Chapter 308
Chapter 308
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 308
Chapter Title: Star Demon War (7)
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Round 4.
Though all the previous matches had been shocking, the one the crowd had been most eager for and curious about was this fourth match.
The primal question that marked the starting point of the Star Demon War.
Would the Tower Master win?
Or would Arin?
This was the match that would prove it.
“Waaaaah!”
“Win! Whoever wins, just win!”
It had originally been an overwhelming advantage for the Tower Master, but now it was a 5-5 split, impossible to predict.
During the Nine-Headed Dragon incident.
The claims that Arin had been incredible turned out to be true, proven by the previous matches.
“Whew.”
Sophia, who had stepped onto the arena, let out a light sigh to calm her mind.
‘It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the fate of the Magic Tower hangs on this match.’
If she somehow managed to beat Arin?
She could at least maintain the Magic Tower’s reputation.
After all, a group’s position was ultimately determined by the strength of its leader.
But if she lost to Arin?
The Magic Tower would have to surrender all the glory and status it had enjoyed to Star Heaven.
And on top of that.
‘My precious ranking will go to Joo Dong-hoon as well.’
Just like with the elders she had chased out moments ago.
She had steeled herself before entering the arena.
But could anyone’s resolve really be that ironclad?
‘It’s all karma.’
When the elders had flooded the community forums with posts.
When the Grand Elder suggested they give it a shot, she had been tempted too.
Honestly, she thought they could beat Star Heaven.
Now that confidence was stabbing back at her.
Sophia glanced around subtly.
Amid the deafening cheers, she felt sharp gazes fixed on her.
Yeah, they wouldn’t understand.
What state of mind she was in as she stood here.
What weight she felt as she prepared for battle.
It wasn’t long before.
- Next up! Yes, how should I even introduce this? One of the Skeleton Emperor’s skeletons! A being evaluated as possessing tremendous magical prowess comparable to a hyper ranker, despite being a skeleton! Here it coooomes! That’s right! To prove that skill, Eloise Arin takes the stage!
“Waaaaah!”
“Arin! Arin! Arin! Arin!”
“Skeletons, the best!”
At that moment.
Cheers erupted loud enough to deafen.
At the same time.
Clunk!
The door opened, and Arin walked out.
Holding the ‘Fire Dragon’s Staff’ (S-grade) given to her by the Professor.
“Whoa, look at her. How is that a skeleton?”
“She just looks like a person? And she’s pretty and cute too?!”
“I heard some of Joo Dong-hoon’s skeletons can take human form. But wasn’t she bones when fighting the dragon?”
Arin didn’t bother releasing her polymorph.
Not out of disdain for Earth’s Tower Master, Sophia.
After becoming the successor to ancient magic, maintaining polymorph was as easy as breathing.
Amid that tremendous cheering.
Arin silently met Sophia’s eyes.
Eyes filled with tension and resolve.
Good eyes.
Swish.
As Arin raised her staff into a ready stance.
“Eloise Arin.”
Sophia greeted her first.
“Yes.”
Arin replied.
“I’ll be honest. I don’t have any ill feelings toward you. Quite the opposite—I respect you. Thanks to the books you provide, the Magic Tower has been able to advance more easily.”
Information directly provided by the one recorded as the worst Tower Master in history was like honey to the current Magic Tower.
They paid for it, but that info couldn’t be measured in mere money.
However.
Sophia had to win this match.
She couldn’t back down, for herself or for her group.
“But you’d better brace yourself. Today, I’m going to fight with everything I have.”
Rumble...
At that moment, an overwhelming aura emanated from Sophia’s body.
Her heart spun with mana so immense it made the fur of every living being in the arena stand on end.
“Hmm.”
Arin nodded expressionlessly.
“Sounds good.”
Good.
Her mana foundation was solid, and her aura was impressive.
Honestly, with Arin’s current energy levels, it was overwhelmingly powerful.
‘But.’
That was it.
It didn’t give Arin much thrill.
It felt like facing the previous generation’s Tower Master from the magic world, roughly speaking.
That Gospelheim who got done in by forbidden book magic.
‘If I were another universe’s Tower Master...’
It might have been a close fight.
But not against Sophia.
Arin had been certain of that even before meeting her.
It was a difference in birth.
Follower of ancient magic versus successor to ancient magic.
Like the gap between a lizard and a dinosaur.
Even the smallest dinosaur doesn’t get stepped on by a lizard, right?
Arin planned to show that difference from now on.
“One question.”
Arin stared at Sophia.
“Fight properly, like in the previous matches?”
Normally, she wouldn’t even ask.
But Arin knew.
Sophia harbored no malice toward the Professor—only goodwill.
She had even helped and defended him several times in crises, showing how much she liked him.
Her logic was simple.
Show malice to the Professor, and you’re the greatest enemy under heaven.
Show goodwill, and you’re a precious ally.
You can’t just beat up an ally out of nowhere, right?
“That question...”
Sophia’s face hardened at Arin’s words.
“Sounds like you’re already certain of victory before we even fight. No matter how behind we are in magical civilization, a Tower Master is still a Tower Master.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Don’t underestimate me. Fight properly.”
It was then.
