon-sized magic crystal disguised as a crystal ball.

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

A clear curtain of mana rippled out and swallowed Altakas’ Blade Swords.

Pzzzzzzzzzzzzt.

‘Sehr gut!’

The difference in strength was stark. The power within the Staff of Despair easily exterminated his Blade Swords. I didn’t even have to use my own mana.

‘W-Wait, it can’t be?’

A thought suddenly occurred to me. Even a special-grade magic crystal couldn’t possibly have such proactive and overwhelming strength. Unless… it was the dragonheart of the one of mightiest beings to have roamed the land, a dragon.

‘That’s right! Now it makes sense.’

I never once imagined that there would be a dragonheart within this crystal ball. Who would have thought that a pulsing dragon’s heart would be within this transparent ball? But after reaching the 8th Circle, I could tell. A dragonheart didn’t refer to a dragon’s actual heart, but a crystal of mana that was like the blessing of a god. I was sure the Gold Dragon Tarkania was capable of sealing that power within a crystal ball. It was also thanks to that power that I was able to jump to the 8th Circle in a heartbeat.

Altakas stared at me in shock after I instantly wiped out his Blade Swords, and I met his blank look with a dark laugh full of wicked intent. This was the intense pleasure only the strong were permitted to enjoy.

“Well well well, dung fly. Out of tricks to try?” 

I said, my words dripping with ridicule.

“Y-YOUUUUUUU!!!!”

In his absolute rage, the mana possessing his will manifested as magic and shot out in all directions.

‘It’s your turn to suffer.’

The intense humiliation of defeat I suffered at his hands was still vivid in my mind, and the memory of my beloved beastmen knights dying turned my heart icy cold. 

I could not give him an easy death. I wanted to engrave such terror in his soul that he would never again commit a wrong, even after death. I would make sure he knew with every cell of his body that bad guys get fried by lightning, splashed by shit water, and experience the agony of every muscle being cut to pieces.

* * *

Sch-sch-sch-sch-schwip! Ba-ba-ba-ba-bam! Krrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Even a lifeless Death Wyvern must be capable of feeling pain, because as Blessed Spears punched through its neck, it screamed as it plummeted.

‘Tenacious bastards…’

The melee above was steadily coming to its conclusion. Marquess Irene took a quick break from fighting fiercely at the front to look around.

‘Hoo…’

It was truly a relief. There were now about 300 Death Wyverns left in the sky, and most of them were struggling to stay aloft, having been skewered by multiple spears. The Death Skyknights astride those wyverns were still struggling desperately. But since they had no souls or hearts pulsing with hot blood, their movements were sluggish. The outcome might have been different had they been alive, but thanks to the paladins and the spirits summoned by the elves, they could not show their full prowess and were consigned to their fates of true death as a result.

Sizzzzzzzzzzzzzle!

As she caught her breath, Irene’s eyes found a certain person.

‘K-Kyre!’

Every part of the sky had been turned into a battlefield due to the fierce clash between armies, there was one spot that none dared approach. Even the Death Wyverns that did not fear death avoided it.

Two men were standing in the air.

One was the master of the Dark Empire that had brought the caravan of death to the Continent.

The other was the Hero of the Continent, Kyre.

Irene sent her silent support to Kyre, who was fighting a duel of a completely different scale. She prayed that the Goddess of Victory, Ormion, would grace the man Irene loved with her radiant smile.

* * *

Schwiiip! Fwip fwip fwip fwip fwip.

Narmias mechanically fired arrow after mana-imbued arrow at the Death Wyverns. Even as she attacked, she turned her head, wanting to know if the man she loved was safe. Kyre was fighting a fierce duel not even the elves could butt into. Narmias bit her lips within her helmet and drew her bowstring for the one she loved.

Because that was the only support she could give him right now.

* * *

Craaaaaash!

‘Uhahahahaha!’

8th Circle magic burst out before me in 4K. The flame magic with ultra high temp heat and flames that could melt anything in the world going off was an incredible spectacle that no 3D visual could ever hope to match. Hundreds of thousands, no, millions, of mana particles went from blue to white-hot, becoming a blazing inferno of white rage that smashed and exploded on my pure mana shield. I trusted my shield and didn’t cast additional magic to protect myself, but the sight was so tremendous I flinched and nearly closed my eyes in shock.

“H-How can this be…” muttered Altakas in a hollow voice after the 8th Circle spell he made with all his strength shattered into pieces and disappeared.

His red, venomous snake eyes from moments ago were nowhere to be found, replaced by a look of dumb shock as he stood in front of me.

“Oi, no more tricks to play?”

There was nothing more vicious than using strength to crush someone who relied on their strength. My lips curled a little as I verbally prodded Altakas.

“Alright then, it’s only fair that I get a shot at you too.”

Altakas flinched a little at that.

