Descent of the Legendary Archmage

A rain of flames was right before me.

I lowered my posture and at the same time erected a water barrier.

'Water Shield!'

A water shield that had a 4th circle class output thanks to the power of resonance.

Even taking the type advantage into account, 5th circle magic cannot normally be blocked by 4th circle.

But when it comes to Fire Rain, it's a different story.

'Since it's a wide-range annihilation magic spell that covers the entire arena, for a 5th circle spell, its power is weak.'

The more area it covers, the weaker it gets.

If it's only protecting my body, then 4th circle magic gets the job done.

The flames rained on my water shield before evaporating helplessly.

"...4th circle magic?"

The bewildered voice of Joo Hanwuk could be heard over the gushing steam.

Seeing output that easily blocked the fire rain, it seems like he took notice that my magic was of the 4th circle.

'But it's too late.'

He had taken too long to notice.

My victory has already been decided.

Pwshhh-!

The fire rain rapidly lost its power.

And the water vapor gradually expands.

Before the vapor soon enveloped the entire arena.

As if a smoke bomb had exploded, nothing was visible.

'Here I come.'

I plunged my body through it.

He couldn't see where I was.

Due to the aftermath of the wide-area annihilation magic, mana couldn't be detected properly, so the opponent's location couldn't even be grasped by ordinary people.

But that doesn't apply to me.

This is nothing compared to having my five senses sealed.

'Open God's eyes.'

My eyes of the 6th sense opened.

I saw things I couldn't previously.

The mana was vibrating.

The fire rain and water shield tremble as if stricken by horror at the collision.

And in between them, I could see uniquely vivid mana.

A bundle of mana.

It was evident that the vivid mana was the mana of the mana circle which encircled Joo Hanwuk's heart.

I swiftly and discretely flung myself there.

I lowered my center of gravity as much as possible so that the steam would not scatter as I moved.

I, who had reached him in an instant, fired magic from behind Joo Hanwuk before he had even caught on.

'4th circle lightning type magic.'

'Lightning Lance.'

Pzzz-!

Lightning struck the arena that was filled with water vapor.

"When did you...!"

The already loud lightning-type magic was influenced by the water vapor and cried even louder.

Joo Hanwuk turned around in astonishment.

And immediately prepared magic to stop the Lightning Lance.

'Normally he might've used Absolute Shield to block it.'

However, currently, Joo Hanwuk cannot use Absolute Shield.

Joo Hanwuk likes to investigate, but he also tends to analyze as well.

Since I destroyed his Absolute Shield just now, he'll probably avoid using it for the time being.

'The most appropriate magic to use now is Earth Shield. Or Water Shield.'

He'll either use the Earth Shield to send the electric current to the ground.

Or use the Water Shield to try and send the current in a different direction.

My next move depends on which of the two magic spells he uses.

'Yellow.'

I saw the color that symbolized earth magic.

It seemed that Joo Hanwuk opted for the Earth Shield.

The Earth Shield was quickly created.

And at that moment, I knew exactly what I would do next.

'Earth shield has a fatal flaw where it blocks the caster's field of vision.'

I hid myself using the blind spot that was formed after the Earth Shield was created.

Then I immediately turned my body and grabbed Joo Hanwuk's back.

'4 circle fire attribute magic.'

'Blast Impaction.'

A concentrated flame fluttered in my fist.

It was the 4th circle version of the Burning Impaction that Baek Sahyuk had used in the past. That along with my fist flew at Joo Hanwuk's back which was left wide open.

Bzzzzz-!

At the same time, the Lightning Lance collided with the Earth Shield, causing an explosion to sound out.

"Heup!"

Even though he had lost sight of me for a moment, he hadn't seemed to have lost sight of the Blast Impaction mana aimed at his back.

He cast another spell.

'5 circle water type magic.'

'Water Laser.'

A Water Laser that used hydraulic pressure.

And though it flew toward me.

'Once the trajectory of the water laser is set, it can't be changed.'

With my God's eyes opened, I had no blind spots.

I immediately stopped swinging my fist and got out of the Water Laser's range.

Swoosh!

The Water Laser skimmed past my cheek.

As I felt that cold sensation, I swung my fist.

“This...!"

As if frightened, Joo Hanwuk cast a new spell.

This time it was the Water Shield.

As if he had given up on counterattacking, he blocked my Blast Impaction with a second shield.

I swung my fist without hesitation.

Pwooosh!

The Water Shield rapidly evaporated.

Naturally, my Blast Impaction couldn't penetrate the Water Shield of a 5th circle mage. However,

''Agh!"

It didn't really matter.

My purpose was not to penetrate it but to create more water vapor.

Phwoosh-!

The Lightning Lance, which was guided to the floor by the Earth Shield that was acting as a lightning conductor, shone again as water vapor exploded out.

'The concentrated steam makes the trajectory of the Lightning Lance unexpected.'

And in the pandemonium, the Lightning Lance exploded.

Delayed activation that can only be done thanks to the Bytenor style.

'Explode.'

At my command, the Lightning Lance exploded.

Pzzzzzzzzz-!

4th circle rank lightning spread out in all directions.

'When lightning interacts with water vapor it gets even stronger.'

The lightning exploded onto Joo Hanwuk's Earth Shield.

''Agh!"

I could hear Joo Hanwuk groan a little clearer.

He definitely wasn't a fan of the current situation.

'And from here, I'll wrap around to his back and fire off more 4 circle magic'.

Pzzz-!