Zing, zing, zing, ziiiing!
Four energy bolts generated simultaneously around Arin’s body and shot out.
Sophia jolted her senses to the max in shock at the unannounced attack.
“Hup!”
Small shields deployed in an instant.
Boom!
Sophia’s eyes filled with astonishment as she instinctively absorbed the massive impact.
‘Fast.’
The energy bolts from Do Ha-rang or Emily in previous matches were child’s play.
These felt like bullets, each one!
Her head cooled sharply.
Her body temperature dropped cold.
‘That’s Eloise Arin.’
Was the title of worst Tower Master in history given lightly?
But.
She was a Tower Master too.
Earth’s unrivaled number one in magic.
From the start, she had resolved to empty her entire mana reservoir.
Roar!
[‘Fire of Despair’ (SS-grade) activates.]
Commonly known as the Flame of Despair.
The strongest fire-attribute spell humanity could cast rose from her staff.
Sizzle!
“Argh!”
“H-Hot!”
“Ugh, my eyes sting!”
How hot was it? The arena’s temperature skyrocketed in seconds.
Even rankers with defensive skills couldn’t fully handle the blaze.
“Haaap!”
The flames flew through the air toward Arin.
But.
Swish.
As Arin raised her left hand.
Halt!
The Flame of Despair stopped dead in midair.
“W-What?”
Sophia sent her a look of shock.
An SS-grade spell blocked with a mere gesture?
Impossible.
At least, according to her common sense, a physical impossibility.
And then.
[‘Reverse’ (SS-grade) activates.]
Arin casually swung her hand.
Boom!
The Flame of Despair surged back toward Sophia.
‘Crazy?’
How could something this absurd happen?
Not content with stopping the spell she poured mana into, it steals it and sends it back?
‘This is cheating!’
Sophia even knew of this spell.
Reverse, from the Magic Tower’s forbidden books.
A spell unusable without the penalty of death, cast so easily.
‘First...!’
Neutralize that thing.
Win or lose aside, she had to neutralize it to survive.
“H-Haaap!”
Biting her lip, Sophia summoned more mana.
Nearly half her reserves went into a water-attribute spell: Gravity of the Deep Sea (SS-grade).
Create a deep-sea domain within range to extinguish that Flame of Despair.
Rumble...
A deep-sea gravity field began manifesting around Sophia.
Arin watched her with a subtle expression.
‘Impressive, for sure.’
Casting SS-grade spells twice in a row?
Easier said than done.
Even magic world elders would botch the ritual at that level.
And completely opposite attributes, no less.
Chaining different-attribute spells was possible at basic levels, but high-tier ones like this were a huge burden.
That’s why magic world families specialized by attribute.
‘A proper Tower Master.’
Arin acknowledged it.
Sophia was a magical genius.
Heaven-sent talent.
Considering that the ability to follow the constellation Ancient Magic (SSS-grade) was limited to one per world, of course she was.
But.
‘You asked me to go all out.’
She couldn’t hold back even if she wanted to.
Plus.
If she was going to show it, she had to show it clearly to the Professor too, right?
The power of the ‘successor to ancient magic.’
‘That’ll make him proud.’
Step.
Arin took a step forward and swung her staff.
A pure white energy erupted from it.
[‘Mana Explosion’ (SS-grade) activates.]
The forbidden spell she used to topple the Magic Tower!
The energy seeped into Sophia’s heart.
[Seals the target’s mana.]
[Unable to use magic until seal is released.]
“Gasp!”
The rising Gravity of the Deep Sea fizzled out weakly.
And not just that.
Her immense mana aura vanished like a snuffed candle.
‘What the.’
Seal mana?
How was a mage supposed to fight with their mana sealed?
‘How does she have such a ridiculous skill...’
Sophia’s mouth gaped open unwittingly.
Her eyes shook like aspen leaves.
This wasn’t about winning or losing.
Being able to use a skill like this without limits meant the Magic Tower could never surpass this one being named Arin, no matter what.
Right before her eyes.
Roar!
The halted Flame of Despair flew again.
“...!”
It stopped right in front of her face.
Fizzle!
It burned teasingly nearby before slowly dying out.
That horrific SS-grade inferno.
Overwhelming dominance even a layman could understand.
“...My god.”
Silence fell over the arena.
The once-noisy cheers died without even a murmur.
All the spectators holding their breath in shock couldn’t close their mouths.
‘What is this...?’
‘Is that... even possible?’
‘I thought the Tower Master might lose, but get crushed like that?’
‘This is Joo Dong-hoon?’
Everyone was speechless.
It felt like they were dreaming collectively.
Look at the Magic Tower Master’s face, pale as a ghost against one skeleton!
Is that really the sage of Oxford we knew?
- Th-This... what is it?
Even MC Spirit’s reaction was no different from the crowd’s.
The commentator had forgotten his job, mouth agape.
In that silence.
Thud.
Arin lightly tapped her staff on the ground.
“Do you acknowledge the result?”
Without inflection.
In a voice as if it were the most natural thing.
At the same time.
[Ding!]
[Ranking has been updated.]
[Refer to the world ranking board.]
Once more.
The board saw a change.
A minor yet monumental shift.