Chapter 117

“What’s the problem?”

I tilted my head at the furious Hedric.

“You know damn well!”

Hedric looked around.

“I am the chief of this joint caravan! I am the Mage of Illusion! Whether it’s intellectual exchange or whatever, if you want to do anything with our caravan, you must follow proper procedures! What kind of behavior is this, bypassing the executive committee and pushing your agenda as you please?!”

“…And so?”

“If you want to give a lecture, first speak with our executive committee. Then I will personally spread it to our merchants. Ah, of course, depending on the information you share, I’m willing to provide appropriate compensation.”

Despite his face wrinkling with displeasure, Hedric couldn’t hide his shining greed. In short, he wanted to monopolize any useful knowledge and use it as bait to exert influence over his subordinate merchants.

“Hmm… but as you know, the Academy doesn’t appreciate barriers in knowledge dissemination. I was under the impression that Society merchants have the right to freely trade and negotiate… isn’t going through the executive committee unnecessary?”

“Of course, I can’t force you. However, in these turbulent times, moving without order and discipline increases risk beyond imagination. I don’t think any of our merchants would be reckless enough to ignore the ‘recommendation’ of their chief and act on their own.”

Cough cough. Ahem.

The mages who had shown interest in me cleared their throats with disappointed faces. It seemed they couldn’t ignore Hedric’s ‘recommendation.’

It was exactly as Lytol and Pan-Dalus had told me.

Although Society, given its unusual size, didn’t have the strict hierarchy or direct regulations like other groups… still, falling out of favor with a figure like a Mage could result in enormous potential losses.

So, there was only one solution.

Either hint at benefits greater than the losses a Mage could inflict, or make them feel an irresistible thrill.

Finally, the main game began.

“How pathetic.”

I said.

“What?!”

Hedric’s face reddened again.

“I don’t understand why mages are so shortsighted. Did you understand what I said? Gift replication! Of course, it’s astonishing. But more importantly, the world might be facing complete extinction soon!”

Splash.

I poured water from a container onto the ground. Most of the water fell to the earth, but a few drops floated upward. Water anomalies had already become commonplace.

“Water has changed. Don’t you understand what this means? What if, one day, all water in the world becomes toxic? Do you think humanity, all living beings in this world, could survive even a single week?”

“No, you’re derailing the topic…”

Hedric tried to interrupt me, but I overpowered him with a louder voice.

“I’m not asking you to worry about the world’s destruction! I’m simply asking you to acknowledge that extinction is real. Whether you exploit extinction for gain or fight against it to achieve your beliefs, that’s fine. However, those who ignore the imminent extinction will all be eliminated. That’s my point. And… the ones who know best about the coming changes are we, the ‘Great Cataclysm Emergency Committee.’ If you want to know and prepare for the future, shut up and follow us… that’s what I’m saying.”

Hedric let out a squawk.

“Hmph! Extinction? How childish. Do you think you’re the first to say such things? A hundred years ago, even a thousand years ago, there were people clamoring about the world’s immediate end. But look. What about now? Has the world ended? If you’re trying to intimidate me, you’ve chosen the wrong opponent. What you should put on the negotiation table isn’t vague talk about extinction, but your ability to replicate Gifts and your hypothesis.”

I gave an even bigger sneer to the coldly sneering Hedric.

“How foolish. Blinded by small gains, unable to see the big changes. The era has already changed. The change is already here. In the form of a completely new magical theory that teaches what this world is, how it will change, and how to cope with it. Go ahead and act superior. But you’re already obsolete.”

“You seem quite self-absorbed?”

“Whether this is self-absorption or not, see for yourself. And calmly consider this: Can existing magical theory explain how a mage who has achieved 3rd Circle in Circle magic and 3-star in Ki-blood magic z

“What?”

I spread my arms and bowed slightly to the surprised Hedric. Hedric wore a dumbfounded expression as if he’d been struck.

“Are you challenging me to a duel right now?”

The surroundings erupted like a bomb had dropped.

“What? Is he crazy? 5th Circle and 6th Circle are completely different levels?”

“And that guy just used up most of his memorized spells earlier!”

Used up memorized spells? So what?

I faced Hedric proudly, and Hedric glared at Pan-Dalus, saying,

“I’m thinking of detaining this ill-mannered brat… will you interfere?”

