Does This Make Any Sense?

You should have gone down with a single <Shot>.

You should have been pummeled and crushed by <Magic Ball>.

You should have been torn to shreds after stepping on a Trap!

Why would someone like you humiliate me?

Lytol’s eyes melted with rage. Whatever memory crossed his mind made him look like he was about to cry.

I calmly watched the entire process. The moment when this man who had mocked me lost control of his emotions.

I dodged each Magic Ball he frantically hurled one after another.

With each Magic Ball that grazed me by a hair’s breadth, Lytol’s face contorted more grotesquely, and mana fragments fell from the passing Magic Balls, sticking to me like an obsession.

Whoosh!

Finally, a Magic Ball came flying at an angle impossible to dodge.

I gracefully leaped across with [Spatial Leap].

Simultaneously, I shot an arrow, detonating the Traps that Lytol had diligently laid.

Lytol cast a target recognition spell to prevent the explosion, but it was useless.

I was someone who had even managed to mimic the authentication devices of ancient gods. Like a skilled hacker, I disrupted his recognition spell.

Kaboom!

Lytol’s face contorted within the brilliant explosion.

“How…?”

Like a boss monster with overwhelming power being hunted by a user, Lytol was helpless before me as I had completely deciphered his patterns.

“Aaaaargh! You bastard!”

And he was strangely unable to contain his rage. Did he have some kind of trauma?

I didn’t know the circumstances, but seeing him like that put me in a bad mood.

A grown man who can’t control his own anger?

How could he directly defy his master?

Maybe it’s because I’m from a nomad background… but I found Lytol utterly pathetic.

Lytol glared at me with distorted eyes. His intense anger seemed to say:

‘Your showing off ends now. Grinding all your bones won’t be enough to pay for your sins. I’ll knead you like dough and spread you thinly on the ground. I’ll sprinkle excrement and urine on top. I’ll preserve just your face to shove it into the dung field I’ve made of you.’

When facing such strong killing intent and malice, sometimes you can hear words the other person never actually spoke.

A voice like a demon’s, whispering all sorts of horrific outcomes. It must be a warning created by a brain gripped with fear.

I’ve felt this whenever fighting overwhelming opponents. Of course, I’ve never once yielded.

Just a few months ago, didn’t I face dozens of ogres? I’m well-accustomed to fighting opponents stronger than myself.

However, one thing was worth noting.

That an enraged powerful opponent always has an ace up their sleeve.

By now, mana fragments that had fallen from the <Magic Ball> were stuck all over me like sprinkles. The trump card Lytol had meticulously prepared even while raging.

His eyes, dripping with viscous anger, were waiting for the joy soon to come.

Gradually, the time for the final showdown approached.

I had also prepared. While evading <Magic Ball> and <Shot> with [Spatial Leap], I’d been gradually approaching Lytol.

Each time he laid <Trap> spells, I shot arrows to dismantle them, slowly creating openings.

His weakness of lacking overwhelming firepower despite being called a technician proved fatal against me.

Finally, when only one of the six [Spatial Leap] spells I had memorized remained,

The moment Lytol had been waiting for arrived.

It was also the moment I had been waiting for.

“Heh. Hehehe. Bwahahaha!”

Lytol suddenly laughed like a madman.

Thunk! Thudududunk!

In response to his laughter, six <Magic Ball>s went wild.

“Leap! Try another Spatial Leap! Hahaha! Don’t you know what’s sticking to your body? You’ve already fallen for the magic I’ve been spreading. Try any spell! The moment you do, BOOM! You’ll explode!”

Finally seeing victory within reach, Lytol laughed triumphantly.

But alas—

That magic supposedly invisible to the eye was perfectly visible to mine.

The mana fragments that had fallen from <Magic Ball>. A spell called <Sticky>. It gradually adheres to the body, slowly impeding movement, or it clings without symptoms until it accumulates enough to react with the target’s magic, causing an explosion.

In my third simulation, I had used [Spatial Leap] without knowing and was blown to pieces in the explosion.

So… now I know how to deal with it.

“Is that so?”

I responded nonchalantly, then released magical power throughout my body. Magical power is the flesh of gods. It commands mana. Like a bomb squad cutting a detonator, the delicately extracted magical power transformed and dismantled the <Sticky> spell clinging to my body.

