Chapter 73
Chapter 73
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 73
If it were me, I probably would have cranked the flames' output to the max to forge a cage trapping the beast right in front of me. Trying to extract and control water from that black mist? No waythe searing heat pulsing through my flesh would evaporate it in an instant.
A hallucination whispering in my ear.
Yet it rang so clear, backed by such logical reasoning, that my body followed without thinking.
Boom!!
Flames engulfed everything around me.
Soon, they twisted into dozens of pillars slamming into the ground.
These tangible flames formed a prison, sealing off the area so no living creature could enter or escape.
Of course, it would only hold him back for about 19 seconds.
Or... maybe that counts as holding on for quite a while?
Hah, you think these pathetic flames can bind me?
Dorudo sneered as he grabbed the fiery bars and yanked them apart with brute force.
The solid flames had formed a prison as sturdy as iron bars, but he'd picked the wrong opponent this time. It barely slowed him down.
But that brief delay was exactly what I needed.
Once more, a beautiful melody-like monologue played in my ear.
Next, you'd tweak the mana array into a unique spiral shape. Judging by the spare volume, you could easily fit three spirals. No idea why you're not even trying.
Thanks for the advice, hallucination.
I followed its logic and put it into action.
Whoosh!!
...!!!
His punch was blocked. Dorudo's face twisted in shockit had never been stopped before.
W-what the hell is this insane mana density...!!
As a demon, Dorudo was hypersensitive to mana. In his eyes, Seung-woo looked like a madman consumed by frenzy.
Even more than himself.
This lunatic before him had split his mana structure into two strands, crossed them, and then layered a third on top.
It sounded simple, but it demanded an innate sense for manaand the risk of a single mistake twisting all the mana in your body, potentially mangling you forever.
A death-defying tightrope walk where one slip meant permanent disability or death.
Dorudo eyed the three-strand mana arraystill rough and incompleteand Seung-woo's fearless wielding of it made him seriously consider retreat.
It was that dangerous.
One wrong move, and his demonic armor would crumple like paper, his guts turning to mush.
The shock of feeling threatened by someone he'd dismissed lasted only a moment.
He wrapped his fist in demonic energy and charged to shatter the freakish mana with full power.
Right then, the small ember secretly smoldering in my grasp.
It raced along the two spirals and the clumsily added third, spinning wildly as it erupted.
Fox FireTriple Helix
Purple, cursed flames in three prongs devoured the area.
Violet flickers danced, casting dark shadows that stretched behind me like limbs.
For a split second, Dorudo watching from across the way pictured a devil. The flames' sway made the shadows resemble long horns, fangs, and a tail.
A demon more vicious and greedy than the seventy-two nobles he served seemed to flicker into being.
That fleeting gap.
I compressed the flames into an orb to the extreme and jammed it into Dorudo's body, punching through his massive frame and sturdy armor.
Kaboom!!
Y-you bastard!! You fucking!!!
A massive hole tore through his gut, the wound cauterizing in agony beyond words. His grotesque scream filled the auction house.
...
But it wasn't enough.
A critical hit, but not a guaranteed win.
I closed my eyes briefly, reviewing the array of the flames in my hand. Fox Fire.
The double helix had empty space between its strands.
I'd paid it little mind until now. That void was the core of why Double Helix doubled the efficiency and power of skills and spells, or so I'd thought.
But as knowledge accumulated and wisdom bloomed in my eyes, that notion faded.
The space before me wasn't some power-boosting structure.
It was proof my skill was lacking.
Or rather, room for Double Helix to grow.
Oh my, acting just like you heard me... Don't tell me you can actually hear my mutterings?
Ah, busted.
Whoever you are, thanks, hallucination.
Thanks to you, I truly felt it.
If normal doesn't work, double it.
If double fails, triple downand it sticks.
A brutally violent epiphany.
Yet the insight caressed my spirit rank, guiding me to a higher plane.
[Training has reached enlightenment!]
[Through Nine Transformations and Nine Returns, the moonlight waxes thrice and wanes thrice, harmonizing Heaven, Earth, and Man.]
I felt my vessel fill to the brim.
I didn't know what this vessel or water signified.
But it matched the sensation from my fight with Yuren.
This time, though, my skin didn't split.
What shed wasn't flesh, but the knowledge that had confined my potential's limits.