Pan-Dalus frowned at those words with such obvious intentions. But he answered as we had discussed beforehand.

“If you can detain him through a fair duel… do as you please. But if the Divine Mage wins, you won’t interfere with whatever we do from now on. No indirect interference with our collaborators either.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“I am.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise. And you?”

“Ha! Then I promise as well.”

Whoong-

The covenant between the two Mages was established. Magical powers filling heaven and earth fixed their attention on this place.

“Kekek… boy. I should thank you.”

Hedric smiled, showing his yellowed teeth.

Then his figure disappeared. Only his voice echoed loudly from all directions.

“Creating such a good opportunity by yourself?”

He seemed to appear on the left. But when I looked left, he wasn’t there. He seemed to appear on the right… but wasn’t visible.

There’s something called peripheral vision. In fact, only 10% of a person’s overall vision can be seen clearly. The 90% peripheral vision can never be seen clearly. Hedric’s figure appeared only faintly in that peripheral vision. Like a ghost.

It wasn’t that Hedric was moving around. This was a kind of delusion. Hedric was a master of special attribute magic, specifically mental magic. The illusions he created were actually delusions created by interfering with the opponent’s mind.

It was different from the mental magic used by Shado or the mental magic I saw in Lanciel City. If those were suggestions, this was a delusion. If those were heavy magic that ended once broken, this was light magic that Hedric could recast at will. With my current level, it was impossible to resist the continuous barrage of delusion spells.

At this rate, I would be defeated without even casting a proper spell.

That’s how it would be with conventional magical theory.

“Really… such a predictable mage. Mental magic as your specialty? That means you never intended to fight calamities from the start, right?”

Though the cause hadn’t been clearly identified, mental magic didn’t work well on Night Calamities. So… saying mental magic was one’s specialty meant they had trained with the premise of facing people, not calamities.

It was vicious. But I intended to exploit that point.

‘Sigh… this is my first time doing this in front of others.’

I first had this idea when creating ‘God-Slaying Lightning.’ Back then, I disguised myself as a magical power singularity that caused calamities. Wrapped in red and black magical power, I pretended to be a calamity and utilized the power of the magical power singularity. That’s how I was able to kill the magical beast and complete ‘God-Slaying Lightning.’

The second time was recent. That vampire woman. She became ferocious whenever covered in black and red magical power. When not covered, she acted almost like a human, confused. Later, I thought, ‘What if I had imitated a calamity then… how would she have reacted?’

Taking these incidents as catalysts, I formed a new hypothesis.

————————

<Baek Jun-woo’s Magic Book>

-Analysis and Hypothesis on the Colors of Magical Power

Here are the facts I’ve discovered about magical power:

1. Though others cannot see it, magical power consists of five colors: red, blue, green, white, and black. This can be confirmed through the Philosopher’s Stone, which changes color according to surrounding magical power.
2. The character of magical power differs by color. For instance, green magical power, unlike red magical power, loves harmony and doesn’t enjoy cruelty and violence.

(*However, these differences aren’t absolute. In the end, all magical power commonly loves keeping its covenant and making great challenges. Even becoming cruel, keeping one’s word and succeeding in challenges helps gain the favor of green magical power.)

Where does this color difference in magical powers come from? Based on everything I’ve learned so far… it was a distinction that divided the ancient god race.

White, blue, and green, these three colors were the colors of the god race we called ‘gods,’

Black and red, these two colors were the colors of the god race we called ‘demons.’

Just as Earth humans classify gray bears and panda bears by fur color, and distinguish South and North Korean soldiers by uniform color, the ancient gods might have been able to infer disposition and faction by the color of magical power.

But what if,

I gather only magical powers of a specific color, enhance their characteristics, and reconstruct my Ki-blood?

Ki-blood magic is imitating the body of gods.

If I reconstruct Ki-blood with just one color… wouldn’t I become closer to the ancient god race?

In other words…

Couldn’t I recreate an ancient demon too?

————————

“Protect me for a moment, Ari.”

-Hurry. I’m too weak now… but that mage is strong… we need to finish quickly.

-I’ll protect you. It might not be perfect… but I’ll protect you as much as I can.

“Yes. Thank you.”