“Blaze Storm!”

Blaze Storm, one of the 8th Circle fire spells. Thanks to the Staff of Despair, I was able to generate 8th Circle magic with an incantation alone.

Flash!

At the incantation, the Staff of Despair and the atmospheric mana briefly reacted.

“Guh! Absolute Shield! Dark Shield!”

Taken aback by my sudden magic attack, Altakas scrambled to overlap the rest of the shields he knew.

Fwooooooooooooooooooooosh!

Red and blue magic flames burst into life around him, as if they had been waiting for the moment his shields came up.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

The storm of dancing flames produced a heat so intense it seemed to melt his shield, and the spell was so bright it instantly brought day to the surroundings.

‘Would be perfect for grilling some squid.’

I couldn’t see Altakas within the raging flame storm. What came to mind instead were foods that could be grilled on an open fire, like squid, dried pollack, thin-sliced pork belly, etc. I entertained leisurely thoughts while gazing at the magic flames that had completely swallowed my foe.

“Aghhhh…”

And shortly afterwards, the flames disappeared along with a long groan.

‘He’s quite something.’

Like the 8th Circle magic swordsman he was, Altakas endured the onslaught. His shields had protected him from harm, but steam was billowing thick off his body.

“D-Damnable… bastard…”

He still had some fight left in him. Clenching his teeth, Altakas stared at me with eyes full of evil.

“It was hot, wasn’t it? As an apology, I’ll help you cool down. Crystal Storm!”

“…!!!”

The 8th Circle ice magic dropped in quick succession, and Altakas’ eyes widened at the sight of me casting without any mana restrictions.

“Sh-Shield!”

He scrambled to cast shielding magic again, so shocked that his despicable little face was completely gripped by panic.

‘How very cute of you.’

My heart simply warmed at the thought of Altakas’ suffering. A part of me started worrying that I might turn into some kind of pervert who thrived on the pain of others at this rate.

Szzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

It might not reach absolute zero, -273.2 degrees, but the ice storm was pretty close. Ice crashed and solidified on the mana shield he had cast with all his might.

‘Ohhh!’

It was beautiful. Atmospheric mana was instantly sucked into the formation of an ice sculpture. The ice spreading along the sturdy circular shield was a sight to behold.

‘Magic sure is great. Kukuku.’

It gave form to countless applications of human creativity. From frying, to sauteing, to freezing, to melting. Altakas must be shedding tears of blood right now, but as someone who didn’t possess a hint of mercy towards him, I enjoyed this moment.

Whoooooosh.

The momentary storm of ice disappeared. If I had cast it as an AOE spell, it would have easily frozen everything within 300 meters, but I had concentrated it solely on the piece of sky where Altakas was floating.

Craaaaaaaaaaack.

“Gughh!”

Shards of ice fell away along with the shield Altakas had made with his mana.

‘I’m sure that cooled his jets.’

Altakas’ face was as white as a sheet. I didn’t know how his soul was doing, but the body of the emperor he was possessing was still a human body. It seemed he’d registered the damage well and proper, but I wasn’t one to stop at just this.

“Oh? Impressive~”

My hands moved in a broad gesture of praise.

“P-Persistent bastard…”

He even called me persistent. Altakas himself must have realized… that I had risen to a stage where he could no longer defeat me.

“Aw shucks, this is nothing. Come now, on to the next course we go.” I relished the sight of his eyes widening. “I find lightning magic the coolest out of all the spells. Don’t you?”

At my kind smile and query, Altakas’ jaw dropped.

“Well then, here we go. Mega Raiden!”

“Sh-Shield!!!!!”

Upon hearing the incantation for the lightning spell only an 8th Circle master could cast, Altakas gritted his teeth and cast another Shield.

Flash!

The spell began as a seed of magic only as big as a fist.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzt.

It yanked in the surrounding mana in an instant.

Cgggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk!

And then, like a nuclear bomb going off, what had to be hundreds of thousands of lightning bolts burst out.

Craaaash, craaaaash, craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaash!

The lightning storm smashed into Altakas’ shield.

“Huhuhu…”

A cold smile spread over my lips.

“Graaaaaaaaaaghh…!”

A scream of agony came from within the shield. Even in the world of magic, offense was the best defense. It was impossible to try and endure a concentrated spell with a single Shield. The fact he was able to withstand two rounds of 8th Circle magic with Shields made Altakas one impressive bastard. But this was where his resistance ended.

Unable to hold himself aloft with the power of mana like he’d been doing, Altakas plummeted to the ground.

Thuuuud. Bzzzzzzzzzzzt.

He crashed down from a height of 50 meters, and the storm of lightning followed him the entire way down. I didn’t even hear the sound of groaning. This was enough to send even an 8th Circle grandmaster over the River Lute.

‘The battle’s almost over.’