I shattered the invisible shell and advanced to the next stage.
[Shedding the second husk.]
[Generating the third tail!]
Knowledge exploded like a geyser.
I sensed my soul expanding in size and rank alongside it. No visible changes stood out.
Well, my tail going from two to three was pretty big, I guess.
[Evolution complete.]
[Evolved from 'Race: One-Tail Fox' to 'Race: Three-Tail Fox'!]
['Trinity' achieved. The three tails govern Heaven, Earth, and Man, manifesting the Three Powers!]
[As reward for manifesting the Three Powers, mana quality rises one grade!]
...
[Your manifestation of 'Three Powers' influences the skill, Double Helix.]
[A new helix crosses over the two existing ones.]
[Acquired skill: 'Triple Helix (B)'.]
Fwoosh!
A small spark leaped, forming flames into three pillars.
The pillars intertwined into three helices as one.
What rose from them was fire bearing extreme yang heat. Stability incomparable to before.
With the stable structure, power and efficiency doubled.
...Thanks. Feels like I've shed a layer thanks to you.
S-stay back! You crazy fuck!
Exactly. I'll let you have the first taste. Honored, right?
Dorudo screamed desperately, but I had no intention of heeding his last words. Feeling the intense heat through my gloves, I yanked open his jaws wide with my left hand and shoved flames into his mouth overflowing with bloody innards from damaged organs.
Pop! Blood stopped flowing from his mouth.
Noblood across his whole body halted and ignited.
!!!!!
His guts burned first, then his body, unleashing scorching pain. A grotesque death rattle escaped his dried mouth of blood and salivathat was all.
I gazed down at Dorudo, scrutinizing the flames consuming him.
Flames that could incinerate even an S-rank demon with fire resistance.
Like hell's brimstone, perhaps.
Nice.
Coming to the auction house felt like scoring bonus loot.
Young folks call this a jackpot, right?
Totally sudden, but I hit the jackpot.
I glanced at the third tail sprouting from my back and grinned in satisfaction.
My fight's over now. Wonder how the other side's doing.
The moment I turned, curiosity piqued, I could tell.
Looks like that side's wrapping up soon too.
* * *
Add color to the light.
Seung-woo's words were fresh and shocking.
Not some boring scientific talk about light wavelengths.
Literally, Isabel had never once considered coloring her light with 'color.' Noshe'd deemed the very idea blasphemous.
Because Isabel's light resembled her grandmother's.
Her grandmother, the Valkyrie, had always protected England with brilliant, glorious light befitting the title.
Admiration had turned to imitation.
Over time, she'd mistaken the mimicry for her own.
But now she understood.
'...This isn't my light.'
The radiant blend of pure white and gold was the Valkyrie's.
Not Isabel's.
So what was Isabel's light?
Where was it? What color?
The blaze of flames and crimson pooling on the floor?
Nosuch passionate hues were far from her.
The deep sea and clear sky's blue?
Regrettably, her narrow world left no room for blue.
Fresh green of vegetation?
Not for one who'd spent her life confined in a vast mansion.
Verdant turquoise of open nature.
Pink a girl her age might adore.
Yellow or gold like her beautiful blonde hair.
None defined Isabel.
...None of them. My color is
Deeper. Darker.
Her clear blue eyes scanned everywhere.
In this world of myriad colors, she desperately rolled her eyes, seeking the monochrome that best suited herthe hue that could define Isabel as a person.
All while never ceasing her commands.
Mouth issuing orders, eyes sorting colors, mind handling both seamlessly.
p>Colors numbered dozens, hundreds through mixing and blending.
Where among these countless shades was hers?
Mid-search, her eyes caught the desperately battling man. Her ex-fianc, Baek Seung-woo.
His features were black.
Hair, ears, tail.
The color enveloping Seung-woo was darker than any black she knew. Like lacquer, if named.
Lacquer's sheen.
Yeah, pitch black.
So dense and dark, she wondered if her light could even produce it.
The moment she absorbed that color
...It's not about adding layers. It's the opposite.
Isabel realized.
Adding color wasn't the only path.
Sometimes, subtraction was virtue.
Her ex-fianc. Academy TA. Substitute teacher. The man who'd dumped her. Yet still unforgettable. He'd told her to layer on color.