I cast my final [Spatial Leap] spell as I watched the <Magic Ball> pouring toward me.

Whoosh-!

With the distance I had gradually reduced, the Traps I had methodically dismantled, finally in one move I tore through space and seized Lytol from behind.

“W-what?”

Lytol looked around in alarm. He still didn’t realize I was behind him.

I raised my fist and steadied my breathing.

This is the spot.

The place that had worked in the fourth simulation I had run in the office.

As befitting a 4th Circle mage, Lytol was wrapped in all sorts of protective equipment.

Not only the ‘Protection Necklace’ Han Se-hoon had possessed, but also some strange barrier with counter-elasticity.

If I attacked carelessly, I would be counterattacked instead.

Grrrr-

I awakened my Ki-bloods. My entire body resonated. Throughout this duel, I had faced Lytol using only Circle magic and my physical abilities enhanced to level 5. I hadn’t revealed my Ki-blood magic that had reached 3-star.

So the attack I was about to show would far exceed Lytol’s expectations in both speed and destructive power.

What is true Ki-blood(氣血) magic?

Having never formally learned Ki-blood magic, I had no choice but to research extensively. And I found one method.

Creak!

I drew my left arm onto a bowstring made of magical power.

If Circle magic imitates the mouth of ancient gods, Ki-blood magic is like recreating their limbs. What did the limbs of gods look like? I had glimpsed a god in level 5 basic training, but the vision wasn’t complete. It was such an overwhelmingly powerful being that I didn’t dare run a simulation.

So I studied the most powerful mechanical projectile I knew.

The crossbow.

A mechanical device that uses pulleys to draw an extremely taut string too difficult for humans to pull directly, then fires. I recreated this with magical power.

Pulleys made of magical power spin, drawing the incredibly tough magical bowstring, upon which I place my fist enhanced with magical power.

I named this spell ‘Bolt.’

First with my left arm.

“Bolt!”

Thwack!

My fist drove forward with such force it felt like my entire body would be dragged along.

Despite being the attacker, I felt terrible pain. My shoulder creaked. But there was a result.

The ‘Protection Necklace’ that had suddenly risen shattered into powder with a crumbling sound.

“What the hell!!”

Finally noticing me, Lytol frantically turned around. He deployed [Time Acceleration] and quickly prepared a counterspell. But at close range, the explosive Ki-blood magic was faster than his [Time Acceleration].

With my left arm now hanging limply, I drew my right arm onto the bowstring.

“Bolt!”

Crack!

Lytol’s brown robe emitted a bright light, forming a barrier. A counter-elasticity so powerful that it would send a hammer flying backward.

But my fist, enhanced with <Bolt>, shattered even that barrier and struck Lytol’s cheek.

The spell he had been about to cast dissipated as he staggered helplessly. Still not a decisive blow.

This stubborn man had protection spells even on his bare skin, making it as hard as steel.

Lytol stepped back twice and regained his stance.

I rushed at him without giving him any room. My left arm still tingled painfully, and my right fist was clearly cracked. But I had one more <Bolt> prepared.

I bent my waist far back and concentrated magical power on my forehead to the maximum. I drew my entire upper body onto the bowstring.

“Bolt!!!”

With pain like lightning striking my waist, my forehead drove into the space under his nose.

Crunch!

Blood-covered teeth shot into the air, and warm blood flowed thickly down my forehead.

Lytol spun through the air and crashed to the ground.

I steadied myself, staggering.

‘Still not enough.’

A 4th Circle mage wouldn’t suffer a fatal wound from just this. If I didn’t finish now, I’d be the one to suffer next.

I put my trembling left hand into my pocket. I pulled out the Stone of Wind with its rippling patterns.

The strongest spell I possessed besides primordial incantations.

“Tear them apart. Beast of Wind!”

<Triple Shield> once, [Spatial Leap] six times, <Beast of Wind> once.

The final spell of the eight memorized spells was finally unleashed.

Rumblerumble!

A storm arose. Wind that growled like a beast charged at Lytol. He seemed to have not yet regained his senses, blankly watching as piles of stones lifted by the wind fell upon him.

Boom!

Rumblerumble!