The 4th circle lightning attribute magic rang out again.

Lightning Lance.

There was no way that Joo Hanwuk hadn't heard the loud sound.

"That's...!"

Joo Hanwuk's patience had finally run thin.

"Enough!!"

The mana in his heart shook violently.

It seemed he could no longer stay on the defensive.

He was preparing to launch a counterattack.

'Here he comes.'

At that moment, my brain worked at an unbelievable speed.

'Joo Hanwuk isn't a fan of this tussle.'

'He'll be trying to reset the situation.'

'The only way he can accomplish that is by forcing me to create a ton of distance and then removing the steam that's filled the arena.'

'Then he has at most two options.'

There are at most two magic spells that Joo Hanwuk specializes in and can use in this situation.

'Inferno. Or Expanding Flames.'

And in a tussle like this, one usually uses the magic they are most confident in.

'Red mana that's reminiscent of hell.'

The light of Inferno.

It lit up Joo Hanwuk's surroundings.

Rumble rumble-!

Inferno.

The flames of hell that punish the sinners burned like explosions.

The steam vanished in an instant.

And the lightning disappeared with the collision.

The inferno spread out as if it were going to crush everything with overwhelming power and strength.

Vision had been cleared.

Through the flames of hell, Joo Hanwuk's face was visible.

He's smiling as if sure of victory.

He must be convinced that I would be eaten up and defeated by the inferno.

“The moment when you must be most careful is when you're sure of victory.”

I looked at Joo Hanwuk as I muttered this to myself.

“I'm the one who's won. Sunbaenim.”

The words of my master, which reached me through Elena passed through my mind like a panorama.

'See through the essence of the magic with your God's eyes. Hear the magic. Seize the gaps of the mana.’

My God's eyes were definitely seizing the gaps in the Inferno.

'Once you have done so, the magic will no longer be magic.'

I reached out to the gap.

'Destruction.'

Clank!

I could hear something breaking.

The sound of delicate machinery shattering.

'The sound of magic breaking.'

The magic formula was close to perfect, but not quite there.

The sound of it breaking was truly beautiful.

As the magic formula broke, the Inferno lost its form.

It loses its properties, its essence, and its structure.

The Inferno scattered in the wind as particles of mana.

The particles of mana scattered away like hail. In the midst of this, I could see Joo Hanwuk's flustered face.

An expression that said he could not understand how the inferno vanished.

I fired my final magic spell at him.

'4 circle wind type magic.'

'Tempest Circus.'

A circus of storms.

It swirled around Joo Hanwuk.

Joo Hanwuk immediately prepares for a counterattack.

However, he's already exhausted himself.

He has no way of counterattacking now.

Phwoooooosh-!

A gale blew.

A bitter and cold wind.

It swirled around Joo Hanwuk.

As if affected by a tornado, what was left of the inferno soared high into the sky.

"...I've lost."

At the center of it all, Joo Hanwuk finally admitted defeat.

— The match is over! Winner! Shin Hayul!

As Jung Suha announced my victory, the match ended.

* * *

After that, Joo Hanwuk had been transferred to the infirmary, and with that, the fight was completely over.

"Nice work out there!"

When I returned to the waiting room, it was Kim Kangin who greeted me first.

As if excited by watching my game, he approached with a flushed expression on his face.

“It was a great match! You can't tell how shocked I was the whole time as I watched it! Haha!"

He grabbed both my hands as he shook them with a delighted expression on his face.

“I was wondering why you were doing all these things, but to think that they were all in preparation for your magic negation at the end... It was like looking at a planned out chess match. Even thinking about it gives me goosebumps. Can you see it? My goosebumps.”

Kim Kangin showed me his right arm.

He really had goosebumps.

“What on earth was that last magic? How did you destroy the Inferno's magic formula?"

Normally, he wouldn't have known that I had interfered with the magic formula.

As expected, it seemed like I couldn't fool Kim Kangin's Eyes of ruby.

“And what was that 4th circle magic? Did you succeed in completely erasing the weakness of Memorize using your alteration magic?"

Memorize.

A magic that is now extinct that has the ability of casting magic immediately by memorizing spells that are 3 circles lower than your level in advance.

I kept my Bytenor style of magic a secret by using this as a cover.

So far, I had no problems using this as a cover.

Since whether it be Memorize, or alteration magic, it all made sense.

"If I were to say that I improved Memorize using my alteration magic... would you believe me?"

"No. I probably wouldn't be able to."

But that's not true anymore.

"Even when you used 3rd circle magic, I thought that it was reasonable. Although it was odd, I could believe that you had simply improved the shortcomings of Memorize.”

Hiding the seeds of the Bytenor style using Memorize and alteration magic as a cover were beginning to get difficult.

"But 4th circle magic is a different story. Since you're not just improving the shortcomings of Memorize but removing it entirely. And you yourself know how hard it is to remove the shortcomings of a magic spell from its formula.”

It was impossible to hide the newly grown shoots of the Bytenor style of magic.

My talent will show itself.

The uniqueness of the Bytenor style of magic completely tore apart the cover I had made using memorize and alteration magic.

“What on earth is that magic of yours? Being able to cast magic almost instantly. Free magic that completely breaks the existing mold. And even being able to negate the opponent's magic. Just what kind of magic can you use to do such absurd things?"

The emotions of excitement and anticipation completely disappeared from Kim Kangin's expression.

All that was left was the cold-hearted inquiry of a researcher and a magician.

“Up till now..."

I looked him straight in the eyes and spoke.