I was worried because the aerial fight had become a dogfight, but with the paladins and the help of the elves, no Death Wyverns could be seen in the sky. Moreover, I could see Temir wyverns flying in on the horizon. They had reached the battlefield sooner than I expected, most likely because they had flown without a break.

Craaaaaaaaaaash! Crggggggggggggggggggggk.

“All mages, fire magic nonstop!”

“YEAHHHH! Buck up, men! Victory is nigh!”

The hundreds of thousands of monsters and Hell Soldiers that had swarmed the fort had been dramatically reduced. Not many could survive the concentrated onslaught of magic from a thousand mages and holy water-soaked arrows. 

‘Once those guys are taken care of, it’ll be over.’

Even now, the black mages and Kerma priests were alive. The group of one thousand was giving off a gloomy air.

‘I need to check if he’s really dead or not.’

Altakas was as tenacious as a cockroach. The impact of his landing and the electric magic that crashed down afterwards had made a small crater in the ground, and his body was giving off smoke in the center. I turned my gaze towards him just in case. The battle had been easier than I expected. I felt an inexplicable sense of uneasiness, but my victory was a definite fact.

“Huhuhu… huhuhuhuhuhu…”

‘…?’

The moment I was about to go to him to check, I heard a low laugh.

‘What?’

Even if he didn’t die, he should have been on the verge of breathing his last. But Altakas was getting up, looking like a scorched black zombie. That wasn’t all. He should be completely out of mana, but he started to exude a mana I couldn’t identify. It seemed he had a card up his sleeve I didn’t know about.

‘Good, it’d be sad if he died that easily.’

I still had a lot of resentment to unload on him. 

“…Lusver… hata…karman…”

Getting up, Altakas began to mumble something.

“OHHH!”

“GLORY BE TO DEATH!!!”

Expressions of rapture suddenly emerged on the faces of the waiting black mages, and they plunged the weapons they were holding into their hearts or ruthlessly smashed down mana staffs onto their own heads.

Tzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

They died with their mana drawn out as much as possible, and ownerless mana flowed over the earth.

Szzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

While I was watching in openmouthed shock, the mana of the black mages gathered around Altakas.

‘What kind of show is this?’

None of the magic knowledge in my brain could explain this peculiar sight.

Schzzzzzzzzzzz.

“Th-The Apostle of Lord Kerma is coming!”

“The Destroyer is descending! Worship him, oh disciples of death!”

Everything happened in an instant. The black mages sacrificed themselves, and the surviving Kerma priests faced Altakas with worshiping expressions.

Flash!

Their bodies exuded the holy power of darkness and began to combine and whirl with the energy of the chanting Altakas.

‘Th-This isn’t good…’

My instincts were screaming a warning. I didn’t know what it was exactly, but I could sense that Altakas was doing something terrible.

“D-Dammit. That bastard is off his rocker! He dares to summon those crazy fuckers!” Master Aidal’s shocked voice came from next to me. He had flown up while I was watching in bafflement.

“Master, what is he doing right now?”

“Sigh, it’s already too late. He’s already put up a barrier via the summoning ritual!”

Aidal lamented, not even answering my question.

Whirr, whirr, whirr.

Like Master said, a milky gray barrier was being formed around Altakas. But I couldn’t believe Master’s words.

‘What use is a barrier?’

No matter what he tried, with my current level of strength, there was nothing I couldn’t destroy. I raised the Staff of Despair and fired hot punishment on Altakas, who could no longer be seen through the gray barrier.

“Hellfire!!!”

I summoned flames from hell to form the greatest fusion magic of earth and fire, a spell that could annihilate without leaving a trace.

Swoooooosh.

Filled with my mana, the ball of magic dropped down onto the place where Altakas stood.

‘Even Altakas can’t—what?!’

There was no way my magic could fail. And yet, the unthinkable happened.

“It… disappeared…”

To my shock, my spell fizzled out before it could really take form.

“It’s futile… They were once called the rulers of magic alongside dragons. Dammit, I never even imagined I would see them in my lifetime.”

Master Aidal’s voice lacked all the confidence he’d had even against Altakas and was replaced by an uneasiness he could not conceal.

“Just what are you saying? Just who is it that—”

“It’s here!”

Even before I could finish my question, Master Aidal announced its arrival with a scream.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

A powerful red light suddenly exploded from the barrier and shot all the way up into the sky as a pillar. I stared wide-eyed at the being that appeared.

‘What is it?’

Something different, no, someone, appeared in the place where Altakas had just been standing and walked out of the light, stepping over the scorched earth. He was wearing a crimson cloak covered in an incredible number of feathers I’d never seen on the Kallian Continent.

“T-To think… that a demon would descend with their true body… dammit…”

Master’s lips trembled uncontrollably as he uttered unbelievable words.

‘D-Demon!!!!!’

—-

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