Whooo…

I closed my eyes and began.

[Time Acceleration]

“Ha… I was wondering when my Gift would show up.”

Hearing Lytol’s grumble,

The whole world began to move slowly.

It was a battle against time.

Crunch!

Before Ari’s defense line broke, I decomposed the Ki-blood in my body.

“Whaaat? Yooou’ree ignoooring meee?”

Hedric’s voice came out stretched.

Bang! Boom!

Whoosh!

“Whaat… is thiiiis…?”

He was confused by the intervention of Ari, the wind spirit.

Yes. Keep being confused.

Crunch!

My 3-star Ki-blood shrank to 2-star.

Thwack!

Splurt!

There was a loud noise, and my cheek burned. I bit my lip firmly and continued unraveling my Ki-blood.

2-star became 1-star, and finally, I decomposed all of my Ki-blood.

Flash!

The freed magical powers went wild, and magical fever rose after a long time.

Ring! Ding-ding!

Splurt! Splurt!

Meanwhile, the battle between Ari and Hedric seemed to be intensifying. The noise grew louder, and the wounds on my body increased. But it wasn’t enough to disturb my concentration yet.

Having completely unraveled my Ki-blood, I now needed to rebuild it.

Black magical power had the highest proportion at 30% of my residual magical power. It was probably because I had absorbed that power while fighting calamities that spread streams of black magical power. No, it was like this even during Sena School Nomad days. When training ruthlessly, the black magical power that favored harshness and greed tended to gather.

So, I gathered only black magical power. With the thought of creating blood vessels and tendons, I rebuilt my Ki-blood. From the chest to both arms and both legs, I assimilated the divine body (magical power) into my physical body.

Pitch-black magical power dyed my entire body.

Thump.

It was different. Completely different.

Even though I had experimented in advance with [Simulation], I still marveled.

Was this really the same 3-star Ki-blood?

Ki-blood unified in black color.

The body assimilated with it felt different from the very senses. Not simply a feeling of strength… but as if eyes had sprouted all over my body, making me hyper-sensitive.

3-star Ki-blood extends to the limbs but not to the head. Perhaps because of that, the mental magic wasn’t dispelled. I still couldn’t see Hedric’s figure, as if trapped in a delusion.

But it didn’t matter.

My entire body clearly sensed Hedric’s presence. Before my head could recognize it, my body was already responding to the opponent. Truly… a divine body.

“Yooou… yooourrr appeaaaaraaaanceee…!”

Hearing Hedric’s panicked voice, I opened my eyes. I looked at my body. Black magical power was writhing, healing my injury-covered body.

Whoong! Whooong!

Vibrations sounded from all directions. The mages who had been watching us all took out their guardian charms and shouted. “What’s going on?! Why is there a calamity reaction inside the stairs?” That’s roughly what they were saying. I couldn’t help but smile. A ferocious and gloomy smile I had never made before.

Even if both were 6th Circle, if my opponent had been Pan-Dalus, it would have been difficult. But not Hedric. With mental magic as his specialty, he was very strong against humans… but once that mental magic doesn’t work, he becomes rapidly weaker. So…

Whoop!

Before I could even finish that thought, my body leaped out on its own.

Crack!

“Kuheck!”

With one punch, the Mage of Illusion flew backward.

“Delu-delusion magic was cast, how did you…!”

I don’t know either. My body knows. But if you have time to be surprised, why not cast another spell?

Grab.

I chased after him as he flew off the pillar and grabbed his head.

Ari.

-Can’t be helped. Even though you seem in a bad mood… since you asked, I have no choice.

Ari, made of white and blue magical power, didn’t appreciate me being covered in black magical power. But in the end, it granted my request.

Whiiing!

Iron Blood.

-Goooood…

Iron Blood, evolved once more, could now send clear mental waves of “like” and “dislike.” And it had become… much stronger.

Crunch!

I placed my fist, enhanced by Iron Blood and Ari, on the bowstring made of black magical power.

Winding the magical power pulley and loading… then pulling the trigger.

<Bolt!>

“Eek! Absolute Shield!”

Boom!

My fist shattered the endlessly layered golden shields like glass and broke through.

Crunch!

In a fountain of blood,

One of the Mage’s teeth spun through the air.