The wind violently pushed Lytol down. It swirled, pressing against his chest.

Flutterflutter!

Lytol’s robe flapped wildly, and his hair danced in the air. But it didn’t tear him to shreds. That was my will.

I was sweating profusely trying to control <Beast of Wind> to avoid killing Lytol. In that state, I barely managed to ask:

“Have you lost?”

But there was no answer. Lytol just lay there stupidly, staring at the sky.

“Have you lost?”

I asked again, but still no answer.

‘What should I do?’

The conditions of the duel were that one side would die or admit defeat. I didn’t want to kill him. I didn’t want an uncomfortable relationship with Pan-Dalus the Mage of Domestication… and I needed to make full use of him in the future.

But he wouldn’t admit defeat.

In my current physical state, I couldn’t suppress <Beast of Wind> for long… what should I do?

At this troubling moment, Pan-Dalus, the notary, stepped forward.

“Divine Mage. If you don’t mind, may I take a look? He seems unable to regain his senses.”

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

With my permission, Pan-Dalus swiftly flew to Lytol’s side. He used some magic that pushed back the fiercely swirling <Beast of Wind> before I could even act. Truly the authority of a 6th Circle mage.

Standing next to Lytol, Pan-Dalus gently grabbed his collar, then—

Slap!

Without warning, he struck his cheek. Lytol’s mouth was already completely shattered, and red bloodied water sprayed into the air. Only then did light return to Lytol’s dazed eyes.

“M-Master?”

Looking at his confused disciple’s face, Pan-Dalus asked coldly:

“Do you admit defeat?”

Hearing those words, Lytol suddenly shuddered as if waking from a nightmare and looked around. The wind growling and swirling around him. His face smashed beyond recognition. His protective spells completely shattered.

After a moment of shocked silence, he finally bowed his head deeply.

“I… lost…”

A voice barely audible.

“I can’t hear you. Speak up.”

Pan-Dalus urged him without a trace of mercy.

“I lost! I lost! Again… I lost…”

Lytol’s voice, screaming as if struggling, was thick with moisture. Sobbing with his head bowed deeply, but Pan-Dalus coldly ignored his disciple and stood up.

“I declare the victor. The winner! The Divine Mage!”

With that resounding declaration, I finally canceled <Beast of Wind>. As the howling wind subsided, silence fell.

With trembling hands, I put the Stone of Wind back into my pocket and looked around.

Everyone stood with their mouths hanging open, unable to say a word.

Ha, what’s with this atmosphere?

A heavy silence as if someone had died. Feeling twice as exhausted, I started limping away from the dueling ground, when suddenly—

Whiiine!

Magical powers began to go wild.

Magical power drained from the sobbing Lytol, while an enormous amount rushed toward me.

Those in the crowd who had proclaimed my defeat lost magical power, while the few individuals who had affirmed my victory gained it.

The arena, deathly quiet moments before, suddenly became chaotic.

“Yahoo! See! What did I tell you!”

Yuria, who had gained tremendous magical power, jumped up and down excitedly.

“Ah… oh my…”

“Ahem. Hmm. That’s why one should be careful with their words.”

Mages who had expected my defeat internally but never voiced it aloud chided their colleagues who had spoken carelessly.

“T-teacher. I, I… w-what should I do?”

The young mage who had said he would deep-fry his hand in oil if I landed even one effective blow looked up at his teacher with desperate eyes.

The teacher avoided his pupil’s gaze.

“Ahem… ahem… He didn’t just land an effective blow but won outright… Ahem. If you deep-fry both hands, you might not lose that much magical power.”

“T-teacher!”

“Sigh… it can’t be helped. If you don’t keep that covenant, you’ll never become a mage again. That’s why! Why did you say such unnecessary things…! Sigh… I’ll prepare a particularly effective recovery potion, so let’s take care of it today.”

“Teacher…”

“Think of it as expensive tuition.”

The boy mage whimpering and the teacher with a complicated expression leading him away.

Watching these little dramas… I finally realized it.

Ah, I defeated a 4th Circle mage.

I won without using Saíl or Transportation.

Even at the level of 3rd Circle 3-star, it’s possible. I’ve confirmed the possibility.

Though my body was in tatters,

Heh. A smile spread across my face.