But she thought oppositely. A touch of rebellion against her ex-fianc mixed in.
If layering color on light, why not erase it entirely?
She tested it immediately.
'Start by dismantling the basics step by step.'
The foundation of her light.
The 'three primary colors.' She evoked the purest light from her incantation to break it down.
Pure white light bloomed like a flower bud in her slender grasp, flickering brightly.
She erased color from it.
The concept of 'vermilion' vanished from her magic. Cyan sank into the white light.
A hue like vivid foliage manifested perfectly.
Beautiful, but not what she sought.
Next, 'azure' erased from the cyan, leaving only 'green.'
Finally, the last concept crumbled.
Light stripped of all defining colors dimmed gradually.
Flickering, fading hazily.
Isabel wouldn't let it.
She fixed the incantation in this state, forcibly manipulating the colorless light with her traits and skills.
The incantation, bereft of basics, flickered on the verge of collapse. But she built new foundations atop it.
Yet forced foundations weren't sturdy.
Compared to the primal form with her grandmother, it was ragged patchwork. Faint light scattered widely over the stitched incantation.
Like a sandcastle crumbling outward. Seeing it, Isabel couldn't hold back a smile.
...I found it.
My light.
This is my light.
The color defining me, discovered by me.
Resembling the man she'd lovedand perhaps still loved.
Identical to the night sky they'd gazed at together as children, one she'd assumed they'd always share.
Pitch-black radiance flooded from the void in her empty heart, blanketing everything.
The black light stained all it touchedobjects, floorutterly black.
Near ink becomes black.
By ink's side, any color dyes black.
Crimson blood, glinting gold coins, azure sky.
No matter the beauty, ink turns it black.
This was Isabel's lawthe principle she'd set for this world.
Right now.
She dominated space, if only atop her black light, however briefly.
Why the hell's that little bitch declaring a domain and shit?!!
You know what that is? Never seen light like it.
A meathead like you wouldn't. That kid's forcing a 'domain' over everything using black light as mediumshe can control it however she wants!
Uh... so what is it?
Domain.
Some call it domain declaration or expansiongrand terms.
Ultimately, proof of reaching the threshold of the sacred realm.
Right now.
The blonde girl had dipped her toes into the mages' ultimate pursuit, imperfectly.
Mages who knew scrambled to flee, but light surged like waves, blocking paths.
Not improvisedtimed as if anticipating the demons' escape.
...Where do you think you're going?
She flashed a feeble smile at the terrified demons.
Terror rained on their facesa fear she knew well.
Her once-golden light had lost color, dyed in ink. She understood their hearts fully.
So join me.
Follow the man she'd lovedand perhaps still loved.
Let's all go dark together.
Starlight-Severing Sea
Sea of Photons
Isabel's signature skills erupted.
Those who knew her before would think the tidal light waves would swallow all foes in the auction house.
Near ink becomes black
Her colorless light no longer distinguished friend from foe.
Waves don't choose targets.
They just keep dyeing, unresting the shore.
But these waves craved targets.
Colors to soil, with clear priorities.
Much like Isabel's systematic habit of listing daily tasks each morning. She decided to use dyed blacks for this.
Not just her magic defined by color.
Targets sprawled in varied hues before her.
She classified by color, assigning purposes.
Areas with must-protect people/objects: green. Prioritize protection, but dye if needed: blue. Dye freely: yellow.
And top priority for black: red.
Neatly, not messily. To swallow in a flash.
Her four-color vision was more systematic, orderly than before.
Now, just manifest the 'sea' for waves of fixed intensity to dye. Thus, inky black sea rippled quietly like ink on an inkstone.
...A black sea. Even if blood stains it a bit, no one will notice.
Survivors atop this sea: only Isabel's classmates, rich posers flashing cash, and Seung-woo.
All else: enemies to kill.
Isabel, inexperienced in murder.
As a reserve Player, though, killing demons held no hesitation.
Black waves swallowed everything before her, leaving the area void. The empty world turned her black.
Sometimes, multiple demons dying revealed vivid crimson atop blackunsightly.
Only crimson blood traces as their death cries, soon dyed black and gone.
...Don't want him seeing that.
Even if demons.
She didn't want Seung-woo knowing she'd killed.
In girlish shame of her prime, she dyed the bloodstainsand corpses black.
This way, he won't notice, right?